"I know I'm going to stay awake," Charlie corrected and emphasized, but her sky colored eyes were barely cracked open with her statement. She had almost not registered Neil locking the door, only gaining recognition because she heard the clicks, but was glad he did, if they had forgotten and Cody had found out, her ass would be grass. Neil sat close to her and she leaned closer to him, stifling another yawn. "I bet you'll fall asleep first," she added half heartedly, mostly only talking to keep herself as awake as she possibly.

Her gun poked into her back sharply and her eyes opened, her dark, thin brows furrowed in annoyance as she leaned forward and grabbed it with one hand, she had forgotten it was there, pulling it from the back of her skinny pants and tossing it gingerly onto the carpeted floor. "Don't let me forget that," she pointed in the general direction of the gun, falling back onto the couch, her head almost nearly on Neil's shoulder.

A quarter of the way asleep and foggy from alcohol, Charlie's thoughts slowly spun in different directions. She thought of the drinks they'd had and her mind made the connection to her old parties and how different this was. I guess that was an interesting mid-end of the world party, she thought to herself sarcastically and laughed. "Interesting party," she offered out loud in vague explanation of her laugh, though it wasn't much of an explanation. With her control of her body trickling due to her fading consciousness, Charlie let her head gently fall on Neil's shoulder. She wasn't yet asleep but with how comfortable she was, she was damn close.

((sorry this took me a few minutes to put, my grandma called and that woman talks for hours))

"And if you lose the bet, what do I get?" He joked with her as she seemed to be unable to even stay asleep. He was tired too, but he held back his yawns, determined to prove that she would be out first. She was more comfortable with him than he thought she would be and he assumed it was the alcohol, but it was nice either way. He was going to put his arm around her, but she leaned forward and took the gun from her pants, putting it on the carpet, a little less careful then she likely she have, he thought.

"A pretty sad party, with two people." Neil laughed at the thought, "And we didn't even play any games." He was more just trying to make conversation at this point, but she seemed to tired to really make much sense. When her head connected with his shoulder he smiled and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her a bit more into him, letting her get comfortable without being too forward. Normally he wouldn't have just let this happen with some random girl, but she was something different, and he was just a tiny bit drunk, so it all seemed okay.

For a moment he just looked down at her, but then his eyes made a path around the room, looking it over, trying not to think of the people who lived here before. He hated it, shacking up in other peoples houses, taking their stuff just to get by another day. Though it was nice not to feel so alone, for the first time in awhile, he felt okay.

(No worries, I know the feeling.)

Charlie laughed lightly into his shoulder, letting herself be pulled into him. She moved her knees so she was more so curled up in a ball, which meant she was basically cuddled into the side of him. She'd probably kick herself in the ass in the morning for letting herself get too close, the last time she hadn't even touched the guy when he hurt her, but for now she let it be.

"I dunno," she replied quietly, trying to regain some of her energy. While the vodka and wine had gotten her buzzed, it had also made her more sleepy right after. "I'll think of something," she jokingly replied, not knowing what to offer if he won. It wasn't a serious bet, but she didn't have much anyways. None of them did. "But if I win, which I will, you gotta let me paint your nails," she decided, smiling at the idea.

Her eyes tiredly cracked open, she was a stubborn girl and she wanted to prove she could stay awake. "I suck at games, except truth or dare. I used to be unbeatable at that," she reminisced for a moment. After her mom's abandonment had hit her hard, it took until she was 15 for her to come to the realization that her mom wouldn't just get over whatever had made her leave and come back bearing presents like in the movies, she had gotten into partying to ease her depression. Drinking, smoking, the likes. She would do anything for a rush of adrenaline, to feel alive, and sometimes now she found herself doing that, not hiding from a zombie if she saw one. Cody hated it, probably more than he hated any other habit of hers that he wasn't fond of, but she feigned not caring about that.

"If it looks like I'm asleep, I'm only pretending, just so you know," she whispered and let her eyes fall close once more. She debated smoking another cigarette, but she was far too lazy, and didn't want to pull away from Neil just yet, to get up and grab her pack from the side coffee table that she had left it on.

"You wont win." Neil was sure of that, while he was tired she was nearly falling asleep against him. Lightly, hoping she didn't get too bothered by it, he let his fingers trace random patterns up and down her arm. It was almost as if everything was normal and they didn't have a single care in the world. Too bad they couldn't just pop in a movie and watch TV, then it would be like this whole end of the world never happened. He took a deep breath and sighed contently, pretending it was like that, even just for a moment. When she spoke it brought him from his thoughts, "Hmm, but I'm going to win. So fat chance on that, girly." He was tempted to ask for something over the line, when he won, but decided against it, not wanting to mess things up by freaking her out.

"Truth or dare? Now that would be interesting. I bet I'm better at that than you." He laughed, he was more joking than anything. What could they really do? He always picked dare and they had to stay quiet, so he doubted she would be interested. He had never played that much, a few times while drinking with friends, before all this happened, but he was a pretty fearless dude, and didn't mind embarrassing himself, which worked for things like that.

Neil patted Charlies head, smiling. "Okay, you keep telling yourself that." He knew she wasn't going to last much longer if they stayed like this, but he didn't mind.

Neil's fingers on her arm felt heavenly, comforting and soft, not forceful or greedy. Almost timid, actually, which was surprising for his demeanor. Charlie's arms had been against her chest, held tight, but as she relaxed she let her right arm fall over his chest, almost like she was trying to wrap her arm around him too. "I always win," she mumbled into his side, but she was doubting her own luck this time. She was so tired and Neil was so comfortable and damn she hadn't have drank as eagerly as she did.

Charlie figured in another universe, where a mutating virus that practically decapitated the human race didn't exist, she could see herself sitting with a boy like this, maybe even Neil. She kind of had before, though most of her "relationships" had been short lived teenage flings that usually centered more on not giving a shit about anything except what was fun in the moment. She remembered seeing movies where couples sat how she imagined Neil and she looked at the moment, but of course they usually weren't the only few survivors seemingly left on the face of the planet.

"I'm gonna take that as you accepting the challenge, Imma paint your nails when I win," she declared and smiled, though she knew he couldn't see it. She was actually quite excited to at least paint her nails and do makeup with Mia, she wouldn't tell the boys that, she had to be much tougher than nail glaze and sparkly gloss, but she looked forward to it immensely.

"Too quiet for dares," Charlie responded, her replies mostly only half sentences now. "But rain check, I could so kick your ass at that," she teased. She was very interested in playing truth or dare, maybe she could even rope Mia or Cody into it, but she was tired and didn't want to wake the sleeping beauties upstairs. She debated suggesting playing a game of truths or never have I ever, but she wasn't sure just how open she, or even Neil, would want to be.

Her right hand lazily swung up and swatted the hand that patted her head before falling back in place on his chest, palm opening and feeling the heat of his torso through his shirt. "Falling asleep yet," she asked jokingly, swallowing back another yawn. If he didn't pass out first she knew she would be gone any minute now.

"You wont this time." Neil insisted, not able to hold back a yawn, this time. Her yawning, and her warmth, was making him quite tired, and he wouldn't mind falling asleep like this. Squirming a bit he settled himself deeper into the couch, letting his body really loosen up, his arm pulling Charlie a bit closer into him. "And I knew you'd say that, you're afraid to play me in truth or dare, 'cause you know I'd win." At this point he was just egging her on, knowing she was too tired to do anything about it. That actually made it more fun. Though he knew it might be a bad idea, because it could lead to them having to talk about the past, and normally he wasn't up for that. Most days he liked to pretend it didn't happen, it was easier that way.

He laughed a bit when she swatted at his hand and he moved it back to her arm, lazily drawing swirl patterns up and down it, trying to stop himself from thinking back to everything, wanting nothing more than to just be in the now. His other arm curled up and rested on her forearm lightly, enjoying the closeness he was feeling, even if it was only because they had been drinking and their guards were down. It was nice. He faked snoring when she asked if he was sleeping, knowing that he could last a little while longer.

"Shuttup," Charlie mumbled at him, not having enough energy to say much else. When Neil wiggled she almost thought he was getting up, maybe to go to one of the upstairs bedrooms to sleep, and her stomach dropped, but when he only pulled her closer, she seemed to fit nicely into his side, her head having fallen from his shoulder to his chest, she let out a sigh of relief. She almost thought he was uncomfortable with her snuggled into him like this, but his finger tips back on her arm said otherwise.

"Denial, I'm the princess of truth or dare," their banter was still enjoyable despite her almost being asleep, and Neil starting to yawn as well. Usually she was on over drive, thinking about everything and anything, from a minute from now to an hour to the next day. But for the moment she was content, a feeling long gone from her. And it would probably be gone in the morning too.

When Neil began to snore, which made his chest vibrate against her cheek, Charlie leaned her head back to look up at Neil, just to check, and smiled in triumph. She leaned her head back down, nuzzling in to his chest with a mumbled mixture of "goodnight" and "I won". Her breathing evened out as she began to drift off, her hand subconsciously gripping on to him tighter.

He smiled as she tried to fight him about, he planned to hold her to this as soon as they got the chance, and if they were lucky, got their hands on some more vodka, or something. Maybe a wine cellar that was untapped? Man, what a dream that would be. His head drooped, resting against hers as she seemed to move into him more. He felt warm and content, and at ease. If only this feeling was going to last beyond the night. He felt her move a bit, trying to look up at him as he pretended to sleep and he didn't move, he was going to let her think she won, even if it was only to get her to fall asleep instead of fighting it, like she seemed to be.

He almost laughed when he heard her, smug and thinking she won, and he could tell that she was nearly out, her breathing more even. "Night..." He whispered, doubting she would even hear as she slept. He sort of regretted letting her think that he had fallen asleep, because now she was going to press him into letting her paint his nails. Oh well, it wasn't a huge deal, and it would make her happy, and it wasn't like there were a ton of people around to see them. He smiled at the thought and nuzzled into her hair, taking a deep breath as he tried to let himself fall asleep as well. Normally he would be uncomfortable in such a situation, but here it felt perfect and sleep came rather easy to him.

Sunlight flooded into the living room through the cracks in the blinds, painting striped patterns against the surfaces it hit, including Charlie and Neil. Charlie's eyes cracked open in annoyance, god she was still so tired, and she was half surprised to find herself curled into Neil, with him just as wrapped around her like a protective shell. Memories as foggy as a spring night in southern Georgia drifted through her mind, drinking from the flask and wine bottle, smoking outside with Neil, making a verbal competition of who would fall asleep first, which Charlie had won, at least she thought.

"Fuck," she murmured, covering her eyes into Neil's side, still sleepy enough to let her legs stay draped over Neil's legs, her arms lazily locked around his torso with his arm pulling her closer, his head on hers against his chest. Her hair was draped across her face like a veil, which was probably why the morning sunlight had only just now woken her up.

Cody trooped down the stairs one by one as Charlie slowly peeled herself off from Neil to not wake him. She was vaguely confused on why she let her guard down so much that she had literally slept with the guy. Her body ached as she stood, though she had been quite cozy on Neil her limbs had locked in place and now they were sore.

"What are you doing," Cody asked as Charlie stood up just as Cody entered the living room. Charlie cleared her throat, thinking quick on her feet.

"Bout to go smoke. Neil and I took turns sleeping, figured we'd let you and Mia catch up on some z's," she shrugged. Cody nodded, letting out a doubtful "uh huh". Charlie rolled her eyes like he was just overreacting and grabbed her pack from the side table. She only had a few in the raggedy cardboard box left but they had found another pack already. "Coming with," she asked, holding out the box like she was offering him one. This time it was his turn to roll his eyes at his little sister but he nodded anyways, following her out the front door after she unlocked it. Charlie took a last glance at Neil, already feeling cold since their body heat had been separated.

"How'd you sleep," Charlie asked as they stepped outside. San Francisco was a particularly wet city, she figured. It rained a lot for being so close to LA, so it was a little chilly outside. Both Cody and Charlie noticed that instantly in the early morning light, which was almost already asked by clouds. It would probably storm later that day, but now only an icy breeze bothered them.

"Good I suppose, I think Mia struggled though," Cody's bare shoulders shrugged back at her, obviously he had forgotten his shirt but thankfully remembered his pants. Charlie nodded, only half listening. With a slightly shivering hand she put her cigarette to her lips and lit. "What were you wanting to do today," he wondered, his already deep voice even more gravelly from just waking up. Charlie shrugged and Cody half sighed, figuring she was already going back to her withdrawn state. "I guess we'll talk to Neil and Mia, huh," he offered and she nodded once more, blowing smoke in Cody's face and laughing briefly when he scowled and coughed.

Mia had spent half the night tossing and turning, sleeping not really finding her. She groaned as the sun rose and covered he face. She wasn't sure how long she had been laying there before she heard movement in the house, steps in the hallway and then voices. At least now she didn't feel weird, waking up and moving around, if the others were awake. As she swung her legs over the edge of the bed she moaned, her body sore and the light a little too bright, if only she had noticed that the curtains were open last night, then she could have closed them. Taking a deep breath she pushed herself to standing, her legs ached but she ignored it as she attempted to stretch. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she made her way to the door, opening it slowly and looking around. There was no one around, which meant she could quickly get ready. Sure, she didn't have to make herself look nice, but she wanted to.

Turning around she dug through her bag until she pulled out the cosmetic bag, tucking it under her arm she made her way to the bathroom. She took care of business first and washed her face, using as little water as possible. Leaning into the mirror she went to work, putting on various layers of eyeshadow, mascara and lip gloss. Even if they were going scavenging, she felt like looking good, maybe Charlie would even want to. She smiled at the thought, thinking that maybe she could have a friend who she could talk to.

Neil groaned as he felt his warmth taken away from him. Normally he was a rather light sleeper, and rarely slept through the night, but it was morning already and he had no idea when Charlie had moved, but it seemed recent. Rubbing his eyes he tried to adjust to the light, scanning the room. The door was cracked open and he heard voices, so he stood up, stretching for a moment before he tried to move. He groaned once more and ran his fingers through his hair. "Morning." He grumbled as he stepped outside. It was then he realized he had left his pack, and flask on the ground by the step. Well at least nothing came by and took it. He all but stumbled over to it, opening the pack, frowning as he noticed the low amount, after this one there would be only four left. Slipping the pack into his jeans pocket and the flask into the other, he all but took the lighter from Charlie after she lit hers, and lit his own, taking a long drag on it.

"I vote we go searching for a bit, then me and Charlie can see about working on the car." He wasn't sure what Cody and Mia would do while they did, but it wasn't really his problem. The only reason he wanted to search at this point was he really wanted some more alcohol. That was the first good sleep he had gotten in awhile and if he could have that every night he would be a much happier guy.

Charlie's attention switched to the door opening wider and Neil stumbling out, his balance off from having just woken up it seemed, and he was just as bad as she was drunk. She let the lighter be swiped right out of her hand, he better believe he was special, that was her lucky lighter, and waved lazily at him in greeting.

"Sounds good," she yawned and shivered, goosebumps rising up and down her arms like tiny little mountains. Weather in San Francisco was as unpredictable and changeable as the sea. Spring was just about the only season that matched the correct description, but it was a little better than Seattle, where Cody and Charlie had grown up. However it seemed to get chillier in the late summer here, pretty odd she figured. It seemed like summer and fall were mixed up, at least Charlie thought it was summer here, which, in the home of the Golden Gate Bridge, came with fog, wind, and only occasional heat. Sea spray made afternoons characteristically cool, and the morning, as it was now, was no better.

"We probably need to go into town, there could be some good finds there," Cody reluctantly said what he knew at least him and Charlie were both thinking. It was true, the big cities had been overtaken by the living dead, so he doubted anyone left would actually try to hit the towns. Meaning there was likely just a jackpot of supplies and goods waiting if someone had the balls to do it.

With a shrug Charlie breathed in her cigarette, her facade of feigning nonchalance already back in action. "I'm down," she offered, smoke billowing out of her mouth in wisps with her words, though she knew that going in to a city meant quadrupling your risk of getting bit. Hopefully, after they gathered enough supplies and had a working car, Charlie and Cody could find some retreat safe zone, maybe close to the beach or in the mountains. And maybe Neil and Mia would want to come too.

Finishing her cigarette, Charlie pushed herself off of the wall of the porch that she was leaning on and wiped her hands on her pants, taking a few steps forward and feeling her arm brush Neil's as she passed.

She figured she'd change, she hated spending too many days in the same clothes, and do her makeup with Mia. Why not kick ass while looking hot. "Gonna go check on Mia, do our makeup or whatever," she rolled her eyes and played it cool, but she was actually quite excited to join the other girl. God it would be nice being around another female, not just her overprotective brother who still freaked out when she mentioned tampons.

Cody waved at his sister as she opened the door, her boots hadn't been taken off somewhere in her "sleeping shifts" with Neil and they scuttled against the concrete before she stepped inside, leaving the front door leaned behind her. Cody glanced at Neil and raised an eyebrow.

"Sleep well?"

The brunette took the steps two at a time, but slowly, pulling herself up the staircase with the help of the lightwood banister railing. She knew they had coffee grounds but that would take getting the water hot enough to actually mix with grinds, and she'd have to find a strainer too. But she would kill for a cup of delicious, luxurious coffee.

She quickly walked into the master bedroom, where her large pack, not just her daily bookbag that she took when they scouted or went anywhere really, was, which contained her clothes, and changed, stripping with ease and pulling on a pair of black leggings and a long gray tee shirt with a small faded cat head on the left breast pocket. She made a mental note to possibly bring her hoodie if she needed it. She tugged her boots back on and traced her steps back down the hall, cracking open the bathroom door and smiling at Mia, who was already at work on her makeup. "Am I late," she asked, a half smile tugging up the corner of the left side of her lips.

Neil stood there, taking a long drag on his cigarette, half listening to their conversation. It was cool out, but he was enjoying it, it was better than burning hot, anyways. he yawned and waited for Charlie to leave before he sat down where he had the night before. He was curious to see what she looked like with makeup on, and a bit surprised she even cared. "Yeah, not too bad. Yourself?" Neil wondered if Cody had caught them cuddled up like they were, or if she had got up in time. he thought Cody did, considering he asked this question, but he wasn't going to say more. What did he care anyways, Charlie was old enough to do what she wanted.

"And I am for going in town, no one really does, so there should be quite a bit there. I know a few things I want." Neil held back a smile, Cody didn't know his main goal was some more vodka, and he didn't need to, not really. "I've seen her take one out, are you as good?" He sure hoped so, because it was going to be bad. The town was overrun and few people went that way, never really have, but at this point it was all that was left, plus, there might be more stuff there than he usually found. Of course they all needed some nice blunt weapons and to be quick and strong, he wasn't sure Mia would be able to handle it. But she was good at finding things, and they needed that.

---

Mia thought she heard someone in the hall but didn't turn her head, quite busy putting her make up on. She jumped though when Charlie entered the bathroom, taking a deep breath and looking at her. Smiling she held out her makeup bag, full of a bunch of different eyeliners, eye shadows and lip glosses, plus a mascara or two. "Here, use whatever you want, I'm going to paint my nails over." She grabbed a blue bottle of nail polish and sat down on the lid of the toilet, unscrewing the cap. "Did you sleep well last night?" She asked as she held the bottle between her knees, dipped the brush in, and got to work on her left hand, painting over the pink that was already there.

Mia was curious as to what happened between her and Neil, they seemed to be hitting it off quite well. She blushed at the thought and tried to push them away, not even daring to ask about anything like that.

Charlie murmured a quiet apology for startling Mia, she had briefly forgotten how timid the girl was. "Rad," she mumbled as she grabbed the makeup bag, rifling through it. Mia had quite a variety for a girl living in an apocalypse, odd, but impressive. She refrained from making childish "ooh"s and "ah"s as she glanced in the bag. She splashed water on her face briefly and proceeded to pull out a black liquid liner from the blue and pink case and lean forward over the sink. Her left hand held the pen-like makeup tool and her right hand gingerly pulled at her eyelid it ensure evenness.

"Uh, yeah. I slept well, alcohol does that," she squinted her own open eye and glanced at Mia from her peripheal vision. Mia blushed the same color as her hair, at something or other she didn't specify, and she wondered just how much Mia and Cody knew. Charlie didn't think she and Neil had been that loud of drunks, and all they had done was lay on each other. "You?"

She drew a line on her opposite eyelid, equal in width and length to the one on her left, thin and winged out at the ends, and blinked open her baby blues. She spent a long moment staring at her reflection, at first only making sure her eyeliner was even, and then she watched herself. Her skin was freckled and mostly clear, not wearing makeup meant no blemishes on her skin, though she had a small scrape on the right side of her jaw, and her eyes were duller than they used to be. Her hair had already been tugged into a ponytail, the strands were straight and sleek, she did need to wash her hair somehow, and soon so it didn't get too greasy, and her hair was so long that even tied up the ends still nearly touched the middle of her back.

Before she started to nitpick at herself she quickly finished her makeup, though she took the time to carefully apply her deep red lip gloss and flick a few coats of mascara across her already long lashes. She slowly swiveled her head left and right as she checked herself out, oddly pleased with her improved appearance. She had always thought she looked better with makeup, and it was strange seeing herself with it after so long without.

"How's that," she asked Mia and turned to her, leaning her hip bone on to the counter and gesturing at her face so Mia knew she was talking about her makeup.


"Alright I guess, caught up a bit since you two took shifts" Cody shrugged in response at Neil. In truth he had only seen Charlie swinging her legs off of Neil's lap and standing up, but he knew what that implied. He wasn't upset, he had no logical reason to be, only curious. Even before this mess Charlotte had been slow to grow comfortable with others, always wary before she got too close.

"A group trip to town sounds good. Mia is small, can probably get in tight places. We have a few extra weapons in case you guys need em," he offered. He ran his hands through his short hair, already trying to make a game plan for the day. He figured while Charlie and Neil worked on the car, he'd admit that his sister knew more about cars than he did, he and Mia could scout through the houses, a double hit for scavenging, especially if their in city search didn't go well.

"I'm pretty good, but I don't seem to have the passion for it that she does," Cody chuckled. He had a knack for making weapons and using them, he was strong and had good aim, he had played baseball and dabbled in other sports in high school and early college, but he mostly avoided zombies while Charlie would dive head first to bash their heads in. He supposed it was her way of dealing with her pent up emotions, primarily anger, so he let her to what she needed to do as long as she wasn't putting herself in too much risk.

Mia was busy working away on her nails, coating them in a sparkly blue colour that she knew would match the shirt she knew she had in her bag. Okay, so caring about appearance at this time was likely lame, but what else was there? She smiled as she thought about it, it was her way of being a little more normal. She was lost in thought as she worked on her nails and was done quiet quickly, considering how much she did this. Just as she was screwing the cap on the polish bottle, Charlie had turned to her. "Oh, wow..." She looked nice, a lot better than Mia's meek and quiet make up, Charlie looked, well, hot. "You look good, I've never done mine like that..." She was a bit jealous, honestly. She offered a smile and stood up, fanning her fingers, waiting for the polish to dry, thankfully it was a quick dry one, she doubted they were going to sit around all day.

"I'm going to go change, just leave this in here when you're done." She smiled once more and moved around her and from the bathroom, heading slowly to the room she had claimed. Slipping into the room and pushing the door shut behind her, she moved to her pack, digging through it. She had quite a few clothes, since most of them were small enough, so she could easily fit a bunch without filling it. She found the blue shirt that matched the nail polish, it was a racerback, sleeveless shirt that pillowed out and had white lace on the back of it. In place of the cotton shorts she put on the same cutoffs she had on yesterday. The outfit was completed with the silver flats, which were dirty and scuffed up, but all she had for shoes. Her goal was to find some new ones, soon.

---

"Yeah, but she can't fight." Neil mumbled when he mentioned Mia, he would honestly rather leave her here, but he knew it wasn't nice, so he just sighed and finished his cigarette, stamping it out on the ground and flicking the filter into the street. "Either way, we should get going soon, I'mma empty out my pack so i have space, and grab something to eat. You can have some of my jerky, if you'd like. I have a bunch."

Instead of waiting for a reply, or letting him know if he needed any weapons, he stood and went inside, leaving the door open behind him. His pack where where he had left it, by the couch, and he pulled it onto the couch, flipping it open and digging through it. He didn't know what room he could use, and didn't feel like dealing with it at this point, so he just took most of the stuff out and left it on the couch. His clothes in a crumpled pile, and the other random items nearby. He did take care and set the jerky nicely on the couch, it was in some old Ziploc bags, and there was about 2 full gallon sized ones, it was months of work, but it was good food, and he was proud.

After emptying everything but his water bottle and extra knife, he sat down among the piles of stuff, opening one of the bags of jerky and taking out a piece, chewing happily. He was sure this was rabbit, but he had also killed a dear a few weeks ago, so he couldn't be for certain. Either way, it would fill him.

“Thanks,” Charlie murmured, shrugging like she didn’t care but she smiled at the compliment. “I like your nails,” she pointed out Mia’s hands, but Mia was out the door to change and Charlie wasn’t sure the other girl had heard. The brunette turned and looked herself over in the mirror again. Her legs looked extremely thin in the leggings, she guessed they showed just how small she really was, and sighed. The loose long tee shirt, which she had actually picked up from one of the houses they had come across that was obviously abandoned, was long enough to cover her butt, but her boobs were just big enough, though still proportionate to her body size so she was only about a B, to be able to be distinguished in the shirt that was a size or two too big.

Her long fingers fiddled with a fly away strand of hair and tucked it behind her right ear, her fingertips brushing against the small hoop ring in her cartilage piercing. It was the only earring she had and she rarely took it out, she wanted to hang on to one of the only things she had ever taken pride in regarding her appearance: her piercings. She had pierced more than that in actually, her nose was piercing along with three holes in each lower lobe of her ears, her tragus, and her belly button, though that had been brief, and none of them had proper earrings or studs in place save for her cartilage.

“You’re right, we need to get a quick start," Charlie heard Cody say to Neil as her long legs carried her down the stairs as she left the bathroom. Apparently Neil had just walked back inside, Cody following him, and he was sharing jerky. Her eyes met Cody’s and he let out a low whistle.

“Someone got all dolled up,” the older brother teased with a smirk and she rolled her made up eyes. “Looks nice though,” he added and rubbed the top of her head as she stood beside him. She grimaced and pushed his hand away, smoothing over her ponytail.

Cody had grabbed a piece of Neil’s jerky, nodding his thanks to the other male. His strong teeth tore at the jerky, was that rabbit?, and he let out a small impressed murmur at the taste. “Thanks man, it’s good.”

“Gonna put a shirt on, Taylor Lautner,” Charlie teased back at Cody and he let out an “oooh” at her insult. But he nodded, wiped his hands on his jeans after he finished jerky, shooting Neil a thumbs up, and jogged up the stairs. He passed Mia’s room, glancing in to make sure she was OK, and blushed when he saw her changing. Her back was turned to him, but still, he felt like he was intruding. He quickly stopped gawking and stepped away from the door, hurrying to the room he had been staying in and tugged on a fresh tee shirt from his long big bag, which matched Charlie’s. The dark gray shirt had an old Nirvana logo on it and he pulled on his ratty plain black converse shoes.

Still downstairs, Charlie half smiled at Neil and grabbed her own pack from the side of the couch, she had grabbed her gun on her way upstairs before she changed so she didn’t need to worry about that, and slipped her copy of The Great Gatsby stealthily from in between the cushions and in to her bag. Sure, it was pointless to carry a book with her, but she tried to reason it by making mental note it was small and if something went wrong and they had to change locations, she’d at least have her favorite book.

Neil was enjoying the jerky, and he didn't notice Charlie coming down the stairs until he hear Cody's comment. Turning his head he glanced at her and... well, he was surprised to see it. She was good looking, he wasn't going to lie, but with the make-up on? All he could do was sit there and stare at her. He was sure he looked like an idiot, but his brain had entirely shut down. "Uh..." Yeah, nothing was happening right this second. Cody leaving was what snapped him out of what he would describe as a trance, and he shook his head. "You look nice." Okay, that was stupid, but he wasn't even able to talk until she was busy and he couldn't really see her, so who could blame him. "I mean, you look good. Really good." He tried to lean back, his arm laying across the couch, as if it was no big deal, but he knew she wasn't dumb and likely had seen how he had been acting.

"We going hunting or clubbing, Miss?" He joked with a sly grin, able to finally return to himself, a little annoyed that he had lost his cool. His bag was mostly empty now, his stuff all over the couch around him, and he was more or less ready to go, not really bothering to change his clothes, and he hadn't even taken off his shoes last night. He grinned, thinking about it, hoping he could get a hold of some more vodka and see if he could take her up on her challenge of truth or dare. He was sure he'd win this one.

Mia thought someone had been in the hall, but when she turned, she saw nothing, meaning they had just passed and moved on. Either Cody or Charlie, she assumed. Finally fully dressed, looking more like she was going to the mall, rather then out hunting zombies or trying to survive. The last thing she did was empty her pack out onto the bed she had used, the clothes and other things spilling out, the jaw breakers in the jar clanking as they rolled across the bed and came to a stop. The only thing she put back into her bag was the small knife she had, her waterbottle, and a folded up bag, that she could use to carry other stuff, if needed. She might not fight, but she liked to collect stuff. She frowned as she thought about it, she had a lot of stuff but someone in their old group had stolen it, and there wasn't much she could do.

With a sigh she put the empty pack over her shoulder and made her way downstairs, wondering where they were going and how dangerous it was going to be. As she went down each step she tried to think of the things she needed to find; pants, shoes, socks, hair ties. it all sounded lame, really, but even in the end of the world, she needed clothes. By the time she was downstairs, Neil was sitting on the couch eating jerky and Charlie was dealing with her bag. After Neil motioned to the jerky, and despite her not really wanting meat, she took a piece from the bag, knowing she needed to eat. She disliked the taste of it, and how chewy it was and hoped they could find something else today. "I'm ready."

Letting out an almost silent snicker at Neil's loss of charm, Charlie glanced up at him, her gaze fully on him even though her hands were still holding on to her bag. She wasn't introverted by any means, had never been, she was reserved by choice, a choice that had started six months ago. But now she was feeling confident, makeup had that effect on her, so she smirked at Neil, red lips curved up into a knowing smile. He had scarcely been able to articulate a coherent sentence and that was entertaining to her, especially because Neil had played everything so cool. "Thanks. And who says I can't kick ass and look hot," she countered mischievously, though she was very flattered as his compliment had given her a slight feeling of elation. She batted her eyelashes at him only somewhat promiscuously. "And seeing from those wide eyes and dropped jaw I guess I did a good job at that second part, huh," she taunted.

When she figured that was enough teasing she pivoted her attention to her bag, pulling out a sweatshirt, she mentally affirmed she wouldn't need it, and setting it gracelessly on the couch she reclined on, directly opposite from Neil. She had already had a primarily empty bag, save for her still half full large water bottle, a knife, and some extra ammo, the day prior as they hadn’t found much when they scavenged on the outskirts of inner San Francisco. She felt much more relieved now that they wouldn’t be facing the likely zombie nest alone.

As Mia walked down the stairs, followed by Cody to complete their miniscule group, Charlie ran through a list in her head of what they absolutely needed to strive to get. She was good on tampons and pads, enough for Mia too, and they had a plentiful supply of water, though it was always the more the merrier. Alcohol would be pleasant; she assumed Neil was thinking the same thing, and god she would kill, literally if it came to zombies, for some more cigarettes. Deodorant, clothes, more toothpaste. A box of matches, just in case, and another first aid kit would be great additions too.

Cody’s own bag was slung over his shoulder, from the looks of it they would have adequate room for a hefty amount of supplies to bring back if they were lucky. Damn Cody hoped they would be lucky.

“I like the nails,” Cody murmured to Mia, impressed that somehow she managed to match her nails with her shirt. He was almost tempted to say she had planned her fashion wardrobe for this damn apocalypse. A part of him thought it was useless, he had gotten through this whole disaster looking like shit most days, but he liked her so to each his own, he supposed.

“Is everyone set,” Cody checked, giving everyone a fleeting check over. Charlie stood and grabbed her cigarettes and then her bat from its spot leaning against the wall, tapping the ground twice like she was a batter about to swing.

Neil grinned at her words, and was going to say something, but he heard Mia on the steps and decided he would save it for later. He sat in silence as they all talked and milled about, and when Charlie stood he took her lead and grabbed his pack, pulling it over his shoulder and finding his crowbar he had used last night. He swung it lightly at his side, turning the weight in his hand. He enjoyed it, and it worked for his needs, but he hoped he wouldn't need to use it too much today. "Well, I'm ready to go." He nudged Charlie as he stood there, "By the way, you fell asleep first." He whispered to her as they waited on the others, already opening the door and looking outside. He wore a huge grin on his face, feeling back to his cocky self after the incident a few minutes ago.

Mia smiled a bit when Cody mentioned her nails, and shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Thanks." She was surprised he noticed at all, guys usually didn't or thought she was dumb for caring at a time like this. She offered a little smile and shifted her pack, noticing Charlie and Neil whispered, and both holding a weapon. She had nothing like that, and felt uncomfortable, but knew she wouldn't be much use with one. "I'm ready." She meekly replied as she moved towards the door, following behind the others, not wanting to be in the way.

Charlie blushed a light rose pink, which swept across her cheeks and accented her sun born freckles, at Neil's comment. She really thought she had stayed awake longer, but he had apparently tricked her. She supposed the alcohol made that a lot easier for him. So she merely lifted her shoulders up and down in a shrug and rolled her head back left to right in a half circle to crack her neck. "Not like you won anything," she looked up at him, she wasn't a short girl but he was still taller than her, and blinked innocently as she puckered her ruby lips as if she was about to blow him a kiss, but instead it just gave her a pouting but flirtatious look. "Plus, I can just redeem myself when I kick your ass at truth or dare," she retorted quietly and then Cody stepped up to them at the door. She hadn't realized how close her body was to Neil's, her breasts almost touching his chest, and she pulled back smoothly.

"Let's get this show on the road," Cody sighed, his more bubbly tone laced with dread. He did not want to go in to town but he knew how much they needed to, so he swallowed his fear and stepped out the front door, which Neil had opened as he and Charlie exchanged some secretive conversation between one another. He glanced back at Mia and motioned to her to follow, noticing her lack of a weapon. "Do you know how to shoot," he asked. Neil already said she couldn't fight, so she'd be of no use with a blunt force weapon, she her best option was a knife or a gun. He was pretty sure she had a knife but that was close range, so her next choice was a gun, but he didn't want to trust her with their spare if she would somehow accidentally end up firing on one of the others or herself.

Neil pouted a bit when she said he hadn't won anything, but he wasn't about to let that happen. If her bother hadn't been around, he might have actually leaned forward and kissed her, just hoping to throw her off her guard, but instead he just stood his ground. It was hard to do with her pushing against him, and he was trying not to do anything to upset her, or her brother. Before he could though, she moved away, he had caught what she said though, and grinned, glad that she remembered. "You wont win!" He called out after her as they left the house, making his way out onto the porch. He was in the street quickly and all but walking off on his own, ready to get moving, before everyone was up and about. They didn't need to run into other groups.

Mia was following them out the door when Cody had spoke to her. "Uh, not really... No." And she didn't want to try either, she was afraid she would kill someone. "I'll be fine." She wasn't sure of that, but she would just have to avoid conflict and just try to be useful in other ways. She sighed at the thought of being in the way, and made her way off the porch and towards Neil, she didn't need to also slow them down.

Charlie let out a tinkling laugh and watched Neil walk off, Mia soon following. She fell in quick unison step with her brother, who was making sure to match close pace with the other pair. The worst and most dangerous thing that could happen now was being separated, save for getting bit.

"You alright," Charlie inquired of Cody, who was staring off in thought. He seemed almost startled at her question and for a second Charlie was even more worried. Cody was the one who never got upset, who was never thrown off his game even when he was scared. Charlie didn't act like she was when it happened, but she didn't handle some things as well as Cody, especially when she bottled it up, including when their mom left and way later not knowing what happened to their dad, who was deployed when the virus broke out.

"Just worried is all," he mocked his sister's signature nonchalant shrug. Charlie pulled a cigarette from her pack and after she lit it and inhaled Cody held out his hand. Charlie raised her eyebrows but lazily handed over the cigarette and watched closely as Cody took a drag. However he must have gotten some smoke in his nose or not inhaled properly because he coughed horrendously and Charlie broke into hysterics.

"God Cody," she commented simply in between fading laughs and took the cigarette back. She slowly went through the process of putting her lips to the filter, forcefully inhaling, breathing in air, holding the smoke loosely, and blowing out. Cody coughed once more into this elbow and Charlie giggled again. After she had calmed down, Cody and she closed the little bit of space between Neil and Mia and themselves, so they were closer together. The heart of San Francisco was approaching them and both could feel the uneasiness well in their stomachs to churn like sour milk.

Neil knew the way all too well, he knew the whole city and everything better than he would like to admit, spending so much time wandering it, but it helped in the fact that he could get anywhere, and knew ways around certain things. He slowed down a bit to fall in with everyone else, he had heard Cody coughing, but he wasn't sure why. Moving to walk beside Charlie he grinned and plucked the cigarette from her fingers, taking a long drag off of it. "Sorry, forgot mine." He remembered that he had left them sitting on the porch once again. After a second hit he handed it back to her, "So I think we should enter through some side streets, less chance of an encounter." His voice was rather low, as low as it could be with them still being able to hear. They were lucky it seemed so dead around this part, but he was concerned that they would encounter a whole group.

His eyes scanned everything, watching for any sign of movement. Nothing, which was what he wanted, but it also felt so lonely. Mia stood beside Cody now, more or less just trying to keep out of the way. She shifted the pack on her back, it felt weird being so light, but she hoped it wouldn't stay that way for long. "I lived in an apartment on this side of the city, the landlord sort of closed it off and kicked everyone out when everything happened, which meant there were only a few people left inside, he boarded it all up, but I wonder if we could get in..." She was sort of rambling, but she hoped they could, even if to see if her old place was still how she left it, she knew she would find some clothes there.

Neil actually looked over at Mia when she spoke, "For real?" He questioned, actually surprised she had something good to say. "I'm down with that." If the landlord had it boarded up, maybe they could get in and the place would be rather untouched. The only problem was anyone alive in it.

Charlie let the cigarette be taken from her once more, but by Neil, and smirked. She didn't mind sharing cigarettes, she found something oddly intimate about it. When he was done she took it back and took a hit of her own from it, red lips leaving a light stain on the brown filter. Cody and Charlie glanced at each other, they decided on things together and did them together, that had begun without word at the start of this. Which was when? A year ago? Two? Something along those lines, Cody figured, but he couldn't be sure. Neither of them had bothered to keep track, having spent nights in abandoned towns and in broken down cars where it was impossible to mark a day. It was more about survival, still was.

"Sounds good, you two can lead, we're not from here," Cody spoke quietly after Charlie nodded at him. It was true, they were from Seattle which was quite a few hundreds of miles away. A majority of the days since the beginning of the end they had walked, making progress. At first they had heard rumors of a safe haven in Nevada, but by the time they were at the Oregon-California border they knew there was no way that was possibly true. So they had continued to move into California, hoping to gather as much as they could before making another game plan, which was probably the mountains or the beach, whichever seemed more reliable.

Charlie bristled slightly at the mention of Mia's apartment. It wasn't that she didn't want to go, that could be like winning the lottery, but she had said a few people had been left inside, and others would see a boarded up complex as a good hide out. If there was a group in there, especially if it was bigger than their make shift team, they would be taking a major risk. It wasn't as if Charlie couldn't defend herself, she had killed someone, someone breathing and functioning and alive, but she had to do it. Didn't mean she wanted to do it again if she could avoid it.

Neil walked in silence and kept his eyes on the area, he turned towards side streets, weaving their way in and out of broken down cars and other debris. He had heard rustling to the side of them, and gripped his crowbar tightly, knuckles turning white. He was ready to attack, but all that skittered out was a mangy cat. He laughed a little and shook his head, a bit glad they were not going to have to fight yet. Mia had moved in next to him, "The old Sunrise place, you remember it?" Neil just nodded at her question, knowing right where to go.

It wasn't too far, just barely in town, and he could see the roof of it already. It was then that he noticed the fire escape winding up the side of it. Some windows were boarded up along it, others not. A smile crossed his face, "I think I see our way in." He hoped that they could just get into a few places that no one was in and get out without being noticed by anyone who might be in there. He picked up his pace a bit, ready to get there quickly, better to get this done with, he just hoped they didn't run into anyone, he didn't want to fight. Of course he should have not been in such a hurry, knowing it was better to be cautious, had he been he might of noticed the zombie moving from behind a car just 20ft from the group.

Mia had noticed, and she squeaked, panic rising in her and she slipped in behind Cody.

"Scaredy cat," Charlie cleverly teased Neil as she watched the small dirty cat run from them. Poor thing was half starved and she was surprised it hadn't been eaten yet. There was still a good amount of animals left but that wouldn't last too long now that most of the humans were gone. Zombies would have to settle for a second rate meal of animal meat, which she assumed wasn't as appetizing to them after all.

Charlie's eyes followed Neil's as they neared the apartment complex Mia must have been referring to. She noticed the fire escape and was glad all of them were still in shape, as much as they could be. It shouldn't be too hard to climb, but she knew Cody wouldn't like it. His biggest fear was heights so climbing on the outside of a building probably wouldn't seem like the best of adventures to him.

Cody's breath caught in his throat as Mia squealed and hid behind him, he glanced at her to make sure she was alright and held a finger to his lips. He slung his pack around, grabbing his small axe from the side pocket of the bookbag. Charlie kept walking a few feet ahead even though Cody hissed at her to stop. She had noticed the zombie too, with half of its face obliterated face just visible through one of the windows. She bent down, looking under the car, thankfully her eyesight was a perfect 20/20, and only saw one pair of legs, meaning it was alone. Though this was a good sign, it meant the city was not abandoned as she had hoped, and instead they were probably just getting started with facing the undead.

She was still in step with Neil and she punched his arm to get his attention and pointed. At first glance it was hard to see the man eating beast, as it bent behind a car, but it hadn't seem them yet and that was a good sign. Her pace was slower now, she was barely moving, as she did a quick check for any other nearby zombies. None yet, which was good. It meant she wouldn't have to use her gun just yet. The noise of it always drew others, so it was more of a last resort.