Escaping The Blind

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Ezra looked over to the group that finally arrived. Boris was the last one to come since he carried a large hiker backpack with several food items, handy weapons, and other useful materials. Despite Boris's size, he was very quiet, even with the countless things he carried. When everyone was accounted for, Ezra said nothing and began to move. The Blinders that were seen didn't move or attempt to attack the group. The Sun was barely over the horizon and everything was quiet. As they walked, some of the blinders began to stir but made no attempt to attack yet.

"We should try to find some sort of boat or raft that will get us across the state border between Florida and Georgia." Ezra said. "Hope you guys know how to swim in case we don't."

"Uhhm.. Ezra, don't you remember last time? In the vater?"

"You mean that Blinder that could supposedly swim?" Ezra shrugged it off. "We just gotta hope to find some sort of way to keep out of the water or a way to rid of those swimming Blinders."

Boris nodded and turned to the others.

"Have you guys experienced some weird Blinders? Ezra and I found one that seemed to swim very vell in the vater. It's veird because the other Blinders can't swim. Ve managed to kill it by dragging it to land, vhere it was totally useless..." Boris scratched his chin. "It almost managed to drown me! It seems to be adapted to vater... or something."

As the group continued to travel, they walked on what looked to be the main road. Many stores were seen available but most of them seem to be destroyed or completely robbed. Ezra held out a map of Jacksonville and headed in the direction of a nearby boat harbor that did tours of swamps. He remained quiet and let Boris become more friendly with the group. He would only speak if spoken to simply because he didn't want to offend anyone by how direct he spoke. The sun would finally be in full view and the Blinders began to stir and become more active. As of now, they were safe to only have a few Blinders and as long as they stay quiet, they wouldn't get spotted.

"This used to be a major road heading straight to Georgia..." Ezra said to himself. "We should be near the state border by tomorrow if we find a swamp boat or something to cross these waters... I don't want to see that swimming Blinder again."
 
He hadn't been feeling sleepy ever since they found the Pizzeria. In fact, he was even more energetic. But, to his dismay, his friend wasn't so eager to chat. He hated it. When he was alone with no one to talk to, unpleasant memories would start coming back. As a way to distract himself, he just continued doing what he liked best: Baking.
 ​
By the time he realized the sky had changed color, Francis had gotten himself a dozen bread rolls. He searched the kitchen and found some old plastic bags to stuff his creation in before putting them inside his travelling backpack, along with several utensils that might come in handy, including a chef knife he found lying on the floor. His beloved pistol was sadly out of ammunition.  ​
 ​
He went to the window again and peeked through the blinds. There were a few Blinders wandering the street, completely normal. He was about to look away when he noticed other movements. Francis narrowed his eyes. There was a group of people. SOCIAL ACTIVITIES! It had been a while since they met another group and he wouldn't let the chance pass.​
 ​
“Khannie! KHANNIEE!” He called.​
 ​
“Damn you Francis. Leave me be!” Khan grunted, eyes closing shut.​
 ​
“There're people outside!” Francis shook his friend, beaming like a child seeing a cool toy in the store.​
 ​
“Are you sure they aren't just Blinders?” The Indian man adjusted himself but still half asleep​
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“Well… they seem legit… Skin still intact and all… We're going anyway right? Maybe they’re going to the safe zone too. It’s better than just the two of us right?”​
 ​
“Fine. We'll take a look…” Khan sighed, seeing his friend's happy face. He got up and quickly gathered his things. He wasn’t so fond of the idea of working with random people. Not after that one time they ran into a group that turned out to be quite f*cked up.  ​
 ​
They opened the backdoor of the restaurant. After looking left and right to make sure there were no threats, the two slowly moved out. Khan held his crowbar tightly as they rounded the corner to the main street, Francis following closely behind with the knife. They stayed low and hid behind a car wreck to watch the group.​
 ​
“See? They’re heading the same way as us.” Francis commented and stood up. “Imma go say hi!”​
 ​
Khan quickly pulled this crazy friend back before the blonde could reveal himself. “Are you insane? We know nothing about them. You wanna get drug into another cult?” He hissed.​
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“They seem pretty cool.” Francis protested.​
 ​
“You said the same about Hadrian.” Khan rolled his eyes. “Look. I’ll decide if we talk to them or not.”​
 
Too damn early for this shit...

Wayne thought to himself. He was pretty uncomfortable with the idea of wandering outside with those things still wandering around. Even if the sun hasn't peak it's head, he doesn't want to take any chances. Thus, he had a blade stash in his backpack in a way, it's become easy to pull out and attack at moment's notice. 

"Blinders...? That could swim?" Wayne sweated a bit. "During my travels, I haven't encounter anything specific other than few weird looking ones that seems to act as a boss or something." He said. "But swimming in water? These bastards seems to be adapting to the climate as the years go by, huh..." 

Wayne's ears ringed off and he turned his head around. He thought a Blinder was approaching them, but saw no one. "Am I imagining things or I just hear someone scream like a madman?"  He turned back to the group, with his hand on the blade. "So you're saying that there are Blinders that can swim? There isn't any other way to go across aside from taking a raft?"
 
"No way in Hell am I gonna swim if there's something strong enough to drown Big Guy here. Our necks will get snapped like twigs if that's legit." Violet whispered with a hiss.

"It's not like we can just go around on land... we'd end up using the supplies we just got." Molly said, not liking how the odds are going for them. "We could always test if there's one like that in the water?"

"Test? What do you think this is, some bio project?" Violet sneered.

"I mean... has anyone tried to find out if there is one that ISN'T the hard way? I might be being a little too Darwinian here, but there's got to be some reason there's ones adapted to the underwater like Boris says. Probably just movement alone makes those things start moving. Surely, there's a way for them to know when food's around and they don't have to guess long to know."

"So, you mean to say...?"

"I'm saying that riding a boat wouldn't lessen our odds of being jumped by one that much. At least, not one that isn't motorized. A boat made from scrap wood might not give us any more protection than just swimming. So we either find a sturdy boat, or we take a longer way." Molly kept her voice low. "I doubt anyone is up to the idea of playing around with how these kinds of Blinders act."

As detestable as it sounded, Violet didn't want to have either of those options. She also detested the idea that as long as she was in the group, she'd be bossed around constantly; it was an aspect she never missed in her times alone. Molly seemed to read her thoughts, giving her a look that practically spelled out 'be patient'. So for the time being, Violet decided to just shut up. Her ears caught the sound out from a distance. Was that a person who just yelled?

"....Did ... you guys hear that?..." she questioned.
 
Ezra quickly lifted his head and instantly pulled out his combat knife at the sound of a loud voice. He looked over to Boris who nodded without saying a word. He moved closer to the back of the group and took out a pair of bloodstained brass knuckles and slipped them over his fingers. He kept a watchful eye on the rear end and gave the girls and Mr. Wayne a thumbs up.

Ezra didn't slow down his speed and continued to walk with his knife at hand. Everything seemingly returned to normal and both men didn't seem to show fear or any signs of concern. Regarding the questions the others said, Ezra spoke for once instead of Boris.

"Yeah, I think they're starting to adapt to their environment." He said looking up from his map. "If that's the case then we got more to worry when we head to other environments." He stared at a nearby Pizzeria and pointed at it. "Says here we turn right at that pizzeria and go straight until we see some boat rentals about 3 miles down."

Ezra headed to the small shop.
 
“Oh crap, they’re coming this way.” Khan said under his breath, still holding his friend back. He now had a serious look on his face, fully believing that his friend’s loud mouth had doomed their hiding. If something bad comes out of this, he swore Francis would get what he deserved coming to him.
 ​
The group was getting closer and they had little time to move. Khan was slightly distracted when he was busy thinking of what to do. ​
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“Let me go man.” With a rather strong shake, Francis made them both fall to the ground. The crowbar hit the carcass of the car, creating a loud metallic sound. ​
 
"Hear it?" Wayne responded. "Whoever they are, they're making a ton of n-" Wayne overheard the sound of something being hit. Perhaps someone dropped it? Whatever it was, it made Wayne sweat bullets. 

"Alright." Wayne stated in a whispered. "We better move. Now. With a sound like that, it will literally triggered these Blinders and make them go running in whatever direction that sound was." Wayne didn't like the idea of going on a boat, but with a sound like that? Wayne swallowed his concerns. "Let's get a boat. Any boat before we're dead meat."
 
"There shouldn't be this many of them left around here. Should there? There shouldn't!" Raymond whimpered looking at the group of several infected on the street below them.

The three young people were camped in the second floor of a house in Jacksonville. In a  derelict, but serviceable bedroom that must have once belonged to a crazy cat lady if the sheer amount of cat patterned... Everything... was anything to go by.     

"I mean, they should be dead of heatstroke by now! Right?? Its not like they carry bottles of SPF-50 and Gatorade!" the young man continued to complain. Hugging a pillow to him as he peeked out the window once more. 

"I remember Gatorade." Reynard sighed happily, "I loved that shit. All of it, Gatorade, Powerade, Kool-Aid. Remember mom would save the Kool-Aid points so we could get t-shirts and stuff?" 

"I remember Pizza. And Chocolate~" Raymond whined, "I would kill for some chocolate!!" 

"And strawberry soda. And chili cheese dogs." Reynard continued.

"Happy meals... I never did finish collecting the rest of the toys... I can't even remember what it was. It was some Disney movie toys I think... And I only got the first two of the series." Raymond said sadly. 

He was still such a child in so many ways... they all were in a way... Its hard to be adults when there's no adults around to show you how after all... 

"Mom said she was gonna try and get me the others while we were away at camp..." Raymond sighed sadly, drawing his knees up to his chest and hugging them. He sighed again and watched the milling sickos below. 

Reynard who had been silently assessing his crossbow and checking each feathered bolt to ensure there was no damage, turned to look at their silent third member, and gave a roguish grin, "What about you Eddie? What food do you miss the most?"

The girl was silent for a long moment, and then, a small smile appeared on  he face.

"Papa's lunch boxes..." she said, her voice as always barely above a whisper, and rough from disuse.  

the twins looked at her questioningly. She coughed to clear her throat, and then explained.

"My father would always spend extra time on my lunches for school. He'd make my favorite sandwiches, strawberry jam and marshmallow fluff, and then, since he knew I didn't like the crust he'd take these little tiny cookie cutters of bunnies or stars or hearts or I dunno anything... and cut out little sandwiches with them. And he'd do the same with the fruits, cutting then into shapes. And he'd always make sure everything looked just perfect and girly and frilly." she laughed, "I remember as a kid I always loved it... I thought it was so pretty, and all my friends would wanna see each day what Papa had made for me..." her smile fell and she turned away, laying her head on her arms and staring off into the distance, her dark eyes glassy with nostalgia.

Raymond fidgeted and then suddenly shimmed around to stare off down the street. 

After a few minutes of watching attentively he turned back two his companions, "They all left...?" 

Reynard smirked, "Must've smelt all the cat fur and decided to spare their sinuses the aggravation and find someone else to eat." 

"Do you think they can have allergies and stuff?" Ray asked honestly curious. 

"That would be hilarious. They go to bite you but suddenly they suffer sneezing fits instead." Rey snickered.

"Sounds gross and filthy. I don't want monster snot on me thanks." Eddie sniffed. 

"Ewwww" Reynard whined, laughing, "Bad image."

"Monster Snot... didn't they have stuff like that? They did. Didn't they? Remember, you'd get em in lil plastic eggs? The silly putty slime gunk!" Raymond smiled enthusiastically.

The other two nodded. 

"Oh yeah that stuff."  

"I loved that shit!"
 
"Okay, yeah, I want to get the Hell out of here. They probably alerted any Blinders within twelve feet of us." Violet gripped her bat in a defensive position as she looked around to see the source of the noise.

"I think it came from up ahead." Molly whispered to the others, keeping herself in a good spot since she was the most vulnerable of the group at the moment.
 
Near the Pizzaria
 
“Goddammit man. You trying to get us killed?” Khan quickly picked up his crowbar and looked back and forth. Thankfully, the Blinders he could see in the distant didn’t seem to really be making their way over yet. Another mistake was made, as he had allowed himself to be distracted once again and Francis shook away from his grip. He watched in horror as his friend jumped over the upside down vehicle to stand on it, waving his hand holding knife to greet the group of people. (Probably perfectly demonstrating how Jason Voorhees would say hi to a bunch of teenagers in the wood while he was at it?)
 
“Howdy y’all. Lovely day isn’t it?”
 
“Get down you airhead!” Khan face-palmed and shook his head at the scene. Though he still didn’t reveal himself and just waited to see how things would go. Worse case scenario would be those guys having a gun and shoot them out of surprise.
 


Outskirt of Jacksonville
 
The Asian girl sighed. She was sitting on the back of the pick-up truck with her arms crossed on her knees and rested her head on while waiting for the men to fix the truck. Buck was curling up beside her, looking really bored. In front of her, the handmade alcohol can stoves were priming. She put the old camping kettle they found at an old camping site above the fire and sat back down, waiting for the water to boil so she could be helpful by making them some rose hips tea. She absent mindedly stroked the dog’s fur, causing him to shift his pose a bit. Brawny was opening up the hood to look for what could have caused it to die. And Kasir was sitting on the roof of the vehicle with his binocular to keep watch.
 
“So, what’s wrong with it?” She asked, peeking over to the head of the vehicle where the blonde was.
 
“Seems it over heated.” Replied Brawny. He wiped the sweats on his face and stepped away from the heating radiator. “We’ll have to wait until it’s cooled down.”
 


Random house in Jacksonville idk???
 
While the group of three was busy chatting upstairs, a figure was lurking at the back of the house, looking into the ground floor windows. Once he had decided there was no one in the kitchen, the man smashed the glass on one of the windows to open it. He cleared the shattered glass and climbed inside.
 
Arthur had been wandering the whole night and needed somewhere to crash. He skipped the refrigerator though, knowing nothing would have lasted inside after so many years. He made his way around the rooms, checking them one by one for anything he could take.
 
Ezra's eyes narrowed at the man and instantly held a gun in the direction of the man. He took aim directly at his head. The look on his face was nothing but the intent to kill and confusion. He, as well as Boris, didn't seem to take kindly to surprises.

"Put your hands where I can see them..." Ezra said coldly. "If you do anything stupid, I'll blast your fucking head off."

"I vould listen to him if I vere you, little man." Boris said from the back, keeping an eye on their backside. "I don't think you can vin against all of us."

"If there are more of you, show yourselves or I'll shoot you on sight!" Ezra said loudly, a few Blinders catching ear of his voice. This didn't seem to alert Ezra much since he knew Boris could handle them easily.

Boris whispered to Wayne and Violet. "If this is an ambush, show no mercy."

"Are you alone?" Ezra ordered.
 
Molly remained silent and watched the situation unfold. This is a pickle I wouldn't want to be in at all... she looked around uncomfortably and kept an eye on the Blinders nearby. "What if he's got buddies who have guns too?" She whispered.

Violet nodded and stared at the stranger, holding her spiked bat in a threatening manner. "We don't want any trouble. I bet you don't want any either." This would be the only warning she'd make.
 
"Christ, it's bad enough that I have to relied on these guys, but more people?" Wayne wasn't thrilled of the of some stranger popping out of nowhere. He was more concern that the sound was that loud and could have the Blinders come flocking in like rats. "If you got friends, better drag his ass out here." Wayne said.
 
At The House​

There had been a lull in the conversation. Reynard going back to his bow maintenance, while Edith looked through an old jewelry box filled with ring with large garish stones. And Raymond went back to peering out the window watching clouds drift by.​

The almost inaudible sound of glass breaking downstairs reached their ears, and instantly they were on high alert. Edith set the box aside and reached for the hunting knife on her hip instead. Reynard notched a bolt into the crossbow and Ray grabbed his baseball bat that had been leaning against the bureau he was currently sitting on. Blue eyes wide with panic.​

Reynard motioned him to be still, and then, angling his crossbow upward, he stood slowly, and tiptoed to the door, which opened with only the smallest of creaks, which still made the boy wince. Edith was behind him in an instant, Knife held in front of her, a cold serious look in her dark eyes.​

Still he motioned her back, slipping out into the hall on his own, first and making his way to the landing, where he crouched low, peaking through the bars of the railing and watched the front entrance hall below for signs of movement. ​

It could be a blinder, but, they had been careful so far not to make too much noises. So unless the dumb beast had somehow followed their week old scent trail, he put his money on this being a human. ​

The fact that it had most likely been a window somewhere besides the front door the trio had originally picked the lock of and ventured through pointed all the more strongly to human over blinder. A Blinder would have just bashed itself against the wooden door till it busted through, or caught the scent of something else. It wouldn't bother sneaking around back and breaking a window all stealthy like. (Not that it could, the damn things were blind.)​

Reynards eyes narrowed as he heard hushed footsteps down somewhere below...​



On The South Road Leading Into Town​
 ​
Kasir stood on the roof scanning the area for any movement. So far nothing, but this was a really crappy place to break down, upon his best friend's pronouncement of an over heated radiator he sighed and shook his head.​

"I hate to say it then, but the truck stays here, at least for now. We might be able to come back for it later but for right now we've got to get to shelter. There's a town ahead, lets make for that. We can get a temp base set up, then come back for the truck later..."​
 
Near the Pizzaria
 
Well, it didn’t go as planned. Not that there were any plans to begin with. Francis lowered it hands, really discouraged by the group’s unfriendliness. “I know my Western impression wasn’t good and probably offended you guys. But eh… No need for violence right?” He said sulkily.
 
“Francis. Get down from there. I’ll do the talking.” Having no other choice, Khan decided to step out with his hands in the air. “There’re only two of us. Don’t worry.” He said to the group.
 



On The South Road Leading Into Town
 
Brawny looked at the vehicle, looking defeated. “Well… No choice then, I guess.” He threw all the tools into his bag. “Better roll up the windows in case any of these corpses climbs inside while we’re gone.”
 
“Have some tea first? I just made some.” Mai suggested.
 


The House
 
Arturo  was searching around the study room on the ground floor. He held a dusty book and glanced through the tittle before throwing it away. Then, he noticed a cupboard. Inside was a bottle of whiskey, still half full. “Sweet.” The man grinned and took It down. He took a sip then carried it as he walked to the living room, going past the staircase.
 
Ezra glanced at the new man who rose with his hands up. He looked to be a little more relieved that no one wanted to fight from their side. He still kept his gun aimed towards the two. Boris kept his fists up and stared intently at the two. 

"Well, in times like these, I don't think surprises are smart ideas." Ezra said boldly. "State your names."

While Ezra spoke to the two men, the 3 Blinders nearby closed in on the group. Their eyes were pitch black and they didn't have any lips. They had white gums and bloody teeth. One was getting very close to Boris, who he punched square on the cheek. There was a loud snapping noise and the Blinder fell to the floor, his muscles spazzing slightly. It stopped moving after a while.

"Vhat annoying creatures..." Boris said softly. "Be careful, there are some more coming."

The other two were going for Wayne and Violet, arms out wanting to catch them in their grip.
 
"Violet, look out!" Molly said as low a volume ass she could help. Violet didn't so much as flinch at the sight, swinging her nail-covered bat up before slamming it down between the Blinder's arms and straight onto the top of its skull, leaning into it to add onto the force of the blow. Molly moved to keep out of harm's way.
 
Wayne narrowed his eyes as the Blinder was closing in on him. Jesus Christ. Wayne thought to himself, side-stepping to the left as he slammed the dagger onto the left side of the Blinder’s skull as hard as he could—before kicking them away from him. "Nasty ass bastard."
 
At The House​

Reynard almost pulled the trigger on instinct when the man just waltzed into view without a seeming care carting around a bottle of Jack Daniel's. ​

Her weighed his options for half a second cut his loss and kill the bastard now, or confront him?​

Then of course he realized the answer was neither.​

He didn't know for sure yet that this bastard was alone. Killing him. (Though much less noise with a crossbow than a gun) would lead to problems if he had friends that heard him drop. Confrontation was fine and dandy if they were all non combative (the likelihood of which was rarer than hen's teeth.) If not, there was no guarantee that if he stood up to talk some sonova-bitch wouldn't come round the corner and put a slug in his head. ​

So he stayed completely still and silent till he had a clearer idea of just what he was dealing with here...  ​



On The South Road Leading Into Town​

Kasir sighed, and nodded at Mai, "We should look over our supplies one more time, and decide what to bring and what to leave in the truck." ​

Brawny's toolkit was a must. But some of the more frivolous things, like the hand cranked camping generator might be best left behind... that also meant no power tools or battery charger though... Might be best to leave that to a vote...​

 Kasir mentioned this to Brawny and Mai, "What do you think? We can always hide it somewhere close by an try and come back for it later."​
 
Near the Pizzaria
 
“Call me Khan.” The Indian man introduced himself. He then pointed over to his companion with his thumb. “He’s Francis. Don’t mind him. He’s been weird like that since this whole thing started.”
 
Khan watched the other people in the group fighting off the Blinders with little concern. Though, he thought they should help since it was really their fault the group was in trouble. On the other hand, would it be wise to raise his weapon when a gun was being pointed at them?
 
Francis, however, completely ignored that fact, distracted by the fightings. He raised his chef knife eagerly. “Looks like they could need some help!”
 
===================
Outskirt of Jacksonville
 
“I don’t think we should bring the generator. It’ll slow us down.” Mai said while cleaning up the can stoves to get ready. “We should just leave all the big and heavy stuff behind.” The last bit she said looking at the only blonde in the group.
 
“Yeah. Long as I have m’ kit and Buck, I’m good.” Brawny, didn’t get the figurative meaning, shrugged. “Think we can find any booze in town?”
 
===================
The House
 
Arturo went into the living room without a care in the world. He gulped down some more whiskey before continuing his search for useable things. Though it didn’t seem all the electronics could be useful anyway. He wandered around the room, nothing of interest could be found and he grew bored. Perhaps there could be better things upstairs? Surely that would be where the bedrooms were. He was getting sleepy after the whole night walk anyway.
 
That in mind he went back to the staircase, but stopped before he got into view. As he now really paid attention to the stairs, the man realized he had missed something crucial. There were handprints on the railing of the really dusty staircase. It looked quite fresh, one or two days top. And there were places where the dust on the wooden floor got disrupted. Now, this was alarming. If whoever left all those trails was still here and didn’t like his presence… Dammit he probably screamed his presence out loud with all the noises he made. With that thought, he pulled the axe from his backpack and approached the stairs much more carefully.
 
 
 
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