[Chorus of Decay] Surprise Findings While Scavanging

Day 83 After Collapse

Douglas couldn't help but grumble as they made yet another trip from the interior of the store to the pullable cart they'd parked outside of it. In the cart was a couple of tool boxes with hammers, screwdrivers, levelers, and assorted other tools, while in the cart itself were a couple of sledgehammers and saws, even a few axes that had been missed in earlier rushes, some band saws lacking their machine portions... And of course a fair amount of planks of wood, boxes of nails, screws, nuts and bolts... Even a few still good logs.

Sure, Douglas couldn't help but feel a small measure of pride in having gotten this stuff by themselves. Sure, it wasn't more than half a day's walk from the camp, but it was still a stockpile of construction supplies that were going to be desperately needed for the camp. Especially if they wanted more sturdy and stable structures to house the things they and Henry had found in the flooded city almost 2 weeks earlier.

Kana held her SAR-1 Vitória close, but ready to use should the need arise. She preferred not to use it as much since bullets were at a premium currently, but she was ready to if forced to. She was quiet as she led the way through the alley as she tried to look for stores, something that would help the K duo with their camping. As she walked, she couldn’t help but wonder how long it’s been since the collapse and what day it was. She hadn’t been able to tell when the global timekeeper tech went offline.

The masked and hooded half-elf broke into the open street, her eyes darting around for any trouble such as raiders and zombies. That’s when she spotted it. A cart, an actual hand style cart just waiting there. She made her approach, and that’s when she spotted them, someone she didn’t recognize. She held her weapon tight ready to move should she get attacked. “Hey! You raider, zombie, or other?’ She asked them. Other, of course, meant civilized people that wouldn’t attack like Kenny, and of course Douglas, but she didn’t know that.

Douglas froze at the call, hand reaching down from the sack of assorted hinges and door knobs to grab ahold of the rifle slung across their front. Then what was said registered. "Are you fucking kidding me?! THERE'S ZOMBIES NOW TOO!?" Douglas called back, their voice quite feminine, almost sultry despite the words used. It even had a melodic tone to it as they spoke. "First fucking rage inducing dust, then fucking fish people in a flooded city, and now fucking zombies?!" Douglas continued to complain, throwing the sack into the cart.

Having almost forgotten the question, Douglas ceased their muttering for a moment. "Well, I'm no more a raider than the next honest person around these days. Thankfully I ain't had to kill someone yet." They called back to the voice, though they kept a hand on the military assault rifle they had, trying to discretely, now that they had their focus back on the moment, to ready it for combat if needed.

Kenny, who had split up to check the couple of dusty cars that were in the store’s small parking lot, rejoined Kana after his futile efforts. Noticing the person by the cart and the new standoff, Kenny drew his lever action, careful to keep it pointed down.

“Well, to be exact, they ain’t zombies. Zombies are undead, risen from the grave and all that. These poor suckers are still technically alive, just driven absolutely mad with bloodlust due to aggressive mutations.” Kenny said, before tilting his head to the side a bit. “It’s a semantic difference, the best kind. Luckily, they all seem to share the same bullet allergy, so all is good.”

Noting the assault rifle in the cart person’s hands, Kenny felt it better to try diplomacy. “Well that’s good to hear. My name is Kenny. What might your name be, stranger?”

Douglas narrowed their eyes, though it was impossible to tell with the clothes they were wearing, with all the layers they were wearing. Being cornered in this fashion just made Douglas more nervous.

"Not sure I want to say. Considering there's two of you and only one of me." Douglas said, grip tightening on their rifle as their hood swifted between Kana and Kenny.

Peering from his gas mask, Kenny tilted his head. “I’m not asking for you to put down your gun or give us your supplies. Only a name so I can address you as such. Before I just start calling Burrito.”

Crickets sounded.

“Ya know, because you’re all layered up?” Kenny offered.

Kana only turned her head as she heard movement, then relaxed as she heard Kenny’s voice clarifying a potential mistake she’d made. She might have incorrectly assumed some of the foes she’d faced were zombies, though it did occur to her that she should have changed too. Still, it made her wonder why it hadn’t.

She smirked as Kenny made his joke in explanation. “As he said, he’s Kenny, and I am Kana, we aren't raiders or interested in killing people unless attacked. Since you didn’t attack, means you're at least not changed enough. “ She said and lowered her weapon slowly.

The layered up figured shifted focus once more between the two, and while they didn't release their grip on the rifle, they did let it relax some. "Douglas." They replied. "My name is Douglas." Douglas was pretty sure that their supply run was basically over now... They needed to get back to the camp with what they had, and it seemed lingering to finish filling up the cart was a not very good idea now.

"Just to be sure, if I were to grab what I've gotten so far and leave, you'd not attack me, right?" They asked, trying to make sure they understood the situation correctly at the moment.

“Correct, Burrito-san.” said Kenny, making a thumbs up sign with his offhand. ”We operate on a strict “don’t be a dick” policy.”

Kana nodded her head in agreement”I’d have no issue with that.. though if there are others like you at your camp.. Would it be alright if we come along to join? I promise Douglas, we don’t have evil intentions, I just think more people we could trust would be good, so long as they aren't those ashen order fanatics jerks.”

"'Ashen Order'? Who the fuck is that?" Douglas muttered quietly, but shook their head. "There's a few of us, but I'm not sure I'd be willing to take you back to our camp. Mainly because, while yes, you haven't attacked me yet... I wouldn't put it past you to wait till our guard's down to do so. I've seen too many burned out homes where that clearly happened to just trust so easily." They called back, hand still on their weapon just as a precaution.

Trust was hard to come by these days, and seeing just how far some had been willing to go to get what they wanted, well, Henry had taught Douglas to stay cautious and careful. Despite everything else that Henry had done for Douglas, the lessons he taught were proving far too valuable in this new age.

“Trust us, Douglas, you don’t wanna meet those guys. They’re no good” Unable to help himself after hearing Kana, Kenny went still behind his gas mask. His stance shifted slightly and his voice dropped all inflections, coming in a low monotone. “The Ashen Order… They’re a bunch of fascist, jackboot, intolerant, hypocritical bastards. They’re nothing more than upjumped raiders with delusions of being a righteous government. And make no mistake, every one of them deserves to die.”

The young man rolled his shoulders and took a deep sigh, resettling himself and his voice was back to its previous jovial tone.

“Well, can’t say I blame ya on being cautious, Burrito. So we have come to an impasse. How shall we proceed?”

Kana blinked when it appeared that Douglas didn’t know who the Ashen Order were, which told her that maybe he hadn’t encountered them, but Kenny had. She blinked when he seemed to change from the same old Kenny to something very different. She could feel the hate in his words which surprised her to no end, having never known him in the short time they’d been together to be like that. “Caution is understandable” she added, though she really wanted to join the camp for more was merrier, and good for survival.

Kana turned slightly as she looked out of a habit that her father, the same man who taught Douglas had ingrained within her to watch out for danger, something in this current situation was something high.

Douglas gave a slow nod, but turned their head as they heard something clatter. It was admittedly faint, since the parking lot, while not massive, was still large enough that the main road and the building across from it were a good couple minutes jog away. It almost sounded like a can being kicked against stone. "Are you sure it's just the two of you?" Douglas asked the pair, once more tightening their grip on the rifle they held.

Raising his lever action at the sound, Kenny’s stance shifted, knees slightly bent, shoulders set. He kept his eyes open under his mask. He spoke, tone swift and brusque. “Yeah, just us. I think we should get out of here. Quick.”

Kana, like Douglas, also heard something clatter, but unlike her companions, she had a bit better hearing thanks to her elven heritage. She heard the clatter and almost with some focus she could hear breathing. “Indeed, it was just us, but it appears we have company. Kenny’s right we gotta get out of here, I’m not liking what I am hearing” She replied as she readied her rifle and stepped back a little she tried to hear more but she knew that whoever they were would soon come into view and thus they would know the numbers of their opponents.

Douglas pressed themself to the side of their cart, rifle being placed on the top of it to aim over it. Soon the 'others' showed themselves. They wore rather ragged clothing, clearly not well cared for or at least not skillfully patched. And wielded an assortment of guns and melee weapons. There was about 7 or 8 of them.

"Well well well! Lookee what we found here boys!" One called over, raising his arms wide with a rackous grin. "I see a lovely lady who clearly needs some help. And ain't we just the sort of, upstanding, men to do so, for a fee of course!" The man continued, as his men chuckled during their approach.

Stopping a short distance away, the leader looked at the trio, grinning the whole while.

“My god,” Kenny said, voice grave as a tomb. “I can’t believe it. I thought they weren’t real. They’re… mooks.”

Chortling, the masked man began to move away from Kana, his head swiveling to keep an eye on as many as he could.

In a jovial tone, he continued, “These my friends are a dying breed. Mooks. Thugs of the lowest caliber, only good for throwing out some cliche lines and serving as cannon fodder.”

Stepping close to the leader, the jovial tone in Kenny’s voice vanished. “So now that your two-bit act is done with Mister Mook, why don’t you leave before your next act makes you into a corpse in the ground?”

Kana rolled her eyes as she turned her attention to the newcomers. “I need no help thanks’ she said in an all too familiar response. It was something she always used to get, men thinking she needed help when she didn’t, and now the same thing, though she suspected that there were no good motives for it. She felt fortunate that her ears were covered by the hood, so they couldn’t or didn’t know she was a half-elf. She snorts at Kenny’s reaction. "They certainly are a dying breed, but get back here!” She called to her companion as she lifted her M1 Garand rifle, her finger now on the trigger ready to use it if they didn't leave.

Douglas was much in agreement with Kana on this matter. As it was, they focused more on aiming at one of the few bastards who had a firearm, a not very well taken care of hunting rifle by the looks of it. Tightening their grip, steadying their breath, they sought to focus themselves as Henry taught them. Opening their eyes as they felt themselves calm, they made sure to sight their target. Center of mass, right in the middle of their chest. Biggest target, and housed a lot of rather important bits people needed to live with. Now it was just a matter of waiting.

The gang leader chuckled, clapping the club in his hand a few times. "Now, see... I don't much care for you getting so into my personal space." He said simply, before swinging the metal rod as hard as he could at Kenny's head.

Kenny brought up his rifle to block the attack, grimacing at having to use a classic rifle like this. He punished the Mook leader by slamming the stock on his face. Stepping back just enough, he lowered his rifle and blasted a hole in the man's chest. Instead of pulling the rifle’s lever, he instead drew his Moses pistol and fired at the nearest armed mook.

“Fucking walking clichés!” he shouted as he moved while shooting, clearing himself from Kana and Douglas’ sightlines. Hopefully, they’d provide some covering fire while he drew attention to him. “Come on, you cockless bastards!”

Kana saw Kenny’s movement and his successful attack on the leader and the nearest armed gang member. She aimed with the training Henry had given her, centering and focusing herself as well as her aim. She used her SAR-1 Vitória to fire her bullets at those mooks nearby, moving her semi-automatic rifle and searching for the rest of the gang members aligned with their now-dead leader. The bullets shot out of her barrel as she saw gang members, specifically those aiming at Kenny.

She provided covering fire but also used her half-elf heritage to search for more of the gang members.

When the shooting started, Douglas was quick to act, firing on their selected target. They'd fired on targets before. Even on animals. Been fired upon more than once. Seen death far too often for their liking. But this time, watching the crimson spurt of blood as the bullets went home and punched through the man. There was a sudden dropping of Douglas' stomach at the realization that they had just taken a life.

But they didn't dwell on it right now, instead shifting angle to fire on the next. 4 of the gangers were down, dead or wounded, the other four were trying to get back into some semblance of order, which was difficult as three of them carried melee weapons in a fight that was heavily slanted towards ranged combat. On top of that, Douglas and Kana were firing from a bit of cover that protected them, while the gangers were out in the open.

Douglas stroked the trigger, feeling the weapon kick into their body, though it was so minute as to be unnoticed. And soon another spray of crimson filled the sky as the last guy with a gun dropped to the ground. Almost pulling the trigger again as their aim shifted, but stopping as Kenny stepped in the way to attack the guy in front of them.

Pistol in hand, dropping gangers left and right, Kenny fell for the oldest trap in the book. Hubris. He got too close and as he shot another lowlife down, one of the few survivors hurled a crowbar at his face. His reaction was to block it with his forearm. Pain burst through his arm, stunning it briefly. Dropping his pistol, Kenny was rushed by the two remaining mooks.

Tackled to the ground, the masked man managed to use his lever action as a bar between him and the mooks. One tried to overpower him, while the other one tried to maneuver around and nick him with his knife.

“A little help here!” he shouted as he scurried about, dodging stabs and holding them away.

The subtle click as a new ammo cartridge snapped into place and like a certain cartoon road runner, the bullets shot out of the barrel aiming at the gangsters attacking her partner. The Knifed Bandit found a bullet running into its head, causing the death of the one who tried a hit on Kenny, then her aim went t the one trying to overpower him she made sure he had a good hit that wouldn’t hit Kenny and fired at him too.

Kana had been used to causing the death of a life, she’d been hardened to it due to having had to survive before meeting Kenny so she didn’t appear to be affected.

Seeing the baddies finally down, Douglas sighed, and moved forward, lowering their rifle as they did. They walked over to the closest to where they'd been, and leaned down, starting to check over the things on the body. But not before first kicking them in the groin to make sure they were well and truly dead. After getting no response, and finding nothing even remotely worthwhile sans a couple of bullets, Douglas stood up and took a breath, heavily letting it out as they did as though to blow the stench of something away.

Nature had its own mind of such a thing, the wind suddenly kicking up and causing the thick clothing on Douglas to whip around their body and the hood to fall off, revealing that the heavily covered figure was actually a rather attractive woman at a glance, though her face seemed to still be 'settling' into its final beauty, with a chocolate-like complexion and long freestanding ears, capped with what would be flowing white hair if it wasn't so bedraggled from being under the hood all the time.

"Fuck!" She hissed, releasing the grip on her rifle to let it hang from the sling while fighting to get her hood back up.

“Ah, thank you!” Kenny called out, voice a bit muffled by the dead body on top of him. Pushing him off with a strained, “Git of’ you fucken’ ded basterd,” Kenny hurried to pick up his Moses pistol, checking it over quickly. Satisfied with it, he holstered the ornate pistol and flicked the lever of his rifle, ejecting the spent shell and loading a new one.

Surveying the area, Kenny turned back, noting the lifting wind, “We should get a move on soon we don’t know when…Huh.” Head tilting like a canine, he reassessed Douglas. “So Burrito-san is a cute girl.”

Shrugging, the masked human continued, “Anyways, we need to get out of here. Gunshots and the dead bodies are going to attract unwanted attention soon.” Resting his rifle on his shoulder, he gestured to his battle forged comrades.

“How do you guys wanna do this?”

Once certain that all the gang members were dealt with. She followed Douglas out from where she’d been under covers and like Douglas, she checked the bodies for anything useful. For the most part, all they had were bladed weapons, something she wouldn’t have used, or since she already had a bladed weapon. Instead, she looked at their outfits to see which was a vast improvement from what she was wearing. The wind picking up caused her to look up as it distracted her when she saw Douglas’s hood fall off. Indeed, Douglas looked like a girl to her, but unlike Kenny, she did not comment. “From what I see, the bodies don’t have anything useful, but not sure hundred percent, but your right, the shots, and the bodies will attract attention, and not the kind we want either way so if we want to search, we probably should hurry as fast as we can.

Douglas finally got her hood back on. Listening, she grumbled, but walked back to her pull cart, and grabbed a radio out of it. Checking the frequency, she turned it on. "Henry, it's Douglas. My supply run is turning a bit sideways." She said, and waited for a voice on the other side to respond. "Yeah yeah, I'm fine. I ended up getting surprise help. Guy named Kenny and a gal named Kana." She waited again. "Considering things, mind if I bring them back to camp? Seems like they ain't got any place to rest up for now." There was an even longer pause. "Yeah, I'll own up to any trouble they make." She finished, before nodding and putting away the radio.

"Come on. We'll head to the camp I'm part of. Be warned, it ain't much." She said, looking at the pair, whilst picking up the handles for the cart and starting to pull it with not a lot of effort needed, despite the amount of stuff on it.

Kana glanced over, as she felt her heart lurch inside at the mention of Henry, but she felt she had to prepare herself for the possibility that the Henry Douglas mentioned, probably wasn’t her dad Henry. She knew that would make it hard but she was a strong girl and if there were a camp that weren't full of Raiders, or worse, which also included bigots tan that would be good for her, very good.

Now back to the cart, she held her rifle and began following beside, letting Douglas deal with the cart while she and Kenny handled the guarding part.

“See friends? Jolly cooperation! And nobody had to die.” A pause. Kenny glanced about. “Well except these guys, but they don’t count. They’re mooks.”

Turning towards Douglas, Kenny’s masked face dipped a bit into a parody of a smile. “So, can I keep calling you Burrito or do you prefer S’more?”

"I'd rather you stick to Douglas." Douglas replied, rolling her eyes as she said that. "And we'll see how well you link in with us. And maybe, Henry will know better what you two can do to help around the camp." She said.

The trip to the camp wasn't excessively long, about a third of a day, but soon they had reached the camp in the middle of the forest that wasn't overely far from the place that Douglas had been scavanging from.