Is anyone out there? [OPEN]

[Claire Cooper]

Two weeks had passed. Two dreaded hell on earth weeks. Two weeks of running, hiding, living like a criminal and to Police Officer Cooper that wasn’t what she had ever been used to. What had happened? The question that rang dominantly in everyones minds. Everything had been normal, whatever that was, until she had gone to Staten Island where her father had mysteriously left without a word. It was because of his call she’d ventured down and it was because of an urgent plea from her superior that she’d returned back to Queens. But this, this was not what she had ever expected to face on her return. Claire had had the chance to leave, escape this nightmare, but the blonde had had to be the hero, she just had to let her desire to help take control and rush to save a random woman who had unfortunately died in the process anyways...leaving Claire stranded inside the city. Alone and unprepared for nothing she had ever expected.

This wasn’t good. That much was obvious by now. But whatever was going on, she had a sneaky suspicion her father was somehow involved. Claire was observant and an intelligent woman, she knew how to piece puzzles together and this was far too much of a coincidence not to be related. Her father’s unexpected phone call, her returning to her childhood home to find his coveted work sprawled out for any eyes to see, his disappearance without a word, the call only days later from her work, the spreading virus over the news, the devastation upon her return to Queens and the evacuation process out of the city. When you listed everything that had happened in only a matter of days it did make one consider the links and secrets that were clearly not being expanded on. Surely the worst was out, already roaming the streets, the undead...so why couldn’t someone just shed some light on the situation?! Hadn’t they figured a cure to this virus? Surely they hadn’t just unleashed this monstrosity out into the streets of New York without knowledge of a cure? Whatever had happened she was certain there was more to it than anybody knew and maybe whatever that was was hidden within her father’s research. It was why she was even still carrying it around. Hope. No matter what there was always hope. It was that one thing that kept everyone going, all the survivors Claire hoped were hiding out within the State, they all had that one thing in common, that hope. But if there was something in it, if there was a formula or an explanation at least of what was going on, a cure, a vaccine, some kind of agent that could protect them from whatever this was, then it could save both her and whoever else was still alive. It was worth a try, what else was there to do? Only problem...though she was intelligent and understood some of her father’s work with him having taught her in her youth, she wasn’t completely versed in his language. She needed help. But she wanted help she really could trust.

Rucksack slung over both shoulders, Officer Cooper swiftly half ran down the deathly streets of Queens, her gun hanging loosely at her side in her firm grip, just incase. It was insane. The whole concept was insane, something out of some Hollywood movie! But nevertheless, she had to adapt to the reality of this, this was actually happening! And if she understood that this place was dangerous, perceived it as another police case, criminals on the loose, everyone a suspect, then she could at least still keep her own sanity. Claire was a strong woman, both mentally and physically capable, she’d be fine. Taking a sharp turn, Claire pointed her gun in her outstretched arms, ready for any that may approach her on the derelict street. It would be only too predictable for her to turn into a street of undead, a zombie pouncing out in front of her, infecting her before she could think of running. Nothing. She was safe...for now.
Her father had wanted her to leave the city...she hadn’t. He had warned her to be careful...she’d at least do that. From what the blonde had made out from both his research, knowledge of her work and common sense, she knew being scratched or injured wasn’t the best idea to find herself faced with. She point blank refused to become one of those things...so she was adamant that, at all costs, she was going to stay injury free. Continuing down her road ahead, she let her gun drop to her side but kept a firm hold and an eager eye, ready to aim and shoot if need be...

[NPC]

Elizabeth Ryder
Ezekiel Mendez
Jake Hunter

“It’s okay sir, you’re going to be okay...” Liz assured the older man. He’d been in her company for the last hour; he was in a really bad way. Those things hadn’t got him, but he’d sustained a terrible injury from a fall that left him unable to walk without aid. He’d stumbled and found himself impaled on a rusty bar which they had freed him from after hearing his cries as they passed by a nearby construction site. The 33 year old doctor was crouched over the older man who was losing a lot of blood. The colour in his face had drained now, his hands trembled and he found it more difficult to conjure up words let alone sentences.

“Can I get some help here?” the brunette begged, turning a glance toward the men behind her. The first man whom stood behind Liz was Ezekiel Mendez, who was silently watching Liz at work, the look on his face showed signs of evident uncertainty. Zeke shook his head “Uh..i don’t know about that..h-he doesn’t look all that good. Hey, maybe you should take a step back from him. He might turn into one of those things...you can’t know for certain” Zeke warned, he was only trying to be cautious here. She was there right over him; it would take all of three seconds to get her. He wasn’t scared, but he also wasn’t about to watch grandpa here make a meal out of the doctor.

How could they be sure that this injury was the only one he’d sustained? What was stopping him from jumping up and ripping the rest of them apart? They’d barely have time to react, he’d seen how those fuckers moved and despite whether they were old or over weight some of them moved crazy quick. The man paced ever so, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly with his left hand whilst he held a metallic handgun in his right. He was dressed in black, black jeans, steal toe capped boots and a black leather jacket. He was covered from head to toe in tattoos the most prominent being the large one on the side of his neck.

The other male of the group was stood at the window, staring between the gaps in the boards they’d used to block up the windows preventing easy access. They were hauled up in one of the houses, it wasn’t much but for now it provided shelter and decent storage for supplies. Jake Hunter was a 24 year old football player and more or less the complete opposite of the Hispanic biker stood a few feet away. Where Zeke looked like a tough nut, Jake was more the pretty boy looking kind only underneath those good looks he wasn’t as angelic as you might think. Sure he wasn’t a trouble maker but when the shit hit the fan, he did whatever he needed to do to survive. He was his father’s boy after all and because of that he wasn’t the kind of guy to give up without a fight...he didn’t like losing all too much.

An annoyed sigh escaped the 24 year old as he fleeted a glance over at Zeke “Just fucking help her. We can get him patched up for now and make a run for it. Those things aren’t outside, the cars right there. We can get him to a hospital and give him what he needs. We can't just sit here and watch him die. So help her for gods sake” Jake told him, turning his gaze back to the outside street. He would help her himself, but he’d seen something outside...a possible survivor. Zeke shot daggers at him, grumbling he muttered under his breath ‘asshole’ before turning and walking over to Liz.

She was trying her best to stop the bleeding but it wasn’t looking so good. It’d been made worse when they’d had to move him to get here after their previous ‘hideout’ had been broken into by the infected. He narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better look and be certain of what he had seen “Hey...there’s a woman out there.” Jake said quietly. Liz looked over at him and Zeke simply shook his head, typical that brownie here would perk up as soon as he got a scent of a female. He snorted, placing his hand on the cloth covering the man’s abdomen as Liz had instructed. “Is she....alive?” Liz asked hesitantly, as she continued to aid to the man’s wounds. Jake didn’t reply until he could be sure, a moment passed and then he got a better look at her as she came closer into view...she was holding a gun, that was a good sign.

“Looks that way...we need to get her off the street, those things will tear her apart.” Jake stated taking a step back from the window as he turned to the other two. He nodded at Zeke “Cover me, just in case..” he urged, those things may not have been trawling the street outside right now but they often came out of nowhere. Zeke eyeballed him for a moment, really not wanting to help him at all because he didn’t like him. They’d butted heads several times now and mostly because Zeke was being a cunt about everything, he wouldn’t admit it but it was true and they all knew that.

Still, for the sake of the woman outside Zeke decided to pitch in. Standing upright he gripped his gun tight and followed behind Jake as he moved to the door. The dark haired 24 year old slowly opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. He was dressed in a simple grey t-shirt and dark jeans. He stood at the top of the steps leading from the porch and watched the blonde as she slowly walked in the centre of the street, gun up ready to take out anything that came into view.

He stepped away from the door glancing back to see if Zeke was there, sure as anything he was standing ready with his gun. He may not have liked the guy, but at least he was reliable to some extent. He figured Zeke had a rep to withhold, even if there was no one around who actually gave a shit about reputations anymore. Jake gave a grateful nod, trying to put past shit on the back burner. At the end of the day, they all only had the person standing next to them..there was no fucking point in fighting.

With his gun in his hands, Jake began to walk down the steps and out toward the sidewalk in a bid to grab the blondes attention without making any noise that could possibly bring unwanted attention right to them. Those things followed sounds for miles you had to tread carefully.

[Claire Cooper]

The streets were so quiet these days. Of course they would be with the undead, or whatever they had become, running around New York. But never the less, it was too quiet for comfort. Anyone in the city was either hiding quietly or dead. These days, ‘dead’ didn’t even cover the norm, it was far more an extensive description than it had ever been and used more frequently since this extra-ordinary outbreak. Whatever was going on, and despite her ability to look after herself, she didn’t want to be stuck out here on her own for too long. It was something Claire would never admit to out loud, her pride and strength far too dominant, but it was the truth and that you couldn’t hide from yourself.

Black leather jacket glistened slightly under the lights as she carefully manoeuvred her steps like it was life or death, and in some respects it truly was that. The elongated shadow of her cast upon the ground worryingly; it was another detection of her presence, one which she would rather went less unnoticed. One trigger. Just one small sound, one light flicker of presence and it could mean a situation even the most capable did not want to find themselves cornered by. Claire looked ready for business, leather boots covered her legs to her knees, protection of some sort, at least that was the best way to think of it. If something lunged for her ankles at least they’d not breach skin so easily before a swift bullet through the head was executed. The young woman wasn’t stupid. A cop, yes. But she also knew she was not indestructible. She knew her capabilities and she knew at the end of the day she was only human, something this virus of sorts liked to plague. One thing was for certain in Claire’s mind, she wasn’t about to run kamikaze into the streets of New York.

As the confident blonde purposefully walked into the middle of the street, her arms raised her gun once more taking precaution. Slowly, carefully she moved with every step. Eyes flicked around her, continuously watching, an open space was not a safe space, you were like a sitting duck, seen by anyone, vulnerable to anything. A movement caught in the corner of her eye. A sharp turn of her head, her gun followed, hands clasped around it. She dared not speak. Instead, she watched him as the figure walked to the sidewalk. Despite not wanting to in her current location, Claire stopped dead, gun still pointing at him. The man was young, not too far off her own age she presumed and stood confidently, something she presumed was why he was still living. Whether it was his confident choices, his mental strength or sheer luck was uncertain, but there was something about him that radiated qualities of one strong enough to adapt to the current situations. At least he too seemed calm and understanding of the rules of survival. Meeting someone who was a nervous wreck was certainly a bonus. But was he trustworthy? Or would he shoot her dead in her sleep? But did she have much of a decision?

“Are you injured?” she asked authoritatively yet barely at speaking level. It was loud enough for the man to hear if he was listening. Attracting unwanted attention would not be wise out here in the open. Before Claire would progress anywhere near this stranger, before she would wander into unknown territory with anyone, she wanted to be certain her own safety was not at risk. Claire wanted answers, she wanted to help but no matter where her heart stood, she wasn’t about to compromise her own life. Kill or be killed was something the woman was willing to put into action if the need called for it.

[NPC]

Elizabeth Ryder
Ezekiel Mendez
Jake Hunter

"Are you injured?" The blonde enquired. Jake lightly shook his head, slowly holding his hands up as if quietly showing her that he was injury free "No ma'am, but there's a man inside whose in a bit of a state right now. He hasn't been bitten though, it's under control." Jake replied. He lowered his gun some, allowing her to see that he meant no threat to her "You should really consider being in doors, it's not safe out here. We have resources, food...shelter." Jake handed out with a small smile, he took a step back toward the door and urged the woman toward him.

Opening the door he stepped inside to see Liz and Zeke continuing to try and aid there injured comrade. It was unfortunate, but casualties were expected. Jake entered and watched the duo as they continued to work on him, Liz wasn't one to give up and he admired that about the woman. She didn't know this man, but his life still held great importance to her. So, she continued to fight onward in the hopes that he'd get better and there wouldn't be another body to burn in the morning.

Jake didn't want anyone else to die, but unfortunately there was no stopping it. The virus spread like wildfire, the fever burning up inside of you until there was nothing left but death. Once you died, and then you came back...you'd be gone forever.

[Claire Cooper]

Claire nodded at the man’s statement, watching still as he held up his hands as if for inspection. Under control? It really better be under control she considered as she looked left and right for sign of anything unwanted on the streets and hastily walked across to the man. “It’s not safe anywhere. Being in doors is only a temporary solution...or a trap” she much preferred moving about. Staying in doors may be safe but it was only safe for so long and then they would come. These zombies were not known to anyone and thus neither were their capabilities or development, and Claire wasn’t intending to back herself into a corner to find out.

The man walked inside and with a last glance of the outside street, Claire followed him in. The injured person was the first one she saw, surrounded by two others clearly trying to aid his pain. “What happened to him?” she questioned the man who had ushered her into the building. Looking him she knew he would only be a liability but in their position, she’d have done the same. In reality, however, that did not make their travels to be any easier with an injured group member. Claire’s eyes flicked around the room taking everything in. Objects, weapons, doors and windows of escape, one could never be too careful. “How long have you been hiding out here?” she asked softly as she glanced around before stopping on the first man again, “I’m Claire by the way” she introduced, why not?

[NPC]

Elizabeth Ryder
Ezekiel Mendez
Jake Hunter

“It’s not safe anywhere. Being in doors is only a temporary solution...or a trap” Claire told him, as she moved toward Jake as he stood a meter or so from the door he'd exited from. Well, she was optimistic. Jake smiled slightly, not really sure what to say to that because she was right in effect. He shrugged some "Well, we're going to have to make do with what we have right now, temporary or not...it's appreciated" Jake told her in reply, you had to take what you could get right now because nothing was worse then being outside with those god damn things.

She enquired toward his well being. Jake told her that he was fine, but the man inside wasn't looking so fresh. They had it under control, or as controlled as one could have a situation right now. Jake turned and headed inside, Claire following in tow. Upon entering with the new face both Liz and Zeke looked up.

Jake let the door close behind them, locking it once more as it did before glancing through the small gap under one of the boards. The streets were still empty “What happened to him?” Claire asked. Jake looked at Liz who took the chance to explain to the new blonde. She nodded to Zeke and Jake to take over, before airising to her feet to answer the blonde as she rummaged through her back pack for more medical supplies.

"...He fell. W-we found him on a construction site a couple of blocks away from here, he'd been trying to get away from those things and he slipped, he fell onto a a metal rod. We shouldn't have removed it, I know..b-but we couldn't just leave him there to die. He's losing a lot of blood. I checked him over for other injuries, I don't think he was bitten... I can't be sure." Liz told her, the clear look of concern on her face.

“How long have you been hiding out here?” she asked looking to Jake once more. He turned his eyes to her, budging out of the way as Liz returned and got back to his feet "A few days, back and forth. We've been holding up here. We head out from time to time, look for supplies, survivors. We're not planning on staying here, we just needed to get essentials and we'll be moving on" Jake told her. They had no real goal to head toward, just hopefully somewhere better and safer then here.

“I’m Claire by the way” She introduced herself. Jake nodded, extending his hand out to her "I'm Jake."

[/url] He replied, gesturing toward the other three "This is Liz, Zeke and he's David." The young man introduced them, Zeke giving the blond a nod as his name was called out. They didn't look like the conventional team and to be honest they weren't, they'd all just banded together after meeting. Strength in numbers and all that.

David's hands continued to tremble, the man was trying to talk. He just needed to stay still, try to stay calm and let them take care of him but he wouldn't. His words could not be made out, aside from the odd one or two muffled words but nothing clear. Jake furrowed his brows, watching the old man as he suffered and struggled to breath, it wasn't right. "It's okay, you're gonna be okay, man...just...ya gotta stay quiet, ya gotta be still so she can help you." Zeke encouraged, trying to get the man to calm down but it was no use.

He lifted his eyes giving a doubtful look toward Liz before then looking at Jake "We have to do something, we can't just leave him like this. There has to be something we can do." Jake declared, he wasn't prepared to watch this man die. Zeke nodded "Y'know I hate to say this, but I have to agree, with him...He's dyin Liz" he pointed out the obvious, his voice almost a whisper as he did. David knew himself he was dying, but it would be wrong for Zeke to have said it out loud.

Liz stared at Zeke, before turning her eyes toward Jake. The tears welled up in her eyes, she may not have known David but that was not important. He was dying, they couldn't save him and on top of that...he was suffering. She took a deep breath which caused the tears to stream from her eyes "In my bag...there's...there's a bottle. It's clear...it's morphine. Give me it" Liz asked, her voice breaking as she held her hand out.

Zeke bowed his head, shaking it slightly. He knew that Liz hated this, they all did...but it'd stop his suffering. Jake looked a little hesitant too but, it was the way it had to be..it was that or a bullet between the eyeballs and he knew none of them would be prepared to do that. So, Jake did as she requested. Giving her the bottle and the needle, before resuming his position and watched. Zeke couldn't watch, he stood up and walked into the back room behind the bar. This wasn't right, none of this shit was right.
[/blockquote]

[Claire Cooper]

Claire watched the group as they moved about, silently communicating with each other as if they had known each other for some time. The thought crossed her mind as to how long they had known each other, before the outbreak? During? Recently? It really was something to see the relationships between people upon such a drastic event. Human beings did not get the reputation they had from sitting about, it was endearing to witness true instinct...to bad it was always under these insane circumstances that such qualities and true colours were witnessed. The blonde listened to the other woman, she was clearly worried but was doing an alright job at trying to hide it and trying was what mattered most in these times...The found him...It worried her too. But what would she have done in their position? Would she have just walked by him too? No, she wouldn’t have. Claire glanced sympathetically to the injured man. In reality, would he truly have been better off dead? He’d been speared by a metal rod, unknowingly and very possibly been infected by the dead...Being speared could have resulted in his demise into one of those zombies alone...He was a liability and yet this group were doing their best to save him, so he had the chance to what? To face more death and destruction? No. For hope. Claire’s eyes shone a smile of respect for those in the room. Words escaped her completely. What could she say? “No, you shouldn’t have removed the rod, it could have speared a major artery and he could have died pretty much instantly. Yes, he could be bitter and yes we could all be dead in a matter of minutes too if he changes”. It was the truth, but no one, including herself wanted to linger on those facts, Claire would much rather consider the positive and so she just nodded her understanding.

The man’s voice spoke again upon her further questions. A few days. From her deductions she assumed they hadn’t found too many survivors around. Regardless, she didn’t let that affect her, she was sure there were others hiding out there, surviving, doing the exact same thing as this group was doing and playing each day as it came, safe and structured, sticking together to survive every next hour.

Blue eyes glanced over to David, the injured man on the floor, trying to talk and for some reason that motion worried her. What was so important that he was trying to say? His goodbyes? She’d seen that before in her general line of work, it was what most wanted to choke out in such crucial times. Or was it something more? A warning? Paranoia furrowed her brows over at him, wondering, piecing together more information than was fact but nevertheless, it was still speculated information. Claire felt like an outsider as the group conversed between each other, making comments of the man’s condition, muttering worries of what they could do? If anything. Claire wanted to help, she wanted to do something for the man as much as anyone else in this room did but he was in a bad way, a really bad way. He needed a hospital, he needed proper assistance but that was something they didn’t have. The woman, Liz, Claire has assumed from her words and body language that she was a doctor, someone with medical experience at least, but even she was overcome by fear and knowledge of the future. This man was going to die. There was no doubt about that. The bleeding wouldn’t stop, the rod had caused great injury and removing it had only resulted in an exit wound free and open for the blood flow. Infection had likely started spreading in these conditions, whether that of an ordinary infection or one that was...well, one that wouldn’t kill him entirely but would be a fate worse than death. The best they could do was let him die comfortably, as peacefully as they could. Claire reluctantly opened her mouth to be the realist, or at least voice the words of the reality here, but Liz beat her to it and Claire was thankful for that. There was two options, let him died in peace or shoot him dead now, and Claire was confident the latter was for extreme measures only. It was not something she wanted to do but if this man turned she knew she would be the one to strike.

“He’s been like this for how long?” she questioned cautiously, not wanting to upset the mutual feeling in the room but wanting to know, needing to know. If it hadn’t been long they could move, take a risk to the nearest medical centre, but was that risk worth it? A man’s life was at stake so yes, but was a whole group of people worth one life? Claire pressed her palms together, tapping her fingertips against her lips. “The closer we get to the hospital the worse it’s going to be” in relation to the wandering dead, all their chances at survival. Looking after herself was one thing, but a group was both worse and better in various respects. She inhaled and turned her back, walking a few paces then stopping. The image of the suffering man did not help in decisions, in the safety for all. She wanted to drive a car around and drive him to hospital at full speed, instinct kicking in over the reality of the situation. Weeks ago it would have been what she would have done, went to any length to make sure this man survived...but times had changed and a trip from here to the hospital was now like a trip through hell. “There’s nothing we can do....There can’t be nothing....” she spoke under her breath, “Damn it!” she hit her hand against the door frame frustrated, thinking, blankly staring ahead.

[NPC]

Elizabeth Ryder
Ezekiel Mendez
Jake Hunter

Jake had to admit he was pretty relieved to find another survivors like this, the more in there group the better because those things in groups were severely dangerous. Sure you could handle them in small numbers but if you had 30 of those things on your ass, you were as good as dead. Claire had been wondering around by herself and one had to wonder how she'd managed to get this far. Still, you could ask that about them all really, couldn't you?

Jake urged her inside, where she would meet the other two..well, three people in his team, Liz, Zeke and David. They had bumped into each other a little while ago and David had been the latest edition to there team...he also was in a pretty bad state right now having taken a severe fall and ended up being impaled. Liz, bless her heart was trying so hard to keep the man alive but it wasn't looking so good.

He wasn't entirely sure what to do but he didn't want to see the man suffer like this. It wasn't right, the man was in complete agony, barely able to speak let alone move. They couldn't carry him around and it'd only cause him more pain if they tried to move him. Jake knew what needed to be done, he hated to think about it but he knew what was right for now and that was to put an end to his pain. He made his thoughts vocal to Liz and Zeke, unexpectedly but thankfully echoed his concerns.

Liz became almost troubled at the idea, she really didn't want to do this..but it seemed that they really had no other options right now. “He’s been like this for how long?” Claire asked, Zeke turned to her "A few hours, give or take...he was like this when we found him." he explained to the blonde, getting an agreeing nod from Jake whilst Liz still tried her hardest to stop the bleeding. David tried to talk, to which Zeke tried to silence the man, he needed to just stay still for now “The closer we get to the hospital the worse it’s going to be” The blonde said. Jake watched her, even she became unsettled by this situation and why wouldn't she? anyone with an ounce of compassion would feel for David right now, even if they'd only just met him. Jake kept his eyes on her as she paced about.

“There’s nothing we can do....There can’t be nothing....” she muttered to herself, he fleeted his eyes between the blonde and the remainder of his group, Zeke and Liz as they tried to help him. Liz said there was something in her bag, something that could help David and he knew exactly what it was before she even said the words...morphine. It'd stop the pain and...with enough...it would end this. He hated it, the idea but it was the only thing they could do. He couldn't be saved, so they had to help him in a different way, a less then conventional way but the only way they could.

“Damn it!” Claire banged her hand against the door frame, frustratedly. Jake had gotten to his feet right now as Zeke headed to get Liz's bag, who was now sobbing her heart out, guilt ridden and sorry for not being able to save him. Jake stopped at Claire's side, placed a gentle almost comforting hand on her back. He didn't say anything, he didn't really need to. When Zeke emerged Jake slowly made his way back to the trio, took the bag from him and began preparing for Elizabeth to take over. The poor woman extended her hands to Jake, trembling as she did. Jake furrowed his brows, taking her hand and looked her dead in the eyes "Liz...if you can't do this...don't." Jake said gently, at the end of the day...she'd have to live with what she did.

The brunette stared at him, teary eyed, her lip trembling as she bowed her head, sniffling back tears. She looked back at Jake and then Zeke and nodded "I can do it.." she assured them, trying her best to regain her composure. The brunette fleeted her eyes toward Claire, almost apologetically...it was terrible that she had, had to walk in on this. Liz took a deep breath and turned to David, who began muttering stuff again, unable to find his breath, find his voice. Zeke took the man's hand, feeling himself wrapped up in the emotions...it was hard to be tough right now, this whole thing was fucked up. Zeke bowed his head, keeping David's hand tight. Jake watched the young man, for the first time seeing some real human emotion and not just seeing him for the major chip on his shoulder.

His brows furrowed, his eyes falling sympathetic. Zeke was praying, he could hear him and though he didn't understand Spanish himself, he knew what it was. Jake nodded, bowing his head slightly, closing his eyes as if paying respect and Elizabeth got to work on injecting David with morphine.