Bad news. [Open]

[Tawny Ambrose]

“Oh shush baby. You know love it. I've seen the glint in your eye when your boyfriend i.e. me, starts getting a little pervy around you!”

“Yeah, that glint in my eye? It’s called anger,” Tawny growled at him from her position over his shoulder. She slapped a fist against his back, trying to make him put her down, but he didn’t seem to be paying too much attention. She couldn’t believe that even in this dire of a situation he was still acting like some high school pervert. Luckily, Tawny didn’t have much time to think about this though, because a few seconds later footsteps were pounding down the hallway, echoing off the walls.

Everything was happening too fast. Suddenly Lahad had appeared again, dashing past them. He was alive?! Tawny tried to lift her head and watch where he was running, but she wasn’t at the right angle, and she found that she couldn’t escape Jun’s grasp. She supposed it didn’t matter where he was going though. The point was that he was still alive, something she hadn’t thought possible after the way Jun had just deserted him back there with all the zombies. It was strange, the contrast between the two men she was with. One of them was focused solely on saving them, risking his life like a true hero out of some zombie movie. The other was, well, he was focused a little too much on her boobs.

“Hurry up and go!” Tawny shouted at Jun, wondering what the heck was taking him so long. He needed to move! There might have been hordes of zombies after Lahad or something, and then, even after he’d just risked his life, they would be the ones to die. She was about to smack Jun on the back again, when she heard a loud ripping sound, a tearing of fabric. Tawny’s heart stopped as the noise filled her ears. Please god, please not what she thought it was... She prayed silently, to whoever was listening, prayed it wasn’t her precious food. Unfortunately, a few seconds later the cans began hitting the ground one by one, raining out all over the floor. NOOO! The thought ran through Tawny’s mind like the slow-motion shout you’d hear in the movies. She just stared, wide eyed, as all the cans fell to the floor, rolled away into the darkness. She felt like she could cry. She hadn’t had any food like that in days now. She’d been so excited... Later she would be angry, but right now all she could do was stare in defeat.

The next thing Tawny knew, she was being set on the floor. Jun said something to her, and followed up his words with a big wet...kiss. Normally, had a male done that to her, Tawny would have smacked them across the face, hard. However, Jun had taken her by complete surprise, so all she could do was sit there in shock. By the time what had happened registered in her mind, he was too far away to slap, charging down the hall stupidly after the food he had lost her. That…that freaking idiot! Who did he think he was?! He couldn’t just…just kiss her! She hardly even knew him! Ugh! The nerve of him. Tawny hastily wiped a sleeve over her lips, trying her best to stand back up. She swayed a little, but was able to stay on her feet. Her head was pounding now, but she knew that she had to keep going. Pain wasn’t an excuse to give up.

Tawny supposed that if anyone went back for the food, it should be Jun, as he was the idiot who had lost it. However, she somehow didn’t think that was too good of an idea. Did he even have a weapon on him? “That fool...” she muttered, leaning her head forward and holding it in her hands. This was too much for her. She didn’t mind some excitement every now and again, but right now she just wanted to curl up in a ball. And, hey wait, where had Lahad gone? Tawny looked around the darkness uneasily.

[/blockquote]

[Lahad Izz al-Din]

Lahad allowed the breeze from atop the building calm him as he sat on his knees at the entrance to the roof. It was salvation, he had his eyes closed to bring in the feeling that everything was going to be fine. That he and this little group of survivors had made their way to salvation for the time being. This wasn't the case when he opened his eyes and looked around the roof to see no-one, only a pair of large air-conditioning units that looked like silvery boxes with fans inside of them were visible to Lahad. Taking a short moment to recuperate his breath, he left his assault rifle, now empty, laying where he had knelt before standing slowly and walking around the silver boxes. He scanned the rooftop, the breeze carrying the sounds of groans and moans emitted from the undead when they were on the move. It gave Lahad chills, feeling alone once again, wondering what had happened to the pair that he had just moment ago nearly risked his life for. Taking a few short steps around the silver boxes, he saw a figure in dark tattered clothes slumped in a corner, hidden from view by the air conditioning units. Thinking it could have been one of them, since that Jun fellow was wearing dark clothes, he rushed up to the body, only to reveal that the body was long decaying and bore no resemblance to Jun from what Lahad had seen of the boy in the darkness of the building. Noticing that the corpse was grasping an empty handgun (Lahad knew it was empty because the slide was stuck back) and equipped with a nylon tweed belt, army issue, probably from either the north or the south, he couldn't distinguish their uniforms. Lahad crouched down over the body as he undid one of the pouches on the belt, and pulled out a single magazine. It was loaded, full of fairly large bullets, that seemed familiar. Of course they wouldn't work in his Assault rifle, but they still seemed familiar. He tapped the magazine on his thumb knuckle as he looked around, looking a ways down to the other corner of the roof, Lahad couldn't believe he had overlooked it, but there it was on the ground, blending in with the ground of the roof. A weapon he knew of by name, since it was of similar make to his Assault Rifle. The Dragunov SVD, Lahad cautiously approached the weapon, knowing full-well it could be a trap set by other scavengers, looking around for wires that connected to cracks where explosives could be hidden. Seeing none of the above, Lahad crouched down by the rifle and slowly picked it up. No traps, no strings attached, nothing, just an abandoned rifle. He pulled back the charging handle similarly to his Assault Rifle, looking into the ejection well, the magazine was empty. Letting go of the charging handle and letting it smack forward onto the receiver, Lahad went through the procedure or reloading the Sniper Rifle. He toggled a switch located behind the magazine and pushed the magazine forward with the other magazine he held in his 'free' hand. He stuffed the full magazine of ten bullets into the well with the opposite motion he used to get the empty one out, and pulled back the charging handle, seeing a bullet ready to be chambered through the ejection port. Lahad gave himself a smirk as he let the charging handle smack forward on the receiver, but the smirk wouldn't last.

From the direction of the roof-entrance, he heard the loud sound of... cans clanging down stairs. Voices could be heard, as it was fairly silent on the roof aside from the wind picking up the moans and groans of the undead on street level below. He knew they were still on the staircase then, and couldn't believe he had bypassed them without a single note or thought. Shaking his head, feeling off his game, he ran to the edge of the roof where the fire-escape was, and looked down to see Jun who had jumped off, and done a 'heroic' roll down to street level to get the food. A noble, and commendable deed in Lahad's eyes, to secure food, but at the risk of his own life? Foolish, so foolish. Lahad couldn't believe his eyes really when he watched what was transpiring. Lahad, carrying his new toy, made his way to the entrance of the fire-escape and ran down a few flights of stairs to where Tawny was seated, looking over the railing, and holding his new rifle pointed upward, unintentionally showing it off to Tawny and hopefully Jun. Lahad looked down at Tawny, who sat there looking around apparently dumbstruck, Lahad probably would have been like that too if he had known what Jun had done.

"How that idiot going to get back up here..." Lahad stated plainly, hoping to snap her out of whatever daze she was in. This was reality, their reality, and it wouldn't be long before Lahad would have to bring his rifle to bear and cover Jun's escape from the street level.

[Jun Matsumoto]

Jun looked about himself frantically, grey blue eyes darting left and right, looking for any of the monsters that had tried to pass the barrier that Lahad had hurriedly erected earlier, moments after he'd passed the others on the fire escape. Luckily, it seemed to be doing its job, and so the young scavenger could go about his work with relative ease, rushing between the cans that he could see, picking them up and stuffing them into his own shoulder bag. While it was much smaller than Tawny's backpack, it was much more robust, and he was used to carrying it around, so what would a little extra weight do right?

Scanning the ground constantly, he ran between the items quickly, looking somewhat like a scurrying insect, body hunched in a semi-crouch, hoping to stay quiet for as long as he could while remaining out of sight, not sacrificing too much speed in doing so. Each can he came across caused him to lower into a kneeling position, picking up the dropped food stuff, examining it for damages, checking the label to see if his efforts were all that worth it.

“She really does eat shit.” he muttered to himself, the last one he'd found some kind of vegetable soup, full of the green stuff that he hated, the stuff that would give even the toughest man stomach ache and cause possible death. Then, it was for Tawny right? His life was hers, and this venture would, he hoped, earn him browny points. He didn't see Big L doing stuff like this. It must mean something... Then again, Big L didn't love her like he did, because such a thing was impossible. If he tried to, there would be serious trouble.

The next can was a sweetcorn and brussell sprout concoction, and he felt like puking on just seeing the contents. What the hell? For a moment he considered dropping the can, kicking it as hard as he could, and then laugh at it as it broke against some other structure. He could just say it was broken from the fall, right? He didn't want the offending broth to contaminate his other food stuffs. That would be a terrible thing.

However, eventually, with a reluctant groan Jun dropped it in his bag. It was for the love of his life. He'd feel bad if he deprived her, of anything, even if eating it she was risking infertility, cancer and him not kissing her for a little while afterwards...well...actually maybe just the first two. However, conscious of his surroundings, not wanting to get lost in thought, he continued on his course, picking up everything he saw until he was back under the fire escape. It had taken him a matter of minutes, the boy having moved far faster than he'd previously shown, and he'd been far more...could it be...serious?

Looking up to the platform he'd been on before, he saw Tawny's legs, and his eyes instantly went to her face. Her brown eyes were wide, and she looked dazed. “You really are beautiful” he whispered, wondering if one day he'd actually get to say that to her without her trying to slap or shout at him. It was something he'd like, if he survived this virus ordeal. It was then he noticed Lahad appear beside her, looking huge and strong, armed with a new and bigger gun. The barrel was pointed to the sky, and a number of curse words ran through Jun's head. What a...

“Hey, Douche, how about you stop fricken posing and try and get me the hell back up there?!” he shouted up to the pair, glaring at Larry as he did so. What was with that guy? And why did he never have a gun?! Bastards and their super man guns. As he waited for Lahad to spring into action, he tried to analyse a route up, but for a moment, everything seemed a little difficult. Maybe if Lahad lowered something to him so he could pull himself up...

His thoughts were cut of with the screech of metal, followed quickly by a long moan, ending in a somewhat pissed grunt. It came from directly behind him. Spinning on the ball of his foot, drawing his knife in one practised motion, he swung blindly behind him, putting all his weight into the action. Mid-way in his spin, his blade met flesh and bone, and he stopped flat, eyes widening at the sight before him. His knife was embedded in the head of a zombie, one that had almost been upon him, although now it looked shocked as its body went limp.

Breathing rate intensifying, adrenaline pumping through him, Jun, laid a foot on the body and kicked it hard, breaking its frail neck and beheading it. Grinning proudly to himself, he figured he'd have a zombie killer story to tell later. The grin was wiped off his face moments later, as he saw a swarm rushing toward him, a good number of undead, following after their fallen comrade, no doubt having broken past Larry's barrier. “Oh shit...” Jun began, tightening his grip on his knife.

This wasn't good. He'd fought zombies before, killed a few of them, but never this many. All he had was a knife. He couldn't cut all their heads off. He wasn't a super samurai. Running seemed an unlikely option too. He was trapped, and whether he liked it or not, he had no idea of how to get back to the second floor, not now anyway. Larry wouldn't get to him in time. Taking a backward step toward where the fire escape entrance had once been, he unbackpacked himself and hurled it up to where Tawny was. No matter what happened now, she'd have her food. No matter if he died, she knew his love would be safe. He would be the hero, and if he was killed, she'd eat that shit soup knowing he'd saved it for her.

“Enjoy your soup baby! If I don't make it out alive, you eat that, and every meal, thinking of your Junny. I love you!” and with that, he charged at the monsters full force, thinking that in his moment of glory, he had to go down fighting. If he cried and wussed out now, he'd never forgive himself. He needed man points in Tawny's eyes, and this would get him them. He let out a battle scream as he ran, singing a song in his head, a fighting theme from an alien movie he'd seen years before, remembering the scene as a single human jet plane attacked the mothership. That was him. He was that jet, and he had to risk his life to save his girl's.

[Tawny Ambrose]

“How that idiot going to get back up here...”

Tawny jumped a little at the sudden voice, but then she realized who it was and relief washed over her. Frightened eyes turned up to a familiar face, and she slowly relaxed as she heard the sound of his familiar accent. Oh thank god. She wasn’t alone. “I really have no idea,” she told him with a sigh. “He acts without thinking. Do you have any ideas? I mean –”

And then, Tawny’s sentence was cut off by a loud and ridiculously worded shout from Jun.

“Enjoy your soup baby! If I don't make it out alive, you eat that, and every meal, thinking of your Junny. I love you!”

Tawny lifted her head as her tattered backpack came flying over the edge, cans of food flying everywhere as it did so. The bag landed a little ways behind her, striking the flood with a loud clattering sound. A small gasp left the blonde’s lips and she turned her head to stare at the torn up bag. He’d actually managed to get it? As stupid and idiotic as it had been for him to dive down there, Tawny was more than relieved to see her precious food cans in front of her again. If her head hadn’t been hurting so much, she probably would ripped one open somehow and started eating it right then and there.

Tawny pulled her eyes away from the food, remembering that there was a human life at stake, Jun’s. While he hadn’t been much help so far, she didn’t think that he deserved to die or anything. Yeah, he’d dropped her food, but at least he had went back and gotten it for her. He got at least a few points for that. And wait. What had he been talking about anyway? What was all that I love you crap? The blonde turned her eyes downward, just barely missing Jun's epic slaying of the zombie. What was he doing? Why wasn't he coming back? It was then that she noticed a few shadowy figures in the distance, obviously zombies, staggering forward from the dark hallway.

The blonde was about to call for Jun, tell him to get his ass back up here, but before she could get any words out, she saw the boy charging in the opposite direction. What the hell was he doing?! She realized that getting back up here would be difficult, but running toward the zombies was definitely not the way forward! That was suicide. What was he thinking?! Tawny just stared at Jun for a long moment, unsure if she was seeing right. Did he honestly think that he could fight off all those zombies on his own? With one puny dagger? Oh god. He was in trouble. She wasn’t really sure why she cared at all, but she did. Maybe it was because she pitied him. Sure, he was pretty stupid, but maybe there was a reason behind that. Maybe he’d been dropped on his head as a child. You never knew. And besides, even if he wasn’t the brightest of people, at least he was nice. She didn’t understand why, but he seemed to like her. She didn’t think he genuinely cared for her or anything, but he was different from most people she usually met on the street. He wasn’t trying to kill her.

Tawny turned her brown eyes up toward Lahad, an anxious look reflected in her irises. “We have to help him,” she stated quietly. “I know he’s stupid, but...” She trailed off, biting her lip. Tawny didn’t think there was anything she herself could do, but Lahad seemed to be better equipped than her. After all, he’d managed by himself before. Usually Tawny was okay, but she had no idea where her gun had gone. Crap. She must have dropped it.
The teen’s eyes were clearly troubled now, as this current situation reminded her all too much of what had happened before, years ago. She’d been helpless back then too. She’d just watched people die, her friends, watched them be ripped to pieces. She remembered the blood chilling screams, the looks on their faces... and all the while she’d just been sitting behind that stupid care, hiding like a coward. She didn’t want to see that happen again. Never. Not to anyone. She’d seen enough people die already.

“Jun, you freaking idiot!” she shouted loudly, voice suddenly rising from her throat. “Get your ass back here!!! There’s too many!” Her voice rose a little at the end, close to a scream, and for once she actually seemed genuinely concerned for the rather dim boy’s welfare.

[/blockquote]

[Lahad Izz al-Din]

"Hey, Douche, how about you stop fricken posing and try and get me the hell back up there?!" The shout from Jun at ground level barely phased Lahad, since he had no idea what a 'douche' was and didn't really realize he was posing at all. He ignored Jun a little, thinking he was merely shouting to himself in the many strange words he used, besides, if he was talking about Lahad, he probably would have said Larry or something annoying to Lahad that started with an 'L'. Lahad had his eyes on Tawny, wondering just what it was that they were going to do, he took a few short glances at Jun down on ground level scurrying about trying to collect the cans he had made fall. This was silly, why was he risking his life like that? Food could be found later, right now, lives were at stake, besides, Lahad had gone through the trouble of bashing and probably ruining his Assault rifle on the bolts of the fire escape trying to make the rooftop a secure place they could rest and recuperate at for a short while. No, instead Jun had to play the hero, and play it he did. Lahad could do nothing more than shake his head and look back at Tawny, looking into her eyes that were looking at him, frightened at first, but relaxed as soon as she realized who she was looking at. "I really have no idea," she replied with a sigh, obviously just as exasperated with Jun as he was. "He acts without thinking. Do you have any ideas? I mean-" Lahad could only think about the first bit of her statement, which was so true Lahad nearly cracked a smile in such a dire situation. The fact that she cut her statement short caught Lahad's attention, Jun shouted up to Tawny "Enjoy your soup baby! If I don't make it out alive, you eat that, and every meal, thinking of your Junny. I love you!” Lahad's eyes looked down to see Jun, or 'Junny' which once again made Lahad have to stifle himself by pursing his lips so tight together you could have thought he had just sucked on a lemon. A shoulder bag was tossed up to their level, crashing a few steps above where Tawny was sitting, which Lahad's attention was diverted to, it seemed he had completed his mission, Lahad finally let his stoic face crack a little into a smile, turning and opening his mouth to start to say-- nothing now, he saw Jun start to run toward... a horde. Lahad didn't even notice them, he was too busy hanging off of Tawny's word, stupid, to be looking at her like Jun did. She was another survivor, just another survivor, but someone he would keep alive, just like Jun. Lahad couldn't believe his eyes, seeing Jun run toward the horde, the insanity of his move made Lahad doubt whether it was reasonable to save him. If he was going to do something like that, what would stop him from attracting a horde at any point he felt like? Confused, not thinking straight, Lahad froze up, one of the first times something like this had happened. Maybe it was the khat wearing off, of the fact he hadn't eaten much, but Lahad's vision blurred a little when he saw Jun running toward the horde. A voice pulled him back though, back to reality, back to the situation at hand.

Lahad turned his head, his eyes catching with Tawny's a genuine look of concern and anxiety garnishing her brown irises. “We have to help him,” she whispered quietly, just loud enough for Lahad to catch her words. His face softened, and he looked down, agreeing but not yet affirming what she was saying. “I know he’s stupid, but...” her words trailed off, but she didn't have to say anymore, Lahad knew what he needed to do, and he nodded, hopefully so that Tawny was able to see. The black headband hiding his furrowed eyebrows. Lahad crouched down, resting on one knee, bringing his new rifle's stock to his shoulder, and looking wearily at the rifle he now held. “Jun, you freaking idiot! Get your ass back here!!! There’s too many!” Lahad heard Tawny shout from behind him. It was good she at least cared for human life as much as he did. Lahad didn't quite know how to use it, it was different than what he was trained with, his Assault rifle, though similar cosmetically, it was much heavier, and the scope ontop confused him a little. Lahad looked through the eyehole, staring for a only a moment through it, the vertical chevrons in the middle, something with numbers on the bottom left side, and no line down the top, only on the bottom which went into the chevrons. He would have to figure out what it all meant later, right now, Jun was in trouble, and through the scope Lahad could see that Jun wouldn't last much longer without Lahad's support. Assuming since the topmost chevron was inbetween the two horizontal lines, that was where the bullet was supposed to go. Lahad aimed at a zombie, one that Jun hadn't noticed coming at him from the side, and took in a breath, holding it and slowly squeezing the trigger of the SVD. With a loud bang, and a sound that could only be described as a spring being compressed to hard followed by a clack of metal on metal the rifle in Lahad's arms kicked back, the heavy recoil punching into him. It had a hell of a lot more kick than his Assault Rifle, but did it deliver? Lahad's scope vision was pulled off of Jun and the zombie due to the upward recoil of the rifle. He got his bearings by opening his other eye, and found Jun through the scope again, the zombie he had aimed at was down, a fair sized hole through it's head showed the rifle indeed delivered, and then some. Lahad smirked as he lined up another zombie, and squeezed the trigger, the process repeated, but Lahad had more control over the rifle now, he was slowly getting used to this stranger in his arms. Lahad decided after two shots that he should give Jun some more words to motivate him to get back to where they were.

"Idiot boy, I have your back cover! Get back here, or do you want me to be alone with Tawny?"

Not that it was a bad thing to be alone with Tawny, they were alone together before they ran into Jun after all, but he knew the jibe would grind Jun's gears enough for him to realize he was leaving 'Larry' and 'his woman' alone together. Not that Lahad would try and put the moves on Tawny anyway, they had survival to worry about rather than desires of the flesh.

[Jun Matsumoto]

The sound of Jun's racing heart hammered in his ears, blocking out the moans of the undead. All he could focus on was the pounding of his conversed feet upon the ground, the beating of his heart, and the last look he'd stolen at Tawny; that brown-blonde hair, her chocolate eyes and flawless skin, the way her brow furrowed when she was angry or worried, and the way she insulted him if she was feeling defensive, as if words would protect her from anything. He thought of her laugh, which he'd barely ever heard, and the sparkle of excitement in her eyes when she'd seen eugh! brussell sprouts and vegetable soup. He pictured her perfect body, the contours of her chest under her shirt, the gentle slope of her butt under her skirt. She was his angel, and if anything would get him through this, it would be her, or at least the thought of seeing her again. And if he were to die, he'd die picturing her face, and would do so forever in any afterlife he made it into. He was bound to her, even if she wasn't to him, and his every action would be for her gain and benefit...otherwise he'd never get his honeymoon and all the benefits that went with it.

Somewhere behind him, he heard Tawny scream, a barked order, but one that didn't enter his conscious thought. His body was on auto-pilot, knife in hand, ready to meet his fate and bring death to those that wished to cause harm to his future wife. He would die for her if it meant she could eat, be happy, and be safe. And so it was that her words fell on deaf ears, and even had he heard her, her plea would have been in vain. He had no idea of how to get back up, not with the horde so close. However, knowing she'd wanted him to return, knowing she'd been looking at his ass (she did mention that right?) gave him a boost of self-confidence, and the hope that he would survive.

He met the first corpse head on, jumping a little to get leverage, and landed almost atop it, knife point aimed down, plunging the blade deep into the throat of his enemy. His momentum, added to the thickness of the knife and the somewhat shocking state of the dead man's body, meant he was decapitated in one fell swoop, and Jun was free to move onto the next with ease. An uppercut, a swift kick and a hard elbow dispatched of the next one. It was at times like this he was thankful for his times living on the mean streets of a lower class neighbourhood, as it had taught him how to fend for himself. He didn't know karate, he wasn't a superman, but he knew damn well that an elbow and a foot could be used effectively in a fight.

He didn't have long to congratulate himself though, as moments later one zombie came at him from his left hand side, and it was far closer than he'd expected it to be. He had no idea how he'd missed it, but he had, and it was almost upon him. He could only point the knife toward it, having no time to adjust himself to take on this new threat. However, it never reached him. A loud bang echoed through the still air, and the zombie dropped. Moments later, another, and Jun saw a meat sack a few feet ahead of him explode in gutsy and brainy membrane. Big L, no doubt with that gun he'd found. For once though, Jun was glad the larger man was intervening. It might keep him alive a little longer so that he could see his girl again.

For a few moments, Jun and Lahad seemed to kill zombies in tandem, Jun bashing and slashing at those near him, Lahad picking off others precisely. However, no matter how hard they tried, it seemed the swarm was endless. They couldn't lessen the number, only delay the inevitable. Perhaps Jun would fall here after all, and Tawny would forever have to carry his eternal memory...He'd die a hero! A martyr for love!

Big L ruined that dream with on shouted sentence. "Idiot boy, I have your back cover! Get back here, or do you want me to be alone with Tawny?" Jun hadn't thought of that. He couldn't leave her alone with that ape of a man! He'd already noticed him looking at her, yeah...looking, and he'd been stalking her when they had come across him scavenging! No matter how much Tawny loved her Jun, without him there to protect her Big L could be all over her. She'd obviously be hurt, and he'd wheedle his way in with her, pretending to be the shoulder to cry on, until he wrapped his arms around her and BOOM! Rape. Jun would not die for that! No! Tawny was his, and they had to be together, one way or another.

Cursing silently, Jun reluctantly turned and sprinted back the way he had come. “Stupid Larry...” he muttered, though he had time to do no more. He had to figure out how to get back up the fire escape, get back to the girl waiting for him, the one who had so desperately called for him to return. Looks like she got her wish.

Eyes scanning the wreckege about the place, he came quickly upon a possible route, his brain activity and decision time heightened due to the adrenaline high he was on. A pile of rocks led to a small out cropping of wall, and from there he could jump to the rungs of the fire escape still left. It would be hard, as it was no short distance to leap, but it was the only way. He didn't have time to shimmy or grapple hook. Hell...he didn't even have a grapple hook. It was at times like this he wished he was batman.

Heading towards the rubble, he was mounting it in seconds. Upon reaching the top, he stepped forward onto the outcrop, and using all his momentum, pushed off from the wall, hurtling through the air with both impressive height and pace. However, it was not enough, and his stomach connected hard with one of the bars surrounding the escape, and he began to fall. All that kept him up was him managing to grab one of the bars that made up the fencing to stop those on it from falling. Wincing, he tightened his grip, holding on for dear life. His legs dangled free, and he couldn't pull himself up, his arms hurting too much from the sudden strain they'd just taken. He was a hanging snack for the zombies that approached below.

[Tawny Ambrose]

Lahad had taken out a few of the zombies, but there were still plenty there, a whole horde of them, like a pack of brainless hyenas on a hunt. The sight made Tawny shiver a little. As she sat there, she felt like she was watching one of those horrible zombie movies. She’d always used to laugh at them, tell people that they were stupid, that nothing like that would ever happen, that it was impossible. As those images of the past flashed back through her mind now, she knew she had been wrong. She was in one of those horrible movies now, one of the main characters.

"Idiot boy, I have your back cover! Get back here, or do you want me to be alone with Tawny?"

That seemed to do the trick. Thank god for Lahad. As soon as the guy next to her called out to Jun, voice ringing out clearly, Tawny saw the furry-jacketed boy stop in his tracks, clearly horrified with the words. To her relief, he turned, and then began headed back toward them. Tawny didn’t relax yet though, as she could still see the zombies behind him, staggering after him, hoping to get a fresh meal. She could barely watch him run. It only made her cringe, wishing he’d hurry up and move faster. It was like watching a movie. You’d be silently willing the person running from the danger to hurry up, to go faster, and all the while you had that horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach, knew what was going to happen, that whatever was chasing them would catch up and ‘boom,’ there’d go your favorite character – gone. Not that Jun was her favorite character or anything. Well, not unless this was supposed to be a comedy, which she was sure it wasn’t.

Jun ran faster than the blonde thought possible, and she watched in amazement as he made a jump for the fire escape. She didn’t think he was going to make it at first, but then his hands managed to catch onto one of the rungs, and he hung there, struggling. Tawny just sat there for a moment, still a little dazed, what with everything that was happening and her throbbing head wound. She felt funny now, really light-headed, but she knew that this was not the time to pass out, and whenever her vision started to blur, she’d just look back at the pack of zombies and scare herself back into full consciousness.

“Keep going!” she shouted at him anxiously. Why was he just hanging there? Couldn’t he pull himself up? She remembered when they’d first met how he’d bragged about his arms having muscles like a ‘steel industry’ or something, which obviously wasn’t true if he couldn’t even pull himself up now. Well, Tawny guessed that he had been through a lot, and with all that running and energy exertion he was bound to be tired, but still.

“Help me,” she told Lahad urgently, gesturing to the dangling Jun, and then quickly crawled over to where he was hanging, slowly stretching out an arm for him. The fire escape creaked under her weight, and she flinched a little, praying it wouldn’t fall. It did look kind of old, so it probably wasn’t all that steady to begin with. “Jun,” she called firmly, keeping her arm outstretched to him. She hoped that Lahad would get the idea and come and help too, because Tawny kind of doubted she’d be able to pull Jun up all on her own. She was strong, but not that strong. She tried to reach her arm down farther, closer to him. Whatever happened, if he’d only just reach up and take her hand, she’d hold on no matter what.

[/blockquote]

[Lahad Izz al-Din]

It seemed as if Jun and Lahad had begun to work in tandem. Jun slicing a zombie to death, and Lahad picking one off. They worked together, Lahad gazing through his scope to make sure none of the undead got too close to Jun to bite, or grab hold of him. Six shots in, however, Lahad noticed the ranks of the undead had yet to thin, and that Jun would probably be done-for if he didn't get out of there soon. Through the Russian-made scope of the Dragunov Sniper Rifle, Lahad watched as Jun had finally gotten the message of his broken English gibe at him. Lahad saw Jun begin to turn one hundred and eighty degrees and come back to where he and Tawny were perched on the elevated landing of the fire escape. Though the Horde of Undead, Lahad duly noted, was shambling behind at a slow, but menacing pace. They flooded through the door like some kind of human-shaped ocean. It made the pit of Lahad's stomach feel a little sick, or maybe that was the Khat burning a hole in his stomach lining? Either way, it wasn't a good feeling, Jun needed to get out of there or he would be an appetizer for the hungry zombies that followed in pursuit. The jump for the fire escape that Jun made left Lahad in astonishment, as he had brought his eyes from one being closed and one gazing through the scope, to watching Jun as he ran toward them, feeling no need to waste the remaining few bullets in the magazine on picking off the undead. There was already a considerable gap between Jun and the undead, and when he made the mad dash up and over some rocks, and using an outcropping of wall to gain height, Lahad was finally convinced this young fellow was worth risking his neck for, that he was truly a survivor. Though, the jump was a little short, Tawny noticed it too, Jun had just fallen short, and it looked as if he was going to plummet back down to ground level but miraculously he saved himself, Jun grasped onto the lower rungs of the retractable ladder situated on the side of the fire escape.

"Keep going!" Lahad heard Tawny shout, obviously to Jun, Lahad dazed and awestruck as he kept his crouched position with his rifle at the ready, as if time had frozen for him, and his eyes were stuck on Jun. Was he going to be able to climb up under his own power? Would Lahad and possibly Tawny have to intervene? These questions were answered soon after he mentally asked them. Tawny called to Lahad, gesturing at Jun dangling there from the rung "Help me," before she crawled her way to the railing, extending an arm out to Jun who dangled there. A creaking from the fire escape made a shiver go down Lahad's spine, what if it were to collapse on them? They needed to grab Jun and get to the roof, not now, not right now, but five minutes ago! "Jun," Lahad heard Tawny say to Jun, trying to get his attention to her arm, rather than anything else he could be looking at. It was time for Lahad to join in, and assist as well, they needed to get out of this situation. Noting that that Sniper Rifle had no sling like his RPG once did, or his Assault Rifle, he took his hand off of the skeletonized combination of a stock and pistol grip and grasped the Sniper Rifle firmly by the foregrip. Lahad stood and held the rifle in a position so that the delicate scope would not get banged on anything should he forcefully have to pull Jun up and get knocked back somehow. Lahad made quick time and stood beside Tawny, leaning his tall body over the fire escape railing and extending his arm out to Jun as well, hopefully the both of them would be able to pull Jun up, since he knew that Jun would probably grab onto Lahad's hand first, it was closer, either way though, if he tried for Tawny's which was farther (being shorter than Lahad) Lahad would grab onto Jun's wrist and help Tawny pull him up. Casting a glance out to the slowly streaming horde, they had gained a considerable distance, closing the gap between Jun's legs and the door they were streaming out of.

"Yhun, we pull you up!"

Not making fun of him, Lahad called to Jun to make up his mind already, his accent mixing up a the 'J' for a 'Yh', a complete and total accident.