On The Road Again

Slowing the vehicle as the treeline neared and the side road leading into them began to approach Justin let his eyes follow the small dirt path, the tree's seemed to provide somewhat of a natural cover from anyone that wasn't looking for things out of place, furthermore it seemed that someone had tried to conceal it even further sometime in the past, whether or not it was recent was hard to tell. "Whatda think Babe?" He asked Alex as they grew ever closer to the hard to notice opening, in all honesty the fact the two sisters managed to spot it at all amazed him and truth be told he probably would have kept driving passed if they hadn't mentioned something on the matter. Giving Alex a chance to respond he went silent as the road came to rest beside the camper. Slowing to a stop after confirming to himself that the immediate area was clear of walkers he pulled to the side of the road before sliding the car into park. "Wanna check it out?" He then asked turning towards his companions.

Fearah quickly jumped to her feet at the words. "Yea! Yea! Let's do it! Scouting mission's are the best!" She cheered, Sarah sat quietly beside her but you could tell in her eyes that she too wanted to check the place out, even if she wasn't saying anything. "Can we? Pleeease." Fearah cheered once more. "Alright, Alright Girls. Well, We know their stance on the matter." Justin said with a chuckle as he turned his gaze back to Alex, "What say you Lieutenant?" He asked again, and again gave a brief pause allowing her to answer. Sarah had since gotten to her feet and approached the front of the cabin "Ma'am. If you would like Fearah and myself can skirt the tree's and check the place out before you make a full decision." Sarah said, the respect she had for the woman showing clear as day in the way she spoke to her. Letting his gaze find it's way to the surrounding area as the group discussed Justin kept his eyes peeled for any sign of danger, either from the dead or the living. Further down the road he could just make out another cluster of buildings, although the ones that may or may not lie at the end of the nearly fully hidden dirt road leading into the wooded area would be far safer and easier to hide in it eased his mind in a way to know that they more than likely were approaching a slice of what once was civilization. Confirming to himself that they were still in the clear he once more turned his gaze to the group and awaited their decision. "Looks like we're starting to get back into civilization, or what's left of it anyway. I say we check it out, if all else fails we can head further in and see if there's anything further down the road." Falling silent after voicing his thoughts on the matter he let a smile form as he returned to waiting for his answer.

Tapping his foot on the floor of the camper Justin kept his eyes out the windows of the vehicle for any sign of approaching danger, Looking to Alex he was about to ask her what her thoughts on the matter was but it had seemed being on watch the previous night had taken it's tole, Seeing as her eyes were nearly fully shut by this point. A small smile found it's way to his features before he turned and glanced towards his sister who rested further in the cabin. "Hey Kels, you hear someone knock on the door you make sure it's them before you open it alright?" He said, "As long as you can hear their voice and they don't sound like they're being forced or nothin is fine." A few moments later his words were answered by a quiet "Alright J." from the rear. Turning to the front of the vehicle once more Justin returned his gaze to the surrounding area as he awaited the return of their little scouting party.

Hearing a knock at the door his eyes quickly found their way to the door as his hand found his rifle. Giving Kelly a nod giving her the go ahead to open the door he kept his hand resting on the midsection of his rifle in case he needed to grab it quick. Luckily it was indeed the sisters and with a sigh of relief he let his grip fall from his weapon. "Welcome back girls." he greeted with a nod as they made their way in. "What you see?" he then asked as they came to stand before him and Alex. Tapping Alex's leg in an attempt to wake her up he wasn't completely sure she would wake with how tired she had seemed to be when Fearah had relieved her that morning but that wasn't going to stop the girls from answering his question. Giving him a nod of understanding the girls report began to unfold, Justin crossed his arms and leaning back in the seat as Sarah continued on about what they had seen, Casting a glance towards Alex he wondered if she was listening as the report flowed. "I see, so you stuck to the tree line then?" he asked, which in turn was quickly answered by a sharp "Yes sir." from Sarah. "Good, Don't want anyone that might still be alive in that mess to know we're here just yet." He said sitting up in his seat.

Hearing the report draw to a close Justin gave the sisters another nod of thanks, "Good job girls. We'll be checking the place out in full shortly, but take it easy for a bit alright? This place looks promising." With that the two sisters nodded and retreated back towards the rear of the vehicle with Kelly, Justin could just make out the playful sound of Fearah's voice that seemed to be making more and more appearances as time wore on. Turning back to Alex who still had her eyes closed, whether she was asleep or not though was still up for debate. "Sounds promising eh? I say we check it out, Buildings hidden by tree's sounds like a decent place to lie low for a bit and get off the road, You up for it?"

A smile forming on her face as she heard the Lieutenant and Justin agree to checking the place out Sarah glanced at her sister for a moment, seeing her return the smile the two of them returned their gaze to their superior. "Yes ma'am." they both said in unison as they shot her a quick salute. Thankful that they would finally be getting off the camper for more than a scouting trip the two sisters gave Justin and the Lieutenant a nod before retreating to the rear of the vehicle.

"Have a nice nap?" Justin asked as his gaze shifted from the two girls that were now making their way back to the rear to prepare for the trek back towards the hidden cluster of buildings to the cute brunette he was glad to call his. Smiling his gaze fell to her leg, the spot where the round had made a clean hole just a few weeks prior had all but healed by this point which Justin was forever thankful for, Even though they had only been together a few months he couldn't imagine life without her, ever again. The smile still on his face he waited for her to answer before he got to his feet and helped her up, "You up for a little walk my dear?" he asked, a bit a humor tugging at his words as his hand stayed outstretched.

Making their way to the rear of the vehicle Sarah took hold of her pack that sat resting against the corner of the side couch about half way through the campers interior. Bringing it to rest at her feet as she took a seat on the couch she felt the cushion depress beside her as her sister joined her. Unzipping her pack she felt around for the box of ammo that rested somewhere in the middle compartment, Feeling the box shortly there after she brought it to view "hold this." she said as she handed the box to her sister; Grabbing her weapon from where it rested along the wall she pulled the clip out before releasing the unspent chambered shell, letting the shell fall into her bag with the spare mag that sat half empty she made a note to refill it before looking into the completely empty clip in her hand. Fearah hadn't wasted any time on the matter and had in fact already opened the box and sat it on her lap so Sarah could easily get to it when she was ready.

"God I hope this place lasts, as much as I like car rides I want a real bed ya know?" Fearah groaned as she watched her sister begin to reload the clip.

"Yea, I know what you mean. Shouldn't get your hopes up though, you know how things are." Sarah responded as her hands went about their business with a fluidness that showed she had done it a thousand times over. "I'm just glad we aren't alone anymore." She added quietly as a smile came to her features. "Ya know?"

Fearah smiled back at her sisters words. "Yea, I know what ya mean there sis." Looking passed Sarah and towards the front of the camper Fearah stifled a laugh as she saw Justin being his usual prince charming to the Lieutenant. "It's nice ya know? Being around people that aren't gonna yell at us when we fuck up."

Finishing reloading her clip Sarah placed it back in her weapon before resting it to the side and beginning to do the same with her pistol, repeating the process with her sisters she made sure everything was reloaded before answering. "Yea, it really is." she answered quietly, although Fearah could tell there was more to those words than just that, there was always more with her sister. "Lets go." Sarah then said, the smile on her face staying planted as she got to her feet, quickly followed by her sister the two of them along with Kelly made their way towards the front. "Ready Lieutenant." Sarah said with a nod.

"What, Do you want me to do?" Kelly asked as she scooted her way past the two sisters, her eyes falling on Alex and Justin as they sat in the front of the cabin.

Making his way to the door of the camper Justin checked the readiness of his weapon before making his way down the few steps to the door leading to the outside world. "Ready my dear?" He said with his signature smile on his features. Putting his hand on the doorknob he turned it half way before hearing the soft voice of his younger sister Kelly. Letting his grip fall from the knob he turned on his heals as he heard Alex begin to explain what she wanted her to do, it was exactly what he was going to do in fact, Great minds think alike he joked to himself as the smile stayed, After hearing Alex finish and Kelly quietly complying even though he could tell by the look his had been given that she wasn't happy with the decision. But Justin wasn't going to have her follow them into battle until he knew she could hold her own. It was then the thought crossed his mind, Buildings in a cluster of trees, nothing but the dead, or at least what looks to be, This could be the place to start her on the road to knowing what to do.

Filing the thought away for the time being he turned to face Alex and the sisters, "Ready?" he asked again, this time being answered by a nod from the two sisters while Alex wanted to take point, Justin just smiled as his grip fell from the door again. "Be my guest my dear." he said as he climbed the steps and let her take his place, Taking a position directly behind her the two sisters came to stand behind him, "Watch our backs Kels. You got this." He reassured his younger sister before turning to follow Alex out of the door and into the wooded area they had parked in. Feeling the soil under his boots as he stepped out he made a mental point to clear the immediate area before turning to Alex for her commands. Seeing her signal to the sisters to find a position as she had previously ordered the two nodded before breaking off, They'd make their way to the place they found before while scouting the place out.

Reaching the clearing where the buildings sat Justin was faced with what he could only assume were what remained of the inhabited of the buildings, the larger building in the center had a board against the main door and the windows "Well, Our Intel was good. Think there's any survivors?" he said as he brought attention the boarded up building the sisters had reported about, between them and the building however lay the other part of their report, a couple dozen walkers scattered around with what looked to be fresh blood. Whatever happened here had defiantly happened within the last few days if not sooner. "Be my guest." Justin answered before hearing a sharp pop from her weapon, following suit as the stood there making their shots count they began to move towards the compound as the immediate area began to clear, seeing bodies drop on their flanks from their unseen support Justin was forever thankful the gunman was on their side and no the other way around.

Making their way to the porch of the main building the dead noticably thinned out Justin placed a few well placed rounds in the last few dead in the field before hearing a growl from behind, from the corner of the porch came one more, too fast for him to turn he only hoped Alex got there first, but she didn't have to as quickly gore splattered against the wall behind them as a rifle round met the things head from the treeline. "I'm good!" He called, his eyes wide open from the close shot the girl had just pulled off. "Clear." he said before waiting for Alex's response.

Alexandra weighed her options carefully. They didn't have terribly long to stand out here and wait. Truth was, CQC fighting was about trust, and the only one who had her trust at this point was really Justin. If those involved didn't implicitly trust each other, the chances of a friendly fire incident occurring went up by an alarming number. However, if she didn't let Faerah join in, then there was no way she could establish that trust, and she'd made a fantastic point about three pairs of hands, hands and three guns were indeed better than two. She nodded quickly, "Da, but bystra." Realizing she'd accidently slipped into Russian, she quickly added, "Quickly, methodically." 

Alexandra took a quick look at the door. It was boarded up. Raising her rifle up, she smacked the wooden boards until they splintered and broke. That had wasted enough time, and so when it came to the door, holding her OTs-14 in her right, she drew her Mark 23 in her other and put about half the magazine into the door, near the latch before she gave it a few solid kicks with the leg that hadn't been shot. Thankfully, the door gave way, and she slung her rifle over her shoulder before she moved into the house. Seeing that there was a straight passageway straight to the living room, and two rooms to her right and left, she motioned for Justin to take the right and for Faerah to take the left. 

Naturally, she noticed that there was a stairwell as well, but they were better off clearing the bottom floor first. Slinging her rifle, she brought up her pistol, holding the large handgun with both hands as she pushed forward at a careful pace. Almost just as she expected, a walker shambled out into the hallway from the living room. She blew its head open with a single .45 ACP round, and then crushed what was left with her boot for good measure. The living room had a pretty bizarre sight of two walkers, a man and a woman, lounging on the couch. A third began shambling toward her while the other two pretended that they were dead.

The third one, looked older, but with the decay and permanent limp that most of them sported, it was impossible to know for sure. She quickly turned and put a bullet in it's head. The sound of the corpse hitting the floor caused the two lounging walkers to stir and attempt to stand. Alexandra had long gotten used to putting disturbing images out of her mind, she'd become somewhat jaded by what she'd seen in Chechnya. Who these people were, what they were doing, that didn't matter to her. All that mattered now was their survival. She put a round in each of them. That was two rounds left in the magazine. Once she was satisfied that there were no more threads, she called out, "Clear!" The former GRU operative then changed the magazine for a full one with expert precision. 

Adjusting herself on the ground to find a more comfortable position Sarah sighed gently before pressing her eye back against the scope of her rifle, Through the magnified image the white how sprawled out flanked by it's side buildings. No more walkers had made their way through the tree's and the area around had fallen quiet silent, It was almost eerie. Quietly humming to herself she waited for her companions to reappear as the mid day sun beaming down on her through the gaps in the tree's, in the distance she could hear the call of birds, wind gently blew through causing her hair to swirl in a tickling fashion. Combing the loose hair behind her ear she shook her head before returning to her scope.

Inside the building Fearah set to return to her companions at the base of the staircase. "Clear." she repeated as she saw the two of them return as well, looking up the staircase she took the spare mag from her pocket and used it to resupply her weapon. Stowing the empty clip in the very same pocket she turned to Justin and the Lieutenant. "Lead on ma'am." She said with a nod of readiness that was quickly added on to by Justin. "Right behind you babe." he said as they quietly crept up the stairs, reaching the top in short order the hall wasn't exactly large and was barely large enough for two people to stand abreast to one another. Lining up at the top of the stairs Fearah was placed in the center by Justin while he took up the rear, Subconsciously he had done it out of habit with Kelly but the thought didn't even cross his mind. Coming to the first door Justin motioned for her to take one side while he took the other, allowing Alex to take point as they set to clearing it out. The first three rooms were clear, save a couple of walkers that were dealt with in quick order. Making it to the fourth, a small door set catercorner to the previous room at the end of the hall they approached it like the others, except this time they could hear quiet talking, hushed tones of people who clearly didn't want to be caught.

Busting the door open Fearah and Justin entered flanking Alex just as they had done with the other doors, except, this time they weren't met by the gore covered walking corpses that plagued the land. Instead, they were met by four faces, all looking back at them in fear of what was making it's way towards them in the dead strung house. "Live people?" Fearah blurted out in a confused manner at the sight. "Don't shoot!" the man yelled, his long brown beard reaching to his chest and his hair cut short in a half buzz that to Fearah looked like something that came straight out of a bad movie. "Whoa, Whoa there. Calm down." Justin spoke at their concern, Huddled against the man was what one could only assume was his family, a woman with long flowing brown hair and a green summer dress and beside her two children, maybe three or four years younger than Fearah and her sister. "You're safe, we aren't going to hurt you." Justin spoke again, His hand stayed on his weapon however and as he spoke The Lieutenant seemed to be sizing up the people before her. "Who are you?" the man asked."

"Travelers." Justin started. "I'm Ju.." but his voice was cut off by a hard pain in his foot from Alex stomping on it. "I'm Jackson, this is Valentina, my wife. And this is our daughter Alica. Well, one of them. Our other ones are watching the entrance for us." He then explained as he looked to Fearah with a look that said 'Play along.'

"Oh! uhh. Hi sir." Fearah greeted. "Names Fe-Alica." she added before looked back at the man with a smile and a tilt of the head.

"Hello." one of the kids greeted before quickly hiding behind her parents again. "So that was you folks that were muckin aboot out there eh?" the man questioned, his eyes still locked on the heavily armored people standing before him and his family.

"It was, are any of you hurt?" Justin answered in his soothing twang.

"No, We managed to get in here before they all started to turn." The man responded.

"Started? What happened?" Fearah blurted out, getting a stern look from Justin she bowed her head.

"Yes little miss. Started. You see, we were all held up here and then one of those fuckers found it's way through the woods and caught us by surprise." The man spoke. "Language." the woman interjected. "Honey, the kids got a gun bigger than anything I can handle, I highly doubt she's sheltered enough that she can't hear any curses." The man answered causing Fearah to chuckle under her breath. "Don't listen to his foul mouth there Alica." The woman spoke, using the name given signalling that they seemed to fall for the fake names. "But what he says is true." The woman continued, "Up til a few hours ago this place was full of life. But, then it happened. We managed to get in here and hide but in our hurry we left our weapons downstairs. In the basement with the others."

Static in Justin's ear cut the conversation short however, His sisters voice came through the earpiece, scared and soft she only spoke to words before the sounds of commotion and struggle cut the speaker off. Those two words were "Help, me."

Outside Sarah sat with her gaze still on the door and it's surroundings, again she began to hum as her finger gently tapped the side of her gun to the beat of whatever tune had found it's way to her mind. The birds continued to chirp and the wind proved to be a never yielding nuisance in the mid day sun. In an instant the mood changed, A scream split the windy afternoon air, a scream of desperation from a familiar voice. "Fuck!" Sarah called as she quickly collected her weapon, Sure she would be repromended for leaving her post she had to know what she was hearing, had to know she was wrong in thinking it was the voice of the blonde sister of her traveling companion. Reaching the treeline she quickly got to her stomach and deployed her weapon, the scene played out in front of her in a flash and as she looked down the scope of her rifle all she saw was a man in his early to mid thirties, blackish brown hair, black spectacles and a very proper grey suit forcefully dragging Kelly away and towards a white four door car, it's trunk specked with rust Sarah read the plate aloud to herself "GCW-584. You won't get away with this you fucking bastard." But she couldn't get a shot on the man, even with her trained shot she couldn't guarantee that she woundn't hit Kelly. "Fuck." She cursed herself under her breath.

Thinking fast she turned her sight to the rear wheel of the vehicle, but once again it was too late. As the car took off she could only watch as she kept her sight on the rear wheel of the vehicle wishing she could take the shot as it retreated further away down the road and veered left onto a road marked "Lake Line", She wanted nothing but to place a round in the rear tire stopping the vehicle in it's tracks but sh new better, with the speed the vehicle was traveling she would be lucky if the force didn't cause the whole thing to flip injuring Kelly, or even worse. Helplessly she watched on, marking to herself any small detail that she thought might help tracking it down, in the last glimpse of the car she saw the face of Kelly look back, the left side of her face was covered in blood, and then she was gone. Around the bend and out of sight.

Returning to the house with the speed of a race horse Sarah sprinted to the door, her rifle jostling every which way upon her shoulder as she climbed the stairs. Bursting through the open front door she looked back towards the rear of the house, no one, The side. No one, The other side, No one. bolting up the stairs she could see the hand of Justin at the end of the hall. "Lieutenant! We have a major problem. It's!" she started as she rounded the corner and saw the people in the room. "Shit." she sighed under her breath. "Excuse me." she nodded before Justin smiled, his nerves clearly shaken from what he had heard over the radio he looked back "Ah, what a surprise. Here's one of the other ones. This is Athena." Sarah furrowed her features for a moment grasped at the wrong name, but she caught on to what was going on. "Oh.. uh. Hi. Umm, Dad, We need to talk for a sec." and with that Sarah grabbed him by the arm and led him out into the hall, Alex followed but kept the four people in view as she listened. "We have a problem. Kelly's gone! I heard screams and when I got back to the camper I saw this guy in a suit dragging her away to this white car. He took her!" her tone was urgent but hushed as she bounced her gaze between Justin and the Lieutenant. Justin too looked to his 'wife' for what to do. Their emotions clearly running high all that was stopping Justin from bolting down the stairs to the camper was the fact of the four people in the other room. "Gone? What do you mean gone?" he repeated.

"Gone. He took her, they rounded the corner onto Lake Lane." Sarah responded as her hand flailed to point in the direction of the road.

"Shit. Fuck." Justin Said with a uncharacteristic waver in his voice that only showed when he was truly upset Justin looked to his 'wife' along with a clearly shaken Sarah. "What do we do?"