The Backfire

Admin Posts : 196 Join date : 2022-01-12 Age : 25

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The day had been long, it felt like it dragged along like walking through sand. The young boy had just gotten off the bus and happily ran inside his home. He called for his parents, but he received no answer in return. He dropped his school bag by the front door, going to search for them through the house.

He didn't find them, but he did find a small note on the counter by the microwave. He picked it up, letting his eyes scan over the words written there.

"Dear Ronan,

Your father and I got calls to go to work tonight, we will be back late into the night. There are leftovers in the fridge, just heat them for a minute or so when you get hungry. Make sure that you do your homework and shower, and go to bed on time! We will come and see you when we get home.

Love, Mom."

The boy, Ronan, smiled a bit to himself. He had the house to himself for the night. Yes! He could do what he wanted while his parents were gone. This was going to be a fun night.

Making quick work of him, the boy grabbed one of the dining room chairs and dragged it over to the counter. He used it to climb onto the counter and open the cabinet. That's where he found the stash he knew would be hiding there. His parents' sweets stash.

He grabbed for the cookies, quickly jumping off the counter with a victory giggle. He ran for the living room, throwing himself on the couch. While stuffing several cookies into his mouth, he reached out and grabbed the remote. Clicking on the TV, picking cartoons, of course, he relaxed against the back of the couch.

About half an hour into his cartoons, the sudden sound of the emergency broadcast alarm caused whatever cookies were left to spill over his lap.

"Come on what the heck," he mumbled under his breath annoyed,

Ronan grumbled as he grabbed the remote. He tried to click through the channels, but each one had the same broadcast on the screen. He guessed he wouldn't be able to avoid it to watch something else.

He sighed and tossed the remote onto the couch beside him, leaning up and staring at the tv. It was telling everyone around to pay attention and listen, to lock your doors and windows. But it wasn't saying anything as to why.

Just then the screen flickered, and popped back on, showing a balding older man, holding a microphone. He was standing in the middle of a two-way street, cars speeding behind him. People seemed to be running this way and that, screaming and pushing each other out of their way. The man's hands seemed to be trembling.

"I've been getting news that crazy people are on the loose. There seems to have been an escape from our local hospital of a mental patient. It is reported that the patient attacked workers of the hospital, ripping the flesh from wherever they could get a hold of it.

It is believed that the man was infected with some sort of disease, for the hospital staff he has come in contact with have also gone crazy. Law enforcement has been called to take care of the problem, but I have been informed that they were attacked as well.

People have gotten word about the attack, and have been trying to rush to their homes as fast as possible, as you can see behind me," he pointed to the mild chaos behind him. "I heard that this is something to not worry about too much, this is just another crazy person trying to cause a problem.

But it has been recommended that you lock yourself in your homes, lock the doors, and your windows. Make sure that you do not leave your homes until further notice. Please stay tuned to the TV, or radio for any further information.

Thank you this has been Daniel Campbell with the Channel Five news broadcasting system."

The broadcast didn't end as the man wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, letting out a shaky hand. His mouth started moving with words that couldn't be heard, he seemed to be talking to the person behind the camera.

His head suddenly shot to the side, as he stepped back in defense. He raised his hands in front of his chest, before another person slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. The camera shifted slightly, rocking side to side like it had been hit.

A man, who could be assumed as the cameraman ran out, grabbing at the person who had tackled the news speaker. He pulled on their clothes, trying to remove them, but they weren't budging from where they were.

Suddenly then another body suddenly slammed into the cameraman, knocking him back into the camera. It tumbled to the ground, the lense cracking, showing a broken sky.

The screen went black once more, before showing the emergency broadcast once again.

Ronan stared with his mouth wide open, confused about what the hell had just happened. What the hell was going on?
----------------------

Hello everyone, this is going to be an apocalyptic Role-Play of sorts. Most likely zombies, since that's one of my favorite tropes. Considering that this is an apocalyptic RP, there will be Cussing, Blood, Violence, Gore, and possible drug use. So you are warned.

This is an open RP, so anyone can join as they like. You just have to fill out this character sheet below.

Full Name: Characters Full Name
Nickname: What does the character go by
Age: How old are they?
Gender: What do they identify as?
Sexuality: What do you prefer?
Skills: What are they good at?
Personality: what are they like?
General looks: Can be picture or description.
General Clothing Style: Can be picture or description.
Preferred Weapons: Picture or description.
Anything else physical: Tattoos, piercings, etc.

Subject: Re: The Backfire Tue Mar 07, 2023 3:35 am

Jed looked at Jude, very worried about him. His brow furrowed at how shaken he was. This man must of really fucked with Jude to get him this scared. He shuffled closer to Jude and rubbed his back, trying to help him calm down. He was shocked when he saw Jude's scarred mouth. "Fuck!" He whispered and turned to look at the guy, glaring daggers at him.

He watched them leave before turning back to Jude. "Hey they've left now." He said, still keeping his voice down and rubbed his back a little more before peaking his head around the corner again. "We'll make sure that you get your revenge, that man is fucked." He muttered, waiting 5 more minutes in case they wanted to come back for some reason.

Admin Posts : 196 Join date : 2022-01-12 Age : 25

Jude jumped not expecting to be touched, much less in a gentle way. He nodded to Jed, bowing his head in a way of thanks. He felt bad bothering his man with his issues, but he never expected to run into that man again.

He had spent two whole years after the incident looking for him. And each time he had been given a clue was he was left empty handed. But now that he had stopped looking, and even given up here he is. Handed to him like dinner.

But he was unable to do anything about it, he turned into a child afraid of their own shadow.

When he was sure they were gone he stood up, leaving the safety that was behind the counter. He walked over to the corpses of the infected that the man left behind. There were a total of thirteen of them littering the tile of the food court.

He started walking around peeking into the stores that they could gain access to. But again he couldn’t see anything of value.

Clothes, toys, action figures and more clothes. The food court had been empty as well, the only thing really left were condiment packets. And you really couldn’t eat those and live a healthy life.

Jude sighed when he remained empty handed, running back to see if Jed had more luck than he did. Hopefully he found something good. Not that it would be for him, but it would mean they didn’t just waste their time here.

Subject: Re: The Backfire Tue Mar 07, 2023 5:39 am

Jed smiled slightly at him when Jude seemed to calm him down. He got up, watching Jude walk off to look around. He got up and started scouting the shops, avoiding the dead bodies along the way. He routed through some shops, finding some more shirts, a roll of duct tape and a couple cans of canned food. "Score!" He said quietly. He was about to leave the store he was in when a snowflake necklace caught his eye. He peered around the corner to see if Jude was there before snagging it and tucked it into his pocket.

"I found some cans of food in that convenience store." He said, jogging over to Jude. "Did you find anything or no dice?" He asked, putting the food and shirts into his back pack.

Admin Posts : 196 Join date : 2022-01-12 Age : 25

Jude couldn't help sighing, shaking his head at the question. He would have grabbed some clothes, but he already had enough, and grabbing more would have just added more needed weight to his bag. He did see that Jed had seemed to find some things which he was glad for. At least it wasn't a complete waste of time for both of them.

He gestured to the other end of the mall, where the building curved to the right to another part. He then pointed at himself, basically saying he was going to go around that way to check for anything else. He had a feeling that this would be useless.

Where would be one of the first places people go to at the end of the world? The mall.

The second most popular would be a grocery store. People would honestly raid anything if they felt like the police wouldn't be around to stop them.

Jude started walking towards the other side of the mall, slowly disappearing behind the corner. He looked around, turning up his nose. Ah, this was the rich part of the mall. Where Gucci, Versace, and the like were. He was surprised to see that those stores were broken into, but they were practically full. Barely anything was missing from them.

He thought those would be one of the first places people would attack, get the expensive name-brand things. But he guessed the name brand didn't matter anymore.

Jude slipped into one of the broken windows of the Gucci store, his books crunching on the glass as he moved. He didn't think he would find anything exciting in this store, but it didn't hurt to try at least.

Subject: Re: The Backfire Tue Mar 07, 2023 6:20 pm

Jed saw that Jude didn't find anything and shrugged. "I guess it was a long shot since this place would of been raided first." He said, looking around. He nodded when Jude said he would check out the other part of the mall. He nodded before seeing an escalator that lead upstairs. "I'm going to head up to see if there's anything up there." He said before jogging over to it.

He headed up the rickety escalator and looked around before spotting a gun store that had been broken into. He crept up to it to see that not everything had been raided from it. "Score!" He yelled quietly before rooting around in the half empty shelves. He managed to find a box of shot gun shells, a couple knives, four rifle rounds and two boxes of pistol mags. "Fuck yes baby!" He said, grinning. He stuffed them into his bag before seeing if there was anything else on the floor of use.

He came across a health and supplement store that looked ok. He scanned around the store, finding some better old organic peanut butter, protein powder and empty water bottles.

He bagged them all before heading downstairs to meet up with Jude, waving the jar of peanut butter in the air like a trophy. "Look what I found~!" He sung with a triumphant smile on his face.

Admin Posts : 196 Join date : 2022-01-12 Age : 25

By the time Jed had reached Jude again, the younger male was on his knees slamming his crowbar into the ground it seemed. But pinned under him was an infected man. The echoing sound of metal hitting skin and bone echoed through the empty designer store.

Just didn't realize Jed was there until he stood up, and turned around. He jumped when he saw him standing there, his hand unconsciously going for his pistol strapped to his thigh. But once his brain caught up, and he relaxed it was Jed his hand still and retreated.

His eyes widened at the peanut butter, running forward, ignoring the squishy sound his boots made as he ran. He grabbed the peanut butter from Jed, turning it this way and that. He ignored the date, figuring that it was just a formality when it came to something like this. This was so exciting! He loved peanut butter, and how different could "organic" be?

He actually looked really excited about food, that he completely forgot he had blood smeared on his face from bashing in the infected head. Then a thought occurred to him. He handed the food back to Jed and started searching around in his pockets.

He then pulled out a necklace that hung from a woven chain. At the end of the chain was a black metal snake that was curled into an infinity symbol. He had found it in the backroom of the store, in someone's locker that was left open. Aka, he pried it open.

Jude held out the necklace towards Jed, feeling that it would suit him more than it would him. Plus, he wanted to give a proper gift for letting him stay the night with him before and letting him come on this little mission.

His eyes were screwed up, showing that he was smiling behind the mask as he held out the necklace.

Subject: Re: The Backfire Tue Mar 07, 2023 7:12 pm

Jed blinked, watching him murder the infected before chuckling when Jude ran up to him and snatched the peanut butter. "Ah so you like peanut butter eh?" He asked, a hand on his hip as he watched Jude examine the jar. "There might be another one up there." He said looking back up stairs before almost dropping the jar when it was handed back to him.

He watched Jude root through his bag before being offered the necklace. "Oh thanks kid." He said with a smile that was covered by his make shift mask. He gently fist bumped Jude's arm before tucking the jar under his arm to put the necklace on. He smiled at it before remembering what else he grabbed.

"Look what else I found." He said, moving down to one knee and rooted through his bag before pulling the treasures he acquired in the gun shop. He handed Jude a knife and a box of pistol ammo. "One for you, one for me." He said, putting everything back in his bag and stood up.

"As much as I would love to stay here, we should probably get a move on soon." He said, adjusted his 'mask'. "I wanna see if this place has a hardware store before we go. So I can try and spruce up my place a bit more." He said, hands on his hips.

Admin Posts : 196 Join date : 2022-01-12 Age : 25

Jude was super happy that his gift was accepted. He half expected Jed to deny his gift, toss it away like it didn’t matter. But he even put it on, that’s something he didn’t expect. He figured if he did accept it, he would just put in his pocket.

He smiled even wider behind the mask, bowing his head as if trying to hide away. He knew he was blushing, and just hoped that the mask covered it. Even though the tips of his ears were turning pink.

He managed a small gasp when he was handed a knife and some ammo. He couldn’t believe he had found something actually useful here, much less something to do with weapons.

He quickly stuffed them back into his bag, slipping the knife into the waist band of his pants. It would be a nice weapon to have for something quick.

Jude nodded his head and quickly followed behind Jed as they looked for a hardware store. Cities were so interesting. He grew up in a rural town, of maybe about 1,100 people at the max.

He helped Jed look around the upper floor of the mall, before he suddenly stopped. Wandering around a group of stores, and bumping into some of the display windows was a small group of infected. And when he glanced up, he cussed to himself in his head.

Of course they were all gathered outside of an ACE Hardware. The one place they needed to go to. He back peddled, and tried to run as quietly as he could to track down Jed to let him know, he found the store. But there was a small problem.

Subject: Re: The Backfire Tue Mar 07, 2023 7:53 pm

Jed chuckled when he noticed Jude was blushing and patted the others head before walking back up to the second floor. He was peering into a store when Jude had wondered off and looked up when he jogged back over to him. He looked behind Jude and sighed. "Just our fucking luck." He said, rubbing his eyes. "Ok we do this smart. If we feel like we're getting overwhelmed be back out. It's not worth getting bit over some hardware." He said, grabbing his knife out and put it in his belt and grabbed his bat.

He crept up to a large sign in the middle of the hallway that had some ad for a beauty product in it and peered around the corner. He counted 7 before ducking back behind. "Alright. There's only 7 of them." He said, looking at Jude before seeing a broken piece on concrete by their feet. He picked it up, weighing it in his hand. "Right I'm going to chuck this off to the side, it should distract him it if throw it into some glass and you go over to the store to see if it's unlocked. I'll watch your back." He whispered before creeping forward and hid behind a plant fixture.

He lined up the shot and chucked the brick into a glass door. It shattered to pieces onto the floor and the small group, groaned and made their way to the sound. Jed waved Jude to get going.

Admin Posts : 196 Join date : 2022-01-12 Age : 25

Jude followed behind Jed, moving as quietly as he could not wanting to draw attention to themselves. He slipped behind the sign, scooting I’m close to Jed, making sure nothing could be seen.

He nodded his head vigorously at the idea. Smart. It was really smart. He probably would have just ran in head first, and hope for the best. That’s what he had been doing for a while now. Why? He didn’t know.

When Jed signaled for him to go, he took off running. He tightly gripped the knife in his hand as he ran, making sure he was ready in case one of them decided they wanted to come back around.

He slid across the floor, grabbing hold of the door handles to make sure he didn’t go any further. He pulled on them hard, but they didn’t move. His eyes widened as he tugged on them a couple times, but they still didn’t give way.

Damnit. They were locked.

He threw his back up, making quick work of searching through it. He pulled out a small black box, glancing around to check for the infected. They still seemed to he hovered around the window, tripping over each other to try to get inside the store.

He opened the box to reveal a lock picking kit. He had found it on someone’s dead body one day, and decided it might come in handy to use one day. Well it seemed today was going to be that day.

He started working the lock of the door, biting his lip as he tried his best. He had only done this a couple times for practice, but never used it when it was actually important. So the stress didn’t make things better.

Come on! Come on! He pleaded in his mind.

He was so caught up in the action, that he didn’t notice a couple of infected had strayed away from the ground, slowly walking over to him. As they moved towards him, a couple more came from around the corner behind the store. It seemed the glass breaking had alerted more than they initially thought.

One of the infected that came around the corner reached out with honey rotting hands, grabbing hold of Jude’s shoulder. When he turned to see who touched him, thinking it was Jed, he flew back in shock. He didn’t expect to be met with a wide open mouth of rotted teeth, and ripped tendons.

His hand shot out holding one of the picks, landing it hard into the things eye. The pick didn’t seem like it was long enough, for the rotting corpse kept pushing onto him, causing his arm to give out from under him.

He landed hard into his back with a huff, using both hands on the pick to hold the infect above his body. It snapped its broken jaw at him, using sharp boned fingers to try to grab at any flesh it could reach.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

Subject: Re: The Backfire Tue Mar 07, 2023 8:44 pm

Jed watched Jude as he ran over and cursed under his breath when he saw the door was locked. He picked up another lump of concrete ready to throw it again before seeing more infected. Shit! He started quietly making his way over to Jude when one of the infected got the drop on Jude. Double shit!

He chuckled the concrete in the same direction to keep the rest distracted before taking out his knife and ran over to Jude. By the time he got there Jude was pinned on the ground. He grabbed the infected by the hair before pulling its head back and sunk his knife into its head, killing it instantly.

He pulled his knife out and kept his eyes on their surroundings, looking for other infected as he pulled the now dead dead infected off Jude. "Get that lock open now!" He whispered and took up post behind Jude.

Admin Posts : 196 Join date : 2022-01-12 Age : 25

Jude was lucky he couldn’t speak. Or else he would be screaming at the top of his lungs, which would be good for no one. He pushed back against the infected the best he could, wondering where He’d was. Was he even still watching his back?

Speak of the devil, the infected on top of him suddenly lifted. The picked slid out of its eye, for a knife to take its place in the side of the infected head. He was panting his heart beating a million miles an hour.

When he got the command he scrambled back to his feet, wiping the puck off on his pants. He pushed them back into place, moving his fingers quickly. The picks made their way through the lock, pushing the pins into their selected spots.

A full click echoed in Jude’s ears, and he quickly removed the picks. He grabbed hold of the handle, and pulled hard. It scraped open, having been pushed out of place. It opened enough for them to just slip inside, but the scraping sound wasn’t without consequence.

The distracted infected heard the new noise, and groaned loudly turning their heads to look at the two men. Jude jumped ushering Jed inside the store, while he quickly picked up his lock pick kit.

He managed to slip himself inside, and slam the door, before the multiple bodies slammed against the door. He fell back against the floor, laying flat with his arm spread out. He was panting, eyes wide.

He lived! He was alive! And it was all thanks to Jed.

He threw gloves hands over his eyes, trying to hide the stressed tears that made their way into his eyes.

Subject: Re: The Backfire Tue Mar 07, 2023 9:05 pm

Jed watched the infected before hearing the click of the lock. "Good job kid-" He said before cringing at the scraping noise. "Fuck!" He said before shimming his way through the gap in the door and helped push the door back and whatever was holding it in place back before.

He sunk to the ground his back against the door. "Wooo. That was close. Good job back there." He said, parting Jude's back. He could tell the kid was freaking out but he wasn't going to comment on it. He got to his feet and looked around the store quickly for signs of infected before looking around for any supplies he needed.

He managed to find some rope, nails, a hammer and some other things he thought he'd need. He packed them all into his back pack before walking over to Jude. He held out his hand to hoist him up to his feet. "Come on, there should be an employee access to the back of the stores around the desk area. We can get out that way." He said.

Admin Posts : 196 Join date : 2022-01-12 Age : 25

Jude was trying to get his breath under control. It had been such a long time since he had such a close call. He had forgotten how scary those things were up close, and he was absolutely terrified.

He removed his arm, to see that Jed was hovering over him. The tears at cleared up, and his heart was no longer pounding. His hands were shaking with left over adrenaline, but that would subside in no time.

Jude grabbed hold of the offered hand, pulling himself off the floor. He dusted himself off, before placing the black box that was on the floor back into his back. He had a feeling he would need those again, so it wouldn’t be good to loose them.

He followed behind Jed to the back of the store, glancing back behind him. He could still hear the infected outside pounding on the door. They’re groans sounding like demands to be let inside.

He ground his teeth together slightly, following him through the back rooms of the mall. They were like large hallways that connected to every store in the place. There were tons of knocked over boxes and clothing wracks, but it looked relatively untouched back here.

He figured that not a lot of people didn’t know about this place. How come Jed knew? Did he used to work at a mall? Maybe as a teenager. It was an interesting.

But he continued to follow behind Jed anyway, looking like almost a lost dog that someone had finally fed, and he wanted more.

Subject: Re: The Backfire Tue Mar 07, 2023 10:19 pm

Jedediah smiled at him before turning to find the way out. "Aha, there we could." He said, opening the door and peered out. No signed of infected in here. Great! He thought before looking for signs to tell them where the first escape was. He made his way through the corridors, spotting the untouched boxes. I'll have to come back here later to gather the supplies. He thought.

He spotted the way out sign and made his way over. He found a door to the outside and pushed, it creaking slightly as he pushed it open. He looked around and they were in a loading bay. He held the door open for Jude to go through and closed it behind him. He pulled a red marker out of his pocket and left a red snowflake on it, to remind him to come back there later.

He led the way back to his 'apartment' and climbed back up the rope first. He finally back it up and started taking out the things he'd acquired on the way out as he waited for Jude to come up. He put the food items he found in the shelves of the kitchen that weren't destroyed and put everything else he grabbed on the counter top.

Admin Posts : 196 Join date : 2022-01-12 Age : 25

Jude followed Jed as he wandered through the back halls, making their way through the mall. He kept his eyes peeled for anyone who could be back here, but by the looks of it, no one had been back here since the start of the pandemic.

They finally made it outside and he couldn’t have felt more relief. They quickly made it back to their makeshift home, and he watched as Jed climbed up the rope.

He paused before he grabbed the rope, his hand pausing. He stared up at it, chewing on his lower lip before he turned and looked back in the direction of the mall.

Something was screaming at him to go back, like he left something behind. When he reached for the rope again the thoughts screamed at him louder, and it felt like someone was pulling on his jacket to move him away.

He rolled his eyes and quickly fished out a small note pad and pen. He quickly wrote down on the paper, gently tying the rope around it as to not rip it.

Oh dear, Jed was going to be pissed. But he could deal with that later.

He replaced everything that he pulled out, turning on his heel. He pulled on the straps of his backpack, trying to mentally prepare himself. He didn’t really want to go back, but he knew that the feeling wasn’t going to go away unless he went to see what he was missing.

He quickly took off towards the mall once again, disappearing behind the buildings that lined the streets.

Sorry. I’ll be back before night. I need to go back, I think I forgot something there. You don’t have to come for me, I WILL come back.

Subject: Re: The Backfire Wed Mar 08, 2023 1:39 am

Jed finished putting everything away before frowning when he didn't hear Jude come up. He walked over to the edge and peered over to see nothing there. "What the fuck?" He said before seeing something on the rope. He quickly pulled it up and sat down on the edge to read it. He sighed, putting his head in his hand as he scratched his head. He looked back at the mall and shook his head.

"Whatever your doing Jude, I'll back you up man..." He muttered before getting up, grabbing his back pack and went back to the edge. He wrapped the rope around his waist and stepped off, Horizon Zero Dawn style. He reached the ground and jumped down. "Wow that was fun and fucking terrifying..." He said to himself before trudging back towards the mall.

Admin Posts : 196 Join date : 2022-01-12 Age : 25

There was a thought that didn’t cross his mind. He didn’t have a rope, nor a grappling hook. Ah well, this was going to be a pickle wasn’t it?

The front doors were smashed in, but the entrench walk way was covered in rocks, and stacked up metal frames. Looked like someone had tried to barricade the doors, but apparently that didn’t work out so well.

Jude walked around the front of the building, trying to find some sort of window or something he could climb in through. But what windows there were, were way too small for him to fit into with his bag on.

He chewed on his lip contemplating for a couple seconds. Why was he even here!? They found what they needed to find, some supplies as well as some food. There was no reason to be back here. But yet there was this nagging feeling at the back of his mind, like someone whispering in his ear that he had to return.

Fuck it. He removed his bag, setting it on the ground. He dug through it, grabbing everything he would possibly need from it. Both his pistols were strapped to his thighs, the knife still tucked in the waist band of his pants.

He would have to leave behind his bow, or would just get stuck in the window frame when he climbed through. So he set it down behind the bag, before zipping it up. He pushed the two items behind a bush, hoping that would be enough to conceal them for when he came back out.

Jude jumped as far as he could, his fingers latching onto the ledge of the broken window. He ignored the pressure of the glass digging into his hands, once again glad for the gloves he was wearing. He hefted himself up, slipping in through the narrow opening.

Once inside, he made sure to land on the pads of his feet, shifting over slightly to accommodate the pressure of the fall. He stood up dusting himself off, and took off running into the mall.

There was something here he was missing, he could feel it.

Subject: Re: The Backfire Wed Mar 08, 2023 3:02 am

Jed could see the mall in the distance and also Jude shimming his way through a window. "That fucking idiot, what about the door we just used dumby?" He asked to no one and rubbing his head. "This kid is gonna get himself killed..." He muttered before picking up into a jog and went around the back. He found his snowflake door before moving inside.

He wasn't how to find Jude as he was a pretty silent person but he had to try. He made his way through the back alleys, finding a shop front on the first floor that was open.

He quietly made his way into the hallway, bat at the ready as he stalked through the halls. He came across an infected in front of him. Moving swiftly and quietly, he got behind it and swung, piercing it's skull and it whumped to the floor. "Where are you Jude?" He wondered, looking around.

Also what the fuck was he doing risking his ass for this kid? He thought, stopping in his tracks. He didn't do this for anyone. He was really sticking his neck out for him and the kid didn't even ask him to tag along. He groaned inwardly and looked around. He had to admit it was nice having someone around and the kid had a charm to him. He sighed and moved further into the mall.

Admin Posts : 196 Join date : 2022-01-12 Age : 25

Jude was wondering through the silent mall, slipping in and out of hiding spots as he did so. He made sure to quietly move around any infected that were around, not wanting to get into a fight.

The only other weapon beside a loud gun was the knife that Jed had given him, and that meant getting up close and personal with them. Which he didn’t want to do.

He kept wandering around, until he came across a shop and paused. The window was broken. It hadn’t been broken when they were here a couple hours ago. Was someone else here?

But of course, curiosity got the better of him and he slowly walked towards the window. He peeled inside, but he didn’t see anyone inside. Was he just imagining things? Maybe it was something he missed before.

But that’s when he noticed it. Sitting in the middle of the store was a red backpack, with papers scattered around it. Now this really peaked his interested. So he slowly crept inside, making it way over to the back kneeling down.

The pack was full with many different supplies. Water bottles, pain pills, small pocket knives, even single packs of granola bars. Woah! Score! He turned his head to the side to look at the papers that littered the floor.

Most of them were just random notes, looking almost like journey entries,they had days and dates scribbled at the top of them in messy handwriting. But really got his attention was one of the papers at the top of the pile.

It was some sort of map. There were drawings of buildings, even the mall was sketched into the corner of paper, with a blue x crossed over it. The blue line trailed from that x, and followed a long path through the other side of the city. The trail ended near the outskirts, a red x covering a large building there.

Some sort of hide out? Who would leave their map here that leads to their base?

Jude froze when he heard a creak behind him, slowly turning his head. There stood a large man, in his mid to late fourties’. A busy grey-brown beard covered his face, but it wasn’t able to hide the terrifying scowl that was on his face.

“Can I help you?” He sneered.

But before Jude could even try to move away, a fist connected to the right side of his face. He went sprawling onto his back, but mid movement he shoved the map into his jacket pocket.

He was trying to stop his head from spinning, when he was grabbing from the front of his jacket. He could feel blood flowing from his nose, sliding down over his lip, and soaking into his mask. He was pulled up to become face to face with the man.

“What are you doing here punk!?” He demanded.

Jude opened his mouth, but of course he couldn’t answer him. He shook his head, raising his hands trying to show that he meant no harm.

The man just growled. “Playing the quiet game huh?”

He reared back, landing another blow to the side of Jude’s face, knocking his head back hard, leaving his dazed.

“I’ll ask you again, what are you doing here!?”

Subject: Re: The Backfire Wed Mar 08, 2023 4:01 am

Jedediah was starting to lose faith he'd be able to find him before he heard talking down the hall. He frowned before hearing an impact that should like a punch and no grunt from the person getting punched. "Shit Jude!" He whispered before running towards the store. He skidded to a stop to see the scene before him. He pulled out his pistol walking slowly up to Jude and the man. "Drop him!" He ordered, his pistol trained on the man. "He can't speak so drop him." He said. "It's not worth the fight."

He looked over to Jude quickly to see if he was ok before looking at the man again, adjusting his grip on the gun

Admin Posts : 196 Join date : 2022-01-12 Age : 25

The man growled down at Jude, who had his head fallen back trying to get his bearings. His head was rattled, and he felt like he got smacked with a bat. But he still didn’t answer the question. He couldn’t.

The man sneered, pulling the boy in closer throwing him up so he was looking at him now.

“You’re really starting to get on my nerves you little punk!” He screamed into Jude’s face who flinched back. The side of his face starting to swell.

The man reared back another punch, pausing when he heard another voice come from around the entrance of the store. He turned his face looking at the man who was now pointing a gun at him.

“Who is this, your boyfriend?” He teased Jude maliciously.

He snapped his head to look at the younger kid and released his grip. Jude dropped to the floor with a gasp, turning onto his side.

“What a joke, can’t speak? Give me a fucking break,” he spat turning to look at Jed glaring back at him. “Maybe you should train your little boy toy to not go snooping into things that aren’t his. He’s gonna get himself killed. Little fucker.”

He emphasized his words with a swift kick to Jude’s ribs, causing him to slid slightly across the floor, towards Jed, with a pained noise. He curled into himself when he came to a stop, wrapping his arms around himself.

“Take him back. But if I see either of you kids coming around my shit again you’re dead meat,” he used his fingers as a make shift gun pointing it at Jed, almost like it was a joke.

“Now get! Before I ring the dinner bell for those freaks!”

Subject: Re: The Backfire Wed Mar 08, 2023 1:41 pm

Jedediah sighed as he watched the man. "Yes he can't fucking speak. It's not that rare for some people to be mute." He said, keeping the gun trained on him as Jude slid over to him. "Jude what the hell are you doing?" He asked as he bent down to help him up.

He holstered his gun and put Jude's arm over his shoulder and grabbed his waist with his other hand and started walking back. He shook his head as he looked at him. "What the hell were you doing?" He asked, knowing he won't get an answer for you. "Just write it to me when we get back alright?" He sighed as they made their way slowly through the mall and the back rooms before getting outside. "Shit, it looks like rain." He muttered, looking up at the sky.

Admin Posts : 196 Join date : 2022-01-12 Age : 25

Jude stared up at Jed when he slid over to him, his eyes filled with pained tears. He removed his hand that was wrapped around his stomach, lifting it slowly to give him a thumbs off as a way to say he was fine.

But why the hell was Jed here!? He asked him not to come. But he should have known that he was going to show up. Did he really expect Jed to just sit at “home” and wait for him to come back.

Well honestly, yes he did. Jed didn’t owe him anything. They barely know each other, they didn’t owe each other loyalty, nor did they owe them to protect each others lives. So why the hell was he here, possibly risking his own life for a complete stranger? Idiot.

He grunted when he was lifted off the floor, his body felt like he got hit by a train, which wouldn’t be an overreaction. That man was huge, at the very least way bigger than him. And he obviously knew what he was doing. Those punches had conviction, not something that had never been done before.

He winced every few steps, his tips throbbing something fierce. He hoped they were fractured, and really hope they were broken.

Suddenly he remembered something. He ground his teeth in pain as he slipped his hand into his jacket pocket, wrapping his fingers around the piece of paper that was there.

He pulled it out, and used his other hand to help smooth it out. He put it in front of Jed’s face, showing him what he found. It could be a place they needed to find, that they could either stay at or find some more supplies.

He now had an excited gleam in his eyes, before he turned his head towards the sky. Rain. Shit. Rain was never good, if you were caught out in the open during a storm, it was easy to get over powered by the infected.

They tended to follow the sound of thunder, and if it happened to be around you, that’s where they would go.

He tried to push his legs to go fast, wanting to make it back to the “apartment” before it started pouring. But he paused, removing himself from Jed’s helping arms.

He limped slightly over to the bush that he had hidden his stuff behind. He grabbed his bow, throwing it over his shoulders. He grabbed hold of his bag, and lifted it up. His ribs screamed in protest, but he bite down on his lip to ground himself. He refused to let the pain get better than himself, and hauled the bag up and onto his back.

He was panting by the time he had gotten it on, but quickly rejoined Jed, giving him another thumbs up. He didn’t want him to worry about him more than he already was.

Subject: Re: The Backfire Wed Mar 08, 2023 2:35 pm

Jed grumbled to himself under his breath as he pulled Jude along before having a map shoved in his face. He grabbed it from him, looking at him. "Did you steal this from that guy?" He hissed, looking behind them to see if the guy was still there. He shoved it in his pocket and glared at Jude. "What the hell were you doing? That guy could of killed you, you idiot!" He whispered yelled, Jed's blue-silver eyes seeming to be moving, more of the silver flooding in. He sighed before pulling Jude along further.

Once they passed the bushes he almost tripped when Jude pushed himself out of his grip. "What the hell are you doing now?" He asked before rubbing his face when Jude returned with his bag. "Ok we really have to get back now." He said, grabbing Jude's arm again. "I don't want to get stuck in this rain." He muttered. Jed's touch somewhat cold when his skin contacted Jude's skin.

He grumbled more tom himself as he pulled Jude along. "You shouldn't of come out here again Jed. Gonna get yourself fucking killed!" He muttered to himself as they reached the rope.

"Ok fuck, how are we doing this?" He wondered, his hands on his hips as he looked up. "Right no running away this time." He said, glaring at the kid. "I'll climb up first and when I get to the top, tie the rope through your belt loops and I'll pull you up." He said before swiftly climbing the rope.