in search of a friendly face (open)

[surfer]

Tanner had been on his own for months on end now. He silently wondered to himself if he was the only one left. That thought had luckily been proved wrong when he had intercepted a message which sounded like it concerned many people. This could be Tanner's chance at finding a group to belong to again. He hoped they were more organized than his last one. He wouldn't be able to take a loss like that again without going mad. Tanner was shaken out of his thoughts as he heard rustling behind him. His eyes shot over his shoulder as he looked around for any walkers he might encounter. He was worried about going into the city, but he remained confident in his agile ways. He slowly stood up from his crouching position as his hands rested on a chain linked fence. He scaled his way up the tall fence hopping over with ease and quickly looking around to see if anyone had heard him.

After a few moments of catching his breath and allowing his adrenaline to calm he stood and slowly began walking through the desolate streets. He hadn't reached Atlanta yet and the very thought terrified him. He hoped to god he would find someone before he had to be forced to enter Atlanta in search of others. He reached the corner and leaned his body against it as he peeked around the corner to find two walkers. He quickly pulled his head back hoping to god they wouldn't see him. He shut his eyes as his heart began racing. He attempted to calm himself as he came up with an idea. His eyes flying open as they darted around to take in all his surroundings. He saw a ladder that would lead up to the roofs of the buildings which was exactly what he had been searching for. He knew he could quickly find his way around and search for people easier if he had the higher ground.

He took in a deep breath knowing he would have to go quietly to go undetected. The next few minutes were a blur as he pushed himself off the wall and ran jumping on top of the dumpster before grabbing a hold of the ladder and pulling his way up. He looked down to see that the walkers had finally heard him. It must have been the metal clang from the dumpster when his foot landed on it as leverage to the ladder. He threw himself over the top rolling out of sight as he laid there for a few moments catching his breath again, "Holy hell," he mumbled to himself as he slowly opened his eyes this time. He had to shield them from the sun as he looked around the rooftop. He walked to the other side and laid down as he peeked out over the top to notice walkers roaming the streets. He sighed knowing it was going to be harder than he thought to find this group of people. Although, he hadn't noticed that it was more than just those two walkers that had noticed him enter the city and climb up the ladder.

[silbern]

The middle aged man with a grizzled five O'clock shadow spit out his truck window as it idled in park. The sun was beating down hard that day as old country tunes quietly played from the old Chevy's cassette player. Al stared beyond the front window to see Atlanta in all it's quiet glory as the dead have officially claimed it theirs. For all he cared, the damned dead things can keep it to themselves as long as they stay in it. His drive up from Florida was enough of a bitch since he had to avoid the military and the walkers. What really caught his attention was a figure who climbed onto a dumpster so he could reach a ladder that led to the roof. Al brought up his bino's as he caught the last glimpse of the man falling down and shielding his eyes from the sun. "Yeah, it's a survivor all right" Al mumbled to himself before placing his truck into drive.

The old red Chevy made it's way towards the supposed survivor as Al parked a couple of blocks away. The man stepped out with his leather jacket on and his cowboy hat securely on his noggin. As much as his mother was a concern, she always taught him to help out others. He planned on making his lesson's taught to him worth her mothers breath to say them. He picked up a fire axe from the back along with a baseball bat that had an improvised sling so he could carry it without his hands. The sound of cowboy boots walking down the alley way must have attracted some attention as Al soon had Walker's coming directly his way. "Come get yer' fill you son of a bitch" Al spit more of his tobacco filled spit in the first walkers direction before swinging his axe. The swing decapitated the skull so the head fell a few feet away as Al then kicked out with his other leg to knockdown the other walking corpse. The damn thing wasn't even worth wasting an axe swing with as a boot smashed down on the rotting corpse. Brain bits and bone chips splattered in a small area as Al continued to make his way.

He jumped on top of the dumpster and then working his way onto the ladder with a groan of effort. He didn't know if the survivor was still up there but it was safe to say there was only one way to find out as a cowboy hat and aviators peeked over the edge of the roof.