BURN IT UP [Iain]

[anna]

It's not often a girl finds the right pair of boots during the middle of the apocalypse. Anna had seen them a few days back after the group had searched for some supplies in the heart of the city, but hadn't managed to slink her way away to get those boots. Footing was an important essential in the apocalypse; not having the right shoes could get you in a lot of trouble. For example; heels too tall slow you down unless you are used to running around in them and Anna was not. Shoes that had slick bottoms to them made it easy for someone to slide around, bump into things (which slowed you down) or even had someone landing on their backside when trying to escape.

So, Anna had managed to sneak off from the group, simply stating she was going to the river near their camp to try and wash out some of her clothes. The second she walked away from the camp, her clothes were piled up neatly near a tree and she was on her way to the city. That was about two hours ago and she knew that they would eventually realize she was missing, but by the time they had she's hopefully at least be on her way back.

That was the plan. The city streets had been difficult to maneuver around given that there was garbage everywhere, parked cars that had been abandoned because they had ran out of gas or stopped working and of course keeping out of the sight of the walking dead. There was a time when Anna found beauty in the world; even in Manhattan, but now the cities...the entire world actually was a cesspool of destruction, chaos and death. It was rare to find anything beautiful in the world these days; outside of the designer pair of boots she had seen just a few days ago.

As soon as Anna had made her way into the city, it seemed as if she had caught unwanted attention and though she had made it to the mall, the attention only grew on a grandeur scale. The walking dead roamed the area at a slow pace, just slow enough to keep Anna moving away from them. As fast as she could, though a few had spotted her. From those few, the numbers had increased to more than a handful to that of two handfuls and soon a little more than that.

Did Anna like running? Not especially and given that these boots she owned now were a few months old, traction wasn't the best and so each time her feet hit the ground, Anna was sliding just a little bit. But she couldn't let that stop her and it wasn't bad enough to cause her to stumble or run into things. Did Anna like running on a semi-humid autumn day in the middle of the afternoon? God, she could barely breathe in this state, the humidity was far worse than that of anything experienced in Manhattan! Anna hated sweating and in reality, sweat probably drew attention to herself with the walkers.

Her booted feet thudded heavily on the cement as she continued running for her life until she could find a "safe" location. Thud, thud, thud, each step Anna had no idea if it was her feet hitting the concrete heavily or the pounding in her chest that she could hear, but it only added a sort of anti-climatic environment to it all. Anna slid around a corner as her boots tried to dig themselves onto the concrete to aid the red headed woman, finding herself in front of a small bar.

Windows had been boarded shut, and the door rested open just a crack. With a small horde behind her, there was nothing for Anna to do but to go in and hope that there wasn't anything else in the place. Immediately the stench of various liquors that had been spilled hit her nostrils, her feet inching over the glass that accompanied it after she closed the door and locked it. Hopefully, with the overpowering stench of liquor, the horde would bypass the bar and her altogether. For now all Anna could do was hunker down and wait for time to pass and the walking dead to do the same.[/size]

[iainbrandt]

Iain wasn't sure if Anna knew or not, but he had been following her ever since she left camp. It was mostly for her safety, just in case she came across a group of Walkers that she couldn't handle or get away from. Thinking they weren't going to be long since she was only going to the river, he took a limited amount of ammo with him. When he discovered that she wasn't going there, he swore silently to himself and was tempted to turn back around and go to camp to tell them, but since they were already a ways away, he decided against it. Traveling back by himself was dangerous; it was better to stick with trailing her. Wherever it was that she was going.

The most dominant emotion Iain felt whenever he went outside of camp was paranoia. He feared that he wouldn't make it back, that he was going to be turned into a Walker, or that he would be mistaken for one and shot. The latter sounded more appealing, really. Existing only to eat the flesh of others wasn't on his to-do list. If that did happen, he would want to be put out of his misery as soon as possible.

There was a sneaking suspicion that the woman was going out to get something that, in his eyes, was totally useless. When she had gotten split up from the group on their way to Georgia, it was because she went off to get a pair of shoes. Apparently shoes meant more to the woman than life itself. But if it happened this time, then she wasn't going to be alone and left to fend for herself. When he was able to reveal that he had been following her, he planned to give her a stern reprimanding for doing such a stupid thing, and if she asked him why he had been following her, well, his answer would simply be that he had nothing to do, and that wasn't too far from the truth.

Though he was excellent at sneaking around Walkers and even humans, it was difficult to do both at the same time. He came close to giving himself away a few times by making a few small mistakes, like stepping on trash or crunchy leaves. It was a stupid idea to sneak around someone who had a gun and an itchy trigger finger. He knew she had a gun, but he wasn't so sure about the itchy trigger finger, though everyone seemed to get one at one point or another, especially if they knew that Walkers could appear at any moment.

Humidity was the number one reason why Iain hated going to southern states and why he stayed in states with low levels of it. Sweat and dirt didn't go so well together, and neither did blood. Thankfully, that last one hadn't been added in yet. And he would kill for a shower. And maybe a pizza. If there was one thing he could go back and redo before the apocalypse happened, he would take a really long, hot shower and get a slice of pizza from one of the street vendors. Okay, so maybe that was two things. But still, it was better than having to bathe in a frickin' river and eat venison and fish all the time. It may be the end of the world, but that didn't mean that it had to be the end of hygiene.

When they reached the city, Iain hid behind a corner not too far off from the bar Anna was in front of. Most of the Walkers that were around them were going after her, though there were a few following after him, too. After she headed inside the bar, he slid out from behind the corner and hastily made his way over to it, avoiding any and all Walkers. He knew the door was locked before he even tried it. There had to be another way in - a back door. Keeping close to the building, he made his way to the other side of it as quietly as he could and was exuberant when he saw a door. Please don't let it be locked yet, please don't let it be locked yet, please don't let... the thought trailed off as he closed his eyes and put a hand on the door handle. When it opened, he breathed a sigh of relief and slipped inside.

Locking the door behind him, he glared at her, not at all phased by the strong scent of liquor and other alcohol. "I swear, if you did this for a pair of shoes, I'm going to kill you," he threatened, laying the pistol in his hand down on the bar. "Hey, if we can't get out, look on the brightside. We wouldn't have to shoot ourselves. I think I would rather die from alcohol poisoning than a bullet to the head." Without warning, he started to grab random bottles of whiskey off of the shelves and tuck them in his arms. He couldn't really help himself. Besides, it didn't count as stealing if the owner was probably dead, and if he ever found himself without something to do back at the campsite, he wouldn't have much trouble finding something with all of this liquor. But the only problem was, how was he going to bring what he wanted back with him?

[anna]

There was a sound from behind her as soon as Anna started making her way to the bar to see if there was something of use for her while she waited the horde mass out. With a quick whip of her head around, the only thing to meet her line of vision was that of another survivor from the camp.

"What the hell?" Had he already been in the city or had he followed her all the way here? It wasn't very probable that he just happened to be here, in the bar when she was; possible, yes. Probable; not so much. Anna's brown eyes narrowed at his comment, but took a step backwards just to be on the safe side. He did, after all have the gun and she had hers in her small napsack upon her back.

His joke made Anna roll her eyes as she hoisted the napsack off her back and tossed it down on the counter to pull out her own pistol; a small Beretta 950. "Or, I don't know, we could kill them all and do our entire camp a favor?"[/b] Anna's eyes went down to all the liquor Iain was holding within his possession, trying hard not to frown. "If we don't they might follow us back to camp and chew our very 'useful' source of attaining knowledge; instead of just wasting that source sitting here getting drunk." Yes, she had probably gotten them here, but the a-hole next to her was planning on impairing their abilities and sitting on his ass all night. Real smart plan of escape. Anna wasn't about to die because she had been stuck here with a drunkard.

Anna riffled through her bag some more, pulling out various things, trying hard to leave the small amount of food she had secret from the man as she talked to herself. "I know it's in here somewhere..." Anna sighed loudly as she pulled out a paperback novel and set it on the bar counter at about the time there was a noise at one of the front boarded up windows; a repetitive bashing. "We can celebrate with those later," Anna pointed to the booze, trying not to wrinkle "After we take care of that?' Anna pointed to the window and took a step backwards as the window started to crack under the pressure it was enduring. Rotten fingers began to slip into the thin cracks being made in the wood, trying to make them wider so they could get in.

"How many bullets do you have? This thing only has seven." Anna shot Iain a look before she grabbed her bag and gun off the counter and headed for the back. "On second thought, bring your party favors with you too." Anna disappeared behind a swinging door without another look at Iain.[/font][/size]

[iainbrandt]

"And if we do, it'll just attract more of them," Iain retorted, not liking her already. Back at camp, he barely talked to her, and he now knew why that was. He may have been rude, but not when meeting someone in a situation like this. It made him want to grab her and throw her out of the bar and into the horde, where she could be of some help by serving as a distraction. "Follow us back to camp? There's an easy solution to that: Kill the ones that are following. By using something other than a gun." Loud noises attracted Walkers like moths to flame. It was better to bludgeon them in the head with something than to shoot them. In his opinion, the only good time to shoot them was when you had no other choice and didn't have anything else around to use. With a bottle in hand, he snatched a rag off of the bar and put it in his back pocket.

Furrowing his eyebrows, he watched her pull out things from the knapsack, blinking a few times. He always wondered how women could fit as much stuff as they did into such small bags. "Maybe if you didn't have so much junk in there, you would be able to find what you're looking for." God forbid she had to look through the thing for her pistol whenever she was being chased by Walkers. If she ever died, he would know why. Finally looking away from her to look at the boarded up windows, he frowned. The thought of being cornered by zombies in such a small bar made him a little nauseous. Suddenly, the room seemed smaller, and it took everything in him to force back a panicked whimper. Hearing the woman, he looked down at the bottles in his arms, then at her, and then the knapsack. There could be a use for the bag after all. Turning his gaze to where she was pointing, he nervously licked his bottom lip. Damn. Seriously, if he died all because she went out for shoes, he was not going to be happy.

"H-how many bullets do I have? I only have a clip. When I followed you, I thought you were going to the river, not to the city." This was her fault. She should have been truthful as to where she was headed. Putting one of the bottles down so he had a free hand to grab the pistol he set down on the counter moments ago, he gave one last look to the boarded up windows and followed her quickly to the door, shouldering it open since his hands and arms were full. He didn't want to stay in there alone.

Upon reaching the back, his nervous disposition only grew once he saw how small the back room was. Kneeling, he put the bottles down on the floor, along with the pistol. That might not have been a good idea, but he figured that he would be able to hear if any Walkers managed to get inside. Hands trembling, he tried to hide it by folding his arms across his chest, not wanting to appear weak to her. If they hadn't been in such a small building, he wouldn't be acting like this. Pacing, he could feel sweat collecting in his palms as he felt his face start to get hot. "Is it hot in here to you?" He asked, looking down at the floor as he continued to pace, the floor moving beneath him. Talking seemed to help him whenever he was nervous or scared, not matter who it was he was talking to. Or trying to talk to - he wasn't sure if she wanted to speak to him. "You should be grateful, Red. I followed you all the way here for your protection." Unfolding his arms, he reached into his pants pocket, touching the matchbook that was there as he stared at the bottles of liquor he had brought. "At least you know... you won't be... dying alone here all alone...," he trailed off, tilting his head. Absentmindedly, he pulled out the matches and his other hand went to his back pocket to pull out the rag that was there and hold it up. "Hey, Red? Wanna help me make some molotovs?" He asked, grinning slowly.

[anna]

The comments about all the junk in her backpack didn't go unnoticed, but instead of bickering with the man, Anna was preoccupied with her well being. For not it seemed that his well being was her second priority given that she needed what he had in his hands and him. Well, more like some of him; even if he appeared to be a moody drunkard, the man essentially was useful.

"I'll have you know, my 'junk' will help save our ass." Anna retorted once they made it to the back room, not stopping to look at Iain as she spoke. "You followed me?" Anna turned around then, her brow raising at the dark haired man in front of her now. In her mind there were only two reasons as to why Iain was following her. For her food or 'something else' and if he thought he was getting either of those two things off Anna, he couldn't be more wrong.

Anna tried to not roll her eyes, but she may have. "It's Georgia in the fall and there's no air conditioning. Of course it's hot in here and as much as it stinks, it's only going to get hotter." Anna knelt down and tossed everything out of her backpack by turning it upside down. There, in the middle of all her 'junk' was the silver object she was looking for. A lighter. "Much better than your matches, don't you think?" Anna retorted before she eyed him, the door they slipped behind and then the bottles of booze.

She heard his words and then she did roll her eyes. He was protecting her by whining about the heat and pacing like a nervous tiger in a care?! His next comment about them dying turned her facial features into a semi-nervous frown before she pushed it away with a shake of her head. She was not dying. The red headed woman had made it this far and there was no way in hell she was letting some redneck zombie with no fashion sense turn her into one of the same.

"I can't believe I am saying this." Anna started in with a groan before she stood up and pointed to Iain's shirt. "Take off your shirt. You're hot anyways." Anna flicked the lighter nervously as she waited for him to do what she said.[/size]

*Edit, italicized coding replaced*

[iainbrandt]

"Yeah, I followed you. Didn't you hear me the first time? I did it for a good reason. From what I heard, you strayed away from the group before we left for Atlanta just to get a pair of shoes," Iain scoffed, turning his head to look at her. She was going to be one of those people who got killed over something stupid. "Instead of wasting your time with heels or whatever you're after, get good shoes. Get running shoes. I highly doubt anyone would care if they don't match your outfit." This woman was starting to seem like dead weight. What was the use in having her in the group? All she did was take up supplies and space. "It's the apocalypse. I think if you were running around naked I wouldn't think to look twice at you." There was more to worry about than stealing shoes. Shoes and women were two things he never really understood. For him, anything was good as long as they were comfortable. "If shoes were what you were after, tell me now."

Of all the days she had to pick from to go into the city for shoes, it had to be this one. Death by dehydration was starting to seem as likely as death by Walker. "You wouldn't happen to have any water in that bag of yours, would you?" He asked, pulling the front of his shirt away from his chest. Coming to Atlanta was pointless. It had been a well-populated state and its climate sucked, to say the least. He was wanting a shower, even a cold one, more and more with each passing minute. Anything to get the disgusting Georgia sweat off. If they didn't move out of the area soon, he was going to leave and head for his hometown, where he knew the area. At least there he wouldn't be sweating and worrying about other people all the time like he was here. Sitting down, he watched as she picked up a lighter, and she was right; it was much better than matches. Knowing his luck, his matches would extinguish before he got the chance to light anything.

Staying seated for a few seconds longer, he stood and paced around the room again, praying that their plan wasn't going to fall through. Hearing her groan, he blinked and looked at her, his pacing stopping abruptly. "Me? Why can't you...," he stopped and looked away before she could give him another one of those looks. "Right, right." Grumbling, he took his shirt off and threw it down in front of her with a shrug and a big smirk. "Hope you don't mind sweat." Yeah, it was hot out, but it irritated him that his shirt was going to be used for molotovs when they could just rip up the rag he had picked up into thin strips. There was no need to ruin a perfectly good shirt.

With all of the running he had been doing lately to keep away from Walkers, it wasn't hard at all to stay in shape. That isn't to say he hadn't been relatively athletic before everything went to hell in a hand basket, though. Glancing down at the rag, he shrugged and tossed it over his shoulder. "I guess we don't need that anymore, then. You're lucky I have another shirt back at camp, otherwise I would have told you no."

[anna]

If Iain thought his words or opinions mattered to Anna, he couldn't be more wrong. She had dealt with many within her line of work, from the higher uppers to those who served beneath her, getting almost all walks of life when it came to personality, nature and demeanor. He seemed the type to be someone that would be under her, given his negative, know it all attitude. People like him rarely rose to the occasion or top. This thought made Anna smirk as he demanded she tell him what she was doing out here.

There was no reason for him to know her matters in Anna's opinion. Sure, she was part of a group, but no one asked him or made the man come with her. He came of his own accord and so he found himself with her here now because he was just too damn nosy for his own good. He certainly acted like he was a boss by attempting to use an authoritative voice, but in the end this wasn't his group and the red head wasn't answering to him.

At Iain's question Anna shrugged at him, already knowing the answer. Of course she did, which went to show that she knew more than he did. Who the hell didn't bring any water on a journey in Georgia? She shook her head with a sigh before looking in her bag, grabbing a bottle out and tossing it his way. "Not so large and in charge now, are we?" If he thought she was stupid, he certainly validated his own to her.

He was whiny as well as bossy and it annoyed Anna. Had it been a kid, she would have overlooked it, but this man was grown and for all she knew, he might be older than him. Feeling her temper start to rise given he was pushing it, Anna smiled triumphantly as he tossed it down to the floor, the material making a thick 'smack' on the floor as it landed at her feet. "Sweat is the least of my concern. I wasn't aware we were in a fashion show as your previous comments about my shoes seemed to indicate." HA! Anna smiled smugly at the pacing dark haired male. That'd get him to shut his mouth for a few seconds, or so she hoped. In fact, he was probably causing more attention to them given his repetitive pacing and slacking of the jaw. If he got injured badly, she doubted the camp would be saddened. It'd make more food for her and the others in the grand scheme of things. Always a happy ending in the bigger picture of it all if Anna looked hard enough.

Anna let a loud snort pass through her nose at his retort about his shirt. There was a mall just a few blocks down that he could get a shirt at if he grew some balls. The walking dead were hungry, yes, but they were also slower than they were. Even Anna could outrun one in a pair of designer pumps as long as the path was clear. "Well, I guess we're both fortunate that we didn't have to end up using you as bait instead if you failed to share your shirt for our escape." Anna looked up as she ripped his shirt and shoved a good hunk into the the two bottles; cloth in the liquor and out of it. "Since you've been pacing for some time, did you find a good spot to toss these bad boys at?" Anna handed Iain one, as she took the other and flicked the lighter open with her free hand.[/size]