July - New arrivals

A new group of survivors found temporary shelter in Woodbury. The Moonites Family: Mother Tequila with her son Dale and daughter Dakota and their aunt Helena. They are on the search for Tequila's husband. 

Tequila Moonites

Helena Moonites

Dakota Moonites

The whole history of ODotA so far - September 2013 -July 2014

The outbreak happened in september 2013

A small group of survivors have found a small weekend house by a Lake, the nearest town is an 6 hours foot march away. The group consists of a retired teacher whom everybody is calling "The Prof", a single mother Gera, Gerard, only son of a rich family and eternal student, Inferialis and her teenage daughter Mia. Mia's father, a cop has gone missing since the outbreak. The story starts with the group welcoming back Gerard who was on one of his trips to the out skirts. He has problems integrating into the group, is reluctant to work in the team and take on responsibility. He justifies his solo escapades with his concern that the house will not withstand an attack by the undead, and that he is searching for a better shelter.

One day Mia convinces Gerard to take her to the town to search for her missing father. The teenager is upset that nobody has made an attempt to look for him, her mother is evasive on the subject. Gerard and Mia travel to the town, which is infested with the dead but they don't find her father. Gerard suspects that the others, especially Mia's mother never searched for the man because they already know he is beyond help. He does not tell Mia about his thoughts but this trip makes them closer. 

Gera feels alienated from the group after a talk with the Prof and Inferialis. Whereas Inferialis and the Prof are determined never to take any chances and are convinced an infected person should be killed immediately, Gera believes there might still be hope for a cure. She knows that she could never kill her little son, should he become infected and feels forsaken and detached from the others.

Mia has learned to use the gun of her missing father. Because she is a good shooter she becomes cocky and careless. While the adults are preoccupied fixing a fence and she is alone in the house, she teases some stray zombies until they follow her. In her panic she forgets to close the gate and one of them enters the house. Luckily she can destroy him. Inferialis catches her when she cleans up the mess and strictly forbids her to leave the house at all after that. The group of children is growing when the twins Uia and Talim find the house. Gerard jokes he feels like Mad Max Beyond thunder dome with a trail of kids following him everywhere. 

Ulia does all the talking while her twin always stays silent. When asked about their parents, Ulia answers:"Both are dead, dead a few weeks ago" she says coldly showing little to no emotion. Yes, we also came across some living, but I made short work of the ones how tried to take our supplies. After killing them, I just add their supplies to our, they didn't need it were they were going" she says darkly.

In the last week of november that weather turns colder and snow sets in. Inferialis and Mia take a trip to the town for supplies because Gerard is off to one of his solo trips and Gera and the twins stays home with the Prof who is ill with a bronchitis. While they stuff their bags in the  Walmart, a group of zombies collects at the entrance and they have to shoot their way through, running out. Suddenly Inferialis hears her daughter scream "Daddy" As she looks around, she sees in horror how Mia runs towards her zombified cop father. Inferialis can drag Mia away. They escape. Back home she comforts her deeply distraught child.

"Your daddy was a wonderful loving man. Its heartbreaking  that his ...body is now animated..but its not him, he is free of all pain now and watches us….and we will survive, daddy wants us to survive."

For days the stray walkers have grown in numbers. Until one night, the window panes break and they attack. In panic everybody runs. This is the point where the group splits up. Mia and Inferialis escape to the woods. Gera with her son and the Prof make it to the town. The twins go missing altogether. Gerard has not been back, he is still somewhere on an exploration.

Inferialis and Mia find another empty house, close to an abandoned farm. Gera and the Prof struggle to survive in the town but the Prof, still weakened by his illness, is attacked. As he dies he begs Gera to shoot him. Under tears and devastated, Gera shoots him. For her, this is especially hard since she is the one who still believes that the infected should be cared for and that they might be cured if one day a miracle happens.

Mia and her mother try to get back some sort of routine in the new shelter they found. They hope the rest of the group has survived and they wait for their return. One night a man called Alasdair finds them. Inferialis is suspicious first but soon learns that Alasdair is a blessing. He is strong and has experience with weapons. A former army man he knows everything about survival. He also carries ammunition and most important, medical supply. While Inferialis and Alasdair talk upstairs, Mia busies herself outside when suddenly they hear her screams. A zombie has attacked the girl while she was in the yard. They find her downstairs in the kitchen, crying and hiding her hand. In a split second Inferialis and Alasdair realize that she has been bitten. Inferialis desperate to save her daughters life, cries to Alasdair to hand her his army knife. He throws it over to her and she hacks off her daughters hand. Only because of Alasdair's skills and knowledge they succeed to stop the bleeding and while the teenager sleeps upstairs, heavily bandaged and filled up with antibiotics, Inferialis thanks the man under tears and asks him to stay with them.

Meanwhile two new survivors find the empty weekend house by lake, that the group escaped from. They come from very different walks of life. The two men meet at the empty house on coincide and stay there for some days. One is the young musician Ludger, the other is Blake, a one eyed man in his forties. Eventually the house is attacked again by the walkers who have made this place their territory and the two men lose sight of each other. Each one thinking, the other must have been killed...

It is a hard cold winter. Mia and Inferialis are on their own a lot because Alasdair is a restless soul and gone most of the time. So Inferialis has to make trips to the woods and town on her own. Luckily she's found a car, which makes it easier.  She has to leave Mia in the house to cure her wound, the girl is brave and soon learns to use her left hand, making up for the missing right. 

One of those days when Inferialis is out, Mia sees a man coming towards the house. She hides, pointing her gun at the man. He comes inside. One eyed, an axe over his shoulder he scares the girl when they come face to face. After some initial suspicion they start talking. His name is Blake, he says he only needs a rest before claiming back his house. Tresspassers have left the gates open and his place is flooded with zombies.He needs to clean his place. It turns out that "his house" is the county prison. He offers Mia to take her and her mother there, as it is a lot safer in the prison. Mia desperately  yearning for a father figure, decides to go with him to check it out. Before they leave, Blake tells her to leave a note in case her mother comes back earlier. Mia wants to stick it on the fridge but Blakes tells her to leave it on the table where it will be noticed easier. 

When Inferialis returns, she finds a a note in Mia's handwriting saying: 

"Dear Momma, I met a new survivor today. His name is Mr. Blake. He has an eye patch because a walker hurt him just like me. He says he lives at the prison that daddy used to work at and said that if I go with him he'll come back for you too. I think it's gonna be safer this way momma. He seems really nice. Kinda like daddy. He says he'll come back to get you when you get back from the supply run. I love you very much momma. Mia XXX

Inferialis, upon reading the note leaves for the prison to find her daughter.

Blake and Mia are at the Prison for several days now. Blake cares for the girl, sees to it that she gets sleep and food, lets her pick out her own cell. But sometimes he leaves her for hours. He demands that she is never to leave her cell block as Its not safe until all has been cleared.

Blake is strict with her, commanding that she obeys the rules for her own safety. He scares Mia with his coldness. Then again he seems caring when he tells her that he observed the house and it seems empty. He assumes Mias mother has gone to find her. Mia and Blake are worried but he encourages the girl, promising her he will find her mother and everything will be ok.

Some days later, Gera and her little boy reach the house. The place is empty, has been deserted for days.  There is blood on the floor, wood blanks nailed  over the broken windows. The reminder of Mia's dramatic loss of her hand but Gera does not know this. She finds some of Mias and Inferialis things and hopes that they could escape. Gera is too exhausted and tired and hungry to leave straight away. But looking at the broken windows and the blood she feels that this new shelter is not safe.

Inferialis is on foot, armed with only a hand gun, losing her way in the woods. Only a mile away from the prison, she is attacked by a group of walkers. She dies with the name of her daughter on her lips.

Back at the house, Gera is surprised by an intruder, a tall emaciated looking man with a slight german accent. He helps her to destroy some zombies who were breaking into the house. He seems slightly of his rocker, talking weird, having sudden giggling fits, often choking up with tears but at the same time he seems so human and warmhearted that Gera instantly trusts him. She is at the end of her strength and grateful for his company and support. Ludger played in a band before the outbreak, his band bus was attacked, he was the only surviver. He saw his band mates turning, locked himself inside the bus , talked and screamed and sang to them, not comprehending what had happened to them.

Ludger had told Gera that he had met a man called Blake a few weeks before but that they were attacked and lost sight of each other. Gera and Ludger decide they will leave the house and make it to the county prison, hoping the thick walls offer protection. They are lucky and come across only a few stray walkers on their way through the woods. When they reach the prison there are armed men at the gates but they let them in. A man walks towards them to greet them warmly. Ludger can not believe his eyes for the man is Blake. They are taken inside, given food, warm beds. Gera is overwhelmed. Ludger and Blake later sit together for hours, talking and drinking. Soon Ludger is drunk and Blake shows him to his quarters.  The next morning Gera and Ludger meet for breakfast. They are adamant never to leave here again. The Prison seems the closest one will ever get to paradise and Gera is awe of the saviour Blake.

The group of men, women in children at the prison is steadily growing. Blake sends the men out in groups every day to hunt for supplies. 

One day Gerard arrives at the prison. After an argument with the guards, Mia appears at the gate and as she can vouch for him, they let him in. Gerard notices an extreme change in the girl. She is cold and even points a gun at him at one point, thinking he wants to steal their supplies. But then she breaks down and he learns from the heartbroken girl what has happened since the last time they saw each other. The attack of the lake house, the break up of the group. And the most terrible thing, the death of her mother. Mia had come face to face with the walking corpse of her mom, she stood in the midst of a group of stray by the prison fence one day. Mia seems to be losing her mind. She talks to her mother as if she standing next to her. Mia also pleads with Gerard to get out and get help. Mia believes Blake is sinister. She claims she has seen injured people arriving, saved by Blake but these people have disappeared. Gerard is not sure what to believe but he promises Mia to leave the prison and to think of a plan to get Mia away from there too.

Blake is driving to the town alone, something he does occasionally even though he keeps telling the people always to go in groups. In the town he is surprised by a huge group of zombies. He runs to the gunshot for safety, a trail of undead behind him. Unaware that that the gun shop is occupied, he find himself face to face with a guy in complete fighting gear, a gas mark hides his face. The strangers guns the walkers down. The men escape to the roof. The man introduces himself as "Puly". He talks with a strong eastern european accent and describes himself as a Survivalist. Blake invites him back to the prison, since the gunshot is not livable anymore now with the zombies inside. Puly agrees to come with Blake, he offers his knowledge of survival tactics and his experience with weapons. Back at the prison, Puly takes of his mask and gear. He is a young man with dark short cropped hair and a handsome face. Blake invites him to drink with him. But Puly asks him if he has mushrooms by any chance. "No" says Blake:" i don't do drugs" Puly smiles and explains to Blake that Fungi actually can be used to purify water. A blessing in a world  where fresh water is rare. Again Blake realizes that this man will be a strong asset for the group. When they part to get some sleep they have decided that Puly will start with shooting lesson as soon as possible. 

The next day Puly gives his first lessons to some of the prison group, including Gera.

Later that day, Blake and Gera get involved, having a deep conversation. Gera tells him about her fears and heartbreak, that she would not be able to let go of her baby son, should anything happen..and it is clear what  she means. Blake promises her with a strong raspy emotional voice that he would put a gun to the temple of anybody who would try to hurt her child. Overwhelmed by this man who seems to understand her deeply, who gives her the feeling of  complete protection and compassion, she falls into his arms and his bed…

Ludger senses Gera's growing obsession with Blake and asks her about it. She tells him that Blake is the only one understands her. She tells him, Ludger being Blake's friend should after all know that Blake can be trusted but Ludger says: He is not my friend, we just happened to stay together for awhile seeking shelter. Gera confesses to Ludger her view about what she would do if her son would get infected. Ludger is torn between compassion and shock.

One day, a woman bumps into Blake in the prison.  He learns that she has been living in the prison for over a week now. He apologizes, telling her, he is sometimes too wrapped up in work to greet new residents of the prison. The woman who introduces herself as Rapid, is a doctor, specialized on infectious disease. Blake is very pleased indeed. Proudly he shows her the Prisons medical compartment, asking her to stay with them. 

Some weeks later, Gera and Ludger are out at the prison yard and notice a woman, carrying a bow running away from a group of walkers. They let her inside. She tells them her name is Yvaine, she is from Northern Alaska, where the plague of the dead was not yet so prominent. But then she came to these parts for a friends graduation, when she arrived the house as on fire and she had been on the run ever since. They take her inside and give her something to eat in the prison cantine. Here she tells them she was a scientist in Biological medical studies but now is just fighting to survive like most. Being a scientist, Yvaine explains to them her theory about the plague and that she believes that there might be a way to cure it, if only she had the means to work on that. Gera and Ludger are excited about the prospect of having her in the group, a scientist working on a cure is the light at the end of the tunnel. The talk about the dead triggers off Ludger who suffers post traumatic fits.

Puly, the so called Survivalist has disappeared on the Prison Group.  It was abrupt, and all of his personal effects were left in his bunk.  Perhaps lost, or injured, the survivalist has not returned to his home . Blake send out search groups.

Yvaine meets Blake two days after her arrival. He shows her a makeshift lab they prepared for her to  proceed her studies and they have a long talk. 

Yvaine : *drinks the wine and looks over at him* "how long have you been here?" *she asks curiously*

Blake : He rubs his chin thinking:" About 2 months, yes..it was not long after the outbreak. I was roaming the country for a while, lost...and at the end..I came here to die...and stayed to live again

Yvaine listens to his story* "oh were you on the road for long?"

Blake : yes for a while, to tell you the truth, i have no recollection of those days, i was in a stupor, I had lost...my wife and...my little girl. Nothing mattered to me, i didn't even had a weapon on me...I found shelter in some weekend house for a while...incidentally I met Ludger there but we were attacked by a horde of zombies and lost sight of each other...and i ended up here. I found a gun...and i decided to kill myself. But a former inmate, Radoslav…lets say, he brought me back to life.

Yvaine : "i'm from Alaska we had a research facility their but it was over run by a horde of zombies 4 weeks ago i managed to escape back to my dads house but his front door was broken down i found him in the kitchen holding his neck" *closes her eyes for a moment* "he told me to run and i have ever since when i got to the end of the road the house exploded" *she goes quiet for a while*

Yvaine soon adapts to the life in the prison. The men are ordered to retrieve anything she needs for her work from hospitals and health centers in the area. She works there everyday, closely monitored by Blake

and Radoslaw. He was one of the three original prison residents, more so, he was an inmate. He is the only person who knows Blake from the day of his arrival. The one who is still alive. Blake's right hand man. Usually out on patrol and retrieving supplies for the group.

Mia who has not been out of her cell for weeks since her mothers death and has avoided contact with anybody. But one day she runs into Radoslaw. She looks bruised and Radoslaw asked her suspiciously how she hurt herself. She admits, she ran into some walkers by the gate, when leaving the grounds. He grimly tells her to report to Blake and have a check up, but she backs away with a feeble excuse.

When Mia  reappears, she has changed, is aggressive and snappy towards Blake who finds her one morning in the prison yard. While they talk, they see Rapid the doctor coming through the gates. Rapid looks pale and exhausted. Angrily she tells them that she had to spend some nights at the barn behind the woods without anybody looking for her. Blake assures her that he had send out a search troop, but is appears they never even went beyond the woods. Blake realizes that his men might not be as reliable as he thought, which explains also why Puly is still missing. Rapid and Blake take Mia inside when they see that she has several cuts and bruises on her. Rapid examines the girl and while Blake goes to talk to his men Mia confides in Rapid, telling her she was bitten by a walker. 

Gerard, who is drifting between the town and the woods, meets Yvaine again when he fights off an attack of walkers near the garage at the crossroad. She tells him that she lives at the prison now. She also tells him that they set up a lab in the prison and that she is working on a cure. They walk inside the garage for safety and find Mia who was obviously hiding in there. Mia behaves suspicious and fearful, especially towards her old friend Gerard. When Gerard explains to Yvaine that Mia and him belonged to the same group once and that Mia's erratic behavior stems from the deep shock of losing her parents, the girl cries at him "Take it back! They are not dead!" and attacks Gerard with a knife. Upon this they decide to bring the hysterical girl back to the prison. When they arrive at the Prison gate an old sturdy rough looking man aims a shotgun at them. First they assume that he belongs to the prison group. Gerard tells him, they bring back the missing girl. The old man looks pale and ask them if this is a bad joke. Mia runs towards the man, calling him Abe and telling him not to worry as she did not tell anybody about him being here. As it turns out, the man, whose name is Abraham is from Lousiana. He was with his daughter but on the way to Macon they were separated and he is looking for his kid ever since. He met Mia when he came to this area and it seems Mia and him have formed a bond. A man who lost his daughter and a girl who lost her parents comforting each other.

Mia has escaped to the town together with Abraham who has become her protector. They set up home in one of the empty apartments. Here they meet another survivor. A young woman called Hazel. They stay together and share all they have. Seeing that Mia is not alone anymore, Abraham tells him he wants to head up north to continue his search for his daughter.

Blake drives to the town to look for Mia. He observes the apartment and wait for the right moment. When Abraham leaves, Blake closes in. Mia spots him and in panic, she packs a few things crying out to Hazel that she must leave immediately because she is in danger and that Blake must not find her. Hazel is left behind stunned.

Mia runs but Blake cuts her escape off and finally corners her in another empty apartment downstairs. Incidentely this is the same room, where the injured Puly had escaped to, weeks before. The blood stain on the floor tells his story.

Blake tells Mia that they are all worried about her and that she should come back home with him. Mia yells at him to stay away from her. When he inclines he worries like a father, she cries that she is not his daughter and starts to say that she knows about "that girl". Blake tells her to keep her voice down because of the walkers outside. He tells her to stay calm, that he realizes he can not convince her but that she must promise him to stay here where it is safe. Again Mia yells at him that she will never come back and walkers enter the apartment. Blake retreats.

Mia tells Abe  how scared she is of Blake and slowly a sinister rumor about the prison people begins to spread. A new surviver is at the prison, his name is Colton.

When out on an errand with Wilson, Gera has a walker coming after her and has to take refuge inside the Walmart. Here she meets Abraham who is also on a supply run. He aims his gun at her but when he sees her shaking with fear and realizes that there is a walker outside, he hides with her behind the shelfs and they talk while they wait for the entrance to clear. Suddenly they hear gunshots and Mia runs into the store, after having shot the walker. Mia and Gera obviously recognize each other and Abraham learns that they know each other quite well. He stands back while they talk. Mia is suspicious, asking Gera if she was send to find Mia. Gera denies this and asks in return why Mia ran away. Abraham tells the surprised Gera that Mia "is with me now... not with that crazy ass guy from the jailhouse". Gera asks him what Mia has been telling him and she states that Blake is not crazy. On that Mia tries to convince Gera again that Blake is dangerous. When Abraham agrees with Mia: "well Mr. patchy eye gave us a nice and friendly visit a couple of days ago, and I'm pretty sure that derranged fucktard is crazy as bats hit"he remarks with his strong south Luisiana accent - Gera challenges them, blurting out that Mia was supposedly bitten. Abraham is bewildered, Mia gets angry that Gera told her secret. She shouts at Gera about the zombie in the lab, that Blake is lying to them all. Gera tries to stay calm, replays that they know about the specimen and that there is nothing wrong about that. Mia then loses her temper: "Sure there isn't... Somebody cuts the heads of survivors and keeps them in jars and keeps some poor dead girl tied up in a secret room and I'm the one who's crazy? He's sick Gera...Sick....FUCKING SICK!"  Gera sighs:" he keeps them in jars for Yvaine, she needs the tissue to work on a vaccine. Calm down Mia please. We all...have changed, and we all lost out mind a little bit, but he is trying to find a way out of the misery we are in Mia...he at least...is trying"
Mia shoves Gera"Don't talk to me like that. its sick. He's sick and everyone at that prison is SICK! he came looking for me, Gera he found me and if it wasn't for the walkers I would just be another head in a jar. He needs the world the way it is because he gets to control people... people like you…!" This is too much for Gera and as the entrance is clear, she asks Abraham to look after Mia and leaves, confused and uncertain about the truth of what has been said. 

Mia is attacked by two survivors, they steal her supplies and knock her out. Days pass and Mia finally finds new clothes and throws the men over her balcony for the walkers to deal with. It’s in the store she discovers that the shelves and food have been ransacked and all she can find is a bag of stale potato chips. Her stomach groans as the days pass and she finds herself too weak to go out. Slipping in and out of consciousness

Puly was found and is back at the prison but not for long. Puly packs up the last of his tent, carefully wiping his brow there-after...  With care he quietly tacks a note up on his makeshift home as of lately, and turned off to the gates. 

2014-03-21
Blake and other survivors in the prison,

I'm not well, I think I may have contracted the Big End during my time recuperating, or from the exposure during the attack.  So for now, I am leaving the prison to wait out whatever comes.  While I'm gone I promise I will look for supplies.  If it's just the Flu, I will return, and if not I will stash them in a safe place for you folks, and make a note about it and leave it in my backpack, there's a secret stash under the middle pad.  Don't come looking for me, I would not want to hurt someone else with my bravado.

Udachi (Good Luck),

Pulemetchik Tachenko

'Puly'

Gera has been quiet and withdrawn after that encounter with Mia and Abraham, and one day she pulls up the courage and confronts Blake with the things, Mia has told her about heads in jars being cut of innocent survivors and the bound girl hidden in his quarters. To her surprise, Blake is not denying it. He takes her and shows her the secret room behind his bed. He shows the shocked Gera the heads in the aquarium, and explains to her that they are not innocent survivors but the men who were responsible for the death of his daughter. He admits without regret that he has killed them with his bare hands, cut off their heads, and put them there. A small comfort to revenge his little girl. He then opens another door and presents Alice, his zombified daughter. Although horrified at first, Gera soon is watching compassionate and heartbroken when she sees how Blake sits opposite the bound little animated corpse, talking to her lovingly and gentle, his painful attempts to get some recognition from his zombified daughter naturally in vain. Gera, whose own fears about losing her baby all materialize in Blake is instantly touched deeply and it only intensifies her feeling for him. She even promises him that from now on, she will help him to look after Alice.

Puly is setting up camp on a hill, overlooking the prison. He teams up with two other female survivors. He tries to nurse himself back to health.

Jennifer is one of the survivors who has taken up camp on the top of cliff that Puly had build. One day, she meets Gerard, who is still drifting between the town and the woods. They become friendly and decide to check out the prison, which Jennifer has observed from her camp. They drive there on his Harley. As Gerard knows the guards from his last visit, they are let inside. Most inhabitants are out on supply runs or sleeping and Gerard does not see Mia or Gera. They find the lab. Shocked and not able to grasp for what reason the prison people keep a zombie there, they destroy the walker, using a knife. They leave the prison. On their way back, they have an accident, are closed in by zombies and are forced to spend the night at the barn.

A bomb explodes in the lab, when Blake is about to enter the room. Temporarly unconscious he is found by Puly who had arrived at the Prison exactly at the moment when the bomb went off. Puly helps the stunned Blake, examines him but finds that he is apart from some minor scratches. They both wonder astonished where that bomb came from and who might be responsible. Blake also questions Puly about his leaving, since a note was all he left and his apparent infection. Puly tells him that the illness luckily turned out to be have been some kind of flu. He then tells Blake about his experiences out there since the time of his departure. "I discovered a dying soldier outside of Shiner," he said simply, then helped him sit in a chair. After that he clipped his MP5 onto his back and shook the penlight a few times, "Same sickness that I had, combined with a nasty bite. Took him a while to die, but I was able to learn a bit about the infection with his help," he explains. what I found on the soldier was interesting, the infection seems to only spread when you die or get bitten, or somehow get infected fluids into your system. Hanging around infected doesn't spread it."I'm also fairly sure burying the dearly depart, and even burning them, could result in an ecological disaster that would potentionally make Chernobyl a preferable place to live other this place" Blake responds that safety would demand strict order and absolute diciplin, and all that on top of the daily fight for food and such. He could press that easily in the tight community of the prison, but outside there is chaos all around.. The town is a disaster, so is any other region around them. 
"Which is why I've been gone longer than expected, spreading this news to however many people I could. Speaking of being gone... I've forget to set up a radio here, for contact. Simple HAM Radio, primarily usually Morse Code for broadcasting. Easiest on short-range broadcasting." tells Puly. Blake seems bitter, stating the fact that Puly left them for good then. Puly explains that his loyalty hasn't changed  but that he can not bare to sit safe behind the walls knowing that there are people outside suffering. So he makes rounds to teach people and leaves radios to build up a network. This is incidentally an idea that Ren had since the beginning. Ah. I see. You leave radios. Splendid. replys Blake cynical and carries on:" So you have decided to take it all on yourself now to save...the universe?" He sighs, then lays a hand on Pulys shoulder:" Look, I understand your sentiments, its...a noble cause...and you also know that i would never force anybody to stay with with us. But to be honest with you, right now you are one of the few people I trust, one of the few I can rely on." Pulemetchik quietly listened to Blake's speech. He was partially right, even passed his own guise, he was an honest man. How he was raised, it made him rethink a lot. "You still put a lot of faith in a mystery man you never knew, Blake. I can't say..that part of me doesn't want to leave the prison. Another part of me wants to just hand this dufflebag to you and head out the door, another wants me to spill the truth and blow my own brains out, and the last part of me wants to run. I've spent...enough time out there to see a lot, enough to make me numb to the people, but at the same time sympathetic and urged to assist," he explained, running a hand over his face. "I'm not sure what I can accomplish, that camp I had is now tucked away, the people I was letting stay and I had a disagreement on crime and punishment. We went our seperate ways." Puly then produces some goods from his duffle bag, medication and food and they continue talking about the explosion, pondering on who could have done it. Puly tells Blake that he has seen a girl without a hand, whose description fits Mia and that he met at another time "this big fucker who almost splattered my brains in WalMart when I was checking for thermaflu or something." Blake tells Puly that Gera had met these two also in town and how their opinion about the prison, particular himself is very negative. He also tells him of the new people Colton and Jill, and Puly advises him to keep an eye on Colton. They then proceed a brief first search looking for clues and Puly sets up a radio station. "Should keep us all in contact, communications are key to survival." says Puly.  Blake tells him that Ren will be just the man to be in charge of it. They see Yvaine in the yard and Blake tells her what happened. Later Puly and Blake depart on good terms.

To all residents of the prison

Today a bomb exploded in our lab. The lab we had build to provide our scientist Yvaine with the appliances to work on a cure. A cure for ALL of us. Now all that precious work has been destroyed. Hope has been destroyed. 
I am trying to provide us with a new life here. A new society. A family if you will. Home.
But like any man i will go to extremes if this sanctuary is threatened. 
We have come to that point now.
Things will be different from now on. There will be stricter rules. Rules that need to be followed to PROTECT US ALL!

We have always welcomed new people to our home. This will change now!
We will not let injured or starving people inside these walls anymore unless they have been thoroughly checked and they will only be welcomed  in our group if they prove to be loyal, trustworthy and abiding the rules. If they give any reason to doubt their intentions. If they criticize or show open aggression, they are out!
Anybody who takes part in actions that endanger our group will be dealt with accordingly.
We take no prisoners. 
Any new person who desires to gain access will be channeled to the area behind the first fence, where a tent will be set up. As always weapons must be handed over. They may stay in the tent to have their injuries treated, it will then be decided if they stay or not.

As to the matter of the explosion in the lab:
There will be a thorough search including all your cells. Everybody will make sure that the people in charge of the search have free access. Obstacles blocking the entrance of a cell to protect privacy will NOT be allowed anymore.

I trust you all understand and will cooperate in this matter.

Blake

WANTED

The search is on for the assassins who dropped the bomb in the prison's lab, destroying our hope and putting our lives at risk. After thorough investigation and questioning of reliable witnesses, here is a list of suspects. Some of these individuals you may not know, others have been in our group but left us:

Mia
approximate age: 14, dark hair, missing a hand.
Highly disturbed, traumatized and hateful towards our family. Spreading rumors about the prison being a dangerous and sinister place. Claiming that people were forced to stay and that people have entered here but were never seen again
She ran away from our group a month ago, it is believed that she is hiding somewhere in town

Abe or Gabe
approximate age: 50, burly guy, scruffy looking, long hair and filthy beard. Last seen in town.
Seems to be Mia's "protector", he tried to kill Puly and seems hateful towards our group. A drifter.

Gerard
approximate age: 30, dark short curly hair, drives a Harley Davidson, a drifter.
Entered the prison previously on two occasions, claiming he is a friend of Mia and used to be in a group with Mia and Gera. Last seen the day before the bomb attack.

Young unidentified woman Jennifer
approximate age: 25, dark long hair, carried a crossbow. Last seen together with Gerard at the prison and leaving with him on his Harley.

Keep your eyes open. If you see any of the above suspects or if you gain any information about them, report immidiatly to me. 

Blake has a meeting with his henchman Radoslaw to discuss and plan actions to be taken. They talk about the results of the search for the bomber. Although no clues were found, Radoslaw voices his opinion about some of the newcomers  in particular Jill who had shown a negative attitude to Blake and Colton about the prison. Blake tells him that he also has suspicions about some females in the group, who have shown no sense of gratitude and only seem to cultivate their own ego, and he wants Radoslaw to keep an eye on the scientist Yvaine. Then he shows him what he plans to do with the destroyed lab, his idea, due to the circumstances is to turn it into an interrogation room. And something else he demands of the former inmate: To build a scaffold as an deterrent to keep potential trouble makers in check.

Gera sees Abe again in town. He has a boy about 8 years of age,  named Joe with him. He questions Gera about Mia's whereabouts, accusing the prison people of capturing Mia. Gera who was certain that Mia is still with Abe, tells him that Mia is not in the prison. Abe remains hostile towards Gera, even after she warns him, telling him to hide somewhere with Joe because a bomb has exploded in the prison and Abe is on the Wanted list. In the end, somewhat milder towards Gera but not the prison, or rather Blake, he tells her" If Blake send people after us.... you better say a long goodbye to em' cuz' they won't go back... let's go Joe" he says as he starts to walk away from the market spot. Gera calls after them to hide and to find Puly. Then she walks back to Wilson who was with her, giving her cover. She pretends that she was trying to talk Abe into coming to the prison and Wilson believes her story.

Blake's men have caught Gerard and Jennifer separately and Blake starts interrogation. He doesn't get any confessions from either but can draw further information. After the questioning they are locked into an empty cell next to the former lab. Jennifer makes an attempt to escape but is shot in the hip and brought back.

Abe, who is still convinced that the prison people hide Mia somewhere in the building, decides to kidnap Blake's zombified daughter so he can trade it by Mia. Hazel is his cpmplice. They get into  the prison by breaking in by a secret path that someone who was a resident of the prison had showed them some days ago.  Everything goes as planned. They find the entrance, which leads to a cellar and from there upstairs directly into Blake's secret quarters. Alice, the zombie daughter snarls and snaps at them. Abraham breaks its jaws and teeth with an axe to disarm the little corpse. While Hazel and Abe are busy, Gera has entered the secret quarters. She and Radoslaw are the only persons who knows about Alice. But Radoslaw is not here. She watches the intruders, hiding behind the door. Shocked and distraught and unable to do anything. As she can not call for help without revealing Blake's secret, she decides to face Hazel and Abe. She begs them not to take Alice away, That Mia is not in the prison as far as she knows. Abe and Hazel tell her there is far more Gera does not know. They tell her at gun point to come with them, so she won't alert the others. As they pass the cellars they show her a blood stained work bench, fashioned to strap victims on it to slaughter them. Gera is shocked but asks to consider that Blake would never kill anyone.
They all then escape through the woods, dragging Alice along with them,  where they are attacked by walkers several times. In the end, they make it to the barn. Abe secures the zombie child while Hazel keeps Gera at gun point. Gera begs them to be reasonable and talk. She is convinced that they can find a solution. They tell her about heads in jars and other sick things that go on at the prison. But Abe makes a deal with her. He will send Gera back to the prison as a messenger. She must tell Blake that he gets his zombie daughter back in exchange for Mia. Abe gives her three days maximum. Gera is devastated as she is sure that Blake hasn't got Mia but also relieved that Abe seems reasonable and prepared to talk. She hugs the surprised man and he brings her back to the prison while Hazel stays behind to watch Alice.

Gera finds a drunk Puly back at the prison and Jennifer, who is wandering around, recovering from her hip shot. She begs Puly to help her and to find Blake. Then Blake appears, he has already seen that Alice is gone and goes berserk. He loads a gun and runs out. Puly, his dog and Gera follow him. Blake reaches the barn and starts yelling, slamming at the door "ABE!!!!! Give me back my daughter! Give me back my little girl!"
He doesn't care that his noise alerts all walkers nearby and they are approaching fast. Blake aims at the lock, and shoots until he runs out of ammo. Gera and Puly  have reached him, they have to defend themselves, eliminating the zombies. Puly, quite sober now, fires at the lock and the barn door until it finally breaks open. But instead of Abe, Hazel and Alice they find the fatally injured Mia inside the barn. She was injured by their own gun shots. While Blake searches the barn like a madman, still blind for anything else, the devastated Puly tries to safe Mia's life. (It turns out that Abe and Hazel have left the barn and took Alice somewhere else and Mia who had been wandering around for weeks, with no food and dehydrated, locked herself inside the barn just after they had left.) He gives the girl a shot of morphine, tries to stop the bleeding but its all in vain. Mia dies, seeing her dead father, whispering that she is sorry . Puly breaks down and Mia comes back a few moments later. The distraught Puly gives Gera his knife to drive it into Mias head. Gera refuses to believe that Mia is dead, but she does the deed when the zombified Mia reaches out to Blake. When Mias blood stained body becomes lifeless a second time, Blake finally awakes from his madness. He cradles the child to his chest, holding her. Puly drops to his knees and utters a prayer in his native language. He is blaming himself for her death. They bring Mia's corpse back to the prison and bury her in the grounds of the orchard. And here at Mia's grave, in his anger and his pain Puly mutters:""All Abe's fault...detskiy krazhe suka...ubit' suku..."Blake pauses and looks at Puly intense:"Abe's fault..." he repeats in a whisper:"yes...Abe's fault"

Puly finds Abe in town at the apartment where he and Hazel are hiding:
Puly slowly moved forward, heaving his chest up and down, staring forward from behind his mask. "Look...we need to talk, away from...ears..." He then waves his hand around, "Promise I ain't gonna do shit but talk."
Hazel peeks aiming her guns above
Abe nods towards Puly and waves his hand inviting him to come inside the building* I think we will be safe here...
Puly could only shrug his shoulders limply, "All right," he said reluctantly, setting his FAL down by the door on the outside, along with his P87. He then stepped up to the door, leaning on the doorway. "First thing is about Mia..."
Abe steps inside cleaning the way so Puly can get in*... What about her???...*he asks curiously as he gestures the man to come in*
Puly took a few deep breathes, trying to find the words in his head before even saying them. "She's gone, dude... She got snagged by some stray gunfire earlier today... I spent the better part of a half hour...trying to save her...but..." his voice then trailed off, and he reached under the faceplate, rubbing his eyes, "The round must have severed her femoral artery. Morphine administered kept the end...painless..."
Abe frowns as he clenches his fists in obvious anger, doesn't take long for his eyes turn all watered*....WHAT???? what the fuck are you talkin' about man??? who... who the fuck shot at her??.... wh.... *he takes a few seconds silent as he contains all the rage and sadness deep inside him just pressing harder his lips together along with his fists¨*
Hazel  looks confused
Puly clenched his fists, cracking his knuckles in the process. "It's...I'm pretty sure it was a round from my FAL that ricocheted and hit her..." He then tilted his head back, letting his arms go back to his sides, "I have...no idea of knowing...I never thoroughly examined her body before Gera had Blake help me bury her out in the prison yard."
Abe coldly stares at Puly as he says with a grimmy voice*.... so... it was you huh? you and the Blake's lil' posse... ya had Mia after all....
Puly gritted his teeth, "She was locked up in that fucking barn, hiding in the fucking hay," he grunted, in a miserable tone, "Gera came crying to me sayin that Blake's daughter had been kidnapped...I got to breach the door and walkers started coming..."
Abe: "that's bullshit man!!"... he yields at Puly rising and pointing his index finger obviously in anger.... "we stayed several days in there and Mia wasn't there... she was at the goddamn prison and you know it.!"
Puly heaved his chest up, slowly taking off his helmet so he could look at Abraham, in the eyes. His eyes were reddened, bloodshot. All he could do was slowly shake his head, "No...dude...she was in that barn...emaciated...b...barely alive...but...you're probably right...I probably did kill her..."
Abe stares at Puly kinda barely holding the urge to swing a nice jab to that chin and release some canned anger, his right fist shaking ready to do some harm, suddenly the bearded man draws a light smirk at Puly and a chuckle*... you know, it's funny... it's funny how with just one shot you could kill a whole bunch of people... cuz' now Blake has nothing to negotiate with and, if we give him back his freak he will kill us anyway... you fucked us all man.... sweet Jesus Christ
He laughs loudly as he shakes his head still holding a wide smirk on his face and tears streaming down his cheeks*... you lead us to a dead end man... a fucking dead end... 
Puly still leaning in the doorway, he looked up to Abraham, shaking his head. "You think I meant to do this?" he asked in a raspy tone, only to look back down. "Blake never had shit to negotiate with...you think he was just gonna let you take his kid? You and your folks run around, claiming he's a monster, but you take a little girl from her father..." He then slammed his fist against the doorframe, "I came here to warn you and try to help you, but now that I'm here I'm starting to think...about who the monsters are..."
Abe shakes his head slowly* ...a lil' girl... that's how you call it?? a lil' girl?? that freak will eat your fucking face in a blink, and certainly a lil' sweety girl won't fed from the flesh from the tortured people from the basement dude, so don't come here to save me with your cheap wisdom about that one eye nutjob....*looses the smirk on his face as he turn it into a frown turning his voice to a deep low tone one*...I know you are on the other side of the river.... and I'm cool with that and in the end... we all are monsters in some way.... don't we??....*stares at him stepping closer as he reaches the edge of the door*.... now I appreciate the honesty so I'll pay back with the same.... tell Blake I have his lil monster, if he want it, then he will have to come over the barn.... and git it, and why not, our people can feast into a bloody ballroom with gunshots and shit.... but I'll wait for him in a couple of days, so be ready for that....
Puly went stone cold when he heard that, his eyes drifting up to Abraham. "The fuck do you mean by that one?" he asked in a more serious tone. His body tensed right up, a thousand things ran right through his mind, about that...that could only mean one thing, but that kind of rocked what Puly had believed about the Prison. So he clenched his fists, listening a bit more closely. His breathing had changed from slowed and controlled, to somewhat erratic and shallow. "His daughter..." he started, only to rub his head. "FUCK...all of this city is fucking WONDERFUL," he shouted, turning around, holding onto his head with both hands. "You're fucking serious, he kept...it in the fucking prison, and FED it PEOPLE?"
Abe looks at Puly a bit puzled and surprised*... oh damn, you didn't know??... oh you are gunna love this....*he yields still not taking away the stare from Pule* Hazel... hun,could you be so sweet and bring down Alice please??
Hazel : are you serious?
Abe: yeah sugar, I'm dead serious
"Ok," Hazel Mint grabs the leash and pulls Alice making sure her hands are tied up…"here she is."..
Abe gestures the zombified girl under the leash held by Hazel* ... should I introduce you the lovely Alice Mr. Puly?
Puly looked behind him to see Alice. Then he just went quiet, and stepped forward to the bushes, starting to vomit into the greenery. "FUUUCK," he shouted between spurts of sickness.
Abe beholds Puly's reaction and frowns a bit more*... I know.... I had to remove her teeth cuz' she was a bitter... *smirks as he takes a quick look at his job feeling a bit proud of it*
Puly gritted his teeth, spitting some into the dirt when he was finished. "That thing...needs to die..." he muttered.
Hazel Mint: tell him about the trophies...
Abe: "wait what?? you monster... you want to kill lil' Alice here and separate her from Daddy?
Puly turned to Abraham, a sudden fire errupted in him. "No one fucking told me she was a fucking walker!" he suddenly boomed out, "I was fixing to help Gera burn this fuckin town to look for a fucking WALKER!" He then heaved his chest again, looking to Abraham, "The fuck were you thinking of getting out of this, Abraham?"
Abe chuckles*... Mia... we were thinkin' to get Mia outta this..... by the way man, haven't ya checked out your boss room full of thropies??
Puly reached up to rub his head slowly, "Well...you're out of luck, Abraham. Mias gone, unless you want her mom out of there...that'd be easier to do though," he muttered, and then just shrugged his shoulders, "I don't care about Blake, he's not my 'Boss.' All I want is an end to this sick fucking game that's being played."
Abe cocks a brow as he sees Puly's reaction*... Look Puly, I know my luck runs out quite fastly, and it's not alright, cuz' I didn't wanted to all this happen y'know??? seriously, I didn't care about cyclops there on the jail doing his freaky business with his zombified daughter or his fishtanks filled with heads... whatever... I just wanted to walk around here and settle down to fuckin' survive man, survive... those fucking things are fucking everywhere.... I agree with you.... we have to end this... and the end leaded by Blake won't be pretty, I assure you that
Puly cracked his neck as he thought, it was a mind-numbing thought process. "Neither of your ends will justify your means. If you get into some big fucking gunfight, it's just gonna be a big 'HEY, come fuck us in the ass' sign to every herd within five miles! This stupid fucking game is too long to end with peace." He then stared down Abraham, clenching his fists, his knuckles turning white. "Tomorrow...I'm gonna contact you. Bring some guns and explosives over, and then we're gonna plan a showdown with Blake".
Abe nods slowly* you know where to find me Puly.... if you are honest with this... about ending the things before it gits big and kill us all, I'm down with you
Puly crossed his arms a bit, getting a sinking feeling in his gut. "Don't breathe a word of this to anyone. Loose lips sink ships. I'm gonna go draw up maps of the damn barn, see if I can find good sniper positions for Vintar..."
Abe makes a gesture of locking his lips with a key and throw it away followed by a nod* see ya tomorrow then... *says as he slowly starts to close the door*
Puly turns to grab his FAL and P87, slapped the magazine he had in the rifle to make sure it was locked correctly, then went off to start scouting.

Blake on his mad search for Alice finds in Abe in town on the balcony of his apartment. He climbs up and the two men, at last face to face for the first time exchange accusations and threats. Finally Abe exclaims that they will make a deal on his conditions:
 First, leave my people alone... we have the right to coexist in this same piece of hell that you are into.... second, you owe me Mia, she was one of my crew... one of my people and you took her.... for good, so... I'll take one of your people in change for Mia"... he states his demands plain and simple.... "then we will trade your daughter.... but if I find you are trying to be funny or playing the smart with that, I assure you Alice will loose her head and you won't git nothin' but more blood in your fuckin' hands... got it?"
Blake agrees to the deal and they arrange to meet at the barn on the following day.

Blake prepares to go to his rendezvous with Abe. He arranged that Radoslaw will cover him from a safe distance. Blake tricked one of his men, the old diabetic Robert to come with him and cuffs the surprised man's hands behind his back once they reach the barn. Here Abe waits for them. Hazel watches Abe's back from behind the barn. Radoslaw hides behind some trees. The exchange takes place. Abe demands that Blake hands over Robert. Blake does so, then he rushes inside the barn to get his zombified daughter. "Don't worry my darling, daddy is here now". Blake carries his daughter and realizes that Abe pulled all her teeth, a single gun shot breaks the silence of the woods. Abe has shot Robert. Blake hardly bats an eyelid at that. But Radoslaw is mortified, he runs over to the barn, discovers Roberts dead body and sees Blake and his zombified daughter unharmed. Abe and Hazel escape. Before they went to the exchange, they had taken all their possessions from the apartment in town and set fire to it.  Blake can see that they head for the swamps. Radoslaw wants to bury Robert but Blake, who has only eyes for his corpse child, ignores his plea. Blake and Radoslaw depose Alice at the prison, grab a jeep and take up Abe's and Hazel's track which leads right into the swamps.
At the swamps a hunt starts, for a while Abe and Hazel are a step ahead. While Radoslaw is careful, moving catlike through the thick botany, Blake shoots blindly at every movement. The bullet impacts the water along with a big rumble that echoes thru the swamps, that will be like a dinner bell for the walkers. Abe and Hazel stand in the shallow muddy water, hiding. Then they leave their hiding spot and the four people crash into each other. While Blake and Abe fistfight in the water, Radoslav and Hazel shoot at each other. The outcome: Blake takes a deep breath when he feels Abe's weight lifting of him, his searching fingers find the handgun in the muddy water, he jumps up an smacks the end of his gun right into Abe's eye. This blinds Abe left eye forever. Hazel and Radoslav each end up with flesh wounds. They depart with even more hatred for each other.

Its the night after the fight with Abe and Hazel in the swamps. Radoslaw, faithful comrade in arms has helped Blake to get Alice back inside. They got in through the secret passage that is not so secret anymore. Who found out? Who told Abe about the entrance? Who destroyed the lab, the anchor of hope?
Blake stands Alice on her feet, prepares a bowl with warm water and gently cleans her rotten little face from dirt and mud and blood and the tale tell traces of decomposing.
"Messy little girl, aren't you?" his voice breaks when she hisses and struggles and suddenly he holds her ear in his hand. 
Blake swallows. Usually he looks at her with the eye of deep love, blind to all the ugliness of death. He pushes away the thought of her body falling apart, right under his hands, every day more and more.
He closes his eyes. Happy thoughts now, happy thoughts.
Remember when daddy took you to the zoo? Remember that, my darling? My precious? Oh but daddy remembers, he remembers all. He remembers when he first laid eyes on his daughter. That day when Alice was born, he knew she was the only being he can love. The only person he would ever love. He had never felt anything like it before. For nobody, not even for his wife.
His heart strings are about to tear. Happy thoughts. But tonight he only sees pictures of sorrow and decay. Alice crying in his arms as he runs with her, trying to hide. Shuffling feet. The low sounds of the dead, hungry for flesh. Be quiet my darling, don't cry. Ssshhhh. Gunshots and her feather weight suddenly so much heavier when she goes limb. He had killed them with his bare hands. Three men,  their stray bullets hitting his child and so... he killed them. And he kept their cursed heads in his backpack. Where did the madness start?
How much longer? Hang on in there, my sweet. Hold on a little longer. Daddy will make it better soon. But you must not…fall to pieces before daddy has the remedy, the vaccine, the cure.
Yvaine. He needs to find Yvaine. No rest for the wicket. Yvaine, I had set my hope on you. But now, what is left but nagging thoughts of betrayal. But beggars can't be choosers.
And who is still on our side anyway? Radoslaw. Puly? Gera? And who else? 
There is a cold wind blowing over the grave of little Mia. What kind of god lets the children die? Hush my child. Daddy keeps you warm.

Blake  sees Jourdi in the yard. He knows her only briefly, but she must have lived in the prison for some time:" Hello, Jourdi, isn't that your name?
Jourdi  turns to see who she is pretty sure is Blake and nods. " Yeah thats me."
Blake gives her a tired grin: " Excuse my...appearance. I guess you heard that we had a fight with the town group."
Jourdi: "Indeed I did. Have you had those injuries looked at? Last thing you need is an infection."
Blake spots Yvaine and takes a deep breath, then he smiles at Jourdi and shrugs:" It looks worse than it is, but thank you for your concern...Yvaine?! he calls, then turning to Jourdi:" you know Yvaine, our scientist, I suppose?"
Yvaine walks over to where Blake and Jourdi are and smiles to them both* "hi Blake" *looks to the woman not remembering her name*
 Jourdi shakes her in response about his injuries."Everyone here seems so intent to just let injuries go." looks toward the woman. "Ah yes we met briefly."
Blake  waves with a limp wrist:" You can come closer, Yvaine, I don't bite...yet" He smirks sarcastically.
Yvaine walks closer to the two noticing blakes facial injuries but not saying anything about them yet and looks to the woman and smiles politely* "are you living in the prison as well?"
 Jourdi  smiles in return. "When I'm not out hunting for food or supplies."
Blake : yes, I am sorry Jourdi, you are quite right, I will have it seen to later..." he watches Yvaine come closer:" I have been looking for you" he tells her in a raspy voice"
Yvaine: "oh? i was away seeing about something in another town and when i came back i heard about the lab and the bomb" *sighs softly*
Jourdi : "Your journal was at least saved. I hope that helps you continue your work. A cure or at least a successful way to fight off the infection would be nice." her deep southern redneck accent all to clear.
Blake narrows his eye when Yvaine speaks:" No, you must have forgotten Yvaine, you were here, but...i haven't seen much of you since then."
Yvaine nods slowly* "luckily it survived the blast...." *looks to Blake* "oh was i in the prison or did i go to the town?" *her memory being muddle lately as she's been trying to get her research back up to date* "so sorry alot of research was destroyed in the blast i've been working day and night to get back what was lost" She sighs deeply.
 Blake  nods:" No worries Yvaine, but I amvery glad you could safe your journal. His eye twitches and his jaw tightens as he tries to stay calm:" I..really need to catch up with you Yvaine. Maybe we can talk about some details regarding your work later. I promise you, i will see to it that you can continue your work."
Jourdi moved the hair out of her face as she studies the other two the body language seems a bit tense or uncomfortable towards each other. She wondered if Blake thought that Yvaine caused the explosion or was at least involved. Or maybe it had to do with Alice, rumors through the prison she had heard all about Alice and thought it was sad that Blake couldn't see or perhaps wasn't willing to see that there was nothing he could for her now but put her out of he misery. But then again she never knew the love for a child so who is to say she wouldn't feel the same. Unfortunately, a child would be something she could never have. She shook herself out of her thoughts. "Yes, I would be happy to assist if you like a navy doctors help?"
Blake looks over to Mia's grave:" And then...there is a funeral service to conduct. He sighs, then looks at Jourdi curious:" You were a navy doctor? How splendid. In that case, maybe you can have a look at my bruises later. For now though, I ..have to talk to you both about more...serious matters.
Jourdi nods. "Hospital Corpsman First Class." raises a brow. "What more serious matters?"
Blake nods with approval and then he walks to the gate:" I want to show you something...
see that graffiti? He stops in mid sentence when some dead stumble towards them:"oh damn them walkers"
Jourdi : "Yeah they could have done something a little more artistic."
Blake  smiles at Jourdi, slowly taken a liking to the red neck girl:" I like that you...keep a clear head ,its important not to panic now...even though I  can not deny it, our situation is getting a little shitty lately"
More Zombies gather at the fence.
Blake : ah well, we better go back inside, those walkers smell dinner"
They follows him back inside the safety of the gates. Jourdi grins and shrugs. "I had a pretty shitty life growing up this isn't much different. Believe it or not the navy and traveling with the marines was the best time of my life. " smirks." Walkers sure are a lot easier to kill then the terrorist we went after."
Blake : yes, you got a point there and that brings me right to the issue: the town people openly want a war with us. The spirit here in our group is low. We lost people, not by zombie attacks, no they were killed because of human failure and hate. Mia...Robert..." He looks down:" anyway...then..I lost some men, they left the sinking ship..there have been...some nasty rumours...about...me. I will not lie to you, yes...I..I have my infected daughter with me. I kept her hidden because not many people would understand. But you as a scientist Yvaine, and ..anyway....its all out now anyway..." he sighs: things will change here, and we can only get through this, if we stick together.
He looks at the two women and smiles sadly. Then he suddenly seems to remember something. "Excuse me please. We talk more about this later" Jourdi watches him thoughtful when he leaves. Mia's death she knew was a tragic accident that, as she saw with Puly, weighed heavy on those involved but she wondered just how did Mia get in the barn? Why was she in such a weakened state that she could not survive a gun shot to the leg? If Abe knew Mia was in the barn why not have just ended all the craziness there and then by Give Blake back his daughter, why continue this war something else has to be going on, there are to many missing pieces of the puzzle, to many things left unsaid and to many secrets and lies swarming around pulling a wool over to many eyes. Well not to her she'll play nice, be objective and figure out just what is the real true here and how or if humanity can be brought back from the brink.

(The saga of Puly and Psy, sheriff Lex and Jourdi to be inserted here.)

Jourdi is kidnapped by Colton

Jourdi can escape and finds Blake at the Prison:
Last night I was kidnnaped.I was in the medical bay about to pass out from some painkillers for my injuries with a friend when a punk with a mask came in to rob us at gun point when we wouldnt comply he started shooting passed out in the middle of the shoot out.When I came to I realized i was here I was in the barn that person who I thought was just your average junkie was there he removed his mask..."she paused a few seconds."It was Colton."
COLTON?!!!!
"He is not who he says he is and there is more."
" What are you playing at, little red neck girl, Colton was one of us..what more is there?"
"The explosion in the he caused it...."she paused "Blake what reason would I have to lie to you I already know your secrets and what you hide in your room and i could give a rats ass if you have head in your tank we all do crazy things where we loose someone we love and despite the rumors people said about I still gave you a chance and made up my own mind about you. We haven't know each other long but I am asking you to trust me, I have no reason to lie I am trying to help and end this war between the two clans here."
Blake stares at her for a long moment, then he relaxes and sighs:" Yes...you have no reason to lie, I suppose." He shakes his head in disbelieve, lays a hand on her shoulder briefly:" and you are still here...not like...the rest of them, they left like rats, Even Puly, "he  looks over to the sleeping bag," has became evasive. So, do you have any idea what Colton is up to? Apart from destroying our community?Why did he kidnap you, how could you escape?"
"I believe he kidnapped me ...this is not going to be easy for you.....to do to me what he did to Mia. Blake, when Mia went missing Colton had her and torture her basically letting her waste away, that why Puly's bullet to the leg killed her so easily she was too weak. I escaped because I'm not a helpless little girl that he could manipulate I have years of training, fighting and I'm a survivor I'm not about to be anyones pet or prisoner, not again." she looked in his eyes."So when he stabbed me in the rib cage I lunged forth biting a chuck of flesh from his neck and sent us both plummeting to the bottom of the barn pulled my arm out of my barbed wire constrains and fought him off until I got close to the door and slipped out and took off."
Blake frowns. He goes silent, his fingers curl into fists." This bastard is the cause of everything. Damn killer of children! And all this time we thought..." he narrows his eye:" ok, so he is still at the barn, you say?" he voice is trembling with anger.
"Yes, he is behind everything you and Abe have been his marks, he showed Abe your secrets to manipulate him into this war with you. And the man who blew up Puly's camp in town is part of it too."
Blake grits his teeth, and nods slowly:" and no doubt they are behind all this" he points the graffiti on the walls:" they want to play...well lets play. "Where is this other man? And how did you find out about him?"
"I was there the night the camp blew up and we crossed paths, he said some hostile things about you and Puly. I defended Puly but I'll admit i said I didn't give a shit about you but I hadn't yet decided if i could trust you my apologies."
" Splendid. Alas, I am used to superficial opinions regarding my person. So this man is still hiding in town? And Puly? where is he?"
"As far as I know yes, as for Puly I'm not sure I haven't seen him since ..."trailed off a little and kinda looked far away like she was somewhere else for a moment she crossed her arms flashes of the other night stinging her mind.." Since the other night."
"So Puly was in town as well? Blake's eye lid twitches.
Jourdi snapped back to reality and tilted her head lifting a brow at his twitch and her protective instinct sort of kicked in."Why do you ask?"
"Because I want to know where he stands."
"Yes, he was trying to find out who blew up the camp and then he returned here."
It was the truth but vague.
"ah" Blake nods and and looks at the sleeping bag again:" Well, time to make arrangements then. If you are really on our side, then you have the opportunity to prove it soon, very soon. We will get them, Colton and his bomb happy friend. I need every information you've got." he gives her a  grim smile:" This is all so exciting, I can hardly contain myself, well.." he scratches his chin:" no time for the wicked, I need to talk to the few good men i have left. And make a plan. If you see Radoslaw, he is out on supply run, send  him to me.

A masked Psy stalks Puly and confronts him in town. Pulemetchik reached into his jacket for his switchblade,  "How about a smoke, old friend," he said as he produced a pack of lucky strikes. He tries to be act off hand but when they get close Psy throws punches at him, they both end up up on the ground. Puly rips off Psy's mask and  freezes when he realizes who is fighting him. Psy takes his surprise moment to attack him. Dixie, who secretly is hiding from Colton, watches the fight, suddenly recognized the face that had been under that mask, placed her hands over her mouth to stifle any sound as she watched in horror as Psy slices Puly with his switch blade. The dying Puly mutters "Kid...two things," he manages to say in a fleeting tone, trying to lift two fingers.  "First...ya...always gotta...destroy the brain...and s...second...  I forgive you," he managed to say, rolling onto his side a bit, "You...we never told you...you were too young.  Bear thought...thought telling you was good...Fang and I...nah..we kept it hidden...for too long.  We forced you to grow up with a black lie." Psy  picks up the pistol Puly had dropped, and pulls back the slide. "It doesn't matter, because I won," he says as he aims the pistol down at Puly's head. Just before pulling the trigger, he moves the pistol, firing a shot every half a foot down Puly's body. But when that last bullet comes...he moves it back up to Puly's head. "Good bye," he says almost mechanically, and fires. Puly is dead. His past caught up with him, and Psy took his six years in waiting revenge on him.
Puly used to organize a salvage team in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.  Psy was  13 at the time, and his brother dragged him along with them to be a general 'camp boy' (cleaning, cooking, tending to wounds).  Nes kept keeping an item or two on each run, and stored them in a chest at camp.  Slowly one of the other salvagers got suspicious, and broke open Nes' box to reveal crap he had stolen from them.  So Puly organized a trip into a nearby 'abandoned' village, and the team alerted the Ukrainian Military to Quarantine Breakers.  Of course the military came in, and the team had slipped to a safe place just before so.  They rounded everyone up, including Nes, and shot them in the village square.  Puly and the rest of the team lied to Psy about what really happened, and when the one who wanted to tell him (Bear) did at their parting in New York City, he believed Puly had concocted the whole thing to cheat Nes and Psy out of their share of the salvage.
When Psy leaves Dixie runs over to Pulys dead body and is surprised by Sheriff " Lex" Gellantara. He tries to sooth the crying Dixie, who is in a state of shock. talking to herself: No, no not again…" "Dixie..." he says in a louder tone, "He's gone." Lex brings her back to the house. When he set her down she tore off the mask and shades and broke down crying uncontrollably. "Hes...dead......Puly's dead Lex.......that bastard killed him.... hi killed him…." Lex tries  to get out of her who did it, but she can not tell him that it was Psy, his lover, who committed this murder and worked together with Colton. But under his pressure she finally takes his hand cupping it in both of hers. "Puly took off Nes's mask.......it was Psy Lex........it was Psy...….".
Lex almost breaks under the horrible truth, in the end though he tells Dixie:"He's gotta die"

Fang brings Pulys remains in a bag back to the prison people. He sees Jourdi and Blake there.
Blake loses his mind more and more, locks himself inside his room with his zombie daughter and deserts his people. Many of the group go away. So Fang and some of his friends take over the running of the prison.
It is a fine spring morning when Gera enters Ludger's cell and finds his body lifeless, hanging on a rope from the ceiling. He is very still. Peaceful. He has not turned yet. Some turn only moments after their death, others take longer. There is a note on his bunk, the top one where he used to sleep. He always had his guitar laying on the lower bunk.

Dear Gera,
this morning I woke up very early and staring in the twilight I heard a woman's voice singing. I heard her very clearly. A wonderful full operatic wagnerian voice. And suddenly I knew - I knew that I heard the fat lady singing. So I am ringing the curtain down now. I go home. Please forgive me dear Gera.
-Ludger-
P.S. Please kill my brain

Gera climbs up to the top and drives the long knife in, under his chin, upwards, deep enough to reach the brain. Then she cuts him loose. Louie helps her to wrap him in a blanket. For a moment she hesitates, then she takes his guitar. Louie digs the hole and they bury him on the prison grounds, in the meadows, next to Mia. With his guitar. He went home.

Nobody guards the prison gates anymore and one day Colton enters and kidnaps Gera and her son in exchange for food. But it never comes to an exchange. Jourdi finds Gera and Andy and they sneak away.

Blakes zombie daughter has finally fallen to pieces and Blake breaks down and forgets who he was and suffers a total loss of memory
When he finally comes out of his room, the prison is almost deserted. Only Fang is still there.
Fang was out in the hall after a long day of doing things Fang did!  Mostly scouting, judging by the mud that caked his boots.  He seemed to be enjoying a nice Lucky Strike Cigarette, and contemplating something deep in his head.
Blake had slowly stumbled out of his room. The daylight is hurting his eyes, he walks slow like an old man, supporting himself on the walls whenever he can. Finally he reaches the part where the cells are. He can see a figure standing there. Blake has no recollection of who this person could be. But then again, Blake's mind has been erased anyway. he moves like in a dream.
Fang slowly looked up to see a somewhat familiar face.  Blake!  And without a gun to his head...  "Afternoon Blake," he said with a light Slavic accent.
Blake looks at Fang with a blank expression. The only thing that triggers some sort of memory is the accent of the man. He concentrates on the words, almost studying the moving lips of the blond guy, then he simply repeats the words:" Good afternoon" His voice sounds hoarse, rusty and foreign to himself because he hasn't used his voice for so long.
Fang gave him a look as he crushed the smoke in his hand and dropped the crumbled stick.  "You don't look too good man," he said as he shifted forward, "You....eaten lately, or drank water?"
Blake: It takes a moment before the message reaches his brain, it needs to be decoded before he understands the meaning. Blake smacks his dry chapped lips and nods slowly:" Water would be good"
Fang nodded a bit as he reached into his jacket for his canteen.  Old German Werchmat Heer style one.  Slowly he poured a cup full and handed it ovrr .  "You...locked yourself in all this time...?"
Blake takes the cup, his eyes fixed to the glistening water and greedily drinks it down. Drops of water run down, getting soaked up by his matted beard. He gives the cup back to Fang, nodding. Then he looks back at him:" just...had some things to do". He gazes over to the cells, something has caught his attention. He walks into the cell and runs his gloved hand over the surface of the old desk.
Fang took the cup and wiped it out with his shirt.  "So Blake," he said as he watched him enter his and Dixie's cell.  "My boy and I, we like it here...wanted to stay with you folks.  We can follow orders pretty well and guard shit...train your people too."
Blake raises his head, walks back out to him. "That's good" he agrees. He narrows his eye a little:" What was your name again?"
Fang chewed on his lip a bit.  What had his name been?  "Folks have called me Fang for a dozen years" he said with a frown, "I think my name before was...Rostok."
Blake: "Rostok" Blake repeats and nods:" And where is your son now?" He looks around, searching, taking in the images, most of them seem foreign to him, he can not connect them with anything.
Fang blinked a bit, though now he realized Blake misunderstood him.  "Nah, my boy, my man, one of my crew.  Bear. I think he went to the Highway to get scrap metal to barricade the fences here.  Nice guy, Bear, sooner to crush your skull with his pinky, or give you spine-snapping hugs.''
Blake: "Ah" Blake mutters:" one of your crew. "yes the fences need to be enforced. Tell Bear, thank you...good move" He thinks for a moment then asks:" the highway...quite some miles away...must be a strong man, your Bear"
Fang nodded again with a little grin on his face.  "Yeah, Bear is big, smart, and almost bulletproof!"
Blake: "Good...." Blake whispers, his gaze searching Fang:" got some more water maybe?"
Fang was pretty lanky looking, but his AK looked like the bite to his bark.  His sister was pretty baggy, so chances were he kept a lot under there.  And from the shadow it casted, one could barely make out the glitter of a big iron, .44 Revolver.  "Sure," he said, handing him the whole canteen, "Drink your fill, boss."
Blake takes it, drinking down the water in great gulps. Then he wipes his beard with the back of his hand and smiles faintly:" boss" he says amused.
He seems oblivious to the revolvers outline under Fang's clothes.
Fang grinned some more when he seemed amused.  "You deserve a respectful title," he said with a nod, "Keep that canteen too.  Don't forget the water.  Dehydration is a shitty way to go."
Blake: "Thank you...Rostok" Blake weighs the canteen in his hand:" much appreciated." He looks at Fang with a wistful expression:" yes, a man needs a respectful title" He looks down the hall, then starts to walks downstairs, stumbling a bit as he does so. That night, Blake leaves the prison for good.

Fang locates the hideout of Psy and his men in town, enters and guns everybody down inside. Then he takes Psy's scalp as a trophy.

Blake, who has lost his memory, has left the prison and wanders the plaines aimlessly. He stays at an abandoned camp where the teenagers, Ellie and Mel find him. Mel is Abe's long lost daughter. While Ellie urges Mel to leave with her and try to locate Mel's father Abe, who was currently seen in town, Mel who is ill with asthma and weak, decides to stay the night with the seemingly crazy but mute and harmless Blake. The next morning Ellie arrives back at the camp together with Abe. Abe, emotionally confused to find his lost daughter with Blake, instantly attacks his arch enemy while his daughter, whom he had been searching for so long watches in horror while her father beats up a man who seemed to have lost his wits but was nevertheless kind to her. Shocked and horrified Mel refuses to go with Abe. Then Psy enters the scene. He takes the unconscious Blake with him to his apartment in town.
The injured Blake wakes up at Psy's quarters in town and learns that Psy has found him and patched him up. The crazy talking Psy has his very own philosophy about things. When  Blake is asked what his name is, he tells Psy his name is Tom, since he has no idea anymore who he is. This seems to dissapoint Psy who thought he had caught the leader of the prison group. Alas, Blake still hasn't recovered his memory. Ellie joins the men upstairs. Apparently she was also rescued by Psy and is now staying with him.
Meanwhile Dixie has come to the town to get a pregnancy kit. And although doctors had always told her, she will never be able to have a baby, Dixie gets a positive result. 

Abe has brought his daughter Mel back to the quarters where he lives. But the mood between father and daughter is tense. Mel accuses her father that he has changed, that he has turned brutal and only thinks about himself:" I remember when I was little you used to come into my room and take spiders out in your hand and put em outside. Now you're leapin like a.....like a fuckin ANIMAL at some guy who not 5 minutes before had helped me through an asthma attack. You just ran right past me. Like you didnt even fuckin see me". Abe tells his daughter, that its the times, that have changed everything. He tries to expain to her: "I know I'd made some mistakes in the past hun, I fucked it up with mom, I know, but right now, I'm trying to make our lives as long as possible". They stop when they hear someone behind the door. It turns out to be Dixie, who came to put a few things straight. She sells Abe that his low opinion about the prison group is wrong, that Blake has abandoned his people and that the people who live there now, are decent. She invites Abe to visit them sometime to see for himself.
They are unaware that someone is eavesdropping. Topaz, a woman. She is exhausted, sweaty, hungry, and thirsty, from days of travel. All she wants is some shelter, security and a group. So when she listens to Abe and Dixie, she sees a chance, but which side should she join. The man seems on his own, so she prefers the possibility to try finding the prison people.
Topaz became guard at the prison, Abe who was invited by Dixie is turned away by Topaz, Dixie fixes it and send a note anouncing the changes and that Abe is a welcome guest. 

Good morning my fellow prison mates,
By now I am sure you have all seen we have lost quite a few member and are numbers have dropped pretty low.  This includes Blake who has disappeared and seemingly abandoned us.  We must all pull together more then ever now.
I'm sure you have seen the many changes to the yard as well Bear, Fang and other members have been working hard to fortify our fences and make this place more secure.  If you have anymore ideas or concerns that could better our life here further please bring it to the attention of Bear, Fang or myself.  We have a new guard her name is Topaz please welcome her into our group when you get the chance.
Now lastly to further the goal of keeping us all safe and in an effort to mend old wounds I have worked up a truce with Abe otherwise know as Duck to some of you.  We do not harm him and he will not harm us and if he is to come to the prison he is to be welcomed like one of us and not shot at or turned away.
Thank you all for all that you do and for your cooperation in
working for a better life for us all.


                                                               Dixie

The russians (Bear, Ghost) leave the prison. Psy arrives at the prison and tries to trade Blake in for goods but nobody at the prison is interested. Dixie finally tells Fang she is expecting his baby, Fang is pleased about it and thinks about finding a safer place than the prison. The mercs (Vika, Max, Gaea Schultsky ) arrive, they land their helicopter in town, then they land at the prison. When the mercs try to introduce new orders, Dixie and the remaining prison people (Gera and her son, Topaz, Carmen, Mel, Ellie) decide to leave the prison to the mercs and set up home in the nicer part of the town. The same part where Blake and Psy are.
The mercs try to take over the town.
A surprise is, that one of them turns out to be Ghost. The leader Vika explains the order to the town people:"Can you please try not to get in the way, Command has ordered this town be set up as a quarantine zone, to try and establish a safe zone for our ground teams working to clear the infestation in the area... " Dixie tells her:"This town doesn't need to be quarantined, you bring in choppers and you loud planes and draw every walker from miles around and 3 towns over we weren't infested until you guys arrived." 
Vika pointed to sirens being set up around the outskirts of town. "You seen zodiac does not spread on it's own, so it has a very limited range, if we can get the infected to come to one small area, then we can gas that small area and not risk killing any of you survivors or our own assets on the field...call it a prototype…" Then the town is put under quarantine and the mercs set up barricades: helos flew over head towing massive concrete barriers under them. "Just on time." she muttered. they started to drop the carriers down around the town in various locations to block off ways in and out of the town, leaving only one way in, giving them the advantage over the infected numbers.
Max, one of  the Mercs saves Dixie from the others and had becomes a friend to her, given her a radio to communicate. Psy appears on the scene , telling Dixie that Bear is dead. And for some reason Psy and Ghost believe that Dixie is responsible for his death. 
At night, Fang returns home to Diexie in their new residence in the town and has bad news:
" I discovered, quite painfully, that I have a boney growth on my arm.  I believe my time in the Ukraine is finally coming back to haunt me, in Cancerous forms."

Abe and Hazel come to the town to find food and goods and bump into Dixie. She tells them about the latest stunt from the Mercs and how they intend to take over everything, especially the town and about "Zodiac". They all agree that they must do something against the invaders. They are overheard by Blake who suddenly appears after having listening up in his apartment. Abe wants to kill him but when they realize that Blake, who calls himself "Tom Rakewell" now, seems to have lost his memory, the women persuade Abe to put his personal vendetta against Blake aside for now because they need every single and able man now. Then they discuss a plan against the mercs. 

The uptown is completely under Quarantine. The walls on both sides of the high street stand high and close this part of Shiner. When Dixie wakes up the next morning, Fang's side of the bed is empty and she finds a note:

Dixie,
Forced that paramedic to take me to Halletsville in his ambulance.  Going to see about getting medicine.  Don't trust.
Love,
Fang

P.S., left my AK for you under the bed.  Treat her well, and she'll treat you well.

Dixie feels alone and abandoned, her hands move to her belly. "What am I gonna do?" she asks herself curling back under the covers she cries into her pillow.
Later that day while Blake, Det and two new people, Catheleia and James, are at Dixie's and Fang's  house, there they hear this broadcast:

 Broadcasts on all CV and SAT com channels. 
"Attention survivors living in Shiner, this is CEO Jake Allen of AITC, some of you may be already encountered my company on the ground, or even seen our choppers in the sky, or our mobile base Olympus in the sky, I want to assure you personally, you are in no danger, my company is attempting to eradicate the infection and provide support to whats left of humanity. that being said, they are heavily armed, if you show hostility towards them I have authorized force, I can not afford to lose any more of my company assets. AITC Will be dropping supplies, food,medical, and survival gear. with in shiner, it will be guarded and handed out by my agents on the ground, approach them un armed and they will welcome you with open arms, after a scan to make sure you are not infected. Humanity is not done yet, this is our last stand against the infected, support AITC and you will have your city back again."

They hear the helicopter, storm outside and see it landing again. Agent  Vika with two of her soldiers climbs out, a bitter debate between Dixie and Vika starts. The frontiers harden. The survivors feel threatened and oppressed by the mercs and every new encounter only makes the situation worse.
Town: Gera meets Det who seems to be working for the mercs, but tells her he is not associated with them. In her apartment they find a badly beaten up young woman ( Justine) They tend to her wounds. Gera doesn't know that Det had something to do with her injuries, the girl is a scavenger. Later Gera sees Abe and Hazel. They talk about the plan how to fight off the dictatorship of the mercs and Gera learns that Blake is still alive and in town. Then they see a new survivor who asks for shelter in town. His name is Eli. They tell him about the situation, that the town is in the hand of the mercs but he tells them: "Honestly I'd rather be in here than with the walkers out there...been walking and avoiding them since amarillo".

Blake is waiting for Dixie at her place. He wants to give her a note to pass to the others, about first ideas of the resistance against the mercs. She arrives together with Topaz who is injured (gunshot stomach) Two other survivors enter also. Tom, a young man with his dog and a six year old boy named Jared. Dixie tends to Topaz's injuries while Blake, Tom and Jared talk in the yard. Blake informs them about the current situation in town, how the mercs invaded and that the town people formed a resistance group to fight back. The merc paramedic Schultsky arrives to talk to Dixie and let her know about Fang. He helps Dixie with Topaz. Carmen arrives, she is shaken from what happened to Topaz and Topaz comforts the girl. Suddenly they hear noises and when Carmen tries to find out about, a pack of mutant wolves enters the yard. Another little boy, runs from them (Carl) and they take the boy inside.Then they all shoot everything they've got at the creatures and kill them finally. Dixie examines the cadavers. While Dixie can't say what made the wolves mutate (the virus?) most of the others believe the wolves are lab dogs of the mercs, maybe trained to keep the town people in check.
Topaz, takes care of little Jared, who has taking an instant liking to her, bathing him while the adults go up to the roof terrace. Gera arrives, a little shaken, seeing Blake again and they tell her what happened. Up on the roof terrace they all have something to eat and talk about the the mercs. 
Finally Abe and Hazel arrive. They bring a surprise guest. Someone who will join them to fight against the mercs. It turns out that it is Colton! Emotions now run high. Dixie is shocked and devastated that this arch enemy, the man who kidnapped her once and is said to be responsible for Mias death and the war that erupted between Prison people and Abe's group, should now become their ally. But Hazel and Abe argue that this is no different from trusting Blake who is also supposed to be a bad man, many believe that it was him who killed Mia. So if Abe is forced to trust Blake, Dixie must now trust Colton.
They need every man now, as they have one common enemy: The mercs. Colton tries to explain that he only spread rumors, that he made out to be a monster to protect himself: "I knew i couldnt survive alone so becoming someone else and making a fake story that made me a leader would keep me alive longer, when my group split up i had to do something to survive." Blake on the other hand stays calm (because his convenient loss of memories lets him believe he is some guy called Rakewell and this "Blake" is someone he sometimes gets mistaken for.) The situation erupts and Colton leaves and with that, they lose an important strong ally. And then a new broadcast is transmitted:

"Attention good survivors living in shiner, this is Jake Allen, CEO of AITC, some of you may have noticed the walls set up around the town, the towers out in the outskirts, these towers are for your protection and ours as well, project ZODIAC is a heavy deadly chemical weapon to both the living and the infected, I must urge you NOT to try and go near these towers, I repeat do NOT go near these towers. AITC will continue to supply the Zones, how ever this being said you are free to leave, the gates are not to keep you in but to keep the infected out, how ever when you return we must check to see if you are infected, this is to insure the safety of the other survivors.
[14:53] Altier Verwood: "Further more, the towers blasting the loud sounds, these are to draw in the infected on purpose, I repeat this is intentional. the more infected we draw out and kill the less we have to risk our agents in a door to door fight with the infected, I may be CEO of a company but I still care about my agents. Humanities time is not up yet, we will continue to fight against the infected, you have my word as CEO of this company. Jake Allen over and out"

They all run outside and gather at the wall, looking for the chemical towers. The merc's leader Vika pulls up in a humvee, protected by a group of heavily armed PMC's.
"going out for a scavenging run ?" she asks the survivors, as the PMC's look on with cautious glances to one another, M4's ready to shoot if necessary. And the survivors, supressing their fear, frustration and anger, back away and go to their homes...

The Merc's Pull Out

* Broadcasting on all CV,AM,FM,SAT com frequencies.*
Attention people of shiner, this is Jake Allen CEO of AITC, due to disturbing reports I have received of armed hostility towards my agents on the ground level, I can no longer ensure their safety, rather than order them to tighten the hold on the town I will be removing my agents from shiner, to prevent a pointless and inevitable shoot out between my agents and the survivors, i will be removing them and deploying them else where, there is no use in having my agents die in a fight against survivors when we should be putting our efforts towards fighting the infected. though we will be leaving, AITC will not halt it's fight against the infected, we will continue our work against the infected and freeing this world one city at a time. if their are no further hostilities towards my agents on the ground I will not have to order further action to be taken. IF there is further hostilities I will be

 forced to take further action in defending my agents. Humanities fight is not yet over, there is a saying, the night is darkest before the dawn, no matter how corny this line is, it is true, both scientifically and metaphorically, we will keep fighting, you have my word... Jake Allen, CEO of Allen internation tech corporation .. over and out."


Blake "Rakewell goes downtown and talks to Abe and his people about creating an alliance between Uptown and Downtown. Due to the latest events (Mutants, Cloaked Creature)he wants them to build a strong unit against the odds.
Abraham Lynch  focus on Blake's answer as he drops himself heavily over a wooden box, nods in agreement a few times before he replies... "yeah, but what bout' the kindergarden you have there?? honestly, I have no nerves to babysit no lil' bugger anymore"...
Blake raises his hands"No no, I am not saying we have to move in together, you people stay here, we stay at our end. But this is one town and we got both ends covered. Of course we look after our kids, but we need to work together on defending the whole town, making our buildings more secure. Building up walls, having guards on patrol.
The two depart with a firm handshake.

Blake aka Rakewell visits again Downtown to confirm the alliance and to suggest some trading. He needs vehicles and offers Abe's group medical supply in return. The Downtown group agrees to the deal. Hazel mentions Colton has beeb attacked by a group of hooded scavengers and has locked himself in his room at the motel. Eli clarifies that the vehicles are not ready to trade yet. They are still at the highway and they need to form a group to go about the task. Blake holds back on his part of the deal until the goods can be delivered but he agrees to help securing the vehicles from the highway.

Abe and Eli come to the town. They see Topaz who has recovered from her illness. Topaz tells the men about her idea to secure the town. Building trenches. Blake joins them. They continue their talk from the other day about getting vehicles from the highway and making them function again. Eli is called away. They all talk about what other alternatives for securing their town they have. Hazel suggests noise makers (the idea was introduced by the mercs)  to draw the walkers away from them. Topaz leaves. Blake, Abe and Hazel decide to go on a scout run to the highway to check the situation there. Once there they see that the amount of walking corpses is higher them they had thought. They observe them, hiding behind stranded vehicles and manifest their plan about the repair and collection of the cars.
There is a good reason why Blake aka Rakewell needs vehicles for transport. His new business idea. "Rakewell's Zombie Extravaganza". "Winner takes all but remember: If you can't beat them - Join them"
Entertainment for the people. A chance to get food, medication and shelter if you are willing to risk your neck. For some it might even be a thrill or a chance to give way to the madness.
Embrace the new era!

The summer rains have started, the days are humid, damp and it keeps raining and raining. The sound of distant thunderstorms and lightening everywhere you go…
Dixie, James, a new town resident, Jen and Rakewell explore the old abandoned farm on the plains.
Topaz, her friend and Dixie plan to grow veggies and fruit in their gardens in town and prepare for this task, collecting plants and seeds from the plains and setting up barrels to collect and store rainwater.
Abe finds Carlotta in Downdown, the woman who had been saved by sheriff Lex once. She had drifted around the area ever since, after Lex had laid fire to the apartment. Now she asks Abe for help and after some reluctance he agrees to give her shelter.

THIS IS THE STORY SO FAR