Private, post-apocalyptic RP between Precarious Fool & musikfreakx

It was fifteen until six according to the watch around her thin wrist, but it had stopped working the day prior and seeing as the sun was far past set, it was at least seven in actuality. But Charlotte was too hungry and too tired to care much about her broken watch, it wasn't like she could take it to a specialist anyways. She doubted any of those were still alive.

Her hand dug into the pocket of the dark blue skin fitting jeans she wore, now stained with blood and mysterious stains she couldn't exactly name the occasion in which they made home on her pants, and fished around. When she found the object she was looking for, she pulled it out in front of her. She flicked open the top of the Marlboro box one handedly and pulled out a cigarette, putting it between her lips to hold, and a lighter that barely worked. She slipped the pack in its place in her back pocket, followed by the lighter after she flicked it three times before getting a barely existent flame.

"You shouldn't smoke," her brother spoke up from beside her and Charlotte, who preferred to be called Charlie, scoffed as she lit the slim stick. She sucked in and pulled the cigarette away so she could breathe in fresh air, it wasn't really fresh ever since it had been polluted with death, and glanced in his direction.

"Bite me," she muttered and blew out, the light wind blowing the smoke sideways from her lips and into Cody's face. He coughed and she half snickered. Her right hand held a long, metal baseball bat, and it swung back and forth at her side.

"It's getting dark, we need to get in," Cody advised like Charlie wasn't aware of the extra danger darkness brought. She nodded anyways and sighed after taking another drag of her cigarette. "Getting in" meant going back to the tiny house they had inhabited since the last four days.

"Live one," the light-brown haired girl murmured and pointed in front of her. A few feet ahead of the pair was a shuffling corpse, more or less. Its hair had been mostly ripped from its head and its jaw hung awkwardly lower than it should have. Blood covered most of its whole figure, including its face, and its tattered clothes gave brief glimpses of torn skin and bone.

"Want it," Cody offered and Charlie nodded. She tapped and then stuck her cigarette in her mouth, holding the filter end tightly between her teeth, and took a few jogging steps towards it. Only when she was within arms length did it notice her, its savage eyes landing on her like she was prime piece of meat, which technically she was. Her hands already pulled back, baseball held angled over her shoulder, she drummed her fingers briefly and swung like she was an MLB player herself. The bat made contact with a loud thunk of metal on skull and the zombie fell. It didn't move from its crumpled heap on the ground, but she smashed its head one more time for good measure.

"Homerun," she commented as Cody caught up to her, having had still walked at their previous leisurely pace. He cocked his head to the side as if deliberating, then finally nodded. Charlie half smiled, the left side of her full lips pulling up, and took a hit from her cigarette. She finished it off just as they reached their destination, and tossed it away from her.

Cody looked up at the small two story house that had become their home the past four days. It was on the outskirts of San Francisco, California, which had become a ghost town after nearly all of its population had died or become man eating monsters.

"Home sweet home," Cody remarked and Charlie didn't reply. She didn't speak much any more, so the six foot two male did most of the talking for both of them. He was mostly OK with it, he had to be. At least she hadn't completely shut down, but things had gotten progressively worse the past six months. Cody didn't know why, couldn't think of a significant event, but every time he brought it up she snapped shut like a Venus fly trap.

Charlie entered first, unlocking the front door with the sole key they had found. They did a quick scout to make sure noone or nothing had entered. Charlie covered the first floor as was protocol, sweeping through the living room, half bathroom, kitchen, and living room. Cody took the stairs to at a time to search the three bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs. Both found the coast clear and met back in the kitchen, putting down the day's finds on the granite counter.

"What do we got," Cody asked, hoping to hear Charlie's voice. Instead she began sorting everything one by one so he could see. Two jugs of water, a pack of cigarettes, Cody bit his tongue at that, and a box Special K Chocolate cereal as far as food. They found a pistol, with only half the ammo, and two knives, as far as weapons. It was a good day, they had been on a dry spell the last week, and well stocked, so it wasn't too much of a worry.

"Do you want first shift, or second," Cody asked and Charlie's brows furrowed as she debated mentally. Second shift, which was sleeping first and watching second, meant the difficulty of falling asleep sooner, but it made her feel more lonely somehow. She held up one finger and Cody nodded, kissing her forehead. She used to hate it, used to push him away, especially when he did it intentionally to annoy her, but now she looked forward to it. It meant they were alive and together. Cody always slept upstairs in what he assumed to be the guest room, he hadn't found any pictures there and it put him somewhat more at ease, but Charlie usually slept downstairs on the nights he took second shift. She didn't like being alone at night much anymore.

Charlie sat on the couch, her baseball bat propped against the side table, and pulled her personal pistol, which she had taken from their dad's safe at the beginning of the apocalypse, from its spot between the small of her back and her jeans. She set it on her lap and smoothed down her tight plain black v neck before grabbing her dog eared copy of The Great Gatsby, she had gotten used to half reading and half patrolling, and she had read the novel enough to be able to do so and still enjoy it.

"Hey, wait up!" Her voice was a bit too high, and it drove him crazy, which is why he didn't wait, like she had called for. Instead he cursed and moved faster, she should be keeping her mouth shut, not trying to make as much noise as possible. A groan escaped him when she caught up, only because he had stopped to duck around a car and make sure it was clear before running across the open street. It was dark now, darker than he usually stayed out, but there was an incident at the place he had been.

Actually, it was more he didn't agree with anyone, and they were going to get them all killed, so he left. What Neil didn't anticipate was having such a hard time finding a new hideout. Most places were picked clean, and he didn't have time to worry about making them safe, plus, it was better in numbers, so he was trying to find a new group. So far, all he had was the most annoying chick likely left on the planet. He had seen a couple before, a guy and a girl, a girl who knew what she was doing. When she had smashed the monster right in the head he grinned and enjoyed the show, he could get with people like that. Which was why he was following them, but he had gotten caught up with another one along the way, and had to take care of it.

Shifting the large backpack he carried, and rolling the handle to the tire-iron in his hand, he looked at the house he was sure they went into. This was the first real time he had tried to join a group, the other he more or less started, but they were stupid and he would be surprised if they lasted the week. Running his hand through his hair, he took a deep breath. "Hey, can you be quiet before you get us killed?" He barked through gritted teeth, wishing he could just knock her out and move on. Too bad he was such a nice person.

Mia huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, one of the straps of her backpack falling down. "Sorry." She grumbled as she moved a few strands of hair from her face. It was still a lovely pink colour, and curled naturally, but her light blonde roots were starting to show, not that it was a concern. Despite being in a fight for survival, she had whenever gotten the chance, taken as much kool-aid and hair dye she could get her hands on and always touched up the colour. Who said you couldn't survive and have cute hair?

She wasn't sure why she had chosen to follow Neil, he just really seemed to know what he was doing, and she was tired of the others in the group. Maybe she should have asked to tag along, since he seemed so annoyed with her now, but she thought he would have enjoyed the company. Okay, so she wasn't the best fighter, and wasn't very strong, but she was small, only 4'11", and could fit through tiny spaces and was pretty fearless, which was always a good thing.

Before she could ask who they were waiting for, Neil moved and made his way towards the house they had watched the couple go into. Why were they following them? Who knows what they would do? She groaned as she followed behind him, holding onto the straps of the bag as she moved. They ducked behind everything they could until they were close. Stopping beside the car, she crouched for a moment, taking a deep breath. She was tired, they had been going for hours, and she wanted to rest, and something to eat. Neil didn't stop, instead he actually went right up to the door, and knocked. Who the hell knocks at a time like this. Mia hid behind the car, peeking over and watching to see what would happen, no need for both of them to die, right?

Charlie jumped when there was a knock on the door. It wasn't so much that it had scared her, her senses were always on high alert and she had tuned in to her surroundings at the beginning of this mess, but she hadn't heard a knock in about a year, since before the start of this damned apocalypse. And who the hell would knock during an apocalypse?

Her hands instantly flew to the gun in her lap, F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel tossed to the side like a forgotten t shirt at the back of a closet, and she stood facing the door, aiming at it. Her just lit cigarette was left abandoned in the ash tray by the couch and she blew out a large puff of smoke nervously. She glanced over the gun, making sure the safety was off, she'd kick herself in the ass if she got killed because she forgot to actually check something as trivial as that, figuratively of course, and watched the door. Whoever was knocking didn't intrude, just waited like a Jehovah's witness waiting to sell her on their "lord and savior Jesus Christ". Charlotte had long ago learned she had to be her own savior, and sometimes her brother helped, if she let him.

"What the fuck," she mumbled and debated getting Cody, but didn't. Instead she stepped towards the door and looked through the eyehole curiously. Like she had expected, and hoped for, it wasn't a group. They'd be screwed if it was a group, but they hadn't run into a group in a good while. The last group they had run into was a group of drunken thirty something year old thuggish men, but Charlie didn't want to think about that.

Finally she went against her instincts and shouted her brother's name loudly. She didn't hear anything stir upstairs and grunted, unlocking the door and cracking it open against her better judgment. She pointed the end of the gun out of it, aiming it on the man standing in front the doorway. She looked him over, assessing him. He didn't seem too old, but probably a few years older than her. It was hard to tell. He had dark eyes and recent facial hair. Her large blue eye blinked at him from the small crack, only half of her face visible.

She tried to speak but her voice faltered and she cleared her throat. She hadn't talked much lately and usually at a low volume, so speaking at regular level took her a minute. "Who are you, what do you want," she demanded. She had a pretty voice, and so Cody was at first pleasantly surprised to hear it as he came trooping down the stairs, having just woke from his doze.

"Who are you talking to," he asked from the bottom stair, rubbing at his eyes, nearly identical to hers. They could almost be twins, if he hadn't been born three years before her. His eyes focused on her and the cracked door, watched her cock the gun. "What the fuck Charlie, why did you open the door," he practically shouted from the living room as he raced across to her. She whipped her head to glance at him and pointed at the top lock with her free hand, the top chain still locked for some tiny bit of defense.

"Shut up," she hissed and looked back at the male, glancing behind him to see if he was alone. She thought she saw a pink head of hair behind a car, but she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. Pink hair? In a zombie apocalypse? That was actually kinda cool.

For a brief moment Cody tried to pull Charlie away, grabbing on to her skinny upper arm hard enough to leave bruises and she whacked him in the chest as viciously as she could. Finally he grumbled something incoherent, yanked his gun from where it was tucked in the back of his jeans, and aimed it at the door just in case their mystery visitor, visitors? he questioned with anxiety, did somehow bust through the door and Charlie couldn't handle it.

Charlie watched the man in between the crack of the door, palms beginning to sweat. He probably would have attacked by now if that was his plan, but he didn't. She couldn't see any visible bite marks on him, but he could be covering them up. It seemed his best weapon was the tire iron in his hand, but she knew there were many spots to hide weapons on the body.

Neil waited. And waited. It literally seemed like it took forever for an answer, and he was ready to give up. This was stupid, he was lucky he hadn't gotten shot, walking up like this. Yet here he stood, waiting for something to happen. Running his hand through his shaggy hair, he sighed when he heard someones named called out. The girl, she was calling for her boyfriend? Friend? He didn't know, but he wondered if he was about to get his ass kicked. As he was wondering if he should just run, a face peeked out through a crack in the door. All he could do was smile like an idiot.

The smile dropped when he saw the gun aimed at him, "Hey, uh, not here to hurt you, I was just wondering if you needed some more people." He rubbed his hands together nervously, it was too late to run now, and they might just kill him for knowing where their hideout was. When she spoke he couldn't help but smile, she seemed tough, in a way, and the display he saw earlier proved she was, but she was pretty, and damn, her voice, it was nice. Better than the higher pitched voice of the company he shared. Before he could reply though, he heard the male voice from behind the door. "Hey, guys, sorry... I just saw you two earlier, when your killed that zombie, nice job, by the way, and we sort of have no where else to go right now, just thought you might want to expand your group, or something. I have supplies, and I think she does too. Or we could leave her. I don't care too much." With that he even managed a chuckle.

What he didn't know is that Mia had moved up onto the porch and after that comment, elbowed him in the hip, hard. "Jerk." She pouted and crossed her arms across her chest. The height difference between the two was crazy, which was why she had only gotten his hip, she would have rather his ribs. "I have candy." She added, looking at the girl with a smile. She had a silver ball just on the ride side of her lower lip, and she bit down on the piercing nervously, wondering if they were going to be killed at this point. People were crazy these days.

There was a brief moment of silence as Charlie and Cody processed the information. The two shared a glance, both with raised eyebrows inquisitively. Though they weren't twins, they seemed to have the telepathic mental communication twins usually did. Cody scowled at her, probably for opening the door and not getting him to open it, and Charlie resisted sticking her tongue out. She looked back at the two on the porch, taking in the pink hair. She almost smiled at the guy's compliment, she had practiced her handiwork on smashing zombie skulls, so it was nice to hear some appreciation. But she stayed wary, that was one of the first hard lessons she learned.

"Thanks. One second," Charlie said to the two waiting on the porch, acknowledging the man's compliment. She glanced at Cody, who was giving the girl a good look over. She crossed her arms and waited, a judgmental eyebrow raised at him. Finally she held up an index finger to reinforce her emphasis on "wait" and then she closed the door behind her, leaning on the door frame.

"I cannot believe you opened the door without getting me first," Cody began to reprimand her and Charlie scoffed. Getting her pissed off was the easiest way to get her to talk, and she wanted to give him an earful. Cody instantly regretted his comment, seeing the fiery look in her eyes.

"I tried, you were asleep. Besides, I can handle my fucking self," she poked him in the chest, hard. Her brows furrowed and she licked her lips nervously, debating what to do. "They're going to take up more supplies," she murmured, talking more so to herself than to her brother.

"But they could also have things we need. Medicine maybe," Cody countered. The pair had always been good at bouncing ideas back and forth, playing each other's devil's advocate. Charlie tapped her finger on her chin in thought.

"Could also not. But there's strength in numbers most of the time," she commented. Cody nodded his head. A part of him was just desperate for other human contact, and with a girl besides his sister? it was like his prayers were answered. He knew they could be dangerous, but they seemed nice enough, at least for now. "She has candy," Charlie grumbled, her stomach nearly bursting with joy at that. She ran her free hand through her hair, pulling anxiously. Her mouth watered as she thought of candies, a delicacy she hadn't had in months.

"I think we have the advantage though, we know this house and the area. We have good weapons," Cody advised. Charlie nodded softly, then more deliberately.

"Fine," Charlie decided, sounding half ok with the answer and half like she was being forced to do this. She opened up the door, unlocking both hatches, relieved to see neither of the two had drawn a weapon. She locked eyes with the male, then the girl, trying to read them as best she could. "OK, but we wanna check you two for bites. Safety first. And don't try anything dumb," she warned, making a point to put the safety on her gun back on and tuck it into the back of her jeans. She opened the door wider and gestured for them to enter quickly.

"I'm Cody," Cody introduced himself. He was much more friendly than his sister was at first, and if Charlie was comfortable enough with them joining the brother-sister pair, than he was too. He trusted his sister's judgment more than anyone else's, not like he had much to choose from anymore. "This is my sister, Charlotte," he waved at Charlie and she smacked his hand.

"Charlie. It's Charlie," she corrected him and he rolled his eyes but held his tongue. She turned away, letting Cody finish letting the two in, and grabbed her cigarette, which was now half wasted, from the ash tray. She took a long hit from it, holding it comfortably in her lungs as she waited for the others to introduce themselves. She blew out the smoke, Cody glaring at her briefly, he hated when she smoked inside, and she sneered at him.

Neil took a deep breath as they waited for an answer. The door closed and he heard the conversation between the two, he wasn't sure which way it could go at this point, and he was a bit nervous. He could tell the girl was annoyed that she opened the door without him, but he wasn't sure why, since she seemed more than capable of handling herself. It wasn't like she just threw open the door and invited them in. She was smart, smarter than this guy gave her credit for. He wanted to chime into the conversation, to mention that he did in fact have some medical supplies, and some other things that were pretty useful, or so he thought, but he figured it was best to just wait and keep quiet.

As he did his eyes darted around the area, looking for any signs of movement. He couldn't see anything, it was dark and the moon wasn't very bright tonight, it was too cloudy. A sigh escaped him and he hoped they would hurry the conversation up, it was dumb to be outside like this at night. And while he had the tire-iron, all 'Little Miss Annoying' had was a hunting knife in the side pocket on her backpack, and he wasn't sure she would be able to even use it all that well. Not that he cared, she wasn't really his problem.

Neil had been lost in thought when the door opened and they were welcomed in. Sort of. "I understand." He smiled and stepped in, looking at the pair. The smile got just a bit bigger, so she was his sister, that explained a lot of why he acted like he did. "Cody. Charlie. I'm Neil." He put his bag down as he watched Charlie pick up a lit cigarette, "You too?" He questioned as he pulled a rather beaten up box of menthol's from his coat pocket. He shrugged the backpack off, it landing on the ground with a soft thud, and took his coat off, laying it on top. They wanted to check him over, right? Just to prove that he was willing to submit to the look, he pulled off the grey t-shirt he had on, leaving his torso bare. His muscles were not huge, but he did enough to keep in shape. "No bites." He added with a slight smirk on his face.

All that time, Mia had just slowly entered, looking around. She watched Neil begin to undress and then looked over at the others. She felt awkward, to say the least. "Uh, I'm Mia." Her voice was a bit high-pitched and she absent-mindedly played with her hair, twirling the long pink curls as she stood there. She was wearing just a white t-shirt and a pair of short jean shorts, which looked like they may have been cut from jeans, the ends frayed and a little jagged. Carefully she removed her pack as well and set it down on the ground. "I haven't been bit, but you can check if you need to."

Charlie half smiled as Neil pulled out a box of cigarettes, nodding as she put the filter to her lips and inhaled again. She fished in her pocket and pulled out the lighter, tossing it to him so he could use it if he wanted. Her favorites were American Spirits, she first started smoking when she was 15 and those got her hooked, but nowadays she took what she could find. Beggars can't be choosers, the saying went. For the moment she had her close second favorite, Marlboro Reds; she still remembered her friends calling her "the cowboy killer" playfully when she smoked them. Her blue eyes watched Neil's movement, trailing down from his face, which was covered nearly whole by his smile, at least it was a nice smile, to his bare chest as he willingly stripped off his shirt.

Her gaze ripped from his torso to Mia as she introduced herself and she smiled awkwardly, hoping no one had caught her admiring the view. Six months ago she had vowed to hate what was left of the male population, which was easy enough with how little it was, but no straight girl could resist checking out a nice body, especially when she had only seen dead ones for most of the last few years. She couldn't place an exact time on how long it had been since the virus had broken out, it had been much too long with too many unmarked days to keep track.

Cody glanced at the two from the back, giving them a quick scan as he rubbed his hand over the back of his medium brown hair, which always remained pushed up in front even without gel. He figured they wouldn't be so willing to be checked if they actually had something to hide, and from what he could see there was barely a scratch, and no ripped areas of clothing that would suggest an attack. He made eye contact with his sister and she nodded, letting him no their fronts were clean and they should be fine.

"There's only three bedrooms but we usually sleep in shifts so that shouldn't be a problem. Bathroom's upstairs. We've only been staying here a few days," Cody mentioned, gesturing at the two couches, a loveseat and a three person, for them to have a seat if they'd like. Charlie quickly scrambled to shove her book between the cushions as slyly as she could. It wasn't that she was embarrassed of reading, she'd been an avid reader all her life, anything from classics to Harry Potter to mythology, but reading The Great Gatsby didn't exactly help her keep up her tough-gal front. She didn't need them thinking she was soft, that could be dangerous.

Charlie chose to remain standing, now leaning on the wall beside the couch so she could still reach the ash tray, and breathed out the killer smoke, the haze briefly covering the freckles scattered in a path across her cheekbones. Change made her nervous, especially in their new world, and so it would be a long while before her guards were let down to the new additions of their group. Ironically, Charlie and Cody had long decided to avoid becoming or forming a group, but it was only two people, right?, Charlie tried to reason. There had been situations where having two more people could have made keeping their asses alive a lot easier too.

"Want something to eat? We don't have much that's fresh, it's mostly canned food and MREs," Cody offered, already beginning to walk to the kitchen. God, he was an amiable motherfucker, Charlie mentally noted, not like she didn't know that already. Her stomach wrenched at the thought of MREs. They had been their dad's, a soldier to the core, and at the start of this they had tons of MREs. They were dwindling now and Charlie tried to refrain from eating them, even if it meant going without dinner for a night or two. They brought back memories of Christmas time, when her dad would put an MRE in each of their stockings to mess with them, or nights they'd play "soldier" with their dad, pretending they were in enemy territory in the living room, surviving off of MREs and living in pillow forts. It hurt too much to think about it.

"You talk a lot," Charlie grumbled as Cody passed her. He shoved her shoulder and she shoved back. Even in times of absolute peril their loving but aggressive sibling rivalry remained.

"Bite me," he mocked her earlier response and she rolled her eyes so hard she thought they would get stuck in the back of her head. In the kitchen, Cody rummaged around. Usually Cody and Charlie ate as little as they could to get them by, making sure that no matter how much they ate they still had enough for a few meals in case of emergency. But tonight seemed somewhat special, seeing as they'd run into, well, not really run into, it seemed Neil and Mia had followed them for a little while, two other, civil, functional human beings. So Cody grabbed the bag that kept their good canned foods and MREs, they never truly unpacked, so they were always ready to run, and a bottle of wine from the cabinet.

"How long have you two known each other," Charlie asked, one arm crossed over her chest, the other elbow resting on it so the cigarette, almost gone now, hovered over her lips. It didn't seem they were particularly fond of each other, hell, Neil was even fine with leaving her outside in the dark, which made Charlie curious.

Neil just waited patiently, he understood their need to look him over, it actually made him feel even more like he made the right choice with these two. He actually wished Mia hadn't followed him, then they're be a pretty good group, each who could defend their own, but work together and kick some ass. He sighed and shrugged when they finished their look, and tugged his shirt back on. "I could always share a bedroom with someone." He joked, winking at Charlie. Okay, so he might make everyone uncomfortable, but he was beyond that, it was literally the end of the world, and he really was just going to do whatever he wanted, hell if they kick him out. Grabbing his pack he dragged it to the couch and put it in front of him, plopping down and messing with the straps. It was a black, rugged army pack, which he had found years ago, but it held up well, and not one single problem, despite how much he used it and over packed it.

"MREs? Oh god, I haven't had one of those in a year." And no way he was going to start now, he was too used to eating fresher food. The one skill he was thankful he had learned was trapping and hunting, sadly, after his bow was stolen, all he had left was a slingshot, but he had found some nice steel ball bearings, and they would work wonderfully for what he needed. "I do have something you guys might enjoy." Just yesterday, before he left the group, he had encountered an apple tree while hunting, and while they were small, they were about the most delicious thing he had tasted in a long time. He pulled out the small, green globes, four in all, since that was all he had left, and set them on the couch next to him.

"I also have some fresh jerky, a few canned goods, and nuts." He added as he continued to dig through his pack, checking on what he had. What his group didn't know was that he took all the jerky he had made, which was a good 10lbs worth. It was heavy, and took up space in his bag, but it was one of the most important things right now. His bag also contained the slingshot and a small black fabric pouch with about 20 silver balls, two hunting knives, a box of matches, a zippo lighter and a can of fuel which was almost empty, two cans of green beans, a bag with about a 1lb of rice, a metal can containing some peanuts, three t-shirts, four pairs of boxers, another pair of jeans, some socks, a toothbrush, a comb, bandaids and other first aid items, and likely more, but he didn't feel like digging through it all. It wasn't much, but it was all that fit and he was able to carry.

Neil let himself sink into the couch and took one of the apples, biting into it, savouring the taste. Meanwhile, Mia just stood by the door, looking around. "Her? She just followed me, I don't remember when she joined the other group." He just shrugged. Mia frowned and looked at the ground, "Uhm, I joined the group about five months ago? Before that I mostly just wandered by myself in the woods, back when they were a bit safer." Her hands played with the hem on her shirt, and she wondered if she made the right choice by following Neil, he didn't seem to really want her around at all. Last thing she needed was to get in the way, then they'd toss her out on her own.

"I don't have a lot of stuff, someone stole it from the other group..." She began, frowning a bit. It was her fault, she was too nice to people, "But I found these when we last went out, I think they're a bit stale, but they still taste sweet." With that she put her pack on the ground and dug through it until she pulled out a glass jar, in it was a variety of what looked like jawbreakers, the jar nearly half full. They were about the size of a quarter and white with colourful speckles. Holding the jar out she offered a smile, "Want one?" But she eyed the apple that Neil put down, she hadn't had one of those in about five months, though when she was on her own, she ate a lot of them, mostly stuff like that, actually, which is why she was so skinny. Though she wasn't sure she should take one, even if Neil sort of offered.

Neil's comment made Charlie's cheek blaze, but she played it off with a sly smirk and a shrug, though she would much prefer her own bed, or sleeping with her brother, even though he sleep-talked. Not that Neil offended her, but she didn't trust any stranger any more. She took one last hit of her cigarette and snubbed it out, watching Neil rifle through his supplies. She almost made a comment about his take on MREs, but didn't. She supposed he hadn't grown up with them like she had, coming to love them because it meant bonding with her dad, who was her hero. Especially after their mother's meltdown, which inevitably led to her leaving them on a spur-of-the-moment whim of manic when Charlie was 8. Shit happens, she supposed.

Cody was impressed with Neil's supply stack. Apparently the dude could hunt, which made Cody especially glad that they had let the pair in. He watched Mia, she seemed nervous and timid, which he didn't blame her for. Charlie seemed the same way, but she was good as passing it off as aggressiveness or nonchalance. He knew his and his sister's talents, Cody was agile and resourceful, he could make most anything they found be of some use to them, and Charlie had a helluva shot and she was smart, easily picking up new practices, her most recent study being in cars, and it made him wonder what else the other two would be bringing to the table. Obviously they knew Neil's. Mia seemed shy and Neil almost played her off as useless, but Cody offered the pink haired girl a friendly smile anyways, he figured she probably had some hidden helpful talent. It was evident she had managed to stay alive so far.

Charlie's large blue orbs grew even larger as Neil pulled out small, green apples. Cody and Charlie occasionally stumbled across fresher foods, like fruit. Once they found a rabbit, its legs was broken and it had been hiding in a gutter, but Charlie hadn't let Cody kill it. "What if someone saw you, abandoned with your leg broken, and assumed you were done for" she had insisted, and they let it go. They'd found some jerky in stores before, but it had been about a year since that, but sometimes they found vegetables either growing in the wild or somehow still alive in forgotten crops. They always made sure to count their blessings when they did.

"Shit," she murmured, eyeing the apples. She felt like a kid in a candy store, and it intensified when Mia pulled out a jar of jawbreakers. The girl must be some kind of good luck charm to find something like that, and Charlie took one from her jar. "Wow, thanks," she said quietly to her as she listened to Neil's commentary.

"Pretty good finds man," Cody commented, sitting on the other couch across from Neil after grabbing an apple and nodding his thanks. He waved the bottle of the wine in the air at Charlie for a moment, wiggling his eyebrows, and set it down on the ground. "We haven't had much luck hunting, but we're pretty good at scavenging I think. Especially in the weapons department," he replied, and it was true. Cody and Charlie were the craftsman of their day, at least in this new age. They had some of their dad's weapons to start out with, Charlie had his pistol and Cody had his shot gun, with his knives split evenly between the two, a pair for each, and they had made or found the rest. Charlie's baseball bat was one of her favorite finds, it got the job done easy, and it was way more fun than just shooting, though she enjoyed that too. In the past they had attached nails to a wooden bat, but Charlie had swung that so much the wood started to crack, hence her new, rusty metal one, and they'd made mini tomahawks out of knives attached to sturdy wood sticks.

As Cody listed off some of the other things they had as well, coffee grounds, granola bars, a good supply of water, Charlie leaned a little closer to Mia. "I have girly things too, if you need em," she whispered. "Tampons, pads, you name it. Plus I've found a couple bottles of nail polish," she added, shrugging. She wiggled her fingers for a second, the fingernails were currently a deep red shade, though the color was little dull on her nails now and very chipped. She gave Mia one last smile and walked slowly to the opposite end of the couch Neil was on, the one she had previously been resting on before their arrival, and sat, bringing one leg up to her chest so her chin could rest on her knee, and crossed the other one. She rolled the jawbreaker around in her mouth, half in tune to the conversation.

"We've stayed away from big groups, seems like more trouble than it's worth," Cody shrugged his broad shoulders and popped open the bottle of wine, holding it out for anyone to take. Charlie briefly shuddered at his mention of troubled groups, but she gulped down her anxiety and focused on the candy flavoring her tongue.

Charlie hadn't replied to Neil's remark, so he let it drop, not wanting to upset her. He hadn't been all that serious, but she didn't seem to be in a joking mood. As he ate his apple he just sat back and watched the others for a moment. Okay, they had some decent supplies, they could handle themselves, and it didn't seem like they really called this place 'home' meaning they were up for moving. It was all good.

Mia smiled at Charlie, feeling good to be around another female. The other group had two, but they were mean and wanted nothing to do with her, she spent most of her time alone, sleeping in a tree or in a corner. She really hadn't felt like she belonged, the only one who was remotely nice to her was, surprisingly, Neil. He put on this tough guy mask, but he checked on her sometimes, and brought her food most of them, and sometimes she followed him into the woods, since she was good at climbing trees and scavenging. She popped one of the jaw breakers in her mouth and smiled at Charlie, when she mentioned the girly things. Good thing, she was almost out, and well... who wanted to be without? At the mention of nail polish, and seeing her nails, she smiled and showed off her own, which were a bright pink with sparkles on them. "I have a bunch of girly stuff like that!" She said with a big grin, digging through her bag and pulling out a pink and blue make-up case and unzipping it. She had all sorts of eyeshadows, liners, lipsticks, and more. Sure, it seemed like a waste of space, but it made her feel normal sometimes.

"I'm really good at finding things." Mia added to the conversation, looking over at Cody. She had a small smile on her face, and pulled her pink hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ears. "Not weapons, but like... small things, and I climb trees, and get eggs and fruits." It wasn't much, but it was all she had to offer. Neil shrugged, she was good at climbing trees, it was where she had spent most of her time, always out there. And she always seemed to have some weird thing. With a grin he took the bottle of wine, taking a drink, then handed it back as he dug through his bag until he found what he was looking for, a silver flask. "Vodka." He offered, holding it out to Cody. The flask was a bit beat up, but it was nearly full, Neil having just filled it a few days ago on a trip, he had found a half finished bottle. Sure it didn't taste as good as fresh, but who was he to complain?

"And you've got that right about groups. I ended up leading on for awhile, but they didn't want to listen. That is why I left, and here I am. Too many people to worry about and share with, no good at all."

Cody leaned forward to grab the wine bottle back and held it out to Mia, raising an eyebrow. He didn't know if she drank, but he wanted to be polite. He waved the bottled at the free seat on the couch beside him as well. However he did take a swig from the somewhat damaged flask, letting the stinging taste slide down his throat. He held it for a moment until Charlie held her hand out. There was a few seconds where the two stared at each other, a battle of wills. Cody, of course, was being the big brother he always was, not wanting her to get into anything "bad", even if he did. Charlie, of course, wasn't having that. Cody looked out for her, but there was a point of over protectiveness. Finally he relented and Charlie smirked in triumphed, snatching the flask from her brother's hand. She took a long gulp, the sweet jawbreaker long dissolved, not flinching and seemingly unphased, before pulling it from her lips with an audible "pop". She used to run with a bad crowd long, long ago, so she wasn't unused to the taste of harsh alcohol.

Charlie watched Mia open a little make up bag and stared in awe. "You gotta let me use some later," she remarked with a small smile. She used to love doing her makeup, not to look girly or impress guys, but because it made her feel badass, especially when she winged out her eyeliner and wore red lipstick. She hadn't felt sexy or beautifully badass in a long time, so little luxuries like makeup, which she had found little of, and nail polish brought her absolute joy. She figured the same went for Mia, with her oddly pink hair. Once when Charlie and Cody had ravaged through a mini mall, she had forced him to go into the prom store. The onslaught of the end of the world hit right at the end of her senior year, so she never got a prom. They stayed in the store for two hours, against Cody's will, though he did enjoy seeing his sister smile that much, as she tried on dresses, picking the perfect one. When she found it, she remembered it was a pale gold, she found a pair of unharmed heels to go with it and had made Cody dance around the store with her until it was absolutely time to go.

"I always wanted to climb a tree," Charlie commented, more to herself, but Cody heard and scoffed.

"She fell out of one when she was five and never tried again," he elaborated and Charlie flipped him the bird, a motion second nature to her. "But she's a good shot and not too bad with cars so I guess it evens out," he shrugged and Charlie shrugged, but smiled in satisfaction.

"I've been tinkering with the one outside, that Mia hid behind. Trying to work on it a bit, see if I can get it to run," she offered up, her light voice not loud but not timid or reserved either. Cody hid his shock at her speaking, he was a little jealous that the arrival of the two had gotten her to talk more than he could, but he let it go. Maybe this was a good omen, he figured. He hoped.

Charlie watched Neil speak, his jaw had an interesting way of moving as he formed words. She nodded along, fingers of one hand tapping a random beat on her leg and the other hand holding the flask back out to Neil. "Damn right, worrying about people you shouldn't is the biggest way to screw yourself over," she agreed. Besides her brother, she had retained the "every man for himself" attitude, which she supposed would have to be somewhat modified now that Neil and Mia were here, but they didn't seem like freeloaders and she figured everyone in the room could at least somewhat look out for themselves when need be.

Mia sat down where Cody had motioned, perching just on the edge of the seat. She had brought her bag with her, setting it down in front of her. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, she was just naturally nervous around new people, always had been. But at least they were being nice to her, and it seemed like it would be fun with Charlie, who, despite how tough she acted, was interested in make-up and the likes. Sure it was the end of the world, but why couldn't they still look pretty? She offered a soft smile as she took the wine, she wasn't much of a drinker, she mostly kept to herself even before all this went down, so it wasn't like she had the chance. On occasion she had wine with her grandmother at dinner, but it was just a glass, and she didn't really like it. She shook her head and lightly pushed the bottle back towards him. "Thanks." She offered in exchange, not wanting him to think she was being a snob or something.

"I pretty much lived in trees for awhile." Mia added in a soft voice, though she doubted anyone heard or paid attention, because Charlie had started speaking about cars. Her head perked up a bit when she heard her name mentioned, and frowned. She wasn't very stealthy, it seemed, and the pink hair likely didn't help much.

Neil took his flask and took another big swig of it, enjoying the feeling of it sliding down his throat. Whenever he had the chance he refilled it, finding it was nice to catch a little buzz, helped things go faster. "Speaking of cars, me and my bro..." He paused at that, frowning a bit. He tried not to talk about his brother much, it was too personal and still upset him. Everyday he still remembered what happened, despite trying to forget. "We used to work on cars back before shit went down. We had an old mustang, cherry red." It was nice to remember good things about his brother, working on the car, laughing and joking, sneaking him beers as they did so, lying when mother caught them. A smile crossed his face as he remembered the last time that happened, it was just a few days before everything went bad.

Cody smiled as Mia sat beside him on the old couch, it wasn't too beat up but it had a few old stains from the owners before. He was glad she seemed a little bit more comfortable with them. He nodded as she pushed the wine bottle back and instead he took a sip of it, it was kind of bitter but he wouldn't complain, holding it out to Charlie, who took it and took a gulp like she was absolutely quenched. It was a weird circle of pass the bottles between the wine and the vodka, but no one seemed to care. He glanced at Mia, having caught her comment about trees.

"Trees are cool... I'm kind of scared of heights though," he confessed to Mia and winked playfully before focusing back on Charlie and Neil. From what Neil said, it sounded like something bad had happened to his brother, it wasn't hard to tell that much. No one pressed him for information, just letting him have a moment with his memories. Cody figured they had all experienced loss or pain in one way or another, but he knew personally that that didn't make it any easier.

Charlie picked at her jeans as she listened to Neil. She didn't look at him, just listened. She didn't want to stare or seem like she was going to pry in his business. She wouldn't have figured he had had a brother, which was unusual when she thought about it. Now when she saw a person, another survivor, she didn't wonder about who they had lost or what they had seen or been through. It wasn't first priority to worry about others anymore, and that was kind of sad for humanity, she thought to herself.

She glanced up as Neil stopped talking, he looked as if he was engrossed in a memory. She watched his lips curve into a genuine smile and her head tilted slightly to the side in thought. She was intrigued by him, peculiarly enough as it was. She always loved observing people, especially when they occasionally revealed softer sides of themselves.

"Our dad had a muscle car too. Camaro though, '68 I think," Cody nodded at that, "maybe you can help me with the one out there," she nodded her head towards the front door to give a general direction. She had done a pretty good job the last few days with looking at it. It just seemed to have a few problems from what she could tell, thankfully the battery and transmission were good enough. She thought of her dad, how he'd always be leaned under the hood of that car or laying underneath it with just the bottoms of his legs visible. When she was a kid she thought he loved the car more than he loved her or her brother, but when he would include her in fixing it up, she would light up like a Christmas tree.

Mia tried to let herself relax, and she leaned back when Neil held the flask out in front of him, giving Cody a chance to grab it. She really wasn't interested in drinking. "It's not so bad when you get used to it." She whispered to Cody as she leaned back into the couch, allowing herself to relax finally. She was a bit tired, they had been walking for awhile, and she hadn't been sleeping, constantly on alert since someone had stolen her stuff, and after the last incident... She visibly shuddered at the thought of it, and found herself thankful that she was only around two guys now, who both seemed a lot nicer than the guys they had been around, she felt safer, anyways.

Neil felt the tension in the room after he paused and revealed his story, he knew, even though he didn't say anything, that they could all figure what happened. He usually tried to pretend nothing did, and he had always been on his own, he wasn't sure why he let that slip. There was nothing that could change about it now, so what good was there in dwelling on it? "I should be able to help you out." He said with a grin, looking over at Charlie. Okay, he was done feeling sorry for himself, which usually meant he would joke around, and maybe be a little crass. It was all in good fun, right? "With the car, I mean." He added with a wink, wondering if her brother was going to try kick his ass for talking to his sister like that.

"You can go upstairs to sleep if you want," Cody whispered to Mia, it seemed like she was drifting. He had only smiled at her comment about heights, taken another drink, and watched her closely. The similarities between she and his sister were odd. Obviously there were differences, Charlie was slightly taller than Mia and had a harder exterior it seemed. Charlie often feigned confidence, and Mia seemed to prefer to just watch, which he understood.

"The doors lock if you're worried," he added in as he saw her shudder at some unvoiced thought. He passed the wine bottle to Charlie, who took it without hesitation. She took two swigs, one in memory of her dad and one for herself. She glanced at Cody and Mia who were speaking quietly, she thought she had heard some more about trees. She turned her head back to Neil, pieces of long brown hair, with some mostly natural highlights of slightly lighter blonde here and there, moved as her head swiveled, framing her face.

Cody had heard Neil's comment but didn't say anything, only shot Neil a raised eyebrow. He was just kidding it seemed, and though if anyone hurt Charlie he would kick their ass, he was sure Charlie would get to it first. But she didn't take offense, just laughed, actually laughed and leaned forward, gently hitting his arm for his comment as she passed back the wine bottle, it was a dark red wine with a kick to it, but she found comfort in the drink. "Just take another drink, perv," she teased back. She rolled her eyes at Cody so he knew he didn't need to get defensive about it.

The brunette glanced at Cody and Mia, who was sinking further in to the couch. She could tell they were all tired, Cody had been woken from his doze, and the other two must be just as exhausted. She stood up, checking to make sure she had her lighter and cigarettes. She figured she'd have one last smoke outside, to watch the stars, something she tried to find time to admire when she could, then finish her watch. She didn't pulling a double tonight to let Cody sleep more.

"You guys can go to bed if you want, I'll take first shift after this cigarette," she waved her pack of cigarettes, which was nearly empty. She took a swig from Neil's flask, which had somehow ended up in her hands again, her head tilting back to get a good amount, and dropped it in Neil's lap.

Mia yawned and looked at Cody, "I'm not worried." She managed to grumble out, rubbing her eyes. She really did need some sleep, but wondered if they wanted her to take a shift. She doubted it, she wasn't much for fighting, and what good would she be stopping anything? She offered a smile and sat up, her hand gripping her pack. She wasn't sure what room she should take, so she just paused and looked over at the stairs. She sort of hoped he would show her, but didn't want to ask, so she just stood up, picking up the pack and slinging it over her shoulders. "Night." She smiled and nodded to Cody, then the others, before taking slow, quiet steps to the stairs. She had just flimsy flats on her feet, cute but not practical, her other shoes had been stolen and she hadn't found anything else in her size, her feet being small.

Neil just smiled at Cody, he didn't mean much by the comments, he just really hadn't been around too many females, and it wasn't like Mia was his type, so he didn't pay much mind to her, in that respect. He took a big swig from his flask and smiled at Charlie, "Hey, you're the one taking it wrong." He grinned wider now and watched her, half listening to everything else around him. When she gave his flask back, he took another drink, feeling the wonderful buzz he was looking for, and put it down on his pack, Cody seemed to be fine enough with the wine, he thought.

When Charlie got up, he stood as well, "Mind if I join you?" He asked, but already pulled out his crumpled back of cigarettes, and plucked one out, putting it between his lips. Sure, it wasn't a good habit, but what else could he do? He enjoyed the stale things, and worried about the day they were all gone. Neil swung out his arm and motioned towards the door, "Ladies first."

"Why not," Charlie shrugged, actually glad Neil was coming with her. Sure, she enjoyed her alone moments, especially at night, looking at the stars, but there was a point where you could be too alone with yourself and she was long past that. Often being so deep in her thoughts left her feeling worse than before, so she figured the buzz and Neil would help with that.

Speaking of the buzz, she was beginning to feel it. Not intensely, she hadn't drank near enough for that, but enough for some of the bad things to go away and bring on a sense of being "ok", at least for now. And that was nice, because she hadn't felt OK in a while, drinking or not. "Night Cody," she called gently, watching her brother get up to follow Mia up the stairs. Cody was respectful and kind, she wasn't worried about anything happening.

"How polite," she rolled her eyes at Neil but smiled as she did so, unlocking and opening the door. She stepped out onto the porch, black worn out combat boots thumping lightly on the cement. The porch was small, it was practically a town house after all, but it feature a covered, somewhat long, cemented area, and a step that reached out beyond the covering so you could see the stars and, if it was raining, feel the drops hit your skin. On the step was where Charlie sat, her cigarette already between her lips, the pack strewn beside her lazily. She flicked the lighter, giving it the lucky three times to get it to light, and breathed in, holding out the lighter to Neil so he could take it.

"Pretty, huh," she murmured as she looked at the stars, tracing constellations with her eyes, her cigarette resting loosely in between the fingers of her left hand. Her favorite class in high school had been astronomy, even getting through the boring math parts, and she still remembered a good majority of the constellations and where the planets were. It was sort of cloudy, most of the gray clouds gathered over the moon like a blanket, but some stars were twinkling just bright enough to be visible. A slight breeze passed over, but Charlie held her breath. Usually the wind smelled like death and she could do without that, but it felt nice washing over her arms.

Cody waved at his sister. He was going to call out a quick 'goodnight, Charles', but she was already out the door. He stood up, following behind Mia's small steps. He was beginning to notice just how small she was, almost pint sized. He almost chuckled at that but settled for a slight smile.

"Just go up and turn to the left, there's a bathroom closest to the stairs and the bedrooms after, two on the right and one on the left," he gave her basic directions, feeling like a tour guide. "You can have your pick," he offered. He didn't much care that he had been sleeping in one of the rooms he had claimed for the past four days, he'd had his moment of luxury. He only preferred the one he did because there were no pictures, no reminders that the people that had led complex, inner lives in this home were probably dead. The pictures in the living room had already been taken down and hidden underneath the sink, Charlie and Cody always did that whenever they stayed somewhere previously inhabited.

Neil watched Cody, kind of glad he was being nice to Mia, made up for him being somewhat of a jerk, and then she wouldn't be following him the whole time. He didn't mean to be so mean, but he couldn't help it, she was weak and he wanted to survive, he didn't need to be dragged down, not by anyone. He sighed and shook his head, turning back to grab the flask before he stepped outside with her, shutting the door lightly behind him. He took another small drink and sat down beside Charlie, his arm practically touching hers, not really for any reason, just because he felt like it. He grinned as he took the lighter from her, setting the flask down in front of him, and lighting his cigarette, putting the pack beside the flask.

"Yeah, it's pretty nice out here." It really was, that was one thing he learned to appreciate, the stillness of the night, the amount of the stars. He really had gotten closer to nature now that everything happened, sometimes he wondered if he should just leave all this behind and go deep into the woods, build himself his own shelter, and live off the land, maybe never seeing another zombie again. It would be pretty damn nice. He leaned back, feeling the buzz from the vodka as he took a long drag, blowing smoke rings into the dark night.

Mia smiled as she looked back at Cody, "Thanks so much." She really was thankful that he had showed her the way, more or less. She still wasn't sure what room to take, but she shrugged, since he didn't say, and chose the first one on the right, opening the door and standing in the threshold, "You're so nice." She offered a smile to Cody, then stepped inside, pushing the door shut behind her, tossing her bag on the bed. She didn't want to look around, she didn't want to know about the life that was once lived her, didn't want to think about it, instead she just set down her pack and opened it open. It took her a moment to find what she wanted, a pair of short cotton shorts that were hot pink with little white stars, and a white fitted tanktop. Most people didn't change their clothes, but she couldn't help it, normally she would have washed up, but was far too tired tonight. Instead she just took off the tshirt and shorts she wore, and changed them out for the more comfortable choice.

"Night..." She whispered to herself, needing the voice to help her sleep. With that she slid her body under the covers, trying to keep her mind on anything but who they might have belonged to.

Charlie glanced at Neil as he sat beside her, a bit close, but she didn't mind. As he leaned back, Charlie grabbed the flask and gave it a light shake, finding it somehow still holding liquid. She took a swig, she didn't think Neil would mind, and set it back down, feeding her slight intoxication. She watched his smoke rings billow out, slowly losing shape in the night. She wasn't great at smoke rings, only on occasion could she do them, so she settled with blowing the smoke slowly out through her mouth, more so letting it trail past her lips, and breathed it in through her nose, the French inhale.

"I wonder if anyone else alive is looking up at the sky like this," she wondered quietly, staring at the stars like they would give her the answer to her draining faith. She took another drag of her cigarette, making sure to not get her filter wet as it was her pet peeve. "I always wanted to stargaze but I never got around to it. Didn't imagine it would be like this though," she half chuckled. She wasn't sure what exactly to talk about with Neil, they had just met and she had the feeling neither of them wanted to get into the personal stories yet, but it didn't matter much. She was buzzed enough to not feel awkward, and she didn't feel uncomfortable around him at least for now, surprisingly enough. Wary still, maybe, just because she had bad experience in the past, but the night had been good she supposed.

Cody shrugged sheepishly, hand rubbing the back of his neck. "It's no problem," he replied nonchalantly and gave a small wave as she closed the door. He sighed, heading back downstairs, not drunk enough that he couldn't function, which he was thankful for. He hummed an old tune, a Beatles classic his dad used to sing, and picked up, putting the food of his and Charlie's that was uneaten and placing the pack back in the kitchen. After he cleaned up a bit, reorganizing in case they had to suddenly get up and leave in an emergency, he checked the back door of the house and the windows, even though he knew they were lock.

His toned legs carried him back up the stairs to the second room on the right, meaning he was leaving the master bedroom for either Charlie or Neil. He shut the door, making sure to leave it unlocked, again in case of emergency, and stripped down to his boxers, not caring that he hadn't cleaned himself up much; luckily some of the houses like this ran off well water, so they had a little bit of leeway with plumbing and hygiene there. Otherwise he and Charlie would search for uncontaminated bodies of water, and usually didn't have to scout too hard.

Cody flopped into the bed, glad that the slight alcohol buzz he had actually left him more sleepy than he had been. He pulled only the sheet from the bed around, just so it covered his waist and below. He hummed the end of the old song he had been singing and his big blue eyes slowly fluttered shut.

Neil smiled and watched her out of the corner of his eye, trying not to be too creepy. He wasn't sure what to talk about, or do, it wasn't like he spent much time just hanging out with people, in any way, actually. He kept to himself, or hunted and did what needed to get done, then passed out for some sleep before starting over. He listened to her talk for a moment, before leaning forward and grabbing the flask, he wasn't sure she had left any, but he was hopeful. On his empty stomach it was hitting him harder than usual, but he was enjoying it, so there was no need to complain. There was enough for one last drink, and he took it, savoring the taste as it slid down his throat. Usually it lasted longer, but it wasn't like he had to save it for anything.

"I don't know, most people are too concerned with themselves. Or sleeping." He laughed, it wasn't that funny, but he couldn't help it. "Speaking of sleeping..." He trailed off, winking at Charlie as he sat forward, looking over at her. Okay, he didn't like to admit it, but drinking made him a bit of a flirt, he couldn't help it, he just hoped that he didn't offend her in any way, it wasn't his plan.

Mia was sure she heard music, or humming. Something like that, but she figured she had t be crazy, and shook her head. Despite being so tired she was having trouble sleeping, and she sat up, looking around the room. It wasn't anything special, but it had belonged to someone, someone who was likely dead at this point. The thought of this depressed her and she took a deep breath. She needed some water, and to clean her face up a bit, anything to distract herself.

Not hearing any nearby sounds she climbed out of the bed and moved to the door, opening it slowly and stepping into the hallway, it was quiet. For a moment she forgot which room was the bathroom, and found herself hoovering outside in the hall for a minute. It clicked and she tiptoed to the bathroom, not wanting to make any noise. She moved into the bathroom and pushed the door shut, leaving it open just a crack. She found her face in the mirror and groaned, she was pale, with dark bags under her eyes, and her blonde roots were showing, which she wasn't happy about. Maybe she would take care of it tomorrow, depending on what they planned on doing. Sighing softly she ran the water, it trickled out at first, and she didn't turn it on very high, not wanting to waste too much. Cupping her hands she let them fill with water, then drank from them, enjoying the cool feeling.

Laughing at his lame joke, Charlie shook her head and shrugged. She supposed it was true, and she knew that it was probably best if they were sleeping too, they needed to get some shut eye if tomorrow turned out to be a big day. So far they hadn't planned much, they had only made it to San Francisco a few days before and they hadn't gone much in to town. She was terrified to in all honesty, big cities meant one of two things: pure abandonment, with dead bodies littered everywhere and no sign of life, or zombies. Lots of zombies.

There were lots of things they could possibly be doing tomorrow. They eventually would have to go deeper in to the city to search for supplies, she was desperately trying to fix the car parked in the driveway, if they had a car they would have a major advantage with traveling, or they could pick through the nearby houses as they had mostly been doing. She and Cody had talked of traveling to the mountains, California was an odd state with both beaches and mountains, but they'd have to be well prepared for that, and they'd definitely have to map it out.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she winked back at Neil and took another last inhale of her cigarette. She licked her lips, it was a habit with every last smoke of a cigarette, and blew out, flicking the butt away from her to land somewhere in the dead lawn. She groaned as she remembered she had first shift. "You can sleep, I gotta keep watch," she sighed, even though she hated being absolutely alone. She doubted there would be any trouble in the night, there rarely was and she was sure one of them would hear it if there were, but there was still the possibility and so it was best to have at least one person awake. Sometimes on her shifts she could half sleep, getting some rest to ease her exhaustion while still being conscious enough to jump to high alert if anything went bump in the night.

"I guess we should go in," she half asked, half stated, standing up and laughing when she nearly tripped over one of her untied shoelaces. She was a little tipsy, it was evident, so her almost falling right into Neil's lap was funnier than it should have been, but she didn't care. She covered her mouth to stifle her laughter and in between giggles she offered a couple "sorry"s.

Half asleep in the second bedroom, Charlie could hear Mia stirring and debated getting up. She probably couldn't sleep, he almost never slept on the first night in a new place, never had, but he didn't want to startle her. Plus, he was only in his boxers and going to her meant finding his pants and pulling himself out of bed, neither of which he felt too keen on doing. So instead he waited, listening to her footsteps fade towards the bathroom. As his eeyes sealed shut even tighter, he, half unconsciously, mumbled the lyrics to his previous song to himself. "I wanna hold your hand," he croaked quietly, his usually alright singing voice peppered with exhaustion.

Neil looked out into the night, looking at all the houses in the area. He had not spent much time over here, most of it was pretty picked over. Most everything was by now, in all honesty, and the idea of moving into the deep woods and leaving behind this life seemed better and better. Maybe they would want to? He sighed, perhaps after a few days, and they seen how bad it was around here, they would be open to the idea. It was so long past that everything happened that food was scarce, and a lot expired, so what good was there to staying around? It didn't seem like the zombies spent much time in the woods, nothing there for them. The worst was the city, they were everywhere, you couldn't take a step without running into one, it seemed. The only good thing was if you could get in there you might actually find supplies, since many didn't dare face them.

He was watching Charlie as she got up, wondering if she wouldn't mind him staying up. He felt bad leaving her alone to do this, he wasn't her problem, plus he was more tipsy than tired. Before he could get up to follow her she nearly fell in his lap and he resisted the urge to pull her into it. No need to make things awkward, even if they both had been drinking. He stood and offered her his hand to keep her steady, trying to hold back his laughter as she laughed, knowing they needed to be quiet. "You're drunk." he joked as he went for the door, opening it to let them inside. "I guess I will have to stay up to make sure you don't pass out on us." He grinned and winked at her, he doubted it was a problem, and was sure she would defend herself. She didn't seem irresponsible.

Mia sat down on the edge of the tub, taking a deep breath. She needed to go to sleep but she felt so out of place in this world, and wasn't sure what she should do anymore. Cody was nice to her, but what could she do to help the group? She could barely protect herself, opting just to run and hide whenever she could. It was times like these, in the dark and all alone, that she couldn't help but think of her life before all this happened. She had always been an outcast, adopted into a family that didn't seem to pay much mind to her, and too much time spent alone. Though she wasn't all that unhappy, she liked being by herself, she was used to it, and she felt close to nature, spending time in the woods by her old house, swimming in the lake.

She managed a smile as she thought about it, and pushed back the thoughts that wondered what might of happened to her family. When things got bad she ran off to the woods to hide, not wanting to face it, and it was a week before she came back, and everything was so different by then. Looking down at her nail polish she smiled a bit, remembering the conversation with Charlie. She had never had a sister, so she was really looking forward to it.

Charlie scowled at his comment but took his hand anyways. It was much bigger than hers, but it was warm and he seemed a little more clear headed than she was. She let him mostly guide them, him opening the door as she carefully and slowly thought out the best response that would make her seem the least drunk. "Not that drunk, I wouldn't pass out," she objected, though she was glad she wouldn't be alone, and right after she had gotten the surprisingly coherent enough sentence out she yawned. She cursed, knowing she had basically just thrown her argument under the bus, and glanced sheepishly at Neil to see if he had noticed.

She was usually never this friendly or comfortable, not that she had many people to be that way with. It was probably the alcohol, loosening her up a bit as it used to all the time, but she didn't care all that much. With her vision only slight obscure, she made it a good few feet into the house before she stumbled again and she giggled but cut herself off, remembering her brother and Mia asleep. "Sh," she put her finger to her lips and hushed Neil, even though it was her who was probably the louder of the two.

"We can't wake Cody, god he's a grump when he wakes up," she rolled her eyes and as she headed to the couch she realized she was still holding Neil's hand, her fingers entwined with his. She glanced back at him, cheeks blushing, and slowly, reluctantly, pulled her hand away. She flopped on the couch, leaning against the back cushions, pieces of her hair falling in her face, and let out a soft sigh. "So comfy," she murmured.

Upstairs, Cody could hear the front door open and Charlie's voice trickle in. The house was small and the walls were thin so the sound trickled up to him easily. He remembered what his father taught him, a trick to falling asleep that the soldier himself had learned when he was overseas, trying to get rest in a war torn country. Cody slowed his breathing, focusing only on it, making sure his inhales and exhales were slow, deep, and the same amount of time apart.

Neil eyed her as she more or less led him in the house, he noticed the yawn, after she had just finished telling him she wouldn't pass out, and he held back a laugh. Yeah, she was going to be out, he was pretty sure about that. He had been the one to more or less stop her from falling over, and when she told him to shush, like he was the one with the giggle, he grinned and nodded, despite him barely making a sound. "I'll keep that in mind." He whispered, watching her pull her hand from his. He frowned a bit, he had been enjoying the feeling of her holding his hand, but didn't say anything.

After she flopped on the couch he turned and closed the door, locking it up as he did. Actually, he was surprised that he remembered, considering he was feeling a bit tipsy himself, maybe not as much as her, but still. After making sure the door was shut and secure, he moved over to the couch, plopping down beside Charlie, his leg touching hers as he did so. He brought his arm to rest on the back of the couch behind her, all but putting it around her shoulders. "I'll keep yah company, even if you think you're going to stay awake." He laughed.

Mia wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there, but she heard the others come inside downstairs. They were laughing and seemed to be getting a long pretty well, likely drunk, the way they had been acting when she was down there. She shook her head and stood up, knowing it was best she went to sleep, she didn't need to hear whatever they were up to. She got herself another drink and then slowly made her way back down the hall and to the room she had chosen, climbing in bed, enjoying the darkness and how quiet it was now. Curling up into a ball, the sheet pulled up to her neck, she closed her eyes and found herself drifting off pretty quickly. It had been a long day and she didn't know what the plans were for the morning.