I fought the Law...the Law won {Sera}

[orourke]

Moaning. Moaning. Moaning.

Oh, why always with the freaking moaning?

“Just because the world ended, can’t a guy get any effing sleep?”
Complained a hoarse and very annoyed voice. Ah, he had grown used to the sound of the dead, the sound they made as they usually tried to pry though the steel bars of his cell, it was like a lullaby now, but he was getting might sick of the moaning. It wasn’t enough how they did stench up the place, oh no, there had to be the moaning!

O´Rourke didn’t bother to open his eyes, you saw one of the walkers, you seen them all. He didn’t need to look to know they were ugly rotting bastards that couldn’t just shut up!

How long had he been down there? It was hard to keep track of time when he was rolled up inside there, the dead weren’t the best pals to chat or keep him informed after all, but certainly it had been weeks since he had heard a car cruising by outside or even heard the dying scream of some poor bastard out there. He’d been living out of the rats and vermin that wandered inside his cell, God! He would kill for a fat, juicy rat right now! Damn everything to hell when he was hoping for some rat burger now, he would thank the cops for the unsanitary condition they kept the holding cells or he would had died of starvation by now. Yeah, right…he would thank them with his fists for letting him there to rot.

O’Rourke believed he was the only one still alive in the damned city, maybe the whole state or even the world? Wasn’t he the lucky bastard? He remembered when it all started, he and his brother, stupid idealistic Jeff convinced him that they had the guns and had to help the people of the city they had grew in instead of packing what they could and make a run for it. They had rallied whatever criminal and men who was able to hold a gun and tried to keep them together, safety in numbers. It was actually working until one of the cops got bitten and O’Rourke knew what would follow. He had seen it before, first you’d get the fever, then you’d die, then you’d eat your friends. So he did the right thing and put a bullet into his brain. What did he get for saving all those worthless bastards and putting that cop out of his misery? He got thrown into jail alongside his brother, that’s what!

He had been the only lucky…or depending on how you see it, unlucky enough, to have time to shut his door cell back again when someone hit the release lock. Probably the cops thought that if they got the zombies a meal, it would keep them distracted long enough so they could flee the building. To serve and protect, ha! He’d kill them all if they weren’t probably already dead.

Opening his eyes, he peeked into the cell adjoining to his.

“Morning Jeff.”

His brother only snarled at the sound of his name, and kept trying to reach towards him. Anything human left in him had died long ago, he was only now a shell, a very dead, very hungry, shell. Didn’t recognize his brother anymore, all he saw was a fat, juicy steak.

The last man standing?

He would exchange it all for a cold beer, a decent meal and a woman that still had a pulse going. It was the end of the world…he couldn’t afford to be very picky.

[sera]

Her stomach rumbled as she watched the Walker clawing at the solid steel door to the dispatch room. As a precaution she'd thrown the riot bolts as well, three seven inch bolts of reinforced steel. She knew power was soon gonna be lost, only a matter of time. If they figured out how to turn the door knob after the electronic locks failed she was toast if not for those bolts. As it was she was going to starve to death in here eventually. She had to find a way to get out, suit up, and get the hell out of Dodge. One glance at the monitors showed her that the hallways were an impossibility. There was really only one way,...up.

Gathering her courage she moved around the radio room, grabbing what she could that might come in handy; the large county map with the houses, streets, and prime locations of things like industrial areas, National Guard Armory, and other locations was pulled down off the wall, folded up neatly and slipped into her backpack. A few bottles of water and a couple packs of jerky swiped from a locker went in next. Charged portable batteries, one charger, one radio, the small book of radio frequencies, and the first aid kit's contents later and she was ready to make a try for it.

The weapons room was the first stop as she studied the building's blueprints that she'd dredged up out of a file kept in the back, mapping out her route as she glanced at the monitors. The locker room next, had to find gear, a vest, boots, whatever else the guys might have left laying around down there. The next part would be the most dangerous; the holding cells. There were Walkers everywhere in there. But that was where the lockbox on the wall was for all the vehicles in the storage garage. She didn't want a cruiser or one of the Explorers. She wanted the SWAT truck. Reinforced, built like a tank, double capacity fuel tanks and a alternating 4 cylinder to V8 engine. That baby would bust her out of her and grind any Walkers that got in the way into road grease as she made tracks out of town. Plus it was stocked for any emergency, weapons, ammo, food and water, emergency blankets, a top rate first aid kit for triage in a crisis call, mesh cage over the windows. That was gonna be her chariot. Getting the keys and fighting her way to it would be the problem.

She got the keys from the storage locker on the wall and pondered at how Fate had shaped her life. She'd always wanted to be an officer, out there on the streets, making a difference. She'd sort of resented being forced to jockey a desk and field calls but in the end...it had saved her. More than saved, provided. She was in the brain of the whole operation. Had access to everything. With the flick of a switch, she could control the doors in the building all over.

Taking the keys and wrapping them in a sock she secured them to her beltloop with a caribbeener before going to the tool box in the back room. A screwdriver with Phillips head and flat, a small cluster of hex keys, and a small Mag light flashlight were taken. The fire axe was pulled off the wall and a strap made of her belt formed a sling that she could loop over her shoulder and across her back to carry it. She'd need it for the Walkers in the firearms storage room.

Using the tools she climb up onto the desk and worked at the grate on the air vent, unscrewing the screws and finally getting the face off of it. Sweat rolled down her face and arms as she worked, stripped down to her tanktop and BDU tactical pants. She looked at the screens one last time, grimacing before she pulled the hard drive from the main computer that held all the video feeds, radio and phone traffic and CAD recordings. This had to be documented. Even if she didn't make it..someone..maybe future generations if there were any...needed to know what happened here. Stuffing that and her laptop in the backpack she zipped it up and stuck the tools in the slots on the front of it, testing to make sure she could reach behind her to locate them without fumbling. last thing she grabbed was the fire axe, looping it over her shoulder and across her back. She was ready to make her break for it.

Hoisting herself up she climbed into the vent with effort and took a bracing breath to steel her nerves. She never did well in small confined spaces and for a long moment there she was too terrified to move, the sounds of the Walkers coming through the vent didn't help in the least. If she had to describe her worst nightmare...this would be it. Tiny, cramped space, dark, the sounds of the dead all around her, alone....for a moment she stopped breathing altogether and panicked, freezing, her muscles refusing to move. Slowly she was able to reach back and grab the flashlight from the slot in the backpack and flipped it on, holding it in her mouth to illuminate the shaft so that she could see.

Slowly the terror began to lessen as the lit area flooded her field of vision and she took a deep breath, counting to ten as she moved inch by inch in the duct. her survival instinct was stronger than the phobia as it turned out, urging her forward as she crawled through the ducts and found the weapons storage. Three Walkers in there. Three too many. This was going to have to be fast and quiet as she could manage. She wriggled out of the backpack, easing it against the edge of the duct beside her, the axe laid in front of her as she worked at the screws on the vent cover with her fingertips, getting them out one by one, the screws falling to the floor below, hitting the carpeted surface with little to no sound. That was good cause this next part.....was gonna be loud!

Holding the axe as she crouched she took several breathes and hyped herself up, sending a little prayer heavenward if any god was still listening and kicked out at the cover, knocking it off and jumping out fast behind it. One of them came at her immediately, hands outreached as she swung the axe hard and it lodged in it's neck halfway, making it teeter. Another came from behind as she held the gigged one at bay. Her foot kicked out at it, knocking it away as she jerked the axe out of the first's neck and swung again. Taking too long! Taking too long!, her mind screamed at her as she managed to lop it's head off with the second blow, whirling to drive the pointed end into the skull of the one getting up, adrenaline and fear fueling her as the point sunk home to the base of the skull and wedged there, dropping it like a hot potato.

But where was the third? And was the door locked? She couldn't get the axe out of the second one's head no matter how hard she pulled the point wedged between vertebra. No time....she left it and ran for the door, pulling it shut as she saw a small group of Walkers heading her way and turning the deadbolt. Just as she turned her back to the door she saw the third one right in front of her and was too terrified to scream looking into that rotting dead face with the mouth gaped open, hands grabbing for her. She reacted on instinct and muscle memory more than remembered skill, grab big the Walker at the shoulders and her foot coming up to smash it's knee cap, sending it to the ground. Her knee followed, impacting it's chin and knocking it's head back to the ground. It wasn't out but it was down, still dragging itself toward her by it's fingertips as she backed up, nearly hyperventilating, watching it in it's blank hunger. She bumped into the fire extinguisher on the wall and it made her scream before she realized what it was, grabbing it quickly and turning to the Walker.

The empty sounding metal clang reverberated up her arms as she brought the end down over and over into its' head, hearing the crunch of bone and the wet squelching of blood and fluids and brain matter as she broke through the skull. She hit it over and over and over, tears streaming down her face, not stopping or realizing it was done till about twenty strokes after it stopped twitching. She stared in horror as she dropped the extinguisher and backed against a wall, slumping down hard to her ass and just stared at the ruined mass for the longest time. How much time passed she wasn't sure, time had ceased to have meaning to her.

Emotionally and mentally numbed she slowly slid back up the wall, hands shaking like a leaf as she moved to the lockers and began to pull things out, only now actually hearing the Walkers beating at the doors, the sound rushing her as she threw everything out and dug through it, finding a vest and steel toed boots that fit her, pulling them on, a riot helmet with a visor, a belt with the utility pouched attached. Finally she opened the weapons cage and pulled out several guns and holsters. A double holster was strapped to her shoulders, another to her belt. Four Glocks, two shotguns, a sniper rifle. It was all heavy and the backpack up top would be heavier but she needed it. Ammo for all was added, finding a duffel bag and tossing as much as she could in. One last thing caught her eye and she grabbed it, silencers. The Walkers were attracted to sounds. The quieter the better.

Her gear thrown up into the shaft she hoisted herself up and tried to arrange things as best she could. She wished she'd been able to grab the M16 or the M80 but she couldn't. There should be some in the SWAT truck if she made it that far. She had the ammo for it but that was all right now. Inspecting the blueprints by the light of the small flashlight she mapped her route again and slipped the map into her pants pocket and began to crawl towards her next stop....the holding cells.

[orourke]

Pushing his elbows up so he was now sitting, O’Rourke leaned his head against the wall and took a long breath…goddamn stench! He’d heard people call them by several names, those bastards that refused to just roll over and be dead, zombies, walkers, undead…but he always thought that ’stenchies’ was very suitable. Anyone that got locked into a sauna like that place would agree with him. But who was he to talk? He hadn’t been able to take a bath in…how long again? He could swear the bastards were piling up because they could smell him for blocks.

Closing his eye for a moment, his hoarse voice was heard again.
“You know Jeff, I had that dream again. Remember the last decent meal we had, before we were tossed here? Pork chops and golden backed potatoes. Man, I would kill everyone here…” he opened his eyes and saw it was a moot point, “well, kill everyone here again, just for a plate of those pork chops…ah, but I shouldn’t complain, that spider that I caught yesterday was extra crunch.”

And then there was that stenchie in a cheerleader outfit that was munching on the cell bars, as if hoping she could devour her way up to him. O’Rourke could picture her before, those long legs, large bust, blonde hair and young face, she should have been hotter than hell before she got that bluish tone to her skin, the bruises and decaying flesh didn’t quite agree with her. Getting to his feet, O’Rourke lifted his shirt exposing his defined pecks, even if they showed obvious signs of malnourishment.

“That’s right baby, you will have to eat your way through those if you want to get a piece of this!”

Damned undead! Probably being locked up for God only knew how long in a small cell with a bunch of decaying cannibal freaks wasn’t doing wonders for his sanity. Yeah…like he was mister mental health before! Sure, the first time he swung an axe at a guy’s head wasn’t a walker. It was a living, breathing guy, just like him, and in just like him, it meant a cold blooded criminal that wouldn’t think twice about doing the same to him if he had the chance. Off course he had never hurt truly innocent folk, if one ask he would say it was just because there wasn’t a reason to bother, but truth was that he had his own set of morals. Never messed with drugs, never hurt innocents, but when you have to be feared to stay on top, you had to act like the big white shark and not like a freaking puppy.

Nowadays however, all those looking at him probably saw him as a tasty Big Mac with legs.

Moving his neck in a circular motion from left to right, he heard tense muscles crack before he reached up to grab the bars above, the ceiling wasn’t that high up and his legs needed only a little impulse from his legs. Rising his body, he started to exercise as he had done before, keep the mind busy was a good idea or he would go completely insane.

Ah hell, maybe it was too late, because he could almost swear he had heard a faint woman’s scream for a mere second. Regardless she was probably Carpaccio by now, so no matter if he had imagined it or not and simply continued his workout as he blinked at the walker that kept biting the bars.

“That’s right baby, no pain, no gain.”

[sera]

The stifling heat of the vents was suffocating, the weight of her burden great as she crawled through the overhead vents as quietly as possible. In her mind's eyes she kept seeing scenes from movies with the person in the vent screwed because the vent crashed through the ceiling and fell below. As much as she tried not to think about that and push her mind toward what she needed to do to get out of this alive it was still a nagging irritation in the back of her mind.

Sweat stung as it dripped down her forehead and into her eyes, making them tear up and her to blinking the tiny beam of the flashlight held between her teeth. her mind replayed the scene in weapons storage, the Walkers that had been in there, they hadn't been some nameless strangers. they had been men she'd worked with, had looked out for, people she called friends...No.. more than that, family. They had laughed together over beers after the hostage situation at the elementary school, blowing off that steam and dealing with the ugly side of human nature the best way they knew how, coping, healing so that they could go on and continue to serve their community. She'd cried with them at the funeral of a fallen officer, shot in the line of duty, trying to cover his partner. Had known their families, their children.

And now, they'd been turned into mindless consuming monsters. no recognition in those eyes, no emotions, no feelings, nothing but that burning hunger and the horror of their fate chilled her to the bone. Was that the fate that she too would face? Never. Not ever. Watching the cameras she'd seen how it happened, watched her comrades fall, some devoured, some bitten and ran to hide only to fall to a fever and slowly turn, becoming one of the hordes. She knew what would happen if they got hold of her. No way would she let that happen . No way. She'd eat a bullet first.

The smell hit her first as she neared the holding cells. This was where the majority of the Walkers had been in the building, the prisoners probably long gone. There had been one still left for a while, she'd seen him on the monitors. O'Rourke. he'd been one of the ones brought in on the vigilante busts, had shot Ramirez in the head. Kill shot. It still hurt to think about that. They had been close, very close. She'd been at his wedding, had talked him through the birth of his child on the phone when he'd called 911 panicked. She'd been to the little boy's Christening. Another time, another place....they might have been more than friends. Were almost more than friends one drunken night when he and Andrea had been having problems.

But that was in another world now, galaxies from where she was now. It was back when the world was sane and made sense and not some horrible reenactment of a Romero film.

Nearing the grate she saw the swarm, looking through the slits, creeping quiet as a mouse. Over the moaning and the sounds she heard it, the voice. Voice?!?! Male. Gruff. Gravely. Sarcastic as hell. She was slipping out of the backpack and her other gear, quietly in the shaft, adrenaline pumping hard through her, making her pulse roar in her ears. The silencers were slowly, carefully screwed onto the ends of the Glocks, all four ready, locked and loaded to be used fast without reload. One clip, maybe two, should be all she needed but she wasn't taking chances. She needed in that room. She needed those keys.


Creeping forward on her hands and knees she peered through the grate seeing the Walkers, watching the one in the cheerleading uniform and staring in horror at it. That was Captain Gifford's daughter, Shannon. Oh dear God. There were several of the Walkers she recognized, people she used to see everyday, the community that she wanted to serve and protect. Her hands shook as she took out two of the Glocks, and took a deep, steadying breath, resting the barrel of the silencer in the slot between the grates, aiming. The sound was a soft 'pthbt!' as the gun fired, taking down the Walker closest to the desk, dropping it were it stood.

She paused, waiting, no reaction from the others. Taking aim again she took out the pitiful remains of Shannon, putting her down, sending her to her eternal rest finally, her head blossoming as the bullet severed the spinal chord and caused her to slump against the bars, her open mouth, sliding down them as she met her final death. Over and over and over she picked them off, dropping the zombie, barely taking notice of the man in the cell as she focused on the task at hand, remaining safe behind the vent grate as she took them all out, all the one out in the open at least, before she unscrewed the vent grate and eased it off the best she could, looking down into the holding room for any movement, any loose Walker she might have missed.

There was the one in the cell but he was contained, nothing to worry about. Her eyes sliding further over she met the gaze of the man still living, looking like shit, in the adjacent cell. It was the elder O'Rourke. One of the department's regulars. A local tough and thug that she'd just as soon spit at as to look at him. He was the bastard the shot her friend. The rational part of her mind told her that it was a mercy he'd done him, after seeing all that she'd seen but for a brief instant that hatred and rage flashed through her eyes as she looked at him and raised her finger to her lips, indicating quiet.

Dropping out of the vent she landed on a body and the sickening crunch of bone was heard, making her stomach turn as she tried not to gag at the stench, her empty stomach dry heaving as she holstered one of her guns at the shoulder holster and held the other, moving toward the door to secure it. Her back to the wall she looked slowly, peering around that corner to make sure the way was clear and shut the door, locking it and shoving one of the heavy desks up against it.

That done she moved to the box that held the vehicle keys and used the ring of keys on her belt to open it, ignoring O'Rourke, debating with herself and hating herself for it. She wanted to tell him to fuck off and leave him there but that part of her that was still human and sane told her that she couldn't leave anyone here. No matter what. Not like this. Growling at herself she found the keys for the SWAT truck and looked over at O'Rourke. He was staring, watching her, waiting, that smug look on his face. God how she hated him for it.

[orourke]

At first all that O’Rourke saw the walker slumping forward and falling motionless. Working out always seemed to get them more agitated, it probably had something to do with the smell of his sweat or some crap like that, that meant dinner was served. Had the bastard just fall down dead from hungry and decay? He couldn’t see it through the horde that stayed trying to squeeze through the cell’s door.

Then he looked up and saw the small flash of light coming from the vent ahead before the cheerleader’s head blew up and fell down. If there weren’t so freaking moaning, he would have recognized the sound of a silenced gun. It was almost audible, but from the vent and the slight echo of it, as one by one the walkers fell, it become more audible, even if barely. Whoever was up there, knew exactly what he was doing, Question was, why? He doubted someone would go to the trouble just to save his ass. Hell, a minute before he doubted there was anyone else still alive.

Letting go from the grates, he fell down with a slight thud. O’Rourke wasn’t quite expecting the small figure that went out of the vent. She was dirty, messy looking and had a tight looking ass, but all about her screamed cop…and that, well, gave him the urge of reach out and squeeze the life out of her little neck. He noticed the glare she had shot his way and could tell she wasn’t his biggest fan either. Wait a second…he recognized that look on her face! She was one of those that wanted his head for shooting that cop! What a small dead word, wasn’t it?

It didn’t take long before it was clear what she was after, the keys in the panel over the back wall. But something about the way she looked at him, the way she moved, told him she wasn’t just going to walk out there.

“Well, strip me down, dip me in barbecue sauce and throw me to the horde!” his voice sounded as sarcastic as ever. “I know what you’re thinking. Can I get out there myself and make out of this God forsaken city? Sorry to burst your bubble princess, but if those stenchies in here thought I was good enough to eat, how do you think they will react to a tasty treat like you? You need my help, and you know that.”

There was that smug look on his eyes as he wandered towards the cell door and cocked his head to the said, waiting for her next move.

While the idea of walking out there didn’t sounded like suicide, it was still better than die slowly in there. If he would go down, he would go down fighting in the very least instead of feeling like one those roasting chickens on display while the walkers licked their lips as they tried to get a taste of him.

“Face it princess, the world has ended and we aren’t on the top of the food chain anymore…hate me all you want, but you need me.”

[sera]

Princess?!?!

That one word made her seethe as she glared at him from across the room. Walking slowly, the keys twirled around her pointer finger she stopped just short of the cell, leaning an arm up on the wall beside her. She was exhausted, beat, but there was still so much to do. She gave him a look over from head to toe, a long slow one that assessed him thoroughly and cocked her head a little.

"And what's to say that I let you out and you don't just kill me anyway? Isn't that what you do? Hell, I might be safer with the Walkers out here than with you. You don't give a damn about anyone but yourself." , she snarled and glanced at the one Walker still left, moaning and snarling in the cell beside him.

"I could leave you here. Let you rot. Maybe you'd eventually go insane and offer up a finger sandwich to your buddy there." She twirled the keys to an abrupt stop in her palm, grasping them there and looking at him hard. She was small, almost tiny despite the well toned musculature of her limbs, agile to as she'd proved. Resourceful. She'd managed to stay alive, smart, quick.

Stepping up to the bars and looking at him, careful to stay out of arm's reach she looked him dead in the eye. "Here's the thing O'Rourke..." A key was held up in her hand and she trained her gun on him. "I don't need you. In case you haven't noticed, I'm doing just fine on my own. But the difference between you and me?" There was a pause as she let that dangle between them a minute.

"I'm not a cruel bastard. I wouldn't let a person rot to death in this Hell we've found ourselves in. I doubt if the tables were turned I could say the same about you."

Stepping back, looking him over thoroughly she kept the gun trained on him. "Take your shirt off, the pants too. All of it." She didn't explain right away, not until she got that look and saw the muscle twitching in his clenched jaw. "I gotta be sure you haven't been bit and I don't trust you O'Rourke. You'd say anything to save your own hide."

She wasn't about to tell him about the backpack or the other weapons up in the vent shaft still. She wasn't stupid. There was a small gesture with the gun as she indicated he needed to hurry. How long before more came? How many had amassed around the secured lot where she needed to head to? Last she'd seen it had still been secure but that didn't mean anything. It was daylight. They seemed less active during the day. There could be Walkers there, dormant, waiting for something to catch their attention.

She dangled the key from her fingertips, waiting for him to do as she instructed, knowing it was pissing him off but there was no room for this modesty bullshit when life and death was on the line. Especially when Life and 'un'death were at stake. "I don't have all day O'Rourke. I want to get out of here before the sun sets. They get more active when it's dark. Probably why they were so frisky down here." There was a sarcastic smile on her lips that dripped venom. He thought she was a cop. Good. Better than being thought of as some helpless chick, she thought to herself.

"Either that or your charming disposition won them over. So strip. If you got a bite on you, I'll do ya a solid and put one right between the eyes. Spare you the horror of becoming one of these things. Isn't that what you did? ........to Ramirez?" Oh yeah, the hate blazed in her eyes as she looked at him. The emotions running high.

[orourke]

That smug look never left his face, even when she showed a bravery that wasn’t quite fitting such a small woman, he respect that…but hell would freeze over before he admitted that. If she didn’t need him as she claimed, she would had walked out by now instead of making conversation when new walkers could just wander inside for a snack.

But he needed her as well, otherwise he could very well be stuck there for life, however short it could turn out to be.

“If you think dealing with an entire city full of crazy, undead cannibals is an easy task, by all means, go ahead. It will not be the same as in here were you could pick them out from above. With me you will have a better chance…it’s a shitty chance, I will admit, but it’s better than alone. And why would I bother trying to kill you when there are hundreds out there ready to do just that?”

When she told him to strip, O’Rourke frowned and clenched his jaw. He didn’t like her barking out orders to him, like he needed some batty girl with attitude! A cop above it all. But if that was what would take to get him out of that stinking place, he would comply. Pulling off his shirt, he tossed it to the ground, pants and underwear followed quickly. He didn’t show any sign of modesty, why should him? It was all about survival.

“Kinky girl, if I show you mine, you will show me yours?” he spoke with a teasing smirk before he turned around to show his back. He wasn’t stopping trying to get under her skin. It came naturally to him, acting like a jerk was like a protection armor he wore, served to keep people from getting too close. Jeff was the only one that truly had known him, and if he thought it was a good idea to not get too attached to anyone before…well, when the world had turned into a living hell there was all the more reason for it.

“Ramirez?” he asked peeking back at her over his shoulder. “Was that the cop’s name? The big strapping hero type? You know why he is dead and I’m still breathing, princess? It is because I’m a cruel bastard and he was a stupid hero…you had a thing for him, don’t you?” he asked as he turned around, “Yes, I bet you had.”

The cop, Ramirez, wanted to go into that house with the screaming woman. Wanted to save her. O’Rourke had told him to let it go, the walkers had the place surrounded, she was as good as dead, but no, the idiot had to go in and convince the group to go with him. The outcome? Six dead, the woman was already dead when they got to her and Ramirez had been bitten on his shoulder. O’Rourke knew by the look on his eyes that he knew exactly what would follow. If it was him, he would have put a bullet through his own head before it happened, but the cop was too scared to do that, so he’d done that for him. Without batting an eye or thinking twice, stupid freaking hero. He could tell that to the girl, but what would be the use? He wasn’t looking for forgiveness and chances were they would both be dead soon.

Picking his clothes back from the floor, he slipped back into them and turned back to the woman. “So how about it? You’re going to wait until dinner time or are we going to get out already?”

[sera]

There was no humor shown in her expression as he made the remark of showing things, head tilting just a bit to the side as she spoke. "I've been in a secured room, locked away from everything, no bars for them to reach through. I know I'm not bitten...you.. well that remains to be seen. So try not to flatter yourself. You hold absolutely no interest to me."

But even as she spoke the words she couldn't help but admire the planes and contours she saw, even if her face remained stony, schooled into that visage of disinterest. Her eyes skimmed every bit of his flesh. If it weren't for the fire circumstances she might have enjoyed the show more but as it were she looked for lacerations, anything that would indicate him being a threat of turning. Seeing none she lowered the gun, proud of herself for the moment. Her hand hand shook, her strained muscles staying steady.

Her eyes snapped up as he looked over his shoulder, frowning deeper as he repeated her friend's name, that glare turning colder the more he spoke. "You don't talk about him!" she spat, teeth gritting together, pure, unadulterated hate glaring out form her lovely pale eyes in the low light, a fierceness and protectiveness even if it were only her friend's memory she was protecting.

"He was more of a man than you will ever be. More of a human being. He died because he tried to make a difference. Because he cared. I don't expect a punk like you to understand that." Oh yeah, that had gotten under her skin. She had come to terms with his death, with why he had to go. It had been a mercy really. But smearing his memory she would not allow. He had been a good man, a good human being in a world where people weren't so kind. He was rare among even cops, treating even the biggest scumbag with dignity and respect. She'd looked up to him for so many things.

The moaning in the cell beside him was working her nerves, the darkness straining her already thin nerves. One heavily booted foot came up and kicked the bars where Jeff Walker was and she barked hoarsely, "Shut the fuck up!" Breathing hard she looked back to O'Rourke and despite her better judgment she pulled the keys from her belt and approached the cell. "Double cross me...just once..I will hunt you down like a dog and end you." she said as she slipped the key into the lock, never taking her eyes off him. The wary doe in the forest, eying a hunter.

"You follow my lead and we'll get out of here. I got a plan. Or you can take your chances with the Walkers...I don't care either way but don't slow me down. If we're still alive there has to be others out there. Somewhere. I intend to find them." She turned the key and stepped back quickly as the door began to swing open, hand going to raise her gun, not trusting him an inch.

[orourke]

And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cos I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad World
...






He should have betted his money…if he had any, because buy her reaction it was obvious she had a thing for the dead cop. But what money was worth now anyways? You couldn’t by safe passage from the walkers with it, and there would be no stores open to shop for food.

There were one thing that the babbling cop girl forgot about when she was exalting her dead boyfriend. Survival, that primal instinct that was inherent to every living being, even humans, and that gained over foolish morals every day, survival of the fittest. Some people always failed to realize that under the right circumstances and at the right time, they were capable of everything. Trying to be the hero was just downright stupid, you had to pick you fights, know when you had a chance and when to make hard decisions…like leaving people behind. What good would do for anyone if he wasted his life away? But he knew her type, Jeff had been like her, emotional, idealistic, maddening.

When she kicked the bars of Jeff’s cell, O’Rourke couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. His brother was the one that had…how did he’d put it? People skills? Yeah, he was the charmer of the duo, Quinn was the scary one.

“You two would get along marvelously Jeff, you always had a thing for fiery women.”

He stepped out of the cell, cocking his neck slowly left and right, hearing the tense muscles crack. Now he wasn’t a caged beast anymore, he was free, and that only made him all the more dangerous. His right hand moved forward, grabbing her hand and twisting her wrist so she’d release the gun into his hand while his left arm pressed against her shoulder, pushing her hard against the bars of the opposite cell.

“Do not lead, because I will not follow. Do not follow me, because I won’t lead. Just stay the hell of my way when I shoot.”

With the gun in his hand, he pointed it backwards, to Jeff, and fired a mercy shot straight between his eyes. It was enough for the shell of his brother fall silent once and for all. He would have said a prayer for his brother, but he had already been dead for a while. That…thing wasn’t him anymore, so there was no remorse in him, just the glad notion that Jeff would do the same for him if the roles were reversed.

And then O’Rourke turned back to the girl and pressed the gun against her forehead. “Now about you princess, tell me why shouldn’t I leave you here to rot like your friends did to me and my brother back there?”

[sera]

Stupid stupid stupid! She cursed herself one hundred times a fool for trusting this man enough to let him out. For having that moment of humanity to give him a fighting chance at living. For getting distracted at the worst moment as the Walker in the cell beside them long enough for him to pin her and take her gun.

Well.....

One of them anyway, the other two at her hips locked and loaded as was the one on her other shoulder holster. That one she couldn't get to but as he turned to shoot the shell of his brother and end him she'd thumbed the release of her right hip holster and drawn the Glock as she struggled against his iron grip. She knew one on one physically she was no match for him. She had to be cunning to make up for it, quick as well.

Her head pressed back against the bars behind her head as he pressed the barrel of her own gun to her head, the cool metal of the silencer feeling strangely good against her hot skin. She didn't flinch as she stared into those dark, fathomless eyes as he asked that question and glared. As her answer came to mind and her gun came up to press into his belly she actually smiled at him.

"For one...I'd put a bullet in your gut big enough to attract ever Walker in a hundred yard radius to ya before ya did. For another...." Her smile widened and teeth showed but the humor didn't meet her eyes.

"You may hate me...but..." she smirked as she tossed his words back at him, using them against him. "With me you got a better chance...a shitty chance but it's better than alone." Cocky? Maybe, just a little. But she was nobody's victim and damn sure nobody's bitch.

She nudged his stomach a bit firmer with her gun as he stared at her, was that a hint of surprise on his face when he felt her gun? Or maybe a glimmer of respect? She didn't care either way, she just wanted to get the hell out of here. "So looks like we got ourselves a Mexican Standoff huh? You may shoot me, might even get off that round first but it only takes 5.5 pounds of pressure on this trigger to make it fire. What do you think the odds are that if I take one to the head that my body's reflex won't cause that pressure huh? Not to mention there's no silencer on this one and that noise and the blood...you'll be covered in Walkers in minutes."

"So go ahead." She stared him dead in the eyes, her pale ones blazing, almost daring him to do it. At least it would be quick. At least she wouldn't turn into one of those mindless Walkers. "Do it....it's what you do anyway, right?" Her hand was steady even as her muscles clenched in her body, waiting for what would come next.

[orourke]

One thing O’Rourke didn’t need was some stupid girl like the cop Ramirez, to slow him down. For all he knew, she could land him in a situation worse than the one he already was before she showed up. She had opened with the idea of looking for more survivors, it wasn’t the best idea. While there would be strength in numbers, the two of them alone scouting the city with hundreds of stenchies looking for a meal? He didn’t like those odds, chances were that everyone else either had left or died. It wasn’t worth wasting his life for an uncertainty.

He was still considering what he should do with her, when he felt the poke on his stomach, his eyes lowering slightly to peek at the gun she was holding before his eyes returned to face hers. She smiled and used his own words against him, arrogant little woman. She had just earned a measure of his respect, the corners of his lips threatened to curve in a smile, but he pushed it down, he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing it.

“Yeah, that’s one of the two things I do best,” he answered and slowly pulled the gun away from her and released his grasp of her shoulder. “But there is no point of wasting a bullet, I will probably need it, and you may be useful.”

Placing the gun on his belt, he stepped back.
“Besides, as you so eloquently put it,” his voice heavy with sarcasm, “it is a shitty chance but it is better than alone…you better don’t slow me down.”

That girl, she was a brave little thing, had a certain fire on her eyes. She was a damn cop, hated him and needed a shower after crawling through the vents…but she was a cute little thing. It would be a damned shame when the stenchies had her for lunch, but if she wasn’t able to pull her own weight, he wasn’t going to lose his life for a nice rear, no matter if he had been in jail for a while and she was probably the only woman with a pulse around.

“So, what’s the big plan girl? I had enough of those walls and the more we wait, the more the chance others show up. We both smell like jerky left in the sun for too long. Those keys you got are for some wheels, right? And are there any other guns left that we can get our hands into?”

[sera]

She kept the muzzle of the gun in his stomach as he pulled the gun from her head, waiting till it was tucked away into his belt before she drew it back and reached into her side BDU pocket and pulling out another silencer, screwing it onto the barrel before it was shoved back into her holster at her hip. The Shoulder holster came off, handed over to him as she worked on getting the other one off her other shoulder. They'd both have two handguns this way, and he could help shoulder the load of the things she had stashed in the vent. It would help with the speed of moving.

Her eyes cut to him as she moved fluid and efficiently, shoving the other holster at him before she screwed the last silencer on her other gun at the other hip. Four Glocks, all silenced, an extra clip tossed to him as well as she spoke, "First of all...I'm not 'girl'. It's Arceneaux to you O'Rourke." The keys attached to her belt once more she moved over to the vent shaft she'd dropped out of and looked around for something to shove under it to get back up in there to retrieve the rest of the gear.

"I've got guns, ammo, supplies all that up here. We grab these bags, make for the secured lot, climb the fence, get to the SWAT truck. It's built like a tank and will go through fences, Walkers, hell...buildings if it has to. Self-sealing tires, economy engine power to conserve gas when we don't need to drive like a bat out of Hell, plenty of gear and weaponry and supplies in it. That beast is outfitted for a damn siege." she commented, a modicum of her weariness and exhaustion tinting her tone but she was too damn proud, too stubborn to admit it or to stop.

Grabbing the edge of the heavy duty desk she started to try to drag it over to the vent opening, muscles straining as it protested with a groan and didn't budge, earning it a kick from her booted foot and a small sound of frustration as well as she put her hands on her hips and looked up at the vent. Maybe she could jump for it.

"We get the truck and get the hell out of town. There's no one left here, I saw that much on the cameras, but there might be further up the road. Maybe Shreveport.Head North, see if there's anything left out there or at the very least get out of the heavily populated areas. Someone, somewhere out there has to know what's going on."

There was no way she was going to be able to jump there, not right now, not if she expected to have any energy for the sprint for the truck and over the fence. Looking to O'Rourke and hating having to ask his help with anything she gritted her teeth and looked down at the floor, the muscle in her jaw clenching as she spoke. "I need a boost up." Oh how she loathed asking for his help but it was something they would both have to get used to. For better or worse...

...they were in this together now.

[orourke]

He wasn’t the most trusting kind, but he knew he wasn’t going to shoot him unless she had a good reason to, if she would, she would have done so while he was safely behind bars, so he wasn’t too phased as she kept her gun pointed at him before he placed the one he had gotten from her in his belt. The other one she handled to him, he secured it before placing the extra clip in the front pocket of his jeans. It wouldn’t be nearly enough to deal with the kind of numbers they would meet, but it was a start.

Arceneaux huh? Well, whatever her name was, he wasn’t about to get formal now, especially if she was a cop and even if the world had gone to hell, she was still acting like one. He knew her type, the exact same that had let him there to rot. The ones that torn away the militia he and his brother had built that might have given lots of people a chance to get out of there, the ones that left his brother to turn into a damned walker. He hated her type, but he needed her.

As she spoke, one eyebrow rose.
“Now that sounds like a plan, finally you’re talking some sense. If all goes as you say, when we get that SWAT truck, all we have to do is pick a way and hope there isn’t only more dead trying to eat us out there. The forests and swamps might be the smartest choice to look for anything left.”

When she started to try to pull that desk, O’Rourke crossed his arms and leaned against the wall behind him, watching in amusement. She was stubborn, proud, he respected it. She wasn’t going to roll over and play dead, it was good, otherwise he would just put a bullet in her and avoid the risk of her slowing him down.

A chuckle left him as she finally asked his help.
“Need help, girl?”

He pushed away from the wall, walked towards her and without another world, placed his hands on her waist, raising her up towards the vents. He was weak from hunger, but she wasn’t very heavy regardless.

“Think we can stop at a freaking restaurant in the way? We will need some takeout food unless you plan on stopping by the swamps to hunt some gator.”

[sera]

He was baiting her, she knew it, and yet it still made her blood pressure rise when he spoke so condescendingly to her. He'd just hate it if she pointed out how much like the upper brass he was. Those old cops that didn't believe a woman could hack it as a cop. The same jerks that had passed her over several times as she tried to get out of Dispatch and onto the Force. That same condescending tone they'd used.

As he called her girl she just leveled a flat glare at him and pressed her lips together a little tighter to keep from screaming at him. Her hand clenched in a fist that she wanted to swing but she kept it at her side, controlling herself as she felt those huge hands go around her waist and hoist her up into the vent again. Grabbing the edge she pulled on up into it and was at grateful for small favors that he hadn't tried to cop a feel as he'd done it.

His voice echoed up in the vent shaft as she dragged the two bag toward her, slipping on the backpack before opening the other to pull out a small package of beef jerky and tossing it and a bottle of water out the vent shaft, hoping she managed to hit him in the head with them, calling out "Heads up." only after she'd tossed them. Childish? Oh hell yeah but still satisfying.

The large bag with the guns and ammo and other provisions was pushed to the edge of the vent and lowered down slowly, muscles straining as she was careful not to drop it, feeling the weight slack as it was grabbed on the other side and waiting till she was sure he had it before she let go. His head she didn't care about, the weapons, she did. Squeezing her body tight she manuevered in the shaft and got turned around, feet pointing out before she dropped down and out of it once more to the floor, swaying a bit. This entire excursion had taken more out of her than she would ever admit. Especially to him.

She wasn't one to quit, not ever. This wasn't going to be any different. Grabbing a bottle of water from the backpack for herself she took a few sips and put it back, conserving it as she wiped the sweat from her brow and pulled the blue prints for the building out of her pocket, spreading it on the desk and pointing to where they were now, fingers tracing the route on the map as she spoke, it wasn't the most direct path but it was the safest.

"We're right here. If the hall wasn't crawling with Walkers we could slip out that way but from what I could see on the cameras in the control room we need to leave the holding cells here, through this access tunnel back in the supply closet. There should be a steel cover on the wall and I have the tools to get it off. Once we're out of there there's a manhole that leads up and into the general parking. This is where it's gonna get tricky."

She raised her eyes to make sure he was following. "There's Walkers all over out there. I think it was the sounds of the car alarms that drew them. They seem to be drawn to noise. If we're lucky and can pop up from the tunnel without them right on top of us we could use a couple of the flash bang grenades to draw thier attention away from the direction we want to go. Good part of that? It'll draw most of them toward the bang. Bad part, the ones that are on the opposite side of us will see us as they turn to the sound. We use the guns with the silencers we should be able to take out any between us and the fence to the secured lot. With two of us we'll go faster at least with all this gear."

Her hand raised to wipe the sweat from her brow and the tremble was apparent in it. She was scared as Hell. Any sane person would be. But she was gonna use that fear to fuel her, to get her moving. "Once we get over the fence we should be in the clear. I didn't see any Walkers in the secured lot. We get the truck and we're out." She looked over the blueprint map again, committing it to memory as she prepared herself for this. it was a ballsy, risky chance and she'd been totally ready to do it all on her own. it showed a desire to live, to continue, to survive. Even with the extreme weight of the gear she'd dragged with her through the vent shafts, the strain just to get this far, she wasn't showing any signs of stopping any time soon.

[orourke]

There was a smirk on his features when he saw that clenched fist of hers and pursed lips. O’Rourke could be a world class jerk when he applied himself to it, it always had been his natural defense for leaving people on the edge, and some time along the way, it had turned an instinctive reflex. When you had to be feared to keep alive, you develop some mannerisms along the way, and leaving people on edge was a good way to destabilize then and give him an upper edge. It had nothing to do with the fact Arceneaux was a woman, she had that determined, self assured look on her even in the face of that freaking holocaust, something he respected.

He? He was out of the prison cell now, but in a metaphorical sense he was still a caged beast, one that didn’t chose any of the crap that happened in his life, undead holocaust included, but would do anything to survive.

As she left her to get her gear, he didn’t expect the bottle of water that would soon smack him in the head. Hell, he’d give her a few choice words, but he was too busy tearing through the beef jerky package and devouring it in a hasty, the bottle of water followed down his throat, practically swallowed in a few gulps. His organism was more debilitated than he would like to admit after all this time locked up with a clean source of water or food that wasn’t still crawling when he sank his teeth onto it. It wasn’t a meal of kings, but it was way better than he had in a long time and he could feel some of his old strength returning already.

When she started to speak of her escape plan, O’Rourke listened intently. He had been there once or twice, but his tour only included interrogation rooms and the inside of cells, and they all looked the same holes to him.

“Flash bang grenades? You cops used those on us a few times, loud noise, risky but better than sending you in flapping your arms and cackling like a chicken to call their attention.”

Taking the gun that was secured on his belt, he checked the clip and readied it, before taking one of her bags and strapping it around his shoulder. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d use a gun, in fact, he was pretty comfortable with its weight on his hand and more than eager to get the hell out of there.

“So let’s get moving already, I’ve seen enough of this damned place to last a lifetime. I hope you can run fast girl, because once you’re out there, I’m not going back to rescue you if you don’t,” yeah, he kept telling himself that hoping that he wouldn’t be stupid enough to risk his own skin to save a stupid cop like back with that stupid Ramirez, the moron almost had him killed.

Without another world, he started moving to the direction she had pointed in the map. He could hear the sounds of walkers stalking nearby, but if they had any luck, they might managed to slip unnoticed those. The parking lot, the large open area, that was going to be the tricky part. It was almost damned suicide, but anything was better than rotting back there with the only the stenchies to keep him company.

On the way, his broad shoulder bumped into her small frame, a little payback for her throwing the water bottle at his head. And trust it, being who he was, she was getting off easily.