In the middle of nowhere (Jacob)

[jacobsnyder]

"We aren't too far from the highway actually," Jacob explained as he grabbed another candybar from the bowl sitting on the coffee table. Milky-ways weren't his favorite, but he just wanted something to occupy him during the awkward moments of silence. "When we leave we can go and find the truck and get whatever you left, so long as there are no walkers around," he reasoned tossing the wrapper onto the coffee table.

Eying him, Jacob couldn't help but smile at the offer to look for his family. He doubted his family was actually in the town, since they would have just returned home, but maybe Jacob could find clues. Maybe a note at the grocery store, or something along those lines. It was a long shot, but still a shot he wanted to try and take. Jacob was hopelessly optimistic, even when their crops were dying for the third year in a row and they almost lost the house, he still remained steadfast that everything would work out, and it did.

Looking over at the door, Jacob looked back at Jeremy. "Walkers aren't exactly quiet, you can hear them lumbering around and grunting," he stated with a shrug. "If I were upstairs I couldn't hear them coming, and it is a bit harder to get out the second story window." The first time he had slept alone during this whole thing he did infact sleep in his room, or atleast tried too. He jumped at every slight noise, so he slept on the couch so it was easier to do a sweep of the yard.

[Jeremy Willicker]

"Great. I may have walked a mile and a half to get here so getting to the truck shouldn't be entirely out of the way." He stifled another yawn behind his hand and squeezed his eyes close for a moment. He should try to get some sleep. This house was warm, he was clean and safe at least for one night. Sleep wasn't such a bad thing anymore.

"If you say staying down here is safe than I'll stay down here," he murmured, his voice barely more than a breathless whisper at this point. Jeremy leaned his head down on the arm of the sitting chair and closed his eyes. He was pretty much useless at the moment. If Jacob needed him to do anything he'd have a hard time prying him up off the chair.

"I think I'll call it a night. I can barely keep my eyes open," he said, shifting in his chair. His mind was filled of image of Emmy, or the others they had helped survive during their journey. As his eyes slid close he imagine that he was with them all again. They were laughing and chatting with each other; their fears behind them. He was at peace....

Without realizing it he drifted off to sleep.

[jacobsnyder]

Jacob sat quietly letting the guy drift off before settling down in his usual chair to watch out the window. It was dark across the yard, the clouds moving to cover up the moon for much of the time now. There was probably a storm moving in, they often had terrific thunder and lightening shows in the spring and fall while the temperatures fought one another for dominance. He wouldn't mind a nice storm, it was something that he used to sit on the porch and watch as a kid. Anything that brought back even a hint of normalcy was welcome in his eyes.

Resting his shotgun against the arm of the chair (with the safety on) Jacob folded his hands on his stomach and slouched in the chair. He was getting tired, and there were no signs of walkers, there hadn't been since two nights before, and before that he couldn't even remember. Hopefully that meant they were dying off. Yawning a bit he shut his eyes and settled down into the chair for a restless sleep.

[madelineporter]

Madeline didn't want to express how hopeful she was that there was someone else there. It wasn't that she didn't depend on Tess, she honestly didn't know what she would do without the girl, but having someone else to help would be amazing. Maybe they had some real food in their house besides snickers bars, and energy drinks. If she never saw either of those things again, Madeline would be a happy person. She also didn't want to get her hopes up to just dead people, or people that should be dead.

Leaning forward in the truck to try and see if she could see movement in the house, Madeline held onto the dash as they turned into a drive. She glanced at Tess and gave her a nervous smile before watching the house. She was willing whoever else was inside to come out, seeing another living face besides their own would be a much welcome surprised. Just gave the hope that the whole world wasn't in shambles.

"Hopefully they are friendly," Madeline said nervously as Tess turned off the engine watching the house. There was movement, whatever was inside had heard them, and a door opened. Gripping her purse in one hand, Madeline grabbed the tire iron once again, it wouldn't do much since she could barely swing a wooden bat let alone a heavy metal bar, but it made her feel better.


(beginning of Tess/Madeline here: Driving in the Dark)

[Jeremy Willicker]

It was easier to hear things down here. That was Jeremy's first thought when he heard something rumbling outside. It sounded familiar. Kind of like that broken down truck he'd abandoned in the middle of the road, but he couldn't be sure. His blue eyes popped open and he looked ahead, his mind confused by the dream he'd been having and reality. Shifting up, he looked around and saw that Jacob had dozed off in the chair. His gun was next to him. Good.

"Hey," he hissed as he slid from his arm chair. He went over to Jacob and shook him. "Wake up." Crossing his arms over his chest, he moved toward the window and peered out, being sure not to stand too far in sight. Yep, there was a truck outside....wait a minute!

"That's mine," he murmured, frowning. How in the bloody hell had that gotten here? He couldn't see who was driving, but they weren't getting out. They were probably waiting to see if anyone would go to the door. He paused and then went to grab his gun. He retrieved his jeans and started fumbling around in an attempt to get the bullets out.

"It's my truck," he said to Jacob as he slid the bullets into the clip gun. "I thought it ran out of gas." He tried not to panic, but then who wouldn't if a ghost truck was driving about.

[jacobsnyder]

Jacob was passed out in the chair and was comfortable as he would be if he were asleep in a bed upstairs. He hadn't dragged his bed down after all of this time because he didn't want to get too comfortable, afraid he wouldn't wake up when needed. But after all of this time sleeping in the arm chair, as well as up in the rafters of the barn sneaking a nap after working out in the fields too tired to make it back up to the house. He wasn't dreaming of anything, or if he was he didn't remember it as Jeremy shook him awake. Normally he would have jumped up the minute the truck pulled in, but it seemed his subconscious took note that someone else was with him so he needn't be on edge as much. But his regular brain took over, and Jacob almost decked Jeremy forgetting for a moment where he was. Primal fear took over for that brief second and he thought it was a walker grabbing at him.

After he calmed down, Jacob rubbed his eyes and sat up straight blinking at the light from the truck coming in the window before it cut out. "You jus brought along a damn party," Jacob said with a small smirk as he stood up and joined Jeremy at the window grabbing his shot gun. He had lucked out that this man wasn't an enemy but he doubted that either of them would be as lucky for round two. "If it ran out of gas how's it runnin'?" Jacob asked as he raked his hair.

He could make out some movement in the cab, and he raised an eyebrow looking at Jeremy. "Maybe someone filled it up, the upstairs light must've attracted 'em," Jacob said staring up at the ceiling cursing himself for forgetting to turn it off. Jacob knew either way the people were going to sit in the truck all night, or they were going to come to the door. He would rather tackle it head on and just get it over with, people weren't expecting someone to greet their confrontation most times if this person, or people in the truck were there for a fight.

"You comin'? Jacob asked as he unbolted the door. "I can shoot a deer 150 yards away, they aren't a match for me if they fight."

[tess]

"And what if they aren't?" Tess asked Maddie. She couldn't take her eyes off the house. There was definitely someone inside. She could see their shadow on the blinds. Then she saw the door open. Crap! She didn't have any sort of weapon on her, but she did have a Victoria Secret bag filled with canned food. That would work.

She took up her bag, twisting the cloth around her hand. Looking at Maddie for confirmation that it was time to climb out, she opened up the driver side door and jumped out. The cans rattled at her side as she pulled her arms up to cross them over her chest.

She didn't close the door back just in case whoever was in the house came out and started running at them. She felt safe with the cans, but if they got too close, swinging at their heads would be out of the question.

"Do you think they'll let us stay?" she asked as she went behind the truck to the other side. She clung to Madeline's arm. "This isn't a stupid idea right?" She asked, looking at the front door of the house.

[madelineporter]

"If they aren't we get back in the truck, or run like hell," Madeline said quietly as someone moved around in the house. Despite being cold her hands were sweating as she darted a glance over at Tess who was grabbing her bag to use as a weapon she was guessing. There were canned food items in there so it would atleast be a hard hit if someone came too close to them. When Tess climbed out of the truck, Madeline followed sliding out of the seat putting her bag over her shoulder and weighing the tire iron in her hands.

Looking around the area she felt suddenly alone as Tess walked around the truck. Not having her in her sight put her on edge, what if she got attacked? Just the idea of not seeing someone put that fear of being alone, which was a big paranoia of Madeline's, at the forefront of her mind. "I hope so," she replied quietly putting her hand over Tess's as she clutched onto her. "If it's stupid we are being dumb together, but I think this is our best option," she said as she dared to creep up to the front corner of the truck..

There were two people on the porch, and she could see a rather large gun raised in their direction. Just staring at that cold metal object made her throat go dry, and she turned her head back to look at Tess. But something else caught her attention, apparently their truck had been too loud, they had been followed. "Tess...run!" he shrieked as a few walkers meandered down the driveway.

They hadn't seen them yet, obviously they were following the noise, but it wouldn't be long until they were seen.

[Jeremy Willicker]

Jeremy didn't point out that, had it not been for the light up stairs, he would have never spotted at the house. He had been thankful for the light then, but now not so much. Sleep rarely came easy to him and just now, after almost a week, he had finally managed to close his eyes and keep them closed. Now that luxury was over and it was back to reality.

"Yeah I'm coming," he hissed, holding his, now loaded, gun at his side. He followed Jacob close at the back until they got onto the porch. Perhaps sleep still clouded his eyes because it took them a moment to adjust to the darkness. When they did he could see two shapes in the distance. They looked like women huddled together beside the truck. Blinking back the haze, he side stepped Jacob and walked along the wrap around porch to get a better look, his gun aimed at the brunette one. Yep, those were definitely women. How in the hell had they gotten his truck started again?

Jeremy opened his mouth to question them, but then something out of the corner of his eye grabbed his attention. He almost flipped over a rocking chair on the front porch trying to make his way back to Jacob.

"Are those walkers?" he asked, squinting. Shit. He shouldn't have gone to sleep.

His answer came in the form of the two girls running toward the porch. He whipped around, unsure about whether he should shoot them or the walkers who had heard their screams.

"For fucks sakes! Shut up," he hissed. These women weren't walkers. One thing he knew was that they didn't scream like mad women and flail their arms while running hysterically. That didn't mean he wouldn't shoot them if they brought the walkers closer...which is exactly what they did. The walkers turned from the road and began heading toward the house.

Fucking hell!

"Get inside," he told them, moving out of the way.

[jacobsnyder]

Jacob started the girls down, and for a moment he froze staring at the blonde. From the distance she was the exact height of his sister, and her blonde hair looked almost the same in the moonlight. But why would she be hanging back and not running up to see him? Eyeing the gun he dared to lower it down an inch, and he moved to call out to call out to her when Jeremy came sprinting back up the side of the porch, knocking into the furniture. Were these girls part of an ambush? It was sad that was the first thing that came to his mind, but it was something he had been through before.

But then he spotted the walkers at the end of the driveway and knew why Jeremy was making a beeline for him. It seems the woman had spotted them as well because they were running for the house as well. This was not what he was looking forward to doing tonight, he was exhausted from all the yard work, and now he was going to spending the night warding off walkers and making sure no others came.

Raising his gun up he shot one of the walkers that was right on the girls heels. The shot echoed around the area, and he hoped that the echo would be enough to distract and deter them. "Aim for the head or yer just wastin' bullets," Jacob said to Jeremy as he watched the two girls rush inside.

[tess]

She didn't even try to look back. When Maddie told her to run she ran flat out toward the house. Barreling up the steps onto the porch, Tess pushed pass the two men, dragging Maddie along at her side. It was only until she was safely inside the living room that she turned and looked back out the door.

"What was it?" she asked Maddie, craning her neck to see around the two guys. The sound of the first shot made her jump and clutch her chest. She caught a glimpse of a walker and her stomach lurched. What if they got past them? They'd be sitting ducks.

Tess glanced around her, taking in the heater on the ground, the half empty can of soup and what looked like sleeping pallets spread across the arm chairs. Clearly these guys had been shacking up together so they weren't infected.

She looked around them frantically and then, spotting the stairs, urged Maddie that way.

"We can hide up there until they kill them all," she said. The bag of cans in her hands felt like dead weight. Had she really thought she'd be able to use this to defend herself? Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Dropping the cans onto the ground, she headed toward the stairs, taking them one at a time.

[madelineporter]

Madeline ran as fast as her legs would carry her, her purse bouncing wildly at her side, and the tire iron clutched tightly in her fingers. She wasn't afraid of the men on the porch anymore, they were their only hope, and if they managed to get out alive she would thank them fully later. Hanging onto Tess' hand like it was a life line she bolted up the steps and accidentally rammed the one man with the pistol in the shoulder as she lost her balance. There were no time for apologizes, but instead she raced through the door.

When they were inside she tried to look out to see how many walkers there were but when a shot rang out she screamed. She hadn't been expecting it, and she quickly covered her mouth with her now free hand to stifle any noise coming out of her. Had she not been so on edge she would have noticed that it was nice and warm in here, and would have appreciated that fact, but right now she was bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Yeah, we can lock ourselves in a room," she agreed before following behind Tess, holding the banister to keep from losing her balance. Her legs were shaking so horridly she was sure if she was left to her own devices she would have sunk down to the ground by now. Keeping right behind Tess she followed her up to the landing, and made a grab for the nearest room door and slipped inside.

It was dark, but there was light filtering down the hall from another bedroom. She really didn't want to go into the lighted room, incase the walkers did get past those men. They would go for the light she was sure of it. "I hope they can...take care of all those things," Madeline said warily as she took a seat on a bed.

[Jeremy Willicker]

Aim for the head. Easy said than done. Jeremy did as he was told though. Raising his gun up, he aimed at the nearest walker's head and pulled the trigger. The loud gun shot that rang out sent chills down his spine. He would never get used to that sound. The walker fell, but when it began to stand he knew he hadn't aimed right. Shit!.

He raised his gun once again and took aim at it. Hands trembling, he shot again and this time he hit the target. The walker fell back onto the ground, his body limp and unmoving. Shaking like a leaf on a tree, he aimed at another and shot. He managed to take down five before he ran out of bullets.

"Fuck!" he hissed. He turned and darted back into the house, grabbing up his jeans and pulling out the last five bullets he had left. He would get more when and if they made it into town tomorrow.

He fumbled with the gun's clip. Once he had it out, he filled it with bullets, slid it back in, cocked it and took aim again. With Jacob's good aim and his attempts they managed to kill all the ones in the yard. There was no telling how many would show up afterward though. Their gunshots were sure to bring more from town.

"I'm out," he said looking at Jacob. "I think it'll be best if we leave really soon." He looked back into the house to try and see if those two girls had stood around waiting on them. He didn't see them anywhere. He looked at Jacob and raised a brow.

"Hide and seek?" he said, shaking his head and cursing beneath his breath.

[jacobsnyder]

Jacob crouched down using the railing of the deck to hold the barrel of his gun as he took aim, before raising it a bit to fire. These damn walkers were just a pain in the ass. He was looking forward to some sleep, but with all these new visitors, two of them in his house at the moment without him being able to make sure they weren't going to steal anything, the walkers showed. It was rather hard to do anything in a small town without being noticed, even in a damn apocalypse or whatever the hell this whole thing was.

For a moment he thought that Jeremy had deserted him to go inside and hide, but Jacob didn't have time to get mad. He was busy talking out the walkers, and Jeremy was back by his side a few moments later with a reloaded gun. When the last one fell, Jacob ran down the porch to survey the area before coming back to Jeremy by the door. "Fuckin' things," he said with a huff before moving toward the door, opening it so they both could come in.

The girls were gone, but he saw a pink bag by the doorway that lead to the stairs to go upstairs. "They're probably upstairs," he said with a grunt before going to the bottom of the stairs."Get down here, we need to talk. Now!" Jacob called before turning back around to face Jeremy. "I guess we best start packin'. Who knows when more of those things will show up. I've got ammo, but I don' want ter waste it fending them off when more of their friends will show up an hour later."

[Jeremy Willicker]

Leaving the comfort of the house was the last thing that he wanted to do, but like Jacob said, more infected would come eventually and he surely didn't have enough ammo to shoot them all. His plans to leave would happen earlier than he thought, but maybe that was for the best. There was no reason to put off leaving. Although he had gotten comfortable in such a short amount of time, he hadn't stopped at this house to linger around. Jacob had agreed to go with him and that was all he needed to continue on.

Jeremy looked toward the second floor as he slipped back into the house. He wasn't sure if the yelling was necessary, but Jacob has his own way of running things in his own house.

"What do you need to pack?" he asked, setting the almost empty gun aside. He hadn't brought much with him so there wasn't much to pack on his end, but he was sure Jacob had alot of stuff to sift through.

He grabbed up his bag and, like Jacob, waited for the girls to come back down stairs.