Ghost Ships of Troy (#FFFFFF and Tsemara)

[Tsemara]

It's the early 21st century. Scientists have been working on a formula that will help patients recover from crippling injuries. The serum was designed to hasten the healing process, and provide movement to limbs that were previously paralyzed. The results were promising.

No one thought anything suspicious when a few of the scientists developed feverlike symptoms. Influenza was making its' rounds again in the school system. Co-workers figured that their peers had been infected by their children. When the symptoms worstened, the ill developers were given sick leave until they were ready to work again.

Soon there were reports of indiviuals suffering some sort of psychosis, attacking people. According to the reports, the individuals that were apprehended were attempting to eat the people they were assaulting. The victims were reported to have passed away with mysterious flu-like symptoms. They were later seen assaulting passerbys. The dead were rising.

A week has passed since these reports have been filed. There is still electricity and running water. Phone lines are down. Law enforcement is a thing of the past. Zombies wander the streets. Survivors have holed up in shelters, or have reveled in the anarchy that has been created.

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Name;; Dekkard Graves
Age;; 21
Gender;; Male
Ethnicity;; American
Personality;; He's a pretty funny guy, actually. He likes to joke around... A lot. He's almost always smiling, unless he's down. That doesn't happen often. He's a very happy guy as well. He hasn't found much wrong with his life. It's actually been a lot better than most lives could be and he is thankful for that. He's always carrying a guitar, almost everywhere he goes. He loves to write music and he loves to play music that has already been written. He's just completely a music kind of guy.
Appearance;; His hair is a bright red color, almost like rust, but not quite that dark. His eyes are an emerald green, bright and shiny. He's very pale, like he never goes outside. Truth is, he's Irish... So, he just has a pale complexion, no matter what. He has his right eyebrow pierced and the left side of his lip is pierced as well. He always keeps a silver barbell in them both. He's got an Industrial ear piercing on both ears, as well as a one on the Tragus and normal earlobe piercings.
Background;; His parents have always been there for him, buying him whatever he wanted. He didn't like that much, to the point where he stopped telling them what he wanted because it was nicer for him to be able to get what he wanted instead of them always getting it. His parents are always worried that he doesn't have enough money, so they come visit his house and hide money in random places of his house, figuring he would find it later. When he moved out, he went to college and joined a band as the base player as well as the lead singer. They became rather popular after a while and actually had a few things in the Top Metal Hit List, but nothing too major. They aren't recognized by too many people, so it's nothing excessive.

[Tsemara]

Name: Quinn Feral
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: American
Personality: Quinn is slightly out of touch with the real world, having been involved with gaming and comic books for a number of years. She is friendly and polite with people that aren’t outright frightened off by her outlandish mannerisms or her knowledge of random facts. She finds most insults directed at her amusing and laughs them off or ignores them altogether. However, threats against her or people she deems as hers are met with some type of violence (implied or otherwise). She is partial to blades and usually carries one on her person, but wouldn’t say no to a blunted weapon, if necessary.
Appearance: Quinn is of average height and medium build. Her nationality is hard to place. She has somewhat tanned skin and freckles with straight long brown hair. Though her hazel eyes hint that she has Asian ancestry. She's keen on wearing dark earthy colors, black, browns, and greens. She's a staunch believer of comfort over fashion, when it comes to clothing. And any time she appears fashionable is purely by accident. She's mainly in jeans, cargo pants, or long shorts, a long t-shirt of sorts, and hiking boots. (Here's a pic.)
Background: The Ferals were a small middle class family from southern California. A mom, a dad, 2.5 kids, or basically two kids and a pet. Quinn, and her brother Terry were encouraged to read growing up, though the results were not quite what their parents had in mind. Terry became very good at history and battle tactics. Quinn was more involved with crypto zoology and graphic novels. Through high school, she worked part time at the local comic book store, after classes. Through college, she took random classes just to receive the minimum amount of credits needed to graduate. In the meantime she works at the comic store and dabbles with tabletop games and RPGs.

[Tsemara]

The morning air was still and strangely quiet. The sound of birds was missing. No horns from commuting motorists blared. No children complained that it was too early to go to school. The only movements to be seen were that of the drunken shuffling of zombies. Some wandered aimlessly. Other 'chased' after prey that was no longer there.

Quinn sighed and hunkered back down behind the dumpster she was using as cover. She removed her paintball mask and hood. She was getting hot.

Her little hideout was running out of food. It was time to move on to the next step of her evacuation plan. But with her brother away and her unable to contact him, the motivation to leave was missing. She might as well get some more supplies and come up with an alternate plan. Though, there was a chance that Terry would go looking at their destination.

She scratched her chin before putting her mask back on. Standing up, she put on her hood again. She peered out of the alley. The zombies were too far to pose a problem. She could make it. The grocery store was only half a block away. She could see what was left to be looted. Maybe she could grab some seeds and stuff while she was there. The young woman scurried over to the gutted convinence store. She was wary of the broken glass as she crept inside. She passed by the still bodies of smote zombies and unfortunate pedestrians.

Quinn gripped her machete tightly as she began moving down the isles. She listened for the sounds of zeds as she looked for foodstuffs.

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Ever since the outbreak, it was obvious that Dekkard didn't have too much to do with music anymore. He'd even had to resort to using his guitar as a weapon. Though, it didn't stand up very well against more than one and a half zombies... It still broke his heart to have to use his guitar that he purposely strung backwards so he could allow his guitar to have such a unique sound... Much like Jimi Hendrix did. That was one of his idols, after all. He sometimes wondered what Jimi Hendrix would do if he were in a zombie world like this... He shrugged that off, figuring he'd just loot all of the alcohol stores or something.

Stepping out from behind the car he was taking refuge in, his stomach growled lightly and he clutched his hand to it tightly. He was so hungry. He'd put off going to get food because, well... He really didn't want to become food... Going hungry for a day or three was so much better than becoming zombie chow.

Eyes following a few zombies that were more than fifty feet away, he found it an easy target to get to the grocery store. He pushed himself away from the car and kept low, cursing himself for not bringing a hood or something since his bright hair was sure to attract some attention... He hated that sometimes and more often than none, he wore a hat to cover his bright red hair.

Thankfully, he made it into the store though and the door was open, making him draw out his rather long boot knife. He held it out in front of himself as he moved down the aisles, looking for food to soothe his growling stomach.

[Tsemara]

Quinn was busy looking at the various seeds that were left behind in the store. Flowers, useless. Zuchinni, she was going to get sick of it, eventually, but they were good. She pocketed a couple packs. Same with the rest of the edible things she could find. She didn't know how she would be able to replant some of the vegetables, after she was out of seeds.

Her thoughts were broken when she believed that she hard the sound of footsteps. She stuffed the rest of her loot into her pockets and drew her blade. The steps didn't sound like they belonged to to a zed. There was another survivor in the building, wandering the aisle nearby. She bit her lip, hoping they didn't have a gun. Though, there was a chance that whomever was roaming around wasn't one of the crazies.

She moved to the end of the aisle she was in. There was nothing more she could use here. Hopefully, the other person would leave her alone while she looted. The young woman had misgudged what aisle the other person was in and nearly walked into them as she rounded the once packed shelves.

The man didn't look too threatening, outside of the knife in his hand. At least he looked sane. Hungry, perhaps, but sane. She probably looked a bit strange, maybe threatening with her baggy cargos, hoodie, and face covering mask. The machete in her gloved hand probably didn't look all that inviting either.

Quinn held up her hands in a nonthreatening manner, in spite of the blade. "Sorry dude," she said. Her voice was muffled slightly by the mask. "I'll check the next one." She watched the guy as she backed out. She moved to the next aisle, listening. Would he follow? Or would he leave her alone?

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Making his way down the aisles, he was rather disheartened to find that there wasn't much food left in this store. He wanted something quiet to eat right now... He wasn't having much luck with that though as he scanned over the strange food items on the shelves. He finally found something he could eat and he was so very glad of that. He sighed heavily and reached out his hand, grabbing hold of a small bag of carrots he found in the cold section. Thankfully, that was still on in the store because the electricity hadn't been cut off quite yet. He imagined it would be soon... But not even cold could keep all of this food good.

Opening the bag quietly, he popped a few in his mouth and instantly felt better. He moved down another aisle and was looking at the stuff, stuffing a few random things into the bag he'd had tucked under his arm. He put a bag of chips or two in there just because he missed those... There were so many things he found himself missing, but he knew it was better to just miss them than to risk you life for a bag of Doritos... But they were here when he got here, so may as well take a bag or two. He shrugged that off and sighed. It would at least make his cravings go down...

Then he found some bottled water and that was insanely amazing. He was surprised there was any left. He shoved about 10 bottles into his bag, scared he wouldn't be able to carry it on his shoulder if there were more because the strap would probably break. Then he wouldn't be able to sneak back to where he was staying very easily... He would rather not have enough water and make it home than to have too much water and become a snack.

Hearing footsteps, he stopped and slowly moved all the way to the end of the aisle. He had his knife up and he was ready in case it wasn't a human... Though, with how sure the steps sounded... He was sure it wasn't one of those monsters he'd been avoiding outside... Though, it could still be a completely insane person. He hadn't seen a sane person in so long, so he was worried even if it wasn't undead...

Exhaling heavily when the person moved around the aisle and spoke to him, he was completely relieved. Then she moved away and went down another aisle and that was even better. He moved down the aisle she'd just walked up and he was searching the shelves, stuffing things into his bag hastily. Then he realized... That was another human being that wasn't insane like the rest. He looked back towards the end of the aisle and walked back down it. He moved to the aisle she'd gone down and he slowly followed her.

"I haven't seen anyone that wasn't insane in a long time... I didn't think there were anymore people like that here," he said as he caught up with her. Since they were the town it started in, things went to hell super fast there.

[Tsemara]

Quinn stuffed a couple boxes of instant breakfast things into her bag. She still had running water where she was hiding, and a filter thing to keep from getting sick. The breakfast things would keep her going for a while. Though, she might as well get some sugar while she was here. She was running low. She had given up on cold cereals. Milk that hadn't soured was getting hard to find. But, they did make good snacks sometimes.

She continued to walk down the aisle, checking the various food items that remained. She didn't find much she could use or even eat. She went down the next aisle stuffing a couple things into her bag. She'd leave soon. She was running out of room in her bag.

She turned when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. She held her machete between them, hoping it would deter a confrontation. Just because he sounded sane didn't mean that he was a nice guy. Though coversations were better than being jumped.

"Uh, well, it's kind of hard to stay sane in this kind of mess," she replied. "And there are a couple of them around. They're just hard to find."

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Shrugging his shoulders, he nodded his head as he looked down. He was trying to think about why he even wanted to say something to her to begin with. He was just missing human contact most of the time since he was such a very social creature before all of this. He sighed and then shifted his bag onto his shoulder, figuring he'd find more things to stuff in there before he left. He moved to another aisle and grabbed some powder stuff and some cereal, just as the other girl had... It was a good idea to him because he could eat it dry and it would be rather filling as well.

Grabbing some more things that wouldn't have to be cooked, or they only needed water added, he soon found that his bag was full. He stuffed the things down into the bag and zipped it up. His eyes rested on the medicine section and that definitely got his attention. He walked over to it and grabbed some sinus pills along with some pain killers because he knew he was very likely to get sick, but only normal sick... He'd not been unlucky enough to come close to getting infected yet, thankfully.

Making his way back over to the other woman in the store, he sighed. "I guess the reason I talked to you is because... Well, it's mainly the fact that I haven't seen another person that wasn't completely insane. I actually had to kill someone that wasn't a zombie because they were out of their mind and tried to kill me. I just figured we would fair better if we teamed up... Though, I understand that it's hard to trust people in these times."

That was definitely what he wanted to talk to her about. He knew it would be better if there were more than one person attempting to survive because that meant they could get rid of more of the undead and have better chances of survival... He'd also actually have someone to talk to if he so desired. That was good. He hated not being around people for some reason.

[Tsemara]

Quinn watched the man as he went back to browsing for food things. After a couple moments, she put her machete back in its' frog. She had lost the sheath ages ago, so had to make do with a homemade holder. The man didn't seem like that big of a threat. But if she had learned anything during this mess was that survivors were more than they seemed.

She was beginning to to make her way back to the entrance when she was approached by the guy again. Thankfully, she managed not to jump and draw her machete when he spoke again. But that was only a minor victory. She'd draw it soon anyway.

"Mmm," Teaming up was a good idea, but it was usually better with people that you knew you could trust. That's how people got killed in horror movies. "Well, teaming up is a good idea. I don't like trusting strangers, though. I got jumped last time I did that. Nn..I don't think I killed him, not completely anyway. The zeds took care of the rest."

Quinn reached into her hood to scratch the back of her head. After a moment, she sighed. It would be nice to be able to talk to someone again. "Where are you staying?" she asked.

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Nodding his head, he shrugged lightly. "I understand. I wouldn't blame you if you had your weapon on you at all times until you were sure you could trust me... I just like the sounds of there being two people together instead of just me again... Sure, I can fair pretty well against the zeds, but... You know. Strength in numbers?" he asked lightly, trying to figure out ways to make it sound better. He was obviously not very sure on how to ask this, but it was already out in the open now. He really needed to think about it.

"Yeah. Someone asked to team up with me and they jumped me as well, that's the one I had to completely kill to keep them from killing me. I left a nice little manwhich on the sidewalk for some random predators," he said with another shrug. It was obvious he didn't feel bad after having killed that person because it was just self defense... There was nothing wrong with self defense.

"I'm staying in an old warehouse on the edge of town. It's still got running water and most of the place has electricity... It's rather sturdy as well, so it's hard to get into the building unless you know how. The only downside is," he then patted the bag he'd forced zipped. "It ran out of food since I've been there... Granted, there wasn't too much to begin with... I haven't eaten in a few days, so everything in here was looking good to me, honestly."

Sighing, he really liked the idea of teaming up with someone that seemed to be completely sane still. His hand was still gripping his knife firmly. It was a habit for him when he wasn't in his warehouse because he was aware that he could potentially get eaten around every turn...

[Tsemara]

"Yeah, strength in numbers," Quinn repeated. She thought about the location of the mans' safe house. In a sense, it was probably better that where she was located, but then, she hadn't found the thing she had been looking for. The moment she found an RV of something simmilar, she was so out of the city.

"What kind of warehouse was it?" She asked eventually. "Were there others around it? How far away is it?" She paused, thinking that she had heard something. She drew her machete, looking in the direction of the sound.

Outside a zombie was walking over broken glass, currently oblivious to the humans. It shuffled along, moaning hungrily.

"My place is about a mile from here," Quinn said, her tone low. "It's not much, but it's better than sticking around here."

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Turning to see the zombie right outside the window, he moved a little closer to where she was, knowing she was closer to the zombie than he was. He then sighed and nodded his head lightly. He had his eyes locked on where it was going and how it was moving. He was always thoroughly disgusted and wanted to kill every single one of them he saw... But he didn't have the patience nor the will to do that. He knew it would attract attention from others in a place like this.

"My place is about three miles from here... And I have a car with a full tank of gas as well. I've been planning on leaving here, but I never figured out where I was going to go... Because, well... There's not too many options," he whispered to her, his eyes still locked on the movement outside. He was gripping his knife tightly as he clutched his bag to his side as well.

"It was some warehouse that produced metals and made them into knives and whatnot. It's a fairly decent spot and I've collected most of the knives together already... It's where I got this particular one," he said and flashed his knife a little. He then pointed down to his boot that had the cover clipped to the inside. "They also dabbled a little in the leather industry to make covers for their projects. There wasn't anyone else in it by the time I got there though."

Nodding his head, he looked back at her. "If anything we can go to your place and then go to mine a little later... If necessary."

[Tsemara]

Quinn took an instinctive step away from the man when he approached. He wasn't being threatening, but she didn't like him being so close. Not while he was still considered a stranger. She pondered for a moment, about his hideout. "There are a couple cars near my place that have enough gas to get around in. I've been using a bike for most things. It's quieter. I'm trying to find a winnebago, or something like that. But I've not had any luck so far.

"If we can get to my hideout, I can probably get my things to consolidate our stuff. If anything it would keep us from having to move back and forth between the places," She continued. "I've got a place in mind to go, but I haven't been able to come up with the gumption to leave. It's too far to travel by bike, especially by oneself."

She crept over to the entrance. Her current bike was down the alley. "Do you have your car here? Or did you walk?" She whispered as she contemplated her next move. The zombies were milling about aimlessly. But their luck couldn't hold out forever.

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Noticing how she moved away, Dekkard didn't take it offensively. He knew she was just not wanting to be so close to a stranger. He still hadn't been too awful close to her to begin with, he just wanted to be prepared to fight some of the undead if they came in here because they heard their light talking. They'd been lucky so far and none of them had come in here... He was glad of that, but he knew that wasn't going to hold out forever, sadly.

"That makes sense. I have a few cars around the warehouse that still have gas as well... Over half a tank each. I haven't really paid too much attention to them, but my vehicle isn't too loud..." he said and then shook his head, glancing back to her. He was insanely curious as to where she was headed because he didn't know of a place he could go just yet. Then again, he hadn't really thought about it too awful hard.

"I didn't bring my car. I just ran here because I honestly needed the exercise... I traveled along the rooftops when I got to the more crowded part of town because the zombies don't end up up there often... But when it gets closer to the outskirts, I tend to take the back alleys. I never really thought to have a bike," he whispered as he followed behind her, wondering how she's traveled through here on a bike and survived.