Dog Days [Troy/OPEN]

Making her way through the front entrance of the pharmacy Clara kept her eye out for the top of her sisters head as she rounded the small shelf of greeting cards that were on display near the front of the store. "Em!" She called as she weaved her way past the display, Feeling a small piece of glass fracture under her weight as she passed. "Bookworm's back and we got guests." She called once again as she turned to round the last shelf before her sisters head should come into view, Which it did in short order. "Emmi, Come on. Bookworm want's us, You know how much of a grumpy pants she gets when we don't do what she want's." Clara said, softer now that she closed the distance between her and her sister. 

"Bookworm? Are the others with her?" Emmi asked as she popped her head up from behind the small counter near the back wall of the pharmacy, Reaching a standing position and dusting herself off as she asked, Taking a breath Clara shot her sister an awkward smile, "Um, Nah sis, Just the bookworm. They probably got sidetracked or somethin you know?" She chuckled slightly off kilter before rubbing the back of her head with her hand. "At least we still have Ellie." Emmi muttered, She knew when Clara acted like that it meant that she was hiding something, and she had deduced that that 'something' was that the other two members of their little band of travelers had run into trouble, The kind of trouble that likes to bite more than likely. Looking up to her sister Emmi waited for a moment to see if Clara had anything to add but as the silence continued Emmi broke it by asking, "So, Ellie want's us then?" She asked which snapped Clara out of her little daydream she so often found herself in. "Um, Yea! she told me to come get you and come say hi." Clara half shouted as her hand found it's way back in front of her and she brought a fist to meet the open palm of her other hand in a 'That's what I was doing.' Sort of manner. 

"Okay, Well, You know how she gets when you don't follow what she says.. Lets go then." Emmi said as she grabbed the small pack she had from the ground before waiting for Clara to lead the way. "Off to see the newbies, The wonderful newbies of George!-Err-a" As they rounded the corner and snaked their way back around the small counter lined with greeting cards Clara hummed happily to the tune of The Wizard Of Ozz. Finding their way back out the main entreance the duo came to stand near Ellie, The trio of newcomers still stood across from them as Emmi tugged on Ellie's shirt, "Back bookworm."

Stepping back Ellie motioned For Clara and Emmi to stay behind her as she watched the group move to enter the building proper, Before Mallory fully moved in she caught her calling her the nickname that Clara had bestowed upon her a few weeks prior, The name itself annoyed her as she didn't particularly see herself as a bookworm, just that she was intently curious and books were the best source for knowledge in a world without the ease of access that accompanied the old world. Watching as they all made it into the building proper, Taking a moment to bend down to the girls level She whispered that they were to run if any of the new people had tried anything, at which the duo cocked their heads in confusion. Clara had the look of wanting to give one of her usual comebacks but the look on Ellie's face was that of pure seriousness and she thought the better of it.

Standing up Ellie tugged at the bottom of her shirt to straighten out the creases before sliding the strap of her bag fully back onto her shoulder. Motioning for the sisters to follow her she made her way back into the main section of the Walgreen's, The grim state of the building clear to the eye by the fluorescent lights hanging by their cords here and there, Towards the back a toppled shelve had pinned a walker that had since been put down by their own hands upon arrival as they had cleared the building before the ambush of the herd that appeared from the nearby wooded area. Taking an empty bag from Mallory Ellie looked down and gave the sisters the same look of seriousness before turning her eyes back to Mallory, "I do believe that what you seek is in the back storage. There was an offshoot through the back leading to what I presume to be a small office, Do take caution if you decide to open it as I did not clear it." She said with as she motioned to the area of the storage room, Seeing Troy already heading that way she turned to move towards the shelving units with the two sisters close at her heels, Trusting that the Mallory would relay the info of the office.

Reach the shelving units which she had yet to examine before the previous attack she ran her eyes across the labels like a computer running through code, The names and uses running through her head she slid the ones that may have use into the bag that had been given to her, among the medicine was a few bottles of ibuprofen, Loratadine among a few others she thought might be of use. Turning to the sisters she told them to do the same in the next few isles after informing them what to look for, Not expecting much of their knowledge to aid them in this endeavor she kept the names simple and accompanied them with some common thing such as bandages and splints. As they returned and Ellie looked into the bag she was not surprised that there wasn't much left in that regard, Three rolls of bandages and a set of arm and knee splints was all there really was it seemed. Giving them a nod she swept through the isle to make sure they didn't miss anything of emportance before setting to finding Mallory again. To her surprise The two sisters hadn't missed much, A fourth roll of bandage had rolled to the very back but she couldn't fault them for missing it as it was on a taller shelf which neither of them could presumably see. "Good job." She said offhandedly to them before heading back to the main area.

Seeing the trio near the storage area the three of them began to make their way back when Troy began to make his way out of the back office which she had previously informed Mallory hadn't been cleared. Hearing his question about what he had in his hand it took her a moment to close the distance and observe what it was he was referring to, The portable record player from a time long before Any of them were born was something that her father had cherished. Having one in his office she remembered the elegant tunes that played through it. Looking over the one in Troy's hands she could tell by the branding on the front it was a newer crossly, which generally had a battery that lasted a decent amount of time, The cord which gave power to it while also charging the battery seemed to dangle from it's natural position which was also a good sign. "Crosley, That brings back memories of times past. If it works in a similar fashion as the stationary model it should be as simple as finding a record to play, Turning it on and moving the needle to the correct position. If the batteries dead we'll need to find a source of power from which to charge it." After her explanation she took to the quietness for a moment before hearing that there was in fact undead, or Rotters as Troy called them in the back office as she feared. "I apologies, We hadn't managed to clear out the back office before the ones that dwelled outside took notice of our presence." The apologetic tone in her voice carrying clear from her voice. Moving to Mallory she handed the duffel bag back to her before repeating the apology to her as well. "This is what was from the section we had yet to examine, What we found before that resides in our own bags.

Upon hearing Mallory's interjection on the matter of electronics Ellie cut her explanation short, She was right after all, they didn't have time to stand there and gawk at something from the world before the fall. "My apologies, I allowed myself to get carried away on the matter." She responded quietly before hearing a low growl from the door leading back towards the main area. Damn, They're already upon us. She thought as her head turned to face the noise. Before she could react the third man of Mallory's group that she hadn't caught the name of was grappled from the open portal. "Clara!" She shouted to the girl to get her attention at which the young girl replied by going into full focus. The childish attitude she always had seeming to disappear and in it's stead was the look of what this world had driven in to her. Survival and keeping her sister alive was all that mattered to her now. 

Hearing Mallory shout asking about an exit Ellie ran the layout of the building as she had seen it through her mind, Remembering seeing a black door with a bar across marked 'Fire Exit! Do Not Open' through the back office, Every commercial business tended to have them and this one was no different. As the growls of the oncoming horde followed the two fallen corpses Ellie once again called Clara's name which queued her to grab her sisters hand and move to the back office. "Yes ma'am, Every commercial institution is required to have at least two emergency exits, one near the front and one near the rear. The rear is usually placed near the left corner of the building which in this case is the back office." She said motioning to the door that Clara and Emmi now stood as a cluster of three walkers fought over each other to get through the door, behind them the faces of at least a couple dozen undead limped their way closer, ever closer. Swinging her shotgun around and gripping it tight Ellie let both shells discharge before fetching a couple more from her pocket  "We better make haste in escaping this place." She said with urgency in her tone as she slid the fresh shells in and pulled back on the pump action. 

Joining Clara and Emmi she urged them through the door before stepping through it herself, once in the back office the exit in question stood tucked away in the corner, as per fire code the path before it was clear save a cluster of small boxes that proved no match to the weight of the door as it swung open. Once the door was open however the fire alarm began to sound and an corpse lunged towards Clara. But she was ready, Keeping her senses keen as she focused on protecting her sister she dug her knife into the creatures head before letting gravity aid in the removal of the blade from bone. The corpse fell to the concrete and the three girls moved out into the back ally "The Camper from which we arrived is at the end of this alley. It's in running order so If there isn't any quarrel on the matter I propose we make haste to retrieve it and leave this hellish scene behind." She called to the rest as she waited for them to appear through the door, the loud alarm blared in their ears and surly attracted more of the undead as they spoke so every word from Ellie was uttered clear and to the point. 

"Clara, Go clear the RV." Ellie said before turning back to the open door in waiting for the others to follow, Her shotgun at the ready she instructed Emmi to stay behind her. 

Troy looked at Mallory as he heard her joking about the blood on his shirt. He just let out a sigh and shook his head it was his favorite shirt after all, He took off his vest followed by his shirt being momentarily shirtless before stuffing his shirt in his bag followed by him putting his vest back on leaving it open. "You're cute you know that? Real fucking funny." said Troy to Mallory with a smirk casually. But all hell broke loose as Cordell was bit by a Rotter, soon more were coming out like clockwork. Troy grabbed his saw-off shotgun from his holster and as Ellie fired a shot and lead the group out he decided he would cover the rear. As the group started to make their way out from the back office an alarm started to go off and Troy bite his lower lip in frustration as he knew the dead would be coming to them as they just rang the dinner bell. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!" yelled Troy in anger over the alarm although he wasn't sure if anyone could hear him not that it mattered. Troy took out a Rotter as he was covering the group making sure they all got out. As they were now in a back alley talking about heading to the camper that was nearby to escape. Troy shook his head as he looked at Mallory then Ellie.

"Hell no Bookworm, we have to circle back around and grab our friend Cassandra she is treating that damn cowboy and I'll be damned if she is left there!" said Troy to Ellie over the alarm. Troy was impressed when he saw the kid Clara holding her own, seemed like the person she was before wasn't there anymore the look in her eyes it just screamed survival at least to Troy it did. He turned to look at Mallory hoping she would be on his side. "If we leave her out there we are going to regret it." said Troy to Mallory over the alarm.

Watching the two rush to a nearby truck that they had yet to notice Ellie, Clara and Emmi looked on in confusion as they climbed into their truck and prepared to rush off. Taking her eyes from the truck to make sure the undead hadn't filed out of the back door and taken notice of them before seeing Mallory climb in as well, it took a moment for what was transpiring to click in Ellie's mind, The truck they were loading up in wasn't large enough to accommodate all of them and Mallory's comment about how they need to meet them across town if they want to join them led to the only conclusion that she could come to, They were being left.

"Clara, Camper. Now!" Ellie ordered as the group finished clambering into their own vehicle. Catching sight of the last few stragglers as they shambled into the building, The alarm ringing like a dinner bell to a starving crowd but it was only a matter of time before the battery reserves would die and the sound would fade into nonexistence once again. As Clara and Emmi made their way back to the opposite side of the Camper Ellie slowly began to back peddle as her eyes watched the scene before her, The truck preparing to rev to life, the last cacophony of growls echoing from inside the Walgreen's and the hot evening sun shining on their backs. "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man. God speed."

Turning away from the truck Ellie sprinted to the door facing away from the truck the others were loading into, Clara and Emmi had done as they were told and closed the door behind them as they waited. Opening the door Ellie reached the top step and relatched the door before the silence met her ears. The ringing of the alarm had stopped. The battery had run out. "Fuck.. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Clara, Emmi, Strap in." She said with a point of her hand in their direction as she made her way to the drivers seat. "Think. Think, think, think. Keys, starter, Key turns the starter motor over, air is mixed with fuel, combustion causes the engine to ignite. Keys." The speech was as fast as her thoughts and to Clara's ears only mumbles. Feeling around the drivers seat Ellie searched for the spare key their ex caretaker had mentioned when talking about teaching her to drive, How he wanted her to keep it on her in case needed when they did and that he'd keep it up here until then. Her fingers slid along the contours of the seat, Nothing, The side of the door, Nothing, Nothing everywhere. The horde that had previously been occupied by the sound of the alarm began to shamble out of the doors of the Walgreens once again. Just before the first undead took notice of the living in the Camper Ellie's hand met the metal teeth of a key between the sun blind and the roof. "Yes!" she cheered before fiddling with the key to get it into the ignition. Turning it each way but it only seemed to turn one way, The engine sputtered momentarily before the cab began to vibrate under the power of pistons.

"Hold on guys.." She muttered before pushing on the gas, but they didn't move. The engine reved as if it wanted to go but it wouldn't. "What? What's I do? What am I missing?" She ran through her head as she quickly scanned around the cabin, the only thing sticking out to her was a rod labeled with the letters. "P, D, 1, 2, 3, R" "Okay, It's on P and we aren't moving, P must stand for Park then, Then, deduction leads me to think.. D is.. Drive? But.. What are the numbers?" she ran through before pushing the stick into the position labeled 'D' and as she tried once again the camper lurched forward. Ellie's eyes lit up at the revelation that her deduction was correct. "Hold on!" She called out to them as she turned the wheel to the right and stepped on the gas, Her driving wasn't anything to write home about but thankfully for Ellie the road ahead was as clear as one would hope. Speeding off Ellie tried to keep her speed to a mild pace as to not lose control as the three of them headed off, towards the south of town where they had made camp the night before where the herd was lessened, Ellie needed to think. What were they going to do? Clara could hunt so food wasn't a problem, Emmi could hold her own thanks to her sister but what where they going to do? Where were they going to go? These questions kept flashing through her mind as she focused on the road ahead, The tell tale wobble of a newbie driver visible in her technique as the town began to fall off and the tree's of the nearby woods began to show once again. Turning off and parking in the cutout that they had the previous night Ellie turned off the engine before her head fell to rest on the wheel. With a sigh her mind went to the group they had run into, The man that they had lost. "I'd ruin it for us anyway... Always do." Lifting her head and wiping her eyes she looked out the window at the now darkening night sky. The north star was just visible in the side window. "Polaris.. Where should we go.." 

Ellie and Clara have left the thread