forum There are Eyes Everywhere //Large apocalyptic group roleplay //OPEN//

Started December 12, 2023 by @Celeste_X0X0_ group

tune

(My first time seeing Jake and he is very cool)

(thank youuu :D)

Jolted awake by the sound of the dog outside barking, his voice deep and scratchy as if he had been barking forever.
She sits up, swiping her dark brown hair out of her face and trying to swallow, her mouth and throat dry.
“What time is it?” She asks Zander, her eyes still closed. The barking continued, though now followed by growls.
“Babe?” Jesse opens her eyes, having to squint this soon after just waking up. There was nobody beside her. Looking to the nightstand, her holster nor her clothes were anywhere to be seen.
“Must be outside”
She steps outside after getting dressed and rounds the RV to the dog, barking towards the cluster of trees her RV stood by. “Zander?” she calls out
Nothing.
“ZANDER!” she calls out loudly, cupping her large hands around her mouth
Still nothing?
Looking at the dog, letting out low growls towards the trees, his pointed ears perked up and his stance alert. She curses under her breath something vile in German before stepping into the trees….
Jesse hollers into the group of trees again, a crisp gust of wind rolls through the leaves and into her lungs as she steps into the small forest. Her large steel-toed boots crunch the sticks and the frosted, dead grass underneath her. She holds her machete by her side, alert and ready to fight even though she doesn’t know who she will be going up against.
She stops in her tracks, only about two yards into the trees before she hears a rustle in the brush, footsteps coming from the distance “Zander?” she calls out again, her loud voice laced with worry as she makes her way deeper.
Low growls are heard from somewhere nearby, though Jesse isn't sure which direction it came from. “Who’s there?” she calls out before being pushed forward by a strong, sharp force. She stumbles forward, quickly swinging around, though not with her machete. Not yet. The second she sees what had pushed her, her instincts kick in and she swings down on the being as it growls and swings its arms at her. A woman she knew from one of the trailers next to her in a bloody dress, half of her jaw hanging on by a single muscle, her tongue hanging out of the same side of her mouth, black, bloodstained, and broken teeth setting on what was left of her jaws. Her eyes a ghastly grey color and her skin a pale yellow, covered in dirt and cuts. However, what stood out the most to Jesse was the missing arm and chunks of her scalp and hair missing from her skull.
Swinging the machete into her shoulder, the woman didn't seem to be phased. Jesse kicks the woman in the chest, dislodging the machete and swinging again, sensing the animalistic aggression radiating off of the woman. How was she not dead?
This time she hits her neck, pulling it out and swinging it again, slicing her head clean off. She looks at the woman's body as it takes another step before collapsing to the ground, the head rolling away from the body and landing at Jesse’s feet.
The head still attempts to jaw at Jesse’s feet before she stomps on it a few times with all of her weight, crushing the skull, blood now everywhere.
Shaken to her core, Jesse presses her back against a tree, breathing hard. She’s seen some shit but nothing quite like this. That woman was dead. No doubt about it. Or at least she should have been.

Min-Hyuk grunts, trying to shake out of the man's grasp as cuffs are clicked around his wrists, his face pressed hard against the cold cement, small pieces of rocks getting in his mouth and nose. Suddenly everything stops. The pressure of the large policeman's knee on his back released with a jerk back.
Quickly rolling onto his back to make a break for it, Min-Hyuk was sure he’d have a chance, thinking the cop had simply gotten off of him and had his back turned. But when his vision changed from cement and the cop's foot in his face to his surroundings, he was greeted with a horrifying sight. The man who had been holding him down lay on the ground, screaming bloody murder. Literally….
A lanky person crouched over him, their arm elbow deep into his ribcage, blood spurting out and intestines wrapped around the person's arm. The other hand, from what he could tell in the short time he had to gather himself and deal with what he was witnessing, he could tell had no fingernails, looking as if they had been ripped off and their fingers drove down his throat as the policeman screamed, pulling out his tongue and taking a bite. The officer struggled, legs squirming, kicking the figure.
Min-Hyuk blinks once.
Twice
About 5 times before rubbing his eyes and finally bringing himself to his feet, trying not to fall, his knees trembling underneath him.
Before running away from the strange, rabid man, Min-Hyuk’s eyes lock onto the man's gun on his hip, like a dog with a rabbit. But how was he going to get a hold of it? He certainly didn't want to end up like Mister Piggy over here (his words not mine)
So with that, his hands still cuffed, he kicks the man over, away from the lifeless body of the officer. It stumbles back, hitting its head on the ground before growling, now facing Min.
“I did not think this through…” he says to himself before dropping to the ground, trying to unholster the gun while his hands are cuffed behind his back. “Shit shit shit shit’
Almost having the firearm secured, he finally gets a good look at the man, now lunging at him with missing teeth, half of a tongue in his mouth, and bloodshot, yet smoky white eyes. Min retches, stifling a cough and trying to keep the contents of his stomach inside of him where they belong.
“Oh you’re an ugly son of a bitch” he says before kicking it away, this time at one of his kneecaps, breaking his leg and sending him toppling over Min-Hyuk.
He gasped, not thinking through what he had just done, still not comprehending what was happening in general. Rolling over to his side, now having the gun out of the holster but still behind his back, he uses his knee and his other leg to push the being off of him and bring himself to his feet once more.
Taking one more look at the person, now crawling at Min-Hyuk, gurgling blood from its throat.
Min leans forward, puking on the dirty cement before stumbling backward, turning his body around, and running away as fast as he could, not knowing where. Anywhere but here.

Soon Min-Hyuk turns a corner and finds an old gas station, another one of those things sporting a cheap-looking gas station uniform stands outside one of the pumps.
“Shit… I've got to get these fuckers off,” he thinks to himself, referring to the cuffs.
With more gasps of air than heavy breaths, Min-Hyuk slowly walks around to the back door
“Ha, lazy ass gas station workers,” he says, finding the heavy metal door cracked open. He wedges his foot in between the door and the frame, opening it with a loud “creeeaak”
“Great, just basically told this underpaid shit to come fuck me” he curses once again to himself before slipping in.
The back of the gas station is dark, stale smelling and…quiet. Too quiet.
That is until Min-Hyuk stops in his tracks, unable to see through the dark room, his messy tangle of hair in his eyes.
footsteps

(oh absolutely, you can count on him to make a mess of things haha and AAAAAA thanksss jhbsfjhsd i also love your writing so so much, literally could not stop talking to Cinnamon about you and how we missed you :')

(aahh you'll make me cry lolol but thank you! ive missed you a lot too!! I'm glad to finally be writing with you again <3)

Jasper noticed something was different today, there was a musky smell coming from the usually crisp cold air. She frowned, wanting to find out what was ruining the air, and she did not expect to see anything other than a dead bird, or a different animal. What she saw, was a walking corpse. Blood dripped out of their mouth as they staggered across the pathway. The eyes of the corpse were pearly white orbs, their skin was pale with a sickly green tint. some of it was falling off of the face, revealing the muscle and blood under the skin. The clothes they had been wearing in shreds, were hardly able to be recognized. blood soaked through what remained, a bite wound clear for everyone to see. She stood there, trembling on her little stack of boxes.
she heard people start screaming, running in panic.
It turned to look at her, and she stumbled back too far and fell off of her boxes onto the ground. She couldn't hardly feel the pain in her rear, because of how much she was shaking and how terrified she had felt. she hadn't felt that fear in years.
She sat there staring at her little window, listening to the panic and the chaos going on outside. She could hear the screams of people, and things being knocked over. people probably getting trampled.
A lady fell, at her window. She tried to crawl for it, screaming for Jasper to help her. Before Jasper could even register the lady, the creature pounced on her from behind, and the lady let out an ear-piercing scream. The creature dug into the lady, and blood came dripping the window, and splattering on Jasper's face, eyes wide.
She trembled violently, screaming as the creature spotted her and tried to squirm his way through but couldn't quite make it. She scooted back into the cell bars that kept her inside.
"HELP!" she screamed, and sure enough men with guns came inside the basement area and shot the creature, right in the skull. it soon enough went limp, and she started sobbing.
"Please- please take me out of here! I swear! I swear I'll be good!" she begged with the men, who looked at each other. Before one eventually sighed and unlocked the door, and she scrambled out of it. She was quickly grabbed, and they all moved up the stairs.
she hadn't been up the stairs in she didn't know how long, she was quickly shoved into a room with no window, and a bed, and the door was locked behind her. She moved to the corner of the room and curled up in a ball. she started crying again, and a little mouse came out from inside her clothes and nuzzled up to her face. she picked her up in her hands and just held her close.

Angela would normally be asleep at this time she was just walking up the front steps to her townhouse, she'd just gone on her late night jog because she couldn't sleep.
She unlocked the door and stepped inside and was instantly greeted by a sleepy miso, "hey buddy, did I wake you up?" She said sweetly as she crouched down to pet the black and white cat. Music responded with quite pitiful meow before running up the stairs which were right in front of the door. She smiled before slipping of her shoe's and locking the door then following after him. Once she reached her bed she flopped down next to the fluffy cat she called her friend and he nuzzled against her face, she laughed and rolled over so she could hold him. It wasn't too long till misi finally started to doze off Angela not too far behind him.

(Sorry this is so short! I've been really slammed with school work and trying to hang out with my partner 😪)

Jax kneeled by his brother’s bedside. Guilt filled his throat, making delicate knots to keep him silent. Every few hours, he’d come to check on his older brother, Dominic, running a few fingers through Dominic’s soft hair. His condition had worsened over the past few hours, turning into something fatal. Jax planted his hands down on the bed and straightened his back. He gave his brother a quick kiss on the forehead, noting the pale skin and dull eyes. Little tears formed in the corners of his eyes. Pain ebbed in his chest, reaching his quickening heart. Pangs of sadness radiated from him as he held back broken sobs. Once Dominic faded into nothing, Jax would never get this part of his life back. His childhood would leave him, revealing a crumbling interior and soft exterior.

He sighed, standing up. His brother’s condition would continue to deteriorate. Jax knew this, but he couldn’t just give up. He couldn’t give up his only family left. He brushed his fingers over the satin sheets. They were a glossy white, gently rising up and down as his brother breathed. Jax looked over at the clock, noticing how late it had gotten. His eyes drooped, exhaustion pressing at the back of his head. He had deep circles under his eyes, and his cheeks were sunken in. Jax stared at Dominic, his eyes unfocusing on Dominic’s pale skin. He swallowed his grief.

A salt lamp sat in the corner, emitting a soft pink glow. The light drenched the darkroom in a pleasant glow. The air was nothing but stuffy, making it hard to breathe without wheezing. Jax’s brother lay in a beautiful cedar wood framed bed. Jax reached over toward the nightstand beside the bed. It was a well-crafted cedar wood nightstand, which held tissues, medicine, a lamp, and various other objects upon it. He wrapped his hand around a small bottle and opened it. He took two painkillers for the jarring headache pounding against the confines of his skill. Jax placed the bottle back onto the nightstand. He waited patiently for something. Something he knew was coming.

Just then, a soft knock echoed through the hall. Dominic’s bedroom, or rather sick bay, was on the first floor. It made it easier for Jax to reach the front door if need be. Jax moved out of the room, his heavy boots forcing creaks out of the deteriorating hardwood floors. They didn’t have much money to keep up with maintenance. He lumbered down the halls where family portraits hung on the walls. He couldn’t look at them. Jax reached the door, grasping the metal doorknob. He yanked open the front door, peering his head through the small gap. Val.

Jax opened the door fully, letting the ginger-haired man in. His green eyes were a stark contrast against the dark house. He smiled at Jax, patting the older guy on the back. Jax and Val weren’t too far apart in age. Jax was only a month older than him. He leaned into Val, his eyes flicking to the floors. They were rotten. One could tell from the unusual black spots and wood chips coming up. Val came over often to keep Jax company. They played card games, or if Val could convince Jax, Battleship. Val always won at Battleship, which usually turned into an argument. Jax squished his face into Val’s shoulder.

“I can’t do it anymore,” he whispered. Jax was slightly taller than Val, so he had to lean over slightly.

Val patted Jax on the back, looping an arm around him. “You’ll get through it. I believe in you. Always have since day one,” he gave Jax a sappy smile.

Jax pushed away from him, playfully huffing. “I don’t need any of that sappy stuff. I’ll be fine.” No. He wouldn’t be fine. He was drowning in his emotions. Jax was sure Val knew this.

“Well, if you’re certain you'll be fine, then you should be interested in a round of Monopoly where I steal all your assets and then sell them to sketchy people on the streets,” Val smirked.

Jax smacked him on the back of the head. “Don’t be an idiot! You wait around in jail while I fall for your traps! Don’t think I don’t know your games!”

Val rolled his eyes, laying his coat down on a chair in the hallway. He peered into the kitchen, smirking to himself. “Looks like you’re doomsday prepping.” He moseyed into the kitchen, pulling out Monopoly from seemingly nowhere. He was going to win — just like all the other times he beat Jax. Jax didn’t like his unserious behavior, finding it inappropriate in most situations, but it did the job of cheering his suffering friend up.

[quick note before I continue with Jesse, everything is in German unless i say otherwise :)

Jesse presses her back hard against a tree, the bark scraping her skin through the t shirt she wore.
“What the fuck was that?” She mumbles to herself, catching her breath.
It didn’t take a lot out of her fighting that…thing. But it did catch her off guard.
She pushes herself off the tree, hoping whatever happened to this woman didn’t happen to Zander. Whatever it was.
Her head whips around to a loud crackling sound ringing through the trees followed by screams of at least three other people if not more. She turns around, heading back to the rv, her large boots thumping against the forest floor, twigs snapping underneath her.
Soon she rounds the RV, the large dog still barking but now at her. She swings the door of her vehicular home open with almost effortless force before stepping in and grabbing her black jacket and a gun before heading back outside. In just a matter of minutes she spots military vehicles rounding the trailer park, flooding in with men in uniforms hopping out, holding rifles, and yelling.
“What the hell?” she whispers.
Jesse wanted to think they were here to help but by their mannerisms and how aggressively they were shouting, she doubted it. Slipping out with the chain collar, she enters with caution but a sense of urgency and slight panic.
“Come on you’ve got to listen to me now” she states, swinging the large chain around the dog's neck. He lunges at her but doesn’t bite, as if trying to say “Leave me alone”
Though obviously, she doesn’t do that, instead she leads him around the RV as multiple gunshots are fired in the background. She turns around witnessing two men shoving a child down to the ground before shooting him in the head. She gasps as everyone around them screams, pulling out any weapons they have to fight back. Though the men in uniforms didn’t hesitate to shoot them too.
Seeing more than she needed to know, she needed to get out of there.

She jumps into the vehicle, the large canine following her. He almost immediately jumps on the bed and refuses to move, lying down in the tangle of sheets. She rolls her eyes, not caring much anymore.
Jesse steps out of the RV in a last desperate attempt to find her wive, not wanting to think about what could happen if she had left her here. She slithers through the crowd of people now running in every which direction, keeping her head held as low as possible to blend in with everyone else and lower the risk of her being shot.
In the flurry of chaos and confusion, she reaches a large, dark mossy green jeep and nobody in it. She wasn't about to take the jeep..even if it was bulletproof. The RV offered much more protection from the dangers of the outside world and whatever monstrosities she was about to face. But she whips her head around in a panic, making sure nobody was paying much attention to. Looking down she find a bag, buckled shut with unknown contents. She doesn't hesitate to snatch it, slinging it over her shoulder, and continue searching, finding a large sniper rifle and boxes of different assortments of ammunition. Looking around for more but not finding much else, her luck had run out, she turns around to make her way back to the RV, shoving the ammo into the bag.

Without much warning, if any at all Jesse is thrown back but a great force along with everyone around her, deafening shrieks and cries sound all around the trailer park. Though all Jesse could hear as she lay on the floor were her ears ringing and muffled gunshots. An explosion.
She opens her eyes slowly, her brows furrowing as she tries to regain full consciousness, bodies toppling over her and blood trickling down her face and onto the ground. She coughs hoarsely, blood spurting out of her mouth, through her teeth, and down her tongue as she wheezes.
"Zander" she tries to call out, though no sound coming out.
Jesse's vision is blurry and almost non-existent as she pushes herself off of the blood-soaked ground, her hand slipping in the blood.
She stumbles around as she lifts herself off of the ground, rising from the pile of people, dead or dying. Staggering over them, her eyes dart around, unable to fully see still.
She looks up to see someone running at her, tackling her to the ground, bringing the bag and the large gun with her.
Punching whoever had tackled her in the side of the ribcage with a strong, brunt force before rolling her body over on top of the being, now realizing it was one of the men in a uniform. Jesse elbows him in the throat over and over again until he coughed up blood, struggling to get out of the large woman's grasp. Her weight crushing him below her, she takes out her gun, holding it to his mouth "Open your mouth I dare you OPEN YOUR FUCKING MOUTH" she shouts in English, her accent strong and her voice low. She punches him in the mouth, knocking out a tooth or two as he yells in pain, hitting and kicking her as he chokes on a tooth. She gags, throwing up blood over the man as he hits her in the stomach before she shoves her pistol down his throat and pulls the trigger.
His body lay limp on the ground, his nails releasing her bloody and scraped skin from his grasp. Jesse dry heaves for a second, struggling to breathe as she quickly searches the body in a panic frenzy. She searches for a gun but to no surprise, she doesn't find one, assuming that's why he tackled her instead of shooting her.
"Zander!" she shouts, looking around before limping her way back to the RV, holding on as tight as she could to the bag and the rifle on her back.

Swinging the door open, she pulls herself up into the RV, holding her side and sniffling up blood,
Jesse slides into the driver's seat and slips the key in with her shaky, blood-covered hand, turning over the engine. Looking around in desperation, she pulls the RV out, tires spinning out for a few seconds before she hears loud gunshots in her direction.
Pang
Pang
Pang
Bullets shoot through the metal walls of the RV as she ducks, swerving to the right when she feels a force shoving her back into her seat, a sharp stinging pain shooting through her shoulder. “Fuck!” she exclaims, tearing her bandana from her wrist and pressing it to her shoulder as she swerves away and out of the park, heading towards the city.

Rachel was just walking Colt through the mostly, empty streets at 3 am. She enjoyed going on walks during the early hours of the day because it meant fewer people. She did not want to interact with people and said no to everyone who wanted to pet Colt. Then have them get upset at you because you made their child cry by saying no.

It's not her fault that they didn't know how to say no to their child.

She sighed, one hand on Colt's leash and the other in her jacket pocket. It wasn't too cold out, but it was cold enough to need a jacket. the snow glistened in what was left of the moonlight as she walked past it. She let Colt do his business in the bushes before moving to start heading back to her house. Colt started growling at something in the distance, but she figured it was just a squirrel or a rabbit until she heard some low growling.

she squinted her eyes and realized it was coming from what looked like the silhouette of a person.
"Hey! I don't want any trouble; I just want to head home with my dog. Alright?" she called out and waited for a response before realizing that she wouldn't get a response out of them. The closer they got the more she could smell a stench that was all too familiar to her.

The scent of rotting flesh, the iron tang of blood. It hit her almost immediately, and she backed up from the person walking forward, hand on her back where her concealed carry was. When they came into the light, she saw it. The rotting corpse staggered towards her before it charged at her.
She hesitated a few seconds, before aiming her gun at the creature and firing multiple rounds of bullets into its head and watching as it fell to the ground.
she didn't waste any time telling colt to leave it and rushing back to her house. If there was one of those things, there was bound to be more. She wasn't sticking around to find out.

She locked the door behind her as soon as she and colt got inside and shut all of her curtains.

Well.
Jake hadn't made it far with his injuries. He had planned to go to Andre's but the guy's place was a bit aways from the building he had just come from. Getting assaulted and then ripping those men a new one hadn't been on his list of things to do that night but it seemed the universe never gave him a break and it was a constant fight for his life.
If only he'd known what was to come.

Jake painstakingly made his way to the back end of a gas station after having decided that it was a good idea to hit up an empty drugstore. It had been odd for lack of a better word. Seeing the open building with the lights on, yet no one in sight. Jake had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with screams down the street where he had originally been heading, but in a last-split decision decided that it was better to stop somewhere and hide to take care of his wounds- possibly wait out whatever hell was going down on the other end of the city.

Because there wasn't a closer place he could have stayed without getting caught and asked invasive questions about what was going on with him, he had taken refuge in the storage area of the gas station's store. He liked the thought of being wrapped in darkness on the off chance someone would come looking, now ripping open a gauze pack with his teeth and applying as much pressure to his shoulder with a towel, courtesy of the drug store he had stolen from- other items littered beside him.

This side of the city seemed moderately calm compared to the other one, but even now he noted how fairly desolate it seemed, knowing there weren't as many people as there could be even at this hour of the night, gang members and other shady people nowhere in sight. There were gas station workers however which was curious. Not everyone had left just yet.

Jake settled down in a corner, using the walls as support as he wrapped the large stab wound, nearly stuffing it with gauze as he tightly bound himself, working blindly as he hadn't bothered to search for a light switch. There was a strained look on his face as he applied increasing amounts of pressure on himself- that was till he heard the door open, knowing that company had just joined him. He froze mid wrap, a million thoughts crossing his mind. Maybe the workers had spotted him and came to check the area to see if there were any potential dangers.

He stood, now abandoning his project and opting to hold onto the bandage itself without tying off one end. It wouldn't matter much if he had to fight this newcomer, knowing the bandage would unravel as soon as he used his arm despite himself.

"…fuck me" He caught the tail end of the sentence as the door closed behind whoever had come in.
Jake knew that to be on top and win, he had to find out first, so against his will, he had approached the sounds of who had come in, the black heels on his person that served more like boots and came up to hug his thighs, giving him away as he made himself known.

"Oh, I'd love to" Came Jake's sultry yet challenging voice as his eyes landed on the other male. There was something off about him however as his arms seemed pinned behind him- looking to be restricted for whatever reason.
Jake had stopped a bit aways from Min-Hyuk in case the other thought him to be something that needed removing. He wouldn't give the guy the chance to have the upper hand on him.
"What are you doing here?" Jake nearly snapped, a bite to his tone as if to try and fend off Min-Hyuk so there wouldn't be a need to fight if that was on the table. Still, he needed to understand his motives before he made any assumptions and found himself in an even shittier situation.

Well you see, Evan didn’t know that zombies were coming to life and attacking people. He just kinda conveniently left the areas right before it was about to happen. He figured he would go to a gas station, just to get some snacks. He frowned as he noticed it was a bit empty, hoping everything was alright with all of the staff inside.

He walked into store, turning his hearing aids on so that he could more accurately judge the situation. Scanning around, it almost seemed like a ghost town. He started walking through the stores isles, and checking for people. He decided that was a lost effort and went towards the counter, checking behind it. When he found no one… he debated leaving. That’s until he heard very faint voices. It was more so that he could feel the vibrations of footsteps that alerted him then the talking.

People? People were here? Oh that was good, he hoped they were alright. He also hoped that they wouldn’t mind if he bought something from them. He really didn’t understand the bleak situation they were all going to be in. He made his way towards the back, “hello? Are their people back there? I wanted to ask if you guys were still open or if someone forgot to lock the door.”

Min-Hyuk holds the gun behind his back without much of a choice while he searches the back of the store for a pen or a paperclip to get these cuffs off.
His cat-like eyes squint in the dark room, not daring to turn on the lights for fear of drawing someone else in. Dead or undead.
"did nobody keep a pen back here? Damn" he whispers to himself, clearly frustrated. And with the footsteps growing closer, panic rose in his chest and the need to find the pen grew.
Hearing a voice call back to his hilarious comment, Min-Hyuk's head shoots up and he looks around like a deer at the sound of a twig snapping. He was vulnerable in this position and now he knew for a fact he wasn't alone.
"What are you doing here?" He hears another harsh tone travel in his direction. His mind races, thinking of what to say. He didn't want to sound like a threat. Not here. Not now. Not with his hands cuffed behind his back. Quickly, he looked for a place to stash the gun so whoever was in there couldn't take it. He drops it to the ground and slides it into a small crack underneath a shelf.
Great, now I'm defenseless and I have my hands forced behind my back. He sighs, sounds like I'm in a porno but without the money
He opens his mouth to speak but another voice chimes in. And by the sound of it, he wasn't with anybody else. But it also sounded like he was an idiot. Was he not aware of what's happening?
"yeah we're open!" he calls out "back here!"
Min-Hyuk figured if he could lead those two together, he would have a chance to slither his way out of the gas station. But Min-Hyuks' plans didn't always work out how he wanted them to.

Cherry took a bite of the pastry she had taken along with her as she closed up shop, slipping the key into her purse as she made sure the doors were securely locked.
A slight hum left her as she turned to go, but just as she was about to take a step forward she paused. People had always told Cherry how oddly terrifying it was that she picked up on the smallest things, from noises to changes in her environment.
She looked around, now feeling deeply unsettled- like something was wrong but not being able to put her finger on it.
Cautiously, she finally moved from her spot to walk onto the streets, her hand reaching into her purse once more to pull something out.

She held on tightly to a small thin dagger, the handle filled with flowers that were floating in brown-yellowish resin, giving it a vintage vibe. It had been a gift from her partner and she had always joked about how if she ever used it, it would be the end of the world. She thought the dagger to be too pretty to use and had sworn to keep it clean and sharpened- carrying it on her person at all times per her fiance's request.
She hoped that tonight wouldn't change that.

For a while now, she had been hearing sirens from police cars and ambulances throughout the night as she worked on the finances of her cafe but now it was….eerily quiet. Like the city had packed up their bags and left unanimously. She hadn't paid much attention to the news these past few days- her friends always talked about new occurrences, Cherry half-listening when they had mentioned a highly infectious virus, many having been sentenced to death after they had caught it.
Still. She knew that it was a bit farfetched for everyone to just leave, there were probably others around even at this time, she just so happened to step out when they had gone elsewhere- or maybe it was just the fact that it was so late at night that everything had gotten still.

Cherry pressed forward as she kept trying to soothe herself and rationalize things. All she had to do was get home and sleep. Maybe she really had just spiked her own anxiety with so much work she had taken on.

Jake hadn't fully exposed himself just yet, hiding off to the side behind a shelf to keep his blood-drenched self hidden, yet still having a good eyeshot of the figure in the dark. He didn't know what to think, but if there was something he knew for an absolute fact, it was that you never showed anyone you were vulnerable, physically or emotionally. It only got you hurt further, something he had learned the hard way over and over again.

Jake gritted his teeth when Min-Hyuk called out to the person who somehow had wandered close enough to the back to hear them. This motherfucker… Jake annoyingly thought. He only had two options here, reveal himself and hoped to fuck that the guy with the cuffs wasn't the fighting type. Jake nearly let out an incredulous laugh at that, Min-Hyuk's cuffs clearly giving away that he was. The other option however wasn't a flavorful one either. He could run but he had left his supplies on the floor to take care of whoever had come in. He was in no position to go anywhere. In fact, he could feel the beginning stages of lightheadedness start to sweep him over, his mind in a foggy state as he tried to assess what the best course of action would be.
He huffed, squeezing his eyes shut tightly, then opening them as if to reset his vision. Jake struggled to push all his energy into keeping himself standing but after a second finally gathered the courage to speak again.

"Listen…!" Jake called out, sounding out of breath even though he was trying his best to keep all emotion or any signs that would give him away out of his voice. "I only asked! I'm not looking to start anything! Hell knows I fucking can't…" He muttered at the end.

Evan came around to the back where the two boys were. He noticed Jake in front of him, and then the closer he got he realized Min Hyuk was there as well. As he approached the two boys, he noticed how Jake seemed to be ready to collapse at any moment, swiftly rushing over to support him from behind.
"Woah-! be careful, please! you could hit your head from passing out." He spoke, immediately concerned about Jake, moving to help him stand up. He thought about whether or not it would be better for Jake to lean against something or just sit down. He sighed, jake needed to be hydrated, at the very least. He glanced up to say something in Min-hyuk's direction only to realize that his arms were behind his back.
Well, that doesn't instill him with confidence.
"Hello, are you the one that called me back here…? Do you work here, or did you call me back here so I could help your friend." He spoke, cautiously. He wasn't sure what was going on with these two, and while he wanted to think the best of them…there was a chance he needed to be cautious.
Like his mother said, you can be nice, and safe at the same time.
"He needs water…and some bandages, would you be able to get those…?"

Jax’s eyes darted back and forth between the kitchen and Dominic’s room. His stomach dropped, a nauseous feeling heaving its way into his throat. He shook his head. He could play games right now! This cramped, dull air suffocated him. It was nothing but filthy and dry. He gripped his arm, looking up at Val. The other stared at him with wonder. Val smiled, putting the board game back in the cabinet he got it from. The ginger sauntered over to Jax and placed a comforting hand on his back. Jax leaned into Val’s touch.

“Maybe we should step outside…” Val murmured. Jax nodded his head. The two of them walked toward the front door. Jax looked around the foyer, noting the picture of him and his family. That was when times were simpler. There was no trying to make it on your own. However, it was also a time without Val. He couldn’t imagine living in this shattered world without him.

They had met at a café. Jax had gone to drink tea and work on a short story idea. It calmed his nerves when anxiety decided to attack him. His nightmares became less frequent but still happened. All Jax needed was something to distract his mind. Val had come in, grabbing a latte. He had been one of those to see a poor soul down on their luck and start up a random conversation. Apparently, Jax looked depressed enough to draw Val over. The ginger sat with him, trying to strike up a small conversation. Jax didn’t reciprocate the attempt, looking away to stare at other strangers. Eventually, the two got talking. They even exchanged phone numbers!

Jax shook his head. Where would he be if Val wasn’t outgoing like that? The pair walked down the concrete steps, stepping onto the sidewalk. Crickets chirped a peaceful symphony as lightning bugs flashed small beads of light. Silence. That’s all Jax needed. Fresh air. It filled his lungs, breathing new life into him. Maybe the world wasn’t as fucked. The pair walked down the moonlit street, speaking to each other in hushed tones. Jax smiled slightly, trying to accept his situation. He’d have to live without his brother. Whatever disease he caught had progressed further, infesting his systems. He bit his lip.

“You stick with me, right?” He rubbed his arm. “You know — in the event everything goes wrong.” He needed reassurance. Jax needed his best friend.

Val eagerly nodded his head, a grin forming on his face. “Of course, I will! Someone needs to be there to annoy you. If not me, then who else?” He bumped his shoulder into Jax’s, oddly showing his affection. He wasn’t one for sappy moments. Val couldn’t emotionally handle them, so he opted for something different.

Jax smiled. “Thanks.” He swayed from Val knocking into him. They walked along the road together, discussing what would happen in the future.