Another Bump In The Road

"Oh God..." Mal thought as soon as the man started talking. Apparently he was doing some Renaissance fair cosplay, and from what he said there were more of them? For a moment she was reminded of that Ellie chick they encountered a while ago who also had a funny way of expressing herself.

But part of this Russell guy intrigued Mal, more specifically the leather armor he was wearing and the weapons he was carrying. He was on to something there. Creepos wouldn't be able to bite through leather if it was thick enough, and a spear and shield seemed a great way to fight off the dead. So rather than to call out this guy on his medieval cosplay and telling him to get real she figured she'd indulge him and play along. Maybe later she could find out what this guy's real deal was.

"Greetings and salutations!" Mal answered. "I am Lady Mallory of Faraday, Queen of the High Seas! With me stands Sir Troy of Morrow, of the Horsemen of the Inferno!"

Okay now she just felt silly. She was what you would call a 'geek' before the world went to shit but not even in her worst geekout moments did she imagine referring to herself as Lady Mallory, or Queen of the Seas. But kudos to her for coming up with a different name for the Hellriders so fast. Still, Russell offered his help and she was dying to know how he made that armor.

"Perhaps the exchange of knowledge would be a good trade!" Mal continued. "I am eager to know how you made that leather cuirass of yours. In return I may reward you with a firearm, for when a spear and shield might not suffice!"

Mal flicked on the safety of her M4. She figured that had been enough of cosplay for the moment. Time to get real.

"Okay real talk though dude." Mal said. "We're fixin' to get to the island and to the town of Bar Harbor. I'm from there and I've traveled a long way to get home. If you're as capable a fighter as you make out to be help us get these people across and to safety. Make a couple of notes on how to craft that leather armor of yours and I'll give you a place to stay, and a gun if you want it. Deal?"

Mal waited for Russell's response and if he would keep up the act. Maybe it was a way of coping, and it did seem weird. But she'd take a cosplaying loonie over all the other fucked up shit she saw so far anyday.

Upon Claudia's request Josephine pulled a nearby chair up and placed herself in it. The smile still on her face as it had begun to mask the nerves that where quickly setting in at the realization of the scale of the task before her. Listening as Claudia began to go into the finer details of what she was to do Josephine opened to another blank page and began jotting down notes as a means to memorize it, The paper in question would ultimately stay at the camp but writing things down had always helped.

Looking up at the photo Claudia had brandished from her jacket Joe noticed the abrupt cutoff in the image, by no means rounded neatly like the side with Mikayla on it. 'wonder what happened to the other side.' she asked herself before focusing back on her paper to continue taking notes 'okay, find Mikayla in the kitchen when I arrive, she'll fill me in on the rest.' she thought as she jotted a side note on the paper. Looking up as Claudia stressed the importance of what she was about to say Joe turned her full attention on the woman's face. Joe nodded in confirmation as she spoke about making their meetings with each other brief, "Un-der-stood" she mouthed in the hopes that voice would follow, but as usual none did.

When the subject shifted to making friends and even lovers Joe blushed ever so slightly at the thought, The thought of it wasn't something she wanted to tackle at the moment and so she filed it away for the time before nodding again. "Okay." she mouthed as Claudia repeated the importance that she play the part of being deaf as well as mute, As She fell silent for a time Joe closed her book after tearing out the paper she had taken notes on. placing it on the cover she wrote

"No ma'am, no questions."

Circling the words she then handed the page containing her notes to Claudia for her to dispose of before getting to her feet and holding out a hand for her to shake, waiting for her to take it she gave the woman another nod before turning on her heels to pack her things.

A few hours later she was ready to go, all but a few articles of clothing, her hatchet and one of her older log books containing nothing but entries from before the end was with her as she made her way out of the camp. A couple of scattered people looked her direction but none seemed to care enough to ask where she was going, which for what she was heading out to do was just fine in this instance. Making her way back to the river separating Bar Harbor from the rest of the world she passed out of the woods and looked towards the destroyed bridge in the distance, a boat seemed to be parked near the bank but it was too far out to tell whether or not there were people around it. Taking a dip she did as Claudia had instructed and made her way across the stretch of water to make it more convincing before following the coast until she reached the road leading into town.

Approaching the town proper she fetched her chalk board and chalk from the inside of her bag she quickly scribbled down the phrase "please help me." as she approached the guard post, her hands raised as water dripped from her person she let the board dangle from her hand by the rope that attached to it. Feeling the nerves build she looked at the guards 'please go smoothly.' she thought as she took a deep breath. 'No going back now.'

Ayako had just come back to camp bring a few squirrels over her shoulder, a rabbit and dragging a small deer which she had been tracking for at least an hour now. She was exhausted after dragging it luckily she didn't attract any of the dead or run into any of people. Still as she strung up the dead deer and began to skin it she looked around at people who were coming over to check out what she had. She could see people were impressed and that was when Maria came over limping her way over. Ayako looked at the young girl and smiled at her. "Do you want to help me?" asked Ayako to Maria who nodded as she looked over at the dead animals Ayako had brought to the camp. "Okay well if you want you can take care of the squirrels. If you need help let me know." said Ayako as she was focused on the deer. "Thanks for bring all this food. Maybe next time I can go with you?" asked Maria to Ayako who smirked and shrugged. "Maybe...I work better alone but once in awhile I could use some help." said Ayako to Maria with a small smile. Ayako continued to work on the deer and as she did she remembered the day she had found Maria.

Ayako had been tracking this deer for what seemed days and just as she had found it she went to take her shot. The deer moved out of the way just in time and went Ayako went to go retrieve her arrow that's when she saw Maria floating in the water. Ayako quickly rushed in and carried the poor girl back to her camp quickly. The girl was pale, white as a ghost and she was as cold as ice but Ayako wasn't about to give up. "Please help someone! I found this little girl floating in the river and I-I-" said Ayako in a panic as she was stumbling on her words. Luckly they were able to save her and patch her up the downside was she had muscle damage now and walked with a noticeable limp. But still once she was better Maria had told Ayako and Claudia what happened to her and the night her family tried to escape. Ayako was shaking and she dropped her knife which broke her out of her thoughts. Maria picked up the knife and smiled at Ayako who stared at the little girl surprised. Surprised that even though she lost her family and came inches away from death that she still could smile. It was times like these that it gave her hope. She smiled back and took the knife back from there she began to teach her how to cut up the deer taking it as a lesson to pass on to the younger generation.

As Frank and Troy went off into the woods to have their talk about Warren and the situation he thought about what to say to the young biker. When Frank thought they were away from any prying ears he stopped and turned towards the young biker. "Listen Fox...Knuckles told me what happened and I gotta say I agree with what he did." said Frank to try using their nicknames casually. "Frank are you serious? He killed a man in cold blood over a mistake! I'm sure Warren and those other two dipshits he was with started it!" said Troy slightly raising his voice. Frank raised his hand slightly signaling him to calm down and Troy took a few breaths and calmed down. "Now from what I was told you and a few of our boys didn't get there till after it happened. Is that true?" asked Frank to Troy who nodded. "Yeah but-" said Troy before he was cutoff by Frank. "Alright then that settles it. At this point it's basically your word against theirs. Look Troy maybe Warren wasn't justified in his actions but it was a life or death situation I mean you been in those before. It's a fight or flight response. Now I'm done talking about this. I hear another word about this and I'll make sure it's settled." said Frank to Troy in a calm but serious tone. Troy nodded and Frank smirked and put his hand on Troy's shoulder.

"Have you told Mal the real reason you wanted to bring her home?" asked Frank to Troy who fell silent and looked to the ground. "She doesn't know you got family up here does she? Well I'll be damned Troy looks like you haven't lost your touch one bit. Always knew you were a lady killer...Well don't worry I won't tell Mallory, we are brothers after all Fox right?" asked Frank to Troy in a calm but serious tone once again. Troy looked up at Frank and nodded at the president. "Right Rust...Hell-Riders for life." said Troy softly. Frank laughed and slapped Troy on the back. "Alright brother let's head back I'm sure commander hottie is missing us." said Frank with a smirk followed by a chuckle. The two bikers then began to walk back to their camp.

Russell listened to Lady Mallory with an amused grin on his face; he always enjoyed when the audience joined in on the act. However, her tone quickly shifted back to what one would perceive as 'normal' and she put out her groups plans along with a potential offer. In exchange for his help and knowledge, Lady Mallory would give the wayward knight a place to stay and a more modern weapon.

Peering beyond Lady Mallory, Sir Barnes could see the group of people working together to build camp, work patrols, and hand out supplies. "You're deal is enticing and I'll have you know that my skills in fighting are well worth my weight in gold."  The first man that joined Lady Mallory had little to say to the knight and seemed to dislike the manner of speech in which he spoke. Paying no mind to the mans unoriginal slight, Sir Barnes contemplated what his next actions should be.

Looking to the broken bridge and then further to the island, Russ could see why it might be an ideal safe haven. Surrounded by water, almost like a moat surrounding a castle. "You're people are looking for a place to call home, and as a knight I can't simply carry on without having done anything to aid you on your quest."  Sir Barnes paused and nodded his head up and down. "It will surely be a dangerous task but I accept your conditions. Besides, its been many moons since I've last had a challenging scrap with the likes of the dead."

Sir Barnes ungloved and offered to shake Lady Mallorys' hand to seal their deal. However, just then a second man arrived and asked if she had meet him before. As Sir Barnes waited to see their conversation unfold and if they had reached an accord, he reflected on his decision deeply whilst hiding his worry behind a handsome smile. Could these people be trusted? Are they good people? How ready were they to take the island? These and many more questions raced through his mind but he would soon find out just what he'd signed up for.