Athens

H-Day, he had started to call it in his head. The day they decided to check out that Helicopter crash, when everything changed.

The day they had fought for their lives with everything they had, the day he had seen his companions break down and fall around him. Ironic how lonely he had felt all of a sudden, as he had always considered himself a solo act. Maybe not quite, in this new world.
Ambushed in their shelter, smoked out like vermin, just to be assaulted by the hordes. He still feels guilty, three months after, for giving in to fatigue and going to sleep so thoughtlessly, that night. Maybe if I had stayed awake, keeping watch with the others...

But the time for Maybes was long past. He had to adapt and survive.

To give Richard a chance, the only one among them that had not walked out of H-Day on his own legs.
Billie-Faye, that he thought couldn't be hurt by anything under the sun, bullets and zeds included, survived H-Day like a shadow of her former self. He tried to be near the woman, but Richard's comatose state seemed to drain her energy.
Shayna had somehow emerged from under a masisve pile of walkers, in a bad state, but miracolously unbitten, just like him. Sharing the ordeal had made them closer, he felt more sympathetic to her, wondering what heavy burden she carried. We all do.

He later had learned of the attacks to the rest of the group, of the death of Martin, and Selena. Shit... so young. So pretty.

By some miracle, Vinh had survived, and reuniting in Athens with his Vietnamese friend had felt like the closest thing to going back home in years. If he had gone too, Maybe...

But the time for Maybes was long past. He had to adapt. He had to survive.

So he watched this new community, tried to learn, and to make himself useful. Trying to stay away from the killing - if you could call killing an undead thing that - he had volunteered for anything within the city walls perimeter. Repair jobs, carrying loads for construction units, couriering for messages and items, anything. It gave him a space to think while keeping busy, and while staying close to the others. the original group.

Now Joshua's shrill calls wake him up from his reverie, and it takes him a while to read the situation. So many weeks had passed that he had almost lost faith... could this be?

Springing to his feet, he runs down the ladder he placed outside his makeshift room window and starts running towards Joshua, calling out "Are you sure, man?? VINH! Guys! Richard's awake!! BILLIEFAYEEEEEE!! "

Richard's eyes snap open. Before he can even think, the pain comes, barreling over his body.

This must be what it feels like to be run over by a freight train or any train for that matter.

His moans soar to a crescendo. "Where am I?" he whispers through the few seconds of abated pain. "Marsha?"

Then the world goes black. Sometime later he wakes and hears excited shouts. Pounding. He turns his head. It hurts. He doesn't know where he is or what happened. Maybe the voices will tell him.

Shayna wakes and nearly pukes, the sudden pain in her side from the gunshot twinges her most fierce when she wakes. Once she's moving it's better, so she rolls off the cot and stands up, leaning a hand against the wall. Sure enough, the movement releases the phantom ache, and she's fine. I'm fine, sugah, everything is just peachy dandy.

Pulling on her cargo pants, she steps into her boots and laces them nice and tight. The act of getting her boots just perfect gives her a moment to process. Richard was awake! She'd hardly left his side for first few weeks, but after he was stabilized and him getting up was in God's hands alone, she had to make herself useful.

The folks at Athens were in rough shape, at first. Without a doctor, they had needed some non-stop care for awhile. Everyone was real friendly when doctor came around. The fat kid who wouldn't eat berries and had developed scurvy, she had had to use tough love. "He ain't got sense to eat right, give him some grenades and feed him to the walkers in that ole bodega outside gate 3." He'd smartened up then. How does anyone remain spoiled in these times? Was a puzzler. Only, now the kid followed her around looking at her ass.

Owen hollers again and she yells back, "Allright we heard ya. Now be a dahling and run on to Starbucks and get me a red-eye mocha ice cap, would ya?" She grabs her jacket and her neckerchief and heads to the med building.

Billie-Faye Cooper is as tough as they come. Many people throughout her time on this fucked-up planet have seen it, have seen her sheer force of will and a strength that doesn't match up at all with her lean body. Owen saw it, over and over again those months ago. Fighting walkers, shooting at crazed survivors, making daring runs on that motorbike. She seemed super-human in some ways... until that night.

Something broke in her. She pushed herself too far. Let herself get attached to Richard -- or to the idea of Richard -- and then wasn't able to make it right when everything went fucking sideways. She just wasn't the same after that, and Owen and the others... well, they got to see the other side of Billie-Faye Cooper. The one that in the before times landed her over and over again in jail, in abortion clinics, in meth-houses, in situations with abusive men she should have steered well clear of.

Now, no one in Athens knew Billie-Faye Cooper was worth a damn for doing more than getting drunk, snorting oxy, smoking meth and giving the hand and blowjobs to keep the supply flowing. It was hard to watch her do that to herself, but there seemed no way to stop it. She didn't go on supply runs, she didn't work the perimeter, she didn't work in the kitchen or the supply room (that had stopped after she was caught stealing)... Billie had crashed after that night, and she was still in pieces.

"Shut up you little fucker!" the tattooed blonde says to Owen as she staggers out of a random house, almost falling down the steps. "Richard's not fuckin' waking up and you know it."

Billie is barefoot and topless as she wanders into the street, just wearing a pair of panties as she stops to take a slurp from her foaming can of beer. Swallowing and wincing, the high, loaded drunk woman adds, "What's wrong Owen, you never seen a naked lady before? Pretty hot, right? Not bad for the fucking apocalypse, right?!"

Martin. I should have boffed him. Why didn't I? Stop it. Disrespectful that is. Truth was the man bugged me. I could see plain in his face what he wanted. Hell's bells, didn't I want it too? A little comfort to go with the endless muck? He was a strong man, strong in mind at least, willing to lead even if no one said they'd follow. Takes courage, that does, and patience. Confidence even. That time I said goodbye and wouldn't even give him a hug. No, not my way is it? Always got to hold on to my own bullshit. But now he's gone. Who will comfort me? Don't deserve it neither. I know that if I get complacent, if I settle down and let a little happiness in, everything will get much much worse. Better this way. Better to ... what? What has this got me? More tears locked behind eyes that won't cry. Should have boffed him. He would have appreciated and wouldn't have cost me anything. .

She wipes her eyes as she walks for the makeshift hospital to check on Richard. Maybe speed walks. Just in case.

He is just processing Ron and Angela's appearances, when Billie-Faye staggers out, with her topless theatrics! He stops in his tracks, seeing Billie's enviable Don't give a shit attitude, but also the darker, booze and drug-fuelled side of the woman.

Shit. Maybe it's best if Richard DOESN'T see her like that, is the thought that comes to his mind.

"Yeah... You look... Just great. Nevermind..."
He starts walking again, "I'll go check on him..."

Owen rushes after Joshua, towards the place where Richard was kept for the past few weeks.

"I'm coming, I'm... I'm fucking coming!" Billie shouts after Owen as he heads for the medical area where Richard had been under pretty much constant supervision. Staggering along behind him, she follows.

"Little shit... are you... not even going to offer a... a lady your jacket?"

"What? Oh... Yeah..." he takes his torn hoodie off and extends it to her, slowing down for her to catch up. His old Radiohead T-shirt, frayed and wrinkled, is revealed.

"Forgive my manners, Milady, he adds, " shall we go take a look, now? "

A flicker of recognition passes across Richard's face as people enter the room.

"Where am I? What is this place? Where's my wife?" The confused man suddenly notices movement at his side. "Aww. A dog." His bandaged hand strokes it softly as he tries to decipher who these people are that are looking at him.

Suddenly he bolts upright. "I need to go. Where's Marsha?" he demands. Panic sets in but so too does the pain. Moaning he slowly lays back down again, his hand gently draped across the mangy dog's back.

It takes Billie-Faye a moment to pull on Owen's hoodie as they walk, but once she covers at least some of her bare flesh with the worn garment, she grins. "Oh I say, I shall at that, my good man," she says in a bad British accent that's lost somewhere between posh and cockney and tequila. The blonde quickens her pace when she sees that Owen is double-timing it, so in short order they head into what passed for a medbay in Athens.

Shayna feels their eyes upon her as she passes the Barker boys, or men, but tries her best to ignore it. Jogging up the steps into the building then into Richards room, she's concerned.

When he starts babbling, she steps to his side and presses his head back into the pillow, looking into his eyes with a little penlight. "Richard, it is Shayna. You're in Athens. You've been asleep for a bit. What do you remember?"

She pushes the dog aside with her boot but it doesn't move away.

"Whoa, too bright." Richard's hand shoots up in front of his face to shield his eyes. "Where's Athens? What's in Athens?"

"Heyyy, be nice to my dog." He doesn't like Shayna's boot on him.

"Hey Richard," he says softly, taking a step forward. "It's Owen... hiding behind the messy beard. Glad to see you're awake..."

Shayna has a small, sudden intake of breath, was Bill appears as if from nowhere, she turns back to Richard and puts her penlight away. "Barker, your kin about earned themselves a thrashing." Her back is to him so her can't see her smile.

She gives Richard some room. "Athens is a colony. They found us when we were carrying you. Do you remember the fight at that little shop after we had just visited that crashed helicopter?" She asks him random questions trying to ascertain his memory. Too many questions? Perhaps

"Colony. Hmmm. Safe?"

Richard absentmindedly strokes the dog, his brow furrowed in confused contemplation. "Owen? You're ok? You need a shave."

"Crashed helicopter. Yeah. There were boxes. Don't remember much else." Suddenly, wide eyed, he blurts out, "Billie-Faye. She okay?

"Okay may be putting too much mustard on the hotdog, but she's alive and has her limbs attached. If not her brain. We have all been pitchin in where we can. This is Bill Barker, he keeps this place open and has been kind enough to let us look after you in here." She gestures to the older man by way of introduction.

She clicks her tongue and says, "Good news is most of your healin got done already in these last months, so you're good to go. Take it easy though. You're muscles won't be as strong as you remember at first, and if you get any headaches or see flashes of light, well you just holler and I'll come a runnin."

"I'm grateful to you, Bill." Richard was starting to find his voice and possibly his memory. "I think I owe you my life."

Scoffing at Shayna he says "As long as you don't shine that light in my eyes, I probably won't see any flashes of it. But really though, thank you too."

He was very glad that Billie-Faye was at least alive.

There's a sound outside, the sound of shouting, of cursing, perhaps of someone stumbling into something.

"--ucking cocksucker! See if I fuckin' care, because I didn't fuckin' do it! " come the words into the medbay, followed by the hurricane that Billie-Faye has become. She quiets down, at least, when she gets inside and makes her way to where Richard has been recovering. Like a raving drunk who has just realized they've wandered into a friend's wake, the barefoot, bedraggled blonde in the hoodie and the panties quiets right down, muttering to herself until she comes right up to the man's beside.

Her eyes, dim these months now, light when they meet Richard's... and before anyone can act the woman sobs and throws herself at the man, hugging him tight, bawling unintelligibly into his shoulder.

"Ooh, oh easy now. Still a bit sore."

Richard shifts the woman over a little bit, mindful of the dog, and then hugs her tight. Billie-Faye he remembers. Falling asleep together, bodies so close. He shudders as his memories come flooding back. The cabin. Running after Shayna. The shooter, the walkers. Whether he was shuddering from the woman's proximity or the bad memories outside the cabin he wasn't sure.

"Aw Billie-Faye, don't you cry now. It's gonna be okay. You're going to be alright."

He never liked when people said that back in the day. They didn't know that. What gave them the right? And here he was, saying it now. Their days were probably numbered. They were not going to be alright.

"Mmmma fuckin'... a fuckin' mess, Richard!" Billie blubbers against the man's shoulder. Then, noticing Bill for the first time, her face changes and she suddenly spits venom.

"What are you fuckin' lookin at, Bill? Never seen a woman goddamn cry before? Jesus Christ, little privacy too much to ask for?!"

"Ah hush now. Don't worry about him." Richard takes the two aspirin off the table and hands them to Billie-Faye, gently pushing the dog's curious snout out of the way.

"Here. Take these. You'll feel better."

Billie takes the pills and a swig from the glass of water someone had brought for Richard, swearing quietly after she grimaces them down. "Fuck you very much, Bill," she mutters before smiling sweetly at Richard.

"You know we thought we lost you, you bastard," she says to the man, grinning. "We were worried sick, and here you were fine all this time -- just on vacation in your own head!"

Richard couldn't help but chuckle at Billie's trash mouth.

"You were worried about me, Billie-Faye? That means a lot. Really. In this fucked up place, we are all we have." Never had the word bastard felt so endearing.

"Uh some vacation. But maybe it was. My head is beginning to feel clearer, maybe more accepting of our hopeless situation." But with the clearing head came the return of his sense of smell. Maybe there was a way he could subtly tell the woman who was emanating all sorts of strange aromas, that she needed a bath. But he'd suffer. It was worth it to have her warm body beside his.

"Not really," Billie says with a shrug, stifling a rancid burp. "I just crawled inside a bottle. Found a reliable dealer. You know how fuckin' hard that is to do in the goddamned apocalypse? Hard, Richard."

The tattooed mess grins. "Like you that night at the cabin. Tent pole in your pants right up to when that psycho hit us."

Turning, Billie realizes it's been some time since she talked to Shayna. Weeks.. maybe?

"You okay?" she asks. "We ain't talked in a bit."

Did Richard feel Billi-Faye stiffen at the sound of the man's voice? He wasn't sure, but what he did know was this man made the hairs on the back of his neck stand right up. He instantly disliked him.

Our boy?

Richard just looked at him, deciding no response was better than a smartass one. Besides, he was hardly in a position to get smart and then have to defend himself.

Not only does Richard feel Billie stiffen, but she separates from him, moving to stand a few feet away from the bed he woke up on. Was she embarrassed to be caught next to him? Or was she… protecting him?

"Harlow," she says hollowly, her eyes meeting his. She hadn’t minded before, but suddenly her hoodie, bare feet and panties make her feel vulnerable. Make her feel stupid.

Owen cannot reftrain his dislike for Harlow's theatrics, and general persona.

"Of course he's awake, with the racket that truck makes... I heard explosions less loud than that..."

Shayna is killing over her response to Billie-Faye when Harlow bursts into sight.

"What's going on Harlow? Richard Kant, meet Harlow Kane." She puzzles it over, then looks at BF. "You looking for volunteers? If so, Billie-Faye and I are ready. Soon as we find some pants. " Please say yes, let's get our girl into the fresh air.

Richard doesn't fall for Kane's act. Not one bit. He'd met men like him before. They were predictable. Manipulative. But if he was a key person in whatever this place was, he wouldn't stir up any trouble. Billi-Faye on the other hand ... he sensed a history between the two. One that may not have been completely consensual. One that might be making Richard feel a little jealous.

"And we appreciate that. I'll pull my weight as soon as I'm able. Billie too." He reaches an arm out to her, beckoning her away from Kane and back to him.

Yeah, and you make sure not to miss a single opportunity to brag about it, he thinks, but stays silent, shrugging instead.

Then he looks around confused, why is everyone suddenly volounteering for this asshole?

A little unsteady on her feet, Billie just looks at Shayna without saying anything when the woman offers their help. When Richard reaches an arm towards her, the blonde doesn’t move — but she does make eye contact.

Don’t, those blue eyes say. Not now.

That look from Billie-Faye told Richard in no uncertain terms to butt out. It hurt, more than he'd care to admit, but obviously there were things he didn't know, that he shouldn't meddle with, so he slowly dropped his arm back down to his side. There would be time for an explanation later, he imagined.

Richard could see that Owen was no fan of this asshole Kane either. Boy, was he glad the kid was okay.

"Well I don't know," Richard replies in an acerbic tone as he follows Kane's lewd, drifting eyes, and his emphasis on the word ass. "I have only just woken up from ... how many days was it, that I was "asleep"?

His question is more directed toward Billie-Faye but the tension in the room is so palpable now that she might not even hear him.

"Walking kind of work? How far and carrying what exactly? We'll need to run a few tests to see what Richard is up to."

Shayna looks at Owen wondering if he'd volunteer. She couldn't just assume, he was still a kid! Not that that meant as much as it once did.

What really riled her up was the cracks at Billie. You'd think he'd be grateful for what the girl did. There was no understanding men though, a much sense as Walkers most of em.

To Richard, she says only, "Months, Richard. Not days, months."

Deflated, he doesn't say anything. Only a sigh escaping his lips gives away his frustration. It wasn't that he felt obligated to help that twat Kane. He thought he might go crazy just sitting or lying around.

If it wasn't clear to Richard -- and everyone present -- before, it is now. Billie-Faye is damaged goods... taking that kind of shit from anyone laying down, let alone a prick like Kane. Was a time when she'd have been so far up in Harlow's face for him saying those things that it would take two of them to pry the much smaller, scrappy woman off of him.

Now she just takes it, not saying anything. She seems hollow, like something in her is broken. Richard notes that this much-talked-about ass is still fine in those soiled little panties, but she's not the woman she was.

He ignors the taunt, and steps forward, nodding, holding the man's gaze as best as he can. "Yeah, we'll work for Loucilla," he says, making it clear that he respects the woman's authority. Not Harlow's.

"But Richard needs to rest."

In typical manly fashion, Richard waves away Owen's protective response. It delights him to no end though that the boy cares enough to speak up for him.

"I'll be fine, Owen. I appreciate you looking out for me." Sitting up a little, he then brings himself to speak to Kane, the vilest excuse for a living human being he'd come across in a while. Kane's debasement of Billie-Faye made it that much harder to look the guy in eye with anything less than raw contempt, but he tried.

"What kind of vehicle are we talking here?"

Shayna watches Richard's every move, but leans in and whispers in Billie-Faye's ear, "Get you out of this pit, girl. Bad habits are hard to give up when they're convenient, sugah."

She sizes up Kane, "What are you, the valet? Did you wash it for us?"

Richard sneered at Shayna's remark. In truth he was curious if whatever counted for wheels in this shit show had shock absorbers, otherwise he'd be bashed to shit in his current state. He wasn't going to come out and ask that though.

"Will Billie-Faye be coming with us?"

"Oh, lawd, she's coming if I have to drag her by the ear!"

Cooper nods. It's not the kind of confident movement that Richard remembered from the woman, but she's coming.

When Kane left the room, Richard slowly unfurled his fists which he hadn't realized were clenched. That must have happened when the asshole had referred to Billi-Faye as his "ride". He was pretty sure the double meaning was intended. Kane was trouble and Richard would have to figure out how to handle what surely was a powder keg situation just waiting to blow.

This Joshua fella didn't look nearly as intimidating. In fact, he looked downright cowed. But Richard had just woken up and so he decided to watch and learn. Take a measure of the place and the players within before formulating a plan, if there was one to be formed.

"Don't wash it, Joshua. Last thing we need is a shiny Walker magnet out there. I was just talking a shot at that infernal man."

She crosses her arms and harumpfs, shaking her head. She looks at the crew, all messed on their own stink, and knows she's not the kind to stand back and let shit get shittier.

"Alright, looks like we have to earn some suppers. First things first. Richard, get out of bed, let's see how your balance is. Billie-Faye, we're getting you out of this craphole, and I might have to dunk you in every river we cross until you find a lick off sense. Owen, well, you're gonna be our eyes out there so don't go looking in no beehives 'fore ee leave, would ya sugah?"

A sudden fear hits her, the kind that wakes her at night, wondering how bad it got for Martin before the end, and how bag it was for her sister. You don't know either are dead, don't you start giving up on them. That's a road you don't want to start down.

"So bossy," Richard says half-jokingly through gritted teeth, as he slowly swings his legs over the side and rises from the bed. Privately he is thankful for Shayna suggesting Billi-Faye get cleaned up. He hoped for a cuddle or two later if the situation presented itself, and besides, the poor woman would likely feel all the better for it.

"I'l try my best to stay out of trouble..." Owen nods to Shayna, then gets closer to Richard to support his first steps after weeks.

"I mean it, Richard... You need the rest, you can't just get up and run, you know? Your body's probably forgotten how to even stand..."

"Help me up then. I'm not an old man yet but I could use a hand or an arm or something. And don't worry, I have no plans to run anywhere, at least not yet if I can help it."

Billie-Faye watches Kane go, her expression clouded, dark. Her eyes narrow slightly as something, some memory churns in her head.

When Shayna talks about dunking the woman to drive some sense into her, the dirty blonde smiles, kisses two fingers, then places them on a mostly bare ass cheek as she head out in search of a drink.

In the following hours, Owen sticks close to Richard, helping the man to gradually put more weight on his legs, and regain a little of his balance.
He remembers how, in his previous life as a bored Uni dropout only finding relief in long runs at ungodly hours, he once suffered a serious injury, forcing him in bed for six weeks. He remembers how hard getting back up on his feet had been, then.
If Richard is to come out there with us, he needs to walk.

He resented the pressure Kane put on the older man, ignoring he just woke up. And he resented the man's power games on Billie-Faye.

The rest of the times, he tries to drop in on her to make sure she doesn't do something stupid that could somehow prevent Shayna's plan to get her out there with us, away from the nasty habits she has fallen into. Even if it's just brief visits to say hi, first with the excuse of retrieving his hoodie from her, then just... to be nice.

He tries to stay away from Kane and his provocations, as well as from his close henchmen.

At some point in the days that follow, he regroups with the others to ask audience with Loucilla, to hear straight from the horse's mouth about her missing riders, without Kane's dose of poison and innuendos...

Richard wobbles around with his "adopted son" Owen, as best he can and eventually makes some headway. He's surprised at how patient Owen is, a quality in short supply in one so young, and because of his help, he grows stronger faster. His muscles start to show some definition, and his balance improves dramatically, so much so that he throws away the proverbial crutches and starts walking at a decent pace with no limp.

He lies low in the meantime wanting no trouble with anyone while he walks the road to recovery. He attempts to spend time with Billi-Faye if possible and talk to her. Keep her away from that bastard Kane and other temptations. Like Owen, he too is anxious for an audience with Loucilla for an unvarnished recounting of the events.

Shayna does the rounds, visiting all of the people she knows are combating illnesses and injuries.

There is more to that than just being a good Samaritan. She's also gathering information on Kane and Loucilla - she quietly mentions to each of them that they're being sent out on the road, and asks what to expect Loucilla to require of them.

The last part of that is to engender some backers, who might object if their favorite doctor is sent on a wasteful or sacrificial duty.

Richard has to think about that question. Not the part about how he feels physically. No, it was the part about feeling like his old self. The problem with that was he didn't know who the old Richard was anymore. He had lost him somewhere along the way. Between struggling to stay alive and avoid the temptations of the flesh, because surely, he'd be dead tomorrow, he had become this almost empty shell that he no longer recognized. And the problem with that was he didn't seem to care. He tried to make a connection with Billie-Faye and maybe he had, but look at who she was. Not exactly a class act and that was being kind.

Loucilla was nice. Genuine. A breeze of crisp clean air that he drank of deeply. She looked like home. Normal. Or maybe that's what Richard projected onto her. Anyway, he was glad to meet her.

"I'm alive and I wish I could say I was grateful, but I'm not sure I am." He felt he could be honest with her, and she wouldn't take offence. "My old self. No. No I don't think so." His gaze dropped from her face then. "Thank you for asking and for what you do here, and letting us stay and helping me heal."

Shayna eyes Loucilla with some suspicion, unguarded by propriety. After a moment, she shakes her head and smiles a little. "Men aren't nearly as useful as they pretend to be."

She rubs her hands together. "Outside, of course, but for what exactly will we be searching for?"

The camp at Athens wasn't only full of fucking pricks who needed their balls mashed to hamburger with a sledgehammer, but it sure seemed to have its fair share of men bent on taking advantage of their size and strength, and of the value they brought to the settlement of survivors because of those very same things. There were always worse out there, like the bastards Billie-Faye and the others had run into before. Slavers, rapists, sadists -- the end of the goddamned world sure didn't seem to bring out the best in people.

Richard had trouble finding Billie-Faye over those two days when he got a lot better; Owen on the other hand knew where to look and pulled her out of two different situations that likely would have gone way sideways for the woman. After that, she spent a little time checking in on Tracy, but the kid had gotten in deep with the dickheads Billie found herself mixed up with, and that just made things... weird.

Shanya Billie avoided out of course, lately. Beaver didn't exactly approve of her methods for getting drugs and booze. The former stripper could feel the weight of the other woman's eyes on her.

---

Loucilla is most of the way through her spiel when Billie-Faye staggers in from the back, dragging her axe scraping on the ground behind her. She's dressed for an outing -- half worn-out high top navy blue Converse, jean shorts and a tight long-sleeve Motorhead tee that covers many of her colorful tattoos and emphasizes her chest enticingly. She's tied her messy blonde hair into a pair of pigtails and mascara stains her cheeks -- one of which has a bruise and a rising red welt.

"Sorry I'm late," she announces, slinging her back to the floor and sinking down to sit cross-legged next to it. Her eyes meet each of the others', then she lifts her eyebrows at Loucilla.

"Like Shayna Dawn says... what's the deal?"

Richard responds with a lackluster "Yeah, I am alive."

When Billi-Fae makes an entrance, his eyes light up. But the cursory glance he gets from the woman sinks him right back down into the doldrums as he listens to Loucilla describe their assignment.

He nods to Loucilla, glad that she recognises Kane for what he is.
"We can try... It's a good thing you found us when you did. And you have our thanks. We'd all be dead... Might be the same for the Bethlehem survivors. "

Then he frowns , a nagging question surfacing in his mind. "But... What if the pregnant girl or her group don't want to follow us here? We're not some sort of... cops, or soldiers, taking prisoners... Maybe Kane thinks he is..."

He looks up, "What then?"

Shayna is relieved that Billie-Faye is wearing pants. She worries about the girl, and half hops between thoughts that she's so much of a survivor that she'll do anything, which is remarkable, and that's she's breaking down, which is awful.

But when Loucilla tells them pieces of the plan, she is snapped back to reality. "Bethlehem. Stable? What are you getting at woman? What exactly have you got planned for this young woman and her baby? I don't mind going to fetch folk, that's right enough, but if we're just adding warm bodies to whatever sordid business you got keeping a smile on Kane's mouth breathing face, we gonna have words, sugah!"

"We will ask, of course..." he says, satisfied with Loucilla's answer.

Maybe she is managing to keep that Kane in check... hope she'll stay in control for a bit longer. God knows what Kane would turn this place into, had he the opportunity...

Sitting on the floor looking bored, Billie has now stretched her legs out in front of her. Her hands are behind her, propping herself up as the others talk. Talk talk talk.

She remembers Will. Remembers them sending him on his way.

"So what happened to Will?" she asks, blowing a strand of blonde hair from, her face.

Shayna wonders about the boat. It was such a great idea, but the lake had had sooooo many Walkers floating in it. They had to be exposed to whatever pathogens survived the water that they drank. They hadn't turned, despite her worst fears that she'd kept to herself for a while. Until her and Martin had discussed it. Her stomach lurches with worry for the one-time teacher.

"Fair enough, we can extend the offer. I suppose we're not very threatening as far as recruitment scout options go."

"It's all very noble, and sure, if they don't want our help we won't press it. Some people don't want to be saved." Was Richard referring to himself? He wasn't sure if merely plodding along, trying to make it from day to day, was any kind of life. But it was early days yet in this place. He'd give it a whirl.

"I'm ready to go whenever." Doing something beat sticking around here moping and doing nothing.

Billie says nothing more, instead laying back to get rid of the spins that are currently fucking with her head. Thinking about Eva and Selena, and about the jackasses they were running from... and then about the men that Tracy has fallen in with...

"Too much talk. Tell me when we're actually goin," she says to the others, resting her eyes -- and everything else -- until then.

Owen smiles at the exchange between Shayna and Loucilla. They're not wrong...

Silently admiring Richard for his readiness to leave despite his condition, he nods in assent.
"We can go, yes."

He glances at Billie-Faye, seeing her fatigue -from what? drug abuse? Life itself??- but remembering the fierce, uncanny energy he has seen her displaying under duress, when she fought through a horde of walkers like some Viking warrior, saving their skin.

Let her rest now... maybe we'll see that Billie-Faye again... some day, away from this place.

Shayna isn't the leader of this group. They have no leader truth be told, now that Martin had disappeared. She looks at the others and weighs their responses then says, "So we go. You've got a vehicle for us to drive I suppose? And a map? Kane said something along those lines. Could use a gun or two if you can spare them. "

Shayna has a sword now, a proper one, made out of better things than just a scalpel tied to a branch. She's not much for guns.

"Good, good, this is a plan then, sugah, we'll make this happen. Richard just needs to do a few situps and Billie-Faye needs some coffee."

"Uh-huh," Richard mumbles at Shayna. "I'll get right on those."

He hopes the police cruiser is reasonably reliable. He doesn't see himself crawling under a car in the near future.

When they go to the armory, Billie hangs back, not wanting to look Sue in the eye after what happened with Frank. "Owen," she says, grabbing the teen by the arm, "see if she'll hand out that old Winchester, the thirty-thirty."

When Shayna talks about coffee, the strung-out, hungover woman nods and makes a hungry sound in her throat. "Oh fuck yeah, darlin'. Hot coffee to go sounds righteous!"

Then, as they inspect the car, she says, "I could get the bike, fuel it up. Could take one on the back if they end up bein' on foot..."

Owen nods to Billie-Faye. "Il try."

When visiting Sue and her armory, he will ask for the Winchester for her, and for a handgun for himself.
He then looks at the weapons, finding that handling them makes him nervous, rather than reassure him.

He regroups with the others by the car.

Richard is approaching his old self again as he meets Sue and appraises her voluptuous curves without making it too obvious (he hopes).

That's me, yep. Richard. Nice to meet you, Susie. You don't mind if I call you Susie?" His eyes narrow though as he realizes there is no love lost between her and Billie-Faye. He still feels something for the woman, although he'd be damned to hell trying to figure out what it is. She's obviously not very particular in who she likes.

Once in the cruiser, he's all eyes and ears. It looks dangerous out there. All kinds of hiding places for walkers.

He looks at the depressing scenery outside the Athens compound fortifications. Inside it wasn't great, but out here...

He scans his companions in the car, while processing the Sue exchange. Billie-Faye was surely quick to build quite a reputation, in there... But still. That was a bit theatrical.

He looks at the ex stripper and the others, to read the room.

There was a time when Billie-Faye would have gone ape shit when someone talked to her that way. When she would have dropped that fat bitch with a bony-knuckled right hook and been on top of her, pounding, biting, gouging -- whatever it would take to win.

She wasn't the same woman lately, they all could see that -- even Richard, who was probably confused by the changes in her. But now, with a purpose, with a rifle in her hands and the open road soon to be ahead of them, Billie sparks, just a little. Loudly working the lever on the Winchester, she chambers a round... then lowers the hammer to a safe half-cock position.

"Hope you like what you see, Suze," she says as the other woman checks her out and then flips her off. "I know your man did."

Winking at Owen, then shooting Richard with a finger gun, the bedraggled blonde heads for her bike to figure out a way to mount the lever gun on one of the saddlebags.

---

Outside, astride her bike, the engine thumping lightly between her legs, Cooper looks even more her old self. Either her hangover's wearing off or she's had some hair of the dog, but dressed in a jean jacket with a spaghetti strap tank beneath and a pair of combat fatigues and her All-Stars, she looks ready to fuckin' roll. The axe and rifle sticking up from the back don't hurt, and nor does the big revolver tucked into the back of her pants, the gun metal cold against her tattoo of a valkyrie riding a dragon. She's had it worked on in Athens, extending it in directions and ways that Richard might find interesting to explore.

"You assholes all ready?" she calls over the sounds of the two engines. "Let's fuckin' go!"

Shayna is checking her bag for medical gear as the crew pick fights at the gate. She barely notices. After all, she's pretty sure she's seen all kinds of ninnery from damn fools and wise asses both. This is just more of the same, mice fighting over cheese.

As the car gets moving, she settles into her spot behind the wheel. "We're ready Billie-Faye," she says out the window, unsure of she's heard, so gives her the thumbs up. With everyone ready, she eases in the gas and the cruiser leads the way.

Sitting in the cruiser, Owen looks at Billie on the bike. He calls out.
"The bike ride will be good for you. Clear your head. Stay close, though..."

He thumbs her up through the scratched car window.

Shayna pulls over beside the hotel and turns the motor off. Windows rolled down, she listens for Billie-Faye to do the same then they can listen for walkers and marauders.

Quietly she says, "If it's clear we want to shimmy up top and hope it's clearer higher up?"

"Yeah, why not, except I won't exactly be shimmying," Richard replies in a low voice.

He had been nervous that Billie-Faye's bike would attract walkers. It wasn't exactly quiet. Not by a long stretch.

As the two-vehicle caravan gets underway, Billie offers Shayna a return thumbs-up, and gives Owen a smile and a wink as she pats her satchel -- where she keeps her radio. One of the radios they paid so dearly for. When they are rolling, she swings the bike around to Richard's side and cruises in close, rapping on the passenger window. When he rolls it down, she has to half-yell to be heard by the man over the engines.

"Glad you're not a fuckin' vegetable no more, Dick," she says, glancing at him before putting her eyes back on the road. She almost seems like her old self these last few minutes, and then she grins and drops a little cherry bomb before surging ahead on her bike.

"Just let me know when you want to go for a ride, Mr. Kant!"

---

When they spot the Hyatt and decide it's worth checkout out, if for no other reason than to get a better look at the surrounding area, Cooper follows the car and parks her bike next to it. Swinging her leg off the machine, she grabs her axe and checks out the area as she waits for the others to get out.

He looks at the tall structure, and at how the vegetation has made accessibility harder. Hopefully, both for us and for walkers...

"Richard's got a point. We won't be all able to climb high up... maybe we need to scout for an easy access for all? I mean, I don't expect to find working lifts, but..."

He proposes the others to send a scout ahead, maybe a team of two for better safety. "We could keep in touch via the radios... take them for a spin."

He supposed that was Billi-Faye's idea of an endearment, being glad that he wasn't a fuckin' vegetable no more, but still it stung. Richard didn't like to be in a position of no control which he certainly had been then.

"A ride? The first opportunity Billi-Faye. Count on it." Two could play that game and the double entendre was duly noted.

As they began to strategize, Richard realized he was proud of Owen. "That's a sound idea. Glad to have those walkie-talkies, huh? Obviously, I'll be staying here, or in some kind of cover. Those of us in the best shape should do the scouting."

"I'll go with Owen, you two are the cavalry, alright sugah?" She pats Richard on the cheek. "Ready to climb the fire escape Owen? There's a little rope in the trunk."

"The cavalry? Hah. I suppose that's sort of a romantic notion." Richards lips form a crooked smile when Shayna pats his cheek.

"Good luck, the both of you. Be careful and please come back."

When they decide that Shayna and Owen are going up, and Richard and Billie are staying down, the dirty blonde pulls her rifle off the back of the bike, then flicks on her radio.

"Alright, that's how you two wanna play it. Me and Richie can watch the car and the bike. You two be careful in there -- call us if you need anything, right?"

He gets his stuff and the rope, and steps up to Shayna. "Yes, ready."
He glances at Richard and Billie, "You kids behave, while Mom and Dad are out," he says.

They head to the bottom of the fire escape, and study the best route up.

Richard smirks at Shayna and blows her a playful kiss. "Okay, Mom. Love you!" he teases before turning to Billie-Faye, rolling his eyes with an exaggerated shrug.

"Want to see what we can find around here? But we have to keep an eye out for us and for them too," he says, nodding toward the scouting crew.

Billie is a little more business than usual as she scans the surrounding area, rifle in her hands.

"Yeah. Yeah, we should, but let's let 'em get up there first."

Climbing up onto the roof of the car, the woman sits cross-legged and gets out her radio when she sees Owen and Shayna making progress. "How copy, five by five, alpha bravo zulu... little Billie-Faye here, y'all copy?"

"Right. Il have a go," he says.
He ties as tightly as he can one end of the rope to a metal rod he finds on the ground (maybe once a rung of some ladder).
Then he tries to swing the improvised grappling hook up to the rickety metal structure, so it is weighted, and hopefully finds purchase.

Shayna climbs up with Owen, the stairs a luxury they've not had to deal with much these past two years.

At the eighth floor door, she and Owen listen quietly, their breathing showing with the rest, then trade hands signs. She imagined the metal rusted into that position for so long would protest opening and the sound would carry very far. She whispers into his ear, 'rust, noise, roof' and points up.

They continue higher.

A little breathless from the climb, and from the wind at this dizzying height, Owen tries to imagine the long watches someone once did from up here. Scanning the horizon, looking for lights, smoke, or other signs of life.

He doesn't dare looking down to where the car, bike and the others are.

He takes his binoculars out, and finds a very stable spot to settle. Better not get too close to the edge, with this wind.

"Let's see if we can see Disneyworld from here."

Owen tries to get in a better position to alleviate some of the blinding glare from the sun.

"Shit! Look there, Shayna! Dogs, at least a dozen! They're chasing someone."
He passes the binoculars.

"What do we do? Shout and warn the others? If the dogs get nearer, they might attack them too! '

Shayna takes the handheld radio from Owen's pocket and triggers it. "Billie-Faye. There's akid or there running away from dogs. Think you can rescue her in your bike." She let's go for button, pauses then presses the button again. "Over."

Billie, still sitting atop the car, is quick to action. "Tell me where and I'm there," she says to Shayna over the handset as she tromps down onto the hood and then the ground. Tossing her rifle to Richard, she jogs for her bike and swings a leg over it.

Another transmission, then she fires the old motorcycle up. "Gimmie some landmarks, Beaver..."

"Go left at the corner, then cut around that block, sugah." Shayna asks Owen to give her directions to cut off the runner, and passes them onto BF.

"Wait! I'm coming with you, Billie-Faye!"

Richard heads as quickly as he can to the bike and plans to hop on behind her.

Skidding to a stop as Richard runs after her, Billie Faye turns and looks over her shoulder as the bike thrums beneath her. "Uh, Richard, now I know you've been dyin' to get behind me go for a ride and all, but the plan here is to grab this kid and pull them onto the back. There's no room for three bud. I'll be back!"

And with that, the woman peels away, waggling the back of the bike as she opens the throttle. "You shoot them dogs if they're givin' chase!" she calls out as she goes.

"Better start to get back down, I think. They might need help with them dogs!" he says to Shayna, then cautiously begins the descent.

"Aw hell Billie. I figured the kid could sit on your lap," Richard replies, disappointment written all over his face. And now he would be all alone. "You come back. Okay?"

The forlorn man finds a decent vantage point to sit and watch for trouble. His legs were tired.

"Let's wait until they're safe. They need us up here, Owen."

She steps to the edge and holds the walkie talkie, ready to relay directions.

"Right. Yeah, of course they do..." he stops at the top of the fire escape stairs, and walks back next to Shayna with the binoculars.

He looks down at the unfolding drama, far below them, concerned.
"Hope they're just a bunch of strays, they might scatter hearing a gunshot..."

Richard loves dogs. If he has to shoot any it will ruin his day. But he's alert and waiting, gun in hand.

Braking hard after she races past the lead dogs and comes upon the terrified girl, Billie stands to control the skid and then turns the bike sharply to carry on after the kid, who is now also running from her!

"Hey sweetie!" the blonde yells as she continues her pursuit. "I ain't here to getcha! I'm here to help you escape them dogs! Hop on the back, we'll get the fuck outa here! C'mon!"

"Okay, go down now Owen and warn Richard they're coming. I'll watch for a little longer then follow you down." She holds the radio close to her chest and watches the unfolding drama with the dogs, dames, and damsels.

Seeing that that girl wasn't going to play ball, Billie goes wide on her bike as the girl and her hungry followers race down an alley. One leg out for balance Cooper guns the throttle and does a burn-out that suddenly orients the bike ninety degrees to the right -- and then the throttle is open and she's tearing down that same dirty, narrow space. Racing past the dogs, the tattooed motorcyclist comes right in and plucks the girl (and her kitten) off her feet!

"Got you! C'mon now, settle -- ow! Hey! Settle down, I'm fuckin' tryin' to save you, Jesus!"

Owen leaves the binoculars with Shayna and begins the long climb down, trying to hurry, but not to break his neck.

Once at the rope they left at the lower platform of the fire escape, he catches his breath and lowers himself down to ground level.

"Richard! Billie's bike is heading back this way. She's got the little girl, and the dogs in trail... There's a man too, looked like a tramp pushing a trolley. Might be the dogs' owner... Better get ready."

He looks around, then decides that the roof of the cruiser might give him some vantage point - and make it tougher for the dogs to get him.
He climbs up standing on the car roof, and preps his handgun.

He then offers a helping hand to Richard, " There's room up here, if you want. We might need to do some dog shooting... "

"Christ! I don't want to shoot any dogs. Are they ... you know ... zombie canines? Could you tell?"

Richard accepts Owen's help and perches on top of the car as well, huffing and puffing a little. Small exertions still left him a little breathless.

"This guy you mentioned. Did he look like he might be armed?" Blowing through his teeth, he dreads what's about to happen, but pulls out his pistol and gets ready anyway, resigned to whatever fate awaited them.

"From up there they looked like... living dogs. But the guy... hard to tell if he is armed. Well, if you don't count, like, fifteen dogs as a weapon."

"Maybe we can get the dogs to work for us? Now that would be a potent weapon."

The only problem with the slim chance of that happening was that the dogs might get hurt.

"I love dogs, and they know it."

On the radio, Shayna bellows, "The dogs have a master, and he headed your way. Watch out!"

Shayna holds the radio to her mouth and gives a play by play on the man with the trolley and the route he took. "Don't see anything in the open, but he could have a machine gun in that junk." Once he's out of site she says, "I'm climbin down. Out over."

Then she heads over to the fire escape and heads down, trying to do so quickly as she can without jostlin it so the damn thing tears from the wall!

Owen spreads his legs to get in a stable, balanced position on the car roof, and extends his arms and handgun in a ready-to-shoot stance.

His heartbeat accelerates, as the bike engine and barking noises grow louder...

"Jesus fuck you little motherfuckin’ cunt!" Billie Faye swears when the girl’s knife opens her skin and spills her blood. It takes her a few seconds to fight through the pain, but then the adrenaline overrides, telling her she has to get the fuck out now.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck shit fuck! Goddamn it! FUCK! Save your fuckin’ fangs for someone who isn’t fuckin’ risking her fuckin’ neck trying to save your fuckin’ scrawny bitch ass, hows about? Jesus, kid!"

With that, Billie painfully pops the clutch and lays rubber as she tries to get the hell out of the alley with the girl still aboard!

As they streak down the alley, Billie fairly hollers into the wind. "I’m Billie-Faye! What’s yer name kid?!"

"Oh shit. Shit! What the hell do we do, Owen? There are too many to shoot, especially the way they are barreling down on us."

He still didn't want to shoot the dogs. Their squeals as they got shot would just about kill the man.

"Maybe we shoot a few, and the others will get scared! I don't want to shoot either... but it's us or them, Richard..."

He takes aim, but waits for the targets to be closer. "Still too far for my handgun, I think..."

"Right, Owen. That's what I'm saying. We can't shoot them all. But yeah. Maybe the sounds will scare the rest of them.

Watching the scene unfold, resigned to the fact that it is an us or them situation, Richard aims and waits.

"Ok then. Once they are in range shoot one and I'll do the same but please for fuck sake shoot to kill."

"What? I'm no sniper! I'll be lucky if I even hit one, let alone kill it..."

"Me neither. Just try. Okay? Shit. Jesus. This is fucked up."

"Alright!" Billie half-shouts to Caroline as they tear up the street, "now don’t you worry ‘bout these fellers up ahead. I’ve known ‘em for a while, and they ain’t prone to rapin’ and killin’! They’re good men, and gonna help us get these fuckin’ dogs off our asses!"

"Aw fuck. I'm going to have to shoot the dogs, aren't I?"

Richard raises the lever gun with slightly shaking hands, aims at one of the dogs, follows its motion, takes a deep breath, and holds. Then he squeezes the trigger and misses. Was he happy that he missed it? He wasn't sure, but now they were going to be in deep doo-doo.

"Better stay up here? They can't jump that high, can they?

Billie instinctively ducks low and accelerates when Richard opens fire, working the lever between shots with the rifle she'd given him. A glance over her shoulder shows that one dog is down and two more have peeled off... but that two more are still on her tail.

"Hang on!" she says to the girl as they lean into a turn, trying to bring their pursuers in range again...

Owen's heart skips a beat, when the bike and dogs come into view. The sight of the little girl riding with Billie-Faye makes him hesitate.
Damn it... what if I hit her?...

It is however only a moment: adrenaline kicks in and he takes aim, trying to steady his hands - but targeting the dog farther from the bike just in case. He pulls the trigger of the handgun!

"They say the first is always the hardest don't they, Owen?"

Using sick humor to stop the rot of guilt overwhelming his mind, he sets up for another shot, cognizant of Owen's success, if you could call it that. Raising the gun and aiming, he shoots.

Shit! I got them! He is surprised his shots found their mark on moving targets. And a little shocked at the kills -- is he getting a little too good at killing?

With all the voice he can muster, he shouts out at the trolley man, hoping to cut through the noise of Billie's bike.
He aims the handgun at the man.

"Stop right there, or you'll be next!"

"Shit!" Richard takes a second to frown at his pistol. How the heck did he miss? Training it on the trolley man he waits to see if he reacts to Owen's comand.

"Nice shootin’, you two," Cooper says calmly as she pulls the rumbling bike to a stop.

"This here is Caroline, everyone. Caroline, this is Richard, that there is Owen, and she’s Shayna, a real good sort."

Then, when the two men suddenly aim their weapons again, Billie looks over her shoulder as she peels off her tank top so that she can wrap her bloody hand with it. "Who the fuck’s that guy?" she asks, cinching her makeshift bandage tight.

Shayna finishes climbing off the fire escape. She examines the kitten. "Your kitten looks hungry, Caroline. I have a little beef jerky do you think she'd like that? Or is it a he?"

If the girl is accepting she'll also offer her part of her own food supply, an apple or something similar.

Owen puts the gun away, grateful that he didn't have to shoot more, and also to look less threatening for the little girl. God knows what horrors she's seen already...

He gets off the cruiser roof and to the girl's level, but stays a few steps away, leaving Shayna some space to befriend her.

Looking a bit like a roller derby girl in her camo pants and a Victoria’s Secrets bra, Billie puts her Jean jacket on the shoulders of the girl as Shayna comes closer, working her magic. Beaver is better at this shit than Billie is, so the heavily tattooed dirty blonde doesn’t get in the middle of the interaction, instead just staying on her bike as she watches Owen climb down, and as she throws Kant a look.

Through narrowed eyes of disaproval, Richard watches Shayna offer the kitten some beef jerky.

Yet another mouth to feed along with the kid? What next?

While Richard loved dogs, he despised cats. He was now in a selfish and ugly mood after being forced to shoot at the dogs. Owen's canine victim, squealing in pain, was still bouncing around in his mind, refusing to let go. But all was forgotten the minute Billi-Faye whipped off her jacket.

"Good God, woman! Put something over that ... your ... is that Victoria's Secret?" Suddenly, his bad mood was gone, replaced with a carnal lust that was helped along by the buxom woman's glance in his direction. Thank God he recognized how inappropriate his behavior was, and diverted his attention to the filthy cat. He wasn't entirely a savage, yet.

"We can't feed every stray that comes along. We need some discipline in that area," he said harshly. Did he mean the girl, too?

"Spotted the brand, nice. Got a fetish, do you Richard?" Billie says with a smirk. "Fact is this little viper here cut me with her knife, and I’ll rather not bleed all over. Sorry if tits make you uncomfortable, in this shit-hole world of fuckin’ unendin’ death and despair. God help a girl if she ain’t covered up proper."

When Kant says what he does about strays, Billie mouths shut the fuck up! and slugs the man in the arm, hoping the girl didn’t hear, or at least fully understand.

"Every man has heard of Victoria's Secret," Richard parried, uncomfortable that he'd been caught oogling..

"Ouch! What did I do?" Billie-Fayes slug had actually hurt.

"The Po-leece? We ain't no po-po, sugah," Shayna drawls. She steps back gives her some space, which has nothing to do with Billie-Faye's comment about the knife.

"We're headed out yonder, looking for folks with no place to go, maybe offer them a home. Athens isn't much but folks let you be mostly. Some children your sized too. Running around playing pranks on the adults."

"The police would never let us stand on top of their car, right?" he says to the child with a smile. "I'm Owen."

"A very nice name! Listen Caroline... We want to help you, and dont worry about the men with the big trucks. You know... (whispers) we don't like them either..." he winks at the little girl. "We'll keep them away."

"How come that nasty man with the dogs was after you? And where are the other kids you talked about?"

Richard listens only half interested in the girl's replies until Owen asks about the man and the dogs, and especially the other kids.

Applying pressure to her finger, Billie just listens as the kid talks. Lots of shit to unpack in her words, but now's not the time to really dig in, when she's just starting to open up. And Owen seems to have a way with kids. Didn't see that coming.

Lowering her voice to a whisper so as to not derail the conversation with Caroline, Billie-Faye hisses at Richard. "Hey, where's my rifle? You didn't fuck it up, I hope..."

"Sounds good, after all we're still strangers. You decide when it's good to tell us. But no stinging us with your knife, OK? That hurts! Let's shake on it like proper strangers."

He offers Caroline his hand.

"Why it's right here Billie-Faye," Richard says, patting the stock. "I just can't shoot for shit so I may as well go back to using my pistol. I know it doesn't shoot as far, but at least I can hit things with it."

Shayna says quietly to Richard, "Up on the ninth floor or so, a door off the fire escape was open. Could be a place to holler up if needed, only... I might have heard noises inside. Pigeons? Maybe, but there arrre worse things that go bump in the darkness, sugah."

Taking the rifle back from Richard, Billie affixes it to the back of her bike and nudges Caroline gently. "Smart girl. Keep that attitude. One day it'll keep you alive."

"Ninth floor, huh?" Richard replies. "Could be a helluva good vantage point, Shayna, and a roof over our heads, but we'd have to sweep it and that might be dangerous, unless it really is only pigeons."

Richard shrinks back when the kitten is passed in through the window. "Don't ever ask me to hold that scrawny fleabag."

"Well we drivin or yappin?"

Shayna looks at the mess. "I understood we could drive there, not have to hike around an endless traffic jam." She adjusts herself in the back seat of the squad car as if suddenly restless.

"See any side roads around it? Maybe we're supposed to go in the back way."

Sitting on her bike with the engine idling and Caroline now behind instead of in front of her, Billie swears hard enough to sting the little girl's ears.

"Fuckin' genius cunts! Christ, all this way and the road's fuckin' blocked, and has been for years!" Setting the kickstand, Cooper pulls the lever-action off the back of the bike and climbs up onto the roof of the nearest rusted-out car, trying to get a better look ahead -- to see if there's a way through.

Richard, exhausted from walking and waiting for a walker to jump out at any given moment, squints at the red car that comes into view.

"What the fu ... ," stops himself from cursing, as he quickly glances at the latest addition to their group, and carries on anyway. " ... Fuck. How in the hell did that get there?"

Shayna leans forward and grips the headrest of Owen's seat - she had insisted house young eyes be up front. Besides she knew that in the end, seeing what coming didn't help much.

"Well I'll be a horntoad in a hot tub. Looks like folks around here will take anything they can get their hands on. Best remember that when we approach them."

"Watch your fuckin' language, Richard," Bille-Faye says as she turns off her bike and dismounts. The man's window was down, so she heard his comment. Offering Caroline a thumbs-up, she adds, "Stay behind us while we check this out, okay? Like before. Call out if you see somethin' we don't."

Armed with the rifle, Billie waits for the others to carefully move forward, check out the car, and move it if the coast is clear.

Owen has to look twice. A big grin finds its way to his face. "Holy. Shit. The pizzamobile lives to fight another day!"

He looks at the red paint job, still quite bright under the layer of dust and mud. "Still as inconspicuous as a fireworks display."

"Well fuck me! Richard exclaims as the pizzamobile starts right up. Shooting a glance at Billi-Faye, he comically sneers at her remark and his deliberate use of the f-bomb again. He also hopes she gets the pun.

"Jeez... What have they done with it?" he says covering his nose and mouth. "I think this is beyond help... "

"I'd say whoever drove this here is less of a threat to us without a car... How about we take the petrol? Will be precious for our cruiser. And maybe we get the ignition keys too..."

He goes back to the armored cruiser to see if he can find a tank and hose to scavenge the pizzamobile gas with.

Shayna backs up as gasoline gets flung about. "Easy, take your time Owen. It's not like that jerry can owes you money. Is it?"

"Yeah, and precious as it is, we don't want to waste a single drop. But I wouldn't take your time either. We're vulnerable here. Those cars could harbor walkers," Richard says, throwing a castigating look at Shayna.

"Owen, for Chrissakes, are you alright? You're going to absorb that nasty old gas into your skin!" Richard hoped like hell the kid didn't become ill as they drove closer to Bethlehem. He kept an eye on him, not that they could do much if he ended up poisoning himself.

Chuckling at the sign welcoming them to the city he says, "Let's hope not!" Looking at the abandoned storefronts for signs of activity, images from the past flood his mind.

"My wife loved going to Michael's. She was always making some craft thing."His face tightens with pain, the details of his wife's face already blurring, soon to fade entirely.

Billie had led the way into the nearly empty parking lot with her motorbike, and she parks and waits for the car to come to a stop beside her. The sun-baked asphalt is split, the weeds are plentiful… and in that way the place reminds the woman of her youth. It reminds her of all the out-of-business stores and mini-malls in the decaying cities of the Midwest. Of all the American Dreams that died on the vine, or never even got off the fucking ground before they got shivved.

Sitting atop her lightly rumbling bike, she asks of the others when they pull up, "We got time for some shoppin’? I could use me some new panties, and I bet Caroline there could find a stuffy or some shit."

"TJ Maxx, yes, I'm sure we could all use some formal wear, in case we get invited to a cotillion." She's bitter again, or still, but secretly thinks a new shirt would do her good.

"Better take a quick look at those doors, and through the shop windows..." he says approaching cautiously to check for signs of egress by previous visitors, undead or alive...

He shields his eyes from the light and peeks in through the glass.

Richard's eyebrows arch hopefully at Billy-Fayes's comment, followed by a sneer directed at Shayna. Then he almost growls at Caroline when she whines about her hungry cat but opts for a frowning look instead,

She's only a kid! his conscience reminds.

"Better watch out, Owen," Richard warns when the boy peers into the store. "Who knows how many and of what lurks inside."