Malcolm lingered for a moment when he saw Ramona signing something to Tamara and his eyes flitted back to her sister Tamara.

He bounced the idea back and forth in his head, smiling at her. "If being useful is a punishment we might be sending the wrong message to people." He took a step away from them but turned his head.

"You know what, both of you should come. Theres alot I got to say for you newcomers and might as well get you all in one spot to do it." He beckons them to follow."Just no more flying off the handle, alright?"

"Honey, I think we all know what is going to happen to Fran." Riley bluntly stated. "As far as I know, there's no cure for the disease, no medicine will help either." That heated debate earlier coming from that room... She assumed the worst. Riley's eyes drifted off to the car.

Laying it on thick, Tamara, thought Ramona, who affixed her smooth-talking sister with a side-eyed stare once she began extrapolating on how they'd redeem themselves to Malcolm. However, it seemed as though the group leader believed them, and to Ramona's relief, he offered them both a chance to accompany the scouting team. While Malcolm had his back turned, Ramona made a short sign to Tamara: Thanks. When he faced the two of them, the boxer snapped to attention.

Malcolm's request was met with Ramona crossing a finger over her heart twice -- the universal sign of one promising they'd fulfill their end of a promise. However, not flying off the handle was easier said than done in Ramona's case. With Tamara close by, however, she felt better about her odds of keeping cool if anything were to happen.

Malcolm nods, even if he didn't really believe her promise there was no sense in calling her out on it now. It took him a moment to find the rest by the car as he meant the minivan they had used earlier but he wasn't specific about anything so he couldn't really begrudge them for it. He walked up to the group chatting around the car.

"Alright gang lets get moving, Chris you're driving. I want to talk to you all." He said, gesturing to get into the car while he made a move for the passengers seat. He looked to Rose before he got in.

"oh and Rose? I'm sorry by the way." He revealed to her, his face taking on a frown. "You knew her about as well as any of us but... She saved both our lives, and she deserved better, I'm sorry."

Chris looked at Malcolm "Have you seen Gloria today? Rose hasn't and I'm not sure if anyone else has. Given whats happened today, maybe we should check on her. Or get someone else too at least."

"Who?" Malcolm asks before unpleasant memories return to him. His frown stays.

"Oh her, I dunno I sent everyone back to their rooms so if you didnt see her that's probably why. Shes probably just hanging out with Vivian." He said, refraining from disparaging the woman in front of strangers. She looks at Rose again.

"If Gloria did the Walker blood thing tell Diana to check on them too I cant remember if Gloria got lit up when we were searching for food a few days ago. If theres a cause for illness with the blood I think it's based around smearing your wounds with it. Why anyone would do something that stupid is beyond me but here we are." He got into the passenger seat and rubbed the bridge if his nose.

Riley let herself in to the passenger seat.

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" She looked over in Malcolm's direction. "If she's infected, there's no medicine we can use to treat it. Its going to happen."

Malcolm, Ramona

"No flying off the handle," Tamara repeats with a nod. "I promise."

She hangs back slightly as Malcolm leads them to the car, draping an arm over Ramona's shoulders.

"Don't thank me," she says quietly. "You're my sister, Ramona. I love you. I'm never going to abandon you. Wherever you go, I'll go. You know what that means? It means if you fuck up and have to leave, I have to leave, too."

Tamara's hand moves to the back of Ramona's head, holding it in place to look Tamara in the eyes. Her next words are through grit teeth: "Don't. Fuck. This. Up."

Juan

"Eh, that depends on what you call medical," Heather says, getting to work with the shovel. Given the size of the hole, it's difficult for Juan to scoop out any dirt without either risking getting jabbed by the shovel or slowing down both of their work. "I'm a dentist. If you're worried about cavities or gingivitis, then yeah, I'm indispensable. Otherwise..."

She chuckles. "The real doctor's Diana. Don't know if you met her yet. Malcolm wants me helping her, and I figure I'll pick up the basics before too long. I'm halfway there, right? I've also heard one of the girls here is a veterinarian but Malcolm didn't mention it, so I dunno.

"Up until a few days ago, I was on the air base nearby. Little Rock AFB, if you've heard of it. The woman in charge was keeping me around to check her people's teeth, but I couldn't do shit because I wasn't military. It was safe, until it wasn't, but fuck it was driving me crazy. It wasn't like I couldn't help, either! Before all this, I did rock climbing and judo, but I could feel myself fading away in there, you know? And they couldn't even protect us in the end, anyway. So, yeah - I'll be out risking my ass for water, too. I'll sneak out if I gotta."

She wipes off her forehead, already working up a sweat, but keeps shoveling. "Speaking of which, I don't know anyone around here that did that kind of work, but I've only been with these people a few days. I knew a guy back on the base that did handyman work, and he said some of that was plumbing - there's gotta be someone like that here. This is redneck country, you know? I'm sure one of them helped hook up Uncle Cletus's septic tank."

Chris K, Riley

"Uh..." Rose looks like she doesn't know how to respond to Riley, then wilts and looks away resignedly. "...yeah."

She looks up as Malcolm, Ramona, and Tamara approach the car. "Hey," she says, looking over at Chris K. "Oh, I think I know where Gloria is. Or, at least I can figure it out. I can check on her while you guys go, uh, wherever you're going to go.

"And..." As Malcolm passes her to get into the passenger seat, she reaches out and hugs him for a few seconds. "I'm sorry, too, Malcolm. I know you didn't know Lauren long, but I could tell you really clicked. If you ever need to talk, I'm here."

Chris didn't respond to Malcolms baited comment about wounds. There was no point. Getting into the car, he took the keys and started the engine. "So how do you wannna do this? Straight up to the front door again or we gonna go round the houses to avoid zees?"

In reply to Snicker (msg # 494):

Juan tries to get in some scoops of dirt before nearly getting clipped by the shovel a couple of times. He finally gives up and just watches Heather work.

He was not sure he wanted her along checking the water treatment plant. If anything happened to her, he was fully aware there where now people in this camp ready to scapegoat him for far less. No doubt they would do far worse to him then making him dig a grave.

"Oh yes, I know the good doctor, queen of all she surveys." He chuckled, remembering her pronouncements and orders. "And you are right about uncle Cletus. We got a few places around here on the map, just as useful as the water treatment plant. A construction site, a police station. Hell, there is a fish breeding site less than a mile and a half from here. Not to mention we gotta set up this place from the next big horde coming through..."

Malcolm was interrupted briefly by a sudden hug from the woman. It took him a moment to understand what was happening but finally did return the hug in kind. "Thank you Rose." He said simply, not ready to say anything more with others around. He slipped into the passenger seat and awaited for the women to get into the car.

"I think times of the essence here. There shouldn't be a crowd or anything at the school. We go in there and I'm hoping the schools nurses office has medicine or something."

Riley waited patiently until Rose delivered the hug to Malcolm. Once he sat down, she looked to him expectantly for an answer.

Chris pulled out the map of the school and gave it to Malcolm, before dumping his pack on the back seat and getting in the driver seats, his M4 between his legs.

"If you look on there - there might be clues to other med supplies we can check out."

Chris starts the car and starts driving towards the school

Malcolm, Chris K, Ramona, Riley

Ramona, Riley, and Tamara slip into the back seat of the car, awkwardly fitting around Chris K's pack in addition to their own belongings. The map Chris K hands to Malcolm lays out the school's floorplan, plus extensive handwritten notes of who is in each room and what they are selling. Despite the crowded notes, Malcolm picks out one room dedicated to medical goods. According to the notes, whoever appended the map expected this room to bring in a lot of supplies, as these goods were in high demand.

Rose gives the car a wave as it pulls out. "See you soon!" she calls. "Stay safe!"

She puts particular emphasis on the latter phrase.


Diana, Juan

Please move to the Act 4-C III: And Down We Went (con't) thread:

Malcolm spends some time studying the map so that he knew exactly where to go when they came to the school. After some time however he looked up and glanced at the passengers in the back. he was silent for a moment, trying to find the right words to say.

"I should tell you guys about what this is all about, after all you're strangers, but we'd be here all day. I'll give you the short, the community is made up of three groups. Me and my people, some others who are ex slaves but most of them are people who voluntarily left anothers mans guidance. Named Ari, I'm ah, not going to get into all of that. I'll just say theres some differences between me and him that led to all this. The important thing to know is that these people all want safety and security, and they want it fast."

"Thankfully." He continued. "Riley here might have done just that. She told us about a farm her family worked on, she knows where it is, and where there's one farm there's usually more so our future is there."

He turned his head fully to look at the three in the back and then to Chris who was driving.

"So some of you might be wondering whats that got to do with you. Well that circles back to what I said first, your strangers. You got no fight here, yet you were ready for it. You could have kept your info to yourself and walked right on but you didn't. Which leads me to think that all of you connected the dots." He scratched at his beard as he continued.

"After all you're survivors, that means that regardless of whatever past you walked out from you know how to solve a problem. Well I'm a survivor too, and this problem this whole thing here." Mal stretches his hands outward towards the abandoned houses and cards as they drive by. "The solution is us, its us guiding the rest. It'll be tough, it might be the hardest thing you ever do but if we work together then we got a shot." He lifted up his pointer finger, signaling a caveat.

"But you gotta be in this. We cant half ass it. I've seen half assing, we'll all die here. So make that decision with yourself now because if you're still with me on that farm I'll be asking alot, a ton from you, and you'll be doing the same to me. All for us, that community and our future. What do you think?" He asks.

Chris concentrates on driving and merely says "I think we've had this chat Malcolm" and says little else, seemingly lost in his own thoughts, though he is driving carefully

AS they get nearer the school he asks "So is the main entrance the best bet still for the med supplies"

Mal looked over to Chris. "Last we talked we didn't have a goal, only an idea. Now I'm telling you, we got a farm in sight. We can go there tomorrow if we can just get the chance." He says. "And I'm telling you, despite your mistake, that if you stay I'm going to call on you again, and I need you to be better. I want you aware of that is all." He said.

"Yes, I've also heard it before." Riley remarked and shifted her attention to something more relevant.

"I was hoping you would answer my question earlier, Malcolm. Anything specifics we need?"

Malcolm, Chris K, Ramona, Riley

"There's only one entrance," Tamara says, glancing at the back of Chris K's head before turning her attention to the others in the car. "I was there yesterday. There's only one way in or out. If it's blocked, we either have to break through or wait it out."

She shifts her weight to one side, looking at Malcolm. "Everyone's a survivor, Malcolm. It's been almost two months. No one got this far by half-assing it. Why are you treating us differently than everyone else?"

"Mal looks back at Tamra. "Some people get lucky, some people make their own luck. I look at you four and I can only assume you guys make your own luck. Anyways, here." Malcolm shuffled the map a bit, tracing his finger to some of the notes.

"Theres a whole room dedicated for medical supplies. As for what we're looking for Riley I don't know specifics but just about anything we can grab will be helpful." He says.

"I sent people out hunting today, that should be good for food, can you think of anything else you'd like to check out while we're in there?" he asks aloud.

Chris carried on looking ahead and driving but said simple "Ammo. Weapons." and then more quietly "clean clothes"

Malcolm looked at the map again to where the general area was where Kale found the weapons.

"We got guns and ammo yesterday, twice as many guns than people I trust to use them too." He nods.

"Clean clothes would certainly be nice though. Let's try for that."

Chris nodded and then looked at the rear view mirror, trying to talk to those behind him,  and said more loudly "Thomas and the others were injured when a cylinder with gas went off. Theres a few of them throughout the school, so stay away from them. If the gas does go off get away as quickly as possible. It seems to affect the eyes and throat, so take a breath, pick a direction, close your eyes and move fast. Ive got a gas mask, which I'm gonna wear just in case. So I could guide you out. But be on the look out for any more masks. If they do go off, they make a loud noise which will attract Zeds. So, really, stay away from them"


He paused and added to Malcolm "Ive been thinking about the gas. The timer was jammed, and went off when Thomas was looking at it. The clothes we did get smelled of gas a bit. So I think they have have mostly been triggered, but a few maybe failed. If thats right, there may be a whole load of zeds holed up in there somewhere - dead from the gas. We should be wary of that. We might have cleared a fair few of them out last time, but after the gas went off we just tried to get out, so I can't be sure. On the plus side the gas affects the zeds so they can't see."

With everything that had happened, and with Tamara's hope for a stable home resting on her shoulders, Ramona was determined to be on her best behavior for the rest of the day -- even if she had to be around another of the men responsible for the infected people. Malcolm's words echoed in her thoughts, and Ramona decided to trust that he'd do something about Juan and Chris.

With her crowbar nestled against her shoulder, Ramona merely nodded at the end of Malcolm's speech -- he didn't need to convince her that trying to live a quiet life was the best bet. More pressing was the discussion of their upcoming run, which the boxer was eager to weigh in on by facing Tamara and signing out an idea: Books. While not essential to survival the way food or ammo were, they were some of the few sources of recreation left, and a few could even teach people something new.

Malcolm, Chris K, Ramona, Riley

"There was a whole load of zeds in here yesterday," Tamara tells Chris K. "I think they got all bunched up in the gym where the guns are. When you guys set off the alarm yesterday I had to huddle in a room and stay really quiet until they passed. There's probably some more in there now, but not nearly as many as yesterday."

She glances at Ramona, then addresses the group. "We can get books, too. I know it's a kid's school, but there's got to be something we can use."

The school map clearly outlines where guns, ammunition, food, and clothes were all sold. It takes longer to find books, but close inspection reveals that one corner of one room was devoted to selling "books" (with no further explanation), and Chris K remembers that the food was sold in the school's library.