Post by James 'Jim' Hunter on Apr 20, 2011 8:44:22 GMT -5
James Hunter
Jim considered himself lucky in regards to company right now, sure the redneck was a little off putting at times and would in Jim’s opinion, more or less get himself killed in any close contact with those things. It wasn’t because he was useless; it was because he enjoyed the kill far too much. Killing them wasn’t enough, no he’d probably have to torture them too. He understood the whole ‘making room for your own entertainment’ but using the infected as target practice, just to amuse yourself...it got one wondering...was it really that easy for him to open fire on others? Yes, they were infected but at the end of the day they were people once and still sort of looked like people. When he’d first opened fire on one of those things, it’d made him sick to his stomach but Stan; he seemed to have no feelings what so ever.
James didn’t know all about his situation, the only ones whose story he’d gotten to know was Anna’s and a little of Justin’s, from Anna. Truth be told, Justin he wasn’t the kind of guy to sit and pour his heart out to you where as Anna was more inclined to do so. Her morning had started off in a similar manner to James’s only, Anna had, had to protect her siblings from their parents and kill them both in the process. That was a hard situation for anyone, and this young woman she took it all in her stride. He knew, for the most part the brave face was there for her brothers and that was entirely expected. Justin appeared to be her rock right now, he seemed to keep her on her feet at the best of times and a bond like that was often made in dire situations. They were still pretty much strangers to one another, but when shit got ugly people had to allow themselves to warm to strangers fast and to depend on them more then they’d have done it life was just normal again.
As Anna came out onto the roof, she was kick to show her protective nature when Simon had positioned himself on the edge of the roof. He narrowed his eyes on the younger man, whom was indeed scarily close to the edge. God forbid a strong gust of wind came, he’d have fallen over the top. If he managed to survive the drop, he’d be in a whole world of pain, unable to get away and those things would have turned his ass into an all you can eat buffet. Of course, without a doubt Simon was getting tiresome of being treated like a child, being over protected by his big sister and quickly copped an attitude about it. This familiarised him all too much with his own family, his girls and the way they’d get so uppity about one another ‘meddling’ but he could see they were just looking out for one another as best as they could, just like Anna was trying to do for Simon and Thomas.
“Okay, I’m sorry, I should think twice before I get to close from ledges and pointy objects, I guess tat means I should watch out for the food I eat too.” Simon retorted sorely. James raised a brow at him; usually he’d have not said anything but there was no need for that kind of tone. She was doing the best she could and quite frankly, standing where he had been, was kind of a little dumb “Hey...she’s just looking out for you; you should count yourself lucky you have that. That’s more than a lot of people left out there have.” James spoke to Simon, his tone was calm, and somewhat authoritive the tone he often took toward his own children. He wasn’t going to shout at the kid, or scold him it wasn’t his place and he could empathise with his situation but there was no need to cop an attitude about it. He wasn’t sure if he’d argue back, he hoped he didn’t because it wasn’t a fight he was looking for. He was hoping that maybe instead of complaining about his over protective sister, that he’d see it more as a privilege then anything else. His little girl was out there all by herself, if she’d had her big sister with her he knew that he’d have been a lot more settled in himself.
Attention soon turned to the presidential speech playing over the radio. He was never one for politics, and even if he had been would have likely abandoned such a thing due to the nature of the situation. Adler didn’t give a shit about these people, he was off god knows where, living his life easily whilst other people were stuck in this shit hole. So, anything he had to say really didn’t pass his ears. The promise of rescue was absurd, it had been two weeks, two damn weeks of hell and so far nothing had been done about the survivors left here...they were left for dead. "Well, with the way he's talking, it would seem like everyone else got a free pass from this horse shit, Which I say is bullshit." Justin said, Jim could only agree, nodding his head as he took a sip of his beer and then lurch started getting all uppity about it. He was right in some aspect, he was full of crap...there was really no need in listening anymore.
“Good idea, that so called President is just trying to calm all us survivors down until the undead finally tears our faces off.” Simon said, again true. Right now they were looking to restore others faith, but as far as he was concerned The President had saved his own skin, leaving people like him behind. He wouldn’t be getting anything out of James, hell it wouldn’t have surprised him if all this shit was down to the government. Still, he wasn’t one to let his theories overcome common sense, it could have been the government but he was more than convinced it wasn’t. Though Adler had left them here, there was nothing but genuine concern in that mans tone, it wasn’t an act..no sir, the greatest actor in the world couldn’t fake that. Even so, he’d bailed at the worse time and things were bleak, no one would trust his words and if they did...they were stupid. “Clearly he doesn’t have a clue what we’re facing here, because if he did he wouldn’t be trying to calm a situation that evidently can’t be solved over milk and cookies.” He commented, sipping his beer again. President Adler could stick it.
Jim fleeted his eyes toward Justin who suggested Hawaii. Now, he knew this guy wasn’t some dumbass, clearly he’d thought about this not to mention, suggesting it a whole bunch of times. It appeared Hawaii really did appeal to him. James was down for trying anything, but not until he’d got his kids back...once they were back, safe and sound, he’d go anywhere to escape this hell but he could not for one moments consider leaving this island until he knew what state his children were in. “Sounds pretty sweet way to settle down for a permanent vacation in this little zombie land. But what do we do once we get there and all the Hawaiian zombies come after us?” Simon asked, Jim parted his lips from his bottle and narrowed his eyes on him “Kids got a point. We don’t know what’s waiting there, I mean...in a day or two this thing spread like wildfire here, we went from one day being normal and the next...this.” James said gesturing around them, the hell hole their home had now become.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m all in favour of taking myself out of this god forsaken mess but, into what will we be heading toward?” James asked turning his eyes to Justin directly. The older man shrugged “Adler seems to think it’s just us that are suffering from this, but how many days, weeks until it’s the rest of the world.” He didn’t like to be a pessimist but in times like these one had to think of all the angles, it wasn’t so easy just getting out of here and going off to some remote location in the hopes that there was nothing there but safety. “I like the idea, but I’d also like to know just how far this thing has spread before I start planning on a getaway.” He said gently, bringing his bottle to his lips and taking a generous sip. He liked Justin; he was a good guy with good head on his shoulders. He wasn’t inclined to sit here and wait for something to happen, he wanted to get a plan sorted and get out of here, they all did but he had taken the initiative and that was something to respect.
He shortly shifted his gaze to Stan who said something that he wasn’t really sure of, he didn’t understand a lot of what this cook had been saying and for the most part just chose to ignore whatever horse shit piled out of his mouth. He looked at Anna who made a quiet reference to Stan’s sexual preferences and the possible attraction to animals, most likely pigs, which caused a small chuckle to pass the man’s lips. James shook his head, a small grin developing on his face as he took another swig of his beer. Fleeting a glance toward Simon he watched him walk over to Thomas, that poor kid, he was only 6 years old and really without any clue as to what was going on. It must have been tough, not only for him but the rest of them too and certainly Anna who was now pretty much carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Stan suggested teaching Simon to neck a beer that was not a good idea.
James snorted at Stan “...Because making target practise out of those things is productive? You just worry about yourself, will ya?” he replied. As far as he could see his actions were more or less counterproductive, shooting those things even with the silencer on was risky, it’d only take for one of them to spot him and those fuckers would come in a horde trying to smash their way in again. Simon replied, actually listening to Anna’s advice of taking it easy, the last thing they needed was a drunk teen on their hands. He mentioned about fighting, which gave James an idea. He finished his beer and set the empty bottle down on the floor, before turning to Simon “Speaking of, don’t you think it’s time you ditched that bat for something more...useful?” he asked, turning his eyes slightly toward Anna as if looking for permission. Stepping forward he took the bat, lifted it up and eyed it, it was a decent weight, good for swinging but with that in mind it meant he’d have to be in close contact to do so and that was dangerous, especially with large groups of those things.
“I could teach you how to shoot. With your sisters’ permission of course” he urged, letting his eyes narrow on Anna. She’d know herself that he’d benefit far greater knowing how to shoot a gun then to just trust his swinging when it came to knocking heads off, it was dangerous getting close to them things and a gun was his safest bet. Once Anna had given him the nod, he turned to Simon “We’ll head back down stairs, it’s better if we do it inside...too much noise up here might draw attention and we don’t want that.” James said. The man nodded toward Anna and Justin before walking passed the duo and led the way across the roof and back toward the door, urging Simon to follow. He was doing it to help the kid, but also give Anna and Justin a chance to talk about plans without having to worry about what they were saying around the younger ones, some things that just didn’t need to hear.
James walked across the roof, guiding Simon and Thomas to come with him, he’d keep the boys safe and he knew both Anna and Justin knew that too. After departing from the roof, James, Simon and Thomas headed back inside the mall “I know how you feel, by the way. You know, with your sister? I have an older sister, growing up she was forever telling me what I could and couldn’t do...and for so long I hated her for it. I thought she took enjoyment in bossing me around when really, all the things she’d said and done for me, turned out for the best. But I guess, you don’t need to be told that. You know how much your sister loves you. It’s obvious, the both of you” He explained making sure Thomas didn’t feel left out. Sure, he was only six and probably wasn’t even paying attention but it was comforting to hear.
“I only wish my kids had, had each other. My daughter, she’s about your age...and from what I know, she’s out there on her own. I’d give anything to be with her, or to know her sister was with her.” He hated to think his children were struggling, that they were out there without him and in need of his help. Once heading back into the mall, they moved to where some of the firearms were placed, they’d have an array of weapons at the ready just in case. He turned to Thomas and nodded at the chair “Why don’t you take a seat there, you could finish your picture” he encouraged, the child had spent a lot of time drawing, he seemed to use it to take his mind out of the current situation.
He looked at Simon “So, between you and me...have you ever handled a fire arm before?” he asked curiously, he said between them as he wasn’t sure if he had and it was a secret. He was certain Anna would be a little miffed knowing her brother had held a gun and not told her, so if he had, he’d not tell her.
