"Sure." She said simply and went to do as asked.  She knew very well what was going on, she'd been taught lip reading, it was very useful in gaining intel on marks.  Now it was very useful to keep up with what was going on around her.  It was what had saved her from the plans the previous group had in store for her.  Or at least one of them. She supposed she should not be surprised at how base some people would turn when the yolk of society was lifted from people's shoulders.  She moved quick and quiet, heading to the kitchen. She tried to stay on top of who all was where at any given time. She had seen the Doc heading towards the kitchen, so she went there first.  Lucky for her, she found Loa present as well.

"Doc, Loa, Bill need's ya, floater in tha canal."  She stated in her soft accented voice.  With her mission succinctly stated and completed, she turned to head back to Bill, assuming they'd follow.  Her soft soled black boots barely made a sound as she lithely traversed the distance between the kitchen and Bill.  She was wearing well worn jeans, a dark purple tee and a black, teal and purple flannel shirt under a black leather jacket.  She had her hands shoved into the deep pockets of the jacket where they remained toasty warm in a pair of gloves.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:59, Wed 04 Mar 2015.

In reply to Gary Szymanski (msg # 42):

Bohannon looked up at Gary, his trance now interrupted. His bushy beard and scruffy long hair concealed most of his face, but his eyes held in them a deep forlornness. "Yeah Perry Mason. I can use both my arms again. Let's invite all our friends over and throw a shindig. Unless every one we know lives here with us... That's right! Our lives are all just a continual soiree." Benson got up out of the lawn chair, kicking it across the room and storming out the front door. There, he lingered for a moment.

As she walked past, Tessa heard the grumbling of the Grizzly, a nickname she'd given Benson, though no one knew but herself, of course.  She had no "Marnin', Sunshine."  She quipped softly, her slight Scottish accent adding a lilt to her words, as she past by on her way to meet up with Bill.  Benson, she had discovered, was always rather grumpy.  One did not usually poke the Grizzly, but this morning, she was feeling a bit daring.  She did not look over her shoulder to see if he heard her, or if Doc and Loa were behind her.

In reply to Cauldershore (msg # 34):
In reply to Dominic Dubreton (msg # 39):

Loa smiled as Dominic entered the kitchen, effectively the entire Caravan's medical team in one room. Compared to some folks they were lucky. Though she didn't like being considered weaker perhaps because of her gender, she appreciated the concern voiced by both Cauldershore and Dominic. "Two days ago." She answered the native French speaker with the truth, though she had been doing a good job of hiding the discomfort that walked hand-in-hand with hunger. "Don't worry, Dominic, I know we need to stay strong for the group. I do thank you gentlemen for your concern, I suppose chivalry isn't gone quite yet." When word was raised of a possible raid, she was willing to be cautiously optimistic. "I think some of our people could use with stretching their legs on raid. Just remember we need not only food but medical supplies as well."

In reply to Tessa Lawrence (msg # 43):

Tessa's sudden presence did not bode well and the former veterinarian exchanged looks with Dominic and Cauldershore, "We better go." She hardly needed to say it, but there it was, and she moved towards the door as Tessa moved off once more. A floater in the canal? Had they gotten to this problem in time? She would gather a couple of their scant supplies just in case, before moving with Dominic and Cauldershore, if he wished, to see what exactly was going on.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:27, Wed 04 Mar 2015.

In reply to Brady Bohannon (msg # 36):

When Brady approached Joe the older man was sitting on an old semi-truck tire, hood of his winter coat pulled over his head, long white strands of hair peaking out from the fur trim inside. He was huddled over, chiseling an arrowhead out of stone using a similarly sharpened rock.  His pliable, reliable bow leaned against his legs from a propped up position on the ground. When the younger male's voice interrupted him he replied with a grumbling noise, pausing briefly from his work before continuing on, half-listening to the former Fort inhabitant.

"Say what you mean, peckerwood, I'm too old for guessing games." Joe answered gruffly, turning to look at the man, piercing green eyes staring into the other man testily. He was the oldest man in the Caravan yet he was strong as sinew, with experience of many years ossifying itself within a wiry, surprisingly durable frame.

Dominic was glad that Loa had taken the reprimand...if that was the right word for it; the way it had been intended and hoped that she would be good on her word and not let herself starve for the rest of them “Hey we’re just looking out for you is all...you’d do the same for either of us” he replied with a friendly smile. He liked Loa which was a good thing seen as they had spent a lot of time working together over the past few months and it helped having another person with medical skills around.
It was at this point that Tessa; another new face they had recently encountered entered the kitchen with news of a floater in the canal the implications instantly becoming clear to those within the room. Oh great! That’s just what we need! Dom silently exclaimed wondering if anything else could go wrong as he followed the others out of the door.
They had only three days worth of food and now it sounded like one of their water supplies was now potentially poisonous. They’d just have to hope that the body hadn’t been in the water long and was still intact else they would be in a world of trouble.

The ambient sound of a light breeze shuffling the nearby foliage and the hum of friendly chit-chat was occasionally interspersed with the splashes of soapy water, as one of the less familiar faces amongst the Caravan worked in one of the far ends of the courtyard. It was a rather warm day, at least comparatively speaking, and Nevada wasn't one to waste the opportunity to do something productive. Their blankets and sheets had been needing a wash for some time, but the bitter chill of winter left them unable to clean them without freezing. But today, if it wasn't for the cool water on her fair face and slender arms, and the denim skirt she hadn't had a chance to wear much during winter, the petite brunette might have actually worked up a heavy sweat. The sheer number of sheets, blankets, pillow cases and the occasional shirt, jacket, and pants left a reminder that she'd been doing this a while. Some people just liked to keep themselves busy.

Though, if one were to ask some, others might suggest the girl had a reason to prove herself such a work-horse. Her start with the Caravan was a bit troublesome. A few weeks earlier, the scavenging party said they'd run into the girl in the Nevada jacket at a convenience store in town, hording some of the dried goods. Like a deer caught in the headlights, she froze initially, but as soon as the group tried to approach her, she yelled at them strangely and bolted for the rear exit. They managed to lose her in the ensuing chase as she disappeared behind a behind a narrow opening behind in an iron gate. However, after their scavenging run, they found the strange youth watching them from afar, trailing them for some time. A bit of clever tactics forced her to reveal herself and let them approach.

That's when they discovered the second obstacle; "Nevada", as her faded blue sweater labeled her, didn't seem to speak English. It lead to a fair amount of frustration as they tried to communicate with the young woman, but they got her to follow them to the Caravan, where a number of survivors struggled to communicate with her for several days. Just when they seemed to be getting the hang of it, and getting her to come around to them, she revealed that their added difficulty was for naught. She could speak English just fine, and she came clean that she was just pretending not to so she could learn what kind of people they were when they thought she couldn't understand them. She has apologized for the deception, but she had learned that they didn't mean her any harm, and were not looking to manipulate her, so she felt she could be honest with them. Understandably, there was still some annoyance lingering about the trouble she'd caused, amongst other hesitations, but Nevada has since promised to be honest and declared she will do her best to earn their trust, much as they had earned hers.

Nevada balanced briefly on tips of her sneakers as she adjusted the next sheet on the clothesline, but as it finally held steady to her satisfaction, pausing to step back and look at her handiwork. It had taken up most of the morning, several rows of cloths of different sizes, shapes and varying mostly drab colors waving lightly like the flags of poverty stricken regions, but nevertheless, a content-filled sigh escaped her lips. She didn't have long to appreciate it undisturbed, as a discerning echo came from the other side of the compound bit of commotion caught her eye on the far side, drawing her attention. Nevada picked up the ragged cloth she was using to dry herself, absently wiping the water and suds off her forehead and arms, as she stood herself up and watched a concerned Karen rushing off to deliver some kind of news to Bill and Izzy. The reverberations from the compound walls didn't exactly have good acoustics, so it was difficult to understand what they were talking about, but it was obvious it was something important, losing herself momentarily in thought-filled deliberation.

A door burst open suddenly, giving the distracted brunette quite a start, causing Nevada to actually leap briefly in fright, before she recognized the disgruntled cowboy, eliciting a relieved sigh from the small teenager, complete with her left hand coming to rest over her pacing heart. Not that a pissed off Benson was harmless in and of itself, but her instincts had trained her to expect less discriminating threats. She took a few moments to calm her lingering anxiety from the scare, and approached him, briefly sparing a momentarily uncertain glance to the snickering Tessa. "Morning, Mr. Bohannon." She called out, offering him a polite smile, presenting herself before him in her reserved manner, her bare-hands clasped before her lap. "Sorry to i-ahh...bother..." The girl paused a moment as if to choose her word carefully, obviously knowing she was treading on thin ice as it was. "...But seeing as you're up, would you mind if I adds your bed sheets to wash? I mean, I'm cleaning many of the others already, so it would be no trouble." She offered, as lightly as she could. Naturally, her almond-shaped eyes darted downward towards his freshly cast-free arm, but she didn't make any overt mention towards it.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:19, Wed 04 Mar 2015.

In reply to Tessa Lawrence (msg # 45):
In reply to Nevada (msg # 49):

"Howdy Jolene." he said with a smile as he and Tessa passed each other. In his Georgian accent, the nickname sounded sweet and flirtatious, despite his rough appearance and brooding mood as of late.

The cowboy turned to Nevada. The youngster had joined the group a little while back, but he hadn't been there for that. He wasn't really any too sure of the girl at this point. But she seemed earnest enough. Bohannon's long shaggy hair and beard blew in the wind. At this point he looked more like Tom Hanks at the end of Castaway, or during the running scenes in Forest Gump than he did himself. He sighed. "Sure thing Tokyo Rose. You can do the stuff from my bag while you're at it. Just don't mix the lights with the colors, I don't want my white socks turnin' pink." The cowboy had turned the charm back on, insofar as he could. But it still had a bite to it. "Go on. Laundry ain't gonna do itself. Now scram!" He snapped at the young girl to compensate for almost seeming nice for a moment.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:14, Sat 25 Apr 2015.

In reply to Isabelle (msg # 38):

Karen sat there next to Izzy as she caught her breath. "It's always something, huh..." She said, not really knowing anything better to say, and trying to avoid the thing she really wanted to ask. "How are you doing, with your leg? Good?" Now Karen was making thinly veiled small talk. She shook her head, realizing that she must have seemed pathetic. "Isabelle, does it ever get easier? Do you ever go to sleep at night, or wake up in the morning, or spend any part of your day without thinking about your kids? How they're either out there somewhere or they're... not...? Without wondering if they're okay? Can you ever stop hating yourself for losing them?" A tear welled up in Karen's eye. Clearly she wasn't coping well with Kaidan's disappearance, but, what mother would, right?

"I miss him so much."

Tessa smirked, but never stopped or looked back.  She'd dared the Grizzly's wrath once, best not to do so again.  At least not for a while. She met up with Bill and waited with him for the others.

"Told 'em."  She said, as usual, succinct and to the point. She only really got chatty once she was comfortable with people.  She was still settling in with the group.  So far she'd only spoken a little bit to each person, nothing in depth, mostly because of her own..shyness...she supposed.  She kept busy.  Either by climbing about the upper levels that were inaccessible with ease die to damage or being available for raids,or what ever else was needed. When she was not doing something for the group, she was either sleeping or snuck off to an area no one else was at and exercised and danced to keep in shape and, of course, sang.  Not too loudly though, she didn't want to draw unwanted attention, but, she loved music.  It helped her cope.

"Well?" She asked Bill, wondering what he was thinking.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:32, Fri 06 Mar 2015.

Ricky had taken the early night shift for guard duty so he was still asleep until the echoing crash of Benson's chair woke him. Half asleep, he threw on his glasses and boots and rushed to the common room with knife in hand. After realizing what the commotion was, he put away his weapon with a sigh and stretched to help wake himself fully. "Jeez, thought we were getting raided or something." he mumbled as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He took a seat near the fire before realizing his boots were still untied, quickly solving that issue before looking around the main building. "Where's everybody else at?"

As was par for the course with her dealings with Benson (and anyone else's exchanges with him, for that matter), he replied to her offer with his usual brand of sass and flair. Normally, one was to simply grin and bear it, as was how she usually dealt with it. But, for some reason, as her dark-brown eyes peaked up at him on this occasion, there was a slightly skeptical arch to her left brow, her head tilting slightly to the side as she did, as if she was questioning his reply. Nevada wasn't one to speak her thoughts freely, so it was difficult to say what it is she was that struck her oddly. Perhaps it was the nickname for her, or the unexpected thought of handling the cowboy's intimates, the audacity that the gruff man would offer her unsolicited advice on how to do basic laundry, or if his ragged beard at this point was just distracting enough for her in an unapproving manner. Whatever it was, something seemed to strike a slight nerve in his response, prompting a slightly sarcastic, if silent, glance from the normally passive teenager.

Nonetheless, despite her momentary defiance, his loud dismissal definitely caught her attention, striking her into an upright stand as he suddenly switched from calm acceptance to assertive order, responding as if he was a teacher that caught her daydreaming in class during a lecture. "Ah~!...Y-Yes sir! Right on it!" She quickly followed up after an initial falter, scurrying for the stairs leading up to his room. Even if his attitude might had been in the dumps of late, his presence at least still had enough spark to light a fire under the little newbie, as evident when she worked her slender legs up the stairs in mere seconds before disappearing behind the alcove above.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:16, Thu 05 Mar 2015.

Bill gulped air as he waited for Tessa. He was sober, but he was still an old man. The girl, in her twenties but looking younger on account of her short stature, came back almost as quickly as she had left, her mission completed. "Great, thank you." Bill said as he finally caught his breath.

"Now we have to get that body out of the canal." He said as he eyed Cookie, New Mexico and Hank on the opposite end of the courtyard. "Come with me Tessa, you can help."
Bill and the girl walked the length of the courtyard toward the trio. Bill interrupted their chat.

"Cookie, we have a problem. Karen found a walker in the canal." He paused, awaiting some sort of reaction. "Now, we don't know how long it's been in there. We don't know, but it could have contaminated our water supply." Bill looked at the young boys. "We have to get the body out, I think. It can't be good, leavin' it in there like that. Let's go, you boys too."

Entering the courtyard Dominic although not running at this point moved with purpose wanting to get to the source of the problem and deal with it as soon as possible.
Hearing the cowboy’s raised voice coming from across the courtyard he couldn’t help but smirk as one of the new girls; Nevada he thought it was caught the brunt of his “wrath” though Dom suspected most of it was simply for show “I’d jump to it if I was you girl, you don’t want to know what happened to his last slave!” Dominic called jokingly over his shoulder, chuckling softly to himself as he did so.

With Bill busy talking to Cookie, Dominic decided to head along the canal to where Karen and Izzy were instead, rather than waiting for the former sheriff to finish “Morning Izzy; Karen...so where is this...oh...” realising that he had inadvertently walked in on something Dominic’s mind ground to a halt as his face took on that uncomfortable look all men get when confronted by tearful women “....Sorry...I’ll...erm...go and ask Bill or something” he finished awkwardly. Perhaps waiting for Bill was a good idea after all.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:04, Sat 07 Mar 2015.

In reply to Dominic Dubreton (msg # 56):

Karen wiped her cheek off and stood to greet Dominic. "Sorry." She composed herself and went into work mode. She didn't know how many times in her career she'd stood at a crime scene and greeted the paramedics or the coroner. This was routine.

"Caucasian male, dead a while. Probably a zombie. Bloated and coming apart at the seams. There's... lots of stuff coming out of him." Karen began walking towards the spot in the canal where she'd spotted the floater. It was as she'd described. He was big and soggy and oozing everywhere. Karen wasn't sure if the body would hold together if they tugged on him. She'd have to defer to Dom's experience for that one. "Here he is. What do you think?"

Cauldershore left the kitchen with Dominic and Loa. A body in the canal? That would be a heinous sight. And if the water was contaminated, that would stress an already thin supply of food and water. "I shall offer my services as well." He chose to stick with Dominic and not wait for Bill to gather up some help, wanting to get the issue resolved just as soon as possible.

In reply to Joe (msg # 47):

"Um." Brady was a little intimidated by Joe. It was at this moment that he really started to second guess himself and think that maybe Joe was not the best choice. "I want to learn to shoot a bow." He said, looking off to the side and scratching his neck. "We need to go hunting and I want to try bow hunting. Can you teach me?" Brady felt awkward. And he was usually cocky and confident. But there was something odd about Joe...

In reply to Hank Lucion (msg # 37) and Cookie and Bill:

While they conversed NM felt that things were going to be okay, even if just for that short time. He took his time with the licorice, relishing the peace while he still could. Nodding in response to Hank's sentiments, they were soon interrupted by Bill's commotion and silent beckoning for them to help deal with some issue of a body in the canal.
With Bill addressing Cookie primarily but all three of them in general, N'Mexico sighed lightly, "Just when I thought it would be a nice relaxed day." He commented to no one in specific, gauging Cookie and Hank as to how fast they ought to jump-to to help with the grisly task of fishing out a corpse. It all boded ill, and NM hadn't survived this long by volunteering for every icky task, as lazy as it sounded.

"Happy birthday to me."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:35, Sat 07 Mar 2015.

"That’s ok" Dominic replied awkwardly as Karen wiped away the tears from her cheeks.
As Karen gave a report no different to the many previous ones he'd received from cops Dominic listened attentively despite looking ready to bolt the second it looked like Karen would start crying again.
From what she had told him it sounded like the canal was screwed as a water supply, not that the canal was the best of choices as he was sure his step-mum had once told him something about not drinking stagnant water. Either way he felt he owed it to everyone to at least have a closer look and so moved over to the canal's edge to do just that.


----> The Canal 

In reply to Bill (msg # 55):

Bill's announcement brought Hank's hand to his temples as he shook his head. Lovely. When was the last time we filled our bottles? He and Tom had kept a few bottles so they wouldn't have to go back to the water barrel whenever they wanted a drink. Tell you what, he rolled his neck back, eyes closed to the sky and tilting slightly in NM's direction, You go find Tom, tell him not to drink the water from the canal and dump the rest of our bottles. He said something about helping Joe make arrows earlier after he was done fiddling with some things he found in an old office. He shrugged, not knowing himself what his brother was up to.

Sighing he got up, hoping it wasn't too bloated. If that's ok with you, of course. He directed the comment to Bill, not knowing how many others had been drafted to help with the removal.

*snap* The branch he had sawing through finally gave, eliciting a small grin from the young teen. Making one final check to make sure it was straight enough for an arrow or two. Nodding he tossed next to the few he already had. Giving a small sigh Tom glanced back over his shoulder where Joe was working on the tire. The smile widened when he saw Brady had joined the other man. Out of all the people in the Caravan, besides Hank obviously, they and New Mexico were the ones he felt most comfortable with. Although the new girl...the world may have gone to hell but his hormones didn't seem to care. Shaking his head back to his current task, there would be time for those thoughts later, Tom got back to choosing his next branch.

In reply to Brady and Tom:

Turning his head back to his task as Brady sputtered, Joe would inwardly grin, pleased with his efforts to make the younger buck uncomfortable. With Brady behind him, the old spitfire would match eyes with Tom, sending an inside-joke wink to the young apprentice of sorts. He continued to chip away at his arrowhead as Brady spoke before ceasing the action. He lifted the piece to inspect it with an expert gaze, quickly blowing at it like it was a birthday candle, causing dust to lift from the finished work.

Having kept Brady waiting, Joe slowly stood, running a couple rough weathered fingertips over the arrowhead, testing its pointedness and shape. "Well why didn't you just say that to begin with?" He asked Brady rhetorically as he walked towards Tom, back still to Mister Bohannon. The elder scrutinized Tom's work, his brow furrowing as he made up his mind, finally giving a nod of approval to Tom before finally turning to address Brady face to face.

"I can teach you. Whether you retain anything is up to you. I don't want to waste both of our time if you're just going to drop the bow for a gun the moment we find ammunition." It had been a cold four months and Brady hadn't shown much interest in learning the way of the bow. Joe chalked it up to over-reliance on firearms by survivors, which only served in his mind to attract biters and hostile folks. Perhaps he was old school, but he had tactical reasons for his choice of weaponry.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:11, Sun 08 Mar 2015.

In reply to Hank Lucion (msg # 62):

The teenager lackadaisically laid back in his lawn chair, signaling to Bill through his body language that he was not going to be enticed to participate in any water-drinking dramas. He continued to nibble slowly at his licorice, wanting to ensure what he had would last as long as possible. NM was ever appreciative of Cookie's present, and Hank's welcome company, and only begrudgingly accepted that events were shifting around them that didn't include the procurement of a cake for his birthday. The birthday boy was silently sure that there was a cake out there, so inundated with sugar preservatives, that it was just waiting for him, perhaps literally, if unlikely, penned upon it in icing.

Looking to Hank through Blind Lime's shades, NM appreciated the out from floater-duty. Sitting up, he extended his arms back, giving his slim form a hearty stretch complete with the requisite groan of satisfaction, right hand clutching his licorice bag. "I suppose I can do that." The teen was curious about what Tom had purportedly found in an old office space, if he even needed more motivation to avoid icky work that Bill was trying to press gang them into. "Alright dude, I'll go track down Lil' Lucion and see whats up." NM didn't want to wait for Bill to pull him back into the event and the teen rose up from his chair, then tucked his licorice bag into his back pocket.
"I'll catch up with you in a bit." N'Mexico started off to where he knew Joe usually worked on his gadgets, betting that Tom would be in tow. The old guy and the Lucion's were thick as thieves. "Later Bill."

---
>>> Over to Joe, Tom & Brady

New Mexico slowly approached the other three Caravaneers, who appeared to be mingling away from the main building, near the outer area of the compound, but still within the ring of buildings that formed the border of the industrial park.
"Hey guys, don't drink any water if its from the Canal, they found a floater. The Cistern's rainwater is still good though I think." He gave a small wave as he entered their pow-wow, moving more towards Tom as Joe and Brady seemed to be talking something over. "Yo Tom, look what Cookie gave me for my birthday." The shaggy haired teen withdrew the old Twizzlers bag from his back pocket, displaying it like a valuable artifact to the younger boy. "Here try one." He held the bag out to let Tom take his pick of the two dozen licorice strands still left. "Hows the arrow business these days?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:50, Sun 08 Mar 2015.

Loa was never sure how to best deal with Karen, as the woman tended to get worked up quite a bit. Though she was only a veterinarian, she wondered if there was some chemical imbalance that could be treated in the other survivor. She knew that Karen was still worried about her son, and secretly Loa was of the mind that the Kaidan boy she only briefly met was likely dead. Since she didn't know the truth, she knew better than to voice such things, especially to a grieving mother. Isabelle had admitted a similar issue with her own missing children, while Loa had been treating her. For her own part, Loa had never had any children. Tim wasn't the kind of man she wanted to have them with, and especially not in the world they now found themselves.

"Cauldershore, if you want to help Dominic, I will stay here in case I'm needed by the others." She let her inventory-mate go, while she turned to view Bill pressing Cookie, New Mexico and Hank into assisting. They had many people about, so she was confident they could handle it without her, and that she and Dominic could establish a water safety regimen once the body was removed from the canal.

In reply to New Mexico  (msg # 65):

Tom gave himself a rare moment of focus, figuring with the others relatively near by and a lookout on one of the roofs he could loose himself in the task at hand. It certainly helped distract him from the hunger. Mentally checking off finding an actual saw for this instead of his knife he started at NM's greeting. Spinning around, knife at the ready, he relaxed when he saw who it was. Shaking his head he gave a small laugh, trying to hide his embarrassment. He didn't want the other to think he was just some kid after all. Shit, you almost gave me a heart attack.

Quickly regaining his composure it took a moment to process what the other said, his focus on the candy. Are you sure? I mean we don't know when we'll find those again. Closing the knife one handed he clipped it onto his jean pocket. Happy birthday. So, when do you want your birthday punches?

Well, I've only got one customer and I'm using a knife as a saw. He answered with a shrug. Glancing at the small pile he'd already cut, At least the branches aren't that thick.