Dark Inside: The Apocalypse [[Teen/survival]]

((Ugh, Shae. XD Ouchiness. Still, it'll teach him... ))

[[Sorry she's so creepy...]]

Carder blinked at Danny, then reached forward and took the chocolate nickels and watched absently as he shoved the others back in his pocket. She stared down at the little foil wrappers, and despite her better judgement the thin line of a smile spread over her lips.
She opened one and took a nibble out of it as he stood and walked outside, no doubt to go and bother Mitch and Shae. She hated to admit it, but she almost felt bad for them. Carder stood and laughed, picking up the bag and shaking her head and shoving the other piece of chocolate into her pocket. She sighed and looked around, biting her lip. Carder sniffled and turned away, heading off to the door. She stopped in the threshold, and was utterly baffled by the scene unfolded in front her.
Carder tilted her head as Shae snaked herself around Danny, in a slutty, cat-like, and completely Shae fashion. She gritted her teeth, feeling a pang of...something. Not really anything she counted as important.
Then it disappeared when she realized what she was doing. It was incredibly clever, but not Carder's style. She saw the little beads of blood begin to well on the back of the poor lad's neck, but at the moment she find it amusing. The boy was an arse, so it was only fitting.
When the other red-head asked about her, Carder cleared her throat and stepped through the door.
"Right here." She said, walking out and hoisting the bag onto her shoulder. She walked over to them and dropped the bag at her feet. It wasn't large, just a little backpack someone had left behind. That was a stupid move on their part, but everyone had been in such a hurry to leave it didn't surprise her that they would leave important items behind.
She started to look back at the building over her shoulder, then stopped herself and took a shaky breath. No point, it'd just make her feel worse. She wasn't sure about the rest of them, but she was definitely ready to go and let go of this place. She wasn't even sure if they were planning on leaving yet. Carder just decided that if they weren't, she would convince them to. She wasn't sure how much longer she could take being there, it was just too sad.

[sorry xD I'm ready to move things along ]

((You guys are all awesome. Just saying. XD))

“Come on, Danny.” Mitch purred in a voice that suddenly made Danny rather nervous. That voice never meant anything good. “Right now I'm closer to impregnating you...”
For f*ck's sake.
He looked away, wincing, and shuddered dramatically. He guessed he'd deserved that.
An image of being thrown into a crappy bed with that man crept into his mind, and no imaginary sexy blonde could make the image any less unappealing to him.
With a grunt he felt himself being yanked to Mitch's side by the waist and squirmed away from it. “Hey...” He tried, looking faintly annoyed, “Hey hey... hey! Watch where you're putting your hands!” He yelped pathetically, slapping at the man's hand repeatedly to try and make him let go. It was strange having someone touching him so close to his backside, and if had been Carder or Shae – actually, no, just Carder – he might have liked it. But after finding out about Mitch's 'anything that moves' sex drive, he didn't much fancy having sex with him.
He turned to Shae for help, and was surprised when she eased Mitch's hand away and separated the two with ease. Unfortunately, this wasn't for Danny's sake.
He was about to thank her, when she shoved him roughly backwards and pressed her thin figure against him, snaking her hands around his neck. Questions gushed around his clouded brain: what was she doing? Was she going to kiss him? Did he care? Was she wearing a bra? Was she going to take his clothes off? Was she going to take her own clothes off?
He nearly smiled at this thought, then basic common sense kicked in. Shae didn't flirt. She most certainly didn't take a guy's clothes off, nor did she take her own off in front of anyone. In fact, the only time she'd done this with him before was when he didn't have a top on and she'd poked his stomach with a knife.
He tensed immediately. This was bad.
Finding himself cornered against a wall he stared down at her, far too confused and on edge to care what she was saying.
Her eyes... They were the only things that didn't look sexy, and he couldn't stop looking at them. They stared the way a wolf stared at it's prey right before it ripped out it's throat. Bloodthirsty.
“Now Shae...” He eased in a patronising manner, as if he were teaching a toddler not to snatch. “Don't look at me like that... Ow!”
There it was. The pinch on the back of his neck turned to a prick, then a graze, then a deep graze. It happened slowly, and he could tell she was loving it because she kept toying with him as if she really did intend to make out with him or something.
He groaned quietly, trying his utmost best to pretend it didn't hurt. The sweat on his brow unfortunately gave him away.
He almost panicked when her face disappeared from view, and she pressed her lips to his cheek. He tensed his jaw and clenched his fists, resisting the temptation to punch her for playing with him. Screw his previous 'no hitting girls' policy. This bitch deserved it.
When she finally pulled away – taking her bloody hand with her – he released his anger a string of curses that probably didn't make much sense, dabbing at the small puncture holes in the back of his neck.
“Jesus, Bitch!” He moaned, wincing at the stinging wounds. “I was only joking, for f*ck's sake.”
Because Carder hadn't arrived outside yet he scuttled to Mitch's side for protection, despite his unnerving sex joke, and muttered, “Who shoved a pole up her arse this morning?” He shook his head and pulled up his collar self-consciously to hide her nail marks, and scowled. “Next time you're on nightwatch, you can go with her.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. For one, he didn't trust Mitch not to rape him in the middle of the night, and that redhead needed guarding by someone who she wouldn't dare kill.
Long behold, after having watched the whole ordeal, Carder appeared with a huge bag of food. Danny found her timing convenient, since she didn't try to save him from Shae's evil wrath after he'd given her chocolate. Well, it was the last time she'd get a chocolate nickel from him. Ever.
“Glad you showed up.” He grunted sulkily. Obviously, his lesson had been learnt.
Shoving his hands in his pockets he bumped Mitch's shoulder and started to limp forward. “Right, we need to find Mitchy boy here something to shag before he turns on me.”

((Aww... Widdle babby Daniel is sulky wulking. ))

Mitch allowed Carder to pull his little 'plaything' away without any objection. He didn't particularly like getting 'up close and personal' with Danny anyway - but still, the boy's reaction was priceless. How could he resist? Danny had to learn not to let his mouth write cheques his ass couldn't cash anyway. ((Don't ask, I was just dying to use that saying. XD ))
He watched disinterestedly as Shae twirled herself around the poor boy. It reminded him of a moment from his childhood, when he'd been sitting outside on a bench innocently watching a pair of praying mantises 'doing it'. The male had seemed overjoyed at first, until the female had gnawed her way right through the poor f*cker's stupid little head.
Yes, that was how he imagined it would go down if Danny were to sleep with Shae. After all, it wasn't like he needed his head to pleasure her...
Snickering appreciatively to himself, Mitch shook his head and turned away, gazing out to the horizon. It would be good to be on the move again. He needed something to kill... He was still pretty pissed off about the whole 'metal pipe to the head' incident, after all. He'd been lucky to get off with a major f*cking concussion...
Lost in his thoughts, Mitch didn't notice when Carder showed up, or when Danny squirmed out of Shae's grasp. In fact, he only let his attention stray back to the group when he heard his own name mentioned.
“Right, we need to find Mitchy boy here something to shag before he turns on me.” He looked up with a scowl as Danny bumped past him, and instinctively fell into step beside the boy, taking on a threatening stance.
"I'll f*ck whatever I damn well please whenever the f*ck I want to." He snapped irritably, "Unlike you, I prefer to keep my blood in the brain that'll keep me the f*ck alive." He cuffed Danny in the back of the head in an almost brotherly fashion, though with perhaps a little too much force. "That's a lesson you oughta learn." He added with a sigh, "I just need some weed and big ol' bottle of vodka, and I'm good to go." He yawned pointedly, then looked back over his shoulder at the others.
"C'mon, ladies." He grunted, "Let's get a move-on, then. I reckon we've all got something we need to pick up from the store." He shot Danny a glance, "Pity they don't sell testicles."

[[Gonna get things going if that's okay with everyone ^^]]

Shae chuckled at Danny and nodded when Carder appeared. The girl was growing on her, she had to say. She was smart enough not to mess with her, and Shae had to respect that. Not many people were that way. Danny certainly wasn't.
That boy was starting to figure out her game, finally. She could see it in his eyes when she pulled her little move. He was irritated and more than a little scared. He didn't seem seduced at all. There would be a time for that later, just not now. But her hormones from her period kind of weren't helping.
Sighing, she turned away and began heading away, the other three following close behind her. The town was a couple miles to the east; she judged they'd reach it before noon if they moved quickly and didn't run into any trouble - natural or monster alike. She wasn't really sure how they'd handle a group of monsters at this point. They were particularly vulnerable out in the open, and Mitch didn't have any of his flaming vodka grenades. But they did have four good fighters and enough ammo for a battle. Then they'd restock in the town and be on their way, wherever that was.
The girl turned her head towards the mountains to her right. They looked so inviting to her. So serene and peaceful and teeming with wildlife that she could shoot down in a heartbeat...
A small chuckle escaped her lips. The mountains would be great.

After some time they reached the outskirts of the village. There hadn't been any real trouble, only a lone monster that she'd shot from a distance. By the time she'd reached it, it had already been decaying, and the smell was too bad to get close.
Shae sighed and breathed in the atmosphere. It seemed deserted, with not a single living thing left. That was disappointing. Nothing to shoot.
From what little memory she had of the town - wasn't it called Harmony Grove? - she recalled that the weapons store was to the right.
"Follow Smith Street to Orchard Road and it's on your left - you can't miss it." She murmured under her breath. Those were the directions she'd been given on her last visit.
"This way." She called over her shoulder to Mitch, and began heading that way.

[[Andddd introducing a new character because I hate Shae and I really want another option in case I kill her off.]]

A small blonde girl poked her head over the side of a balcony. She was thin, pale, and scrawny looking. She was starving, that much was obvious. It wasn't her fault. She wasn't the strong, athletic type that was stereptyped to survive in apocaplypses. Instead, she was the small, brainy girl that got every answer on a test right. She was the one that would stay up late reading books and writing stories and looking up big words.
It was a miracle she'd survived this far.
Aine was her name. It roughly translated into 'fire' in some other language. Her mother named her that because of her red gold eyes, unlike any other iris that she'd ever known before. It looked like flames blazing. But they were never harsh bonfire flames. They were only the gentle ones on chilly nights to warm up to, roast marshmallows over, even tell a couple of stories. She was a gentle person. She'd never killed anyone, even after people changed. She just ran away. Always running, she was a fugitive.
Aine wanted to run when she saw the four people show up. It was clear that they were all badass mofos, as her brother would say. She stifled a laugh at the thought of the saying. The one that kept walking - the tall, skinny, incredibly gorgeous red-head - looked like she was headed to the candy shop. Her face was just full of joy. The other three didn't look as excited for whatever reason.
But it was clear they were a team. And a highly experienced, expert-at-surviving team too. If they saw her, they'd probably shoot her. They wouldn't stop to find out if she was hostile - which she most certainly wasn't - but they wouldn't know from this distance. The red-head at the front carried a gun with a silencer. Yeah, they were experienced all right.
Silently, the blonde began to crawl backwards, into the room she'd come out of. She still lived in the same house she had her entire life. Monsters didn't bother looking in houses, so it was theoretically the safest place she could be.
Unless she happened to fall into a situation like this.
Biting her lip, she prayed nobody would notice her as she silently crept backwards.

[[So this is my first time as Aine. I'm going to be writing with her quite a lot in a book, so I feel as if I may as well get to know her first Y'know? xD And Shae is REALLY annoying me right now. I want some nice romance for a change.]]

[I hope this is okay xD]

Carder trailed after Shae, staying in the middle of them. She figured it’d be right stupid to try and get in front of the psychotic girl, so for now she’d just stay comfortably in the middle of the group.
As they wandered through everything, she narrowed her eyes when she thought she caught a glimpse of something through the trees. Was that a house? No, it couldn’t be. Carder knew this area, she’d traveled through it loads of times.
But now, as she looked around, she realized she’d never actually gone this way. The town they were off to was a bit difficult to reach from any other way, so it made sense to them that no one would come to it. Which would be why no one had noticed this “house”, if it was even actually there. She narrowed her eyes, but then decided it was a trick of the light and nothing more.
Carder shifted the pack on her shoulder and looked ahead once more, trying to block the thought of someone else being around out of her mind.
However, that was a bit difficult when the girl felt like they were being watched. She sucked in a breath of air and looked around, but saw nothing out of the unusual; trees, a bit of charred landscape, but mostly trees. She sighed and shook her head, looking straight forward again. She watched Shae curiously, studying her movements. She had grown to respect her, which was a step forward. Shae certainly seemed to know exactly what she was doing, and didn’t seem to be afraid of any ‘persons’ that could be spying on them.
Still, Carder was worried. She looked around at the group, and then took a deep breath.
“I’m going to look around.” She announced, and before anyone could protest she hurried off into the trees. As she scouted, she became very aware of a shape looming ahead.

So it was a house. She thought to herself, but the thought only brought more grim images to her mind. There were probably dead bodies in there, left to rot. Or it was abandoned with everyone having gone insane. She shivered and walked up to the front door. She lifted her hand to knock then realized how stupid that would be, so instead she just checked if it was unlocked. The knob easily turned, so with a smile she pushed it open.
“Hullo?” She called out, her voice ringing through the house. It sent an eerie feeling through her, and she knew it was a stupid thing to do right after. So, she did the only thing she could think of and pulled out her gun.

Danny was too busy sulking to care about Mitch's annoyed glare, until he started to speak, that is.
“I'll f*ck whatever I damn well please whenever the f*ck I want to.”
Matching the man's stare, Danny clenched his jaw. He was having a pissed off moment, yet why did Mitch always want to make it worse? For a moment Danny went through a bizarre moment where he wanted to smack his fist in the asshole's face, then sense kicked in.
If he hit Mitch, he would probably end up with more than just a painful leg.
But, of course, he could say what he liked.
"Fine. But you're not touching me." He growled. "I'm not turning gay just for you, mate."
"Unlike you, I prefer to keep my blood in the brain that'll keep me the f*ck alive."
What was that supposed to mean? He thought, gritting his teeth.
However, before he had the chance to think of a furious retort he was caught on the back of the head and, in his surprise, staggered forwards slightly, all the tension in his face forcefully removed. He blinked stupidly, pausing, half-bent over, then grunted and started walking again, blushing slightly.
He didn't know why he didn't hate Mitch more, or why he hadn't just left their little 'pack' before. But Hell, he had to admit, they were handy guys to be around.
Well, he wasn't really sue what Shae's purpose was, but he right fancied his balls and he didn't really want to lose them, so he didn't bring it up.
Maybe she fancied Mitch.
This thought made him smirk.
"Let's get a move-on, then. I reckon we've all got something we need to pick up from the store." He felt Mitch's eyes on him. "Pity they don't sell testicles."
"F*ck off!" Danny retorted, only mildly annoyed, and pushed the man playfully to the side, then leapt forward so he couldn't be attacked. "Pinocchio's twins are perfectly happy on me, thank you very much!" He said, grinning, and began walking onwards, leaving his back facing the shrinking warehouse.

They travelled on for a while in silence, following the crazy redhead, and keeping a lookout for monsters. It was a boring, uneventful journey, and it made Danny wish he'd slept more before they'd left, but unfortunately that couldn't be helped.
Shae muttered something to herself and he rolled his eyes. Why were they trusting a psycho like her to know her way?
Just then, carder said something about having a look around, and he narrowed his eyes, annoyed. What was she doing, now?
"I'll get her." He groaned, bored, and limped on after her. Unfortunately she could move faster than he could, and she'd arrived at the shattered house before he had the chance to catch her. He didn't know what she was after, but he knew from experience that houses were bad news. An enclosed area could collapse at any moment, be brought down by fire, and you could be easily trapped in if the monsters came along.
"Carder!" He hissed, arriving at the door, panting. What the f*ck was she playing at?
He rolled his eyes again. There'd better be a bloody huge pot of gold in that house if she was going to be so bloody awkward.
"Come on, Carder. We're nearly at the store. What're you doing?" He asked, finding her back and glaring at it. "Carder!"

Mitch ignored Danny's response to his teasing, and only retorted with a half-hearted punch that missed by miles when Danny shoved him.
Shrugging, he yawned, and followed on after Shae. He didn't much appreciate the fact that she just expected him to follow her, but he did anyway. He had always been more of a follower than a leader, truth be told. It was just easier, for a lazy sod like him.

Shortly after they'd entered the little town, Carder declared that she was going to look around, and left the group. Danny followed soon after, and Mitch watched them with lazily narrowed eyes. He could also feel the prickling of eyes on the back of his neck, but unlike the others, he didn't give a crap. He wasn't about to go off in search of the source of the feeling. If the culprit intended him harm, then he figured it would come to him in due time. And if it didn't, well, why the hell should it matter to him, then?
Totally disinterested, Mitch followed mildly after Shae in the direction of the weapon shop. He wasn't entirely sure why they were going there; likely as not it had been raided already. It would be better, he thought, to go to the storehouse he'd mentioned earlier - but he didn't feel like taking charge of the situation. It would just take too much f*cking effort, and frankly, all he wanted was a drink and a smoke.
"Hey," He called to Shae, suddenly stopping with mule-like stubbornness as his thoughts drew him powerfully to the nearest supermarket. "I'm stopping here to pick up some booze and sh*t. I suggest you stop in, too." He raised an eyebrow, and added casually, "You're bloody." Mitch nodded downwards to indicate the red stain blooming on Shae's pants, then turned his back and headed toward the supermarket. He didn't really give a flying f*ck if she tagged along or not. He just needed a fix.

((Betty... O.o helloooooo anyone there? ))

Shae watched in distaste as Carder and Danny seperated from her and Mitch. That wasn't very smart of them , but it didn't matter. She could take care of herself enough, and honestly she didn't care if those two got themselves killed or not. Less mouths to feed, right? But what if they were just injured? Then they'd rely on her even more, and she'd have to do double the work, and... She snorted. Maybe it would be best if that happened. She'd be able to kill them with the pretense of doing it for the best of the group when all she wanted was to shoot a human being. A small smile curled her face as she looked to Mitch.
"I'm stopping here to pick up some booze and sh*t. I suggest you stop in, too. You're bloody."
Shae glanced down with a smirk. "I suppose I am." She muttered to herself as she followed him into the store. He went off on his own, presumably to the liquor section, and she headed off to the female products section with irritation.
Most of the foods had been stripped from the shelves. Every now and then she came across a decomposed banana, or a rotted vegetable, but there was nothing edible. Obviously people had been here.
Surprisingly, pads and tampons still lined the walls in the "female hygene" section. Apparently they were not at the top of anyone's zombie apocalypse survival list. She snorted at the wording of the sign. It did a pretty good job of making your vagina bleeding seem pleasant. Yeah. It was anything but, especially with the cramps that came along.
Shae let out a groan and picked a couple of packages from the shelves, shoving them crudely into her bag. Hopefully there would be enough to last her and Carder a while. Even though she wasn't particularly fond of the girl, she supposed that they should stick together during their female crises. And Carder would probably have her period soon if she was healthy enough. When girls were together for long enough, their hormones became sychronized and they had their periods at the same time. That should be fun for Danny and Mitch - two bitches PMSing at the same time. ((I went on a trip to Minnesota with my friend for a couple days and this happened to us and holy crap we are the best PMS team xD))
Sighing, she pulled down her jeans and wrinkled her nose at the red stains all across the denim. That would be a hell of a lot of work to clean.
After contemplating the situation for a while, she just stripped out of all clothes from her waist down and padded quietly down the aisles to see if there were clothes. She kept her shirt pulled down just in case she came across Mitch, but he was probably mesmerized by the bottles of vodka and beer across the store.
She laughed aloud at the thought and continued her search for clothes.

Aine (pretty sure it's pronounced Awn-ya) let out a gasp as she saw the other girl break away from the group and head to the house. Pretty soon one of the boys followed her. The other two didn't seem to care and they kept going before disappearing into the town.
The small girl trembled as she continued backing into the building. The red-head was almost to the front door, and soon blocked by the balcony. Once she was out of sight, Aine lept up and fled back into her bedroom, ducking into her closet. The little corner was small and warm; it made her feel safe. Various clothing items brushed up against her face comfortingly.
What are you going to do, Aine? A voice whispered to her.
She hesitated. That was a very good question. What was she going to do?
Just then she heard the girl's voice call out. She sounded Scottish.
"Hullo?"
The boy's soon followed. He had the same accent as the girl; maybe they knew each other before this whole disaster thing. Somehow the thought was scary. That meant they'd be less likely to let her into their clique if they were already pretty close.
"Come on, Carder. We're nearly at the store. What're you doing?"
Carder. That was the girl's name. Should she answer Carder? If she answered then they would definitely find her. But they would know she was human. If she didn't answer then there was chance they'd miss her completely. She'd be left on her own again, in the same situation as before. She'd been praying for a miracle; maybe this was it.
Aine closed her eyes and slowly came out of the closet. Hesitantly she moved towards the doorway, but froze there. This was as far as she would go.
"Who's there?" She called back quietlyy. It seemed like an appropriate thing to say. Why let on that she'd been watching the entire time?

[[Sorry it took so long Dx I hope this is good enough...]]

((Nah, don't worry Batty, that was perfect. ^_^ Is it my go? I can't remember... XD))

[[I think it's Kira's, but go ahead xD]]

((Haha okay I'll give her till Friday. Oh, and I have an idea for whenever our charries need tormenting ))

"Shut. Up. Danny." She said slowly, not turning around to look at him, but she could feel him glaring at her. She realized this was entirely stupid, and that she should be back with the rest of the group. But she couldn't help but feel happy that he had come after her.
She quickly wiped the thought from her mind when she heard a noise from elsewhere in the house.
"Sh!" She said, though he wasn't making noise. It just seemed like something she should do. It sounded like a door...
As she listened, a voice soon came along with the previous noise. Carder nearly jumped, then glanced back at Danny with a smug expression.
See? I'm not a loon. She thought to herself, then turned her head toward the upper level, trying to locate the source of the voice. She wasn't sure if she should reply, but she couldn't see a beast asking her who was there.
"Um, me. And him." Carder said cautiously, her hand poised to grab her gun in a moment's notice. She slowly ventured forward, and looked around the house. It appeared to have been recently used, which would explain the voice, but it also seemed that someone had lived here for a while. She walked through the living room and glanced over a photo on the mantle of a family. They appeared to be incredibly happy, which brought a flood of bittersweet memories to her. She smiled and turned away from it toward Danny.
Carder glanced from him and around the rest of the room, her gaze landing on the stairs. She frowned and started toward them, taking a few steps up before watching the top of them curiously.

[sorry. It's short. My brain's a bit fried. Oh, and I won't be on at all tomorrow or Saturday, if anything happens during that time e.e]

((No worries, so's mine. :3))

Danny rolled his eyes at Carder's order, grumbling like a spoilt child. He didn't like it when people told him what to do, but hell... He couldn't be mad at that girl for long. Either that was because he couldn't risk pissing her off or that he was actually beginning to grow a liking for her, he didn't know. All he knew was that his pride and little Pinocchio's life both hung in the balance.
His forest green eyes stalked the hallway of the house, then darted in each room they passed to scan for anything that might jump out at them. However, it was obvious after a while that the ground floor was empty.
His hand cupped protectively around the handle of his knife, but he had an idea that he wouldn't need it. If anything was going to appear, Carder would be his shield. Besides which, she was the one with the gun.
When the little voice whimpered from up the stairs, his head snapped up for a moment. However, he realised it sounded far too delicate to be that of a monster's, anyway. Too young. Too... Innocent.
Carder's reply was classic. Why was she being so damned secretive? It wasn't like anyone knew anyone anymore. A large fraction of the population had died because of the earthquakes and aftershocks, a third had turned into monsters and the rest had been rounded up and killed. Bar a few. What were the odds that whoever it was would know - or care - what they're names were?
"'Tis I. The bogey monster." He replied dryly, watching Carder with a suddenly bored gaze as she wandered around the house. What was she doing? Someone was upstairs and she just wanted to go nosey around their stuff?
If it was theirs, that is.
He followed her like a lost puppy, into the lounge - although he forced himself not to pay any attention to any of the family photos - and back to the stairs. The voice had come from a child, definitely. No adult could sound as petite as that without having some sort of vocal deformity.
"We're cool. It's fine." He assured the stranger, although she hadn't actually shown her face yet. He'd now lost interest in being careful, because all he wanted to do was get out of that house before someone appeared from nowhere and burnt it down on them. What he'd really meant by his words was that they were 'human'. Or whatever counted as a 'human' nowadays.

((Mine too! ))

Mitch was unconcerned when Shae went off in her own direction, and he had no desire to follow her. Frankly, with her own blood dripping down her thighs, he found her repulsive. What man wasn't repulsed by menstruation? Even one with an unhealthy fascination for blood...
He shuddered off the unpleasant images crossing his mind, and hurried to the liquor section to drown his troubles.

There were shattered bottles littering the floor, and smears of long-congealed blood decorated the cracked white tiles like a tapestry. Mitch disregarded this completely, and walked to end end of the isle, paying no attention to the razor-sharp shards of broken glass pressing into the soles of his shoes.
Once he'd found his favourite vodka, he tossed a few bottles into his pack, then helped himself to the finest, oldest bottle of scotch he could find.
He was not an animal. He had his dignity.
It was from this bottle that he drank without restraint as he prowled the supermarket in search of anything he might need. He stocked up on what food he could find, some matches, a gas lighter, a flashlight, some sharp kitchen knives... He considered taking along a particularly nice radio, but then realized it probably wouldn't work, and decided against it.
Still, he did manage to find himself some clean clothes, and he unashamedly discarded his old ones in order to don them.
He had found a pair of baggy black cargo pants complete with dangling chains, some hardcore leather boots, and a black hoodie with some sort of satanic-looking band logo on it. Pleased with his new attire, Mitch shrugged his now-bulging pack back onto his shoulder, and walked back toward the middle of the store where he'd left Shae. He cast a few vague glances around, but when he didn't immediately see her he just shrugged and called, "Shae, I'm going to go see what's keeping those other f*ckfaces. Don't get yourself killed."
Sniffing irritably, he left the store, and retraced his steps back the way he had come, wondering what the hell had got Danny's and Carder's nickers in such a twist.

Shae saw Mitch before he saw her, which was perfectly okay. In fact, he didn't even see her, which was better. The man wasgoing through a pile of clothes and looking like he was about to take off his at any moment, so she wasted no time in getting out of there. She didn't need to see Mitch's saggy ass at this hour of the morning - or any hour of the day for that matter.
Chuckling, she headed over to the women's department. Surprisingly enough, the clothes weren't scattered over the floor chatoically. Sure, there were a few garments strewed here and there, but it seemed to be from people like her that didn't really give a sh*t if they picked up after themselves or not.
First thing to do was grab a whole bunch of panties. She grabbed a couple of bulk packages and a few nice pairs to shove into her backpack. She ripped open another package and put a pair on after equipping in with a nice little pad.
Well this sucks, was her only thought.
She grabbed a few bras and some socks and left that section. The shirts weren't what she would normally wear, but they would do. She pulled some long sleeved turtlenecks from their hangers and shoved them into her bag, making sure there was one or two that would fit Carder. The other girl was a little "bustier" than she was. Then she took some short sleeves, two sweatshirts.
After a moment of contemplation, she just changed her own clothes. She took another turtleneck and pulled that on. The material clung to her figure, but made her bones stick out more prominently. A pair of leggings across the aisle with some jeans over that did nicely. She glanced at herself ina mirror to check the fit and stuck out her tongue. Wasn't the best, but it would do. Her face caught her attention, though. Her red hair was tangled and wild around her head. A scratch on her cheek distracted her eyes. The dirt on her skin was disgusting. But her eyes... they were changing. They seemed softer, gentler. She actually wasn't judging herself - or anyone really, for that matter?
Was this what Cat had meant about changing?
She couldn't be changing like this, it wasn't good for her. She was perfectly fine being just the way she was. Nothing could change that. She was a sociopath for crying out loud! Sociopaths were what they were. They did not just change. It didn't work like that.
Maybe you're not, a dry voice whispered to her. The thought chilled her to her bones. If she wasn't, then what was wwrong with her? Being a sociopath had almost begun to seem... normal. She was okay with being a sociopath. At least they were successful. But what if she wasn't? She certainly wasn't normal. Normal people didn't go and do what she did. But...
"Shae, I'm going to go see what's keeping those other f*ckfaces. Don't get yourself killed."
Shae silently swore to herself. Of course that sh*thead would interrupt her at a time like that. Frowning, she kicked the mirror and walked away. On her way out, she grabbed a few more pairs of pants, not bothering to get one that would fit Carder's larger hips. The girl could get whatever she needed herself, just like everyone else. F*ck helping anyone anymore.
She spotted Mitch a good distance in front of her, walking out of the store. She didn't really feel like catching up to him, so she just called out, "Right behind you," and kept walking. If he wanted to, he could stop. Damn everything right now.

[[Posting Aine really soon, okay?]]

[[Home with pink-eye... great. At least I can reply? xD]]

"Um, me. And him." That was the girl, obviously. So the boy had come in with her. That wasn't surprising. She tried to judge where they were by the sounds they were making. It sounded as if they were still in the hallway coming into the house. They were going slowly, as if they didn't trust anyone. That didn't surprise her. Nobody should be trusted these days.
Aine trusted these two people, though. They were human and that was all that counted. No monster would be going as slowly as they were. Monsters weren't cautious at all and fell for a number of the booby traps she had hidden around the house.
Oh crap. Booby traps. Hopefully there weren't any active ones... She couldn't remember.
"'Tis I. The bogey monster," came the man's voice. A moment later, she heard, "We're cool. It's fine."
Yeah, she gathered that they were "cool" by the movie-worthy enterance that they were making. For a minute she contemplated how awesome of a movie that this whole scenario could be. It wouldn't be that great, though. Everyone just dies anyway.
Then Aine heard the tell-tale creak that someone was coming up the stairs. The third steps always groaned whenever stepped on. She had no idea why, but she'd learned enough to avoid in when coming down the stairs late at night for her weekly ice cream binge. It was better than her father's alcohol ones. During that time, she'd normally stay locked in her room and do her homework for the coming week. Then she'd spend as much time at school or somewhere else as possible. Her high school was open relatively long hours, and she was usually in the library for as long as possible there. When it closed, she'd come slinking home and bolting up to her room at 9 or 10 o'clock and falling asleep. Usually her father was asleep by then, but on the occasional instances he wasn't, he'd yell at her. Twice he'd beaten her.
The first time, her mother and brother were away on a trip. She'd taken it qithout a word, without a cry, and retreated quietly to her room after. She didn't leave the house without sunglasses for a week.
The second time her brother had been home. He was a senior, two years older than her, and crazy about her. He adored her and was the best older brother she could ask for. She was sure that if she'd had any boyfriends, he'd have killed them, so it was just as well that she was a socially awkward child.
But when he heard the sound of fists falling in the living room, he'd come down and become so angry that he'd thrown his own father across the room. The man had slammed into the wall and lay there unconscious.
At first they were afraid he was dead, but a quick pulse check revealed that he wasn't. They called the ambulance, and soon he was in the hospital. But he had a restraining order put on him and had to move out of the house. Her parents soon divorced and he moved out of the state. Her brother never forgive him.
For a moment, she felt a pang of longing for her brother. It had been a year since he'd been gone. Tyler. That was his name. He sometimes joined her getting ice cream. Those were the days.
Shaking her head, Aine forced herself to come back to the present. As she hesitantly, moved out of her room and to the top of the stairs, she called out, "I'm coming to the top of the landing. Please don't shoot. Also, don't come any farther. I need to disable a trap."
Without waitinf for a response, she peeked her head around the door. The ceiling prevented her from seeing anything but the girl and a little bit of the hallway behind her. Waving her fingers shyly, the blonde bent down and pulled up a loose floorboard, revealing a dart ready to be fired. Carefully, she pulled the missile out of place and tucked it into her pocket. After a quick scan, she deemed the stairwell safe and began to descend down it.
No matter how hard she tried, Aine couldn't stop shaking. Now was the moment she'd been hoping for and dreading for the past year.

[whewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww periods.
I'm going to attempt replying tomorrow, but my brain is fried.
(p.s. I was a zombie tonight. It was awesome.)]

[[It has been nearly a week, Kira, and my post remains unanswered.]]

((I concur. Without Mitch in action, I have no means of releasing my secret fiery dark side. O.o That does not bode well for humanity. ))

[I'm sorry guys, but I have a helluva lotta shit on my plate right now.
I'm trying to prepare for Nationals, we just bought a new horse, I'm trying to raise money for a marine biology camp, I signed up for NaNoWriMo, and I'm failing two classes. I'm going to try and get a post up by tomorrow but if I don't feel free to carry on without me.]

[[If you're doing Nano, it's cool not to post, darling O.o Good luck with errythang...]]

[I highly doubt I'll be able to keep up with it @~@ It's already brought me to tears. So, yeah, I'll probably just do the summer camp thing e.e]