Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner [Claire]

[Alpha]

"He rode into our valley in the summer of '89."
- Jack Schaefer, Shane

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Alpha walked through the seemingly empty streets of Brooklyn... The young man had been in Queens... That was where he'd lost contact with his team. The young soldier didn't know where they were. Communication was down and out. There was no way he could get in touch with them right now. Alpha was down on his luck right now. He'd been sent into New York City two weeks ago with his team. He was leading an extermination team. They were supposed to be in and out faster than anyone could see. However, things were never as easy as they seemed on paper. Alpha and his team had encountered much resistance from not only these infected creatures, but also from the survivors... It should have been expected... Alpha knew this deep down inside. Yet, the young man also didn't think that things would have turned out this way. Alpha hadn't expected to be in such poor condition. He hadn't expected his fortune to take such a turn. Alpha had been in the company of the best soldiers and fighters he'd known... And now, he was by himself. He was a lone wolf, trying to find his team and accomplish a mission all in one.

Being alone wasn't the only thing hindering Alpha right now... Alpha's body had taken a beating back in Queens. The young man had endured quite a lot during the attack from the other survivors. When he'd awoken amidst a pile of rubble, Alpha had managed to dig himself out of the wreckage. Though, it definitely was not an easy task in itself. When Alpha was out of the rubble, he was finally able to assess the damage his body had taken. He had a multitude of cuts and gashes across his body. The young man knew that he would need to stop the bleeding on the deeper ones and then eventually attempt to sew them back up himself... The one thing that was really troublesome though... Was the fact that Alpha had dislocated his left arm from it's socket... That was something Alpha couldn't fix on his own. The young man couldn't pop his own shoulder back into it's socket. He might've been able to if he was at the top of his game and his body was back to full capacity... But right now... The young man wasn't in any shape to actually fix many of his own injuries.

So Alpha had made his way to Queens. The young, mysterious soldier was in search of supplies and medical attention. He'd fashioned himself a make shift sling out of a bandana he'd found... But other than that, Alpha's left arm was more or less out of commission. The young man lurked stealthily down the street, attempting to stay out of plain view as best as possible. In his right hand, Alpha held a hatchet that he'd been able to find in a camping store. Though his left arm was in a sling, his hand still clutched his own military issue combat knife. Alpha peered wearily around the corner of the street and looked onto the next block. The young man could see a zombie ravaging the remains of a corpse. Alpha approached the creature silently from behind and deftly hacked it's head off with the hatchet. Though he hadn't seen it at first, Alpha expertly turned on his heel and greeted the zombie sneaking up on him with his hatchet, slicing the creature's neck with a single clean, fluid motion. Alpha looked around for a moment and knew it wouldn't be safe to stay out in the open for much longer... Not right now at least. The young man eyed the convenience store across the street and sprinted towards the front door. Alpha collided with the metal door, throwing his entire weight into it, causing the door to fly open. Alpha quickly ducked inside and pressed his back to the door and began to breathe deeply... The only thing running through his mind was how fucked this stupid city was...[/blockquote]

[Claire Cooper]

Claire was still in Queens. Since being trapped in this nightmare she had not left the county but she had not died either. The time she had been trapped here for was uncertain, she had lost track of days, and irrelevant. But in her time here she had crossed paths briefly with survivors, it shed hope over the situation, there were still those who were alive, who were fighting to survive, that typical, most basic human instinct; to survive. The police officer was skilled in combat and controlling situations but this was nothing her expertise had ever called for, this was different. It wasn’t every day an unknown event killed many and those many did not stay dead. And yet...how unknown was it really? Did she in fact carry evidence of what this all was, where it had originated? A resolution? The blonde understood bits and pieces of her father’s research, but not enough that she could do anything about it nor point it directly at his work for the blame. And regardless, who truly cared where it had originated anymore? What did that really matter? What had happened had happened? Why it had happened was of little concern right now; the main concern was staying alive long enough to find a way to safety.

Other than the vague game plan, Claire had no purpose. Days had become times for collecting any needed supplies to aid over the night ahead, finding a suitable hide out as she made her way through the city, somewhere the darkness would allow safety, where she could survive another evening. Over the days of moving and searching, patrolling onwards through the streets, Claire had attained the odd graze and bruise over her body, a basic t-shirt was far from new looking, her hair tied back away from her face. Aviator glasses covered her eyes in the daylight, shielding her from the sun, strengthening her gaze of the street ahead for who knew what could lurk in the shadows.

Walking on at a general pace, Claire held her gun before her in both hands inspecting it, she had only a couple of shots left, she needed to find something else to protect herself soon, before nightfall, overly prepared was better than not prepared. Over the days police stations depleted in the stock; officers having taken first precautions as the virus hit then survivors breaking and entering, stealing what they had to to survive, who could blame them? In these times, there were no rules. Letting her gun drop to one hand, Claire brought the other across her brow line, she’d been walking for some time but now was not safe to stop. Turning a corner she spotted something in the distance. Claire slowed to an almost stop, only the smallest paces forwards. The figure did not move. Claire continued forwards. The corpse was dead. Really dead. But she wasn’t for taking the chance it may spring back to life. Not wanting to waste any of her precious shots left, Claire hastily moved forwards toward the convenience store ahead on the street. Heart pounded fast as her paces quickened, wanting to escape the street, escape the death lying on the road before anything she regretted happened, before she’d wished she’d just used one of her shots, before the body returned for a bite of her, then with a push of the door Claire entered the convenience store. She breathed. Without waiting for fate to intervene, Claire forced the door shut, sliding the flimsy lock over; there was no key so the simple lock would have to do, it wouldn’t keep anything with force out but it was better than nothing and who knew? It may overt the infecteds attention away from the store should it come to that.

Stealthily making her way around the units, Claire kept her wits about her in case anything else was lurking in here. Travelling around Queens in these times had taught her to expect the unexpected and never to assume. Walking around the store, items still presented themselves to customers. The shelves were sparse, but not completely empty to her surprise. Many must have died here quickly, or more optimistically had fled the city while they’d had the chance. Claire reached out her hand to the defunct fridge against the wall. A lone few bottles of water had caught her attention. Unfixing the cap, Claire took a long drink of the welcomed fluid. She gasped as she lowered the bottle. Such finds were few and far between, one had to make do with what they could savage from houses more of the time. Claire raised the bottle to her lips once more but the bottle fell from her grip, a noise startling her as the door was forced open. A loud sound echoed through the small store as the door hit the wall then sounded shut again. Claire paused. Standing deadly still she listened. Someone or something? One or many? Dangerous?...or something else?... Waiting, patiently standing still, as the water from the dropped bottle trickled down the aisle floor.