Be my hero, be my friend [Vlad, Jun]

[ignis]

The air was terse, and morn. The wind whined, whirling itself through the makeshift crosses, and the mounds that served as a burial ground, the sun hiding behind gray clouds. The girl felt a shiver run through her body, as her gloved hands clung to her elbows, defensively crossing her arms. Biting her lip, she ventured further. Most of the graves were marked, with something that belonged to the soldier, in case anyone from their family wanted to find them. That's why Leah was here : to find that grave. Her father's grave. She quickly noted it was divided into south and north, as if they didn't want their dead mixing : but those in the middle were those that crossed sides, or were front lined. She didn't know which to expect, but her boots were moving through the dirt and grass, carrying her closer, and closer. The huntress felt a pounding in her heart, as she took in a hissed breath. This is where the Virus started : this is where the Zombies began.

Her father had to be here. If not.. then whatever had happened at her home was wrong. And Leah didn't like that thought. Finally, she caught a flash of something. A freshly turned grave, she saw scattered to the side, her father's locket. It was shaped like a bat, almost like the clip in her hair. Bending over and scooping it up, the girl stared at the grave. Stabbing her father's knife into the ground, she stared at it. ''Father.. so it was true...'' she muttered, as the wind swept her red locked ponytail, moving it in a waving pattern. Of course it was dangerous to stand here : the huntress knew that better then anyone else. Her fist tightened together, the locket clenched in it, hanging, as she felt the emotions sweep over her. Rage. Sadness. Fear. All of these filled up the girl, as she took a shaking breath, and shut her violet eyes.

Biggest mistake. The zombie saw this chance, and moved closer, and closer. Her scent was on the air : they may be slightly blind, and brainless, but they had the instinct of a hunter. This zombie was also a former soldier : a deadly combo, as it stalked towards the sweet smelling girl. It smelt her blood, wanted to rip her apart. And she was being easy, just standing there.. the instinct cried out. Kill her, it yelled, kill her! And the zombie obeyed, stalking closer and closer. Almost unaware, it was a few steps from jumping onto her, the vulnerable girl..

[Jun Matsumoto]

With each breath Jun took, white phantoms formed before his face, wispy shapes that twisted and curled in the persistent wind, dissipating into nothingness only seconds after their birth, becoming a part of the thick grey fog that hung over the make-shift graveyard like a dour cloud of misfortune. Huddled in his coat, hood up, white fur lining his pale face and mousey hair, Jun bore great resemblance to a post-apocalyptic eskimo, his clothes ragged and ripped, his eyes lined with dark rings, a sign of the sleep deprivation he had suffered over the past week. He was tired, his muscles ached, and despite his experience of living in no man's land, of living as a scavenger, it was the longest he'd ever been away from home, the longest he'd been exposed to such weathering elements and conditions.

How he'd come to spend so long away from his mother's house in the safe zone was somewhat a mystery, even to him. He'd been caught up in a wave of circumstance, that, instead of carrying him toward home actually took him in the opposite direction. He was further into the unclaimed lands beyond the city than he had ever been, and he was completely and utterly lost. He'd had numerous companions along the way, one in particular still fresh in his mind, but they had all been lost or disappeared somewhere down the line. Now he was alone, defenceless but for his combat knife, and he had resorted to trusting in his luck to keep him alive; his senses dulled by lack of sleep.

He picked his way carefully over the burial mounds, stepping as lightly as he could in his condition among graves and tombstones, terrified that stepping on one could wake the occupant. The scene, what with the impenetrable grey fog, what with the eerie silence, could have been something out of a horror movie. Jun had watched plenty, and knew that stepping on graves was a bad idea, and he'd rather not be dragged into the ground to become food for a just roused zombie.

His stomach rumbled loudly, reminding him for the hundredth time he was hungry. Images of hot, freshly baked sweetrolls came to mind, and despite the fact they did not exist, he thought he could smell them, taste them. He closed his eyes briefly to better imagine them, their heat, their texture, their taste. Then he saw Tawny holding them, wearing nothing but an apron, a tray off hot sweet rolls offered to him with a smiling face. He had to get home, he had to find her again. There had to be something around here he could use; or find to tell him where he was, what direction to head in. All he wanted was a guide, something to put him on the right path...

Too lost in his thoughts, he lost his footing, and tripped himself on an empty grave, his foot latching the side. Normally he'd have been paying more attention, but being so hungry, so tired, he couldn't concentrate, and he fell pathetically onto his front, barely able to get his arms out to halt his fall. Crashing into the dirt, he skidded forward a little, let out a slight grunt and then proceeded to just lie there. He couldn't go any further. He couldn't take being so hungry, so lonely. He felt he ought to just lay down and die, close his eyes, sleep, and wake up to a new and zombiefied existence where he didn't feel sleepy; and could eat all the awesome tasting flesh he possibly could (not that it'd be as good as sweet rolls.)

Ready to give in, Jun let his eyes flicker closed, but just before he did so, through the fog, he saw a girl standing a few feet away from him, wind catching her hair, whipping it across her gently muscled physique. The light in the fog made her skin glow, look somewhat ethereal, and for a moment he thought it was an angelic vision of Tawny, coming to give him his last kiss before he went into a world where she could not follow. Smiling, whispering her name under his breath, he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he was not zombiefied. Rather, he was lying in the exact same position he had fallen in, spread eagled in the dirt, legs and arms akimbo, foot still a little in the grave. It was still windy, still cold, and the fog remained. Blinking, confused, he looked about himself. Was this a dream? Was it the afterlife?! It couldn't be...he was still hungry, and there was a lack of sweet rolls. If that's what heaven was, devoid of good food, then heaven sucked ass.

Finally, his eyes came to rest on a red haired girl who was crouched a few feet away from him. Instantly he recognized her as the girl he'd assumed was the angelic Tawny, but rather, looked nothing like her. She wasn't hideous, but she wasn't a patch on the love of his life, and lacked the assets and face necessary to even compete with her. About to let his head collapse back into the dirt, realizing he'd fallen into a short, deep sleep that could have lasted no more than a few minutes, he was about to start inwardly berating himself for his stupidity. But something stopped him.

A shuffling behind the girl made his eyes widen, and he knew the movement instantly. Zombie! As it came through the mist, heralding death and pestilence, he figured its target soon enough. It was headed straight for the crouched girl. Jun very quickly felt awake again. Pushing himself upward, managing to rise to his feet, he prepared himself for a fight or flight response. Taking a moment to analyse the situation, he pondered his best course of action. Help the girl or run. Both had merits. Running would allow the zombie to feast on the girl and forget him. However, he'd then have to live with the guilt of letting a pretty girl get eaten, as he'd selfishly used her as an escape tool.

Then again, in his tired state, he didn't feel as though he could fight the zombie, and he doubted he could run from it for long either. Torn between two poles, he gritted his teeth in mental anguish. What was he going to do?

Casting a thought back to Tawny, how she'd saved him, how he'd been so grateful to her, he made his decision. As the zombie approached, he threw himself forward, drawing his knife, the blade shining in the half-light. “Hey! HEY! You! Ginger! Look out!” Was all he managed as he barrelled toward the crouching woman on unsteady feet. He prayed he kept his balance, or the fight may be even shorter than he expected it to be.

[Vladimir Stanton]

A man was digging through the rubble that was scattered around the gravesite. He wasn’t visiting any dead friends, rather he was just searching for supplies. He wore dark colors, covered from head to toe in black. His hair was even darker, the color of a raven’s feathers. He glanced up from time to time, checking his surroundings. As he did this, he caught a glimpse of fiery hair. The red color made him turn his head reflexively, and he stopped to stare. It was a girl, or, it looked like a girl anyway. He gazed at her through narrowed eyes, analyzing her movements. Her mouth moved, lips whispering something quietly to herself, and then she closed her eyes. He watched the girl for a moment longer, but then went back to digging around, shifting through the earth in search of supplies. He could tell by looking at her that she wasn’t one of the walking dead. Her movements were human. She should be safe. She was probably just visiting the grave of one of the departed soldiers that had been buried here. He made sure to keep an eye on her though. True, she may not have been a zombie, but she could easily be one of the scavengers, and in his mind scavengers were more dangerous than zombies. They actually had working minds that could plan and analyze. When they attacked, it was harder to escape.

He dug through the dirt for a while, but he wasn’t really finding anything. This area seemed to have already been picked over. He sighed, muttering something under his breath, and then slowly pushed himself to his feet, straightening up. He started to walk, dragging his feet slightly from weariness, when he spotted something a little out of place. To his right, a good distance off, there was a man staggering through the graves, covered in blood splatters. At first he thought the man was just a human who had been injured, but as the body got closer he quickly realized he was mistaken. He stopped walking and froze, muscles tensing in reflex. One word echoed through his mind; zombie. He could tell by the jerky movements, by its lifeless and hollow looking eyes, but the saliva that dripped from its mouth like a rabid animal. He wasn’t scared. No, it was just one lone zombie. He could easily take care of it. It’s just where there was one zombie, there tended to be more close behind it. Yeah, he had definitely picked a good time to leave.

For some reason, he found himself looking back at the girl, who was still by the grave, dead from the world. He stared at her incredulously. Didn’t she see the coming danger? He waited, standing still so the zombie would not hear him, but the girl did not move. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts, in some other world. Vladimir rolled his eyes at this, wondering how some of these people had survived out here as long as they had. He should just leave. If the zombie found her, it would have food, and it would not pursue him. He started to walk away, but then stopped again, cursing silently to himself. He couldn’t leave her. His conscious was stopping him, his memories. He remembered how he had left his comrades long ago, heard their cries echo in his head over and over. The flashbacks stopped him right in his tracks. From time to time, some human would get lucky and he’d save them out of guilt. Not because he was some great citizen, but because it made him feel better. He acted out of selfish motives.

With a long sigh, Vladimir pulled out his sword. The steel of the blade grinded against the sheath, making a loud metallic scraping sound. He held his ground for a second, analyzing the best way to attack, and then charged forward, racing over the uneven ground at a surprising speed, knowing that he had to reach the zombie before the girl did. He was almost to the zombie, when a loud shout echoed through the gravesite. “Hey! HEY! You! Ginger! Look out!” Vladimir turned his head in surprise. He hadn’t seen anyone else here. His dark eyes rested on a young boy who was charging recklessly toward the zombie, tiny dagger in hand. That fucking moron! Why was he shouting like that? Fool! He was going to attract hordes of zombies if he made that much noise! Irritated, Vladimir quickened his speed, determined to get to the rotting corpse first. And, being in a lot better shape than the younger boy, he did, and with a swing of his sword, the zombie was decapitated, and the rotting head of the corpse went flying.

“You should really be more careful,” he told the girl as the zombie fell to the ground behind him. His voice, as usual, was apathetic sounding.

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[ignis]

The reality was harder to bear when it was staring at you in the face. The evidence of her suspicions was there in front of her, but Leah bit her lip. Everything she had known had collaspsed : she had trained to be a good solider, but now that she was free, she didn't want to be shackled again. Yet inside of her remained that small girl, that only wanted love from her parent : her father didn't want to provide it, but her mother did. Her mother truly loved her : now the woman was god knows where. This set Leah on an uncomfortable path to the outside world. She lived off the outside : the safe area was foreign to her. She had no one there, no reason to go there. This was her only goal for the last little while : there was nothing else that Leah had to do. She felt a sort of despair inside of her, as the wind was a little cold on her bare arms. Another sigh left her lips, as her eyes were still closed. The mourning howl reflected the despair that filled her soul, as she felt a shiver run across her body.

A voice yelled out, startling the girl to awareness. Her head jerked, but it was too late, as the sound of metal cutting air and flesh met her ears. By the time she fully turned, the zombie was decapitated, and a male was there. In sheer raven black, she was almost startled. Had she been saved..? There wasn't time to think, as this one spoke, almost cold. Violet eyes shot up to meet crimson, the sadness within her soul no completely gone, but a spark of defiance. Before she could speak though, the girl caught the poor stumbling male, that seemed quite tired, as she bit her lip. But there was no time to be all tangled up in emotions, and moments of anger. ''Are you alright?'' she finally spoke, her voice soft, and gentle to the male she had caught. Her gaze throwing itself back to the other one, she gave a light smile. ''I'm Leah. And I suggest we get out of here before the rest of them arrive. I thought it was clear, but I guess it wasn't.'' she was tranquil, and kind, but there was that sense of hurriedness in her voice all the same.

Pulling the weaker boy to his feet again, she began to guide him with her, locks of flame moving as she did so. ''I know of a place nearby. How else did I get here through the hordes? I left some of my weapons in there, I'm sure it'll help fend them off.'' she said, almost thoughtfully. This was a horribly situation, but she had to make the best of it. Hopefully, the black haired male wouldn't run off. Either way, all Leah could do is try and defend, help out or anything. Secretly, she wished that the black one would stay : he made such a.. hero. She liked it a lot. Maybe she'd follow him.. just to see.. if he would play the hero for her again. But that had to wait.

Help first, fantasy later.

[Jun Matsumoto]

Jun stumbled forward a little more, feet unsure on the soft dirt beneath him, but he still made his way toward the zombie at surprising speed, steeling himself for the eventual impact. He was too tired to try and dodge to the side, knowing he would fall pathetically, and he figured a head on collision would give him the best chance of killing his target. However, it also meant he had a greater chance of being bitten – not that he cared so much in his current condition. So long as he got the knife in their quick enough, he stood a chance of saving the girl without losing his life.

Tensing, he prepared himself to swing. But he never got the chance. Before he could strike, a tall black clothed man appeared from out of seeming nothingness. He reached the zombie far before Jun could, and swung what appeared to be a sword of some sort in a deadly arc, removing the head of the creature in one fell cut. Another sword user? Another super hero? What the hell?

It was then that Jun realized he was still moving, and, if he continued on his current path, would collide with the tall, pale samurai-man, and more importantly, his sword. Doing so would be a bad idea, as he risked impaling himself. That would end his life quicker than if a zombie got him, and he'd have no chance at an after life. Letting out a rather shrill squeak, he tried to halt himself, but instead skidded on the unsteady ground, and fell sideways, tumbling to the floor. Epic. Fail.

However, before he could hit, the girl he'd been about to save got her body in the way, and rather than meeting the ground, he hit her soft, fleshy upper half. Had he been more awake, and not quite as embarrassed, he may have noted that he'd hit her breasts. Looking up quickly, he noted her looking down at him, and he grinned a little sheepishly.

“Yeah, I'm good. Just...a little unsure on my footing there.” With her question answered, he flicked his eyes over to the man in the bondage gear, and looked him up and down quickly. He didn't look like someone to mess with. Rather, he was the meanest, most badass mother Jun had ever set his eyes on. Sweet. “Hey man...I totally had that y'know? Not cool.” He spoke how he imagined superheroes to speak. He didn't want to seem inferior in front of the katana wielder, and tried to sound more sure of himself than he actually was.

It wasn't long before Jun realized he was resting on the chest of the girl that caught him, and he blushed. Gulping a little, he missed most of what the other two spoke briefly of, and instead tried to think of Tawny, tried to control himself. He was grateful when the woman, Leah, he thought she'd said, pulled him to his feet. However, he kept a hold of her, and her him, and he let himself lax off a little. He was shattered, and he didn't mind being supported.

When they started walking, he wondered where the hell it was they were going. Looking over his shoulder, he glanced at the tench coat wearing man with wide eyes, noticing he wasn't initially following in their footsteps. “Erm...hey. Hey! Hey! You're comin' too right Batman?” While Jun liked to act hard, he was too tired to be a fighter right now. If more came, more of the undead, which they likely would, he wanted to make sure they had someone to protect them, and the dude with the sword seemed like their best bet.

[Vladimir Stanton]

Vladimir watched as the younger male stumbled into the girl, collapsing against her. He snorted at the pathetic display, turning away. The girl said something to him, but he wasn't really paying attention. He was too busy examining his sword, frowning at the blood that was splattered all over the steel blade. Tsk... What a shame. He would have to clean it again now. Dried blood was such a pain to get off. With a sigh, he slid the weapon back into its sheath.

“Hey man...I totally had that y'know? Not cool.”

Vladimir looked up as the boy spoke. He didn't sound like the most intelligent of beings. "Of course you did," the raven-haired man muttered, voice dripping with sarcasm. He didn't know why he was still standing here, why he was bothering to associate with these humans. They were nothing to worry about, as they didn't seem to be scavengers, but equally he didn't see what he would gain if he stayed with them. They both seemed utterly useless. He should get out of here before more of the walking corpses showed up. That would be the smart thing to do. Judging by how loud this boy was, the zombies wouldn't be far off. Vladimir was about to walk away, when the girl spoke again. This time he caught what she said.

''I know of a place nearby. How else did I get here through the hordes? I left some of my weapons in there, I'm sure it'll help fend them off."

As she finished speaking, she started to lead the younger male away with her, talking about some hideout. Vladimir was a man who preferred to go it alone, fly solo. Being in groups with other people was a nuisance. It did nothing but slow him down, put him in more danger. The people in big groups always died first. There had been a time long ago when Vladimir too had been in a survival group. That, however, had ended rather tragically, and ever since the incident he had ventured the lands by himself. It was easier that way, and it meant he didn't have to share his supplies with anyone. So, while he had no intention of creating a possy with either of these humans, he didn't completely dismiss the idea... Why? Because there could be useful supplies there.

“Erm...hey. Hey! Hey! You're comin' too right Batman?”

Yet again, the younger boy shouted something, his voice echoing through the deserted land. Was he a complete idiot? Didn't he know that if he kept shouting like that the zombies would hear him? Well, if they hadn't already. Vladimir raised his eyes, crimson gaze locking with the boy's. Batman? Pft. The kid should save his jokes for someone else, someone who actually had a sense of humor. Vladimir stood his ground for a few long moments, contemplating his options, but then began to follow after them, quickly catching up. "Keep your voice down," he growled shooting a glare at the boy. "They'll hear you." He hoped he wouldn't have to explain who 'they' were.

Perhaps he would follow these two to the girl's hideout and scout the area for supplies. If there was anything good, he'd take it. If not, he'd leave. The fiery-haired girl had looked at him as if he were some kind of hero, but he wasn't... He wasn't a good person. He was no better than a scavenger.

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