[M] Shedding Skins IC

[Kicks]

Viewers be advised: This game is rated M for possible occurrences of blood, gore, violence, drugs, and sexual content. All content found in this game follows RPA's Rules and Mature Rules.

http://i.imgur.com/58mLDdk.png"California?" The figure in the chair echoed. His voice was dripping with intrigue. "Well, we can't have that, can we?"
The chair spun slowly around, the figure now facing a large window. They looked down upon the infested land, marveling at how the undead never ceased.
"This should be fun." They murmured, "A real lesson, don't you think?"
The figure didn't wait for an answer, they instead reached towards the radio on their desk.
"Give the order."


This part will kick off where the last part had ended. For a review of what was happening, see this thread (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66731&page=458&p=2521974#post2521974).

[Kicks]

Blake breathed out slowly. After an hour of doing this he had still yet to get the communication device to work. He was starting to wonder if he should just give up. He had a family to get back to. He had to go and meet Nico at the fort, make sure that the kid didn’t run into any trouble. He had to make sure that the people at the fort were still safe.
What was he doing wasting his time here?
Yes, communicating with the other countries was important… but what if this were just some false dream?
The static from the radio insisted to him that this meant the other countries had fallen, that there was no hope left.
He wondered how it had happened. Had the infected managed somehow to get to the other countries? The monsters had once managed before. And what if the stronger nations? What of Russia? Were they taken over too? Was the United Kingdom down? China? Israel?
They were such strong nations. There was just no way they could go down. But he was betting that’s what everyone had thought of America before it happened. He wondered about Mexico. Were they okay? Was Canada okay? What about South America? They were all so close to them- especially Mexico and Canada.
“British Armed Forces. Do you copy?”
Blake froze. What was that? Had he just been imagining that?
He turned his eyes towards the radio.
“British Armed Forces. Do you copy? We have pinpointed your location.”

[Lil]

Faye nodded to Jerome. "He can be a pretty good judge of character usually. I just hope he was right again." Faye sighed and shrugged. Even if he wasn't, there wasn't much they could do about it now. "Well, I'm gonna go check on Logan and see if he's awake. If you need anyone flung across a room just let me know." Faye told Jerome trying to ease some of the tension still lingering. With that, she was off back to the housing unit though in order to get her son as make sure he didn't starve.

[Kicks]

“Yes! Yes! My name is Blake West. How is your situation there?”
There was a pause, “The UK fell months after America did. But we are surviving in the tunnels and stations. How is your situation?”
“Bloody awful.” He was smiling though because he recognized who he was speaking to.
But there was also another feeling. A new energy, he was being watched. He looked back to check, but he saw no one. Blake turned to the radio again, feeling more rushed now.
There was a noise. A bang, like someone had entered the plane.
“Are there any other countries that fell?” He asked the radio.
There was static noise and a broken voice that came over on the other end. But he couldn’t hear what they were saying so he asked the question again.
“-ot repeat-” the voice cut in and out.
Blake could hear the shuffling of feet. He glanced back at the open door of the cabin. Yes, he could see figures in the back of the plane. He needed to get out of there.
He dropped the radio and crouched down, moving through the open door and behind a line of seats.
He didn’t have to wonder if they were human or not back in the plane, for he could hear voices talking back and forth to each other.
“You sure it wasn’t just another zombie?”
“I’m certain it was a person.”
Blake glanced around the end of a seat and looked back. The figures were getting much closer. He started looking around the plane, looking for something like a fire extinguisher.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai kept looking below, trying to clear his mind so he'd be ready for what they were about to do. Going down to help in his state wasn't a good idea...
He looked over at his mother and by the looks of things, she was probably feeling something similar. Of course she would be, she was his and Spring's mother. Whatever fear he felt for his sister, it probably wasn't half as bad as what Adalia was feeling.
He looked back down at the progress and carnage, trying to sort his mind out. If he and Adalia were scared this much, then Spring had to be scared too. It was impossible for her not to be if people on the outside of her mission were being nervous wrecks over it. He sighed and then looked at his mother again.
"We should stop worrying," he whispered to her, feeling that it wouldn't be good if he raised his voice, "There's not a lot we can do about it now, and there are plenty of other things to be afraid of down there. We need to be ready for them."
He looked back down, waiting for the military to clear out. To be worried over things now, he knew and had known for a while now was pretty pointless. What sucked was, even knowing that, he couldn't just banish all his feelings when it was about someone he cared for, but... nevertheless, it was pointless to think about at this point, because at this point, whatever would happen was going to happen, and there was nothing anyone could really do about it except brace themselves... which was stupid but true. It bothered him, but that's just how things were.

Sleeping wasn't easy. Usually sleep was a good way to get away from problems because you weren't thinking about them. You were asleep. That's how it was supposed to be anyway. When Danny slept, though, he dreamed he was in a very strange place where everything was black. His father was there holding his hand, but he wasn't moving, and whatever the child did, he couldn't get him to budge. He just stood there and stared off into space. Then, all of the sudden, he heard footsteps and turned to see a man and a woman approaching them. He recognized them from one of his father's pictures. Apparently, they were Zakai's old parents from before he found Colton and Adalia. They walked over and took both Zakai's arms and then started leading him away, and for some reason, he walked with them even though he hadn't taken a step before. Danny tried to follow them, but he found instead that he couldn't move.
"Wait!" he shouted, "Hold on! Daddy come back! I can't move!"
The group paused, but only the man and woman turned back to look at him, "You stay there," said Zakai's mother, gently, "You'll be okay. We're taking him back. You need to stay behind with everyone else."
The father remained silent, and the two of them just turned and continued walking, leaving Danny alone. He shouted out more, trying to call them back, but they disappeared in the distance without turning around anymore. Danny started crying and eventually stopped yelling.
When he woke up, he had tears steaming down his cheeks.
"Ah!" he sat up and wiped them away, furiously, since he didn't want Carson to see them. That had been a really weird dream, and he didn't want to have it again. He looked around, wondering if he should go somewhere else to calm down.

[Kicks]

Zakai was right. They had to stop worrying. If Adalia continued to worry she might have a panic attack or she might try and go after her daughter. There was no way she could lose her daughter. She couldn't possibly lose a child. If she lost her children, she would lose parts of herself. And she didn't know if she would ever have the strength to go on- especially knowing that she could have done something more.
It had been some time since her daughter had left, since she had seen Alec streak across the ground. Since the men had taken the refugees. Even now, when she looked into the distance, she couldn't see them. They were probably at the cabin now, waiting for the right time to move.
Adalia glanced at her son with a sigh.
"We should get going now." She told him, "Danny is probably missing you and it'll at least take us two days to get back.

Sleeping used to be easy. Carson used to fall asleep not long after ArraBella had. He would fall asleep only after her, to protect. He had gotten into that habit since their time in New York City. He hadn't shaken that habit since.
It was so easy for him to sleep because he felt like he could protect against things with a gun. But since the night the monsters broke into that restroom and took-
He winced at the memory.
He hadn't been able to sleep well since. He had been having weird dreams since then. One dream was so recurring that it was frightening. He used to have it every now and then after he had settled down in Utah with ArraBella. But never like this.
Because of that, he fought the heaviness in his eyelids and whenever he started to nod off he would shake himself awake. He had to stay awake. If the little boy suddenly woke up, he wanted to be there to make sure that he was safe and didn't go running off and getting himself in trouble.
So when he heard Danny scream and then start doing something- what was that? Wiping his face? He sat up erect and looked down at the little boy.
He found it weird that he was wiping away tears so furiously. Zakai had such a weird son. But at the same time, he was also concerned.
"Hey, bud." He said, "What's up?"

[Lil]

Faye made her way back to the room her son had been in to find him still sleeping. Oh gosh, that poor kid needed to sleep but he also needed to eat and shower and ugh... Those things could wait though because right now, at a time like this, sleep was hard to get and they needed to take the opportunity to get some rest whenever they could. So Faye quietly left the boy once more before heading off to the kitchen to prepare food for when Logan did wake.

[Kicks]

The fire extinguisher was clasped to the floor by metal hooks. He reached over and underneath the seat, his fingers working at the clasps. He tried to stay quiet as he worked the fire extinguisher out from under the seat. But it clanged against metal.
“Did you hear that?”
“Yea it came from up front.”
Blake hurriedly pulled the fire extinguisher towards himself. He popped off the plastic cap and gripped his fingers around the lever.
He could see feet emerging from around the seat.
Blake quickly stood up and pulled down on the lever. The foam sprayed from the end of the can, causing a mist to hit them in their faces and blind them. He dropped the can and leaped over the seats to get into the aisle way.
“Son of a b-!”
Blake didn’t look behind him. He reached the door and jumped out and onto the ground. It was a much further fall than he was expecting, and so he landed oddly. If his legs had been stronger he would have been able to spring back up and run for it. But his left ankle twisted beneath his weight.
His head hit the pavement.
“Bloo-” He grumbled, fingers and hands pushing against the blacktop. He stumbled back to his feet and quickly, ignoring the shooting pain in his ankle, shuffled away.

[Lil]

In the kitchen is where she came across someone she had so desperately tried to avoid. "And what brings little ole Goldilocks to the kitchen?" Chase asked with a smile.

"You really should at least attempt to not seem so flirty." Faye replied not wanting to give him the wrong idea or even remotely humor him. "A little birdy has told me he has some pretty wicked intentions next time he sees you." Faye informed the other blonde.

"Oh..." That was all Chase said. Truthfully he never had intentions of trying to come across flirty but sometimes, he just couldn't help it.

"Now, what is there to eat in here that I can take back to the rooms with me?" Faye asked wanting to steer away from that subject.

[Kicks]

He was able to avoid the people back on the plane, or at least he hoped to have. Maybe they were too blind to come after him. That's what Blake was certainly hoping.
He shuffled away from the plane and made it back into the airport. He shut the door quickly behind him and looked for something to lock it with. There was a fire axe in its case. He broke the glass with elbow and pulled the axe from its casing.
Just as he turned to put the axe through the handle bars, he heard someone behind him:
"U.S Marines. Drop your weapon and put your hands in the-"
They hadn't the time to finish. Blake chucked the axe towards the men in camouflage and took off running down the separate hallway.
He didn't know what he was thinking. He just knew that that seemed like the best idea. Maybe he should have kept the axe on him- but that just would have slowed him down. The better thing to worry about was why the hell the military was at an airport. And if it were just a coincidence that Nico had felt like he was being watched when he was here. Maybe the military was keeping tabs on this place, or using it to draw people in. He didn't know. He just knew he had to run.

[Lil]

Chase looked at Faye a bit strangely, well that was certainly a quick flip in character. Nevertheless, he was always willing to help her out. "Well let's see..." He started as he searched through cabinets. "There's plenty of granola bars and trail mix." He suggested.

"Yeah, that'll do for now. I don't need a meal right now anyways." Faye said taking the two things from Chase's hands. "Thanks." Faye smiled tightly before quickly scuffling out of the kitchen in order to spend as little time with Chase as she could since she was aware of her husband's dislike and feared upsetting Blake anymore than she already had in the past week or so-- not that she could anyways.

[Kicks]

There was no real time to think as he ran. He had no time to work things out in his head. It was just pure instinct now. Blake knocked over machines that held pop or snacks as he ran to block the path of the Marines. He knew it wouldn’t stop them, but it sure as hell would slow them down.
Unfortunately, this led him straight into a dead end. There were zombies in front of him, Marines in back. He looked between the undead and the fallen machine. It was too bad he had used too much of his power getting into the airport as it was.
He should have thought better on that earlier, been a little less generous with his ability.
“Freeze!” He heard the shout from behind, above the roar of the zombies.
Blake looked at the window. The zombies were just an arm’s length away now, the Marines yards from him.
He shook his head and ran at the window, bracing himself for impact. His elbow and side took the full force of the window. But since America’s enhanced security measures, it was harder to break a window than it would have been before the zombies.
He cursed and tried again.
“We will shoot!”
And again.
He knocked his fist against the head of a zombie, forcing it to only stumble back. Blake threw himself at the window again. It cracked. But it was doing no good.
“Shit!” He yelled. The crowd of zombies were too thick to run through. But maybe… maybe the Marines wouldn’t follow into the horde. He just had to protect his vitals.
Blake threw his hands over his head and ran into the horde.

[Lil]

It was in the midst of these thoughts about Blake's feelings toward Chase and how Faye would feel if there was a woman like this in their lives with an attraction to Blake that Faye found herself back at the room. She didn't enter just yet however, she had more to think about. So, if there was this woman Faye would not have had the restraint that Blake has maintained so far and this had made her realize that perhaps she should make her contact with Chase as little as possible to make things easier on her husband. It wasn't fair of Faye to put him through that when he was so wonderful to her in every possible way.

Ugh, she was really regretting how she'd treated him lately. She was so unnecessarily mean and that was an awful thing to be to your dearly beloved. Blake deserved better and therefore she would strive to be better. For him. For them.

[Kicks]

It wasn’t the smartest idea. But Blake could at least see the exit door now. And on the bright side, the military wouldn’t follow into a horde unless they-
“Fuck.”
He wasn’t cursing because he was being bitten a million times over. He was cursing because he only remembered the military had armor.
He had to pick up his pace then. Or… look for something better. Like a vent, like a car, a weapon. Anything!
The sheer force of the number of zombies was bringing his body down towards the floor. He knew if he were to be consumed, they would have the best chance by bringing him down. It was because of this that he refused to go down so easily.
He could see the door. It was so close.
“Aaaah!” He screamed, pushing through more of them. “Get off!”
His body slammed against the door with his final stride through the horde. His bloody hand slid over the door until it found the handle. He grabbed it, pulled it down, and pushed it open. He stumbled into the bright daylight and slammed the door behind him.
“You almost had us.”
Blake sighed almost exhaustedly at the sight of the two Marines training guns on him. He knew from the voice that it was the same men he had sprayed with the fire extinguisher.
Blake got down on his knees, hands behind his head. His brain working a million miles an hour now.
They… He thought to himself -are so dead.

[Lil]

Faye remained in the hall for only a few moments longer, collecting her thoughts and then at last, clearing her head from all these thoughts of Blake who the more she thought about the more she missed him. Faye quietly entered the room to at last find Logan stirring awake. He wasn't fully awake so she was careful not to be too loud or overwhelming for the sleepy boys mind.

"I brought some food if you happen to be hungry." Faye greeted her son quietly, She took a seat at the foot of the bed, placing the food on the floor beside them both. For a moment she hadn't thought he had even heard her but after a few long seconds Logan nodded in recognition.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai studied his mother for a moment, wanting to see how she reacted, but he wasn't very sure if he'd helped anything or not, though his statement wasn't necessarily to offer any comfort. It was just to relay his feelings on the subject.
He looked back out to the ground below. He hated it when things got like this. In these cases, all he could ever do was put things bluntly and not ease anyone's tension, but maybe it was for the better? He didn't even know. Maybe it didn't matter. He realized then that he was doing the exact thing he'd advised against and refocused himself.
He kept watching until he heard Adalia's voice again, saying that they should probably get going. He nodded in agreement, smiling softly at the mention of his son missing him. Other than being worried about him, Zakai simply missed his child. Two days was already too long. Still, the thought of getting back and being able to see him made Zakai feel a bit better and he draped his jacket over the last line, grabbing on to either side of it, before pushing off the platform.
The fact that they were entering enemy territory made him a little less than comfortable, but so long as there was a little ball of energy waiting for him back at the base, then nothing else mattered.

Danny jumped when Carson asked him what was up and wiped his eyes even more furiously.
"Nothing! Nothing's up! The only thing up is... is... the ceiling!" Had Carson seen him cry? He had, hadn't he? Then he knew he was worried about Zakai and... but then, that's not why he was crying right? He was crying because he had a nightmare... but the reason didn't matter! Carson had seen him cry! That was the worst! Danny had failed in hiding his tears! But then... if Carson knew he'd been crying, then he could tell him what was wrong? But then... but then.....
Danny simply burst into tears all over again and started cried more loudly, not even trying to hide it. He couldn't.
"I had a nightmare," he said between sobs, "That Daddy was taken away.... and... and he didn't even turn around and... and.... and you're not supposed to see me cry!"
He didn't even know which was worse. He couldn't cry in front of anyone except for Zakai! Only Zakai was allowed and no one else! If someone else saw him cry then that was terrible, and now someone else had and he was still crying, but no matter how hard he tried to wipe his tears away, they wouldn't stop! So, in the end, he gave up and sat there bawling.

[Kicks]

The first soldier walked up to him, lowering his gun on its shoulder strap so he could cuff Blake. The man watched as the soldier reached and grabbed his wrist strongly. And then- he froze.
“What the he-?” The soldier began.
Blake turned quickly in his spot, swinging his body around so he twisted to grab the soldier and place him in front of his own body. Shots were fired from the other soldier, but Blake ducked quickly behind the human shield. He could feel the power of the bullets hit the soldier.
In the moment the bullets stopped firing, Blake dodged away from the body and swung his fist out to the other man. He had stolen the energy from the other soldier. He should feel remorse for it… but so much adrenaline was coursing through his body that he couldn’t stop to care. He would be haunted later by it, for certain.
The soldier blocked his fist with his gun, so Blake rose up his other fist and grabbed the gun. His other hand locked down on it and he forced the gun up into the face of the soldier. Because of the force of the blow, the soldier released his gun and stumbled away, clutching his nose.
Blake brought the gun up to his chest, swiveling it around in time to see the other soldiers he had evaded.
Of the men- the soldiers and Blake- one of them pulled their trigger.

[Kicks]

Her daughter and Alec were following the military. That wasn't good. But of course it had to be them. Who else would it be? And anyways, maybe the military would have mercy on them if they found out they worked for the government. But then what?
She couldn't possibly imagine.
And to think she wouldn't even know if they were alive or not until they were back at the fort and never showed... or... Or...
Adalia forced these thoughts from her head.
Adalia was glad she had chosen then to move out. She could no longer hear the caravan moving throughout the forest. She couldn't hear anything from the Tenant. She couldn't hear nothing but nature and Zakai sliding down the line.

"Oh." Carson said. He did it out of surprise, not out of 'well okay, that's cool'. He hadn't been expecting the boy to be so exuberant about lying to his face. But that was perfectly okay. Kids were weird, and anything that came from Zakai had to be weirder.
He was almost ready to just reach out and give him a hug when suddenly the boy started bawling his eyes out.
Carson's eyes widened. He hadn't been expecting any kind of confession, and certainly not one with tears.
So the little boy had had a nightmare about his dad being taken away... and Carson wasn't allowed to see him cry.
"Okay, okay!" He said, "Look, I'm not looking." He put his hands over his eyes and turned his head the other way. There. That solved seeing him cry. But Carson also wanted to hug the little guy. But he couldn't do that without looking. So he settled for easing the nightmare: "Danny, you shouldn't worry about your dad being taken away. He's a pretty hard guy to steal- especially if he has you. I don't think he would let himself be stolen when he has you."

[Lil]

Faye watched as Logan went through the stages of waking up. At first he just sat there as if testing whether or not he was really awake. He yawned and stretched in order to wake up each muscle in his body until he at last blinked around a few times almost surveying the room. It surprised Faye how much he looked like his father in this instance, and at only ten years old. She couldn't help but smile at this.

"So, I'm hoping you slept alright. You never seemed to be having any nightmares." Faye commented with her soft smile.

"No, I really did get some peaceful sleep. It was nice." He responded while reaching over and taking a water bottle. He was very thankful to have been blessed with this rest because this was a lot of stress for a ten year old boy to take on and he was lying is he said it didn't absolutely terrify him.

[Kicks]

His body swayed back and forth, back and forth with the bumps of the road. On numerous times his head hit the metal of the back of the cargo truck. But never did the swaying or bumping awaken the mutant.
He was out cold from the serum shot into him. Though his dreams were alive, replaying what had happened.
Blake had swiveled around to see the military men. And then the shot was fired. The dart hit his neck, burying its way into his body and releasing its chemicals.
But then his dream stopped there and restarted from the beginning. Going through the airport… finding the plane… making contact with the United Kingdom… so on and so forth… so on and so forth… the man he used as a human shield… the other man he had cracked the nose of… and then the trigger...

Blake’s eyes shot open.
He was in the back of an old military cargo truck. He could see light barely gleaming in through the tarps in the back. He couldn’t hear the voices of the drivers past the thin metal sheet separating the cargo from the driver’s cabin.
There were supplies in the back with him. But nothing he could see that would be useful to him.
His hands were tied together tightly against some kind of heavy metal container. It had weird numbers on it he was assuming belonged to the serial number.
He didn’t know for how long he had been out. But judging by the free motion of his body, it had to have been awhile.
He also didn’t know what time it was or how much daylight there was left. He didn’t know where the truck was going or why he hadn’t been killed on the spot.
But he did know one thing for sure: he was not staying prisoner.

[Lil]

Logan continued to wonder why he wasn't having nightmares. Usually he did but these last few sleeps had been terror free strangely enough. Perhaps he just felt very safe and secure in the fort, which he did, but he also doubted that would completely erase his nervous, horrible thoughts.

After a few minutes of pondering he decided on not questioning it and instead just letting it run its course. Not like it was anything for him to complain over.

Logan grabbed a bag o trail mix from the floor now and tore into it carefully, as to not spill any in the bed. He poured a bit into his mouth before looking at his mother. "You should get some sleep too." He told her, taking notice of the dark circles under her eyes and just the exhausted expression he'd come to be all too familiar with.

Faye just shook her head and smiled. "Trust me when I say this isn't the longest I've gone without sleep. I'll be alright." She avoided providing a reason however because she didn't wish to elaborate on why Blake was gone for now, especially if Logan hadn't noticed yet.

[Kicks]

His power was fully charged after such a rest and from having stolen energy from a man. So Blake had no fear in using it again. But he only used it to free himself of the restraints. He had came up with a plan in his head of how to get the truck to stop. The key was if he could get both men out of the truck.
Blake moved over to a crate and pushed it out of the truck. He could hear it slamming behind the truck. Hehe.
He did the same to another crate. Then another.
Suddenly, the brakes were hit and he fell to the metal floor.
For a few seconds, he listened to silence. Then there was the sound of a door opening and slamming, boots on the ground. Then the tarp lifting up.
Blake swung his fist into the man’s throat.
He had a family to get back to. And if that meant having to brutalize another human being… well he would just have to deal with it.
"Sorry, mate." He did apologize nonetheless to the gasping and writhing soldier, "No hard feelings. Off now, I really must take care of your friend too."

[Lil]

Logan looked at his mother rather unconvinced and disappointed with her reasoning. Just because you can doesn't necessarily mean you should, but he was only ten and it was not his place to order her to sleep. Eventually she'd grow exhausted that she had to though.

"Is it okay for me to go outside? Maybe even go have a look at the greenhouse? It's pretty stuffy in here ya know?" He asked his mom hoping she wouldn't mind but she may be too worried to let him.

"Yeah of course." Faye replied with a bit of a laugh. "You don't have to ask about something like that. I feel pretty safe in here, don't you?"

Logan nodded and smiled. He downed about half of the water bottle and took the trail mix with him as he left the room and headed out into the open air. It certainly was nice out here, even if just beyond the fence there was death and destruction.

[Kicks]

Blake was turned around for the first few minutes of driving. He hadn’t any idea the direction he was going until he actually looked at the compass. West.
He still had to put that together with the road signs he passed. And once he had a general location mapped out of where he was, he hit the gas pedal and continued West.
He was so much further in Utah than he would have been if he had escaped away from the soldiers to begin with. So he should have at least thanked them for that.
Then again, they did leave him to rot in the cargo. So maybe not. For now, they were even.
His mind was set on Fort Trinity. Though he was afraid to show up as he was. He should at least clean himself up, find some clean clothes that covered his whole body.
So that’s what Blake decided on. As soon as he got into Trinity, Utah he would clean himself up before going back to the fort. He had to be presentable, after all. And he didn’t want to worry his wife when he showed up looking like he had been through a horde of zombies and such.
He had to be presentable!

[Lil]

Faye watched her son leave and as soon as she did she flopped back. He was right, she was exhausted and she did need to sleep but she couldn't. No matter how bad she wanted she could as long as she didn't know where Blake was and if he was safe. When he returned in a few days, then she'd sleep. For now though? She fought to stay awake.

She was only lay there for a few moments getting lost in thought before she stopped herself knowing she'd head down and bad path if she let herself. Instead she too decided to eat a little and maybe find a way to entertain herself in this tiny room.

Logan however, he went exactly here he told his mom. He made his way to the makeshift greenhouse and entered, completely awed. This was incredible.

He looked at all the plants and foods to be grown and even took a little pride in knowing he'd helped, even if it was just a little bit! Alec was so cool though, being able to put this all together? That was wicked in Logan's mind.

[Kicks]

The bath was cold because he took it in a ditch. It burned the bites from the zombies, but after some time he became numb to all of it. There were zombies out and about as he bathed in the ditch. But he ignored them because they were ignoring him. It was probably because he smelled so much like a zombie when he first got into the ditch.
Blake discarded his clothes and exchanged them for a military uniform he found in the cargo truck. It was a bit tight on him. Whoever wore this before him certainly did not have the same amount of lean meat on them as he did.
He left the jacket off, leaving himself to only wear the light green shirt and khaki pants.
By the time he arrived at Fort Trinity, the daylight was starting to fade. It must have been early morning when he awoke from the serum.
When he arrived at the fort, he was clean looking but roughed up. Better than absolutely dirty, he decided.
Blake pulled the access card from around his neck and swiped it over the entrance. He waited for the gates to open, counting in his head the seconds that passed.
One… two… three… four….
...ten.
He stepped into the fort, the gates closing behind him.
Blake swung the access card back around his neck.

[Lil]

Logan had spent, he didn't even know how long anymore just sitting in the greenhouse, mesmerized by all the plants and the way they grew and fascinated by the watering system and how the sunlight reached each plant. Alec really had engineered this ingeniously!

He lied on his back between two of the rows of crops and stared up through one of the windows at the slowly darkening sky. It was nice here. It was peaceful and calm and pretty and he decided he'd come here more often to escape.

Faye never quite succumbed to sleep. She forced herself to stay awake by doing dumb things quite honestly. She would rearrange rooms just trying to see how many ways she could make all the things fit still. She used her ability to entertain herself but there was only so much to make fly around before it became boring. At some point she moved a mattress into the hall and propped it up against the wall and would throw a homemade little cloth ball at it and it would bounce back to her and that's where she sat now, attempting to keep herself awake and possibly even just completely numb her mind.

[Kicks]

Now Blake had made a list in his head of things he was going to do once he got back to Fort Trinity. He was going to shove a pole up Chase's arse. He was going to see his wife, he was going to see his son. He was going to make sure that Nico wasn't dead and he hadn't ran into any trouble.
The trouble was choosing which to do first.
The fact was, he didn't know where anyone was. He had been gone for quite some time. So even where he thought people might be had completely slipped his mind.
He thought about walking around and finding people. But the place was so huge that Blake knew he would have no luck in it.
He thought about going to the top of the wall to peer down and see if he could spot anyone, but that just wasn't realistic to him, especially if nobody was outside.
He knew people were here, he could feel their energies. He just couldn't pinpoint them exactly. And there was no way to tell between the different energies of which belonged to who.
So Blake resorted in deciding to get some trail mix and then come up with a plan to tracking each one of them down.
He entered into the kitchen with his mind set on trail mix.

[Lil]

Unlike Faye and Logan, Chase hadn't moved. He was still in the kitchen without a thing to do but he'd determined this was the best place to utilize his own ability. He could make fire and felt pretty safe about it. When he heard footsteps he looked up and in the nick of time realized it was exactly who he was terrified to see.

Quickly, Chase ducked behind a counter just praying Blake hadn't noticed him and he could get out unscathed because he'd seen what that man could do when he was angry and it was terrifying.

[Kicks]

Blake had caught sight of something. But by now he figured it was just paranoia or hunger. And so he brushed it off without a second thought. Instead, he went in search of some trail mix. Except, he got distracted when he found a protein bar instead.
That was fine by him. Either one had protein in it and he was craving some right about now.
He was beginning to unwrap the package when he noticed something.
Blake stiffened and narrowed his eyes, letting the roam the kitchen. Someone was in here, he could feel their energy.
Slowly, the man put down his protein bar and began to walk along the length of the kitchen. Why would someone be hiding? Was it Danny again? Or some other kid that wanted to hide-?
Blake's eyes landed on the hiding Chase.
Not a child, exactly. But definitely hiding.
He cocked his head to the side and said: "Well, hello. Are you aware I saw you flirting with my wife a few days back?" He tossed his head back to look at the ceiling in thought. "Funny thing. Because I could have sworn I have warned you against that. Makes me wonder how many other times you've flirted with her." He lowered his head again to stare at the man.

[Lil]

Chase very slowly had begun to move, attempting to escape whatever awaited him if he was caught. "Dammit." He murmured when he knew Blake had seen him and there was no sense in denying it.

Chase slowly stood with his hands raised as if to somehow represent his ability to comply. "I don't know what you saw Blake but I can assure you, I wasn't flirting with her." intentionally... But Chase kept that part to himself. "I'm not gonna try and take a married woman from her husband." He explained trying to make reason and not have to succumb to a fight. Not even a fight over Faye, no Chase didn't intend to do that but he would fight back if Blake attacked him.

[Kicks]

"Well if that isn't just the biggest lie I've ever heard!" Blake laughed. He was looking around for a pole. A pole to shove up Chase's arse. But why were there never poles around when he needed one?
He needed one right now. What the hell was he supposed to do if he couldn't shove a pole up-
His ears caught attention to what Chase had said. Blake gave him the most hideous look he had ever given a person.
"It's not about you trying to take a married woman, you twit!" He yelled at the man, "Have you no dignity? You do not flirt with a married woman. You just don't. Only the lowest of sniveling bottom-feeders would do that."
So help him. Where was a pole? He kept looking for one. It had to be a pole. But this was a kitchen, full of food, water, and nothing of use to him.
So he stopped trying to find a pole and just resorted to yelling at Chase instead.
"I don't like you, I really don't. And it's not a jealousy thing, because frankly you are not someone to be jealous of. I think it's more of how disgusted I am by you. To think that you would actually be all flirty and cutesy with my wife makes me want to vomit blood and shit. So do us all a fucking favor and treat her as a friend, not someone you would lay."

[Lil]

Chase sat there taking the yelling determining how he wished to react. He could argue back jus as well. He could argue that he didn't flirt with his wife and that Blake was concocting this image on his own! Chase really hadn't meant to flirt with Faye, not lately at least!

He was feeling really fired up now. Thinking of all the things he could say to retaliate. Like how Chase may flirt with Faye unintentionally but at least he was there for her when Blake was being an ass or when he just decided to up and leave his wife and child behind. Yeah, Chase had noticed, not like it was really that hard.

But in the end, Chase decided against it. There was no sense in arguing and would probably only end him up in a worse position. "Alright man, you're right." Chase conceded and stepped back again. "I'll leave her alone," even though I'm not doing anything, "I'll let you two be. You deserve that. Well, at least she does." And there it was, his snide little comment. But he had done better than expected.

[Kicks]

Do not punch him in the face. Do not punch him in the face. Do not punch him in the face. Blake had to repeat this to himself over and over and over again. He may have taken some time away to clear his head of all of this. But being back made him only realize just how truly pissed off he was about this whole situation.
He could feel his fists starting to curl.
Don't do it. Your fists are not the pole. Your fists are not the- what the fuck did he just- That's it, I'm going to kill him.
Blake reached out like he was going to strangle Chase.
No. Do not strangle him. No. No. Bad. Put your hands down.
Blake slowly exhaled. He had to turn away and close his eyes. He was going to kill him. He was really going to- no. He couldn't. That was bad. He had told himself that before. But every time it was like Chase went ahead and flirted with her anyways.
Thinking on this, Blake started curling his fists again.
No. Just pretend he's not even there. Want to punch something? Punch a wall. Don't kill him. Don't do that. That's bad. Punch a wall instead.
Blake's hand whipped out from his side and collided with the wall.
​Ah yes. So much better than killing someone, isn't it?

[Lil]

Chase didn't know what to do for a long time there. He was certain him and Blake were about to go at it but every time the opportunity seemed to peek out Blake would pull himself back in and Chase was thankful. He continued to back away hoping that Blake would just let him off.

"I'm sorry, I really am. I'll back off. Won't even look at her for a while, that sound okay to you?" Chase said trying to find a way to get out of this without it coming to a fight because he imagined Faye would not appreciate that. When Blake punched the wall his eyes grew a bit wider. Perhaps it'd been a stupid idea to come back into Faye's life this way but he couldn't have stopped it. He would live up to his word though, he'd avoid contact with the woman for a while hoping this could all just fade away.

[Kicks]

He thought about retracting his fist from the wall. But he wasn't ready to turn around just yet. He was so angry. Blake couldn't allow himself to gaze upon the man that he was going to kill.
No, you will not kill him. Punch the wall again if you want to kill him. Don't take a life. That's bad.
Blake exhaled and opened his eyes. He would have to fix that hole in the wall. Or maybe he should just make it bigger by ramming Chase's-
Hey! No! Bad!
The man whose head he was thinking of shoving through the wall was speaking. Blake listened intently. Chase better hope to God he was going to live up to that.
Blake withdrew his hand from the wall and shook off the dust from his hand. He turned to see the man. He had backed away quite a bit since Blake had found him. Was that his way of trying to run away?
"Whatever." He said.

[Lil]

Whatever. Oh perfect. That was actually an absolutely perfect response for Chase. He could live with whatever! "Alright then. Then I'll do just that." He said and nodded his head. "But for now, I think uhh, I'm gonna go?" Chase said eyeing the other door in which he hoped to slip out of originally and head to his room where he could lock himself in for now until Blake calmed down.

He thought about mentioning where Blake might find Faye and that she really missed him but he also imagined that somehow his words would be misconstrued and he'd wind up in way more trouble.

[Kicks]

He better. Blake would hate to be this angry every time he saw those two. He hated to not be able to trust them alone. He hated to think that it was just like babysitting a-
I'm getting mad again. I better stop thinking about that rooftop.
He forced himself to take a deep breath in.
"Good idea." He said when Chase suggested he was just gonna go. Blake had a feeling if neither of them were to go, one of them would end up in a body bag.
Hey. No. That's bad.
What did he just say to himself? If he was going to think about killing Chase, he was better off punching a wall.
But now that he had seen the man, he could cross off half a thing from his list. Sure, he wasn't able to shove a pole up his arse like he wanted to. But he still counted it as crossing one thing off his list.
Now he had to calm down enough to go about and do the other things on his list.

[Lil]

Chase took that opportunity. He grasped onto it and never planned on letting go. He left the kitchen quickly and headed straight back for his own room hoping he didn't cross paths with anyone as he went.

He wasn't coward as Blake might think now but he'd determined it was better to let him think that then for them to both end up worse for wear. Yeah Faye would not approve of Chase pounding on Blake at all and he doubted she'd be too find of it being reversed either, not because of who Chase was but more because of who Blake was.

[Kicks]

He decided to stand there for a few more minutes, trying to recollect himself. It had been a long week. Especially today. Blake decided that today was the most violent day in history for him. In the last twenty four hours he sprayed foam from a fire extinguisher on human beings, he used one as a human shield, broke the nose of another, socked a man in the throat, threw another man of a cargo truck, and yelled at Chase.
Yes. The last twenty four hours have been exceptionally hostile for him. He wondered whether he should be worried about that or not.
No. He decided not to be.
Blake grabbed the protein bar from the counter again. He didn't eat it. He had since lost his appetite. Instead, he shoved it in his pocket for later.
"Okay." He told himself after a large glass of water. "You're calm. And you have a list. Better finish that list."
Blake nodded and left the kitchen.

[Lil]

Chase only stopped when he reached the confines of his room. Well really, that'd gone better than he had expected, even if the outcome wasn't great. It was better than beaten to a pulp! He lied back on the bed and tried to decide what he'd spend his time doing to avoid Faye, probably try and help Colton and Richard and them out, that seemed easiest.

Faye eventually grew bored at her little game and tossed her legs up on the wall. She scooted so that her back was against the floor and she looked as if she were sitting on the wall. From this angle she simply just stared forward with the little cloth ball floated above her face.

Logan never grew tired of watching the sky change. It melted from blue into an array of reds, organes, yellows, and pinks until it fell dark and was speckled by stars. He traced his finger through the air trying to connect stars and form pictures but it wasn't too easy.

[Kicks]

Blake had a toss up in his head. Find his wife first, or find his son. Well, if he found Faye first chances were he would never get around to finding his son. And he really wanted to find him. Which was hard because he also really wanted to find Faye. But once he found Faye he would talk with her and get so distracted and caught up in their own little world that he would completely forget his other intentions.
So Blake decided to find Logan first.
It wasn't easy, exactly. He felt like he checked everywhere before finally checking the greenhouse. It was when he decided to check there that he did find his son- watching the sky, it appeared.
For some reason, looking at his ten year old boy just stare up like that as if he had no other care in the world, really melted his heart.
Blake slipped over to him and decided to lay down next to him. He crossed his hands over his stomach and turned his head to look at Logan.
"Pst," He whispered, "Have you decided on being a cop?"

[Lil]

Logan hadn't noticed his dad at first until he spoke. He rolled his head to the side and smiled. "Dad!" Logan yelled before wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug.

He felt like it had been ages since he'd seen his father and while at the beginning he'd been good at distracting himself eventually it was hard to ignore the fact he didn't see his parents often. Then his mom started to be around more and he just wondered where his dad was. But here he was now and Logan had never felt so happy!

Logan sat up and nodded his head. "Yeah I'll be a cop! It sounds cool! And you like it so I can do that!" He insisted.

[Kicks]

Blake broke into a grin at that expression on Logan's face. When the little boy hugged him, Blake made sure to give him an extra tight hug.
For a moment all he could think was: this is what I had brutalized people to get back to. I have no regrets. This is my son.
When the boy sat up, Blake sat up as well and he felt his grin grow wider so much so that it was painful. Children were so funny.
"Well that's good!" He said, "You'll be such a great cop. And you'll be helping people too!"
The truth was he was just happy to be back with his son. He hadn't realized just how much he had missed him until now.

[Lil]

Logan nodded. "And I'll get a cool badge and a radio and lots of other stuff!" He explained as if his dad didn't already know. "I'll make all the bad guys go to prison too!" He added with a smile. That'd be so awesome.

But the more he thought about it the more he wondered if that'd ever be possible. "But wait. We don't really have police right now cause of everything that is happening. Do you think we'll ever need them again?" Logan asked. He didn't want to do a job where he wouldn't be needed!

[Kicks]

He seemed so excited about it! Blake could remember when Logan barely "needed" him. He wondered just what had happened to that attitude of his. But Blake didn't want to worry too much into it. Not while he still was so excited.
Blake withheld a chuckle. Children could be so weird. One second they didn't need their parents, and the next second they did.
And anyways, his son had just asked a question and he better start paying attention again.
"We will definitely need them again," He told the boy, "Because it won't be like this forever."

[Lil]

"Well good." Logan answered with a smile. A cop sounded like a fun job. Taking down bad guys and helping save people! That was gonna be so cool.

"If you like cops so much why didn't you become one?" Logan asked curiously. His dad really seemed to like this idea, why didn't he do it himself then?

[Kicks]

It was true that Blake did respect cops. They were just so cool. They took down the bad guys, they responded to calls at all hours of the night. They were strong, they were dignified. But it was never a thing for Blake. He was a legal immigrant and held a card to be in America. But that wasn't the issue. The fact was, it wasn't for him.

"I liked swimming and coaching too much to get a job like that." He told his son with a small smile. "I was never a very smart kid in school. I was more focused on sports. I liked being active and hated learning. Cops are active, but they go through an academy. And that was just another form of school. I became a swimming coach, started my own business in Hawaii. Then I grew to realized that I liked teaching and became a survivalist teacher for the Tenant."

[Lil]

Logan nodded. Well that made sense, he didn't like school very much either, it was boring and not very fun.

"So you like to teach but not to learn? That's funny." He commented with a light chuckle. He just found the while thing ironic. Still, he was happy his dad taught survival training because now they were really prepared for all of this.

[Kicks]

Needless to say it was highly ironic. Blake had always hated learning in a school environment. He learned nothing from being in school that he would actually use- well except for the French classes he took. But anything past what Americans deemed as "high school" and he deemed as "college" was just useless. Yay, he could solve an algebra problem. Yay he could write an essay about the human illusions of good and evil.

But none of it was helping him now, was it? It didn't matter if he could write five or so pages on any topic. It didn't matter that he could solve a calculus problem. It didn't matter that he could recite poetry or talk about British literature as if he were some sort of expert. The fact was: none of it prepared him for real life. And especially not this life.

Which is why he was so thankful that he got to teach something that actually did matter, that actually was of use. That would keep people alive, hopefully. And that is why he used to get so angry whenever his classes didn't pay attention because none of them understood the reality of the threat.

"Yea." Blake agreed with a chuckle of his own before getting serious. "So, you holding up okay?"

[Lil]

Logan shrugged. "Pretty good considering what all is going on I guess." He didn't actually have many problems right now. He had nightmares and he did worry about what the next day would hold but it wasn't anything unusual he figured.

"It's not too hard to keep myself entertained either, there's actually a lot to do around here believe it or not." Logan said and smiled.

[Kicks]

Blake was supposed that was the best in this situation. He couldn't wish for anything more, nor anything less. Though he did find it strange, yet glad, that Logan said there was a lot of stuff to do around here. Blake could argue against that. He got fairly bored when he wasn't active. But so long as his son found entertainment, he could be happy with that.


It appeared that Logan was doing good. And that he was happy too. He didn't look too bad either. And that was what Blake was wanting to know.


"Okay," He said, "Just checking up on you. Where's your mom at?"

[Lil]

Logan smiled before shrugging. "Oh umm... The last time I saw her was back at the rooms. She was staying with me, but she didn't sleep and she needs to!" He informed his father very deliberately. His mom needed to sleep but had been refusing to and Logan didn't know why.

[Kicks]

Back at the rooms? Well at least he was glad to hear they had been staying together. But he wasn't so glad to hear that Faye hadn't been sleeping. Logan was absolutely right, Faye needed to sleep. Sleep was imperative out here in this new world. He should go to her and force her to sleep- but knowing her, sleep wouldn't come too easily for her. That sucked!

"I'm going to go force her to sleep." Blake whispered to his son then winked as if it were a huge secret. "But don't tell anyone else, it might get back to her."

He stood to his feet and patted his son on his shoulder and said: "I will see you soon." And then he left to go and find Faye. And force her to sleep like Logan would want.

[Lil]

Logan nodded. "You'll probably be better at convincing her than me." He didn't care who convinced her but he knew someone needed to and he bet his dad was the guy to do it. "Bye!" He called as he watched him leave.

Elsewhere... Faye hadn't moved. She was too lazy and had no reason to, so she just sat there and made the cloth ball float around. She just had to keep herself from thinking things that would make her miss her husband more.

[Kicks]

But of course... Blake wouldn't be too afraid to drain Faye of energy and force her to sleep. Okay. That was a lie. He was petrified that she would retort and throw him around as if he were some kind of ragdoll. But from what he had heard from his son, Faye needed to sleep. So maybe being thrown around like that would sooo be worth it. And thinking on it, it was kind of a turn on.

Ew. He shook his head at that thought. You freaking pervert. Keep your mind off of that.

Blake stepped into the housing unit and headed towards the room that his son had been staying in. But before he even got there, he found his wife. Except, he quickly ducked around the hall. He wanted to spook her. Bwahaha.

He got ready like a cat would get ready to pounce. Then, when he counted to three, he jumped out and into her line of vision, shouting: "ROOOOOAR!"

[Lil]

Faye was indeed startled by whatever that was and it resulted in her throwing the ball over at... Blake.

Faye froze for a moment unsure of how to react completely. She lied there a moment longer before hurriedly getting of the floor and running over to him. Faye threw her arms around his neck not speaking a word for now, not that she knew what to say in the first place she just knew she was relieved and so happy and also so mad.

[Kicks]

Blake raised his hands up when he saw something go flying across the air. He was expecting that to be his own body but it appeared to be some kind of weird cloth ball. His wife must have been pretty bored to come up with this invention. After it hit his arms and fell to the ground, he lowered his arms and had just enough time to see Faye running at him.

He had to brace himself. For what, he still didn't know. A punch? Kick in the sack? Be thrown around?
Any of that except to be hugged. He blinked out of surprise, taking a moment to understand what was going on. But quickly he snapped out of that and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"What?" He asked with dancing blue eyes, "No sassy comment? No punch in the face? No insults? Honestly, I'm a little disappointed."

[Lil]

Faye just stayed there holding him and him holding her. She didn't respond to him at first she just had no words right now. Faye squeezed her eyes shut and hugged him tighter afraid if she released for even a moment he'd be gone.

After staying like this for a few minutes, once she was certain he was here and not going anywhere, she finally pulled back. Her hands moved to his cheeks where Faye just let herself look him over and take in every ounce if him.

"Blake Nathaniel West... I'm going to kill you." Faye said as a smile spread across her face and she pulled him in for a kiss.

[Kicks]

Blake wasn't expecting her silence. Really for Faye it was quite unheard of. In their relationship she was the loud one and he was the quiet one- or at least that's usually how it worked with them. But right now she was being so quiet that it was frightening. He could think of many reasons why she would be so quiet. First and foremost: she was thinking of a way to kill him.

When she finally pulled away and put her hands up on his face, he was a bit afraid she was going to slap him. Bu after a moment it appeared she was only going to threaten him. Oh thank God. She did speak! It was Faye!

He was starting to laugh when suddenly she was kissing him. Not that he minded. He put his hands up on the sides of her face and kissed her back.

[Lil]

Faye only pulled away when she too began to laugh. "I hate you so much. So so so so much." Faye told her husband but the entire time she laughed. Faye pressed her forehead to Blake's and closed her eyes deciding to enjoy just the closeness for now. It hadn't been that long truthfully but it was the longest Faye had even been away from Blake since they met and she would like to keep things that way.

"You're lucky I don't kick your ass right here, right now but," Faye paused and searched Blake's blue eyes for a moment, "I guess I love you too much to do that." Yes, everything she said was practically one huge contradiction but she couldn't decide how to feel. Mainly relieved but partly pissed but honestly, mostly ecstatic.

[Kicks]

"Oh you do?" He laughed then got a serious look on his face, "Well... I better leave again if that's the case." He tried to keep the serious look on his face but he only ended up laughing. No, he wouldn't leave again. Hell no. There was a lot more danger out there than just zombies and monsters. He shuddered just thinking about it.

She went from saying she hated him to loving him. Blake laughed again. Guess she couldn't make up her mind.

"You better be careful when threatening me." He told her in a fair warning, "Because you're really hot when you do. And I might just do something." Oh yea, he was so great at making threats. He was the Threat King.

[Lil]

Faye smiled and squeezed his arm a little when he said he might leave again. If he ever did that she would hunt him down and kill him, without a doubt. But Blake continued on and she knew he was kidding. Faye just smiled at him while he talked until he made that little threat of his own.

"Well let's just say you making threats is pretty hot too so we both better stop before we end up in trouble hmm?" Faye teased back before she quickly kissed him. "You've been gone a long time you know so I haven't exactly gotten my fill of Blake and you know how antsy I can be." She chuckled.

[Kicks]

Oh ho ho. She was possessive. Blake gave her a look of surprise when he felt that little grab of hers. That was just adorable. And he was the possessive one! No no no. Faye was just as possessive. Which was good. Because a relationship absolutely needed that. Because the fact was: he wasn't going to let her get away.

He gave her a hard kiss when she made her cutesy little comment.
"Trouble?" He echoed, "But trouble sounds so fun."
Blake gave her another kiss and pulled away with a grin on his face.

"Oh yes." He agreed with a feverish nod, "You get mean when you get antsy! It's like molestation, honestly." He joked. Then he quickly looked around as if he were looking for someone he had offended. Ha. No one. So he turned his eyes back to her and grinned.

"You have no idea what I did to get back to you." He sighed, a dark look coming across his eyes.

[Lil]

Faye had to bite back her grin because her cheeks were beginning to hurt from smiling so much. He was so cute and she just missed him so much, she hoped her never had to leave again because there was no way she could go through this again.

After he kissed her once more his whole demeanor changed however and it was bit frightening. Faye moved her hands back to his cheeks where she rubbed her thumbs over his cheekbones softly. What did he mean? What had he gone through to get here? "I'm happy you're back, and that's behind you now.What matters is that you made it, right?" Faye said as if she were having to convince him of this.

[Kicks]

But at what cost? He was the cause of one man's life. And he had no idea about those other men. He had left two for dead to fend against the zombies. But they really shouldn't have assumed they could take someone like that. Still, it wasn't something he could argue with himself. The fact was that he had hurt people pretty bad to get back here. And he wondered now if maybe there were a better way he could have gone about things.

Blake thought back on it, thinking to the fire extinguisher, the human shield, the punch to the throat... Was any of that actually justifiable? But it did prove one thing about himself: he would do anything to get back to his family.
He didn't know if that made him a sadist or not.

"Yea..." He said after a moment. He was back. That's what he had wanted. That was good.

Blake decided to push everything back in his head and smile down at his wife instead. "So did you get my message?"

[Lil]

Oh no. There was uncertainty and Faye could see it practically radiating from Blake. Was he not happy to be here? Was he regretting coming back or was he regretting what he'd done? She didn't want him to feel that way. That was a difference between Faye and Blake; she knew he loved his family more than anything in this world but she also knew that he had a different way of getting to the things he wanted. Faye was better with collateral damage essentially. She wasn't sure what to say to make this any better or easier for him though.

So the subject was switched, for now. "Yeah, Nico made it back here alright but damn Blake, do you have a way of picking them." Faye sighed. "I'm thankful he was able to let me know you were alright but he's definitely odd and creepy and certainly dangerous if he wanted to be." That's how she could sum him up essentially.

[Kicks]

Blake grinned at first when he heard that Faye got his message. Good. He was thankful for that. He knew the kid could get back here. Nico, was among other things, the strongest kid he had seen to be living out there on his own. It was more dangerous in Arizona than it even had been in Madera, California. It was crazy there.

But then he frowned because Faye found weird and creepy. He tried to think back on his time with Nico. Had the kid been weird to him? Blake couldn't think that he was. He seemed pretty normal to Blake. Maybe he was acting weird as a way of self defense with so many people. He didn't know. But it did make him curious to see what Faye was talking about.

He laughed and looked around: "So where is the little guy?"

[Lil]

Faye was almost hesitant to answer. How would Blake like the answer to this? Probably not at all. "Umm, well you see.. Jerome put him in the prison cell. But only because Nico actually suggested it! And he can like, unlock it anyways it seems." Faye finished.

"If you'd like to go see him you can but, I think I'll stay here if you do want to. I've spent enough time with him for now. Sorry."

[Kicks]

Blake's eyebrows rose up when he heard that Nico had been put in the jail cell... because of his own suggestion. For some reason he found this funny, but also really weird. Who suggested to be put in jail? That was just odd. And he could also unlock it. That Blake did not know.

He must really freak Faye out, Blake decided. How could a teenager freak an adult out? Well, okay. That wasn't a hard question to answer. A lot of teenagers freaked Blake out.

"Yea, I better go say hi. It'd be rude not to. And I told him to wait for me to return." Blake slowly started smiling at Faye, "I'll be right back. I will. I won't leave. I swear I will be right back." He said this to assure her and then he gave her a parting kiss.

[Lil]

Faye watched him anxiously. While she didn't believe he would leave again she was just anxious at the idea of separation. She swallowed roughly before letting her hands slip away from him and letting him go to find the strange boy. Perhaps he'd react better to Blake.

Meanwhile, Faye intended to... well, she wasn't quite sure. She didn't want to sleep if Blake weren't by her side so she'd continue her waiting game until he returned from his visit.

[Kicks]

Blake left the housing unit and went to the jail. It was a nice walk and for the first time in months he felt like he was truly stretching his legs.
He enjoyed the short walk until he stepped into the jail. There was no noise, but he knew there was someone in here. He walked over to the cell and peered in through the open door. There the kid was, sleeping in the corner and using his backpack for his pillow.
But he must have sensed someone approaching because he opened his eyes the second Blake stepped into the cell.
“So I hear you’ve been creeping people out.” Blake said to the teenager.
Nico grinned up at him. “You gotta scare people to make sure they don’t try anything.”
“I figured it was something like that.” Blake chuckled. “You can drop the act, Nico.”
“You should have seen the look on Jerome’s face.” Nico cackled, “He pulled a gun. Funny, funny stuff.”
Blake sighed and put his head into his hands. He was trying not to laugh. But it wasn’t working.
“So how did you open the door?” He asked after having caught his breath again.
Nico tapped his wrist and shrugged his shoulders: “I used my blood.” He dropped his wrist back down and gave a long yawn.
"Are you comfortable in here?" Blake asked, "I heard you recommended putting yourself in here."
Nico chuckled again, "I do like it in here. Not a lot of people in here."
"You're a special kind of introvert, aren't you?" Blake laughed again, "Okay. You can find a cot and blankets in the housing unit. Food is in the housing unit, in the kitchen. If you need anything, I'll be in the housing unit."

[Lil]

Faye decided she'd take this time to put everything back where she found it considering she had pulled a mattress from a room and rearranged it too. While it had cured her boredom earlier it did make things a little bit more difficult, especially if she planned to squeeze a second bed in so her and Blake could be together.

It had been easier in the hospital unit because those beds were big enough for the two of them but with these, well they really had to squeeze as it was. So she put the room for her and Blake back in order before she also started to move a second bed/cot thing over.

[Kicks]

It was a negotiation between the two of them for a few minutes. Nico was trying to get him to bring him dried fruit and a cot, and Blake wanted the kid to apologize to Faye for making her feel so creeped out. So they settled on a deal: Blake would give Nico some fruit snacks and dried fruit if he went to the housing unit with him.

Blake was back in the housing unit with the teenager within minutes. He first gave him the fruit snacks and the dried fruit, and then he went in search of Faye. When he did find her, it looked like she was moving things around. For some reason the sight made him smile.

"Hey, dear." He greeted her, "I have someone here to apologize to you."
Nico had that look on his face again. It wasn't exactly any sort of normal look like a stubborn one or a happy one. It was his look. An apathetic expression and faraway gaze that made it seem like he wasn't "all there".
"Stop that." Blake hissed to him.

[Lil]

Faye looked over when she heard that British accent again. She smiled until she noticed he'd brought Nico. Oh no, she didn't want to be around him anymore, he was creepy and scared her. But he was with Blake, maybe he was less awful around Blake.

"No, I don't know if that is necessary." Faye told Blake hesitantly. She was already worried the kid hated her, she didn't need him too anymore!

[Kicks]

"Of course it is," Blake reasoned with his wife. "He shouldn't have made you feel that way." His eyes cast down to Nico that had dropped that look. He looked a lot more sly without that expression on his face. But Blake knew he was a sly kid after picking him up in Arizona.

"I'm sorry." Nico said to Faye, "I can be creepy." He began to laugh maniacally until Blake quickly cut him off by smacking him upside the head.

"Stop that." Blake hissed again, "Be good! What did I tell you?"

"I can't stop." Nico whined up at him, "I'm scary." He gave an evil laugh again. Until Blake smacked him upside the head again. This time Nico winced and at last truly gave in. "I'm sorry." He said to Faye, and this time meant it.

[Lil]

Well this was going well. Nico obviously was being forced into this and if he hadn't made that clear Blake did with his reprimands. Faye knew this was as painful for Nico as it was for her so she nodded her head, "That's alright Nico. Thank you."

She stepped to the side to let the boy pass now and looked at Blake with a disappointed look which eventually erupted into a grin. He couldn't honestly believe that made her less creeped out, although she found the gesture quite cute and she extended her hand out for him.

[Kicks]

As if Nico couldn't truly let Blake win, as he was passing by Faye he added in a whisper: "I can use your blood too." And then took off running down the hall just as Blake reached out to grab him. Yes. The kid was undoubtedly hyper because Blake had given him that fruit. But if he were hyper enough to show it, that meant he was comfortable here- or at least around Blake. Blake knew that he wasn't so comfortable around the other people because he was choosing to make them see him as some kind of freak, some kind of kid that could hurt them if he wanted to.

Which Blake had no doubt that kid could. But he also didn't think he had a single mean bone in his body. Nah, Blake believed Nico to be far too lazy to try and hurt someone. So he let the kid run off and take up Faye's hand when she extended it to him.

He too was now grinning at her; "Sorry. I swear he only does it because he's intimidated."

But after living on his own out there among the dangers of survivors and the military, Blake assumed he too would find his own self defense mechanism. He just didn't think he would go for one that would be so... frightening.

[Lil]

When Nico passed by and said that to Faye if it hadn't been for Blake now taking her hand she was sure she would've thrown his like a rag doll down the hallway. She made a fist with her other hand as her lips formed into a straight line.

"That kid is asking to be tossed around." Faye told Blake with an uneasy tone. She had always been the more aggressive of the two and now was no exception, all she wanted to do was show Nico who he was messing with but that was dangerous. He was just a teen and she was an adult and should be responsible and mature but he was sooo asking for it!

[Kicks]

Faye looked like she was ready to do what she was best at- throwing people around. But she didn't. She just told Blake about it and made him laugh. He knew he shouldn't be laughing and that she was being totally serious. But he couldn't help but to think that she was threatening to throw a teenager around. He wondered what she would do when Logan was Nico's age and he started acting weird too.

He almost asked her this, but that would be like asking for trouble too. Her answer, he hoped, would be "no". And he would like to keep his imagination thinking that so he didn't ask her that question.

Instead he said: "It's just a tough front. A way of making sure he isn't messed with." At least that's what Blake hoped it was.

"Now," Blake rubbed both of her arms with a smile on his face, "You need some sleep. Should we do this the easy way and you sleep? Or do I have to make you?"

[Lil]

Faye's mind churned with ways to make this kid drop his act without having to physically hurt him because apparently that was a big no-no. Steam practically shout out of her ears and if this had been a cartoon it would've already happened. The only thing that grabbed Faye's attention was her husbands voice once more.

As she looked at him a smirk danced its way onto her lips. "Well what does you making me imply?" Faye asked playfully although she was fairly certain his idea or making her tired was far different from hers, although, she greatly preferred her idea.

[Kicks]

That look on her face... Blake knew that face so well. He thought about telling her "no, that's a naughty girl". But, eh. He had left the fort so technically he wasn't allowed to argue with her or call her that. In fact, if anything, he should be submitting himself to his wife and begging for her forgiveness.

But oh... the things she would do if he did do that. No no no. Blake smiled to himself at that thought. Faye was such a funny woman. Goodness, he sure did love her.

"Well," He said with a sigh as if he had been thinking about this all day. "There are two options. I can choose to drain you of energy-" He broke into a grin at her, knowing very well it wouldn't play out too nice if he did that. She would be sooo mad. "Or," he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. What makes you tired?"

[Lil]

Faye awaited an answer, wondering which path he wanted to go down right now. She listened to him with her head cocked to the side and her lips curled in to resist her from smiling too large. Oh he was just precious wasn't he!

"Oh no, no. I don't like the sound of that first idea very much." Faye told him. "But that second one, I think you and I could think of a few things." Now she winked at him before chuckling softly. No way this would play through though. Faye knew Blake like the back of her hand. He'd tease her and get her all worked up only to point out one or several reasons as to why it was a bad idea. But that was okay, because truthfully she loved him anyways, even if she wasn't always the most caring or supportive.

Thinking about that now only upset her and suddenly she was no longer smiling or looking into Blake's pretty blue eyes. Her gaze had dropped to his chest which she just stared blankly toward as her mind ran.

She was an absolutely awful wife wasn't she? She was mean and rude and harsh and just so demanding when Blake was so absolutely incredible. Now she felt like just sulking alone and then apologizing to Blake a thousand times for how she was and then apologizing a thousand more for being so awful to him when he deserved far better.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

When his feet touched the ground, Zakai quickly yanked his jacket off the line and went to the first place he deemed a good hiding spot that he saw. It wasn't a good idea to linger where people could see him, he decided, even though it was already assumed that the coast was clear. He didn't trust the coast.
He looked around for a moment before moving along, as carefully but also as quickly as possible. He wasn't so much worried about the military now as he was the zombies. If they were on the prowl for food, then no doubt, they'd go for him and Adalia the moment they knew they were there. It occurred to him then that this was kind of the first mission he'd gone on with his mother. He could count that one... the last one when he was a child, and the mission was to kill Thomas, but... he'd never really counted that as a mission since it wasn't actually his or even her job to do anything... though she ended up..... but that aside, this was the first actual mission he'd been on with his mom! He didn't know if he should be happy about that or not... in the end, he decided he shouldn't even be thinking about it. Now was not the time. What he needed to be focused on was how he and his mother were going to get to that truck and save the victims!

Danny pointed at Carson almost accusingly, though Carson couldn't see it, "You can still hear me!" Needless to say, he kept crying. Carson had already seen. Just because he turned around didn't mean anything was fixed. So long as he knew about it, Danny was going to be upset! Or at least, that's what he thought until Carson mentioned that Zakai wouldn't be taken easily.
Slowly, the child raised his head and tried to think about that, calming down a smidgen as he did. That was true. Zakai was a very strong person even though he worried a lot, and Danny was his child and anyone would be determined to get back to him when they were on a dangerous mission because he was Danny.
He looked at Carson, now only sniffling and stared at him for a moment before he started trying to wipe his eyes, "Carson, is it okay if you don't tell Daddy that I was crying?"

[Kicks]

Yes, Blake had known she wouldn't have liked that idea. He had been debating it since he had seen Logan. Logan was concerned about his mom getting enough sleep, and Blake could understand why. Really, after thinking so hard on it, he would only use his ability as a last resort. Because honestly, he would hate to ever have to use his ability on his own wife unless it was to protect her.

The only time he could think of that he had used his ability on her was when they were in Madera, California. That was so long ago. And he had only done that so that they wouldn't be attacked by zombies as they ran through them. It had worked, and it didn't hurt her. He would to ever hurt her. He shuddered just thinking about it.

When she responded to the second option, he tried so hard to keep a straight face at her. Oh yea. His wife was such a seductive little creature. But he knew that before he ever married her.

However, that cute little face of hers dropped from her expression a second later and he began to panic as to why. A lot of things ran through his head as to why she looked so down and out now. But in the end, he decided not to worry himself with it. Instead, he grabbed a hold of her face and forced his lips onto hers. His hands came up from behind her legs and gripped her so that he was lifting her up by her backside. And then he pushed her back against a wall.

Okay. So he couldn't think of why she had went from flirtatious and winking and happy to so down and depressed suddenly. He couldn't think of a way to fix it either. But he could think of giving her what she wanted. Who was he to deny her?

[Lil]

Always. She was always so mean and inconsiderate in regards to what Blake wanted. She always had been too, ever since they were teenagers. Just because she was ready for things or wanted something, anything, didn't mean she could force it onto him. It wasn't like it was just about sex either. She practically forced him into asking her out and forced him into being in a relationship when he wasn't prepared for that. Then constantly leading up to their wedding she would pressure him and then make him feel bad when he didn't comply. What kind of person, much less wife, did that to the person they loved?

Blake must've noticed her change in demeanor because suddenly he was kissing her and holding her up and pressing her against the wall. At first, Faye returned it and it was like a breath of fresh air, a relief and an anti-venom to her poisonous thoughts but she couldn't keep it up long. In the back of her head those thoughts still haunted her, that somehow she'd coaxed him into this just now or he felt obligated. She didn't want him to think he owed her or had to do this, she wanted him to want it.

Painfully, Faye pulled her lips from his and leaned her head back against the wall for a second. "You're not just doing this because you think it's what I want are you? I'm not in some way subconsciously forcing you into this, right?" She had to be sure or she felt that this guilt may eat her alive. While to strangers she could do things and go on unscathed, she couldn't do that to Blake.

[Kicks]

Adalia wasn't expecting the ground to come quicker than the other platforms had. She almost wasn't ready for the ground until she snapped out of her little worried daze and came back around to the real world. Her feet touched the ground and as soon as she had her balance, she was off in a jog.
Zakai was already on the move and she hurried along to catch up with him and match his stride.
The two of them had to get to the truck. She knew it was a two day journey, and she was bound and determined to make it in two days back to Fort Trinity. Danny and Zakai had to be reunited! The poor little boy had been left behind!
Though, as she ran, she realized soon that... both her and Zakai were humans. This struck her suddenly and as strange. For once, she felt inferior and like the threat was very, very much more real. Yes, both of them were human. Which meant that they had to avoid the zombies at all costs.
Before, when they were in a group, it wasn't so prominent as a thought. But it certainly was now.

The boy sounded so upset! Carson didn't know what to do! He was starting to have a panic attack. What did he do?! How did he fix this?! Where was Zakai?! He should be here to fix this! Carson wasn't a dad! He didn't know what to do! He didn't know the magic cure! He didn't know how to take care of a four year old! He didn't know what they needed, if they were still in diapers. He didn't know if they couldn't eat certain foods or how many times a day they were supposed to be burped.
Carson didn't know any of that! He didn't know what to do!
But then suddenly, the crying died down and there was only sniffling left. Carson slowly lowered his fingers when Danny asked him something.
He gulped. "Yea, okay. I won't tell him."

[Kicks]

At first, she seemed to get into it like it was some sort of medication for her. And Blake was thinking Yes! It worked! She isn't sad anymore! But then she pulled away and asked him such a strange question. It was then that he realized this is what she had been worrying about.

"What?" He laughed gently, "Of course I am doing it because you want. I mean, otherwise it would technically be rape or molestation. And we've had that discussion before about respecting boundaries." He reminded her with a grin, almost teasingly. "And no, you aren't in someway subconsciously forcing me to do this. I'm doing this because it's what you want, what makes you happy. And a man has needs, Faye. Even a man with such restraint as I." He laughed again, "But if you want..." He began to put her back down.

[Lil]

Faye looked at him and sighed. "That's... That's not what I mean Blake." Obviously she hadn't phrased that quite right. "I mean, you're not ONLY doing this because you think it's going to make me happy or cheer me up. I don't want you to have to think that just because I want something means you have to go with it, like do you know what I mean?"

No, surely he didn't because she basically just said the same thing but more confusing. Ugh this was hard, but actually super simple she just didn't know how to put things. "Do you want it too, is basically what I'm trying to ask. Do you actually want to be doing this or are you just doing it to please me?"

[Kicks]

Blake turned his head to the side as she continued to babble on. It seemed like she was really worked up about this. Well, that totally killed the mood. Though now he was feeling playful because she was so upset and he just wanted to pinch her cheeks and tell her how cute she was when she was worked up.

He restrained himself from pinching her cheeks and just resorted in grinning at her.

"Faye," He said in a voice of high amusement, "If a man does not want to... a man cannot." He shook his head, his grin widening. "So no, I am not doing it just because you want me to. That would be silly. And actually, a dick move on my part. Because then there would be no emotion in it. It would be like being a robot." He left his hand to hang in the air as that hand were robotic.

[Lil]

Faye eventually ended up content again at Blake's response. Well that did make her feel better. She knew Blake wasn't the kind of guy to just do it because he was horny either so that did provide her with some reassurance. "Well, as long as you promise, I guess I believe you." Faye said as that little grin bubbled back up and her cheeks flushed a faint pink thinking about how embarrassing that all had been.

She was going to have to work on that herself now too, not letting her thoughts and her mind get the best of her. Maybe it was because she hadn't had to check Blake up on that in a while that she did it to herself. Either way, she didn't want that happening anymore.

"So, uhh, I mean understand if I kinda killed the mood but..." Faye linked her fingers with Blake's and looked up at him with a small smile.

[Kicks]

Blake rose his eyebrows, waiting for some kind of reaction. He didn't know if this would end in her sobbing or with her smiling. So he held his breath in anticipation. It could go two ways really. And he was fine with it going either way. He was prepared for either! He was ready to conquer the emotions of a woman!

Or not. Because when she grinned, he practically melted in relief. No. He was not ready to figure out a woman's mind, nor was he even close to prepared to knowing what to do when a woman cried. So when she grinned, he was relieved. Oh good. She was happy again. Thank goodness.

His relief was blown over by amusement, once more, when she started speaking. He laughed aloud and tossed his head back. Faye. She was so unbelievable.

"But...?" He asked as if he were waiting for her to finish her sentence.

[Lil]

The blush remained on her cheeks as she thought about how to phrase her words. "But... I mean, I still kinda liked where things were and I'm not completely against the idea of you know, picking that back up?" Now her cheeks were very warm and she could tell she was blushing like crazy.

Oh what was she?! 12? She was a grown, married woman and she still blushed trying to get all that out and convince her husband to pick her back up and kiss her again.

[Kicks]

Oh Blake knew it was torture forcing her to spit it out. But oh how he enjoyed it. It was so funny seeing Faye struggling to express something because typically it was the other way around. He liked being in the passenger side for once, just enjoying the view and the feeling of being the one on that side.

He liked the way she blushed when she got worked up, as if she were a teenager again and she was embarrassed by something she wanted. It was like watching a cute little anime where the girl gets so flustered. D'aw. He could just pinch her cute wittle red cheeks.

"Oh?" He gasped as if he were surprised by her statement, "Well, I mean..." He trailed off and acted like he was really trying to decide what to do. "I'm not busy right now. So I guess I could."

Blake shrugged his shoulders playfully before doing as she wished and picking her right back up and kissing her.

[Lil]

Oh what a little tease. She saw it now, he just wanted to have her say it! Faye scrunched her nose up at him before he lifted her back up and they picked up just about where they left off.

It really had been too long. A week without him was essentially torture of the mind and torture of the soul and just about any torture one could imagine. But now, things fell right back into place. Faye wrapped her arms around his neck to better stabilize herself while letting her mind fall blank except for one thought and she had him back.

[Kicks]

Uh-oh. Looks like she figured him out! He better quickly distract her before she could find a way to tease him back. Oh no. If she teased him, he would just have to... just... well, it would pretty much be torture. No way. He couldn't let her do that, so he better find a way to distract her from even having those kinds of thoughts.

Though it did occur to him that they were essentially in the middle of the hallway. And though Blake was so happy to be kissing his wife and holding her again- there were people that would either ruin their fun or were too young to stumble across this.

So very carefully, as to not break any contact with her, he used his foot to open the door of the room. Except, even though he was being as smooth as he possibly could be- he wasn't expecting the mattress to be right in his way. And so he stumbled back and fell on his back, onto the mat.

The gracious ballerina, Blake West has done it again!

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai continued on, glancing at Adalia when she matched paces with him, then trying to think as his mind started racing for an idea of what to do. The whole way there, they'd managed to keep zombie and monster contact to a minimum. The trail they'd taken had been pretty clear for the most part, and Alec and Spring could sniff them out or however that worked. With only two of them, there were advantages, but they'd lost quite a few strengths as well. They weren't as strong as they were before, not to mention that there were certainly undead in this area that could easily follow them. His first idea would be to keep moving until they got out, and he guessed it wasn't a bad one, but if they came across one, he drew a blank at what they should do that didn't involve them possibly getting separated. It was kind of hard to be stealthy when they were in the forest where practically every step carried with it another twig to snap.

Danny wiped the remainder of his tears away and then sat there for a moment before looking back up at Carson.
"Um... can we explore now?"
He'd slept already, hadn't he? So then, that meant that he didn't have to sleep anymore after this! That had been enough, and that was all he needed. Carson had seen him sleep, and now he was finished. Besides, he didn't want to go to sleep after having that nightmare. He didn't want to risk having it again. If they didn't go and explore, then Danny would just sit up and stay awake in the fort and things would be very boring, so they actually needed to go explore now. They couldn't just sit here and do nothing.... and now he was thinking about Zakai, and he was getting all worried. He needed a distraction from that.

[Lil]

Faye felt Blake begin to move a little and she assumed it was to get out of this very public area. And she was completely okay with that. Faye tried her best not to let their lips break contact but suddenly she was taken off guard.

As they stumbled to the ground Faye erupted in laughter while luckily they met with the mattress. Even though she had to separate their lips she still left her forehead pressing against Blake's. "You are like, the smoothest guy I know. Without a doubt." Faye whispered to her husband and lifting her blue eyes to look into his.

[Kicks]

The forest was a deathtrap. And they had to take it to get to the trucks as quickly as they could. But it was a day's journey to get there if they kept this pace up and didn't come across any trouble. But the truth was: Adalia had seen a lot of trouble on the road and she knew there would be a lot of trouble here.
She was afraid her and her son wouldn't make it out alive.
She also knew this was the most dangerous place for now because the undead were drawn to it by all the noises that had been made. She knew the further away they got, the more safer they were. But she was afraid of stumbling across hordes.
That's when she remembered earlier and how they were able to slip through zombie territory unscathed.
"We need-" She looked around frantically for mud or maybe a zombie. "To mask our scent. Throw the undead off our trail."

Was that the boy's plan the whole time? Make Carson worry like that and then guilt him into letting him explore?! Because it was totally working. Danny was lucky that Carson was a sucker for kids. He knew people that would shut down that question right away or refuse for the little boy to explore.
Ah. Carson felt bad for being so irresponsible. But hey! At least he was keeping the boy distracted from worrying about Zakai. And he prayed he was also protecting him the right way too.
"We can explore now." He said to the boy. It wasn't like Danny would go to sleep again. And Carson didn't want to make him either because he was afraid the boy would have another nightmare or start crying again. Carson couldn't handle it when children cried! He didn't know what to do! Did he hug them silly? Did he wrap them in a blanket and tell them that they were loved? Because he felt like that was really, really wrong in so many ways.

[Kicks]

Dang it. Blake groaned aloud. He wasn't in pain, but he was certainly embarrassed. He didn't know how he had managed to trip and fall like that. He blamed it on his lapse of reason. Of course these rooms were small! He should have seen this coming! And yet, he never prepared himself for that sort of possibility of the mattress tripping him.

But it seemed to amuse Faye even though they had lost contact with their lips. And though it was highly embarrassing for him, he still smiled because Faye sounded so cute when she laughed like that.

"Thank you." He told her in response with a confident expression on his red face. "I trained my whole life to be the smoothest guy you know."

Though he was quite happy for the mattress. Oh it felt so soft and comfortable. He just wanted to bury his embarrassed and red face into it until she forgot about him tripping like that. And so he did, he turned his face into the mattress to hide it.

[Lil]

Faye could see the red tint that became him and she almost died because he was just that precious. She'd never tell him that though or he'd go all macho man on her. So she just let him be red and she admired him silently. Faye watched as he buried his face and knew immediately that just wouldn't work.

"Noooo. No, no, no. What do you think you're doing mister?" She asked him while running her fingers very gently, so that they barely skimmed, over his neck. "If you hide your face, how am I supposed to kiss you?" Faye inquired rather playfully. It was true though! If his face was hidden then kissing would be quite difficult.

[Kicks]

Oh geez. His face still felt so hot from embarrassment. It was made worse because of her cute little comment that he found both embarrassing and hilarious. Blake was trying to work out a way to stop being so red and gain the upperhand again. But that was made so much more difficult when she was complaining to him.

He laughed into the mattress then stopped abruptly and shuddered at the sudden chills running down his arms, legs, back, and neck because she had just brushed his neck like that.

Blake took in one big, deep breath to bring his face back to his color. When he was certain he was no longer mad at the mattress for tripping him, he turned over and reached a foot out. Like a genius, he managed to shut the door by reaching out his long leg and shutting it with his foot.

"Ha!" Yea! That made up for tripping like a klutz!

[Lil]

Faye waited but there was no response from Blake for a while. Had he actually died of embarrassment? As adorable as that would be, she would not be very happy because he was dead and she loved him so much! Faye continued to let her fingers brush across his neck hoping eventually he'd get over it and just kiss her already.

Finally, he moved again and before Faye could realize what he was doing the door was closed. "Oh you really are smooth." Faye smirked and rolled her head over to look back at her husband. Now he had to feel proud and accomplished and not so flustered right?

[Kicks]

Blake tossed her a look of cockiness. Typically, he wasn't a very cocky guy. But he could get up there when he wanted to or was in a playful mood like he was in now.
He knew it wasn't much to shut a door with his foot like that. But he still felt like some unsung hero.

"Thank you." He said with a wink, "I know I am."
Okay, he really wasn't. Blake couldn't think of one way that he was. But he liked to play up the part nonetheless.

Suddenly, he was wrinkling his nose up at her and getting ready like a cat ready to pounce. Except, instead of pouncing, he grabbed her into his arms and pulled her into another kiss.
As nice as getting his neck pet was, they hadn't seen each other in quite a bit. And he'd rather kiss her than he would bury his face into a mattress.

[Lil]

"Mhmm." Faye hummed out at his prideful act. Oh what a guy! She loved those little instances though, they were just the funniest thing to her, when he'd go from normal Blake to total dude! What else was as sweet and funny as that? Watching make a complete 180 to go right back.

When he scrunched his nose up that way she couldn't help but smile and feel a bit anxious. When he grabbed her again and began kissing her once more she reciprocated immediately and ran her hands up his neck and into his hair while their lips mingled. If he was willing to give her butt a little attention earlier then she was more than willing to give his hair a good run through.

[Kicks]

Blake suddenly gasped as if someone had just given him a bowl of ice cream or a candy bar. Except it was so much better than that because his hair was being played with.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah," He purred against her lips. He didn't even care he was making such a noise. He loved it when his hair was played with! It was the greatest thing ever.

Ever since... well forever, he had loved it when his hair was played with. He would let people in school just sit there and mess with his hair. He loved the lice checks in school because it was like a head massage. And later, when he got into a relationship with Faye, he realized that having his hair played with in a setting like this was a huge turn on and just the most amazing feeling ever.

It may or may not have been her playing with his hair, but his lips reacted appropriately by finding better places than her lips. Like leaving little tiny accomplishments on her neck.

[Lil]

She loved that. Faye absolutely loved that. Sixteen, maybe seventeen years since they met and started a relationship and just playing with his hair could do that. He was absolutely just wonderfully perfect. Nothing made Faye happier than when she knew she made him happy and that right there confirmed it.

When his lips pulled from hers she opened her eyes to see if something was wrong but she was greatly mistake, instead his lips made their way down her neck. Her eyes fell closed once more as she moved her head back a bit in order to more fully expose her neck and give him easier access. Faye sighed out happily while her fingers continued to comb through his golden strands.

[Kicks]

By now in their marriage, Blake had figured out things that Faye liked. He knew her biggest one of all, but as great as it was being a guy and finally able to touch a girl's nice behind without getting slapped- it felt so weird when clothes like jeans or sweats were in the way. He didn't know why, but when clothes were in the way he always thought about pillows. Like this was some sort of weird dream and he was touching a pillow. Maybe because Faye had a really nice behind, or maybe because pillows reminded him of butts. He didn't know.

But she was playing with his hair and it always felt so nice no matter the circumstance. If he were sick, it made him feel better. If he were watching television, it was like getting a massage. If he were kissing her, it made him want to do other things. It didn't matter. He had always liked his hair played with.

One of his hands caressed her back and then slid its way down to her waistband. He pushed the material aside because it was nothing but a nuisance that reminded him of pillows, and then slid his hand down.

Now, none of this was on his list of things to do when he got back to Fort Trinity. And Blake had such a list going for him. He had thought it all up while he was traveling. But he had already completed his list. And that left free time.

[Lil]

Faye let the neck kisses go on for quite some time because Blake was right, that was quite nice, but her lips missed his and she couldn't bare it any longer. She dipped her head just enough to catch his lips with hers once more and she even smiled a little into it, just completely unable to resist.

When Blake's hand worked its way a little further down her back under the material of her super sexy sweats she was a bit surprised. Not that it wasn't nice, cause gosh it was nice, but she hadn't been expecting it. Maybe he secretly was a guy that liked girls' butts.

The cycle seemed endless though because now she felt she owed Blake in return and her hands moved through his hair a bit faster but not losing that soft touch she had really developed from years and years of practice. Where it was just right and she knew this from the positive reactions from Blake in the past.

[Kicks]

At this time, the way her lips caught his out of nowhere, he knew to focus on more of her lips than her tender neck. And so he brought his lips back up to hers and pushed into them.
It was hard to not get caught up in it with her hands up in his hair like that.

All reason had since left him. Pshk. Since when was reason welcomed in the bedroom anyways? His brain was buzzing alright, but not by the tedious thoughts of who was in the fort, how inappropriate this was, and the likes. It was teeming and alive with pleasure and something explosive that could only be described as love.

He pulled away from her lips and brought his own up to her ear. He nuzzed her hair briefly with his nose before whispering: "I want you. All of you."
Then he nipped her ear with his teeth gently before moving his lips back to hers.

The last week was no longer alive in his mind. The body of the man he had used for a human shield was obliterated.

[Lil]

It was easy to get lost in the moment with Blake. It was easy to become caught up in their own world where no thin and no one else existed. It was an escape most welcome also.

When his lips were pulled from Faye's she found herself longing for them to be back but also collecting her breath in these short moments. His quiet words sent chills down her spine and goosebumps spotted her arms despite the unrelenting heat she was experiencing. His playful mannerisms made her heart slam against her rib cage.

"I love you Blake." That was the only response she could even form right now because that was the only thought able to slip through her mind at the moment. Quickly, she slipped one of her hands from his hair and began to untuck his shirt, only growing more anxious with each passing second.

[Kicks]

Clothes were a funny thing to Blake. They were so useful everywhere else except for the bedroom. Because it was in the bedroom that they became unrelentless and just in the way. Which is probably why they were so easily tossed aside in order to truly relish the beauty of one’s significant other.

Blake was thinking this with Faye curled up into his arms. His eyes were half-closed, peering over where his pants had long been discarded. They weren’t even his pants though. He stole them from a military cargo truck.

Clothes had another function to them. They hid things that people didn’t want each other to see. Going to the pool with a shirt on, covering up scars with long sleeves, hiding surgery marks, so on and so forth.
But it was funny too, because as hard as people tried to hide those things, they couldn’t really in the end.

Which is how Blake felt whenever he was shirtless. He was a proud man, of his body at least. Except for his back where ugly scars marked their way. One long one from the helicopter crash, another from multiple surgeries over the last sixteen years to properly heal his back, more from zombies.

[Lil]

So in the end, Blake got exactly what he wanted and that was for Faye to get some sleep. It hadn't taken all that much convincing either, on either side which made Faye even happier. That was beside the point though because Faye got her husband back and they got to celebrate that and she also got some extremely restful sleep.

Being able to stay tucked under his arm definitely helped ease her mind and provide her a sense of security as well as the fact that she knew he was there and not going anywhere. Then, well it was safe to say that he'd worn her out pretty good and she was sure he was proud of that.

"Mmmm," Faye moaned tiredly as she readjusted on her husbands chest so she could only be closer to him, if it were at all possible. Somehow she managed to satisfy her urge for closeness though, even if they had already been pressed body to body.

[Kicks]

(*suppresses another joke*)

He was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly heard something. He turned his eyes down to the woman shifting to get more comfortable and closer to him. This made Blake smile briefly.
He reached his hand up and stroked her hair very gently so as to not disturb her.

He was happy that she was now able to get some sleep. Logan would be happy to know that his mum got some sleep as well- but he would definitely leave some details out of that conversation.
He almost chuckled to himself but forced himself to keep quiet because he didn't want to wake his wife.

He was worn out from just about everything, as well. But his mind was still picking up the pieces in his head that he had shoved back before. And being in a safe place like this, comfortable like this, arms surrounding his wife like this... it was a good enough time to let himself think about it without getting too worked up.

Too bad though because Blake really wanted to think about anything else. He wanted to think about what he was going to do for Faye. Because he needed to do something to make up for the week he was gone. He could have easily lost his life out there if it weren't for the determination of getting back to her and Logan. And he owed it to his wife to do something for her.

He was thinking about making food for her. He wasn't even close to a good chef. Not even! But he didn't have to be a chef to make pancakes, not with premade mix anyways.

[Lil]

(Oh you and your jokes xD)

Faye wasn't quite asleep anymore. Long sleeps were rare around here and surprisingly enough this was the longest she'd had in a while now. A solid few hours was all she really needed anyways, one learned to run on low sleep after a while at this.

"I have a question." Faye mumbled while delivering a soft kiss to Blake's neck. "Do you always smell this good or did you sneak off and take a shower or something?" She giggled very softly before settling back down on his chest and wrapping her arm around his torso as to claim him as her own.

[Kicks]

(XD I can't help them)

Blake was starting to slowly shut his eyes. The idea of making pancakes was funny, and somehow relaxing too. Yea... he would make his wife pancakes when he got up. Yea... he would make her pancakes.
His eyes had shut and his chest began to rise up and then slowly back down in a rhythm of relaxation, and lingering on the edge of sleep.

But a sudden stirring made him open his eyes again. He smiled sweetly to find out it was only Faye. But he was soon frowning too because she needed a lot of sleep. But she had slept, he reminded himself.
His mind was too jumbled to have an argument with himself again.

"Hmm?" He hummed out when she said she had a question. He closed his eyes again briefly at the kiss on his neck.
He grinned when she posed her question to him and he peeked his eyes open to look down at her.

"I am super quick at showers." He answered her with a soft chortle.

[Lil]

"Is that right?" Faye sighed and closed her eyes once more. "Well, you did good West." She told him feeling very at peace right now, never wanting to move ever again.

While lying there with Blake she decided to try and get some more sleep, while she had him locked down because she knew that once he was gone she wouldn't sleep again. There was still that lingering fear and she wasn't going to be able to sleep without him for a long time, not that she liked to in the first place.

Her breaths softened as she felt the tug of sleep once more and she wasn't willing to fight it not did she really want to. So long as Blake stayed with her she was very open to it.

[Kicks]

Faye relaxed again, Blake could feel it. He could hear her breathing even. Good, she was going back to sleep. Logan would be so glad to hear about that.

Blake found his eyes drifting closed again. They were heavier this time around and he couldn't keep them open despite how much he tried to keep them as such.

He decided to give into it. He hadn't sleep the last week anyways, or before that. Yes, he decided to just give into it. He was afraid of the dreams that may come, but they were better to face than sleep deprivation in the end.

Besides, he was far too comfortable to not sleep. It was like the tension of the last week was all gone. And for now, those memories of what he had to do were pushed back. He was back here, with his wife and his child. And that's all that mattered right then.

Blake relaxed into the comfortable and let himself truly drift off.

[Lil]

It didn't take long for Faye also to be asleep, a matter of minutes at the longest. It was strange the effects sleep could have on the body. She'd been putting it off for so long that at first her body wished to reject it but once the exhaustion truly set in it was simple.

Luckily, the exhausting also contributed to the prevention of nightmares it seemed. Or maybe that wasn't the exhaustion. Always after nights like these Faye slept peacefully, no nightmares or even dreams for that matter. Just straight sleep and it was awesome.

[Kicks]

Sleep was as weird as clothes were. They could be completely black in form or they could come to him in nightmares. The last time he had a good dream was back in the Tenant before they were thrown back into this nightmare. It was about Hawaii, longing for it again, for the warmth, the sun, the beach.

But now he wasn't dreaming of Hawaii. It started out with darkness because he was so exhausted that even his brain couldn't possibly conjure up something worth seeing. But the longer he slept gave way for his imagination, for his memories, for his regrets.

They came in flashes, like a flipbook. But each image let himself see it just long enough to know what exactly it was. Each of them flipped by his eyes and he was forced to watch. The images were overwhelming. His breath hitched in his throat.

Until suddenly... the images froze over just one. And then it began to roll out in slow motion. He was no longer watching the scene, he was in the scene. He grabbed the wrist of the man and spun him around, forcing him in front of himself. The gun went off. Each bullet that hit the body he could feel as the body jerked.

[Lil]

Faye peacefully once more. She kept going in and out though, falling to sleep and then buzzing awake shortly only to fall back asleep. She took that as a sign that she needed to just get up too because that's what her brain and body wanted now.

Faye lied there, on the edge of consciousness, unwilling to move. Blake was so warm and safe and he was still asleep and he was so cute when he was asleep. Faye kept her eyes just barely open looking across the small room and a smile spread on her lips. They shouldn't have done that, should they? They were married and in a private place so it wasn't that inappropriate, the circumstances were just a bit odd. Did she regret it though? No way. Would she do it again? In a heartbeat!

[Kicks]

In his sleep he had already stolen the cargo truck. There was the ditch filled with water, there were the zombies that ignored him. And the back of the truck with the clothes he stole.


In the waking world he had actually stood up in his sleep and was putting those same clothes back on his body again. His shirt fell over his chest, inside out and on backwards with the tag itching into his neck. But at least he had his khakis on correctly.


His eyes skimmed over to the zombies looking for food, scavenging for something to destroy. But one of the zombies had caught his eye.


Blake opened his eyes. He stared up at the ceiling, but wasn’t really staring at it. His vision was flooded with different images. It was like being drowned in terrifying memories. Breathing came like he was being strangled, like hands had wrapped around his neck and were squeezing as tightly as they could.


His ears were flooded with the sound of gunshots, of growls, of hunger and murder. It was a roaring noise that forced anything out from his head.


He rose his hands up to his face, turning so quickly he almost fell over. He stumbled back and hit the door with the left side of his body.


He reached a hand out, catching his hand on the door, but in his eyes-

it was his hand that was grabbing another’s wrist-. As his hand opened the door, his vision flooded with a-

-body being twisted in front of him-
He stumbled out of the room-
-gunshots echoing in his head-.

[Lil]

Faye had settled down again, her mind threatening to fall back to sleep but before she could....

Blake was standing up and getting dressed and incorrectly at that. "Blake?" Faye asked as she sat up. He didn't respond though. "Blake what're you doing?" She asked still receiving no response.

It was only when he began to move more and in a panicked way she realized what was happening. She thought the sleep talking was a but strange but this? This was something new.

Quickly, Faye reached over and grabbed her own clothes and pulled it all on not worrying that her shirt was also inside out. Once she was dressed she darted from the bed and followed Blake out into the hall.

Honestly, she was at a loss as to what to do? Should she wake him? Should she stop him? He wasn't exactly awake himself so she feared trying to stop him and ending up on the crossfire. After coming to no real conclusion she reached out grabbed her husbands wrist in order to stop him from going to much further. "Blake." Faye called a little louder hoping to get through.

[Kicks]

This was one of the worst ones yet. It was also the strangest dream he had ever acted out- and possibly the most dangerous.
There was the other soldier with the gun. He swept his fist out, striking hard onto something.

His dream shattered into pieces.

“Ah!” He gasped, slouching away from the wall. His fist had collided with a window. He hissed with pain, looking briefly down at the shards in his knuckles. He looked back at the window again, staring at it intensely.

That wasn’t… that… Blake became confused. What was he doing up? He looked down at himself and almost jumped. When had he put his clothes on?
The only explanation was that he had another one of those weird dreams. Typically he only stumbled around a bit when he had those kind of dreams. This time though it appeared he was acting it out.

He winced and looked away from the window and his hand. Then he jumped violently, his heart pumping furiously in his chest. The hand at his wrist wasn’t that of a zombie claw though. He followed the hand up to the face of his wife.

“Oh my goodness,” He breathed out, “You scared me!”

[Lil]

Faye cringed as his fist met with the window and it resulted in her letting go of his wrist and backing away. Bad idea, it had been a bad idea for her to try and touch him. Luckily, he woke up after that and Faye didn't have to worry about him coming for her. Still, she remained back, slightly frightened and worried he wasn't quite back.

When he looked at her and said that she scared him Faye almost laughed. "Me?" She asked. "I scared you? I think you got this backwards." Faye told him awkwardly laughing trying to cover up her own ounce of fear.

[Kicks]

Blake gave her a confused look in reply. What exactly had he done? He looked up and down the hallway, trying to collect himself. He didn't know how he got out here. He just knew he woke up by punching a window.
Why do I keep punching things?! Am I getting violent? But...

Blake frowned at that thought. He couldn't get violent. Violence just didn't become him. He had to stop. He had to... but he didn't know what he had to do. This time he was sleeping when he did that. But that worried him even more. That made him think he couldn't sleep again just in case he did something like this again.

Blake rose his hand up to his face and slowly began to pick out the shards with his other hand.

"Ah," He grimaced with the first pluck. He would have to pick up that mess, fix that window.
He looked towards his wife, "Oh hey," He said, "You're dressed too!"

[Lil]

Faye just watched Blake now. What was he doing or thinking? Did he even know what happened just now? Probably not. And she didn't exactly know how to bring it up so...

When he spoke she looked down at herself. "Not very well apparently." She commented seeing as how her shirt was inside out. "I can't say your attire is much better either." Faye motioned at the tag sticking out the front of his shirt.

[Kicks]

Blake looked down at himself again. He frowned at the tag itching at his neck. His brain was still trying to catch up with what had happened. Though, he had no recollection of memory from it. He just remembered hitting the window and what happened after that.

Blake now tugged his shirt off in exchange for relief from that itchy tag. That was fine. He suddenly didn't want to be wearing these stolen clothes anyways. He wanted to wear a pair of clothes that didn't remind him of what he had done.

This guilt was like no other guilt he had felt before. It was bugging him so much that it was haunting him in his sleep.

Blake tossed the shirt back through the open door of the room. He'd find a different one at some point.

[Lil]

"I would do that too but I think that's a little bit too scandalous for me to try in the hall." Faye said to Blake trying to somehow soothe his mind. She could tell he was distressed by the look on his face and the sudden moments of deep thought he kept going into.

"Are you okay?" Faye asked at last. She wanted to help him in a way other than cracking dumb jokes but couldn't considering she had no idea why he was this way in the first place.

[Kicks]

There were a lot of reasons why he had yet to tell Faye. He was afraid she would hold it over his head. He was afraid she would judge him. He was afraid she would see him differently. He was afraid that it would get out and other people would find out. He was afraid that if they got in a fight, she would use it against him just like she did when he was suicidal and they had that huge fight in Hawaii.

Blake brought up his good hand and rubbed his face with it. He felt a lump in his throat.

Despite that, he couldn't just let this fester inside of him. But he couldn't trust to tell it to anyone either. He didn't want to be judged, he didn't want it held over his head, he didn't want people snapping at him in regards to it or using it against him.

He groaned and tossed his head back. He had killed someone. He had used them as a human shield and killed them. His eyes suddenly felt wet. How long could he keep this inside before it killed him? It was already tearing him apart!

[Lil]

Oh no... Oh no, no, no! She hadn't meant for this to happen. She could see what she'd said upset him and immediately regretted asking.

"No, Blake. It's okay." Faye said quickly stepping forward and gently taking hold of his wrist once more. She really hadn't meant to do anything wrong, she didn't realize that it was going to have this effect on him.

"I'm sorry. Pretend like I didn't say anything." Faye told Blake very softly, carefully even. Great, now she felt like shit for causing this to happen.

[Kicks]

When Faye came over, he wanted to send her away because she would be touching a monster. A murderer. All his life, striving to be a pacifist. And he had went and committed something unforgivable. He was going straight to hell. He couldn't come back from this.

Except, when Faye did step over, instead of sending her away he wrapped his arms tightly around her and buried his face down into her neck.

She was married to a murderer, a brutalizing monster. He squeezed his eyes shut against the hot tears pooling into his eyes. He couldn't believe he had done such things. How could he react in such a way like that? Hadn't there been a better way?!

And he couldn't tell anyone either! They would hold it against him. Faye would use it against him if she got mad. There would always be some part of her that thought he was a monster. Someone else would find out and... He swallowed the hard lump in his throat, or at least tried to.

But at the same time, how could he keep such a thing from his wife?! She should know the truth so that she could protect herself! He would never hurt her. But it was better safe than sorry. Maybe he would snap one day and turn on- He swallowed again, trying to shake that thought from his head.

[Lil]

Faye wasn't quite sure what Blake's reaction would be but when he pulled her into a hug and was stunned a moment. She stood there at first before returning the tight embrace and holding him there.

What had she done? What had she brought up that did this? Whatever it was she was regretting it greatly. "I'm so sorry Blake." She said quietly while carefully running her hand over the back of his head and neck.

Her heart wrenched in her chest while she stood there. How could she have done that? Created that sort of reaction? Faye hated this, she hated herself for hurting Blake so much and now she didn't even know how she was doing it!

[Kicks]

He couldn't just live with this. And he couldn't tell her. But he had to tell her. But if he did tell her all those nasty things would happen. Blake didn't know what to do. If he kept it festering inside, it would only get worse and worse. But if he told her... But Faye was his wife. And their couldn't be secrets in a marriage. But... at the same time... he had killed someone.

He needed a walk.
No. He didn't need a walk. He was just running away if he went for a walk. So he forced himself to stay. He couldn't just run away from this. He had to deal with the consequences. Yes... that was it. Consequences.
But he didn't want to be hit with the guilt in case it was used against him. But... he should have thought of that when he did that.

"Faye," He whispered in a choked voice, "I killed someone. He wasn't even a zombie. Not a monster. Just some guy."

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai nodded, "I know," looking around for a moment, as if he could find the answer to their problems in a snap, "I'm thinking..."
There were several options he supposed, when he thought about it, but each involved different task sort of... things. He bit his lip for a moment as he gathered his thoughts together before he glanced at Adalia, then looked around himself, trying to decide how he could tell her his ideas.
"Alright," talking to her while they were moving was a bit difficult since he was also focused on being super careful, but he would do his best, "There are only three things I can think of that might work. One is we find our way back to that creek and cover ourselves in mud the best we can. The problems with that would be we would only be masked with the scent until it dried, and that creek is too far. Second is we find scat... animal droppings," he cringed, "And used that to mask our scent. It would work better than mud even after it dried, but... we'd have to find some first and.. well, that's just gross," he shook his head, more to clear it than to show he was opposed to it, though he really was opposed to it, "Third, we can use zombie... er... blood... stuff....." he cringed again, "It stinks. I don't know about when it dries, but it would totally mask our scent for a while... Problems with that is, first, we'd need to find one, and we probably will, second, we'd have to kill it while making as little noise possible, and third, that would most likely involve a close-range attack and we cannot get bitten." (fourth, this idea is not that original and had been used, but what other choice do they have?)
Zakai shrugged, trying to make it look like it was no big deal, but it was. It was a huge deal, and he didn't actually want to do any of that stuff, but... well, those seemed to be the only options.

Danny smiled when Carson said they could and crawled out of the fort. He wiped his eyes one more time because he knew he still probably looked like he'd been crying, then pointed in a random direction, "Okay. Let's go!" The exclamation was actually a bit weak. He'd really only done it to try and regain his childish composure. He was feeling anything but happy about this, but he would deal with it the best he could.
He looked up at Carson. Actually, he hadn't necessarily been planning in going that direction anyway. He didn't really know where to go, "Where haven't we been that we need to explore?"
He didn't have that key thing that let you go wherever you wanted, so he didn't really know the layout too well. People had just told him to stay where he was allowed to stay, and he had, so he wasn't very well-versed with all the forbidden areas. He needed to fix that.

[Lil]

Faye felt even worse when there was no response from Blake. Great. Just great! Ugh now she just wanted to die! How could she do this to him? Her lovable, sweet, perfect husband. She sighed but didn't say anything else, because well, she had nothing else to say.

Faye decided she was just the worlds worst wife. The worlds worst person probably! Who treated someone like she treated Blake? No wonder he left! He probably only came back because it was hard out there all alone!

When he began to speak up once more Faye waited to hear something awful, like that he wanted to leave or that she had done something horribly wrong. What he said though took her completely off guard.

Her eyes shot open but she didn't pull away from Blake, no she didn't want him to become more upset. For a second she stammered on words. "Wha- Wh- Ho-?" Faye just stopped and stood there before she did pull away from the hug and instead took Blake's face in her hands.

"Was your life in danger Blake? And honestly, tell me, don't try and pull the whole 'well it might not have been'. I want the real answer." Faye said looking up into his big blue eyes, ones that held a lot of pain right now and it hurt her to look at them.

What he'd just admitted to did take Faye by surprise. Blake was such a peaceful person, doing his best to never hurt anyone but she'd also seem him become physical and aggressive to defend his family or himself. She had no doubts in her mind that he did what was necessary not what he wanted.

[Kicks]

He was thinking, she was thinking. They were thinking, but they weren't doing. Both were very important factors to survival out here. Adalia was trying to think back onto what she had used when she was alone to mask her scent from the zombies. Zombie blood was common among survivors. It was absolutely disgusting too, and she had to be careful to never get it in her mouth which is why she had typically worn a mask on her own.
She had used her own urine too. It was the most disgusting, humiliating, horrifying thing she had ever done. But one had to use what one had to survive. Especially if she were human and even a scratch from a zombie could become an infection.
She had used rotten fruit, wine, carried carnage. She had done so much disgusting things to stay alive before. So when Zakai suggested what he had in mind, she wasn't as repulsed as she would have been if this weren't her first.
"What do you want to do?" She asked, "Or the better question: which one do you hate the least?"

Carson had to crawl out from the fort after Danny. Oh. He could feel the age in his bones. Sitting like that all night really put cricks in his joints. He wasn't even that much older than Zakai! How did that kid manage? Again, Carson reminded himself that he shouldn't be thinking of Zakai as a kid. He would have been a senior when Zakai was a freshman or sophomore.
He shuddered. It was scary thinking that. Especially since Zakai was a family man and Carson was just that weirdo that was like "eh who needs it?"
He looked at the kid and his weak exclamation. Poor kid was still suffering. He wondered if he needed a hug. But before he could offer it, Danny was setting forth a question.
"Where do you need to explore?" He asked the little boy.

[Kicks]

He both regretted telling her and was thankful that he had told her. But answering her question was so hard. Because she was right, he would have pulled that card. Because no matter how hard he tried, his brain always thought that there had to have been a better way and that maybe his life wasn’t in danger. Maybe they would have just taken him to a Tenant if he had cooperated. But he was kidding himself. He had heard from Nico what the military did with survivors.

“Yes,” he finally answered her, “It was, it was the military. I… it was so fast. One second he was coming at me to cuff me, and the next second I was grabbing him and whirling him around. I used him as a human shield… the soldier was starting to fire and the bullets hit the body. He was dead before he could even hit the ground.”

And once he got rolling, he couldn’t stop because that wasn’t the only bad thing he had done. “I was in the plane too, and the military came in. And I used a fire extinguisher on them. And at some point they shot me with the serum and I woke up in a cargo truck. And I threw some things out to get them to stop. And when they did, I punched someone in his throat and threw the other one out of the truck before stealing it. I don’t even know if they’re alive. I don’t know how hard I hit his throat. What if I broke it and he choked to death? That would be a horrible way to die. What if the zombies got to them?!”

Oh no. It was all his fault. If they got eaten… if he had choked to death…
Blake moved his hands up into his hair like he might be starting to have some sort of an anxiety attack.
What if the zombies did eat them?! What if he did choke to death?! Blake should have left them with something like a gun or knives. He shouldn't have punched him in the throat. There could have been better ways!

[Lil]

Although it may have sounded awful, Faye was satisfied with that answer. She needed him to admit that it was necessary and he needed to hear it. But then he really started to go.

Faye waited him out, listening to what he had to say but her opinion hadn't changed. "Blake." Faye started slowly. She wasn't sure where she planned on going with this but she had to say something. "I know it's not going to make this situation seem any better and I know you still might feel bad but... You did what you had to, right?"

"If it hadn't been him then it would've been you. You know how the military is Blake, think about what happened the last time they got their hands on you." As Faye spoke her own eyes began to well with tears, not because she was upset with Blake but because she was more horrified by her own thoughts of what could have happened.

While her mind was on the subject a distant memory of an action in her past started to stir. Something she'd pushed down for a long, long time, trying to bury it away and until now she'd done a pretty good job at it.

"I'm sorry Blake. I'm sorry you went through that and had to take that action but if it got you back here, if it kept you alive, then I know it was right. I love you so much you know." Faye finished as et voice became not much more than a mere squeak, she was just feeling really choked up now.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai thought long... well not very long because there wasn't much time, but he did think hard in his short time for as long as time permitted, which wasn't very long so he quickly said, "I hate all of them, but the one I hate least is mud, definitely. It seems like the most difficult as well since it might be something that needs to be re-applied if we're planning on masking our scent the whole way, but if the zombies are focused on the noise from where we just came from it could do the trick while they keep going that way, and we just keep on our way and avoid direct confrontations. We'd need to find a source of it though."
If the caravan was heading out and the military was on the move, then that could give the zombies a distraction from other, smaller noises, like that of two people. If they continued in that direction, then by the time the scent from the mud wore off, they could be safe.. or safer. They just needed to get to some mud, and they'd be started on their way.

Danny looked at Carson, not even needing a moment to think, "Everything!" He stretched his arms out to put emphasis on his words. It was the truth. He wanted to see everything that the base had to offer. He didn't know what exactly was in the army base though... but then, did Carson?
Even though Carson was an adult, he didn't know about the guy's knowledge when it came to army bases. He thought for a moment, though, deciding to test the man's knowledge, before looking up, trying to be as serious as possible, "What's a place here that you know I'm not allowed to go to?" That was the perfect way to narrow down their options!

[Kicks]

But Blake didn't know if it was justified. He couldn't live with himself knowing he had done things and there could have been some other way. But as hard as he tried to think of what other ways there were, he still wasn't able to come up with one.

Faye was right, of course. The military was merciless. They were cruel. They did what they wanted. They killed survivors. They had no self control, no self worth. But he also knew they were human and that's what killed him. What had him any different from them? Killing was killing, wasn't it?

His brain seemed to falter. But killing wasn't killing. His dad killed a man to save a woman. And though the court ruled to imprison him, the woman still lived. So... killing wasn't killing. Sometimes it was... just... His brain was starting to ache as he thought about it.

He closed his eyes briefly, working away the images from his head. But he knew they would always be in his memory.
Blake opened his eyes again, slowly lowering his hands down from his head.
"I know..." He was breathless, eyes still wild and seeking. "I know... I love you too..."

[Lil]

Faye moved her hands to caress Blake's cheeks once more when he moved his own hands from his head. She opened her mouth to speak but just didn't know what to say. So she let her mouth fall closed once more and just leaned her forehead against Blake's chest.

She was out of ideas on how to reassure him. To help him rid himself of this guilt of actions that were necessary. It was hard though, especially when Faye knew how his mind worked, and she loved him for that but it made him very difficult to comfort.

"I've married possibly the kindest man on the planet." Faye whispered as she moved her arms to link around behind Blake's neck.

[Kicks]

So then it was mud. They needed to find some mud and apply it to themselves. There were the other ways available, but that was just indecent and gross. And this way posed a less risk of infection because they didn’t have to deliberately find a zombie.
Making mud was easy, but water was precious. So Adalia didn’t want to waste the water she had. Instead, she looked in the darkest places she could find. Under rocks, more specifically. It was always muddy beneath rocks.
Adalia found a big one that forced her to use her whole strength to lift out of place. It rolled away with a sucking motion. Beneath the rock was what she had been expecting: mud.
“The dirt beneath rocks never get sunshine to dry up after it rains.” She said quietly enough, “And it only rained last night. So there should be plenty. Pick and rock and dig, sweetie.”
She looked over at her son and grinned. She never thought that she would be playing in mud with her eldest child. Zakai had always been such a weird boy. He was different from the other kids for many reasons and in many ways. But her youngest just loved to play outside and would get muddy all she wanted and would beg for her to come and play in the mud with her when she was just a little thing. Those days were gone now. But finding mud oddly reminded her of that, and she found it funny and cute that now her and Zakai had to cover themselves in mud for survival.

"Everything, huh?" He mumbled in thought. Well, the fort was a pretty big place. He didn't know if they would be able to explore every inch of it as fast as Danny might like them too. But he could settle on taking him to just one place and letting him explore- Carson closely watching, of course. He didn't want the little boy getting into any trouble or getting hurt.
"You're not allowed to go to what they used to call 'the circle room'." He told the little boy. That was the first place that popped into his head because when they first got here they were told they weren't allowed to go there. He knew it would have to be dangerous if they were telling them not to go there. But Carson had guns. So long as Danny stayed closely with him, he wouldn't worry too bad about it.

[Kicks]

At least her touch was soft and gentle. It reminded him of innocence and sweeter times. It reminded him of Hawaii and the sun, of happy days, of a beach house and an innocent little boy. Blake closed his eyes at these memories and leaned his head to the left into one of her hands.

Those days were so much simpler. He didn't have to worry about living in regret, about killing people, about killing zombies any longer. He had to worry about his son, his wife, his business. Things were so much simpler then. And now the world had crashed.

But it was his family. And he had to get back to his family. Because even though the world had crashed, they were still the first thing he worried about. Every second of every day, since the day he married day and the day they found out she was pregnant with Logan. Every second of every day they were his top priority. And so he had to get back to them. And what he did to get back to them... He didn't know whether to feel guilty or not. His brain felt exhausted from thinking and dreaming over it.

Blake slid his arms around her again when she linked her arms around his neck. He had yet to open his eyes because he didn't want to open them and find he was back at the airport.
What she said struck him as odd. He never knew why she saw him as that. Blake never saw himself as such a person. But at least Faye thought so.

"I'm glad I made it back to you and Logan." That wasn't a lie. But it also wasn't a way to justify the decisions he had made. It was merely the truth.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

The grin that Adalia gave him caught Zakai by a bit of surprise because... he didn't know, it seemed very out of place in this situation. He'd never expected to be caught off-guard by a grin, but this grin showed hints of nostalgia and playfulness almost... and Zakai didn't know how disguising themselves really brought nostalgia in any way, or how any of this could make someone feel happy. Of course, he'd never been one to play in the mud. In early childhood, he'd lived in a place where mud was hard to find amongst the concrete, and by the time he'd been adopted, he was well over any drives he might've had to paly in some mud. Still, he wasn't put off by the grin, and he didn't really know why she was grinning, but he gave her a smile back because... well, she smiled, and her smile made him smile because it was a happy smile... so he smiled.... then he lifted up his own rock and started covering himself in mud. Honestly, he didn't get it... and he didn't know why he was stuck on it. It was a weird thing to get stuck over.

Danny thought for a moment, "The 'circle room'?" his eyes lit up with a bit of recognition, "I've heard of a circle room.. I think..."
It sounded familiar. If he'd heard of it, it was something that he'd heard about once, and whether it was long ago or not that long ago was anyone's guess. It had something to do with Zakai... or Zakai had some association with the circle room.
"Okay! We should go there! Lead the way Captain!" he didn't know what a captain was, but Colton called himself one, and it seemed to be an important title, so Danny called Carson that and gave him a salute because salutes were important too. Then he stopped and thought for a moment, "What's in the 'circle room'?"

[Lil]

Faye smiled tightly and allowed her eyes to fall closed. "I'm glad you did too." Faye whispered not wanting to break the short second of peace within her. Still, she wished she had more to say, more to help and to comfort.

"I'm sorry I can't do more to make this easier Blake." Faye told him quietly as guilt settled more heavily in her stomach. Faye wasn't sure if she should be feeling this was but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't help it. A wife should be able to do more for her husband than this.

In that time where she racked her mind for an idea at last something came across it, maybe it wouldn't fix his problem now but it could certainly distract him from it, or at least she hoped. "Will you get a shirt and come with me?" Faye asked still not moving from his embrace.

[Kicks]

Adalia stood up after she had covered herself completely in mud. She was gross and dirty, but on the bright side mud was great for the skin and didn't even smell all that bad.
While she waited for her son, she looked around the forest surrounding them. These were the Rocky Mountains, she knew a lot about them after her time alone here. There were mountain lions, bobcats, bears, ticks, wolves, snakes. But it was still too cold for most of them to be out, like ticks and snakes and bears.
Still, the zombies were at the top of the food chain just under the monsters. So the rest of those threats may have been abominated by the undead. She wasn't too concerned about the wild animals, more so the undead.
They would have to find their halfway point by night. It had to be somewhere like that stream they came across, something to mask their scent. Or they could continue on into the night. Monsters were more dangerous than zombies, but at least they couldn't turn humans. And if they were careful, they could make it to the truck.

He had? He wondered if Zakai had told Danny anything about his past. If not, then Carson didn't want to say anything too much. So he just smiled at the little boy in response to that remark.
When he looked up and saluted him and called him 'captain', Carson laughed loudly.
"Aye, aye, soldier!" He saluted the little boy back and then marched on.
"The circle room used to be a more comfortable housing unit!" He barked off to Danny, trying to sound like Richard because he was what Carson had always imagined to be that stereotypical soldier. Or at least when he thought of 'soldier', he thought of Richard.

[Kicks]

That was fine. It was his own choices he had made. He had to live with it for the rest of his life. He wondered just how the others felt when they killed someone. He wondered if this is how the people fighting in the War felt, or the Iran War. To kill someone even though it may be in self defense... He wondered if his own dad lived with this guilt. Or if it ever got any better.

He prayed it got better. To live with that kind of guilt for the rest of his life would drive him straight to insanity, it practically already was.

BLake perked his head when she asked him to put a shirt on. He blinked his eyes. Where was she taking him? Should he be concerned? But Blake didn't ask those questions, he just went into the room and reached for his bag. He pulled out a white t-shirt and pulled it on over his head.

[Lil]

Quickly, Faye twirled off into the room and flipped her shirt so it was the right way once more and slid on some shoes. When she came back out she grabbed Blake's hand and started to lead him down the hall and out of the housing unit.

It had been a long time since they'd been here without a doubt but she had a vague memory of where she was heading. Faye looked at all the buildings as they went, fascinated by the little town that was Fort Trinity. If she hadn't been here before she would've never imagined it like this.

[Kicks]

Blake hadn't an idea of where Faye was taking him. But she seemed set and determined to go and he trusted her. So when she took him by the hand, he followed along behind her with his thoughts consumed by curiosity. Curiosity was a strong emotion, so was guilt. But the curiosity was overwhelming that right now and so he followed along.

Fort Trinity was a pretty large place. So there were many places that they could go. But where she had in mind specifically was beyond his own imagination to figure out.

[Lil]

Faye felt like they were going in circles for a while there. So many of the buildings looked alike it was easy to get lost. Not to mention it'd been like sixteen years. That was crazy, the last time Faye was here she was like 16 or 17 and her and Blake had just gotten engaged! What a blast to the past. And she had another in mind.

At last her eyes landed on her destination. It looked far different now, part of the reason it was so difficult to spot. It was a small pizza place, stuck between two larger buildings but that didn't decrease it's significance to Faye. "Well... Doesn't this place look familiar?" She smiled up at Blake.

[Kicks]

The fort was so large. Blake felt like one would need a car just to get around this place on a day-to-day basis. He wondered if they used to have buses that would drive around the place to talk people to their destination. It was so big, it would be hard to believe that they didn't. He would see a lot of bike racks around the place, so no doubt people would use bikes to get around too.

They continued to walk for what felt like forever. At first Blake was curious as to what she was even talking about. It was just a small building that... he looked closer. It was different. The fort had changed over the sixteen years since Thomas had fallen.

But Blake did recognize it still. His eyes were suddenly dancing.
"Yea. I remember when you were the wimp who didn't want to make out in public." He said in a teasing way.

[Lil]

Faye waited for Blake to also recognize it and when he did she grew even more excited. The way his eyes lit up made her giggle giddily.

Then what he said made her feel like as if that were a sort of a challenge. "Oh, well how times have changed." She smiled and cocked a brow at him.

[Kicks]

Times certainly had changed in more ways than just one.
Blake's eyes filled with thought as he peered at the pizza shop. Sixteen years ago this place was bustling with business and he was embarrassing Faye in public. Things had changed since then. The place had aged, as did they. And worse yet, back then he was just a simple guy trying to live a pacifist lifestyle that was made difficult by the times.

He had abandoned that lifestyle yet again because of the times they lived in. Maybe if he hadn't been so high on adrenaline then he wouldn't have done those things. But at least he was back with his family now.

Though thinking back on that also made him think about the time before they had come here. And then that reminded him of Chase, and that reminded him of fury and how that wall could have been Chase's face he was pumbling in. Which only made him sad to think because that was violent and really he shouldn't be forced to have to get violent to keep some asshole from trying to hump his wife.

Times were so irritating. He rubbed his face at the thought of it. Why couldn't things be simpler?

[Lil]

Well clearly her plan hadn't worked, great. She sighed and looked up at Blake. "I was hoping this would make you happier." Faye told him quietly. "Sorry." She murmured once more.

"We can just go back now." Faye said gesturing back in the direction of the housing unit. She had only come here to try and take his minds off things but apparently that wasn't working.

[Kicks]

Blake was disappointing Faye, he knew he was. Her plans to get him to think of other things besides taking a life hadn't worked in her favor. And he didn't know whether to feel guilty about that too or even if there were room in his conscious to feel guilty about other things.

It had worked at first. When he saw the pizzeria it brought back funny memories. But then he was reminded that things had changed. He wished he could just snap his fingers and say "yea, I killed someone, whatever. It's done now and in the past. Time to get on with it." Except he was a man of sympathy for life.

Blake brushed his hand up against the building. It almost felt like a paradox, the new with the old. He bowed his head and patted the building. And then suddenly, he was feeling something weird.

Blake turned his head up towards the sky, searching it for something... something that felt... off. He turned around in a full circle, looking up at the sky. No... he could feel it. Something was off. This energy... what is it?

"There's something..." He said, "It feels..." Powerful, frightening, colossal. He didn't know which word to settle on.

[Lil]

Faye just watched Blake now. What else was she supposed to do? Take him to the coffee shop where he punched a guy in order to defend Faye? Yeah, she highly doubted that would help.

When he mentioned something, some type of energy or something like that Faye gave him and off glance. "What?" She asked. "Blake you're starting to freak me out a little." Faye chuckled awkwardly even though she clearly shouldn't be laughing in this sort of situation but she wasn't sure what he was talking about but it sounded ominous.

[Kicks]

Blake turned his head sharply towards the left. His whole body turned and his eyes peered up at the far East wall.
"It's..." He started again. "I think something is out there." He mumbled. Something strong, something powerful. Something... that was climbing over the wall.

"Bollocks!" He cursed with wide eyes, "Do you see that? What the hell is that thing?"
And why was he just choosing to stand there? He should be running to stop it! So Blake started to sprint.

What he was talking about had made it over the top of the wall. It stood on the wall's bricks, crouching over and examining the fort. He couldn't make out much about it from where he was. But it had been able to do something that no zombie or monster had achieved. It jumped from the bricks and onto the pathway that ran along the wall.

[Lil]

Faye still watched Blake and the more he said the more frightened Faye grew. She followed his gaze and at first she didn't see what he saw. "What are you tal-" Faye froze once her own eyes met with, whatever the hell that was.

When Blake took off running Faye quickly followed in suit trying to keep up with her husband. He was a good but taller than her though so his strides were longer and resulted in her lagging behind a bit. That didn't slow her down though, no it pushed her to run faster.

[Kicks]

Blake felt out of breath when he finally reached the East Wall. He stared up at it, looking up along the pathway but the thing was gone. He began to panic. If that thing had climbed over the wall and disappeared... then where is-?

A roar, like nothing he had ever heard before came from just North of him. He looked just in time before the thing threw itself at him with freakish speed and strength. Blake forced himself into a being of energy. The thing passed through him and stumbled to the other side.

It screamed again. Blake whipped around to see it screaming at him like it was trying to yell at him or tell him that it was going to kill him. As Blake stared at it, he grew more horrified. It was the same beast that had attacked Faye and Alec when they were out and about on the streets. But it wasn't like he knew that. He just knew it was really freaky.

[Lil]

When Faye reached the two it was apparent they were already going at it. She was completely and utterly stunned at first. She'd seen this beast before. And last time it nearly had her and Alec killed.

On instinct her hand shot up towards this beast and slammed him against the wall he'd just scaled. Seeing as how it was a whole new type of monster breed she wasn't sure how well her power would hold him but she hoped it would work for now, at least until they found another solution.

"Blake what do we do?" Faye asked, her voice strained and the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai looked over at his mother, making sure that she had covered herself in mud. He was caked with the stuff. Honestly, now that he had mud all over him, he was kind of glad he'd never messed with it as a kid. Honestly, what kid would like this sort of thing. It was no fun at all. It was messy and it got everywhere and... ugh! Well, Danny would probably like this sort of thing. He'd come to him covered in mud not that long ago. Sheesh. Kids were weird.
Seeing as she was done, he figured that they should probably get moving now, and he motioned for her to follow. Getting back to the truck would still be difficult, even with the mud, but at least the threat of zombies attacking them wasn't as great as before. Now they could focus more on getting to the truck. He hoped it wouldn't feel as long as it felt getting here... and he hoped that the others had found ways to mask their scent too. The others were very attentive when it came to finding ways to survive, though. As worried as he was about them, he had no doubt in his mind that they could fend for themselves out here.

Danny thought for a moment on that. A more comfortable housing unit? A housing unit was a place they used to keep people, right? For sleeping? So then...
"Why can't we go there? Is it dangerous?"
It didn't seem to be the type of place to hold dangers like the labs would. Even the hallways were probably safer than a housing unit. If they were used for people, then it probably wouldn't have held too much that could cause harm, right? So then why?

[Kicks]

Blake was shocked when the thing was thrown back against the wall. He turned to see his wife. Awesome! But now wasn't the time to marvel in her strength. They had to figure out what to do with the thing and to keep it out as well. As he looked back towards it, he watched in horror as it began to split into two different beings.

"What the...?" He breathed out in terror. What the hell was that thing?

"Boop!" There was suddenly a finger poking his ear. Blake looked down to find the little ginger kid.
"Now's not the time, Nico." Blake chastised him.
"Sure it is," He argued, "I've seen that thing before. It'll try to destroy the walls if you let it, let all the other undead inside. It's done it to another place I stayed at." He was slitting his wrist. A long vine of blood trailed across the air and towards the creature's nose.

"Go open the gate." Nico told Blake. "I can get it out of here."
Blake looked up towards the creature that seemed transfixed by the blood, trying to snap its jaws at it. But every time it did, the blood vine snapped back then trinkled back up to its nose.
"Fine." Blake said and took off towards the gate.

[Kicks]

Adalia glanced at her little boy when he made a motion for her to follow. She nodded her head and took off after him.
She was still trying to figure out the best and fastest way to get to the truck. The way they were headed was probably the fastest. But how to get to the truck quicker? Should they run? Jog?
She didn't know. Both of those things required a lot of energy and if they wore themselves out before night they wouldn't be able to do much at night. But what if they reached the truck before night? It was worth a shot.
"We should jog." She said to her son, as quietly as she could. "Cover more distance. If we do, we can reach the truck before night."

"I don't know." Carson shrugged his shoulders, "I think they converted it into something." He couldn't remember what Richard had said about it. It was so long ago, it felt, since they had come to the fort. And he couldn't recall the exact dangers of the circle room. But he could remember that it was dangerous.
So he better keep his gun off safety.

[Lil]

Faye looked over at Nico and Blake while still holding the beast back. As it began to split she rose her others hand in order to catch the second one but before he could finish Nico was distracting him, and thankfully.

When Blake ran off to the gate Faye figured Nico would lure him out with the scent of blood. "Once you get him out what's going to stop him from coming back in?" She asked not wanting to have to go through this again.

[Kicks]

"I'll lead him somewhere to trap him." Nico said, eyes on the monster. He didn't understand the monster, but he had faced it before. Nico wasn't too scared of it after his second time facing it. Since then he had figured out a way to transfix it. The second time he faced it he had trapped it into a house and took off.

"I trapped it before," He added, "In Wyoming. Maybe this time I will trap it in a cellar or bomb shelter. Maybe it will find somewhere better to terrorize, or maybe it will just stay trapped for the rest of its life. Or maybe I will sneak down there once a week and feed it and name it George."

He grinned at Faye as if that were the best idea. But turned around quickly and headed towards the gates, the blood trail following behind like a loose leash. The monster started squealing and fighting, roaring and hissing.

[Lil]

Faye shook her head. That kid... There was no sense in trying to argue or point out the flaws in his ideas, she would just hope he was joking. When Nico started to walk off Faye watched as the monster struggled against her hold on him.

Hesitantly, Faye dropped her hands letting the beast free to follow after Nico and hope that it didn't decide to get a little wild. If so, she was prepared to pin him down once more because she did not intend to let this thing cause any more damage, not after she saw what it could do when she was with Alec.

[Kicks]

Blake stood by the gates, watching with a frown as the second the monster was let loose it took off after Nico with its growlings and screechings. It screamed loudly, like nothing Blake had quite heard before. It tried to jump on the blood, tried to jump on Nico, but the kid was a quick little twit.

Nico ducked right through the gates, the monster on his heels. Blake stayed by the gates. He didn't want to close them until the kid came back, even if that meant he had to stand there and knock in zombie's heads. He couldn't let that little kid just bang on the gates when the monster could be back on his tail again.

[Lil]

Faye followed behind the monster and Nico until she reached the gates with Blake. Faye stopped at her husbands side and watched anxiously. Sure the kids plan was working for now but what if something happened and the beast got him.

"Should I go with him?" Faye asked looking up at Blake now. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea and she was confident that Nico could handle himself but what if he was out there alone and she could've helped. But then, she could also stay here with Blake, put up a little force field wall at the gate to keep out monsters and zombies.

[Kicks]

Blake wasn't sure of the answer. He didn't want her going out just in case the thing did get wild again. But he also didn't want the thing to get wild and attack Nico. Still, if the teenager said he had faced it before then he had faith he knew what he was doing. But he was also concerned that maybe the teenager was being overconfident and that could turn against him.

He was chewing over these thoughts anxiously when he saw something interesting happen. Nico was a fair ways from the fort now. But he had stopped at a sewer crater. The monster lunged at him one last time, but the blood snapped out and wrapped itself around the ligaments and body of the monster to prevent it from eating him.

Another tendril of blood lashed out and looped itself into the crate. It tugged and the crate came up. Then, like an angry kid pushing a broken piece back together to its favorite toy, Nico shoved the thing down into the sewer. The crate clattered back over the opening loudly.

[Lil]

No answer. Awesome. Blake stood there about as uncertain as her it seemed. Fortunately that uncertainty didn't have to last long. Both of their eyes watched as Nico took down the beast rather effortlessly at that too.

"Well, I guess he doesn't need any help." Faye muttered and moved her gaze back to Blake. That was pretty remarkable actually. She was going to express that she was shocked by how well he controlled his powers at this age but then she remembered this was something he, like Spring and Alec, had been living with his whole life, unlike how her and Blake had been thrown into it unknowingly.

[Kicks]

Blake shook his head in response. It appeared that way. Though, he was more focused on the fact the monster was now in the sewer systems. He would have to go around the fort, making sure that none of the crates were easy to lift. And even then he would still have to do something about blocking them, just in case. Maybe he would take some kind of welding tool and melt the metal so it couldn't be lifted.

When Nico passed back inside, he was tired. And sick. And he wanted a nap. He told all of this to Blake who went from a serious composure to smiling softly.

"So much for acting strong when it clearly requires more of you." Blake laughed to the teenager.
"Act?" Nico puffed himself up, "You better watch yourself. I'll use your own blood to choke you!"
"I'm sure you will." Blake patted his back and sent him on his way. The teenager stumbled away, back towards the jail.

[Lil]

Faye stood by silently, watching the exchange between the two. She still felt strange around Nico but she would be tolerant of his unusual ways, for Blake. "I don't know how you do it." She told leaning her head onto Blake's shoulder. "I'm the extrovert in this relationship it seems but you're far better with people." Faye chuckled softly.

While Faye was more outgoing she was more brash and opinionated. She was rather head strong and that undoubtedly caused strife. She groaned before closing her eyes. Thinking about it just upset her more, why couldn't she be good with people like Blake was.

[Kicks]

Blake smiled and slid his arm around Faye's shoulders. He leaned his head atop hers as they stood there. He was watching the teenager walk into the distance until Faye made a comment. At it, he couldn't help but to laugh. It was true that she was clearly the extrovert of the relationship. He was a very clear introvert. So her point was not moot.

"When I address people I don't challenge them." He pointed out with a laugh. "I don't discourage things like what Nico said. I just respond to it as if he would do something like that. Which, I know he wouldn't. But I don't tell him that because that is initiating a challenge. And when you challenge people, they get defensive and mean. And then you get defensive and mean. And nothing is fun."

[Lil]

Faye listened to Blake very unsatisfied by his answer.

And then you get defensive and mean.

She scrunched up her nose now frustrated and slightly insulted. "Well... Well I don't care. People shouldn't say things like that if they don't wanna be thrown into walls." Faye mumbled. Ugh, that was dumb. How did people do that? She was a grown woman and still didn't know. "I should've known better than marrying someone so perfect." Faye added although her tone was slightly more relaxed and teasing than before.

[Kicks]

Blake hadn't meant to insult her. But given the look on her face, he knew he had done just that. He sighed, now trying to figure out a way to fix this. He tried to think of something better to say, thinking really hard on it even... but he wasn't able to come up with anything.

Guess he would have to settle for broken words and move onto what she was saying.

Blake chuckled at his wife: "Well you could say that, but then they could say that you should know better than to throw people into walls. It's a discussion that can't be won. And that is why it is no fun. Because on either side people get mean and defensive and then it becomes a battle of who can hurt the other more."

Blake shook his head and frowned. He didn't like getting into those kind of battles. He preferred to avoid them at all costs. It took him quite some time to get to the point of finding Chase and telling him off. It really did take a lot of stress and repeated offenses to get him to hit someone. So he was at a loss of how quickly people could resort to that sort of violence. Then again, he resorted to it and killed someone... people could say it was in self defense. And it was true he didn't do it out of anger- he did it out of fear. But to him, it was just the same as if he had chosen to kill someone for the hell of it or because they made him mad.

"I'm not perfect." He mumbled thoughtfully.

[Lil]

"You know, you're right." Faye responded turning to look up at Blake. "You're not perfect. You're one fatal flaw is not knowing when to side with your wife." She cocked her brow at him and grinned. She wasn't really bothered by it, after 17 years she'd learned that Blake wasn't the type of guy who told her what she wanted to hear, hardly ever, but she loved that about him.

"But I believe we can settle that you're certainly better than me." Faye told him while poking him in the chest. "Not that that is really that hard." She chuckled.

[Kicks]

Blake nodded his head in agreement when she agreed with him, but quickly stopped when she told him his fatal flaw. He thought onto that. Well, that was one of many of his flaws. Though he wondered how fatal it could be- probably very.

"And no," Blake said, "We cannot both settle on that." He was the killer after all. People like him... they were at the very bottom. But he didn't say that aloud. He only refuted what Faye said in his gentle voice, and kept the rest of his thoughts to himself where it was safest, where it couldn't upset or hurt anyone.

"I believe your one fatal flaw is not knowing when to kick a man in his bollocks after he's flirted with you." Blake said thoughtfully, thinking back on Chase. "It would save your husband quite the time of finding that man and punching walls."

[Lil]

Faye frowned now. "He wasn't flirting with me Blake." She responded. "But, if he was, I didn't notice and you know why?" She asked taking both of his hands and moving in a step. "Because the only person I can ever imagine flirting with me, is you."

Well, that actually didn't sound much better but what did he want her to say? She never really took notice of Chase flirting but perhaps she was just oblivious. "If it makes you feel better though, next time he says anything to me he better hope he;s wearing a cup." Faye grinned and popped up on her toes a bit so she stood more evenly with Blake.

[Kicks]

Ugh! She was siding with him now! Blake kept a totally blank, unreadable face, though. He didn't want to show what he was thinking on the inside. And if he did show what he was thinking on the inside, he would do it through walking out of the fort again. It just angered him so much. He was the husband. Was Chase? No. He was a stupid ex who couldn't move on with his stupid life and had to go around calling his wife 'goldilocks' as if 'hardeeharhar we had a thing, look I'm showing it, I'm flirting with you hardeeharharhar this is great your wife is on my side harharhar'.

Just breathe. You've already punched a wall. Oh but Blake couldn't. He just wanted to wrap his hands around- bad. Bad. Those are violent thoughts. Stop it! Ugh! This was just so unbelievable!

Blake smiled with his wife when she said that. It didn't stop his thoughts from roaring in the background, nor did it simmer down the fury he held so deep inside. After seeing them on that roof... Blake forced himself to stay relaxed, composed, smiling.

[Lil]

He wasn't happy with that response, that smile of his was completely transparent. Of course he wasn't. Why should he be? It's not like she didn't say she would so what he asked! No, that's still not enough. "Okay, you're still mad at me for whatever happened I guess." Faye said dropping back down and stepping away from Blake. "And I don't want to fight the day you finally come back so, maybe I should go get some more sleep and you should, do whatever it takes for you to not be mad at me anymore." She stated while crossing her arms over her chest.

It was true, she didn't want to fight. The last time they fought he disappeared for a week and she didn't want that again. Inside she was extremely heated, he was the one who left his family, without warning, letting them think he could be dead and he comes back and is still mad at Faye apparently for God knows what. But she wasn't going to get into that. It was pointless anyways.

Keeping her expression and voice calm Faye said, "I'll be back in the room if you need me."

[Kicks]

Blake really wasn't in the mood. A week away from all of this is what it took to cool him down. To spend another week trying to get back down from how angry he was over this is not what he wanted. But honestly, what did she expect? Should he go find a woman that was attracted to him, and then bring her to the fort to show Faye just how irritating it was?

Blake felt like maybe this was the only way to get her to see that having Chase alone with her or flirting with her was not acceptable. And she didn't even discourage Chase! If she discouraged him, he would stop! Men needed a firm answer. If they weren't given that firmness, then they will never stop.

Blake's jaw tensed up. He closed his eyes to count backwards. Faye was going away to take a nap or whatever it was she was doing. Which really was the equivalent of fighting, the end result was the same.

Ten... nine... eight...

If all of this could just disappear, he would be perfectly fine with that. He had a full plate already! Why stick Chase on top of that? Why? It didn't make sense to him. It was like the world wanted this!

Seven... six... five... four...

Maybe he should leave for another week, go find a woman, bring her back here just to make an example. But for him, that was the equivalent of cheating.

Three... two... one.

[Lil]

"Cool." Was the last thing she said before walking off. And she was glad she did too because she could not deal with that right now. He had the nerve to be mad at her for something she wasn't even doing? Was it her fault Chase was like that? No. Was it her fault that Blake apparently thought she was a cheater? No. She'd been nothing but loyal to Blake and gave him no reason to think otherwise, maybe he just thought that lowly of her, which was great. Just wonderful!

Faye slammed the door shut behind her as she entered the room.
'
He, HE thought he could be mad right now though. If anyone should be mad it should be her, if anyone should feel betrayed it should be her! Blake left. And when he did who knows if he had intended to return? He left his child and his wife, who not to mention just discovered she'd lost their baby, because he was mad at Faye for something she had no control over.

Maybe she should leave and give him a reason to be mad. But she could never do that to Blake or Logan.

Faye threw herself down on the bed and shut her eyes hoping sleep would take her away because who knew after sixteen years her husband still didn't trust her.

[Kicks]

"I think they spotted us."
"They definitely spotted us."
"We should run."
"Good idea."
The two teenagers nodded at each other before they took off into the trees, wildly running.

That was after the caravan had dispatched from the Tenant. They were almost immediately spotted to be tailing the military. Which was to no one's fault but their own. Spring pointed out it was because they hadn't blended in well enough. Alec suggested it was because the military thought they were zombies until they couldn't shoot them down.

They had lost the tail after running deep into the woods at a sharp angle. The military sent units after them, but they were lucky enough to stumble upon something odd.

"Is that a...?" Alec began, "No. You can't be seriously considering...-" Spring had been the one to trip over it. And upon closer inspection she had realized that it was a crate that would lead underground. They didn't know where it would go, but the military would have no chance of finding them.

"Bye, baby." Spring cooed to her friend before dropping into the crate by herself.
"Spring!" Alec complained, "Ugh!" She can be so... he sighed. Whatever. And then followed after her, closing the crate behind him so the military wouldn't spot the hole.

[Lil]

Faye didn't get to harp on it much because she really was exhausted. Surprisingly, she managed to sleep without Blake being right next to her either. Probably due to anger. Unfortunately her sleep wasn't so sound this time.

It wasn't anything out of the ordinary but that didn't make it any less terrifying. It was actually a flashback type of dream only the outcome wasn't as favorable. Her and Alec were out once more, faced with that beast thing except there were more. Far more. Ultimately, it ended pretty gruesomely yet Faye didn't wake from her sleep yet. No, the nightmares weren't quite over there.

[Kicks]

Blake knew that by distracting himself, he would be solving nothing. He also knew that by walking away, he would solve nothing. He knew that by confronting Faye and telling her “no, you listen here, missy. We need to talk” that she would only get mad and maybe cry or hiss at him or all of that and more.

Or even worse, if he did talk to her she would try to deflect it and tell him all his faults and flaws and what she was mad about when it was even about that subject to begin with- it would be about what he brought up. She could bring that up after one problem has been solved, but not to deflect from the problem because it only ever made him feel like he shouldn’t even be alive or that life was completely worthless because he effed up so many times.

Or even worser than that, she would bring up how he killed someone.
Blake winced at that thought. He shouldn’t have told her that. It was going to blow up in his face like it did in Hawaii.

“Are you some kind of puss?” Blake grumbled at himself. “Grow a pair and just do it.”
Blake straightened up and nodded his head. Sure. Okay. He would do it. He would go and talk with his wife.

Blake returned to the housing unit with eyes set on sitting down and having a serious talk about that and only that until that was solved.



“What is this place?” Alec questioned quietly. “It looks like… like…” He didn’t know the word for it. An underground tunnel? But there were doors. And there were crates, and there were lanterns.
“I think this used to be… some sort… of… maybe… disaster shelter?” Spring suggested. It had went on for miles now. She didn’t know where it began or where it ended. But from the looks of it, no monster or zombie had seen the light of the underground shelter. Neither had whoever built it.
“There could be useful supplies in here.” Alec pointed out. “Maybe we should spend some time here. Come up with a plan. Gather our bearings. Look for useful things.”
“Yea.” Spring agreed, nodding her head. Though she was afraid they would get too comfortable and too afraid to ever leave the shelter. She didn’t say that aloud though. She didn’t want to put that thought in Alec’s head.

[Lil]

The terrors continued after that one and only got worse. It changed so that it was no longer Alec and herself being attacked but instead attacking. And who other than her husband and son would they be attacking? Though she saw through the eyes of the beast she thought like herself, Faye was still able to tell what she was doing and tried to stop but... She couldn't. She couldn't stop herself no matter how hard she resisted.

It was painful, chasing down the two, but the worst part came when she was hunched over her son. He met her eyes with fear but there was no stopping from Faye. The climax of the dream commences when suddenly it all disappeared and she was no longer a monster and her son was no longer in front of her. Instead she was met with another familiar scene.

It was seventeen years ago and one of her most suppressed memories. Right after San Francisco had been compromised to the outbreak and the small group of students had broken out, Faye was on her own and in a house scavenging for anything useful. It was in one of the back rooms she found a sort of gun. Noises creaked from every corner and she trembled at the thought of the zombies just outside the doors. She rounded each corner, gun held out front in order to shoot any surprise visitors.

Faye had moved to the back door now preparing to leave when someone slammed open screen door waving a knife frantically in the air. The young, terrified teen crouched to the floor but it was useless because the older man had already spotter her. She looked up as he approached and pleaded and told that she wasn't a zombie or monster repeatedly but he had that look in his eye, that look that she could tell she wasn't getting through. Unsure of whether he was clinically insane, hallucinating, or simply striking out of fear she knew that if she didn't do something he was going to kill her. In a panic and unsure of what else to do she lifted the gun and pulled the trigger.

The dream ended before she could see what had happened but she knew. Faye shot up in the bed, hitting her head on the wall beside it and releasing a terribly loud groan while gripping where she swore she just gave herself one hell of a knot.

[Kicks]

"But if I do... maybe I shouldn't... but I should... but if I do..." Blake ended up losing face when he did get into the housing unit. This typically didn't happen so much for him because once he had his mind set on something, he did it. But as of late, a lot of things about him felt strange and different.

So he paced the hallway, running his hands through his hair and mumbling to himself like a crazed meth addict.

"But if I don't..." He continued to grumble.

The truth was, if he didn't nothing would change. But if he did, she would get mad, he would get mad, and everything would blow up in his face. And nothing would change. The biggest issue was nothing changing.

"This is so..." He began to grumble again.

[Lil]

Faye sat there for a long time. She was stuck in that phase after one first wakes up and can't fall back to sleep but isn't quite awake either. She needed to clear her head and possibly her conscience too but wasn't sure how. Talking to Blake about any of this was pretty much out the window, somehow he'd turn nightmares into her feeling guilty for "flirting" with Chase somehow.

Whatever. Maybe they'd just fight forever, never solving anything or going anywhere. They'd just fight until somehow the problem slipped away because one of them ran away for a week. Faye flopped back on the bed and sighed.

[Kicks]

Blake decided to say "screw it". He walked with purpose towards the room. He rose his hand up to the room door of the room to give the courtesy knock. But his knuckles froze over the door.

Many thoughts swam through his head as of why this was a terrible idea. He couldn't stop thinking that this would change nothing. That it would only blow up in his face. And then he would just forever be angry about all of it. And it wasn't like he could just say "oh no big deal" about it either. What husband in their right mind would ever let it go just like that?

Blake closed his eyes for a moment. He was getting mad again. So he counted back from ten, then knocked politely on the door. He swung it open and announced: "We're talking about this now. Right here, right now. No arguing about it. And no deflecting it either. I don't want to hear "well you did this and that" because that is deflection and it will not solve the problem."

[Lil]

Faye kept her eyes closed when she heard the door open and her husband come in. Amazing. He actually wanted to talk about something? That was new for sure. She waited a moment contemplating what he said.

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" Faye asked still not sitting up. Instead she lifted a hand to her head and put it over her face. If he wanted to talk, they could talk, and she would stay calm. Maybe for once they'd solve something, or maybe not.

[Kicks]

"Chase!" Blake answered. "He flirts with you and he gets away with it because you do nit reject him. You have to be firm and tell him no, that's a bad boy, Chase. Men dint stop just because they see a ring. They need to be told to bite the dust, firmly. Now this is no fault of your own. But it does not help that you blow off my irritation by saying that we're married so it shouldn't matter. It does matter. In a lot of ways. But the point is that he's flirting with you and it makes me mad. Really mad. Now I know you both see me as an asshole. Some unfaithful pisshead that went away for a week. That is forever the root of all evil. I don't care. You guys can think I'm the world's biggest twit forever. But how would you like it if a woman showed up that was flirting with me? And I didn't stop her. I didn't encourage her, but I didn't stop her. Wouldn't you be mad too?"

[Lil]

Faye didn't move as Blake started to speak and as he started to yell. She just held her pounding head and listened. He was really worked up over this wasn't he? Clearly.

"Alright, fine, you're right." Faye admitted because she wasn't in the mood to try and argue this out and only come up empty handed. "I wouldn't like that. I'll stop doing whatever then and just tell him to stop." She told him and sighed.

Maybe she'd just avoid contact with all guys ever, that would make Blake happy right? Then he'd never have to fear that his wife was a cheater, although he'd probably think that somehow she was anyways. "I'm sorry."

"But on the fact about me being upset that you left for a week, I haven't even brought that up. You did. So you can't try and be mad that I'm upset. You brought that up, not me." Faye was not about to sit here and listen to him complain about how she was mad he'd left them when Faye didn't even hint at that.

[Kicks]

No. He hadn't just won. What had just happened was her getting fed up with listening to him. She could say he was right, but it was more than clear to him that she thought so many things about this. And not only that. He knew she was upset he had left because when he returned she told him She was going to kill him. It was those little things people said that he picked up on.

Blake rubbed his face. That's it. He was drained. This was never going to ever resolve.

"You know what?" He sighed. "I'll just go let Chase know he can have you." He waved it off and stepped out of the room. Besides, she didn't ever seem upset with Chase. She probably thought he was a better father too.

Blake was just done with it all. Maybe if he let it happen then Faye would be happier. That's all a man could want foe the woman he loved. Just her happiness

[Lil]

Faye groaned. He can't be serious. She agreed with him! He was right! She shouldn't let Chase do that and she even admitted it but that still wasn't enough!

Faye stood up from he bed and moved to the door frame as Blake left, saying he was going to tell Chase. "What are you talking about?" She asked calmly not wanting to get all worked up right now.

"Blake, you're right. I should've been more clear with him and I will." Faye said. "I'm agreeing with you. We don't have to fight about this, you're right." Faye explained tiredly. For once, there was the opportunity for them not to fight but he was going and doing this?

[Kicks]

Blake rubbed his face again when Faye began to speak again. He was just so tired of it all! She was on my saying he was right because she was fed up with him. He knew the difference between a resolution and a compromise.

"Faye. You are not happy with me." He said. "You haven't been for a very long time now. I can still remember seventeen years ago when you were with him and being all giggly and cute. And that image kills me when I know you and him are alone and he is flirting with you. That little giggle, that cute little smile. That is what is going through my head."

He sighed and brought his hands up and over his head.
"So go, have fun, be happy. You aren't with me. I guess I should have seen that after I proposed to you. Didn't you say it then? Something just isn't right." He shook his head and glanced to the floor. Her words still echoed in his head to this very day.

"Aren't husbands only supposed to want what makes their wives happiest? I have been fighting so hard to keep you because I am so afraid to lose you. And you just aren't happy with me."

[Lil]

Not this again. He's got to be joking. When was going to understand that she was happy with him! She was with Blake because she wanted to be with Blake!

"You know what Blake, do whatever the hell you want. Go and tell Chase whatever you want but you'll be lying. I don't want to be with Chase, I'm not happy with Chase." Faye exhaled heavily. "I'm happy with you! I want to be with you and be married to you and spend all my life with you! No one is holding a gun to my head telling me I have to stay with you, I choose to because I want to!" Faye was getting worked up now. She didn't understand why he always doubted her.

"Stop telling me how I feel! Stop telling me that I'm not happy and that I want to be with Chase! How about you stop telling ME how I feel and start listening to me about it! Believe it or not I know how I feel more than you know how I feel!" Faye sighed and ran her hands up over her face and through her hair. Why didn't he get it! Why did he always doubt her and himself.

"I want to be here through the fighting and the fun and the fear Blake. I want to be here through it all but I don't know how to make you see that anymore."

[Kicks]

Blake smiled sadly. He shook his head at Faye and walked away. He was going to head to Chase but he didn't actually know where his room was. And the man would probably hide anyways. So Blake held off on that.

The truth was that he didn't believe her, and they both probably knew it. She was so infuriated with him more often than not, and for good reason too. She hadn't been happy with him for the longest time. He just had to face it now.

He could go on a walk to clear his head, but he wouldn't do that. He might just end up leaving again and he didn't want to do that. He could just lay on a roof somewhere. But he was afraid of seeing something he didn't want to see again.

Blake ended up on deciding between one of two things. He could busy himself, or he could sleep.

[Lil]

Faye watched him leave. Not even caring anymore. If he wanted to walk away who was she to stop him? That's what he wanted and she'd tried to tell him otherwise but he didn't listen, he didn't want to listen is what she had concluded. Maybe this was a way for him to walk away without putting the blame on himself?

Well screw him. Faye was not going to try and convince him anymore. It wasn't her job to try and explain to him everyday that she loved him and that she wanted to be with him. She tried to show him but he never wanted to see it. Faye gave up.

[Kicks]

Blake had committed himself to solving this problem. But what he feared had happened. It just blew up in his face. There was no talking there was just her sighing and saying he was right. She was fed up with it. He was fed up with it. And now he was lost!
Blake gripped the sides of his head tightly. This fort was going to drive him insane. His wife was not happy with him. He was not happy with the Chase situation. And he couldn't solve any of it!
Blake dropped to his knees and curled his head towards them, hunching over.
This was a different kind of agony. He felt like he was breaking. Like everything had pressed down on him and his bones were finally quivering. Only it wasn't his bones, it was his sanity.

Blake forced himself back up into a stand and continued on. He didn't know whether he wanted to rip his own brain out or punch something until he had exhausted himself.

"I guess that is it, then." He mumbled. "Everything is over." He closed his eyes, lingering where he was.

[Lil]

Faye wasn't about to sit here and nope though. No she was over that, she was over sitting around and being depressed every time they got in a fight. It wasn't even worth it anymore. No she had a different idea in mind.

She left the housing unit again and returned to the gates of the fort. Faye hesitated for a moment before opening the gates and looking out to where Nico had been when he trapped that beast a while ago. They needed to do more than just trap it, somehow it'd find it's way out, someone needed to kill it. If kill was even the right word.

She made sure the gates closed behind her before she started to walk over to the grate with her ability being the only weapon she needed.

[Kicks]

He had killed a man. He had ruined his marriage. He had abandoned his family.
This was the punishment.

He had committed many crimes. He had went against his own morals. The thing he never wanted to be, he had become.

Blake pulled himself up onto the edge of the wall. He was so far up. He could see the undead scavenging for scraps. He could see the sun setting in the distance. The ocean that was black and murky and... his eyes lingered on a spot. Was he seeing correctly? Was that...? But what the hell was she doing?

Blake ripped his eyes away. Did it matter?
His eyes trailed back. Yes it did matter. Because that was the crate Nico had stuck that monster in. What was she doing?

[Lil]

All this anger and adrenaline she had built up might as well go towards something right? She certainly thought so.

With one finger Faye lifted the lid off the whole in the ground and she could already here low growls so she took a step back. While she was slightly nervous she was also sort of excited, excited to get this thing out of the way while she could, at least that was her plan.

Faye bounced on her heels as she waited anxiousness practically exploding from her. The growls slowly grew louder and Faye rolled her wrists around as if she was warming up but she was ready.

[Kicks]

The monster that Faye was after she works never be able to find. It was already out of the sewer system. It was already lurking somewhere else. It was too smart, too intelligent to stay trapped.

But Blake was on the ground now. He had left the fort to make sure that she didn't get killed.

A thought crossed his head. It was wrong to feel so playful... but...

Blake sneaked up behind Faye and pounced on her.

[Lil]

Faye waited and waited but nothing came. Then what were be growls? She looked down in the hole but there was nothing there. Perhaps they were just zombies off in the distant forest.

She sighed and kicked some of the grass up. Faye planned on just heading back into the fort but before she was could she was surprised by something pouncing in her back. Faye turned quickly and went to send whoever or whatever that was flying but stopped when she saw Blake. What did he want? She thought he wanted to be far far away from her.

Faye didn't say anything at first just stepped back and sighed. What was she supposed to do? Laugh and hug him and pretend that they were just like normal for now? "What're you doing out here?" She asked while turning back to the joke and sliding the top back in place.

[Kicks]

Blake backed away quickly before he could be thrown around. She did not look amused by what he did. But he was a guy and he hadn't done it for amusement. He had done it to... well just because it crossed his mind.

Though now he was being confronted by an angry woman. Most definitely it was a mistake. And he had nothing to show for it.

So he shrugged his shoulders and turned back around to walk back to the fort.

[Lil]

"Okay." Faye said as he walked off. He clearly was not to happy with her reaction but what had he expected? After making a big deal like that did he expect her to be sorry? Be sorry for agreeing with him? Yeah... Okay. She finally did something so that they didn't have to fight yet it still was not good enough.

When he went on returning to the fort Faye thought about what she wanted to do. She could go back too, but she also felt like it'd be awkward to just walk behind him. But she also had no reason to stay out here other than pointlessly putting herself in danger. Ughhh! Why did things have to be complicated! Faye just started to trudge back to the gate behind Blake.

[Kicks]

Blake had learned at a young age that when he was mad, but playful, it was a dangerous mixture. A very dangerous mixture. Many "evil" plans came to mind during these times. Like now he was thinking of making oatmeal and putting laxatives in it, then give it to Chase. He was thinking about finding some kind of dirty magazine and making loud remarks about it.

He was snapped from his thoughts when he noticed that Faye was following behind him like a pouting child. Blake looked forward again. A look crossed his face.

The blonde man stripped off his shirt and pants as he was walked. He left them to rot on the ground, not caring where he tossed them.
He stopped at the gates abd used the card around his neck to open the gate. He held it open for the woman that was walking behind him. He was whistling.

[Lil]

Faye watched Blake with a queer look. What the hell? What was he even doing? She didn't say anything though because whatever mood he was in, she wasn't. How could she be? How could he be? Maybe he just wasn't as upset as her.

Faye walked through the gate biting on her lip hard to stop any sort of even smirk. While she wasn't in the same playful mood as Blake it didn't make it less odd, even if she didn't want to find it funny.

[Kicks]

Blake felt victorious when he saw that she was trying to bite back an expression. Hehehe.

Blake closed the gate behind him and rose his hands up to his pecks. He covered them as if he were exposing something terrible.

"Oh!" He cried out in a high pitched voice. "My bra! My bra! Oh! I lost my bra!" He began to run forward all flailing like. "Will someone please lend me a bra? Oh! I am afraid of being looked at by wolves! Oh! Can you see how cold it is? I swear I am not cold! I am just turned on!" He threw his head back and came to a stumbling stop. "My bra! My bra!"

[Lil]

Ahhh Blake, always over doing it. Faye shook her head and sighed. Once more, she didn't respond to his outburst but just continued on to the... Well, she didn't know yet.

While she walked she figured that Blake was unlikely to stop if he received no reply so quickly and bluntly Faye turned and said, "If you're in need of a bra I'm sure you can find some in the housing unit." Her voice was dry and lacked showing amusement to his scene. She'd yet to figure out why he was acting this way, if it was in attempt to distract her from earlier, it wasn't working. She was tired of him thinking of her that way and it wasn't just going to blow over much like his feelings towards Chase weren't going to blow over.

[Kicks]

Oooooo snappy. Hiss. Roar. Growl. Blake flawed at the air towards her, making a biting motion before he continued on his way.
He turned at the housing unit and entered into the place. Well, he didn't know where to find a bra. So he ditched that idea.
Instead, he grabbed his stuff and moved it into another room faaaaaar on the other side of the housing unit. He figured no one would be sleeping in that hall, it certainly looked abandoned.
Blake tossed his things into the pale room before switching on the light.

[Lil]

How cute of him... Faye thought rather sarcastically before immediately feeling bad. Still, she was just as frustrated as before and his strange act hadn't helped. Not to mention she was pissed she hadn't got to fight some creepy monster thing. So she decided on something else, something less dangerous and life threatening.

Faye headed to the green house planning to check on those kittens but before she could reach them she found her son asleep on the floor. She stifled a chuckle before taking a seat beside him and gently giving his shoulder a shake. What an odd place to fall asleep, but it was not by far the strangest place Faye had slept. Times had been crazy back in California and New York.

[Kicks]

This room did not feel homey. But dud the fort? Blake had felt more at home when he was in Arizona at a cute little house he stopped at. Maybe because this was only a room. It was not a home. But it was the safest place to be.

Blake situated the bed with blankets and pillows. He unpacked into the few drawers available in the room. Then, before he could cause any more trouble, he decided to take a shower. Better that than pissing people off!

[Lil]

The boy slowly opened his eyes and looked up at his mom. What was she doing here? And how had she found him? He smiled nonetheless though. "Did you see dad?" Logan asked and sat up beside her.

Faye nodded and smiled tightly, "Sure did."

"Did you sleep any?" Logan wiggled his eyebrows as he asked.

"Oh so that was you, you put him up to that!" Faye laughed and poked him in the side. Logan laughed while nodding. "Well, yes. I did get some sleep."

[Kicks]

Blake stepped into the shower. His immediate thought was that this was the first real shower he had had in a week. And it was marvelous. But that was on my the initial feeling. It faded quickly as his thoughts got the best of him again.

Except, now that he had effectively worn out all emotion in his body, he had no feelings to influence his thoughts. And it was in the shower that he had a revelation: no sane man would be okay with a man flirting with his wife.

No there were many things he could do about that. But ultimately he settled on giving Faye a week to herself. He had a week, so she could have a week. And at the end of the week? He didn't know. He wasn't looking into the future anymore.

[Lil]

Logan smiled even wider. "Good." He said and stretched a little bit.

Faye looked over him, he clearly had gotten some sleep and that was good. "You know, you really need a shower." She chuckled and looked him up and down playfully.

Logan also looked down at himself and nodded. She was right, he was pretty dirty. "I guess I'll go take one then." He nodded before standing and stretching again. "Maybe later we can all eat together or something. As a family." He told his mom before walking out of the greenhouse, unknowingly leaving his mother broken hearted.

[Kicks]

Blake turned off the water and dried himself off quickly. He threw the towel into a corner of the bathroom, not bothering to look where it landed. Then he quickly got dressed. He brushed his hands over his face and frowned. He needed to shave. But... that was a lot of work. So he decided against it. He was blonde. Beards didn't look nearly as disgusting on him as it would if he had dark hair.

Blake threw the bathroom switch off and moved over to the cot. He laid down on it and pulled the covers over his head. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, but it still felt nice to not be moving and just relaxing his muscles.

"Ah..." He massaged one of his legs with both of his hands. It felt good to work at the knots. And if he focused on just working out the knots, he didn't have to think about anything else.

[Lil]

Faye now sat alone in the greenhouse as her son left to go take a shower which he probably hadn't taken in a week. She smiled just slightly and shook her head, boys could be disgusting, but she loved him.

As for Faye she moved to the back of the greenhouse hoping to find the kittens and their mom. They really were quite adorable, maybe Blake should come back here and maybe that would get the stick out of his ass!

No, she shouldn't think like that. It was mean and only upset her more. While she may be mad at in now she still loved him very much.

[Kicks]

He spent about an hour or so massaging the knots out of his sore legs. It felt good though, really good to finally feel in them again. Most people would be sick of feeling sore, but it was a blessing for him.
He stretched his legs out across the bed and peered up at the ceiling.

There were a few things Blake could let his mind settle on. And he was just about close to giving into the insanity of his mind. But for once, he felt alone. And it felt both relieving and odd. It felt relieving because in this little room he didn't have to worry about anyone or anything. He could just... be. But it was also odd because... well... it just was.

Blake grabbed a pillow and put it over his head. He wrapped his arms around the pillow to hold it tightly against his head. He could hardly breathe like that, but it was also relaxing so he didn't move his arms away from the pillow.

[Lil]

When Faye spotted the little kittens, all hulled up around their mom she couldn't help but smile. Oh they were so adorable and small and reminded her so much of Alby their own little cat! Sometimes she missed him so much, he was such a cute little cuddler!

Faye sat down beside the baby animals and carefully lifted one out of the box. It was black and had light white patches that just made it even cuter. Oh this was perfect, what was a better way to calm down than baby animals?

[Kicks]

The underground bunker they had found was full of just what they needed and more. It smelled like rat piss and turds, but once their noses got used to the smell they could move around without holding hands over their noses.
They had already decided to wait out the night. They had decided this because they knew the military would have given up by then and would possibly be gone into the city.

Alec had found bunks through one of the doors. But he was afraid of them having urine or turds on them that he suggested they don't sleep on them. However, Spring argued that the floor was just as bad. In the end, they decided that the bunks would have to do because it was better to be off the floor.

Most of the provisions were spoiled, over fifteen years old. But they managed to find little things like dried fruit that was still good and water purifiers to carry with them.

"Whoever that did this," Spring said, "Must have been really prepared for the zombie apocalypse."

[Lil]

Faye leaned her head back against the wall while petting the little kitten, it purred softly and soothed Faye's own mind. Animals did have a sort of calming effect, that's why sweet dogs and cats were taken to hospitals for sick children! It was quite precious too.

At sometime while she was loving on the sweet kittens was when her stomach began to ache. She'd had these lasting effects since she'd lost her baby it seemed. Constantly she felt sick or tired or depressed even and with Blake gone it had only gotten worse. When he came back things looked better for a bit but all the same illness came back.

[Kicks]

Blake hadn't meant to, but in the midst of keeping his head clear, he had dozed off. He didn't completely fall asleep. He was still partially awake, but he was napping. It was twenty minutes into his nap that he was suddenly awoken. It wasn't by his own mind- he had no images in his head.

Was it by something in the room? He looked around, feeling out any energies. But it wasn't something in the room either. Was it something that wasn't in the room? Had he had any sudden thoughts of Faye that he wasn't aware of? He thought hard on that. No. No he had not. He had decided to give her a week to herself. He had already cleared that with himself. So no, that couldn't have been it.

It could just be paranoia. He was going to believe that.
So he turned over, purposely strapping the blanket over his shoulders.

[Lil]

Faye placed the kitten down before moving into the bathroom of the coffee house. She moved over to the toilet where she emptied her stomach which was full of mostly water. Yum.

She groaned and flushed it all away before moving to the sink. She planned to wash her mouth out before remembering that water was probably disgusting. Great, she'd have to go back to the housing unit to get bottled water. She sighed rather angrily before leaving the coffee shop, not without telling each kitten and the mom goodbye first, and went back to their room in the building.


Somewhere not too far away Logan had taken clothes and was washing away all the grime and grossness from the past few days. The water actually felt quite nice and he wished he'd done this earlier. He wrapped it up fairly quickly and dried off and dressed before looking into the mirror.

He'd been told a lot back at the tenant how much he looked like his father but had his mother's eyes. He cocked his head and wondered if that was still the same because he liked that. A lot.

[Kicks]

Curling up under a blanket after a long, hot shower was the equivalent of ultimate relaxation for a man that had been out and about for a week. It eased his mind free of all the nasty memories he had accumulated the last few days. It left room for paranoia, but that did not matter. What mattered was that he was relaxed and able to nap again.

Napping was pretty weird for him. He wasn't entirely asleep, but not entirely awake either. It was like that peaceful in-the-middle road during the morning when one could go either way: wake up and start the day or turn over and sleep.

It always left Blake feeling refreshed or tired from napping like that. It was in random spouts too, so he would never know which effect he would receive- tired or refreshed.

[Lil]

Faye opened the door to the room to find... All of Blake's stuff gone. Her heart dropped to the floor and she was unable to remember why she'd come here in the first place. Where was his stuff, where had he gone?

Suddenly, instead on panicked or sad she felt infuriated. Had he left again? Had he left them all here again?! For now reason either! What more did he want from her? Did he want her to just stay locked up in a room for... Forever!

Sometimes her and Chase would cross paths and there was nothing Faye could do about how he acted! She could tell him to stop but what if that didn't work? Then would Blake continue to blame her for someone else's actions? She didn't doubt it. Everything was Faye's fault it seemed! It was her fault he THOUGHT she was unhappy. It was her fault Chase was still alive! It was all her fault wasn't it?

Faye slammed the door shut as she felt like she was boiling over with anger. Let him run away again, what did she care! Nothing she could do would ever be good enough to make him realize she actually did love him!

[Kicks]

This time when Blake awoke from his nap it wasn't because of just paranoia. That time he really had heard something. Was that someone slamming a door? Why would anyone be slamming a door? Was someone in trouble? He better make sure that there were no zombies inside.

Blake stumbled out of bed. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and opened the door of the room with the other hand. The man stumbled out of the bedroom, one eye closed to adjust his other eye to the light. It was an odd habit of his.

Blake moved down the hallway, yawning. He had to wake up if there were something inside the housing unit. And so he began to slap his face to fully wake up, to fully get his attention on what had caused that noise.

[Lil]

Faye was breathing heavily now and if it weren't for sudden moistness on her cheeks she wouldn't have even realized that she was crying. She frantically tried to wipe them away, telling herself it was dumb to cry. Not like it made a difference anyways.

She had the urge to march right back out of the housing unit or head up to the roof and just yell until her lungs couldn't take it anymore. What won out though was her sliding to the ground, her back pressed up against the wall and her arms hugged tightly around her legs.

[Kicks]

Blake checked each hallway individually for a threat. But he wasn't able to find one. In fact, he wasn't even able to find a living soul. That was until he stepped into the hallway that he used to sleep in. Used to, because he had moved out of that room, believing it was best to give Faye a week. He got a week, she could have a week. And there was no use sharing a room when there was only rage being thrown all around.

He stepped down into the hallway, looking for any signs of damage. There was none, of course. But there was a woman weeping angrily against a wall. It took him a minute to realize it was Faye. He thought about turning back around and slipping away, pretending he was never in the hallway. But it was too late for that, his presence became apparent the second he stumbled across her. If he turned around and slipped away she would only have something nasty to say- though she usually always did, anyways.

So Blake gave in and sighed: "I heard a slamming." He said, "Is anyone dead?"

[Lil]

Faye buried her head in her arms trying to drown out the world. She didn't even know why she was crying anymore. It was absolutely pointless and was a sign of weakness and she was tired of being seen that way.

At first when Faye heard Blake's voice she didn't believe it. She looked up to see he was there, shook her head quickly and then went back and buried her red puffy eyes once more. Now, now this was completely pointless. She'd jumped to the conclusion Blake had left before knowing and look, there he was.

It didn't make her emotions or what she thought and felt any less real though. He still saw her in the lowest of lights and couldn't believe her when she told him anything. As much as she wished to stop the tears continued.

[Kicks]

Blake was totally at a loss by the time she looked up at him. And looking at her cute little sad face, and her cute little sad puppy eyes that were red and puffy with tears... well it just broke his heart. But... she shook her head. So did that mean someone wasn't dead? Then what was that noise he heard? Wait, why was he focusing on that when Faye was crying? Wait, didn't he promise to give her a week? Hold on, if he walked away (which he couldn't) it would end miserably.

Blake wanted to give her a week. But try as he might, he couldn't just walk away. It was like his feet were screaming at the logical side of his mind to shut the hell up and get down on the ground. So he got down on the ground.

He wrapped an arm tightly around her shoulders and stared out at the wall in front of him.
"So someone didn't die..." He said thoughtfully.

[Lil]

Faye breathed shakily, not able to look up again. Her face was marked with tear streaks and her eyes must've been huge and red and her fave drained of color. She had started off mad but it slowly broke off until she was just devastated.

Why couldn't they be normal? All this stress out such a burden on them. They were happy and nice for such a long time but as soon as this came back around, everything turned to hell. They weren't supposed to go through this, it wasn't fair.

"No..." Faye told Blake with a hoarse voice. She swallowed trying to soothe her dry throat.

"I-I miss the old times Blake." Faye mumbled into her arms. She missed the times back in Hawaii and even in the tenant when they could just be happy. She even missed California and New York! She missed those times because even though they were living a nightmare they didn't fight constantly. They were together and they were there for each other but lately, it was like they were back in Hawaii the first time around.

[Kicks]

"No?" There was a teasing ring to his voice. He couldn't help it! She sounded the way she did when she was sick. All weak and deflated and needy and cute with that little raspy voice that reminded him of a little child in need of a popsicle.

His teasing tone dropped though when she said she missed the old times. That hit like a log in his stomach. It wasn't even anger-provoking. Really, it just made him thoughtful with an ugly log in his stomach to make him feel like not eating for weeks.

"Old times, huh?" Blake echoed, "Yea, I guess I do too. But it's impossible to go back to."

[Lil]

Faye nodded still not wanting to lift her head. He was right, they couldn't go back now. Only move further into this miserable cycle they constantly found themselves in. Always finding themselves in the same fight, or at least a similar one, just a different day.

Slowly Faye stopped crying but her face remained in her arms. She felt too weak to come out, like if she did the world would only continue to beat on her until she was truly broken, and not able to be put back together. That's where she stood—well, sat—now. At the breaking point.

[Kicks]

There was silence that passed between them, just her crying. And even that came to a stop eventually. With the silence buzzing in his ears, he peered at the wall in front of him. This was typically one of those times that couples used to talk things out. But whenever Faye and him talked, it did not end well. He blamed that because he was such an introvert and talking did not come easily to him.

He sighed and leaned his head against the wall. "I have wanted for the longest time..." He began in a soft mumble, "To just wave a magic wand and make all of this just disappear. Everything. The zombies, monsters, that guy I can't stand, just everything."

Blake let his head hang down to his chest, "But that's not possible. And anyways, every time things start getting good... life just fucks it all over again."

[Lil]

The silence was harsh, it was ironic for silence to make so much noise though. When it was at last broken it was like glass being shattered. Faye listened carefully to what Blake had to say and despite him wishing the same as her it didn't provide her with much comfort.

All Faye could think to do was sit there even longer. She let her head fall over onto Blake's shoulder now where she squeezed her eyes shut hoping that maybe everything would melt away if she kept them closed long and hard enough. Of course these were only dreams.

"I know, I know that you think I can go through this without you Blake. That- that I don't need you but..." Faye swallowed and found one of Blake's hands with her own. "I can't." Tears began to roll down her cheeks once more and she bit down on her lip to stop it from quivering.

[Kicks]

He felt like they were two exhausted, worn out dolls that had been thrown together at the back of a playhouse. Or two exhausted adults that just had been through too much already, and to go through it all again was asking far too much of the mere human.

Blake leaned his head atop hers when she leaned her head over onto his shoulder. He closed his eyes when she began to speak again, her words stinging his chest like a thousand wasps.

He didn't know why she would need him when he was the cause of so much misery to begin with. Maybe she liked to abuse herself. He didn't know the answer to that. He didn't know what he had to offer in terms of support. Though it was just about the same situation for him.

Blake squeezed her hand. "Okay," He said, "Then I won't leave."

[Lil]

His answer surprisingly gave Faye so much reassurance and the simple squeeze of her hand made her feel so much better. She returned the squeeze before turning and wrapping her arm around her husband in a hug that she didn't intend to release for a long time. She was too afraid to.

"I really do Blake, I really do love you. I don't know what else I can do though." Her voice was choked up and dry still and it almost hurt to talk but she had to get these words out while she could. "I-I'm sorry that I can't make you see it, and I'm sorry that I'm not a very good wife or friend but... I don't mean to be. I'm so sorry." She rambled now gripping tighter onto the back of Blake's shirt.

[Kicks]

Blake stared ahead at the wall in front of him. He slowly shook his head back and forth at her words. They didn't make any sense to him, but probably because he refused to see sense. When a mind refused to see that, it was hard to listen to sense.

"No..." He said slowly, "It's just..." Talking was always so hard. "All the fighting and the anger and all of that stuff." Talking was really, really hard. "All of it just makes a person skeptical."

[Lil]

Faye was lost now. What'd he mean? They hadn't even been fighting, and he was the one who had been angry, not her! She tried to make things better! No, now wasn't the time to get in to that, it never was.

"I'm sorry." She stuttered out once more. "I-it's just something th-that has been engrained in me and I, I don't know what to do about it. I don't mean to fight, it's just-just..." Faye sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't know. A defense mechanism?" She wasn't even sure if that made sense but it seemed plausible and right now nothing was making sense so why should this?

[Kicks]

Blake shook his head again. He just wanted to drop the subject. Subjects of this sorts only made him lost in his thoughts and then he started over thinking and he would rather not do anything of that kind of sorts. And so he decided to just let it go. Toss it into the wind and just let it go!

"It's not just us." He reassured her. Yea they had their times of "I'LL KILL YOU". And he understood quite well, by now, that Faye was a very defensive woman. But it wasn't just that. "It's violence in general. I get my mind stuck on it and everything else just doesn't make sense and becomes obscured."

[Lil]

Faye nodded. Well, she didn't know what to do about that. It seemed no matter what they did they'd end up fighting. She sighed and pulled away from her husband and sat back against the wall.

"So, what's this mean then? What're we supposed to do?" Faye asked him quietly. She was at a loss for answers but maybe he had a solution.

[Kicks]

Blake shrugged his shoulders. "Let's just..." He started. Would that work though? Well it all depended on if they were willing. If he let himself really think about it, he knew he was willing. Unless somehow it got all effed up and he had to kill someone again.

Okay no. That was a terrible though. Blake scorned himself. He had to stop thinking like that. Of course he was willing to try on his idea. It wasn't too bad if he stopped arguing with himself like a madman.

"Put everything angering and maddening and insulting and horrible and violent behind us." He said, spreading out his hands in front of him. "Forgive and forget. I'll forgive Chase. And if he does something again, I'll just smack him with the Bible or something. Burn him with a rosary." He laughed to himself. Bloody hell. No, he just told himself to stop thinking like that!

"I'm sorry." He apologized with a chuckle. "That was mean and uncalled for. I really am sorry. Forgive and forget. Putting it behind..." He made a motion as if he were tossing it behind him.

[Lil]

Faye listened to Blake's suggestion and she was quite fond of it herself. She chuckled at him and at last smiled. "Alright then. Forgive and forget." She agreed while giving his hand a short squeeze again.

"And don't worry, if Chase tries anything anymore I'll hit him with a bible for you." And she meant that, okay maybe not specifically a bible but she would put a stop to it. If he got Blake all worked up like this she didn't want to experience this again so she'd handle it. "I promise for now on I'll deal with it."

[Kicks]

Good! So they could both settle on this idea together. It was way better than anything they had tried in the past. And maybe it really would work this time around. All Blake would have to do is handle his anger towards Chase. Which could be easy if he didn't have to worry about that guy.

And from what Faye said, he wouldn't have to worry about worrying about what that guy was going to do or what he was doing with his wife. She would handle it. He would have to ignore it.

Blake squeezed his arm around her shoulders again and then rubbed her arm.

"Then it's settled. Forgive and forget." He agreed with a nod.

[Lil]

Faye actually really liked this idea. Leave what was in the past in the past and work on their present and their future. She grinned and leaned into Blake again as he wrapped his arm back around her.

"You know, this is like the second best idea you've ever had." Faye told Blake with a soft smile. "The only one better was locking this down when I was real hot." She laughed and motioned up and down at herself playfully.

[Kicks]

Second best idea? He didn't know what his first best idea was until she mentioned it. Blake tried hard to hold back his laughter. He did it pretty well by keeping a straight face. But then that all changed because he was suddenly laughing.

Faye was always for a good laugh when she said that sort of stuff. And he knew it was rude to laugh at such things, but he couldn't help himself by the way she acted.

When Blake had finally managed to calm his laughter down, he gave her a kiss on the forehead and then said: "Best idea ever."

[Lil]

Faye liked the sound of his laugh and she liked it even more that she had caused it. It made her own smile only grow more which wasn't helped by the kiss on her forehead a second later.

After sitting there for a few more minutes Faye decided they should probably do something besides just taking up room in the hall.

"So earlier, I talk to Logan and uh, he told me he wanted to have a meal as a family or something like that." Faye told Blake as she stood up and offered her hands down to him.

[Kicks]

A meal as a family? Logan had requested that? It sounded like he was missing that sort of stuff. Blake couldn't really blame him. When he was younger, after his dad was sent away, he would miss having dinner as the three of them. He used to be so sick of seeing one empty chair that he would have his cat sit in it.

"Okay," He said. Blake took her hands and stood to his feet, towering over her. "But I can't cook." He added with a grin. Though the both of them knew that to be true already. "Maybe I'll just watch you cook." He added with a joking wink.