Safe Haven - Meet Brittany

[...Posted by Ted H]

This part was a little fun to write, despite all evidence to the contrary...

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[Safe Haven - Meet Brittany]

“You really think you’re ready?” Brad asked as Kyle checked his weapons and placed them onto a table. He had been regulated to bed rest for the past week, but all he wanted to do was get back on his feet and do something, anything besides sit around. Brad, Nick and Korrgan had visited him as frequently as they could, but that was all. Citizens weren’t allowed in the Hub and there was someone Kyle wanted to visit this whole time who wasn’t a ResE.

“Just day duty,” Kyle said as he left the guns on the table and walked over to a mirror. “I can still afford to sit out curfew, but I need to do something besides sit around and get high all day,” he said as he removed the bandages and observed the wound. He then turned around to see the bruise on his back from the other gunshot that his vest had stopped. He noted at how much of a mess he looked. “You mocking my lifestyle?” Brad said as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

“That’s later though,” Kyle said as he pulled out an old t-shirt and threw it on “Wanna come? You know where I’m going.” Brad shrugged as he stood up and picked up Kyle’s old vest. The light blue shade on the vest was half stained with blood and the ragged hole on the side made it no longer approved for field use. Kyle’s replacement vest was over by the table with his guns, blood stains of its own from its previous owner. “You should throw this out,” Brad said as he held the old vest up.

“Nah,” Kyle said as he walked over and picked up a handgun “Helps me remember.” He made for the door and he put the gun behind him under his belt. “Why would you want to remember?” Brad asked. Kyle didn’t answer as he looked over to Nick, who was snoring on the couch. “Leave Sleeping Beauty alone,” Brad said and the two men walked out of the room.

After the riot, the ResEs extended their full coverage during the nights to all the way until the end of curfew, not just for a few hours. The idea was that with all the seized weapons, the Rogues would attempt to move more weapons into the city. Nothing had been reported since, so the idea was that the coverage was working, meaning that The General was inclined to make full curfew coverage the rule and no longer an exception. Doing so already stretched the short staffed Enforcers even more than they already were, and the decision was passed down to take in new recruits. Doing so meant some ResEs had to stop doing routine night patrols in order to train the new Enforcers, leaving even fewer men to handle things on the streets.

It was a peculiar practice, but some injured ResEs like Kyle were slowly working their way back into the field. By the time all the new ResEs were ready, the full night coverage would be easier, but until then everyone suffered. Nick was paired up with another solo ResE until Kyle could return, which to him was the worst situation out of everything happening. He had hoped for a vacation of sorts instead, saying he needed time off for what happened to him in the whore house. They gave him one night off before forcing him back into the streets with a different partner.

Being on the street without any gear on for the first time in a long time felt different to Kyle. The fact that everyone he saw could be concealing a weapon to use on him at any time wasn’t a comforting thought, but he did his best to avoid the paranoia. He had Brad with him though, who while not a regular ResE, still had Nick’s radio and a gun of his own.

“This is Backlash,” Brad said into the radio “I’m in the streets with Rotting Cure, just so you know where I am if you need me.”

“Who?” Janky said in the radio.

“You know who I am.”

“Gotta say, RC, you picked a better partner this time around. Guess it wasn‘t that hard to top Mean though.”

“Man, Mean was right, you are a little bitch, Janky.”

“I take it back.”

Kyle shook his head as he pulled the earpiece from his head. He wasn’t on duty, so he didn’t need to care about what everyone else was doing at the moment. They made their way south towards the main gate of the city. Along the way, Kyle decided to troll a couple ResEs by letting them see his gun and having them think he was a regular citizen. The joke didn’t go over all that well.”

“And here we are,” Brad said as Kyle stood outside of what was once a bakery. The floor above it was a small loft apartment and he knew the people that lived inside. “Hey Korrgan, you around?” Brad asked into his radio as Kyle opened the door to the stairwell. The stairs creaked as he ascended, announcing to anyone inside that someone was coming. Most civilians would kill for that kind of security, usually from unwelcome ResEs, but the people here didn’t ever need to worry about such threats.

“Guess she’s not around,” Brad said as he hustled up the stairs after Kyle. He hesitated for a moment before knocking on the wooden door which swung open mid-knock. A woman with short, dirty blond hair stood behind the door, looking up and down at Kyle. “You look good for someone who bled out.” she said as she let Kyle and Brad inside. “I wish you guys could’ve visited,” Kyle said “It was boring as hell when these guys were all busy.”

“I bet,” the girl said as she walked to the kitchen. Her name was Christine, and she lived with a friend, Brittany, in the building within sight of the main gate of the city. Kyle, Nick, Brad, Korrgan, Brittany and Christine had all entered Safe Haven together, but Brittany and Christine didn’t like the idea of being ResEs, so they set up shop as far away from the Hub as possible.

“Tea?” Christine asked as she pulled cups from a cupboard. “You have hot water?” Brad asked as Christine smile. “Cold tea,” she said as she poured herself a cup “I’m not going to waste a match just to heat up water.” Brad sat down and pulled out his lighter and placed it on the table. “Here you go,” he said.

“We don’t need a handout,” Christine said as she poured two more cups.

“You know how many of these we wind up with regularly?”

“They’re not illegal.”

“Yeah, but when ResEs seize shit, they usually take the lighters too. Brad has several boxes full of them.”

“Whatever.”

Christine handed the others tea. Kyle didn’t touch his while Brad attempted to drink his. “Tastes…good?” he said as Christine smiled. “You don’t have to pretend,” she said as she sipped her cup. “Where’s Brittany?” Kyle asked as he looked about. “Aw, you’re not here for me?” Christine asked. “Honestly?” Kyle said “No.”

“She’s out,” Christine said “She should be back soon though. Don’t you have somewhere to be later though?” Kyle leaned back in his seat to wait. “He’s got nothing to do for a while,” Brad said “Technically he shouldn’t even be up with his injuries.” Christine drank again and put her cup down. “Well then,” she said with a faux seductive tone as she arched her eyebrow “Feel free to stick around.”

The three waited and killed the next couple of hours talking about the riot and Kyle’s injuries. Christine was more amazed that Nick proved himself useful in the situation, though everyone disputed how alleged kill count in the riot. There was also much laughing at how a couple hookers got the drop on them. While Kyle was explaining how Nick inadvertently used him as a body shield, Brittany walked up the stairs and came in through the door.

“What is…” she said as she saw Brad and Kyle “…Going on?” Brad smirked and walked towards the door as Brittany entered the kitchen. “I should probably get back,” he said. Christine shifted her gaze between Kyle and Brittany before getting up to follow. “Hey Brad, I have a favor to ask,” she said as she followed Brad, who held the door for her as they exited, leaving Kyle and Brittany alone.

“Glad you’re ok,” Brittany said after a moment of awkward silence “Though Nick made it sound a lot worse when he told us last week.” Kyle lifted his shirt to reveal his bandages. “It was pretty bad, I’m just being a stubborn ass about my recovery. Legit, I could’ve died though.” Brittany shrugged. “I figured Nick was just inflating his role in everything to sound like a hero.”

Kyle smiled. “Nah, he had my back the whole time, killing all those whores like a boss. Lot of people hate him, but he’s one of the few I actually trust to have my back in times like that. I’ll never go back to that whore house, that’s for sure.”

“Was that your first time in one?”

“Second actually. Let’s not talk about the first time.”

“Nick already did. Something about you and a naked man.”

“Oh, he’ll pay for that.”

“I know you’ve probably heard this, but death by whores? That would’ve been weak.”

“Oh well, add them on to the growing list of things that haven’t killed me yet.”

“Must be a big list at this point.”

“Yup. Highlights include: prison, Rogues, zombies, Resevil and now whores.”

“You lived a unique life.”

“So…How worried were you when Nick told you about me getting shot?”

“Not worried at all.”

“Lies.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“Me dying would’ve had no effect on you?”

“I wouldn’t even notice.”

“More lies.”

“Maybe I just knew you’d survive.”

“Then that makes one of us.”

“You really though you were gonna die?”

“I don’t remember much of anything. All I know is that the bullet was tougher than the vest. Then I figured that it really would have sucked if I died at this point in time, having accomplished nothing meaningful.”

“What are you hoping to accomplish? Surviving seems pretty big at this point in time for any of us.”

“I die, and that’s it. I made no meaningful contribution to the survival of the human race.”

“Does killing zombies not count?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of a lineage.”

“A what?”

Kyle hesitated for a moment. He would gladly take getting shot again over this conversation, but seeing as how he insisted on being the one to talk about it, he continued. “A…child,” he said. Brittany’s face turned somber as she scrunched her mouth to one side. “So go make a baby,” she said as she folded her arms.

“That’s not exactly what I meant,” Kyle said, all the pleasantness of his visit draining away by the second. He eyed the untouched cup of tea that Christine poured him more favorable, wanting to drink it if only to provide a momentary distraction. “Look,” he finally said “I know how things got…complicated the last time. What I’m trying to say is I want to try again with you.”

“I don’t want to,” Brittany said flatly, diverting her eyes to the ground.

“Look, what happened last time can’t happen again.”

“Which part? The part where I lose it? Or the part where you up and walk away.”

“You don’t think that hurt me?”

“Well it hurt me. And when I needed Kyle, all I could find was Mr. Rotting Cure, running off with his friends to fulfill his juvenile cop fantasies.”

“That’s not fair.”

“And when I confronted you about it, you ignored me. You said you didn’t even know if it was yours anyway.”

“I’ve changed. You know this.”

“Changed how? You’re standing before me right now, days removed from getting shot at a whore house!”

“You know why I was in there!”

“To kill someone, right? You talk about how you want to make some sort of impact on humanity all while you knock people off left and right as if they don’t count. You’re doing as much damage as the fucking zombies are!”

“And what the fuck have you done lately?”

“Oh, this is about me now? If I haven’t done enough for humanity in your eyes, am I not good enough to fuck now? Are you going to try and kill me now cuz I’m not saying exactly what you want to hear?”

“I’m done with this conversation,” Kyle said as he walked towards the door. “Yeah, walk away again!” Brittany shouted as she stormed off. Kyle bit his tongue as he threw open the door to see Christine at the bottom of the stairs. “Don’t act like you didn’t hear,” he said as he went down the steps noting that the stairs were creaking seconds earlier.

Christine watched him until he got to the street before finally speaking. “For what it’s worth,” she said “She did cry when Nick told us. She waited until Nick left of coarse.” Kyle turned to see Christine disappear back up the stairs before he could get a word out. All he wanted to do was get geared up and go on patrol with Nick and shoot someone, which only reminded him of what Brittany said, all causing him inconsolable frustration, a worse pain than his gunshot wound.

Safe Haven - Oh God, More Character Backgrounds!

[...Posted by Ted H]

I'm running low on backlogged entries... God forbid I write anything new, right?

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[Safe Haven - Oh God, More Character Backgrounds!]


It had rained last night. Patrick walked out into the main part of the church to find water pooled in the center, right below where the roof collapsed. The times it rained were few and far between, Patrick wasn’t sure if it was because of the region or somehow because of the apocalypse, but he couldn’t recall any time in his life beforehand that it only rained once every several months like this.

Because of the hole in his roof, he was more grateful than wondered by the infrequent rain, cleanup was always a chore. He didn’t have a mop or anything useful. He went to retrieve an old push broom and opened both main doors to the church. From there he would attempt to push as much water out the front as he could. He once figured he could collect the water and use it for his garden, but it was always more trouble than it was worth and the garden always did just fine without the additional water.

As Patrick finished pushing the water out the door, he caught a glimpse of Cayra walking towards the church. She was wearing the same blue coat he gave her when she was first trying to hide from the ResEs. She kept the hood up while out in the open but when she entered the church, she let it down.

“Still keeping a low profile?” he asked as she sat down in a pew. “Yeah,” Cayra said after a pause “I don’t think I can stick my head out in public again.” Patrick walked over to her. “Don’t think like that,” he said “Maybe the ones who saw you were among the dead from last weeks riot.”

“I wish,” Cayra said.

“Is it too much for wishful thinking?”

“Maybe if it was just one I was hiding from.”

“Well there were only two. How big of a difference does that become?”

“I just know it would be too easy to assume they’re both dead.”

“You can always get a hair cut like John did.”

“John looks retarded.”

“I though you said Laura fixed it.”

“She shaved his head. Are you telling me I should shave my head also? I’d stick out like a sore thumb.”

“You walk everywhere with a hood over your head, you already kinda stick out.”

“You know what I mean.”

“How is everyone anyway?”

“Perry’s fine. Still not talking to John, but Laura says he’ll get over it. John managed to move the rest of his weapons and is always out looking for shipments on his map. Both of them now live with Laura again. It’s almost like it was in the beginning.”

“Almost.”

“Yeah. Perry attempted to get his brothel going again, but no woman in their right mind is going anywhere near there, so he doesn’t know what he’ll do now.”

“He doesn’t have to do anything. He has somewhere to call home and friends who are willing to help him.”

“Well, Laura’s going to get rations from the Hub market today. We decided to pool some food and have a big dinner. You’re welcome to join.”

“No thanks.”

Cayra hesitated for a moment. “Eventually you two need to start talking again,” she said. Patrick shook his head trying to ignore her. He and Laura weren’t currently on speaking terms. Neither one talked about their final conversation that led to the mutual disdain they now had for each other, even at the pleading from Cayra at each of them to talk about it. She had since given up at it, but every now and again she’ll try to get one of them to open up.

“I forgot something,” Cayra said as she stood up and made for the door. She put her hood up and looked back at Patrick, still standing next to the pew. “I just want you two to get over this,” she said “Preferably before I get myself killed since I’m the only mutual friend you two have left.” She then left before Patrick could call out that she was being paranoid about the ResEs still looking for her.

She was wrong though. She wasn’t the last mutual friend between him and Laura. Sure, he knew Kate and John from before Safe Haven, but neither of them cared too much to keep in contact after a while. According to Cayra, that meant she was the only link left, but she also still assumed Jake was a dead man.

When Jake first returned to Safe Haven, he made it a point to visit him and Laura, since neither one wanted to kill him at the time. After Patrick and Laura stopped talking though, Jake still kept visiting the both of them. Patrick couldn’t say for sure on what Jake and Laura talked about, but Jake had the decency enough to never bring up Laura after learning of the situation. He doesn’t know what Laura says, but Patrick hasn’t even told Jake about that final conversation and Jake hasn’t pried once on the issue.

Now though, Jake was gone and for perhaps dead for all Patrick knew, meaning that technically Cayra was the only mutual friend left now. Still, Patrick figured now wasn’t exactly a good time to try and mend any friendships or un-burn any bridges. He didn’t know if there ever was a good time for that at this point.

Safe Haven - We Don't Need Another Post About California

[...Posted by Ted H]

Bonus for whoever can guess the reference there...

...and googlemaps is a wonderful thing...

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[Safe Haven - We Don't Need Another Post About California]

The change to Interstate 40 came and went without ceremony. The seven Rogues, already road weary and now vigilant to any sign of the lost convoy, decidedly had let the weight of their situation sink in. Anywhere between there and Texas, the convoy was suppose to be, and there was a lot of road, desert and undead between those two points. The jogging had all but ceased unless there were zombies, even Martin didn’t like the idea of exerting oneself in a desert environment.

The past few days had seen very little conversation. Teto would usually talk out loud about the directions, Tucker would complain to the crazy idea of wearing black in a desert, and Cooper would threaten Tucker over his constant complaints. Today, however, would feature different topics of conversation.

“Stop,” Teto said as he crept his way forward. Tucker followed him with his rifle drawn. They took cover behind a broken down car and Teto fished out his binoculars and looked out while Tucker used his scope. “What are we looking at?” Tucker whispered as he eyed a bridge in the distance. “California ends at that bridge,” Teto said as he tried to count the zombies he saw “We’ll be in Arizona then, but those zombie will definitely make things difficult.”

“We can do like that one bridge before,” Tucker said as Teto shook his head. “The bridge is packed with too many cars, which is also why so many zombies are trapped. Bumper to bumper in places. I’m trying to see if there’s a way to cross if we can just run along the roofs of cars.”

“Can’t we just cross under?”

“There’s a river, dumbass, pretty big one.”

“Go around? There’s got to be an easier way than that.”

“It’s a fucking big river.”

“How big can the river be?”

“You do know that river is WHY California ends where it ends, right?”

“Aw shit, natural border, right?”

“Where’s Jake? I’d rather go over this with him.”

“Look, lemme just snipe all those fuckers from here and we can cross easy.”

“You’re not going to be able to snipe them all.”

“Sure I can. You said yourself that they’re trapped in there. It’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel.”

“That rifle isn’t exactly quiet, and it’s not like there aren’t any more zombies around either.”

“There’s got to be another bridge then.”

“I don’t want to be off the road more than I have to. We’re out here to find the convoy, not sightsee.”

“The convoy would’ve definitely taken another bridge.”

“The convoy had the means to clear that bridge. They didn’t make it this far back. We cross the bridge and keep going.”

“Cross the river?”

“When was the last time any of us swam?”

“How bad could the river be?”

“You remember the part when I said it’s why California ends here, right?”

“Whatever. You at least find us a way over?”

“I would faster if you helped.”

“You’re the tactician.”

“Why are you up here then?”

“Bounce ideas with?”

“Your ideas suck. And there is no easy way to do this so we’ll just wing it when we cross.”

“I take back when I said you were the tactician.”

Teto and Tucker returned to the others and shared their observation. “Run and gun. Stay on top of the cars when you can and stay close,” Teto said as everyone else nodded. “Anyone at least open to the idea to try fording the river?” Tucker asked. “We don’t have an ox,” Jake said with a smile as everyone started marching towards the bridge.

“Single handed weapons, everybody,” Martin said as he pulled out a handgun “Gonna be climbing a lot of cars. Watch yourself on the ground. You don’t know if there’s any zombies under the cars.” Tucker slung his rifle onto his back “Now you’re just trying to get inside my head,” he said to Martin. Everyone had out a handgun except Jordan who had out just one of his SMGs, which he could wield with one hand.

“They’re aware,” Teto said as he shot one and climbed up onto a crashed car and jumped onto the roof of another. “Single file!” Martin yelled over the increasing moans as he followed Teto’s path followed by Johnston, Jordan, Tucker, Cooper and finally Jake. Tucker watched as Teto ran on top of an SUV before jumping across lanes into a lower sedan. It certainly looked like a difficult jump to make, though Martin made it look easy. Johnston made a loud grunt when he jumped, but he stuck the landing. Jordan ended up landing on his side, but he didn’t fall off.

Jordan was quick to his feet and was off the car when it came time for Tucker to make the leap. “Here goes nothing,” he said to himself as he leapt into the air and aimed for the center of the sedan roof. When he landed though, his feet slipped out from under him and he toppled onto the bridge. “Owe,” he said as he tried to stand and compose himself but was startled as a gunshot rang out.

“Move, dammit!” Cooper said from the roof of the sedan as she shot another zombie as it approached Tucker. Jake had stopped on the SUV and was shooting zombies on the other side as they approached Cooper. Tucker, still a bit dizzy from his fall, took off and climbed on top of the next car as he attempted to close the gap between him and Jordan, who was now several cars ahead.

Tucker snuck a look to the front as Teto jumped down from a car and waited for Martin. “They didn’t even wait,” he said as Johnston and Jordan reached Teto and Martin and they slowly made their way forward while shooting zombies. He tried to ignore that fact as he jumped from car to car, still annoyed that he miffed the one jump that was now costing him, Jake and Cooper. There was another sizable jump up ahead and this time Tucker hesitated, killing all the momentum he gathered, and making that kind of jump impossible now.

“What are you doing?” Cooper screamed as Tucked jumped down and started running along side the cars on the bridge. He decided that hoofing it over to where Teto and the others were was now the faster option, and less likely for him to land on his ass again. A zombie had walked into his path from between two cars and Tucker prepared to shoulder into it like a football player, knowing that stopping to aim would only slow him down at this point.

“I’m gonna kill that kid,” he heard Cooper screaming as he barreled into the zombie, but it didn’t fall off to the side like he had hoped. Instead, it grabbed his shoulder and pulled at Tucker as he attempted to run by, swinging him into the car instead. “Shit,” Tucker said as he reached for his handgun, only to realize he dropped it when he fell of the sedan earlier and never bothered to pick it up when he ran. Instead, he fell back and threw his foot into the zombies torso and pushed it off of him. As soon as it’s grip on his shoulder weakened, it flew backwards away from Tucker.

There was another zombie though ready to grab at Tucker if Cooper again hadn’t been there to cover. “Move your retarded ass!” she screamed as she emptied her clip and loaded a new one. Tucker was off again as he climbed back onto a car and made it to where Teto and company had jumped off earlier. They were now twenty feet ahead, still on the ground, but constantly fighting off zombies, which where now making their way to swarm Tucker when Cooper and Jake reached him.

“Screw this one handed shit,” Jake said as he holstered his handgun and pulled out his shotgun. “Don’t fall behind cuz no one will cover you this time,” he said to Tucker as he fired into a group of zombies and blew them away. He pumped the shotgun and moved forward as the three tried to play catch up to the others as they climbed onto a new batch of cars and moved on. Jake’s shotgun allowed them to move quicker on the ground than Teto’s group though, and they made it across with relative ease.

“And Johnston said a shotgun would be useless,” Jake said as Cooper climbed up onto the next car, followed by Tucker. Jake was right behind them as they made their way for the main group, who had now stopped short of an overturned tour bus. “Problem?” Tucker asked as they reached the others. “The easy part is over,” Teto said as Tucker suppressed the urge to laugh at that statement, as if the notion of jumping over cars and twice almost getting mauled by a zombie would be considered easy.

Teto pointed beyond the overturned bus to the scene of car wrecks that went all across the bridge. Jumping from car to car would prove useless and there were plenty of zombies scattered throughout the scene. Martin jumped down and climbed up onto the bus, helping the others as they followed him. The bus gave them a better vantage point as they tried to find the easiest route through the accident scene.

“We’re a little more than halfway across,” Teto said “So we might as well go for the end.” Tucker liked that idea, mainly because there was no way he was going back the way he came. He still would rather swim across the river, but that proverbial ship had sailed. “Keep left,” Johnston said as he traced a path with his finger “Hope there’s nothing hiding in any wrecks and that should get up back on top of some cars.” Teto shrugged and eventually nodded, since no one else had any ideas. Tuckers best plan would’ve been to jump off the bridge and swim from there.

“Hey Jake,” Jordan said before anyone could act “Why don’t you toss a few grenades and clear a path?” Jake stared a Jordan a moment before sighing and shaking his head. “This is why I didn’t give you any,” he said “You want to use grenades on a bridge that hasn’t had any maintenance in over a decade? In the middle of carmageddon no less. It might kill a couple zombies but it wont do squat otherwise.” Jordan shrugged. “Just trying to make a plan happen.”

“One might work though,” Teto said “Without bringing down the bridge. If anything it‘ll cause a distraction.” Jake shrugged and extended an arm forward, inviting Teto to try for himself. Martin walked over, pulling out one of the grenades Jake gave him earlier. “Keep it to the right,” Teto said. “And on the bridge,” Tucker added in as Martin turned to give him a deadpan sneer. Martin pulled the pin, reared back and threw.

Tucker lost sight of the grenade when it bounced off a car two-hundred feet away, but the resulting explosion and a car flying up into the air was a pretty good indication as to where it landed. The undead all shuffled towards the source of the sudden blast as Teto and company all broke off the bus and to the left side of the bridge. By time the zombies noticed them, the group was passed the bulk of the group gathering near the recently relocated car.

Little shooting was needed before Teto navigated the Rogues through the scene and they were back on top of gridlocked cars in no time. “This bridge sucks,” Tucker said as he once again jumped from car to car. “Almost there,” Jake said from right behind him “So shut up and keep going.” Towards the end of the bridge, the gridlock lightened up and it became a straight shot run on the ground.

The zombies were scarce at this end but everyone kept running. With the adrenaline still pumping in Tucker’s veins, he wasn’t sure if he could stop running if he wanted to. “Welcome to Arizona,” Jordan said as the group continued their run down the Interstate. California was now behind them, and because of the bridge, there was no turning back now.

Safe Haven - Full Attention

[...Posted by Ted H]

[Safe Haven - Full Attention]

“The General is definitely gonna want you in person to explain this one,” Kendall said to Nick as another ResE finished wrapping up his chest. The riot was over, but not before a nice body count was racked up. Many ResEs ranged from small to serious injuries, mostly from the Molotovs, but that made up most of the casualties for the ResEs. The citizens didn’t fare much better, then again, they weren’t equipped with bulletproof vests of automatic weapons either.

The large amount of injured ResEs had short staffed the emergency personnel back at the Hub, so any ResEs with medical backgrounds were given permission to help out the less serious injuries. One of which was dealing with Nick while his partner was with the regular doctors. “Korrgan, what would I do without you?” Nick asked the female ResE as she handed Nick back his shirt. “Dead, probably,” she said “No one else wants to help you out it seems.”

“That’s an understatement,” Kendall said as Nick threw his shirt back on and stood up. “Why does she help him?” Jezus asked. “We have history,” Nick said as he examined his vest to see where the multiple bullets had struck. “Sexual history?” Jezus asked with an arched eyebrow. “No,” Korrgan said “And if you insinuate something like that again, I’ll be sure to inject you with potassium chloride in your sleep.”

“What does that do?” Jezus asked as Korrgan smiled. “Beats me,” Kendall said “She used to be a nurse, so I suggest you stop fucking with her.” Nick, Kendall and Jezus stuck around as Korrgan worked on a couple more injured ResEs until they were notified that Kyle was out of surgery. Kendall and Jezus left as Nick and Korrgan went to visit.

“How could you let him get hurt like that?” Korrgan asked. “Hey, it’s not like I gave that bitch permission to shoot him,” Nick responded. Korrgan shook her head. “Brad knows, right?” she asked as Nick shrugged. They reached Kyle’s room and a doctor nodded them in.

Kyle laid in a bed with an IV drip in his arm and his torso wrapped up tight. “What’s the damage?” Nick asked as he took a seat in a chair next to the bed. “Bullet missed anything vital,” Kyle said “Would’ve died otherwise. Lost a ton of blood though. Another hour would’ve been a different story.” Nick laughed as he said “Should probably get a refund on your vest.”

Korrgan shot Nick a look as she sat down on the bed near Kyle. “Almost done in by a hooker,” she said “Gotta admit, I’d be severely disappointed if that’s how the great Rotting Cure finally died.” Kyle smiled and shook his head. “Gotta admit, that shit hurt, but what hurt more was when some fucker on the street shot me in the back. Thankfully these vests cover the back more effectively than the front.”

“Thankfully the Rogues don’t arm the civilians very well,” Korrgan said, “They don’t pass out good weapons like that.”

“So how did a hooker have a high caliber gun?” Kyle asked.

“Obviously your…uh, naked dude as you call him, is more than a fleeing citizen with a weapon.”

“What is he?”

“Probably a Rogue.”

“I fucking told you!” Nick shouted.

“A Rogue would have good weapons like that.” Korrgan continued “He probably dumped the gun off at the whore house and one of those woman decided to use it.”

“So we caught a Rogue when he just wasn’t dressed for the part?” Kyle asked.

“Well we don’t exactly know where they go. We know a number of them somehow get out of the city, but there’s always the possibility that many of them operate within the city. Naked boy might be one of those types.”

“They travel in packs though, like wolves.”

“Maybe we ran into a lone wolf then?” Nick said with a smile on his face “Anyone? Anyone? Whatever. I hated that guy.”

“Don’t concern yourself with it,” Korrgan said as she patted Kyle’s shoulder and stood up “Just rest up and you’ll figure things out after.”

After Korrgan left, Kyle turned to look at Nick. “Here,” he said as he tossed him something. “What the fuck is this?” Nick asked. “It’s what they pulled out of me, the bullet,” Kyle said.

“And why do I have it?”

“I know Kendall went all forensics over that Juan guy. See if that’s the same type of bullet that killed Juan, or Double-D.”

“And if everything matches?”

“Then the plot will thicken.”

“And if they don’t?”

“Shit, man, just do what I ask. I’m unable to do shit as it is. At least allow me to pretend my partner can run an investigation on his own.”

“Whatever,” Nick said as he pocketed the bullet. “Knock knock,” Brad said as he entered. “What the fuck have you been?” Nick barked as Brad threw his arms in the air. “Jeeze,” Brad said “I’m in charge of collected contraband. And in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve recovered a shit load of weapons after that little riot that apparently you two started.”

“Wait, we’re getting blamed?” Kyle asked as he sat up in his bed. Brad nodded. “You two shot up a whore house and the masses snapped,” Brad said “At least that’s what’s going around.” Nick rubbed his chest where he had been shot earlier “Those bitches shot us first,” he said as Brad rolled his eye. “I bet,” he said. “No, he’s right,” Kyle said “Woman had a gun we didn’t know about. Probably a gun that the fucking runner had when he ditched his clothes.”

“That sucks, but The General might buy that,” Brad said as he turned to leave. “Leaving already?” Kyle asked as Brad shrugged. “I’m fucking swamped as it is with all the work that was dumped in my lap. I managed to break away from it for a bit just to visit you, but I’m pushing it as it is on time.” Brad left without another word, leaving Kyle and Nick alone.

“Well, I should probably go home and sleep all this off,” Nick said as he stood up and made for the exit. “Yes, because clearly you took the most damage today,” Kyle said as Nick smiled. “I’ll track down Slain and all that shit tomorrow,” he said as he opened the door to leave. “Thanks, for what it’s worth,” Kyle said “For pulling my bleeding ass out of there.”

Nick hesitated at first, but then stuck his head back through the doorway. “I didn’t have much choice,” he said “Since you’re the only person who’d do the same for me.” Kyle smiled. “Awe, is the Mean Guy showing a soft side?” he said with a laugh. Nick flipped him off and left.

********************

“I need answers, gentlemen,” Joseph said as he paced around the conference table. The conference room itself wasn’t very big, but since there were only three men for the meetings, it was sufficient. This is where the Three Kings would meet to discuss items of the utmost importance for Safe Haven.

“I told you my men could handle things,” Thomas said, sitting comfortably in his chair “This little uprising can be used as an example. The Enforcers are not pushovers. If anything, we’ve recovered a multitude of weapons that have been making their way into the city.”

“And used against us,” Chase said as he hunched over the table, sitting on the edge of his seat “The weapons were smuggled in for the sole purpose of being used against the Enforcers. The fact that so many were used simultaneously could only be the beginning.” Thomas shook his head. “The Rogues can only get so many in at a time,” he said “To resupply the citizens after today will prove too difficult. The casualties they suffered were devastating as well. It was a massacre at the end.”

“What were the casualties for the Enforcers?” Joseph asked. “If early reports can be trusted,” Thomas said before stopping to think about it “We’re looking at maybe fifteen dead at the most.”

“Nineteen,” Joseph added “If you count the four that were killed recently. I refuse to discount those as isolated incidents. I’m more concerned with what caused this?”

“This was probably building up for some time.” Chase said “The constant presence and attitudes at this, ah, brothel, most likely pushed some too far. And when the few took action, many more decided to join in, a snowball effect if you will. A problem that won’t go away if citizens become inspired by the effort.”

“You’re saying that these little uprisings are just the beginning?” Thomas asked. Chase nodded “We need to figure a way to stop this becomes it becomes a bigger issue.”

“We need to kill the head of this snake,” Joseph said “Take out their supply.” Joseph wasn’t comfortable with what he was about to suggest, since it would mean he was wrong in his previous assumptions. “We need to deal with the Rogues.” Thomas finally sat up in his chair “My people work regularly to deal with the Rogues. We’re not just letting them run around freely out there.”

Joseph shook his head. “I’ve ignored them for far too long. They are corrupting and harming my citizens. We need to take proactive steps to deal with them once and for all.” Thomas dropped his hands on the table with a noticeable thud “And what would you suggest that my people don’t already do?”

Joseph stared out the window. It didn’t offer quite the same view as his office, but he noted that the view here was almost as good. “I’ll worry about that,” he said “You just worry about replacing the people you’ve lost. I feel our police force is a little short handed at the moment with all the dead and wounded. As always, gentlemen, the discussions brought up in this meeting are on a need to know basis, but mark my words, we will promptly deal with this Rogue problem. They now have my full attention.”

Safe Haven - Rescue!

[...Posted by Ted H]

[Safe Haven - Rescue!]

Just as John had hoped, the alleyway behind Perry’s brothel was free of any ResEs or fighting. “We enter through the back and we head out the same way,” he said as he led Anderson and Kate to the door. The back room was empty, but the trio kept quiet as they made their way for the front lobby. John’s plan was to check every possible room starting with Perry’s office. Alive or dead, he doubted the ResEs would take him out into the streets, especially with a firefight going on.

As they approached the lobby, John could hear talking. He wasn’t sure who it was, but it was a man and it wasn’t Perry, so he readied his gun. He peeked around the doorframe and noticed it was a ResE, talking to another ResE who was laying on the ground. A few other men laid on the ground scattered about, but none of them were moving. “Just two,” John whispered as he faced Anderson and Kate. “I’ll head for the office. Cover me while I run in. Hopefully he’s in there.” The others nodded as John peered back at the ResEs. One was talking into his radio while the other was getting up.

John aimed and landed a headshot just before he took off for Perry’s office. The other ResE swore before shooting at John as he ran, but Anderson and Kate firing forced him to take cover and forget about John. “Perry?” John called out as he turned the corner to enter Perry’s office, almost tripping over a dead woman in the process.

Perry laid in the middle of the office, a small pool of blood by his head. John slowly approached him, hoping that things weren’t as bad as they seemed. Nearby was another woman, but the bullet wounds in her and the amount of blood surrounding her suggested that she was long dead. John took note that the woman was clutching his magnum as he shook Perry’s shoulder. “No…” Perry mumbled as he shifted himself. “Perry? Perry, we need to go,” John said as he attempted to help Perry up.

Perry attempted to get up on his own, giving John some time to collect his magnum and the handgun from the dead women. He still had no clue to where his pants from yesterday, or the knife they contained were, but he didn’t have time to look around. “Let’s go!” John said as he pocketed the weapons and picked Perry up and hoisted him over his shoulder.

John jogged back to the lobby to find that Anderson, Kate and the ResE had all made no progress during their firefight. The ResE had taken cover behind a couple of stacked dead bodies and an overturned table, while Anderson and Kate remained where they were before, only concerned with cover fire to keep the ResE pinned.

“Got him!” John called as he ran back to the others and they all made for the back exit. At this point the ResEs had swarmed the streets, but the back alleys were relatively safe. It was once again only a matter of how much time you spent out in the open between alleys that dictated your chances of getting caught. The farther away from the riot they got however, the less chances were that they’d even see another ResE.

Kate was leading the way, Anderson was watching the back as they walked. Perry was groaning, but showed no signs that he even knew what was happening. “I’m so sorry,” John kept saying anyway. “Almost there,” Kate said as she stuck her head out and noted that there weren’t any ResEs. “I don’t think we need to sneak,” Anderson said as he concealed his weapons. John currently had four guns on his person, only two of which were hidden, but with the lack of ResEs, there wasn’t much need for secrecy.

Kate ran off ahead when Laura’s townhouse came into view. Anderson helped John carry Perry the rest of the way as Laura and Kate came out to help them navigate Perry up the steps. “Put him on the couch,” Laura said as they entered the house and Kate shut the door. “How bad is it out there?” Laura asked Anderson while John sat down on the floor next to the couch Perry was on.

“It’s probably over now,” Anderson said as he pulled out his guns and walked over to the staircase. “I’m going back to bed,” he said as he left. “I think I’ll head back home, too,” Kate said as she waved goodbye and left. Laura walked over to Perry with a cloth and tried to clean up Perry’s face as Cayra entered from the kitchen.

“I just want you to know, Cayra,” John said “Even though this is all your fault, I’m not too mad at you.” Cayra stopped short as a look of disgust spread over her face. “My fault?” she blurted out as she balled her hands into fists. “Yeah,” John said “You don’t kill that ResE, and a lot of people wouldn’t have died today.” Cayra sneered, walked over and slapped John across the face before storming off back.

“All this was bound to happen,” Laura said as she finished with Perry’s face “You running afoul of the ResEs? I’m surprised it even too this long. Don’t try to hide behind Cayra on that one.” John waved Laura’s comment off. He ran his hand over his head as he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall behind him. “Laura, you have a cig I can bum?” he asked, to which Laura responded by throwing the bloody cloth at him. “I take it that’s a “no” then.”

Safe Haven - End This

[...Posted by Ted H]

*Insert witty banter here*

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

[Safe Haven - End This]

Someone said all the ResEs were gone, too busy with a sudden large scale firefight to patrol anywhere else near Perry’s brothel. This suited John just fine as he immediately ran out to the middle of a gossiping group and dumped the contents of his box onto the ground. “Arm up and join the fight!” John shouted and ran off to grab the box Kate was carrying. Half of his weapons shipment was about to go away when it was suppose to last him for however long the Rogues were gone. There was probably a couple more hidden caches of weapons, but two whole boxes in one day probably was a bad idea to dump at one time. Perry was in trouble though, or already dead, so John felt no remorse if he could hurt the ResEs right away.

He took weapons out of Kate’s box and passed them out by hand, telling people to join in the fight. He knew it was already the biggest uprising against the ResEs since Safe Haven was erected, and he knew that whoever was fighting the ResEs now would get slaughtered without backup. Time to send that backup.

The people who snatched up the weapons John dumped left immediately. The second wave of reinforcements would be whoever took the guns from the second box. They were unintentionally organized this way, but since the ResEs probably didn’t even expect an organized assault in the first place, it provided the perfect tactic.

The first wave hit already, attacking some ResEs with riot gear, but when the second wave hit, the ResEs actually retreated back. John couldn’t help but smile, but he knew he had to find Perry. “John!” someone called over. John looked to see Anderson run up to him, guns in each hand. “Did you start this?” John asked as Anderson nodded.

“There was shooting inside when I arrived,” Anderson said “And when I saw the ResEs exit, I figured they killed Perry so I just started shooting. Next thing I know other people join in and now there’s this.” John nodded. “But what about Perry? Are you sure he’s dead?” Anderson shook his head. “I was gonna check,” he said “But things got out of hand in a hurry. There’s no way we can get to the door without getting shot.”

“Anyone try the back entry?” John asked as Anderson smiled, apparently not knowing about the back door. “No one’s trying to get in,” Anderson said “They’re just fighting.” John nodded as he looked over to Kate and motioned her to follow. “Let’s go get Perry,” he said as they made for the back alleys.

*********************************

“Every Enforcer, report to the site of the uprising. End this NOW!” The General screamed over the radio to the point that Nick wanted to tear the earpiece away from him. Things were getting hectic outside and Nick couldn’t get a good look out the door without a bullet flying over his head. Kyle had stopped talking and slumped over, his shirt still well pressed into his bullet wound. He was still breathing and occasionally said something to prove how awake he still was, as if anyone cared, but he was clearly no longer paying attention to the chaos. Nick wasn’t no doctor, but he knew Kyle wouldn’t last forever like this.

He pressed to talk into his radio. “We’re still waiting on evac from this fucking whore house!” he yelled. He wasn’t that good at officially talking over the radio beyond insults and unwanted comments, he always let Kyle do that, but that wasn’t a luxury at the moment. “We’re trying, dude, hold on!” someone responded. “If he dies…” Nick started but stopped. There was no threat he could think of that could help Kyle, so he gave up. It wasn’t like the ResEs weren’t trying; Kyle was the one hurt, not him, they would help Kyle.

Another idiot citizen dove into the whore house, taking cover from the firefight. “Wrong move, bitch,” Nick said as he shot the man down, next to the bodies of other people who thought it was safe inside. He got a kick out of it the first three times he did it, but that was back when Kyle could comment as well. Now Nick was just talking to himself.

The sound of around a hundred more automatic rifles filled the air, and Nick knew that more ResEs had arrived. “Keep pushing!” he heard someone screaming from the outside. Apparently enough ResEs had finally shown as one to outnumber the citizens and send them running. The streets were emptying, but the people shooting from the windows still presented enough of a problem.

“Still kicking up in the whore house?” someone radioed in. “What took you?” Nick asked as someone, a ResE finally, entered through the main door. “He dead?” he asked as he looked down at Kyle. “He breathin, ain’t he?” Nick said as he attempted to finally stand up. His chest still hurt, but it wasn’t anything that would kill him. “Alright, let’s move him,” the ResE said as he spoke into his radio “I’m gonna need some-” he got out before his head jerked back and he fell backwards, a trail of blood following the newly planted bullet hole in his forehead.

Safe Haven - Firefight

[...Posted by Ted H]

Google Chrome...I may have been lied to about it's speed...

Ugh...SH is gonna need some serious editing when I finally get the time...enjoy the raw version for now...

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

[Safe Haven - Firefight]

“The promised land!” Tucker shouted as he fell to his knees. The Rogues had managed to find a track of road with a road marker that told them they were on  Interstate-15, meaning they were finally on the right track. “Didn’t you come down this way?” Cooper asked Jordan when he walked over “You’re from Vegas, right?”


“Didn’t mean I paid attention,” Jordan said as he looked out “Besides, it was all different. Everything was still burning, now it‘s just wasteland. They firebombed everywhere, you know. I thought it was the military attempting to fight, but it wasn’t.” Jordan looked out into the endless wasteland. “Is this what the world is suppose to look like, without people?”


“Nah,” Jake said “It’s suppose to be overgrown vegetation. Desert though? Mojave is just a desert, anything inhabitable was man made from the sand. We’ll be leaving the wasteland and entering one big desert, pretty much no change in scenery.” Jordan shook his head. “There was a forest,” he said “A National Park or something like that. Gone. We were suppose to have walked right through it before getting here though.”


Jordan turned back to see Teto and Martin looking at the map again, while Johnston looked back at the small group of zombies trying to keep up. “15 will take us all the way to Vegas, as long as we don’t break off down 40,” Jordan said “Part of me wants to keep going though, just to see what home looks like now.” Jake leaned his elbow on Tuckers shoulder when he finally stood up. “You don’t wanna go home,” he said “Whatever image you have of it in your head probably way better than the real thing.”


“Maybe,” Jordan said “What do you think your guy’s homes are like now?” Jake shrugged. “I lived in a shitty apartment before all this. I really don’t care what happened to that dump.” Tucker wasn’t even paying attention and whatever Cooper wanted to say, she withheld comment. “Home is wherever,” Teto said as he walked up with the rest. “Know where we are yet?” Jake asked. “We’re on the Interstate,” Teto said with a sly grin “Where exactly? I have some ideas, but once we get far enough along I should be able to pinpoint exactly where we are. From there, getting to 40 should be a snap.”


“Our “friends” are catching up,” Johnston said as the zombies tailing them were closing the gap. The group then took off running. They were finally on the right track, no longer wandering. Somehow that added a spring in their step, and there was no more complaining over all the running.

*****************************

“Just what the doctor ordered…no pun intended,” Jezus said as he and Kendall fired into the crowd of rioting citizens. After having to meet with both The Doctor and the hapless, idiot psychologist, there was nothing he or Kendall wanted to do more right now than kill something. They got their wish when RC called in for backup.


“RC, are you still inside?” Kendall said into his radio. “Yup, so don’t shoot us when we try to get out,” RC responded. “Is Mean by any chance dead?” Jezus asked with hope but Mean responded “Fuck you!” which cut down that hope. “What did you guys do?” Kendall asked but Janky cut in. “You guys need to cut off the personal banter, we need to keep the channel open.”


“So now what?” Jezus asked Kendall, who was surveying the scene. A sizable mass of about fifteen people were scattered in the street, concentrating fire of both ends where ResEs were trying to advance. Items were being tossed from windows for the people in the street to use as cover while additional people were also shooting and throwing debris out from the buildings at the ResEs. From what it looked like, they were only armed with handguns and a couple single shot rifles, nothing the ResEs weren’t prepared to handle.


Kendall snuck around the corner of his cover and lined up a shot. “Shirtless mother fucker with the neck beard,” he said to Jezus, who looked over and watched Kendall blew the guys head off. “Nice shot,” he said as he and Kendall ducked as a wave of bullets flew at their cover. “So we’re just gonna take potshots until they’re all dead or what?” someone said over the radio. “You got a faster plan?” Kendall said as other ResEs started screaming to run.


The sound of breaking glass and fire notified Kendall as to what just went down. “Molotovs? Are you serious?” he screamed as he peered back over and saw people throwing flaming bottles out from windows at the ResEs. “Duck!” Jezus yelled as a bottle exploded just short of their cover. “Move!” Kendall said as they retreated.


“Help is on the way,” a ResE said as Kendall noticed a row of people with riot shields charging in. The Enforcers were only able to recover a small handful of riot shields, so they were stored for only emergencies. Apparently it took them a bit to dig them out of storage, though Kendall was just glad they were there now. “Heads up for Molotov cocktails,” Kendall said into the radio as the six ResEs set up a semicircle with their shields out front as they marched. Several ResEs ran up behind them and used them as mobile cover as they fired into the rioters.


Kendall, Jezus and the few ResEs who stayed behind provided cover fire at the windows, keeping any more Molotovs from being thrown. “Making quick work now, eh?” Jezus screamed. Kendall was about to respond when he heard additional screaming from ahead of the riot squad. Thirty or Forty more citizens, all brandishing firearms, were charging in. Molotovs rained down once again as the chaos kicked up another notch and the riot was only now just beginning.