A Fishy Beginning

Sara had met Ellie's mother in Wisconsin and that settled it in Ziggy's mind. She wasn't going to get reunited with her own family anytime soon but if she could help others get reunited with theirs that would make her time in America worthwhile. Besides, what were they going to do all winter, play house? That wasn't her thing and she had a feeling it wouldn't be Ayita's preferred way to spend the winter months either.
Giving Ayita a glance that said 'yeah I'm gonna do it' first Ziggy then turned around and faced Ellie.

"You know Ellie, we can go there if you want when we're finished here." Ziggy said. "Our jeep can probably get us there in a few days."

Ziggy gave her a smile indicating the offer was there if Ellie wanted it. Her first summer in the US Ziggy had been to several major cities on a roadtrip with her friends from college and she remembered the amount of time it took for them to get to Milwaukee which was less than twenty hours. Given they had to take the backroads now it might take a couple of days but it was doable.

Once they made landfall Sarah and Fearah were immediately off into the forest. "Quite the eager beavers aren't they?" Ziggy said before Ellie asked how they were going to find them. The first order of things to do on the island however for Ziggy was to find a quiet spot to pee. Getting off the raft and moving around had revealed her bladder needed emptying.

"I'm going to take a quick pee first." Ziggy said. "Must've been all those watery noises plus I didn't go before we left. My bad!"

Ziggy grinned. "Be right back!" she said, and went off into the forest. According to Sara there weren't any walkers on the island itself when she left and with the bridge blown there was no way for herds to get onto the island. Still, Ziggy knew better than to rest on her laurels so she was on the lookout for anyone creeping up on her, dead or otherwise.

Finding a suitable spot, Ziggy put down her rifle near a tree before unbuttoning her pants and lowering them, then squatted down and relieved herself from the liquid in her body that had been tantalizing her. Once she had emptied her bladder she pulled her pants up and looked around. It was then she noticed a bright orange crate that was placed against a tree. Was it an indication that something was nearby? Ziggy took a few steps towards it but then all of sudden was literally sweeped off her feet.

"Wass!? HEEEEEY!" Ziggy yelled as her foot was caught in a rope and within a second she found herself dangling upside down, with her Glock 17 falling out of the makeshift dropleg holster onto the ground.

"Scheisse!" Ziggy cursed, but before she could grab the knife on her belt to cut her leg loose she was approached by two people dressed in camouflage clothing sporting hunting rifles.

"Well dang Larry, looks like we caught ourselves a pale white deer!" one said to the other. Ziggy hated the comparison, but it wasn't the first time people pointed out her pale complexion.
"Shoot she's all purdy like Gary!" the other one answered. "Lucky we're the good guys or she'd be in trouble!"

Ziggy had taken in what they said. One was called Larry, and the other Gary. They claimed to be good guys but considering she didn't know whether or not they were with the rebels or the townspeople Ziggy decided to play dumb for now.

"Bitte, tun sie mir kein weh!" (Please don't hurt me!) Ziggy yelled. "Ich bin nur ein Mädchen!" (I'm just a girl!)

The helpless foreign girl act had worked before, back before she met Ayita and Sara. Ziggy figured it might work now. She intentionally yelled so the others would hear her and come to her aid.

"Shoot Larry, what's that gibberish she's speaking?" Gary asked. "Norwegian or something?"
"Gibberish is right Gary!" Larry answered. "I think it might be one of them Scanduhnayveehan languages! Do... you... speaken... the... English... maduhmwazelle!?"

Ziggy knew she had to keep them talking until her friends would arrive. Perhaps it would be best to reveal she indeed spoke English, if only to correct the fact she wasn't Scandinavian, or French for that matter. These two didn't seem so bright after all.

"It's German actually." Ziggy answered. "And yes, I do speak English. Now would you mind getting me down!?"
"German!?" Larry asked. "How the hell did you end up in America!?"

Ziggy raised an eyebrow, although considering the fact she was upside down it would be lowering an eyebrow. These two were definitely not the sharpest knives in the drawer. Ziggy was getting rather annoyed by it, or it could have been the blood rushing to her head giving her a headache.

"I ended up here when a tornado picked up my house and blew me all the way up here!" Ziggy said. "Any more stupid questions?"

Larry and Gary just stared her all baffled like. It was like they didn't recognize sarcasm and were on the verge of believing that was actually the way she had ended up in America.

"Obviously I flew here." Ziggy said. "Now get me down!"

"Hold on Missy!" Gary said. "Ain't no flights going out anymore!"
"Great!" Ziggy sighed while upside down. "So many smart people died but you two are still alive. Guess the meek really did inherit the earth."

Ziggy saw movement behind Larry and Gary and Ayita and the others were in place. Here's hoping these two were smart enough to drop their weapons and wouldn't try to be dumb.

"Now guys, if you would be so kind..." Ziggy said. "Please drop your weapons or my friends that have snuck in behind you while we were talking might do something drastic."

Ziggy smiled and waited for the two to comply. It really was time for her to get out of her precarious situation. Red really wasn't her color.

Having separated from the others as they landed Sarah and Fearah began making their way into the woods, the tree's separated in a way that gave decent sight lines in most directions and as they observed their surroundings they noted that bushes dotted the forest floor, perfect spots to deploy in if needed. Crouching down the two sisters waited for the sound of movement. As they heard the rest of the group enter the woods Fearah took off first with Sarah following after, Fearah served as a lookout for the girls and stayed where she could see them but far enough away that whoever they came across wouldn't spot her. Staying light on her feet she ducked in and out of tree's making sure to keep the girls in sight as she moved, Sarah followed further in trusting her sister to lead the way as she lugged their rifle.

After a while the group stopped and crouched down among some tree's, Ziggy seperated from them into a small cluster a short distance away and began relieve herself, Fearah averted her eyes and took to taking short glances through her binoculars at the blonde hair sticking out from behind a bush. Shortly she watched as she got to her feet but the next thing she knew Ziggy was dangling from a rope and two men that had been hidden somewhere in the area began approaching her. Without skipping a beat Fearah whistled signalling Sarah to regroup.

"What is it?" She asked as she closed the distance.
"Set up, we may have trouble." Fearah responded handing the binoculars to her sister.

Peering through them Sarah saw what her sister had spoke of and clicked her tongue in annoyance. 'bastards are gonna get what's coming to them if they try anything.' she thought to herself as she got to a nearby stump hidden by a bush that had sprouted out directly in front of it. Deploying the bipod Sarah positioned herself and chambered a round before looking through her scope. Two men where standing before Ziggy who was now hanging from a tree, Sarah positioned her crosshair on the first mans head and waited. If they tried anything, anything at all. That would be the end of it.  

Ziggy couldn't help but feel proud at Sara, threatening one guy like a boss. When Ayita and Ellie joined in Ziggy knew she was going to be okay. Still, it didn't seem like Sara knew either of the two men.

"Alright, alright!" Larry said. "We wasn't fixin' on hurtin' anyone! We don't do that!"

The two men threw down their rifles and the other one, Gary, walked over to where the rope had been attached. "Lower me down don't let me...!" Ziggy said but it was too late, with a swift cut from his knife Gary cut the rope and down Ziggy went, smacking into the ground.

"Oof!" Ziggy moaned. She laid down for a few more seconds. "Thank you."

As she got up she wiped the dirt off her clothes. The two men could set up a mean trap for hunting but she had a gut feeling they were otherwise harmless and more than likely belonged to the people they were looking for.

"Thank you Sara." Ziggy said. "You can let him go now."

As Sara let Larry go Ziggy nodded at Ayita and Ellie to let up a bit. It was time to find out what these two guys knew. She had already figured out they weren't of the brightest but they didn't seem like they were the bad guys.

"Alright boys, now that's out of the way let's talk." Ziggy said. "Who are you with? The people in the forest or the the people in the town?"
"Town? You mean are we with that son of a bitch Big Dick?" Larry asked. "Fuck no, fuck that guy!"
"Shh Larry!" Gary said. "You know Claudia don't like it when we tell newcomers what's going on!"
"Well shit Gary now you gone done told Claudia's name!"
"Ow... shoot! Man, she's gonna have our asses for this!"

Ziggy chuckled and looked at her companions. At least now they knew these men's allegiance for sure.

"So you're not with the tyrant in the town." Ziggy said. "Good. Claudia is your leader?"
"Well yeah." Larry answered. "Although nowadays it's all kinda fuzzy what with miss Mallory coming along and all."
"Yeah, I like her better." Gary said. "Erm, please don't tell Claudia I said that."
"Me too." Larry said. "But yeah, don't tell Claudia."

So two leaders. Two women it would seem. And they hated Big Dick. Ziggy looked at Sara and wondered if she knew anything.

"Sara, does anything sound familiar?" Ziggy asked. "Do you know who they're talking about?"

If Sara knew who Claudia and Mallory were that would give Ziggy some peace of mind. At least they would run into someone familiar when they went into the camp. Still, Ziggy hadn't ignored what Larry and Gary had said about Claudia, she sounded mean if they were scared of her. Ziggy made a mental note not to piss this Claudia off and to get on the good side with the other one, Mallory.

As she waited for Sara to answer Ziggy picked up her own Glock and then the two hunting rifles the men were carrying. She then grabbed her own rifle that stood against a nearby tree.

"Dangit, done in by a bunch of teenage girls!" Larry said. "We're never gonna hear the end of that!"

Ellie relaxed her grip on her weapon upon hearing the two men begin to apologize, they began to answer the question Ziggy had posed and as they spoke Ellie listened and watched. As time went on she began to conclude one two things. One; These two were idiots. And two, They were harmless, to everyone but themselves and perhaps the occasional animal.

"Two things are infinite. The universe and human stupidity... And I'm not completely sure about the universe." Ellie said with a shake of her head as her weapon reclaimed it's spot on her shoulder. Bringing herself to lean against a tree something the two said next peeked her interest. Ziggy had continued with her questions and when it came to who was leading the forest group the two mentioned a name, two names in fact. One was Claudia, a foreign name to Ellie, but the second struck her with a sense of familiarity. "Mallory." She repeated with a quizzical look in her eyes. "Where have I heard that name?" she asked herself while searching her brain trying to place the name. A few seconds later it hit her. The drug store back before they met Justin and the others, back when it was just her and the two gremlins. They had set up in a pharmacy for the night when a brunette and a few others showed up, Upon greeting them she remembered the woman introduced herself as Mallory. But couldn't remember the last name. What she did know though, was that this just got interesting, even more interesting when a new voice chimed in.

On instinct Ellie turned to face the voice, which she then saw belonged to a woman of Asian decent with an ornate dragon tattoo on her face. A bow hung by it's String on her shoulder and in her beltloop rested a sword. Ellie raised an eyebrow at the sight of the woman approaching, As she did she spoke to the two idiots telling her that she was with the forest group as well which was only cemented further when Sara called the woman by her first name and spoke about their past and who the woman was. Ayako. Defiantly Japanese decent, native and here in the same manner as Ziggy? or Asian American? Ellie wondered about that as she watched Sara speak to the woman and show a tattoo on her wrist that the woman had presumably done.

But then the woman said that they would have to give up there weapons, a request that did not sit well with Ellie. Looking to the group for how they were going to respond she saw Ayita grip her bow tightly again, but it wasn't from anger. It was as if someone was trying to take something precious.

"You.. You can have my arrows and my Axe but please.. Don't take the bow or quiver." Ayita said with a trembling voice. "They're... Special.. To me." she spoke in broken sentences full of emotion.

Ellie then turned to Sara and heard her vouch for the woman's credibility. Ellie still didn't like it but at the current moment they didn't really have a choice, Sarah and Fearah may still be watching from a distance but with the way things were going, or appeared to be going they more than likely saw this as mission complete. Having been told to cover them until they made contact with people in the woods they were more than likely already on their way back to the raft awaiting their clear to head back.

Reluctantly Ellie forfeited her shotgun and the knife she had in her pants pocket. "My life is in your hands." She said to Sara. "Hope it's not misplaced." Taking the radio out of her pocket she flipped it on and pressed the button. "I believe we've met the forest group, Feel free to RTB." She said into it. A few seconds later Fearah's voice came through "Roger roger. See you guys later." And with that the radio went quiet.

Looking to the Asian woman Ellie spoke before she had a chance to ask what the radio was about. "I feel I must explain." she started. "These three came to use a day or so ago and spoke of looking for a group of rebels that were trying to retake their home. Sara in particular spoke of it as her home. I was merely informing the others that we were successful in this endeavor and that their assistance was no longer needed."

Pocketing the radio Ellie looked the woman for her response. As she did she watched how the woman moved, how she acted. partially out of curiosity but mostly to catch the early warning signs of aggression. Looking over to Ayita she saw the girl collect the arrows from her quiver and the hatchet from her beltloop and hand them over before clinging to the bow and quiver. Ellie's heart went out to the girl, at least a little. Now she just had to see how the others would take it.

"Mal! Newcomers on the eastern entrance!" one of the messengers yelled. Mal raised her head up from the table she had been resting it on and realized she had dozed off. Her eyes stuck together, she felt drool on the side of her mouth and before long she came to the conclusion this is where she had been sleeping for quite a few hours, having worked late for the preparations for the assault on Bar Harbor.

"Hmm what?" Mal asked. "Come again?"
"Newcomers on the eastern entrance!" the messenger repeated. "Looks like Ayako's bringing them in!"
"Be right there." Mal answered. "Where's Claudia?"
"She went scouting before daybreak ma'am!"
"Good. And don't call me ma'am!"

The messenger went off and Mal took a swig of water from a canteen, before putting some in her hand and splashing it in her face. She dried off using her sleeve and pulled her hair together in a ponytail. She then get up and stretched out. There were a few aching muscles here and there, she wasn't 18 anymore and she felt it. Once this was over she had to start working out again.

Mal then went over to eastern gate and saw Ayako standing with a few newcomers, all girls it would seem. Here and there she heard whispers going 'I think that's Sara Ramirez!' and as soon as she approached them Mal did recognize the daughter of Marco Ramirez. She was in for a pleasant surprise; her sister Maria was in camp already. Mal had a notion why the Ramirez girls were innocent of their father's crimes but she couldn't help but wonder where Sara had been this entire time.

"Sara Ramirez?" Mal asked. "Is that you? It's me, Mallory, Abe's daughter. Where the hell do you come from?"

As she waited for Sara to answer Mal observed the other ones. She didn't recognize the pale blonde one, nor the other one with the bow. But the other one ringed a bell. It was one of those girls they had met right after they had cleared out the cannibal stronghold.

"Holy shit!" Mal said. "I know you! The girl who talks funny! Greetings and salutations and all that, I remember! Damn, talk about a small world! Where's those two kids? Did they make it? How come you didn't follow us out of that town? We waited for you guys!"

Mal was truly surprised to see this one. She sure hoped those two kids hadn't bought it. Mal laughed for a moment in amazement. She then turned to the other two, the pale blonde and the one with the bow.

"Sorry for that, name's Mal. Welcome!" Mal said.
"I'm Sieglinde. Ziggy." the blonde one answered. "This is Ayita, pleased to meet you."

Mal noticed a familiar accent, one she hadn't heard since her time at the US Embassy in Berlin. She knew this girl was either German or Austrian.

"Deutscherin oder Österreicherin?" (German or Austrian) Mal asked in an awfully American sounding German. "Ich war Mariner am Amerikanischer Botschaft in Berlin. Ich sprech bisschen Deutsch." (I was a marine at the American embassy in Berlin. I speak a little German.)

Ziggy was a bit baffled. It had been a long time since someone spoke German to her spontaneously. Or someone that knew the language without spending time with her, like Ayita.

"German." Ziggy answered in English. "From Aachen. It's impressive you can speak German!"
"Well I was in Berlin for almost two years." Mal answered. "You pick up a few things you know. Anyway, welcome!"

The girls together seemed like they had been through a lot. Mal was going to make sure their transition into the camp would be as easy as possible. And without Claudia around, that would be simple enough.

Ayako nodded to the young woman as she asked that they didn't take her bow or the quiver which she understood it had sentimental value to her as long as she forfeited the arrows and the axe she didn't see a problem with it. As the others girls handed their weapons over to Gary and Larry she noticed one of them pull out a radio and inform whoever on the other end of that they made contact. Ayako looked puzzled but as the woman explained the situation she looked at the girls and nodded. "It would seem they have been on the road for quite some time." thought Ayako to herself and with that she lead the group back to camp. Once at camp Sara looked around in amazement and noticed a few faces and a lot of unfamiliar faces. She noticed a woman walking up towards them and it took only a few moments for Sara to realize that it was Mallory. When asked about where she had been she let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. "That's a long story but to simplify it, my father gained Richard's trust and tried to escape with us. He had a boat ready but we got caught trying to escape and I was lost at sea for awhile. I crashed in New Hampshire and I've been all over the place until I ran into Ziggy and Ayita here. They been the best sisters I can ask for." said Sara to Mallory as she looked at Ziggy and Ayita for a moment before turning back to Mallory.




She noticed some of the bikers were shirtless as they were working in the heat like Cutler and Paco. "Ahooooga!" said Sara as she smiled and nodded as she liked what she saw. She was fine with looking at guys from a distance but actually talking to them she would quickly hide back in her shell and run away like a weirdo. But her heart was beating like crazy for a minute as Troy came by shirtless as he stood next to Mal. "These the new batch of recruits?" asked Troy to Mallory. He looked at the girls and smiled at them before holding out his hand to shake their hands. "I'm Troy but most people call me Fox." said Troy to the girls. When he shook Sara's hand the girl seemed to be in an almost trance like state. Sara was looking over Troy's left full sleeve tattoo  and then his right full sleeve tattoo followed by the one over his heart. "Hey you okay there?" asked Troy to Sara with a smile. She still was shaking his hand when she blurted out what she was thinking. "You're hot." said Sara out loud. She snapped out of her thoughts and a few moments of awkward silence went by before she quickly let go of his hand and tensed up feeling embarrassed as her face went completely red. Troy just smirked and chuckled as he stood there.




He then saw Ellie and his smile grew even bigger. "Well I'll be damned. You made it here! I always wondered what happened to you after our little run in. Well it's good to see you!" said Troy to Ellie. He turned his head as he noticed Kurt calling him over. "Fox get back to work! Quit bothering the ladies!" yelled Kurt to Troy who rolled his eyes as he turned to the ladies. "Well back to work." said Troy to the ladies as he rushed over to help Kurt and the other bikers. As Troy rushed over Sara looked at his full back tattoo and she was intrigued by the art. "Who are they?" asked Sara to Mallory or Ayako. "Bikers." said Ayako to Sara who looked confused as she noticed a few members wearing their vests. "Hell-Riders? I don't remember them." said Sara to the girls. She then took her eyes off the bikers and noticed kids practicing with wooden swords it was then she noticed a girl with long black hair and her heart stopped beating and she looked like she had just seen a ghost. The young girl locked eyes with Sara and both stood there for a moment and it was as if time stood still. "Sara!?" said Maria surprised her voice started to quiver. Sara's eyes started to well up and tears came down her face as she rushed towards Maria. The young girl quickly tried to limp over to her sister and as she fell Sara caught her and the two embraced in a tight hug as they both cried softly. "Oh my god Maria I thought you were dead! I-I mean I saw you get shot and fell in the water!" said Sara as she hugged onto Maria tightly. Maria looked up at Sara and the older sister wiped her younger sister's tears away. "A-Ayako saved me and brought me here." said Maria to Sara as her voice was breaking. This was something Sara never expected to be reunited with her younger sister who she thought was surely dead. Sara looked to Ayako as tears were falling from her face and she nodded at her as a way to say thank you as she couldn't muster to say it now at this moment. 

Cassie came from the medical tent and looked at the girls and then she noticed Maria hugging the older girl. She walked up to Mallory as she put on her blue latex gloves. "Should I do the check up now or later?" asked Cassie softly to Mallory. She didn't want to disturb the moment between Maria and the other woman but she could tell that whoever the woman was to her she meant a lot. Still they had to follow protocol in the camp. All the new recruits must get a check up from the camp doctor. She normally would have Bobby the Hell-Riders doctor help her out but when it came to females she preferred that he wasn't in the room as he was kind of creepy around them.