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Pokemon: The Walking Dead(IC)

Millie tried to keep an eye on the one from the Pokemon Center, remembering the burns on Misdreavus' body. There was no doubt about it; he was the one who hurt Misdreavus so badly. For all she knew, Misdreavus really had returned to Pokemon Tower because of him. She suspected that the Pokemon hadn't, though, although that could just be hope talking.

"So... are you a trainer, er... what I mean is, do you have any Pokemon of your own?" the other guy, Syther, asked a little hesitantly.

Millie froze a little, her hand clenching slightly around the shovel. But, well, it's not like she had anything against this guy. And lying would probably just come around to bite her in the backside later, since it would break any sense of trust that may develop. She carefully did not glance at Pokemon Center guy. Throw in a few half-truths, then.

Before she could open her mouth, though, Pokemon Center guy interrupted with a wide grin, an introduction, and a handshake.

"I was heading to Saffron to find an Incubator for this little guy....Oh err or girl. My pokemon left this egg to me before she was overtaken by the infection. When it hatches, I'll have a newborn Growlithe," he said after withdrawing a little and taking the egg out of his backpack.

Millie's eyes widened, and she slowly walked over to him. A Growlithe egg? She did keep in mind that the guy was dangerous, but any wariness was overcome by the urge to reach out and touch the egg, though she refrained from doing so. That would be rude and invasive.

"I had a Growlithe," she said softly, but loudly enough for Syther to hear as well. She was answering his question, after all. "He... We tried to go to Saffron, too, because my parents were there. The place is overrun by the infected. He was bitten, so I had to..."

She looked away from the Growlithe egg. "I had a Misdreavus, too, but I don't know where she's gotten to," she said with a shrug, trying to subtly gauge Eric's reaction. Hopefully, she could pass it off as being interested by the egg if she got caught.

She sat up. "I really don't think you should go to Saffron," she said sincerely. "I actually don't think there's anyone left alive there."

Not even her parents. She hoped that they at least hadn't been infected, because there were some things worse than death.
 
Paige Cooper​

Paige just waved off James comments as he stumbled through an awkward apology routine. She wasn't even quite sure how his comments could be construed as rude. It's not like he knew anything about her family and what happened to them. In fact, she had never had family live here. It was only from her work that she even knew this berry man existed. Supposedly he was having great results, the berries were more potent when refined and could fetch quite the high price or rare exchange. She just hoped against everything that something was left.

"Uh, don't worry about apologizing. I..uh, just happen to know about this guy from something I've read. Supposedly he had some great medicines made from these berries that were turned into powder," Paige answered the awkward man, her tone flat and lacking interest. It wasn't that she lied exactly, she had indeed read about the man, she just left out where she read it. "We should actually be pretty close, not too far from here. Mind if we go ahead and check it out now?"

Without even waiting for an answer, Paige jogged ahead of the man and turned the corner of a house. The house that was supposed to be the "berry man's" was right in front of her. All things considered, it didn't look too bad, for a house that survived the apocalypse of course. The windows had previously been shattered, the razor sharp shards lay strewn about the street. It actually looked like something had tried to break out, not in. Paige thought the situation odd, but then again, a great many things were odd now. The door was still intact, nothing but a few scratches here and there. She hoped that was a good sign for whatever wait inside.

Feeling confident that James was on her tail, she placed her jittery hand on the knob of the door. Her skin paled as she dreaded to see what awaited her inside. It could have been a variety of things, zombies, bandits, the berry man if he happened to survive. There was an audible click as she turned the handle and opened the door, the outside light pouring in through the burst windows. The light struggled to illuminate the hazy interior, each ray passing through a thick cloud of dust and filth. She hesitated for a second before taking a step inside, her heart rate increasing by the second. It was almost like she could hear her heartbeat in her head. The noise only served to increase the fear swelling in her chest.

Slowly, she made her way inside. Each step like treading water, pushing against herself and her better judgment. The furniture inside had been upended, the sofa rested against the far wall, almost like someone had tossed it to and fro. The cabinets had been ransacked of anything valuable by the looks of it. Paige turned to look out the front door she had just entered from, an effort to see if James had indeed come in after her.

A sudden thud emanated from somewhere deeper in the house. Paige turned on her heels to face whatever it may be. The hallway in front of her proved to be drowned in impermeable darkness. It was as if light ceased to exist on that side of the house, probably due to there being no windows over there, but it seemed more sinister for some reason.

"H-hello?" Paige whispered, her voice low as to not attract whatever else may be lurking in the area. Nothing answered at first, only the static ring of silence. She let her guard down slightly, maybe she had just been jumpy and imagined something earlier. A soft moan called back to proved that thought wishful thinking.

A man, if he could even be called that anymore, shuffled out from the darkness. One of his arms had been lost and he came at her with mindless maliciousness. Paige backed away from the creature, her steps carrying her over into a toppled coffee table. She fell backwards, her head hitting the floor hard. Paige found herself staring at the ceiling, her eyes refocusing after the shock. It was then, in the midst of danger, that her eyes caught sight of something. One of the ceiling tiles was off level with the others, almost as if purposefully left askew. She didn't have time to think of that however, her lifetime was rapidly becoming very short.

Paige scrambled to her feet, her legs betraying her in an initial moment of weakness. She pulled the pole from off her back and readied it to attack. A grunt escaped her as she charged forward, pole raised high. The blow was swift and effective, her blunt weapon cracking over the head and causing the man to collapse in a heap at her feet. She kept hitting him, the blows coming fast and furious. It finally came when she decided that it had been enough, the creature motionless at her feet and her breaths coming hurried and shallow.​
 
The woman had been walking for a while. The gym in Cerulean was barricaded, so she went back from which she came and decided to go to Lavender Town. It had a low population, so she was hoping that there weren't many biters there. The trip wasn't as dangerous as she expected, as she decided to cut through a forest instead of go through Saffron, and it really ended up being a rather quick journey. She hadn't come across any of the undead, save for a few bug pokemon that were too small and slow to chase her.

Jun and Sun began to enter the town through the valley that surrounded it when she saw a massive horde get taken down in the distance. She decided to slowly sneak up on them and listen to what was going on. From behind a bush she could tell that none of them were familiar with each other, which meant they couldn't be a bandit group. All of them were trainers and none of them seemed to mean any harm, and none of them trusted each other. Sun wanted to know what was going on, but before she could utter a sound, Jun hushed her and listened some more. They wanted to go to Saffron. That was a bad idea, but why did she care? They were strangers, but they seemed like they were strong, and if they could form an alliance Jun would have a better chance of survival. She knew she could not last long alone in this world, so she decided to show herself to the group. She just hoped she did not startle them and get herself killed.

"You're right." Her voice cracked as she rose from the bush and approached the group, "Nobody in Saffron is alive, and those who are alive no longer have any humanity." She said. She raised her hands up to show she didn't mean any harm, and her Clefairy followed carefully. "I came from Saffron, and it is a miracle I got out, and I fear that if you go there you will not be coming out.. well at least not alive." She finished. She was very afraid the group would be suspicious of her, and she regretted coming out to them. She motioned her hand for her Clefairy to do something, which is something they had rehearsed. They had to practice a lot of silent communication while escaping the city, and Sun's gravity attack would surely come in handy if they were hostile.

"I mean you no harm." She added to her previous statement, and dropped the spear-like pole she carried on her back to the ground. it clattered a bit and made a noise, making her cringe since she had learned to be terrified of making noise.
 
James
"Hey don't run ahead of me!" He said, but she didn't hear him, she was already out of sight. He walked toward the house, sure that she would be safe. As he neared the door he heard a crash, and a lot of noise coming from inside. The door had been left open and James indeed witnessed the events, though he couldn't help but again feel guilty. Tears blurred his eyes, "Forgive me again! You were in danger and I was not there to save you, thank Arceus that you could fend for yourself." He stood in the doorway crying, though the tears were not truly for Paige. His sorrow came from elsewhere, somewhere he had buried long ago.

He wiped his tears, remembering his own saying, "I have no wish for you to see me in this state, please excuse my momentary collapse." This wasn't the first time his façade had broken, though he never lost it near Helen, and he intended for her to never know, "Please do not tell my dearest Helen."

Helen
Helen stared at the picture until every detail had been memorized. Maybe she missed Fluffy, or maybe this was the only thing left of her past save James. One thing she was sure of was that it left a melancholy tone to look at it. The picture itself was happy, there was everything she ever had in that picture. Everyone was smiling, gathered around Helen and James, because this was the day he asked her out, the day she felt happiest. She closed her eyes.

Flashback
"James we are going to be late to our class!" Helen pulled at James's arm, but he was intent on going the opposite way. "We can't be late after only three weeks!"

"No no, this is more important, just trust me on this okay!" He looked down at her and smiled. Helen, though still confused, nodded. "You wore your blue dress like I asked you! It looks so beautiful."

"Well you did ask me to wear it, and I was going to anyways." Her face glowed, even though her answer was nonchalant, "Where are we going anyways?" James led her through the school's hallways.

"Well I wanted to take you somewhere private first." He had led them to an empty hallway, there were no students anywhere.

Helen's face turned red, and she stuttered, "W-why would we do that?"

James looked her in the eye, his face was serious and sincere, "Helen, I have always been with you, and you have always been with me, though we have never." He paused, "Never been a couple." He grabbed her hands, "Helen will you go out with me?" He struggled to say the last sentence, with all of his strength, this was the hardest thing to do.

Helen trembled, her eyes filling with tears, "Y-yes" James began crying with her, but he hugged her closely, "W-why are you crying?" She whispered.

"I was afraid you would say no, I'm just so happy." They sat in the hallway soaking eachother's shoulders in happy tears, Helen admitted she was afraid he may never ask. They went to class as normal that day, though neither would be able to recall what they learned in class that day.

After their classes had finished, James had gathered up all of their friends, some from highschool others they had met there. Helen nervously whispered in James's ear, "What are they doing here?"

"Well today is momentous, I thought we should capture it forever in a picture." He let Fluffy out f his ball, who jumped into Helen's lap. "Are you okay with this?" Helen nodded, she really did want a picture of everyone.

"James, old friend! I must say that I never thought you would actually ask her out." A student with brown hair pat James on the back. "Back when we were at the orphanage I always thought you guys were like a brother and sister, though now that I think about it, you guys were more like my parents." He was much shorter than James and about two years younger.

"Jay! I thought you were out on a Pokemon adventure! I'm so glad you made it here." James gave him a bear hug.

Helen also gave him a hug, "You are so much taller than I remember."

"And you are so much prettier than my memory serves." Helen blushed, "Anyways, I got a call from one of your friends who looked me up after hearing about it. I was close by so I came."

"Tell me, how many badges did you get? Have you been getting in fights lately?"

"I have four badges so far, and no not since our days in the orphanage. Lucky for me, I got adopted after you guys left for college. They trained me how to fight with Pokemon, and they reminded me a lot of you guys."

"Who told you about us? Which of my friends?" Helen asked.

"Well you can thank me for that!" A girl with waist length red hair walked up. In addition to flaming red hair, her blue eyes were similar to the ocean. "I was told about the question a few hours ago, I remember seeing a photo of this boy and you two as kids, so I looked him up. As it turned out he was in town at the same time as me and I brought him over."

"Hitomi!" Helen leaped at her friend, "I thought you were doing contests in Hoenn!"

"Yea well a couple days ago James slipped to me that he was going to ask you out, he was practicing what he would say to you, except he was talking on a phone, to me." James blushed in embarrassment, "Anyways I flew over here on swellow as soon as possible."

"I'm so glad you guys are all here." Helen teared up again, "I'm glad all of you are here."

The people all lined up, smiles covering their faces, the camera rested on a tripod, Jay put it on timer, and adjusted it. "Five seconds!" He ran back to the group, and a click went off, capturing the moment forever. Helen looked up, the sky had never looked more blue and clear in her life, as she looked down, the campus grass was unusually green.
 
Paige Cooper​

Paige couldn't believe what had just happened, not so much the creature that had just attacked her, but James losing all composure and giving way to tears. She still had a hard time breathing after she fended off her mindless assailant. Her chest heaved in a hurried manner, her breaths coming through her mouth with a slight wheeze. The first thought that came to her mind was to tell him to shut up, all this noise could attract attention they really didn't need right now. After her breathing began to stabilize, her mind denied her the opportunity to tell him so. She felt guilty for even feeling that way about someone crying, it was just her own fear taking temporary control of her body.

She shuffled her feet to turn in his direction, her gaze looking more at his feet then towards him directly. Paige had never felt like she was good with words. She could read and digest a book within hours, but this, this was personal and emotional. Emotions were something she herself had a hard time coming to grips with. What could she say to him? She slowly returned her pole to its resting place on her back, her impromptu weapon reassuringly secured. Paige took a few steps towards James, her mind racing with anything that might be of benefit, at least to get him operational again. He served nobody any benefit in this state.

"Y-you're fine James. Don't apologize, we all must be accountable for our own safety now," She spoke to him, her voice low so as not to attract attention. Paige knew it wasn't the most helpful statement in the world, and maybe even a bit blunt, but she really was at a loss for words. "I won't tell Helen." That was the best she could do for him. From his tone and words, that would be the most consoling thing that could escape her mouth.

Her steps carried her back to the spot were she had fell. She stooped on her knees and looked up towards the spot she had spied before. It was harder to see when not laying flat, but one of the tiles was definitely the slightest bit askew. Paige stood and jumped on top of a nearby nightstand. It was one of the few objects in the house that had a fairly normal position. She tried to reach out and push aside the tile, but her arms proved to be just too short. Jumping down from the piece of furniture with a huff, she cursed under her breath. Maybe if James hoisted her up, it wouldn't be out of reach? It might be a lot to ask of him now, all things considered.

"Uh, James? Would you be able to give me a boost? I need to move one of these ceiling tiles."
​
 
James
James still couldn't reason this specific breakdown, no matter what. He tried to make sense of his own mind, but this was not a place to do so. "Thank you, I appreciate it." Not really thinking about one specific thing he walked up to her and hoisted her up by the waist, an almost effortless feat for him. "Do you see anything you need up there?" This reminded him of a previous adventure.

Flashback: A Vent
"James we need to hide!" A much younger Helen tugged at James's arm. They both wore raggedy clothes normally, though the house mother was sprucing up the children for potential parents. They ran to their usual hiding spot in the house, a small room that had been boarded up and forgotten. The only way in was through a ventilation shaft nearby. "Hurry lift me up through the thing, hurry!"

"I'm going, I'm going," James got on all fours so Helen could stand on his back, "What happens when we get to big for the thing?"

Helen pulled herself up, "Well then we find a new hiding place!" She wiggled through the vent so she could get to the other side and turn around. Then she crawled back to the side with James and held her arms down. James jumped up to grab them and she pulled him up. "Anyways when we are big enough we can leave together!" Helen crawled backwards as James crawled forward, both faces smiling and happy to have avoided any chance of separation.

"Yea! Then we won't have to hide and not be separated." They heard a faint crying through the boarded up door, one of the younger children they reasoned. "I'll go see who it is." James said, climbing a chair to get in the vent again. The crying indeed came from the room they just came from. "Hey kid, why are you crying?"

"The house mother said nobody would adopt me." He wailed.

"Now why would she say something like that? Are you sick?"

"This kid took a photo of my mom, so I beat him up." He wiped his eyes. "Then the house mother took my picture and refused to give me good clothes."

James dropped his arms, so the he could pull the boy up, "Come on! We can talk in this other room." The boy did as James instructed. The boy was fearful of the darkness within the vent, "Don't worry, just think of something happy! What is your name?"

"Jaiden Moore."

"Well Jay, mind if I call you that?" He nodded, James still crawling backward while leading him forward, "Well my name is James, and that." A faint light from the abandoned room welcomed the two boys, "Is Helen, and you are safe here I promise." This would be the first time any other orphan would be allowed James and Helen's secret room.
 
Paige Cooper​
Just as quickly as she had asked James for his help, Paige found herself hoisted in the air. She was slightly startled by how quickly and effortlessly James had followed through on the action. Paige didn't think she was heavy, but he didn't even give out the slightest hint of strain. The vantage point was much better than that of the nightstand, her head almost bumping into the ceiling as she was elevated. Gingerly, she moved aside the ceiling tile, a small cloud of dust stirred from its resting place.

"I'll let you know in a sec," She called down to James in answer to his question. For all she knew, this could just be a wrong hunch, a defect in the ceiling even. Her hand searched appraisingly in the cavity now created from the missing tile. Drop ceilings were a great place to hide things away from the prying eyes of others. If the berry man had something valuable worth stashing, this would probably be their best bet. Something pliable and soft touched her hand as she ran it across the lip. It felt almost like canvas. Wrapping her hand around it tightly, she yanked it ever so slowly from its resting place. It was heavy, but not exceedingly so. A few more seconds of exerted pulling and a canvas messenger bag dislodged itself and fell to the floor.

Paige squirmed out of James' hands without even requesting to be let go. She dropped to her knees as she quickly opened the bag with trembling hands. The main flap of the bag folded over on itself as she went to work. Inside, several small plastic baggies presented themselves. Holding up one of them into the dwindling light, a pink colored powder contrasted with the bleak world around them. A quick inspection proved there to be many more, of varying colors and quantities. If the bandits had gotten a hold of this, it would be worth a fortune in whatever underground market there was nowadays.

Without even thinking, Paige jumped up and let out a sharp cry of excitement. She quickly placed her hand over her mouth as she realized how silly the act was and how potentially dangerous it could have been. In that moment, it was almost impossible to contain her joy. Medicine, probably one of the most valuable things in the world right now. The sun continued to recede in the world outside, it could very well be getting dark soon.

"James, we should probably get going. I got what I came for. You want to grab whatever else we need and book it back to the others?"​
 
Syther saw the girl tense up a bit at mention of her Pokemon. He decided to not ask about that anymore. She did answer though saying that she used to have a Growlithe, which happened to be the same as the egg the guy had.

She mentioned something about Saffron and how she didn't want to go there as it was destroyed by the infection. He figured it would as bigger city's usually get hit the hardest by these infections. He heard her mention he parents and he started thinking.

He had not seen or heard from his parents since abouit a week before the infection broke out. He wanted to know if Pallet Town was ok. He figured they wold be ok as his dad was a scientist and probably knew it was coming.

He still wanted to know, and he figured he may be able to reach them somehow. But he figured all phone lines would be down, and internet was also probably out. But there was still a chance.

He turned to the boy that he still didn't trust, "Was the phone in the Pokemon Center stil working?" he asked. His heart sank as he had a feeling the answer would be no.
 
James
"That bag looks important..." James became a little suspicious, he had seen these herbs in Helen's textbooks. "I say you should head back now, I'm sure that bag would save more lives than I would, so I would rather not risk both." His intentions were not quite that, he felt like he was distracted, and didn't want to risk both of their lives. "Tell Helen I'll be there shortly." He was sure she would likely object so he added in, "I'll be fine I promise."

He really didn't wait for an answer so he walked out and ran as fast as he could away so he wouldn't be followed. He reasoned that his head start and athletic background would allow him to get out of following distance from her. He hid in a nearby abandoned house, a quick scan yielded no sight of zombies. He sat and waited in case she did follow him.
 
Paige Cooper​
Paige slung the bag over her shoulder, it now resting along with her other bits of meager supplies. She looked back at James as he muttered something about her heading back to the others alone. It didn't make a whole lot of sense in Paige's mind. Why would he want them to split up now? Why not just stick together. His behavior was altogether suspicious. Her mind began to jump around to think of reasons he might not want her around, but nothing settled as a valid reason.

Before she could interject into his reasonings, or lack thereof, James walked out of the house and bolted away from her. Paige stumbled slightly as she leapt over the fallen furniture and towards the front door of the berry man's house. She could see him farther down one of the streets as he continued to run. Paige took off after him, her heart pumping, lungs straining and legs faltering. There was no way she could catch up to him and she couldn't call out for fear of drawing unwanted attention. Skidding to a stop, her feet kicked up a cloud of dust that obscured her vision. Once it had settled, James was nowhere to be seen.

"Damn you, James," She whispered, her voice soundingly disturbingly lonely in the barren streets. A quick survey showed that she was indeed alone in the area. It felt even more eery than previous moments of loneliness had. This time, she had been purposefully abandoned and for reasons she couldn't even begin to understand. It was incredibly uncomfortable, this exposed feeling one got when alone yet others should have been around.

Paige knew she would never find him in the city on her own. She turned back into the direction of the car and started to jog back. Walking was probably quieter, but she didn't want to spend another moment in this city alone. Clutching the strap of the messenger bag around her shoulder like a life preserver, she began to see the car in the distance. Slowing her pace, she walked up to the car, her face refusing to betray any feelings of stress to the others. Jackson was resting against the car, Helen was inside of it. She decided to go ahead and get the obvious answer to their questions out of the way.

"James said he'll be here shortly, he wanted me to go ahead and come back. I haven't the foggiest idea why."​
 
James
James prayed while he caught his breath. A deep sigh as he picked up his bat. This is suicidal. He thought. He checked his supplies, remembering he had took Helen's as well. He pulled out a notebook and pen that was in it, and wrote a note in it. He emptied his own bag into hers and hung the bag on the outside doorknob. He said softly to himself, "If they come looking, they will find this bag, if not then I have saved a life." He wrote his name under the bag in the dirt, though he scratched it out and wrote Helen's instead.

Walking away from the house with his now empty bag and his bat, he walked toward the gas station. As he approached he counted the undead. One, two, three, four, six, eight. He was glad at his decision to send Paige back on her own, because no matter which way he looked at it, she would be in danger.

After watching for a few minutes he decided that going around back through the supply entrance would be the best way in. He had worked part time in a store and knew that there could be potential weapons and additionally it would be easy to choke zombies into an enclosed area. He took a long walk around, carefully avoiding conflict. Lucky for him, the back of the store was barren, void of zombies, so he snuck up to the door and attempted to open it. His heart leaped as he found it was locked.

He had two options, break the door or lock, causing sound, or return to the car with nothing but guilt at his rudeness. He decided to break the doorknob, he could still barricade the door afterward. He took the bottom of the handle of his bat and slammed down at the doorknob, twice. It gave way, though a few splinters went into his hand. He prioritized entering over tending to the wound. The pain made him wince and blood streamed down his palm. This isn't good, the sound and the smell will attract too many monstrosities. He looked around the room he was in, noting that it was enclosed completely with two doors, inside the actual store, and outside. Ignoring the pain in his hand he pushed some shelves that had been empty. The other door was heavy and a test showed that it was locked as well.

This was indeed the supply room and it had not really been raided. James looked at his hand, bleeding profusely, and took his shirt off to wrap the wound. He heard knocking on the door, the light tapping and dragging of hands that was characteristic of walkers. The steady realization of the situation made the fear grow within him. The room had food and other supplies, though he couldn't bring himself to take any, except all the bags of marshmallows and a few water bottles, which he placed in his bag. He didn't want to take supplies from potential survivors if he may die here anyways.

James sat against a wall, listening to the tapping of walkers, feeling the pain in his hand, and being crushed under the weight of sorrow. He spoke out loud, not to anyone, and in a normal voice, "So this is how I die huh?" He laughed, "Will I starve or will I get bit?" His mind wandered, if he got bit, would Helen have to kill him?
Would anyone have to kill him?
What would it be like?
If he died of starvation would some person in the future come upon him and think badly of him?
His thoughts were his worst enemy.

Helen
Helen smiled when she saw the girl, though she didn't see James. As she got out of the car, she got the answer to the thoughts she was thinking. "So he did that again?" Helen felt conflicted, but trusted his judgement, "Well if he said he will be back then we should wait." She didn't eat anything yet, though both the fact that he had her supplies and she didn't want to eat until he was there made her neglect her stomach. "Did you find anything interesting? Did he say anything to you?" She tried to sound cheerful.
But her mind thought of the worst scenario.
 
Jackson Wells​

Jackson had had his eyes focused on the ground while trying his best not to think. Lately, if he had begun thinking about nothing in particular, his mind would slowly fill up with doubts and worry about his parents, so he did his best, constantly, to stop thinking about things that weren't pressing matters.

Speaking of, he heard something coming closer and he swiftly grabbed the iron pole in his hand and looked up, letting out a sigh of relief as he saw the girl coming back, a faint smile on his lips as he pushed himself to a stand while Helen got out of the car.

He furrowed his brows a little, both at the sound of James running off, as well as Helen's "Did he do that again?" comment.

"So... he's done that before?" He looked up at the bag slung over the girl's shoulder, a slight sense of relief filling him. At least they'd found some supplies. However, she didn't seem to have the thing they went out to find.

"Maybe he went to get the gas? Did you find any on your way in there?" he asked the girl, of which he still didn't know the name, but hadn't thought to ask of again.
 
James
An hour passed and James was feeling lonely, hungry, and fearful. Every once in a while he would make loud noises to keep the undead outside. He figured that it would be better if they were there rather than near others. He sang a tune he had learned in the orphanage, keeping his thought as calm as he could. He wondered if someone would come for him, though he hoped that there would be any. If Helen had gotten his note, then she might not come and endanger herself.

Helen
Over the hour Helen worried more and more, this was the longest time since the infection they had been separated. "What if he is dead, or undead, or being eaten alive!" She thought. Eventually she broke down crying, "He's dead..." She wailed. But then she remembered, her radio. "James! James!" She yelled. There wasn't a response.

She bolted out of the car desperately to approach the girl who went with James, "Where did he go!?" She desperately demanded, "He won't answer his radio!" She cried on her shirt.
 
Paige Cooper​
"I did find something interesting as a matter of fact," Paige answered Helen, as she shifted her shoulder to indicate the bag. "Some medicine actually, should be good for humans and pokemon alike. Uh, well, so I've heard..." She caught herself about to say something that might incriminate her as a nurse and quickly course corrected. "Supposedly there was a gas station nearby, but I never actually saw it." Paige looked at Jackson and shrugged when he mentioned the gas. "I just knew it was getting dark and said we should get back. He told me to go without him and ran off."

Walking up to the car, she seated herself on the hood and watched the sun's continual decline in the sky. An hour passed in no time at all, her stomach began to rumble as if in reminder of it being dinner time. Helen began to get antsy from the looks of her and began to wail loudly about him being dead. Paige actually was starting to believe it herself, it wasn't exactly a stretch of the imagination. Soon thereafter Helen began to cry into the radio for James, her voice becoming more and more desperate. Feelings of empathy began to swell inside Paige's chest, a feeling of tightness and remorse for the woman. Maybe she should have kept looking for him instead of just heading back to the car?

Any such thoughts were removed as Helen bolted out of the car and dashed in front of her. She began to plead to know where James had gone and Paige really didn't have a sound answer for her. Helen leaned on her and began to cry into her shirt, she could feel it becoming soaked underneath her tears. She threw her hands in the air at the surprise from the action. Nobody had ever done that to her before. Eventually, she brought her arms down and rested them on Helen's back, a pseudo hug in the hopes of giving her some comfort. What was she going to say to her? That her husband was most likely dead and could very well be a member of the mindless horde that might come to eat them?

"Uh, we might be able to look for that gas station...If I had to guess, that would be the best place to look." She looked at Jackson, almost begging for his help with her facial expression. How did she end up with these people?​
 
Jackson's brows furrowed as he heard that the girl had found a whole -bag- full of medicine. It seemed too good to be true, until realization washed over him, his fingers snapping.

"Oh! From the berry-man's house, yeah? I guess that means he's gone too..."

Jackson frowned slightly. He had visited the berry-man once, with his mother when he was little due to her having to get some medicine for a Pokémon back in Lavender and figured it'd be a good idea for Jackson to see the world. He let out a little huff and sat down against the car's side again, running a hand through his hair while staring off into the distance, as the girl climbed onto the hood of it.

He kept scouting around for about an hour, with Helen's worry only becoming bigger and bigger. As she ran up to the girl and began sobbing into her, Jackson looked over his shoulder at the two, pushing his lips slightly together and breathing out softly through his nose. At the look from the girl, Jackson pushed himself to a stand and walked over to pat Helen's back gingerly.

"It's... it's okay Helen, he's probably just making sure he's got everything, you know? We can g-"

Just then, a ghostly hand appeared and poked Jackson's shoulder, causing him to jump with a held-back yelp, quickly spinning around to face Fog, his Haunter, sporting a playful grin. He rolled his eyes at him.

"... That's not funny." He replied to the Haunter's teasing grin as it did a little backflip in the air. It's expression became a little more serious as it began muttering out quietly to Jackson, waving it's hands around.

"Haun hau aun haut taunter haunhaun!"

Raising his brows, Jackson stood for a moment before looking over his shoulder at the others.

"Hey... Fog's apparently seen a ton of shufflers massing outside of the gas station. It's not a -good- sign, but... I think James might be in there." He turned to look up at the progressively darkening sky, frowning.

"... And it's almost dark. We should go help him if we can, but... they're... dangerous at night. Alot more aggressive. What do you two think?" He asked, turning to the two as the Haunter floated down next to Jackson, slightly behind him.
 
Helen
Her heart dropped, as if off a cliff. "You mean he is alone?" She shivered violently, fearful for James. "He could be dead..." She said softly, "He could be dead..." She slowly walked to the car repeating the statement in shock. She got in the passenger's seat, locked the door, and said nothing. She shut off the world looking at the bright picture. "he could be dead..." she chanted. No tears ran down her face, she felt broken. She heard James's voice in her head, calling her name...
Yelling for her...
She interpreted it as a way of his ghost saying she had abandoned him.

James
James looked out the small window slit, the small light of day that had kept him company had faded. "Goodbye bright sun, maybe I'll look up at you tomorrow still." He said hoarsely, still refusing to eat or drink. He stood up weakly, realizing that he had refused to eat the day before because they were short on food, he had given it to Helen. "Maybe there's something to write with..." he mumbled, the sound of his own voice made him less lonely. He opened boxes, threw them on the ground with a certain desperation, he had reagitated the pain in his hand. He eventually came upon some cheap radio sets, giving him a new hope. He looked for a knife to open the plastic, and eventually found one. Cutting open the package he quickly found the included batteries and tuned to the frequency they use.

"Hello, Helen! Please answer, HELEN." There was static on the other side. No answer. "Helen..." He cried.

Meanwhile the radio in his pack was making noise, the voices from both couples had attracted a few walkers to the area. They shuffled around, not disturbing the pack but attracted to the radio's noise.
 
Rick stood from the chair that he was sitting in, putting down his water. He nodded to Steven, who also stod. They walked out to the barricade, and waited for the current team on patrol.

Five minutes passed, and Rick stamped his foot. He opened the door, and jumped back as a human Walker charged at him. As he was chopping the beast's head in, he notice that its mouth and hands were covered in fresh blood.

"****! Steven, follow me!" Rick yelled. He ran out of the barricade, decapitating another walker. Steven followed suit, bashing another with his pipe. Ryan quickly unclipped Aggron's ball,releasing him. Just in time, Aggron stomped on the nearest Walker, a Pikachu. Aggron walked among the humans, crushing them with his sheer strength. Rick climbed a near building, observing the scene. He noticed that the majority of the walkers were congregated around the Center, which was close by.

That's why they were so close... Rick thought as he hopped down.

"Steven! The Pokemon Center!" Rick yelled over the screams and moans of the damned. Steven nodded, and gasped as a Tryanitar Walker lumbered into view. Aggron roared, and tackled the beast.

Rick took adantage of this distraction, and jumped into e crowd. He raced through, getting a few minor scratches. He rammed the door in, using it as a waynto thin down the crowd of undead. He killed every one of the walkers that came at him, ducking into a small, dark room. He shut the door, and barred it with his body. He was sitting, heart pounding, when he realized that there was another living thing in the room. Rick readied his ax, and kept alert.

"Hey, are you human?" Rick whispered. He was perfectly ready to decapitate whatever came at him.
 
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Paige Cooper​
Paige did her best to contain her laughter at Jackson's Haunter. The little pokemon's practical joke was oddly out of place with current circumstances, but its joke did not undermine the importance of its information. The smile that had formed on her lips at seeing Jackson get freaked out, was quickly dissipated by the news of a growing horde. If they were outside the gas station, that had to be where James went. He must have drawn a bit of a crowd in trying to accomplish whatever it was he wanted to do. All the more reason why he should have let her come along. Maybe they could have thought of a plan to sneak in together instead of reckless endangerment.

Helen was in a damaged state and Paige knew how hard it was to reach through to somebody like that. After she had locked herself in the car, Paige turned to Jackson to try and get his opinion. He seemed the most stable of the others she was currently stuck with. In a time like this, he might be able to give level-headed advice. His Haunter would surely come in handy too since it had the ability to get through walls.

Paige cleared her throat and shifted the weight of the pack pressing against her back. She still clung on with a death grip as darkness further loomed over them like waiting death itself. Night was so dangerous now. In a world that had previously been illuminated by the finest in man made technology, the world was almost eerily and unnaturally dark. Before, when a person could walk a street corner without fear, now a simple stroll could be somebody's last. It was a nightmarish scenario that had many seek refuge in the evening hours. Only the most brave or foolish dare voyaged beyond the sun's warm embrace.

"Jackson, we need to do something," She spoke up softly, her voice not sounding as sure of herself as the statement sounded. "Maybe, maybe we should go check out the station and see what's up?" Paige raised her gaze and looked at him in the eyes, nerves causing her finger to tap against her upper thigh.​
 
Jackson Wells​

Still a little shaken up by his Haunter's joke, he didn't even have time to react as Helen bolted for the car, causing him to blink in utter confusion.

"H-Helen, wait, he's probably-"

And he didn't get to say any more, as Helen had shut the door and locked herself in the car. He let out a slightly frustrated little groan, raising both hands to ruffle up his hair, which he felt was better than punching things to get rid of frustration.

"Rrgh, why do they have to be so... aloof?"

Huffing softly, he furrowed his brows, desperately trying to come up with a plan of 'attack', rubbing the back of his head while his Haunter casually did little backflips in the air, waiting for a decision from the two.

Jackson eventually looked up at the girl, realizing that, if anything, she'd have his back. She could've just run off with the supplies she had found, but she came back. This gave Jackson at least a sliver of hope of rescuing James.

"You're right, we do. I think waiting until tomorrow is dangerous... plus, Helen locked the car. So... yeah, I guess we should go have a look at the gas station and see what we're up against..."

Jackson definitely didn't sound or feel as brave or sure of himself as he pretended to either, but he took a deep breath, meeting her gaze and giving a nod and a slight smile, trying to comfort her despite his own uncertainty.

"It'll be okay, don't worry. Let's go have a look and see if James is actually there."

Giving a little wave to his Haunter, it moved up in front of him to lead the way, keeping lower to the ground than usual, due to not wanting to be seen by a shuffler. Jackson glanced back to make sure the girl was following as they very carefully snuck through the surprisingly empty suburbs of Cerulean City, Jackson clutching his pipe tightly.
 
Paige Cooper​
Paige followed behind Jackson, his pace comfortable and easy enough to follow. As Jackson led them through the city streets, Paige pulled the pole from her back and mimicked his tight grip on her weapon. She swept her vision from side to side, her eyes desperately searching for signs that anything could be amiss. Where was everyone in this city? Had they all been infected? Normally, there was at least some indication of life or things being lived in. But here, things were different. Everything seemed to have a permanent oder of death and decay. Even the creatures were nowhere in sight. Had they all converged on James' position?

"I think it's somewhere up to the right," She walked up to Jackson and whispered right into his ear. Any unnecessary noise could draw unwanted attention and unwanted attention usually equalled death, or worse. As the night quickly began to vanquish the light, every shadow grew until they merged into one giant blob of darkness. Buildings became harder to distinguish, Paige grabbed Jackson's shirt just to make sure that he headed the right direction.

Scrambled could have very easily lit up everything if need be. The little Happiny's flash move had proved invaluable many times before and was something many chided Paige for teaching her pokemon. People always told her it was a worthless move and that you could just buy a flashlight. Of course, they weren't laughing so much now. Artificial light was rare to come by. Electricity and batteries were quickly becoming an extinct creation. Pokemon with flash had new found value in the world. However, the light would only serve as a homing beacon for the monsters now, like a Venomoth to a flame. That and Paige feared her little pokemon becoming prone to the illness that had robbed many owners of their precious pokemon before her.

It didn't take long before they happened upon the aforementioned gas station. From the looks of it, the place was absolutely swarmed by the infected. They seemed to be moving as one harmonious, throbbing horde of death. The faint moans of the monsters filled the evening air, not unlike the noises Paige heard from the ill in a pokemon center. If she hadn't been witnessing it with her own eyes, Paige wouldn't have believed it herself. Quite frankly, she thought it was like something out of a horror movie. A thought that had been running through her head more and more as of late.

"Great..." She whispered in Jackson's ear again. "I bet you the idiot got himself stuck in there."​
 
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