Youngstown: Interactive story.

LiquidChicagoTed · January 2016

[Tell the full truth]

The last two lines of this part basically summarize my reasoning. Hiding the truth can't work forever and the longer he waits, the worse it will be.

wishwash · January 2016

[Tell the full truth] Yup, basically agree with LiquidChicagoTed. It would be so much worse to hide it.

janitor · January 2016

[Tell the full truth]

If he could hide it forever I would give lying a chance but here the truth is almost guaranteed to be revealed sooner or later.

Dydix958 · January 2016

[Tell the full truth]

mr.quality · February 2016

Aspen Diaz

“Let me out of here you motherfuckers!” Aspen yelled as she continued to bang on the iron door. She’d given up on the whole ‘sit on the ground and wait to die’ tactic. It wasn’t her style. She knew it wasn’t Raven’s either, but judging by the look of her, Raven had no business trying to move around right now.

She pounded on the door again. Her left hand was torn up and coated in blood from not only pounding on the door, but from also trying to dig through the wall, to no avail.

“Aspen, just give up.” Raven said. “It’s no use.” Aspen turned away from the door and looked at Raven, she was stilling sitting against the wall, looking at the ground to hide her face. Aspen had only been in here for about three hours now.

“I’m not just going to sit here and rot away.” Aspen said. Raven sighed as she folded her hands. Aspen had untied her a while ago.

“All you’re doing is wasting air.” Raven said. “It gets stale in here pretty quickly.”

“I don’t give a shit about air quality, Raven.” Aspen said. “I care about getting out of here alive.”

“It’s too late for that.” Raven said.

“I’m going to get us out of here, there has to be a way.” Aspen said.

“There isn’t a way, I’ve tried everything.” Raven said. “Just face it, we’re going to die in here. Like some caged animal.” Aspen looked at her and shook her head.

“What is your problem?” Aspen asked. “You’re not dead, and I’m not going to let you die.”

“Maybe I’d be happier dead.” Raven muttered, almost to the point where Aspen couldn’t hear it.

“If you want to throw your life away, that’s fine! But I’m not going to sit on my ass and give up like you!” Aspen yelled at her, she almost felt bad for yelling at her like that… Almost.

“Is that what you think I’m doing?” Raven asked. “Giving up?”

“Yeah, that’s what it looks like.” Aspen answered.

“I’ve been stuck here for days, Aspen! Days! You don’t think I tried to escape? You don’t think I tried to fight back? Do you know exactly how they got that information from me?” She asked. She looked up at Aspen with her one good eyes full of anger and yet full of understanding.

Aspen stood there, looking at Raven. Perhaps looking for something good to say, but found nothing.

“They started out with a friendly meet and greet. They took my jacket and my boots, left me with my pants and this tank top. They made sure to lower the temperature for me, it was like ten degrees, maybe? They brought me into this white-washed room and chained my hands to a table, my legs to the chair I was sitting in. A big man walked in and started asking questions. When I didn’t answer, he started breaking fingers. One by one, slowly… So slowly.” Raven said as her gaze drifted back to the ground. “And when he realized that breaking fingers wasn’t going to be enough, they started shooting me up with some drug they make right here in the bunker. At first all it did was hurt, it made my blood feel like fire running through my veins… But then I started seeing things. People that weren’t there, hallucinations where I was finally free…” She trailed off and took a breath.

“When that didn’t work they chained me to a post and started to beat me with clubs and whips. Every hour on the hour, no exceptions. They knew I wouldn’t say anything, they just wanted to see me bleed.” She said, a hint of deranged anger in her voice. “Then they brought out a pair of bolt cutters, I thought they were going to cut me free… They started hacking off my toes instead. And I still didn’t say anything. So he grabbed his knife and held it to my throat. He said, ‘You will break, everyone does.’ He started above my eyebrow and carved diagonally downwards, straight through my eye. And this whole time he was expressionless, like it didn’t bother him at all. He said he was going to take my other eye next, but stopped. He just left the room.” She said, she was shaking and breathing unsteadily by now.

“I just sat in that room, unable to move, just wondering what was going to be next. I could see all the blood… It was everywhere, so much blood…” She said. “I thought he was finally just going to kill me, get it over with. I was just wondering how he’d do it. A bullet to the brain? A lethal injection? Poison gas, maybe.” She said. “But he came back in pulling someone with him. His name was Alec Seward, he was one of ours. He sat Alec in a chair facing me, and put a knife through his arm. His scream was enough to shatter any fragment of hope I had left. He pulled the knife out and put it up to his throat, he said that if I didn’t talk he’d kill Alec. He was just a kid, Aspen. Younger than the both of us.” She said. “I just couldn’t let him hurt Alec, so I told him everything I knew. It hurt more than any of the torture they put me thought to hear that man laugh with pride knowing he broke me.” She looked up at Aspen, a tear running down her cheek.

“And he killed him anyways. He just killed Alec anyways.” She said. “He just took that knife… And slit his throat…” She continued, her voice cracking. “The released me from the post I’d been chained to and dragged me back here. I fought back, grabbed one of their knifes and stabbed somebody in the leg, I’m not sure who. They pulled their batons on me, and beat me until I was out cold. The next thing I know I’m waking up in here, not sure of anything that happened in between. And I’ve been in here for about two days, but that’s just a guess.” She said, as she began pulling herself together. “So if you want to be pissed off at me for giving up, that’s fine. Go right ahead and be pissed. But you can’t say I didn’t fucking try, because that’s all I’ve ever done my entire damn life! If you want to be mad at me I’m fine with that, I can handle that. But I’m not going to just sit here and listen to you tell me what I am!” Raven yelled. Aspen was shocked.

Raven had almost never yelled at her before. This was something new,

“Raven… I didn’t know.” Aspen said.

“I don’t give a shit what you didn’t know.” Raven growled. “Just shut the fuck up. Go back to punching the door. I don’t even want to look at you right now.” She said.

“Raven, please.” Aspen started.

“I’ve been down here for days, just hoping that my friends would show up and save me. But when one of my friends does show up, they treat me like I’m the enemy! I’m not your enemy Aspen, the people on the other side of that locked door are the enemy!” Raven yelled.

“I know that, Raven.” Aspen said. “That’s why I want to get out of here.”

“Why? Because you want to crack a couple of Ohioan skulls together? You want to serve up some justice? Is that it?” She asked. “You do realize you are over a mile below the surface right now, the odds of you actually making it back to the top are next to none.” Raven said. “Even if you made it out of here, which you won’t, where would you go? The elevator? That’s locked. There’s no other way up from this level unless you want to try to climb through one of the air duct which is too narrow to even get a foot in. Face it Aspen, you’re trapped.”

“Maybe there isn’t a way because we have to make a way.” Aspen said.

“You want to just imagine your way out of this?” Raven asked. “Yeah, let’s just dream hard enough and all the doors will open and the guards will lets us walk out and then this place will just collapse on itself and killed everyone.” She said. “Wake the fuck up Aspen, dreams just don’t come true.”

“Fuck you, at least I’m trying! You’re just sitting on your ass feeling sorry for yourself!” Aspen yelled at her.

“I don’t have to take that shit from anyone. Much less you.” Raven growled.

“Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it?” She asked. Her smug look vanished as Raven shakily stood up, using the wall for support. She glared at Aspen through her one eye with a look that conveyed pure hatred. She spit onto the ground, her spit mixed with blood.

“I’m tired of your shit Aspen.” She said. Aspen laughed.

“You’re going to fight me?” She asked. “Or are you just going to threaten me and then go cry in the corer again?”

With a scream of pure rage, Raven ran up and tackled Aspen to the ground. Raven looked frail and broken, but apparently was still strong. Or at the very least, very pissed off.

One second, Aspen was standing, planted firmly on the ground. The next she was on her back with Raven on top of her.

Raven smashed her fist into the side of Aspen’s face, hard. Aspen attempted to fight back, but Raven had her arms pinned. Raven continued hitting Aspen, over and over.

Half out of her mind, Aspen swore she could feel blood. She regretted untying Raven’s hands now. She knew this had to be hurting Raven as much, if not more, than it was hurting her. Raven’s fingers were broken, for God’s sake.

Aspen’s vision began fogging as Raven continued to hit her. She suddenly became worried that Raven was going to actually kill her.

Aspen heard the faint sound of metal on metal. There was a wailing squeak, and the sound of boots on the floor.

“Get her off of her.” A voice said. Aspen watched as a set of hands grabbed Raven and pulled her back. Raven struggled and fought back, but the person holding her was too strong and she soon gave up, just sinking back to the ground.

Aspen sat up and looked around. She saw multiple guards, each one heavily armed. But she remembered one of them. Kaiden Leo. The man that had brought her into the bunker. He walked over to her.

“Are you alright?” He asked. Aspen nodded.

“Fine, what are you doing here?” Aspen asked.

“Ed sent me down to find you. He said there was a mistake and you got locked up down here.” He said, looking over at Raven. “Looks like you’ve gotten acquainted with the locals.” He said. He didn’t know that she was from Georgia, he still thought she was some sort of hero. He had no reason to suspect he was a friend of Raven.

“You could say that.” Aspen said, wiping blood from her nose. She tried her best to say it as if she never knew Raven before.

“You’re lucky. This one took out one of our guard. Ripped his throat out with his own knife, after he surrendered. Stabbed another one in the leg. She was trying to fight her way out of this place, my men tried to offer her peace, but she kept trying to fight. We had no other choice than to take her out by force.” He said. “Sorry you were stuck in a cage with someone so unruly.” He said. Aspen looked at Raven, surprised. Either Kaiden was lying, which he had no obligation to do, or Raven had left that part out of her story.

“Seems like you showed up just in time.” Aspen said, as she looked at Raven, who made no attempt to move even though the guard was no longer even touching her. She was breathing heavily, her hands folded in front of her.

“Let’s get you out of here then.” He said as he steered her towards the door. “I can’t believe someone mixed you up for one of those spies. I’ll find out who did this. Don’t worry.” He said.

“Sir, what about her?” One of the guards said, pointing towards Raven. He smiled as he crouched next to her.

“You were one of the hardest people I’ve ever tried to crack, you really gave me a hard time, you know that?” He asked. “And because of that, I’m going to take the pleasure of giving you a long, drawn out death.” He said as he stood back up and looked at his men. “Twenty lashes and a day in the box to start with. If she gives you any trouble, hang her out to dry.” He said that like it meant something.

“Yes sir.” One of the guards said, with a smile. He looked down at Raven and kicked her with his boot. “Fight back, I fucking dare you.” He said.

“Aspen, let’s go.” He said.

“What are you going to do to her?” Aspen asked.

“Like I said, she’s getting the standard punishment of twenty lashes for starting a fight. Then we’re putting her in the box for a day because she started a fight with one of my friends.” He said.

“And what’s that? The box?” Aspen asked.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s a box. You put someone in it, it’s too small for them to move, too dark for them to see.” He said.

“And what do you mean by ‘hanging her out to dry’?” She asked. He looked back at him men.

“You don’t want to know what that means.” He said. “Now, let’s go.” He grabbed her by the arm and began pulling her with him. She looked to Raven and knew she had a choice to make.

She could say something in her defense, but of course that could end badly because she’d be exposing herself to Kaiden for what she truly was. And after what he just said about her, she wasn’t sure if she trusted her. Especially not after she just tried to kill her.

Or she could stay quiet, walk out of here like nothing ever happened. She could be a clean slate, leaving her old life to die here in this prison with Raven. If she just stayed quite, she’d be safe. There’d be no chance of anything happening to her. She’d just disappear.

It came down to Life or Loyalty. Which one was more important? A friendship forged through the apocalypse that survived everything the end of the world could throw at it, or her own life, that would seriously end if she played her card wrong right now. If she said the wrong thing, both of them would die down here. Not only one of them. And she knew that if Kaiden had no problem with drawing out Raven's death just because she was hard to crack, he'd be more than happy to kill her slowly too. She was a fake hero to him.

Choice

[Speak up]

[Walk away]

wishwash · February 2016

[Speak up], We're not letting this moment slip away, we finally found her!

JumpyJoey · February 2016

[Speak up]

Aspen just found her best friend who's been through so much. It doesn't matter that they were kinda at each other's throats, can't let the chance to stop them from hurting her further slip away.

LiquidChicagoTed · February 2016

[Speak up]

Raven already had it bad enough. Just walking away would be the ultimate betrayal here and Aspen does not strike me as that sort of person. Sure, they just got into a pretty vicious fight, but their friendship should be stronger than that. At the same time, I can totally see this being a mistake for Aspen, but the alternative sounds even less desirable.

janitor · February 2016

[Walk away]

I hate to be that guy, but I dont think Aspen can do much in this situation. If she speaks up, she is most likely going to get tortured alongside Raven. If she walks away and wins the trust of Kaiden and the others, she has much better chances to help Raven in the long run.

Dydix958 · February 2016

[Speak up]

mr.quality · February 2016

Evan Banks

Evan looked from miller to Rebecca and nodded slowly.

“Okay.” He said quietly as he looked around the room, trying to find a way to start. “Athens. It started back in Athens.” Evan said.

“That’s where I met Lizbeth.” Miller said. Evan nodded.

“It’s where I met her too.” He said. “I was about to get mauled to death by a pack of infects, keep in mind this is before the quote-unquote ‘cure’. She showed up, didn’t know me at all, saved my life. Before I could even thank her, she ran off. And, well, I never thought I’d see her again.” Evan said.

“Until you ran into her at Youngstown?” Mille asked, Evan shook his head.

“Not exactly. It was a little before Youngstown.” He said with a sigh. “About two years to be a little more exact.” He said.

“Two years…” Miller whispered, ponder the time.

“You were held up in some cabin out in the woods on a farm. There was you, Lizbeth and two of your friends.” Evan said.

“How did you know that?” Miller asked, as if he already knew the answer.

“Do you remember how Lizbeth had a huge gash on her head, she said it was from a crowbar?” Evan asked.

“Yeah.” Miller said. Evan pursed his lips and sighed.

“That was me. I was part of the group that attacked you guys and ran you all off. After those Fed’s showed up in that Humvee, we retreated.” Evan said. “We fell back to the tree line and waited, most of the group left, but I stayed behind. I had one of my group member give me their rifle before they ran off.” He said.

“What are you saying?” Miller asked.

“I had Lizbeth’s head in the crosshairs the entire time. The mag was fully loaded, I knew I could take all of you out, even if I’m not good with guns. But I didn’t do anything, I sat there in the dirt and watched.” Evan said.

“What were you waiting for?” Miller asked.

“I-I wasn’t waiting for anything.” Evan said. “I just wanted to see if she was alright, I guess.” Evan said. “And you know the rest of the story from there. I was sent in to destroy the town.” Evan said. Miller lowered his head and scratched his chin with a sigh. It wasn’t an angry sigh, nor was it a disappointed sigh. It sounded almost as if it were a sigh of relief. “Look, Miller, I wish I could change who I was, I really do. But I can’t change who I was, only who I am now. I don’t want to hurt you or anyone else. Not anymore. I understand if you want me to go, nobody wants to be around someone like me.” He said. Evan stood up and looked around the church that was bustling with life. It was a stark contrast to the death and decay outside those doors. Evan began walking away, towards the front doors. He knew he didn’t belong here, he really didn’t belong anywhere.

“Evan, wait.” Miller said. Evan stopped and turned around looking at Miller.

“Yeah?” Evan asked.

“Thank you, for telling the truth.” He said, as he stood up and faced Evan. He looked Evan dead in the eye. “You said it yourself, you don’t want to hurt us. And I said it myself, We’re good. But I just need to know one more thing.” He said.

“Yeah?” Evan asked.

“Where do your loyalties lie?” Miller asked. Evan looked to the wooden floor, then up at Rebecca, who nodded. Then he looked back to Miller.

“My loyalties lie here.” Evan said. “Not out there. Not anymore.” Miller slightly smiled.

“You know, back when I was a kid I was always told that America was the land of second chances.” Miller said, biting his lip. “I don’t see why the apocalypse should change that. From here on out, we’re a clean slate, every that happened back then doesn’t matter, not to me.” Miller said. Evan nodded.

“Thank you, Miller.” Evan said. “Thank you.”

Miller cupped a hand on Evan shoulder firmly and looked at him for a second, any fragment of bitterness disappearing from his eyes, then he turned and walked away. Evan too began walking back towards his cot, but was stopped when he heard a familiar voice.

“Evan.” Said a shaky voice. Evan turned and saw Eve standing nearby. Evan narrowed his eyes at her.

“Eve.” Evan said, looking at her timid appearance. “What’s wrong?” He asked. Her eyes darted around the room, then back to Evan.

“I don’t have much time, but I think you should know what I found.” She said.

“What is it?” Evan pressed.

“A few days ago, a trader from up north went missing after a bad trade with Mikal. Everyone thought he just left, I did too.” She said.

“What is it?” Evan asked. “Just say it.”

“This church backs up to some woods, I was out there just walking around and I found something you should know about.” She said. “There is a small shed out there in the woods, due north past the creek. I found the trader in there, dead. He was starved to death.” She said.

“Okay, so what are you trying to say?” Evan asked.

“I think it had something to do with Mikal.” She said. “What I’m trying to say is you should watch your back. I am not sure if I will be able to help form here on out.”

“Why? What’s going on?” Evan asked. Then he noticed a big man walking up from behind Eve.

“Eve, Mikal would like to have a word with you in the gardens.” He said. Evan looked from Eve to the man, she looked afraid, but not to the point of being scared.

“Great, let’s go.” Evan said. The man looked at him. “What? I have a few things I need to talk to your glorious leader about.” Evan added.

“He requested her alone.” The man said. “And if that’s going to be a problem, I’m sure we can fix that.” He said. Even eyed him angrily.

“Was that a threat?” Evan asked. Eve nudged him with an elbow.

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine.” She said, lying through her teeth, “Just come find me later, okay?” She asked. Evan narrowed his eyes at her, but she just turned and nodded to the man. He placed a heavy hand on her shoulder and steered her off.

Even turned back to him group, who’d seemed not to notice what just happened. He walked over and looked at them all.

“Evan, what’s wrong?” Miller asked.

“We’ve got a problem.” Evan said. “Eve just told me she found something strange out in the woods, some shed with a dead man inside. As soon as she told me, some guy took her away to go talk with Mikal, I think she might be in danger.” Evan said.

“What do we do?” Miller asked.

“We have to do something. She helped us.” Rebecca said.

“She told me how to find the shed. If they plan on taking her there, we can stop them.” Evan said.

“What if they aren’t taking her there?” Miller asked.

“We look somewhere else then.” Evan said.

“How do we know it’s not just a trap?” Josh, who had been silent until now, spoke. Everyone looked at him. “Come on, you can’t seriously think that just because someone helps you that they’re on your side. Have you not seen the other people here?” He asked.

“But what if it isn’t a trap and she’s in danger?” Evan asked. “It’s not a risk I want to take. We don’t have to go in right away, we can stay our distance, and if we don’t think it’s a trap we head in.” Evan said.

“These people are assholes, yes.” Miller said. “But why would they want to trap us for no damn reason? We don’t have anything that could be useful the them.” He said.

“You can never be sure.” Josh said.

“I don’t want to risk Eve’s life on a maybe.” Evan said.

Choice

[Intervene for Eve]

[Stay put]

Aspen Diaz

Aspen stopped walking and looked down at Raven. She’d gone from the blood-thirsty murderer she was a minute ago, back to the cowering, scared girl. She knew she couldn’t just leave her like this, not after all they’d been through together. They were friends, even if she had just tried to kill Aspen.

“Let’s go.” Kaiden said, nudging Aspen.

“No.” Aspen said. “I can’t let you hurt her anymore.” She said, looking over at Kaiden.

“What do you mean? She’s an enemy to the republic.” He said.

“So am I.” Aspen said. “I’m a Georgian, same as her. If you’re going to hurt her, you’ll have to go through me first.” She said, hoping her voice sounded stronger than it felt.

“Damn it.” He sighed. “So what Ed said wasn’t a lie then. You really are a Georgian and this is your friend.” He said, his voice full of distain and he looked at Raven.

“Yes.” Aspen said, her voice tightening. He grumbled something unhappily to himself.

“Alright, we have our orders.” He said. “Get them out of here.” He said to his men, the turned and glared at Aspen. “From here on out, nobody here owes you anything.” He said. Aspen saw two men grab Raven’s arms and begin dragging her out of the cell. One soldier walked over to Aspen, putting a hand on her shoulder as he pushed her out of the cell. Either Raven was completely out, or their fight had taken all of her energy, because she wasn’t even attempting to lift her head.

The soldiers wound their way through the prison back towards the elevator, dragging Raven and pushing Aspen. They didn’t seem angry or upset, but they definitely didn’t seem like they were in the mood for a conversation.

Once they were all in the elevator, on soldier slid his key card and pressed one of the buttons. The doors slid shut and they began to rise, slowly. The soldiers laid Raven down on the floor and one of them looked at her.

“She’s pretty messed up, Sarge.” He said. “Multiple broken fingers and missing toes. Lacerations on the back and a missing eye. She’s been injected with some sort of drug, judging by the marks on her arm.” He went on.

“Jesus.” Another man said. “Is this how we treat our prisoners?” He asked.

“I can’t believe someone would do this kind of shit to another person.” The third on said. “Fuck. Take her to the infirmary asap. I’m going to take this up with high command. I’ve seen Georgian prisons better than this. God, this is horrible.” He said. Aspen looked at the three soldiers, they looks like they’d never seen this place before. And the way he said he’d seen the inside of Georgian prisons.

“You’re not Ohioan, are you?” She asked.

“No, we’re not. We’re not Georgian either, if that’s what you’re wondering.” He said.

“Who are you?” She asked.

“We’re the UN, or whatever’s left of it.” He said. “Right now, we’re just trying to end this war between the CDC and the Ohio Republic before it starts. We’re trying to get the world back on its feet again.” He said, Aspen noticed something. An accent. “We just got here not too long ago, luckily for you.” He said.

“How did you even get here?” Aspen asked. “We haven’t heard anything about the outside world since the outbreak.” She said.

“A woman, just one, came over from America. She’s the reason why we’re here. I’m just afraid that it took us too long to get here.” He said.

“Why’s that?” Aspen asked.

“Look around you, people are dying for no good reason.” He said. “And an entire town in Georgia has been leveled by their own government.” He went on.

“Which town?” Aspen asked, her eyes wide with fear.

“Youngstown.” He said. Aspen’s heart sank as she thought of everyone in that town, dead.

“Why? Why would they do that?” She asked.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” He said as the elevator stopped moving and the doors slid open. They were back on the base level of the bunker. Where they wouldn’t be locked up in cages anymore. Aspen saw a woman, who looked to be in her late twenties to early thirties. She had long blonde hair and blue eyes with a faded scar on her cheek. She looked at the soldiers then to Raven and Aspen.

“What did you find down there, Clarkston?” She asked.

“Nothing good.” The one named Clarkston replied. “We’re going to have to do a full scan of the prison levels. We found her like this, we have to do something.” He said, motioning to Raven. The woman walked over to Raven, crouching down next to her. She looked her over.

“Get her to the infirmary.” She said.

“Already on it.” Clarkston said.

“Then go talk to whoever’s in charge here.” She said.

“On it.” He said as he walked off, the two other soldiers once again lifted Raven and began dragging her away.

“What’s your name?” The woman asked Aspen.

“Aspen. Aspen Diaz.” She responded.

“My name is Eva Tanner. I’m the leader of the group of Peacekeepers you were just with. I brought them back across from England.” She said.

“Back across?” Aspen asked.

“I’m from Georgia.” She said. “A long time ago, I left after the CDC showed up and saved the day. Turns out Europe wasn’t hit with the infection as bad as the America’s, which is why it took me so long to let me take a group over here.” She said. “They seem a little hesitant about the whole situation. But I can be persistent.” She said.

“Europe still exists?” Aspen asked.

“Yeah, and they’re still pretty strong.” Eva said. “Once we’re done here, we’re headed south to Georgia to see what the hell’s up with that city that got bombed.” She said. “You’re welcome to hitch a ride with us.” She said as she turned and began walking away. Aspen opened her mouth to say something but she had nothing to say. So instead she dropped her voice to a whisper.

“What the hell just happened?” She mumbled to herself as she began walking down the hallway, she had to find Ed. And Emma. There was going to be hell to pay.

LiquidChicagoTed · February 2016

My name is Eva Tanner.

Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. It is awesome to see Eva back, she was really cool in Stranded. And I am excited that they are going to head back to Georgia in the future, because after all, that's where a certain Miss Bishop was last seen as well :P

[Intervene for Eve]

This is all very shady and at the very least, they should check if everything is alright with Eve. If they stay put, they could be surprised if it indeed turns out to be a trap.

wishwash · February 2016

[Stay put] I just don't want to get in trouble! We should just wait until Lizbeth gets better and then leave this place.

janitor · February 2016

[Intervene for Eve] She helped Evan and co. and it is only fair to return to favour.

And hell yeah, Eva! I knew she wasnt dead

JumpyJoey · February 2016

[Intervene for Eve]

I don't know, she seems like a nice girl, unlike the rest of that community.

Dydix958 · February 2016

[Intervene for Eve] She's cool and i like her .Oh and by the way , i'm from quebec so i speak french , so if you want me to transalte some sentences in french , i'd gladly do it . As long as it's not "Evan no !!!You were too young to die ! " :DD

mr.quality · February 2016

Hey, alright! if I need any French advice from anyone, You'll be the first to know. Thanks.

mr.quality · February 2016

Evan Banks

“We’re not going to let this girl get hurt for us. We have to at least make sure that she’s going to be okay.” Evan said.

“If that’s what you gotta do, do it.” Josh said. “But me? I’m out. I’m not doing it.” He continued. Evan glared at him, about to snap at him.

“If that’s what you have to do, do it.” Miller said. “But Evan’s right. Eve’s done a lot for us already, the least we can do is check up on her.” He said.

“I agree with that.” Rebecca said. “And if you’re not going ot do anything to help us, than you’re going to keep an eye on Lizbeth while we’re gone.” She said to Josh.

“I can do that.” Josh said. “But when you get yourselves killed, it’s not my fault.”

“Just shut up and have Lizbeth ready to move in case this turns into the worst case scenario.” Evan said.

“Fine.” Josh said. Evan looked at the others.

“Okay then. Let’s move. They’re going to the gardens, we keep a low profile, and stay out of sight. If this turns out to be what I think it is, we intervene and stop it. If it’s nothing, we go back the way we came and this never happened. Understand?” Evan asked.

“Sounds like you’ve had this planned out.” Miller said.

“I’ve done recon before.” Evan said, just the thought of it pained him a little on the inside, who he used to be. Evan turned and began walking towards the front of the church towards the large doors. Above the doorway was a set of black letters that spelled out ‘Ask, and it shall be given to you.’

“Well, God.” Evan thought. “If you’re listening, I’d really like to be wrong right now.” He thought as he pushed open the doors stepping outside. It wasn’t hard to come to the conclusion that the gardens were on the opposite side of the church.

Evan began walking around the side of the building, making sure to stay close to the wall. The others followed his suit, step by step. He paused at the edge of the wall, peeking around the corner. He easily spotted Eve standing with Mikal in a garden of tomato plants and potatoes.

It was obvious to see that Mikal was not please about something. He seemed very angry as he talked, but Evan couldn’t tell if it was towards Eve or not. He ducked back behind the wall and turned to Rebecca and Miller.

“You two stay here, I’m going to get closer.” He said. Miller nodded back to him. Evan tucked his head and sprinted from the wall to a spot of cover behind a tomato plant. He was closer now, and could easily hear them speaking.

Evan was afraid that they’d seen him when Mikal paused and stopped speaking, but apparently not because Mikal continued on.

“You should be ashamed, Eve.” He said.

“I didn’t do anything.” Eve responded.

“You put the outsiders before us.” He said. “And that’s the cardinal rule here. We come first.” He said.

“I didn’t put them first Mikal. I only did what Grey founded it to do.” She responded.

“And you know what happened to Grey?” He asked. “He’s dead. Now, I’ve tried over and over again to let you be part of us. But over and over you’ve proven that you don’t want to be one of us.” He said.

“I don’t know what you are saying.” She said.

“You know exactly what I’m saying, Eve.” He said. “Anyone who doesn’t stand for us, is against us.”

“I don’t care what you think.” She said. “Your dad was a smart man and he knew that there’s a world out there worth saving.” She said.

“My father was a fool who let his own ambitions kill him.” Mikal said. “Just like you.” He said.

“You don’t know a damn thing Mikal. You’re tearing this place apart.” She said.

“Eve, why don’t you walk with me?” He asked, tough it sounded like she didn’t have a choice in the matter. Evan peaked out from around the plant towards them as them walked away. Mikal had his hand firmly planted on Eve’s shoulder. He was guiding her off towards the woods behind the church, Evan could see a knife handing from his belt. But he didn’t have a gun on him. That was good.

Evan looked at his gun. If he shot Mikal right now, he’d solve a big problem. Death usually gets rid of problems.

But it would also cause a new one, in the form of the rest of this group possibly trying to kill them. They’d definitely have to hightail it out of here.

But what was the alternative? Not a good one.

He could sit here and watch Mikal walk off with Eve, possibly to take her into the woods and rip her throat out with that knife. More like probably.

But if he didn’t do anything then the rest of this group wouldn’t have a problem with them, that is if they didn’t already have a problem with them.

Choice

[Shoot Mikal]

[Do nothing]

Aspen Diaz

“I swear I had nothing to do with that! Why would I want to lock you up?” Ed asked.

“You’re the one that sent me down there with her!” Aspen yelled at him.

“That doesn’t mean I knew what she was going to do.” Ed defended himself. “You’re just going to have to face the fact that I’m not always the enemy.” He said.

“I doubt that.” Aspen said as she glared at Ed.

“Aspen, I was helping you.” He said. “I didn’t know she was going to lock you up down there.” He said.

“How am I just supposed to believe you?” She asked.

“You’re not.” He said. “You’re supposed to look at the facts.”

“Quick problem.” Eva said as she walked into the lab they were in.

“And that would be?” Ed asked her.

“The woman we brought to the infirmary, the one with the missing eye.” She said.

“Raven.” Aspen said.

“Yeah, her.” Eva said. “Well, she’s gone ape shit. She locked herself into a room with a gun, threatening to shoot anyone who enters.” She said.

“What?” Aspen asked. “Are you sure it’s Raven?”

“You’re the one that said it.” Eva said as she picked up her radio. “You guys make any progress with that door?” She asked.

“We’ve got it open.” A man responded.

“And?” Eva asked.

“She’s not here. She’s gone.” He said.

“Gone? How?” Eva asked. “Where is she? There’s only one entrance to that room.” She said.

“She’s in the vents.” He said. Eva put the radio back down.

“Shit.” She mumbled. “We’ve got a psychotic bitch in the vents with a gun. How are we going to find her?” She asked.

“We can turn up the heat, it’ll force her out of there once it gets too hot.” Ed said.

“Great idea.” Eva said. “But what happens when she decides to stay up there even when it’s too hot and get herself killed? Then you’ve got a corpse in your ventilation system.

“Do you have a better idea?” Ed asked.

“Not really.” She said. “But it still doesn’t make this one a good one.” She said.

“We’ve got to try.” Ed said.

“Get everyone into the same area. Make sure nobody enters or leaves. Do you understand?” She asked.

“I’m on it.” Ed said as he started walking out of the room.

“You’re not going to hurt her right?” Aspen asked.

“It’s not my first intention.” Eva said. “But she has a gun and seems ready to use it. And I don’t really think she has the best feelings for the inhabitants of this bunker.” She said. “If she doesn’t surrender, we will kill her.”

Okay, so sorry for the short part. Next one should be better.

LiquidChicagoTed · February 2016

[Shoot Mikal]

Eve only got into this trouble because she helped Evan. She does not deserve to die. Aside from that, Mikal seems to be destined to cause trouble even if Evan does not shoot him. Eve is an ally in this place, whereas I don't think that Mikal has good intentions for them. This 'We come first' stuff gives me bad Terminus vibes. In the long run, I bet there are going to be problems with him and his group either way, so it should be for the best to deal with him now.

janitor · February 2016

[Shoot Mikal]

I said it before, Eve helped Evan and co. and they owe her. Btw, I find it great that we have Eve, Evan and Eva in the same part XD

wishwash · February 2016

[Shoot Mikal]

He is evil. Get rid of him and grab Eve. Maybe Eve will join our group

mr.quality · February 2016

I know... So many E's.

Dydix958 · February 2016

[Shoot Mikal] If i have to kill that guy to save Eve , i would do it , but it's not 100 % sure that Mikal would kill her , but hell , i don't think Evan would take any risk , so i'm gonna take the chance to kill him while he doesnt not see us rather than having a hostage human shield situation .

mr.quality · March 2016

Aspen Diaz

Sweat beaded down her forehead, dripping onto the floor. They weren’t kidding about this heating system, it was pretty effective. Scarily effective. They’d turned it on and almost a minute later Aspen was already burning up.

“Any sign of her?” Ed asked.

“My men haven’t spotted anything yet.” Eva responded.

“If she’s still up there right now, she’s got to be fucking insane.” Ed said. Eva glared over at him.

“Well maybe that wouldn’t be the case if your people didn’t lock her in a box below surface any try your best to kill her.” She said. Ed didn’t protest further, he knew it was futile.

“We can’t keep this up much longer, the heater uses to much energy for our grid to handle for too long.” Ed said, changing the subject. Eva nodded, though didn’t look at him.

“Cut the heater, if she hasn’t already come out she’s not going to.” She said. Ed nodded, and slowly walked away. Once he was gone, out of the room, Eva turned towards Aspen. “You’re her friend right?” She asked. Eva nodded.

“Me and Raven were closer than most people these days.” Aspen said. “I’ve been with her for a long time now.” Eva nodded.

“What can you tell me about her mental and emotional state last time you saw her?” She asked. Aspen shook her head.

“I don’t know.” Aspen said. “She hides her emotions to well, but last time I saw her was down there in the prison.” She continued.

“What was she like then?” Eva asked.

“She was broken.” Aspen said. “They’d done some pretty… Horrible things to her, to say the least. She was in a lot of pain, kept looking away like she just couldn’t look in my eye. She was angry, she wanted to get out but knew that it was the end for her.” Aspen went on. Eva nodded.

“Do you think she’s going to seek revenge on those that did this to her?” Eva asked. Aspen shrugged.

“I wish I could say no.” Aspen said. “But I just don’t know. Not anymore, she’s not the same person I used to know.”

“It’s not her.” Evan said. “It’s what they made her.”

“We’ve got a small problem.” Ed said as he walked back into the room.

“And that would be?” Eva asked.

“The heating system we used runs off of propane, and electricity.” He said. “And all that propane has to be stored somewhere, you know.” He said.

“Yeah, what are you saying here?” Eva asked.

“Someone’s in the propane room, they’ve breached the tanks. Propane is filling the air as we speak.” Ed said.

“Which is bad because propane isn’t only toxic to our lungs, it’s also highly combustible.” Eva said, finishing her sentence. “How much propane do you people have?”

“If she only releases a fraction of it, she could blow us all sky high.” Ed said.

“What if that’s not her plan?” Eva asked.

“What else would her plan be?” He asked.

“She could be trying to flush us out.” Eva said. “Everyone would have to take the same way out, meaning we’d all be an easy target for whoever’s on the other side.”

“Someone needs to get to that storage room, now.” Ed said.

“Damn right.” Eva said. “But who’s it going to be?”

[Volunteer]

[Stay out of it]

Evan Banks

Evan brought his pistol up, lining the sights right on Mikal’s head. He knew this was the only way this would end, the only way to keep Eve safe.

His finger began tightening on the trigger, he was ready to end this man’s life. Like he’d already done so many times before.

He never thought he’d be the kind to kill. He guessed nobody really just woke up one day and decided they’d kill people. It’s just something that happens now, you kill to survive or survive to get killed.

Just a split second before he pulled the trigger he saw Eve make a sudden move. She ducked back behind Mikal, and grabbed the knife off his belt, slashing it through his abdomen. He howled in pain, but seemed nearly unfazed as he grabbed Eve by the wrist, preventing her from making another pass. His other hand found its way to her throat, as he easily lifted her off the ground.

Evan watched as in a split second her face turned red, he also saw the look in Mikal’s eyes. He wasn’t deranged, he wasn’t angry, he had no emotions. He couldn’t care less about the fact he was killing her.

Even worse, Evan’s chances of missing and hitting Eve instead of Mikal seemed pretty high. He knew full well he may just end up killing her on accident, he’s never liked the feel of a gun in his hand.

That’s when he pulled the trigger. Evan himself had never been one for guns in general, he preferred close range, perhaps a ball bat.

Perhaps guns may not have been his strong suit, but as luck would have it, he hit his mark. More or less. He was aiming for the head, he hit the neck. Mikal crashed down to the ground, dropping Eve who collapsed onto her knees gasping for air as color slowly returned to her face.

He knew there would be no time for recovery, they had to move. Now. Evan ran over to Eve, hooking his arm under her shoulder to lift her up. After a few steps she was able to catch herself and run on her own.

Evan could hear shouting from inside the church, and feared the worst for Josh and Lizbeth. But his fears proved wrong as Josh came out of the front doors, Lizbeth behind him. She was up and walking, she probably shouldn’t be, but she was.

“Over here!” Evan called to get their attention. Both of them made a bee-line right for him. But right on their tails, the entire community from inside the church spewed out. Evan wondered how the news had spread so quickly, but then he remembered the fact that the building had windows, everyone who heard it could’ve as easily saw it.

One man grabbed at Lizbeth, trying to hold her back, but Josh was able to push the man back. He grabbed Lizbeth by the arm and helped her run to Evan. Evan half-mindedly handed her off to Eve.

“Get out of here.” Evan said. “I’ll buy you some time.”

“You’ll get yourself killed.” Miller said.

“Head north. I’ll loop around and try to throw them off. Set up in Haverford, if I’m not there by first light, I’m not going to be.” Evan said as he pushed Miller away. He pulled his pistol and shot randomly into the mob that was approaching him as he heard the sound of retreating footsteps behind him.

He broke off and ran right in to opposite direction as the rest of his group. His plan worked, unluckily for him, as many of the mob split off and began chasing after him, a great majority of them actually. They had weapons, but seemed overly reluctant to use them.

Evan did the first thing that made sense to him, he emptied the rest of his clip and them made a break for the tree line. He knew full well, they can’t kill what they can’t catch.

He wasn’t aware of whether or not he’d hit anyone, he was just aware of the fact that bullets tended to slow people down. If not stop them.

He sprinted through the thorn bushes that tore at his legs and arms, ducking under thick foliage and jumping over a downed tree. He was painfully aware of the sounds of the mob behind him, quickly closing the small gap he’d been able to create.

Evan was more or less preoccupied with the mob, had he been looking he probably would’ve seen the sheer drop he was running straight towards. It wasn’t a terribly big drop, but it was big enough.

For a moment Evan felt weightless, he instantly knew something was wrong. He put the pieces together just in time to realize he was falling.

He put those pieces together, however, at the last moment. As soon as he realized he was falling, he was on his back staring up at the stone wall he’d just fallen from. He could tell he was laying on gravel and smaller rocks.

His back hurt, but luckily for him, it seemed nothing was broken. He knew that the small drop wouldn’t keep those people slowed down forever. He also knew he probably wasn’t going to be able to outrun them.

He stood up and turned his back to the cliff, in front of him was a either a large creek or a small river. He wasn’t sure which. But on the other side was another rocky bank with a stone cliff.

He knew that if he could get across that water and up that stone wall, he’d be fine. They wouldn’t be able to follow him fast enough. They’d just lose his tracks.

But he scanned the area, and as it seemed this water was flowing somewhere. Water usually flows north to south, right? Right? Maybe…

He’d told Miller to head north, meaning if he followed his river upstream he’d hypothetically end up somewhere in the north. But then again and he could be wrong and end up going somewhere he didn’t want to be. Like here.

Choice

[Follow the river]

[Swim across and climb up]

Okay guys, it’s been a terribly, terribly long time since the last part of this story. I really don’t know what to say other than I’m sorry bout the wait.

wishwash · March 2016

Yay, more Youngstown!

[Volunteer]

[Follow the river], I feel like this will lead to Miller and the others.

LiquidChicagoTed · April 2016

It's great that this story is back Though that also reminds me, I really have to finish writing my characters

[Volunteer]

Someone has to do it. Aspen, as Raven's friend, has the best chances to actually talk her down from this madness. I'd even say that she is the only one who has any chance of ending this without further bloodshed.

[Follow the river]

I think climbing up that stone wall sounds very dangerous. I know I couldn't just climb a stone wall that is high enough to stop people from following me, at least not without any climbing equipment. The river sounds like the safer choice for Evan and perhaps the better choice in general.

janitor · April 2016

[Volunteer]

[Swim across and climb up]

First Evan should escape and then he can follow the river to find the others again. If he follows the river now without loosing his followers first then maybe he leads them directly to his group.

JumpyJoey · April 2016

Whoo, the return of Youngstown!

[Volunteer]

I think if anyone can get through to Raven and convince her to stop, it's gonna be Aspen. I don't want her in danger.. but if it's gonna blow anyways...

[Swim across and climb up]

Maybe it's possible to keep the river in sight and follow it while being further away from his pursuers, if he sees Miller and co. he can climb down to them. Also, if he sees that Miller and co. are in trouble, he can try to aid them from above or come down.

mr.quality · April 2016

Aspen Diaz

“I’ll go, I can do it.” Aspen said.

“You sure about that?” Eva asked, eyeing Aspen up.

“I know her better than anyone else here.” Aspen said. “If anyone’s going to be able to talk her down…”

“Then you’ve got to try, I can respect that.” Eva said. “Just remember, she’s not your friend right now. Right now she’s scared, angry and armed. That’s a bad combination anyway you throw it.” She said.

“I understand.” Aspen said. Eva nodded.

“Then get going, you’ve got an entire bunker full of people to save and only…” She looked down at her watch that was on her wrist. “Ten minutes to do it.”

“Great, time constraints. I was always good at those.” She muttered.

“Yeah, so get to it.” Eva said, she turned to Ed and the two began talking about some sort of evacuation plan. Nothing to Aspen’s concern.

Aspen walked out of the room and down the hallway, stopping to press the button on the wall and wait for an elevator. She heard the ding, and watched the doors roll back. She stepped into the metal death trap ad pressed a button, watching as the doors rolled shut again.

It was now she leaned back against the wall and sighed, thinking of what’s become of everything. She’d known Raven since nearly the beginning, she was always the smart on, the leader, the strong one, the one Aspen always looked up to. She’d saved Aspen’s life more than once, that’s for sure.

And now here they were, Raven’s gone to a dark place in her life, and Aspen now brought it upon herself to pull her out. She’d never seen Raven even cry before this day. She’d never even raised her voice, but now she was broken, and threatening to kill everyone in here along with herself.

A thought deep in the back of her mind egged the question, should she have brought a gun? Had it come to the point she no longer trusted Raven and felt as if she needed a gun to protect herself? She sighed longingly.

Her only goal after those doors opened was to get Raven out of there alive, right now she couldn’t care less about what happened to the people in here, as long she and Raven got out alive. Shutting off that gas leak was only her secondary goal.

Somewhere deep in the back of her mind, she longed to see every last soul in this bunker die a thousand deaths. She wanted them to know what they’d done. She wanted them to know that their government was wrong.

But was the CDC any better? Did a totalitarian government come close to beating one that had more than just a few secrets? Which was worse; fronting peace and hiding the ugly truth or fronting a strong military and being absolutely corrupt throughout? Is there really a better side? Is there really a hero in all of this?

Secretly she damned the governments for what they’ve done. She secretly hoped that they’d both collapse under their own corruption, and she wished she’d be there to watch it happen.

The elevator stopped moving, and the doors rolled open. She was instantly creeped out by the atmosphere. The level was abandoned, apparently they were ordered to evacuate after an insane woman with a gun busted in.

She walked through the empty level, looking for any sign of Raven. This entire level was used for propane storage, meaning there was a lot of open space to search through. But the control center was where the gas flow was controlled from.

If Raven was camped out anywhere, it would probably be there.

“Raven.” Aspen hissed, as if she’d get some sort of response. No such luck though, as Aspen was forced to continue walking through the unresponsive halls. All she could hear was the hissing of gas through the pipe works that went through the bunker.

She knew where the control center was, it was just a straight shot from where the elevator opened from. Not a far walk from here. If Raven’s goal was to flush everyone out of the bunker, she’d probably come out of hiding when the gas was disabled.

Walking through the abandoned storage halls would probably be creepy enough on its own, but knowing somewhere in the shadows Raven was hiding, that just added an even bigger layer of tension.

Up ahead, she could see the control Panel on the wall, she didn’t technically know how to work it, but it wouldn’t take her long to figure it out. She’d always been good with computers, a skill that is sadly under rated during an apocalypse. Her fingers brushed over the LCD screen and it brightened up, casting light through the halls.

She scanned the words on the screen, to a normal person they may as well be a foreign language, but to her, it was her native tongue.

If she would’ve been timing herself, she would’ve realized that it’d taken her longer to get here than it did to find out how to turn the gas off. It took her only a couple of seconds to break through the network security and get into the mainframe, allowing her to mess with the system settings and shut off the gas. For a state of the art bunker, they sure have some shitty security.

She instantly heard the rushing gas stop, leaving the pipes and flooding back into the tanks. She’d shut off the gas, with time to spare. Now came the next step in the equation.

“Step away from that panel.” The voice called from the dark.

“I can’t do that Raven.” Aspen responded.

“Why are you defending these people?” Raven asked. Aspen slowly turned to face her. Now, she had a makeshift eyepatch covering the empty socket where her eye used to be. It only reminded Aspen of what Raven had gone through.

“Because no one gave us the right to play God.” Aspen said.

“No one gave them that right either!” Raven said.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we have the right to massacre everyone in here.” Aspen said. Raven’s lone eye wandered to the floor, taking in the darkness around her.

“You were always better than me.” Raven said. “Always smarter, kinder. You’re everything I wished I could be.” Now, this was something new coming from Raven. She’d never once doubted her own abilities, and now here she was doing just that.

“Raven, come on.” Aspen said. “You’re a leader, people believe in you. You go off and slaughter hundreds of people, what’s that going to tell everyone?” She asked.

“I’m a leader?” She asked. Aspen nodded.

“And one of the best I’ve ever followed.” Aspen said. Raven narrowed her eye.

“Go ahead and tell that to Williamson, tell it to Alfons Newman.” Raven said. Aspen sighed, she never let go of that mistake. She never had, she’d always felt guilty. “All sixteen people I killed that day, that’s all my fault Raven. So you tell me what kind of leader I am.” Aspen shook her head.

“Raven, you’re the leader who’s not afraid to be human. You’re the one that makes the hard choices when no one else wants to.” Aspen said. Raven shook her head. Aspen eyed the gun in her hand, she noticed it was shaking, not out of fear though. She looked like she could barely stand.

“I don’t want to do this anymore.” Raven said.

“Then give me the gun and we’ll walk out of here together, Raven.” Aspen responded. Raven’s eye drifted to her gun.

“Why me?” She asked.

“What?” Aspen asked.

“Why do I get to live while everyone around me dies?” She asked. “Why am I so damn special?”

“Raven, come on.” Aspen said. She saw Raven’s gun move, not towards her, not towards the ground. Towards her own head. She pressed the barrel against her temple, closing her eye.

“I can’t do it anymore, Aspen, I just can’t!” She cried.

“Raven just put the gun down, we can figure this out.” Aspen said. She could see tears streaking down her face.

“You’re better off without me, Aspen. I’m dangerous.” Raven said. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

“Raven, you’re wrong. Nobody’s better off if you kill yourself.” Aspen said. She could hear Raven’s breaths coming in uneven, panicked intervals.

“The only thing I see when I close my eye is the same thing over and over again, I keep seeing them all, everyone I’ve killed. Everyone I’ve hurt. I keep wondering if I could’ve done something different, maybe they’d still be alive?” She said.

“You know there’s nothing you could’ve done.” Aspen said.

“How do you know!?” Raven screamed. “How?”

“This isn’t the answer, Raven. Did you even stop to think about how much pain you’d be putting everyone else through after you’re gone?” She asked. Raven shook her head manically.

“You’ll get over it, pain goes away.” Raven said.

“Raven.” Aspens said. “Like it or not, I came down here to get you out. And even if I have to tie you up and drag you out, I’m going to do it. So make this easier for me, will you?” Aspen asked.

“No.” Raven answered. “I don’t get to live, not after what I’ve done.”

“God Damnit Raven!” Aspen yelled. “If you’re not willing to live for yourself then do it for me!” Raven slowly looked up at her.

“You don’t want me around you.” She said.

“You’re wrong, Raven.” She said. “So wrong. I can’t live without you. You’re the only person I trust in this entire world, and if that means nothing to you then go ahead and kill yourself, see if I care. But if any of this means anything, If I mean anything to you, then put that gun down now.” Aspen said.

“You don’t mean it.” Raven said, her voice broken and defeated, no longer even attempting to hide the tears. “Just go.” She cried as she dropped to her knees. Aspen stepped closer, holding her hand out.

“Just hand me the gun.” Aspen said. Raven took a shaky breath, and drew her hand away from her head, resting the gun in Aspen’s hand. Aspen shoved it into her pocket.

“Thank you Raven.” Aspen said. “Thank you.” She wrapped her arms around Raven, pulling her close. She could feel her shaking hands on her back, her forehead resting on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” Was the only thing Raven said. “I’m sorry.”

Miller

“How are you guys doing?” Miller asked, looking back at everyone. Josh was staying in the back, minding himself. Rebecca was trailing off to Miller’s left, Eve was still practically carrying Lizbeth as they walked. Miller had offered to carry Lizbeth, but Lizbeth denied, and Eve insisted that she had her.

Eve was looking tired by now, she’d been supporting Lizbeth’s weight for over twenty miles now. Lizbeth wasn’t looking much better. But for someone that’d just woken up after being stabbed, she’s doing pretty good.

Everyone in the group was looking exhausted, Miller was certain by now they were no longer being followed. If someone had been following them, they’d already caught up.

“I’m fine.” Lizbeth puffed.

“Just peachy.” Eve responded.

“I’m good.” Josh said.

“Doing fine.” Rebecca said. Miller knew that each and every one of those responses were lies. He looked up at the approaching road sign, Roswell, it said. And they were close. Just a little over two miles.

“Let’s pick up the pace, we’ll get to Roswell and rest there for the night.” Miller said.

“It’s only noon.” Lizbeth said.

“Hey, we’re staying there tonight. We’ll set up in a building and rest up while we can. Tomorrow we have to find Evan before we lose him.” Miller said. He saw Rebecca’s face brighten a little at the mention of finding Evan.

“If you say so, captain.” Eve said, her voice strained under the weight of Lizbeth. Neither one of them were relatively heavy, nobody nowadays was really, but even so, Eve was tiring of carrying Lizbeht, Miller could tell.

“Why don’t you give Lizbeth to me?” Miller asked. Eve shook her head.

“No, it’s fine.” She said. “You’ve got point, you need to be fast.”

“Eve, you’ve got nothing to prove to the rest of us.” Miller said.

“I’m not trying to prove anything.” Eve said.

“Here looks good.” Rebecca said. Miller turned and looked, it was a five-story brick apartment building. It was ideal in location, high off the ground, close to the city so they could make supply runs, good vantage, everything they needed, in one building.

“Good eye.” Miller said. “We’ll set up in the loft, it’ll do for now.” He said.

“Whoa, whoa. Hold it right there, mister.” A sleazy voice butted in. Miller turned and looked at where it was coming form. A man and three others walked out from the bushes on the other side of the road.

“What’s going on here?” Miller asked.

“What’s going on here?” The man laughed. “You tell me. You see, I’m the respective owner of all the property here in Roswell, so if you’d like to set up in my town, You’re going to have to pay my fee.”

“You’re fee?” Miller asked. “The hell?”

“Half of everything you have right now, and we don’t kill you.” He said. He and his men all drew their weapons on them. “You fight back, we’ll just make it everything you have including your lives.”

Samantha Bishop

“There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County. But it was a time of vague optimism for some of the people: Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself.” She spoke gently, sifting through the pages of the old book. She stopped only when she heard the child cry.

She stood from her chair and walked across the old wooden floors, looking at the brick walls she’d decorated with posters she looted from a museum along with some fine art, hey, it’s the apocalypse. Someone may as well appreciate it. She could hear some great swing music playing from the kitchen, where she had a radio plugged in. She’d been lucky and repurposed some of the solar panels from the surrounding town, so now this place had electricity. Her eyes wandered over a TVA poster.

Yeah, TVA, two of us can play at that game.

She stooped over the crib she looted from a nearby store ad lifted the small child out. The instant she touched the child, she stopped crying.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t like that one?” Samantha asked the child, swaddling her in her arms. She smiled as the child did, Nadia was her name. “Oh well, it doesn’t matter. I’ve got a lot more of them.” She said brightly.

It was a little more than true, this loft was stuffed with old-world memorabilia. She’d gotten lucky and found a place on the outer edge of the city, only a short walk from a public library. A grave smile formed on her lips, looking at the child.

“One day, when you’re old enough, I’m going to tell you a great story about a great man. His name was Marcus Bishop, he was your uncle. Would you believe that? Your uncle is a hero.” She spoke to the child. It still hurt to think of him, it probably never wouldn’t. He was the reason she was still alive. Back then, she’d never imagined life without him. Now, it’s getting harder to remember life with him.

But talking helped, Nadia helped. She was glad to have Nadia, despite the horrendous circumstances surrounding her birth. The child gave her hope, reminded her there was a reason for all of this.

She walked with the child in her arms over to a ratty old recliner chair. She slowly sank down into it, propping her feet up on the coffee table. She looked to her left and was greeted by the framed picture of her brother. He wore his standard issue CDC military uniform. He smiled, unknowing his demise would meet him only a few months later.

Though the picture was in the frame, she knew what was inscribed on the other side of the portrait. ‘Sam, my loving sister and a devoted mother, SYOTOS. Marcus Bishop.’ She’d read it over and over again, like it would bring him back somehow.

She had the golden locket still hanging around her neck, inside the clasp were the pictures of her mother and father. Both had died long before the outbreak, for a long time it was just her and Marcus. Marcus was everything to her, all she had.

Just thinking about the past, her hand moved towards the scar on her chest, right where her lung was. The scar was a few months old now, but not exactly fading. She could still recall the pain. She still lived with the effects.

She couldn’t recall everything that happened from the time she got stabbed to the time she woke up in the hospital in the mainland. But something she’d been told about was a helicopter ride, that didn’t go quite as planned.

She was told the helicopter crashed, she didn’t remember it. She didn’t remember any of it. But she didn’t have to remember it to know what it did. She was blind in her right eye now because of that crash. She was grateful to still have her left. Sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night, afraid to close her eyes. What happens if the next time she opens her eyes she can’t see anything? Anything at all?

From outside she heard talking, loud talking. Angered talking. She recognized one of the voices, a local bandit she’d been hiding from up here for a while now. He takes everything he wants, and nobody stops him.

As quickly as she could she rose from the recliner and replaced the sleeping child into her crib. She walked to the door, bolting the lock and moving a heavy footlocker in front of it. She walked over to a steel locker and pulled a key out of her pocket, undoing the lock. She flung the door open and grabbed out her bow, notching an arrow. She grabbed a pistol and jammed a mag into it before shoving it into her pants. She flung the locker shut and threw the lock on. She may have been irresponsible, but she wasn’t going to leave guns laying around with a baby in the house.

She crept over to the windows, shielding behind the brick. She peeked out the window and caught a glimpse of what was going on out there. A group of five had been stopped by Samantha’s worst nightmare and his two heavily armed companions. She could see the group of five was armed but unable to do anything as they had guns trained on them. It seemed that one of the girls was hurt, as she was leaning on another girl.

All they needed was a little bit of time to draw their weapons, and this could all be over. Samantha would never have to worry about that man ever finding her again. Not have to worry about who’s creeping outside the house. But she found herself asking, did she trust the members of that group any more? All she had to do was fire a single arrow, they’d be distracted long enough for the group to take them out.

[Kill the bandits]

[Step away]

mr.quality · April 2016

Extra bonus points if anyone can tell me which book Samantha was reading at the beginning of her part!

LiquidChicagoTed · April 2016

Woohoo Sammy Seeing her back was equal parts wonderful, heartwarming and sad, as well as surprising, since I didn't expect her to be in the story so soon after I rewrote her. It has been a long while since I last read about this character, but I instantly reconnected with her and that was amazing. This part clearly showed that she came a long way since the very first part of Stranded and I'm loving this new, grown-up and responsible version of hers. It was tragically heartwarming to know how much she's been through and how much she lost, but to see that she's still holding on put a smile on my face. And she has Nadia of course, her little ray of hope. It was wonderful to see her in full mommy-mode, I knew she'd be a goodone. By the way, is the baby's name Nadia or Nadiya now? I remember you used the latter spelling in Stranded, though I actually prefer the former, because Nadia is a more straightforward spelling. I was actually never sure how to pronounce the y in her name, so I'm very happy with this change

[Kill the bandits]

I'm putting two and two together and say that this is Miller and his group, so we know that we can trust them and that they are, more or less, good people. Also, this bandit is a danger to her and taking him out is going to be a good thing. Finally, this is definitely the choice I see as more in line with her character.

Extra bonus points if anyone can tell me which book Samantha was reading at the beginning of her part!

That should be "To kill a Mockingbird", right? I have only read the german version of it and that was quite a while ago, but this sentence sounds familiar once I translated it in my head. At least I definitely remember that Maycomb appeared in the book.

mr.quality · April 2016

By the way, is the baby's name Nadia or Nadiya now? I remember you used the latter spelling in Stranded, though I actually prefer the former, because Nadia is a more straightforward spelling

I actually didn't even realize I did it until you said something.

Also, yes that was To Kill A Mockingbird. Great book, honestly.

wishwash · April 2016

[Kill the bandits] it sure seems like Miller's group!

Dydix958 · April 2016

[Kill the bandits] ,if it's miller 's group then it has to be done , the end of miller's part with the bandits kinda reminded of the season finale of the walking dead "Give me your shit and i won't kill you" haha awesome , also sorry missed the previous vote .By the way have you watched it ? Jeffrey Dean Morgan was awesome in this episode but im kinda disapointed , he didn't use the f* word that much ..

mr.quality · April 2016

the end of miller's part with the bandits kinda reminded of the season finale of the walking dead "Give me your shit and i won't kill you" haha awesome ,

You know, even as I wrote it I realized the similarities... I really wasn't intentional.

By the way have you watched it ? Jeffrey Dean Morgan was awesome in this episode but im kinda disapointed , he didn't use the f* word that much ..

Yes, I watched it! I'm scrambling to not lose my head now!

JumpyJoey · April 2016

[Kill the bandits]

Five people, probably Miller, Josh, Lizbeth, Eve and Rebecca! It makes sense for this to be Miller's group so of course Samantha should help.

janitor · April 2016

[Kill the bandits]

Look who is back :P I was sure Sam would reappear at some point but I never thought it would be now. Its great to see that she is still carrying on, with her daughter on top.

And awww Raven. I feel so sorry for her

mr.quality · April 2016

Aspen Diaz

“Where are you going? That’s our prisoner.” Ed said, pushing Aspen back while grabbing Raven’s arm. Raven had lost all her will to fight at this point and practically collapsed onto Ed.

“She ain’t yours.” Aspen growled. “She’s my friend, and we’re getting the hell out of here.”

“I can’t let you do that, not after the crimes she’s committed.” Ed said.

“Crimes?” Aspen asked. “And I guess you think what you people do down here is any better? Do you even see what you did to her?”

“She was an enemy of the state.” Ed said.

“Enemy of the state my ass.” Aspen said, stepping forwards towards Ed. She pushed him back, he stumbled a few steps letting go of Raven, who slumped against a wall. “You’re the only enemy I see here. Get out of my way.”

“I can’t.” Ed said.

“Do you want to die today?” She asked ,taking out Raven’ pistol. Ed’s eyes widened as he looked at it. “Because I really wouldn’t mind ending you, right here right now.”

“Stop this, nobody has to die.” Eva said as she walked into the room. “Ed, you’re just lucky I don’t gouge your eye out after what you did to her. I’m going to escort these two safely out of this bunker, and anyone who says otherwise is going to be on the business end of my pistol, understood?” She asked. Ed nodded as he glared at Aspen.

“Crystal.” He growled. Eva nodded to Aspen, she wrapped Raven’s arm around her, supporting her weight.

“Follow me.” Eva said. As Aspen walked by Ed she heard him grumble.

“Should’ve killed you when I had the chance.” He grumbled. Aspen was about to shoot him right then and there, but Eva was quick to sense what was going on, she shut him up pretty good. The butt of her gun made pretty good contact with the base of his skull, and he fell to the floor.

“To be honest, I’ve wanted to do that since I meet him.” Eva said.

“Me too.” Aspen said. She looked down at Ed as he lay on the ground unconscious, then she did the most undignified thing she could think of. She spit onto his unconscious body as she walked past.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with him again.” Raven said, quietly but loud enough that Aspen could hear her.

“It’s okay, it’ll be the last time.” She said.

The elevator was cleared, Raven and Aspen were loaded on and Eva got in with them. Aspen felt the elevator begin to ascend. She turned and looked to Eva.

“Why did you help us?” She asked.

“My goal was to stop a war from happening. Looks like I failed.” Eva said. “But letting two CDC soldiers get killed in an Ohio bunker sure wasn’t going to help things.” She said.

“Thank you.” Raven managed. Eva nodded.

“I never cared much for the Ohioans.” She said. “Or the CDC. Both of them…”

“I know how you feel.” Aspen said.

“So I guess since you’re free now, you’ll be returning to your people back with the CDC?” She asked. Aspen looked to Raven, and sighed.

“We don’t have any people.” Aspen said. “Not anymore.”

“You’re going to dessert the army?” Eva asked, though she didn’t sound surprised.

“They left us a long time ago.” Aspen said.

“Good luck where ever it is you go.” Eva said, looking towards Aspen. “Where is it you think you two are headed?”

“South.” Raven answered, out of nowhere. “I heard of a place in Tennessee, it sounds like a God-send.”

“Anything that sounds too good to be true usually is.” Eva said, Aspen felt the elevator come to a stop. “I guess I’ll see you two on the other side.”

“Hopefully it’ll be a long time before then.” Aspen said.

“One would hope.” Eva said. Aspen stepped forwards, carrying Raven along with her. She felt so thin, so fragile. It didn’t seem like she was down there all together to long, but she looked like she’d been stuck down there for ages.

She acted like it too, she squinted against the sunlight as it hit her eyes, Aspen did too. Fluorescent lighting is a lot different from the sun. Raven pointed up towards the bright fire in the sky with a shaky hand.

“I was beginning to lose hope that I’d ever see that again.” Raven said. Aspen looked over towards Raven.

“I guess I take that oath a little seriously.” Aspen said.

“I vow to never leave another solider behind.” Raven repeated, it was only part of the oath. But it was an important one, one that is in many cases overlooked. It wasn’t an official oath by any standards, but if you were going to be under Raven’s command, she was going to make her rules well known.

Aspen spotted the old moving truck exactly where she’d left it, she looked over at Aspen.

“That’s our ride.” She said.

“It’ll work.” Raven said. “It has to.” Aspen walked Raven over to the passenger side, reaching up towards the door. Her right hand rested against the handle, and she just stared at it. Her finger twitched, just a bit. That was the most movement she’d been able to get out of it in a while.

Aspen bit her lip, hard. She closed her eyes and just breathed, taking in the cold. It didn’t help. She felt a tear streak down her cheek. She took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes again, she saw Raven’s hand resting on top of her own bandage wrapped hand.

“Hey.” Raven said. “It’s okay.” Raven’s hand maneuvered along with Aspen’s own hand, the door gave way and creaked open. Aspen helped Raven climb up into the truck, wincing a little. There was still pain, and a lot of it. She’d just been ignoring it for a while now.

Aspen walked around the front of the truck, pausing for a moment at the very front. She wiped the tear out of her eye and turned back towards the tower that sat over the bunker. She extended her left hand towards it, lifting only her middle finger. She felt it was a suiting final farewell to a place she hated to well.

“Fuck you.” She muttered as she turned and shuffled to the driver’s side door. Her left hand reached forwards, pulling the door open. She pulled herself in and shut the door behind her. She paused, looking over towards Raven. “You’re the boss, where are we headed?” She asked. Raven seemed one step ahead of her, as she was already looking at a road map.

“Quickest way would be to jump on I-75 and take it all the way to Knoxville. But there’s bound to be something to go wrong on the way, and I don’t like it. 75 goes straight through Lexington, and Lexington means…” Raven trailed.

“The Insurrection.” She said. Oh yes, the Insurrection. Everyone’s favorite crazies. They came about soon after everything went to hell, calling the apocalypse a blessing as it ‘released us from our chains that was the government’. Nowadays, they get by just fine by killing whatever they come across, and what they can’t kill they usually just terrorize. Not a fun group of people. Luckily, they’ve been greatly contained by the Ohioan government, being mainly suppressed only to the town of Lexington.

“The only other way I see that isn’t completely stupid is taking 71 to Louisville and jumping on 65, which will take us all the way to Nashville.” She said.

“What do you think?” Aspen asked.

“I think taking 71 to Louisville is the smart move, it’ll take longer but it’ll be safer. In the shape the two of us are in, we can’t stand a fight.” Raven said. “But, in honor of the driver, I’ll let you get the final say.”

Choice

[Take 75 to Knoxville]

[Take 71 to Louisville]

Lizbeth Morrison

“How about we make this a little bit easier for everyone, alright?” The bandit asked, waving his gun. “You give us your weapons first, then no one’s in any immediate danger.”

“How about this, you go fuck yourself.” Lizbeth spat at him. He laughed, slowly marching over towards her. He seemed docile. That is until his arm reached out at lightning speed, gripping a handful of Lizbeth’s blonde hair. She cried out as he pulled her closer to him.

“I like you’re spirit kid…” He said. “You know what, I’ll take the kid. And all of your stuff.” He said, a wicked smile on his face.

“No!” Lizbeth heard Eve yell. She jumped forwards at the man, and he let out a yelp of pain as he staggered backward. He looked down at the knife imbedded in his side. He looked back up at Eve, back handing her. She spiraled to the ground.

“You little bitch.” He exclaimed, bewildered. He began marching towards Eve, as the other Bandits wedged themselves between the group and them. The bandit gripped the handle of the knife, and without so much as a grimace, pulled it out of his side.

He dropped down next to Eve, planting his knee on her chest. He held the knife against her face.

“Is this yours?” He asked. Eve tried to wriggle free, but the man was to strong and he kept her down. “Is this yours?” He asked again, impatient. Lizbeth struggled to get past the Bandit that was keeping them all back, but he was to strong.

“Y-yes.” Eve chocked out, she sounded afraid but wasn’t letting it show physically. He said nothing, just dragged the knife along her cheek, she let out no sound, no sign that he was even hurting her. He smiled, lifting the knife.

“You’re a though one, huh?” He asked. “The world could use a little less of your kind.” It was just about then Lizbeth saw an arrow sprout from the neck of the bandit that was holding her back. He feel to the ground, choking on his own blood.

That was all Miller needed, within seconds the second guard was dead, leaving only the remaining leader. And he had Eve, his arm was wrapped around her, a knife to her throat.

“You try anything, anything at all and she dies. Do you hear me?” He said. Miller looked to everyone else, everyone lowered their weapons. The bandit looked around.

“Fuck.” He said. He kicked Eve in the back of the leg, making her fall to the ground. Then, before anyone could react, he sprinted off into the woods. Instantly disappearing. Miller looked like he was about to chase him down for a moment, but changed his attention onto Eve.

Lizbeth raced forwards as fast as she could, falling to her knees in front of Eve. Eve grabbed her arm and pushed herself up. Lizbeth looked at the cut on her face, and ran her finger across it wiping away some of the blood.

“What were you thinking?” Lizbeth asked.

“He was going to take you.” Eve said.

“And he was going to kill you.” Lizbeth said. “There’s a difference.”

“You’re welcome.” Eve said. Lizbeth shifted forwards, wrapping her arms around her.

“Thank you.” Lizbeth said.

“Who’s out there?” Miller called, Lizbeth turned to look at him. “We don’t want to hurt you, we just want to thank you.”

“How do I know I can trust you?” A female voice called.

“You don’t.” Miller stated bluntly, “But you trusted us enough to save our lives, if it makes you feel any safer, we can put our weapons on the ground.” There was a long silence, Lizbeth looked to Miller. He shrugged.

“No.” She called. “Just… fuck… I’m coming down.” She called.

“Put your weapons away.” Miller said. Everyone did, some more willingly than others. It took a few moments, but from the brick building that sat nearby, a woman walked out with a bow in her hands. Lizbeth could see the arrow nocked in it, though the woman seemed a little hesitant to pull it back.

“We don’t mean any harm.” Miller said. “We’re just passing through.” The woman looked around at them. She had light brown hair that fell down to her shoulders, and warm ocean-blue eyes though Lizbeth could see a slight discoloration in her right eye. She wore dark blue jeans that were matched with a black tank-top and a brown leather jacket.

Lizbeth liked that jacket almost instantly, it was a lot better than her own.

“You must be stupid thinking you can pass through here without attracting attention.” She called.

“To be honest, we have no idea where we are or where we’re headed. We got separated from the guy that was leading us to wherever it is we’re going. He just told us to head north.” Miller said.

“Just keep heading that way.” She said, pointing up the road. Miller looked over to the rest of the group.

“Please, just let us thank you first. We don’t have much, but uh…” He began digging through his bag. “Here, take these.” He said, pulling out a can of beans. She looked at them, uninterested.

“I don’t want your stuff, please. Just go.” She said.

“Okay, okay.” Miller said. “I a guy named Evan passes through here, please just let him know we kept going north, alright?” Miller asked. He signaled to the rest of the group. Lizbeth pulled Eve up and the two began hobbling on as they had for the past miles and miles. And now for miles ahead.

Just as the group began passing by the woman, she let out a sigh.

“Wait.” She said. “You can stay here tonight, only tonight.” She said.

“Thank you.” Miller said, instantly.

“Under one condition.” She said.

“Yeah?” He asked.

“Your weapons go in my locker, you got them back when you leave.” She said. Miller looked at Rebecca and Josh, then to Eve and Lizbeth. They needed to rest, badly and he knew it. He pulled out his weapon, as soon as it came out the woman tensed up. But instead of aiming it at anything, he turned it over, handing it to her.

“The name’s Miller.” He said.

“Samantha.” She said. “Samantha Bishop”

LiquidChicagoTed · April 2016

[Take 71 to Louisville]

I trust Raven in this choice. She said it herself this is the smarter move. And at the very least she won't be able to hold her ground in a serious fight, so they should play it safe. If Louisville saves their lives, the so be it.

Also, it appears we saved the right group with Sammy This bandit that got away is worrying me though. I guess he's coming back and then, Sam is going to have a very good reason to leave her new home as well, hopefully with Miller's group. Also, I kinda loved the interaction between Lizbeth and Eve in this part. Is it too early to ship them?

mr.quality · April 2016

1.) You changed your proflie pic, it's pretty cool by the way.

2.) The bandit got away: scary thought. And Evan's still out there somewhere.

3.) >I kinda loved the interaction between Lizbeth and Eve in this part. Is it too early to ship them?

... I don't know. Maybe, maybe not.

Youngstown: Interactive story.

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