Please write scenes taking place inside the Big House when inside the building but not inside a specific thread space such as the Kitchen.

Any confusion? Please PM a GM.

Ricky warmed himself by the fire as the other man, Gary, went after Benson. *Apparently my question fell on deaf ears.* He pursed his lips and glanced around the now apparently empty building. He turned towards the empty kitchen and took a quick sniff of the air; nothing cooking. *I guess no breakfast today either. I wonder how low we're getting on food.* He could hear arguing coming from outside, definitely Benson and Gary going at it. He stared blankly at the fire. It was just one of those days.

"Sitting down, yet again, when you ought to be working. I thought people of your ethnicity built the railroads." Janice's familiar tone bounced off the dilapidated walls of the Big House interior as she stepped from one of the hollowed out rooms where she'd staked out her own sleeping territory. Surprising to her, no one wanted to share a room with her.

The nominally rotund woman had been reduced to mere plump by the lack of food, which, compared to the others, left her at a healthy weight. She narrowed her judgmental gaze towards Ricky as she walked forward to stand near the fire beside him, one of the lenses of her glasses were cracked. "Don't think I haven't been watching you and that troublemaker, Cass. I knew her types back in my day, and I know you as well. Make sure you two don't get too close, we don't need any babies around her to attract the biters."

Ricky tensed up as Janice's shrill voice filled the room with her normal holier-than-though routine. "The Chinese built the railroad Janice, I'm a mix of a few things but Chinese isn't one of them. As for work, if you got something in mind you need help with, just ask." *As if anything you would actually work on would be that tough.* He stretched once more as Janice approached the fire but he sank into his seat when she mentioned babies. He fumbled for a response. "Y-you've got it wrong! It's not like that! Not at all." A slight color rose to his cheeks. He'd never really thought of Cass in that way, at least he didn't think he did. "How exactly is she a troublemaker anyway? If you ask for my opinion, you're definitely worse as far as trouble is concerned."

Janice stood resolutely, hands on her hips as she heard Ricky's contrary sentiments. She had no substantive reply to Ricky's correction to her insult, moving on as she often did to any sign of weakness she could detect. Ricky becoming flush when Cass was mentioned drew the older woman's sinister ire and her mouth contorted into a quasi-grin. It was knocked away when Ricky commented that she was in some way personally deficient rather than Cass, a silly girl who had fallen into a hole in the ground.

"I've seen her giving those looks to you, don't lie to me boy, and then glaring at me, I know bitch-resting-face when I see it. She's gonna be the end of this group, thank the lord I am here." She fanned herself with one stout hand, giving her some relief from the heat of her temperament.
"And how dare you speak to your elder like that! Y'know, I kind of wish YOU were the one eaten by those.. those things, instead of Doug. At least that boy knew to keep his mouth closed!"

Normally, Ricky would have easily ignored Janice's snarls. Maybe it was the lack of food, maybe it really was just one of those days, but for some reason Ricky just couldn't let Janice's last comment go. "Don't you talk about him! You don't get that right!" He was on his feet in an instant and in Janice's face in another. "You stand there judging everyone; calling us lazy, good-for-nothing sinners yet I don't see you helping out much. You're not out there for the raids. You're not killing those things. You sit at camp, complain, eat, and complain some more. The only reason you've lived this long is because we've let you live like this. I was out there for months before I met the Caravan. Months! By myself. Do you really think you've got what it takes to live like that!? How long can your useless, fat ass make it out there!?" He took a step back to calm himself, his face conflicted with a mix of anger, some surprise, and a slight confusion. He never thought he had that in him. Whatever it was, it felt great to finally get that off his chest. He stared at the large woman he just insulted, waiting to see how she would respond.

Sarah has been with the group a few months. Long enough to know, or at least been in earshot of Janice. As she walked down the hall, Sarah could hear the yelling in the next room very clearly. Ricky was laying into Janice and while Sarah didn't hear the whole argument she caught the very end of it.

A mental cringe swept over her and if she were watched Sarah would have looked like a cat on her paws who just heard a loud bang. She was conflicted, unsure whether to intrude or not. For a moment there was silence, perhaps due to Ricky's surprising outburst. She didn't know Ricky to burst out like that, though to be honest she didn't know any of them super well. 2-3 months of walking around and talking isn't enough time to gauge a mans character.

Ok, maybe I can help Sarha thinks to herself and loudly strolls down the hallways as if to say "Someone is coming, chill out" at least that was her hope. She walked into the room nonchalantly or at least trying to act like she didn't hear what was going on.

"Hey guys, would one of you like to help me find a good place to plant some seeds?" Sarah said, hoping to split them up. She did need help deciding what and if she should even plant food with what seeds she had. She wasn't sure if or how long they were staying there. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to even start a garden here. But, it was a good excuse to help diffuse the situation. "Janice, you seem like you'd be a good eye for something like this. What do you say?"

A more sour look than usual crossed Lorenzo's face upon discovering much of the room was already occupied by several other members of the ragtag group of survivors. Joining the group in the winter, he was familiar with most of the people here but he often got the impression he hadn't gotten off to as great of a start as he could have. Yeah, he'd probably be dead if they hadn't taken him in. But he still didn't see why he should blubber at their feet and start kissing their shoes. He and his old crew? They would've eaten this gang for breakfast. Not literally, of course. With a penchant for violence, he hadn't appeared to have any issues with helping the crew in the nitty-gritty of undead defense and though he wouldn't admit, they were growing on him. Slightly. Of course, growing affections hadn't done much to spare anyone from Lorenzo's extremely short temper.

An almost habitual smoker he shook a cigarette absent-mindedly from its package, listening to the arguing from a distance but not processing much. His dark eyes seemed to be more intensely focused on searching for a free chair than the other people gathered there. Ricky, the big lady... With an exasperated sigh and a contradictory broad smile, Lorenzo sauntered into the doorway behind Sarah and leaned against the frame. He listened to Sarah's open offer to Janice before piping up.

"Seeds? That's the word in this fuckin' rat-trap today, ladies and gentlemen? Good shit, but I'm kinda concerned with the fact we been slurping down mystery-meat broth for who knows how long." he smirked, squinting at his companions in a way that was almost predatory. He had a slight Spanish accent and somehow always managed to speak with a cocky sort of grandeur, and today was no exception. He shifted against the doorframe, unlit cigarette bouncing up and down between his lips as he spoke. "Mind if I tag along with the plant thing? I'm bored out my skull. And besides, I'm a regular Johnny Appleseed, Sarah," he claimed, offhandedly offering his assistance. If there was a new bed needing to be dug he could do it, no problem, but he'd never really gotten the hang of gardening.

In reply to Lorenzo (msg # 8):

Sarah looked at Lorenzo and smiled, not expecting anyone else to be nearby he likely didn't know her real ploy was to simmer down the hostilities in this room "Oh course, you can help. Janice or Ricky would you like to help look for a good spot and dig as well? I don't have a lot of seeds. I am not sure if any of them will even give fruit to be honest." She says dissappointed "I only have half a packet of each, tomatoes, apples and sunflowers. I mean, if you guys think we will be here for months and months we should plant them..." Sarah is lost in thought "I mean if we end up leaving I suppose I could find a make shift pot around here to transport the plants for us..."

Janice backed away one step as Ricky stood up and quickly closed the distance to roar at her. She sputtered at first and then fell silent as Ricky listed off a variety of complains he had about her. The older woman stared unblinking at him, taken aback considering how Ricky usually responded, though this was no guarantee she was going to profit from the reprimand/lesson given her. Her lips quivered slightly, and she was silent briefly before her mouth began to twist into something akin to a snarl once she'd processed the tirade laid out against her.

Sarah's incoming footsteps gave her pause and a reason to further formulate some sort of response to the anger pouring off of Ricky, someone she'd believed was a layabout immigrant type. She crossed her arms over her ample chest as the other woman suggested she join in some seed work.
Eyes narrowing through the broken glasses on her face, she grimaced at Sarah, "A good eye for it? Is that supposed to be some sort of dig at me?" She steamed, self conscious and constantly inconvenienced about her one workable glasses lens.

When Lorenzo's working man form entered the room Janice was having none of it. It seemed like she couldn't go anywhere without being surrounded by people she didn't like, though no one escaped her ire, really.

"Why don't all three of you go tend the dirt where you belong? Just like when America was going downhill, here I am stuck with immigrants on all sides, laying around, asking their Betters to do all of the work while getting none of the credit." Janice chuffed scornfully, full of self pride, not the most tolerant person at the best of times even. "Maybe this apocalypse wouldn't have happened if y'all had followed the Lord's word to begin with, and stayed out of our country as well!"

Sarah & Janice



"Whatever you say, girly. You're the plant expert," Lorenzo replied breezily. "I don't mind makin' runs. Lemme know what you need and I can grab that shit when I'm out." He was bit amused at how flustered Sarah seemed as she rattled on about her seeds. It couldn't be that complicated right? Couldn't they just toss 'em in the ground? He was never one for things that required patience even before the end of the world, and Sarah's passion for gardening was a little lost on the brash man. He rolled his shoulders, and looked like he was about to say more. Hell, he was feeling a bit more cooperative than usual until Janice decided to open her trap.



As Janice spoke, Lorenzo maintained the same faint smirk he had worn moments ago when speaking with Sarah, but something shifted. His expression seemed to more closely related to an animal baring its teeth. His buttons were pretty easy to push and once Janice completed her tirade the violent reaction was instantaneous.

"Me cago en Dios y en la puta Virgen, maleta," Lorenzo snarled rapidly at the woman, hoping to further insult her by dropping the use of the Queen's English. He pushed himself off the door-frame, gesturing wildly as he spoke. The way he was glaring it her looked like he was trying to bore a hole through her skull. "You think you're funny, huh, you retarded bitch? 'Cause you ain't gonna be too funny when you're picking your teeth up offa the floor."

There was rarely a time where he and Janice could be together in a room without breaking into a spat, and this was looking to be no exception. He was not one for swallowing his pride, or shutting up for that matter. Oblivious to Sarah's intentions to defuse the tension when she entered the room, it now looked like Lorenzo would make good on his threat to Janice if no one intervened.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:31, Fri 27 Mar 2015.

Listening to Janice turn a request or even a compliment inside out into an insult was no new thing to her. Sarah was all to used to Janice doing so, she had only hoped that maybe it would be different this time. "Janice, what is really your issue here? I wasn't making fun of you I was paying you a compliment. You said that you were a hard worker, I was going to work hard alongside you." Sarah sighed in a way that just showed she wanted to give up, but she tried to stay resolute "Look, if you want us to work. Fine. I was offering for you to join us in doing so, so that we can maybe bond as a team. If you haven't noticed, we aren't eating you alive right now. You can be a bigot towards the zombies out there, not us."

When she heard Lorenzo turn angry so quickly Sarah jumped back a bit in surprise. She never faced discrimination in her life, at least at a level that she couldn't shake off. It was clear Lorenzo was having none of it and perhaps that was a sign he had a history of people looking down on him. These thoughts all ran through her head while she thought of a way to still diffuse the situation. "H-Hey guys... guys" she stammered, but her being probably the smallest person the room, her words felt equally as small. Her failed attempts to simmer down the situation only made it worse, she felt.

"Okay, Janice. If you don't want to be around us. Then I suppose you can leave this room to be alone. Because at this point I can't see this situation getting very good for anyone involved. I would like to be here for you, because there aren't many humans left on this earth and I am trying to be nice. But you have to be kind back. That is the only way you can survive." Sarah says, being very flustered. It was obvious by her tone and expression on her face. Her brow pinched downward in her upset feeling that she couldn't fix the 'Us vs Them' mentality of the situation "And that wasn't a threat, that isn't some twisted way to insult you. I think its just better if you leave the room." she finished, never raising her voice but obviously strung out from the situation.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:44, Fri 27 Mar 2015.

Ricky seemed to relax a little as he noticed Sarah. He immediately recognized her attempt to diffuse the situation for what it was; it was comical to him, but completely unnecessary. The screaming was just screaming, venting frustration built up from poor conditions, low food, and a terribly mistimed ill-remark by Janice. He would have laughed at the whole situation if he hadn't noticed Lorenzo enter as well. It wasn't that he didn't get along with the man, it was simply the fact that everyone in the group knew of Lorenzo's hot temper by this point.

The talk of a possible garden piqued Ricky's interest since he had some experience with maintaining a backyard garden before Zombieland. Something about the planting, watering, and general care-taking of the plants gave him a strange sense of satisfaction; add to that the fact that they could really use the food and you have a great motivation for settling down for a few months. While these fleeting thoughts ran through his head, Janice did what Janice does best. The large woman was like an immovable object, there was no real getting through to her and she had the perfect knack for pissing everyone off, especially the people you don't want to piss off. And just like clockwork, Janice ran her mouth yet again and Ricky found himself having to protect the women he had just berated moments ago. In a second, Ricky placed himself between Lorenzo and Janice. Though not physically imposing, he found himself strong enough to at least hold back Lorenzo from lashing out at the woman.

"Okay, okay. C'mon, calm down. Let's just go outside and try to find a spot for the garden, yeah?" Ricky tried to calm Lorenzo over the man's screams. *Kinda wish I took Spanish in high school now instead of French.* He gave the man a moment to clear his head before speaking again, holding him back from hurting Janice the entire time. "You know how she is. Just don't worry about it. _{If it was up to me, we would have kicked her out months ago.} Let's just go outside and look for that spot. She's not worth that extra energy, man." Ricky tries to lead Lorenzo out to the Courtyard.

"Oh, yeah! I'll look for a spot alright!" Lorenzo proclaimed loudly, trying to maneuver around Ricky to throttle Janice. He was riled, but luckily for Ricky not in a blind rage and wasn't about to plow through the younger man yet. He settled for continuing to hurl threats, trying to poke his head around Ricky and narrowing his dark eyes at Janice. "I'm gonna find a spot for your grave, lady, and you best hope I don't got enough time dig somethin' so massive!" he continued to shout, his threats now bordering on non-nonsensical. "And on your gravestone- on it I'ma write: here lies Janice! A kooky ass white bitch who died doin' what she loved, not knowin' when to shut her dried up old mouth!" he hollered over his shoulder. "You really gonna keep taking that shit, man?" he asked Ricky. His volume was still loud, but he allowed Ricky to corral him into the Courtyard.

He was still fuming even as he exited the Big House. He'd had enough with self-inflated white folks way before the apocalypse had happened, and now that there was no law he didn't see why he still had to swallow his pride. At least if he had kept his mouth shut before, he'd get paid. Now what was the pay-off? He still couldn't believe the disrespect Janice had consistently doled out over these months, and he seemed to be the only one who would act on it. Back in his old crew, that shit didn't fly. You had beef with someone? You settled it mano a mano, you didn't slink around with your tail between your legs. He still fully didn't get why Ricky was being so passive when they could have finally given Janice the what for. As far as he saw it, it wasn't Janice having some sort of mental problem or her inability to cope with this new world turning her nasty. It was a matter of no one ever showing Janice her place before, and he wasn't going to tolerate it forever.

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
---> Greenhouse

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This message was last edited by the player at 03:18, Sat 04 Apr 2015.

Janice took a small step back, tensing as Lorenzo lunged at her like a pitbull, her hand slipped inside of her pocket, ready to withdraw something, presumably a weapon, not much but pointy. She was taken aback but resolute in her position she felt she acquired in the group hierarchy. To her surprise Ricky intervened with Lorenzo, bringing the animal of a man to heel before he got too close. In response to the threats she glared, grimacing at the man as Ricky escorted himself and Lorenzo out of the room and then the building. It took all of her self restraint not to yell something at the man as he was beckoned away, perhaps secretly knowing that it might bring him back full force if she continued, or maybe she was saving her best material..

Sarah had been trying to settle down the situation the entire time, and Janice, like Lorenzo had largely ignored her endeavor. Janice didn't appreciate being scolded by the younger woman, "Excuse me? Last time I checked, I was one of the original people in this Caravan. I have seniority, not only in years but in time in this group, and y'all ought to answer to your elders if you wanna get through this mess of a world." Janice huffed, hand leaving her pocket now that Lorenzo was gone, with both her ample arms crossing over her front. She closed the distance between Sarah and herself, her girth brushing up against the other woman a bit as she invaded personal space, "Lets get this straight- the only people leaving around her are gonna be you and the other immigrants who are only here to work. Things like that don't change, not even after the biters took over this God-fearing country." She narrowed her gaze. "Temporary. Foreign. Workers. Bitch. And don't think I haven't seen you giving lovey-dovey eyes to the men, its disgusting!"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:57, Sun 29 Mar 2015.

In reply to Janice (msg # 15):

"I can't believe it. Every little thing I say to you doesn't work." Sarah throws her hands up shortly in a show of a white flag. She gave up on Janice. Rather she left towards and area to find a good spot to start planting. Sarah was going to get something done today. She wasn't going to try and change Janice's weak view points.

-> To the greenhouse
This message was last edited by the player at 04:23, Mon 30 Mar 2015.

----> Canal and Perimeter

Dom took his time with the walk back to the main part of the compound; there was no real rush to get going just yet and he still hadn't quite fully recovered from carrying the body away.
Upon arriving at the compound he made straight for his sleeping area in order to collect the handful of personal possessions he still owned namely his rucksack with the expanded first aid kit in it as practically everything else of value or use was already on him. If someone told me that I could live with only what I could carry in my pockets I would have laughed at them he thought as he shrugged the rucksack over his shoulders.
Locating an accelerant however proved to be a somewhat harder task and resulted in quite a bit of time searching the uninhabited part of the old factory until he finally came across a can of what he presumed had been paint stripper or something. It was kind of hard to tell under all of the rust and muck but the orange "Highly Flammable" sticker was there so he figured it should do the trick.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:19, Sat 18 Apr 2015.