{Presumed Dead}

☢OOC Thread☢

Let Us Commence
[Pay attention, and read closely. Might be a lengthy first post, but it's important. Important stuff highlighed in yellow for lazy folks]​

​

December 11, 2016

Not much activity today. Kind of cold but unusually warm since the sun came out, clear skies. Haven't seen anyone not undead in a few weeks since they shut down the city-

A twig snapped, and Kytheria lifted her head from her worn notebook. She heard the gurgling growling somewhere below her, and breathed out silently through her nose. She had perched herself up in a tall pine tree to get a better view of her surrounding area. She learned quickly that she shouldn't be posted on the ground while writing in her notebook; something could sneak up on her.

A zombie stumbled out into the clearing, approaching a tiny cage with a dead rat, tied on a rope just under the young girl. Warm blood dripped from the corpse and onto the forest floor below. Even though their brains had deteriorated, they were smart creatures. They were driven by instinct, attracted by lights of any kind like moths, sensitive to loud noises and heat, and the smell of blood. They had incredible, animal like strength as well, ripping apart anything they deemed worthy to eat before devouring it whole. No, they were no longer humans. They were walking corpses that craved blood and flesh. The fresher it was, the faster they moved to it.

Kytheria hadn't seen any run just yet, but she was prepared for anything at this point. They more like hobbled and powered walked, but they were easy to get away from so long as you had good running legs.

She had been out on one of her camping trips when the outbreak got out of control. Hospitals were overrun, people were being eaten by those affected by the sickness left and right, and panic ensued. She had tried to go back to the city on September 15, 2016, only to run into military personal. They took her into an exam room, asked her a series of questions, analyzed her vital signs, and then asked her if she was seeking asylum. She told them she was trying to get things from her house, and that was when they told her that her home was in an area called the Red Zone, which was off limits to civilians. They gave her an option to remain under their protection or be out on her own.

Seeing many movies and writing many stories, she wanted to be in control of the situation and not rely on someone else to save her.

They released her, telling her to stay out until further notice, gave her a box of supplies, and sent her on her way.

That was three months ago. She tried to go back a few times, only to see the military personal still hanging around. Their numbers became fewer and fewer though, and things were not looking good. Beginning of November, there was no one in official uniform standing outside the gates. The entrance was boarded up with a spray painted message in red across it; NO HOPE. STAY AWAY.

And that's what Kytheria Z. Farrow did.

Once things were established things were not going to be the same ever again, the young twenty-one year old adult took matters into her own hands. She found an abandoned cabin, created her own living quarters, defense system, forged as much food as possible, and even had a little indoor garden in the attic. The last three months were not a waste of time for her at all. Supplies were getting low, but she had managed to stumble across a few abandon cars and places to get things. So far, she stayed away from places where she saw people living. You could never be too sure what anyone was capable of when times got rough with no law or order of any kind enforced.

She watched how the zombie moved so slowly across the forest floor to the cage of the dead rat. Strange, the cold seemed to do something to them after all. She picked up her pen, scribbling notes down. The zombie came right under her, reaching up to the rat in vain as it was just out of reach.

Female, skin wrinkly and decayed, white hair. Probably was old lady. Smells awful, just like the others. Wearing matted pink bathrobe and flower print nighty, ratted dress. Determined for blood. Moves slowly.More so than usual. Might do something with cold? Will warm up later, I'm sure.

Kytheria finished and put the notebook back in her oversized dark green, hunting jacket that swallowed body up to her wrists. Beggers couldn't be Chosers in the Apocalypse. It kept her warm, had lots of pockets, and she could still move around verily easy in it.

She reached for her crossbow, her most prized and useful possession. It was loaded, ready to be fired just in case something happened. A quiver of arrows of various sizes and shapes was strapped to her back while a machete was attached by a belt and in a sheathe around her waist. Her hair was done in a messy bun with leaves, pine needles, and twigs sticking out of it while her face was smudged with dirt and mud. Her jeans were ripped on her right knee, and her feet were clad in dark brown hiking boots. She was outfitted to travel for the day, even had some power bars stashed away in her huge jacket, and a canteen full of clean water on the other hip.

Kytheria raised the crossbow up, breathing out as she aimed at the zombie below. She kept both eyes open, focusing on the head. She pulled the trigger on the crossbow, and instantly the arrow released. The arrow lodged itself right in the left eye of creature, which staggered and fell to the ground.

The girl lowered her arrow, looking down at the zombie on the ground. Dead. Actually dead-dead, not like dead, still gurgling and walking. Head shots guaranteed a quick kill 90% of the time she found out.

Silver eyes glanced around, making sure nothing else was coming. All was quiet, save for a breeze blowing through the trees.

Satisfied, Kytheria carefully began to come down. She couldn't be logging information about zombies all day, she had things to do before the day ended. Feet touched the ground, and she walked over to the zombie, staring down at its face. The arrow stuck out of it, and it made no movement. She could never be too sure though. Loading another arrow in her crossbow with her foot, she locked the trigger and then swung it over her shoulder. Her free hand reached for the machete, still looking around to make sure that she was still alone.

She pulled out the blade, and without hesitation, sliced it over the neck of the creature in one clean swoop. The head rolled away and Kytheria couldn't help but grimace as she heard yellow-red liquid squirting out. "Ugh, ew, ew, ew." No matter how many times she did that, she still couldn't stomach it.

She shook out the blade, crouching to the earth and wiping it off with the dead leaves and brush the best she could. The machete was back in its sheathe, and Kytheria began to pat the old woman's pockets for anything of value. Her hand disappeared into the robe pocket, and her fingers wrapped around something. Raising an eyebrow, she pulled it out. Her mouth fell open and she chucked it away from her. "Dentures! No thank you. Gross." She groaned, wiping her hand off on her jacket and then reached back into the pocket. A small flashlight with a dim working bulb, and a pretty penny. Useless materials, but collectible.

Kytheria sighed out, standing up from the old woman while shoving the penny and flashlight in her pocket. "Sorry lady, I gotta take what I can." She came to the decapitated head, trying to not look directly at it as her hand wrapped around the arrow. She stepped on the head, feeling the bones be unusually soft and squish under her weight. Kytheria shuddered and yanked hard, freeing the arrow and putting it in her quiver.

Her eyes then looked around the place. The trees, save the green pine needles, looked so dead. The crisp air entered her nose, along with the smell of rotting flesh. She covered her nose and mouth with her sleeves, walking forward to get away from the smell. It was another day alone in hell, but she was here.

 

Wandering through the forest, Nasir had to admit he was lost. He'd gone away from the log cabin he'd bought some time ago (as a place to lay low when things heated up in the city), searching for a little adventure, possibly someone to find that he could make a lot of money from. Even with the sickness around, money talked...just not as much. And Nasir was very attached to it. As he was on the move, he caught whiff of a somewhat faint scent, but a recognisable one. It was the smell of alcohol, that much he was able to tell without a doubt. He'd been drunk enough times to know what burning alcohol smelled like, especially that one. Haven't found anyone so far, may as well check that out. Could use a good drink anyway he thought to himself.

Heading towards the smell, he quickly saw a house with a pantless man on top of it. An idiot, from the looks of things. A smirk appeared on the drug dealer's face as a thought crept into his mind. Idiots often overpaid, or were easy to convince if they wouldn't do it themselves. However, there was a small problem. There were three infected, one of them stretching up trying to reach the guy but the other two fascinated by the flaming alcohol on the ground, hell one of them had even managed to set itself on fire. F*ck, what a waste of good alcohol, he thought. He decided to draw them away, anyway. Taking off the backpack he had on, he reached into it and pulled out a pouch that was made out of a very flammable material. He'd planned this ahead of time the moment he'd seen how the infected behaved. They acted like typical zombies, and seemed just as easy to trick. He'd never actually tried what he was going to try before, but he was confident it'd work.

Setting the pouch on the ground for the moment, and putting his backpack on, he pulled one object out of his left pocket. It was his lighter, one of his favourite possessions in the world. Dropping the dagger he held in his right hand for the moment, he held up the pouch with one hand and the lighter in the other and proceeded to set the pouch on fire. As it was burning, he pocketed the lighter and then picked up the dagger once more. Immediately, he was overcome with the smell of the drugs burning within the pouch. Good god it was a nice smelling batch, it was a shame it had to go. Lucky zombies, getting all my good sh*t he thought bitterly. Now for the final touch. Setting the dagger on the ground, holding it vertically up with his feet, he ran his left thumb down the blade forming a deep cut on it, and held his thumb above the top of the pouch and squeezed his thumb gently. Sure enough, a small trickle of blood came from it, running over the bag and adding the smell of blood to the drugs.

Picking up the dagger once more (painfully, now that he was holding it in his left hand), he took a few steps forward and whistled. "Hey, infected freaks, want some of this?" he yelled out, causing two of the three zombies to turn and look in his direction. One of them was still focused on the pantless man, but that was okay. It wouldn't be for long. Pulling back his arm and taking a few steps forward, he hurled the pouch through the air and straight past the zombies, causing them to stagger after it. The interesting smell of the drugs, as well as the smell of his blood mixed in, had worked. "Ah, Mary, you never cease to amaze me" he said quietly before hurrying over to the man while the zombies were distracted. "If you're going to get down now, quit staring like a dumbass and get moving. By the way, can't interest you in the finest marijuana the city has to offer, can I?" he questioned, yelling over the sounds of flaming zombie cries.

@Aelin FireHeart​

 

​

​

Kytheria trudged through the forest, glancing around every so often to check her surroundings. It was unusually quiet, which meant a few things; danger was nearby or something was about to happen. She flexed her fingers on her crossbow, whistling lowly once as she made her way back to the cabin. She marked her way back with notches shaped in a star that crisscrossed over it on the trees, making sure that they always faced the east. She had a compass hanging off her neck, but sometimes other visual aid was helpful.

Kytheria stopped to strap her crossbow on her back with her quiver of arrows. She had checked her traps on the way back with some success and needed to document it. She had two cotton tail rabbits, a squirrel, and a possum hung around a belt of sorts around her waist. Kytheria had reset her traps, knowing that she needed to catch as much game as possible in order to survive through the winter. She was lucky to catch what she could; usually hibernation started about now. The young adult pulled out her worn notebook and began to scribble notes as she walked.

Two cotton tails, one squirrel, one possum in traps. Rest were empty. Not a lot of activity concerning the-

The young adult nearly tripped over a root and stumbled forward into a clearing. Journal and pen flew out of her hands and onto the ground in front of her. She caught herself, raising her arms up and readjusting her bow on her shoulder. "Son of a gun... I always forget about that one," she muttered.

Her silver eyes glanced up, only to stop. Fear stopped her breath for a moment as she stood there like a deer in the headlights. There before her was an older man; maybe in his thirties? Shaggy, tired looking., yet intimidating. He had a hatchet in a sheath, a rifle in hand, and a cold look in his eyes.

Kytheria felt her heart thudding heavily in her chest and the journal facedown on the ground was forgotten. It had been a while since she ran into another person. She had been rather cautious over all, knowing that these times make people into worse off monsters than the mindless, tortured souls.

She swallowed a lump down her throat, holding on to the strap that held her crossbow in place. "M-mor-..." Her voice was raspy and she had to clear her throat before she tried to speak. "Morning, stranger," she finally said. She felt herself taking a step back, being careful of that root that almost made her tumble in the first place. She must have looked a little crazy with small dead animals hanging off her belt along with a sheath that held a machete, leaves, pine needles, and twigs sticking out of her hair that was pulled in a high pony tail, mud smeared on her face, wearing a green hunting jacket that looked far too big for her, jeans ripped on one knee, and her tan hiking boots caked in mud.

 

​

The young woman swallowed a lump in her throat when she saw the barrel of a gun pointed right at her. Guns made her squeamish to begin with. They had the power to kill people, but so did her crossbow.

Kytheria saw her belongings being offered to her, and took them quickly. She assessed the situation quickly; the man had a rifle, the man was ready to shoot her, and he had his own game as well tied on his belt.

She instinctively kept her hands raised, even if the man wasn't aiming the deadly weapon at her. The tone of his voice and his domineer was rather ominous to her. She couldn't tell if he was bent on killing anyone in his path or if he kept moral code in this godforsaken world.

"I have one, back at my place," she said quietly, glancing at the rifle, then back at the man. "It doesn't work very well." She wasn't going to lie. She figured she was screwed either way if she did or didn't. She made a mental note to herself that if she lived through this, she wouldn't write while walking ever again. "I mostly walk to the wall, check on the patrols. There hasn't been any since the first week of November. Are you looking for someone?" she asked, holding onto her journal tightly with her hand.

 

In the three months that Nasir had spent outside of the city, Nasir had never seen anyone quite so strange as Dante. He looked at him with a very unamused face showing. "How have you not invented while high? It's practically the same as being drunk, but better. Your creativity gets freed, though I can see that's not that much of an issue here, useless as it seems to be anyway" he stated, nudging the ferris wheel a little with his foot. He picked it up and looked at it carefully, rotating it around a little. There had to be some point of something like that aside from entertaining rodents. A crappier storage device? Somebody's trash was another person's treasure, there would be someone who would buy it, he was sure of it. He held onto the ferris wheel with one hand and tossed his dagger up, letting it spin and catching it by the handle as it came back down.

"If you're coming up with s**t like this, I can only imagine what you've pulled out of your ass with whatever this current invention is. I have something to do in town, something real important, and I could use a meatshield to divert the attention of zombies. So, I'm going to help you finish this invention of yours, then you're going to help me get to the city. What crap have you come up with?" he questioned.


@Aelin FireHeart​

 

​

Kytheria nodded her head gradually to the question if she was from around here. She breathed out a sigh of relief when he slung his gun over his shoulder, lowering her hands and becoming more relaxed. Though she was still aware he could easily turn on her at any second, she could relax just a bit. She tucked her journal into her over-sized pockets, knowing full well she would have to be more on her toes from here on out.

The girl furrowed her brow with the logic of why military personal were no longer at the wall. She was about to open her mouth to say something when she heard a rustle in the bushes.

She turned as she heard the familiar gurgling, seeing a zombie close at hand. She raised her hand to the stranger to not use his gun, then reached for her crossbow. She turned the safety trigger off, and raised the hefty weapon to aim right at the head of the undead making its way towards them. It was a man with dark, decaying skin, raggedy jeans, and a red plaid shirt. Half of his face was gone and an eyeball dangled out of socket. Kytheria grimaced at the sight, still not used to the gory appearance of these creatures.

A breath escaped her lips as she aimed, steadying herself. She pulled the trigger, and the arrow zinged through the air. A splat, and the zombie convulsed as an arrow stuck out of the socket where his eye was dangling before. It toppled on the ground, and Kytheria merely reloaded her crossbow with her boot to make sure she was ready for another one.

"Noise attracts them," the young female said as she walked over to the zombie writhing on the ground, slowly dying. She placed her crossbow back in its holder on her back with the safety on and unsheathed her machete. "So does standing around in one place too long." There was a slice as blade ran through rotten flesh. Kytheria shuddered and turned her head away when the head rolled, being stopped by the arrow sticking out of its head. She pulled out a blood stained handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the blade off before putting the machete back in its holder.

She walked to the head, putting her boot on it and yanked the arrow out of the now dead undead. She casually as possible put it back in her quiver, then reached for her crossbow once more as she turned to the man. "I'm Kytheria. You can call me Kye if you want. Off we go... don't want to attract a horde now."

She kept her crossbow close, glancing around to get her bearings while pulling out a compass from around her neck. Turning to the right direction, she tucked the compass away and began to walk to her cabin. "Have you been to the wall recently?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at the man. She didn't want to be a bearer of bad news if she could help it.

The smell of smoke entered her nose. She flinched and wrinkled her nostils, covering her nose with her hands as the smell of rotting flesh and something with a foul musty smell entered her nose. "Ugh, do you smell that?" Her silver eyes looked around as she walked, not seeing smoke where she was at.

 

Nasir simply stared at the strange man for a while. It wasn't uncommon to meet idiots these days, what with all the panic and the frantic fleeing out of the city, but this guy was a new class altogether. Were his ideas and motivations so stupid they were genius, or was he just completely off the mark? It was hard to tell, and Nasir was a professional when it came to spotting complete idiots. He supposed he had killed a zombie for him, not that he had needed saving, and he'd been kind of friendly. If he'd bought anything from Nasir, then he would have given the guy a discount on his next purchase as thanks, but since he hadn't...no point in wasting time and effort on somebody who wasn't of use to him.

Turning his back to the man, Nasir held onto the rat-sized ferris wheel and took a few steps away. "Suit yourself, but don't come crying to me when you become zombie chow. God people are stupid" he called over his shoulder, lowering his voice ever so slightly for the latter part. Continuing to walk, he made sure to keep an eye out for any hungry zombies that might be out there; he was an ass, but not a dumb ass. He seemed to be in the clear for now, so he decided to take a quick rest. Dante's place was still a short walk away, but he could probably make a run for it and direct any pursuers over to him. He didn't have to outrun the undead, he just had to outrun the crazy inventor combating them.

He hadn't been resting for even ten minutes when he heard a sound that sent a shiver down his spine. Voices. He definitely heard voices. He couldn't make out much being said, except for five words. "Ugh, do you smell that" was all he heard. These people simply didin't appreciate the true beauty of his stock, of his creation, and they were turning up their noses at it. They seemed to be coming closer, at which point Nasir quietly muttered "oh for f*ck's sake" and stepped out from behind the tree he had been leaning against. He was going to give the woman a piece of his mind, dissing his drugs and thinking she was entitled to something better. He was going to let her have it, he was going to give her what for, he was going to-

He stopped mid thought as he laid eyes on her. She was certainly easy on the eyes, that made this slightly more difficult. Which head to think with? Now that was the million dollar question. With the way things went, he could certainly use a...distraction, of sorts. That could very well get him killed though, which would put a damper on his day. Right, big head won this one. You had to be smart and upfront if you were going to survive in the zombie apocalypse.

"And here I was thinking all the wonderful things died out in the city, yet one comes strolling right up to me. How'd you get here without drawing the zombies in with your radiant beauty?"

God damnit little head, defeating my brain once more. He hadn't had a good time since the apocalypse had begun, but he had thought he had more self control than that. Sometimes being a male really sucked.

@Aelin FireHeart
@Maka Albarn​

 

​

Kytheria hardly glanced at the man when he mentioned cleaning her arrow as well. True, there was probably bits of brain on it, and who wanted bits of brain jamming their beautiful weapon. She sighed, realizing she wasn't as focused as she should be right now. Though the man seemed to not pose as a threat for now, she knew better than to turn her back on someone she hardly knew.

She tucked the crossbow under her arm and reached for the stained handkerchief once more, while reaching behind her head to feel for the arrow she had just put away. "Gareth, eh?" She smirked as she grabbed her arrow and started to clean the tip off. She knew what each of them felt like and which one she was grabbing for. It was what she trained herself to do out here in these woods among other things. "You sure you don't go by..."

The young woman trailed off when she heard the sounds of twigs snapping, and an unfamiliar voice following soon afterwards. Instincts kicked in as she dropped the piece of cloth, shoving her arrow back in her quiver and bringing her crossbow up to aim right at a live human being. Her finger twitched on the trigger and her heart pounded in her chest. For some reason, humans were more terrifying than those monsters.

"And here I was thinking all the wonderful things died out in the city, yet one comes strolling right up to me. How'd you get here without drawing the zombies in with your radiant beauty?"

Kytheria made a face towards the stranger's comments, raising her eyebrows as well as her crossbow a little higher. Was this guy blind or something? He seemed to not notice there was a deadly weapon pointed at him, let alone there was dead animals hanging off her belt and mud smeared on her face with twigs and leaves sticking out of her hair in every direction.

"Sneaking up on someone is a good way to get shot."

The young woman straightened. Oh yeah, she almost forgot there was Gareth too. She glanced over at him for a moment, seeing that his shotgun was raised and aimed as well to this guy. So obviously Gareth didn't know him, or this was some kind of weird trap to kidnap her.

Kytheria cleared her throat, keeping her aim steady at the stranger and trying to keep an eye on the man next to her. "How did I ward the zombies off? By shooting them in the head if they got too close. And that's what I'm about to do to you right now, unless you take a step back and tells us just what you're doing out here."

Her eyes glinted fiercely as she felt her voice waver and shake, staring intently at the stranger before her. She tried to sound brave and that she meant what she said. This was too much human contact for her in one day, for it had been a very long time since she had talked with anyone. And she had witnessed just how bad the living had become in these few short months. She was not about to die or be taken advantage of that way. What if there were more than just this stranger? She kept her ears open and her eyes focused, holding her crossbow as steady as she could.

 

Nasir held up the rat-sized ferris wheel he still had in his hand, glancing at the male besides the woman as he did so, before returning his gaze back to the female. "No need to shoot anyone, I wasn't sneaking, merely taking a rest by this tree. See, I had a run in with some undead freaks earlier, then ran into a living one. He gave me this thing, and now I'm trying to find a use for it and a way back to the city. Got some...product that I need from my contacts there" he stated. He'd struck out with the woman for now, so for the moment it was best to drop the flattery. Easier, too. While there was something hot about a woman who knew how to fire accurately with a crossbow, there was also an element of danger, and Nasir didn't have any plans that involved dying.

"So, that's about it for me. What about you f*cks? I doubt you're just having a lovely evening stroll, especially with Grumpy over there pointing a shotgun at me like that. Who pissed in your cereal, Grumps?" the drugdealer asked, motioning towards the man with his dagger.​

 

​

A frown twitched at the young female's lips, and her nose scrunched as she caught a whiff of something familiar. She had seen a few in her life time wandering around the city trying to find inspiration for a story. And how he phrased his words too formulated in her mind that maybe her suspicions weren't far off. Great, just what we needed.

Kytheria glanced over at Gareth, but he was keeping quiet. It was up to her to say something, and she swallowed. No, damn it. Don't show that you're afraid. "Hunting," came her reply to his question. "We're just leaving..."

Kytheria went to take a step back when something lunged at her from behind a tree to her side with a gurgling cry. The girl shrieked as she aimed her crossbow and shot a zombie, point blank right in the forehead. It stumbled and fell forward forcing Kytheria to scamper to the other side of Gareth as it landed on the ground, twitching. How did she not hear that?!

She reloaded her crossbow in a flash, hearing the brush breaking and something moving through the forest. "Oh no.." she whispered, looking around her as she saw movement coming from everywhere around the clearing. She felt panic claw at her throat and swallowed hard, raising her crossbow up to figure out where to shoot next. "We stayed too long in one spot."

Zombies of various shapes and sizes were coming out of the woodwork. The group was being overrun by a horde of the undead, attracted to the smell of live, warm, human flesh and blood. They were drooling, growling, and closing in at an alarming rate.

@Glen, @Captain Arch, @Maka Albarn

YOU ARE BEING APPROACHED BY A HORDE OF THE UNDEAD!!!

It's important to be active during said zombie horde attack. At least two posts a week would suffice

If you do not want to participate in said zombie attack, please have your character go do something else. I say that with kindness.

It would be silly if like one or two people take out a whole horde while everyone else is just standing around


There's going to be a number of zombies at the bottom of the first post, indicating how many there are. Your job is to take one or more on (max is three per turn) and post the number you killed with the number that's left at the bottom. You can injure other zombies in the process, just only can kill three per turn

For example, Kytheria takes out three zombies in one post. There was 20 to start out with, so at the bottom of her post, the creator of said character would put "17/20, killed 3"

IF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE TAGGED IN THIS POST DOES NOT REPLY WITHIN AT LEAST THREE DAYS, I WILL HAVE A ZOMBIE ATTEMPT TO BITE, SCRATCH, MAIM, OR WHATEVER SEEMS FIT. YOUR CHARACTER MIGHT DIE. YOU MAY HAVE YOUR CHARACTER LEAVE IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO PARTICIPATE (BUT THAT WILL BE LAME IF IT'S JUST ME REPLYING, AHAHAHAHA!)

ANYONE MAY JOIN US! BUT YOU MUST REMAIN ACTIVE THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE HORDE ATTACK UNTIL ALL THE ZOMBIES ARE DEAD.

THERE ARE 30 ZOMBIES

GO!






​