World Wrestling Generation

PLOT TWIST!

Totally stolen idea, but aren't the best ones always like that!?

On a parallel universe Earth, a long, long time ago - sometime in the distant future, on a planet far, far away......

WWG Superstars exist on a turn based progressive plot full of twists and turns.  "Reality" as we know it does not bind them, so no one really needs to act like they have a stick up their butt about things that go on here;  though in the chaos of a massive Zombie Outbreak our Superpowered Superstars find themselves inside a typical arena, knowing the dangers outside the enemy is external - and they must unite or perish.

As soon as the lights went out she knew things had just gone from bad to worse.  He'd been just on the other side of the room but as soon as everything went black she could feel him behind her, watching over her.  He knew she had no reason to fear those corpses - but he would not leave her side.

::Grace Brutal:: Easy, big guy.

==The emergency lights came up and he could see her again.  He knew they had to find others, this was going to be a war before they had safety and security.==

₩retched Nobody> We can't stay here and just wait for them...

::Grace Brutal:: I know, we need to find some others... I mean if nothing else, we need some Bait and Distractions.

==He never did enjoyher selfishness,  but he knew she was right and he wanted to see who else could be saved.==

₩retched Nobody> The RV is in the parking garage... but we need to not abandon anyone else here.  We need more sets of hands Grace...

They exit their dressing room in search of other living souls, but prepared for any kind of bodies to step in their path....

As the two walk out the look down each side of the hallway and notice it is quickly filling up with zombies on ether side. A single white card flutters from thin air, in front of both of their eyes. Wretch grabs it, reads it and slowly hands it down to Grace.

The card reads:
You know you want it, just say it loud and proud - Kalib

Grace knows this is no place for her right now, she steps back into their dressing room and makes sure to stand right at the door so he's not left far from her.

::Grace Brutal:: Go spill Momma some Blood, Beautiful...

She blows him a kiss and slams the door closed.

==Stepping towards the middle of the hall he tilts his head looking back and forth at the horde of Zombies.  He becons to them as he roars with a spectacular fury, his concern is not for his own well being but that of the beautiful woman at the other side of the door to his back.  A concern that would prove troubling enough to be a deterrent - had these poor lost souls had any logic left.  In a flurry of flying heads and blood soaked appendages being used as blunt objects - The Wretched Nobody gives Grace ample time to recite the words....==

::Grace Brutal:: Kalib.... Kalib.... KALIB!

==He could feel their infection pour into him as the first few sunk their teeth - but his anger rose, and the bites that follow cannot penetrate his flesh.  The infection takes no hold, his fury was enough to strengthen him against it.  Though these walking corpses have no way of fending him off.  Sometimes what can scare us the deepest - may help us the most. Sometimes what scares us most deeply is the sight of one monster using a rib bone to decapitate a plethora of walking dead!  As he rises from the gory mess, he looks back over his shoulder.  Soon the door opens revealing to him Grace and Kalib.  He's prepared with a wide and unsettling smile for the pair, who both look appalled at the disarray of dismemberment.==

*As The Wretched Nobody threw down the severed arm he'd been using as a club, Tony Blackwell came walking around the corner. His clothes a mess of blood and tears, a Dutch in his lips.*

A motherfucking zombie apocalypse. I have to say i didn't see that one coming

*He offers the Dutch to the Wretched Nobody as he gets close to him*

Grace steps out of the room as Kalib bats around zombie bits, calling his shots like Babe Ruth.  Grace slides in front of Wretch and takes the Dutch from Tony.

::Grace Brutal:: Thank you darling, we all need to formulate a plan - but I have to ask!  Who's just a LITTLE BIT excited we get to decapitate people who might have boo'ed you come show time?  I know I am!  Woot, woot!

==He finished picking the chunks of gore off himself, he knew how potent their infection was and was able to help them along in their journey.==

₩retched Nobody> It is a Blood Borne Pathogen.... getting it on you won't infect you... but if they bite or rip into your skin and expose your blood to it - you become one.  I don't know how long it takes to grab hold.... I was able to fight off the infection - but I fear it may be a matter of dosage that I survived.

::Grace Brutal::Great... so at least we have some rules to live by.  Did anyone else see how this got started?  The stands were just filling up before the show and I heard all hell break loose.

We need to get out of here - I have the RV in the parking garage - but I think we should raid some food and supplies before we make a run.... driving until the gas meter buried itself under The E isn't a real solid plan.

==The Wretched Nobody had never had weed before - but now felt like as good a time as any to try so he took the joint from Grace and hit it hard before holding it back out for Tony.==

*Tony takes the Dutch back from Wretched and takes another pull*

Exit strategy seems like an excellent idea. First we need to figure out who survived, and a rally point. A way to let everyone know where said rally point is would also be helpful. Once we know how many people we have we can figure out what we need to sustain said number of people and a place to secure everyone. There is the option of cleaning out the arena of zombies and then fortifying it. It's hard to maintain because it's large but there are gates for every door and zero windows. So it is an option.

I am not opposed to feeding Licious to them first though. On a side note.

Kalib walks up to the group covered in zombie blood

Kalib: I think my ex was out there. She got prettier. What's going on?

The Wretched Nobody walks over to the wall and dismounts the fire axe before unfurling the hose.

₩retched Nobody> You all need to clean that blood off of yourselves.... its infectious.  And if you turn.... I won't hesitate to rip off your heads with my bare hands.

::Grace Brutal:: Awesome, see guys?  Isn't he just a sweetheart!?  He could have just let you all Turn - and beheaded you without warning.

==He shook his head at her.  He was being deadly serious - and he was sure they all understood why - he wouldn't want them to hesitate an instant if he were infected.==

₩retched Nobody> Let's go... we have to get moving... I don't want to be here any more
...

::Grace Brutal::What, are you scared?


₩retched Nobody> No!  I'm strange... not stupid.  We need to gather food, fuel, and weapons.  And all that will be made easier if we know how many are with us. 

Does anybody know how to work the big screen?  You can hear that clear through the arena and I don't think these things understand English anyways.  If the noise draws the majority of them to ring side - we can lock them up in there with the gates like Tony said, and announce a meeting place over the speakers.  But once we know how many we have we'll be more able to carry supplies and get to the RV.

==He holds out the hose for anyone covered in the zombie's fetid blood, and waits for someone to come up with an idea for a safe rally point.
==

And then the Quaker Oats guy says to Putin "That's not a Volkswagen, THATS MY WIFE!"

The voice belongs to Tony Mann and he soons rounds the corner laughing at the punchline of his own joke. Standing he is walking with a member of the WWG crew under his arm. The crew member looks visibly shaken and kinda queezy. The crew member stops as he looks at all the other super stars gathered.

Tony: Oh you heard that one well then...

Tony notices that everyone is looking in their direction. Tony smiles and nods at everybody.

Tony: oh...waz up? Kahlib, Monster Guy, Hot Sociopath Lady, Other Tony, Rayven...RAYVEN!

Tony bounds over to Rayven leaving the crew member to fall against the wall, his strength not being enough to hold him up without help. Tony kinda slides next to her with a raised eyebrow.

Tony: I was just taking this guy to the first aid room...cuz you know...i'm a gentleman.

The crew member groaned in pain and Tony looked back and then made a "oh crap" face.

Tony: doh! sorry dude. (back to Rayven) duty calls.

Tony heads back over to the crew men and helps him stay on his feet. Tony then looks around at everyone

Tony: soooooo...is this like a match or?

There had been a strange buzz to the atmosphere that night, but Trine Larsen chalked it up to her usual pre-show jitters as she wandered around the hall that ran along the backside of the titantron. It wasn’t until the venue erupted into a wide spread panic that she realized she’d been wrong.

Trine felt her chest tighten, making breathing difficult. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. The blonde tried to fight her way through what had started to feel like a full blown panic attack and made her way to the black, fabric curtain that lead to the ramp...until something else beat her to it- coming through the opposite side of the curtain.

”What…” she took a step back, ”the flying”a turn”**** is that!?!?” an all out dash in the opposite direction.

It was a rhetorical question because she was not sticking around to find out as a rush of her own fear kicked in this time. Trine ran straight for a utilities trunk, climbed ontop of it, and made a jump for a ladder that led to the lighting scaffolding.

”...hopefully it’s not smart enough to climb ladders…” 

Indeed they weren't, but they do aim for easier eating.  It snarled and pawed the bottom rungs of the ladder groping aimlessly for her.  Subtle murmuring can be heard down the corridor just past the curtains.  During a regular show that wouldn't even be audible, but in this morbid dead silence remaining - it's Some signs of Life.

This one may have been one of the horde who got turned around in the melee.  On dragging leg and haggard gait the creature turns its attention to the sound for a couple of misguided steps - mindless and unsure if that sound in the distance is in fact the easier feast.  It looks back up at her and pauses...

...then it's head Flys from its neck. There was a slight whooshing sound and then the Crack of something hard hitting bone. There was a massive dent in the head of creature, which also was now hanging at the monsters shoulders.
The creature began to fall as if gravity had finally caught up to it's body and standing next to it was a man.

He was wearing a black and orange motocross outfit that included a jacket, gloves, pants, and shoes. He wore sports sunglasses and a bandana over the lower half of his face. In his hand was a bloody, and now broken, baseball bat.

Well that's just a crap and a half.

The man said looking at the broken bat. He then tossed it on the floor. Around his shoulders there was what looked to be a golf bag. Inside various other sports equipment. Then man pulled out another baseball bat and then pulled down his bandana and flipped up his glasses. It was non other than Kid Genius.

KG looked up towards then scaffolding and then, accompanied by another whoosh of air he ran up just below the ladder in a less than a 2 seconds.

KG: Hey Trine, are you alright?

The blonde stared down at it, still sort of in disbelief she’d been looking at what seems to be an actual zombie. There was no way. It had to be some kind of prank. Trine turned her attention to the voices carrying down the hall, then back again.

”If this is some angle the boss is trying to pull, I swear…” she took a few steps, but paused taking one last look at the creature when suddenly it’s head caved in and it fell to the ground. ”Holy ****….it is real…”

Trine looked towards the voices carrying down the hall, idly wondering if whoever it was had seen anything, before starting a climb down the ladder to Kid Genius.

”Yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t think it was even real honestly.” she looked over her shoulder, taking note of the motocross outfit and golf bag as she looked over her shoulder. Trine figured if you were a renowned X-Gamer you had that sort of thing on hand.

Well, maybe not the golf bag, but it was smart none-the-less.

”Pretty snazzy get-up you have there.”  she let go of the ladder with one hand, pointing down the hall, "I think I hear more people. Or hopefully more people at least."

Back down the corridor the sound of the bat snapping across the t-balled skull if muffled but heard.

₩retched Nobody> Someone living?


Grace brazenly sauntered down the hall a few paces.

::Grace Brutal:: HELLLLLOOOOO!  ANYBODY OUT THERE WHO STILL HAS A HEART BEAT AND DOESN'T WANT TO DEVOUR MY ADORABLE **** FACE!?

==He dropped the fire hose and grabbed her with a massive hand over her mouth.  No one could be sure what attracted them but loud noises surely wouldn't help.  Screams never spared any of his victims.==

₩retched Nobody> Shhh…. Investigate…. Don't Instigate.

With rolling eyes Grace muffled something out but what - we can't be sure until he removed his hand.

::Grace Brutal::I Said!  We should go take a look - we need to gather all the help we can.


₩retched Nobody> We need to decide as a group…. You are not the leader.

==He didn't like how she pulled away from him, nor was he pleased to see the disgruntled look upon her face.  She wasn't happy with the demotion from a job no one besides her intended her to have.==

::Grace Brutal::I make a better leader than you do, you big jerk.  Rip a dozen zombies apart with your bare hands and suddenly YOU'RE our resident expert?  HA!  You look like one of them, you walk like one of them, if it weren't for the fact you talk - someone would take that axe from you and probably remove Your head, man.  So just Chill okay!?  EVERYONE JUST CHILL!  BE COOL!

Trine blinked, not having expected to hear from whoever it was at the other end of the hallway, let alone finding out it was Grace Brutal. These sort of dark, macabre, type shenanigans were right up her alley. No surprise Grace was bold enough to shout down a hallway just recently occupied by some diseased shell of a human being. That or she hadn’t run into one of them yet as far as Trine knew.

The blonde stayed on the last bar of the ladder, not wanting to drop down onto Kid Genius- then again he was fast enough to move aside if she did. Trine kept still for a moment, listening for any sort of movement or shift within the space after Grace’s shouting. There was nothing- at least not that she could feel.

”Adorable is really pushing it, Brutal!

She dropped down, figuring it could only help to get a sense of the area if she was on ground level.

1

Kid Genius had a mixture of emotions that were all blurring around in his head. Normally he was fast enough to keep up with most things but at the moment his rapid thoughts were switching in order so fast even he was having trouble catching up.
First there was the fact that the entire stadium seemed to be filled with zombies, that was a big one.
Then it was the fact that zombies were real.
Then it was that those very real zombies were his co-workers and friends.
Then it was happiness to see Trine.
Then it worried that something could and most likely would happen to her if she wasn't careful
Then it was strange relief how casually she seemed to be taking the whole ordeal, she was even cracking jokes.
Then, at the thought of jokes, it was the fact that he hadn't seen Tony since the whole place turned into Ringside of the Damned.
Then it was guilt that he hadn't found him yet.
and lather rinse repeat all of the above.

Kid was lost in thought that Trine almost came down right on top of him. Trine's angle shifted as she tried to avoid him in mid air. out of instinct KG caught the blue eyed diva in his arms. He was surprised and then a millisecond later he was extremely aware of his accidental hand placement. Trine just started to form the surprise on her face when KG, super quickly, placed Trine on her feet and moved a step away. However the red in his face was just as quick as he was.

KG: whoa..um...heh...sorry...um

Kid Genius pulled the bandana up to his face and turned his head down the hallway. He had heard the voice to and he was starting to almost want another zombie to show up to relieve the awkwardness.

KG: I think we shouldn't...um...you know, yell. We are in a stadium in the middle of the city and there are a lot of those things still around. i don't know how smart they are but i know they will track noise like a bloodhound.

As Kid set Trine down she suddenly found something at the end of the hall incredibly interesting, as she tried to will away the heat that had started to spread across her cheeks, and to the tops of her ears. She had honestly expected him to move and this was just….awkward...two fold.

”...uh...no problem...it’s fine…don’t worry about it...”

Blue eyes watched as Kid Genius pulled his bandana up and silently wished she had something other than her wrestling gear, and the hoodie she wore over it, to pull over her head and escape the weird squirm in her chest. Trine would have to settle on valiantly avoiding eye contact for a few minutes instead.

”Right, sorry,” she leaned to the side, taking a long look at...whatever it was laid out on the floor, ”didn’t think. Figured he was probably just something Grace and Wretch came up with to spook people, but...there’s more? You've seen more?!”

Tony Mann looked around at the wrestlers gathered around. Everybody looked so serious and couldn't for the life of him understand why. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that there was strange about The Wretched Nobody being covered in blood. But then he remembered who it was and it seemed pretty much like any other day.

Tony: um...

Grace had shouted down the hallway and it was really weird. Granted even though Tony had only seen her a few times now he didn't think her saying weird things was out of the ordinary either.

Tony: um...

Ravyen looked....well as beautiful as she was dangerous  so pretty darn good. But she also looked frazzled. Tony couldn't put his finger on it but she seemed a bit more vague in her threats to Grace. "Surrounded" "The Horde"? This was starting to get...

The crew member slumped down in Tony's arm. "Man this dude was really out of it". Rayven was saying something about gorillas when she came up and started to pull Tony away. That's when the man let out a moan and a stream of black looking vomit spew out of his mouth and down to the floor. Tony moved his feet away.

Tony: WHOA DUDE!!! not cool. Warning next time.

The crew member was sweating and he managed to choke out

Crew: i.....im...sorry.

.........

Kid Genius managed to muster up the courage to turn around and look back at Trine. Maybe he was fast enough that she didnt... nope she noticed. The red in her face was clear evidence of that. KG quickly turned back around Trine's face making his face resume it's tomato impression like it was trying for the Oscar. Kid coughed a bit to try and keep his voice from cracking.

KG: um..*cough* yeah...this things are everywhere. Most of stadium security has been turned and...

Kids voice became softer. He closed his eyes as if to try to hide from the memory.

KG: you don't want to see what's going on in the stadium...

Even though they were down in the depths of the stadium the faint echos of screams could be heard. Thousands of voices. They would have sounded like cheering fans if one wasn't paying attention to the absolute terror drenching the voices. KG tried to put it out of his mind. He would deal with that later...if there was a later.

KG: Trine...if there are more of us, people I mean, we should go to them. I don't know what's going  on but more eyes watching our back wouldn't hurt.

Kid looked back at Trine then behind her and then back into her eyes again.

KG: Have you...seen Tony?

KG wasn't sure what he wanted the answer to be. There were so many outcomes...only a few of them were not horrible.

The Wretched Nobody grabs the sickly crewman and carries him over to a nearby steel chair, giving him a place to sit comfortably. The Crewman nods his appreciation and doubles over vomiting forth more blackened bile - without a second’s hesitation, The Wretched Nobody lops off the man's head with the fire axe he's still holding.  Everyone seems stunned but Grace just sticks her tongue out at Rayven before grumbling…

::Grace Brutal::You're talking about how loud I am, you smell like a Sudanese Fish Market that Caught Fire.  I'm sure that's bound to attract some of these ankle dragging thugs, ****.

The Wretched Nobody ponders over the plan, the farther he is from Grace the less effective his powers are - and he has no idea if these things maintain powers after they change.  He picks up the crewman’s head by the hair and looks into its bloodshot eyes.

₩retched Nobody> No…. No, Rayven it's not safe.  I understand your plan, but if we stay together we stand a chance, United we Survive - Divided we're Dinner.  I can Shadow Walk, Grace, someone else and myself to the arena control box. That way we can make the announcement - and fire off all the pyrotechnics that was already wired for the show.  I can get three of us there and back to the first aid station before anyone else could even walk there one way.

Grace pulls out her cell phone.

::Grace Brutal:: I'm just going to CC Text everyone on the roster…. Bus leaves as soon as my ass rests in the Driver's seat okay?  Because of that Basic **** right there…. We went from a free ride to salvation into an Ass, Gas, or Breads scenario.

₩retched Nobody> What if their phones are dead?  It's not exactly like we Planned for this today and made sure to charge them, and these arenas are full of dead zones.  We need to be practical, Grace…. Not petulant.

::Grace Brutal:: Fine… forget it.  I'm not going to take orders from that **** and her Converse Come **** Me boots.  I'm going to get the **** out of Dodge, Wretch - and you're the Only one I care to see make it out alive with me.

With that something unusual happens - two things we have never seen before, Nobody not only talks back to Grace, but he swears for the first time ever.

₩retched Nobody> Oh… Just Shut UP!  My entire life has been spent a Monster - every minute of every day - with every blink of my eye and draw of fresh breath I thought I would forever be the most vile evil walking this world….. until I tore men and women limb from limb and realized that The Dead Walk the Earth.  With God as my witness I will not stand by and let Any Living Soul be damned!  I will fight with everything I am to ensure All of you have the best possible chances of survival.


==He grabs Grace up onto his shoulder and tanks out the keys to the RV.==

::Grace Brutal::HEY!


₩retched Nobody> I'm Holding the Keys and no one leaves in that RV unless everyone living that we can find is with us.  I have known nothing aside from being a Monster - I promise every one of you - I will die a hero before I leave you behind and helpless.

The Wretched Nobody drops the axe and kicks it over toward the Tonys before he grabs Rayven by the arm, not leaving her much choice in the matter as per what comes out of his mouth next.

₩retched Nobody> I'm taking these two with me to the arena control box… the rest of you get to the First Aid station by the entrance and take everything you can carry and then shut down some lights, use the axe if you have to - we'll meet you back there.

The Wretched Nobody drags Rayven and carries Grace into the murky shadows - even before the darkness renders the ladies hidden - he's already nowhere to be seen aside from an oddly floating Grace and Rayven being yanked by the arm by what appears to be nothing.

Trine frowned, as much as she has hope this was all just an elaborate joke of some sort the look on KG's face made her heart sink straight into her stomach. His voice went soft and she placed a hand on his upper arm in a reassuring way- even if she was fairly certain there was really no good it could possibly do after seeing something like that.

It did explain why she'd nearly dropped from what felt like a panic attack from out of left field when she had been closer to the entrance to ringside. In a strange way she was thankful the zombie...creature...thing had come through when it did, driving her further back into the belly of the venue. Had she walked out into the open of a stadium full of people...well, she'd seen enough zombie movies to get a general idea of what it would have been like...it wouldn't have been good. A chill ran over her shoulders and down the back of her arms as she watched Kid visibly try to set that image aside.

"Yeah...you're right. We should probably head down that way,"

At first she'd been glad to see Kid, but at the mention of Tony she couldn't help take that with a grain of salt. She'd seen KG, but that was it. Which meant there were a handful of other people unaccounted for. Which meant maybe they...she frowned.

"No....You're the only person I've seen..." the blonde looked lost for a moment, her gaze shifting from Kid, to the floor, before back up to Kid- this time a little less solemn, "He's okay. I'm sure he's okay. We just need to find him."

Trine wasn't sure if she was wrong or not, but she really hoped that the optimism wouldn't be in vain. She started to walk towards the voices, as if to punctuate how sure she was that Tony Mann was still out there, capturing Kid's wrist as she passed. Something about the world possibly coming down around them made the fact that she could physically feel he was there more reassuring in a small way.

Kid Genius couldn't help his face from dropping when Trine said she hadn't seen Tony. He had been texting him from the moment it had all popped off. He had been right by the stadium entrance and if he hadn't been as fast as he was he would be...like the fans right now. He had to go the long way back to their locker room and Tony was gone when he got there. Kid Genius had been trying to keep the panic from ripping him open since then. Seeing Trine bad relieved it somewhat but seeing that Tony was still unaccounted for it was starting to come back.

KG: yeah....yeah...

Was the KG had managed to say as he nodded his head. Trine started walking and he felt her take his wrist as she passed him. Kid have run to the hallway and back over a dozen times before Trine even got half way but he didn't. Part of KG'S ego told him that he wanted to make sure Trine was safe but KG knew that having Trine within eyesight, alive, unhurt, and confident even if it was mostly pretend, did more to make Kid feel safe then an army at this point.


.........

Tony Mann was so shocked and horrified that he didn't move. People kept talking around him but they were a blurry mix of sound in the background. As the crew members head rolled across the floor Tony Mann began to shake. A mixture of rage and fear rolled through his entire body. The Wretched Nobody  had just murdered a man, a co-worker, in cold blood right in front of everyone. No of the others seem to be moving or doing anything but Tony felt as if he was going to explode. It didn't matter if Wretch. Was the big bad wolf around these parts Tony was not going to let this stand.

With a flash eight large blue, as Tony's Shirt was blue, bear arms stretched out and grabbed a hold of Rayven. With a few pushes and a pull Tony removed Rayven from the dark void she was being sacked into. Tony's eyes were white with rage. He stepped in front of Raven and bared teeth that had grown sharper and longer. Even though he couldn't see Wretched Tony held Rayven away with two of his arms while the other six and him faced the emptyness.

Tony: YOU ARE NOT **** TAKING HER!!!!

Tony spoke to Rayven without turning his face away from the shadow.

Tony: it's gonna be ok Rayven. Just stay behind me. When he comes out I'll hold him off and you need to run and call the police.

Tony wasn't exactly sure how he was going to do that but he was pretty amped enough to figure could give Rayven enough time to get to safety.

Normally Tony would just do whatever it was Rayven told him to do but in this moment his temporary bravery was stronger than any legitimate fear he had of the Queen of crazy. Tony looked into Rayven eyes, trying to keep himself from freaking out, the fact that she seemed more annoyed with him than upset wasn't helping things.

Tony: Rayven...Wretched just KILLED a guy and was dragging you off to do...who knows what...we need to get out and call the police.

Tony turned looking for back up in this but everyone seemed more or less just standing there. Tony didn't understand why they seemed so...normal.

Tony: Earth to dudes!! Am I the only one who just saw the murder?! You know that thing that's really REALLY illegal!!!

A thought occurred to Tony that maybe they were all in on it. He began to get a cold chill on the back of his neck.

The soap didn't hurt but he couldn't help but feel sad about it. She was talking crazy...Er than normal. She sounded like a character in a movie.

Tony: infected? What you talking about?

Trine had continued down the hall, the hold on KG's wrist loose now, but comfortable. Her mind wandered, the walk helping to sort of calm down. The silence was strange, but oddly misrepresentative of their current situation. When something like a zombie invasion happens you expect there to just be chaos constantly, or a constant reminder that ‘hey, uh the world is ending’, but for a moment it felt strangely normal. Maybe it was just because of how new the situation was. Maybe it hadn’t sunk in yet.

 Then she’d remember to panic.

It came as a ripple through calmer thoughts and the blonde paused, realizing it wasn’t her own panic that kept creeping in, and let her hand slide from Kid’s wrist to his hand. She gave it a squeeze to bring him out of his head and then-

Trine froze, taking a step back like she’d been punched square in the chest, blue eyes wide and unfocused. Someone had been shouting and there was a lot of rage boiling behind it.

”Whoever is up there...isn’t happy,” she looked to KG, unsure of what the plan should be. ”are we checking it out,speedy?”

When your heart beats about 500 times faster than a normal person you would think there wasn't any faster it could go. However as soon as Trine took his hand it started off like a indie race car. He tried to put it out of his mind as the fact that everyone they worked with may have been killed and that's kind of a mood ender.

Plus there was the fact that Trine looked like she had just been kicked in the gut. Kid wasn't sure what was going on with her but he felt bad that she was in pain. She had hid it well though. At her last comment Kid smiled a little.

KG: of course we are.

He took the liberty of gently hold the back of Trine's neck with his hand. He had a firm hold on it but he didn't want to hurt her.

KG: If you've seen the latest X-men movie you'll know why I'm doing this. I wouldn't just grab your neck. Not that it's a bad neck, I actually like it. I mean it's a nice neck...I mean...uh...we should get moving.

"What kind of sentence was that playboy?" He thought to himself as the two of them rocketed down the hallway towards the others. They arrived in seconds.

Trine raised an eyebrow at the movie comment and smiled.

”I think you’re forgetting who you’re taking-!!” they came to a stop and the blonde stumbled forward a step,”.....to….”

It was a lot harder to look cool after blasting down a hallway when afterwards your hair looked like you’d gone through a wind tunnel and it felt like the rest of you was still trying to catch up. She absentmindedly tucked the the hair in her face behind her ears, a few criss-crossing in the opposite direction she parted them in, as she looked at the motley group.

She smiled, glad to see Tony even if she could still feel the residual air of a number of mixed emotions coming from him. Rayven who- well, okay. It’s not like she’d wish this on anyone even Rayven. Kalib and Tony Blackwell, who’d been smoking a joint.

The blonde blinked, unsure if it was really a safe bet to be high in a situation like this, but she’d never tried the stuff so Blackwell probably knew how to handle himself.

Then there was- she pulled a 180°, simultaneously dropping to a knee and slapping her hand over her mouth in fear of vomiting on the spot. There was another part of this hallway ensemble, but he was currently a decapitated head lying on the floor. 

”Jesus **** christ, is that a dead body!? That looks like a person. Like a person, person! Why does he have no head!?!”

The exclamations were half silent, but bordering on hysterical. Watching horror movies she was probably the first to comment something like ‘don’t be a baby! It’s just a dead guy!’ but it was worlds different in person. It was far less easy to play it off as the tough guy when glazed over, bloodshot, eyes were staring right back at you

Tony picked up the axe from the floor and swung a circle in the air getting comfortable with the weight as Trine and KG showed up.

Tony: He is the other Tony's rescue. Unfortunately he was already infected. So Nobody put him out of his misery. Glad you two showed up we're about to scout out any other survivors on our way to the first aid station for supplies. I'll take point, since sick isn't really in my DNA. The other Tony can cover the rear, preferably in his large bear form. We'll quietly make our way searching out survivors. We need to gather food, first aid, and clothes. If you see anything else useful grab it.

Tony takes another pull off the blunt and offers it to the crowd, as the Kalib card falls

If anyone wants to call Kalib's name three times i think he's feeling lonely

KG: Tony!!

In a split second Kid Genius ran over to Tanya Mann and hugged him. If it was normal circumstances he would have tried to look cool and tough in front of the others but this night was anything but normal. KG could feel a little bit of tears building up in the corners of his eyes as he held his closet friend tightly. It was probably a red flag on his personality that it took a zombie invasion and a lot of people being eaten for KG to lay his pride down but KG was glad his best friend hadn't died while they were fighting.

Tony: Ken! Um...whoa

Tony was pushed back by the speed of the hug KG had given him. He wasn't quite sure what was going on but he was happy that Kid seemed happy to see him. They hadn't been on the best of terms recently but that seemed to be over now. Which was good because Tony really needed someone to have his back right now. Suddenly the super speed hug turned into a dozen super speed punches to the arm.

KG: what the hell is wrong with you!!! I have been texting and calling you non stop!

Tony: Dude my phone was dead and I was charging it. Then I saw one of the crew limping down the hall and...

Tony then looked at Trine who had finally reacted in a way that made sense. His face turned serious and he looked at Kid Genius.

Tony: Kenny The Wretched Nobody killed this dude like straight up killed him!!! It was horrible man...dude you need to get to the police right now. All these guys are talking nonsense and

Tony whispered in KG's ear

Tony: I think they are in on it.

Kid Genius looked at Tony with a look that was both curious and exhausted. Kid then turned his head to see the body now lying on the floor and the head a few feet away from it. He looked over the body without going near it  and saw a puss covered bite mark on his upper arm. Kid turned back to Tony.

KG: Dude I thnk he was out of options....I mean....I think he was infected.

Tony: Not you too Kenny...

KG: Tony haven't seen what's been going on?!

Tony: No! I have ever been in the locker room playing video games. Did murdering sick people become legal while I was on rainbow road?!

==Generally speaking even with extra arms he knew he could have pulled Rayven with him into the shadows but if Tony had of made him lose grip - she would have been forever lost in what he called “The Nothing”.  A place where only darkness prevails and light hides away  seeking sanctuary.  He steps out of a darkened corner in the control box with Grace still up on his shoulder.  He sets her down and she flipped him off before she dives over the chairs and grabs the arena PA microphone.  Through speakers larger than Wretch her voice booms through the entire arena.  The Wretched Nobody tried to reach over her but a shrill cry stops him.==

We can hear the sound of a fumbling microphone as the pair struggle to get it.

::Grace Brutal::No! Get off me!  LET ME DO IT!  HEY! I swear to God I'll tell them all you touched me in my No-No Places as soon as we disappeared in the darkness!

The sound of the kerfuffle wanes as Grace takes the microphone.  Already the zombies peppering the stands begin to stumble down stairs toward the sound resonating above the ring.

::Grace Brutal::Testicles, Testicles - One, Two - Check!  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall righty then! GOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING VIETNAAAAAAMMM!  I always wanted to do that.  Anyway, this is your fearless, industrious, luscious and Boobtacularly Bodacious interim leader - The Always Stunning, Grace Brutal!

And Boy do I have a deal for you!  The Wretched Nobody and I are evacuating this colloseum of the damned in our Lavish RV!  We have room for some of you cattle to get on board, basically I want to know we have live bait - but he has some big creepy stiffy on about actually saving lives.  I don't judge - but I don't get it.  You all have as long as it takes me to get my perfectly squat shaped twerkable ass to the parking garage OR you stay here and live off of old scavenged pretzels and stale beer stand ale.  I could REALLY not care any less.

Right now though I just want to send a little shout out to our recently departed and unfortunately still with us, friends.  If you would like to stagger your undead asses into the arena and take your seats - WWG is proud to present the Greatest Display of unnecessary pyrotechnics EVER!  No seriously, this **** is going to be Explosive!  And it all starts as soon as I can figure out which button to push.

With his masked face resting in his hand, his frustration grew.  He knew they shouldn't waste time - but being as she killed electronics and he wasn't adept at them he needed to think fast.

₩retched Nobody> Kalib…. Kalib…. KALIB!

A slow fog rolls in as the lights begin to slicker. Slowly everything gets darker and darker as the fog slowly takes the forum of a person. Slowly the bone structure, nerves, veins and blood vessels, muscle and tendons, and followed by the skin forums Kalib. The fog creates a clever censor until his clothes are formed. He screams silently as if in torturous pain. Blue flames slowly shoot to the side of his face, originating from his eyes. The lights flicker even worse as things begin to pop and spark. Suddenly everything is normal and Kalib is leaning against the wall.

What's up peeps? What things can we get into? Catch me up it feels as if it's been ages for me.

Trine started to gather herself, perfectly fine with the idea of letting Blackwell lead the way. Sick was absolutely in her DNA going by her reaction to a decapitated human being, and while she was the poster child for sucking it up, she had no problem with admitting her own flaws.

The blonde slowly let the hand she’d clamped over her mouth come to rest on her thigh, shooting a wary glance to the body crumpled on the floor, and frowned. It felt cruel to just leave it there in the hallway like that, but there was no way an 110 pound woman was about to drag a dead body through what was starting to look like their own version of World War Z in order to give their co-worker a proper burial. Trine reached a hand down, pressing her fingertips to the floor of the hallway.

It was purposely slow in order to keep the motion as quiet as possible, but a small section of flooring next to the downed body started to buckle. A few tiles popped free, pushed out of place by the rising concrete beneath it, which then gave way to a mixture of foundation sand and soil. It poured out, sifting itself in small increments until there was a hole on the body’s left and to the right of that a neat pile of mixed earth.

Blue eyes glanced wearily at the dead co-worker and with a deep breath she prepared herself for the task of rolling him into the makeshift grave while Kid and Tony caught up, Blackwell explained the card, and Rayven watched on. She stretched a foot out first, but stopped- kicking him in seemed kind of disrespectful.

Oh, god. I got to use my hands. Can we touch them? Or is like a blood thing? Maybe if I just pull his clothes? she reached a hand out Ohgodnothereisnoway,butIcan’tjustleavehimhere-

There was a low rumble, followed by the scrape of concrete edges against concrete as the section of ground around the body lifted on one side- rolling the man onto his back, and sliding him into the makeshift grave. Then a sharp clack when the section dropped back into place.

Trine cracked open an eye, unaware she’d even closed them in the first place. She was with Tony in this whole freaking out, just a little, train with everything going on. Dead never sat well with her when all she had to deal with was sickness or old age- now this was on another level.

”...sorry…” she apologized preemptively for the noise, before her attention trailed to the head, ”...uh...I just...felt like leaving him all over the hallway...” she trailed off- not really sure if she had the stomach to try and get a head in there with him.

Kalib looks back and forth and see's how everyone is panicking and freaking out. He looks at Tony and Trine, over to Wretch and Grace, looks at Rayven, and then at the dead body laying on the floor.

What's with the stiff?

Tony watched as Trine put the crew member into the ground. This whole thing didn't seem to make sense. Everybody was talking like they were on the set of "The Walking Dead"....then Tony started to put things together...then he lost it again as it sounded stupid. However the fact that Tony could turn into a fire hydrant whenever he felt like it kinda pushed the limits of what was impossible. He placed his hands to the side of his head and pushed.

Tony: So you are saying we are in the middle of a "zombie" outbreak?

Kid sighed. He didn't want to be upset with Tony. It was not something that was fun to think about but at the same time but it was real and it was happening and Kid had to get Tony on the same page.

KG: yes....dude...i don't know why or how but it's real and...we gotta figure out what we are going to.

Tony looked into Kid's eyes. Him and Tony would joke about a lot of things but the sorrow in KG's eyes showed him that even if that it wasn't really happening KG 100% believed it was. Tony also thought to himself how even though most of the people in the WWG were violent, crazy, deficient people they weren't murders...probably.

Tony: ok...ok....um....but....

KG: Tony! dude i know this is a lot right now...but we need to find out whats going on. If there are more people alive around here we need to help them.

Tony: .....yeah...****...god...

KG: Then we have to figure out how bad this is. We might need to get home...

Tony: ...ok...ok i'll be good give me a second.

Tony put his his hand inside his head. One of the things about being a shapeshifter was the ability to mess with your brain...literally. He rubbed his brain in a few places until...there it was! Tony's eyes went blank for a second before a smile spread across his face. He looked from person to person.

Tony: Soooooo....are we doing this zombie thing or what? Oh hey Trine!

He waved at her. KG smiled sadly. Tony had a habit of making adjusting his personality to be able to have a cheerful outlook on everything usually by mucking with his brain. Kid had told him that he probably shouldn't keep doing that but right now he couldn't help but be happy to see Tony's cheerful self to be constant despite the horror around them. KG walked over to Trine and put his hand on her shoulder before looking back at the group.

KG: So what are we doing? How many more of us are there?

Tony quick made a surprise look and then a panic smile came on his face. He spoke but his words seemed like was in a bad middle school play.

Tony: WHAT?! Rayven?! Why I am so glad to see you just now and not earlier. If I had I would have....scolded you for being a fiend and a...

Kid Genius put up a hand to stop him. He just gave a little nod of his head in the direction Rayven was pulling him. Even though he still didn't like the pull the black haired crazy woman had on Tony he wasn't about to get into it now. There were much bigger fish to fry. Tony smiled but then quickly tried to contain  it as he began following Rayven. KG looked at the others.

KG: You guys head to the RV I am going to try to do a couple more sweeps just in case we've missed anybody...maybe grab some supplies from the First Aid station. Is there anything anyone needs? Cuz if you know where it is now is the time to tell me.

KG pulled his bandana up over his mouth and put on his sports glasses.

(I think I’m confused :( does Kalib show up where his cards land or where people call him? Or is he a ghost? I never saw Beetlejuice so can’t really understand.)

Trine looked over to Kid Genius when she felt his hand on her shoulder, and for the first time in a long time she was grateful Rayven was there. As disturbing as it was to watch the head skitter across the floor, she was glad she didn’t have to do it. The pile of soil poured into the hole, leaving a neatly packed mound of dirt, a grave in its own right. Trine felt better about it and at the moment that was all she could really bring herself to focus on as her fingertips lifted from the tiles floor.

That and the weird feeling that someone was behind her despite there being nothing there every time she checked.

”There’s a lot of us missing; Collins, Adams, King- but Chris is off so that’s one less for here at least.”

She paused taking a moment to check behind herself again. Maybe she was just being paranoid… When she redirected her attention it was in time for Kid’s plan to do a sweep for others and a faster way of getting supplies from the first-aid station. There was nothing all that important she could think of. Tony Blackwell had mentioned clothes, but it felt a little weird asking for her gym bag in the middle of a crisis.

The idea of KG going off by himself sent her stomach into knots, but he seemed confident and it made sense. That and no one could possibly hope to keep up with him so it wasn’t like someone could tag along.

The blonde stepped out from beneath the hand on her shoulder. When she looked up, staring through her own reflection in the lenses of Kid’s sport glasses, Trine had opened her mouth to speak- then closed it.
 
”If you die, I’ll be pissed.” it all came across so awkwardly.

There were a thousand ways to better word what she had been thinking. Millions even. Far more eloquent and meaningful. Worlds more functional adult and a lot less emotionally guarded spaz than what she had managed, but behind the words was a feeling like she was afraid to let him go. The fact that at some point she’d curled her fingers into the fabric of his motocross outfit and couldn’t find the courage to let go only attested to that.

Blue eyes looked off to Rayven and Tony as the former literally dragged the latter away in the direction of the rv. She dropped her hold.

”Be careful.”

There it was again. It felt like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest and explode all over the room. It was a mixture of a lot of things. He was scared...God he was scared. He was worried for the people he hadn't seen yet. He was worried about Tony and how he was going to fair in Rayven's less than clean hands. And he didn't like the idea of going off alone. But more than any of that he was embarrassed to say that Trine's gaze made him feel like he had plugged into a megawatt battery. He was glad he was wearing his glasses because he couldn't really help but stare into the champions big blue eyes. He could feel her fingers tightening around his sleeve. Trine had always been the best of them, everyone kinda knew that she was the most down to earth and "normal" of all of them. She was... a good friend and she was one of the only people, outside of Tony, who Kid believed would really care if he got out of this in one piece.

KG: T-t-t-trin-n-n-n-ne....

He started. He felt a bubbling in his chest and mouth. He realized he was vibrating, something he did when he was nervous and boy was he nervous. It was pretty noticeable at this point. He smiled even though he knew they couldn't really tell with his bandana and glasses.

KG: i-i-i-t's-s-s-s M-m-me w-w-we're t-t-talking ab-b-bout....

Kid took a deep breath and tried to keep himself from shaking which was hard to do with Trine looking at him like that. He took at step back and cracked his knuckles in front of him. He composed himself and flipped his glasses up so his eyes could be seen. A look of strong determination shone through them.

KG: I'm coming back.

He shot a quick glance to Tony who turned his head 180 to see him. Tony nodded his head just a little and mouthed something like. "I'll watch her" before turning back around. Kid sighed again and then flipped his glasses back down. He shook himself getting ready for whatever might come his way.

KG: I'll back before you miss me. So please... miss me fast

With that he gave a little two finger salute and he was gone, speeding down the hallway with a woosh of hair.

Trine frowned, turning from where KG had been and took a deep breath, almost visibly getting herself together. She patted Tony Blackwell on the shoulder as she started a walk to join Rayven and Tony.

"Alrighty, fearless leader. Let's get to the RV then."

Tony watched as Kid zoomed off down the hallway and on his mission. Tony couldn't help but feel a little bit lost again as KG left them. Regardless of their squabbles if Tony knew one thing it was that Ken was always the person Tony could go to. Rayven had called them brothers earlier and even though that wasn't biologically correct it was true in every other way that counted. So Tony figured the best way he could help was make sure that everyone made it to this RV safely and amongst the living, that wouldn't be so hard. I mean Other Tony was pretty much the most bad ass person he could think of and now he had an ax, Trine was the world champ for christs sake and Tony knew she was as powerful as she was hot and blonde, and then there was...

CRASH

Rayven had stopped him and thrown a large container of equipment flying through the air and crashing into a bunch of zombies. The sound echoed a bit down the hallway. A couple of them got their heads caved in by the attack but for the most part it was a mass of broken arms, legs, maybe ribs Tony wasn't really sure. Rayven waved her hands and a orange glow of a large fire washed over her...Tony swallowed hard..."Damn" was all he could manage to think as his eyes traveled up and down the superstars fire lit frame. Rayven turned with a sigh and spoke at them, Tony had to snap his head back up to meet her eyes.

Tony: I like fun. I can do fun. Fun is Fun and i am all about that...fun

Tony smiled. "Smooth" he said to himself meaning it completely. He put his thumb to his lips and blew. With that his muscles grew large and more defined like he was inflating his body into a physique of a body builder. He bounded his eyebrows a little at Rayven. And then walked, making sure to swing his arms extra muscle-ly towards a lone Zombie that had stumbled away from the swarm. He tapped it on the shoulder and as it turned with a moan he said.

Tony: Stop me if you've heard this one.

Than he shaped his hand into a comically large boxing glove and punched it the face sending it flying back into the wall cracking it's head open. Tony began to flex and bow for the others....not aware at all that two more zombies were making their way up behind him....

Having collected the majority of the roster it was now time t move out towards the RV. Tony with the ax on his shoulder started speaking to the assembled.

Tony: KG has voulenteered too do the supply run at first aid so we're gonna cheek rooms as we go. I will take point, when we get over to Tony and Rayven he will take the rear as we go Trine and Rayven will open each door we pass and see if there are survivors or useful supplies. If yes, speak up quietly and we'll stop, If there are only zombies just shut the door and move on. If there are are no questions we'll move out.

With that the group began the long walk to the RV grabbing Tony and Rayven as they went.

(Noooo, don’t leave! D: I just wasn’t sure if Trine could see him or not! I didn’t want to write a reaction and mess up his superpower  :(  )

Trine nodded and stepped off to the first door on the right, pushing it open just enough to see what it had been designated for. Cleaning supplies this time- nothing too useful unless the zombies had an aversion to windex and paper towels. When she heard the crash of the equipment crate after Rayven sent it careening down the hallway Trine poked her head out of the second room she had stepped into. She couldn’t see what had been around the corner of the intersection Rayven had stopped in, but it wasn’t hard to guess.

The blonde looked over the room once more to ensure there was nothing she missed and picked up a run. She nearly slid right past Tony and Rayven and into the opposite hall when she tried to stop- but managed to correct her footing, just in time to catch the pair of undead lurking up behind Tony. Her eyes went wide.

”Behind you!”

She slammed her hands down, open palmed, onto the floor of the hallway, sending two corresponding spots on the floor beneath the zombies up into a mighty burst of energy. It wasn’t a neat, controlled, type of maneuver like Rayven was probably capable of- but it was effective enough to send the pair careening backwards down hall. The impact nearly pancaking their mangled bodies as they slammed to the floor further down. The bits of rock, dirt, and shattered tile clattered about as they fell to the ground, away from Tony, along with the bodies.

”Nah, we’ll hang back. Looks like you got all the ‘fun’ under control. she teased, but it had the capacity to come off more as a challenge.

At first Tony had been so surprised by Trine that he reverted back to his normal self. For a split second he thought she was attacking him. He couldn't understand why...unless she could read minds....then he could possibly understand on why she would be a little upset with him, though in his defence he had been pretty good about that for the most part. The whole Zombie outbreak thing kinda puts a damper on the fantasies. However Tony turned his head around to see two zombies now little more than paste on the far wall behind him. She had protected him. Tony smiled.

Tony: Have i ever told you that you rock my world?

Tony looked around from person to person. He held his arms open waiting for the laughter he knew had to be on it's way.

Tony: Get it? ROCK....cuz...

Tony hooked his thumb behind him.

Tony: the rocks...

.........................

The entire stadium was like the scene out of a nightmare. The hallways, that were practically empty before now began to be filled more and more with the undead and their moans of hunger. Even moving as fast as he was KG had to keep doubling back to try an avoid being spotted. He wasn't really sure why, he was positive they couldn't catch him. But even so it was just natural instinct to run from a zombie...if there was anything natural about this situation.

Every so often he would crack a few skulls with his baseball bat but it seemed that for every one he put down 4 more were around the next corner.

KG: i can go alone you said. I will search for survivors you said. Let's run around a stadium full of zombies without a plan you said. stupid

KG was talking to himself and it was clear that he was regretting his decision to split up from the group. However if this zombie problem was at all bigger than just the stadium they would have a lot more problems to deal with without food and meds. He had managed to grab 4 empty gym bags from a locker and made his way towards the first aid station. He has heard Grace's announcement earlier and he had no doubt she would leave if he wasn't back in time, smart or not, he had to move before she pulled the trigger on that.

Crack Crack

Hit put two more zombies down as he rounded the corner to the hallway the first aid station was. It was clear on the other side of the stadium from the others. Kid hoped they were ok. Then he saw two things that made his blood run cold. The first thing was the open exit door. Half a janitor was propping the door open and the other half was being devoured by 3 crimson slicked zombies. A four had just gotten to it's feet and began lumbering over to something outside prompting for the other three zombies to follow. It was official, the zombies had gotten out of the building. That problem while bad was not nearly as pressing. The hallway leading to the first aid station was a blood bath. Zombie bodies were everywhere. some were smashed into the ceiling, there were piles of ash and skeletons, others seemed to have been compressed into puddles of skin,black blood, and puss. Not only that put more than a dozen had good old fashion bulletholes in their heads. That was enough for KG. He lost his lunch and tried his best to keep it off the bags, he did his best...though wasn't completely successful.

At the front of the door was a zombie but...it's fists were...glowing? no, they were on fire. It turned to the sound of KG emptying his stomach and immediately set half the hallway on fire. The heat was so intense that Kid had to back up a dozen feet and put his arm up to see. The zombie looked familiar...he swear he had seen him around Carnage before but he couldn't put his finger on it. The light brown skin zombie walked toward him, bringing his own personal furnace with him....

KG: Yep...**** Me...

Tony stood next to Rayven and nodded. As much fun as he was having Tony was not a little shaken up by his close call a second ago. He was down for cutting their losses and just heading straight for the RV.

Tony: You don't think she'd actually leave us?...

Tony asked thinking about KG and wherever he was at the moment. Although Grace hadn't been necessarily been sugar and rainbows to him she hadn't outright been mean to him either. In fact Rayven had done more physical harm to Tony than Grace had at this point. He doubted that Grace's strangeness translated to leaving them all there to die...However they all knew the woman better than he did.

Tony: would she?

Trine blinked, looking from Tony to the rubbled a few meters down, and then back to Tony again. She wasn’t sure what it was; maybe it was the gambit of emotions she’d run through since running into the first infected, the fact she’d been silently trying to keep it together despite checking her watch every other minute trying to keep track of how long Kid had been gone, or maybe his humor was just well placed enough that it struck her at just the right time- but she laughed. It was corny- beyind corny, but the blonde was thankful for the break in doom and gloom none the less. She shook her head still fighting off a giggle as she pulled open one last door.

”Oh yeah, she would. In a heartbeat. Wretch might get her to wait for a bit, but it won’t last forever. Maybe we should just head straight for the RV and just empty a vending machine on the way. ”

KG: Ok seriously?! What the hell?!

KG couldn't help himself. Though staying quiet was par for the course when trying to scanege suplies from zombie infested wrestling arenas...he assumed this being his first time...He couldn't help but let out his frustrations as The Inhuman torch came lumbering toward him brining the fire of hell along with it. Not only that but the zombie didn't seem to be burning at all from the flames around it. It was simply pushing it's volcanic ass closer and closer to Kid's face. KG looked down at his baseball bat. There was no way he was going get close enough to that thing to kill it with this. He was fast but run into a fire that hot and he would be the quickest and smartest pile of ash he knew. He had to do something but he didn't have much to go on. He thought about luring it outside where he could get the space to double back but...

RIIIIIIINNGGG

Suddenly the sound of the fire alarm rang out. Water began to rain down from the ceiling. Finally some good luck. That was until he realized two things. 1) the fire alarm would be going off everywhere in the stadium. meaning that any zombies that had been lured into the main stadium were about to be charging out our in search of the noise any second now and this whole place was about to be over run with a **** ton more zombies. 2) The sprinklers put out the fire but now the hallway was filled with hot steam and he had no idea where the zombie was. KG took off his glasses and tried to get a clearer view but there was just a wall of steam and the sound of a growing mass of zombies coming at him from all sides.

KG: yeah..sure...why not...

KG said out loud, barely being able to hear his own voice over the fire alarm. He held on tight to his gym bags and decided that running towards ones death was probably better than standing in one spot waiting for it. KG wasn't super religious but he figured if there was a time to pray...this constituted as one of those times. then he plunged head first into the hot steam...

...............

Tony eye's got a far away look in them as Rayven tussled his hair. He seem to actually, physically melt a little bit as a goofy smile spread across his face. He quickly solidified himself at the mention of Kid Genius though and nodded his head to show that he understood their dilemma. This Grace lady must have been one bad costumer if both Rayven AND Trine didn't think she would help them live. Tony watched as Rayven broke the vending machine and rose his hand up.

Tony: I call the cheetos!

Tony said raising his hand and then suddenly

RIIIIIIINNNNGGGG

Tony: um...did i say the secret word or something?

The blonde shot Rayven a look, not appreciating the fact that she insisted on using that nickname, even though she told the dark haired wrestler multiple times it drove her insane.

"...sparkles...dis ****..." she grumbled under her breath, before turning to Rayven with a wide, forced smile, ”Yuup! Wow. It’s like you read my mind. You are s-”

The fire alarm rang out and Trine’s facial expression dropped into something akin to sheer horror. Blue eyes looked from Tony to Rayven and then in the direction that Kid Genius had disappeared down. It had been a long time since Trine regretted a decision so terribly as not having gone with Kid. She had hated the idea of letting him go then and even more so now as the alarm rang out. If she went he wouldn’t have been able to carry the supplies or anyone else he’d set out to find in the first place, but now...

”Oh. ****.” she pulled her hoodie off over her head as she made her way to the vending machine, and yanked the strings for the hood tight, before tying a knot in them- sealing off that end.

please be okay, please be okay, please god let him be okay

She grabbed what she could from the vending machine and dropped it into the hoodie turned makeshift bag, wrapped the bottom half of it around her fist once, and tossed it over her shoulder like a small, female, version of St.Nicholas.

”I don’t care if you’re in charge or if Blackwell is at this point. I’m getting this to the RV and if KG isn’t already there I’m going to look for him.” there was no way to know if she was even audible, considering she could barely hear herself, but the longer they sat there the longer the monsters had to make their way further into the stadium, and the longer she wouldn’t know if Kid Genius made it or not.

Rayven had cleared the hallway, so as far as she was concerned it was a straight shoot. There was no reason to be quiet anymore, which was an advantage in Trine’s case since moving earth wasn’t exactly the most silent of abilities. She pressed her free hand to the ground and mouth of the section of hallway behind them dropped into what looked like a sinkhole. It wasn’t massive, any functional human could easily jump across, but it was enough that any mindless wandering would end in a quick drop- assuming these things didn’t learn how to jump anytime soon.

”Let’s go.” and with that she picked up a run.

As the group breaks out into a sprint Tony runs up to the head of the pack swinging the ax as he got clearing a path for the others. He makes it through with a few scratches but they heal almost instantly as he goes. When they reach the door to the parking lot he stops for a moment and pops the door to the parking lot open a hair and peers outside to see a sea of zombies milling about.

Anyone have a better plan then me going out there and creating a blood bath?

Grace randomly started flipping switches and pressing buttons, the lights go disco through the ring area and finally she stumbled upon sparkling pyrotechnics that falls down from the stage!  With a ravenous look in her eyes Grace began hitting every single button in the line and soon hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of pyrotechnics is heating up and drawing in the creatures from all around the arena.

::Grace Brutal::Fire! FIRE! YA! YA!

==Their job was done and lives were still in need of saving - he opens up the door looking out at the meandering horde milling towards the gates.  Just outside the door he sees another fire box.  He steps out and quickly grabbed the axe as the horde heads towards the noise.  The ring post fireworks begin to catch on the canvas and apron, the ring itself is aflame!  Wretch closed the door and grabbed her by the back of her belt, he yanks her into the pitch.==

::Grace Brutal::Hey! NO! SOME GIRLS JUST WANT TO WATCH THE WORLD BURN!!  Let go of me you gigantic buzz kill!

Slowly she evaporated into the darkness from whence they came.  The Wretched Nobody wasn't about to let her abandon everyone. 

--------------------------------------------------------

A door behind the crowd of superstars opened - the room had been checked and empty besides overflowing darkness.  Wretch steps forth with the other axe in his hand.

₩retched Nobody> I think the best plan is We clear the way, Tony.  If KG had of been here I’d say we give him both axes, have him run a path and we dismantle the leftovers…. But apparently splitting up like I said Not to do - turned out to be the plan.

Grace then steps out still running her mouth to Wretch.

::Grace Brutal::....and another thing - I don't understand WHY you trust these assholes.  Given a chance they're going to kick you to the decadently decayed.  Hell, they probably already don't trust you - your mask looks like it was made out of zombie taints and You too spew up black stuff.  They're likely just going to ditch you.

The Wretched Nobody holds his index finger to his masked lips.

₩retched Nobody> Shhh…

::Grace Brutal::Don't you Shush me, you big bastard!

₩retched Nobody> There are zombies ahead of us, and probably soon - zombies behind us.  We need to move.

Tony followed Trines lead. He didn't have to say it but there as no way he was leaving this building without Ken. He over to the vending machine and Made himself a medium sized bright blue kangaroo pouch. He stuffed the contents of the vending machine inside his brand new pouch and began running. He kept looking back hoping to see a streak of orange coming towards them but there was nothing. Tony also noticed that Other Tony was going H.A.M. on any zombie in front of their way. The guy was like an undead weed wacker. Tony made a mental note to try to keep him around.

They had ditched any effort to stay quiet and were flat out running through the compound. Tony witnessed the hallways being slowly flooded by a cascade of moaning zombies. They were spilling out of the arena and it was only a matter of time before this god awful situation turned into a "Shot yourself in the head before they get you" situation. They stopped outside the parking lot door and Tony stretched his neck out to see the ocean of zombies milling about. Other Tony spoke and Tony shrugged.

Tony: Maybe we could try asking them to hit their heads against the wall?

Tony gave a sheepish smile.

Tony: Or we could put a sign that says "Free Brains that'a way" With an arrow pointing towards a cliff...

Tony looked around at his living breathing friends.

Tony: It works for the Road Runner.

Suddenly Wretched Nobody and Grace Brutal walked out of one of the rooms. They both gave Tony the willies but seeing how he was a big guy with an ax and she enjoyed watching things be hit in the head with sharp things he figured it was cool to have them on their side...for now. Grace, crazy as she was, had a point. He didn't trust either of them. And if talk about leaving KG behind started to gain any tracking he would be sure to do something about it and it wouldn't be pretty.

Tony: So are we moving forward or backward or are we justing busting a move? because i gotta tell ya now is really not the time to be getting jiggy with it. But hey that's just me...you know i could maybe see the thriller dance being appropriate.

.................

Kid Genius ran forward into the steam. Slammed right into something hard and extremely hot. Had he not been wearing his motocross gear Kid was sure he would have been burned. KG knew he had crashed into the fire zombie which was now the steam zombie. Kid could feel the monster groping at him but he couldn't see anything. Panic started to take over as Kid felt another hand grab at his leg.

KG: shitshitshitshitshitshit

KG spit out a stream of super fast vulgarity and kicked his legs and pulled at his arms. The steam zombies hands were firmly locked on his jacket and it was only a matter of time before he brought his mouth down and got him a taste of Loser. Lucky for KG when you can move at the speed of sound time is something you have a little bit extra of. He quickly unzipped his jacket and pulled his arm free. He then rolled as hard as he could to the left causing him to slide through what felt like zombie paste and slam into the wall. KG let out a cry of pain but at least he didn't feel any hands on him. KG pulled himself to his feet and ran blindly towards the direction of where he calculated the door was. Sadly KG wasn't wearing shoes for a slippery floor and the water from the sprinklers mixing with zombie remains didn't really help things. KG ended up smacking straight into the door. The door cracked open and a shard of wood cut Kid in the leg.

KG fumbled for the door handle and found it. He opened the door that was basically holding on by sheer force of will, if doors had will, and entered the first aid room. He closed the door behind him but he knew that would only buy him maybe a half a second. KG moved his right arm up and down and around. It was bruised, pretty darn bad, it felt like crap and a half but it wasn't broken. His leg, though sporting a pretty sizable cut and having it's own little blood river, was not something he had to worry about at the moment. At the moment what he had to worry about was that the First Aid Room was completely and totally empty.

KG: You...have got to be kidding me...

All the cupboards, all the medicine, basically everything that wasn't bolted down had been taken from the room. Someone had been there before he had gotten there. Whoever had left all those zombies in the hallway and the fire muncher there for Kid had made off with ever medical supply in the building. Kid Genius was so mad he started to laugh.

KG: Exactly haha No No please pile it on! what could possibly go wrong?!

Kid knew he shouldn't have said it as soon as he did because there was a smashing sound and the door gave way to a rolling cloud of steam and the moaning of several wet, hungry looking zombies. Not only that but KG realized that he had left golf bag with his weapons back with his jacket and there was only one way in or out of the room. Oh yes he was thoroughly ****. He thought about the others, he wondered how long they would wait for him, or if they would even try. He thought about his mom, was she going to be ok? Would they even find his body for her to barry him. He thought about Tony...his best friend in the whole world....He was going to need someone to look after him. He was such an idiot sometimes but...Tony was his idiot and now after all their time together they were going to end apart. He thought about Trine...He thought about her strong, bright, beautiful blues eyes...if things were different KG would tell her... He would walk right up, say her name and....wait a minute. NAME! Kid Genius knew a lot of things but he had no idea if this would work or not, however at this point he really didn't have a choice.

KG: **** it, KALIB KALIB KALIB!!!

Tony took in what Rayven had to say. A solemn etched into his jaw.

Okay. So here's the plan. I'm gonna watch one hallway with this axe . The Wretched Nobody will watch that one. We will wait 5-10 minutes for KG to show up an then the group will decide if we wait longer or go. Sink or swim we're inn this together, so we decide together. When it is time to go Wretched Nobody and I will go out with Rayven on her left and right, axes as the ready, Trine feel free to build a wall of you can to section off any you can or create a sink hole add leave them in there like a tiger trap.  Tony think large claw ferocious creature. Agreed?

” Nobody here has plans to feed him to zombies. You’re the only person here so self-centered to think leaving another human being to save your own ass would even be an option.” Grace had been on Trine’s bad side since the day she arrived at WWG. The more she talked the more Trine remembered why.

Trine had hung back from the door, she tried a few times to get a look, but that was an issue when you were smaller than what/who you needed to see past- even when she pushed up into the balls of her feet. From the sound of it there was a decent amount of zombies out there, which wasn’t shocking considering the alarm would continue to wail until either someone found the key to reset it, or the fire department showed up. Both of which were very unlikely.

She stayed silent, listening to the group discuss plans. Giving Rayven sometime to push the truck through would have been a simple enough task- so she’d follow Tony Blackwell’s lead on that. The fact that he had alreadt started a plan for how long to wait for Kid Genius told her that no one had seen him out there already.

 ”Something isn't right. He should have made it to the RV by now..."

Clack
Clack
Clack

One by one Zombies started  to fall like ducks in a shooting gallery. The sound of half a dozen hand guns picking off the zombies in the parking lot was followed the sounds of a pick up truck and two more cars flying through the zombie horde. They trucks broke apart sending shrapnel and twisted metal everywhere. Zombies were bowled over and squished. The vehicles then exploded taking out the majority of other creatures who had started to all turn towards the source of the devastation. Soon all that was left was about 2 dozen zombies all shambling in the direction. The air above six of them seemed to change and suddenly the zombies were crushed down like empty cans, black blood, puss, and bits of bone collapsing into a oozing pile.

On the other side of the parking look stood 10 men. 7 of them seemed to be exactly identical and recognized as The Man in Black along with Teddy "Shine" Williams, "Big" West Williams, and of course Jason King.

Jason turned and looked towards the door where a few of the heads were still peaking in. He smirked and then he bowed a shallow bow while extending his hand toward the remaining 18 zombies in a "after you type gesture"

When Rayven stepped back behind Wretched Nobody Trine caught a glimpse of the scene outside, most of the movement was lost as she'd only seen what had gone on within the small space between the door and the doorframe. As things calmed down and the number of undead dwindled to a fraction of the original swarm she caught sight of a figure, barely bowing, with an all too familiar smirk on his face.

Jason King; The man with impeccable timing.

A small smile graced her lips, unaware at first that it was there at all as it had crept up on her. It was odd, but in some backwards way he’d started to be an unexpected source of relief despite having the ability to be incredibly dangerous at the same time. It was that ability that may have (or hadn’t) placed her in a false sense of security. As far as she was concerned, depending on his intentions, if King was there things were fairly under control for the time being.

She was just about to turn to Tony, fairly certain he was just as anxious to look for KG as she was when Rayven took a hold of her shoulders. Blue eyes stared back at an impossibly deep set of brown as she started to wonder if Rayven could actually read her mind- and if she’d pick up on the fleeting feeling that suddenly everything was right between them.

Then there was the boyfriend comment and Trine nearly choked on her own tongue.

”W-we’re friends. I care about him okay…” she half mumbled and shrugged off Rayven’s hands, staring holes into floor at her feet,”but yeah, let’s go find him.”

It seemed like a silly question that she probably already knew the answer to, but she turned to Tony, figuring she might as well ask for courtesy’s sake.

”You ready?”

Tony watched as Jason and his group managed to dispatch a large amount of zombies with minimal effort. Tony crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Tony: pfft i could do that.

Tony turned away trying to look unimpressed though he realized that he was slowly becoming the least badass guy in the various rooms. The other reason Tony turned around was to check for Ken. Even though KG tended to be late for a lot of things, an impressive feat for someone with super speed, Tony assumed that any snatch and grab mission he would have done would have been completed by now. He began to top his foot nervously squinting down the hallway....it was strange that zombies hadn't been following them but Trine's cool sinkhole had probably trapped most of their pursuers...but that could only last so long. He wanted to go back and look for him, but he didn't know where to even start. With his speed KG could have been miles away for all Tony knew. However Tony knew for a fact that he wasn't with them by the RV and that was the main problem.

Rayven spoke to Trine and the two exchanged glances and words. Tony couldn't help but stare at Rayven. He had no idea what he was supposed to be thinking or feeling. Rayven had repeatedly stood up for KG and demanded that they wait for him. And now she was actively offering to venture back into zombie central to find him. Tony knew that KG didn't trust Rayven, ok so neither did Tony...well he trusted her to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted.  But at least he had tried to always give her the benefit of the doubt. The fact that Tony would probably walk off a cliff if she batted her eyes at him was not important. KG hadn't been what one would call "Nice" and here she was rallying the rescue team anyway. Tony couldn't help but smile. Sure she had called him clod earlier but it didn't matter (also he had no idea what it meant), Rayven was helping him rescue his friend. That's all that mattered. Man she was awesome.

Trine had asked Tony if he was ready to go out at find KG. It seemed that the contingent by the RV would wait at least a few minute before leaving them high and dry. The three of them would have to move fast. Tony looked at Trine nodded with a smile. Tony made his hands into comical style large fists.

Tony: I thought you'd never ask.

....................

Kid had closed his eyes for a second thinking that there would be something...umph-y. He quick opened them to see nothing but a small horde of zombies pushing through the splintery wood. "So much for Kalib ex Machina" he thought to himself as he backed up as far away from the entrance as he could. Kid ever saw Kalib again he would be sure to file a in depth complaint in the form of a 200 mph kick to the nuts. However future vengeance would have to wait Kid had to keep his focus on the here and now if he wanted any hope of getting out of this situation alive. KG looked down at his leg, it was bleeding pretty bad. The adrenaline was keeping him up right but KG knew that he wouldn't be able to go at this pace for much longer.

The zombies were pushing into each other, wedged in the doorway, jaws snapping in KG's direction.

KG: that's lovely.

He said as one of the zombies, who used to be one of the camera women, crushed her shoulder into the frame of the door trying to make a meal of him. Her bone exploded out of her skin but she didn't even seem at all fazed...fazed...taze....Tazer! KG thought of something. It was a long shot but he didn't know what else to do. He took a few deep breaths and reached into his mind. A while ago he had looked over the blue prints of the this particular stadium while talking with someone from ring set up. Thanks to his ability somewhere in his mind would sit the schematics for this room, if he had seen it. Sure enough suddenly it came to his mind and KD rushed over to a section of wall and proceeded to punch it several times and super speed. He was pretty sure he bruised his knuckles but he found was he was looking for, a power line. Quickly as he could, pretty quickly, he smashed a glass cupboard window and stripped the powerline, sparks flew from the frayed end and the room went dark.

It was now or never...

KG's plan was to throw the powerline on the soaking wet and steam covered Zombies. Hopefully their nervous system worked enough that a massive electircity jolt would stun them for a least a second. in that second KG would cannon ball through using one of the chairs in the room. He would get shocked too but unlike the zombies he would know it was coming and hopefully brace himself to push through it. It wasn't a good plan...however it was his only plan. In spite of everything Kid actually laughed. How often did someone get to pick out their last words. KG thought about it, funny thing was nothing profond or stunning deep came to mind. So when one of the zombies finally made a hole he just said.

KG: Bangarang!

And threw the powerline into the fray. All the zombie's muscles tightened at once and KG made his move. As he ran past them he felt like he was being shook violently in every inch of his body. The electricity running through him made his teeth hurt. But he didn't dare stop. He closed his eyes and smashed his way through the blockade of undead until he reached the hallway. KG knew that if he stopped now he would pass out so he kept running. He somehow managed to grab his empty gym bags and started darting room to room picking up anything he could find. Eventually he was carrying about five full gym bags as he raced down the hallway. The zombies were EVERYWHERE now but Kid kept pushing himself. Dodging and weaving he could feel his vision blurring with every step. He finally managed to make it back to a familiar hallway. His leg buckled, he was at his limit. His body was moving forward by instinct now, His hand kept reaching out for the tag, His mouth formed a faint "Tony...tag please" but KG could feel himself dizzy from blood loss and fatigue. He could swear he could almost make out blurr shapes of people or were they more zombies down the hallway. Then he thought he saw a swimming pool full of zombies in the middle of the hallway. He knew he had to jump it to get to the other side...but as soon as he left the ground his vision went totally black...KG had passed out in mid air...

==He wasn't sure if anyone else had seen KG, but twitch all the bickering and indecision already going on he didn't want to start Another argument or conversation about what they should do.  Without a word, he takes a few big steps back across the hall and runs - rushing past Trine as he dives through a nearby door leading to another unlit room.  Again he's gone without a trace.==

The horrific pit of pool bound zombies too dull witted to make their escape, see the unconscious KG slow and begin falling towards them.  Certainly bound for death - the long reaching zombies jostle and finally get chopped down as The Wretched Nobody exploded from the shadows beneath their very feet, swinging his axe wildly to clear a path.  He leaves the axe in the skull of the last zombie it hits and he alone grabs KG who inertia has put enough force behind to drive them both back into the darkness at the feet of the remaining pool bound zombies.

::Grace Brutal:: WHAT THE ACTUAL ****, WRETCH!?

Wretched Nobody comes toppling back through the doorway holding onto KG’s unconscious body, Nobody slams hard into the floor but assures KG lands safe.

₩retched Nobody> Grace…..

Grace runs to The Wretched Nobody's side, she quickly checks on KG as Nobody lays him safely on the ground to his side.  Grace grabs hold of Wretch in a huge hug.

::Grace Brutal::You and I should just step back into that room and pop out under the RV…. Leave these halfwits as an Amuse Bouche for these gnarly rotting pricks and get ourselves to safety…. Hand in Hand to the Edge of Oblivion, Remember Wretch?

₩retched Nobody> I remember Grace - but this IS the Edge of Oblivion, Grace...

Grace walks up to The Wretched Nobody and takes his hand, holding it close to her chest, most don't even notice

::Grace Brutal::Not for everyone, Beautiful.  Especially…. Not for Me!

A soft glow came from where Grace make skin to skin contact with Wretch.  She stood up and looks around at those who are watching this all play out.  Looking dead at Rayven she holds up her middle finger, hanging around it by the ring - the RV keys!  She must have picked them from Nobody's pocket when she hugged him before using her tactics mimicry to use his powers!

₩retched Nobody> GRACE! DON'T!

Not at all hesitant - Grace steps back into the dark room KG and Wretch just came from and disappears, shadow walking before anyone can do anything about it to stop her - Wretch even lunged for the doorway and reached into the pitch - all that is left is her words.

::Grace Brutal:: That **** should have never put her hands on me - and you shouldn't have let her.

₩retched Nobody> God damn it….  GOD DAMN IT!

==His fists pounded into the concrete floor - he knew what she was doing but if he also knew she'd be counting on him to be the only one to follow her.  He couldn't leave them all here not this way.  Instead with great composure he gets up to his knees; it was then something caught him from the corner of his eye…. As predicted another horde had come up the corridor behind them from the burning ringside area.  He tosses Trine a large ignition key…. Much like one would expect to start a Recreational Vehicle with.  He stood, turning towards the languishing mob of undead furious and seething over now.==

₩retched Nobody> EVERYONE RUN!  GET TO THE PARKING GARAGE!  ….Trine has the key…take KG with you.

The Wretched Nobody rips open the front of his coveralls.  A cold and sobering tone comes from him….

₩retched Nobody> There is no decision that we can make that doesn't come with some sort of balance or sacrifice.

So I ask you - if my words can reach you beyond your empty graves…. WHO'S HUNGRY!?

The Wretched Nobody rushes headlong into the swarm.  He is swallowed by the mass of zombies - blackened blood splatters the walls and heads fly as Wretch desperately battles the throbbing murder of corpses trying his best to give them all a chance to run.

Jason looked up and realized that the rest of his "co-workers" weren't actually doing anything about the remaining zombies in the parking lot. He sighed and rolled his eyes. With the wave of us his hand he increased the gravity around their skulls so rapidly that the collapsed into paste. As their bodies dropped Jason shook his head, they all needed to move and whatever was going on in that other room was not getting them out of the stadium any faster. However at the end of the day they weren't all that important he guessed. King had already lost one of his friends today and as far as he was concerned getting his other friends out was the only priority. He lifted his cell phone to his ear.

King: Ok Tech we're in the parking lot. we are pretty sure we found our ride but they kids are playing around. Do we have time to babysit?

Simon "Tech" Jackson hadn't been at the stadium as usual. He never really had a taste for the wrestling scene and normally stayed back. However when a crazy person busted into the hotel lobby and starting biting the guests, who then in turn starting biting the other guest, Tech figured it was time to make a hasty retreat. He had gotten to their normal van had been following his friends in the stadium via video cameras.

Tech: You don't have a lot of time Jay. There is a stadium full of those things all spilling out and it's only gonna get more crowded in there. Remember this was a sell out show.

Jason nodded. They didn't NEED the RV but once Jason heard the announcement on the loud speakers he figured they might as well see if it was worth the trouble. He had a feeling that the following days were going to be a bit tricky and driving out of the city, any city really, was going to the smart move for right now. The RV would make that course of action a little more pleasant. however it wouldn't be worth it if the RV came with all these stupid people.

King: What the **** are they even doing in there?

Jason said looking through the open door to what looked to be a group of people watching a hug fest or something. he couldn't really tell. King turned to Shine and said.

King: you want to give them a little reminder?

Shine: gotchu

With that Shine raised his hands and a ball of light about the size of a oversized beach ball floated above his hands. It started to strobe faster and faster and change colors rapidly. Then it changed into a large arrow pointing at the RV inside the arrow it read "White People, Let's Move". Jason took out his own gun and shot at the door hopefully getting the groups attention just as he saw what he thought was that girl Rayven turn in his direction. He made a motion to his wrist as is if to indicate the time.

Everything had happened so quickly, Wretch leaving, returning, the shock at the state of KG. Her eyes went wide when she’d seen the amount of blood that had soaked into the pant leg of Kid’s motocross outfit. Trine knelt down, carefully removing the duffle bag straps that had been wrapped over his unconscious frame- figuring the conscious group of them could reasonably take those on. It was strange she went through motions like she’d been on autopilot, keeping everything, but what needed to happen next out of her mind. She grabbed the slice in Kid’s pant leg and ripped it the rest of the way, effectively detaching it, before laying it over the cut that had been pouring blood.

Just as she yanked the knot tight an ignition knocked into her shoulder and clattered to the ground. Trine blinked, picking it up, before looking to see what had been going on. Grace was gone and Wretch had just thrown himself head first into swamp of undead bodies filling the hallway. She glanced to the door that led to outside, they had plenty of help out there.

Between Wretch’s growing anger and Rayven’s breakdown Trine felt hands start to shake with the effort to try and fight off the invasive emotions. It worked to a point, more so once Rayven seemed to collect herself. She looked to Tony, picking up as much of the duffle bags as she could manage, she couldn’t drag Kid to the RV- most of him would have just dragged behind her. Tony was tall enough, as was Blackwell, and even Rayven.

”Can someone grab KG, I’ve got most of the bags,” she looked to Rayven, ”If you can move a truck can you move Wretch? Can you pull him outside with us? I’ve got an idea.”

The gunshots from outside rang out, more than likely Jason King getting impatient since they’d gotten caught up in the hallway with everything that had gone on. She pushed her hip into the door once the shots stopped,sending it swinging open just in time to catch “Shine”s lightshow. She couldn’t help the small laugh that had escaped her lips as she read the words "White People, Let's Move.” inside the large arrow. It was understandable, Jason King’s group had no way of knowing what had been going on inside, and that sort of over the top ‘reminder’ had just stuck her the right way. It was funny despite the fact that the entire situation as a whole was pretty awful.

She raised an eyebrow, really trying to fight the smile as she looked from the arrow to Jason King.

”We'd be lost without you.”

Tony saw KG falling in mid air towards the sink hole Trine had made. There were already a bunch of zombies inside all squirming and writhing trying to get to the source of the sound that was the fire alarm. Tony was about to leap into the air to catch his friend when The Wretched Nobody managed to do his thing. When they came crashing back down Tony watched as the Gym bags that KG was carrying slid all across the floor. He didn't bother with them though as he rushed right over to Kid without waiting for word of anyone. Grace and Wretch were talking about something behind him but he didn't care. Tony leaned down and put a smile on his face, though the panic worry in his eyes was impossible to get rid of.

Tony: Ken! Dude. Hey man what took you so long buddy.

Kid Genius was fading in and out. He lifted his arm lightly touched Tony on the shoulder. He smiled faintly.

KG: you're turn...Tag....

His eyes closed again and Tony quickly said

Tony; Hey hey hey hey bro stay with me. It's gonna be ok. We are heading to the RV now dude we weren't gonna leave without you.

KG's eyes were still closed and his voice was growing quieter with each shallow breath. Tony noticed that a small pool of blood was forming by Kids leg.

KG: I'm...sorry...i couldn't find....the first...aid stuff...I can back and check...stay safe...

KG moved to get back up to his feet but Tony held him where he was not having to put any effort into the action at all. KG was banged up pretty bad, he was half conscious, and yet he was still trying to help him.

Tony: Whoa there Ken i think you benched buddy. I think you've had enough solo adventures today.

Before he knew it Trine had joined him next to Kid. She began doing some basic first aid, something Tony hadn't even thought of. He was glad she was here. Tony hated to admit it but he was simply no good in a crisis. Ken was always the one with the plans or the stagey and Tony was the one that made their lives more fun. Seeing him so broken was scarier than any zombie attack. Trine had picked up the bags and shouted for someone to grab Kid. She hadn't even finished the sentence before Tony had picked up Kid Genius in his arms. Tony grew a third arm and picked slung the remaining gym bags on it. Tony followed Trine out of the hallway and into the parking lot. He glanced at Rayven....was she crying? Everything in him wanted to do something, say something, heck she could hit him in the balls again if she wanted. Tony felt sadness like a stone in the pit of his stomach. However all of that would have to wait as KG did not have the time and to be honest neither did the rest of them as the storm of zombies to converge on them only being held back by whatever effort Wretched Nobody was putting in. Though he was a monster Tony decided that if anyone ever asked Tony would be sure to say that he was his favorite monster....and he was a decent man when the world went to ****.

Tony came up next to Trine as she reached Jason King and his crew. He stopped as Trine and Jason exchanged words. Suddenly Kid Genius stirred and pulled on Tony's shirt looking up at Tony though his eyes were still closed and spoke, faintly but still at the same time pretty darn loudly.

KG: Trine....i...promised.......you have the most....beautiful blue eyes...in the world...i really like.....looking at them...

With that KG's head slumped and his entire body went limp. Tony looked up at Trine and then Jason. Panic rising in his chest.

Tony: um guys?!

Finally it seemed they were getting it together as Trine came out of the hallway into the parking lot carrying a bunch of gym bags with her. Jason admitted that he was pleasently surprised that she had made it out. He half expected the little champion to have been eaten trying to hug the zombies to death. As always he realized that underestimating Trine Larsen was a mistake. One of the other members came after her carrying another person. He recognized them but the names escaped him, not that it really mattered. Jason new there were more of them but at the same time if these were the ones with the supplies then he really only needed them...they others could figure something out or at the very least cover their escape.

Trine made it over to him and spoke. Jason looked a her with a sly smile.

King: what can i say? saving your life is becoming somewhat of of a hobby of mine...

JAson narrowed his eyes on Trine and took a small step forward towards the blonde haired champion.

King: When things die down i'm sure we can find some time for us to...discus how thankful you are.

Shine: Oh yeah sure it's his motherfucking arrow

Jason couldn't help but give out a little laugh though he didn't turn to look at Teddy. It was then that, Cody?, Rony?, it didn't really matter walked over. The man in orange being held by, TONY, Jason knew he would remember, but the man in orange being held by Tony started speaking. Jason raised an eyebrow at him and then looked back to Trine.

King: cute...

He said doing nothing to hide his contempt. It was then that The Man in Black came up to his side and pointed a gun right towards the head of the guy Tony was holding. Jason had been so busy with what he had said he hand't even noticed the blood running down his leg. Jason's face turned serious. He rooted them both to the spot increasing their personal gravity fields then he slowly pulled Trine closer to him increasing his own pull. He looked at Tony and spoke.

King: If you think I am letting an infected in a tight metal box with me you are one stupid motherfucker.

==He was far beyond help - he knew they'd assume him dead; that is to say Grace would never believe the truth they would tell her of his harrowing act.  She just never saw a reason to learn anything besides selfishness - and although it had helped his career - it could not, it would not help his better intentions on a day like today.  As his rage boils over he knows the only two options are Violence or Death, and that's when he ripped a femur out of one of the zombies dog piled on top of him and snapped it into two jagged, makeshift daggers.  Though their bites weren't sinking into his flesh he had to fight on with fury and mercilessness if the group was going to move ahead safely.  He could hear Rayven sobbing and in that moment of barbarity - a single clear thought crossed his mind - he knew he was no telepathic.  How power was visceral and severe, but he hoped she somehow knew, he hoped she somehow heard it, felt it or at least thought it herself…

“I protect my Family…. You are My Family... ==

---

Though She could mimic anyone's powers she certainly didn't have control over them like their owner’s did.  She found herself materialized in a darkened trunk of a car, although who's car it was didn't matter - she had to be in the parking garage.  As she searched for the safety release in the trunk she began rambling to herself - as if through some miracle of God happened during this hell on earth - and she felt some kind of guilt she had to justify her actions for.

::Grace Brutal::What? What!?  WHAT? WHAT THE ACTUAL ****? *sigh* I'm sorry, Beautiful… but momma was getting sick and tired of their cocked up democratic system and I'm not talking about the impending vote.  I'm talking about being surrounded by super powered professional wrestlers - who all seem too nervous to start cracking skulls.  Maybe if I wrapped some tinfoil around my belt and threw it into the middle of all those dead bitches - at least half of them would risk life and limb to get to it, the rest could just stand back pretending as if their inability to make a grab for it isn't that much of an issue because they're “just happy to be here.”.....bunch of pussies!


She reached into her pocket and pulled her cell phone turning the flashlight on in the hunt for the safety release.

::Grace Brutal::Seriously… I was surrounded by prize fighters and they're casually casually discussing what to do when Fighting is your only way out?  How **** stupid can you all be?  Idiots like that are why Managers like Me make a mint in this business all I keep hearing is “Duuuuuuh what should I do?” - let me enlighten you - GO KICK SOME UNDEAD **** ASS!

She continued squirming around hunting for the safety release...

---

==Through the mass of rotting corpses he lost sight of everyone - but any zombie he witnessed turning to the rest of the survivors had an enraged, hardened punch to the base of the skull where he would rip their spinal column free from their brains.  Those watching must surely know he isn't dead - however he couldn't see them and all and of them can see is the horde pouring over themselves to try and get their bite at this human blender ripping them to shreds with his bare hands.  Though the sound was dulled by a swooning wall of undead bodies and their lamented moaning he heard the survivors orchestrate their escape.

He knew there was certainly some disgust among them, they didn't all see so clearly why he would charge these shores of gnashing teeth and infectious bites. Vampires get the joy of flying around and living forever, werewolves get the joy of animal spirits. But zombies, they're not rich, or aristocratic, they shuffle around. They're a group phenomenon, they're not very fast, they're quite sickly. So what's the pleasure of being one?  From one creature of darkness to another - he began to feel his killing spree as a form of release for these damned and contagious souls trapped somewhere inside those festering husks.  They outnumber him, but he knew he could out power and out fight them!  He just had to Fight - and he just had to hope against common sense that Grace didn't leave the building, and drain him of his strength.  All they knew was to swarm and feed,  they know nothing of retreat…. He needed to remain the most obvious feast - through clenched teeth, in a heartbreaking passionate pitch he roars at grim fate.... As if bellowing a swan song, one final attempt to keep the zombie's attention on him alone.==

₩retched Nobody> I am the Harbinger of Wrath…. I am a Murderous Feast fit for the Damned! I am the Reaper of the Dead!  I AM THE WRETCHED NOBODY! 

The pile of Zombies engulfs him entirely and through his viciousness he prays for the expedient escape of every living person he knows has to leave him behind…. His plan had worked - now he hoped his prayers would be answered.

Trine looked back at the the pair as Mann came up behind her. She was glad Tony had been the first person KG had seen as he wavered into consciousness every now and then. Their friendship was important and those two had been by each other's sides long before they had ever shown up at WWG. The best she could have done was stay calm and get him the first-aid he needed. Tony was more than capable of being there for him. After everything that had happened to her in her career she didn’t fully trust just anyone in the company with no questions asked, but she did trust Tony Mann. He may not have been the brightest, but he was the best chance Kid had.

She shot Jason a flat look, having heard him insinuate something along those lines the other times.

”Well, I’m probably not the only thankful one. You’re going to have a reeaal busy day if that’s something you need to,” she paused, smirking, and verbally emphasizing the unseen quotation marks, ”discuss.”

Trine smiled at Shine’s comment, but her attention snapped to Kid Genius when he started to speak. And then there was the red in her face again, which seemed to be happening a lot lately, and the fact that it was loud enough that King overheard made it that much harder to play it off. It didn’t last long however, considering shortly after he fell limp in Tony’s arms.

The blonde’s stomach felt like it dropped straight into her feet, panic beginning to fester in her chest. She had managed to hold it together this long on sheer adrenaline and simply being relieved that they had a visual on KG. He wasn’t out of the woods yet, something she’d been so abruptly reminded of. It felt awful seeing him that way; bleeding, battered, and listless. She would have done anything to see him smile, or crack a joke, anything really just as long as he was okay. It was as if she could feel her heart breaking at the sight of him like that, but there was no time to dwell on it.

”His body is probably going into shock. We need to get him to t-,” she saw the nameless man step up with a gun and point it towards Kid. The panic was no longer just a silent notion eating away at her, this time it was in full force, evident in her face as she attempted to move to protect the unconscious Kid Genius from unwarranted gunshot wounds. Instead, however, she felt herself being dragged closer to Jason King. It felt bizarre, like when she rode The Gravitron at the county fair and tried to do sit ups until the pull got too strong- pinning her down, flat, against the feebly padded wall. The added distance and inability to move from where she stood only helped to worsen her current state, the calm she managed to desperately hold on to falling away like an old skin as she struggled against the pull.

”It’s not a bite! It’s not a bite- he’s not infected! It’s a cut! Don’t shoot him,” her voice cracked as she reached the end of her rope as far as keeping her emotions in check, pleading, praying for them to believe her, ”Please! Please, God,don’t shoot him.”

Wretched Nobody’s call echoed out and Trine could only assume if Rayven hadn’t already exhumed him from the mass of undead swarming over him- there was no way she could have. She didn’t know where Grace was, but for the first time Trine had hoped she was nearby. They tried to keep everyone and in doing so it looked as though the group would lose one unless they did something.

Tony's eyes flashed bright blue and his teeth lengthened into massive fangs.

Tony: Touch him and I will end you

Rayven had walked over to where they all were and started messing around with Kid's leg. She did something to The Man in Black's gun which would have been more practical had there not been six more identical men with identical guns aiming at them. However when it was clear that the orange guy wasn't bitten Jason seemed to relax a bit. He released his hold on everyone and was about to speak when Rayven started....breathing into the next to dead guys mouth? Jason wasn't really sure how to take that. "Big" West Williams had just gotten over to them. On his shoulder he had three large black duffle bags. He seemed genuinely shocked as did Shine whose light arrow fizzled out.

Shine: um... the **** is that?

King: o...k..?

Well whatever it was it seemed to work because the random kid suddenly looked a hell of a lot better than he did a second ago. He started moving again, slowly, and from the looks of it the bleeding on his leg was stopping. It was a pretty cool trick...perhaps this Rayven might actually have some use after all. Rayven's actions must have took a lot more out of her than she thought because she flopped on a nearby car. After a few seconds she opened it, punched inside at someone or something, and then closed it again. After that she called the group over to her. Jason was tempted to root them all to the spot, maybe stick them to the RV and force them out of the building before their soap opera or whatever their **** was got them killed but he figured they had about ten more seconds before he was leaving them here anyway and he really had no reason to add more people to his escape attempt.

Then Rayven grabbed Tony and kissed him. It must have been a damn good kiss because Tony dropped the dude he was carrying right on the floor. However what was infinitely more interesting was when Rayven pulled Trine in and kissed her just as deep...if not more so.

Shine: shiiiiit...

Big blushed, as much as he was able, and turned his head away. Jason simply stood there and watched. Sure he wanted to get out of there alive but he certainly wasn't dead yet and that was worth the wait. After that Ravyen produced another woman from the trunk of the car she had been leaning on and Jason was getting himself ready for another display of affection but instead watched as Rayven screamed at the woman, whom he swore he had seen at least once before, and drag her into the growing swarm of zombies. Once again Jason raised an eyebrow. He had no idea what was going on between these people but walking headlong into a zombie blender seemed like the exact opposite of one should do in their current situation.

That Tony guy roared. it sounded like every animal that had ever roared all trying their hand at it the same time. It was impressive if not maybe, once again, a wee bit dramatic. Tony started after Rayven his body changing from hairy to scaly to rocky and everything inbetween. Jason raised his hand and Tony began to float in mid air. He swung and he swung and he cursed with his strange thousand people talking at once voice but seeing on how he was in a zero gravity bubble it wouldn't really do him much. Jason added a slight gravitational pull the ground so Tony wouldn't just float in the direction. Jason looked over at Trine and the man Tony had brought, who was now on his feet.

King: hey...

He said to them snapping his fingers to try and get their attention.

King: am i **** saving your friend or is he dying with his ****? You just let me know.

Trine hadn’t been too sure what was going through Rayven’s mind when she called the two of them over. What she had said wasn’t a full thought, just sort of  cryptic snippets. Do what? No coming back from what? Then she kissed Tony and Trine raised an eyebrow. That had been an awfully dramatic lead in if all she wanted to do was suck face with Tony- that and it was pretty inappropriately timed considering they were in the middle of escaping a venue full of undead. Kid had been dropped to the floor which effectively startled the blonde who had been halfway down to help pick him up when Rayven grabbed her by the shirt, setting her fully upright, and kissed her.

”Wha-?!  

Blue eyes went wide, a number of things running through her head. The two most prominent ones being how incredibly violating it felt to just get an (alarmingly deep) kiss just planted on you and that Rayven had just finished kissing Tony only moments before- so….that made this all a whole world more awkward. She dropped the hoodie she fastened to hold the food from the vending machine and nearly dropped the key as she snapped her hands up, but Rayven beat her to it and pushed her back.

When Rayven started her run-  there was no way. This couldn’t be happening. They were right there, literally feet away.

”Rayven, what the hell are you doing?! Just get to the RV! RAYVEN!!” she dropped down, placing her hands flat on the tarmac. Her heart was nearly beating a hole through the front of her chest, panic and disbelief burning trails through her veins. What good would it do?! Just more unneeded death in an already grim situation. It wasn’t valiant. It wasn’t brave. It was insane.

”STOP!”

Her throat was sore from yelling and even when she tried she couldn’t get her voice to work, her lip quivering with the effort it took to not just breakdown- to try and do something. To fix this. The earth rolled, concentrated in a strip, whipped up like she was shaking out a carpet, and it was right at Rayven’s heels. It wasn’t fast enough, missing her heel by a millimeter as Rayven disappeared into the swarm.

Everything went very still. Tony’s roar was muffled to her ears and she’d barely noticed that Kid had gotten to his feet. Her fingers curled, knuckles pressed so hard against the scatter of rock and debris on the tarmac that it left marks on her skin. Trine wasn’t sure she was even breathing- it may not have even been possible with how tight her chest felt. She felt sick, her stomach in knots, as she numbly set to picking up the snack food she dropped- focused only on the motions,

The blonde was silent, uncharacteristically so as she got to her feet and Jason snapped his fingers. Blue eyes turned their attention from the floor to King, glassy with unshed tears until she realized just how close she’d been to falling apart. Her jaw shook, unable to voice the obvious answer to the question she started a walk for the RV- gently pressing the key into the palm of “Big”’s hand as she went. The last time she drove was when she was still in North Dakota. She was not about to drive a group of people through a zombie apocalypse on the odd chance she could navigate something the size of an RV.

Trine wasn’t big on crying, it never helped solve any problems and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d ever been open enough to cry in front of another human being- one reassuring fact was at least that was a constant, no matter how ridiculous it was. She hadn’t let a tear fall, but everything about her seemed defeated, lost, like she wanted to give up. Her shoulders slumped beneath the weight of the bags and her legs felt more and more numb with each step. They needed to get out of her before anyone else thought running into a field of flesh eating zombies was a great idea.


 

That sobering moment took root, Wretch had gone, so had Rayven and Grace.  The crowd was dwindling in numbers and only Grace had a license and experience driving the monstrosity that had toured her and The Family,  weaving across North America. 

The few remaining zombies weren't moving it appeared as they were actually stuck into the very ground beneath their feet.  All at once a tattered Wretched Nobody, a pissed off Rayven and a terrified looking Grace all burst out the unlit RV exploding through the side door at Trine's feet!  Without hesitation The Wretched Nobody springs to his feet and grabs the women by their collars - he rips them both up off the ground and holds them apart - and in an unusually perfect Dad Tone he roars.

₩retched Nobody> You two start getting the **** along or I swear I'll rub your noses together like a couple of spoiled brats!

what the **** were you even thinking diving in there after me?  What… you thought I would Die in the darkness!?  I AM THE DARKNESS!

::Grace Brutal:: OKAY DUDE!  ….chill…. Jeez.


₩retched Nobody> Where the **** is the key?  TRINE!  Snap out of it!  Let's go!

What everyone didn't see was as Rayven threw them both into the belly of the undead mass - The Wretched Nobody had grabbed them and pulled them with him - making sure to pull as many zombies with them as possible and releasing them into the eternal Nothing that he was able to so easily travel through.  That's why some were caught in the ground - the light had erased the shadows and they were stuck somewhere between this world and his.  It was always too late when others realized how well he could plan and exactly how devious he really was.  He knew there was a chance he couldn't survive - but he also knew Grace didn't know her way through the black dimension like he did.

Jason, Shine, Big, and The Man in Black all looked at each other. When The Wretched Nobody first burst out of the RV they had all been taken by surprised. However now they were just confused. Jason took the keys from big and handed it to The Man in Black who then split off from himself, entering the RV. Jason pulled back towards the rest of the group before unceremoniously dropping him on his ass. Jason clapped his hands.

King: Well if you are all done playing house or whatever this **** is. I am not playing on sticking around to end up like all our former fans.

The zombie stream had only increased and they now began to slowly, shambly, make their way into the parking lot. Jason slapped the side of the RV twice and Shine, Big, and the rest of the Man in Black clones started filing into the the RV. Jason looked at each of the rest of the group for a second before speaking again.

King: Hey if you want to say be my **** guest. i can promise you that i will not miss you. But if you were planning on getting out of here now's the time. Anybody still alive in there would have already found their way out by now and i'm not planning on waiting around for stragglers. If you want to kill each other or **** each other, as i see you all are still making up your mind about that, kindly either put a pin on it for after we are out of here or get it the hell over with!

With that Jason entered the RV but left the door open incase the others were following. He stat down in the passenger seat next to The Man in Black. Big had set his bags on the largest table, which wasn't all the large, and looked out the window into the the sea of zombies and then he looked to his brother. Both of them wanted to say so much but they both knew that at the same time there was really nothing to say. This was the kinda **** that you see in a movie....

Jason got back on the cellphone.

King: Tech you still there?

Tech: yeah man where are you? the streets are getting pretty crazy right now.

King: We should be on our way soon.

Tech: what the hell are you waiting for? i can see you on the camera?

King: The rest of these fuckers...

Tech: Leave them!

Jason smirked at that. Most things, including people, were a series of ones and zeros to Simon "Tech" Jackson. It's why he kept him around amongst other talents. Just in case things every got too emotional Tech would always keep it back to basics. But this time Jason shook his head.

King: Call me nostalgic but with human life as we know it probably being a distant memory by now i figured i'd boot up so good old fashion compassion for your fellow man. Sue me, i'm human.

Tech: First off, no you technically aren't. Second even if you were you won't be for much longer once those things start coming in from the outside.

Once again Tech was right. Jason quickly honked the horn twice. The Man in Black turned the key and the RV started up.

Tony's eyes had bounced back and forth between Jason and his weird quiet multiple clone guy. They were going to kill Ken because they thought he might turn into a zombie. It didn't even occur to Tony that he should check Ken for bites or whatever it was that spread the zombieness. In fact Tony wasn't even sure how the zombieness spread. He figured it would be a bite or something cuz it's what's in all the movies. All of that didn't really matter if they were going to kill Ken. Even though Tony felt to heavy to move he just knew in the back of his mind that he would rip them all to pieces if they lay a hand on Ken.

Trine seemed upset as well. She begged Jason not to shoot Kid and it seemed like he may have been heeding her but Rayven didn't wait around. She walked right up to Kid and started tearing at his clothes to find, or hopefully not find, a bite mark. If this had been another time he probably would have felt a little jealous that Rayven was tearing of Ken's clothes while Trine watched but considering the context he was happy for it. However when Ravyen leaned in, opened KG's mouth and "breathed" into it Tony couldn't help but turn the slightly shade of green, literally.

Whatever she had done though seemed to have done the trick because suddenly Ken wasn't completely dead weight in his arms. His leg started to look better which was good. He still looked like he went through hell but at least he wasn't dying. Rayven called them over for something and Tony instinctively followed. He watched her open a car trunk and than punch a lady, was that Grace? It happened too fast for Tony to notice. Rayven spoke and before he had time to process what she said....something.....AMAZING happened.

...................

Kid Genius woke to a pain in his...well...everywhere. His eyes were coming into focus slowly and he felt around him for is alarm clock. All he felt was cold concrete which would explain why his ass seemed to be in a little more pain then the rest of him. Had he been dropped on the floor? Where was he? He looked up in time to see something...well...interesting.

Rayven held Trine by the shirt and was kissing her like it was going out of style. Now it was no secret that KG wasn't a big fan of Rayven but he was also no secret that Kid Genius was a warm blooded straight male and some sites one just can't really get upset about, especially when you've been looking at blood drooling monsters all evening. His hearing was slowly coming back so he didn't understand what was happening but after that kiss Rayven pulled Grace Brutal out of a car trunk, how she had gotten there KG had no clue, and started dragging her towards a massive swarm of zombies on the other side of the entrance door.

Tony had tears of rage and sorrow on his face as he charged after her, along with a big patch of rock trying to assumably stop Rayven from doing whatever it was she was doing. Tony began flying in mid air which was strange because Kid had no idea that Tony couldn't do that. Kid slowly rose to his feet, using the car to steady himself. By the time he had gotten to his feet he turned to see Trine handing over the keys to...was that Jason King? How long had he been with them? KG wondered how long he'd been out of commission. But a moment later The Wretched Nobody, Grace Brutal, and Rayven burst out of the RV like the worlds most S&M themed rabbit out of the strangest shaped magicians hat. Tony floated back towards the rest of the group. Kid tried to take a step towards him but he kinda fell to a knee. He was still spent and his body, while not in shut down mode, was not super excited about him being up and at 'em again.

The group had either already been in the RV or had poured out of it. The engine turned over coming to life with the turn of the key, it all still seemed so removed, the noise muffled along with whatever it was Jason had said. She assumed something snarky or more real than anyone wanted to hear- that seemed to be his M.O. It worked in this situation and Trine was starting to see that. She was already mentally spent from the ridiculous emotional rollercoaster ride. It was so different from when she sat on the couch with Gilbert and Lenox- the three of them spouting theories on what they would do if they’d gotten stuck in a zombie apocalypse, how they would do things differently. She was a lot more held together in those scenarios, but the reality was that maybe she was more “Shawn of the Dead” than “The Walking Dead” in a real life scenario.

Then again this hadn’t been anything like the movies; Dead people, getting kissed, nearly dead people, people back to life, the one group who seemed to have their **** together, Kid brought back from the brink of death with some weird...open...mouth…kis-

Kid.

Trine turned on her heel to see Tony floating back towards the group and Kid Genius falling to a knee. She had choice words for the three wrestlers that decided to give her the scare of a lifetime, but it could wait. The blonde picked up a jog. What she pictured would a smooth, calm, collection of the injured half of The Losers was (in reality) far from it. She made it over to him and in one swift motion she bent down, wrapping her arms around him so tightly she could feel a twinge set deep in the shoulder carrying the weight of the duffle bags- burying her face into the crook of his neck. There was a lot she wanted to express, but it all just came out a whimper that had been exalted and absolutely pathetic all at once. She was still for a moment, before abruptly getting to her feet and quickly rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

”We got to move. Its taken four years to get onto this freaking RV. King isn't going to wait much longer”

Blue eyes, a bit brighter now in contrast to the red from tears she kept hurridly wiping away on her arm, stayed trained ahead as she moved to duck beneath KG’s right arm in order to support him enough that they could make their way to RV. Something about not looking him in the eye made her feel like she was hiding everything better than she was.

All the fight had drained out of Tony as he watched Rayven carry Grace into the mob of zombies. At first all he could think about was the fact that he wanted to explode into a thousand fireworks after Rayven had kissed him and he had been to dreamy eyed to realize when she enacted her plan. Trine had tried to stop her and Tony had charged after her. Both of them failed though to Tony's credit he was being held in the sky by a dick with a massive case of the egos. Tony bucked and strained against the non visible weightless prison he was in. He tried to will himself forward but nothing happened. It was the worst torture he could have ever imagined.

Tony: I'LL KILL YOU!!! LET ME DOWN SO I CAN **** KILL YOU!!!

Tony was crying at this point. Rayven had disappeared and Jason King was keeping him from doing anything to help her. Tony knew it was over as he couldn't even see Rayven or Grace anymore. There was a commotion behind him but Tony only stared into the encroaching swarm as his heart and all the fight in him sank into his chest. He felt himself moving as he began floating back towards the RV. Tony knew what he was going to do. After a few seconds of backward floating Tony decided that he was going to kill Jason with a...heavy rock or something and then he would check himself into a mental llabstitution because he could swear he heard Rayven's voice in his head....and his ears? Tony craned his neck back and saw that Wretched Nobody had both Grace Brutal AND Rayven in his hands. Tony had to make sure to buy the big lunk a beet sometime. He was chastising them but all Tony could think about how happy he was that she was alive. Oh he was t
There was a damper on the moment of her extremely timed escape  as Rayven's seemed red with tear. It was then Tony wished he was better with words. He wanted to say something that would make Rayven smile or at least...stop being so sad....Tony didn't know what it meant but he would be more than happy to let Rayven hit him in the balls if it it meant she'd smile that beautiful, completely psycho smile.

When Jason slapped the RV the gravity hold on Tony was brought down. It was shame because now that the situation was less "dead Rayven-y" he actually enjoyed being weightless. Then he hit the floor like a sac of potatoes. As he rubbed his backside Tony watched Rayven make her way into the RV. He felt almost as helpless as he did when he was trapped in mid air.

Zombie apocalypses suck.

............

Zombie apocalypes aren't all that bad.

OK ok so Kid knew that this was probably the worst thing to happen to the planet since the holocaust and that so many of his co-workers were dead. And there were dozens and dozens of people now turned into undead flesh leeches, oh and he almost died earlier. But with all of the horrible things that were happening he had to admit that this part wasn't so bad...in fact it was pretty great. Kid had been struggling to walk, his body still mending was boycotting his movements when suddenly Trine Larsen was there. He was about to say something when suddenly she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. At first KG had no idea how to respond. This had been the most physical contact he had had with Trine....well....ever really and it was pretty surreal. Not to mention even though the parking lot smelled like gas, crushed zombie, fire, and other **** with her so close the sent of her hair was still present an...wow....leave it to Trine to find a way to be the most lovely thing about the end of the world. There was also the fact that despite her size Trine grip was hard as crap. Dang she was stronger than she looked! no wonder she had become their World Champion. Once the initial shock was gone KG slowly, carefully, like he was still not sure if he had truly woken up yet, wrapped returned the hug. He put his head down and his check rested on Trine's hair and a minute. KG could feel the small soft movements of Trine's crying and he held tighter, wanting to let her know that he was there and even if the world was falling down around them this...what was happening right now, was safe and real.

KG: Trine I...

But then the blue eyed champion popped up and wiped her eyes. Trine spoke and KG could tell that she was done being vulnerable at least for now. Kid nodded in response and tried to move with her but he knew that he was in no condition to book it anywhere. As if reading his mind Trine came beside him and held him up. The two of them began walking to the RV and Kid couldn't help but start to vibrate softly. He didn't know what to say or how to say it or if this would even be the time to say it or....well he was pretty much just out of everything right now. The only thing he knew was that he was glad Trine was next to him and he wanted to keep it that way. He looked at Tony on the ground and then back to Trine. He smiled faintly and said with a laugh.

KG: Maybe i should almost die in a zombie massacre more often

Kid said leaning a little bit into Trine trying to catch her eyes.

KG: This part isn't so bad...

Despite the encroaching gaggle of infected she could feel the anxiety, brought on by what very easily had been nominated the absolute worst afternoon in her entire existence on this now chaotic earth, dissipate as she felt Kid Genius’ arms around her. Vulnerability was not a strong suit of hers. Most of the time Trine internalized most of the negative and sorted it out when she finally was gifted the chance to be alone, but with the slight pressure of his cheek pressed against her head it was a rare moment where she didn’t mind it so much.

Until she came to her senses that is.

It had taken a minute to decern if the shaking was coming from Kid or the adrenaline in her system wearing off. She couldn’t help the small smile that had started to form on her lips, lightly patting her fingertips against his side as the walked. Trine felt KG’s weight shift against her as he spoke and when she looked up to see if he was alright blue eyes stared straight back at him, widening slightly as she’d been caught off guard.

She froze for a moment, her stride slowing down mid-step, but as her foot hit the ground it was like she’d been jarred from her Kid induced stupor.

”You do that **** to me again and I’ll almost kill you.” her eyes had narrowed, but softened a little as the last bit of what he’d been saying sunk in. She smiled, pausing as they reached the fold out, metal steps of the RV, ”Yeah...it isn’t, but you’re just saying that because you really like to look at my eyes.”

It was a playful jab at the comment he’d made while half concious, who knew if he’d even remember whst it was he’d said. Then,  as soon as she realized the pair of them had gotten back into proximity with Grace, Wretch, and Rayven, she pulled her free hand back and launched it forward with as much force as she could muster, slapping Grace across the face. She’d never been this angry at someone before and as the rushing in her ears died down she could hear the echo of the ground splitting open a few meters away.

”If anyone dies because of you I won’t be nice enough to feed you to zombies!” she nearly spat the words out, before turning her attention to Rayven-pointing to her from outside of the RV, ”Thank you, Wretch and YOU ! You do something that stupid again, I swear-!”

Her voice cut out and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in through her nose, and continued despite not having finished her first thought. Maybe, in a different world, she’d have said something. That even though she didn’t trust her before that the way things unfolded here she could see ,beneath all of Rayven’s crazy, that she was a good person. That she had missed being friends, but instead;

”And gross, you made me inadvertently kiss Tony.” she winked, Rayven would understand what she had wanted to say beneath the cover of a joke. She was glad she was okay. She was thanking whoever would listen and Wretch’s quick thinking that Rayven was okay, ”No offense, Tony~”

Trine casted a look over shoulder, placing a foot on the last step, and bracing herself to help Kid Genius up.

So....if anyone was in need of a stop sign to keep the panicking masses organized on their street travel Kid would bet that his face could have worked perfectly as a stop light. He had thought that he dreamed that comment about the champions eyes and not it had appeared that it was very much a real thing he said. There was a growing part of Kid that was beginning to wonder if joining the ranks of the undead would be preferable to dying of sheer embarrassment. Apparently Tony overhead because he managed to laugh loud enough to be heard over the zombies and siren. KG could feel his body vibrate, dang his nervous power flares, and he tried to form a reply.

KG: oh...u-u-um...w-w-well....um-m-m....y--you see...hahaha...I-I-I-I...

It looked as if his words had decided to beat him to the RV because he could seem to form sentence. "Fight trained wrestlers every week in front of the world every week? Done. Run head long into a zombie maze towards certain death alone? Sure I got that. But talk to a pretty girl for more than a minute? No way" Kid Genius thought to himself. If there was a wall around he would have hit his against it.

............

Tony: Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!

Tony's eyes widened as he watched Trine straight up slap Grace Brutal across the face. It was pretty crazy. Even KG, who look like he could be taken down be a slight breeze, seemed to jump reactively to the attack. Note to self don't get Trine mad. Then Trine thanked Wretch and then she turned to Rayven and spoke.

Tony: wait what?

He said throughly confused and then after thinking about it a second.

Tony: Hey! What do you mean gross?

Trine gave him a no offense and he raised an eyebrow

Tony: psshhh you know you want this...

Tony went to lean against the RV but misjudged the distance agenda fell back to the ground. While on the ground Tony had another thought. What was Trine talking about? Tony remembered Rayven kissing him. Then his whole world was filled with bliss and naughty thoughts. But then the next thing he saw was Ravyen dragging Grace away....he couldn't help feeling like he missed something really awesome. He opened his mouth to speak but Trine had already helped KG into the RV. He followed them in still trying to figure things out

The Man in Black dispersed some of his clones to make more room in the RV. Jason looked back and watched as Trine was helping that Kid in orange inside. He wasn't sure what had happened but whatever that Rayven girl did was at least keeping the punk from dying, for now. Jason had already resigned to crushing his head at the first sign of trouble, maybe his weird little friend too just so it's less messy.

Jason couldn't help but catch both Big and Shine in the rear view mirror. Both men sat quiet as if everything from the last couple of minutes were finally catching up with them. All of his friends have all done and seen a lot of wild **** in their time but this was....well it was far from gangbangers and drug lords. He knew the they were all, all of his people anyway, we're thinking about Rich....about what had happened to him...but he couldn't have then spiral just yet, not until they were out of there.

King: Hey Big

West Williams quickly turned his head towards the front seat as if he was being shook from a dream.

King: quick grab those bags outside and tell Frankensteins monster and El Vira that if they are coming they need get it cuz these doors are closing.

Big nodded and got to his feet. He stepped outside the RV as a zombie came close to one of the bags. West grew about 11 feet tall and sent a large boot into the zombies face, sending it flying back into a few more of its horde. Big then turned and grabbed the bags and headed back towards the RV. He looked towards Wretch and Grace and said softly.

Big: Hey...um.....we are...kinda leaving....so....if you're coming.

He tried to give a smile towards them but couldn't seem to manage it. Instead he just gave a nod, shrunk to normal size and took the gym bags inside

Trine maneuvered the rest of the way in, helping Kid Genius to somewhere he’d be able to sit and rest. She caught eyes with Jason King as he turned in the passenger seat of the RV, but had stayed quiet- watching his eyes shift from her to the rear view mirror.

A strange weight seemed to sift into the air, bringing Jason King’s group into a state she couldn’t put her finger on, like the reality of the situation had steeped just a little too long in the silence. In an odd moment of clarity she watched a singular infected through the break in the blinds that hung in the windows. It was just a shell of who it had been; maybe a father, a brother. What had their life been like before this disaster? She frowned, silently hoping he had enjoyed the life before and that these things weren’t in some backwards way coherent enough to mourn what they lost.

Her heart sank, blue eyes traveling from the nameless infected to the group gathered in the RV. She didn’t know most of their stories, but she hoped to learn them, and hoped even more to never have to mourn the loss of those stories.

The blonde shifted forward, slowing at the bench seat that ran perpendicular between the passenger seat and the door that West had stepped out of to retrieve the bags. She reached a hand out, simply out of habitual movement, to rest on King’s shoulder, but stopped. She wanted to thank him for waiting. He didn’t have to. They could have just up and left the second Trine passed off the key, but the fact the group stayed said a lot. She and King had their quippy back and forth, but in a way she felt like her teasing would have cheapened the gratitude- so she let it be as it was.

As Williams stepped back into the RV with the bags in tow, Trine looked up from her spot next to the door. The look on his face leaving a hollowed out feeling in her chest.

”You doing okay?” it might have been a stupid question, but sometimes it helped just to know someone cared enough ask.

(Omg nooo Pretty can’t be gone! Going to get me right in da feels, you’re evil!! Curse that this slowed down! I must know what happened! >8U *shakes fist*)

==He didn't like King to begin with, but he liked him less now that he seemed to take up the mantle the group had only just knocked Grace from.  Grace was still shaken from the dive into the swarm of zombies, Wretch picked her up and took her into the RV.  He carefully set her on the bed and turned to the front of the RV.==

₩retched Nobody> We’re in….

::Grace Brutal::*in a frail whisper* Don't let them get me… don't let them eat me, Wretch.

₩retched Nobody> I won't let them eat anyone...

With the key in the ignition the RV’s dash lights up and their satellite communication radio crackles to life.  An all too familiar voice comes in from the static.  He'd spent so long traveling with the company he knew the station to use if he had any hope of contacting someone from the federation… but the desperation in his voice showed that he's been trying to get through for a while already.

Carr: Hello?  Please… someone answer.  This is Scott Carr, I have my jet fuelled and ready for take off at the private security runway in the airport field.  This outbreak is Not contained, I repeat NOT Contained.  If any member of WWG can hear me please respond, if anyone at all can hear me at all - please respond.

I have an off grid estate in the heart of the Canadian Shield, there are provisions, shelter, weapons and hardly a soul for miles aside from some military friends of mine who were visiting my family.  I can't leave my girls alone in all this, I need to go back to them - so please, please someone respond.

My estate is self sufficient and still connected to the rest of the world.  Other countries are reporting small counts of incidents - but the US I fear may be lost.  Please… someone respond…

His voice trailed off, his heart sounded broken - he was a major factor in these youthful talent having their chance to succeed, he was willing to risk it to attempt to give them a chance to live.

"Big" West Williams seemed to be woken from his daze as Trine Larsen spoke to him. His first instinct was to respond but his over all shyness caused him to stumble.

Big: um...i...

Then Big looked towards Jason. The rule was that none of them, save Jason, were really supposed to talk to the other members of the locker room. "The less talking yall do the more you can be in the background". Teddy didn't really like this rule and had a tendency to break it when yelling at the fans or something but Jason mostly just found that annoying. Tech barely bothered to show up for matches as he was needed elsewhere most of the time to help with their real mission, Pretty......Rich....

Apparently the radio in the RV was working and the voice from it gave Big a distraction from his thoughts. Not that it was a good distraction. Apparently this thing had been bigger than just the stadium. Big had really hoped it wasn't but it seemed like hope was just another thing to die around him tonight. He had heard the news about China closing it's doors due to a "rabies" outbreak. Heck he even laughed at the jokes the late night comedians made about a zombie china...but now...

Shine: **** what do you think?!

Teddy "Shine" Williams said. The rage in his voice was evident.

Shine: Nah we're all right as mother **** rain in here. I was thinking about taking a stroll but i didn't want to get in the way of your fan club out there.

Shine pointed out the window towards a little girl zombie. She had a ponytail and braces, both covered in blood. He left arm was broken, the bone ripping through the skin, but her right arm was outstretched towards the RV. On her tiny frame was a blood splattered T-shirt that sported a picture of Trine Larsen's smiling face. Shine stood up and got in Trine's face. Though years of living in constant threat of violence had hardened his emotions there was slight shake in his voice of fear mixed with anger and a whole lot of sadness. Jason's eyes turned from the radio to the rearview mirror. Big had stood up to try and calm his brother, The kid in orange had pulled himself up to his feet to try to protect Trine, Tony had gotten up to help Kid, and the guy on the radio continued to beg for a response. Jason sighed and took the mic for the radio.

Shine: But lucky us cuz we get to be here with yall! Ya bunch of fancy wrestling super star fuckers. You all got to get out scott free, aint it just like a ****. So how about you take your questions and...

King: ENOUGH!

Suddenly the gravity in the room shifted. Every seat suddenly had the gravitational pull of something much larger and everyone in the RV excluding Jason and Trine was pulled into a seated position violently and quickly, the RV ratted a bit with the weight. Jason might have sent the guy in Orange to floor with a tad more force than the rest of them but who was really checking. Jason stood and motioned for Trine to take her own seat willingly but didn't wait for her to do so. She was slowly pulled to the one of the last remaining spaces. Jason then held up a finger and clicked on the mic for the radio.

King: This is Jason, i'll be with you in a minute.

He then turned the knob on the volume down and looked back at the still forcibly seated group.

King: Let's get something clear right here right now. Whatever **** yall were outside of this RV and whatever **** yall got into with anyone outside this RV stops now. I don't want to die, and i have a feeling you don't want to die, but we are going to die if we don't stop fighting each other and don't start worry about fighting them...

Jason pointed his finger outside of the RV towards the horde now directly outside the RV panels. Jason noticed it took a little more effort to keep the big guy seated than the rest of them so he figured he would wrap it up.

King: Real Talk my number one concern is to make sure my ass, his ass, his ass, and this guys ass...

Jason pointed to his cohorts.

King: Out of this mess and i don't want you all to think i suddenly like yall but i am not an idiot and i know the best way to keep me and mine safe is by making sure yall stay safe too. We are in this **** thing together and i would hate for anyone and i do mean anyone...

His eyes landed hard on Shine's

King: to make me regret this course of action. I am not **** asking you, i am telling you. From now we save whatever hate we got for each other until after we get away from these things. Then if you want to rip each other new asswholes over and over again by my mother **** guest. Now...

Jason released the gravitational bonds allowing everyone to move freely again. Jason sighed...Normally a speech like that would work on his guys but given everything that's been happening he wasn't sure and that's not to mention that he was almost certain it wouldn't work on the others. If he had learned anything from working with WWG is that ego drove almost everything. Being put in their place by anyone was not something that anyone in the WWG was excited by. Jason just hoped they had enough self preservation in them to wait until after they were safe to try and kick his ass.

King: The man on the radio says he's got a plane and a place that he thinks is safe. I doubt we have to worry about passports but i don't this man or anything about him. I am guessing he's one of yours. Is this something we want to go for or what? We're a team now so we are gonna make a team decision about this.

Jason looked at everyone, Shine held his arms crossed in front of his chest and looked out the window, Big looked at Trine and tried to convey his apologies with only his eyes. He couldn't help but think that this was his fault...

Teddy had shouted, effectively startling Trine where she stood. Everyone dealt with these kind of things differently, apparently his way was to get angry. Blue eyes followed the end of his finger to the little girl he’d singled out and she fell still, her shoulders dropped, and everything in her felt like it had gone soft and light. It was like someone had pressed a ball of wire into the center of her chest and pulled one end up towards the ceiling of the RV, but couldn’t lift her from the floor; so all it did was hurt.

He’d moved, still shouting as he got close to her face, and Trine flinched in the slightest- her head still turned to the side as he yelled, watching the tiny, filthy, blood covered fingers of the girl’s right hand mindlessly grasping at air. Lost in her own head she could still hear him shouting, but it was muffled over. The girl was an infected- which meant she had to have been bitten and that realization alone sent Trine’s jaw into a barely visible shake. Had she broken her arm before or after the sickness took over, did she have to watch her parents go, was she alone, what was her day like before this all-...?

The blonde had opened her mouth to speak, but Jason’s voice rang through the RV. There was a long, strained, groan, from the vehicle as the gravitational pull on the collective group shifted, dropping  everyone around her into a seated position- or in KG’s case the floor. She’d gasped at how sudden the movement was trying to catch him, but he’d dropped so fast Trine had swung at vacant air. Blue eyes had only just lifted, catching Jason motioning for her to sit down, before she felt a familiar tug along the length of her person- bringing her down into a seat. She fought it last time, but now she didn’t bother, sitting still and silent as Jason spoke.

There was no expectation that Jason King would have held anyone from WWG over his tightly knit group, it was one of the reasons she felt like a thank you to them shouldn’t have just been assumed. She listened out of respect her eyes trained on her knees. He was right, as usual, and now Trine realized she was wrong not to have put aside her dislike for Grace in a time like this. The blonde made a mental note to try harder….much harder….incredibly hard to keep her cool around the manager and to forgive Shine. They were all having a hard time with this and she would have hoped someone else would grant her the same grace.

Scott Carr had been around here and there in Trine’s case; interviewing her for events, or running into each other by happenstance. As far as she was concerned he was a good guy, like a wrestling business Dad in a way, but she also wasn’t around for his run at the WWG. What concerned her was he had mentioned his girls (she assumed his wife and daughter) and after seeing the young girl hobbling their way, her braces caked with dry blood she couldn’t put that worry out of her mind. Trine’s own family came to mind. She prayed they were alright.

The pull lifted and Trine slid off of her seat and down to the floor to check on Kid.

”Sorry…” she apologized quietly for not having been able to grab a hold of him, not that it would have mattered. They’d both be on the floor if she had.

Trine looked up catching Big’s unspoken apology. It was probably her fault anyway, it was a dumb question no matter how good the intentions behind it were. She shrugged, shaking her head to let him know there was no need for an apology- she didn’t blame him.

What a complete ass! Kid Genius had thought as Jason King had slammed him to the ground. It wasn't hard to see that everyone else in the RV had managed to find chairs but him. It didn't help that his whole body didn't already feel like it was held together by wet tissue paper. Kid Genius had gotten up to defend Trine from one of Jason's thugs. It looked as if they were both going to jump her or something so he figured as spent as he was there was no way that was going to happen. Kid watched however as Trine's eyes focused out the window towards the sea of monsters now gathering around them. He saw the girl with her T-Shirt on and he couldn't help but understand some of the guilt she was now feeling. All of these things had been people, kids, fans...They had all came to see them and now they had all turned into these things. Kid knew it was wrong but he couldn't help somewhat responsible. Maybe if they hadn't been at the show tonight they might have ended up ok. it wasn't helpful thinking but as Teddy yelled he couldn't help but it. However that's when everyone was glued to their respective spots and KG was given a first class trip to the floor. He was positive that when he had the strength he was gonna give him a piece of his mind.

But...Jason had a point...From the moment He and Trine had found them the group had been a bevy of bickering that almost got them all killed. Even Wretch had seemed to understand that, which was a clear sign of the end times. As much as he wanted to smack Jason for being an **** and as much as he may have deserved it...now was not the time. Trine had come down to his level. He didn't know how to feel. Kid kept feeling like he should be the one helping her but again here she was trying to take care of him. He wanted to protect her but it seemed like he could barely protect himself. Kid let out a sigh as she came close.

KG: Don't be. it looks like being a douche is still ok as long as you don't threaten anyone.

Kid said it loud enough for Jason to hear but he didn't seem to be listening. Rayven had walked over to him and started speaking about Scott Car. Kid tried to get up but he realized he couldn't move, he was still pulled to the floor.

KG: um dude! excuse me?!

Jason simply lifted a "one second" finger in his direction without looking at him and continued listen to Rayven. When she was done Kid finally felt the pressure leave him and he shot a mean glare in Jason's direction. Kid then looked at Trine, his face instantly softening. He didn't know her as well as he would have liked but he could tell when someone was trying everything they could to hold it together. Without thinking, just acting, he reached out his hand and held the blue eyed champions cheek and spoke to her softly.

KG: Hey...it's gonna be ok...we are gonna be ok. I am gonna get you through this...

"and you are gonna get me through this" KG said to himself. He managed a smile as a particularly large zombie slammed it's fist useless against the side of the RV.

KG: We have to settle our green lantern debate anyway. No way i'm letting either of us bite it until you say uncle.

........................

Tony didn't like Jason King and it was pretty clear he wasn't going to like any of his friends either. The one with all the chains was getting all up in Trines face for no reason, she had just asked if his friend was ok. It was called being a decent person. As grew more intense Tony stood up when Kid did. He wanted to make sure that if anything was going to pop off Ken wouldn't be fighting alone...especially seeing he looked ready to drop. That's when Jason King decided to put them all in time out. Tony was getting real sick and tired of this....um...whatever it was Jason King kept doing. While Jason talked about team work Tony couldn't help trying and failing to leave his chair. It was like he weighed he was a part of it that's how strong the pull was. He looked like a kid struggling in a highchair. Eventually he released them and asked the group about their next move.

Tony: Who is this guy?

Tony had asked Rayven but she had already gotten up and walked towards Jason King. Though the world around them was falling apart he couldn't help but follow her down the length of the RV with his eyes. He wondered if all the other males in the world turned into zombies would that mean she would have no choice but to give him a shot. Tony certainly hope it didn't come to that but if life were to give him a basket full of zombie lemons he would make Rayven-aid. Tony leaned over to the large friend of Jason Kings and hooked a thumb over at Jason.

Tony: He seems nice. I'm guessing he's a hoot at paries.

There was no response as the big guy seemed to be more interested in a spot on the floor next to his feet.

Tony: Tough crowd.

Rayven started heading back towards Tony and stood in front of him. Tony's eyes shifted back and forth between Rayven and the rest of the people in the RV. If he knew anything it was that Rayven was just as likely to punt your head off as she was to give you a handshake. He doubted Jason's little rant had done anything to curb that side of her. Now with her staring at him Tony began to feel that oh so familiar mix of fear and adrenaline that came from being around Rayven.

Tony: What? do i have zombie on my fa...

Rayven leaned down very slowly towards Tony and he used everyonce of strength in his entire being to maintain eye contact with her as she did so. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and spoke. Then she started pulling him across the RV bumping into Jason's big friend and push past the others. Tony looked back towards Kid and Trine not sure what was happening or what was going on...

Kid Genius had spent a decent span of time on the floor and just as Trine started to wonder why he hadn't moved to at least try to get up he'd addressed Jason. She stayed quiet watching as the Psycho champion raised a finger from where he sat in the passenger's seat listening to Rayven. It seemed odd that King had left KG pressed to the floor after releasing the rest of them, but it wasn't something she spent all that long thinking about. Maybe Rayven just distracted him before he could release the last hold.

Trine had been trying as hard as she could not to show any signs of Teddy having got to her more than she'd already let on. She'd already talked herself into forgiving whatever that outburst had been, but she was too stubborn for her own good. When Kid’s hand touched her cheek she leaned into it, checking to see where Shine’s attention had been. Once she verified he'd been glaring out of the window, his arms crossed firmly against his chest, she dropped her forehead to rest against KGs shoulder, holding onto the fabric at the hip of the motocross outfit.

“….she was so little…. “ She hated the way her voice sounded to her own ears. It was so quiet and shook with the effort it took to hold back from just sobbing into his shirt.

It was a pretty horrible situation, but knowing that there were children out there living through this had been the one thing to really hit her hard. There was no reason for them to suffer like that, it was horrible, it was unfair, and she blamed herself in a way. She wanted to help them, or fix it for them somehow, but there was no way- not now and it left her feeling helpless.

“Thanks, I'd probably be doing a better job of helping you get through it too if I could get my **** together… I shouldn't have let you go alone...I-”    she paused, startled by the slam against the side of the rv. Then realizing it wasn’t a good idea to get caught up in that train of thought aloud.”And my green lantern is better. There is no debate- but I won’t say uncle if you won’t.” She managed a short laugh, but It was as light hearted as she could manage.

He'd been incredibly strong through everything so far and in a small way she was mad at herself for not being anywhere near his level of together. She leaned back from his shoulder, her feet beneath her, and for a moment got caught up looking at him- her eyes still and focused. Trines hands left the fabric of his gear and come to rest along his jawline, fingertips coming to rest against the skin just in front of his ears. The blonde had put her weight onto her knees, no longer sitting on her feet, and lightly pressed her lips to clean spot on his forehead.

For a moment she looked like she wanted to say something, but her attention quickly shifted as Rayven dragged Tony off. Trine looked after the pair with an uncomfortable face not unlike when you watched a movie with your parents and a sex scene comes on.

“....Uh,” she started, but was cut short by another slam from outside of the RV. She got to her feet, holding a hand out to help KG up as well, looking to Jason King in the passenger seat. “It will be a long shot. That is a couple hours of driving from even from New York under normal conditions.”

Another slam.

“but it’s a direction to head in at least. Like you said if we just sit here we're going to get eaten.”

Jason raised his eyebrow as Rayven took the little idiot by the shirt and lead him off into the only private section of the RV. Though she wasn't really her style Jason knew from experience that very little could **** like a crazy woman. Jason had to give the man props. If one ere to ask him even an hour ago if Tony had any game he would have given you a thousand dollars to say that kid would die a virgin. But once again Crazy didn't really go hand in hand with rational thinking. It was a strange time to be getting it on seeing all the raving bloodthirsty monsters outside but Jason did care enough to judge.

As he turned back to The Man in Black he couldn't help notice the little exchange between Trine Larsen and Kid Genius. He gave out a disapproving sigh almost involuntarily. The he went back to the radio turning the volume back up. It seemed like the course of action they were taking was to listen to this guy. Jason clicked the button on the mic to speak again he tapped The Man in black on the shoulder twice and the RV started to roll forward towards the exit of the parking structure. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the WWG production truck. The door had just come crashing in and zombies poured inside like a wave. He shook his head and went back to the radio.

King: Sorry about that. Having some technically difficulties on our end. Like i said before my name is Jason and we certainly are thankful for the hospitality. i have 11 with me, three women eight men. We are armed and we are all G.E.M.s so i am telling you right now if this is some kinda set up we have the potential to really **** your day up. Now normally i don't trust anybody i don't know and i barely trust the the ones i do but because of your glowing resume given by my team and the fact that humanity is pretty well up **** creek right now i am going to make an exception in this case. However i am still going to need your GPS location, address, latitude longitude so i can pull a satellite image. If it's as clean as you say we'd be more than happy to help keep it that way. over.

Jason released the talk button and looked out in front of the RV. They had just made the turn out of the last area in the parking structure and the street could be seen. it was pretty bad...already he could see the inside of a building burning and the streets were full of either panicking people or ravinging infected.

King: looks like the fans made it out of the arena.

Jason said to himself. He knew it was going to be an uphill battle getting out of here but this seemed like a lot even by his standards. He took out the cell phone and put it to his ear.

King: hey man we are getting out of the stadium where are you?

Tech: Had to keep moving. These things are filling the streets like...

King: i know. are you ok?

Tech: i'm fine. i have already locked on to your phone singal and i will meet up with you in the van.

King: Good. In a second i am going to give you some coordinates. I need you to do a satellite sweep and tell me what you find. We might have a destination away from all this ****.

Tech: Got it. You're leaving the cameras remember so i won't be able to see you.

King: i know.

Tech: ok.

Jason put the phone back down and turned to his other member in the RV. Well at least the ones within eyesight and ear shot.

King: Ok people it's not a parade out there so if you got a thing against watching people being eaten i would draw the blinds and find a coloring book or something. Also we should make a decision now. Are we stopping for hitchhikers or is our party full? There are going to be a lot of people out there looking to get out of this mess. We open our doors in the wrong place and everybody and their twice bitten grandma is gonna want in.

Trine had stayed quiet for a bit, watching out of the front window from behind the passenger seat as Jason talked to someone on the phone. She’d never understood the idea behind not look being able to look away from a “train wreck” until that very moment. Thick black smoke had begun the bellow out of the windows of a building, the inside of it glowing a deep orange from the fire inside. Some people had locked themselves in their cars, stalled with no where to go due to the copious amounts of vehicles that had simply been abandoned- still running with the doors wide open. Every now and then she’d seen someone move in a way that was far too human to be an infected running, limping, anything they could to get out of the area.

This was so much bigger than the group of them gathered in the RV. Bigger than the venue. Bigger than the fans. And as she watched one man grab another by the back of his collar and throw him to the infected at their heels in order to buy himself some time...she realized it was also a lot uglier.

In her heart she wanted to stop for people and she wished that everyone was as trustworthy as she liked to believe, but that was more than naive in this situation; It was stupid. The blonde had had her time to be caught off guard, to be a little weaker than she’d like, but there was no place for it anymore. She owed it to these people to be somewhat level headed and to help them all get out of here in one piece.

”Not here...maybe when we get somewhere with less…” she cringed, watching a group of infected break through the window of a populated car,”...people. We can just take a vote of something when it comes to it…”

Blue eyes looked away from the window, focusing on Jason King. He’d spray paint ‘God’ in the middle of the ring- tell them all that they will believe. Trine couldn’t imagine he had somehow foreseen something like this and she didn’t truly believe he was, in fact, God- but he couldn’t have been of this world to stay so collected during all of this. It may have been admiration or just a bad case of disbelief, but a look flashed across her face- before she shook it off and continued:

”...but that’s just my opinion.” she looked to the rest of group. Already feeling a little more guilty, but it would have to wait.

(so, just wondering. Should we do a scene change as a group to kind of account for inactive characters? The group gets separated or something? And this way they can come back whenever they get a chance? )

(OOC: I think we can break off into a separate RV segment. but maybe it would be cool to keep it on this one so people can see where it all started? i don't really know with these things)


KG had felt a lot of things in his lifetime but this was...the most extreme. On the one hand there was that World Champion Trine Larsen had just placed her lips on his face. ok sure it was his forehead and ok sure it was more like this kinda "Emotions are running high, i want to convey closeness, but this could and probably is strictly platonic" type deal but at the end of the day Trine's lips touched his head which means a kiss. So technically this was the best day KG has had since stepping into the WWG office to sign his contract. However...on the other side of things....it had taken a masacare to get him to say even two words to her. How people out there would never see their families...dear god what about his mom...KG felt like to be happy in the midst off all the horror going on around him was...unfair.

Kid Genius could hear the devastation outside and it looked even worse than sounded. The city was burning and like rats off a sinking ship people were fleeing from their buildings only to be caught up in the wave of infected and just plain scared. It was horrible. They were in the heart of the city and it had already been tightly packed but now it was just...well it was worse than inside the stadium. Kid Genius looked out the window to see a man swinging what seemed to be a laptop bag wildly as four zombies converged on him from all sides. He was wailing and screaming for his mother as one of them ripped into his shoulder with his teeth. Pure terror etched on the man's face as he went down. Kid tried to look away but he couldn't. There was a bump against the RV and Kid looked back up front. The man who was always with Jason King seemed to be driving like it was any other day. At least Jason, **** that he was, acknowledged that things were pretty bad. This guy...it looked like just any day if you judged by just his face. Kid could see three figures in the road. They had blood on them but they seemed to be looking around, searching, were they...crying? before KG could open his mouth the RV mowed right over them. there was a loud hti against the RV but it didn't stop. KG couldn't believe it...the man just kept on driving as if he had just hit a pothole. Suddenly KG felt incredibly uneasy about being in the same car with these guys. Kid had, like many of the rest of the locker room he assumed, thought Jason's whole tough guy bullshit was simply that, bullshit. But watching Jason not even look up from his phone as his man knowingly ran down three people, zombie or not, was....pretty chilling.

For a second Kid thought about grabbing Tony and Trine and seeing if they could make due on their own. but he knew that in his current state that would be tantamount to just jumping head first into a zombies mouth covered in steak sauce. So for now KG had to just assume for now that what he saw were just zombies and they definitely didn't put their hands up to protect their faces...

Jason had turned and spoken to them. His focus seemed divided as he also seemed to be moving cars out of the way of the RV with his powers but his intent was clear. He wanted to know about picking up survivors. Kid was just about to voice that they obviously should be helping anyone they could when Trine spoke up....to say that he was caught off guard was an understatement. He seemed even more taken aback when Jason smiled and nodded at her response. He didn't know what to say. Any and all words seemed to be caught at the back of his mind. Kid turned to maybe get support from Tony but then he remembered that Rayven had taken him...Kid shook his head. He really didn't want to think about it.

KG slowly got to his feet, not an easy task with the RV bumping and swerving. He fell back and managed to land in a seat. After the quick pain subsided he put his face in his hands and let out a long breath. He hated not knowing what to do, he hated not being able to run, he hated that he was hungry enough to eat a hippo, and he HATED that this was happening.

.................
(Parent Discretion advised)


Tony had felt a lot of things in his lifetime but this was....the most extreme. Rayven had pulled Tony into the back room of the RV. She had pushed him in and closed the door behind him, turning the lock with a soft click. Now it was at this point that Tony felt that one or two things were going to happen. 1- she was going to kill him for no other reason than to make room on the RV or 2- This was going to be the best zombie outbreak that has ever happened! Knowing Rayven it really was a flip of coin on that one.

Tony: Did you need something Ray...

Rayven was quick and put her hand over Tony's mouth forcibly. Quickly and with surprising strength she turned him around and pushed his back against the door. Tony tried to speak though the only thing that came out was a muffled smirk. Suddenly Tony felt a pain like a vice grip had gotten a hold of him in a very sensitive place. Tony realized that he really should have been watching what Rayven's freehand. It was the kind of pain that radiated throughout your whole body and for a split second made him a little envious of the mindless swarm outside the RV. There was loud bump and Tony flinched which didn't help things at all. Pain started to seep through the corners of his eyes as Rayven mouthed something to the effect of "Keep your mouth shut or you'll get nothing". Tony couldn't be 100% sure what it was hard to focus on anything besides family jewels. Tony nodded his head as hard as he dared without making noise, he would have given anything to make it stop, and Rayven released him. Tony could feel his whole body breath a silent sigh of relief as he took a few deep breaths in. He wanted to check if everything was still in place but he figured that sudden moves would be a no no. Rayven looked at him with a mixture of fiendish pleasure and mock pout. She leaned in close to Tony's ear and said something that Tony couldn't quite make out. He was just about to ask what she had said before he smelt something burning.

The belt buckle on his jeans bursted into flames. Tony was about shout but Ravyen put her finger against his lips hard enough to insure her demand of silence was heeded. After a few seconds his pants fell to the ground. Even though Tony was a shapeshifter and could transform any and parts of his body however he chose...he was still a guy...and standing pants down in front of Ravyen was usually when Tony would wake up and curse his horrible dream timing. Tony couldn't help but turn, literally, bright red as Ravyen seemed to evaluate Tony while biting the tip of her index finger gently. Tony took a step forward but suddenly there was another, louder, bump in the RV. Tony stumbled forward trying to catch himself from hitting Ravyen by holding her in his arms. That's when Tony realized something...this was the first time they had touched...well ok not really but...this was different. At the risk of being pummeled or worse Tony pulled Ravyen in and embraced her. She had been through alot in the moments before getting to the RV, Tony had seen her cry, he didn't know what to say so he figured that if he could just hug her right...maybe she would understand everything he wanted to get out of his brain.

Tony: I...

Tony realized that he was breaking Rayven's rule but...this was worth it

Tony: I am here...for you....I...don't want to see you cry again...

Tony knew this was dangerous but...he knew that if didn't he would never forgive himself. They only thing he wished was that he hand't have chosen his carebear boxers today because they kinda...influenced the mood in a not so....mature way.

(OOC: Yeah, good idea! That sounds fine to me! Just felt weird kind of writing around things lmao)

As the RV slammed into the three figures Trine had only just turned her attention forward, away from the car now being swarmed by infected trying to claw their way to the people inside. In that brief moment she realized their hands had been raised as if it would somehow shield them from the damage, before being launched forward from the impact. She scrambled for some kind of hold, grabbing the edge of the bed that hung over the cab with one hand. Her arm snapped straight, reaching the end of its length. Her other hand slammed palm down against the dashboard between the passenger and driver's seat, as the back wheel hit the bodies sending the second jolt through the RV.

The blonde stayed as still as she could manage, trying not to draw any more attention to herself as she sent a weary glance towards the man in black driving, not sure if she was just imagining things or if he had really just mowed down innocent people like they were bugs hitting the windscreen.The blonde wavered on her feet, standing upright again, trying to get her balance through the sporadic movement of the RV.

She’d already felt sick to her stomach, more angry with herself than she could ever be at Jason. Which was saying alot considering before all of this went down he wasn’t exactly on her list of favourite people- or even people she generally liked. He was wildly intelligent and had saved her ass on two occasions- that was all the credit she’d given him. That and he was really talented at getting under her skin with little to no effort. So when he smiled at the answer she hated having to say- the words came out faster than she could stop them.

”It’s not something to smile about.” she’d all but snapped, blue eyes narrowed in what was now full blown disbelief, more at how anyone could smile at the idea that innocent people would get left behind.

Trine moved to where she’d left her hoodie, grabbing onto whatever part of the RV she could to keep from falling over, and grabbed out a bar of some sort. Kid had been seated, his face buried in his hands. He probably wasn’t all too happy with what her opinion on the situation was- she’d half expected him to protest. Not that she’d fight him on it really, but when you just watched another human being feed someone else to those….things….it was hard to not take humanity with a grain of salt.

”Nobody eats before a match...so…” it was a decent assumption that most, if not all of them were hungry. She had been, but now she wasn’t sure she could stomach anything without getting sick.

She dropped the bar on the seat next to his thigh, the regret starting to kick in as she shifted to take her own spot on a bench seat at the table beside the tiny kitchen. Another massive bump sent her hip bone into the side of the table, but she didn’t seem to care as she crossed her arms on the table and laid her head on them. Her conscious was already in a loop of constant berating- seeing Kid hadn’t helped, so instead Trine settled for staring at the wooden table top through her arms. Hopefully it had been the right choice..,

Carr: I will upload the directions into the linked in Staff GPS system, it's the most south easterly corner of the airport.  Please hurry... my wife and daughter need me more than you do.

Jason had smiled at Trine as she suggested waiting until they were in less populated areas to even suggest stopping to help people. the kid in orange didn't seem to happy about it but that just made it a little better. Turned back around but spoke behind him in a conversational tone.

King: That's a good idea champ. and don't worry you don't have to pretend to be so squeaky clean with me. Survival above all else. It's nice to finally get to know you.

Jason chuckled to himself before Scott Carr's voice came back on the radio. Jason looked down at the dashboard of the RV. He then saw what this guy had been talking about.

King: oh...

Simon would have found that thing right away but Jason, though a pretty decent hacker, was not as into all around gadgetry as Simon was. Jason put the phone back to his ear.

King: Hey Tech. Did you know that this RV has GPS?

Tech: It does? hold on...

There was a few seconds and the screen buzzed and warped a little. Then suddenly Simons face was on the screen. He was driving in their Van and he seemed like he had been through a fight of his own. It was the first time that Jason had seen him since this whole thing started. Part of him forgot that unlike the rest of them Simon had been going through this whole thing alone. Jason knew he wanted to get reconnected with him as soon as possible.

Tech: these are the kinda things you mention when you find them.

King: Had my hands pretty full with babysitting.

Tech: do you want a cookie? i told you to ditch the dead weight.

King: What was that?

Tech: I said...i am following the trail back to the radio signal and pulling up a GPS coordinates for every and all residences belonging to?

Tech waited for Jason to inform him of the name of the person on the other line.

King: Carr...Scott Carr. He was a wrestler or something. he says he's got a place for us.

Big's head lifted at the mention of Scott Car. As an avid wrestling fan he knew who the man was however he also knew that Jason didn't. His history didn't really matter at this point but still. Weston would have loved to meet him...under better circumstances of course. Teddy was still pissed off but he couldn't look out the window anymore, it was getting to gross. he had to keep his hands clenched into fists to keep his hands from shaking. This was crazy...way too **** crazy. He looked over at Big who seemed to be lost in his own little world. **** ****...they should all be out there fighting those **** things but nah he was trapped in this RV like tuna. First moment he got he was gonna...what?...shine a light on them? Teddy pushed those thoughts down in his gut. He wasn't scared...he wasn't **** scared.

Tech: Ok got the satellite feed here. The space looks...a lot better than the city that's for damn sure. I wouldn't say it's perfect but it's a dream comparatively.

Jason sighed inwardly. He was hoping that something in this whole hell of a day would go right for once.

Tech: but Jay...there's a problem

Jason could feel his gut churn.

King: What?

Tech: i don't know when this whole epidemic broke out but all roads to the airport are crawling with infected. It's...well it's an ocean of them.

King: ****

Jason had thought about this but he was so excited that he had put it out of his mind. Everyone would have been trying to rush out of the city or anywhere where they could be safe. Hospitals, Police Stations, Airports, Churches....Churches... It was at this time that Jason thought about his brother. For the first time Jason's face actually seemed to show worry. He must of have been silent a lot longer than he thought because Tech's voice called him back to the present.

Tech: Jason. What do you want to do? Private air strip or not we are looking at...

King: we are gonna find the weakest point and fight our way through.

Even the Man in Black seemed interested in that one as he slowly gave Jason a look.

Tech: You... sure?

King: yeah...Scott's place might be the safest place we can get to right now. They have numbers but we have tactics and firepower on our side. If we muster up everything we can hit 'em hard and fast then...we can lick our wounds once we get to safety. If we play it safe now we might run out of time and get swarmed anyway.

There was silence on the radio or a moment. Tech's face seemed unsure. Jason wasn't sure if anyone else had heard him but he didn't look back to see their faces.

King: Tech meet up with us as soon as you can, ditch the van but ONLY if you have too. Then we will figure out how we're doing this. ok?.....OK?

Tech: yeah...got it.

Simons face disappeared from the display. Jason took a deep breath and chuckled to himself.

King: Talk about monster traffic...

Kid Genius felt something hit his lap gently. It took his face out of his hands and saw it. He lifted his head just in time to watch Trine put her head on the table. Kid couldn't help but feel like a completely jerk...Here they all were going through the worst thing to ever happen to them and Trine was getting HIM food. Once again the blonde champion was showing her heart. He understood wanting to survive as Jason so aptly put it but still...he just felt....it was wrong somehow. Not to mention he hand't even to allow himself to think HOW this all happened.

Kid knew that the time to think about that was certainly after they had reached safety but still...it was there in the back of his mind. Had one of them done this? Obviously no one in the RV, though if he was honest about he didn't really put it past Grace...or Rayven seeing how he had no idea what her powers actually were. But what he really wondered was weather or not another G.E.M. had done this, sent the plague out in the world. He was sure they would be blamed for it even when this was all over...if...this was all over.

Kid wanted to do the decent thing and give the food back to Trine but the truth was that if Kid was going to be any good in the near future he was going to have to eat something. His powers did a number on his metabolism which meant he had to fill up if he was going to be any real help. After trying to eat as fast and as quietly as he could he got up, trying to maintain his footing as the RV swerved, and went over to Trine putting his hand on her shoulder.

KG: um...hey Trine. So i know it's not what you sent me out there for but...

Kid trailed off for a second remembering his not so fun experience searching for medicine earlier. He shook his head regaining himself.

KG: i am pretty sure one those bags a brought were you gym bag. When i got to the first aid station everything was gone...it was cleaned out. So i just kinda...grabbed peoples stuff. I grabbed me and Tony's stuff. I think i might have grabbed Ravyen's things too but it was kinda hard to tell. I also grabbed some stuff from the security stand. Walkie Talkies, Batteries, flashlight, a tazer...but um yeah...i think that bag is your stuff. I didn't look inside so if it's not...sorry.

The blonde had kept her head down, listening quietly to the sounds of the RV jostling; the slap of the blinds, the metallic creak of the chassi, the rattle of the bathroom door. She listened to Jason talking over the gps; the bad news about getting to the airport, his plans, the way he chuckled to himself. She felt the anxious energy nearly pouring off of Shine, it only getting worse once he could no longer stomach looking out of the window. Who knew what was going on in the back. She was far beyond the point of disturbed on that matter considering near death and zombies wasn’t really her equivalent to a mood setter by any means. Plus she watched “Walking Dead” and pregnant people didn’t fair so well in these situations. Seemed like a pretty big risk considering the conditions….

Gross, why am I even thinking this much about it….

Trine slid in the bench seat as the Rv swerved and soon after felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Kid- not that she would have expected it to be anyone else, but when he trailed off she lifted her head out of the enclave of her arms and looked up at him. KG looked caught up somewhere far away for a moment until he shook his head. As he mentioned what may have been her gym back she sat up straighter, both of her eyebrows raising.

She had already sort of figured she would never see it again (or anything in it for that matter) and simply surrendered to the fact that she was probably going to ride this thing out in her ring gear- or some other individual’s oversized clothes. Being fully covered couldn’t hurt in a situation like this- so the promise of real clothes, possibly her own clothes even.

”Thanks, and don’t be sorry.” she replied looking to the bag, realizing there had been light blue pre-wrap tied in a small bow on the shoulder strap, something she’d always used to tell her bag apart.

With a white knuckled grip on the table she got to her feet, trying to keep steady despite the haphazard shaking that shot through the RV. She moved to pick it up and tossed it into the bed over the cab- might as well get changed while she had the chance.

Blue eyes shifted from the bag to Kid and she frowned a little, holding on tight to the edge of the bed and the back of the headrest on the passenger seat.

”I’m sorry I upset you...” she stumbled to the side for a brief moment before regaining her balance- pulling herself up into the cove where the bed sat in order to change.

KG: it's not you...

KG wasn't exactly sure if he was lying or not. Maybe he was more upset about the situation...but maybe he had kinda hoped Trine would be the rose that comes out of this whole thing undamaged. Either way it wasn't the time or the place to be thinking about that. They needed to stick together. Other than Tony, Trine was the only other person in this RV that he trusted. Hell if the Scott Carr was right she might be one of the only people in the country who he trusted.

KG: it's just that this whole situation...

Kid Genius wasn't really paying attention as he was trying not to make eye contact with Trine. Despite everything that had happened in their grand escape talking to her was still proving to be a challenge from time to time. It didn't help that they were in an RV full of people he didn't really know or like. Kid had been looking up at the ceiling walking towards Trine as she grabbed her bag but not really paying attention. However when Trine pulled herself up onto the cove he realized she was trying to change and quickly spun around. Kid rubbed the back of his neck and tried to not listen to any of the sounds he could hear from the room Tony and Rayven were in

KG: I....

Kg shook his head again trying to shake out the sounds. He really couldn't decide what was more disturbing. The fact that Tony and Rayven were...enjoying each others company in the middle of a zombie death swarm...or that Wretched Nobody and Grace were just sitting their silently. This is the kind of things they don't tell you about at WWG orientation.

...................

Hi, it's me, Tony Mann. You can tell by the lime green color of my voice...or words...or text...it's hard to explain. Anywho i just thought i would kinda fill you in on whats going on "behind the locked door".
Now because this universe I live in has some kinda rule about what you can see/read i thought it would be best if i just step out from the story and just give you a quick run down just so you're not lost.

Tony Mann( that's me but the me in the zombie superhero story not the real me in the pro wrestling thing...ok real is a matter of perspective... anyway) and Ravyen are engaging in the old game of "baseball". In terms of where they are "bases wise" they have settled on 3rd...well ok Rayven settle don third. Tony, me but not me you know, was all about the potential home run (cuz well...duh) but Ravyen said something to the effect of "You have to earn that"...hey i do a pretty good Rayven impression...
I don't really know what everyone's version of 3rd base is but...i guess you can all be right...or wrong...either way it's awesome and it's a lot better than watching people getting ripped apart out there. Though i can't help thinking that this is more of a stress thing than a "Rayven is actually into me thing"...hmm oh well.

Anyway yeah so there you go. I hope everyone is having a good time on that side of the fourth wall. i'll probably see you all again another time back to whatever KG is doing, i have work to do. here's a clip of hulk hogan playing the guitar

(http://media.giphy.com/media/uKwa2KiBA0rTy/giphy.gif)

............

KG tried to ignore the sound of the fourth wall shattering and focused on what he was trying to say. At the end of the day Trine was only thinking about what was best for the team. And even though he didn't like the thought of Jason King feeling like he "knew her" Kid guessed he had to admire her willingness to do whatever it took keep them all safe. If he knew her like he thought he did she was probably torn up about even suggesting it. He needed to let her know that she still had someone on her side.

KG: Me and you...we're good Trine. i mean it.

”Yeah, it’s a pretty messed up situation. I don’t think anything from now is going to be very simple…”

The space was tight, even at her height the blonde was hunched over, sitting on the mattress as she scooted her way over to the bag. Trine pulled the zipper of the bag open, pulling out a pair of skinny jeans, a pair of pink converse, and a plain T-shirt, before laying back and trying to change, listening to Kid Genius as he spoke. She pulled her pants on, stuffed her wrestling gear into her gym bag, and shimmied to the edge of the bed- reaching out to tap KG on the shoulder to let him know it was safe to turn around.

”It’s okay if you don’t agree with me. There’s no unwritten law that you have to. Just means we’re split down the middle and if you see someone you want to stop for we can figure something out...I'm glad we’re okay though. You and Tony are probably the only two people I trust right now.” she paused, pointing down to where Jason sat in the passenger seat beneath her , and lowered her voice, ”I’m still not sure about him...but it was probably a bad sign that he agreed with me…”

Teddy starred laughing. He had been sitting listening to Kid Genius and Trine l talk and when Kid started talking about meds he barely could contain himself. Big looked towards him and gave him a shake of his head.
Weston knew his brother. He could tell that he was scared and when he got scared he got angry and when he got angry he got mean.

Shine: Hey I guess you weren't fast enough huh?

The smile on Trine’s face had dropped as Shine started to laugh a look of confusion briefly flashing across her face until he spoke. Her eyebrows knit together as she lowered herself from the loft, once again holding onto the side of the bed to try and keep herself upright against erratic movements of the rv.

For a moment blue eyes drifted to the man sitting in the seat just behind her and to her left. Jason King had said to put things aside for now and she had been all too willing to just let the entire situation with her and Shine go- but the second time? And it was one thing to make her feel awful, but to try and make Kid feel awful- after he nearly died trying to help? Trine had been doing her best to respect Jason and his group, but the latter was starting to prove far more difficult than she could possibly imagine.

”Are you serious!? First of all do you have short term memory loss? Didn’t he just tell you to knock it off? Second, he nearly died trying to help everyone in here. What have you done since we all got together? Made a light show?” 

The blonde stared him directly in the eye, and started a slow clap.

clap
clap
clap

”Bravo.”

((Ooc: tweaked it after our talk))

“swwwwwoooo….pssshhh!”
”Really? With the sound effects?”
”Ugh...that is so disgusting. Looks like...eggplant parm…”

Bridget continued to walk forward a large spike pushing out from the seat of her palm. She snapped her arm forward, placing her hand on the top most part of an infected’s skull, before sending the spike out of her skin with a thrust of energy. Each time she sucked air in through her teeth before following up with a much lower ‘explosion’ sound.

”What is even going on anyways? It’s like 28 Days Later in here, but waaay slower.”

”Who knows...it’s **** annoying.”

Walking just behind Bridget was Jin, a filthy, wooden, baseball bat slung over her shoulder and a sour look on her face. Her jeans and timberland boots were covered in various blood splatter, the neck of her black T-shirt looked like it had been stretched out- one section of it still bunched where the hand of an infected had grabbed it. Jin wiped her hand on the jacket tied around her waist, before grabbing a hold of the bat with two hands and swinging for an incoming zombie.


”....I love how Jin is just annoyed by a zombie apocalypse….”

Lexi seemed to be the most panicked of the three, a lacrosse stick held tightly in her hands as she followed up at the back of the small group. Her auburn hair in a long fishtail braid, wearing a plain, olive coloured, long sleeve shirt and black skinny jeans.

”Pewm, pewm, pew” Bridget paused, looking over her shoulder at the two women following behind her, ”So, do we have a plan?”

”Walk?”
”Out there? Am I the only one that looked out of the windows?”

Both Bridget and Jin stared at her in silence. For a moment Lexi stared back, honestly hoping it was a joke, but after a few second she sighed, the sweat sliding down her temple leaving streaks along mocha coloured skin.

”It’s bad. If we’re walking it’s to the nearest car and the heck out of dodge.”

”Or we just make like Left 4 Dead and swing through it.
”This isn’t a video game.”
”And there’s three of us.”
”So, we lost somebody same di…”

The three women fell silent, despite everything this had been the first time they had a minute to themselves and everything seemed like it started to sink in. That was just it. They could lose someone and there was no coming back from it. Each of them looked to the other and Jin was the first to speak.

”Hey, I know I’m not the nicest person, but...you guys are best friends...”
”You guys are my only friends…”
”You guys…Lexi paused, grey-green eyes going wide as she watched something peculiar rolling just a little further down the way,”You guys!”
”Spit it out. Geez.”

”No look!” she waved them over, her face pressed against the tall, rectangular window that sat on the left third of the emergency exit door, ”Somebody got a hold of a camper! Looks like they’re going to the airport…”

Jin scoffed, pushing up on her tippy toes to see out of the tiny window as well.

”Well...that’s stupid. The place is packed. Everyone tried to get out that way.”

”Well, they’re coming this way…”
”and we’d be pretty stupid to let all of their supplies go to waste…”
”Seriously? The world is ending and you guys want to be pirates?”

The smirk on Bridget’s face only seemed worlds more sinister as the lights went out and the only illumination left in the stairwell was the soft, red glow of the emergency exit sign hanging above the door.

”Arrrr.”

This...was not good..."Big" West Williams knew that his brother was just looking for a reason to fight and now it certainly looked like a fight was coming. Teddy was starting to glow a pulse red color...it was not good.

Big: Teddy...

but he was cut off by a hand in his face out up by his brother who got back to his feet.

Shine: nah nah the **** wants to run her mouth than let her run her mouth. She should be smart and just stick a dick in it like her girlfriend back there but sure let's **** talk. You wanna know what i've done since "we've" got together.

Teddy walked over to one of the black bags that Big had been carrying and unzipped it a bit harder than necessary. Inside the bag was a bunch of bottles all labeled with different medicine names. Also two rolls of gauze rolled out from the bag onto the floor. Teddy looked back to Trine and Kid.

Shine: Yeah that's right. WE hit the first aid station and got medicine for us. WE did that right the **** away. We had to fight...

Teddy's voice seemed to break a little bit when mentioning this. West knew why and he was feeling it too. Teddy's hands shook as he pointed a finger at Trine.

Shine: WE had to fight to get these **** bags and then we were going to leave but noooo no we waited for you to stop carrying on like a bunch of motherfuckers! WE waited for YOU. We couldn't have waited for Rich but we had to **** wait for you and you have the **** balls to ask me what the **** i've done?!

The pulsing glow of red was faster now getting brighter too. Big could see this was begging to be another moment. He stood up to stand in front of his brother but got a glowing fist to the face for his trouble.

Shine: Get the **** off me man!

Big wasn't expecting a hit and slumped back into his chair holding his jaw. Teddy turned back to Trine. Kid Genius had now stepped in front of her.

Shine: oh! haha big man? What now you're putting your **** back on her **** leash. isn't she supposed to be a champion she can't fight her own...

But just then Kid Genius stuck out with a punch of his own. Only this one was faster, much faster. Teddy went to a knee, shocked and stunned. He rubbed the blood from his mouth and stood up quickly pulling something that looked a lot like a pistol from his waistband.

Shine: nah you've done **** u...

Suddenly Jason King was right behind him. He had his hand on Teddy's shoulder and seemed to be looking at him with a very stern face. Even though nothing seemed to be different about them the gun Teddy was holding clattered to the ground as if it had been floating in mid air. Shine's face immediately looked panicked as he looked to be gasping for air. Then just as quickly his head slumped down to the side. As soon as that happened Jason removed his hand and Teddy fell to the ground in a heap. Jason shook his head and let out a deep breath. For some reason now he seemed more present than he had been a second earlier. Jason turned to West.

King: pick that up and put him in a bed. son of a ****...

West didn't move for a second, his hand still on his mouth rubbing it and looking back and forth from Jason to his brother.

King: Hey!

Jason snapped his fingers at Big.

King: Did i **** stutter?

Big took another second and then moved towards his brother. Taking the gun and putting it in his waistband before picking up his limp brother and walking to an empty bed/shelf. Jason watched him for a second shaking his head. Then suddenly without warning Kid Genius let out a cry of pain. he was slammed on his knees as if suddenly his clothes became incredibly heavy. Jason King crouched down to get to eye level with him. He spoke calmly and his face showed nothing but his eyes blazed.

King: Don't think for a second that you are worth **** to me. Touch one of mine again. it will take your idiot friend in there years to clean you from this RV. She wants you here...the moment that changes

Jason let Kid finish the thought with two simple taps to the side of the face.

TMIB: Jason...

The Man in Black pointed out towards the road. A car wreck stood in front of them and it was massive. Not only where there cars mangled together their drivers had turned inside their vehicles. One of the vehicles seemed to be a very large, very leaky, gas tanker and even with the windows closed the smell was wafting in.

Trine stayed silent, but it was different than before. This time there was no guilt eating away at her and it showed in her body language that she wouldn’t throw the first swing, but she was ready to throw the last one if it came to that. It was hard to tell if that itch was her own or if it was the wild energy coming off of Teddy as he moved about the RV, yanking on the zipper of the bag. Blue eyes followed the roll of the gauze as it traveled along the carpeted floor, bouncing against the bottom runner of the cabinets until the rolled with a another swing of the RV and got trapped in the small cove of the stairs that led to the door. It was good to know they had medical supplies, but the fact that Shine had made a quip about Kid not being fast enough when he knew they already had what KG had gone to look for sent another wave of irritation through her.

Trine Larsen was a fairly agreeable person, but there were some personalities that just never sat well with her. While she gave Teddy the credit that this was a stressful situation and he was probably a generally pleasant (or at least a tolerable) human being at the end of the day- this was starting to become a problem for her. Tempers were short, people were tired, stressed, and hungry- to be picking a fight right now was bound to get him a reaction and if that’s what he wanted then fine.

Have a reaction.

Her shoulders lifted ever so slightly as a swell of a mix of many different emotions came on, but she deflated a bit when she heard the small break in his voice. There must have been more to this…and there was. ”We couldn’t have waited for Rich…”Trine had seen the group of them at carnage and she looked around in a quick headcount, including who Jason had been speaking to over the gps- they were missing someone. Her eyes went wide, but by the time she looked back to Shine he’d just punched Big square in the jaw.

The blonde jumped not having expected a punch to be thrown, let alone a punch to the face of another person in Jason King’s group. She probably would have been less shocked had it been aimed at her. Trine looked to Big as he slumped into his chair and frowned- the poor guy. That was twice now he’d gotten heat for something she said it was starting to really take a toll. She snapped her attention back to Teddy. That’s it. If he had a problem with her fine. There was no reason for anyone to be getting caught in the crossfire because he was having issues keeping his angry under control.

”You know w-” she cut herself short as Kid Genius stepped in front of her and for a moment a look of what could have been exasperation crossed her face. She appreciated that he had a protective side, but at the same time Trine couldn’t help, but feel a little underestimated.

The blonde was perfectly capable of handling herself as far as she was concerned and if she wasn’t given the chance to fight her own fights it only proved Jason right- and that bothered her more than anything.

Trine had just moved to gently place a hand on KG’s arm when suddenly it snapped up with a speed so quick she had barely enough time to register what happened before Teddy dropped to a knee. Blue eyes went wide as she watched the blood pool at his mouth, frozen in a strange sort of shock for a moment, before she saw him motion to get to his feet. Trine wasn’t sure what the retaliation for that was going to be, but moved to step in front of Kid on instinct. As she planted her second foot Trine felt her stomach drop as she zeroed in on the drawn pistol.

This was bad.
But then it dropped.

Slowly, as if the motion alone was enough to set everything off, Trine looked from where the gun had been to Jason- who now stood behind Teddy. Blue eyes watched, wide with confusion and what may have been fear for Shine as he looked like it was suddenly very difficult to breath. She wasn’t sure what it was, but Jason was doing something to him and as he fell to the floor Trine looked marginally more panicked than she had about having gun pointed at her and Kid Genius.

what…..what was that….

Trine watched Jason intently, the look in his eyes seeming less distanced as he turned his attention to Big. Her heart was racing in her chest- from what she couldn’t tell. Adrenaline from how quickly the situation elevated, worry (she didn’t like Shine very much at this point, but watching him struggle to pull oxygen into his lungs was not something she would have wished on him), fear because while she knew Jason was capable of very many things...that was not something she expected-

Kid dropped to his knees and she snapped out of her head. Trine had bent down to help him, but realized what had dropped him to the floor and that there was no possible way for her to lift him up from it until the weight lifted. She placed a hand on his shoulder, sorry he’d found himself floored by Jason a second time, and once again because of her. There wasn’t much else she could think to do other than apologize profusely once the situation had blown over. She watched King talk and for a minute lost focus when he said; ”She wants you here….the moment that changes”

What was that suppose to mean. She raised an eyebrows subconsciously, trying to figure out what exactly King had agains KG- considering after a one or two comments and the disapproving sounds he’d been making it was starting to get obvious she was missing something. And above all else why it mattered whether she wanted Kid here or not….and why he’d think Trine would change her mind about wanting him around…

Blue eyes had been trained on Jason’s face until a voice drifted to them from the front seat. It was unfamiliar, which was confusing for a moment until she turned around, realizing it was the nameless man that had been driving. She looked from him to the scene outside the front windscreen.

”Oh….that’s not good…” she said to no one in particular, pushing up from her crouching position a little to see over the dashboard, but still keeping a hand on Kid’s shoulder. ”I can make a land bridge over it... it might create too much heat from the friction trying to shift the ground anywhere near the gas on the floor but...I can always put sand on it.”

She looked back to the room Rayven and Tony had gone into, before looking back to Jason.

”I have to go outside.”

She blinked, realizing that felt a little too much like asking for permission and got to her feet.

Jason looked at Trine and then back outside. He returned the weight of Kids clothes to normal and then turned his head to look back at Trine. They didn't really have time. The even with the chaos everywhere the RV had drawn a lot of infected protection. They had been going to fast for most of them to catch up but now they were stopped and it was only a matter of time before they were overrun by blocks of zombie freaks.

King: ok.

Jason said opened the door to the RV.

King: Be a hero champ. We'll back up the RV and try our best to hold out until you get it done.

Jason looked down at Kid Genius who had yet to get off the floor even though he could now. Then he looked back at Trine with a serious face. It wasn't that he didn't think she could do it, he knew she could. However he wasn't quite sure how the others in the RV would fair against a wave of zombies right now. Trine's...special friend was barely walking, that Tony kid was more or less a walking cartoon. Maybe Rayven and the big guy could help but they all seemed off in their own little world. So that left Jason and his guys. he knew he could count on one of them but even him spread to thin might become a liability. Right now all he could do was hope that Trine made it work fast so they could get out of there. Not to mention make a way for Tech to follow them...wherever he was.

King: You don't have a lot of time so if you are gonna do this...

King motioned toward the door.

There was no questions asked. No “Are you sure?”s. No nervous looks. Just the confidence to let her go and get the job done. For a moment she smiled- maybe a little wider than she would have like. Trine looked to Jason like she had something to say, but just nodded instead, a determined look on her face as she stepped out of the RV and closed the door behind her.

Everything seemed so much louder outside of the RV. The collective sounds of the infected trapped in the cars ahead, the swarm further back, and the ones scattered around the area all a loud hum of guttural groans and agonized moans. The car alarms sounded like they came from every direction a hollow mechanized wailing of high and low tones. The deafening roar of fire set to buildings and cars. It was a system shock, but she didn’t have the courtesy of time to deal with it. She took a deep breath looking around for a moment before before sprinting off from the side of the RV.

Trine made a run for the front of the tanker, as far away from the leak at the back of the cargo as she could manage. As Trine rounded the front of a stalled car she ended up face to face with an undead, dressed in a dapper suit that by now had been shredded, and stained with blood and puss. She took a step back, really wishing she’d brought something with her to kind of fend them off. There was a moment of panic, her ears ringing, and her legs going stiff, before she reached up- grabbed the zombie at the front of his hairline and yanked down with so much force she thought she might dislocated her own arm.

He fell to the ground, in a stumble, Trine backing away as he hit the ground with a wet sounding impact that sent her stomach into a flip. The infected writhed, reaching out to grab her ankles, but she had been too fast. The first stomp had hit him at the back of the skull, slamming its face into the tarmac. The second landed on the soft spot at the temple as he turned to try and find purchase with his teeth, and cracked his skull, her foot sinking in before she nearly snapped her knee back to her chest.

”ewewewewewewewewew” she mumbled under her breath, spotting more infected moseying into her vicinity

The blonde dropped down, onto the ground next to the car, and rolled underneath, before placing her palms flat against the ground. She closed her eyes out of habit, but opened them again when she realized that might be a bad idea. The ground groaned and cracked lifting from beneath the road on both sides of the wreck, pushing up, and meeting in the middle. It wasn’t a permanent fixture yet, but she could hold it for the RV roll across while she filled in beneath it with compacted dirt. The guy on the gps was suppose to meet them, she couldn’t just hold the bridge for now and let it collapse behind them…

Her shoulders were shaking, but she stuck her arm out from beneath the car for a moment to give the nameless man a thumbs up to let him know it was safe even though she was still working. Her eyes had started to water, burning from the has fumes, along with her nose and throat. She shook her head- trying to keep the lightheaded feeling at bay.

KG: You're just letting her out there by herself?!!

Kid Genius spewed out after he caught his breath. Jason's man in black had backed the RV up a bit while Trine had jumped out. Kid was going to go after her but the sudden reversal of the RV threw him off his balance. He really needed to get some food in him and a good nights rest. Jason had simply looked at him with an eyebrow raised as if he had just asked for a plate of ice cream.

KG: She could DIE out there don't you even care?!

KG was moving towards Jason. He had half a mind to deck the asswhole right then and there. When he saw the ground raise up before them. It was pretty amazing. He knew Trine had powers, heck almost everyone in the WWG was a G.E.M. and he had even the blonde haired champion use her abilities once or twice. But never anything to this degree...it was pretty impressive. It was like she was connected to the whole planet and she simply asked the ground to do her a favor. Kid couldn't help but think that even the very earth would do crazy things if those beautiful blue eyes asked it too. He was taken out of his thoughts as the RV began to move forward again...forward?

KG: Hey hold on! We are not leaving her here!!

the RV began forward and Kid could see out the window that at least 30 infected were converging on their location. The RV would be over the land bridge by then but Trine would be all on her own. Kid tried to move towards the steering wheel but Jason stepped in front of him.

King: She want's to be a hero. We let her be a hero. If you want to limp out there with your "girlfriend" be my guest.

KG was fuming. He felt the rage build in his bones and he wanted to hit Jason he wanted to rip his arms off or something. But he knew that right now, esspecially in his condition, he was no match for Jason and his crew. So Kid tried another tactic.

KG: you were the one who said we should stick together. You might act like you don't give a damn about anyone and you may be right on that but losing a tool as powerful as Trine just to buy us a couple extra seconds when we are about to fight an army of those things is just plain stupid and would make you a **** idiot!!

Kid's words hung in the air for a moment. He wanted to swallow hard but he held his composure. KG needed Jason to see that he understood he was outmatched and still didn't care. He needed King to know that leaving Trine was a mistake that would not go unpunished. He held his gaze for a moment. then Jason spoke over his shoulder to the Man in Black.

King: Don't stop driving for anything. We'll meet you before you get to the airport.

Then Jason looked at Kid Genius with a cold stare.

King: Let it be noted that i was the one who thought she could take care of herself.

And with that Jason took on an etherial quality to him. The RV moved but Jason and just like that he went through the back of the RV and landed feet first on the land bridge.  The RV sped off down road and Jason started moving towards the wave of infected on the other side flinging a telephone pole into a group of 5 or 6 zombies.

Once the RV started to move forward Trine pulled her arm back to her side, pressing it to the ground and filling in the underside of the bridge. Blue eyes peered out, watering now as she tried to work through the burn at the back of her throat from the fumes as the tanker continued to leak. There were a few pairs of mangled, filthy feet dragging past the car she was hiding under. Her body wanted to cough to try and alleviate the burning, but she swallowed a few times instead- fighting it off.

A pair of bloodied trainers stepped right in front of her line of sight, startling her. She stayed silent, holding her breath as the infected continued a slow, labored walk towards the front of the car. Trine waited until it was clear of the front bumper and sent a spike of earth straight up from beneath it, before rolling out from beneath the vehicle.

The blonde stayed crouched down, pressed against the side of the car. She smiled to herself, pleased with the job she had done, before making a move to get out from behind the station wagon and start heading in the direction the RV would be going- until she realized just how many infected there were.

What had been a dozen or so spread out over the area had turned into wave, more than likely the group that had been following after the RV as they’d made their way through. Her eyes went wide for a moment, before she slowly lowered herself back down into a crouch alongside the car.

She poked her head back up.

”....ah crap!”

Trine dropped back down a second time, falling still as a second infected dragged it’s right leg behind it on the opposite side of the car. She spread out her fingers, only pressing her fingertips to the tarmac. There earth was rampant with vibrations; long drags from infected, the hollow thud from when the RV, now driving away, hit a pothole- interrupting the otherwise consistent rolling of the wheel. There was no way to see where the group thinned out at the back, but she could feel it.

The front was patchy- some moving faster than others, new infected getting caught up, but the middle was dense. Almost alarmingly dense and every now and again she could feel the soft thud of what could only be an infected hitting the ground only to be pressed into the dirt by the multitude of feet that followed. Then the rear thinned out again.

She dropped her palms down.

Pop! a loud shot of sound rang out, like a pocket of air stomped out of a ziplock bag, and off in the distance rubble jumped up over the crowd like shrapnel.

Pop! this time the rubble was accompanied by bits of what was once human...if they could even still be called that. Some of the infected at the back of the group seemed to slow, distracted by the sounds and movement.

Trine took that moment to make a run for the bridge, but as she looked back over her shoulder at the gaggle of infected there was another sound. It was one she didn’t cause. It sounded like a rush of air pushing past something incredibly large. Trine slowly turned her head forward to see a handful of zombies get taken out by a telephone pole. She raised an eyebrow, not slowing down in her run until…

”King?” her eyes went wide as she stopped halfway to her end of the bridge, not breaking her concentration on him as a second spike of earth jumped up beneath an incoming zombie,”What are you doing? What about the RV!?”

For the most part she had managed to stay fairly calm, running on survival instinct alone and not much else. Now, however, she looked more panicked than she had through this entire ordeal. If he was here that meant there were now two sets of people running with no head. Trine had stayed behind because she honestly felt she could do some good for everyone. She could make sure Jason King and his group wouldn’t have to lose another person from their circle because he hit a dead end trying to follow them. It saved them from losing valuable time rerouting and possibly getting stuck.

He let her go. Jason had let her go with what she thought might have been something akin to confidence in her ability to take care of things on her own and yet….

Here he was.

”I had this!”

She felt angry and oddly betrayed, both of which were thinly veiled in her voice, but it wasn’t the time to dwell on it. Trine turned back around, finding a visually populated area of infected, before quickly pressing down through the ball of her foot.

POP! This time the release of energy was on a much larger scale, full sized stones clattering to the ground along with the shredded remains of a large pocket of infected. The sound drew more attention away from them- half a dozen or so in the area slowly turning to investigate.

She was mad, Jason knew she would be. But even so he couldn't help but give her a little smirk and a slight tilt to the side of his head. Jason looked at a pile of debris and then sent them whizzing through the air into the skulls of the closest infected. Their head's suddenly having the gravitational pull of something much larger than what they normally were.

He then looked back at Trine who had created a small distraction in away from their position. They were still in the think of it but maybe her actions would help them thin the heard a little bit. The city was still burning around them so it wasn't like there wasn't any other, and probably easier, prey running about. But these things weren't hunters, not really. They were infected. They didn't go with easy prey they went with what was closest to them. The ones nearest to her distraction turned but Jason knew it wouldn't hold interest for very long. Whatever had changed these people into....whatever they were most likely wanted to make more...that's how viruses worked after all.

King: You know that and i know that...

Jason said pointing nonchalantly  to an infected man who was lumbering fast toward them, behind Trine. The "man's" eyes were bulging out of his head and his mouth hung open as if something had ripped the hinge of his jaw off. His hair was slick with blood and his outstretched fingers looked broken and clawed down to the bone. The thick black veins  ran across his body like a road map pulsed with each step and Jason could see that his the blood on his "Breaking Bad" T-Shirt was fresh.

King: um you wanna get that?

Jason knowing that Trine was more than a match for one infected. In fact he had been pretty sure Trine Larsen was going to make it out of the situation pretty fine. It was that kid in the RV that got him. He was not sure why he even left in the first place.

King: Anyway, i was more than happy to let you do your thing champ. But your little friend was being a **** about it so don't look at me.

Even in this moment Jason couldn't really understand these wrestling types. Always trying to prove themselves. Jason knew women pretty well and girls like Trine Larsen were not the damsel in distress type. However they were in the middle of a city full of infected that was only growing by the minute and here she was complaining about back up like she was playing a game of Call of Duty and someone took her kill. Regardless of what he thought of her, Trine was still just another wrestler. Jason had to admit it was a little disappointing.

King: i'll leave you to it then. Sorry i interrupted....

Jason took out his cell phone and started checking somethings. He looked up at a near by building and he swore he saw a few familiar faces...other wrestlers? he couldn't be sure.

King: By all means, girl power it up.

King waved his hand dismissively towards Trine while hitting the call button for Tech. If she wanted to be a hero Jason had no problem letting her have her way.

King: Tech Where are you?

Sonoffabitch...was he seriously smirking in the middle of a city full of undead, thrown into total chaos. She bit the inside of her cheek, realizing that while yes; as level headed, surprisingly generous, and questionably thoughtful Jason King had been- he was still Jason King. And that smirk still got to her.

Trine turned as Jason pointed behind her and as much as she wanted to just put the state of some of these thing out of her mind the thick, black, tangle of veins that pushed up from his skin made her queasy. She could feel the muscles in her stomach tighten, but she fought it, sending up a jolt of earth- before dropping it back to ground level, smoothing it over. The bridge would have done no good if she left the road before it chewed up. There was a moment where ground up fingers clenched tightly before falling open and that was the end.

The tension in her shoulders seemed to slip away as Jason explained the situation that led up to the two of them now in the middle of a city essentially gone to hell. It made more sense now, considering Jason hadn’t just changed his mind at some point in her absence- Kid changed it for him. Which should have been added to KG’s list of superhuman abilities because she was fairly sure that convincing Jason King to do anything he didn’t already want to was a commendable feat in and of itself. She was angry with the wrong person it seemed.

It wasn’t as if she had been totally helpless, stepping out of the RV on some kind of ego driven power high. She wasn’t your everyday, run of the mill, civilian thanks to the strange occurrences that lead the group of them to become G.E.Ms in the first place. That simple fact alone would have given her more viable options, more chances of catching up to the RV. Sure, zombies were all over the place, but they were superpowered. That had to count for something, right? Besides, it wasn’t like the camper could move all that quickly- even with Jason moving the mass of cars littering the city streets out of the way.

There were more options on foot, the ability to move forward, no matter what would undoubtedly block the road ahead. With Rayven…..busy….along with Tony; that left an exhausted KG, an incapacitated Teddy, The Man in Black, and West Williams to fight off infected- or remove any roadblocks. And from what she had seen none of the conscious collective possessed any kind of power that didn’t require them, or copies of them, to physically step out of the RV to do that. Which meant they were at the mercy of packed city streets, swarming with a virus that turned people into mindless vessels intent on spreading what made them mindless vessels in the first place.

Logically that all seemed to make sense to her at least. This way the group carrying the food, the supplies, and the (for the moment) less than able, had the best chance of making it to where they were going. That at least if something had happened to her she wouldn’t have to live with the guilt of knowing something she did had lead her friends and Jason’s friends to an untimely demise. Logically that made sense and she wanted to stay upset- because now they were going to do it without Jason, but she couldn’t….because selfishly enough Trine was glad she wasn’t alone.

”No, I get it. Sorry...I just- thanks for...” she’d looked down at her feet, but when she looked up he was on the phone.”....nevermind….”

Jason held a the finger that was the international symbol for "one second" as Trine tried saying something to him. It could wait as normally Tech would have responded right away to his call but now the phone had been answered but there was no response. Suddenly Jason got a vibration in his palm.

{massive pothole. 3 car pile up. had to ditch van. hiding out in building. pretty sure surrounded. can't talk}

It was text from Simon. Jason looked at his phone and his countenance fell. Though he wouldn't admit it half of the reason he left the RV was for Simon. They were racking up a lot of following infected and the path, as much as he tried his best to clear it was getting worse and worse. The RV was big and could plow through a lot of stuff but the Van was...well it wasn't built for that really. and as smart as Tech was he was still by himself and he was never what one would call a fighter. Jason texted back.

{Which building?}

There was a second of nothing.

{The tall one I don't know.}

Jason sighed angrily. He tapped at the keys on his phone trying to send the frantic annoyance he felt through the strokes.

{How am i supposed to help you?}

There was another moment of no response. Jason rubbed his fingers against his temples.

King: idiot...

Jason realized Trine was still standing next to him as well as three infected that had dragged themselves from the other side of the land bridge in his direction. He looked at Trine.

King: Not you. well...

Jason thought about it for a second but then shook his head and went back to lookifbuildings not to far behind them started to flash its lights on and off. Jason exhaled with relief. That had to be Tech's doing. He had already lost one friend today.....he was not about to lose another.

{Saw you. I'll be there soon}

King looked at Trine who had what looked to be a zombie family vacation creeping towards her. The young boy was missing his entire left arm and it was oozing out jet black blood like a fountain. what used to be a mother and father were covered in burns and tattered clothes. They must have been caught in a fire. To be honest the three of them might not actually be a family. Perhaps they were three random infected that just happened to look the **** up version of "Leave it to Beaver". Behind them was a zombie ****, a zombie john, fifteen or sixteen zombie tourists, and what looked to be a small squad of zombie police officers. That wasn't accounting for the zombies coming from his side of the bridge. They were all being attracted to the sound of the moaning, homing in like a shark that smells blood in the water.

King: Change of plans. I might need your help getting Tech's stupid ass back to the RV. So that means you're gonna have to save getting teeth marks on your ass for later.

Jason pulled Trine over to him and wrapped his arms around her waist with a wink. Then Jason did something he hadn't every tried before. He increased the density of himself and Trine then sent out a tendril of specific gravitational pull to connected with the flickering building. Suddenly the two of them shot from where they stood and flew across the city as if they were on a zip line. Jason didn't realize how fast this would be and even with their increased density he realized that this may hurt a bit. The two of them shot like a rocket up towards the top floor of the building without anything to stop them. Jason realized he made a slight miscalculation and quickly spun Trine around so his back was the first to crash through the window and slam against the wall of the corner office. Jason lost his grip on Trine and she rolled onto the floor of the office. Jason however forgot turn off the gravity pull and found himself pressed up against the wall so hard he thought he heard his spine snap. He turned it off and fell down to the ground with a thud. knocking the wind out of him.

King: **** me...

Jason managed to croak out. he wasn't sure if he wanted to get up or if he wanted to just hang out on the floor for the next week or so.

Blue eyes narrowed into an unamused stare as Jason thought over the ‘idiot’ comment, before turning just in time to catch sight of the zombie family closing in as Jason tapped away on his phone. She looked back to him as he explained the change of plans, not really all too sure they had a real plan in the first place other than “You are here. Now, go here.”

”Sure whatever you need-” the blonde took a clumsy step or two as Jason pulled her. She felt his arms encircle her waist, and for a brief moment she thought he felt a lot stronger than he looked. Which was followed by a rampant string of many different thoughts, before...he winked, and her expression immediately dropped flat,”yeaah, except thaAAAAAT!”

Whatever he had done, in plain and simple english, scared the life out of her which wouldn't have been so ironic had they not been rocketing over the heads of thousands of lifeless beings. Airplanes were scary enough, but going that fast? and that high? With nothing, but the arms of Jason King as a seat belt put a whole new twist on her fear of flying. Trine didn’t dare look, instead opting for balling her fists into the fabric at the front of Jason’s shoulders and pressing her face against his chest. And breathing. Yeah, remembering to breath was one.

She heard the window smash before she felt it, realizing King had taken the impact, tiny fragmented pieces of glass clattered down to the floor inside of the office, stray pieces dropped between them. There was a moment of panic as she felt Jason’s hold slip, but it came to a quick stop as she was prematurely introduced to the rough, berber carpet of the office floor. It wasn’t graceful by any means, every now and then she’d snap a hand out to try and push off of the carpet, but the momentum would send one limb or another rouge in the short lived tumble.

Trine could hear the impact of Jason’s body against the wall of the room and judging by the mark he left in the crumpled sheet rock it hurt a lot worse than some rug burn. She scrambled to her feet, dropping down next to King as he slumped to the floor.

”**** me…”

”Sorry, don’t really have the time. Looking for your friend and all.” she joked, but the laugh was short and breathless.

There wasn’t much else she could think to do, her nerves had already been getting to her and it was strange to see Jason King even in a brief moment of vulnerability. And apparently it would take nearly rocketing himself through a building to get to that point.The blonde took his hand, moving to slowly get to her feet. She was worried- worried he could be hurt, worried about Tech, worried about everyone in the Rv and it showed on her face plain as day.

”Do you need help getting up?”

The three women had stayed pressed against the emergency exit door’s window, watching the group as they rolled up to the road block. Then a few interesting things happened- someone stepped out and the RV reversed.

”These morons. What are they going to do just ram through the thin- holy ****…”

Lexi pushed forward trying see out the window as well, catching a glimpse of the earth rising up on both sides to meet in the middle. She watched as the zombies trapped in their cars had started to break through the windows and slither out- their stomach getting deep slices in the soft skin as they pulled. She made a retching sound, one of the children sized infected effectively disemboweling itself on a jagged piece of broken glass still held tightly in the back door of an Excursion.

Bridget leaned to the side to see around Lexi- trying to see who or what had started the deep rumble that had accompanied the moving earth and when she spotted a familiar blonde she pointed through the glass.

”It’s Thumbelina!”
”See! And you were going to pirate them!”
”Oh, we are still going to pirate them.”

Lexi raised an eyebrow, looking from Bridget and Jin to back out of the small rectangular window. Muffled explosions sounded, rocks and body parts being sent into the air at the back of the horde outside.

”Now we just know they’re G.E.Ms. Good intel.”
”Hey! Spiderman!”
”Great...zombies and now superheros.”

Now it was Jin’s turn to raise an eyebrow, peering out the window to find that both Jason King and Trine now stood on the land bridge.

”That’s Jason King…..spiderman?” she asked, turning to look at Bridget who just shrugged.

”I dunno...I just think he’d make a great spiderman…”

Jin and Lexi exchanged confused looks before turning just in time to see King rocket off towards a building with Trine in tow.

”Lets go get that RV then.” Jin grinned holding both of her arms out at her sides.

Bridget grinned, taking a hold of the left arm, and Lexi just sighed, lightly placing her hand on the forearm of the right. And just like that, they were gone.

-

They resurfaced a few times, (Jin could only move in short bursts) the second time was in the building and Lexi swore she saw Jason King starring right at them through a window. The third time was on the apex of the bridge, but it was a close call considering it had been overrun by infected. The fourth time it was a few meters ahead of the RV.

Lexi raised a hand, hoping that for some reason they would slow down for stragglers in a world overrun with undead. It would only be the human thing to do after all. Jin hung back along with Bridget who had raised a line of spikes along the back of her forearms- should she have to stop this train manually.

Jason was pretty sure he could feel his rib cage in the back of his throat. With  his powers it was a rare occurrence for Jason to actually feel pain, he did not miss it. He shook his head a few times trying to stop the ringing in his head. He was on his hands and knees taking in as deep of breaths as he could. He felt Trine next to him before he actually heard her. She made a joke and Jason coughed with smile. He knew there was a reason he was growing fond of this one. She spoke again.

 King: I'm....sure...you'd have....no problem helping me up

Jason winked, still breathing heavy and took her help to get to his feet. He stretched his neck and rolled his shoulders. The pain was started to dull into the background. He looked around the office. It was a pretty swanky corner number. Who ever was in here was a somebody...or at least was a somebody. Nobody was in the office now. The wind from the broken window blew around the papers that were on the desk. The lights were flickering on and off over and over again. Jason knew Tech was somewhere in the building but he had no idea of where. He checked his pocket and sure enough he felt the broken pieces of his phone. Jason shook his head.

 King: So champ...can you located a person in a building? I have no idea how your powers work.

Kid Genius was startled when Rayven emerged from the back. Partly because he had done everything in his power to block out the thought of him and his best friend exploring each others bodies. The other reason was pretty obvious, psychopath or not, when Rayven walked past you half in nothing but a T-shirt and panties...you took notice. Kid tried his best to keep his eyes north which was pretty easy seeing how Rayven seemed to be picking a fight with Jason's silent bodyguard. Kid had heard Jason's instructions and knew that the Man in Black wouldn't deviate an inch from his current plan unless he was stopped. He was so focused on Rayven that he didn't even notice the people standing in the street. Suddenly the RV jerked and sputtered and they began to slow down...The Man in Black did not look happy.

Kid knew nothing about this man...nobody did really. However he was pretty sure that pissing this guy off would be a bad idea. KG had learned throughout his life that it was often the people who said the least that one should be the most afraid of. And as bad as Jason was anyone who was willing to follow him without question or emotion might be a hundred times more dangerous. However the Man in Black simply looked at Rayven with a cold glare. Kid didn't know what to make of it but he was just glad it wasn't aimed at him.

KG: There was a pretty nasty road block and Trine got out to get us across. King was gonna leave her by herself but i told him to....you are not listening to me at all are you?

Kid Genius said as Rayven walked past him to open the door and yell out at the people that she apparently wanted to stop for. KG could see why Tony was so enamored with her, outside of the obvious, she had the attention span of a gnat.

...............


Tony lay on the small bed in the RV private room with the largest grin on his face he had made in a long time. He didn't want to move or anything. He felt a little laugh bubble out from inside him as he moved his arms like he was making a snow angel on the sheets.

Tony: That.....was....awesome....

He said to himself. he let out a long sigh and slowly got up to a sitting position. For the first time since the door had closed behind him Tony had a fleeting thought that maybe he should feel a little bit bad that he hadn't been out there with Ken and the rest of them as they made their frantic getaway drive...but the thought quickly passed as he remembered again what he had been doing. And it was not like he really had a choice. Had he not gone Rayven probably would fed him to the zombies herself. If anything he knew he would just get in the way most likely. Tony was not what one would call a "planner".

Tony stood to his feet and put his pants back on. He realized that he didn't have a belt anymore as it had burned off during him and Rayvens playtime.

Tony: awesome...

he said again to himself pulling on his pants as best he could and making himself a little bigger so they would fit without falling off. He opened the door and saw Grace and The Wretched Nobody. He smiled at them and put up his hand for a high five. He realized that Grace probably wasn't going to reciprocate so he turned to Wretched.

Tony: You know...

He said but was met with nothing...ok....so he went over to the large man that Jason always ran with and with his hand still up in the air. He was met with a very noncommittal high five but Tony took it with a big smile.

Tony: This guy knows what i am talking about.

Tony walked over to where Ken was standing and up his arm around his shoulder. Kid's head whipped around and then after seeing it him he pushed his arm off him.

KG: Don't touch me dude! i have no idea where that arm has been.

He made a face like a gagging sound which made Tony swell with pride. He turned to see Rayven yelling out of the RV and couldn't help but notice how fricken hot she looked in his T-shirt and not much else. He let out a content sigh, despite the smell of burning city and moaning infected flooding in through the open door of the RV

Tony: don't hate the playa K-dog...hate the game

KG: you are gonna make me sick...

There was a moment of silence before Ken said without looking towards Tony

KG:...how was it?

Tony: Dude

and a smile was all Tony needed to say. KG couldn't help but smile back he put his hand down low and the two slapped.

KG: You're crazy you do know that right?

Tony: yep

KG: she's probably gonna end up killing you

Tony: yep

KG: So...did you?

Tony: Nah...but dude she did this thing with her...

Tony and Kid both realized that Rayven had shot a look back in their direction both men quickly posed as if they were talking about something very serious and important.

Tony: So killing zombies

KG: Yes killing the zombies we should...

Tony: make a plan!

KG: yes i concur

Tony: i also concur

KG: wonderful so let's continue to talk about that then.

Tony: yes our plan to fight the zombies which was what we were speaking of just a moment ago. i too would like to continue with that conversation.

KG: I am glad. Zombie battle strategy is a good dialogue to pursue right now.

both men continued on like this. neither daring to look back to see if Rayven was still looking at them.

Trine laughed quietly at Jason’s reply, realizing somewhere at the back of her mind it was the first time she’d seen him genuinely smile. She placed a hand on his back as he stretched his neck and rolled his shoulders, giving a gentle pat with her fingertips. There wasn’t really a handbook on how to help somebody get themselves situated after plummeting through a window and into the wall of some CEO type’s office- it was the best guess she had.

She looked around the office, watching the plastic blinds that had been pulled back sway with the breeze coming through the window and sending paper drifting to the floor. Blue eyes settled on the desk, made from some kind of sleek, polished wood. It was littered with things, but she had been in search of something particular. Trine opened the top drawer of the desk, then the second.

There it was.

A letter opener. Trine never really understood the point of them. It was an envelope- open the thing and put it in recycling. Done. These types of offices more than likely housed the kind of people she’d spent hours making drinks for before she joined the WWG. The too much foam, not enough foam;  Excuse me I don’t think you realize how important I am- thus how important my latte is. I’m sorry is that only one pump of cinnamon? I could swear I said two. Now there is too much cinnamon. Try again- type of people. Trine plucked it from the draw (yeah, how do you like that!?) and turned to face Jason- suddenly wishing she had a more “useful in a zombie takeover” kind of power.

”It’s more of a naturey-ground type thing, but I can try and we’ll just have to see how it turns out…If he was playing with the lights he’d probably be in the basement. Right?”

Jason looked around the office. And then to a glance out the window at the city. The sounds and smells of bloody chaos came wafting in on rhetoric wind but they seemed so far way from up where they both stood. Like the background noise of a movie or a video game. Jason was transfixed with it. For the first time since he had been thrown into all this **** Jason entertained the idea that this was all not really happening. He knew it wasn't true but he flirted with the idea anyway, he couldn't help himself, the thought this was just some kind of nation wide prank was like the most beautiful woman you could ever meet but knew you could never take home with you.

 King: No...

Jason said softly still lost in thought. Until he watched as a woman on the roof of an adjacent building leaped to her death while the five zombies pulled and mashed at her flesh all the way down to the broken street below. Then Jason was brought back to the hell that was real life. He turned to look at Trine.

 King: He could be but if the lights are a grid system, and most buildings like this are, he could be anywhere in the building...

Jason tapped at his head with his index finger

 King: Technopath

When the Rv stopped the three of them slowly opened their eyes; Lexi and Bridget clinging tightly to Jin in case she needed to move them in the event the group decided to drive through them instead of stop. Bridget pulled the spikes back into her forearms, not wanting to give them a heads up of what they were dealing with.

Jin raised both eyebrows, looking Rayven up and down for a minute before leaning her head to the side to try and see inside the RV.

”Oh. So, it’s one of those kind of caravans.”

Lexi shot her a look, elbowing her friend in the ribs. Bridget stood on the other side of Jin and just sort of blinked, staring for a moment before slooowly leaning to the side to see further into the RV. It was one thing to take supplies, but plundering anything for its booty when the inhabitants were all half clothed seemed a little too ironic. Brown eyes shifted from Rayven to the roll of gauze still caught in the small enclave for the stairs that led out of the Rv and nudged Jin in the ribs.

”If one of you hits me in the **** ribs again I swear on all that is good on this earth I will hurt you.”

Lexi took a step away, holding out a hand to shake Rayven’s. She felt bad, it was a little sad to know that the group had stopped for them. Well, it was good they stopped because they were an inch or two away from death, but still. Bridget stepped around them, making her way into vehicle. She looked to the tag team currently in the middle of what sounded like a very important conversation about zombie warfare, before leaning back out of the door.

”Yeeah, we saw them on some kind of bridge...thing, buuut-
”There were a lot of zombies…”
”When we got there they were gone.”

Tony stopped talking as Bridget took a step into the vehicle. Kid looked at him with a puzzled look on his face but then Tony hit him once with the back of his hand to the stomach. Kid stopped talking and both looked at Bridget for a second as she looked around and then exited the RV.

KG: Dude really?

Kid Genius said to him with an unimpressed look on his face. Tony looked down and saw that he had given himself a **** six pack and the muscle definition one would spend hour of photoshop time trying to achieve.

Tony: heh heh what?

Tony asked innocently not really knowing what to say. It had been instinctual as soon as the pale, jet black haired lady had entered the RV. He had met Bridget once before but he really knew little about her outside the fact that she was a babe of supreme degree. He thought it was strange that they would run into her so far from the stadium but Tony couldn't help but be happy at the thought of her getting out ok. It gave him hope that other people would make it out of this mess unscratched as well. If the world left after this whole zombie things consisted of girls who looked like Bridget, Rayven, Trine, and even Grace...he could see the silver lining.

.........

Kid Genius shook his head at Tony. It was like he had some kind of death wish. Not only was it bad form to even seem like you were hitting on another woman after just having....whatever kind of relations him and Rayven just had but KG was sure that it definitely was a bad idea to do it when the girl in question was Rayven. But Tony wasn't necessarily the "smart" type and more than half the time the first head to get the benefit of blood flow was not the one located attached to his neck.

However the thought quickly left him as he heard Bridget speak about the bridge. Now Kid Genius knew that there were a probably thousands of bridges all around the world to which she could have been referring but the only one that would have made sense was that of the land bridge that Trine had made in order to get them over here. Kid took a few steps forward standing next to Rayven at the mouth of the door. His head was spinning with the words he was confronted with.

KG: what do you mean gone?!

Kid said a little harsh than he meant to. His eyes shot from woman to woman frantically. He felt a cold weight sink into his gut that caused the feeling of terror to rise up throughout his being a dumbwaiter.

KG: What do you mean gone?! Like gone gone or just you didn't see them at all?

Now though Tony wasn't the brightest bulb in the box he knew when to keep his mouth shut every now and again. His initial thought of "Well i thought i was going to die and then you had my balls in a vice" did not come out his mouth in response. In fact Tony decided that the best way to keep on Rayvens good side, and he very much liked it on her good side, was to not point out little things like that. Also there was the linger feeling that he actually "liked" Rayven in the kinda way that made you want to be yourself...For a guy who could be anything he wanted without giving it much effort he kinda hoped that would have gone appreciated. The fact that it didn't...Tony couldn't quite figure out how to feel about it...it wasn't a happy feeling though..he guess he really shouldn't be surprised though. It was Rayven he was talking about and had it not been him she probably would have pulled some other unwitting soul into the backroom to "destress".

Nevertheless Rayven calling him out on his involuntary change did make him blush, which for him meant actually turning a thin rose like quality everywhere. He quickly reached into his ear and shook his brain a bit. Then he smiled.

Tony: I didn't hear any complaints...

But Rayven and Ken were already talking to the girls outside the RV.

.............

Kid Genius brushed Rayven's hand off his head with force. He, under no circumstances, wanted her to touch him after everything he had heard in the back room. The fact that neither she nor Tony had washed their hands was not lost on Kid. However the flickering lights in the building was odd. Though to be fair a lot of the buildings had flickering lights in them. The difference was that while the other buildings were blinking randomly this entire buildings lights were flickering all the same time. amongst all the chaos any semblance of order stood out like a flare. He was going to speak again before Rayven closed the door so fast that any other person, that didn't have super fast reflexes, would have been it square in the face.

KG: what the hell?!

But Rayven had already made her way to the passenger seat. Kid opened the door back up and looked at the women who had just been slammed shut on.

KG: pardon her she....get's moody the less pants she has on.
 
KG tried to put a small smile knowing that if he was going to get any info out of these women he was going to have to play as nice as he could.

KG: but seriously....what did you see? is Trine ok?

He could give a damn about Jason King but if Jason had managed to turn...well...things didn't look to good for Trine. His voice wavered a bit as he asked. He knew he shouldn't have let her go in the first place.

Blue eyes lifted from Jason, following his line of sight out of the large windows that ran along the side of the office. He seemed lost somewhere out there, something she could understand, it was a lot to really try and process.

 Every now and then there were pockets of normalcy; talking to Kid, Tony’s jokes, whatever the back and forth she and King had done since they’d run into each other in the hall months ago. It was a curious thing that seemed to lull you into some sort of security, an odd sort of nostalgia that had this uncanny way of ripping itself from your grasp and leaving you with how ugly the present was. The sky had grown darker, if it was from the clouds rolling in or the sun setting on the opposite side of the building she couldn’t tell, but there was something ominous about a grey sky. She fell quiet as well and as the woman leapt from the building opposite them Trine let out a small gasp, nearly silent, and no more than a sharp breath in.

And there it was. That empty hollowed out feeling in her chest. It had all seemed so still that it started to feel fake, that pocket of eerie normal, and then it was gone.

Her attention shifted back to Jason King as he spoke and she tried her best to put the jumping woman out of her mind. She looked to the large glass panels that divided the office from the rest of the floor like some sort of oversized fishtank- silently thankful Jason had hit the solid wall and not one of panels. From what she saw at least this section of the floor was empty, but there was a lot of space unaccounted for.

Maybe it would work.

”Oh, wow,” she nodded looking genuinely impressed, that was probably a pretty helpful gift to have, ”Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out if I can or not.”

She smiled, shrugging in a way that came off far more confident than the blonde actually felt. Trine lowered herself to a knee, pressing her palms flat against the carpeted floor. It felt ridiculous at first, there was usually some feedback- like an energy exchange of sorts between her and the earth beneath her hands. There was a pull through the sinew tissue in her arms that bled into whatever it was she wanted to respond, but it all stopped short a few inches from her fingertips. The fact it bled at all was reassuring, but the fact that she couldn’t so much as feel anything natural through the floor of the building worked as a decent counter.

”...come on…” she grumbled, not wanting to give up. Jason had nearly pancaked himself trying to get the two of them up here- she could do better than molesting a carpet for a few seconds and quitting.

There was a shake that settled deep in her muscle, it hurt her jaw like she pulled the muscles in front of her ears from how hard she’d clenched her teeth, sending everything she had down, down, down and hopefully something was listening.

It started slow and quiet- like a hollow, metallic, whisper. Trine hung onto it, pushing harder for some kind of a response, her shoulders starting to shake, and then she felt the earth shake with her. It was hardly controlled, like she started a ball rolling only to have it take off down a hill. Tremors ran through the ground and judging by the slight sway to the building beside them it wasn’t contained to just the building they were in. She looked up, warily watching as an antenna on the adjacent building detached and toppled off.

...It was probably already loose….

Then she felt the vibrations in her hands. It was all a little bit distant, muffled by all of the garbage in between, but there were distinct dead spots and variations. It was just a matter of trying to weed them out. A quiet whimper fell from her lips as she tried to push through the reverberation, struggling to pick out one pinprick amongst many before her elbows bent and her arms gave up long before her mind did.

”Sorry...there’s too much going on…between me and the ground...” she sighed, shakily getting to her feet like her legs had fallen asleep on her,’There is a lot movement on the ground level and a really big dead spot a few floors down. I just don’t know what it is...buildings aren’t really my thing…”

Trine frowned, looking out the window at the antenna now hanging off the side of the building by thick black cables. Out of a city she could have been more useful...but if she couldn’t help them survive getting out of the city then what good was she.

”I’m so sorry.” it didn’t feel like the words did the awful feeling in her stomach any justice.

Bridget looked down at Tony for a moment, then to Rayven, then to Kid, then to Tony again, then Rayven. This was just bizarre. A lot happened in a short amount of time. There were abs that she was pretty sure were not that defined previously. Not that she looked specifically. They all essentially worked half naked, so the reality was they’d probably seen more of each other's bodies than most co-workers- not to mention the positions….

Not that she had been on main roster long enough for that sort of thing thanks to Marcus Collins beating the snot out of her and yet some chick doesn’t even know what kind of match she’s in and gets to stay on main.

….not that she was bitter….not at all….

Then she suddenly became very aware of the eyes on her and started to feel her skin crawl. Crowds were one thing- they were separated from them by barriers, the distance helped,and when she was in the ring it was about business. Yes, they were paying attention, but they were paying attention to her gimmick. They weren’t looking at her there was no exchange. Smaller groups, more personal, those sent her wires crossed. They were right there. Looking. They could hear everything she said, every move she made. What if she-

click,click,click

The door slammed shut.

”I….cannot deal with their ****. I mean come on. And I thought she was crazy.” Jin grumbled nodding her head towards Bridget.

”Ew. I’m perfectly normal thank you very much.”

click,click,click

”I think he’s just worried. He wasn’t yelling at you.”

”Aw. Poor baby. We need to get out of here before this one has an episode.”

”I’m good.” Bridget grinned, still thumbing her lighter.

”Yeah, until you lose that th-”

The door swung open. It was Kid Genius this time.

Lexi sighed, looking to Jin who had been angry with her for holding them back this long already because she had some sort of nice complex. She knew the only reason that her other...less charitable...companions hadn’t already tried to take any of the bags was because they didn’t know what was in them.

Jin tilted her head in order to look into the Rv, and paused looking from the exposed, pantied, behind of Rayven to the unzipped medical bag. Then she seemed a little less annoyed, but only marginally so.

”I don’t know. We saw them on the bridge one minute and Jin m-...we moved to get…”

”I got them to leave the hotel. The land bridge thing was down the road. By the time we got onto it they were gone. Nothing. Just zombies.”

”Yeah, but unless one them can fly or something crazy like that we would have seen them. We ran pretty quickly.”

Jim shot Lexi a look. Shut up.

Bridget had been looking around, idly watching as a large number of zombies started to converge around the RV considering how long it had been stationary.

”Heeey, Z’Efron? Can you let us in...zombies and all….coming to eat our brains….” she warily looked towards Rayven. Bridget liked her space and the mention of possibly getting dragged off anywhere, by anybody, already had her a little edgy.

(OOC: 2 tips for you there Rayven. 1- If wasn't written it didn't happen. There is no assuming in text based RPGs. Unless someone says they walked in a room they are not just in the room because you want them to be in the room. that's not how it works. 2- READ BEFORE YOU POST! after you have taken the time to read what the other person had wrote you will be able to have a sense of where people are in relation to your character and then you won't make the mistake like....oh i don't know...opening a door that's already being held open :p You have to take the game the way it's given to you not the way you want it to be)

Suddenly the door of the RV ripped open, farther than it was designed too, and skidded off down the debris filled street. Once again KG's super speed helped him out because had he still be holding on to the door handle when it started to move he would have been yanked right out of the RV.

Tony: Whoa!?

Tony jumped out of his seat in surprise.

KG: Why the hell would you even do that?! Are you insane?!

His question went unanswered because Rayven was pre-occupied with the clicking of Bridgets lighter and was making comments to that effect. KG was pretty sure that Rayven was going to get them all killed faster than any zombie ever could. He wished Trine was back....hell he even kinda wished that Jason was here...at least he kinda had a way of keeping **** like this from happening. KG looked back at the women outside the RV. He stepped aside and gave them a wave inside, to let them know it was cool for them to get in. His darted around to see that they were quickly getting surrounded by more infected as well as what looked like a group of blood covered and very scared people running for their lives toward the RV.

KG: um....

KG started not sure what to say exactly

KG: we have company coming.

King watched as Trine held her hands to the ground and tried to get a read on things. His eyes locked on her hoping that hdouble dis silent encouragement would somehow help her with the necessary push. Small beads of sweat started to form on the champions brow as Jason watched her face contort with the strain. She was really trying hard. He felt the pulse of her efforts in his feet. He could also tell that as powerful as she was, and Jason was just starting to realize how much that really was, she was also running at the end of her limit. Maybe with a good night sleep, a hot meal, shower, and some peace should could have done this but it was looking like every passing second the fight was leaving her. He watched as her arms began to shake in a way that arms do when they are no longer able to maintain the power necessary to hold the fight.

It was also then that Jason heard the noises coming from outside. Their presence had definitely been noticed. Jason had hoped that bringing Trine along would give him so extra fire power in rescuing Tech. Not to mention allowing them to find the RV again once they did so. But now Jason was feeling a small amount of regret of not just handling this on his own. He turned towards the large, deep brown oak double doors that separated the office they were from the larger room outside. a moaning sound and a thud against the door let him know that some of the workers would be able to file for one hell of a workmen's comp.

Jason put his hand on Trine's shoulder softly as she apologized. He then moved his hand to her chin with his thumb and index finger and lightly lifted her face more towards his. He smirked in a way that he hoped conveyed confidence in the situation, as he always tended to be.

King: it's fine...

Jason said before brushing a small strand of blonde hair away from the champions face.

King: that's just one more you owe me.

He winked and then stepped away. He looked at the desk and searched for a phone. Sure enough there were large pieces of glass embedded into it. No use there. There was no computer either, which Jason thought was pretty strange but then again he wasn't known for hanging around fortune 500 companies very often so he had no idea what was normal outside of movies he had watched. He turned back to Trine and pulled something out from the back of his waistband. It was a black pistol. out of his pocket he held an ammo clip.

King: We're gonna have to move. I can take out most of them but just incase we get separated or until you get back on some terra ferma i think you should you use this...

Jason held out the weapon and ammo to her. He only had the full magazine in the pistol and the extra clip in his hand. He rarely had to use it but he carried all the same. When you grew up where he did...it was pretty much a force of habit. Like wearing a tie to a board meeting. The pounding on the door was louder now as more fists added to the percussion against the oak.

King: you know how to use this right?

The three women watched on quietly. Lexi slowly looked to Jin out of the corner of her eye and could see a small crease beginning to form on her forehead where her eyebrows were starting to knit together in thinly veiled frustration. This group was starting to look more and more dysfunctional- even Bridget had started to look mildly guilty about taking advantage of them. That is until Rayven had made a comment about taking away her lighter, which made her all the more anxious. It was one thing to feel like you were under a microscope- even she knew somewhere at the back of her mind nobody paid that much attention. That most of it was in her head. She needed the lighter, it slowed things down, she could focus on that. Justthatithelpedsheneededitforstufflikethisand-

The door skittered off the side of the Rv and Jin seemed like she had about enough as she complied with Kid’s wave as an invitation, stepping into the RV. Dark eyes looked around for a moment, taking in the people and the bags. Some looked like average gym bags, but then there were others that looked a little more appealing.

”Nice magic trick.” she smirked, looking to Rayven. This was starting to look too easy. Her eyebrow twitched at the ‘Asian Zing’ nickname. Somebody spent too much time at Buffalo Wild Wings.”Too bad it doesn’t improve your hearing...or your taste in food.”

Kid Genius spoke up and Lexi looked over her shoulder, before climbing into the Rv with a squeak ”ah!”

Bridget stepped up as well, keeping her back flat against the side of the RV, going around KG, side stepping over Tony’s legs where he sat, casting a wary glance at the big guy, Wretch, Grace, the guy driving, before settling next to the angry looking Taiwanese woman. Jin had managed to make her way over to the open bag, keeping her arms crossed over her chest, but close enough that the back of her leg touched it.

When Bridget stepped up beside her she looked to the discarded hoodie, stuffed with vending machine snack food, that was left on the bench seat next to the door. Bridget grinned, thumbing the lighter in her hand absentmindedly, but making sure she didn’t pull the wheel far enough for it to click…Lexi sat down on the bench next to the hoodie Jin had focused on for a brief moment before turning to Rayven.

”I was saying unless your friends could fly; I don’t think they could have made it off the bridge fast enough.”

Bridget looked out of the small window on the same side of the RV as the door. There was a frantic dash made for the group of them, the bloodied survivors fighting their way through the undead also on a path for the stalled RV. Jin followed Bridget’s line of sight, watching as a young man in the group had gotten overtaken by the infected around him. It was cruel how slow that death was. It wasn’t fast and as she watched an infected pull its face back from the man’s neck, pulling on atendon there until it snapped, she would not venture it to be a painless one. She wasn’t about to stick around and fight off these things for a group of people she barely knew, it’s not like she expected them tl last much longer anyway.

Jin looked from Lexi to Bridget- if she was going to jump them out of this moving death trap Lexi would need to be fast. She looked to Kid out of the corner of her eye, he’d let go of the rogue door quicker than anyone who was entirely human could, but maybe the element of suprise would be on their side.

”Uh...we should probably get moving before we turn into an undead Greyhound bus…” Bridget pipped up starting to sound a little panicked.

Trine had kept her focus on the antenna for a moment as she felt the soft weight of Jason’s hand on her shoulder. Blue eyes shifted, looking at the Psycho Champion as he lifted her chin, studying his face as he spoke. There was something curiously appealing about the mystery behind the man looking back at her, but she’d learned quickly through her time at the WWG that those sort of ventures were better left alone. More often than not they never ended well...but her nature wanted to believe that his story wouldn’t play out like all of the wrestlers that came before him- that maybe this time there was a possibility she wouldn’t be disappointed.

The smirk was strangely reassuring- which was odd all on it’s own because it had been the first time she didn’t want dropkick him. Apparently this was an evening for firsts when it came to Jason King. She stayed still, silently watching the hand that brushed back a strand of her hair and did her best to fight back the chill that ran from behind her ear and seemed to settle as a strange pinch in the dimples at her lower back. The blonde fought it as best she could, waiting until Jason turned around to physically try to shake it off, cursing the goosebumps that had erupted on her arms. She wasn’t sure if she mad at him, or just mad at the involuntary reaction.

”I seem to be racking up a tab,” she laughed, watching as Jason looked for a phone on the desk, ”I feel like I should be worried abou-” she cut herself short, her eyes going wide as she watched Jason pull the pistol from his waistband.

It was hidden well, she didn’t really notice it was even there. Was it always there? Trine remembered having run into him in a corn maze a few weeks before this all unfolded, she’d jokingly reached to open his leather jacket and the idea that had Kalib not come barreling through on a pirate golf cart (he was strange, but loveable) she could have stumbled upon this little number made her uneasy in retrospect.

Trine was snapped from her thoughts as King held the pistol and ammo out for her to take. She gingerly lifted them from his hand, placing the extra clip in the back pocket that hadn’t already housed the letter opener, and checked the safety on the pistol. Guns weren’t….a common occurrence in Trine’s everyday life, but she had shot soda cans in her grandfather's backyard in highschool so they weren’t an entirely foreign concept. Then again that was with a shotgun...which loaded differently...and was held differently...and had a wider spread.

”Well, point and shoot. Right?”  she tucked the pistol into the back of her jeans with a nervous laugh, focusing on the banging at the door.

 ”I don’t want to waste the ammo,” she explained, grabbing the letter opener,”I’ll just use this until I find something bette-!”

There was a tremendous impact against the door, cutting Trine short. She raised an eyebrow, looking to Jason for a second, before a second slam echoed through the emptied area. It was like some kind of battering ram had been repeatedly thrown against the oak doors, piece of wood where the doorknobs has been locked started to splinter and pull away from around the hardware. The third, thunderous boom sent the doors flying open.

”Is it just me or…” the blonde took a step back, reaching out to grab a hold of the fabric at Jason’s arm- it wouldn’t do much logically, but somewhere at the back of her mind it felt like it would make him safer if she took him a step back as well,”...is that a really freaking big zombie….”

Her voice lifted an octave, as she reached for the pistol.

In the doorway stood an infected that looked as though he had been on a steady drop of horse steroids during the short course of time it had spent amongst the undead. His body was swollen, but it wasn’t the typical sort of waterlogging from being in a state of decay, the muscles along its shoulders and traps so thick it was hard to tell if it had much of a neck at all. The left arm was torn open, black blood a slow, oozing stream, that led down its fingertips- every now and then a droplet would leave the pads of its fingers and collide with the carpeted office floor with a muted ‘thwemp.” It seemed furious, more aware than the other infected in strange way, glossy eyes- speckled with bursted blood vessels and sickly shade of purple at the corners focused intently ahead on the two wrestlers where they stood.

King: Someone has been eating their vitamins.

Jason said as the large lumbering mountain of undead began dragging it's feet in their direction. Behind him there was a least five to seven other, more regular looking, infected behind the large one. Jason couldn't help but think of a pack of hyenas following behind a lion. The moans all came in waves and blended into a chorus of impending death with the large zombie providing a bone rattling bass. Jason saw that the room outside the office was more or less cleared out. The party, as it were, was all here and there wasn't a whole lot of room to move. Jason was going to have to make a hole.

Jason moved shot his hand forward and the group of zombies moved back a bit. Jason focuses on a small patch of wall behind the group and began increasing its pull. Chairs, loose papers, pens, folders and other office supplies began flying from where they had come to rest and sticking to the wall. The smaller zombies began slowing down to nothing as Jason increased the gravitational pull of the wall but he knew that eventually the wall would give and the large one of the group was still heading towards them pretty steadily.

King: Do you want the big guy or should I? your call champ.

Jason said looking back towards Trine. Jason wasn't at all worried. It was one of the things that came with being one of the most powerful G.E.M.s he knew. But at this point Jason wasn't think about him, he was thinking about Trine's mental state. She had wanted to be the hero but she was smart enough to know that they couldn't save everybody. Jason needed someone like Trine if they, and they as in all of them, were going to get through this but he also knew that Trine wouldn't be able to perform to the top of her ability if she felt like she was being baby sat. Jason saw it on the look on her face when she couldn't help him located Tech. She wanted to be helpful and the less she felt that way the more she would be a liability as opposed to an asset.

Jason put his other hand up creating a small push slowing the big infected man more though he still was coming. The other infected began to ever so slowly slide back though their eyes never stopped staring ahead, their moans never got any quieter, it was like they didn't even notice they weren't moving in the direction their feet were taking them. Jason motioned with his head at the big monster.

King: But i would answer that call fast because we got a whole building to check and get back to the RV, somehow, before they get to that airplane and leave us here.

The blonde visibly relaxed a bit as the pull from Jason’s power slowed down the massive infected and effectively sent the lesser infected into reverse.

”I’ll get the other ones. Makes more sense- you’re stronger here, and it saves time so we can look for your friend.”

Trine had wished she was able to determine which one of the spaces in the reverberation had been Tech in order to afford Jason (and herself) some piece of mind that he was alright- that they knew where he was- that they were coming to get him. It hit her a little harder than she would have liked when all she could determine was what had been going on on the ground level was not moving like anyone among the living, and that there was a large dead spot a few floors down. She wouldn’t, however, let her pride dictate the rest of this rescue mission. There was something to say about being able to recognize your weaknesses and if artificial environments weren’t her strong suit then she wasn’t about to risk someone else’s life because of a (quietly admitted) napoleon complex.

For now she felt less helpful than she was comfortable with, but she would help in the small ways until it was her turn to carry the weight. They wouldn’t be in this building, and hopefully not the city, forever and that’s when she would make up for it.

Trine held fast to the letter opener in her hand- there was no sense in using the pistol Jason had given her. It was better to save that for emergencies, and as much as she hated to recognize it- probably other people with guns. She stayed wide, in order to avoid the reach of the larger zombie and started pressing the letter opener up, through whatever softer parts of the reversing undead’s face she could manage to hit without being bitten, quickly, and with as much physical power behind it as she could muster.

The sound of the first infected she’s hit was enough to make her skin crawl. Trine had pressed the tip of the letter opener up through the space at the back of it’s ear and the skin there gaveway with a crackle, like when you peeled the line of glue off of the back of a gift card. There was a sudden release of pressure, what she could only assume had been the letter opener slicing open the dura considering there had been a rush of fluid that poured out from where she’d slammed it in. It was so clouded it was almost opaque, thick and greyed in colour, as it poured out straight back from the puncture along with pull Jason had enabled. She’d pushed it deep enough to puncture the brain as that particular infected seemed to go limp, no longer grasping, snarling, or snapping it’s jaws in an attempt to grab a hold of her.

There was something truly disturbing about the whole affair even if she had been quick about it, but she worked through the nausea- trying to get the job done as fast as possible.

King: Fine be me.

Jason said with a smirk. He put his hands down cracked his knuckles. The gravity pull would remain as long as he focused on it. However now that he wasn't giving it it's full attention he could see that it was much weaker than it had been before. The smaller zombies stopped moving back and instead stayed exactly where they were, arms outreached and moaning for their flesh.

King: Don't get any blood on my gun.

Jason said with a smirk as he watched Trine slice through the first of the zombies skull. For a very split second he felt a little sad watching her do this. Trine had always struck him as the perfectly little girl scout. And while it had mostly been fun watching her start to realize the growing shades of grey in the world around her Jason felt as if maybe, just maybe, it was sad to lose that. However this thought quickly passed...

Jason saw on the desk a picture. It was in small bronze frame and it must have fallen to the ground when they crashed in. it was a picture of a man and his family. The wife was young, pretty-ish, but their smiles were genuine and bright. In between them sat a little boy no older than three or four. He had a big grin on his face. Jason didn't know how he missed that picture before or why he had noticed it now....all he knew is that it made him angry. Whatever this thing was...it was destroying everything, everyone. That little boy in the picture was probably dead. Hell his mom probably sunk her pearly whites into the little guy and was now roaming the streets covered in his blood. These things were taking...from everyone. Jason closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could still hear the sound of Rich telling them to run.....The look of fear and terror in his eyes...He thought of Tech being lost somewhere...Not being able to help him....What he had to do to Teddy.....Jason hated these things...a hatred like he had never really felt before. Jason opened his eyes and locked on to the large hulking monster before him.

With a thought Jason increased his density and lunged at the creature. Jason didn't scream he didn't roar in fact he was silent as he threw a punch at right in the gut of the monster. His increased density kept his hand from breaking as he put all of his force into the blow. There was now a hole where the monsters stomach had been. This didn't seem to both the creature much though as it continued to try to grab at Jason. it dragged it's nails against Jason but at the point it was like it was scratching against steel. streaks of blood where on his jacket as the monster clawed at Jason to no avail. Jason picked up the large infected man, decreasing his overall gravity, and then sent it crashing through the large desk with a spinebuster increasing their gravity a hundred full. The thick wooden desk exploded under the weight, cracking right down the middle while still sending a shower of splinters everywhere. Jason felt some of the larger shards of wood cut his face, his powers not being effective against wood. This however didn't stop Jason. He straddled the large infected man who was now spewing out black viscous fluid all over them both. Jason put both hands into the hole he made and then pulled the man's spine out. The spine with covered in black tendrils and blood erupted out of the infected like a volcano. Jason then repeated this process with other body parts all the while the infected brute moaned and clawed it's fingers raw trying to pull Jason into its gnashing, blood covered maw.

Jason lost all sense of time. he ripped out pieces of the man's rib cage and began stabbing him with the jagged blood slicked bones over...and over...and over again. The creature didn't scream, never recoiled in pain. which only made Jason silent fury growing. Eventually Jason reached toward the picture that had almost skidded out the broken window to the city below from the destruction of the desk. the picture frame was pulled into his hands and then Jason proceeded to bash the still snapping jaw of the monster with it. Even after the picture frame was soaked in blood, pus, and became bent beyond recognition; even after the moaning stopped, the twitching stopped, the clawing stopped....Jason didn't....he just kept hitting the thing

Kid Genius looked towards that nameless guy Jason King always had around him. The man didn't seem to be in any hurry but he did start the RV back up as the women got in. Kid walked over to the open bag of medical supplies and closed it. This RV really didn't have many places for one to sit so KG just found himself just standing with them. He wanted to ask them more about Trine, he wanted to know if she was ok but he was getting the feeling that these girls didn't really know anything. Worse than that he was getting the impression that they really didn't care.

One of the people running from the zombies managed to reach the now empty door frame. It was a older woman with a suit on that KG was sure must have cost a lot of money at one time. Now it was filthy and covered with blood. The woman was still clutching her purse like a life raft. She threw herself onto the floor of the RV. Tony looked at KG and before either of them could communicate both of the Losers were there trying to help her up to her feet. It was then that the RV began to move...but not to turn around it began to move in the direction it was going. KG tried to look to see what the man driving was doing but he didn't want to stop helping the woman up her feet.

Older Woman: What are you doing?! My family is back there you have to go back for them! These lunatics bit me in the leg and...

What happened next didn't so much happened fast but it was so shocking that even KG's super speed seemed to only marginally help him to catch it. Without warning the Man in Black or his clone or something was there in front of the old lady. In his hand he held a pistol and pressed it to the ladies head. Before she could even blink he pulled the trigger and as her body pulsed with the impact of the shot he kicked her out of the open door of the RV.

Tony: Holy **** dude!

KG: Wha?

The RV picked up speed as KG could see the lady tumble in their wake like a bag of laundry. Then the Man in Black spoke but it was eerie because the words came out of both the body in the drivers seat and the clone now holding the gun standing in the doorway.

MIB: We are going to the airport. I owe you no explanation other than that is what i have been told to do. Once we reach the airport if you wish to leave than i will not stop you. If you with to leave now, the door is open.

Kid Genius looked out the RV at the road whipping past them. They were getting out of the city now. In any minute the buildings were going to start getting further and further away. A motor cycle zoomed past the RV and Jason could see a van filled with suitcases and other things veer off the road and crash into a building as the driver began to jerk and seizure. Kid took another look at the Man in black...he didn't seem upset or angry or anything just....there. Kid Genius wasn't sure that even if he could fight this guy he would even really want to. KG contemplating taking Tony and then getting the heck out of there to help Trine but this plane might be their best bet to stay safe. KG walked over to Trines hoodie and began pulling out food. If he was going to run back and help Trine he would have to eat.   

The blonde looked to Jason King, raising both eyebrows and biting her lower lip with a smile like she’d been found out.

”Damn, that was my plan all along…”

Trine jumped, stumbling halfway through a step as the blow Jason landed on the enmassed looking infected blew right through its stomach. There was a moment of panic, the letter opener that was gripped tightly in her hand being driven through the second, lesser, infected’s skull, as she watched the mammoth undead start to claw at King’s back- that is until she noticed it’s fingers being ground down instead of cutting into his back. She turned her attention away, having decided standing there and gawking at her co-worker’s abilities was probably less helpful than getting rid of those remaining. Trine had moved on to the next one when she’d started to feel her chest burn from deep within- like she’d inhaled fire, and her stomach went tight. She wasn’t sure what had gone through Jason’s mind, but it was a strong enough feeling that it had nearly hit her like a bag of bricks despite the delay.

Trine picked up the pace, King’s fury behind her movements now as she’d grabbed the letter opener with both hands and drove them straight down- piercing through the top of the last infected’s skull. She turned around, leaving the makeshift weapon embedded in skull and brainmatter, to find him pulling its spinal column out through the hole in its abdomen. The desk was nearly leveled, splinters of wood scattered across the carpeted floor, flecks of thick, black, blood were thrown off from Jason’s movements- turning the space behind him into a morbid Jackson Pollock. Blue eyes went distant for a bit as she worked through the invasive emotions, taking deep breaths to try and recenter herself.

Jason King had torn out parts of its rib cage and as Trine pulled herself out of the haze she’d been entrapped in the scene before her started to process. Jason had straddled the much larger zombie, the front of it now nothing more than a bloody, pulverized hollowed out hole, and yet it still mindlessly tried to bite the wrestler currently slamming rib bone down into it. She felt a second wave of anger mentally bracing herself as not to get caught up in it, but it still sent every muscle in her body tense.

The two bodies amongst the battered wreckage of desk had been covered in black, viscous blood, the picture frame in King’s hand was mangled- the body beneath him all but eviscerated. Trine wasn’t sure what she felt. Lost in Jason’s anger for a moment, but once she’d shaken off the effects of it there was nothing left behind it; just an empty feeling in her chest. The infected stopped moving, but watching him continue to slam the contorted picture frame down broke her heart in a small way.

Trine had stepped forward before she’d even known what she was doing. The blonde had maneuvered around the legs of the infected and kneeled behind Jason, her arms wrapping around his ribs, and her cheek pressed against his back. Despite how much he’d gotten to her previously she wished he didn’t have to feel what he was feeling. Only a fraction of it had managed to get through to her and it felt awful. If this was how he needed to work it out Trine wouldn’t stop him, but she didn’t want him to be alone in it either.

”Jason…” she wasn’t sure why she’d said anything at all- maybe she had wished he’d stop, or maybe the sounds of the impacts in the silence had just become too much.

The gunshot rang out, reverberating against the walls of the RV. Lexi had jumped up, stepping over to where Bridget and Jin had been standing. Jin’s eyes had gone wide, watching as the woman was dropped out of the open hatch where the door used to be. Bridget had her shoulders hunched up to her ears, her eyes squeezed shut, and as she slowly cracked an eye open to look around at those of them collected inside of the RV, muttered a half silent apology to her friends.

click, click, clickclickclick

”Sooorry” Bridget whispered sheepishly.
”Sorry about what?” Lexi asked quietly.

The three women almost simultaneously turned their attention to the left side and then the right of the RV where a line of quills had been embedded into the walls. The unfortunate part about having a power that was physically a part of your being was that most of her involuntary reactions resulted in some kind of trigger; surprise was a big one.

”Well,” Jin started, speaking out loud as she looked from the clone, to the driver to Kid who had decided now was a good time to eat, before mentally assuring that a part of the bag had still been against her leg- her shoulder against Bridget, and her hip against Lexi’s ”It’s been real, but we got to go.”

And with that Jin and the other two women disappeared, leaving nothing, but a wisp of lingering grey smoke- the medical bag having taken leave right along with them. They appeared on the street meters behind the RV before a second puff of smoke nearly as fast as they appeared.

At first Jason didn't even notice the pressure on his back. Well at least didn't notice the difference between that and the clawing at his body the large thing had been doing before. It took a moment for his mind to come back from the blank void he had been in for last few moments. Everything started to come into focus slowly in bits. He could hear the chaos of the city outside the shattered window. He could see the small ocean of black blood that pooled around the broken desk. little chunks of bones, teeth, and jagged metal floated like tiny islands with heaps of flesh and brain to add to the mix. His hands were still balled into fists but they were dripping with the jet black liquid. He couldn't really feel the wind as right now his density was such that nothing short of of point blank shotgun blast could even tickle him but he could see the way it rustled the papers and sent ripples through the thick black blood.

He began to lower his density levels until he felt the pressure on his back. Without taking the time to register that the thing on his back had just said his name he whipped around and grabbed for the neck. He increased his density and lowered its gravity so much that he easily lifted the "attacker" with one hand and spun it out so that it's legs were now dangling outside the broken window of the office building. His eyes were wide and full of rage. Jason hadn't decided whether to let it fall to the ground or send up into space until things clicked in his mind. It had spoken...and it was Trine. He could see the World Champion grasping futilely at his hand around her throat and he realized that he must have been choking her. Her neck and hands were now covered in the blood of the zombie he had killed and her hair began to stand up on it's own as she was almost lighter than air at this point. Jason felt such intense shame instantly...she had scared him, she had gotten to him, and most of all he had wanted to rest in her arms...just for a moment. A weakness he could never, and would never allow himself.

King: Sneak up behind me again and i will drop you from orbit.

The sick knot in his stomach rolled and twisted but he stared daggers into her frantic eyes before pulling her back into the office room. He turned to see that all the rest of the zombies were dead and made his way towards the wall he had crashed into. Without turning around he spoke.

King: Check the bodies for a working phone. Call the RV tell them we will be headed back soon. I'm going to check this floor.

Then he phased through the wall leaving the blood he was covered in smeared on the wall behind him.

KG: They just robbed us!!

Kid Genius sprayed granola out of his mouth as the trio of women disappeared with one of the medical bags Jason's men had rounded up.

Tony: Whoa! Not cool.

KG: I am gonna go get our stuff back.

MIB: That would be a waste of time.

Kid Genius wasn't sure which one of the Men in Black to look disapprovingly at. Both the driver and the one holding the smoking gun spoke in perfect unison...it was disconcerting[/color]

MIB: One of them is a teleporter. Best case you happen to stumble upon where they end up and then it's 3 against one and you're not at full strength. Worse you run around trying to find them and don't and you get killed or turned.

Kid wanted to protest. He was feeling more like himself now. The granola was really helping and he wasn't feeling nearly run down as he had moments ago.

MIB: one bag of supplies is a major loss but we have others. If we to seem the  again we can adjust. but for now you should conserve your strength for the airport.

It was framed as a suggestion but Kid knew that he was not being given a choice in the matter

There hadn’t been much time to really register what had happened considering Jason King moved with such intense speed, but before she knew it he had turned around and there was a hand wrapped around her neck. Instinctually she’d snapped her hands up, desperately trying to hold onto his arm at the wrist, as she shouted his name in an attempt to bring him out of the haze she could still see lingering in his eyes, but it fell on deaf ears. She dared to glance down at her feet, as if she needed visual confirmation that King had been holding her out of a window. Her eyes went wide as the last breath managed to squeeze by the hold Jason had on her throat and that was when the panic sunk in. If the choice was between getting choked hanging out of a window or possibly falling- she’d rather take a chance on falling. That was when the death hold on his arm turned into a frantic attempt to free herself.

Blue eyes watched as pieces of her hair had started to float upwards. Her stomach felt like it had pushed up into her chest, that strange weightless sort of feeling when you hit the apex of a drop on a roller coaster. The more it happened, the more Trine was beginning to realize she wasn’t all that fond of the way Jason King’s power made her feel. Not that it would matter much after-

The sound of his voice shook Trine from her thoughts and she returned the glare he had fixated on her with a wide stare, nodding her head furiously to let him know she understood the terms and conditions for not being dropped from space. It had been a **** really- either way she knew he wouldn’t have been happy to have been touched, but the action was degrees less jarring than if she tried to shake him out of it. Had she done that Trine was fairly sure she wouldn’t still be alive. There needed to be some kind of handbook for dealing with these situations...well, there were, but you never picked them up from a Barnes and Nobles and read them seriously- or at least she didn’t.

When Jason had let go of her neck Trine took in a quick, deep breath, her body working frantically at resupplying oxygen as she slowly lowered herself to the floor, focusing on the smear of blood left on the wall after he walked through it. She watched in silence as a thick, viscous, black droplet started to break from the water tension and roll down the wall, shifting and moving with each lump it hit in the paint.

”Noted.” she said quietly, moving to her feet before starting to rummage through the pockets of the first, downed, zombie.

There was nothing, but a pack of tropical flavoured trident gum, a set of keys, and wallet. He must have tried to use his cellphone at some point and lost it. She set the items down next to his legs, the expensive fabric of his slacks now ripped and torn- stained with blood and bile. Trine moved onto the next body, and smiled when she felt the smooth, cold, surface of a smartphone.
 
”Thank you, zombie lady.”

She held the iPhone gently in the palm of her hand, honestly shocked that it was still in good condition, and couldn’t help the feeling that if she breathed too hard it would just shatter. The blonde pressed her thumb against the large button at the bottom and the screen flashed to life.

”....****….”

A lock screen.

A second reach into the woman’s pockets yielded a wallet. Trine had tried the birth date neatly printed on the license. Nothing. The house number listed as her address. Nothing. She groaned in frustration, gently placing the phone into the woman’s mangled palm, trying her best to ignore the fact she had been missing three fingers. All of them torn up, and broken at the knuckle like they’d been bitten off.

”Third time is the charm,” the phone was dead, ”Wha- seriously?”

Trine stood from the kneeling position she had taken in order to try and get her hand into the pockets of the third zombie and took a deep breath, trying her best to will away all the doubts weighing on her mind. This was it. This one would be the one. The blonde squared up the fourth body like she was about to scale a mountain or perform an equally difficult feat. She wiped her hands on the thigh of her jeans, not that it mattered if they were clean or not- from the state of his clothing they were bound to get covered in blood again either way, before dropping down next to the body and pulling the front, left, pocket open with her pointer finger.

With her eyes closed tight, she stuffed her hand into the pocket, the fact that its leg was swollen and felt as if it contoured around the curve of her palm sent her stomach into a frenzy of nausea. She shot a glare at the zombie and despite the fact his tongue had been hanging out of a hole torn through the skin of his cheek, seemed to be more focused at the task at hand.

”Your phone better work.” was all she managed from between gritted teeth, not daring to look just yet as she freed the phone from its pocket.

The screen had a pinpoint circle where something had slammed into it, a spiderweb of cracks reaching out in every direction to the edges of the phone. Slowly Trine hit the button to turn the screen on and the cellphone lit up in her hand, sending deep shadows across her face.

No lock screen.

Trine couldn’t fight the smile that had worked its way across her face as she ran her finger across the slider in order to get to the main part of the phone. Despite the damage it still worked. She pulled up the dial screen and started to tap in the numbers of the group in the RV (or at least the ones she knew). The sound of her heartbeat as she held her breath in anticipation pounded away in her ears.

”Come ooon, come on…”

Inside the RV there was a charged tension that was rapidly filling the space they all occupied. Everyone was on edge, people were getting shot, there were sexy disappearing cat burglars and outside the windows the world was being dragged into hell by the bloody hands of the dead and dying...

However Tony couldn't help but feel super relaxed. Now granted some of that might have been the self inflicted brain modification but after you get your world rocked by a super powered hottie it takes a lot to get you on edge again. It was like finding out you forgot to do the dishes, sure it sucked and you should probably get on that but...i mean....come on now...he was feeling pretty good right now.

Suddenly there was  sound in the RV. Not like the radio but different and it was coming from the front counsel where the GPS and stuff was located. Eyes looked around to see what was going on and on the dash board screen an unknown number blinked on the RV screen. Tony looked around and then shrugged as he walked over towards the screen and hit answer.

Tony: Apocalypse pizza. our prices will kill ya and have you coming back for more. How can i help you?

Jason walked through the wall into the destroyed office space. He had never really been a "9 to 5, suit and tie" kind of person. The idea of it was always soul crushing to him. Now as he looked around the room and the flipped over desks and blood splatter that shot up on the wall he could see that he might have been right. He heard Trine in the room behind him trying and failing to get a phone working. Jason was happy to put some distance from her and clear his head. He started to walk between the isles of destroyed cubicles. one man was slumped over in his chair with a stapler jammed deep in his skull. Another woman had a coffee slammed in her face that at one time must of read "Worlds Greatest Mom" though now it was barely readable with all the blood.

The place looked like a bomb of death and gore went off in here and Jason could hear more shuffling in the hallways outside of the space he was in. This building was full alright and there was no way that at least some of the infected weren't aware of the fresh meat making all the commotion. Both of the bodies that were left in the room had lock screens on their cell phones. Jason looked around the desks for a phone but he couldn't find anything. It was really starting to **** him off.

King: what kind of a **** office doesn't have a damn phone?

He said softly but with growing frustration. His words had caught the attention of a dead woman who had her left pinned underneath a printer. She opened her mouth and moaned, raising her arms toward him and clawing at the air. She was a young light skinned black girl with short hair. Her head listed to the left as a large chunk of her neck and been ripped out and now presumably was resting in the stomach of one of her former co-workers. Jason took a few seconds to look at her and his thoughts drifted to his family....he wondered if Hope was out there in all this. Sure for so long he was never sure if she was alive or dead but now...now the question just seemed to mean more. He stepped into the copy room and over the young girl who twisted after him. Jason could hear the bones in her leg crack as she tried to pull free of the print and drag herself to him. that's when he saw the land line connected to the wall. With renewed sense of urgency Jason walked over and grabbed the phone and dialed Tech.

ring...

ring....

ring...

No answer

King: ****

He tried again but it was the same thing. He realized that if Simon was still alive chances were he was still hiding which means he probably still couldn't talk. With most of the population of this building most like infected chances were any loud noise or conversation would cause them to all pile in as what had happened with Trine and himself. But without a cell phone he no way of letting Tech know he was in the building. He tried the phone again at this point just because he didn't know what else to do....again there was no answer. There was a loud snap of bones as the young girl tore free of her leg and began sliding towards Jason the slick of her own blood. Jason increased his density and watched her come for some reason not just crushing her outright. The zombie woman jammed her teeth on Jason kings pant leg. He could feel the cracking of her teeth as they broke against the now nigh invulnerable fabric. It was like watching a puppy play with a rawhide bone. except the bone was him and the lady was trying with all her might to get to Jason's flesh.

Suddenly the lights flickered on and off again rapidly. Jason looked up around as they room went black and light over and over again. Simon was still alive! This was good news...but now....how to get to him?

Trine had started a slow walk around the office, stepping over the fallen bodies of people turned undead, turned dead again, and frowned a little. Multiple sets of eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, clouded by a thick, greyed, film that had formed over them during the duration of their sickness. It was sad to think they must of had families and dreams before this all unfolded.

She stepped over the last body and paused for a moment as she felt something beneath her feet send back a force of reply. Blue eyes followed the spray of topsoil beneath her feet to the overturned decorative, potted, tree in the corner. The tiny grains of soil rolled across the carpeted floor like a whisper, idly sifting over the leg of the female zombie with the locked phone still cupped in her lifeless hand where Trine had left it.

The phone pressed to the blonde’s ear must have had more damage than she could see considering the ringing from the other end of the line sounded like it was underwater for the first few moments. Halfway through the last ring was cut off and as the call was answered Trine felt an enormous wave of relief wash over her.

A breathless laugh carried over the speakerphone of the RV.  Leave it to Tony Mann to still have a sense of humor while the world was crashing down and burning up around them.

”Yeah, can I have a large Post-apocalyptic Pepperoni and a Mountain dew?” she joked before realizing there were more pressing matters, ”We are heading back to the RV soon. After we find King’s friend. Is everyone okay?”

Standing still while she was on the phone, no matter how short the call was had never been a strong suit of hers. The soil doubled back, passing over her now filthy converse, and her eyes widened.

No way…

Her attention snapped up to the wall Jason King had walked through. Shouting would have just drew unwanted attention and walking out mid phone conversation would've only had the same effect. Then again, she couldn’t be too sure what she felt was real and not just her mind playing hopeless optimist.

The soiled rolled back over the woman, singular grains bouncing on their jagged edges, then over her own foot again.

The blonde walked over to a spider plant that had been hanging from a ceiling hook off in the far corner and dumped the dirt onto the floor, watching as it joined with the soil from the small tree. Rayven’s voice came over the receiver at a surprising volume, but it was good to know that she was still doing alright.

”I’m fine. I’m not coming back yet, but we will be soon. Everything is fine. He-” she paused, remembering how the city had looked miles below her feet as Jason held her out of the window by the throat, ”He’s got everything under control over here. I’m just trying to help.”

Trine raised an eyebrow, pressing her fingertips to the floor, and effectively sending the soil out as a thin blanket over the carpet. She could feel everything. The bodies at the opposite side of the office from her, her own feet, and any bits of dirt or rock that had been caught in the carpet. The grains of soil slid out from beneath the door, picking up whatever potted earth she could as it went. The only way to know if she was actually feeling a difference between the lack of energy in the bodies of the undead and the energy in anything else living was to find one that hadn’t had a letter opener jammed into its brain matter and Jason.

”You sound kinda weird are you okay?”

Tony leaned against the driver side seat.

Tony: I...

He said with a flourish and a smile that he knew she couldn't see but he hoped she could hear. 

Tony: am doing fantastic. as i am sure you are aware me and...

Kid Genius rushed over the counsel and pushed Tony away with super speed. Tony spun a little bit as he was now in the middle of the RV. He brushed himself off.

Tony: ok no that's cool too

he said under his breath but KG didn't seem to notice.

KG: Trine?! Trine hey it's Kid. Are you sure you're alright? I could run to you in less than a minute really.

Kid was filled with both a huge amount of happy relief that Trine was alive and talking but he didn't like the idea of her alone in the city full of zombies and Jason.

Jason watched the young zombie lady continue to shatter her teeth on his leg. It never for a second realized that it was getting nowhere. The once pretty little thing kept slamming it's jaws shut with all it's might cracking and shattering it's jaw against his leg. But now with the lights flickering he knew he had to move and find Tech. Not only that but he had to get back to the RV. As strong as the people in the RV were as far as he knew he and Trine were their heaviest hitters. With them both stuck here in the city getting passed the airport and into the plane was going to be very difficult in not impossible. He sent the heel of his foot into the infected ladies neck snapping it off from the rest of the body. The body went limp instantly but the head continued to chomp away. However now it rolled with the force of it's opening jaw. it now lay staring up at Jason snapping it's jaw in the air.

Jason stepped away from it and started back to the room where Trine was in when he noticed the small rolling of dirt around his feet. At first he thought something had just crashed and fell down but it soon was clear the the dirt was moving...shifting. He went back into the room to find Trine with the phone tucked between her ear and her shoulder and her finger tips in a pile of dirt that was slowly moving out.

It didn't take long for Jason to realize what she was doing. His plan had bee to go through the floors one by one but this was very good thinking on Trine's part. He had known she was much more than a pretty face but he was really grateful for that now. He nodded without saying anything to her and ran passed her and jumped out the window.

For Jason going down was always a lot easier for him than trying to go up. Sure he could weightless float into space if he really wanted to but 1) he couldn't only breath but so high and 2) It was slow. When he tried to push himself or pull himself it was more or less what happened with their office entrance. But going down was easy. Just increase your gravity and density, simple as that.
Jason shot towards the ground like a a two ton missile and crashed into the ground leaving a crater. He was wedged into the earth pretty deep but phased himself out and stood on the now ruined pathement. A group of infected, 20 plus tour bus looking people, turned his way and began reaching out for him. Jason quickly raised his hands and began to lift the rock and dirt he made from crater up into the air. He then rose with it and tried to gently push himself and the dirt off the ground below. It was shakey but he did shoot up into the sky towards their office.

Jason and the dirt over shot the window from a few floors and before he came down he watched as a dirty blonde with red lacy lingerie ripped open the chest of what looked to another woman in a power suit.

King: should have gone home...

Jason said to himself though he knew there was no way home, wherever that was, would have been any better. He lowered himself and the mounds of dirt back down to the open window and shouted.

King: Trine! take this.

 

Tony quickly stood straight and quickly pulled a zipper across his mouth. The zipper handle tapped against his cheek as he shook his head to confirm that he would no longer be speaking about it. Though he did shoot a wink in Rayven's direction before sitting back down. Tony twiddled his thumbs before nudging Jason's large friend and hooking a thumb up towards Rayven. A tattoo appeared on his forehead that read.

-Women, am i right?-

The big man seemed to just half smile half politely as his other friend, the loud shorter one, started to stir in his little bed.

”I’m glad you’re fantastic, Tony,” Trine frowned, realizing she’d never heard a reply from Rayven, which worried her a bit considering her voice had sounded so frantic- and it took a lot to unnerve her former tag team partner. KG’s voice came over the line and a small smile graced her lips,”Hey, Kid. I hear you...and no running off on your own. I’m fine. Promise.”

There was a buzz of energy through the sinew tissue that ran through her arms, like the way a spider web reverberated with the movement of an entangled insect. It wasn’t much movement, but whatever infected was out there, beyond the doors, was still alive.

Another shift in the soil and in one sudden burst of wild energy Trine had the answer to her question, there was an unmistakable difference between the feedback from the undead and the very much alive. The kickback of his footsteps as Jason King made his way back to the room was so strong she could almost feel it in her teeth, but that didn’t stop the enormous smile from reaching her face as she looked up at him with bright eyes. Had she been in possession of a power like Tony’s she probably would have morphed into an overly excited puppy.

Then he jumped out of the window.

”JASON-!” she jerked her head up, off of the phone that had been pinned against her shoulder, as if it would help her see past the window. Then she realized the difference between him jumping out a window and anyone else was that he’d be just fine. It had just been a gut reaction from years of being an average human being that couldn’t live through a multi-story fall to the earth.

She ducked her head back down, close enough to the phone now next to her hand.

”Sorry! We’re fine! Just fine! I got to go though! See you in a bit!”

The blonde lifted her right hand and hit the red phone icon, ending the call, before tucking the phone into the back pocket of her jeans with the same hand. When she heard her name called from the window Trine looked up from the floor to find Jason at the window with mounds of dirt. She nodded and the earth beneath her hand swung off to the side of the office that had been lined with windows, and in meer seconds the mounds collapsed like they’d been sand piles blown over in the wind, before joining the earth along the floor.

The grains moved in a dense wave, the dark colour of earth only giving way to the lighter tan of scattered grain once she pushed it further out- using every square inch she could get to find something other than the dull pull of the infected that littered the building. It was quick, silent, and took a considerable amount less to pull of than trying to reach the ground outside from the inside of an artificial structure. Trine could feel as the perimeter flowed over staircases, around cubicle walls, and beneath office doors. He was alive, the lights flashing earlier had been proof of that. Now, she just had to find him.

Kid smiled as Trine spoke to him. He couldn't help but give a small laugh of relief. He was about to respond when suddenly Trine shouted.

: TRINE?! What's going on?! I am coming don't worry

KG was out of the RV before anyone could stop him. He tucked his head and ran down the street, zigzag ingredients through degree and corpses. He had seen the building with the flashing lights before so he remembered exactly where you go. He was feeling a lot better than before but this second wind was still pretty flimsy in comparison to what he was normally. Still he raced down the street at the around the speed of a motorbike.

He already felt he left Trine on her own before he was not going to abandon her again.

...............

KID Genius was out of the RV before anyone could really do anything. Trine responded that she was fine but Kid was already gone and he couldn't really think of a way to catch him. Tony unzipped his mouth.

Tony: um....so....

But Trine already hung up the phone.

Tony: alrighty then...would anyone else like to run off into the apocalypse? I am kinda cool staying in the RV but if EVERYBODY'S doing it..

Tony did was he was told and re-zipped his mouth again. There was something different in her voice though than her normal harsh tone and sure enough it was confirmed as the psycho diva sat gently in his lap and put her head on his shoulder. For a split second Tony felt that twinge of fear one might feel if a snake was slithering around it's neck but it dissipated as he slowly put his hand softly on Rayven's head and slowly began to stroke her hair. Tony's other hand fell over her legs and the two just sat there for a moment.

Rayven was worried about their friends...ok she was worried about Trine. Tony had no allusions that she cared whether or not Jason and Ken lived or died. But even so it was strange seeing Rayven so...human...even though she was hiding it pretty well. All things considered though with the way things were outside the walls of the RV clinging on to being human seemed like the only thing to do.

Tony: yeah...

Tony said softly.

Tony: They'll be back.

........................

Kid Genius was slowing down now. For the first few moments he was on open road he could really cut loose but now in the city it was a much different story. Bloody hands cut gashes into themselves grasping for him through shattered windows, the sounds of moans and gnashing teeth seemed to echo from every direction. Not to mention the screams, gun shots, about a million car alarms, fire alarms, and sirens. It was so much noise and danger that KG knew he had to travel carefully or else he would run into a situation he couldn't run out of.

KG: Hold on Trine...Just another minute.

He said to himself as he ran up the hood of a can and passed the family who tearing each other apart inside.

He sped down the street and quickly stopped as he saw a young man, dressed in what looked to be a flying monkey costume from the wizard of Oz, being stalked by both what looked to be a zombie member of the lollipop guild and an infected Scarecrow. It was just strange enough for Kid Genius to think for a second that this all might be a very very horrible dream. However he quickly remembered that The Wizard of Oz was playing on an off broadway stage. KG quickly ran for they young man and pulled him about 3 blocks down and into relatively, very relative, safety.

Monkey: WHAT?! WHA?! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!! WHAT'S GOING ON?!! WHO...WHO ARE YOU? WHAT IS HAPPENING??

KG slapped the young monkey man across the face. Normally he would have tried to talk with the young man but he had no idea how much Trine was in trouble and he didn't have the seconds to spare. He must have slapped the man a lot harder than he had thought because he eyes glossed over. Kid shook him until he came back to the present.

KG: Listen to me man! Hey listen to me! You need to get to get somewhere safe. try to get out of the city if you can but if not you need to get some supplies and...

It was then that Kid Genius noticed the blood oozing from his costume pant leg. There was a huge bite mark on it and the skin around had black veins spiderwebbing out in all directions. Kid's heart sank.

KG: lock yourself in a room.

Monkey: but you just said to try and...

KG: i know i know but it's to crazy out right now man. You need to find yourself a closet or a walk in safe or something sturdy where nothing can get and lock the door ok? Just wait there until the army or someone get's here to clean up this mess.

The young monkey man looked like he was going to protest but KG shook him.

KG: GO!

The actor took off running and KG watched him for a few seconds. He had just turned the corner when suddenly a pack of dogs jumped on him and began to rip him apart.

KG: HOLY ****!!

Kid couldn't help himself. There were eight dogs, all different kinds, and two of them turned to look in his direction. Their eyes were black and blood was dripping from their mangled maws. They didn't bark or anything they just opened their mouths and noise rolled out. Not a growl or a howl but just a noise that caused the other dogs to snap their heads in KG's direction.

KG: holy ****

KG said again as all at once the dogs took off after him. For a moment KG genius was frozen in fear. Then he took off trying his best to leave the dogs behind him.

There was another drop as the collected earth poured through what had only been felt as a dead space before. Now Trine could tell it had been a large hole blown through the floor of the office space three stories down. Whatever had happened there must have been beyond chaotic considering the space was littered with dead bodies, and as the soil poured through the opening Trine could feel an even greater number of zombies- all sort of gaggling around one side on the floor below.

She pushed further, following the rise and fall of overturned furniture, flipped desks left behind by the occupants that had tried to survive, but only joined the rising number of undead. The stairwell had been barricaded with furniture so tightly packed together the soil had more or less syphoned through in order to reach the rest of the office. Further still there was another barricade, this time on the inside of the door that belonged to some sort of room at the center. Blue eyes squinted down at the floor beneath her fingertips as she tried to discern where, exactly the earth had found itself. Then she felt it.

Another burst of energy, similar to Jason’s in the sense that whoever it was, they were alive, but it had its own individual feel to it- more mellow in the undertones.

”I think I got him.”a strange feeling welling up in her chest like she’d inhaled lungs full of helium as she looked to Jason King with a smile, ”He’s four floors down. Barricaded himself on a room at the middle. There is a ton of those things down there.”

Jason had to force down a sigh of relief and a smile as Trine relayed the location of his friend. He stepped back into the room and walked over to Trine. His hand moved out to touch Blue Eyes on the shoulder but then he stopped himself. Instead he simply brushed the dirt off his pants and spoke.

King: Do you think you could make an outline of where he is?

Jason drew a box in the air like a circle.

King: like if he could get right on top of him do you think you could give me an outline of where he is. We might be able to skip passed all of those infected.

The earth veiled over the floor came to a stop when Trine lifted her fingers from the ground as she moved to stand up.

”It’s worth a shot.”

It had been fifteen years since the strange, crystalline meteors touched down on Earth. When they'd first landed Trine slowly started to realize a new found ability, mostly just to feel things around her at the time,  she had done her best to sort of ignore it, or explain it away. One had landed in North Dakota after all (maybe it was just some weird space side effect), but when she asked one of her brothers if he felt any different recently Trine discovered she had been an isolated case. A few years later, however, Trine Larsen learned whatever happened to her was far more complicated than just feeling a little off.

-

Sleep hadn’t been all too easy. Her father blamed it on being in High School. ”It’s a stressful time.” he’d said and the blonde just assumed he had been right. Walks through neatly mapped out streets of her neighborhood in Bismarck at strange hours in the morning had become a thing. There wasn’t anything too incredibly dangerous about the town outside of the usual stuff, but lower middle class wasn’t exactly known for how safe the streets were when the sun had yet to kiss the earth. So, while she was wary, Trine wasn’t exactly in fear for her life either.

She had wandered through the thin stretch of wooded property that ran the length of the houses just before the train tracks, and onto the gravel stretch alongside the rails. Every now and then the lamp posts scattered along the tracks where the lines were grounded would illuminate the geometric chips of rock beneath her feet as she walked. The rumble of the train thrummed in the soles of her feet even though she couldn’t hear it yet, as it traveled miles down the track. Blue eyes followed along the dips of the metal track, turned the same color of red clay from age in spots, to the tree line, to the perfect triangle of sky peeking out from the trees and rooftops when she felt something wash over her.

The heart beating away in her chest became so heavy it was as if it had slowly started to slip towards her feet. Twangs of pain slithered through her ribs like snapped rubber bands and she could almost visualize the veins and arteries attached to that heavy heart breaking off as it continued to sink. There was a lot of feelings beneath the somber sort of quiet. Anxiety, hopelessness, and shame. A toxic combination of caring too much and tired of caring at all. For a moment she couldn’t take another step, her eyes wide as she wracked her mind for why she had suddenly started to feel this way- before noticing it felt like it had been dropped onto her instead of bubbling up from inside. The roar of the train was in earshot now and its whistle blared as it rolled through the first railroad crossing.

Trine didn’t know what it was, but something told her to turn around. She would be forever grateful that she did.

Meandering towards the tracks, in a way that said he was all too prepared for what he was asking for, was a man. He couldn’t have been much older than her father, late thirties maybe, with an unkempt beard and a dirty knitted cap that pushed down wild, filthy curls, of brown hair with salt and pepper streaks.

”Hey!” she called, managing to force a step forward out of the feet that had started to feel like they’d taken root in the earth, ”HEY! The train is coming!”

The man just raised a hand lazily over his shoulder, brushing off her exclamation with a heavy sigh. Her eyes went wide as the wash of light from the front of the train came over them. There wasn’t much she could remember, just that her feet finally left the ground and once they did she had moved so fast she could feel the burn in her muscles like Trine had torn them to shreds. And then-

CRASH

When her eyes blinked open after being squeezed shut so tight she’d elicited a headache from nothing, they were met with darkness. There was no sound other than her own breathing and the soft, quiet whimper of the man she could feel her arms wrapped around.

”Hoooooly ****…” that was it. She must have tried push the man out of the way and this was death. She remembered thinking something along the lines that it was going to suck if it turned out there was no heaven or hell and she was spending eternity in the dark holding a homeless man, and then something dropped against her shoulder.

Trine reached a hand up, brushing away...rocks? Blue eyes turned upward and a streak of light broke through a hole, and the walls slowly crumbled away. It was some kind of dome, constructed of the very gravel she had been walking over only minutes ago, and as the sides fell away Trine realized the entire front of the locomotive was destroyed. Bent and twisted metal curled around the two of them like knobby fingers of an arthritic hand.

”Oh God….” she slowly rose to her feet, blue eyes fixed on the wide eyes of the conductor staring straight back at her meer inches ahead. The man still kneeling down on the ground reached up to place a hand on her hip and when Trine looked down at him a single tear had rolled down his filthy cheek, leaving a clean streak of skin in its wake.

Panic washed over her and it was entirely her own. This was not good. This was not good. Oh man, she couldn’t pay to fix a train! Dad was going to kill her. Oh man, oh man-

”Don’t ever do that again!” she nearly shouted at the man now smiling up at her like he’d seen a miracle. Technically it wasn’t too far off when she thought about it. It was insensitive, but it was the only thing she could think to say.

And then she ran.

The only thing to surface was what appeared to be the raving claims of a mad, homeless, fellow and the fuzzy recollections of an admittedly tired, and overworked train conductor. Must have been a chunk of a downed tree that should have been cleared from the tracks. Maybe some kids pushed a rock onto it as a bad prank…

After that she never truly bothered with honing the newfound...talent...she’d acquired. When the wave registration for people like her Trine had willingly filled out form after form and watch a low budget video on how she (along with the few others in the room with her) was now considered ‘dangerous’ and needed to act ‘responsibly,’ follow these rules, or she was going to jail for a very long time. They basically asked that they lock themselves away in their homes and just forget they possessed any kind of abilities.

Forgetting had been tough. Teenagers weren’t exactly known for their level headed expression of emotion- so more often than not she was fighting off the invasive emotions of Sharon’s post break-up hysteria, or Shawn’s puberty spurred rage fits, while trying to focus on a Robert Frost poem in AP. The ground never moved for her again, but then again she never tried.

Eventually she’d gotten curious and started small projects when she’d moved to Santa Cruz. Trine had started building, small things, and sand castles mostly. It was oddly therapeutic and low key enough that she didn’t worry too much about getting stuffed in a trunk by some AntiGEM lunatic.

-

There wasn’t much she knew as far as what she could do. And it was strange, but in the short time she’d spent with Jason King she had learned more about her own ability and strength than she had bothered to explore in fifteen years. For a moment she felt like anything was possible. Maybe it was. Who knew. There was only one way to find out.

”The floor above him has a huge hole in it, but it’s off to the side. We could stand right over where he’s at and be alright. Do you have something in mind?”

King: yeah...

Jason made his hand intangible and put it through Trine's chest. She might feel a certain tingling but otherwise Jason knew he would pass through her bassically like She, or he more accurately, wasn't even there.

King: Ghost down, grab Tech, Ghost up, and then we find away out of here.


-

If it is one thing Jason King had learned throughout his years of life is that the world is never going to do you any favors. Chances are in most cases the universe seems to actually go out of it's way to **** you over. That was the case when the sky fell.

The crystals from outer space hit the entire world. There were very little places of earth not effected by them. NYC was one of the most hit areas in North America and also received the most media attention. However what most of the news stories and seemed to leave out was that while the US government went through great effort to rebuild and revitalized the more affluent parts of New York for the cameras the ghettos were more or less forced to fend for themselves.
Even now it was not uncommon to see houses with glowing hunks of crystal in their yard or logged in cracked sidewalk. Sure the big pieces were dragged away but nothing was fixed and it was anything but thorough.

It was because of this why so many low income areas, cities, ghettos began to develop such a high number of G.E.M.'s. Kids in Jason's neighborhood could be seen trading bits of the crystal for lunch money and basketball cards on a daily bases. Now if one were to throw gasoline on a fire they'd get an explosion. So it was no surprise that when the government decided to leave DNA altering space debris in some of the most violent, dangerous, and crime saturated areas in the country it turned into hell pretty darn quickly.

Almost 70% of the G.E.M. news shown throughout the world were video the various ghetto's and low income crime areas. Every night people tuned in and watched what looked like super powered monsters doing battle "just down the road" (as the news would spin it). Jason remembered watching out his window as the cops tried to take down one of the local drug dealers who had gained the ability to spit acid like a fire hose...He killed five police officers and horrifically scarred seven more before they finally shot him dead. The cameras caught it all and the world was fed more of footage of the "G.E.M. menace". The fear spread like wildfire. Flames fanned by the coincidence that, In america anyway, so many G.E.M.s just so happened to be the same type of people that middle america was already afraid of to begin with.

This was the world Jason was living in. The cops, who were already pretty trigger happy to begin with, had basically the public backing to shoot anyone who so much as blinked aggressively. And the crime element gained the firepower to level whole buildings in some cases which led to more destructive gang wars constantly.

And then the UN incident happened....

Jason was woken up by his mother telling him that he needed to get dressed and that they were leaving. Jason rubbed his eyes as he didn't understand what she was talking about. He could hear his sister next to him asking their mom what time it was but their mother was so frantic that all she do was repeat that they needed to get dressed and get out of their apartment. Jason could hear sounds in the other room of his father grabbing things. He got out of bed to see him franticly packing suit cases with everything and anything he could grab. Jason could hear his sister start to cry back in their room. Jason remembered his father stopping for a moment and looking in his eyes and simply saying.

William King Sr.: They are coming son. We have to get to the church.

If one has evered lived in a place like Bronx New York no one has to explain who "they" are. You live in constant fear of "Them" and you know full well that whether "They" are wearing bandanas or badges the best thing for you to do was to be far away before "They" arrived. Jason turned and ran back in his room. He put on a shirt, pants, socks, a pair of run down old running sneakers and his brothers army jacket...everything else could burn for all he cared. His sister was clutching her favorite stuffed animal as their mother got her dressed. It was then that Jason could hear the doors being broken down. There was shouting and screaming from further down the hall and Jason could see from outside his barred window that blue and red flashing lights were everywhere. His father was trying to carry three suitcases but kept tripping over himself as he tried to get out of the house. JAson ran up beside him and took one without saying a word.

The King's left their door unlocked in hopes that it would keep the squads from breaking it down. They shuffled down a few flights of stairs moving as quietly and as quickly as they could. Eventually they got the back alley section behind their apartment. As they headed down the backway towards the church Jason turned to see men in what looked like special army uniforms beating an old lady. Her wrinkled arms stretched out shaking from years of life and present pain. Jason saw something that looked like a flower growing out of her hand before the army people opened fire on her. Jason's mom pulled him close to her and turned his head away but she could not erase what he had witnessed.

By some miracle they managed to make it to the backstreet behind their church. It seemed like they had all aged a hundred years from the things they saw on that frightful journey. They were about to enter through the back when two squad cars pulled up and four officers jumped out of their vehicles with guns drawn. Jason's father begged the officers to lower their weapons, his mother frantically tried to get Hope to stop crying, and all the while the officers screamed at the family to get on the ground. His father told him to do as he was told so Jason began lowering himself to the ground as he had seen time and time again outside his window, fingers interlocked no sudden moves. However Hope was to scared to whipped up into a frenzy of terror to do anything but cry. Their mother tried to get Hope down on the ground but the officers began shouting louder and louder. Jason could hear the sound of their hammers pulled back. Hope thrusted her stuffed animal out to protect herself and that's when Jason knew she had made her final mistake, no sudden moves.

The a cop shouted that they were being attacked and one of them shouted to hold their fire. In the split second of indecision Jason lept to his feet and threw himself over Hope. the sound of gun shots rang out in a horrible chorus. It was so loud but Jason could still hear his mother, father, Hope, and himself scream. However after moment the bullets stopped and Jason opened his eyes to find that, though his clothes were in smoking tatters he was perfectly fine.

The bullets had bounced off him leaving holes everywhere. His father grasped his leg as one of the ricochets had embedded itself in his thigh. The cops looked at Jason in horror as they shouted "HE'S ONE OF THE FREAKS!!!"

but that's when everything changed....he WAS one of the freaks. And nothing...no one...would ever hurt him again. Jason roared out with the bale of life lived so long in darkness and felt the air around the cops shift in change with his rage. They screamed out in absolute pain and sheer horror as they collapsed underneath the weight of the world around them. Bones snapped and ground together as the officers were crushed into a paste on the ground before his family. His rage spent Jason took a few deep breaths and fell to his knees, threw up, and then passed out on the cold ground.

-

King: There is no reason to smash through them all if we don't have to. You just give me the outline of the room where he's in and i'll go in and get him. Then start figuring out how we are going to get to the RV.

Trine blinked, staring down at the hand that had gone through her. The first few moments there had been a tingling like there was a handful of pop-rocks pushed into her chest, but it faded quickly leaving no feeling at all. If she hadn’t just looked from the hand phased through her to the deep eyes of its owner Trine wouldn’t believe there was anything there at all.

”...that is so **** cool…” it was a quiet statement, but almost awestruck, like she’d seen the Northern Lights for the first time.

Then she realized it had been a little too close to spoken admiration and seemed to bolster a bit, looking away from Jason King as she took a step back. There had always been a certain level of admiration for the champion standing across from her. He had always managed to be braver than her in a number of respects- both within the company and now through this widespread disaster. So, while his physical tactics at the company had been more or less questionable in her opinion; he spoke his mind, something she often had to be pushed into doing, and was unapologetic of it. That and the degree of level headedness King had displayed since the groups had joined at the RV only seemed to foster that admiration further.

But she’d be damned if she let him know outright.

”I think I can get a feel for it from here. There’s enough ground since you brought it up. Saves us having to go to down some floors to get that close.”

Her feet shuffled a bit, gaining purchase on the scatter of dirt beneath them. Trine closed her eyes and let out a long exhale, doing her best to clear her mind, before the earth snapped into one thin line that trailed out of the room, into the open office of cubicles, and back to where she had felt Tech. There was a short span of silence and no visible moment from the soil sent off to do a job, even if her eyebrows had furrowed a bit while her eyes remained closed.

”Alrighty, here goes nothing.” a short, nervous laugh was evident in her voice.

For the first few moments she hadn’t bothered to open her eyes, focusing more on making sure she had all of the details mapped out carefully. It didn’t seem to impede much as the whispered hiss of friction filled the room as millions of tiny grains of earth were sent up from the ground in one, singular, line. The outline of the room had started to form, level by level as if some sort of three dimensional etch-a-sketch had simply popped up between the two wrestlers standing in the empty office.

For the most part the grains sent out to get a mapped out version of the room (and a few meters of the area surrounding) it had blanketed every surface, crawled up the walls, and along the ceiling- but (to her at least) it felt rude to just bury Jason’s friend essentially. Instead she had left a placeholder, empty spots on the floor of the constructed room where Tech’s left foot had been planted, next to a smaller circle(possibly a knee), and the perfectly sculpted negative of a hand. He’d been crouched behind what looked like some sort of overturned supply cabinet once it had been formed.

Blue eyes blinked open as the last level of the walls slid into place. There was a quick, and very brief cycle of emotions as she looked at the outline; surprise, then pride, before she looked back up at Jason King. By then the expression on her face was a mix of relief that they had found his friend and joy that not only was he okay, but Jason could reach him.

”That’s him.” her smiled widened a bit, before she caught it and pulled it back under control. Good news had been pretty rare since this whole thing started, she couldn’t help it.

Jason watched as the World Champion closed her eyes and readied herself. He watched as her power went to work recreating and outlining the place where Tech had found shelter. Her face was scrunched with concentration as the grains of earth shifted and moved at her command. She certainly had power...more power than she probably even realized. Jason was sure that if anyone would be able to survive this zombie outbreak it would be the woman who could make Gia her ****. The only thing stopping her was the fact that she cared to much, she was to nice. Jason could see it in her eyes as she opened them and looked towards his direction. She had a wide smile on her face like she had just fixed the wing of a broken bird. She quickly composed herself. The smell of blood covered corpses seemed to kill any happy mood he may have been in but he knew that even though he, and Trine where not in any immediate threat the rest of their convoy were so he didn't have time to take in the sight of Blue Eye's thinly hidden pride.

King: Good work. I'll get him and then we need to move. Every second we are in this city is a second we are begging for death.

Jason took a deep breath and phased down somewhere near Trine and shown Tech hiding. He allowed gravity to take him down but tried to slow his descent as much as he could. Jason had lasted this long he didn't want his last moments to be solidifying inside a wall and killing himself.

The RV made it onto the free way from the city. Jason's nameless friend was doing his best to dodge the other vehicles that managed to made it out of the city and were likewise headed as far away from the carnage as they could. Most of the other cars were not so lucky as Tony could see crash after crash outside of the window. The RV shook and swerve violently. Tony held Rayven tight to him to keep her from falling, growing an extra arm to help him steady himself. Though this action made him feel very woozy as he realized he hadn't had any juice in quite some time now.

Tony: Any chance there's a drive through on the way to this zombie airport?

The looks on everyone's faces made it clear that the question was not well received.

Tony: ok...i'll just hit the food court than.

The Man in Black flipped on the radio and a voice filled the RV. it was a monotone robotic female voice.

{...ency broadcast system. This is not a drill. Remain in your homes and lock your doors. This is the Emergency broadcast system. This is not a drill. Remain in your homes and...}

The Man in Black changed the station and after a bit of static a man with a british sounding accent could be hear.

{...coming in from all over the world. United States, Canada, Australia, China and France have been seemingly completely overrun. Tanks and Military personnel have been deployed on a global scale but we have yet to hear any more information on their efforts. We urge everyone who can still hear this broadcast to stay inside your homes and lock your doors. Keep any and all bitten people as far away from you as possible. This is not a prank or drill. An global infection outbreak of unknown origin is causing people to...}

There was a large crash and then a bunch of screams and the connection cut off into static.

............

Had Kid been 100% he would have left the zombie pack of dogs in the dust no problem. But he was far from 100% and these dogs didn't tire, didn't stop and didn't have to dodge nearly as many obstacles as he did. He heard the German shepherd snap his jaws at his heel but Kid didn't dare turn around to check how close the pack was. There was no pain which as far as KG was concerned meant there was no bite. Even though he was out running them for now he knew that he had to get rid of these monsters if he was ever going to reach Trine.

As he hit the corner Kid Genius slid on a large slick of something. It took a few seconds before he caught his balance and he slammed his back into a car that had found it's way slammed against a light post. Kid Genius heard the glasses shatter before he felt the pain. He tried to run but he felt hands grabbing at him from inside the car. The zombie dogs were coming straight for him and Kid knew he maybe about a second before they would eviscerate him like the young flying monkey. Kid Genius quickly began to vibrate his body until he felt the fingers of the car passengers snap and the spun off the the side. The four of the zombie dogs crashed head first into the car without stopping. They fell limp as their open jaws crushed inwards.

KG: HA HA!

However the other four simply shifted toward Kid and didn't slow down.

KG: oh COME ON!

once again Kid took off down the street. He could see the building that had it's lights flickering earlier and thankfully it was a straight shot. However even from where he was Kid could see a large group of zombies spilling out from the building and all around the area. At the speed was at now he knew he would never be able to make it between them all without getting grabbed. Not to mention that he knew that there would be just a minefield of infected once he got inside the building.

KG: think damn it think

Kid said to himself snatching up a brick on the ground and quickly chucking it behind him hitting the husky zombie in the head. IT went down without a whimper. Kid turned back and saw that high up on the building there was a broken window. Then Kid got a crazy idea...

KG: no....no....that is not gonna...

Suddenly there was an explosion behind him as a bus crashed into an apartment building. a flaming head flew over him and smashed through a store front window. He had no choice it was now or never...hopefully what he read in those "Flash" comics weren't all complete Bull. Kid Genius gritted his teeth and put everything he could into pulling ahead. The street blurred around him as he sped passed the chaos and carnage focusing on the downed tow truck that had caught his eye. He raced towards it and hit it's ramp letting out a massive shout he launched himself as high as he could into the air.

For a moment he was flying. soaring above the massive group of zombies and screaming people that were quickly being added to the ranks of the undead. He saw a massive crater filled with infected looking up at him, raising their arms and moaning. It was all so much but he couldn't think about anything else but what he was about to do, he couldn't slow down not even for a second.

The instant his foot hit the side of the building he could hear the window began to shatter. With another scream he quickly pushed himself up right and off the quickly breaking glass upwards. One step after another he pushed himself up wards...he was doing it!!

KG: AAHH!! HA HA HA!!!

Kid let out a shout mixed with an amazed laugh. He was running up the side of a building!!! He couldn't wait to tell Tony! Now that his eyes were opened he could see the open window getting closer and closer. He figured once inside he could fight his way down and find Trine. It was at that moment that KG realized that he wasn't even sure that Trine was IN this building. Rayven had just mentioned and it had looked strange with all of it's lights blinking at the same time. He pushed the thought down because the alternative meant that Trine could be anywhere in the city and that could mean....anything.

AS Kid made it into the window he quickly shifted his center of gravity to send him running into the open window. Before he knew it thought he was sliding on a large slick of blood and tripping over a body, a lot of bodies. He tried to catch himself and as he did so hit something soft. He pushed against hard and realized it was a person...But not just any person IT WAS TRINE!

KG: Trine? TRINE!!!

Now Kid Genius was faster than most things however one thing in this world that always seemed to outpace him was his better judgement. This seemed to be be one of those times as before he could stop himself Kid Genius took Trine's head in both of his hands and pulled her in close, kissing her deeply. After what was actually a second  in real time but seemed like a million years to Kid Genius reality came back to tap KG on the shoulder. Kid pulled away from Trine and held her at arms length, utter shock filling his whole body and stunning him into trembling silence. At this moment every single word in the dictionary, which Kid Genius had read and retained, was blurring in his mind all that came out his mouth was.

KG: ...........uh.....

King: You've got to be kidding me

Kid Genius almost didn't turn his eyes away from Trine to see Jason King standing in the room holding a man that he barely recognized. Once again everything in the world seemed to slow down and Kid Genius found himself with absolutely no idea what to do.

As Jason floated down the office building he could see that the place was infested with zombies of all shapes and sizes. He didn't dare stop because he had to make sure he had enough air in lungs to make it to Tech but as he phased from the ceiling on one floor to the next he saw an infected man, who must have been a G.E.M. because he had tusks, goring a woman to death as a co-worker tried to beat him away with a broom. Just as Jason sunk through the floor he watched as tusk man whirled around and bite down on the broom ladies arm.

This kind of chaos was happening all over the city Jason knew it. If you were to factor in how densely populated the area was it was no doubt that the whole city would be either infected or dead in an hour maybe less. Jason passed through another floor that was completely on fire. The infected ghouls just shambled around heads snapping towards noise as they slowly burned away.

Eventually Jason floated down right in front of Simon. Simon had been just like Trine had said barricaded behind a supply cabinet. Jason actually phased right through the cabinet and had to take a couple of steps back to make sure he didn't resolidify inside it. With a gasp of air Jason returned to corporial form. Tech looked at him with surprise and shock.

King: we're leaving

Jason spoke. Tech waved his hands and motioned for Jason to be quiet but it was too late. The door, which Jason was just no realizing was busted inwards, was pushed over by three infected people. One of which was a police officer whose uniform was riddled with bullet holes. The other two looked like regular business people but they now their clothes were stained with blood and bile. Jason shot his hand out and sent a shock wave of gravity through their center mass cutting them in half. However they simply fell backwards and then turned around and began clawing toward them on their hands. Jason quickly grabbed the gun on the police officers uniform and then kicked the legs down on the ground.

Tech: I've been signaling you. Took you long enough

King: Now is really not the **** time.

Jason said throwing the cabinet away from Tech and decreasing it's gravity until it floated in the air like a balloon. Then he dropped he pushed it forward and dropped it down with extra weight until it cracked the floor and crushed two of the three zombies like ants underneath a boot. However even more infected started to pour into the room like a flood and Jason ran to Tech and grabbed him by the shoulders.

King: Take a breath.

He said. Simon knew better than to question and did what he was told. Jason took ahold of of Tech and jumped. He increased he decreased their gravity and decreased their density letting the momentum of the jump rocket them upwards. The strain it took to do both of these things was more than Jason would ever let on. His eyes stung as he soon realized that he did not take nearly enough of a breath to sustain him. He pushed down with his powers trying to will them both up to the floor where had came from.

Lucky for Jason and Tech they managed to reach the right floor just as Jason ran out of air and gasped them back solid. That's when Jason turned his head and saw...that kid from the RV?

He had Trine up against the wall and his lips against hers. Jason was too busy trying to catch his breath to react at first to what he was seeing. Tech looked toward the seen with a raised eyebrow and a glance toward Jason.

King: You've got to be kidding me?

Jason said he said putting the index and middle finger of each hand against his temples while taking a few more deep breaths.

King: What the **** are you even DOING here?

At first Jason had expected an answer but then Jason saw out of the corner of his eye that infected had began piling into the adjacent room and they all had a clear line of sight to where they were.

Tech: This seems like a ill conceived time to...

Jason put both of his hands up stopping Simon's words

King: You know what **** it! i don't even care right now. We don't have time to stand around we need to get out of here.

Trine had nodded, watching as Jason King went through the floor until there was no longer any trace. It hadn’t occurred to her until that very moment if he were to leave to get his friend that meant he was leaving her on the floor alone. It was a brief thing. She was sure it would be brief at least, but suddenly everything felt so incredibly silent. Sounds of the city drifted in through the broken window; car alarms, the whooping of police sirens that belonged to squad cars long since abandoned, and the droning buzz of infected moaning as they sloughed through the street below.

There were no longer any screams. At least not that she could hear and it was that revelation that made the small period of silence really terrifying. She didn’t know where the RV was, but she knew they had been safe. ‘Had been’ being what weighed most heavily on her mind. This was the kind of situation where mere seconds after she had hung up the cellphone something catastrophic could have happened. A cold pit formed in her stomach like she’d swallowed a bag of ice whole. With the amount of undead rampaging through the city there was no way people could survive very long. Their group was probably the only few still left and that wouldn’t last much longer if they didn’t get a move on.

Her eyes traveled around the room now nothing but a disheveled mess in their wake. The blood from the greater undead that Jason had beaten into a pulp over the collapsed desk had long bled out all it had left early on. The floor was still slick with it’s blood that had now started to coagulate, leaving a strange dried film over the top of like cellophane. Whenever a particularly strong breeze pushed past the drawn vinyl blinds they would almost howl and the blood would ripple causing the thin film to crinkle, leaving patches of it spidered like micro cracks in ice. Chunks of its flesh stood out like small islands in a sea of pitch black.

The lull in activity afforded her the time to realize that as the adrenaline wore off she had started to feel exhausted. There was drained and then beyond that there was the level of listlessness she felt in her bones. It was almost like breathing was too much work and all her body wanted to do was sleep- and it didn’t care where. Trine never ate before a match- she learned that lesson the hard way after her trainer, Jace, hit her in the stomach with a shoulder. She spent her Friday night cleaning the canvass and reinstalling it. Then when there was something to eat she had been too concerned with how Kid was feeling between having almost died and dealing with the decision to not stop for people.

The amount of energy she afforded to her power to try and help the group get away, and then to help Jason try and locate his friend had been immense. She pushed through it all on sheer willpower and her want to be of some use. She wanted to make sure when they returned Teddy, Jason, Big, and the nameless man in black would not need to mourn the loss of another friend.

But there was always those wise words of wisdom that you needed to take care of yourself before you could take care of others.

….she’d always had a shoddy memory when it came to that….

The blonde shivered, turning away from the body, only to find the bodies of the zombies she had disposed of herself. The holes bored into their skulls slowly leaking out the remainder of fluid that had been held there mixed in with the dark tar coloured blood. Her shoulders dropped trying to shake off the misplaced panic of being alone when she heard glass shatter outside.

Trine Larsen backed away from the windows that lined the entire one side of the office, not sure what would have been breaking windows, and positive she didn’t want to find out. She backed up until she felt the wall an inch or two behind her and started to desperately pray it wasn’t some kind of winged zombie- although that would be her luck.

And then suddenly Kid Genius was there, stumbling over the bodies of the downed zombies in an awkward sort of dance with natural balance. He’d tried to catch himself and in doing so pushed Trine back hard enough that the last inch behind closed and the wall met her back. She blinked, blue eyes staring down at Kid in a mix of shock and disbelief everything having happened too quickly for any real train of thought to have processed and left the station.

”Kid!? Why are you her-”

The question was cut short, however, as KG took Trine’s head into his hands and pressed his lips to her own. The speed in which he moved made things difficult, by the time one action clicked in her mind, he had already moved on to next. It had lasted no more than a second and in that time all the blonde had manage to do was raise her hands up from her sides. If that was to pull him closer or simply out of shock she wasn’t sure before there wasn’t enough time afforded to find out.

 A few things stood out to her as peculiar as they were. The first of them firing off was the realization of how warm his mouth had felt against hers. Quickly followed by: that she must have been colder in the early winter breeze than she had previously realized considering every part of Kid that had met with her as he pulled Trine close felt like it was on fire. And the last, oddly enough; were if her lips had been chapped.

She absentmindedly pressed her lips together. Nope. Her lipgloss held up suprisingly well. If anyone is still alive after this that could be a decent selling point for them.

Then the second was over and she was left to stare at him, with wide blue eyes, from arm's length like she’d been hit by a bus and couldn’t figure out why she was still alive.

Trine Larsen had not memorized the dictionary. In all honesty she had trouble remembering what she had for breakfast some mornings, and on bad days was a shining example of where dumb blonde jokes came from, but she was sure there was a word for this kind of situation.

”.....uh……”

Well. She did her best.

The heat in her cheeks had been more than evident, but when she heard Jason King’s voice as testament that this had not gone unwitnessed it felt like she had pressed her cheeks flat against the face of the sun. How was it that she was never afforded the personal space to deal with these sort of things without having what was starting to feel like an omnipotent observer.

Then she realized something. If Kid Genius was here...he wasn’t with the RV.

Whatthe ****are you even doing here?”

She hadn’t sounded as bothered by the entire situation as Jason was- more confused than anything. Trine had said they were fine on the phone and even specifically told him that he didn’t need to rush over to help. Where did he even find the energy to make it all the way here? What about the rest of the group in the RV!? Did he just not trust her to be able to handle herself, or was it that he didn’t trust Jason?

”Can you make us three weightless?” she turned to Jason, trying to bypass the situation at hand until they had the time and safety to deal with it, ”like with the window?”

Her voice wavered a bit, she couldn’t tell if it was from the second wave of exhaustion or the memory of watching her own hair drift past her face while being held out of a window by her throat.

”If you still have enough energy to run would there be some way to bring us with you? It sounds stupid, but it could….work….?” the face she made made it clear even she had doubts about the viability of the idea. In all honest she was just trying to throw an idea at the wall to see if it would stick before the fuzzy, black, border around her vision closed in.

Trine started to slowly lower herself to the ground, keeping her back against the wall.

”...I….don’t feel so hot. So...maybe we can decide on….something quickly…”

KG: Trine? Trine what's going on?

The kid in orange began to panic as the world champ slide against the wall. She was fading, Jason had assumed as much. None of them had prepared for the life or death battle they were currently engaged in and as strong as he knew Trine was he knew her power wasn't infinet. If she didn't rest soon there was a good chance she would be out cold. Tech looked at Jason and he knew that they were both thinking  the same thing...

They could leave them both...Jason didn't like the speedy orange brat at all and without him there would be one less seat to fill the plane. Trine on the other hand...well....They still had to battle through to the airport and that would be a lot easier with Trine in the picture. However if she was out for the count than leaving her now would cause them a lot less deadweight in the future. Whether or not Tech knew what Trine did for him wouldn't change his mind, he was too much of a computer brain. Simon went by the facts and number which right now pointed to the very high probability that leaving them both here now was their best course of survival. Jason stood for a second looking at Trine...her eyes slowly starting to gloss over.

King: god damn it

Jason said to quietly to himself as he walked over towards Trine. He took a knee and tried to look into her eyes. However the little speed bug pushed him

KG: get away from her! Give her some room man

King: I don't have time for this romeo...

Jason took him by the collar then increased his personal gravitational pull to the wall and let go pinning him against it with a massive thud. Jason looked at him.

King: You seem to have forgotten what i told you earlier and i swear i will paste you if you ever touch me again. Now when i let you down you are gonna take your little legs and find me 4 fire extinguishers. If you care about little miss Blue Eyes over here you'll put your machoness aside and **** do what i say. Or i am gonna leave you both here and bring this whole building down on top of you just for shits and giggles.

His eyes locked on to the kids with fiery intensity. The threat was more than less empty. Jason was pretty sure that he didn't have the energy to level the building. To the kids credit he never blinked or looked away from Jason as he spoke but after a moment he slowly nodded his head yes, another impressive feat seeing how much his head weighed at the moment. Jason returned him to normal and the kid looked at Jason for a moment like he was gonna try something else but then he looked at Trine and his face softened like snow. He then shot off down out of the room and Jason could here the smashing of heads. He probably took out the few zombies that were making their way into their area.

Tech: We should leave her here.

King: I know

Jason said without turning to Tech. He slowly pushed the hair away from Trines face and tried to get a read of her condition though it was clear that she was fading.

Tech: She is a liability now

King: i'm aware

Tech: So why are we not leaving.

Jason thought about this for a second. Why was he helping them, helping Trine more specifically...it made no real sense when he put it out. But then Jason sighed and remembered the sight of Trine dangling from the window by her neck, his hands gripping her above the broken city, all for trying to comfort him. Jason turned to Tech and spoke softly.

King: I think i owe her one this time.

Kid was going to kick Jason's ass. Speeding out of the room he took out his frustrations on the 4 lumbering moaning infected in the room next to the rest of the group. Speeding passed them he ripped a computer monitor from it's stand and crushed their skulls in before dropping in on the ground and racing out.

KG: Son of a ****..

He mumbled to himself as he smashed the first emergency glass holding a fire extinguisher. He had NO idea what the heck Jason was on about but at the moment he knew that as amped as he was...he kissed Trine...there was in no way he would be able to get both himself and Trine...who he kissed...back to the RV safely where then would then proceed to talk about how he KISSED HER!

KG: stupid stupid stupid

Kid said to himself ducking underneath of a grasping zombie and smashing his head with the butt of the extinguisher. He didn't know what had come over him and he was pretty sure that if they all lived long enough to make it out of the city he was going to throw himself off the nearest bridge out of sheer embarrassment. As he turned the corner he found a second fire extinguisher and broke it out of it's glass case.

KG: hold on...

Kid realized something that he really should have figured out a second ago...He did not have enough hands. Kid Genius shook his head and picked up the second. A thought crossed his mind that Jason had sent him on this mission to get him out of the way and leave him here....but he wouldn't...ok he totally would.

Kid started off back towards the rest of the team.   

This was probably pretty bad.

Trine looked to Jason as he pushed her hair back. She had managed to keep herself conscious, deciding to to forego her usual stubborn streak had played a big role in that. The dark seemed to back off for a bit as she sat on the floor. It was more than likely her blood sugar, she’d felt like this a few times when she hadn't eaten breakfast before track practice in the morning. There was just nothing to work off of, not enough rest, or fuel, or energy…

”I’m good. I’m good. Just need a second…”

There really was nothing too horribly advantageous to dragging along someone who, for the moment, couldn’t risk standing up. There were usually other factors that played into keeping people around- outside of statistics, but Jason’s friend had either looked past those things or didn’t care. They hadn’t left him in the building, it had been a huge risk to go instead of heading straight back to the RV, but it wasn’t so much dependent on that. She wanted to help Jason find Tech because she didn’t want him to lose another friend. That was what drove the decision. It was empathy, not math, but that was her choice. Everyone was free to make their own choices. She didn’t blame Jason’s friend for wanting to leave her. It didn’t change the fact that the mere thought of getting left behind sent her stomach into knots and a small, sour part in her soul couldn’t help, but chime in with the fact she was only like this because she tried to find him. Trine shook it off, but physically it only manifested as a slow shake of her head.

Then Jason spoke, albeit quietly.

Aw, she thought to herself, starting to feel what was either a second wind or some sort of post exhaustion euphoria as she willed her way through the immense dip in energy, you’ve got a heart in there Mr.King.

The blonde had intended to keep it to herself, but then

”Your hidden nice guy is showing,” she teased, but it was half silent as she closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the wall, ”nobody wants to see that~”

Trine sighed, but it was more a mix of frustration with herself and the world going to **** than anything else. Then she realized something. That was the second time in the same day she’d ended up with a surprise kiss on her hands. What was it about the end of the world that made everyone go all Dead Poet Society? It would be a lie if she had said that she wasn’t slowly putting together a zombie bucket list in the back of her mind, considering their collective life expectancy seemed to be much shorter now, but until things calmed down Trine Larsen was very much stuck in ‘keep everyone alive’ mode. It seemed like the urgency of things was starting to click with people, but with her it was the finality of her actions that seemed to set in.

Whatever actions she took had the possibility to be the last thing she ever did. The last thing she made someone feel would be the last thing she left behind. Good Lord, that made everything hold such an insane amount of significance. She started to push herself up from the floor, her movements were shaky and slow, but she was managing for the most part. The imprint she would leave behind in this world would not be that of someone who got beat, who gave up, and if she was anything, it was bull headed and stubborn. Blue eyes blinked open as she leaned against the wall, balanced on the balls of the feet tucked beneath her, and she looked to Jason King.

”Please, tell me you have a plan….” the intent was just to see if he had an idea of how to get them back, but it came out as more of a plead. Like she’d been a kid begging their parent for a puppy with a life or death desperation- which was ironic since in this case because it very well could have been. ”I’ve only got one more idea, but I can’t promise it’s going to work, and we’d need to be on the ground.”

Jason watched as Trine blinked herself back from whatever place she had been fading to. She spoke but her voice was a lot more shaky than she probably realized it was.

King: Good to hear because you probably only have half of one.

Jason thought he saw Trine give Tech a sideways glance which he understood given how Simon tended to be around other people. He half expected her to give him a piece of her mind. However Jason also knew that wasn't really her style...Well actually he knew it was her style but more often than not she did her best to push it down in an effort to maintain a level of peace, something she would no doubt be doing in overdrive now that the world was seemingly falling apart. Jason stood back up to give Trine breathing room. Now that she looked like she wasn't going to pass out Jason figured she didn't need a nurse, though he knew the sooner she got out of here the better.

Jason had turned to face the window trying to figure out if his insane plan was even going to work when he heard Trine basically whisper to him. He turned around to look at the world champion with a stern face and a raised eyebrow. However the look on her face was so...Jason didn't quite understand the word for it. She looked like a fighter. He admitted that it was not necessarily the smartest course of action given how he almost murdered her not even five minutes ago but it showed this sense of honest and self truth that Jason couldn't help but find hilarious, in a good way. Jason's serious face melted into a smirk.

King: Don't get any ideas. Even with this you still owe me a lot more than i owe you. If i let people walk out on their debts for something as trivial as the end of the **** world...people would start to talk.

Jason locked eyes with Trine for a moment but then turned back around towards the city as Tech walked over to him.

King: how far's the RV from here?

Tech: I am tracking the RV's GPS now. It just hit the freeway but...

Simon closed his eyes and focused. He was silent for a second before opening his eyes and continuing it.

Tech: satellite images are showing that the course of action they are taking will not last long. The freeway is a mess, too many people, to much panic, there's a massive choke point in the middle over the bridge. massive pile up full of infected and fire. And i am seeing chatter that the government is considering a nuclear option for the city.

Jason's eyes widened and turned to Tech.

King: they are what?

Tech spoke again bassically unflapped.

Tech: Most of Eastern America is lost, heavily populated areas especially. There is no safe guards in place for an infection outbreak of this magnitude. Many of top officials of the CDC have been reported dead, infected, or missing. The Military is running things now...and they are considering a nuclear strike on New York City.

King: **** hell...

Jason turned back around as Trine spoke again. He could see that she was standing now but it looked like the breeze from the open window could probably take a shot at the title with the way she was wobbling. She was asking about the plan of attack. Right before he could think of a response the little annoying kid speed into the room holding two fire extinguishers, one with a blood soaked dent in it.

KG: Hey **** I...

It looked as if he had more to say but as he saw Trine standing up he quickly dropped the fire extinguishers and went to her side.

KG: Hey Trine...are you all right?

Jason's face soured a bit as he watched this exchange. Jason spoke with an even keel. Trying to keep the annoyance from his voice if only just barely.

King: She's fine.

The little man whipped his head around and sped right up next to him.

KG: She is NOT FINE!

Jason balled his hands into fists. He so badly wanted to end this little punk but Tech put a hand on his shoulder before he could do anything.

Tech: if we are going to reach the RV and regroup our forces we need to go now.

Jason stared at the kid for a hard moment before speaking out loud to Trine though not taking his eyes off the little man in front of him.

King: As a matter a fact i did have a plan.

Jason turned his head slightly to look at Trine over the orange kids shoulder.

King: I was going to make us weightless and use the fire extinguishers to push us across the city. Now that you're up and on your feet. We can pull a chunk of earth up from the ground for us to ride on like a board. I can make it weigh next to nothing and all you have to do is steer, you could probably even do it lying down. It's actually something i've wanted to try since watching Wall-E...

There was a beat of relative silence as look akin to shock seemed to be plastered on the people of the group. Jason felt something hot rising in his face as he looked from person to person in the room.

King: What?

”I’m f-” Jason beat her to it. Then Kid apparently disagreed.

More often than not she got painted as some sort of Mother Teresa, but the reality was she was just as human as the rest of them. Some bothered to see it, more didn’t, and the large majority held her to a standard that was tiresome to always try and meet when all of her energy hadn’t been set on survival. Her strength had always come from her ability to admit her shortcomings and not think she was any less flawed than the next person, and while she counted the feisty attitude that surfaced now and then as more of a strength- this was not the place for it.

If you already knew the answer why did you ask?

A twitch played through her left eyebrow as she tried to keep the comment to herself. The level of patience she possessed was far more practiced than most and given the situation she was really trying her best to keep her cool in fear that should she lose it…

But she wouldn’t.

A part of her had wanted to speak up with Tech, now Kid, the stress of knowing the city was about to get blown up, worrying about the group in the RV and the level of self control it took to keep her mouth shut was waning.

There was a lot about Kid Genius that she liked; The fact he had a genuine, sweet soul. His heart. He was strong, not just physically, and he was wicked smart. The fact he was just as competitive as she was, and hilarious too, had just been the cherry at the top. It wasn’t that Trine had yet to realize any flaws- it was just that she loved them just as much as the good in Kid. Maybe even more because perfect was incredibly boring and sometimes she caught herself fighting off a smile when he got too riled up about something, or when he got nervous and fumbled his words.

It was the flaws that made the person- and caring too much wasn’t the shortest straw of the draw either. It was just the only one that seemed to enable one of her own shortcomings. Not wanting to feel or be weak had been her gremlin for as long as she could remember and luckily enough it only ever seemed to affect her. (Pushing through an injury would only make it worse, ending up sick after working herself too hard) Now, however, it was proving to be more of a problem for her.

The blonde placed a hand on Kid’s shoulder as he came up beside her and pushed through the balls of her feet in order to lift herself into a full stand. She turned her attention to the fire extinguishers that had been dropped to the floor, only counting two. That wasn’t too surprising considering most people had probably used them as impromptu weapons, since they were on every floor and easily accessible. Maybe those had been the only ones left. Her blue eyes traveled from the extinguishers to Jason King as he explained his plan, nodding along until he’d mentioned Wall-E and then she looked like someone had punched her in the stomach. Trine looked to the others around the room only to find that they were sporting the same expression of shock.

Trine shuffled past him, a little cautiously at first, until she was sure she had caught the second wind she needed to move- making it to the window and looking down to the street below just before a goofy smile spread across her face. Something about the mental image of THE Jason King sitting down and watching Wall-E.

”Alright. Let’s just get out of here so we can get back and make sure everyone is safe….and not get blown up.” she took a deep breath, willing up whatever energy was left, and closed her eyes.

Outside there was a loud crack, similar to when she’d hit Grace and the earth had split, followed by a second, and a low rumble shook through the structure of the office building. Below a large chip of earth had disentangled itself from the ground. Without turning away from the window, Trine shot a look over her shoulder, the enormous grin on her face only offset by the “take that” lurking behind her eyes as she looked to Tech.

”And you wanted to leave me.”

And there it was.

Her knees shook for a moment, the feat having drained more of what little energy was left.

Worth it. [/color]

Kid Genius didn't bother to hide the shocked smile on his face at the mention of the Psycho Champion and his ideas origin. Here Jason always came off as this massive, know it all, giant **** and while non of that had really changed it was nice to know that he had stuff in his life that Kid Genius could embarrass him with. Kid Genius felt Trine's hand on his shoulder and turned to look in her direction. Something she had said sounded weird. She said something about blowing up but...that didn't make any sense really. He figured he'd chalk it up to her being so drained from the massive rush the night had took.

KG: i don't know....i love pizar as much as the next guy but should we really be placing our lives in the hands of a children's cartoon?

Jason seemed to still be on edge about because he's eyes seemed to burn holes in Kids direction. KG didn't mind though, for the first time since he had met him the scales seemed to have shifted in Kid's favor. Sure the only reason HE was up there in the first place was because he tried something he had read in a comic book but no one really needed to know that.

Kid Genius watched as Trine closed her eyes and concentrated on the earth below. He was almost going to ask if he could help in some way before the ground began to shift and crack. Trine had cut out a large slab of earth large enough for the 4 of them.

KG: dang...

KG couldn't help himself from saying. He looked towards Trine and wondered how on earth she had the energy to keep going. Sure he felt like he was about to drop but he had something to eat and a ride in an RV, though it was a very stressful ride. She had been non stop since the show was overrun. Trine's knees buckled ever so slightly and KG reacted quickly to steady the young blonde on the off chance she fell out the open window. Trine turned her head to look at Jason's friend and spoke. KG could feel the anger rise up in his chest before he knew how to formulate it.

No one is leaving anyone

KG looked at Jason who looked back at him. They had both spoken the same thing at the same time, though Jason's words came out more of a stern warning than Kid's snapping retort. He looked back and Jason who narrowed his eyes at him. Tony always said there was something strange about him. Something beyond the fact he was a violent, sociopathic ****. It was almost like he knew him from somewhere but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

So it was official, Jason wanted to throw Trine's annoying puppy friend out the window and send him to the ground with the weight of a thousand suns. It had become clear to Jason that at some point he was going to rid himself of the kid...lucky for him the whole world was full of death and chaos so it's not like he would have to work hard for opportunities. Jason looked on as Trine broke the rock from the ground. She was spent but Jason figured that as long as she was standing and breathing Trine was going to keep moving. That was good it was clear to Jason why she had been at the top of WWG. Granted all it would take was a thought from Jason to turn her into mush but Trine as an alley was working out a lot better as Trine as an enemy or...one of them.

Trine had looked at Tech and gave him **** for wanting to leave her. It looked as if Tech was going to respond with his logical and rational response for leaving her to her death but Jason stepped in.

King: No one is leaving anyone

As he spoke however the kid said the exact same thing at the exact same time. well he more barked it but still it was enough to start fraying away at the few nerse he had left. He narrowed his eyes at the young kid before talking a few steps towards the window. Then without a word or fan fair Jason stepped out of the window and began rocketing down towards the ground. The city looked even worse than the last time he had really looked at it as whole building were not alight with unchecked fires and it seemed like the entire city was covered with a writhing mass of infected. Jason decreased his gravity at the last second to land on the piece of earth Trine had carved out for them. He felt his knees buckle a bit from the impact. His powers were weakening, he needed to rest. However he didn't have time soon seven infected started closing in on him. Jason took out the gun he had taken from the police officer and rang out shot after shot. Normally he would use his powers but he had no way of knowing how long they would hold out at this rate. He needed to save his energy for getting them back to the RV and then....well then they would think of something.

Once the chunk of rock was clear of infected Jason closed his eyes and heaved his hands upward raising the chunk of earth into the sky with him on top of it. He pushed them both off the ground while keeping them just about helium level in mass. Once he reached around the broken window with everyone inside he let it hover. Trying to pull and push their way back to the RV would be to much work and he was sure he didn't have the energy for it. However with Trine's guiding and the extinguishers doing the pushing...maybe they could make it to the RV before they all collapsed and fell to their deaths.

King: Let's go people. We need to catch the RV before it gets to far.

It had been a long day.

Too long if you were to ask Marijana Martin herself, but then again she wasn’t really in the mood to talk. Quite the opposite.

-

That morning she had gone about her usual business. Phone calls and emails. Finding a new way to encrypt messages sent to and from her phone because (it was that time again.) What had been a little peculiar was apparently there was a woman who had purchased Rhinoceros horn from the seller in San Francisco  and claimed that it had made her husband sick. She received a text from a contact labeled as Mai Mai with 411 as the messege before the cellphone in her hand started to ring.- or it would have had she not answered it right away. She slid a perfectly manicured finger across the screen, her red nail polish glinting in the overhead lighting.

”Lady said her husband got sick or some ****.”

”Do we look like CVS? Too bad. What is she going to do? Go to the cops?”

”No. The town relies on us there. Said she locked him in the bathroom. Something about black vomit and he was angry or something. Why I messaged. Seemed weird.”

”That’s not us. It’s just glorified fingernail anyway. Either way. She took a risk buying. Could have just got a little blue pill.”

”Yeah. And you’d be out of clients.”

”If it meant not dealing with bullshit I didn’t cause? I’d take the pay bump.”

”Ah...****…she’s got it too. Just upchucked all over my- Ni Gan Ma?! I’m getting her out of here. Nasty.Gui! Gui! Bye, Mei.”

”Bye.”

Not ten minutes later her phone rang again. Marijuana raised a meticulously crafted eyebrow and hit the icon to answer the call.

”What n-”
”Mei, she bit me! She **** bit me and this **** is getting real night of the evil dead on me real fast. This isn’t us! My parents said this rabies **** was crazy back home. They shut down the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong got flooded with people trying to get out of the quarantine. The sick sons of a bitches made it to Taiwan and what I’m seeing right now is bad news. It’s all the stuff they saw before they jumped a plane to Japan. Oh god, I’m gonna be sick..”

”...are you telling me you’re a **** zombie right now?...hilarious. I’m hanging up.”

”Mei, I’m being serious. We are the next China. Get out of the city. This **** spread all the way into the west in days and there is nothing but mountains and hermits out there. Get to a farm or something.”

”Go **** yourself, chou. Seriously. This call is over.”

Image Received.

”You get that? Auuughhh fuuuck”
”.....yeah…..”
”Get out of the city.”
”Okay.”
”Mei, I love y-”
”Don’t say something stupid, Chou.” and with that she hung up.

-

The first thing Marijana Martin had done was make a trip up to to her hotel room and grab the leather messenger bag that had been neatly tucked between the side of the bed and the side table. She shouldered it, before plucking her tablet and something that had been in a small, black, box. It had fit in the palm of her hand like it was moulded for it, and she held it there for a moment before stuffing it into the pocket of her black jeans. The sound of her heels against the stone tile of the hotel lobby floor sounded with a smart clack as she walked out of the sliding glass.

A town car rolled up and without a word she slipped into the back seat.

”Where to?”
”Jersey Turnpike. First truck stop.” was all she said as she dropped a five, hundred dollar bills on the divider between the front and the back seat.

The driver eyes the money from the rearview window.

”We pay when we get there.”
”That’s tip.”
”Oh….” at first he had looked confused, but then straightened up,”Oh! Oh, uh...so what’s in Jersey?”

Green eyes flicked up from the glowing screen of her phone, the intensity behind them so deliberate she nearly pinned him to the seat with a glance alone. She reached a hand out, dainty placing a finger on the middle of the top bill, and took it off of the pile.

”Anything else you’d like to ask me?”

The driver opened his mouth as if to answer and she leaned forward, long fingers hovering over the stack of bills. He shut his mouth. Martin smirked.

”Oh, goody. A quick learner.”

-

The taxi rolled to a slow stop at the back of the truck stop and Marijana swiped her credit card for the fare, before handing the driver the remaining four hundred off of the window sill. There was a line of parked sixteen wheelers for a number of different companies. Some were left to idle, some were empty, but most still housed their sleeping drivers. The brunette rolled her shoulders, starting a brisk walk down the line for the rest stop that advertised a Starbucks, a Burger King, a mini-mart, and a few other food chains that would more than likely be useless very soon if Chou was right about China.

That’s when she saw it. A Dutch Valley Food Distributors truck. Martin slowly stepped up to the side of the truck, walking as close to the body of it as she could manage. As she reached the cab door of the truck she stepped up and knocked on the window with her knuckle.

In the cabin a man was napping on the bench seat. He had his left arm tucked beneath a pillow and an old quilted blanket draped over his back. The first few taps she had made on the window didn’t seem to phase him at all. The second round, however, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Sleep heavy eyes blinked up at Marijana confused as to why she was even there, before he reached out a hand to roll down the window.

She leaned over the edge, casually crossing her arms, and smiling- even as the hand tucked behind the crook in her elbow pulled up the lock on the door.

”Hi, I am so sorry, but I got a flat and I can’t see do you happen to have a flashlight? I’ve asked half the parking lot by now.”

The man shuffled about, moving to sit upright, and as he turned to look beside the driver’s seat for what she assumed was a flashlight, Marijana pulled the door open, slammed it shut,  reached beneath her red petticoat, and pulled the handgun on her belt. The driver had no more than second to react before he’d gotten a face full of pillow and a bullet to the head.

The spaniard rolled her eyes, planting her foot on the driver’s side door to help pull him out of his seat, before tossing the bloodied pillow, now with a burn mark from her fired weapon into the floor well on the passenger’s side. She pulled her scarf from around her neck, wrapped it around the hole at the back of the man’s head, and yanked his hat down on top of it.

”No use in you bleeding everywhere.”

As she started the truck, green eyes fell on the picture of the man’s family tucked into the side of the speedometer. Marijana fell silent for a moment, before rolling her eyes and filing the picture at the body like she’d been dealing cards.

-

The drive into Pennsylvania hadn’t been bad. The world was still turning and America had yet to start going down hill. No one thought twice of a sixteen wheeler on I-95, no one thought anything strange of it turning off into one of the rural areas, and no one was around to question why it had taken a dirt road towards a house in the middle of nowhere. When she parked, however, two people seemed very concerned. Namely, the farmer and his young granddaughter.

Marijana stepped out of the truck and the old man had barely enough time to ask if she was lost before she shot him through the forehead. The girl had a chance to scream, due to the fact that when Martin had tried to take her out as quickly as her granddaddy her hand shook.

But it didn’t last long.

-

Now, however, she found herself back on the freeway in New York, with a garden hose in one hand and a gas can in the other. The upside to the packed road was there was plenty of gas. The downside was she had to walk to get to it. Marijana knelt quietly next to a car, opened the gas cap, and fed the hose into the tank, before putting her mouth on the end. She pulled on the suction until she felt the give as the gas hit the apex in the curve of the hose, and quickly pulled it from her mouth and into the gas can.

The last of the fuel slid down the hose and she recapped the can before getting to her feet. A few infected had noticed her and began to drag themselves her way, but she rolled her eyes, heading to the side of the freeway where she parked on the dirt trail that ran alongside.

There was a rattling and the loud groaning of an engine as an RV plowed towards her direction and as it got closer it was apparent it was not going to stop. Marijana raised an eyebrow and then.

There was impact.

-

She slowly looked down to the now destroyed gas can in her hand, or more accurately the broken handle and grumbled under her breath, before untangling herself from the RV’s engine.

As she stepped around the front of the vehicle to anyone not aware of her condition Marijana would have looked like a moving ice sculpture, but upon closer inspection it became clear that it was all one solid diamond.

Trine felt Kid’s hands steady her and she reached over, lightly laying her own hand over one of his. They’d spoken in perfect unsion and even if the tone in their voices were different it sounded like there had been an echo in the room. She looked from Jason to Kid, with both of her eyebrows raised. The blonde watched as Jason narrowed his eyes at Kid Genius and took a step to give him space to step out of the window, closer to KG.

She could feel the tension of trying to keep herself steady melt off of her in a small way as she leaned into him. There was a short moment of reflection as she looked out of the window at the building across from them, this time there was no one alive left to jump from it. The fact that he cared enough to worry or continually to make sure she was alright wasn’t a bad thing. It wasn’t a flaw at all. He was a better person than her, something she’d started to realize since this mess had started, and she didn’t think that with any ill fitted emotion behind it- that was just simply how it was. If anyone between the two of them was flawed in some way it was her. It was her own inability to let her guard down that was causing the issue if anyt-

The gunshots from the gun Jason had fired from down below rang out, the sound bouncing between the walls of the skyscrapers and office buildings, effectively snapping Trine out of her mind. She set herself upright, only realizing after the fact that she had let her head rest against KG, just as Jason leveled with the window.

Her hands shook a bit beneath her weight as she pushed herself up into the window, moving to step onto the slab of earth now hovering hundreds of feet above the ground, and tried her best not to look down. Hopefully this plan would work. Hopefully she could manage to steer this thing well enough. Then again she had almost mastered Rainbow Road- so that had to say something about her driving ability….right?

”We got this.” she said to no one in particular, if not mostly reassuring herself.

Everything was going to be just fine. At least as fine as things could be in this sort of situation.

Zombies.

They’re pretty fuckin’ disgustin’ if you ask me. I get itchy just lookin’ at em. Jaws all jacked. Eyebawls poppin’ out. That weird, nasty, black **** just drippin’ outta whatever holes they got in em- swiss cheesey lookin’ mothafuckers.

Livin’ in the woods. Yeah. That’s another real great bonus to the end of the world. You hear that? That’s sarcasm. Giuseppe Stasi doesn’t do the outdoors. Do I look like I fuckin’ camp? Maybe in friggin’ Call of Duty. Dats about it. If I ain’t sleepin in my bed- I’m probably drunk onna sidewalk somewhere….or in ya girl’s bed.

Preferably ya girl’s.
Sidewalks are uncomfortable as ****.
Trust me.

Howevah.

Here I am. Sleepin’ on dis...I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a bed, but uh...it’s a place I sleep now. In the middle of who knows where with all these dangly, jangly, whatchamacallets hangin’ up so if one of those mangled ass morons decides to meander on by- we’ll know.

We saw a girl once. Looked pretty intact still so I’m guessin’ she wasn’t a flesh eater just yet, but that was days ago, and it didn’t sound like theys was havin’ a party I wanted to be a part of.

Still kinda wonder what was goin’ on though…

Oh well. I better get back to lookin’ like I’m doin’ somethin’ before Sal gets back...

It had been a few weeks since they’d been allowed to stay at the farmhouse Mariana Martin had directed the group to after an impromptu run in on the freeway a few miles out.

The house was old, but soundly put together and despite the few scattered blood spots that seeped into the grass, turned harsh and yellow in the cold February air, went fairly untouched by the madness in the world around it. The white exterior was only sullied by the dirt kicked up in the wind and inside the sun washed through the large windows that rattled in their wooden frames every now and then when the breeze was just right.

It had been nice. Fairly normal even. Marijana would often take off without a word, gone for most of the day, but always back as the sun started setting. She was secretive, but then again the woman had always been that way. There were days she came back with a bag full of food or supplies she’d taken from stalled cars or abandoned homes. There were days she came back empty handed, but carried an peculiar air of accomplishment. It had become a routine. Trine never questioned it.

Most mornings Trine wandered out to the greenhouse a few meters off the back of the house. It had become a routine. One of the quilted blankets she’d found on a bed would be wrapped around her and Trine passed the time quietly trying to grow some kind of sustainable food. Cans eventually run out and they needed something to eat when that time came.

This morning, however, was a little different.

The sun had only just started to break over the tops of the barren trees that surrounded the property, reaching up past the post and beam fencing that ran the perimeter.  Reds and orange-pink streaks of light danced over the floral wallpaper of the upstairs bedroom Trine and Rayven had been staying in since the group's arrival. The only sound that morning was the hushed whisper of conversation between the two women sitting cross-legged at the center of one of the twin sized beds in the room.

”It’s been two days, Rayven. People are going to start to wonder where she went…Martin always came back before it got dark...”

"Yeah, she always came back before dark.  But she's also always been weird as ****. So....just roll with it."

"I know but-...I dunno. I feel..." Trine frowned, turning to look out the window at the left side of the bed, ".....guilty....I guess..."

"And you're gonna keep feeling guilty if you keep thinking about it so damn much.  Let it go, forget about it.  Your little guilty conscience is going to blow our cover."

Trine shot Rayven a look out of the corner of her eye for a moment, before moving to get off of the bed, her feet hitting the worn wooden floor with a soft sound.

"I hate that you're right." she snatched up the blanket that was draped over the post at the head of her bed, tucking it under her arm, "We are going to have to tell them eventually."

Rayven gave a bit of a smug smile.  "Of course I'm right."  She patted the spot on the bed next to her.  "But if the pressure ever gets too much for you to handle and you just need to cry uncontrollably, you can use my shoulder.  I'll cuddle and comfort you."

"Very funny."

She rolled her eyes, but a small smile still managed to pull at the corner of her lips as Trine took a hold of the old brass doorknob.

"And if you ever grow a conscious you can use my shoulder too, I guess."

Trine smiled, sticking her tongue out, before pushing the door open and stepping out into the upstairs hallway.

Rayven hopped off the bed and jogged to catch up to Trine before she got too far out of the room, hugging her from behind, arms wrapped around her stomach.

"I know.  But don't count on that ever happening."

The blonde sighed, patting the arms wrapped around her with a free hand.

"Ya know....it's going to be really hard to go down the stairs like this."

"Just go slowly and be careful, we got this."

This time Trine laughed, shuffling forward to the top step of the staircase.

"Okay. Seriously. At least piggyback or something. I'm not going down the stairs like this. We will die."

"Piggyback ride!" She shouted out, loud enough that everyone in the house likely heard it just before she jumped up and wrapped her legs around Trine's waist, arms now draped loosely around her neck.

"Giddy-up, Sparkles, my trusty steed!"


”oh
  my
     God
         I
         hate
             you
               give
                  me
                    some
                      warning”

Trine half stumbled, half fell down the stairs with Rayven on her back, dropping her blanket further up the stairs in order to try and grab the banister.

KG: oh um...good morning

Kid Genius looked at the two women at the top of the stairs. Kid slowly pulled down his bandana from over his mouth and tried to look like he was not caked with sweat, dirt, and human splatter.

It had been a few weeks since escaping from the city and since catching up with the others and finding this place thing were just starting to develope into a routine. Jason, the ass, had seen to that pretty quickly. No one really considered him "The Leader" but he sure seemed to walk around like he was. One of the first thing that King had set up was a perimeter around the house. They had some space but with the highway on one side and the city on the other they had to make sure they weren't constantly being overrun. Trine had made a makeshift mountain range and the Weston, who was the only member of Jason's crew that Kid didn't hate, dug some kinda small moat. on the outside of that. Tony had walked around like a Knight for quite some time after it was finished.

But despite that they still needed food, clean water, medicine, soap, gas, parts to fix the RV and the radio inside it. That was what Kid had volunteered for. If there was anyone left alive in the city they were doing a pretty great zombie impression because over the days and nights Kid Genius had been in and out of the city he had only seen the infected and walking corpses. The reason he did this, Kid Genius told himself, was because he wanted to be a productive and important member of the group....The real reason is that he wanted to avoid Trine as much as possible.

Since leaving the city they had not once talked about what had happened. Most of that was due to Kid Genius doing is best to be wherever Trine wasn't and when you have super speed that's pretty easy to do. At first it was just simple embarrassment, nervousness, and overall lack of any real game. Now however it was shame that in a world gone to hell he allowed himself to feel all those other things in the first place. When Tony had asked what his plan was he had said "Probably just continue to run away from the conversation until i break the sound barrier".

However now he was standing in a narrow stairway with no real place to go. If he were to speed away at super speed now it would just seem....more awkward, plus he had been running all night and he was pretty beat. All he wanted to do was wash the world off him and lay down. Kid took off his glasses off and smiled sheepishly.

KG: ...is...anyone using the shower?

was the best he thought to say

............................

Tony blinked himself back into the world from the little doggy bed on the kitchen floor.

Tony: uhhh....what time is it?

Tony went to scratch behind his ear with his back paw but realized that he couldn't because he was in his normal state. He was wearing a pair of bright blue boxers and one white sock. His hair was a mess, not that a shape shifter ever really had to worry about such things. He had heard voices coming from the stairs and he figured Rayven was awake. There were only three actually rooms in the house. one in the basement that belonged to Wretch and Grace. Granted since going in there and threatening anyone who opened the door with pain of death nobody had actually seen them since they left the city. No one had figured it was worth testing them on their threat and had left them alone. The other room belonged to Marijana and the last room belonged to Trine and Rayven.

If Tony managed to get any sleeping done with the idea of that last room playing out in his head over and over and over again it would be in random spots around the house. As a shape shifter you can find a lot of interesting places to sleep if you are creative about it. Ken would either pull out the bed inside the old tattered couch in the living room or just sleep on top of it. Jason and his crew pretty much took over the wrecked RV.

Tony rubbed his head and walked towards the front door and out into the sunlight. He covered his eyes to the light and looked around. It was a pretty nice day. If you forgot about the massive population of the world being eaten alive by their infected friends and loved ones.

Tony: Good morning end of the world

Tony said with a smile. He turned to the junk RV. The Man in Black, who still didn't seem to talk to anyone but Jason, was underneath it clinking away.

Tony: Good morning strange gun wielding man

No response but Tony had gotten used to that. Tony walked out onto the lawn and made his way to the small generator cluster that provided them with he little power and heat they had.

Tony: and good morning generator guys.

They purred continuously. Their constant noise always seemed to attract infected and Tony was sure that if he went out towards the rock wall he would see about 7 or 8 of them pressing themselves flat against the stone. Tony fed some gas into the generators and made his way back to the house.

Tony: Do we still have breakfast or is that no longer a thing in the apocalypse?

Tony said out loud to no one in particular.

Trine had managed to steady herself on the stairs, her fingers wrapped tightly over the railing. There were a few things she expected by now when it came to mornings and seeing Kid Genius was not one of them. In fact seeing Kid Genius at all had been nothing short of impossible since the group made it out of the city.

At first she had assumed it was just due to poor timing. The list of priorities in a zombie apocalypse was long and it had a tendency to keep you busy- leaving “Talk about that whole kiss thing” somewhere at the bottom. So, Trine had decided in the middle of an office, in a city gone to hell, with Jason King standing there was not the best place to take a minute and deal with the super speed smooch. She’d get to it once everyone was together, once everyone was safe, but by then it started to look like KG didn’t want to be in the same state as her, let alone have a conversation.

And that’s when being the kind of person who thinks just a little too much got the best of her.

Maybe he just needed time to himself. M Maybe he was embarrassed...but then would bringing it up make it worse...maybe he regretted it, wanted to just pretend it didn’t happen. Or maybe he was angry with how she reacted...maybe putting it off was a bad idea- but he’d understand that considering the situation they were in and everything…

Oh man, he was probably mad. Or pretending like it didn’t happen. Definitely mad. Of course he doesn’t want to talk to you. Just give him his space. They’ll talk about it...eventually...next time they run into each other.

For sure.

Trine hadn’t expected to run into him- not with Kid avoiding her and Trine making any excuse not to seek him out. (He was tired, sleeping, busy, not around.) Except now he was and she wanted to just stare at the floor and awkwardly shuffle her way back into obscurity.

Then again silently panicking and speculating to herself was getting old.

”I don’t think anyone’s in there.” she smiled, mostly just taking KG’s lead on how this all worked now, adjusting Rayven’s weight on her back before taking a few steps down. ”Hey...uh...when you get a chance- not now obviously you look pretty wore out-unless now is good! or just....whenever...can we talk?”

There was a low hum, barely audible on the stairway. KG hated that he vibrated when he got nervous, almost as much as he hated the end of the world. He wasn't proud of it but if someone asked him which one he would rather be rid of his nervous full body vibration or the zombie horde...he would have to take some time to think about it.

KG: u-u-u-m-m-mm-m.....

KG tried to look casual as he rubbed the back of his head.

KG: s-s-ssurrre....we c-ccan totally talk-k-k later.

What in the hell was he doing?! Suddenly a night in a city full of death seemed  like a pleasant dream compared to the sheer terror of what he just walked himself into. Suddenly he heard his best friend and Tag Team, if that even meant anything anymore, partner downstairs and figured that that was an good out.

KG: H-h-H-have you checked the fridge?! Like a normal person?

..........

Tony heard Ken and smiled he began walking towards the staircase. I saw KG but then looked upstairs towards the two ladies playing piggy back.

Tony: Well good morning ladies! How did we sleep? My offer still stands if you are looking for a bear skin rug to....warm yourselves.

Tony bounced his eyebrows and winked

Tony: So you are saying i still have it?

Tony raised an eyebrow and smiled devilishly. His shirtless body seemingly to grow more defined and glossy. Kid rolled his eyes and waved his hands in the air, trying to shoo away the mental images that fluttered around him like gross bats.

KG: enough of that ya nastys

With a world full of flesh eating monsters he couldn't help but think of whatever happened between Ravyen and Tony was an image he would rather die before seeing. Kid let out a sigh.

KG: ok well i am going to take a shower because i am...just covered in our lovely neighbors. Somebody want to go talk to Jason and his people. As much as i love the camping trip the infected don't seem to be slowing down any time soon. The sooner we get farther away from the city the better.

Tony: Hey did you happen to see Mar-Mar out there?

Kid shook his head as he stepped down to the floor allowing for Trine and her passenger to get by without getting guts and other fun stuff on them.

”Whenever you get time. No worri-”

The blonde’s face softened as the tell tale shake in Kid’s voice started up and a more genuine smile had started across her lips...until she got proded by Rayven’s knee like she was some sort of show pony. Her expression fell completely flat, the only movement was a slight twitch at the corner of her lip.

Considering everything they’d gone through Trine swayed to the side of forgiveness when it came to Rayven, but she would damned if that motion was about to go unreprimanded. Trine freed up a hand and swiftly punched Rayven in the thigh. She turned her attention to Tony and had been about to say something when Rayven spoke up, and then Tony- who by now had already shifted his body shape.

”......oh gross guys….” it was half silent, considering most of her attention was on trying to will away the reflexive mental image of the two’s previous RV romp.


Rayven yelped at the punch to her thigh.

"Ow ow ow **** ow, you had to hit THAT spot on my thigh?  I can't feel my **** leg now!  Ow ow ow ow ow...."

Rayven whimpered a bit and rubbed at her leg with a hand, which meant her other hand now nearly had Trine in a sleeper hold as she held on to not fall off as her weight shifted.


"Oh, I'm sorry. What happened to all that 'I don't feel pain' crap you always said?" Trine grinned over her shoulder, "And I'll go talk to King. I'm heading outside anyway."

Trine leaned back, picking up the blanket she used to keep warm on the trip to the greenhouse. She had moved to take the last step but for a breif moment all the color in her face seemed to drain out when Tony mentioned Marijana- or that could have been due to the sleeper hold Rayven had synched up.

Still rubbing at her leg, Rayven stuck her tongue out.

"That was all part of the act, duh..."

She however blinked and stared at Trine as Trine seemed to stare straight ahead having heard Tony question them about Marijana's whereabouts.  Trine wasn't answering.  Rayven wouldn't let her if she tried.

"Oh, her?  You know how she is.  Always going somewhere, here or there.  She'll be back, I'm sure.  Probably.  Most likely?"  After replying to Tony, Rayven burried her face into the side of Trine's hair and whispered oh-so quietly.

"Nailed it!"

”Quit molesting my hair.”

Trine narrowed her eyes, realizing this was hardly the best position to be in when trying to defy whatever plan of action Rayven decided on and instead settled on shrugging her off of her back.

Rayven pouted as her feet hit the floor, but she twirled a finger through Trine's hair and laughed softly.

"Not the only part of you I want to molest.  One of these days, Sparkles...."

”Never going to happen.”

In one swift motion Trine raised a hand up and batted the hand away from her, freeing the captured strand of hair, before making her way to the front door.

"One of these days, Sparkles, one of these days....."

KG: Sa-weet...

Just because he didn't want to face his fear and talk to Trine did not mean Kid liked the idea of Trine and Jason talking anymore than they already did.

KG started up the the stairs and made his way to the upstairs bathroom with the shower. He closed the door behind him and let out a sigh.

......

Tony watched everyone kind of go off in their own directions.

Tony: So is that a no on breakfast or?....

The Comedian walked over to where Rayven was staring out the front door at Trine. Tony stepped up next to her and smiled, nudging her.

Tony: what do you say? It's the most important meal of the day.

 Tony: Hey now! That was only partly my fault. I was....

Tony's head flooded with the memory of Rayven coming downstairs in a large Baggy T-shirt and not much else, steeply grabbing a cup of water to drink and then swaying away.

 Tony: distracted.

Jason squinted in the morning sun. The wind brushed against his face as he floated several hundred feet above the ground. Since their escape from the city Jason had been practicing his "flying" as much as he could get away with. He had never really thought to use his powers for transportation before. He was getting the hang of it...slowly. It was more like floating at the moment. He could go up and down with relative ease but it was either too fast or way too slow. Hovering was easy enough but the higher he was Jason found the harder it was to stay steady. During his first trial runs he would dip up and down like he was on a trampoline. Now it was more like a foot or two. If he really focused it would only be an inch or so.

Jason was trying to focus now.

He put the binoculars they had stripped from an infected member of the U.S. national guard and looked towards the city. The fires had long since gone out now. There was barely even any smoke coming from the city anymore. The only thing it produced now was infected and the sound of hundreds of thousands of teeth clicking together and the constant moaning.

Jason knew he shouldn't had left the group alone. Maybe if he had let Trine go off on her own like she had planned they wouldn't be in the predicament they were in now. The airport was overrun and with the damage the RV suffered the radio seemed to be out of commission. Even if they found a working radio and could search all the broadcast channels in the world there was no guarantee that they would be able to find Scott Carr again...that is if he was even alive anymore.

So it was on to plan B. which was essentially "Make a wall and hide behind it while you work on plan C". Lucky for Jason plan B seemed to be working much better than expected. They had been at this house now for about three weeks now, almost a month, and were managing pretty well all things considered. Jason had made sure that if they were going to dig in their heels here they had to make it as infected proof as possible. A big wall, a big ditch, and regular night and day patrols. They could certainly have done worse. Jason took another look around the outer perimeter of the rock wall Trine had made and saw that there were at least 8 infected at the section of the wall closest to the generator. Without looking away Jason took out a small walkie talkie they had taken from the security station and spoke into it.

King: I have multiple body bags at the south wall, copy?

there was a quick second before one of the many clones responded.

TMIB: understood. moving to intercept.

King: switch to melee only. We have to ration our ammunition, copy?

TMIB: understood. switching to melee

Jason put the walkie talkie back on his belt loop and turned back around to look at the house. Even though he in no way asked for it there was this unspoken feeling that Jason was some kind of leader. It made sense. In a group of nine people four of them already followed him. But as Jason came to realize that it wasn't really one group it was two groups working together. Jason's and Trine's.

While his boys were almost 100% on his side at all times Tony, the annoying Kid (whose name was Kenneth Jason had learned), and Rayven would for the most part follow Trine's lead. Jason had a theory about why that was...well besides the obvious Kenneth wanting to get into her pants. Trine was an empath (another thing Jason had learned) which meant she could feel and sense the emotions and feels of others like one could feel a change in fabric against one's skin. Jason theorized that even though this power is mostly reactionary Trine had an ability to affect the emotions and feelings of others on subtle scale. She wanted to be well liked and so everyone around her seemed to like her. She wanted to take the moral high road and save lives, suddenly Jason is running off to do the same. Jason figured this was why he actually seemed to enjoy Trine's company. Jason doubted Trine even knew that she was doing it if she was even doing it at all.

Jason floated back down to the ground. Steady at first but his landing got a little shaky at the end and he managed to make two foot sized craters in the earth. He looked towards the house and saw that Trine was walking out of the front door. Jason liked that everyone else slept in the house. It was just a better chance that if they got the RV fixed in time they could consider leaving everyone of them in the home to fend for themselves. Jason still hadn't decided if that was what he was planning on doing just yet.

The sun was deceiving in winter and as Trine stepped off the porch it felt warm against her skin, but as a slight breeze picked up she was quickly reminded why she always brought the blanket with her. The blonde closed the door behind her, catching sight of Jason and his newly created craters as she turned around.

”Jeez, King. You might want to lay off the canned goods.” she teased, making her way down the couple of steps, before pointing down, ”I mean, that doesn’t look normal.”

She assumed he’d been practicing, every now and then the blonde would catch sight of him on her way to the greenhouse in the morning. There was a lot more freedom now for G.E.Ms to sort of stretch their wings and figure out what they were capable of. The makeshift mountain range along the perimeter had been a steep learning curve for Trine.

At first it was just a wall of earth, but she quickly discovered constantly holding the ground up in an unnatural state was dangerously exhausting. She’d been too stubborn to let it go and ended up stuck in bed with barely enough energy to get up and eat. The second attempt went much smoother. This time she’d pulled up the bedrock itself and built up a sort of makeshift mountain that held up on its own.

Even though she in no way asked for it Trine had ended up in the role as mediator between KG, Tony, Rayven, and Jason King. He tended to rub people the wrong way in some fashion, and while Trine spent most of the time around him wanting to wipe the classic smug look off of his face, she had started to enjoy his company.

 The world was turned upside down, but she knew what to expect from Jason, and in a strange way that was comforting. He made it very clear from the start where his priorities lie when the groups came together in the venue parking lot. He didn’t owe anyone anything, as far as she saw it. If Trine was completely honest each time she saw the RV still at the front of the house she was pleasantly surprised. That and after a while once the initial emotional charge of deciding not to stop to help people outside of the RV wore off something still stuck with her long after.

”...and don't worry you don't have to pretend to be so squeaky clean with me.”

It hung around long after they made it out of the city. That and the look on Kid’s face when she’d said it. There wasn’t much pretending. Trine would readily admit she was flawed, (and that even she felt like she’d been lower than dirt for even suggesting leaving another human being to those...things…), but the idea that there was no expectation placed on her seemed- for lack of a better word, kind of nice.

Her whole career she’d been expected to fit a particular role. One Trine honestly never wanted to step into and then there was Jason King. For the first time in a long time she didn’t feel like she was being actively judged for every choice or action she made that didn’t fit the pristine mold people had in mind for her.

Jason looked towards Trine and smirked.

King: Oh dear my fragile self image.

He walked towards the blonde haired former champion. He looked back behind her towards the house and saw Rayven and Tony in door way.

King: Your girlfriend and her pet seem to be happy this morning. Did he fuel the generator?

Trine grinned and started to make her way over to Jason, meeting at some point in the middle. She made a face at the girlfriend comment, looking back over her shoulder as Rayven mussed Tony’s hair. A small smile pulled at her lips. It was unlikely if anything, but somehow it seemed that at least two people walked away from this mess with something.

”I’m sure he did, he’s pretty good about it, but I’ll ask. There was something I wanted to let you know though.” blue eyes turned their attention back to King, ”I ran into Kid after he got back. He said the sooner we get further from the city the better, the infected don’t seem to be letting up.”

There wasn’t much of a dialouge between her and the rest of the group. If anything she figured King would relay what he wanted to. Trine had managed to avoid Shine for the majority of the time, deciding it probably wasn’t a great idea to rehash that aggrevation. They both seemed to be pretty stubborn people and she didn’t want West, who she had actually liked, to get caught in the crossfire again.

”What do you think we should do?”

Tony felt the tug on his hair from Rayven and his body moved in the direction of her leading without much real resistance.

Tony: Waffles coming right ma'Lady.

He said, not quite sure if they actually any of the ingredients required to make waffles.

As they walked into the kitchen Tony shifted himself into a full chefs outfit with apron that read "French Kiss the Cook" along with a very stereotypical twirls mustache.

Tony: Waffles Ala Tony coming right up  moncheri.

He opened up the next to bare cupboards and started to search for waffle mix.

.......

The water in the house was always just warm enough to remind you that wanted it warmer. KG has peeled himself out of the gore covered mess that had been his clothes and now was simply standing in the lukewarm water trying not to think.

Sure it was cool that they had all found a place to stay but it was starting to feel like that everyone was thinking this was permanent location. Kid had been near the city and its zombie population was moving farther and farther out...which meant they were getting closer to them.

Not only that but Kid knew that somewhere out there his mother was in trouble. If this really was all over the world like it seemed....he just wanted to find her. And Tony's parents and all of their loved ones, Hell there had to be other members of WWG out there somewhere.

He knew that he was going over the "shower time" imposed by Jason but A) Rayven never followed rule and B) Jason could take a long walk off a short peer

Jason tilted his head a bit, not unlike a puppy does when it's given a command that it doesn't quite understand. However the look on his was one of amusement.

King: and when you say we?

He let the question hang in the air. He looked right into Trine's eyes. Even as the RV door opened up from behind him and Big and Shine walked out.

Shine: ****! You can smell that **** city from here!

Big: yeah it's pretty....oh hey Trine.

Big smiled and waved at her. Over the last couple of days he had finally gotten to the point where he broke himself out of the "no talking to the WWG" rule and was trying to be as friendly as possible to combat their previous relationship.

Trine stared right back, refusing to look away like a child caught in game of don’t blink, but visibly startled as the door of the RV swung open. She looked past Jason, deciding today seemed to be a bad day for avoidance for more than just Mr.Kenneth Mason.

”Morning!” she smiled, waving back.

"Big” West Williams was probably her favourite out of the group. Tech wasn’t a bad guy, but there was something a little bone chilling about someone that closely aligned with pure logic. The Man in Black was...well, she wasn’t sure of anything about that guy other than he made the hair on the back of neck stand up sometimes. She never got to meet the last member, honestly she knew nothing of him outside of his nickname; “Pretty.” Every now and then when things were quiet at night and she couldn’t fall asleep she’d sit with a heavy weight in her chest. Trine knew nothing about Pretty other than he deserved to still be with his friends.

Then she’d remember her family. Her dad, her brothers, still at home in North Dakota. They were a small army in their own right and she tried to stay as positive as she could. They were alive until proven otherwise. Trine would find them or they would find her. That’s how it was going to be.

”We as in how about you and I ditch this place and go repopulate.” Trine fixed him with a flat look ”Just a bunch of really smug kids with “Okay asses”.

Once again Trine's spunk made him have to hold back a laugh. Jason couldn't help but give the former champion a raised eyebrow. He slowly increased his gravitational pull sliding Trine closer from across the small distance.

King: I wouldn't write checks you aren't ready to cash just yet champ...

When she was right in front of her he smirked, taking a small strand of her hair and brushing it away from her face.

King: besides. I hear there's a line.

He gave out a single chuckle before turning looking out towards where the generators were located. Then back at Trine. The truth was that there was strength in numbers and Trine and her little harem were power tools that it would a shame to get rid of. However he really couldn't stand Kid, Rayven was about as predictable as a bad full of coked out cats, and he knew next to nothing about the other girl who had gone missing apperently. For whatever reason Tony was just vapid enough that he was not important to Jason at all.

The fun thing about super speed is that you don't ever have to worry about taking a long time to get ready. It doesn't hurt that when the world gets overrun by zombies you are pretty much left whatever clothes you can carry. After getting out of the shower KG spun dried himself and then ran his clothes to the washing machine. I was old rusty and danced a high whenever you turned it on but it got most of the guts out so it was good enough for Kid.

After that he made his way into the living room. He sat, then stood, then sat back down in a different position, then stood again. He had no idea what he was supposed to be doing right now. His body was telling him sleep but his mind was still amped about his up coming conversation. He lay down but heard the sound of Tony messing around in the kitchen. He let out a sigh of despair and zipped in only to see Tony, looking like a cartoon version of a French chef trying desperately to make pancakes. He shook his hesd.  Tony must have saw him because he spoke.

Tony: No worries bro I totally got this....um...yeah no worries breakfast will be up in...a....minute

He was mixing things in a bowl with his hand that had become a whisk. Kid hoped he washed his hands first. Then he turned and walked outside, shielding his eyes from the sun. That's when he saw Trine and Jason talking...very closely. He felt his hands ball into a fist and was about to do something stupid when something caught his eye in the distance. I looked like...a bird...but..it was way too big.

KG: um guys....

As it got closer the winged figure became more clear. A man...or it WAS a man...it had giant leathery bat wings and a mouth full of gore. Suddenly in the sky next to it were three more two with wings, one that seemed to be flying on its own power. KG pointed and shouted.

KG: ZOMBIE G.E.M.S!!!!

The smirk still got to her. Everytime. How did someone manage to be that smug...all the time. Trine had made a motion as if she had clicked a pen to start writing as the strand of hair was brushed back, away from her face, deciding that even if it was a complete bluff she wasn’t about to let him win.

Blue eyes followed Jason’s line of sight as he looked out towards to generators, when he turned back she looked up at him, an eyebrow raised.

Until she heard Kid. Then both eyebrows raised and she nearly broke her own neck on the double take.

”Hollllyyy SHIIIIT!”

Without knowing much outside of the fact that a group of undead G.E.Ms was heading their way chest height slabs of earth shot up, as impromotu sheilds, in front of Kid, Big, Shine, and the Jason and her herself out of startled reflex. As Rayven came barreling outside and now all but one of the once airborne infected, were now on the ground made her glad she had.

A section of ground in front of Rayven shot up as she shouted to Jason King.

Jason looked up towards the sky at the one wingless flyer that was soaring in their direction. He was just about to put it down when suddenly Weston grew to about a story and backhanded the infected G.E.M. into the top level of the house.

Jason looked at his giant friend with a face that said "what the hell were you thinking?!" To which Big returned with a shrug and a very large look of "my bad..I'm sorry". Jason barely had the time to register that he had never seen Big grow that fast when he realized that even though on of the flyers and smashed it's skull on the ground when Rayven blasted it on the ground, the other infected still seemed to be dragging itself towards Big.

Tech opened the door to the RV just in time for the infected former flyer, now crawler, to open its mouth and let our a ear splitting screech. Tech fell to a knee and Big fell back against the RV. Jason took against breath, phased through the wall of earth Trine had put in front of him and then ran up to the infected. It turned towards Jason and the sheer sound of the screech pushed Jason back a bit. With a wave of his hand he turned the skull into a fine paste before falling back into Trine's barrier.

 King: Somebody get the one in the house!

He felt something wet on his face and realized his nose was bleeding.

Tony hadn't quite heard KG but he saw when Rayven ran outside. He shifted back to normal, put down his attempt at pancakes, and made his way to towards the doorway when he the smashing sound from upstairs. Not even a few seconds later he heard a sound like a billion people stepped on the tails of 6 billion cats. He shifted his ears into his head so he could block on the noise.

Tony: I'M GONNA CHECK UPSTAIRS!

Tony had yelled though he was pretty sure most of them still had ringing in their ears. Tony bounded up the stairs just in time to see a manged, oozing zombie pull itself from the shattered bed it had landed on. It rose into the air and it's broken arms and legs hung like the world's most terrifying jellyfish and then it rushed at Tony mouth snapping.

Tony: THE HELL?!

Tony slammed the door in the zombies face but it broken through the flimsy wood. Tony jumped down and and the moaning floater jetted after him. Tony scooped up the metal baseball bat that Ken had next to his stuff and then ran out the door holding the bat out in his hands .

Tony: BATTER UP!!

Tony dropped the bat
.....


KG saw they play and was on the move before Tony's fingers fully left the handle. Kid ran away a little to pick up speed and then quickly doubling back by the time the Baseball bat fell to the ground. He picked up in his hands and then swung it hard and extremely fast.

Kid closed his eyes and mouth as a fine relish black mist decorated the inside of the house. The zombie stopped floating after that and fell motionless as the jagged remains of his neck was seeping out everywhere.

KG: I literally just got out of the shower

It seemed like the attack was over now as the outside was more or less normal and Tony didn't hear any sounds of fighting. Tony watched Ravyen yell as she went up the stairs. He was going to tell her that the zombie had crashed into the other room but then stopped when he looked at his kitchen station.

Ken's super speed smash with the  bat had cases a spray of blood that now was 100% a part of the waffle batter.

Tony: ummmmmm...

Tony stated loudly enough hopefully for Rayven to hear.

Tony: Waffles are kinda overrated. They are just so pre-pacolypse.

As the floating undead found itself backhanded into the second story of the house, Trine figured if you were going to have bad luck: I.E Zombies with powers. You might as well have horrible luck: I.E the main source of shelter having a zombie sized hole in it. There wasn’t much to be done to fix it and she figured Jason had already given “Big” the look everyone was probably thinking.
The frequency of the sound that came from the grounded infected was enough to make her teeth rattle even from behind the barrier. Tech fell to a knee and West was knocked back into the RV which only let her know that as bad as it was from where she stood- it was much worse without the extra protection. Then Jason phased himself through the wall and she stepped out to the side in order to get a visual on the fourth, and final, downed zombie. The blonde dropped, slamming her palms flat against the grass, sending a spike of rock and dirt straight up through the underside of its jaw and through the top of it’s skull as it crawled.

By now Trine had grown comfortable with the idea that Jason King was the kind of person that seemed to always have things under control. So, while she’d relaxed to a small degree it was short lived. The G.E.M turned to Jason and as it opened its mouth-

”JASO-!”

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING

Her mouth was moving as she stepped back to the barrier, but for all she knew no sound could have been coming out. It had felt like standing in front of the speakers at a concert and Trine had been far back enough that she was only dealing with the effects of the sound itself. Jason had taken the full brunt of it.

Blue eyes looked from the now headless G.E.M to King as he fell back. The trickle of blood from his nose set her stomach into a flip. She’d started to just assume Jason’s hidden super power was invincibility and as small as a nose bleed would seem it was a reminder that he was as human (or as “modified” human) as the rest of them.

”Your nose…”

Trine grabbed the corner of the blanket still over her shoulder and moved to wipe the blood away. It seemed better than just letting it continue to run down his face. Sound started to come back through the dissipating ringing in her ears and the sound of conversation from the house let her know they’d taken care of the temporary resident of the second floor.

”Do you feel okay?” she wasn’t sure what else to ask- or if that was a stupid question, but Trine was pretty sure a nose bleed could be a sign that at least a little something got scrambled by soundwaves.

Trine's mouth was moving but there was no sound coming from it. Everything was just the monotone ringing like a high pitched dial tone.

King: there's one more in the house.

Jason had felt himself say though he could not judge his volume at all. He spoke based on muscle memory. He was bleeding from his face and from the looks of things on Trine's blanket it was pretty substantial. Jason's head felt like it was pulsing sub on a speaker. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Tech on his hands and knees vomiting into the grass by the RV. Big was shrinking slowly, trying to ease his way down. Shine had been covered his ears in time and now was kicking the headless infected over and over again.

Jason tried to rise to his feet to stop him and then take care of the other one inside the house but the world began spinning so rapidly that he began to fall again.

King: there's....another one....in the house

He felt his stomach lurch with the spinning of the world around him. He could still see Trine in front of him but she was spinning with everything. He fought to keep his stomach down. He clenched his fist and it seemed like the air around him got just a bit heavier as he tried to control his body with will.

Tony had reverted back to what he was wearing before the morning super zombie wake up call. Which was basically just a pair of boxers shorts and a sock. So when Rayven grabbed him by the chest it hurt, a lot. If he wasn't a shape-shifting and the elasticity of his skin so variable she might have ripped a chunk of him out onto the already gore covered house.

It was always a toss up with Rayven. Tony realized that he was just as much afraid of her wrath as he was obsessed with her affection. There was a part of him that realized weeks ago that the only reason he clung to her was because she was the only bit of pleasure that remained in a world full of horror and focusing on the semi toxic relationship with her, knowing full well that he was always going to be her second choice, was better than focusing on the fact that any moment his family could be being ripped open and spread across the living room in chunks by an invisible Zombie G.E.M. with no warning...

But he had scrubbed that part of his brain clean about a week ago so he didn't so much think that at alld as it was gone from his conscious mind. At that moment he thought

1) Rayven's are really pretty
2) ow!
3) that hurt a lot...oh **** we don't have anymore waffle mix
4) Say something dude! anything!

Tony: uh...well...uh...we...uh...haha...We have Wheat Thins! I'd could make you the best box of Wheat Thins you've ever had in your life.

Tony tried to smile passed the feeling of terror behind his eyes.


........

KG let out a little huff of air he relaxed himself. The fight seemed to be over and everyone was checking damages. Kid walked outside of the doorway a few steps and stared at the hole that led into  Marj's room.

KG: she's gonna be pissed

Kid said out loud to no one. He heard the voice of Raven back in the house. She had Tony by the chest and it looked as if she was going to eat his entire head praying mantis style...which, in all honesty, Kid figured she did with any of her relationship partners. With an annoyed sigh Kid Genius walked over to the two duffel bags sitting by his couch in the living room. It was getting harder and harder to find food without getting to close to the overrun city and their supplies were running dangerously low. He pulled out a box of pancake mix that he found in an abandoned minivan and walked it over to Rayven and Tony. he figured though it wasn't waffles it was the next best thing. Tony saw the box in his hand and his face lit up.

Tony: BRO! you are a life sav...

He reached for the box but KG pulled it out of his reach.

KG: first get dressed, second clean this **** up, then pancakes.

Tony: oh come on dude! you don't have to clean your room at the end of the world!

But KG was already out of the door and walking back outside with the box in hand. He saw Trine crouching down by the earth wall she had put up and he moved over toward her to see what was up. That's where he saw Jason, bleeding, and looking like he had just been hit by a truck.

KG: ****...

he said under his breath.

”It’s okay, they got it.” Trine crouched next to him, trying her best to keep him somewhat stable as he tried to get to his feet again.

There was a moment where she looked lost as Jason repeated himself, catching the blood she’d missed with the first swipe with the corner of the blanket again, before realizing Jason probably couldn’t hear her.

The air around him shifted, she could feel the weight of it pushing down on the side of her closest to him. This kind of thing wasn’t suppose to happen to him. Jason King was suppose to walk away from these situations like some sort of superman. It was faulty logic, but that was one constant thing she held onto. As long as he seemed untouchable not everything had gone completely off the handle.

”It’s fine jus-” right, he couldn’t hear her.

He was looking at her now, but something about his gaze seemed off, like he couldn’t focus. Trine looked up from King for a moment catching sight of KG now standing in the area with them, panic starting to sink in when she noticed Jason was only getting worse.

”Don’t do this to me,****.” it was quiet, and desperate, but she was honestly waiting for the punchline, or smirk, something. Anything.

Trine cupped the back of his head, trying her best to not let the panic get the best of her, and did the only thing she could think to do in this situation. She held him. Whatever was going on had to be internal there was nothing to wrap, or bandage. Nothing. That was the one thing that would always kick her system into a frenzy. Something was wrong and she couldn’t fix it. She looked up to Kid from where she was on the ground and spoke before she really though about what to say.

”I don’t know how to fix this."

Rayven had brought back Kid, maybe she could help Jason, but Trine didn't see her anywhere outside.

Kid thought about just slapping Jason across the face and yelling at him to suck it up  but decided against it. Despite everything KG thought he would be feeling right now he more or less felt concern. Maybe not so much for Jason, even though KG guessed he didn't WANT him to be hurt, but for the rest of them. If something serious happened and Jason turned zombie KG couldn't think of a single thing on earth any of them could do to stop him.

He hated seeing Trine like this. It was a waste of emotion because they both knew Jason wouldn't have dropped a single tear of it had been either of them. But the fact that she cared made her all that more great of a person.

KG: it's ok...

Kid said to her putting his hand on her shoulder. Realizing then that he couldn't remember the last time he had physical contact with Trine.

KG: we'll figure this out. He can't be that bad.

In the midst of the spinning and the ringing and the pain Jason could see that Kid Genius had come over to be all "concerned" in front of Trine. If Jason wasn't so focused on trying not to throw up and pass out he mostly would have kicked his boney ass.

King: I'll be fine

Jason said. He couldn't hear himself all he could hear was the constant ringing. But he assumed he could be heard. The room took another wild spin and Jason realized that Trine was holding him, he must have fallen trying to get up. This was the worst and he was teetering on flattening everything in a 15 radius just to do something.

After what seemed like forty years later the witch finally showed up. Jason had thought to bring I need her for Tech who was looking in poor shape as well. But with out warning Jason could feel a presence moving closer to him, opening is mouth and then the unique taste of Rayven's breath. A tingle kind of rolled through Jason. The ringing became less along with the pain. The voices around him still sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher but Jason could work with that.

Then Rayven shot her hand out at set a jolt of pain through his face. Out of instinct he pushed his hands out and sent the group of three back about ten feet. He realized a second later that his nose had probably been broken. Jason used the wall to stand up slowly as he felt his strength returning.

As Trine felt the warmth of Kid’s hand on her shoulder she’d realized that the last time that they’d even been in a close enough proximity to touch at all had been almost a month ago. Now, that month felt like it had been much longer, the contact almost foreign in a way- but she still recognized it for what it was. KG thought it couldn’t have been that bad, but to her it seemed pretty awful.

Blue eyes lifted from Jason to Kid again and for a moment she looked confused as she tried to discern if she was just overreacting to the fact that King was currently bleeding from his face and nearly incoherent. It was possible that just the general shock of seeing someone, she had decided in her own way, was bulletproof actually downed had punched the big, red, panic button in her mind.

She nodded, albeit slowly, a little unsure if she actually agree with that notion. Then Rayven explained what was going on, and decided she would reluctantly help to heal the damage they couldn’t see. Trine shot her a look.

”You guess!?”

Was she losing her mind here? Jason and Trine were far from what anyone would consider friends. They had a back and forth and as much as he pushed her buttons she never consider letting him bleed out in her arms as an option. He could have left her in that office when she’d exhausted herself. He didn’t. There had been multiple times Jason King could have left any one of them for dead and for whatever reason he hadn’t and until that changed she would reciprocate that.

Rayven cracked Jason nose back into place and was immediately sent onto her rear and pushed back ten feet by King’s power. Which was probably for the best considering the blonde nearly lost the contents of her stomach from the sound.

She blinked looking up at the morning sky, before turning her head to see Kid. Trine grinned, relaxing a bit knowing that Rayven had gotten them out of a tight spot.

”Oh, hey, fancy seeing you way back here.” He was covered in the spray from the infected him and Tony had taken care of, and she couldn’t help, but laugh a little, ”I guess you’re gonna have to take another shower.”

Kid hated being pushed around. What he hated more, he realized, was one of the fundamental forces of the universe being controlled by an **** with a God complex. KG barely had enough to time spin around and catch him self, which is saying something. Truth his he probably would have more time had he not first pushed away a large chunk of rock from where Trine landing before they both came to a stop. He had done it fast enough that he was pretty sure she didn't even see him do it.

She turned to him and spoke. He smiled despite himself.

KG: like wise. You come to the apocalypse often?

Trine spoke again and he was reminded that he once again had blood splatter on him. Luckily the rest of his clothes were still washing but that didn't really fix the immediate problem. He stood to his feet and tried to brush off the dirt and blood from his shirt.

KG: I don't know. Our Lord and savior over there was pretty strict on his one shower a day rule. Fingers crossed for a rain storm.

KG held out his hand for Trine to take. Then I realized he just been rubbing at zombie blood and quickly tried to rub it off on his pants, then he were covered in blood and dirt. Quickly he ran inside dunked his hands in the bucket of water Tony was using to clean some of the blood of the kitchen counter and by the time he ran back they were dry. He smiled nervously and once again held out a hand.

Trine had gone to take his hand. She didn’t expect anyone in times like these to be all that clean to begin with. Growing up with four other brothers tended to desensitize a person when it came to dirt and blood, and now; after bandaging Kid’s leg, surviving a city full of rotting human beings, the blood Jackson Pollock courtesy of Jason King and a “greater” infected, the blood she’d wiped from Jason’s nose, and now the dirt on her clothes and hands from skittering across the ground it had become a normality.

So, when Kid ran off and came back with a washed hand she couldn’t fight the smile that crept onto her lips. She hadn’t seen him move the rock, but through this whole debacle he had been so incredibly considerate Trine wouldn’t have been surprised. The clean hand extended to her now was only another example.

She wiped her hands off on the thighs of her jeans, and took a hole of his hand, moving to get to her feet.

”You can have some of my shower time.” she blinked, before scrambling to elaborate, ”Separately! Obviously. Itakequickshowersanywayit’sfineRayven’showersaretoolonganyway.”

Perfect. The first time they’d so much as looked in eachother’s direction and that spastic  mess is what comes out of her mouth.

KG: HAHaHaAahAhaHa!!

That was normal volume of laughter right? KG knew that the answer was an obvious no but the sound just kinda came out of his body without him giving it permission. He quickly let go of Trine's hand before him the vibration started.

 King: T-tttthanks um I dddon't take super longggg showers normally...heh heh you know ssssuuuper speed helps a llllot.

KG clenched his hand into a fist trying to will himself back into a normal state. Though there was not much he could do abut the redness in his face.

KG: uh I'm gonna go do that and check on the damages inside...ok bye.

With that KG zipped back into the house. Smooth bro. Mister smooth. He could feel the breeze coming in from the hole in the house upstairs. It had gotten worse somehow. Maybe now that the adrenaline had worn off he could actually see the damage clearly. He opened the bathroom door and closed I behind him. It was one of the crappies parts of having a melee only option of zombie disposal. He got out of his clothes again and turned on the water. Stepping inside he wondered what the plan was going to be.

Teddy Williams gave a few extra kicks to the corpse for good measure before turning around to check on his brother. Weston was back to normal size but he still looked like he was pretty stunned.

Shine: Yo man. You good?

Big certainly was not good. He had a headache like a jack hammer and it was only made worse by the fact that there was a giant hole in the house. He thought he could send sailing over the house but he...didn't really think it through. Seeing Jason hurt also didn't seem to make him much better. It all seemed like it was his fault...everything was his fault.

Shine: hey!

Shine slapped his brother across the face getting his attention.

Shine: you good?

Teddy asked again. Weston nodded his head and the two of them began walking towards Tech. Shine looked towards Trine with a look of digest as she spoke with Kid.

Shine: maybe if those two got bit they'd finally have the brains enough to **** and get it over with. I'm sick of watching the young and the damn restless.

Big: Let it go Teddy

Weston said also looking at the two of them. It was more a look of longing than it was disgust.. he quickly turned away as Tech rose up from the ground wiping his mouth.

Tech: infected don't copulate. The reproduction process is passed through bodily fluid injection.

Shine: I don't know what the hell copulate means but exchanging fluids is what **** is dumbass.

Tech: How would you know exactly? Or are you just going off of what you've seen on the internet.

Shine looked like he was going to in on Tech but Weston held him back and Jason's voice stopped him.

King: this...place is scrapped. We are leaving first thing in the morning. Time to get your **** together.

Jason took a staggering step away from the earth wall he had been leaning. His face was a grave. They others knew now was not the time to fool around with Jason as he was never a fan of looking weak in front of anyone. The few times it happened always put him in a mood.

After healing Jason's injuries and setting his nose, Rayven slumped to a seated position on the ground.  Using that skill always took a lot of energy out of her.  She took a few deep breaths as she tried to ease the sensation of the world around her spinning like a merry-go-round.  Eyes glanced towards the house as KG went off to take another shower.  She looked back to Trine and smirked.

"Looks like you got a bit on you, too.  Maybe after he's done we can go in there and I can help you get the zombie guts off your back and other places you can't reach?"

Trine's eyebrow twitched and with a speed that could have rivaled Kid's she snatched up a pebble at her side and lobbed it in Rayven's direction.

"No thanks. I can feel enough creepy sexual energy from you and Tony without inviting that crap into my shower."

Rayven didn't have the energy to move and let out a soft whimper when the pebble bounced off her arm.

"You could invite it into your bed like I've offered and you wouldn't have to feel it through Tony..."

The blonde stepped over to where Rayven was seated on the ground, standing at her side in case she wanted help to get up. Blue eyes watched as Tech and Shine went back and forth.

”Never going to happen.” then she realized something, a look of mortification clearly on her face ”And feel what through Tony!?”

Jason took a step away from the slab he’d been leaned up against and Trine reflexively shifted, until realizing he probably didn’t want any help.

Rayven just shrugged as, yet again, Trine brushed off her advances.  She didn't take the offer of a hand up, she didn't quite have the energy to stand yet.  Instead, she just leaned her head over against the side of Trine's leg.

She looked to Jason as he got up and said they were leaving first thing in the morning.

"Leaving?  In what?  That RV is scrapped.  Do you have a getaway vehicle you've been keeping secret from the rest of us?  Cuz.....damn, that's a good idea, I should've thought of that...."

Jason spun on his heels and looked at both Rayven and Trine. Despite his vision still being a little blurry on the edges and his hearing still a bit muffled he heard enough of what she had said. He also could feel the pulse in his neck thumping as his anger filled up his whole body.

King: I don't think you heard me....

He said with the cold calm of a coiled angry snake

King: I said WE as in Me and Mine. I don't give a single **** what anyone of you do or where you do it. We are not "co-workers" anymore. We are not "rivals" or "Tag Teams" anymore. We are just people trying to survive the end of the damn world! So i am going to surround myself with people that didn't want to beat me to death a month ago for a piece of shiny metal strapped to some leather!

The truth was during his flying lessons he actually had found something, something that could very well lead them away from the city and into safety, well safer surroundings. He just hadn't told anyone yet because he was still trying to decide what to do with the people in this little group that he didn't like and/or trust. Jason let his words hang in the air and the turned and walked towards the RV. Tech stopped him with a soft hand on his chest and leaned in, whispering.

Tech: Though i understand your reluctance to bring along the others allow me to point out some factors.

He said it like a statement but Jason knew Tech would keep his mouth shut if he didn't get the go ahead. Jason didn't look at him but didn't stop him from talking. Tech took the silence as consent and continued.

Tech: The fact is that we have exhausted our medical supplies. Had we not been robbed before we came out here we might have been fine but as of now Rayven is the closest thing to a doctor we have. Now though we don't know if she can cure a bite from an infected we do know she can reverse injuries. If something were to happen to Weston, Black, or Yourself we would be helpless to stop you should you die and reanimate...

When you've been more or less invincible your whole life it's tough for you to be in the mindset of mortality. However given what just happen Jason was in a more listen mood.

Tech: Rayven's healing ability produce a benefit greater than that of her attitude and overall risk. However given Rayven's sexual obsession with Trine Larsen the chances of her coming along willingly without her is less than 5%.

King: weren't you the one who wanted to leave Trine to die in the city.

Tech spoke again barely blinking.

Tech: the circumstances were different. We could have lied about the details of her death. As of right now that is no longer an option.

Tech was right most of the time and this was no exception.

Tech: Trine Larsen, while strong, looks to you for leadership, security, and the ability to make the less socially acceptable decisions that come with this sort of world change. She will come if you let her bringing along Rayven. However if Trine Larsen joins us then, due to his unexpressed sexual obsession with Trine Larsen, Kenneth Mason will want to come too.

King: I could kill him.

Jason said softly though there was no real feeling to it. He already knew the answer before Simon spit it out.

Tech: The likelihood of Trine Larsen coming with us willingly after the murder of Kenneth Mason is less than...

King: i know

Simon nodded

Tech: Not to mention at the speed Kenneth Mason travels there is little we could do to stop him from following us anyway. The only people we could potentially afford to leave are Tony Mann, Grace Brutal, The Wretched Nobody, and Marijana Martin. two of which i believe have left already, another is missing.

King: and Tony?

Tech: I am...not sure about him. I have not yet determined if Kenneth Mason's desire to copulate with Trine Larsen is strong enough for him to forsake his friend or if Rayven cares enough about his well being to make his passage with us a mandatory decision....given their track record both are to various to really say at the moment.

King: Trine wouldn't let us leave him...even if she wanted to and she's the pin to their whole **** up granade.

Jason said with a small sigh. He didn't turn his head but he raised his voice so that everyone else in the yard could hear.

King: Whoever is out in the yard at dawn i am assuming is coming with us. If you wake up and we're not here than you are on your own and mostly likely dead...or worse.

With that Jason opened the door of the RV and went inside. Followed by Tech, Shine, and The Man in Black who looked at Big. Weston shook his head softly and the Man in Black shut the door.

Trine hadn’t moved from where she stood in the grass, the residual shake from the anger that had boiled up in Jason King still humming in her fingertips. She figured that was coming and whatever Tech had said to him was, more than likely, the only reason he’d changed his mind. She took a breath in through her nose.

”We should go back in and let Kid and Tony know.” it came out as more of a sigh than a statement.

She was never one to get overly invested in championships and, as she suddenly became more aware of the head resting against her leg, the reality that someone had literally nearly beat her to death for one started to sink in. Blue eyes stayed focused on the now closed door of the RV for a moment before slowly shifting to look at Rayven.

Trine knelt down, took a hold of Rayven’s wrist, and positioned her arm across her own shoulders in order to support her on the walk back to the house.

Tony looked up as Trine and Rayven made their way closer to the door way. He saw that Rayven was being helped in by Trine and he immediately dropped the sponge he was scrubbing the counter with and ran over to help.

Tony: What happened?

Tony said moving in the support Rayven's other arm.

Tony: or are you just going weak in the knees at at sight of me?

Tony smiled but his concern was obvious all over his face.

For a second Tony actually looked hurt. His eyes turned to Trine to try and get some sort of evaluation of things but then he turned back to Rayven and tried to put on a smile while pointing at the floor, the wall, and the kitchen counter.

Tony: Well Ken said that there would be no waffles until i cleaned up all this crap THAT HE MADE...

Tony cupped his hands and yelled upstairs towards the shower.

Tony: I guess he has the mix upstairs with him. But if you wanted to...

Tony wiggled his fingers at the mess and made a noise that sounded like a bad sci fi intro.

Tony: then i could get right in with the breakfast as soon as he gets out WHICH SHOULD BE ANY FRICKEN SECOND NOW.

Tony: well...

He wiped at his face trying to figure out what to say next.

Tony: no?

The comedian looked back between and forth between Trine and Ravyen then sighed.

Tony: i guess i'll just get back to it.

Tony shapeshifted to look like a large male version of Annie and began to whistle "It's a Hard Knock Life" as he got back on his hands and knees and returned to scrubbing the sides of the counter.

Trine raised an eyebrow looking at Rayven with a look that clearly read “seriously?” as she shoved Tony. Once she dropped down into the chair the blonde shook her head following behind Tony to help.

”Speaking of royalty,” she’d said loud enough for Rayven to hear her from the kitchen, where she’d grabbed a dish towel, and started wiping down the front of the cabinets. ”your waffles can wait, princess. There’s plenty of other things you can eat in the meantime.”

There were plenty of things, but as far as if they were capable of being eaten was another problem entirely.

Trine didn’t understand the relationship between the two occupants in the downstairs with her. Rayven was a classic hot and cold case- and the amount of….(she wanted to say love because what else could it be) that Tony Mann had to put up with that was beyond her. There was no sense in questioning it, so instead she settled for just trying to help him out as much as she could in the aftermath of Rayven’s fits.

”.....what the heck did you guys do to this thing?”

KG: at the end of the world? When the country is chock full of zombies and zombies with superpowers? Yeah maybe it is too much for you to throw a fit because you didn't get your breakfast the way you like it princess next time you don't like what's on the menu go on out there and get it yourself.

Kid Genius had come down the steps from the shower. He had to make his way to the laundry room in order to get his clothes and dry the. Drops of water still clung to his chest as he stood with one hand on the towel wrapped around his waist and the other on the box of pancake mix. He set hard down on the table that still had blood splatter on it and turned to Tony.

 KG: forget about cleaning this place every dude. We should be getting out of here. If the zombies from the city have been coming in on their own before now they sure as hell are coming now.

Kid Genius looked over and saw that Trine was down where Tony was and quickly realized that he was standing over her in a towel. With nervous sound that was half laugh half just instinctive noise he sped off into the laundry room. Grabbing his clothes he spun around like a while wind, drying himself and his clothes before put them on and zipping back into the room again. He rubbed the back of his now frizzy hair and smiled then gave a not to friendly look to Rayven.

I had been mindin’ my own damn business most a’ the mornin’. So, you’re going to have to understand, in my defense that:

”whatinthaactualfrickin’fuckisthatgiantzombielookinsonoffabitchdoin’inthedamnsky!?”

Is a perfectly okay thing to yell, and by yell I mean sorta hoarsely whisper to myself, when a….I **** you not….flyin’ friggin’ zombie decides he’s just gonna roll by. He looked like the Wicked Witch a’ the West’s fez monkey dipped a little too far into a steroid habit!

Well, one of em’ did….cause did I mention there was t’ree more?


Yeah, laugh all you want, but undastand somethin’. Zombies are scary enough on their own. Add the the fact that now some a’ those freaks got demselves turned into these mindless brain munchers only makes it worse.


The rumble of a truck engine could be heard through the section of woods. Only a few short minutes after a 1964 Chevrolet Pick-up Truck pulled up to the makeshift campsite, next to Giuseppe’s beat up Jeep Wrangler.

”You see those freakin’ things?”
”See em?! Bro, if I wasn’t already wearin’ brown pants…”
”That ain’t good. Superpowe-”

This time the interruption was due to a loud crash- like something smashed through the side of a barn. The crack of wood being split sounded in a clap.

”Welp. We sure as **** aren’t goin’ in that dire-”

A high pitched screech cut Salvatore off as both men looked towards the sound, then slowly back to one another.

”JASON!”

Joey perked up almost instantly at the sound of a female voice. He’d seen a woman a while back, long dark hair, tan skin, amazing a- personality. He was sure she had a great personality. Something had knocked her back, sending her flying back through the trees before hitting the ground. Which was bad news because if Giuseppe Stasi was anything-

IT WAS not a hero.

”Nope. **** that.”

Being his exact words.

The way Rayven’s powers worked had always been a bit of a mystery. Trine knew close to nothing about witches outside of the stereotypical green skin, mole on the nose, broom flying type. If that was even a type considering the idea of witches was no longer in the realm of fiction and from what she’d seen actual witches were fairly normal- outside of being able to move things with a flick of a wrist, magic open kiss heal, and set things on fire.

Witches weren’t all that normal when she thought about, but then again that was coming from someone who could literally move the earth with some directed energy. None of them were really “normal”, not anymore at least.

Knowing that every time Rayven healed someone it took a toll on her own system sent a pit of worry into Trine’s stomach. She didn’t seemed worried about the bleeding she was experiencing, but Trine had to wonder where the line was as far as how hurt someone could be before they were beyond healing.

”I can understand the frustration, but if Kid has the mix there isn’t much he could have done about it. Do you want a snack or something for now?”

Trine had started making her way towards the bottom of the cabinet door when she’d heard Kid’s voice, her eyes focused on the stubborn streak of blood caught in the moulding, when she felt something wet drop onto her.

Probably just blood. Must be some on the ceiling.

Then a second drop landed on her forearm and when she’d moved to nonchalantly wipe it off, she realized it was clear and slowly raised an eyebrow.

Water?

Blue eyes lifted from the droplet she’d been focused on and caught sight of bare feet, then towel, then the dip of stomach muscle leading into said towel, then-

Then. At the worst possible moment her eyes met Kid’s for barely a second before he made a noise- at about the same time what could only be described as a quiet kind of squeak left Trine’s lips. She snapped her attention back to the blood, nearly slamming her own forehead into the cabinet, and vigorously rubbing away at the blood.

KG left, but was back in the room as fast as he had gone.

”Uh. Speaking of leaving,” she began, still keenly focused on the job at hand, all while trying to keep her voice even, ”Jason was saying to get your stuff ready. They’re leaving at dawn.”

 KG: mmhmm...
 
It was half statement half question as he was using most of his brain power on remaining as nonchalant as possible. But as he sat down Trine's words actually sunk in.

KG: wait a minute...

He said trying to match his hair down to normal levels.

 KG: Why do we care when they're leaving? I mean...do we have to go with them?

He looked at each of them. Tony, happy he no longer had to clean up zombie blood plopped his now red sponge on the ground and leaned his back against the cabinet.

Tony: What do you mean?

KG: I'm just saying why are still with Jason and his...people? I mean getting out of the city, sure, we were all in the same building when it all happened. But if the RV'S shot and their just running off into the zombie apocalypse...do we have to follow them?

KG waited again for an answer or any response at all. Tony leaned over to Trine and whispered.

Tony: Hey you can stop scrubbing now...wow you are really red, like all over your face. You should take a breather.

He leaned back. KG opened his arms.

KG: well?

Trine listened as Kid started speaking, but she didn’t stop scrubbing until after Tony had leaned back from talking to her. KG pressed on and Trine sighed, dropping the sponge onto the tiled kitchen floor. She idly took notice of the fact that the watered down remains of the blood soaked into the sponge had stained the tips of her fingers- leaving a map of tiny, black, lines where it hung onto the creases in her knuckles, and ridges of her fingerprints.

”No, you don’t have to do anything.” the blonde shifted her weight onto her knees and grabbed a dish towel that had been draped over the handle of a drawer, and wiped her hands off, ”I just figured you said leaving was a good idea...so…”

If there was ever a time when Trine thought people could be civil with each other: it was the end of the world. The way this morning was going she was starting to realize how wrong that assumption might have been.

”My thinking was that there is saftey in numbers. I feel like I can trust him to a point. I’d like to go with them if the plan is to leave anyway, but it’s up to us as a group.”

She felt tired, but in a way that was different from physical exhaustion. It was the kind of energy sap that came with constantly trying to keep herself at a low simmer, when in all honesty she just wished things could be simple. Just once. Instead of playing the ambassador for a group of adults. Yes. No waffles, but don’t take it out on Tony. Yes, I understand how you feel and next time can be more understanding. Sure, you don’t like Jason, but it’s better to stick together. And that was just examples from the last few hours...

If she could just get a break from that role Trine would move the tectonic plates in a heartbeat.

”We can take a vote. And then make a plan based on that. Sound good?”

Tony: Well I vote we stick together...

Tony stood up with a smile. Grabbing the pancake mix and opening it. He took out a bowl and began to get the batter set up.

Tony: I mean what's going on here is a horror movie if I have ever saw one. And I've already been extremely lucky enough to break one of the scary movie no no rules already without dying a horrible death. I don't watch to break another one  by splitting up ya know.

If there was one thing Kid could count on it was the fact that Tony was always going to be himself. Granted a lot of the time that required him physically altering his brain anytime he felt a negative emotion, which he had been doing more and more lately, but still KG couldn't help but feel comfort.

KG: ok and Trine I am guessing you want to go with them...

KG said not quite sure how he felt about it. More than anything he was afraid. He had no idea how bad the injuries were that Jason suffered. But if he had died and turned Kid couldn't think of anything he could have done to protect Trine, Tony, or even Rayven. From where he was sitting Jason was a ticking time bomb that when it went off would take most of the world with it.

KG: and that means Rayven is going with you so I'm out voted....cool...well I'll start seeing what parts of the generators we bring with us or whatever.

KG got out of his chair and walked towards the door.

That was...unexpected. Trine was probably the only one who had started to warm up to being around King and based on that alone she figured the odds were 3 to 1, for not going with the group. Tony made a good point- in her eyes at least. Every movie she’d ever seen when the group split it was time to throw your hands up and just wait to see how they all died.

Rayven was a suprise. Well, she thought so at least, but maybe she was wired differently. As far as she was concerned crush, or married, or conjoined twins everyone had their own minds and choices. Rayven had always ben the lone wolf, a master of her own destiny. The responsibility that in a small way Trine’s own decisions could affect Rayven’s choices felt uncomfortable.

Trine watched Kid for a moment as he made his way towards the door, before getting to her feet. The Rayven gave her made her chest drop into her stomach. Then she realized something.

She didn’t get bit. she mouthed, trying to keep the sick feeling that washed over her from showing on her face.

”One sec.” it was quiet, mostly just for Tony and Rayven to hear.

The blonde picked up a hurried walk to catch up to KG. She took a hold of his wrist, making the last few steps out of the front door a faster exit, leaving the door to close on it’s own behind them.

”Hey,” she let her hold on his wrist go, realizing it could come off aggressive when that wasn’t the intention, ”what has you so worried about staying with Jason’s group? I’m not coming at you...I’m just trying to understand where you’re coming from…”

Kid was surprised that Trine came to him so suddenly and he was more surprised that the grip on his wrist firm enough that he wasn't actually sure if he could leave if he wanted. she walked them both out the door and shut it behind them. Kid couldn't help but thinking in one day they had engaged in more conversation and physical proximity than in the last month. She must have thought so too cuz she quickly let go of his wrist and spoke.

She seemed genuine...what was he saying it was Trine. She didn't have a deceptive bone in her body. Kid knew that in the back of his mind he was  little bitter about everyone siding against him on the issue but he couldn't really blame them. Tony followed Rayven, and Rayven followed Trine. He never real had a chance in the first place. Kid let out a sigh and looked around over his shoulder. None of Jason's group here outside, except for Weston who was caring the corpses out to the wall.

KG: Trine...

he started dropping his shoulders.

KG: Two months ago the only thing i saw that man do was target people for decimation. He acts like he can't trust us but me, you, Tony...we never beat someone until they couldn't stand anymore. Think of all the people in WWG who were injured from just him. Now think about the fact that when the zombies came they couldn't run because of what Jason and his friends did to them just because he wanted to be a bad ass. Can you tell me honestly that you have never once been worried that he was going to do something to hurt you since this all went down?

KG ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

KG: i know Trine...i mean i know that the moment he see's a way to get rid of us for his own benefit he won't hesitate to do it. I know we want to have strength in numbers but i feel like we are locking ourselves in a cage with a rabid wolf and i'm the only one who can see that.

"and he keeps looking at you like you're a woman shaped sheep fallen away from the flock." he wanted to say but KG stopped himself just before the words fell out of his mouth. He took a deep breath.

KG: when i....i....i'm sorry i have to say this the right way.

Kid turned and took a few steps away and then turned back and looked into Trine eyes.

KG: When i visited you in the hospital after what Rayven did to you....i hated it...i hated seeing you like that. She did that because she's insane and my best friend keeps **** up his own brain so he can't see that and you...you just are too good of a person to leave her on the side of the road so I have to be the one to keep an eye on her on the off chance she decides that she's gonna smash your skull in because you don't want to have sex with her. I don't think i can watch both her and Jason and his thugs and any zombie that might jump out of god knows where and....

KG stopped and took another deep breath before looking down at his feet and then up again at the sky. Anywhere but in Trine's blue eyes.

KG: ...i'm not fast enough

Tony was humming to himself as he mixed the pancake batter up in the last remaining clean bowl in the house. There was this strange feeling like he was forgetting something important, something that he should be more concerned about...but it was so far away from his mind all he could really think about was the fact that Rayven really wanted these pancakes and he wasn't going to let her down.

Tony: Hey...

He started finding a frying pan in a cupboard and putting on the stove.

Tony: Don't worry about the pancakes. Sometimes...

Tony found some butter, checked it's date, and then put some on the pan.

Tony: it's the little things that make crappy stuff not so crappy. But hey even though we could be being eaten at any minute right now, in this minute, i am enjoying time with a lovely young lady making pancakes. So i mean why not just enjoy it and focus on that.

He poured a little bit of the pancake batter onto the pan and quickly found a spatula. He turned to Rayven with a smile.

Tony: Now i am going to make one and then you are gonna tell me what it needs. That way we're not using up the whole lot of it to make "so so" pancakes, cool?

The batter made a small circle on the pan, the sizzling sound was intoxicating as well as the smell. somehow despite all the blood and gore around them the smell of pancakes in the morning was still magical. After a few seconds Tony flipped the cake once, then a few seconds later he did it again. Before long there was a small warm golden disk sitting on a scooby-doo kids plate that must of belonged to whomever owned the house before they got there. Tony took the plate and walked it over to Rayven with a smile that said "Go on".

Trine listened quietly as Kid spoke, unloading worries that must have been on his mind for a long while. It all made sense and if she was honest with herself her decision to stay with King’s group had been based on a gut feeling. She felt like she could trust Jason, but there was never anyway to know with him.

He looked at his feet and then he’d looked up. After a month of not breathing a word to one another, to having a full blown conversation, was probably turning out to be a bit much. She smiled and shook her head.

”I think if you got any faster you’d time travel or something.”, she moved to take a step and close the space between them, but then decided against it, ”And you’re probably right.”

Despite the rough edges she felt like Jason was a good person. She wanted to believe she could trust him. Kid was right there were times when she just assumed he’d leave her for dead, or dropped out of a window, but each time he proved her wrong. Then again what about Kid, Tony, and Rayven. On more than one occasion Jason made it very clear he wasn’t KG’s biggest fan. He could care less about Tony’s well being and the only reason he would keep Rayven around was because she was useful. Why he bothered with Trine, even back in the WWG when all she had to worry about was thugs, she still couldn’t figure out. Trine trusted Jason to a point when it came to her well being, but there were three other people in the equation.

”No. You’re right. I trust him, but not enough to put you guys in danger. I’m just…” she frowned looking towards the RV.

”...scared. He was really hurt today and if they leave on their own tomorrow and something happens- I think they’re good people, maybe not to our particular group, but...I don’t want them to get hurt either. Separating is smart...”

It just feels awful.

She looked back at the front door, getting a visual on Rayven through the tempered glass. The guilt had been weighing down on her for days and the fact that Kid had essentially bared his soul in the situation made her feel even worse for keeing it from him.

”I….I need to tell you something. It’s about Martin.”

Tony began looking for milk and syrup the moment the words came out of Rayvens mouth. He was sure he had seen milk in the fridge somewhere...or maybe he was thinking of a pre end of the world fridge...

He didn't look for long because suddenly he felt a tug on his head and suddenly he was closest to heaven for the second time since the world ended. He could feel Rayven's legs around his waist. She had such power despite her frame. Tony couldn't help but giggle like a child as she smiled and rested her head on his chest. The smell of her hair and the pressure of her body was definitely a pick me up. He almost forgot all about the pancakes...and the zombies...and the entire world.

She laughed at the plate her pancake had came on. Tony laughed with her.

Tony: See you say that but i gotta say i was always more into Velma...

He shifted his face to look like the plucky cartoon teen detective.

Tony: I mean just think of all the naughty ways she could say "jinkies"....mmhmm i was hooked as a kid.

He laughed again as his face returned to normal. Rayven was facing the door now. She asked about Ken and Trine. Tony shrugged.

Tony: Ha ha ha i don't think Kenny's has enough game to pull that one off...

Tony said shaking his head.

Tony: besides if that was going to happen you'd think it would have already, right? what else is there to talk about?

..................


”I….I need to tell you something..."

Well that sent a jolt up KG's spine bolt of lightning. His mind raced through a billion different things in a fraction of a second and all he wanted to do was find, somewhere deep in the mess of information he had in his brain, the ability to not act like such a freaking dork. But he knew this moment was coming...he had put it off long enough... they had to talk about it sometime. The elephant in the room was so big at this point that it was causing a solar eclipse. Kid Genius gritted his teeth, took a mental breath and spoke.

It'saboutabouttheMartinkiss

Kid's grew into two huge saucers as the relaxation of his mistake hit him over the head like a 18 wheeler lobbed by superman. His face was bright red, His body was vibrating visably, He could see Trine's face was also one of shock.


KG: uMmmMmMMm..hhhhhaha..oh..YyyyyYyyOuuuU SSSAaayYY Yyyourrrr ThinnGGGgg

He crossed his arms trying not to seem like he was exploding on the inside

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Trine glared down at the floorboards of the porch, if she was going to keep her from telling him the truth, at least come up with something better than that mess.

Then something sunk in:

It’sabout aboutthe Martinkiss

And her entire face turned a bright shade of red and she ducked her head down, rubbing the back of her neck. That was bound to come up at some point. Originally she’d mostly been concerned with the idea that he’d been angry, or upset and there was no way to apologize if they hadn’t spoken in almost a month. Now, she wanted to crawl under a rock.

There was no chance she’d get to have an honest conversation with Kid- not with Rayven anywhere within earshot. For all Trine knew about her powers Rayven could just read her mind- which would be a living nightmare.

”...Uh...right...what- what did you want to say?”

The blonde looked to Rayven out of the corner of her eye, and nodded her head as if to say some privacy? while at the same time letting her know that Trine was done talking about Marijana. For now.

There were multiple reasons why Kid Genius didn't trust Rayven. One of those being that she kept his best friend hanging on her every word like a dog on a leash, another being that she made more passes at Trine than all the NFL quarterbacks in the history of the game, and it also didn't help her case that she was a violent sociopath. However it wasn't so much those things that triggered KG's BS meter as it was the basics of what she had said.

Martin had gone out to scout.

She did tend to come and go as she pleased but for the most part either the scouting was done by Jason from the air or by him on the ground.

It was a two day trip one-way.

That really didn't make sense because they didn't have enough food for that. The whole reason Jason had sent him out last night was because their stocks had run dry. Kid was in charge from speeding out and getting the food so he tend to keep a good eye on it. The last time he checked nothing was missing and he would have thought he would have asked if something had been taken without him knowing about it.

Rayven smiled at him.

Rayven never smiled at him. They had made it very clear that they didn't like each other which was perfectly fine in Kid's mind.

Kid looked at Rayven's face. Back in the 10th grade he had read a book about micro expressions. He had thought the idea of reading people's faces would be a cool way to go about impressing girls, don't ask him how though he wasn't sure. However it was always impossible because the change were almost two fast for the human eye to see. Lucky for Kid Genius not only was he no longer technically human but he could recall with 100% clarity every expression in the book he read all those years ago. He looked at Rayven's face and allowed himself to speed up, internally. Suddenly everyone seemed to be moving slower, sounds became less clear and the air seemed thicker. Rayven had three different emotions on her face in those brief slowed seconds.

Worry, Nervousness, and Fear. KG knew something was wrong.

Trine spoke and Kid quickly felt the mood of the whole world changing but right as she did Tony appeared from the doorway

.....................


Tony barely had time to think before Rayven bolted away from him. She almost knocked the whole batch of pancakes to the ground but Tony managed to catch the bowl just in time with minimal spillage. He placed back on the counter quite pleased with himself. He made some ninja swipes at the air before walking over towards the door to see what was such a big deal.

Tony: Sooo....

He said putting his arm around Rayven's shoulder as "cool" as he could manage.

Tony: what's going on?

Tony saw the look in Ken's eyes...it was his "Something's going on here...Tony are you hiding a dozen water balloons filled with Bud Lite behind your back right now?" face that Tony had seen at least a dozen times before. But there was something in there too. His face was all red and you could see that he was really trying to keep his nervous tick under control. Trine's face was blushed and she was looking all over the place. Rayven was...well she was perfect...but she was also kinda acting weirdly extra weird...which was weird.

Tony: am i....missing....something?

Trine chanced a glance at Kid- who, judging by the look in his eyes, was not convinced. She had counted on that, he wasn’t stupid, which for a minute had her feeling a little insulted for him that Rayven would hope that red herring would work. Something else she noticed was his face was as red as her’s felt and then Tony came through the front door and she no longer had the courage to look anywhere, but the floor, the RV, the yard, that leaf blowing by.

Anywhere, but in Kid Genius’ direction.

Rayven gave her a look over her shoulder. Trine just rolled her shoulders back and lifted her chin in a way that was a classic move of “come at me,” but the reality was if Rayven could hear her there was no point in trying unless she wanted to be caught up in another fiasco. She wasn’t, however, about to let Rayven think she’d intimidated her into silence...even if she did...a little bit.

Then they were alone again. Well, for the most part.

”Uh...well...I...if you don’t want to talk about it right now...considering apparently she can hear us inside...I should probably let Jason know we’re separating. And Tony too.  she’d started wringing her own fingers like a wet towel, ”unless you want to. That’s fine too! Just...wasn’t sure...so...”

KG: No...i mean yeah i want to talk about it...I jjjust thought you were ggoing to talk about so...yeah...

Kid looked back over Trine's shoulder towards the house and then back and Trine who wasn't looking at him at all. Ugh he hated this!!

KG: You know what?...

KG blew out a gust of air and steeled his eyes. There was so much going on in the world right now and at this point he was just sick of feeling like he wasn't in control of any of it. He shook out his shoulders and put his hand around the back of Trine's head. Then speed off away from the house. In a moment they were a little ways by the giant rock wall Trine had created. Weston had just thrown the bodies of the two zombie attackers from earlier over the top. There were quite of zombies on the other side...a problem for a later time for sure. Big was surprised but then just kinda looked embarrassed. Kid nodded with a slight smile and then turned back to Trine with a sigh and a tired smile.

KG: I'm sorry...it's just...might as well get this over with right? like a band aid or a cold pool. Just kinda....gggget it donnnne right? 

Trine had been smiling and in the middle of waving to Weston, when Kid turned to face her. She dropped her hand and the smile on her face faded a bit, into a more level expression. Despite the frazzled pouf of blonde hair, the product of super speed and wind resistance, the trip was easier on her stomach this time. It felt like a short ride on the gravitron, but if they’d turned the speed dial up past any recommended limit.

”Right, sure, um,” she ran her fingers through her hair, giving her a good excuse to look at her feet (even if it was only a second), and psych herself up, ”I should probably go first…”

There was a deep breath, followed by Trine standing up a little bit straighter, before she finally looked back up at Kid.

”I’m sorry if I made you angry with how I handled the whole….office...uh...thing.”

Kids face actually was hit with surprise. He blinked a couple times before speaking.

KG: angry? Why would you think I was angry at YOU? I thought you were....I thought you....would be all..

Kid shook his head and held up his hands.

KG: hold up...I'M sorry. I was the one who.....did it

The groans of the infected a few feet below sounded, low, and out of sync. Trine could feel the long, slow, drags of mangled fingers against the face of the makeshift mountain range reverberating at the back of her mind. She blinked when Kid held up his hands, her head tiltled in the slightest, trying to silently figure out what she’d lost in translation when he’d started avoiding her weeks ago.

”You don’t have to apologize. The timing was just really...well, it was- wait. You weren’t angry? I figured you just wanted to forget it ever happened...you could barely stand to be in the same room as me afterwards.”

KG: No! i never angry at you! no no no no no NO no....no...i was just...

The sound of a zombie trying to bite through the stone was unsettling. Kid could hear the teeth shaving against the rock as the constant moans continued. He closed his eyes and shook his head.

KG: I just felt....stupid...Trine i know you said i don't have to be but i am sorry and...i don't i just was so worried about you and i thought something could of happened and i had just done this...

KG actually smiled a bit thinking about his running up the wall trick he used to reach Trine back at the city.

KG: really cool move and i was all caught up in the moment and...I get that THIS

Kid Genius waved his hands towards all the zombies shambling and pushing themselves into the rock trying to get to them.

KG: is not the time for...

KG wasn't quiet sure what he was actually saying in this moment. He felt something rise in his chest. It was like a heat the burned in his belly and rose up. He was frozen in a sea of potential words and phrases.

The sound of the infected dragging its teeth along the rocks sent a strange chill through the tops of her shoulders, that sent Trine fractionally curling them forwards as she felt a phantom sensation in her own teeth. Whoever had came up with the idea that “nails on a chalk board” was the go to for horrible sounds, had never heard someone drag their top row of teeth down the face of a rock.

”It...is definitely a little hard when that mess is always going on.” she nodded her head to one of the infected that had started to claw its fingers down to the bone, trying to climb up, ”pretty much the biggest undead jockblock I’ve ever seen.”

Trine looked back to Kid, her expression softer than the disturbed sort of curl that took to the corner of her lip as she watched the gaggle of infected below.

”But I mean, whatever that move was had to be pretty sweet if that whole...kiss thing came out of it!” she grinned and bounced her eyebrows.

Sure, maybe another major difference between her and Rayven was the fact that Trine hadn’t exactly found the whole undead, end of the world thing, to be much of a libido boost. On the other hand it helped to sort of break down the pretense of how and what people felt about one another. When Kid had gone back on his own the look for survivors it felt...horrendous.When they’d gotten him safe the only thing she wanted to do was to have him know what him being safe, and alive, and still him had meant to her.

There weren’t words for it. There still weren’t.

The stupid grin on her face faltered a little.

”...listen...you...don’t have to feel stupid. I get it. When you went for that run back at the venue...I felt- it...it sucked. It felt stupid to feel like that since we didn’t know each other that long, or even that well, but it was pretty much the second worst feeling I’ve ever had. Then you came back and you were hurt, and just fading and-” she cut herself off, going quiet for a moment.

”I’m just used to having more walls than this kind of situation allows for, I guess.”

She wasn’t good at these things. Trine took a step forward, reached out her hand, and held onto KG’s fingers in a gentle grasp. Blue eyes stared down at their hands for a moment before looking back up to Kid’s face as she visibly steeled herself.

”You mean a lot to me. Probably more than somebody should considering...everything. I don’t- I don’t want anything to happen and you not know that- or how much. So, I guess… I really have no idea what I’m trying to say… ”

”ooooooOOOHHHHSHIIII IIT”

From the break in the trees of the surrounding woods came Giuseppe Stasi at a full sprint. A few weeks without so much as a trim had the hair on his head in a messy, multicolored mop, that had been pulled into a topknot.

An old beat up Chevrolet pick-up truck had come screaming into the strip of cleared land at the base of the wall. Salvatore Santaniello had his head poked out of the driver side window.

”SEPPE GET IN THA DAMN TRUCK!”

He hit the emergency brake, making a sharp turn to avoid slamming head on into the wall. It pulled up alongside Joey.

”HELL NO! THEN I GOTTA SLOW DOWN, BRO!

Sal leaned over and popped open the passenger side door keeping speed. The McGyverd gun rack on the back of the truck rattled, the gathered munitions beneath the now loose tarp slid to one side of the truck bed as it bounced.

”NOW!”

Then from the tree line something burst forward. It wasn’t human. It wasn’t even undead. It could have been undead? It was hard to tell when you were too scared to look back.

Whatever it was hadn’t been able to turn as swiftly as the Chevy and slammed straight into the wall. There was a cloud of dust, but the outline of whatever it was stood as a massive jagged shadow.

Tony turned to face Rayven. His face shifted into the face of a young Sean Connery and raised his eyebrow conspiratorially.

Tony: my dear are you saying we should spy on them?

His scottish accent was off but the mischief in his eyes was dead on. He was sure that Kenny would rather be alone for this...but....i mean what could it hurt to peak in? Besides if he caught them making out that would be pretty hilarious....unlikely seeing how Ken moved as fast with girls as he was slow on his feet...but still hilarious.

Tony opened the front door again and extended a hand out to Rayven for her to exit with a slight bow.

Tony: after you dar....

Suddenly there was a loud and massive crashing sound that startled Tony back to normal. It sounded like it was coming from the on the other side of the house.

Tony: um....that SO was not me.


..................

So once again Kid Genius was thinking that the world going to hell wasn't all that bad. Trine Larsen, world heavy champion, stunning gorgeous super star wanted by men and women all around the globe was standing right in front of him and holding his hands. Sure Kid had been famous for most of his life in the X-Games circuit and yes he had met his share of lovely women in his time. But this moment made all the horror of the world sort of fade, not disappear completely, but dim into the background as his felt the skin of their hands touch. He knew he was vibrating a little but he clenched in down as he gathered the strength to say what he had wanted to say for so long.

KG: Trine....

Kid took a deep breath in and looked the blonde haired warrior in her blue eyes. For the first time in a long time he didn't feel like running in fact he didn't feel like being anywhere but right where he was. All of the excuses and fears of a life before melted away as he gathered all of his confidence and opened his mouth to bring forth the truth of his heart.

KG: I...

The sound of a giant crash cut KG's words out of his mouth. Kid Genius snapped his head back toward the house. Big, who was a little was back now, turned his head back towards them and then grew a handful of feet and began bounding towards the house.

”Trine…”

”...yeah?”

The beating of her heart had kicked up into a frenzy, ramming against the back of her ribs like some kind of rabid animal. She wasn’t sure what Kid would say, but she knew what she was about to do and it was…

”I…”

Well, it was crazy, and probably irresponsible, and definitely horribly timed. Trine shifted her footing, moving now to stand almost toe to toe with Kid Genius, before slowly pushing up on the balls of her feet to-

The slam had sent a jolt of shock through her system. The hands that had gently held onto Kid’s nearly cinched like vices, before she realised the hold, and quickly let go. The sound of voices shouting, the truck engine, and the sharp clatter of guns in the back of a metal truck bed filled the air. Blue eyes looked straight at the house, but she could feel the vibration in the wall in her jaw. Whatever it had been was massive and felt oddly familiar somewhere beneath all of the noise.

He eyes went wide once she’d realised why…

”....oh….this is not good….” she looked back to Kid, ”We need to get back to the house.”

There was a second slam against the wall, the sound of rocks clipping into each other from the impact sounded like gunshots.

When Trine had constructed the range it was mostly to hold off infected and any possibly dangerous passer bys. They had not anicipated the the fact that G.E.Ms could turn.
The virus seemed to affect them differently. They weren’t rendered entirely mindless- they still maintained the ability to understand and use their powers which was a dangerous situation in itself. What made it worse was the fact that it sent them into some sort of flesh craving rage.

The third slam broke straight through the bottom third of the range. Dust and rock fragments were sent flying, and as it settled whoever (or whatever) it was had become visible.

It was massive. Spots of its body had become consumed in large chunks of diamond that jutted out in towering spikes, while others remained grotesquely human. The skin tore away in spots where the diamond had looked like it erupted. Both arms and a leg had been completely consumed in the rock, leaving the right leg to sort of drag limply, now broken at the knee, along the ground as it walked on its palms.

Half of it’s face was still distinguishable before splitting, bleeding the dark, black, blood of an infected, and morphing into diamond.

It was...or had been...Marijana Martin.

Giuseppe Stasi had made a grab for the door handle, but missed.

Joey:
”Oooh, no, no, no ,no-!”

The thing was at his heels now and took a swing, missing the frazzled blonde hairs of his top knot by inches. It slammed into the...weird, looking mountains. They were mountains, but something about them seemed off, maybe not fake, but definately not like they’d been there aince the begining of time.

Not like they’d been there for even a year.

In a panic Joey started climbing the side of the mountain. Sal slammed the truck into reverse, shouting out the window to try and get the giant, rock, infected’s attention. Then he realised Joey had started climbing.

Sal:
“SEPPE! WHAT THA **** ARE YA DOIN’!”

Joey:
“I DUNNO! CLIMBIN’?! I’M TOO HANDSOME TO DIE SAL! NOT LIKE DIS!”

The infected G.E.M pulled a fist back and in a blind rage threw its hand straight through the wall.

It missed Giuseppe, but he lost his footing and ended up dropping a few feet, beforw catching a jagged rock with his hand. His feet dangles through the hole, but the infected didn’t seem as interested in him anymore as it starred at the set up just beyond the wall.

And the people inside.

It slunk through the wall, walking on its hands.

Joey:
”Uh...okay...see ya around tall, dark, and hideious!” he wiggled his toes, like he somehow was the one that distractes it from mauling him. Then realised he couldn’t get down.

 Joey:
”EY! A LITTLE HELP HEA!”

Sal:
“Quit screamin’ ya moron! You’re gonna-”

The infected turned around with an almost inhuman snarl, glaring right at the two of them.

”.....”
”.....”
”......”
”.....holy…..”
”...****!- HEEEEELP!!”

There was a gun shot that rang out from the roof of the house. Laying down was one of the MIB clones with a sniper rifle they had pilfered from the aforementioned national guard unit a while back. Though there was a quick bit of tension at first the idea that the man in black and his many persons should be the one to hold almost all of the firearms was quickly accepted. Now it seemed like that was a pretty good decision.

however while the gore covered diamond visage snapped it's head back it seemed like no more than what a boxer would do if there was a haymaker connected to their face. No brain splatter, just a second of recoil and then it was back on it's prime directive. The man in black clicked on his radio.

MIB: Jason we have a wall breech and an infected G.E.M. here....

there was a second of silence as the man in black waited for a response. then he added.

MIB: it's Martin.

There was a crackle and then Jason's voice.

King: ...copy.

Suddenly there was another sound like a cannon being launched into the air. Before long Jason had rocketed himself up and out of the RV and was gaining altitude quickly. He then allowed himself to gain weight and speed as he came crashing down towards where the smoke and fire were visible. He clenched his teeth and made himself as dense as possible. Then he came down as hard on top of the blood slicked diamond body of Marijana Martin. He could hear the sound of crystal cracking but he couldn't feel anything as his body was basically to dense for sensation to register. He pulled himself back to look at the damage and could see that even though spider like veins spread all around the crystal nightmare Martin was still stagger toward them. Jason turned and looked towards the two men who had crashed their car into the wall. the smaller man was dangling from the rock wall and the other man was in the mangled car and had just missed Jason's big crash entrance by a foot.

Behind Martin there were now a good 50-60 infected walking, dragging, limping, crawling their way towards the wall. no doubt following the tail of the car from wherever it came from. Cursed and grabbed the driver side door of the car. He decresed it's gravity and increased his gravitational pull. It was a way he had learned to gain a round about form of super strength. With a motion he ripped the door of it's hinges and shouted at the large man inside.

King: You have two seconds to grab your friend and get into the house!

Then Jason took the door and threw it like a frisbee at the infected Martin. As it flew Jason concentrated and it regained it's orignal weight and became pulled into Martin with extreme force cutting, more like shattering, her in half.

The door of the truck was ripped off leaving Salvatore to stare at Jason King in shock. This was shaping up to be an interesting day. He nodded, worming his way out of the truck, and making a run for Giuseppe.

Joey by now was in a frantic receital of the “Our Father” in itialian. He knew the prayer- but never in his life had his Italian been that good. Sal ran to the back of the truck, reached into the bed, and pulled out one of the shotguns that they had gathered.

Then he realised somebody that could rip the door off of a truck probably didn’t need one and instead kept it for himself.

The door of the truck split the infected.

Joey:
"WHAT THA FRIG WAS DAT?!”

Salvatore grabbed the belt of Joey’s pants, deciding not to illuminate to his friend that was the sound of one of those modified types saving his flailing self from the mits of a massive, mutilated, brain muncher. The guy was hysterical enough already.

Sal:
"Doesn’ matter! Drop down. I got cha. Get to tha house.”

Giuseppe let go of the rock, his landing softened some with the help of Sal before he made a fill wind sprint for the house.

Sal:
"You need help or ya” he wiggled the fingers of his free hand, like a magic trick ”got dis?”

Jason didn't want to take his eyes off the horde coming there way but he looked back instinctively as the two strangers fussed about. He saw the shotgun and for a split moment he thought about turning the two of them into paste...Jason didn't like having strangers with guns behind him. But he stopped himself as he hear the sound of Martin snarl. She was still...animated. Her upper half was almost unrecognizable as a humanoid form. Her ability continued to try to create crystals making her looking a gagged bloody rock formation with one arm and a crystal bloody maw covered with spider-web cracks. Jason at first he thought he would just lift her into space or crush her into dust but...he couldn't...Jason cursed himself.

There wasn't a whole lot Jason couldn't do, he had learned that at a very young age, as far as he knew he was one of the most powerful G.E.M.s in the world. However his powers were not infinite or without restrictions. For whatever reason precious metals refused to bend to his dominion over gravity. So an infected made completely out of nigh unbreakable diamond wasn't Jason's idea of a good time. Jason spat back at the stranger with the shot gun who had asked him a question.

King: I can handle this! Get to the house tell them we are wheels up in 45 seconds! If they are coming with they are coming now!

With that Jason grabbed another door off the car and flung it and infected Martin but this time her jagged body just deflected it.

Joey dashed right past Tony and Rayven. He gave quick two finger salute.

Joey:
”yyy’ello!”

Then he stopped, walked backwards, and gave Rayven a quick up and down. He tipped an invisible hat in greeting.

Joey:
”Be-a-u-tiful.”
Sal:
“GET IN THA DAMN HOUSE, SEPPE!”
Joey:
“Not while she’s out hea. It’s been f-”

He was cut off as Salvatore grabbed him by the top knot and dragged him towards the front door of the house.

Sal:
“That guy said if you guys are leavin’ ya got 45 seconds. And uh….there is a **** ton a them mindless meandering S.O.Bs draggin’ ass dis way. Just so yas know.”

The situation escalated and the damage Jason King had managed to cause was swiftly being replaced by more jagged, bloodied, shards of diamond. From where she and Kid both stood Marijana Martin- or what was left of her had started to look like the little geodes you grew in the window of science class. Except she was much larger and those little science project didn’t really have the ability to maul people.

Trine had seen King turn most infected to paste with little to no effort. So, when it started to look as though he wasn’t going that route she’d started running towards Jason as Martin’s mutilated form reflected the truck door he’d sent crashing into her.

The door slamming into Martin only seemed to boost the rage that had already all but consumed her in the fog of infection. She hunkered down, the sound of precious stone limbs grinding with the movement, the sound of it low, and long, like grinding teeth. Then she pulled herself forward, towards Jason, fingers (if they could be called that anymore) leaving deep rivets in the ground.

Trine panicked. If King hadn’t shattered her by now something must have been wrong. She dropped to a knee, slamming both of her hands down onto the dried grass. A deep rumble rolled through the earth and the ground beneath Marijana split open sending her deep enough that it would buy Trine sometime to make it closer.

It was safe to say that the blonde didn’t have a load of diamond just laying around for her to practice her power on. While it was a natural rock she needed some fine tuning, considering this was only the second time she would try to manipulate it, and the last time was only by freak accident- and hadn’t exactly ended the way they’d hoped….considering….

”Are we even yet?!” she shouted as she ran, not missing a chance to make a smart ass comment when it came to Jason. Even if it probably wasn’t the time for it.

King: Not even close...

Jason said but there was no jovial sense in his words. There were very few times where things went outside of Jason's plan and when it happened it did not make him a very happy guy.

Trine had sunk the crystalline infected into the earth but Jason knew it was only matter of time before either she crawled out or her crystal form, which was spiraling out of control. Jason gripped the roof and open door section of the vehicle and pushed himself against the group sending him and the now weightless truck higher into the sky.

King: Get back to the house! Tell the kid to gather the supplies! We are leaving on the other side of the wall!

Jason looked back and down and saw that there was a small group gathering. His the vein in his head started throbbing.

King: This is not a God damn drive in!! MOVE!!

Jason focused on the truck. With a series of density shifts and gravitational manipulation he ripped it in half. Pieces of jagged metal fell down like rain as Jason lined up his shot. He than threw the back half of the vehicle towards the advancing horde. The truck look like it was going to smash into the group of infected but suddenly and without warning it turned into a shower of metal straps like it was thrown into a invisible metal blender. Jason had a look of shock. One of those infected was a G.E.M......and it was a powerful one.

Jason took the other half of the car and came back down the ground, slamming it over the section where Martin had been trapped.

King: LET'S GO!

Jason took off back towards the house and RV using his powers to push himself as if he were bonding on the moon.

Rayven grabbed Joey by the shirt. He looked down at her hand.

Joey:
”Oh. Nice!”

Sal still had a hand around Joey’s hair and then Rayven pulled him along with her. Joey’s eyes snapped wide open.

Joey:
”Yeeee-ow!,” Salvatore Santaniello jumped, releasing his friend’s hair
Joey:
”For tha love of God Sal!”

It wasn’t his fault some chick grabbed the guy! Sal was dragging him to safety and she was dragging him back where they came from. Ungrateful little-

Joey stumbled along behind Rayven, not at all upset about this turn of events…although having this other dude tag along with them wasn’t ideal. Stasi believed in maintaining a 2:1 ratio of female to male participants when it came to stuff like this and-

Where were they going....
Oh.

He started a backwards run, but Rayven continued to drag him over the top of the hill.

Joey:
”Oh. HELL tha **** NO! YOU’RE RUNNIN’ IN THE WRONG DIRECTION THERE SWEETPEA!! YOURS TRULY IS A REAL FAN A STAYIN’ THA **** AWAY FROM THINGS DAT WANNA EAT ME, KAY?!”

….was that guy **** floating in the air?
Oh.

Joey:
”And now one-a those radioactive x-men knock offs shows up...this day is killin’ me….”

Blue eyes watched as Jason King went airbourne. He’d shouted to get back to the house and have them get the supplies ready. Trine had started up a run when she’d seen Rayven, Tony, and some other guy running towards where she had managed to keep Martin for the time being.

”Wha-?”

It hadn’t registered for her to slow down and when she looked over her shoulder at Rayven, as Trine ran in the direction of the house, she caught sight of the flurry of metal scraps that had once been a section of truck. She could feel her stomach drop into the soles of her feet. Between Martin and whatever was lurking in the hoard of infected things were starting to look pretty dismal.

Trine had decided after hearing KG’s reasoning for not going along with Jason’s group, that it would have been safer for their own group as a whole if they left separately. The stipulation was if they were coming with him to be outside at dawn- she wanted to let him know ahead of time. It would probably save Jason the trouble if he knew prior to leaving...but now…

Well, now she wasn’t sure how to approach that- or what the rest of them wanted to do, considering the mob sized monkey wrench thrown into both side’s plans. Gathering supplies was a smart move either way, but then what? Jason started a bounding of sorts, almost weightless. Trine turned her attention forwards again as she ran, searching for where Kid Genius had ended up (or if he’d moved at all). There was another man she didn’t recognize by the house with a shotgun. She slowed a little, unsure if it was really smart to run at a stranger with a gun. She went wide,  choosing to keep her distance from Sal, before warily calling out for KG.

”Kid?”

There was no doubt they’d all have to leave. The question was if it would be as one cohesive unit or split into sides.

There was so much going on Tony had to remind himself to stay in the moment. There was the huge crash and then suddenly Jason was flying off somewhere and then Ken and Trine zoomed back and then there were people running in. For a second Tony just kind of stood there trying to process it all. Since the outbreak started Tony had made it a point to keep himself from feeling any negative emotions for longer than he had to. All Tony wanted to do right now was reach inside his head and scrub all this away.

But things were happening too fast for him to be able to do that. Suddenly two men came running in from the direction of the sound.

Tony: Joey? Sal?

He spoke but suddenly there was a huge twinge of pain that rippled through his entire being. Like he was being hit by a train. He realized that he had thrown himself hard into the fourth wall. Due to his constantly fluid brain patterns his grip on what was reality and what was fictions was always in flux. For a split second he could see hands typing words out onto a dark grey background then it shifted backstage at World Wrestling Generation that seemed to be set in a world where there were no even zombies and then....

Rayven had grabbed him by his shirt and began pulling him in the direction of the noise. This familiar sense of Rayven pulling him where she wanted him to go allowed him to focus on the world at hand. There was a guy being dragged by his hair with them. He didn't know who the dude was but he didn't like the fact that he was calling Rayven Sweetpea...or maybe he was calling him sweetpea...nah he was talking to Rayven....yeah Tony was not a fan of that at all.

They got to the source of the loud noise from earlier and Tony looked on in shock. The wall had a huge hole in it and there was a car now being ripped in half and lifted into the air with Jason. There was a big big group of zombies headed their way and what looked to be an....iceberg coming out of the ground? no...diamond?

Jason threw a half a car like it was a baseball but it was turned in to metal confetti by one of the monsters in the horde. That...was not good...Jason slammed the other half of the car down and made a dash for the other side of their make shift kingdom. The zombie group was starting to pile up on each other in the moat their zombie but it wasn't deep enough to trap them all and they were getting closer by the second.

Tony turned as he heard Rayven speak and then watched as he eyes....changed...then the was an explosion of earth, metal, and crystal. Then Rayven's eyes rolled back in her head and she started to fall to the ground. Without hesitation Tony caught her before she could fall completely over. Tony grew a few extra arms and held stood up holding her firm in his many arms like a octopus man. He felt his stomach growl as he realized that if he didn't get some energy soon he wouldn't be able to maintain this particular form for long. However getting Rayven out of here safe was the first and most important priority.

Tony: Come on!

Tony said to the other guy as he started to run back towards the house following Trine, Jason, and hopefully Ken who he had yet to see.

...............................

things moved so slowly...like tick by tick of the clock slowly. He felt all of the heat in the world rush to his face but he didn't care. There was a subtle movement that person did...a micro movement that a normal person wouldn't be able to see unless they were looking for it and could slow the world down to a crawl by speeding up their brain processing power...it was what happened when someone was pretty sure they were going to kiss someone else. There was a little lean in...just...a small one. Everything in the world could wait just a few more milliseconds...

Then there was the crash the world came rushing in like a down spacecraft. Kid knew that the end of the world was personally making sure that his personal life was going to be as dead as the rest of the world.

He knew they had to get back before Trine even said it and it only took a moment for KG to zip them back over so they would figure out what was ruining probably the best moment of Kid's life. It didn't take long to see there was a major problem.

It was chaos everywhere...from gigantic whole in their wall to the truck to the what looked like small militia of zombies heading their way to....was that....Martian?! She was all diamondy and....infected?! KG didn't even know what was going on and he was just about to ask Trine what in the hell had happened when something happened that made the world stand still...

Weston, or Big, who had rushed by them first was standing looking at the mess at the wall while some clones were running past him with various stuff in their hands. However what made the world slow for Kid Genius was the zombie moving toward Big...It was fast....it was as fast as Kid was! Nobody could even see it and if KG hadn't been all hopped up on his meeting with Trine a few seconds ago he wouldn't have either. It was milliseconds from slamming right into Weston and ripping through him with his wind dried out crusty eyes. Kid moved before he could respond and grabbed the Zombie and then ran...

The next few moments were the scariest in his whole life. The zombie was chasing him and he was running as fast as he could while zooming past the trees around their little camp and break neck speed. The zombie would snap at him and KG would just pull his hand back before he had to change course not to hit the RV. KG ran passed his statue friends for what seemed like ever. He was screaming but it must have sounded like a high pitch buzzing sound with everything else going on.

After one sharp turn KG realized that he was no longer being chased. He turned around to just in time to see the super fast zombie heading straight toward Trine who seemed to be standing calling for somewhere.

KG: NO!

reacted without thinking and grabbed the zombie and used all his strength to bring himself and the zombie through the front window of the house.

There was a high pitched sort of buzz in the air that Trine had attributed to the generators. Sometimes some of the more beat up ones would get knocked off kilter causing the fan to make a strange whirring sound. She kept a wary eye on Salvatore Santaniello when suddenly there was a weird feeling on the back of her neck. It wasn’t so much a physical phenomena as it was that strange energy you felt when someone crept up behind you- but she didn’t see anyone.

The front window of the house shattered, sending splintered wood and parts of glass that had been broken down so fine it had looked like someone threw glitter into the air. The larger pieces all seemed to fall into the house, bouncing off things as far as the kitchen counters. Trine ducked out of instinct, covering her head with her arms, she could hear Sal startle- the shotgun in his hand rattling with the movement. When she stood back and looked to the house whatever had hit the window must have been huge, or moving…...incredibly…...fast.

”Kid!?” she bounded up the steps of the front porch, stepping over chunks of the window frame and pieces of shiplap that had been peeled off the surrounding parts of the wall.

The cosmos must have hated her on some deep, deep, level. Over a month later she and Kid are finally talking to each other again, Jason King is...still a smug bastard, but it was kind of growing on her. “Big” had actually started to talk to people outside of the group. Rayven and Tony were starting to give her cavities in the moments when Rayven allowed them to be cute.Trine had finally had a moment where consequences be damned she was showing KG what he meant to her- Everything was working out!

And that is when the biggest zombie apocalypse **** storm decides to just roll in. Now no one was safe, there were two new people they’d have to feel out, Ken possibly just slammed through the window of the house. Tony was carrying an unconscious Rayven. An infected G.E.M could turn cars into ticker tape. The hoard was past the walls by now.

As Trine got to the front door, she turned around, and pressed down into the balls of her feet- sending large, jagged pieces of earth up from the ground- in an attempt to stop rest of the infected from making it in. That’s when she felt the energy kickback from the G.E.M infected.

”Ooohhhh, not okay, not okay,notokay” she pulled open the front door, unsure if KG was even still in the house considering he moved faster than the human eye, ”notokaynotokaynotoka- Kid?!”

KG: ow....that....oh. I. am. bleeding...

Kid was lying in the living room having crashed all the way to the wall where the stairs were. His heart was still beating like a bunny on crack. The Zombie and he had gone crashing through what seemed like a forest full of glass and drywall. Had he been still wearing his motocross jacket he probably wouldn't have been all that bad but because he had been only wearing a t-shirt and jeans before the world decided to kick him in the family jewels his arms were cut up pretty bad.

It could have been worse though. The Zombie that had been atoms away from ripping open Trine's neck had been launched face first into the wall and now his body was sticking out like a dart. Blood was everywhere and KG rolled over as quickly as he could to the cough and tried his best not to get any blood in his many wounds. KG looked at the zombie...He was dressed in a bright orange jump suit with numbers on the back. "Of course there was a prison break" KG thought to himself "Super Powered Zombie Prison Break....might as well pull out all the stops"

KG turned to see Trine walk through the front door. She looked frantic and frazzled. She called for him and he raised his hand and spoke with a shaky voice.

KG: present!

he said with a laugh as his ribs reminded him that they had just gone through a window and they had some greivences about that.

KG: Are you ok? Where's Tony?

”Yeah, I’m fine- you’re the one that just went through the front of a house…” she started to make her way over to where Kid had landed, stepping around the debris and blood splatter, ”Tony is heading this way he’s got Rayven and some...guy…”

Blue eyes took in the destroyed interior of the house, before coming to rest on the infected now plastered into the wall. The orange jumpsuit was the first thing to catch her attention, the second was the lettering that had been stamped onto it.

“G.E.M.D”
Genetically Enhanced Mutations Detainment

That was something she hadn’t seen since the orientation video when she'd gone to register with the government. It was their answer for everything involving them. Murder. G.E.M.D. Didn't register, G.E.M.D. Jay walking? G.E.MD.

Her shoulders drop and somewhere beneath the frazzled appearance there was just a hint of exasperation.

”Right. Of course. Superpowered, convict, zombies, because the world hasn’t quite gone to complete crap...” she grumbled, before glaring down at the blood puddle beneath the infected that had started to grow. Tiny splinters from blown out two by fours floated at the top, too light to break the surface tension. The powder from the drywall only helping the blood to coagulate in spots- making stomach churning paste.

”You probably already guessed, but we got to go. Everyone is heading to the opposite wall.” she frowned, realizing now how cut up KG had been, and could only imagine what that kind of collision felt like, ”Do you need help? You look like you went through the side of a house.”

She smiled a little and bounced her eyebrows. Jason had said to have Kid grab the supplies, but the last time he’d done a supply run was still seared into Trine’s mind. She chose to keep that to do list to herself.

KG: You should...see the other guy heh heh

Kid said with a smile realizing that the dull throbbing in his head wasn't actually a dubstep DJ but just pure pain. He rolled himself off the couch and got to his feet with a shaky start. Nothing felt broken...everything seemed....in the right spot. He looked at around the house that had been so normal two hours earlier and just looked at the carnage that had become it's new decor.

Kid Genius felt a weight on his chest that he didn't know how to vocalize. Though he had said from the beginning that he wanted to move on to finding more survivors, finding his mom, there was this unspoken sense that they had actually been safe here...but now it was abundantly clear that they weren't safe anywhere.

He turned to Trine who had offered aid. He took a shaky step.

KG: If you got a beach house in Mowai and an Arnold Palmer i'd grab that from you.

He tried to lightly punch Trine in the shoulder but he couldn't quite muster up the energy and it swung weightlessly in the air. Kid turned around to try and get his bearings The prisoner's jumpsuit now had blood all over it but Kid knew without a doubt he was from the G.E.M.D. or "Phantom Zone" as he and Tony would often call it...KG read 5 years ago that the american government had 23 safeguards in place to make sure something like this didn't happen. The suddenly it his eyes went wide.

KG: oh...****! Trine we need to move now!

KG tried to take Trine and zip out of the house but his legs felt like they were made of silly puddy. They only made it to just outside the front door before Kid felt to a knee, little droplets of blood raining down onto the ground.

Sal was still standing in the front yard, he had his shotgun pointed at the hole in the front of the house incase something that liked brain tar tar decided to drag itself back through. The blonde chick and some guy he hadn’t seen until he fell to a knee were suddenly at the front of the house with him. Joey was in the background screaming about….something…

Sal:
“...so...are yous guys all superpowered? This like an AA group for tha overly gifted?”

He should just get that out of the way so that he could explain to Joey ahead of time so he didn’t flip out.

-

Joey:
“Dis guys flyin’ in tha friggin’ air. Sweetpea is friggin’ I don’t even know what’n. This dude has six fuckin’ arms! I thought afta all that violence they locked dem all up, but noooo. End of tha dang world and us normal folk are out numbahd two ta t’ree.”

Guiseppe Stasi’s cardio was almost superhuman. They once ran a 5k for Save The TaTas- (“Dis is important ****.” was how Joey put it.) And Sal spent the entire time trying to figure out when his friend breathed in during his monolouge on why thermogenics are the **** and they make it so you ain’t soft.

So when his friend had been booking and yelling the entire time Sal wasn’t shocked. Joey ran up next to him.

Sal:
”Moar like...2 ta...seven?”
Joey:
‘Whaaaat!? How many a these frea-”

Sal slapped a hand over his mouth

Sal:
“PC, bro. PC.”

Kid had tried to playfully punch her in the shoulder, but it didn’t have the energy behind it to make the connection. Trine smiled, but it was weighed down by the worry behind it.

Eating had started to become one of those things you remembered to do after you had a second to breathe. She spent the majority of this apocalypse hungry- not so much because there wasn’t food, but more so that there was always something going on. And she didn’t have a metabolism on speed (literally).

He turned around to look at the infected and Trine wormed her way over to the kitchen island that divided the kitchen from the living room. They had emptied a vending machine as they were leaving the venue that had been swarmed by the virus, Trine had crafted her hoodie into a bag, and kept it with her. For the most part she had left the assortment of snacks out for the rest of the group, but saved the Cliff Bars for Kid when he came back from runs at strange hours. The fact that they weren’t talking made it a little easier for it to look like they’d been left on the counter out of happenstance, but Trine had all but thrown punches (mostly Rayven picking on her and acting like she would eat them) to keep them untouched.

You’re official guard dog of those things she’d told Tony Mann one afternoon when things had slowed and they’d just been sitting on the couch.

He must have taken it literally because ever since then he slept in the form on a dog on the doggie bed in the kitchen. Trine had just gotten her hand around the three bars that were left, when suddenly she found herself on the front porch of the house. The blonde blinked, still needing a minute to sort of catch up whenever she was sped off without the heads up to get ready for a light speed scenery change.

She heard the soft knock of Kid falling to a knee on the worn, wooden, planks of the porch and that snapped her out of it. Trine knelt beside him, the falling blood only further cementing the worried expression in place. She tucked two of the bars into her pant pocket, before taking Kid’s wrist and draping his arm over her shoulders.

Blue eyes turned their attention to Sal, but she looked more annoyed by the question than actually acknowledging it. If he didn’t have a gun in his hand she would have dropped his foot into a sinkhole just to make a point. The other……...very loud…….man had made it over to the house. She turned her attention back to Kid. They needed to get to the opposite wall. Now.

”I got you. Here,” she handed him the third bar in her free hand, ”I think Rayven was the only one with breakfast today. You should probably eat.”

Trine moved to start making their way to the wall, looking over her shoulder at the two that had joined their group. She’d decided at the beginning keeping the group of people she actually knew safe was the priority over strangers. If anyone was bringing unknown people along with them it wasn’t her.

Kid wasn't thinking straight. He could tell things were getting blurry. He hadn't eaten anything since yesterday night before he went out on the supply run. Add that to the major pain, probably bruise rib...make that rib, and the slowl growing ammount of blood loss KG could feel himself starting to fade. However as he looked over his shoulder at Tony carrying Rayven, knowing what was coming was more important than anything else. He tried to speed again, Taking Trine and zooming about another 30 feet to the RV before falling down to his knees again.

KG: We....gotta....Get....away...Tony...Trine...

He couldn't find the ground it was spinning all around him like a roller coaster.

KG: 23....measure...23

.........

At first Tony smiled seeing Ken's familiar blur rushing out of the house. That was until he fell to a knee and Tony could see the cuts on his arm.

Tony: What happened?!

Tony shouted speeding up trying to get closer. He noticed the guy with the gun was still there and the guy with the cool hair was now closer instep. It never occured to Tony that they hadn't actually met any regular people that weren't...already infected until now. Tony had just assumed that if you didn't have super powers...you would just kinda be screwed in the situation. Tony was never really one to take name calling personally but he still felt a little uncomfortable using his powers around normal people.

They had just reached them when Ken took off again this time falling down to both knees aways out. Sometimes having a best friend with super speed was a pain in the ass. Tony looked down at Rayven to check if she was ok while trying his best to catch up to KG.

Tony: Hey...Ray...Please be Ok....Today....i'll stop ryhming if you say.... um...something...

Trine had been holding the bar for Kid to take when he suddenly jerked them forwards again. Thirty feet didn’t seem like much until it was at whiplash speeds and Kid hadn’t braced her neck like he’d usually done with these impromptu trips. She didn’t blame him, the reality was Trine didn’t think he had the energy to be conscious let alone lifting an arm and running. She felt her head jerk, and the over extension in her neck sent lights flashing behind her eyes. There was a white, hot, heat that washed over the tops of her shoulder that instantaneously shot down into her stomach- leaving her nauseous.

The jump was unexpected, but what scared her more was how his frantic attempts at getting them away were just sucking the life out of him before her eyes. She reached an arm across, grabbing Kid’s hip firmly.

”Quit running you crackhead! You’re going to kill yourself! I’ve. Got. You!”

The earth groaned, whatever had caused it to shift was completely involuntary on Trine’s part, but her own panic mixed the varied emotions from the rest of the group was starting to set in.

---------magical scene jump to bring this baby back to life--------------

With nothing in his stomach but pain and probably a broken rib and losing blood at a rate only a super speedster would be able to tolerate Kid Genius was seeing the world like it was on one of the tea cup rides at disney world...well the disney world before that G.E.M. down in florida decided to forever alter the happiest place on earth into a ghoulish nightmare hell where...Kid's mind was all over the place now but the most important thing came back to his mind.

KG: Measure...23!

Kid Genius said as loud as he could which was not very loud considering the growing sounds of moaning, footsteps,and various other effects coming from behind them where the open wall now stood. Kid could the feel the pressure on Trine's arm around him but it felt a little far away. He still tried to hold on to her and drag her forward in another burst of speed this time only getting about 5 feet before collapsing entirely on the ground.

.....


Tony blinked his eyes rapidly. He looked around for a seconds as if he was trying to get his barrings. Something was...weird. It felt like he had been standing in this very spot for...a while now and nothing had happened. It was like people in sci-fi movies must of felt like after waking up from cryo sleep Tony imagined. Like the world was coming unpaused and your life picks right back up where it had left off. He almost dropped Rayven, who was still in his arms, as the world came back into focus. He looked forward to see Trine and KG zipping a few feet forward again before Ken fell completely to his face. Had no time really passed?

Tony: wha...

Tony didn't have time to finish his thought as he felt the presence of something behind him. Tony turned his head all the way around like a owl and saw that it was was zombie, wearing an orange jumpsuit. It had burrowed out of the ground like a mole and now was grabbing at his ankles.

Tony: holy ****! watch the shoes dude!

Tony said franticly kicking at the zombie while trying to hold Rayven as high above it as possible. There was a loud crack and a sudden spray of blood, chips of bone, and teeth hitting Tony's legs as the zombie mole man's head exploded. Tony looked to see the source of this and he saw Jason's unnamed ...manservant? thug?....butler? Thugler? Anyway who ever he was him and two of his clones were making their way towards the rest of the group. One was carrying medical supplies form the black duffle bag, the other was carrying a box of food, the third was carrying a smoking pistol.

Tony: Thanks bro. next one's on me

The man in black didn't smile back but Tony had a feeling they were going to be new best friends. Tony turned his attention back to his best friend and Trine as he moved toward them.

............

Kid tried to get back to his feet but everything was spinning so fast it was hard to get his barrings. This was a new sensation for him. it was rare that things were going to fast for him to handle. He could still feel Trine but it was distant now very distant. She needed to get out of here. he tried pushing her away, pushing her to safety but his arms were so weak....

 Joey: ”Geez, bro when was the last time you washed those freakishly sized mitts?!” Giuseppe shouted, slapping Sal’s hand off of his mouth.

Sal: ”Do ya really wanna know?”

Slowly, very slowly, Joey narrowed his eyes in disgust, before running his own hand over his face a few times- as if that would help anything. In fact all he really managed to do was rub the dirt still stuck on the palms of his hands, from when he’d frantically tried to climb the rock wall to get away from that thing, across his face in streaks. Sal would have laughed if he wasn’t busy watching this new group of people making the escape the two of them should have already gotten started on.

 Joey: ”Dis group is a real friggin’ mess; ya got Speedy Gonzales runnin’ his ass inta the ground. This dude sproutin’ up six arms like he’s some kinda Pokey-man. This dude…’ he held his hand out to motion at the mysterious individual in black as he...they emerged and had picked up a run for the rest of the group, ”That’s a waste of a radioactive spida bite right there. Shoulda been a chick.’

Sal: “....what?’

Joey: “Imagine tha possibilities- not that I would actually do one a them. My dick would probably go all Marie Curie and start glowin’ or somethin’...”

Sal: “OH. You meant G.E.Ms…”

Joey: ”Yea, what the hell else would I mean? A black chick?” he paused, before looking back to Sal, ”You racists, bro?”

Sal: “No, you just-!” Salvatore rolled his eyes, deciding that explaining to his tiny, feeble minded, friend that it was a little vague and Giuseppe wasn’t exactly the most open minded of people he’d ever met.

Joey: ”Listen. I just got used ta ya whole pollo con huevos situation, alright? Don’t go springing more **** on m-.”

The earth beneath their feet groaned leaving Joey to stare down at his feet in confusion and Salvatore to look up towards the blonde that had looked like she was half fighting with, half trying to help, the speedy guy….and then something burrowed out of the ground. He hadn’t seen it at first, but boy did he hear Joey’s mouth.

Joey: ”WHAT IN THE FLYING MONKEY **** IS THAT FRIGGIN SECRET SQUIRREL SIDEKICK MOTHERFUCKER DOIN’ POPPIN’ OUT OF THE DAMN GROUND!?!?” a gun shot rang out, ”Oh. Never mind. He got it.’

Sal let out a surprised yelp as one of the undead from the group, that was now essentially ontop of them at this point, let out a low groan a little too close for comfort from behind them. He swung the end of the shotgun around, and pulled the trigger, sending its head raining down from it shoulders and splattering oozey brain soup against the front of the house. The two New Jersey natives exchanged a look and ran for the rest of the group. Once they got closer it was obvious that the blonde was struggling to get a handle on the guy trying to...it looked like he was trying to help her, but from what the two of them could tell she seemed to be doing fine.

KG: ”Measure...23!”

Joey: ”Set! Hike!” Joey shouted, now catching up the the rest of them. Who knew what a measure 23 was, but if he was going to keep shouting that mess somebody had to say something. Oh, never mind he didn’t look like he’d be doing much yelling from the ground.

Salvatore hadn’t said much, but was right at Giuseppe’s heels. He looked from Tony, to Trine, and then to Kid Genius who was currently pulling a limp noodle as the much smaller woman tried her best to help him along, before slowing down to pick up Kid. He mumbled a quick ‘I got ‘em. You keep runnin’ before trying to figure out how to hold him, settling for bridal style since Joey was bound to make an embarrassing comment had he thrown him over his shoulder.

Now that he thought about it there was bound to be one anyway…

Joey:”I got dis one!’ Stasi bent to sweep up Trine.

”Wha- what the heck is a measure 23!?” blue eyes looked up from Kid to Tony, but then there was another jump, this time much shorter than the last, and she could almost physically feel the energy leaving Kid’s body as he dropped to the ground. An infected burrowed out of the ground, but she had missed it coming. There was just too much going on between Kid and the hoard, and the immense weight of everyone else’s individual processing for her to keep everything under tabs. Before she could even register it the man in black had fired his pistol effectively neutralizing the problem.

The frustration on her face had finally set in as she dropped beneath KG’s weight- trying to help him back to his feet. Trine felt his hands press against her followed by the weak push as if he was trying to desperately to push her away, but his body had called it quits long before his mind had. Had he saved the energy instead of focusing so much on trying to save her, when she was the least of worries between the two of them, it wouldn’t have been so hard to move him. However, once again, she found herself caught between wanting to be angry because for some reason he seemed to feel like she needed to be protected, and trying her best to push it off and deal with it later. She pushed his hands down, a little more harshly than she intended, and moved to continue some sort of forward momentum when Sal had scooped up Kid Genius.

”Thank you…” she had been wary to just have them slip into the group, but they would deal with it later. Considering KG was unconscious and Rayven and Tony had already seemed to be fine with the idea of the group of them sticking together she figured the split between their group and Jason’s could wait until half the states population of undead wasn’t snapping at their heels. After that they’d decided what happened with the two new men that had run into them.

And that was when she felt and arm press against the back of her knees like someone was about to scoop her up as well.

”Are you serious!?” the earth at their backs cracked open into a deep fissure as the blonde all, but punched Giuseppe off of her. The gathered sea of infected that had been heading there way dropped down in the section where the earth had split, but more than half of the sea of infected had been making their way across uninterrupted earth.

Trine rarely found herself that angry, but the mix of Kid’s recurring incidents ( no matter how well intended they were), had started to prove to be an issue- combined with some guys she barely even knew trying to help had managed to get under her skin.

”I can run just fine!
”Yea, but I have longa legs so...”

The blonde shot a venomous glare at the Joey, before looking looking at Tony over her shoulder for a moment as she ran.

”You doing okay?”

Blue eyes turned forward, looking for any sign of Jason amongst the chaos. There was a strange feeling that had crept up on her as she scanned over the group of them making their way to the opposite wall. When they split there would be a lot less people to keep track of- which meant a lot less help in tight situations, and if one fifth of their remaining group was going to put feelings before logic that lack of extra bodies could prove to be a much bigger problem than she originally considered. Kid had a point- Jason more than likely was not on permanent terms with them. Even Trine herself had known that they were all disposable outside of Jason’s inner circle, but she was still reluctant to split the groups. The reason for that was something she’d have to think about when they weren’t all running for their lives.

Besides, she’d already told Kid that she would tell Jason they decided to break off...

Simon burst out of the RV with a backpack that looked like it had wires and various items coming out of it. His glasses were cracked in one lense and his eyes still had a bloodshot look to them from the attack earlier.

Right behind him was Shine brandishing two pistols and one of the other black gym bags the group had manged to salvage from the stadium almost a month ago. Behind him Weston came out as well but the only thing he had was a very worried look on his face

The Horde was advancing slowly but pockets of freshly turned infected began rushing toward the wall faster. Some of the swarm with the bright orange jump suits others with just whatever they had died in. One of the clones on the wall fired a few rounds with his rifle at the horde but it was like throwing pubes at an avalanche. Then one of the bullets flew back, ricocheting off whatever it was that ripped the car apart earlier. The stray bullet zip through the air and planted itself straight in the Clones chest. All at once there was a flash of pain on every one of the man in Black's faces. Before the clone could hit the ground though it shriveled up like a snail in salt and dissolved into nothing.

An old man with a thick head of silver hair jumped up on the wall. He's eyes were wild and gore caked all over the front of his night shirt. Behind him a thing that used to be an Indian woman in a orange jumpsuit jumped up next to him. They both jerked their heads in the direction of the group. Out of their mouths came a freakish wail as they sprang from jagged wall and threw themselves down.

The man's feet were torn and bleeding as he scurried across the ground. The woman was on all fours like a insect. Teddy Williams shouted.

Shine: **** this ****!!

He fired at the two but most of his shots were off. One bullet hit the old man in the shoulder but the man barely slowed, his shoulder rolling back like he got hit with a baseball as opposed to a streaking bolt of lead. Shine stood in front of his brother answer continued to fire with growing panic.

Just as the scurrying woman as about to reach them a shadow descended so fast that it there was a rush of air. It happened to fast that Big Weston Williams shot up 4 feet, forgetting to focus on also growing his clothes, leaving the man standing in ribbons of his former attire. There, standing on the neck of the woman was Jason King.

He sent a punch that crushed the insect woman's head like a watermelon. The silver haired old man left in the air at the the large target Weston had become but Jason shot out his hand and an invisible force slammed the man to ground with so much force that the rib cage exploded out the back of the infected runner. Within seconds I'm they were both down and Jason turned and whipped the blood from his forehead.

King: I'm not saving your asses again. Move!

Shine took a deep breath in, obviously still shaken, Weston looked down at his clothes and then shrank to try to maintain some modesty. Jason concentrated and pulled the entire RV in front of them. He held his arms out and they shook as he did it. The effects of the attack earlier were still hitting him pretty hard but he was too proud to let them show here. He turned his head behind him to shout at Trine who he had seen on his drop back down.

King: I need this RV immobile now!

He didn't wait for her to respond. He left back into the air and pushed himself back towards the opposite direction of the horde.Tech started moving in that direction too but then stopped and tilted his head to the side as if he heard something he couldn’t quite believe. His eyes flashed green and after a few seconds his face fell.

Tech: oh...we really need to get out of here

Shine: No ****! You're just figuring that out?

Tech: Well I have some good news and some bad news.

Shine: are you **** with me right now? What could possibly be good news?!

Tech: The good news is that some semblance of the United States military is still functional and at least operating at some capacity.

Big: What's the bad news?

Tech: They have launched a small nuclear missile at the site meta human prison as apart of some sort of automatic last resort protocol.

Shine: THEY LAUNCHED A **** WHAT?!!

KG: Trine...Tony...you gotta...get out...

His voice sounded like a whisper in a mineshaft as did the rest of the world. The one thing about being a super speedster is that the longer you go without food and the harder you push yourself the less likely you are to stay conscious for very long. Trying to convey to his friends that when reading about the G.E.M. prison all those years ago he came across a link to a link to a link that referenced a possible  last ditch effort should the prison be over run and some of the most dangerous people ever known to exist ever got free. it was called measure 23 and it was not. good. Kid knew he didn't have time to inform them of the danger but he could try to drag them out of the blast zone before it was too late. but now everything was growing dark and he was fading...fast...

...........


Tony:Shhhh shhh shhh hold off little beyonce. we're gonna get you some water and probably a full body massage in a minute alright?

Tony tried to put on his best "everything isn't going to be blown to kingdom come face" and looked up from the grown woman in his arms.

Tony: Can someone tell me he's joking....please?

Sal:
“He’s not joking!” Sal yelled over his shoulder, the stride in his step picking up.

“Worst case; measures in place.” It was something they told the ‘normal’ people to make them feel safe. Now that he thought about it the fact that they made a rhyme about what was basically genocide seemed to be pretty **** up, but that wasn’t really the issue at hand at the moment. Well, it was, but they would have needed one hell of a rhyme to get anybody feeling safe now.

“Measures” came about when the mutations had started to pop up, but he hadn’t actually thought about it since he and Joey spent a long, boring afternoon crammed into the community center to get the standard briefing they were all entitled too once the hand of Uncle Sam decided it was time to step in. So, when a neigh delusional and nearly unconscious G.E.M kept screaming something about a “measure 23” he just assumed the guy was having a bad trip, maybe they experimented on him or something like in the movies and his brain was jacked up- until he’d overheard the group that had come bursting from the RV talking about the nuke. Then it all started to click.

The briefings were specifically pushed for normals- in fact when a registered G.E.M tried to go along with the rest of their family it turned out they were real serious about making sure none of these guys were going to be privy to the information. Probably because if a whole group of them got wind of the fact that their own country was basically willing to kill off a ton of them at the push of a button it would have caused a scene. Sure, Measure 23 was just targeted at the real dangerous guys, but it was the twenty third measure- which meant twenty two measures came before that. Sal and Joey both knew there were plenty more after it. It was all the product of a whole lot of carefully crafted fear mongering and playing off of people's biases- but it worked. It worked well enough that entire families were looking at the person they lived with like they were a wild animal that was bound to snap at any moment. Joey bought it all...hook and sinker. Salvatore was a little more wary about the idea of people telling him what to think.

Apparently there were other people that had started to get a little more than wary of the government scare tactics because a group of hacktivists and normals had started to leak information on some of the dark boards scattered across the Internet. (Which the government was all too ready to scrub) Sal had a feeling some of the unregistered G.E.Ms had already slipped into the briefings anyway- which was fine by him; as far he was concerned if you were sitting on a ticking time bomb, you deserved to know. They must have been some brave people because the legal portion of the briefings had been pretty intense and if they found out you went ahead and blabbed some seriously ‘non-mutated eyes only’ **** you were in some serious trouble.

Joey:
“Hey, gimme that thing ya gonna blow off your friggin’ toes.” Joey had managed to catch up to Salvatore, and had been holding out a hand. The taller of the two of them raised an eyebrow in confusion, until Giuseppe nodded his head towards the shotgun still awkwardly situated in Sal’s hand as he ran with Kid Genius.

Sal:
“Oh. ****. Right,” he shifted, letting his grip around the firearm loosen, “Be careful, Seppe.”
Joey:
“Man, it’s like you don’t me.”
Sal:
“I do know you and that's tha problem.”

Giuseppe waved it off taking the shotgun without missing a beat. That is until something that looked half human and half undead, cowardly lion came bounding their way. Then he missed a beat. A whole lot of beats to be more specific. At least twelve beats and he might have forgotten to breath for ten of those to be more exact.

Joey:
“Whoa! Take a chill pill, pet cemetery!” He yelled slowly backing away and raising the shotgun.

Giuseppe pulled the trigger, but the cat-thing had premeditated it and managed to slip out of the most concentrated spray of the bullets, only taking damage along its right shoulder. Sal stumbled, startled first by the appearance of the infected and then by the shots fired in close quarters, but managed to save himself and hold fast to Kid Genius. The zombified G.E.M made another lunge, but Joey had weaseled his way around the swipe of a clawed hand, scrambling away on all fours before getting back to his feet again. Some kind of screeching, gurgling, growl erupted from the thing’s disheveled jaw as it redirected itself.

Joey:
“What the hell!? Pick on somebody else, lady! I ain’t the smallest one a tha herd here go eat a baby zebra or something, Mufasa!”
Sal:
“Quit **** around and kill the damn thing!” The panic in Sal’s voice was evident enough without having to see the worry etched into his face as he tried to keep an eye on Joey. No, offense to whoever this guy was, but if something was about to eat his childhood friend this speedster was getting dropped flat on his ass so Salvatore could go help.
Joey:
“UH, HELLO! I’M TRYIN’!” He turned on his heel, and raised the shotgun, “Sorry cupcake, I’m not inta furries.”

He squeezed his eyes shut, but before he could pull the trigger the creature had already left the ground in a pounce straight for him. Sal had come to a complete stop and the only thing Giuseppe could feel was the swift displacement of air.

”Got it!” Trine jerked to a stop, side stepping Giuseppe as he blew past her, and dropped her hands to the ground.

The earth on either side of the mobile home shifted. Tiny pebbles and grains of loose soil seemed to bounce on the surface, bobbing in and out of visibility between blades of grass before the soil shot straight up, dragging bedrock with it. She had bookended the RV in before pressing the earth around the corners and along the wheel wells before compacting it all in one swift sweep of motion. Trine rose to her feet satisfied. It wasn’t going anywhere and if it was there would need to be some kind of extraneous effort on the infected part. As she looked up from her hands that was when she noticed something...odd...raising up in the distance. It was too far off to really make out much detail, but it was moving at an alarming speed and behind it was a thick tail of smoke. McGuire Air Force base wasn’t far from the detainment facility and that was probably for a very good reason. Trine had just assumed it was because they could just send help quickly in the case the inmates got too out of hand. What she had not assumed, however, was that they were willing to just nuke an entire facility full of people.

”....oh, God….”

The blonde turned around to continue running and the first thing she’s laid eyes on was one of the new guys scrambling around across the grass, trying to get away from another infected G.E.M sporting an orange jumpsuit. It was already clear that he hadn’t managed to get the gun up,stop talking, and pull the trigger fast enough to have been able to do anything before the infected would have sunk it’s claws into the sides of his messy top knot, and pick at the guy’s brain. She stopped again and slammed her foot down, sending a spike of earth to jump straight up beneath the infected, piercing it right through the diaphragm. The foot she pushed off of to start up a run again sent a second jolt of earth straight through it’s head. The arms fell limp, then the legs, and the almost mythical looking G.E.M had been left to hang skewered on spikes of earth.

Trine could feel her lungs burning as she sucked in the cold winter air, her body working overtime to supply the muscles in her body the oxygen they needed to keep her moving at the pace she had picked up in order to catch up with the rest of the group still making their exit. There was a sudden flash of panic where she realized there was going to be have to be some kind of **** between either starting to take it easy in order to maintain some kind of energy to try protect the group from the outlying radius of the blast and wanting to run with the extra energy behind it until they were far enough away. It was not something she anticipated ever having to deal with- which might have been an oversight considering in a world gone into complete chaos there were bound to be tough calls.

”KEEP MOVING!” she shouted to Joey, who had seemed like he’d been frozen solid where he stood, as she started to catch up.”Or do I need to carry you?”

The blonde smirked a little, pushing off the ground harder, pushing herself a little further to tryand get closer to the group. Worst case she could try to take some of the edge off of the blast if they didn’t get far enough away in time, but there was no amount of earth that could totally fend off something like that stretched out over this large of a group, even if it was diffused to some degree. Blue eyes chanced a second look behind her and by now the missile had started the harsh arch downwards. There wasn’t enough time. There couldn’t have been. Whatever they had anticipated using this missile for was not something they felt they had a whole lot of time to deal with. If the inmates were to make it out there wouldn’t have been much time before they got too far off. If it was for a riot there wasn’t much time before they took over the facility. This was meant to be fast and it was meant to be hard hitting and unless they had all suddenly discovered they could teleport they weren’t making it out at this rate.

”Jason!”, if she had learned anything about Jason King it was that he tended to be one step ahead, but considering the day he had so far there was no way to know. It was hard to say why she’d called out to him, or what she had wanted to hear. She had an idea; it was crazy and improbable, and considering how the day had gone she wasn’t sure if Jason was as strong as he wanted people to believe he was right now, but it could work. It might work. Maybe she was hoping he’d have already crunched the numbers, or he knew what to do, or maybe she was wrong and they had enough time, but...

Even hurling himself through the air like a fast patch soft ball Jason could hear the sound of Trine calling his name. It didn't take long fro him to guess what the trouble was as above him a long tube of flying metal shot towards the city. Jason could hear it tearing through the sky from where he was and even though he had no idea what it was he knew enough about government to know that it wasn't good.

One of the main things that governments loved to exploit was the peoples desire to live in a world where everything was controlled. People can pretend to be mavericks all they **** wanted but at the end of the day about 99% of the population are more or less sheep. Sheep just want to be kept safe and get fat eating grass. The whole reason people continued to make conspiracy theories is because they couldn't handle living in a world where bad **** just happened for no reason. in order to function there had to be a steady hand guiding it all. When the G.E.M.s appeared it gave the governments of the world to tighten it's control of the heard that that much more through fear and plausible deniability.

Back in his home town there was a local drug deal by the name of Renaldo Gordo. He was an evil son of a **** and he would cut out your mother's tongue just for looking at him the wrong way and force you to eat it. Anyway the D.E.A. eventually got around to stopping this asswhole once some college frat dared it's silver spoon fed pledges to drive all the way from their fancy mansions down to Renaldo's party and try to take pictures there. Two of the kids ODed and one of the other ones was brutally beaten. When the D.E.A. came to take him they either didn't know how to deal with him or didn't care. Jason remember watching from a nearby rooftop with a pair of his brothers binoculars as they locked the man inside him home and set the whole place on fire. They arrested a lot of Gordo's top guys as they ran out for their lives but Renaldo died in the fire looking for his daughter whose body was never found.

The D.E.A. went on the news and claimed that Renaldo had been a G.E.M. and set his place on fire during their trying to arrest him. Everyone who knew Renaldo knew he thought G.E.M.s were the work of satan and would never be around them unless he had too. They also knew that Renaldo was as normal as gang bangers came, no abilities other than being scary and good with a knife in a fight. But anyone who knew Renaldo would never talk to a cop in Jason's neighborhood and they also weren't ever called for an interview even if they would have. And the world was more than ear to believe one of those big bad freaks was responsible for this destruction that their own law enforcement.

So when that missile began racing across the sky toward the city Jason knew in his bones that it's only purpose was to wipe out everything and everything before it spread to the rest of the country. He couldn't honestly say he hated the plan. The city was lost. If there was anyone there they had long since been ripped apart by the infected or were too stupid or too weak to leave. If a whole prison full of G.E.M.s turned into those things...like Ricky....well the best thing for the world at large was to wipe them off the face of the earth. Jason remembered how one of them shredded half of a car like it was made of confetti and didn't like the idea of that roaming around killing anything in sight.

However he also didn't like the idea of his people being caught within the blast radius of whatever was inside that thing. Not only that but Jason had no idea if he could actually withstand a nuclear blast if it was one. Not many reactor cores in the bronx. Jason still hand't gotten flying down so much more as pushing himself from place to place. Jason focused down on the ground and shoved against the world as hard as he could in the propelling him in the opposite direction. He looked down at the group all scrambling and running. He wanted to shout at them directions but he was too high up and moving too fast toward the missile. Jason turned his attention back to the task at hand and hoped that his people could hold it together until he got back...

King: If....

Jason heard himself say as the wind whipped at his face.

...............

Teddy, Big, and Tech all ran as fast as they could in the other direction. The Man in Black was both in front and behind them. Unlike the other member of their makeshift little faction they had known the evacuation plan already. Jason had made sure each and every one of them would be ready to head out in a moments notice and ran drills with them every so often throughout the last couple of weeks to make sure they stayed sharp. It was just....with a nuke heading towards a place that you could probably drive too made it all just a bit more intense than sitting in the RV. Also there were the others too. They had gained two more and they seemed to be as powerful as a matchstick in rainstorm at the moment.

Tech and Teddy didn't even look back as they hit the woods on the opposite side of the horde and headed down to the rendezvous point. Weston however couldn't help but keep looking back at them as they started to fall behind. His eyes fell to the large newcomer with the longer hair holding Kid Genius. He had wanted to say something about being careful but his little friend seemed to already beat him to it. Big also looked up to see Jason racing across the sky after the missile and felt his stomach drop into his shoes.

They were not going to get out of this....

Big furrowed his brow, stopped and turned around. As he bounded back towards the others he grew with every step. This time he focused so that his clothes, there still torn to ribbons and providing breezes in interesting places, would grow with him. He pushed him self large and large with each step. He felt his muscles ache and there was sweat on his brow as he pushed against himself to grow taller and wider. Weston had never tried this before...sure he had thought about it, like giant man or apache chief, but doing it just seemed...to crazy. But when a nuke is about to blow up your family, friends and co-workers it was time to bust out the crazy. Weston cleared the tree line and could see the front of the horde making it too the wall. It was a horrid parade of blood drenched bodies and outstretched hands. Some of them didn't even have a chance as they walked straight into the stone being squished in by the monsters behind them. Big pulled his gaze away and with a massive scoop of his now giant hands grabbed all of the other people up to his level.

Big: Sorry about this

His voice came out like a the planets largest tuba and he could feel the sound vibrate through the leaves in the trees. He tucked them all into the crook of his elbow without giving them a chance to protest and turned around to start moving back towards where Jason had told them to go. He felt so slow and much MUCH heavier but with his first stride he put them all much farther away from the house and the monsters coming toward it.

Teddy looked back as the sound of trees falling and massive booms echoed behind him.

Shine: HOLY ****!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!!??!

Simion looked back as well. He was also shocked but didn't waste time gawking and turned back to running.

Tech: he's going to beat us to the boat is what he is doing.

The Man Black, one of them, ran by Teddy with what looked to be bed sheets wrapped around his body.

TMIB: keep moving

he passed Teddy and Shine looked in awe as his massive brother stepped over him. Then he saw one of those monsters. It was coming for Weston's other foot which was now too far down for hims to see. Shine ran towards the monster and punt kicked it, it didn't have any legs to the torso rolled a few times before starting right back at it's attack. his brothers shadow passed over him and Shine popped three caps around the zombie thing with half a body before the fourth one hit it the head and stopped it cold.

Shine: why am i the only one doing **** around here?!

Teddy said turning and running to catch up with the rest of them.

Tony had hoped he wasn't gripping Rayven too tightly but he was pretty sure that nuke's were bad news and if one was coming to a theater near them he wanted to get Rayven as far away from it as possible.

Tony gritted his teeth and pushed himself forward. He though about turning into a centaur or something but he realized that he couldn't the best he could do was hooves and a little extra leg muscle. He was running out of Juice...this was not good. Tony's eyes kept bouncing the stranger that was holding Ken and felt in the pit of his stomach that he should be the one getting his best friend to safety. He wanted to rush past them as quickly as possible but even though Tony was sure he could out run them he didn't like the idea of turning his back on Kenny...even for Rayven. Trine was surprisingly calm about the whole thing. HEr face had been in a smirk and Tony couldn't help but think that it seemed...something. Tony couldn't quite put his finger on it and he shook it away to focus on running.

Tony: Trine we need to move this thing is aBIG BLACK DICK!

Maybe it was the stress, maybe it was the fact that he was still hungry, maybe it was all the monkeying around he had been doing with his brain. But Tony was 100% sure that he knew what a large black **** looked like, he had the internet after all, and as he raced forward Jason's thug, Big, had turned toward them and began growing like the most impressive wheaties champaign Tony could think of. This was both amazing and shocking however the fact that Big's ripped clothes left very little to the imagination it was only natural for Tony to slow down just a tick at the growing expanse of men genitalia that made him feel equal parts inferior, a pretty impressive feat considering Tony was a shapeshifter, and equal parts completely dumbstruck. Tony felt him self rise into the air before as a giant hand scooped him up and pulled him into the sky.

Tony: WHOOOOOOOAAAA!!!

Tony held onto Rayven as tight as he could as they smacked against branches and leaves. He shielded her with his body until they were above the tree line and then tried to position here away from the mans giant sweaty arm pit as he carried them away from the house with long booming strides. Tony turned his head back toward the city and saw the missile begin to arch down and watched as Jason shot after it. The theme from Superman raced in Tony's head and he found himself actually worried about Jason...He was probably one of the strongest people Tony knew personally but...this was pretty big. Not only that but Tony wasn't dumb. More times than not Jason had stayed the hand of his more trigger happy members without him things might not go so well. Tony looked up into the sky and did something he almost never did.

Tony: hey god...it's me Tony...i know you are pretty much like **** this place with all the zombies and everything but if you're still in the office or whatever...we could really use your help

Joey:
”Ooooooh, whatthefuck!?” Giuseppe Stasi had only just started to catch up with the rest of the group when Weston had started his run back towards them. Normally he would have just assumed the guy had lost his damned mind and wished him luck with the whole running in the wrong direction endeavor, but the guy was sprouting up like a sappling on a seriously intense regimen of roids. And...grabbing them!? He had tried to scramble away, but it wasn’t nearly coordinated enough to be of any good.

Joey wasn’t sure what to do with his hands, or the gun, other than try not to point it at the tattered, giant, guy currently tucking them into the crook of his arm like he had scooped up a litter of kittens. He looked around for a minute and decided they were they ugliest bunch of kittens he had ever laid his eyes on and…

Joey:
”Sal. What the hell are ya doin’?”

Sal:
“I ain’t a big fan a heights you know that!” speaking of cats; Salvatore had been clinging to the large forearm wrapped around them for his life with one arm, while the other stayed wrapped around Kid Genius in order to keep his unconscious form from slipping, or falling loose. He didn’t know the guy, or really care about him either way, but if these people had trusted him to keep him among the living he wasn’t about to drop the dude to his death.

Sal:
“Bro, you’re seven feet tall. You are heights. I hear you takin’ a **** on the otha side of tha house because it has to travel eleven friggin stories ta get to tha damn toilet!” the Italian paused, turning his head to watch as Jason King headed back towards the missile. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, ”uh...what the hell is that dude doin’...?”

As far as Trine was concerned there wasn’t time to freak out. She could feel the anxiety squirming in her chest like a fist full of eels had been slithering through her rib cage, but if she focused on that now it was only going to cause more problems. Considering they had infecteds en massed at their backs, some of them superpowered, a nuke, and a group full of people still trying to make a get away from the blast radius the long overdue breakdown needed to be put off. Preferably until she was somewhere by herself. Preferably with some time to recoup because she had been just keeping herself busy in hopes that her mind wouldn’t go still long enough for her to think. Even just the creeping inkling that that exact breakdown was on its way made her exhausted beyond words- until she pushed it back down and found something to keep her busy again.

Tony had started shouting, but he interrupted himself with...she made a face, turning to follow the comedian’s line of sight and almost instantly regretted it. Not that it..well..it was just. I mean, she wasn’t expecting to get an eyeful of Big’s most intimate bits, but the way his clothes had torn was not helping things in the least. She felt the color rise in her cheeks as she dropped her gaze back down to her feet and just as she wondered what on earth he was doing the blonde felt herself get swept up into oversized arms and squeezed up next to Giuseppe who was shouting at Sal over her and Tony’s heads.

And that was when she saw Jason King whizz past them.

In the opposite direction.

Blue eyes went wide and it was at that very moment that the panic she had been keeping at bay seemed to break through the cracks of her carefully crafted mental dam and it showed. It showed on her face as her eyebrows pinched together, her mouth seemed to hang open in shock, and for a moment there was just nothing turning behind her eyes as a wave of sheer nervous energy washed over. It showed in her body as her shoulders went tight, and the way her fingers curled against the taut skin of the forearm pressed against her chest, hooked beneath her armpits. That. That was not what she had expected.

”WHAT!?”

This was not happening. The last thing she would peg Jason King for was having some sort of martyr syndrome and there he was speeding off towards a missile like a black superman. They had all learned a little something about each of their powers and while she was sure he had a few tricks up his sleeve she was almost positive he hadn’t spent his summers at a nuclear science camp somewhere in upstate New York practicing how to stop a freaking missile with his powers. This was not happening because if he went out there half beaten up by the G.E.Ms they ran into this morning there was no way he was going at this full strength. This was not happening because for the first time she’d come to the realization that the majority of her ability thus far to keep a level head had depended on Jason and if he went out there and got himself blown up…

Her attention jumped from Tony, to Rayven, to Kid and then briefly to Giuseppe and Salvatore.

It was like when she rode the pirate ship rides at the fairs. The downside to being on the smaller end of the scale and loving thrill rides was you were never quite built the right way to fit nice and snug into the safety belts. The clamps that went over your shoulder were too tall, so you always had to wonder if this loop-de-loop would be your last. The belt bars never went down all the way so you ended up clinging onto them for dear life. In the case of the pirate ship, however, the belt only went as far down as the biggest person in your row. Salvatore was a big guy and the only one even close to her size in Big’s arms was Joey. She kicked her shoes together dropping the dirt that had clung to the treads and used those grains to lessen the break between her and the earth below.
Well, this is hypocritical… was the last thought that raced through her head before Trine squirmed her way out from beneath William’s hold and dropped.

The ground met her halfway, but it had still been a decent drop and as she hit the pillar of earth she stumbled for a step or two. There was no way she would be able to run that fast and there was no chance of running through that horde on foot. Trine looked down at her feet and the shifting earth beneath it and figured it there was ever a time to try something ridiculous...now was it. She took one deep breath, leaned forward, and tried her best to visualize what she needed the earth to do. By the time she opened them the blonde was riding on strips of earth like a distant cousin of Iceman- only it was rising up from beneath and pushing forward, before dropping back down into loose soil behind. Trine blinked a few times, like she couldn’t believe this was actually happening, and a startled laugh escaped her lips.

The ground wavered for a second and nearly sent her spilling off the side, but she managed to half claw her way back to where she needed to be, and looked up to try and find Jason. If it was just the two of them and she needed to make some kind of makeshift shield in the odd chance that something went wrong with whatever suicide mission Jason was on- it could work. And if Jason could use his powers to shift the density of it...it could definitely work. She found him, but he was farther up from where the ground had lifted her.

”Are you **** insane!?” it...it wasn’t exactly the most thought out question, but when she’d opened her mouth it was the first, mostly horrified, thing that came out. It was possible he hadn’t heard her, but at this point she didn’t really care.

Jason reached out with his hands and tried to focus on the missile. It was farther away than and much....MUCH bigger than it had looked as it streaked by in the sky. Jason felt his mind buckle and his whole body jerked forward. It was the equivalent of trying the throw a rope around a train and pull it to a stop with your bare hands. Jason let out a shout of pain before gritting his teeth and tried to increase the gravitational pull between the missile and himself. Bits of debri started shooting up from all around to cling to him but he tried his best not to focus on it. He hardened himself and most of the objects shattered on impact covering him in little shards of trash and glass.

Jason cried out as he tried to pull himself back from being dragged by the nukes immense inertia. it's rockets began to send it in an arch and Jason tried to pull it back. He thought about making it weightless but at the speed it was going it was would still spin out and hit the city not to mention without being able to touch it there was no guarantee he could also make the pay load weightless as opposed to just the missile housing. Jason's only hope...everyones only hope was for him to be able to keep it from hitting long enough for them to escape and then drop it and hope his powers were strong enough to handle whatever happened next. And for a moment Jason thought he was doing it. King was still getting pulled along in the air but it was starting to slow. He could feel blood dripping from his nose and his whole body felt like it was ripping apart but the nuke was slowing. Jason screamed out as he focused everything he had on pulling back.

And then a two by four came flying through the air and hit his leg so hard Jason saw white. Instantly started to fall out of the air. The missile began to pick up speed and Jason swore he heard someone shouting in his direction. Jason could barely see straight he was in so much pain the whole world was in triples and shook like a roller coaster. Jason hit the ground and...

wait a minute that was too fast he couldn't have hit the ground that fast from how high he was. He turned around and saw the legs, then torso, and then angry worried face of a one Trine Larsen who was riding on some sort of magic carpet made of dirt. Jason didn't have time to think about how impressed he was, or be mad at how stupid she was being, or anything else as he shot his hands back out and tried to grab the missile again. He anchored himself to the makeshift dirt aircraft and the two of them were jerked forward as he was earlier. Not having to focus on keeping himself afloat let Jason pull harder but he still felt like he was going to be pulled apart. He didn't even look down to see if his leg was still there. The adrenaline in body working on overdrive just to keep him conscious. The missile slowed again but it was going to find it's target soon...he knew that he couldn't hold it back for much longer.

King: AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!

King screamed out focusing all of his energy on pulling the missile back...on giving his friends enough time to get out of there.

.............

Big had tried to catch Trine as she fell but she was too far away by the time he could move his frame around to try and catch her. She road on a dirt mound back towards the horde and up towards Jason. He felt something grab his leg and looked down, it was his brother, Teddy had climbed into his shoe and was screaming at him to get moving. Big didn't want to leave Trine and Jason behind but he had too many people counting on him to get them to safety now he couldn't turn back. If anyone could them out of this mess it was Jason and if anyone could Jason out, Big assumed Trine Larson was the best bet. Weston started to run, holding his little group tighter this time. He reached down and grabbed Simion and one of the clones, not that it mattered really, and started booking it. His long strides clearing distances and crushing trees and rocks and all sorts of stuff. He felt like an old time movie monster but he couldn't think about that now. He just needed to get his friends away from the blast radius.

Tech: The River!

Simon shouted up at his massive ears.

Tech: If we pass the river we should be out of the blast radius

Big: Should Be?

Tech: My calculations are very rarely wrong. however...i am a bit distracted.

Weston didn't argue the point, the river was farther than they were that's all that mattered. Not to mention that's where the rondevu point had been anyway. Big picked up the speed and his booming steps shook the leaves.

................

Jason really bleeding now. His nose ran like a faucet and his arms were shaking. The missile would have already hit had it not been for Jason but it was still arching down and heading for it's destination. Jason thought about pushing Trine as far as he could to get away from this but.
1- she would most likely die on impact
2- he needed her

King: HIGHER!! TAKE US HIGHER!!

he shouted through gritted teeth.