Sunfowers and Sunshine

As a new day approached, Edward woke up from his room, stretched for ten minutes and did a set of fifty pushups, a set of fifty crunches and a hundred jumping jacks to start his day. He would always do those to get his mind and body ready every day. He then grabbed his pants and a shirt and got dressed. Thankfully, the summer was coming to an end and the heat and humidity was passed. Now, the cooler weather was here and it was time to switch to warmer clothing. That was the beauty of living in the north part of Florida. You experience both the hot and cool weather instead of just hot and humidity in the south.

He then came outside and looked around seeing people walking around and seeing some changing of the guards. Now the guards who watched the Fort at night can get some sleep while the new guards watch over. He thanked God that he had a good platoon of soldiers and Marines since the Outbreak happened. That way, the people can relax and rest easy knowing that the troops or as Edward named them ‘The Guardians’, will watch over them.

Edward looked up seeing Solely plucking on her guitar and smiled. Neat. He was hoping that she would play music along with her girlfriend. He remembered when he came across them and one of their talents was making music. He thought that will be great for the people and The Guardians in the Fort. Especially for morale.

He looked over seeing Kyle and nodded to him. He wondered what he needed or what he wanted to talk about.

Continuing her song Soley looked out to the crowds as they busied themselves with their duties. Having finished the vocal portion of the song in question she had taken to simply strumming a series of soothing notes while she people watched. Noticing Kyle making his way from where he had been working on the wall Soley smiled back at him as she saw him look in her direction. Continuing to strum away she watched as his wife came up and began to speak to him, from the expression she wore as well as the awkward face Kyle now had Soley assumed she was repeating the question she had asked him the previous day after they had eaten. Having been tasked with washing the dishes after meals had been served she couldn't help but overhearing them when they had discussed it last.

Following Kyle's gaze as he looked further away Soley returned to watching their leader for a time before her eyes began to drift among the settlement again. Near the armory she saw her lover emerge from the building with a few rifles as well as a pistol in her hand. Watching as she sat on a chair propped outside the tent Soley smiled as she continued to quietly strum her guitar. Watching as Katrin began to disasemble one of the rifles and set to cleaning it Soley smiled again before looking back to Kyle and Edward. While she was distracted by her lover it would seem Kyle had since moved away from his wife and was now discussing something with him. "Veltirðu fyrir þér hvað þeir eru að tala um."(Wonder what they're talking about.) She wondered aloud before hearing a voice from beside her.

"Hey Sully, How's it hanging?" A boys voice spoke to her, looking in it's direction she was greeted by the face of Peter, a lad about three years younger than her. From what she could remember he had recently turned eighteen or nineteen. "What's hanging off me?" She asked confused as she searched for what he spoke of.

Hearing him laugh he shook his head. "No, No. Nothing is, I was asking what you were doing."

Looking back to the boy with a blush of embarrassment Soley placed a hand around the neck of her guitar to stop the strums from vibrating. "Oh. I finish work for morning. Katrin busy with own work so I play this." She explained which brought a smile to the boys face.

"You play it well too." He complimented.

"Thank you.. I like playing." She answered a little nervous, she never took compliments well.

"Got anything else you know?" He then asked.

"Umm. There's an.. English song that Katrin has been teach me for a while.. I have not sung in public with it though." She said, she could tell by the look on the boys face that he was interested in hearing it. Looking back down to Edward and Kyle before over to Katrin Soley looked back to the boy, they'd come get her if she was needed and she wasn't set to be back to the kitchen for at least another few hours. Looking Peter in the face Soley smiled. Shortly Peter was joined by his little sister who quickly grabbed a seat at Soley's feet.

"Oh! Oh! Music! Play it Sully! Play it!" Peter's little sister said with a broad smile.

Returning the smile Soley nodded before starting again.

Kyle just smiled and chuckled as Edward teased him about the "female products" but once he was given permission to take a van and a armored truck he was ready to get the show on the road. He quickly left Edward and went to his house to grab his bulletproof vest followed by his belt that had his holster for his glock. He went down to the armory and grabbed his weapons before grabbing a few men for the trip. He walked over to his wife Anna and smiled at her. "He approved it. So do you wanna come with us? We still need a female to you know..." said Kyle with a smirk to Anna who smirked back and rolled her eyes. "Sure let me go get ready." said Anna to Kyle as she left to head to the house real quick to get changed into something more fitting for the outdoors. Kyle turned his head once again as he heard Soley play the guitar and she started to sing. He enjoyed what he had heard and as he finished he walked over to her he looked up at her and smiled. "Hey Soley we are going on a run shortly. Do you want to join us? We got one more spot open." asked Kyle to Solely.

He looked over at the team as they an the armored truck and the van ready to go but still members of the team were getting ready grabbing their gear or weapons so their was some time left before they had to head out.

Kyle smiled as he watched the interaction between Soley and Katrina. It was cute in a way seeing how Soley spoke broken english here and there yet Katrina was able to pick up on it. Once he heard that she would go a smile appeared on his face and as she asked when they were leaving a soft chuckle could be heard from him. "Actually we wanted to leave now but I can have the others wait while you get ready no rush. Well I'll head down there now." said Kyle to Katrina. Once near the entrance he saw that some of the men and woman were geared up and ready and he looked to his wife Anna who had her casual clothes on along with a vest so she had easy access to her handgun and her knife.






Kyle smirked at his wife as he found her quite hot in her outfit and Anna caught the look that he was giving her. She smirked right back at him as she put her hair up in a ponytail as she stood in front of him. "What are you looking at?" asked Anna to Kyle who shrugged. "Just enjoying the view in front of me." said Kyle with a smirk. The two lovers kissed eachother and a few of the men whistled and once their kiss broke off Kyle rolled his eyes at the men and waved it off. Kyle looked at Anna's vest and then at the handgun that was attached to it. "Are you okay with using it today?" asked Kyle to Anna who let out a sigh and already had a defeated look on her face. Anna was great at using a knife hell she was even good with a bow and arrow but when it came to guns that was a different story. "No but I'll use it as a last resort okay? so don't worry about me. Just think about the others." said Anna to Kyle who chuckled as he had a quick response to it. "I always do but when you are out there...It's different." said Kyle softly. He turned his head as he noticed Katrina walking towards them and he turned to his men. "Alright people we got that last seat filled up so let's move it. You are sitting with me or in the van?" said Kyle as he gave the order but the question went to his wife Anna who chuckled and kissed him. "I'm with you of course." said Anna to Kyle. Kyle smiled at her before turning to a few of the men. "Rollins you take the van, Katrina you are with me. Let's get this show on the road people!" said Kyle to the group. Once the seats in the van and the armored truck were filled up they were off. As Kyle was driving the armored truck he handed Katrina the map who sat behind him. Anna was the passenger looked confused. "Why are you giving it to her?" asked Anna in a slightly annoyed tone towards Kyle who bit his lower lip and shook his head. "Because last time you had the map we got lost for about an hour so I'm trusting someone else." said Kyle to Anna who shook her head annoyed at Kyle as she stared out the window. Kyle just smirked and chuckled as he knew he got under her skin even if he didn't mean to offend her. He then popped in a cd. It was Stealers Wheel and Kyle had a big smile on his face as he started to tap to the beat on the steering wheel with his index finger as his hand rested on the wheel.

Giving her girlfriend one last kiss on the lips Sóley leaned in and hugged her. "vertu öruggur ástin mín."(be safe my love) Pulling away from the embrace Sóley saw as Katrin smiled back at her. "Of course I will my precious Sunflower." Katrina responded before nodding to Kyle to lead the way towards the vehicles they would be using. Watching as she swung her rifle over her shoulder Sóley closed her eyes. "Komdu aftur til mín örugg og hljóð. Ykkur öllum."(Come back to me safe and sound. All of you.)

Waiting until the vehicles started and made their way out of the gate Sóley reached up and gripped the strap of her guitar case and let out a sigh. She knew Katrina could handle herself in the field and was one of the better fighters among the members of their small settlement but that never helped the fear she felt whenever she watched her go through the gates. Shaking the feelings off she looked to see that Edward was still standing before the building he had spoken to Kyle from and seemed to be trying to get her attention. Pulling the strap of her guitar case back onto her shoulder she made her way over.

"Hello Mr. Edward." She greeted as she came to stand before him, What he wanted remained to be seen but she knew it wasn't gonna be anything bad. In their time there their leader had proven to be an upstanding man and that fact caused most if not all of the fear she harbored for him to leave. Waiting for him to speak Sóley looked him in the eyes and smiled.

---

Having made their way out of the gate Katrina set her rifle in the seat next to her along with her pack. Kyle had taken the drivers seat and his wife Anna had taken the passengers side, which was always the usual setup when they went out together. What Katrina didn't expect however was that she was the one given navigation duty rather than Anna, tilting her head to the front of the vehicle as she took the map from Kyles hands Katrina was about to ask about it before Anna beat her to the punch. Not surprising she sounded a bit annoyed at the fact he had passed her up but Katrina had to stifle a laugh when she heard the reasoning he gave to her. Choosing not to get involved in their little squabble Katrina looked to the map and began tracing the road they had left on outward to find their general location.

"So we're goin after winter whether gear and hygiene stuff right?" Katrina confirmed. Waiting for either Kyle or Anna to answer her question she looked back to the map and traced her finger down San Marco Avenue and upwards towards the shopping and clothing districts. There were a few general good stores that they could hit along with a number of dedicated clothing stores, As well as the local Walmart further down the street. Nodding her head as she looked out the window and waited for a street sign to pass allowing her to confirm their location she then shifted to look towards the front seat. "If you keep heading down this road you'll hit an intersection. Turn left then right onto North Ponce De Leon. Should start seeing some stores and the like after about five minutes on that street. She relayed to Kyle. Going quiet as she waited for any further question he may have Katrina reached over and placed her hand on her pack, Not that she needed to run or anything, she was in the company of friends after all, By this point though it was habit, and it wasn't one that she planned on breaking any time soon.

Having watched the two vehicles carrying Kyle, her girlfriend as well as a few others cross through the gate and out into the world Sóley waited for the gates to shut fully and the guards to return to their posts before she looked away. Seeing their leader sitting at a bench Sóley smiled and nodded at him when he waved her over. Not having anything to do for about three more hours she decided to join him and see what he wanted.

Reaching the bench Sóley stood before their leader and smiled again. "Hallo Mr. Edward. You something need?" She asked as she looked to the leader, What he wanted remained to be seen but she assumed it was something to do with her work or something that he wanted her to do. Nodding politely at the mans invetation to join him on the wooden bench Soley sat her guitar case against the end of the seat before placing herself next to him. "How can help Sir?" She asked as she got comfortable, or as comfortable as she could on the hard wood slats

Waiting for Edward to speak about what he wanted to discuss Soley looked back to the gate, they hadn't been gone for more than ten minutes yet but Soley already missed her lover. Shaking her head she returned her gaze to Edward with a smile before waiting for him to speak on the matter he wished to discuss with her.

Having taken a seat on the bench beside the leader of their small settlement Soley smiled at him and nodded politely. Curious on what he wanted to discuss with her she tilted her head slightly and waited for him to speak. Crossing her legs she let the smile she wore grow slightly in an attempt to let him know that she had placed all of her attention on him and that she was ready for him to talk about whatever he had called her over for.

Listening as he greeted her she once again nodded in his direction. "Thank you Edward. there something I help you with?" She asked curiously as she searched his face for any sign of distress, seeing none she let the smile that had faded seconds prior return. "Something wrong?" She asked again as she looked up at his fair featured face.

Shortly she heard as he mentioned that he had an idea and that he wanted to pass it by her, what the idea was remained to be seen but with the way he had looked at her while she had been playing for the small crowd she had gathered a few moments ago she ventured a guess that it had something to do with music, whether it was a good thing or a bad thing though was something she didn't know. Hoping that he wasn't about to tell her that she couldn't play anymore she looked over to her guitar and grabbed the strap. "this about guitar?" She asked curiously.

Waiting for his response on the matter Soley brought her guitar case to rest between her legs and placed her hands on top of it. Returning her gaze to Eddies she tilted her head again and smiled.