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Elodie gave a soft smile.
"Yes, I suppose you do" Elodie said in response to Jesse's question, she observed the cross hanging around her neck and smiled again.
"We could go back to my apartment, since I have more than enough food for both of us." she said, she gave a face of surprise, then ran back in the store, where she filled her bag full of snack, and then came back out and stood in front of Jesse.
"Okay now we have more than enough." She said with a sly grin.
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Gus tilted his head and eyed Jez appraisingly. "Well….my ma always said it don't matter what you think about your life, seein' as it'll happen anyway, so might as well think nice things about it. I like my ma. But uh….what's that about 'books'? Did somebody write a manual on killin' th' monsters or somethin? Sounds kinda handy."
Jesse clocks her head to the side, confused as the girl ran back to the building then to stand in front of her once again.
"Yeah?" She asks, crossing her arms "that'd be fine. Though I'm stayin on the move." She huffs, pulling the green bandana off of her bicep and slipping it over her head, pushing her hair out of the way of her face.
-
Jezariah purses his lips, "uh…if we do find anybody else let's keep this between us two…" He says, turning down to the second floors stairwell
"I found a lab a few weeks back. Underneath some sort of hospital? It was abandoned but there was this small library. Most useless stuff about herbs and crap but I found some things on the screamers. Mostly history" he shrugs
Gus raised his eyebrows. "Wow, no foolin'? What kind of history? Did you keep th' books? I won't tell if you say not to, but I dunno why we need to keep it quiet….seems like somethin' that could help lot of folks if they knew."
Jezariah nods "yeah I kept them" he shrugs "I don't know. I could see someone wanting this and putting everyone else in danger." He says as they reach the bottom floor.
"They talk about where they came from. How they made them. Who was involved and who caused it. The first monster. That kind of thing." He stops on the stairs and turning to him "and the safe places. Like military manufactured safe places." He explains.
Elodie gave a nod, her head angled down, to where her chin pointed to the ground.
"Well, follow me." She said starting to walk across the way to her apartment building, she kept looking back to make sure Jesse was following, when they got there ELodie lead her to the top and unlocked the door to her apartment, with a key she found on the counter the day she had found it.
Gus whistled quietly. "That do sound important, if it's real I mean. You sayin' you think whoever wrote th' books is the same person who made th' monsters? If that's true, I say we hunt 'em down and give 'em an earful for turning th' things loose…..if they ain't all dead, acourse."
Jesse followed Elodie to her apartment, keeping on the look out on their way, her hand on the pistol that hung from her hip.
When they got inside, her eyes wandered to keep an eye out, though wanting to look around anyway out of curiosity.
She pulled her eyes straightforward to.focus on Elodie, still cautious of her. What her motive was and if it was actually a good idea to stick with her.
"How long have you been stayin here?" She asks, her German accent strong now that she actually spoke in full sentences, not having much to say back at the store.
-
Jezariah gave a soft chuckle "yeah thatd be nice" he says raising his eyebrows, reaching the bottom of the stairwell and opening the metal door after looking through the small window.
"There's a whole team in multiple places. There had to be at least 20 people per institution. From what kind of person he seems to be, I'm guessing this dude was one of the lowerclassed scientist…if that makes sense" he says walking through the doorway.
"If we get settled down somewhere I can let you have a look at it"
"I ain't much of a reader but I am curious," Gus agreed, closing the door behind them. "Sure, I'll take a peek after we find a campsite. I s'pose we'd better get back to that other part of town and hunker down before it gets dark. Local wildlife's always worse after sundown, if you catch my drift." He brightened. "Say, you like music? Maybe I'll break out my banjo later if it's safe."
Jez gave him a smile "yeah? You know.many songs?" He asks, walking down the hall and doing a double check in any of the rooms. He had purposely left all of the doors open so if any of the doors were shut when he came back he'd know something was there. Though it obviously wasn't a fool proof plan, it's worked a bit in the past and it never took much energy out of him to do so.
Elodie turned toward Jesse, a smile grazing her lips.
"since a week or so after the outbreak started, and screamers became a thing– dont really know how long ago that was though–" she said through a soft smile–
"I know plenty of songs from back home," Gus said chattily, strolling along after Jez. "I dunno what kind of music you like, but if you're into folk or country or bluegrass, we'll get along fine." He spotted the door leading outside and took his rifle back off his shoulder, cradling it loosely in one arm. He didn't think they'd run into trouble, but he'd learned the hard way to enter and exit buildings prepared for the worst.
Jesse raises her thick eyebrows, looking around "depending where you're from." She pauses, her carenel eyes flicking back to her from their surroundings.
"You have much experience with the reapers?" She asks, thinking she already knew the answer.
-
Jez smiles "im chill with any music" he shrugs "traditional is really nice. And I guess we don't have much if a choice anymore though" he says, stepping outside and letting the warmth of the sun beam down on his skin. "Man…what day do you think it is? I forgot to keep track" he says only half joking
Elodie shook her head in response, she opened her mouth, paused then closed it again.
"No, i usually hate violence… so I try to stay away from them… so I don't have to hurt them." She said raising her hand to her mouth, and chewing on her nails, something she did to deal with awkward parts of conversation or her anxiety.
Gus took a deep breath of fresh air. "Heck, I ain't too sure. Day of the week, or of th' month? I reckon it might be Tuesday, but my brain clock's been a little off ever since I tried hibernatin' in a hole last winter. Maybe if we meet people soon, we can ask 'em. I hope they like folk music too, or we'll have a problem." Taking a quick look around, he set off down the empty road. "C'mon, the place I saw the human tracks is back this-a-way."
so you don't hurt ? You think they have feelings or somethin? She thought to herself, wondering what this girl's views on this whole thing was.
Jesse nods "uh huh" she says looking her up and down "you know how to fight?" She asks, her arms still crossed.
-
Jezariahs brows furrowed and his eyes widen "you what?" He asks as they started walking down the street, readjusting his bags on his shoulders.
Elodie shook her head again.
"no ma'am, no one ever taught me how and I never wanted to learn…because I don't like hurting things, even the screamers." She said lightly.
"Y'know, the tracks by th' dead screamin' demon thang. And the cut-up trees 'n the looted stores 'n stuff." Gus picked up a pebble and hucked it at a pigeon's nest sitting atop a busted traffic light. "Or were you askin' about the hibernation? Lemme tell you, it didn't work out too good. Dern near died of boredom 'fore I could even freeze or starve."
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(I am quarantine so I will be afk for a couple of days, fyi)
(That's totally fine! I hope you're feeling well! ♡)
Jesse raises her brows once again, though not surprised. She seemed like a more soft soul through her eyes. Though she knew she didn't know too.much about this girl.
"Well if you wanna live you're gonna have to fight" she says, unrolling her arms and swinging her bags off her shoulders, setting them down with a sudden thunk
-
Jez let out a laugh "whyd you even think to hibernate??" He asks through a chuckle, picking up a pebble as well but only twirling it in between his fingers
Elodie did the same, setting her bag down she turned back to Jesse, her eyes casted downwards.
"Well why dont you teach me how, you sure as hell seem to know how to defend yourself and what not." She suggested quietly, she kept her tone cold incase Jesse said no, she wouldnt have sounded to eager when asking.
Gus shrugged easily at Jez's incredulous question. "Well see, they tell me my ma's pa hibernated once when his wife kicked him out of th' house fer the holidays. And all size of critter does it, so I figured why not try? But I guess I jus' wasn't as sleepy as ol' Grandpa Kitchens, so I had to call it quits while I still had all my fingers 'n toes." He stopped at a crossroads, looked both ways, and kept going straight. "After that I took a tip from the birds and tried migratin' instead. But acourse, my four-wheeler broke down 'fore I could make it to wherever they were goin'. I been walkin' or floatin' downriver on rafts ever since. Now here I am. So what about you, Jez? Where all have you been since the screamin' demons showed up?"
The smallest smile broke out on Jesse's dark lips when Elodie said that "hell yeah" she says giving her shoulder a firm, rather hard pat on the back.
"We start tomorrow" she says in a happier voice than any of her other sentences have been.
Jez nods "wow alright….you're crazy" he says with a scoff.
"Ah I was living with my sister and my mom and my weird "christain" step-dad before this all hit. My sister went missing about a month beforehand so I left trying to find her-" he pauses "which yeah wasn't the best idea but nobody else in town was trying." He says with a shrug, a bit angry about it still.
"I was out that whole month. I've got no idea if my moms alive. Couldn't care less about that "husband" of hers. My dad was a great guy though" he says.
"I'm just trying to find my sister." He says, telling the whole thing as if it were a fact from a book instead of his life. He was a rather emotional guy, so it tended to detatch himself from his past or his feelings in general so he didnt get caught up in them
Elodie gave a solid nod and headed towards the hallways. She the turned facing Jesse.
"The room further back is mine, you can sleep in the other if you want some privacy… it already has a mattress." She said her voice small and shaky.
"I'm going to get some rest though, I'll see you in the morning–" she said rushing into her room and shutting the door. She gave a sigh of relief as she heard the door click shut. She then changed out of her outfit, into a more comfortable outfit; pajama pants and a baggy tee shirt.
She then laid down and threw her arm over her eyes and took deep breaths, she could see from her open eyes, that moonlight was spilling in through the bedroom window.
Gus listened with his head tilted sideways, watching the clouds as they walked. "Huh….I hope you find your sis. I'd hate to lose my sister out here, if I had one. An' I hope your folks are okay. I ain't too sure how mine are doin' these days—I ain't seen 'em since I left home half a year ago. Y'see, they sent me 'n some other guys out scoutin' fer a new place to settle, since the river was startin' to rise. But a few months ago we got split up in a fight 'n I can't seem to find 'em." For the first time his cheery attitude was replaced by a contemplative expression. "I reckon they're all right, probably better-off 'n me right now. But that's sorta what I'm doin'. I'm lookin fer my pals and also a good place to build a town."
Jesse looked at the girl, confused by her rushed actions.
She stands there for a moment, mumbling something in german before turning around with a shrug, heading into the room she mentioned, picking up her belongings along the way.
She did enjoy her privacy, so Jesse was thankful to her for offering this room.
She opens the door slowly, sticking her head in there to see if anyone or anything was in here.
Seeing it as safe enough, she steps inside, closing the door behind her.
She sets down her things next to the mattress with a huff, her hand reaching up and pulling the green bandana out of her hair, letting it fall into her face.
After a few moments though, she grows impatient and heads over to Elodies room, knocking on the door.
"Is this place cleared?" She asks through the door, her voice still low and scratchy.
-
Jez drops the small rock he'd been holding in his hand and kicking it down the street. "They're probably alright." He says, trying to be reassuring.
"How many people did you guys have? Back at home I mean?" He eventually asks, though not wanting to get too touchy with his questions.
Elodie gets up from her bed, rubbing her eyes, and heads to the door. She grabs the handle and opens it, having heard Jesse through the door, before she even opened it. She responded with
"yes, I cleared it the second I got here…" she said, her voice scratchy and full of sleep, she rubbed her fists to her eyes again and then blinked.
Jesse looks down at her, not expecting her to actually get up and open the door.
She leans on the doorway, "and you said you didn't like.hurting them" she says, thoroughly surprised. And impressed.
*no way she could have. Especially with her fighting experience. With it being little to none according to her….
"I'm impressed" she says, forgetting what she wanted to ask for a short moment.
Elodie nodded and leaned into the doorway, inches from Jesse, she sighed and opened her mouth to speak, the closed it. Having nothing to say.
"Anything else?" she asked, finally saying something.
She brushed her hair behind her ear, and rubbed her eyes with her fists again.
"Yeah I'm just gonna be up on the roof then. I was just making sure it was all cleared before I go up so I didn't waste my time trying" she says, pushing herself off of the doorway, keeping her arms crossed, her bandana in one hand and a pack of cigarettes in the other