[AU] The Day of the Dead

[Demi Smith]

Demi so saw this coming. Well, technically the group of people who raised her and had been prepping for zombie invasion and what have you for ages had seen this coming. They'd just been training Demi since she could walk in all the best ways to handle the inevitable collapse of the government and all the junk that came with it. So when the zombies actually showed up, they were more or less ready. In fact, their compound was pretty much secure now. Demi had been sent out to do some "scavenging" and "recruiting," though she thought the second idea was stupid. The people in charge of her had been very specific though: get people who could actually help and get them to safety.

Whatever. Demi had her survival pack, which included a few weapons. Right now she was using her screwdriver, because it was awesome to jab into a zombie's head. The squishing just sounded so freakin' cool and stuff. She'd worked her way to a toy store, where she'd totally thought she'd seen people. she wandered the shelves now, tapping a few things, and finally stopping when she reached the "toy weapon" section.

"Cool," she said with a smile, before taking stuff down, using her screwdriver to modify it. She still kept her attention around though, and when she thought she heard movement, she popped up, flipping her blood-stained screwdriver forward. "Is someone there? If you're a zombie, groan like a moron that I'm gonna stab. If you're a human, start telling me why I shouldn't be stabbing."

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji knew all too well that this day would in fact come; there were way too many movies and similar diseases and viruses that could cause similar effects to those found out about zombies in zombie movies. Now it was really happening, it was not a movie, and Seiji had pretty much calculated his chances of survival. He was a smart guy, had medical skills, and could at least protect himself against one zombie. If he got caught in a horde or just went up against a big zombie he would be done for. He was smart, quick at thinking fast in the moment, but in terms of being able to protect himself he was screwed. Past that he felt confident enough that he would at least survive at least a week on his own before he would need a group. For now however he needed some food, having been more concerned with getting his science supplies and water and forgot about food.

He had been aiming for the grocery store close by the toy store, but quickly ran into a problem when four zombies were a few feet away from him when he rounded the corner. "Well my chances of survive have now drop considerable." Seiji said out loud to himself as the zombies had already spotted him, causing to bolt off as fast as he could to the nearest building. That building being the toy store, and was just thankful that he was able to get in through a side door. Quickly looking around and then shoving two swivel chairs in front of the door. Yeah, that is not going to hold. Seiji thought to himself, already breathing hard and he left the small room and closed the door behind him, looking around for shelving or something that he could move to block the door and in his panic looking around he knocked over several bouncy and colorful balls. He froze still when he heard the voice, knowing some people just killed you in fear you would steal their things.

His hands quickly went up in the air as he careful moved towards the voice so he could see them and they could see him. "Uh hi...you should not be stabbing me because I'm not infected and I don't plan on stealing whatever you have. I was just getting away from some--four zombies outside and if you could possibly help block the door just in case they get in that be great. Oh and please don't stab me." Seiji spoke really fast, words just flying out of his mouth as he was still trying to catch his breath from already running in here.

[Jade D. Gawron]

Okay so not only had today been deadly vacant in most of the town but there were now zombies around and to be honest, Jade was pretty sure she was still dreaming. There was no way in any kind of hell that zombies were real in this life and even though it always sounded cool, having to run from them was not cool. NOT COOL AT ALL.

Just a few hours ago Jade had been at the nearest gas station trying to hitch rides from a few guys. With her backpack in tote with a few of her necessities to get her where she needed to be, she had been damn near close to getting someone to take her out of the town. This place just hadn't been doing it for her and she figured a new town with new faces would be best for her. Actually she was pretty sure she had stolen enough cash from people that the police were out looking for her. Well, that's the type of attention you got when you were a thief and being on the run was always a given.

Though, the only issue with Jade finally catching a ride with this old guy was the fact that zombies had soon invaded the area and not only killed him but also the store clerk. It hadn't been until Jade left the bathroom for a quick tinkle that she saw the men being bombarded by a group of zombies. Taking the back route, she quickly ran to the guys car to see if keys had been left inside or something but no luck. "Shit!" She cursed, kicking the truck. Peering through the other side of the front windows, she noticed a group of zombies heading her way. Oh, fuck me. She backed up a few steps before turning around and running across the street towards the nearest building in front of her, which so happened to be a toy store.

It was insane how many groups of zombies there were around her, like what the hell was this? Left 4 Dead? Silent Hill? Dead Island? Like she had no weapons on her, no first aid kits, no three lives left... this was some bullshit. Now she found herself near the back of the store pulling herself up on top of a dumpster until a zombie got a hold of her foot. Jade panicked and kicked at it's head until it got off so she could jump and get a hold of a ladder that had been off to the left from the dumpster. Looking down, she panicked again but then headed towards the roof of the building until she saw an open mental vent system that she could use for an entrance just to the right of her. She took off her backpack carefully while still on the metal ladder and threw it in the vent's opening. Now, if she could just reach faaaaarrr ennooouuuuugghhh--there! She grabbed onto the edge of the small vent entrance with her right hand before swinging her body just so she could grab the edge with both hands and pull herself up and into the vent.

Crawling through, Jade followed the vent straight or she would until she reached a vent intersection or something but seeing how she didn't see any, she just cont-

Well... she fell... through the vent and--THUD! A few feet down into a pile of pink rectangular boxes filled with Mattel's Barbies that poked every inch of her back. "Oowww..."

Blinking, she heard voices somewhere but stayed in her spot until she knew who or what it was. "Anybody there!?" She called out to... well, anybody.

[Trevor Paige]

There was something to be said for having grown up as the only child of the founder of the largest paramilitary corporation on the planet. There was even more to be said for having been given all the access codes to the nearest office's armory and motor pool. Sure, before the outbreak many believed Trevor to be a snobby rich kid and, well, he was a snobby rich kid. But he was a snobby rich kid who had learned many of the military grade weapons his parent's company made use of and had access to a fully armored, ready for combat HMMWV.

A shambling corpse splattered against the reinforced grill of the truck with a satisfying 'thud'. Trevor didn't flinch. He'd been behind the wheel too long, seen to much. One more fully dead zed didn't register. What had captured his attention was that his truck was nearly out of gas and he was in an unfamiliar city. He'd been going around, block by block trying to find a gas station but to no avail. Thankfully, he'd caught sight of what looked like a living person ducking into a storefront.

The large, armored vehicle came to a screeching halt just outside the toy store. The big truck was loud and attracted attention, this Trevor knew. He'd have to get in, see if anyone who knew the area was around, and get out as fast as possible before a horde of the dead bastards swarmed the store. Pushing open the heavy door, Trevor slid out. He was clad in a pair of bloodstained black slacks and a dark blue button up shirt, complete with a tie. Over his casual dress attire, he'd thrown on a black tactical vest stuffed as many magazines would fit for the M4 rifle he carried.

Briskly he rounded the truck as he slung the rifle over his shoulder. "Hey!" Trevor shouted, waving his hands in an attempt to get the attention of whoever had barricaded themselves into the toy store. This proceeded to get the attention of the four zombies that had been chasing Seiji. "Dammitt." Trevor cursed between clenched teeth. Quickly he drew the M9 pistol that was strapped to his thigh and squeezed off a round. It was a lucky headshot that dropped one of the dead things, but there were three more still drawing closer. There was no point in wasting ammo at the moment. He darted toward the door and pounded on the glass. "Hey!" He shouted again, his voice rising in desperation. "If you're alive, I have a truck!"

[Demi Smith]

Demi noticed that the random guy had just shown up and--and had apparently brought for deads with him. Demi growled, glaring at him as she walked by. No words, no greeting, no "glad to see a living person." There might have been a spat "idiot" as she walked by him. Demi was already rummaging about in her pack. She did pull off though, digging through the toys and stuff. The idiot could work at the whole bolstering---

Another sound. Demi whirled again, the screwdriver flying to her hand. She'd heard someone falling... great: more people. Well, Demi was supposed to be, like, recruiting people or something. Maybe one of these idiots actually had some medical training or could fix a computer or some junk that someone back at the camp would actually care about. Demi turned to ask, and as she did, someone else arrived.

with a truck.

"Heck yeah," said Demi. She grabbed a fistful of marbles in one hand and the screwdriver in another. Someone beat on the door and all, but they definitely looked together. Demi still paused in front of the door, not opening, not moving to. Her eyes scanned Trevor's body, looking all over. Any cuts? Any red spots? Any bandages? No, no, he looked good. Demi could swear she heard someone calling behind her, but she didn't care.

"Asian moron," she said, pointing, "get something sharp and see if they've got any BB guns or sling shots," With that, Demi lifted an elbow up, pulling at the glass, "OUT OF THE WAY," she yelled at the guy, thrusting the fistful of marbles out. She so had a plan, assuming the idiots could move. There were three: she could take at least two, and the guy had a gun...

[Seiji Lockard]

The younger girl did not seem happy to see him there, not in the slightest and he wondered if his chances of survival went down some more instead of going up. At least she didn't seem like she was going to move to kill him so that was a good sign. Then there was a loud noise, the sound of someone falling? Seiji was not sure but knew that he jumped and backed away a little when the young girl grabbed her screw driver. Seiji had a knife, but he wanted a weapon that gave him a bit more space between him and the zombie when he would be attacked. He could probably find something here; a toy store had all sorts of things made from plastic to metal. Seiji's eyes were already looking around, getting the layout of the store just from seeing the little hanging boards that told you what was down an aisle. Plus toy stores and pretty much stores in general had a standard layout for their things, so his mind pretty much had the layout of the place without having to look at a map.

His curiosity got the better of him and he moved towards the sound of where someone had fallen to see if it was friend or foe. Someone was yelling outside, talk about having a truck, which was a good thing. Good for getting around fast and dealing with fewer zombies in a way, but yelling was a risky thing to do with zombies shuffling around. He spotted the girl, while she was asking if anyone was her and peeked out from behind the shelving and gave her a small friendly wave to show her that he meant no harm. "Hi and yes there are others. Me, this young girl, and apparently a guy outside yelling about a truck. You should come with us. If you want to. I won't make you of course, that’s your choice. I'm Seiji by the wa-" Seiji started to ramble a little until the younger girl he had already run into was yelling at him.

At least he assumed she was yelling at him since he was Asian, but not a mourn. The comment making him feel like he needed to go read a book or recite the inner working of DNA in order to prove he was not a moron. Either way, not matter how he felt he moved to do as he was told. Already having figured out the aisles so headed down to find BB guns since he already had something sharp. He also did grab a few other things along the way, mostly being a few Pokémon cards, a box of Legos, some little electronics cars, these little flashlight, and batteries of course. He even managed to find these cute little hello kitty walkie-talkies and shoved it all into his backpack before he started to head over to where ever had the most number of non-zombies standing.

[Jade D. Gawron]

Before getting back on her feet, Jade heard more talking towards the entrance of the toy store. Something about someone having a truck and someone else getting excited for it. Then a guy was peeking at her from behind the shelves. Raising a brow she quickly got up out of the now destroyed display of barbies and picked up her backpack off of the floor. The guy seemed okay, safe even... for now and she wasn't sure about who ever else was at the front of the store but since they were all trying to get away form zombies, Jade would put the questions away for right now. "Not like I have a choice if I want to survive this..." She turned to see what was around them before looking back at... eh.. Seiji, was it or moron? Whoever that was calling him an asian moron sounded like a total bitch if you asked her. "The name's Jade." She would add that he could also call her J.D. if he wanted to but now wasn't really the time to make best friends. 

She figured there would be no harm in joining them because it was clear that she didn't have any other choice. Trying to survive in a town, let alone a toy store by herself with zombies everywhere did not sound fun. Besides, if things planned out right, well let's just say that she could get away with more than she came with. 

Jade walked around the store while checking the contents in her bag. There were still enough room for a few more items, she had clothes, water, some snacks, her workout gloves that she used to help her get around without getting blisters. "Nice..." Jade so happened to find an isle with slingshots, as well as another isle that had jump ropes. She grabbed most of them and separated them from their packaging before stuffing the items in her bag. She started heading towards the front of the store where she saw two other people. Tying her hair up in a ponytail before putting her backpack back on, she waited for Seiji, seeing as if they wouldn't be able to figure out what's next without him? "You guys enjoying the lovely zombie weather?"

[Trevor Paige]

Trevor grumbled low to himself. The people inside were taking too long. They had to get moving, had to find a gas station to fill up the truck so they could find someplace to whole up for a while. He felt exposed being out on the street as he was. Exposed and very much in danger. Shifting he raised the assault rifle to his shoulder and fired off a couple rounds. He managed to catch one of the approaching dead things in the forehead with the second shot. Chunks of decayed bone, rotted flesh, and thick, partially coagulated blood flew and the corpse collapsed onto the pavement. Trevor's eyes grew as he slowly lowered the rifle. "You guys might want to hurry!" He shouted, his voice cracking in fear.

They began to pour out of the alleys and side streets roughly a block away. There were hundreds of them, maybe thousands. Trevor certainly wasn't going to stop and count. They were slow, shambling things, yes, but the advancing wall, nonetheless, caused the boy's heart to sink. He would have to hold them off if the people inside the toy store took much longer and that was something even his assault rife would be capable of. In a moment of panic, Trevor began looking around frantically. The horde drew closer. "Hurry the fuck up!" He barked again, his voice rising to a fever pitch.

This wasn't right. He had the gear, the truck, the weapons. He certainly looked the part and could shoot better than most kids he knew but the fact remained Trevor was merely a seventeen year old boy with no real tactical or combat training. He wasn't prepared for this, not really. His head swung about, searching desperately for some way to combat the steadily advancing wall of rotted death. He didn't want to leave whoever was inside the building, but he feared that might be the only option. At least, that flashed through his mind until his eyes glided over the heavily armored truck in front of him. Or, more specifically, the massive, crew served machine gun mounted to the turret on top.

With a gleam in his brown eyes, Trevor felt the anxiety wash away. He slammed a fist against the door to the toy store, as if that would make anyone move any faster, hell, the people inside weren't even taking long. It had only been a few, short seconds that Trevor had been out in the street. To ask him, though, it felt like hours. Slinging his weapon across his back as he sprinted across the pavement, Trevor pulled open both passenger side doors that faced the storefront before crawling into the armored truck. Within moments the boy emerged within the turret of the truck.

"How the fuck do you work this again?" He thought aloud as he looked over the weapon. He pulled the charging handle, it gave a satisfactory click. He turned the large knob that acted as the selector switch. The massive weapons was hot and ready to go. Quickly he turned the crank that caused the turret to swivel, bringing the barrel of the weapon to bear upon the ever approaching zombies. With his jaw clenched tightly, Trevor pressed down on the trigger. The weapon roared into the quiet streets, sending a hail of .50 caliber rounds toward the dead things.