Aberrant: Dead Rising - Chapter 11c: Binding Ties

[Dawn OOC]

July 9, 2007

Somewhere in New Mexico

Jasmine peered through the binoculars at the farmhouse. Her Aunt Ruby had been an actual farmer, though of organic strawberries, and the buildings looked like those of a working facility. But it wasn't produce that Jasmine was looking for; it was a sign of life. Any sign of any sort would be enough.

But the farmhouse was as still as a tomb. Belatedly, Jasmine considered that those words might have been poorly chosen.

The crunch of gravel caught her attention, and she lowered the binoculars to glance at the approaching Simon. "We going in?" he asked, his gaze calm and unconcerned. He was almost always that Zen about everything, though Jasmine had to confess that she had yet to see him combat. Mrigesh, on the other hand, was still locked in the car. While he was good at defendeing himself, he was still far more prone to avoid trouble. Simon carried himself like a man who would stop trouble.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine tried her best to hide her anxiety, but there was nothing she could do about the sudden dryness of her mouth or the quickness of her own heartbeat. This was the third time she'd gone looking for her family, only to know the chances of finding anything but corpses were fairly slim. She was grateful that Jim and the others had been willing to take this trip, and hoped it wouldn't prove a complete dead-end. If nothing else it took them to an area not occupied by any of the refuges like Fox's that they were aware of, and she'd kept her senses open pretty often to listen for the sounds of other radio broadcasts as they drove, just in case. It would be helpful to them to find other groups of people looking for trade, and if there weren't any, this area of the U.S. might prove more fertile ground for raiding than the areas closer to the existing Midwest refuges.

She said nothing at first, a bit lost in her thoughts - she merely held on to the binoculars and took a deep breath. Mrigesh's willingness to stay in the car had actually proved reassuring to the young woman, it meant someone who didn't mind keeping an eye on Pumpkin. Hana had proven eager to help out as much as possible, so she handed the girl the binoculars before picking up her shotgun.

"Yeah. This shouldn't take long. Hana, take these and keep an eye out all around us please. You should be able to see a lot from the top of the Hummer. Just keep sweeping the perimeter over and over. If you see anything we need to know about let us know immediately, okay?"

Like everyone else she was wearing a small headset, though she'd discovered when they'd gotten them for everyone else that her ability to hear radio waves extended to the ability to speak over them as well. But that required a lot of effort over long periods of time so while doing things that required consistent communication she used the headset too. For now though she left it off and focused her attention on the farmhouse again, expanding her hearing to it's full capabilities so that she could try to hear anything going on inside the building.

Click to reveal..

Activating Enhanced Heating and making a Listen check. Perc + Aware, 1st die M-Per = 10d10 → [9],2,5,9,3,7,2,2,4,3 = 4 suxx

QP Remaining: 20/21

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2452176/

[Atomicweasel]

“Okay,” Hana answered, ending her long stretch. She took the binoculars from Jasmine and looped them over her neck. Pulling open the rear door of the Hummer, she paused to echo Pumpkin’s outthrust tongue and lowered the window, then raised one Adidas-clad foot onto the door-frame and pushed up to grab at the Hummer’s roof-rack.

Simon’s stony expression softened into an amused smirk as he watched Hana scramble her way up the side of the SUV to its roof. “You know, I could just give you a boost.” He said mildly.

“Unf.” Hana hauled herself the rest of the way up with a little grunt and then turned to face the farmhouse. “I know.” Simon’s low chuckle brought the glow of a faint blush to Hana’s cheeks, but she grinned at him as if they were sharing a secret together. It was a private little smile that Jasmine recognized only too well as infatuation.

Her cousin was less admiring of Hana’s Hummer mountaineering than Simon. “You lefted the window down, Bana...all the hot dust is coming in!” Pumpkin whined irritably.

“So roll it back down, Squirt.” Hana called down. She shifted to cross her legs, Indian style, atop the Hummer’s roof, then raised the binoculars to her eyes and adjusted them by focusing on the farmhouse. Slowly turning to the left and to the right, Hana swept her gaze over the sun-baked plain. The roof was scalding hot and Hana fanned her knees to keep her legs from settling on the heated metal. She sat and she watched and she didn’t say what she was thinking...that Jasmine wouldn’t find her family because they were all dead. Because if she thought for a second that someone had lived through Z-Day and the last seven months in that big open farmhouse then she was kidding herself. Hana didn’t say any of that. She didn’t say that the farmhouse looked still and dead and deserted and they should get back in the Hummer and keep moving before someone or something spotted them and figured out a way to get them. She licked her lips and scanned the road and turned back to watch the farmhouse and decided that if Jasmine wanted to fool herself that was okay because sometimes you needed to believe something was true even when it wasn’t.

“See anything, Scout?” Simon teased Hana.

“Just your big head.”

[Dawn OOC]

But as she said that, Hana saw something else. A long, low shadow darted from the foundation of the house to the open barn. It was too small to be human, and too fast to be an animal. She didn't see what it was, but she knew it was wrong.

[Atomicweasel]

“Wait!” Hana shot to her feet, balancing on the Hummer’s roof and pointing at the barn as she looked through the high-power binoculars. “I just saw something move!”

“Where?” Jasmine turned to look where Hana was pointing.

“In the barn. Something came out from under the house and went into the barn! I just saw it!”

“Might be a wandering Z.” Simon said, his expression hardening.

“It’s not a zombie.” Hana answered nervously. “It was moving fast. Way too fast.” As Jasmine started towards the barn, Hana called out urgently, “Jasmine, be careful!” She lowered the binoculars to meet Jasmine’s gaze. “It’s not...there’s something not right about it.”

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine glanced up at Hana briefly, the nodded seriously to the young woman. There was no unexpected surprise or crushed hope reflected there.. more like a sense of resignation coupled with steely determination.

"Thanks, Hana. Keep looking and let us know anything else. We'll be careful."

With that, she readied her shotgun, bracing it against her shoulder, and started to approach the farmhouse slowly and quietly, anticipating that Simon and Bond would follow.

[Fox]

Bond let Jasmine take point, situating himself five feet behind and ten feet to the left of her and scanning to the sides of their party, his own weapon braced and ready to fire. He'd kitted Simon out with a pump-shotgun, and a quick glance behind revealed that the man handled it more-than-competently as he brought up the rear ten feet behind Jasmine. Beyond him atop the Hummer, Hana saw Bond's glance and gave him a thumbs-up before lifting the binoculars up and studying the farm intensely.

This was strange, working with such a large team compared to just himself and one other at most. Strange, but not unwelcome. The merc found himself trusting in the abilities and more importantly, the judgement of those around him, be they human or super, and despite the grim seriousness of the situation his lips curved in a small smile of satisfaction and anticipation of what was to come.

[Dawn OOC]

The team crept around to the barn, their steps careful. The three adults eased to the open door and peered inside. The large space was lit with what little sunlight could ease in through the cracks. Straw littered the floor of the empty building - yet it didn't feel empty. It had the definite sense of occupation.

They had yet to cross the threashold.

[Jasmine Gentian]

As Jasmine slowly stepped in through the door, she took a long, cautious look around the barn, even glancing upwards towards the roof to see if she could see anything unusual. The aim of her shotgun followed her gaze, ready to fire if need be but hoping not to have to.

Click to reveal..

Perc + Aware to visually scan the barn, 1st die Mega: 7d10 → [5],2,4,9,9,7,10 = 4 suxx (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2456106/)

Perc + Aware to listen for sounds, 1st die Mega (plus Listen bonus from HEH): 10d10 → [4],8,10,3,10,3,8,8,4,5 = 5 suxx (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2456112/)

[Fox]

As Jasmine moved her gaze (and gunbarrel) upwards, Bond stepped through the barn door just behind her, his own weapon sweeping the straw-strewn floor and the various pieces of cover the interior of the barn afforded whoever, or whatever was hiding in there. He didn't say anything, just took a few steps to the side, keeping the fields of fire as clear as possible. This might as well have been a walk in a flowery meadow for all the tension that the mercenary radiated, but his attentiveness to their surroundings was unwavering.

Click to reveal..

Perception & Awareness to scan the barn's interior. 1st dice is Mega

1d10=9, 1d10=8, 1d10=8, 1d10=10, 1d10=4, 1d10=2, 1d10=6, 1d10=10

poppin' 10s (Alert quality for Perception)

1d10=3, 1d10=6

6 succs

[Atomicweasel]

From her perch on top of the Hummer, Hana watched the barn carefully through the pair of binoculars. She slowly turned her head to the right, moving her gaze from one end of the barn to the other. Shit. Hana thought. She felt helpless standing on the Hummer's roof. Sure, she was relatively safe...but she couldn't do anything. And that thing, the little she'd glimpsed of it, had unsettled her. It was too fast to be a zombie, too strange to be human. Maybe it was just a stupid cat or something. Hana tried to reassure herself.

It would be easy enough to find out. All she had to do was hop down off the Hummer, relax her hold on the darkness a little, just a little...just enough to swallow up that barn with inky blackness...and then she could walk around and get a good look up close. Except then everyone would know. Pumpkin and Jasmine and Bond and Mrigesh.

Hana refocused the binoculars on the barn, zooming in close...

Click to reveal..

Rolling perception + awareness. (6d10.hits(7)=3)

[Dawn OOC]

From Hana's angle, she wasn't able to see what was inside. But Bond and Jasmine both spotted the form trying to hid in the back of the building: lean, thin shapes. They had sunken bodies, but their details were hard to see, for their skin was coal black. The five of them were identical, and they cowered behind a haybale.

But worse than that was the zombie chained in the corner. It stirred as Jasmine and Bond came to the door, its head coming around to sniff at them. With a moan, it lunged forward, snapping its chain taut. As the quinteplets huddled in fear of the strangers, the zombie strained to reach them.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine glanced briefly at the moaning, hungry, undead creature in the corner, then after a moment forced herself to ignore it. It was contained, after all, and that pretty much removed it as a threat, at least for now. They could get rid of it in a moment, but her encounter with Pumpkin and her creatures had made Jasmine cautious about shooting first and asking questions later. If they had done that with the little girl's watchdog she probably never would have trusted them. Besides, some little part in the back of her mind was curious as to why the zombie had been chained up in the first place, so she kind of wanted to check it out. So for now, Jasmine lowered her shotgun a little, though it was still at the ready to fire if need be. But she took a step or two closer towards the five identical figures hiding behind the hay bale, and spoke softly to the seemingly-scared figures.

"Hey.. it's okay. Whoever you are.. we're not here to hurt anyone, or steal anything if this is where you're staying. My name is Jasmine.. I had.. family, they lived here. I just came to see if they were still around. Why don't you all come on out, so we can talk?"

Jasmine watched the creature carefully for a reaction, either human or otherwise. She forced her mind to tune down the sounds of the zombie's moans so that she could hear any sounds the other figures in the room made.

[Fox]

Bond kept one eye on the zombie and one ear on Jasmine's interaction with the strange figures hiding behind the stack of hay, but hung back and continued looking around the barn. The five sunken, hungry-looking things might not be all that was in this barn. In particular, the way they huddled together back there was reminiscent of children or young creatures.

And if they were young, then maybe a parent would be around. A protective, quick-moving parent.

[Dawn OOC]

One of the figures tilted its head, only to be shadowed by the movement, one after the other. "Your... family..."

"Were here before," another one of them finished. The other three nodded.

Jasmine and Bond exchanged glances. "Come out and talk," the pretty super encouraged again, a smile on her dark face.

They watched as the figures wound their hands together, weaving their arms around each other until they resembled a living Gorgon Knot. As a group and in perfect unison, they stepped out of the shadows nervously.

They would have been called skeltal had they appeared to have normal bone structure. They didn't, for they looked well-fed, but their proportions were off the norm. Their bodies were thin as a child's, but they were just a couple of inches shorter than Jasmine. They were black from toe to their shoulder-length hair - even their eyes were the monotone color.

"Niceties..." one murmured.

"Politeness," another added.

"Can we offer you a snack?" the third managed to say, while the two who hadn't spoken extended their hand toward the zombie. It took Bond and Jasmine a moment to realize their gesture toward the chained monster was the same as a housewife's toward a plate of fresh cookies.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine glanced between the identical black figures and the zombie for a moment before understanding of their inference flickered over her face. Her gaze flickered once more to the zombie, then back to the figures once again. She offered a slightly shake smile, doing her best to hide her disgust as she felt her stomach churn and swallowed hard to suppress the vague feeling of nausea.

"N-no.. no, thank you. That's very.. gracious of you. How, um.. how long ago was my family here - do you know?"

Just focus on what's important.. just focus on what's important. Jesus, are these people? Is - is this what happens when people eat zombies? Or are they some kind of twisted supers, or what?

[Dawn OOC]

"Before we fell apart," one of them said.

"Yes, we were living here, helping," another said.

"And then we shattered..." a third chorused.

"And they left, left us all alone," a fourth said sadly.

"The weather was warming," the last said. "They went to find more people, and left us behind."

In the silence after their words, the zombie groaned softly, the cry of the restless dead.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine stood quietly for a moment, unsure of what to say or do. She felt torn between disgust at their appearance, and more so at the implications presented by the creatures standing before her, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel some combination of pity and guilt. She felt responsible by proxy that these creatures had been left behind by her own family, her own flesh and blood - at least according to the creatures themselves. But yet she could feel a cold chill running down her spine, combined with the selfish knowledge that she wouldn't want to stay with these creatures either, and an unsettling fear of whatever made them into what they are now. Finally - after a few long moments of silence - she spoke again, and her voice was somber but sincere.

"I'm sorry. I was alone for awhile too.. it wasn't easy. Can you.. can you tell me what happened? What caused this.. 'shattering'? And.. how long ago was it?"

[Atomicweasel]

Hana couldn’t see anything through her binoculars but the side of the barn, the farmhouse across from it, and the abandoned fields and naked sky. She stayed up on the Hummer’s roof a while longer and then sat and slid off and landed with a thump that brought her into a deep crouch. As Hana leaned back against the door, Pumpkin clambered out from the back seat where she sat playing with a headless doll. The window lowered with a hum until Pumpkin’s head emerged next to Hana’s shoulder.

“How come Azzy went to the barnhouse, Bana?”

“I dunno.” Hana answered, glancing at her cousin’s decapitated Barbie. “She’s looking for something I guess. What happened to your doll?”

“Nothin’. Her head came off.” Pumpkin held up the Barbie and danced her from side to side. “Her name’s Carmel.”

“Camel?”

“No!” Pumpkin’s face reddened, “CARMEL.”

“Okay, Squirt. Relax.” Hana smiled, placating.

“Her name’s Carmel, so get it right, Bana.”

“I will never ever screw up her name again.” Hana promised sincerely, turning her face away from the window to roll her eyes.

“How come Azzy’s takin’ so long? It’s hot.”

“I dunno. Maybe she found something. Want me to ask her?” Hana reached out to smooth a curly lock of hair away from Pumpkin’s forehead.

“Mmmyeah.”

“Kay.” The diminutive teen tapped her headset, pacing in front of the Hummer. “Hey...um. Jasmine? Is everything okay in there? Do you see anything?” Hana asked shyly. She tended to use the headset sparingly. She suspected, self-consciously, that Bond and Jasmine had outfitted her with one to make her feel included among the grown-ups but she was proud enough of the inclusion to want to preserve the illusion that she was a bona-fide member of Team Bond. And that meant being careful not to abuse her headset privileges.

[Dawn OOC]

"We shattered when we... hurt ourselves," one of them spoke again.

"Too many zombies... now too many of us," another said.

"We used to pull ourselves together, but not anymore," the next one said.

"We need to be more, and that was when they left. Too many of us, too many zombies... never enough room," the fourth said, sounding sad.

"It was when the weather became hot," the last said. "When the rains stopped."

Simon watched the five and the zombie closely, his blue eyes intense, his body focused and tense. "Do you mean spring?" he asked softly. "In late April, early May?"

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine licked her lips, suddenly noticing that her mouth had gone dry. Late April, early May.. that was just a couple months ago. She swallowed slightly, and then reached up and touched the button on her headset, taking the speaker off of mute so that Hana could hear her murmured reply.

"Everything's fine, Hana. This place has inhabitants.. we're talking to them now. We'll be out shortly."

Her voice sounded nervous, as if she wanted to say more but didn't, for some reason. But she didn't sound scared, merely.. tense. The only background noise Hana could hear was a faint clinking sound - Jasmine pressed the mute button again before the zombie let out another particularly loud moan. Then she glanced back at the five, her expression one of almost reluctant hope.

Just a couple months. If they made it this long, maybe they've made it longer. Maybe there's a chance.

"I'm sorry. It must be lonely.. being here by yourself. Selves. April or May, that would be a couple months ago.. does that sound right, do you think? I know it's hard to keep track when you're by yourself. How many were there here.. from my family? Did they leave any notes or messages or anything?"

[Dawn OOC]

Five shoulders shrugged like a black tide. "If they did-"

"They left it in the house."

"Locked and sealed."

"You're family - you should have access."

"We were too weird." Black eyes stared at her intently.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Everything instinctive in Jasmine told her to go running, to head up to the house and go in, see if her family left her a message, then get the hell out of here. She wanted to get away from these creepy, creepy creatures - to run away from them like her family had. But not only did it seem cruel, to just treat them like a messenger service, but some little part of her mind (the part that she usually heard talking to her in Bond's voice) told her it was stupid, too. Best to find out as much as possible.

"I hope it's not too rude to ask.. but what did happen to you? I know people who've changed, who are different. Who have special abilities or seemingly supernatural powers - they seemed to have developed them during or after the zombie infestation. I'm like that.. I'm different. Is that what happened to you too? Or.. was it something else?"

[Dawn OOC]

They were silent for a moment; four of the five looked confused by the question. "It was long ago," the first finally said.

Before Jasmine could ask for clarification, another said, "By our measure of time. It's..."

"Hard to explain," the third replied. "We feel time passing-"

"But it doesn't reckon to us," the fourth answered.

"It is unimportant to us," the last said, looking past Jasmine.

"We weren't like this before the zombies, if that was what you were wondering," the first said again. She was looking at Jasmine, really looking at her for the first time. "But you know what we are - we are the same as you." Jasmine waited for another chorus to run through its iteration, but the women were silent.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine nodded slightly, acknowledging their statement even as her mind tried to reject it. While the actions of some of the supers she'd encountered were fairly atrocious, it was in a very "human" sort of way. The nearest she had come to another super that disturbed her on this base of a level was Walker, the head of security back at Fox's. He had always been more than polite on the encounter or two she'd had with him, though their paths hadn't crossed much. The thought flickered through her mind that she couldn't really think of anything more disturbing than the creatures standing in front of her. But even as the though flickered across her mind, she knew she was wrong, and her eyes closed briefly against the memory.

Originally Posted By: Jon

With a wet slurp, a slimy 6 foot long worm-like creature spilled onto the floor from under Jon's heavy greatcoat, and right next to Jasmine. Tightening into a coiled mass it reared one end, opening it's many tentacled, mandibled maw with a sound that mixed equal parts hiss and gargle. With the lightning speed of a striking snake,it literally flew across the room aiming directly for the undead thing's jugular. The maw clamped down, followed by piercing mandibles and vampire-squid-like fanged tentacles wrapped around the head, while the thick, greenish black body lashed itself across the zombie's torso. It's body pulsed and fattened as it sucked the blood out of the corpse with frightening speed, the cadaver visibly shriveling into the clothes as it's rotted, pustulent fluids drained dry.

It took only a moment before her eyes opened again, and she straightened up slightly, as if she were somehow less unnerved by the creature/s than she had been before. Her expression looked a bit grimmer, but it didn't seem focused on the twisted female forms standing in front of her.

"Well then, I'm going to go check in the main part of the house. If there's anything you need or want, you can talk to these two gentlemen. We're traders of a sort and a bit shy on extra supplies right now, but in thanks for your information and for keeping the house secure, perhaps there might be something you could use that we could spare. Please excuse me for a few moments."

With that, she turned and walked out of the barn and towards the main house, leaving the strange creatures to Bond and Simon.

[Dawn OOC]

The main house showed all the signs of having been looted, but it wasn't just food taken. Pictures had been taken from the walls, and photo albums that Jasmine remembered seeing were gone. The camping gear was missing, too; and Jasmine finally concluded that everything that was extremely personal or useful for survival had been taken. That was good; the personal items meant it was probably her family and the fact that they had cleared it out of survival gear meant that they were well-supplied.

Still, she searched with a heavy heart. She'd hoped to find them here. Instead, she found a dead end - or so she thought until she saw the laminated sheet latched to the fridge. Moving the magnet aside, she pulled the note down and carried it into the light. It was hand-written in a neat script that brought tears to Jasmine's eyes. It was her mother's handwriting and she read eagerly.

Quote:

To any family who finds this-

We have left the farm. This much is likely obvious by now. The women in the barn... be wary of them. She/Them aren't really sane. Millie could split herself into duplicates, but she had trouble getting back together this past April. After that, she started eating zombies and we knew she'd gotten dangerous.

We left to avoid her. We're heading south toward Mexico City. Rumors tell of people down there having luck finding fresh food growing wild. Supposedly, Mexico City is very safe place to be. A man there has killed most of the zombies and made it safe.

If my lost family members find this, please try to come there. If you can't, don't - I don't want you to risk you lives. Last, stay away from the prison near Gallup. The men there killed Denali, just for approaching the gates. Stay away.

I love you all. Please stay safe.

Mom

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine pressed her lips together tightly, suppressing a little sob of happiness. She took a couple of deep breaths, and then pressed the button on her headset, sending her voice into the ears of the others. Even without seeing the young woman's expression, they could hear the little thrill of happiness in her voice.

"I've got what I need, guys - Bond, Simon, the woman.. women.. the 'things' in the barn are named Millie. Did they want anything in particular? If so I can get it, and then we can get out of here."

Even as she spoke, she started to head towards the front door of the house, and back out into the hot desert sun, the precious letter folded up and tucked carefully into the back pocket of her jeans.

[Dawn OOC]

Simon's voice came back, calm and cool. "They only seem to want food, but I'm gathering that the food they require isn't the same as we require. If we had a hundred more of these women, we could make a serious dent in the zombie population."

"Assuming that the women aren't a worse problem themselves," Jasmine heard Bond retort drily.

"Regardless, I think we're good to go," Simon said.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine beat the guys back to the two Hummers, motioning slightly to let Mrigesh know they were ready to leave. By the time Bond and Simon made their polite excuses to the "Millies", both engines were running, and they were able to hop in and drive off. Once they'd put a little distance between them and their disturbing "hosts", Jasmine flipped on the headset again, speaking to Hana and Mrigesh in the other vehicle.

"Thanks for taking this route, guys. My family was here - Mom left me a note. They stayed for awhile, but left because of the super we just met back there. Apparently her ability was to divide herself into multiples, but Mom said that they lost the ability to re-merge. Once they started..." Jasmine trailed off for a moment, partly out concern for Hana, but mostly because she felt her stomach threaten to revolt even thinking about it again. "Once they started eating zombies, Mom and the others got scared, so they left. Apparently, they've headed to Mexico City. They've heard that there's food growing wild down there, and that there's someone that's helped to get rid of most of the zombies in the area."

She paused for a moment to let her words sink in, but spoke up again before anyone responded. She didn't necessarily want to focus on the zombie-eating super they'd just left behind.

"Now.. we're a team. So it's up to everyone. I will say that, as happy as I am to learn that some of my family survived the worst of it, I'd breathe easier seeing them, and knowing they made it somewhere safe. Not only that, but I'm of a mind that we should learn all we can about the major enclaves, at least those on the continent that we might need to interact with. I'd assume this 'person' is a super, but one way or another we should find out. The more we know, the better. Besides, this place is in Mexico, not in the U.S. They might have need of some of the supplies we can provide, because it may be that the area they were in wasn't as stocked with easy to acquire things that we have access to in the States. So.. I'm of a mind to stock up on the way, and go to Mexico City. What's everyone else's opinion on the matter?"

[Dawn OOC]

"I always wanted to visit south of the border," Simon said agreeably.

Bond looked to Jasmine and gave her a soft smile. He reached over and took her hand. "I think Mexico City is a fine place to go. I know you want to find your family, and I rather fancy meeting them." Jasmine kind of doubted that - who wants to meet their in-laws after getting their teenaged daughter knocked up?

Mrigesh said, "That is fine with me. I have no problems with that."

[Jasmine Gentian]

"You guys are the best."

They drove far enough away from the strawberry farm, and it's gruesome inhabitant(s), to feel comfortable stopping for a brief meal. As they ate, Jasmine and Mrigesh pored over maps as Simon and Hana, fast friends, talked about something or another, and Bond managed to keep Pumpkin entertained enough for Jas to actually get something accomplished. Once the route had been laid out - taking them the most direct route possible while still hitting as many smaller, rural cities and towns as they could manage in order to stock up for trade - Jasmine laid it out and explained the plan to the rest of the group, Hana and Pumpkin included. Bond nodded his approval of the route as unofficial "head of the group", and Simon had no complaints, so their course was set.

With that done, they climbed back into the Hummers, this time with Simon joining Mrigesh in the second vehicle, while Jasmine sat in the backseat of her and Bond's Hummer with Hana and Pumpkin. They'd made their own Border's run, and made sure Hana and Pumpkin were both equipped with learning books at their skill levels, so that they would have stuff to do to occupy them on the car rides, and so that they would continue to learn. When faced with the expected protests, Jasmine had very practically stated that with the world the way it was now, the only way for any of them to stay alive was to know as much as they possibly could so that they could accomplish as much as possible. So for at least a few hours out of every day, Jasmine would sit with the girls, assigning them "homework" of a sort, reading assignments and math problems mostly for Hana, out of study guides and the like, and simple arithmetic and writing and spelling practice for Pumpkin.

She also made it a point to read a couple chapters out of a kid's book every day to Pumpkin, though she picked books that were geared towards slightly older kids, things like "A Series of Unfortunate Events", "The Chronicles of Narnia", and "Harry Potter", so they weren't too tedious for her to read or for Bond to listen to. She tried to make it as entertaining for her little adoptee as possible, using different voices for the characters, and trying her hand at accents and the occasional sound effect. She had a sneaking suspicion that Hana enjoyed listening as well, even if she was too much of a pre-teen to admit it, and she only prayed that the young super didn't get too many "ideas" for her creatures from the pages of the books.

Once the kids were asleep, Jasmine would usually do some studying of her own, browsing through the pages of the building engineering and architectural books she had picked up. Because Jasmine didn't have to sleep, she drove one truck while Bond slept and the other while Simon slept. Sometimes she'd catch a short hour or two nap while they other three men were awake, but an hour or two was enough to rest her mind, which was really the only reason she did it. That way, they were able to keep moving most of the time, with only occasional stops for people to stretch their legs, eat a hot meal, or use the restroom. They had become like nomads, ever moving, working and living most of their lives as the wheels of the Hummer rumbled beneath them.

[Atomicweasel]

“I’m done with math,” Hana whispered, reaching between the seats to plunk her blue notebook down on the dashboard and then drawing back to rest an elbow on the side of Jasmine’s seat. They’d been traveling for some time and the hot summer days and vast star spattered nights seemed to blur into one another, the roads as empty and infinite as the skies.

Jasmine looked to her right where Bond lay resting in the reclined passenger seat. Even in sleep there was something about Bond, the tilt of his chin, the carefully relaxed position of his body, his hands folded lightly over his chest, that suggested a deep and unrelenting wariness—a readiness to spring into explosive action from one heart beat to the next. If Bond had heard Hana slink up from the back of the Hummer he was feigning ignorance. He appeared undisturbed.

“You’re supposed to be sleeping.” Jasmine whispered back with faint reproach, glancing at the girl’s notebook. Unlike her cousin’s notebook, which was covered in scribbles meant to be butterflies and unicorns and houses shooting rainbows out of the roofs at bewildered smiling suns, Hana’s was kept uncluttered, unadorned, and filled only with the crisp sharp lines of her handwriting. Outside, the Hummer’s high beams cut a swath of light through the black blanket of night. “How can you even see when it’s this dark?”

Hana answered with a shrug, retreating from the seats and turning to look out the window. Looking at her through the rearview, Jasmine was struck again by how delicate and slight the little pre-teen seemed. In her pajamas, a huge faded yellow tee shirt that stretched to mid-thigh and seemed to swallow her whole, the illusion Hana spent so much effort cultivating—that of being a grown up young woman—was shattered. She was a child. And with her wild mane of black hair and the fading bruise under her eye she looked like some lost orphan looking out into a storm...

“I’ve been thinking.” In the dark, Hana’s eyes were blacker than pitch, like they’d drank up the darkness of night and grown swollen on it until they shimmered with an oily sheen.

“About?” Jasmine asked nonchalantly, trying to ignore the sensation, the strange suspicion, that the head lights had grown dimmer and the darkness of night darker still.

“Your family.”

Jasmine paused and reached up to tilt the rearview mirror. Hana’s face, seen in profile, was unreadable. “What about my family?”

It took Hana some time to answer, long enough to make Jasmine say “Hana. What about my family?” less gently than she’d intended.

Hana returned to the space between the seats. “I was looking outside and I thought about how the whole world seems empty now. Not even just empty, but like...broken. All this time we’ve been driving on the road and it’s like we’re on the ocean, but with air conditioning instead of salty wind. And all around us there’s just this big nothing and we keep trying to tell ourselves we’re going someplace to find something or somebody, like your family, but we’re not...because there’s nothing left anymore of anything.”

“Hana. I have a note from my mom. They’re in Mexico City and that’s where we’re going. You know this, hon.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Hana said.

“Well, what do you mean?” Jasmine asked, feeling a tinge of frustration creep into her voice.

“I just mean...” Hana hesitated. She’d been on the verge of telling Jasmine everything. I just mean that even if you do find them, it won’t be them. It won’t be your family. Because there are no families anymore. Because there’s just people running and dying. Or maybe, if they’re lucky, surviving. But no one’s really living. Because everything we used to do and care about and live for is gone. Because it all went away with Z Day and all anyone has left is trying to get enough to eat and some place to sleep and it’s stupid and pointless and family is as big of a joke as math homework, maybe even more of one. A crueler one. “...I just mean I hope you find them and they’re okay and everything.” Hana concluded, blushing.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine was quiet for a long moment, long enough to make Hana think that she had bought her lie. But then she spoke, her eyes studying Hana's reflection in the rear-view mirror for a moment, her voice firm, though without the impatience that the young teenager had sensed creeping into it before.

"Hana.. you don't have to lie to me. I mean.. I don't think you're lying, not about hoping we find them and they're okay. But that's not what you meant, I can tell that much. I can't pretend to know what goes on in your mind, though I think you underestimate how highly I think of you. You survived, through everything that happened, just like I did. And I know what kind of toll that takes on someone.. I know how hard it was for me, and I had more advantages than you did. I saw awful, terrible things, and I did them too. I don't think anyone alive now can say they haven't, and be telling the truth. I had to. It was that, or give up and die. And if there's one thing I've fought against my whole life, it's giving up. I just.. can't."

Jasmine's gaze moved back to the road ahead of them, and Hana stole the chance to study the older girl, really study her. It was easy to assume that Jasmine was hopelessly naive, driving half-way across the continent in the vague hope that her family might still be alive, and that everything would be all right again, and everyone would be happy, as long as they were together. Of course, Hana had assumed the trip would be an utter waste of time, that there would be nothing at all for Jasmine once they'd reached her aunt's farm, and she'd been wrong there - there was at least the note her mother had left her.

But gazing at Jasmine's expression, the moonlight highlighting her mocha-colored skin as it shone in through the front window of the Hummer, she didn't see a hopelessly naive young woman. The line of Jasmine's jaw was firm, reminding Hana of a boxer about to take a punch, and the glint in her dark, chocolate colored eyes was more determined than optimistic. Hana hadn't really seen Jasmine in action yet, though she had heard stories of her martial prowess. But with her curly hair pulled back into a messy braid, wearing her camouflage-colored tank-top and a pair of jeans that were starting to fade, she reminded Hana more of some sort of modern-day Amazon warrior, intent on fulfilling her tribal obligations, than of some foolish girl running after her mommy.

"Maybe it's completely pointless. Maybe my family died before they made it to Mexico City, and this is all a big waste of time. Except it's not - at least I'll know, one way or another. If she is alive, my mother won't have to worry, not knowing whether I lived, died, or worse. Every family member I've buried so far has been a kind of relief - not that I wanted them dead, but that at least I knew their fates, and no longer had to imagine the possibilities in my head at night, laying there, pretending to sleep. I don't have to be afraid that one day I'm going to be fighting a zombie and it'll be my father, or my brother Denali. It might not be much, but it's what I've got. That, and you guys. So I'm just going to have to take that, and run with it."

[Atomicweasel]

I don't have to be afraid that one day I'm going to be fighting a zombie and it'll be my father... Jasmine’s words rang in Hana’s ears.

Cold hands gripped her thigh, pulling the girl up as she screamed and struggled. That had been so long ago, and was so distant now, that Hana almost failed to recognize the girl she watched shrieking and kicking to be free. But she knew the other’s broken face. As changed as it was, every feature of that face had brought her comfort once. Even with the gray pallor and eyes that looked like runny eggs, Hana knew that face. She watched as it came closer, watched as the broken teeth closed down just above the girl’s knee. Then the darkness came rushing out of the girl’s blue eyes like an ocean of malice...

Hana pressed her palms into her eyes. She held her breath and waited and when it was safe she lowered her hands back to her sides. Jasmine was looking at her through the rear-view mirror.

“Hana? Are you—“

“—I’m fine. I’m okay.” Hana answered quickly. She turned to look into the backseat where Pumpkin was bundled up in her sleeping bag and covered with a blanket on top of that and tightly gripping her headless doll.

“What if they’re different?” Hana asked, turning back to Jasmine. “What if they’ve changed into something else and they can’t even remember what it was like to be your family. What if they don’t even remember you? I think that would be worse than never finding them. Or even knowing they were dead.” the little pre-teen concluded somberly. “Aren’t you scared?”

[Jasmine Gentian]

"Sure I am. I'm terrified. I'm afraid of the looks on the faces of my two youngest siblings.. afraid of seeing the haunted expressions in their eyes that I see in yours, and in Pumpkin's. I'm afraid they might be scared of me, and what I can do now, just like Sammie from the hospital was. I spent three days trying to find her after she ran away from me.. three days, and I knew what I'd have to do when I found her. But it was my duty.. she'd run away because of me, and I couldn't let her exist like that. I remember once she told her Mom that if she ever got so sick from the cancer that she couldn't have fun ever again, she didn't want any more medicine. She was six years old and she knew the difference between living and existing. I had to. There was no one else."

She was quiet then, and Hana got the sense that she had gotten lost in memories, much like Hana had only moments ago. She wondered vaguely if that's what everyone would do, for the rest of their lives, even if they could manage to kill every zombie in existence. Just.. remember, like some old man who used to tell stories about the war like they were yesterday, and nothing important had ever happened since.

"Jasmine?"

"Yeah, sorry.. I'm okay." Her words were a mirror of Hana's.. it seemed to be the lie people told the easiest, even before Z-Day, as if to admit otherwise was admitting something embarassing.

"If you're afraid, why do you want to go so badly?"

"Because I'm not just going for me. I'm going for them, too. To see if I can do anything to make their lives a little less hellish. To let them know if they made it that so did I. To tell my Mom that she's gonna be a grandma, and kind of already is." She glanced back at Pumpkin, then at Hana, and smiled just a little, though it seemed tired. "Because that's what you do for family, blood or otherwise. That's what you do when you care about someone. And because.. well, because I'm still alive, so its better than doing nothing."

[Atomicweasel]

Hana struggled. She very much wanted to believe Jasmine’s family fairy tale. A group of smiling faces gathered around a plastic table in a bomb shelter, sharing baked beans and corn out of a can. Drinking Kool-Aid. Jasmine’s mom knitting little booties for her grandchild to be. Simon strumming a guitar while Bond cleaned out his gun collection. Singing ‘kumbaya’ together and roasting marshmellows over a hot-plate. Maybe. She could be Cousin Hana to a whole new generation of Jasmines and Bonds. Mocha colored and blue-eyed and tow-headed.

The alternative was just as easy to imagine. A gathering of corpses arranged around a dusty living room. Jasmine’s grief-crazed mother trying to carve the baby out of her daughter with a rusty knife...Why do I think this stuff!?

Hana pressed her palms against her eyes again. She leaned left as Jasmine took a curve in the road. Hana was tired but she feared sleep. She had feared it ever since the darkness had slipped free of her to attack Kristen and Ashley. What if that happened again? Jasmine might try to be understanding, but Hana had no illusions about what Bond would do. She’d be out in a heart-beat. Dropped off on the side of the road and left to fend for herself. If she was lucky.

She fought back a yawn. She wished she could stay awake all the time like Jasmine.

“You should get some rest.” Hana heard Jasmine say.

“Yeah.” Hana pushed her hair out of her face. “Remember pancakes?”

[Jasmine Gentian]

"Yeah.. I remember pancakes. Dad used to make great pancakes, and he served them with sausage that we would dip in the syrup. Remember sausage?"

And so it went, as they drove through the otherwise silent darkness, until Hana finally fell asleep and Jasmine was left to remember on her own, in the quiet stillness of the night.

[Atomicweasel]

Late the next morning, long after the purplish and orange hues of daybreak had given way to a blistering haze of heat and sunlight, Jasmine stood next to the parked Hummers, trying to cobble together a meal for six out of a can of Spam, half a box of crackers and something that purported to be SqueezyCheese. If she’d had eggs, Jasmine was sure she could have fried them on the sizzling hot hood of the vehicle beside her. But she didn’t. Their supplies were holding out, thanks in great part to Bond’s suggestion that they only eat twice a day, but eggs were a distant fantasy. Jasmine herself hardly had to eat at all, but she felt miserable every time she heard Pumpkin say “I’m hungry” and she suspected Hana spent an unhealthy amount of time day-dreaming about pancakes. They would have to find more food soon. She worried the girls weren’t getting enough protein and they were little enough already. Starvation wasn’t going to do them any favors.

“That smells real good.”

“It’s almost done, hon.” Jasmine glanced over her shoulder to find Hana leaning back against the Hummer. The girl looked especially sylph-like in her faded summer dress. She’d tanned during their road-trip, and in her flip-flops she looked like some unlikely island princess. All she needed was a flower stuck in her wild mane of black hair. Jasmine watched her fidget, twist a lock of hair around her finger, fan the collar of her dress and blush mysteriously, until it became clear Hana hadn’t come by for an early sample of the food.

“Can I ask you something?” Hana asked shyly.

“Sure you can.” Jasmine smiled encouragingly.

It took Hana a few turns of her frazzled friendship bracelet and some chewing of her lower lip before her courage was equal to the task of blurting out, “Was it weird for you and Bond, you know, with him being so much older than you?”

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine glanced at Hana, a brief look of surprise flickering across her face at the seeming randomness of the question. Her gaze flickered briefly over to Bond, sitting with Simon and Mrigesh, studying the gathering of men quietly for a moment before answering.

Why do I have the funny feeling this is a loaded question?

"Well.. not really, no. But.. he's not that much older than I am. About ten years.. maybe twelve. I guess it is a pretty big difference, now that I think about it. But.. I don't know if that matters so much anymore, if you can find someone you have things in common with that.. someone you're attracted to. If you can find someone who makes you happy.. that's probably more than most people could hope for these days, all things considered. We just really.. clicked."

Jasmine paused for a moment, long enough to open the can of Spam, and flip it over onto a plate. She began carefully cutting it small, equally-sized cubes as she spoke, equal to the number of crackers they had left.

"Then again, I'm not sure there's many people out there that wouldn't click with Jim, if he wanted them to. What he sees in me, I'm not quite sure - I wouldn't have pegged myself for his type, you know? But I'm not complaining.. why look a gift horse in the mouth, right?"

She shrugged a little, tossing Hana one of those little smiles that made her feel included, like she imagined Jasmine probably smiled at her little sister.. who was, from what Jasmine had described, younger than Hana. Then she pushed the plate of crackers over to the girl, along with the mock cheese.

"Can you spread some of this on each cracker, please? Thank you."

As Hana took the bottle and began squeezing little dollops of the cheese onto the crackers, Jasmine finished cutting up the processed meat, and began laying out little squares of it on top of each cracker.

"Of course, it's different now. It used to be.. if you were casual about it.. you know, about taking things further.. there were options. Birth control, protection, morning after pills, even abortions. Of course, I never really thought about it much when I was a teenager, beyond being angry that I couldn't even go on a date.. I was too sick most of the time, and when you're sick and scrawny you're not exactly a guy magnet anyway, even if you're having a good month. But who even knows how much of that is an option now, or will be for very long? All that stuff has limits.. expiration dates.. if you can even find someplace that has them, and you know what to use. So I suppose what's really important now.. more important even than it used to be.. is to be old enough to make an informed decision, and to deal with the possible consequences. I'm a pretty good example of that, I suppose. I didn't think about it.. and while I'm trying to be optimistic about it.. there's still a lot of dangers. And probably less for me than most.. with my abilities and all. You know?"

As she spoke, Jasmine's voice remained cool and restrained, as if they were just having a normal conversation. The only sign of her nervousness was the slight flush of rose that had stained her dusky-colored cheeks. She had taken on a lot of responsibility, taking in these two girls.. but she had been so occupied with the simplest of things.. survival, education.. that she hadn't really given much thought to these types of conversations. With Pumpkin at least that would be a long way off. It should be with Hana too, she supposed, but she had seen the adoring looks the young pre-teen gave Simon when he wasn't looking, and it wasn't too hard of a connection to make. Going through everything they'd all gone through.. it was hard to say "mature enough". They were almost all "mature" now, in a depressing, reality-stricken type of way. Perhaps she was jumping the gun, but.. it was the best she knew how to do. Having Hana try and push her feelings about Simon - no matter what the reaction on his end - could make life in their little traveling caravan very complicated. And if she were to try anything.. God, she seems too young for me to be worrying about this!.. and he did reject her because of her age.. He'd *BETTER* reject her for being too young!.. Hana seemed so skittish sometimes that she was afraid the young pre-teen might run away from the humiliation.. and from the security that their little group provided. It was the last thing Jasmine wanted to worry about, but now she had to.

This "foster parent" thing was more challenging than Jasmine had anticipated, she thought wryly. Some part of her hoped desperately that her Mother was alive, no only because she missed her desperately, but because she needed some advice!

[Atomicweasel]

Hana absorbed Jasmine's speech in silence, only occasionally lifting her eyes from the little row of crackers she was carefully making to the young woman's face. When Jasmine, blushing, busied herself with the finishing touches for each little cracker treat, Hana seized the brief moment of opportunity to squirt a jolt of fake cheese directly into her mouth from the bottle. She placed the SqueezyCheese down and was ready with an innocent look for Jasmine when they chanced to look at each other again.

"Bond looks a lot older than you...how old are you?" Hana asked impertinently.

Jasmine laughed wryly. "Eighteen. But sometimes I feel like an old woman. I kind of had to grow up fast."

"Yeah." Hana rubbed the back of her neck and cast a sidelong glance at the three men gathered a short distance away. "So, like...do you mean I should like...count days?"

Jasmine paused. Oh boy. "No.. I mean, that's something, I guess...but I mean that you should wait. Not out of any moral or ethical reason, but because you're just too young - physically - to risk the consequences. If something were ever to happen to us.. well.. I'd hope that you'd try and look after Pumpkin. And that's more than enough for a 12-year old girl to handle on her own...much less a baby."

"I'm not twelve." Hana said, blushing acutely, though she very much looked it. At best. "I'm thirteen and a half...and I'm definitely not going to get pregnant." Hana had to bite her tongue to keep from adding how selfish and stupid she thought it was to have a baby. "Anyway, how old were you your first time?" Hana blurts, emboldened by the outrage of being called a twelve year old.