After rescuing Nicole from the school, the party regroups at the church as planned. With Nicole on board in the SUV, there were barely any room for anyone to move. The group was successful with circling around the herd of ghouls by taking an alternative route down south.

The distance from Rosedale to Shaw was not far, it only took less than an hour before the group saw the signs of the city. Their smooth drive came to a halt when the SUV slowed to a stop. A thin trail of smoke came out of the hood of the car. Terry urged everyone to vacate the vehicle after parking it next to a nearby cemetery.

The cemetery was full of dead, but none were walking. There they waited for Edward to inspect the SUV and make any repairs to get it back in a running state.

Dwayne and Mina are both standing over a grave. Natasha and Angie are keeping an eye on the kids from a distance. Nicole is sitting on the back of the truck, watching Edward making the repairs to the SUC and everyone else.

From the looks of things, the group have some time to kill. There's a small single floored house across the street, it looks abandoned from the outside.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Image of cemetery.
https://i.imgur.com/2kvXa2x.jpg<;
House across the street.
https://i.imgur.com/k4CILtN.jpg

---

This message was lightly edited by the GM at 06:37, Fri 27 Mar 2020.

Regina was glad that the group's business in the school was over, finally. Whilst she couldn't shake the feeling that the endeavor had been a waste of time, the doctor didn't dare say it aloud. Ostensibly, she was glad to have discovered Nicole, surprised, even. The girl's survival couldn't have been luck -- Regina didn't believe in that. Prying wouldn't have been tactful, however, so she kept quiet about certain suspicions creeping in. You're being paranoid again, Regina thought irritably; it had to be lingering annoyance at their elongated "rescue mission".

When the city skyline crept over the horizon, Regina began to fidget uncomfortably in the seat. As she drummed her fingers onto the car door, she let out a loud, irritated sigh. "We shouldn't be this close to the city," the doctor muttered, her eyes fixed on the driver seat, hoping that by some miracle the strength of her glare could get the car turning around and heading in the opposite direction. It didn't, of course.

Fine, fine. If they were so set on diving into the most perilous situations imaginable, then she'd have to mitigate the danger. Regina was confident in her ability to mitigate danger; she only wished stupidity was as easy. Stepping out of the car, she eyed the abandoned house in the distance. "Does anyone want to look inside that with me?" she asked, looking around at everyone.

Regina earns an immediate response from one of the kids at the grave.

"I do!" Dwayne turns around and hurries over by Regina.

Regina bit her bottom lip. Children never listened, she needed someone who'd make him follow instructions. "That's, uhm, Dwayne. Anyone else?" she asked.

Mary looks over at Dwayne and sighs softly through her nose. She glances at the house, but the windows are too small and widely spaced to get any idea of what's inside. That boy's going to be underfoot, she thinks. He'll be more trouble than he's worth in there.

Nonetheless, Mary doesn't want to push her luck with Dwayne. If she keeps telling him no, eventually he'll sneak off to find his own adventures, and Mary would rather have him screw up where she can see it rather than alone. At least, that's what she figures; she can only guess at what goes through a child's head.

"I'll come along, too," Mary says, approaching Regina.

"I'll come," Ivy chimed in. The cemetery was starting to creep the girl out, and she couldn't pass up the opportunity for a bit of treasure hunting.

Ashley had hopped out of the SUV at nearly the first opportunity, eager for a chance to stretch her legs after the cramped ride.  Without siblings, she wasn't exactly accustomed to sharing space -- and besides, nobody ever looked cool when packed in like sardines.  At Regina's call, she narrowed her eyes and shaded them with one hand, making a show of checking out the building, even though she'd already done so on their approach.  A mobile home?  Talk about dull.

"Nah," she shook her head and waved Regina and the others off.  "Looks boring, you'll be fine without me.  I'mma go take a walk."  As an afterthought, she held up a finger and added, "Hey, if you find a guitar in there, I call dibs."  Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and if she hoped long enough to find one, then eventually she would do so, however long it might take.  Not like amateur musicians were particularly rare or anything.

Anyway, back to that leg-stretching.

Quite the opposite of Ivy, Ashley had actually grown a fondness for graveyards in the post-apocalypse.  The undead seemed to follow the patterns they knew in life; they wandered where living people might have gone before, and seldom lingered long in places the living wouldn't.  Thus, a cemetery, where nobody living particularly wanted to be, was a perfect place to rest, and she'd stopped by the graveyard near the Rosedale church more than once on her supply runs, a brief respite before she had to navigate the crowds of the dead to get back "home".  That felt like forever ago now, but the basic fact remained that the dead in graveyards tended to be of the quiet variety, rather than the hungry one, and this one seemed no different.

Ashley glanced up to Nicole as she passed the truck, heading towards the graveyard.  She briefly considered asking the girl to accompany her, but she seemed like she could use a rest.  Instead, she simply gave a wave as she passed, stuffed her hands into her pockets, and continued on her morbid stroll.

The volunteers volunteered, and Ashley had...Ashleyed -- business as usual so far. Regina mmmhmm'd at Ashley's request, mentally filing 'grab a guitar' far down her list of priorities, well below 'avoid being bitten' and 'find food'. Regina walked toward the house, which looked less promising the closer she drew to it. Still, there had to be something, right? Well, of course not; the universe didn't owe them anything. In all likelihood, this was a fruitless endeavor at best -- potentially fatal at worst.

Dammit, the nihilism was surfacing again.

Regina decided to focus on the house and how many potential entry points she could see at a glance.

Graveyard

Looking at the house across the street, Regina sees several windows and a door. The door appears to be intact, and so are the windows. Climbing over the windows might be difficult as they are about five feet off the ground. And who's to say they're not locked?

Nicole waves back at Ashley before resuming her people watching activity. While taking her stroll, Ashley hears footsteps coming up from behind her.

"Can I ask you somethin'?" Mina asks. The girl catches up to Ashley and walks at her side.

Ivy looked up at one of the shut windows. It was a bit tall for her, but it worse came to worst she could find something to stand on or get a boost from someone. But first, the more obvious means of getting inside.

Ivy tried the door.

For a moment, Ashley dared hope that her guest was Nicole, come to join her and perhaps lavish her with the praise and attention she so clearly deserved.  But of course, the world was a cold and cruel place, and that spectacularly failed to happen.  To her credit, Ashley managed to keep up her too-cool hands-in-pockets pose and easy gait, strolling idly through a graveyard with a child at her side whom many of her group risked their lives to rescue, as though both these were the most natural things in the world.

Honestly, they kinda were.  That's just how the world was now.

"Don't reckon I could stop you even if I wanted to."  She wasn't entirely certain when "reckon" entered her vocabulary, but it sounded like something one of those badass cowboy movie heroes would say, so she rolled with it.  Before Mina could take what she said too harshly, Ashley cocked her head to one side and flashed the girl a knowing grin.  "That's a joke.  Ask away."

The corner of Mary's mouth quirks downward as she looks from Ashley to the building. In a house like that, the only thing we'll find is a banjo.

She glances over at Ivy and is tempted to sigh again, but doesn't. While she doesn't relish the thought of entering more children into the mix, Ivy seems more trustworthy than Dwayne. At first, Mary wasn't sure how she felt about the girl carrying guns, but she seems responsible enough from what Mary had seen, and she won't be the first girl in this state to shoot something before her first period. If anything, Ivy might be useful in keeping Dwayne under control.

"Let's see if there's anyone ready to welcome us," Mary says, approaching the house. She picks out the window with the clearest view to the inside and raps her knuckles several times on the glass.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:54, Sat 04 Apr 2020.

The House

Ivy tries the door, and the door refused to open. It appears that someone had left it locked. Dwayne knocks against the door and waits for a response.

When Mary knocks against the window everyone hears a sound coming from inside. However, after that initial sudden noise comes silence.


Graveyard

Ashley sees the child looking up to her from her side with a hollow expression.

"People come back when they die. We're in a graveyard, ain't this where dead people go?" She asks. "Will they come back?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:07, Sun 12 Apr 2020.

Something was in there. But was it a monster, or a person? Or something else entirely?

"Hello?!" Ivy called out. "Is anyone home?"

The House

"If you're planning to rob a house you better look elsewhere." A man's voice responds from inside the house.

Huh. A person, then.

"We're not gonna rob the house," Ivy answered. Granted, they were going to, but that was before they discovered that someone was actually still living there.

A living person? That's good news. Probably.

"That's fine," Mary calls up to the window. "Can you tell us anything about the area? Other houses we shouldn't rob, perhaps?"

She pauses, glancing over her shoulder towards the graveyard, then looks back up at the window. "Also, do you know where we could find a guitar?"

The House



"Yeah, sure." The man behind the door says. When Mary poses her question, the group hears some shuffling noise inside the house.

"I can't help you with the guitar-" the man grunts in middle of his sentence, "I do know the area. I am not saying anything until I know who you are and why you're here."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:26, Tue 14 Apr 2020.

"I'm Ivy," said the girl. "We just stopped at the graveyard to rest a bit.

"What about you? Is this your house?"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:11, Mon 13 Apr 2020.

"Regina," the doctor curtly replied. "And I wish I could tell you why we're here," at that, she gave Mary a joyless smile. "At the very least I can say we're not going to rob and/or murder anyone."

The House



There's a short delay before the stranger answers. "...Yeah, you could say that." His voice fades in volume as if he's backing away from the door.

"If you can't tell me why you're here, then tell me why you left, from where ever you came from." The man demands.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:26, Tue 14 Apr 2020.

"My name's Mary," Mary says in a patient tone. "We're just passing through. We had some engine trouble and we're taking the opportunity to pick up supplies while the rest of our group fixes it. We don't want to bother you. I wouldn't even have come to this house if I thought anyone was inside."

She steps away from the window, but stays close to the wall, where she can't be seen from inside unless the speaker presses his face against the glass. She takes the opportunity to shoot the others an annoyed glance. "We're from Rosedale. It's on the river. There's nothing left for us there but death and bad memories."

"Honestly?  I dunno."  Ashley shrugged in a way that was far too casual for someone contemplating the idea of the dead rising all around her.  Of course, her feigned disinterest hid the fact that she had, in fact, contemplated this at length on more than one occasion, and she wasn't about to let an opportunity to ramble about it pass her by.

"It's a virus.  ...Probably.  If we discount the possibility of magic or divine retribution, it's a virus, probably airborne."  She gestured aimlessly as she spoke, counting off magic and divine retribution on her fingers as she walked along, seeming for all the world like she was explaining something perfectly normal and not at all unsettling.  After all, she was Ashley Soma, and she had this shit all figured out, along with everything else in her life.  "One day, dead people just started getting up, and it happened no matter how they died.  So it's not spread by blood or by touch.  We've all got it, and so does everyone else who's still around, and the only way to stop it is..."  She raised a hand to point two fingers at her temple, in ghoulish mimicry of a gun, and jerked them back sharply to imitate a shot fired.

"...Really, though, it's not all that scary."  She paused to look over a nearby tombstone, and, as direct demonstration of her words, proceeded to sit down against it, and turned a calm smile to Mina.  "Especially here.  Even if the dead folks here start moving around, there's a sturdy wood box and six feet of packed dirt between them and us.  Slow as they are, it'd take them years to dig out.  That's why I think graveyards are sometimes safer than houses, now."  Really, Ash?  That's supposed to be the reassuring part?  ...Oh, fine.  "But I like to think they all escaped this.  A virus only cares about a living host, so anyone who died before all this started gets to rest easy, I think.  Truth be told, I kinda envy them."  Her lips bent in an impish little half smirk, leaving it unclear just how serious she was being.

Ivy gulped. Something about this felt wrong. "What's your name?" she asked as she quietly side-stepped away from the door, slipping a hand into one of her jacket's many pockets to grip her .22 pistol.