[SF] Bashin' Skulls

ELLA FUCHS ;; 236

    With a shock in her body, Ella woke up from the deep slumber she had been in. Looking at the clock on her right, she could see it was 4 AM. Why was there so much noise at such an early time? Even the ranchers here weren’t up that early most of the time. Putting on some jogging pants, she walked towards the small window in her room and peered outside. It was dark, but the moon lit enough of the surroundings for her to see dark blobs moving around outside. Some were moving fast, as if they were running, some were moving more slowly, in a strange way, as if they were… Could that be?

    Panic shot through her body and up her head when Ella tried to make sense of what was happening outside the house. It almost seemed as if there were zombies on the perimeter, but how could this be? Many people had joined the ranch in the past few months and there were more than enough people to watch the fences and hold of the pesky monsters. But if they were inside, that meant big trouble. Quickly she dressed herself in her usual gear, checked if she had enough bullets for her pistol and stormed out of the door to the downstairs floor. She had to find someone who would explain what was going on, and what needed to be done.

LEE RAINES ;; 504

    She hadn’t been to bed yet. Still. It was going to be a long day tomorrow and she was going to be nigh-on-useless. But she couldn’t sleep. Every Time she closed her eyes she heard his death-rattle. Felt the blood seeping over her hands and spraying on her face. Every time she thought of him she hated herself a little more because Lance didn’t deserve this. She turned away from the dark room, empty save for the two dogs who had re-joined her when the Guard captain returned from his patrol unscathed &  the malamute she was watching for… Well, the malamute she had taken in. She’d chosen to take the former master-bedroom, turned craft room and now made temporary camp for herself, rather than try and explain it to Lance. She didn’t want to hurt him, and she didn’t know how not to right now.

    With her back to the snoring dogs she could stare out the window. Silver-blue light filtered through the square-barred window. She watched dark shapes shuffle and trudge around in the lighter dark and sighed. The work would never be done. They had just gotten rid of one influx a few hours ago and the fighters, those competent anyway, were resting for the first time in hours. She didn’t have the heart to sound an alarm and wake them but something needed to be done. And the gatling gun would be just as obvious as an alarm if she took it up and started firing a spray of lead around the ranch.

    Instead she pushed away from the window, her gray sweatpants (so worn that the elastic of the waistband no longer worked and the had to be tied to stay up, and so tattered that the hems were a mess of frayed thread and fabric draped over her feet) shushed with each step across the room. She snatched up her flannel shirt and shut the door before the dogs could join her on this side of the hallway. She didn’t want them involved. Sliding into the shirt and leaving it open over the sports bra she’d been wearing in the summer heat Lee paused at her bedroom door to crack it open and fetch her bow and arrows then continued on down stairs.

    She paused long enough to stuff her feet into her boots and clomped outside, slinging the quiver over one shoulder. Once outside she headed to, and through, the bunkhouse to wrap around the Zombies. The darkness of the long building with it’s lack of windows in the main hall made her pause and she stared at a dark shape in the hall before one door. Had a zombie made it inside? It didn’t lunge for her and she held her breath wondering why she was waiting. Wasn’t waiting for death the same thing as giving up and dying? But the shape resolved itself to be Ella, a familiar face and figure once Lee’s eyes adjusted. “Bit of a late night stroll?” She asked the other girl.

ELLA FUCHS ;; 446

    She heard the door at the end of the hall open and close as she saw a dark figure enter the bunkhouse. Though at first sight she couldn’t see who it was, and though the person was hanging with his or her shoulders a bit, from the posture it was clear this was not one of the zombies. Were they even able to open doors, were they smart enough, or did they have control over such fine movements? Or were they just able to tear through any sort of flesh and rip bodies apart? Not something Ella wanted to think about right now. She had seen her friend die in front of her eyes, and though her throat had been ripped apart, she hadn’t actually seen it happening. Maybe the Z had just been chewing on it. But thinking back at those events, maybe Ella shiver and shake out of fear and that could paralyse her. Get out of my head.

    As the figure approached her she could see it was actually Lee, the first person she had met after her...wandering around, and a small sigh of relief escaped Ella’s lips. “I woke up from loud noises outside, and when I looked outside I saw people, or things, walking around. Some slow, some running. What’s going on?” Her hand edged ever so slightly towards her pistol she had strapped in the belt around her upper leg, as if that could make the threat seem a little bit further away. Looking at Lee’s face, she noticed it was almost expressionless, or numb. She had heard through others what had happened, that affected Lee so much. But actually seeing her leader, weighed heavy upon Ella’s chest. Because she recognised the look on her face and could almost feel the pain Lee must be going through right now.

    A closer look to Lee showed she was fully armed with her bow and arrow, which made Ella shiver again. This couldn’t be good. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to even leave the room when all she had was a pistol. If that ran out of bullets, what then? Or would firing it lure more Z’s, if they were out there? Maybe it was best if she would actually bring something more durable, like the cook's knife she had found and hidden under her bed. ”Should we.. should we wake other people maybe? Or, or should we stay inside?” Ella asked as her voice trembled slightly. Don’t start tearing up now, you don’t even know yet what’s going on. She thought to herself, to give herself some more courage, for now.

LEE RAINES ;; 459

    She studied Ella up close, her head tilted to the side. The poor woman looked terrified. And it sounded like a smart idea to wake people for this but… “No, they’ve been fighting all day. Let them rest.” She reached out and placed a hand on Ella’s shoulder in an effort to comfort the woman. It was a habitual gesture of comfort and not a lick of the attempt crossed her face. That numbness that had consumed her just after Ramirus’ death was eeking back into existence now and she was making no effort to fight it. Something about that seemed wrong to a small part of her mind but it wasn’t enough to make her fight it or think about it too hard.

    As it was the only reason she bothered trying to comfort Ella now was because an insidious thought had whispered in her mind that if one was not strong enough to survive this new world without comfort then they had no business living and wasting resources. That had sounded far too much like Parrish for her comfort and Lee refused to become the monster that devil of a man had been grooming her to be. So she tried her best when helping others was the furthest from her thoughts and heart.

    “If you like, you can stay in the room and shoot from the window, it would keep them from getting to you… but it would lure them to the building.” Lee offered. It was a piss-poor suggestion but it was something. An option for a woman who was visibly trembling at the thought of stepping out in the darkness with those things. Lee couldn’t blame her. It was terrifying in the dark world these days. Like we’ve regressed to the middle ages. ‘Don’t go out at dark. Out there be monsters, lurking in the shadows. The night is dangerous!’

    “I’m heading out, though. You can stick with me if you like.” She hesitated before adding a soft “I won’t let anything happen to you.” A faint tremor of emotion cracked her face and she was turning to walk down the dark hall, her hushed voice now silent as she moved to the far door to continue her goal of getting outside and flanking the zombies. She could kill them, and lure the group back towards the fence. Get them riled up and shambling back in that direction and give the ranch a few more hours of peace. Of course it meant sacrificing her crops and any livestock that hadn’t been rounded up yet, but it was that or the people. Livestock could be hunted out again from neighboring locations, and tamed from wild stock if necessary. People were painfully difficult to replace.

ELLA FUCHS ;; 493

    With Lee’s warm hand on her shoulder, Ella calmed down ever so slightly. The woman in front of her had been through horrible things, more things than Ella could imagine, and yet she was still standing here, comforting others, willing to go out and fight what was threatening her people. Could Ella really afford herself to stay inside and let someone else deal with the problems? It’s what she had been doing for the past six months and though she had been safe inside, strictly sticking to her mandatory chores, she also hadn’t been alive.

    If she stayed inside, shooting from her window to support Lee, and fail at that, would she be able to forgive herself? The grief and guilt and weight on her chest would become even bigger, as she had stood by while someone might die, not trying her hardest to help. And besides that the shooting would lead the zombies to the bunkhouse, where people who had been fighting and working all day were fast asleep, and so vulnerable. The horror of the thought what might happen shook Ella in her core, and so she looked at Lee and carefully shook her head. ”No I won’t stay inside this house while you risk your life for others. I will go with you, let me just find a knife or something of the like.

    She quickly went back into her room, dropped herself in the floor and shuffled under the bed to grab the small box she had placed there a few weeks ago. It contained the cook’s knife she had found, but also some sharp looking rocks, an empty notebook she had found and some other small stuff. Taking out the knife, she held it in her right hand and walked back towards the door. She heard a soft yelping behind her, but gestured a command to Tosti that he had to stay inside, this time. Whenever she went out, she took her dog with her. But she couldn’t afford it to herself to lose someone else right now, even if in some people's eyes it was ‘only a dog’. Tosti meant everything to her, and she would not put him in harm's way. ”Not this time buddy. I’ll see you in a bit.”

    She closed the door behind her with a soft click, before Tosti could decide to ignore her command, and ran towards Lee with soft but quick strides. She reached the woman who seemed so strong, while also being so broken, and trusted in her senses. Ella might not have been the strongest or the sturdiest, but she was quick and silent and when it was so dark outside, that was important. Important to survive, but also to attack. She whispered ”Lead the way, I’m ready.” A spark of courage flickered through her chest, as she finally took the first step of getting out of a safety zone.

LEE RAINES ;; 411

    Lee waited at the back door to the bunkhouse. Peering out into the darkness and watching for danger, twice she fired a softly whistling arrow into the night at zombie’s who’d come up around the bunkhouse but otherwise it appeared clear. When Ella finally joined her she simply nodded and slipped out to fetch the fired arrows. One was broken in a skull and the other had, in a lucky shot that she couldn’t even try to claim was intentionally, gone through the eye socket preserving both shaft and arrowhead. She turned then and in a soft voice outlined her plan to Ella. “I want to sneak around and flank the herd coming in. See if we can’t agitate them and turn them around at the same time, get them moving in the other direction.” She paused, seeing if Ella had any questions before kneeling in the dirt with the broken arrow to draw the rudimentary plan in a patch of moonlight.

    “So far I’ve counted about a dozen of them shuffling around but there could be more. Keep your eyes peeled and don’t get cornered… stick close to me. I know that’ll be tricky with a ranged weapon like your knife, but try. If you can’t, at least stay where I can cover you. When we get around behind them I need you to be ready to run because I will be making noise to get their attention at that point.” And whoever was listening, as higher powers went, let there not be lurkers hiding in the bushes around the property tonight. Lurkers always made things… difficult. Lee snorted at the thought and tightened her grip on the broken arrow shaft until it cracked again. She tossed it aside and stood again.

    “You ready?” She didn’t wait for Ella to confirm. This, combat, was not something that always waited for you to be ready and it certainly wasn’t going to be easy on you. Better to just get it over with and keep the girl moving.  If she was moving she was too busy to be paralyzed by the monsters lurking around them or the task at hand. Lee set off with an arrow lightly held to the bow but not drawn and a spare ready and tucked in her palm waiting. It wasn’t a grip that would give the strongest or longest of shots, but it was suitable for the close quarters she would be facing here.

ELLA FUCHS ;; 391

    Ella gave a quick nod and held her knife somewhat firmer in her hand. Speed and stealth was her strength, and if she had to attack it was best to do so from behind or from the side. Forcing her knife through the eyes or ears would require less force than stabbing right through the skull. She had heard there were multiple kind of Zombies, but she never really asked anyone about it. In the end, weren’t they just all dead.. things?

    A dozen, a dozen Z’s, if not more. Just the two of them. It didn’t seem like a great match-up, but she trusted that the person in front of her knew how to deal with these things, she had already kept so many people safe for so many months. Ella went into a semi-crouching position, able to move quietly yet still quickly enough to not get stuck in the same area for too long. With her eyes on Lee every few seconds, she looked around to see where the Zombies were. She saw to dead bodies only so far, one at where Lee had crouched moments before, and one a little further away.

    As silently as she could, Ella followed Lee around the building, where she saw at least seven Zombies scattered in between the fields and the bunkhouse. But Lee had mentioned a dozen, where were the others? It was just too damn dark for the teenager to spot the rest, but she kept moving with Lee anyway. Slowly circling around the little pack, careful of where she was placing her feet so she wouldn’t step on dry twigs. The sound of those cracking would be as thunder in Ella’s ears, every sense she had was heightened.

    They circled around the right side, counter-clockwise, but as they moved around ella noticed another Zombie to their left, more secluded from the pack. Not knowing whether Lee had seen it, and not wanting to give away their presence by talking, she tapped Lee on the back and pointed her finger in the direction of the loner. No idea whether they had to ignore it, bait it with the pack, or take it out while it was on it’s own so it couldn’t surprise them from behind. With large eyes, she looked at Lee, and wondered what they had to do.

LEE RAINES ;; 143

Steady, quiet, slow.

    They progressed across the yard with an arrow finding a home inside a skull every chance Lee got to sight on the monsters that dared to invade her home. She hadn’t wanted the responsibility of all these peoples lives but she wasn’t going to just roll over and let them die, either. She, and they, had been working too fucking hard on this ranch to lose it to some damned dead-men-walking.

    The tap on her shoulder reminded her of the quite Ella trailing along with her and Lee just barely glanced back at the girl and what she was indicating. A zombie hovering nearby but not yet noticing them. She jerked her chin at it for Ella to get it and notched a fresh arrow to the bow in her hands. She’d watch the blonde’s back.

ELLA FUCHS ;; 346

    Ella saw the gesture Lee made at her and followed it with her eyes, back to the zombie she had spotted. It was clear, she had to take out the zombie, while Lee would do the ones on the other side. One zombie, not the hardest task, but still not something she was experienced in. She had only killed one zombie before in her life, and it had been in the blur of pure survival instinct. This was different. This was sneaking up, planning where to strike, how to strike and what to do if it went wrong.

    But it had to be done anyway. With the knife in her right hand, blade alongside her wrist, she sneaked up towards the zombie, carefully placing her feet so she wouldn’t make any sound. The last few meters, she tried to lower the sound of her breathing, while the last meter she held her breath completely. She put herself to a stance, raised the knife and in a sideway arc rammed it through the cavity of it’s ear.

    Though the knife didn’t go through all the way instantly, she had it in far enough to hit the brain. Quickly she tackled the monster to the ground, putting more force on the knife to drive it in even deeper. When she could push it in no further, she twisted it pulled it out a bit, twisted again, and then pushed it back in. How much did you have to damage them before they were dead? She had no idea. But at one point the zombie didn’t move anymore and she felt confident enough to take in a sip of air again. Hands and knees shaking, she stood up, bent over the zombie, and pulled out the knife of it’s head; which too quite a bit of force.

    She had gotten one task, and she had performed quite nicely if you could’ve asked her. She scouted around her, to see where Lee had gone, and then quickly went to regroup. Best not to stay alone for too long.