Post by Alice Montgomery on Jan 19, 2015 21:45:14 GMT 10
The sand dunes are wide and lonely, stretching from the treeline of the bush beyond down to where the sand levels out before dipping below the turbulent water. Grass litters the dunes, keeping the sand in the large mounds, not a single man made objects in site.
~
Alice walked along the sand dunes, pausing in a flat place largely free of the spiky grass and did a few stretched, channeling her breathing as she started to practice her yoga for the day and the first rays of sun came over the water. This is what she had missed the last couple of months, she hadn't felt so relaxed since the day the outbreak started. She let her mind wander as she changed positions, thinking about her parents, her aunt. She wished she could know if they were alright, if they were thinking about her. Tears started sliding from her eyes and she tried to clear her mind again, not wanting them to affect her practice.
Post by Magella Jones on Jan 19, 2015 22:07:58 GMT 10
Magella walked along the edge of the beach, her eyes sweeping the sand below and keeping an eye behind. She was hoping that she might spot a ship out on the horizon that she could signal, see if there was anyone else still left in the world. She kicked at a half hidden bottle in the sand and lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the sun, searching the horizon.
She was a long way from Sanctuary, far enough that she didn't really feel safe or comfortable. Everything really was out to kill her in this country now. Not just the animals but the people too. The shuffling bodies made her feel ill when she saw them wandering around, trying to gnaw at everything that moved.
About to turn away from the beach and head back to Sanctuary, Magella spotted someone on the beach. For a moment she just stood there in surprise, watching this woman do... yoga? Was the woman seriously doing yoga on the beach in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. Some people, eh? Magella had half a mind to just turn around and walk away from the nutter, but she couldn't. If she wanted to destroy all the zombies, she would need help.
With a deep breath Magella headed down the sand dunes, stopping a few metres from the woman. "Hey, lady, what are you doing out here?" she asked, eyes still glancing around to watch for the undead. "You know they can float in the surf just under the water, right?"
Post by Alice Montgomery on Jan 19, 2015 22:17:21 GMT 10
Alice's eyes snapped open and she turned to look at the women who had interrupted her, "Oh." She said dlustered looking out at the water, "I didn't realise." She said before she could stop herself. She sounded like an idiot. She wanted to take back the last couple of minutes and run and hide in the treeline before the woman could find her.
She looked around and could see a few zombies in the distance, getting closer to her. She hadn't been to a beach in so long that she didn't even think about how much danger she was putting herself in. She hated that she couldn't even practice yoga anymore without it being a life or death situation.
"I'll rememeber that." She said standing up out of her pose and picking up her hockey stick just a few feat away from her. She had killed zombies before, she knew she could do it. She wasn't in that much danger. She tried to justify to herself as the woman still loomed over her.
Post by Magella Jones on Jan 19, 2015 22:27:16 GMT 10
Magella backed up a few steps when the woman came out of her little trance, a look of disbelief on her face at the woman's soft 'I didn't realise'. She didn't realise what? That she'd be eaten in moments? That she was still alive? How had this little slip of a girl managed to survive for a whole year if she was going to the beach to do yoga?
The girl hadn't even challenged her for getting so close, just accepted it like it was an okay thing to have a strange woman creep up behind you. Some people just had all the luck. Magella's eyes tracked her as she leant down and picked up a hockey stick, her own hand dropping to ensure her crowbar was still looped into her jeans. At least she had a weapon. It was something.
She glanced up and down the beach, almost fighting with herself for a moment. Finally she gave a short huff. "Look. My name is Magella. I have a safe place. You look like crap and you probably can't swing that stick very hard. I... I'll take you back to Sanctuary, if you want." Her hand lifted and combed her short hair back from her face, unsure why exactly she was trying to help the girl.
Post by Alice Montgomery on Jan 19, 2015 22:35:10 GMT 10
"A Sanctuary?" Alice said, looking at the other girl in disbelief, "Does it have other people? Like real people." She said feeling like she had to make the distinction of real people since this outbreak had started, people and real people were two way different things, "You would do that?"
Alice gripped her stick and a zombie let out a loud growl from somewhere shivers traveled down her spine, she hated that sound, it had to be the worst sound she had ever heard in her life.
She looked back at the woman, taking in her appearance. She looked tough, like the kind of person you would expect to survive something like this. The exact opposite of herself. Her hair was short, her body toned. Alice didn't know how she had survived so long, she was just lucky she hadn't run across anybody cruel, or found a zombie somewhere she wasn't expecting. The only time she was truly on top of things is when she was at her Aunts farmhouse.
Post by Magella Jones on Jan 19, 2015 22:46:55 GMT 10
"Oh yeah, plenty of people. They have skin on their faces and they talk instead of biting each other." Magella sighed, rubbing her eyes for a moment. "Its not a matter of me wanting to do this, it's needing to. Trust me, I think you are far better off held down under the water until you stop breathing. But I promised myself I wouldn't kill a livin person."
She knew she was being harsh, she did, but she couldn't stop the words from leaving her lips. They were true, and if the girl couldn't handle a few words being thrown in her face, then she sure as hell wouldn't be up to the challenge of clearing the world of the creatures that now roamed it. The girl was so skinny and so... so... soft. It was the only word that Magella could find to describe the girl. Soft.
The growl from the zombie reached her ears and she turned to look around, making sure nothing was creeping up on her. "What's your name?" she asked, eyes lifting to the sky to judge the time. "And are you coming or not? I don't have a lot of sunlight to stand here and discuss your new employment right now."
Post by Alice Montgomery on Jan 19, 2015 22:51:31 GMT 10
Alice looked at the woman shocked. She didn't know what to say. This was the first person talking to her in a very long time and she was being... cruel. Alice didn't know what to do, should she deal with this person and hope that people in the sanctuary were nicer, or should she try and keep going on her own.
"Alice. My name is Alice." She said to the woman. Deciding to go with her. One of her biggest fears was never having children, she wanted a husband, a family and if this sanctuary provided that maybe this apocolypse wouldn't be so bad after all. Alice's face went soft just thinking about being able to have a child of her own, to carry it inside her and keep it safe. "I'll come with you." She added just in case the woman didn't catch on.
Post by Magella Jones on Jan 19, 2015 23:02:22 GMT 10
Let's Get Down to Business
Magella narrowed her eyes at the woman, seeing the softening in her face. "Whatever it is that you are thinking about, you need to stop. If you soften, you die. Remember that. Out here, in Sanctuary, you're not safe. Everything is trying to kill you and if you soften for even a moment you can be ripped apart and turn into one of those things. Do you understand, Alice?"
It was still amazing to her that this woman had survived, but now wasn't the time to marvel over the fact any longer. She stepped forward, grabbing the girl's arm and started leading her back up the sand dunes, head turning this way and that, checking for danger, checking for zombies, or worse, other people.
Her free hand fingered her crowbar, drawing it out of her belt loop as she walked, swinging it in her hand, rolling her wrist around to loosen it. The last thing she wanted was to be surprised by a zombie sitting in the sand.
Post by Alice Montgomery on Jan 19, 2015 23:17:53 GMT 10
Alice let the woman lead her, the grip on her arm strong and digging in, but not hurting. Alice noticed the way she scanned all around her, and watched as she swung the weapon in her hand. The woman was all business at the moment and Alice felt inadequate with her hockey stick.
Alice scanned the area too, hoping to get some sort of feel for where the zombies were around her. She wasn't nearly as efficient as the larger woman whose head seemed to turn like an owl to encompass the whole area.
Post by Magella Jones on Jan 20, 2015 11:04:03 GMT 10
Let's Get Down to Business
The top of the dunes were clear, allowing Magella to pause for a moment and check their surroundings. The beach was still clear, but the treeline obstructed her view of the path ahead. Letting go of Alice's arm, she gave a little sigh, unsure how well the girl would go walking around where there might be zombies and death.
"Okay Alice. Let's go. Its a bit of a walk but we should be back to Sanctuary before nightfall. Don't want to be out in the dark after all. Something might eat our face off." Magella started moving forward, letting Alice decide how close behind her she wanted to walk.
Her crowbar swung back and forth in front of her, the movement helping to keep her calm and relaxed, ready to react at any moment. If they were lucky, they'd reach Sanctuary unmolested and danger free.
Post by Alice Montgomery on Jan 20, 2015 11:29:25 GMT 10
Alice silently thanked the woman for letting go of her arm, the space it created helped Alice to be more on guard. Alice tried to hide her excitement about heading to the sanctuary but she knew somw of it shone through and the woman, Magella, she corrected would be less than impressed.
Alice fixed her grip on her hockey stick, hilding it out in front of her. She had used this hockey stick more since the outbreak than she ever had before it, she didnt even like hockey.
She followed the woman closely, but gavw both of them enough space to react to rhe environment, heading toward the sanctuary and out of danger.
