She wasn't trying to convince the man he was wrong, and Samindi didn't really bother trying. "Well, everyone in that room with him is dead." She looked to Chris, "Or was shot."

She looked to Sid, the other girl putting words to what was on her mind. "Some plan..." She said dryly. What the hell were they going to do when they even found Callie, or was this just some end of the world ride or die plan where everyone involved just needed a purpose. Still crazy.

She quietened as Chris asked the obvious question that was on everyone's mind. What, exactly, could they do with a guy who had tried to kill them, who <i>had</i killed?

Chris K, Samindi

"That's..." The man looks down at Chris K's bandages, then back up at his face. "That's...bullshit, I said. You want me to believe he came all this way, fought through all the shit in the world, just to shoot her? His own daughter? Why the fuck would he do that?"

The man is clearly frazzled. When he speaks next, it's not clear whether he's trying to convince her interrogators or himself. "Look, I saw what happened to her," he says, gesturing to Samindi. "I saw what you were doing, with my own eyes!"

"What were we doing to her?" Rose asks. Her voice is weak and quiet, barely above a whisper. "We don't even know her."

The man looks confused by Rose's question and stared at her, puzzled, before turning back to Chris K. "Why're you even asking, huh? Whatever you got planned for me, and there ain't a damn thing I can say to change it. We all know it."

Chris sighed "We haven't got anything planned for you. We barely got a plan for ourselves. So you can influence whats happening, and one way to do that is to answer these questions. What did you think we were doing to Samindi? Bearing in mind we "he pauses and gestures in turn to Rose, Sid, Vivian and himself" only turned up after the shooting had started, and that was when we met her" he points at Samindi "for the first time."

Samindi clarified, supporting what Chris was saying. "I came with Callie, Mattie and Leonard. I only met up with them yesterday. We arrived earlier today." She nodded her head to the others in the room, "These guys showed up and saved me really. I was..." She sighed, "I was out the back hiding."

She looked back to the man, "When you shot Leonard in front of me I ran. Callie's dad woulda kill me, or you would, if these guys didn't come when they did." She should probably get around to thanking them for that, but now wasn't the time.

Chris looks at Samindi "Do you wanna tell us what happened with this guy" he gestures to the prisoner "After you got here?"

Samindi looked between Chris and the other man, "Uhh..." Suddenly a little less sure of herself with all eyes in the room upon her. "We got here earlier today, they wanted to see Callie's grandma, this was her place." She may as well start at the beginning. "But she was dead... well, walking y'know, so Leonard put her down. Callie and I were in the yard talking while Leonard and Mattie, uh, took care of things."

That was about enough of that she thought, no need to explain every detail. "When they were done Leonard came to see me in the yard. That's when he shot him." Samindi nodded her head to the man. "Right in front of me. So I ran." She was sure it was the correct decision now, whatever this guy said Callie's dad was crazy.

Remembering something she belatedly continued, "Oh. Mattie was scared of him, Callie's dad, the psycho. They knew he was gonna do something so they were running from him." She shrugged, remaining silent, that was about it.

Chris looked puzzled "So Leonard was shot outside, Callie and her dad are upstairs. Wheres Mattie?"

Chris K, Samindi

"There's three bodies upstairs," Vivian says quietly. "A man, a girl, and a woman. That's Mattie, isn't it?"

"You - " The man gives Chris K a probing look, as if he's trying to figure out whether Chris K is lying. "You want me to believe you just - showed up? Now? By coincidence?"

He thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. "No, I don't believe it. Not a chance. Why would you come out to some little house on the prairie? You gotta be involved with what's happening here." He looks around the room, as if searching for evidence. "There's just no other reason for you to be here."

He looks back at the group. "Wallace told me his wife ran off with his little girl and some guy who liked to touch kids. He knew where they were taking his girl. When I got here, he had me cover the outside while he went in to get her. And I saw with my own eyes some guy - Leonard, I guess - putting his hands on her."

At her, he points towards Samindi before letting his hand drop.

She rolled her eyes, "You were shooting a gun. Is it so hard to believe that other people with guns would show up to help when they heard that?" The guy was paranoid, but she had to admit she would be freaking out in his situation, finding out that they were running with a bad group and being the only one left.

When the man pointed at her Samindi gave a sickly look, although she didn't know if that was recalling how Leonard put his hand on her or the sight of him shot right in front of her. "He was a creep..." She said softly, "But did you need to kill him?"

She understood from what the man said that it was probably the goal of their little vigilante group, but things went much further than any of them would have imagined. "Doesn't change the fact everyone is dead thanks to your psycho friend."

Chris sighs and points at Rose "Rose needs a blood transfusion, information we found says the lady who lived here gave transfusions, so we came out here looking for kit to do that, and also to find a place to hole up out of the way. Coincidence."

He motions Vivian over and whispers to her "Is he secured?"

Chris K, Samindi

"He's unarmed," Vivian whispers back, but frowns. Her hand brushes against the right pocket of her jacket. "I think."

"He - !" The man starts the raise his voice, but cuts himself off. He glances between Samindi and Sid, exasperated, and gives a pensive sigh. "I know what I saw."

He glances at Chris K and Vivian with a frown. He's obviously less sympathetic towards them than Samindi and Sid, but seemingly hasn't decided what to think of Rose yet. "We were here to save the people that needed saving and put down the ones that needed to be put down. If his daughter died in the attempt, it...it's not what we wanted. This was a rescue. It just didn't go the way either of us planned."

He glares sullenly before breaking eye contact. "There's no way he'd shoot her," he mutters. "It doesn't make sense."

Chris nods at Vivian and whispers back "ok we need to secure him"

He daws his pistol and takes aim at the man and says "Don't move or I WILL shoot you. For now hands on head, then get yourself down off that chair and lie on the ground. Now."

ooc
If he tries anything, Chris will shoot him
This message was last edited by the player at 09:04, Fri 03 Nov 2023.

Chris K, Samindi

The reaction from the room is immediate.

Vivian is surprised to see Chris K pull out his gun, but after the initial shock, raises the revolver. She doesn't point it directly at the man, but clearly has it at the ready.

Sid's eyes widen and her head snaps to look at Chris K. "Woah, what?!" She slides to the side of the couch and gets up, pressing herself against the wall well out of the line of fire.

Rose's reaction is similar to Sid, but she is too injured to move as quickly. Instead, she just presses herself into the couch, giving Chris K a concerned look.

Wordlessly but without hesitation, Samindi gets up from the couch and exits the house via the front door. Sid looks over, obviously tempted to leave with her, but looks back at the others. Reluctantly, she stays.

"Ha! There it is!" The man crows with palpable relief. The previous line of questions had seriously shaken his convictions, but now he looks reassured. He smirks at Chris K defiantly. "So you finally got what you wanted, huh? Good. But I'm not making it easy. You're gonna have to look me in the fucking eyes when you do it."

Chris smirks back "Not a problem he says. I promise you IF it comes to that, I'll do that. But its not that time. Hopefully never will be. Its us against the Zeds, not against each other. I just want to secure you so the rest of us can talk in private about what to do with you. Are you gonna cooperate? I give you my word I will not shoot you if you cooperate. And I will not shoot you - or let anyone else do it - whilst your secured. But if you make any move other than what I say, I will shoot you straight away. Whats it gonna be?"

ooc

If the guy makes any sort of move other than putting his hands on his head and lieing down Chris will shoot.

Chris K

"And why the hell would I even believe that?" the man scoffs. "You already took my gun. And what do you need privacy for, anyway? I'm not gonna stop you. You're not interested in 'securing' me. You just don't have the balls to do it to my face."

"You know," Vivian says, "I've run my share of murderers in the past few months. Of all of them...I think you're the most obnoxious."

"And you're the biggest pain in my ass," the man snaps back. He looks at Chris K. "So what now?"

Chris sighs and drops his voice "Do you want to die? Is that it? Save you having to deal with the guilt of being wrong and helping a man who killed his own daughter? Because I don't want to kill you. Theres enough dead people walking around out there, and too few of us survivors left. So Please, let me secure you. I can't risk you hurting the people here, and right now I can't just let you go. "

Chris will still shoot him if he makes a move other than to comply
This message was last edited by the player at 07:58, Thu 09 Nov 2023.

Chris K

Chris K's accusation strikes a nerve. The man's defiant expression sours and he immediately looks away, scowling.

"Fine," he growls, putting his hands on his head. "Have it your way. Let everyone see what comes of trusting you."

Without looking at Chris K, he steps out of the chair, lying down on his belly without taking his hands off of his head.

Chris sighs and sags a little, but keeps his gun on the man. He looks at Sid and says "Sid, please can you check the drawers and rooms out to find something to tie his hands and feet with. Belts or something like that will do. Vivian keep your eyes on him please. Rose, can you get yourself into the next room so we can all have a discussion. Once hes secure."

He looks round the room to see if theres anything to secure the guy with thats obvious

Chris K

Sid breathes an audible sigh and relaxes, stepping away from the wall. Like Chris K, she looks around the sitting room, but there is nothing audible with which to bind the man. After a moment of thought, she exits to the kitchen, where Chris K soon hears her rooting through drawers.

Vivian stays where she is, her gun at the ready though not pointed directly at the man. With a grunt and a faint sigh of pain, Rose stands and moves to the kitchen - though despite her weakness and infirmity, she is clearly deliberately moving to stay out of Chris K and Vivian's line of fire. A she exits the room, she looks over her shoulder at the man, her brow furrowed in concern.

After several seconds, Sid returns with a roll of rough twine in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. She raises them triumpantly, grinning at her own find, before her face falls as she looks at the man. She starts to move, then hesitates, glancing at Chris K and Vivian.

"You want me to tie him?" she asks.

Chris looks at Sid and nods before saying to the man "Take your hands off your head and put them behind your back." AS he does so Chris moves so he is in the mans line of sight and kneels down aiming at his head, and supporting his pistol on his knee. "Don't try anything" he adds.

Assuming the man complies, he then motions Sid forward and says to Vivian "Move Viv to keep an angle on this guy that doesn't include Sid"

Chris K

Chris K's injuries flare in protest as he kneels down, but he manages it. The man is more agreeable; he moves his hands to the small of his back, crossing his wrists over each other. Vivian sidles to the other side of the room, keeping the muzzle of her pistol clear of Chris K and the man but keeping it ready in case of violence.

Sid takes a breath before approaching the man. She crouches down and brings the twine to his wrists, but pauses, trying to decide how to proceed. After a second, she gets to work, binding his wrists together with a granny knot.

Chris watches Sid and says to her "Make sure its good and tight." HE then adds to the guy "We'll go outside for a  chat. If I hear noise in here, I will come in and if your trying to escape, expect to be shot."

Chris checks the angle to make sure that from the door, it would be easy to see where the man is lieing down. If its not, he'll move him so it is

Chris K

"It's tight," Sid says, testing the twine lightly.

The living room has a bay window that gives a generous view outside from inside, and vice versa. Standing directly in front of the house provides an easy view of the man on the floor.

When Sid finished tieing him up Chris stands up, wincing. He says to the others "Ok, lets head outside and talk. Vivian, once your outside, take a bead on this guy, and then I'll come out. ok?"

He looks at the others to get confirmation and then adds "Sid, Rose - your on Zed watch, all the noise might bring some around."

Chris K

Vivian leaves first, taking up a position next to the front window. She looks down at the man, then at Chris K and gives a thumbs-up.

Sid and Rose both exit the house. Rose leans against the wall next to the front door and watches the horizon, while Sid paces anxiously about twenty feet from the others.