The road to hell [M]

Charlotte was thoroughly tempted to turn up her nose at her brother's concern - to mock him for his mistake because she was still afraid and angry and hurt, and she wanted to make him hurt too. But instead she buried her face in his shoulder and held on, glancing up when he introduced the redhead.

Glancing at the petite redhead, Charlotte decided that she liked the girl, although the shorter girl still stood with her flag held limply by her side and a fairly dumbstruck expression on her face. She had to have been smart to survive this long.

"Enchanté, petite rousse," she said, shifting her weight and trying not to sniffle as she gave the other girl a thin smile. Her anger still bubbled under her skin, and she wanted to smack her brother as much as she wanted to hold on to him, but that was for later, when little red couldn't see.

"I hope my crétin of a brother hasn't offended you yet,"

The redheaded girl blinked for a moment. Then she looked to Adrian. "....I like her." She said in a tone of awe.

Nikki shook off her shock a little and nodded. "Hi, sorry, caught me off guard there. I was worried your shouting would cause biters to come. Let's go load up your packs too with food before we go?" She smiled a little. This girl had fire! "I was the one in charge of the food, I don't think they've realized they just chased off the girl who knew the way to the kitchens."

She adjusted her bag. "He seemed to think my pole wasn't fast enough to clock him, but I think I proved that wrong considering Coach West is now a falsetto instead of a baritone." She smirked a little, then softened in concern. "I can wrap your ankle too, if you want, while we pack up some food? If we wrap it well, it should help some and give it support..."

Adrian was grateful his sister wasn't deciding to snub him for leaving her behind. He'd honestly found her more safe than going out and about into the depths of any possible zombie invasion. They couldn't climb the treehouse completely. But evidently they could still try to reach them up there and he sighed. So much for that safety. He noticed her shifting her weight and draped an arm around Lotte's waist, holding her against him protectively so that she wasn't leaning all of her weight on her own.

"I should resent that," he admonished Charlotte. "I don't offend people. She has an impressive attack though, I'll give her that." He directed this at the girl while saying it to his sister. He appreciated the offer to wrap Charlotte's ankle up. She'd no doubt twisted it from the way she was putting weight off.

"You're awesome Nikki, merci," he said with a grateful grin. "I'm glad you're able to join our little group here. We can gather supplies here and find a place to hole up for the rest of the evening before we can plan our journey out of this city. We need to avoid the more typically populated areas. I'm betting they're infected."

Charlotte really did try not to puff up with pride when the little redhead announced, albeit in an awed tone, that she liked Charlotte.  Not many people said that, especially not after listening to a rather violent burst of her temper.

"You do resent it, Adri," Charlotte corrected sleekly, eyebrows arched at her brother.  The patronizing tone of his chiding prodded at her already wounded pride, puffed up from Nikki's approval,  and she bristled.  

Only to deflate as soon as Adrian mentioned leaving.  She hadn't mentioned the horde of shambling infected that had followed her to the edge of the forest.  It hadn't occurred to her, not when the only thing on her mind was finding her brother and letting him know exactly what she thought of him leaving her behind.

"Can we not lie low tonight?" She murmured, still pressed close to Adrian's side.  "Leaving immediately might be.... Difficult."

"..." Nikki watched their exchange. Well, this could get interesting...but between the fiery woman and the fierce man, she was sure she'd be all right. Maybe she really could trust these two.

"..." Oh she knew that tone. "Come inside then - we'll pack up as much food and such as we can carry, and then we'll go to the roof - it's safe up there, and I'm the only one who knows the way up there." She grinned a little, soft. The redhead adjusted her headband. "I go up there all the time - there's a patio of cement we can rest on, and gravel to throw as well.

"I can also wrap your ankle, Charlotte, ma'am," she softened, offering out her pole. "Here, you can use this to lean on until we get you wrapped up, if you need it. Don't lose it though, it's definitely my best weapon." She had her Saber so she wasn't unarmed....

Aidan cast a concerned look towards his sister when she mentioned leaving being difficult? Had something else happened? He supposed he'd find out later when they were out of the broad open as they were. He shot Nikki a grin of his own, glad the girl had a good head on her shoulders for this.

"Excellent," he said as he took his bag off of Charlotte and shouldered it, the other empty one where he'd left it after hearing his sister's calling. When she offered the pole to Charlotte, he cast a raised eyebrow. "You do have some other protection, right?" He asked to make sure. He'd give her his second gun if he needed to so she had at least a weapon.

"Lead the way, Nikki," he finally said after making sure the other two were ready to head on.

Charlotte turned the flag in her hand, feeling the satisfying weight of the fabric at the end of the pole as she set it upright and attempted to use it as a cane. It wasn't exactly comfortable, with Adrian's arm around her waist nearly lifting her off her toes. The aching in her ankle subsided, so she stifled her complaints.

"I'll guard it with my life," she told the redhead with a smile, flexing her fingers around the rubber cap at the top of the pole.  She didn't really have much choice in the matter - everything they did these days was life and death.  And, she decided, she'd be damned if she left petite rousse without a weapon.

Nikki nodded, drawing her Sabre. She couldn't vault with it, but she was still armed at least. "All right. Let's get in there." And she'd lead them into the cafeteria again, into the cooler area in the back that held the pantry. She unlocked it smoothly, leading them inside.

There were dry foods and boxes of dried fruit stacked along the walls - partially depleted but still plenty for them. "The best things to take are the ones that need little to no preparation - dried fruits, nuts, so on." Nikki nodded to herself as she set down her pack. "You can even combine packages as you need to. Are there any food allergies I should know about?" She looked up at them, suddenly unsure. "I'm allergic to penicillin, so no meds for that with me, and I carry Epipens just in case, but....food allergies can be vicious."

Adrian was satisfied to see that Charlotte could manage a hobble with the pole and his support. He was a little surprised to see that Charlotte and Nikki were connecting. They seemed partial to each other with very little talk between the two. It was... interesting. At the very least Lotte had another female to talk to.

He was also glad to see Nikki had a second weapon, a sabre. He nodded at her and followed her back to the cafeteria, grabbing his empty bag along the way. As he was scanning the contents of the pantry, he opened boxes and combined a few together, stacking them as best he could inside the bag he contained.

"I'm allergic to lemons and mosquitos. Mildly in concerns to lemon, but mosquito bites are pretty bad to me. Not deadly, but I will fall ill from their bite. I haven't had that problem just yet since the zombies started thankfully. Lotte is allergic to shellfish and pollen." He looked over at his sister with a nod. He stood up, stretching out his arms as he made sure the bag was completely filled and then indicated to Nikki and Lotte to fill their bags if they needed. He sought out the low canteens he carried in his personal bag and tossed a third one to Nikki.

"Here. I carry two others in my bag for emergencies, but you can use this one to carry water." He offered to her as he slipped his bag on his back and lifted the food bag.

Keeping her weight centred over her good leg, Charlotte crouched down to inspect the boxes on the lower shelves.  Most were still intact, but some showed bite marks around the corners.

Mice, she thought, wrinkling her nose as she gingerly slid two of the undamaged boxes from their places and set about tearing them open.

Neither Adrian or Nikki had pressed on about what "difficult" had meant, and she was glad.  She didn't need their annoyance and fear weighing on her as well as her own pain and fear.  At least, not now.  

As she shifted around to begin placing packs of dried fruit and ramen noodles in neat stacks, ready to go into a bag at a moment's notice, she chewed her lip and ignored the almost-nausea feeling in her stomach and the ache from her ankle.  

Somehow, the zombie apocalypse had seemed more glamorous before it actually occurred.  You never thought about injuries or whether or not you could eat at night when you were playing at it.

Nikki sighed, shifting to pack as much as she could into her bag. Oh dear....there was so much to avoid....well, she'd just have to avoid it then. There was no getting around it. She was good at packing her things with her few outfits...at least all her clothing was thin....she caught the canteen. "Thank you." And she quickly filled it from the sink. "We still have some clean water, so if you need to fill anything, feel free. Charlotte, a drink of water will probably do you good," she recommended quietly, knowing the girl had had to run far on a hurt ankle.

"...when you are ready, we go to the roof. Charlotte, you'll need Adrian to lift you up and me to pull you into the vent - there are no stairs that are safe, we have to go through the vent systems. It's pretty short." She explained softly. "....there are fire doors down in this building. Please don't open them. You won't survive it if you do."

With that, she swung her backpack around. Settling it on easily, she looked towards the door. Still no one...thank all. "The others may come soon, when they realize I have the key - we need to get up to the roof as soon as possible."

A few weeks later...

Things hadn't exactly gotten any better since meeting Nikki and recruiting her into their small group. Adrian looked warily over at the three bags that were stacked against the wall of their makeshift camp. They had found an abandoned observation tower to hole up in for a day or two, refresh their supplies or take a much needed rest. Adrian, unsurprisingly, called first watch and it had given him the chance to survey their supplies.

Their medical supplies were doing moderately okay, with only the three of them coming away from zombie attacks with a few scrapes and bruises. They'd remained quite lucky, staying away from major cities and therefore less hoards of them. However... Their food supply was running scarce and Adrian knew it was enough to feed all three of them for perhaps another three days, six for two people. He'd been steadily eating less when he felt he could hide it. No need to make Lotte fret. The girls needed the food more than he, he told himself as he looked out the window, spotting a few zombies sluggishly stumbling around a good distance away.

His stomach grumbled it's displeasure, causing Adrian to wince before he shifted his sitting position, his hand fingering the metal of his gun before he sighed and reached for his water canister. At the very least, they'd managed to restock on water recently. That was enough to fill him up, he rationalized.

A small noise alerted Adrian that one of his two companions were waking up and he turned his head in their direction.

"Rise and shine," he said dryly, rustling in his own bag and holding up a fruit bar. "Breakfast?"

"...not hungry," Nikki rolled away a little, sitting up slowly. The noise had been her knocking on her pole for good luck, and now she was up....still very tired but up. She was tired and cranky, but she wasn't about to eat that granola bar. Rubbing her eyes, she stretched, her back loudly cracking in the morning quiet.

The flag girl had proven to carry four separate outfits, all the tight colorguard suits, and then one set of causal clothing; she was currently dressed in a colorguard uniform that looked very butterfly-like. She rumpled her hair back into its messy normality, adjusting her headband to hold it right, then looked to Adrian, grasping her pack tight and bring it over to rifle through it. Food was too light....they needed to get more....ah.....

"...you didn't wake me up for my watch last night. You should have." She frowned worriedly, sleepy eyes turning upset. "I was supposed to pull the long shift last night, Adrian. Don't wake Charlotte yet, let her sleep a little longer." She eyed Adrian, thoughtful and quiet. She kept getting this feeling....and she trusted her gut....

Charlotte was a heavy sleeper at the best of times. But the two things she couldn't sleep through were bright sunlight and speaking. Maybe it was a simple personality flaw, but she needed to know what was being said around her, especially if it might concern her.

"Mmn." she protested, crossing her arms and covering her head with them, hiding from the sun."Five more minutes, s'il vous plait."  

Unfortunately, she couldn't fight her own wakefulness, and the dull aching of her ankle quickly asserted itself, making the option of going back to sleep null and void. Twisting to sit up, she grimaced and rubbed sleep from her eyes, pointedly ignoring petit rousse's neat and tidy appearance. Especially since she knew that she herself looked not unlike a lion with a hangover.  If lions got hangovers.

"What's going on?" she murmured, passing her hands gingerly over her hair, testing the snarls and tangles with her fingers, and wincing when she pulled too hard.  "Do we need to go?"

Adrian allowed a brief snort of amusement pass his lips when he saw his sister's awakening. She never did maintain that grace of hers when sleep was of the essence. Green eyes returned to study their youngest companion of the group, wondering what was going on through her head. He'd be kicking himself if he believed her not being hungry, because there was no way she wasn't. The food provided to both girls was already small amount, not nearly enough to fuel any of them.

"One night isn't going to kill me, gosse," Adrian replied to her with a cheeky wink. "I'll claim my beauty sleep later and you can watch then." He pushed himself to stand, stretching his sore muscles from the stiff position before he walked over to his sister, bending over to ruffle her hair.

"Bonjour ma petite sœur," Adrian greeted. "We do not have to leave for a moment or so, but I feel we must as soon as you two are able. Here, I've already eaten before either of you woke up." He produced the fruit bar from earlier. It was true, he'd eaten a small bite of one of the fruit bars, so at the very least he hadn't lied. He wasn't trying to die of starvation, but he'd never stop protecting his sister with everything he had, he knew.

Nikki's short hair was already flat and looked just like it had the night before. Granted, it wasn't pretty, but it was managable. She stretched, eyeing the food again before turning away, polishing her pole.

She blinked over at Charlotte, eyeing her for a moment. Then a little smile lit her face. Her hair was so big and pretty, even tangled up. "Morning, Charlotte." She smiled, rifling through her bag to offer out a hairbrush. "Maybe this'll help?"

"You will sleep later and I will keep watch," Nikki repeated, reaffecting her rather quiet state as she stood, stretching; her joints cracked loudly and she sighed. "I keep track of the stores. We are in desperate need of a food run. I figure if we all eat two meals a day, we'll last four days; restrict ourselves to one, we have a week and a couple days." She turned to the other two, hands on hips as she thought.

She had to trust her gut. Adrian kept trying to take the long shift or not wake them up. Based on her tracking of the food too, he wasn't eating nearly enough for the rate they were moving. Stupid men, she groused to herself. "Also, what does 'gosse' mean?" She botched the pronunciation, but they'd get the point.

Charlotte watched the exchange between Nikki and Adrian with eyebrows raised. Had Adrian really just called the petite redhead a brat? And he said he didn't offend people.

While he was distracted, Charlotte reached out and plucked the dried fruit bar from her brother's hand, scowling at the barely-there bite mark on the corner.  Was that what Adrian called eating these days? They would have to discuss that later, away from petite rousse. She took several bites, grinding the gummy, somewhat grainy fruit between her teeth and savoring the sweetness.  

Living on protein bars and ramen was fine and good, but sweet treats were few and far between. Especially those that weren't too sweet.

"It means brat, ma cherie," Charlotte said, pursing her lips irritably at her brother. "I wouldn't take it personally. I assume he means it as a term of endearment."  she added, punctuating the statement with a brief glare at Adrian that suggested something unpleasant would happen if what she said wasn't the case.

Finishing the bar, she carefully folded the wrapper and placed it in her backpack to be disposed of later.  Only then did it occur to her that Nikki was holding out a hairbrush helpfully.  

"Merci, petite rousse," she smiled as she grasped the brush and gently extracted it from the redhead's hand, turning the bristles on her unkempt mane with a determined grimace.

Leave it to Nikki to have been counting the food, Adrian mused. He sighed and ruffled his already mussed up hair. Honestly? Adrian just felt drained. He never felt like he could drop his own wall around them both, especially his sister. He always wanted to protect her, always had. To lose that would be his own undoing, he supposed. Protecting Charlotte was all he had left, wasn't it?

He straightened up and shrugged off their conversation. "Oui, an endearment," he did agree. It wasn't as if he thought she was a brat in any nature. She was useful, smart. Nothing like a burden that a brat would be. "I am going to head out now that you both are awake. There was a store I'd like to check out but I think I'd do better at this one alone. Strong in numbers, but stealth is sometimes better in one. Come for me if I'm not back by dawn, capiche?"

That being said, the male reached for his bag and slung it onto his shoulders, checking his weapons before nodding at them both. "You'll know it is me if you hear me speak in french," he told them reassuringly before making his way down the tower.

"I see. Brat, huh?" Better than some names she'd been called, and he didn't mean it badly, so she didn't find she minded. "Okay. It's all right, he's not being mean." She gave Charlotte a brief smile, then looked up as Adrian packed up.

Nikki didn't have too much time to protest...she frowned a little, but assented. "Make sure you call for us if you need us. Town is small, if you scream I'm sure we'll hear," she added with a little glint of tease in her eyes, but more worry. She couldn't stop him, and they did need the food.... "Don't forget to eat lunch," she added firmly.

She rifled in her bag before rejoining Charlotte. "May I look at your ankle again? It should be almost healed...." she asked softly, a little shy. The older Frenchwoman made her slightly shy with her bright spirit and warmth, though she knew it was silly. "How are you feeling, by the way, Charlotte? It's been rough travel the past couple of days...."

Charlotte nodded gravely as Adrian turned and headed off.  She hoped he wouldn't be long. She'd only just found him again, after all.  She'd be quite put out if she had to go chasing after him again.

Nikki's quiet questions brought her out of her thoughts.  The petite redhead was quite endearing, the way she asked so politely for everything, even permission to examine Charlotte's ankle.  "Mais oui, petite rousse," she demurred, rolling to the side and extending her knee to give the smaller girl better access to the ankle.  Currently, she was wrapped from shin to sole in tape and the remains of a roll of gauze discovered in the bottom of Adrian's pack.

"I've been following Adrian around since I could first walk, cherie. Rough travel, even during an apocalypse, is the norm." she added, laughing at her own joke.  The laughter sounded slightly wan, but it was real.  Or real enough.

She chuckled softly, a flicker of warmness sparking through her. "I meant on your leg, though that's good to know. I'm sure you'll heal up well..." She unwrapped it quietly, careful as she examined the swelling and bruising. She'd wrap it back up afterwards, settling back on her heels.

"....I'd forgotten what it's like. To be in the open. To have quiet." She mused softly, looking up at the sky. She sighed after a moment, sitting back and leaning on her hands. "I hope he's safe. I don't like being separated anymore."

"....are you looking for something? Someone?" she asked after a bit, eyes sliding to study her quietly, thoughtful.