Grab what you like (Ruby, Wink)

[Lovely]

Name: Rubian Walcott Aliases: Ruby Location: played by: Lovely likeness used: Britney Spears

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PIC HERE Name: Alias: Wink Played By: Tripp Likeness Used: Cam Gigandet

[Lovely]

Sept 19, 2007
2 p.m.


The store faced West over the expanse of parking lot and the few abandoned cars that remained. The sun was bright, for the time being, making the front entrance a blazing beacon of safety that was clearly temporary. The clouds were bringing the late day rain showers, like schools of grey whales floating nearer and closer together over the horizon. There wouldn't be much time to get in and get out then find a place to shack up for the night that offered safety from intruders and the cold rain. The chill in the air made him wonder if there wasn't some snow coming, too. He didn't usually stay where he needed a coat and wasn't wearing one now, just a long-sleeved tee and a buttoned down ranch shirt over it, the collar turned up a bit against the chill on his neck as he snuck down through the aisles of the empty shop. Movement of any kind drew his attention and made him stop. First it was the mylar balloon that had deflated slowly in the past few months enough to crawl away from its netting and hover menacingly at head-height. He laughed at how he jumped at the toy with the wide-smiling, orange cat on it, but the laugh wasn't more than a hiss. As he tugged the balloon out the air to anchor it, more movement distracted him, the shadow clearly that of a human body silhouetted by the bright light through the glass store-front. He dove into the most available nook, beside the washrooms and non-working drinking fountain. Even if it did work, he wasn't taking his chances trying the water in it.. not now after the outbreak. There was no other exit behind him, just the toilets, but he could see the side fire door and could run to it if he needed to. Where he stood, he was in darkness, hopefully unseen by the other intruder he watched as carefully as he could. It didn't move like any of the afflicted zombies, it seemed. The movements he could catch by the shadow on the wall were too fluid. What if it was another refugee like himself? He waited.

Ruby had finally gotten brave enough to come out of her hidey hole again, if there were anyone around to see her, they might notice the way the once bubbly girl was more withdrawn. Her blonde hair was in a ponytail and hadn't been washed in awhile since she hadn't been where there was running water or electricity, not that she really could have bathed much even if there were. She'd found another survivor like herself and trusted that person only to find that just because they were both survivors did not mean there was any bond or loyalty between them. She huddled into her sweatshirt and shuffled into the store, though even her shuffling was more graceful than any infected. She wiped her hands on her dirty jeans and moved further into the store. There was a balloon floating low and she reached to give it a push with her finger tip. "Poor sad balloon.. all lonely.." She whispered to it and then stepped beyond it to move into the aisles of the store. She went quickly through a couple of the aisles, stopping at a rack of panties to stuff a pair into her pocket. Another aisle down she found a display of back packs that had been set up for clearance at the end of the school year. She quickly selected one and slipped it over her shoulder, she had a golf club in one hand that she grabbed in sporting goods and after a quick sweep of the store she turned a corner and saw someone in the shadows at the back of the store. Amber managed not to scream and just gasped, her fingers tightening around the golf club. "Hello?" Her voice was hardly more than a whisper, waiting for the figure to charge at her, her heart slamming in her chest.

He didn't say anything in response, but moved further back into the shadow. Maybe she wasn't talking to him at all and he put down the items he'd gathered on the floor behind him to empty his hands, ready to fight and make a break for that side door. He listened for a moment, but heard nothing of the growling or slurping hiss of a mindless freak bent on destroying anything normal.

He.. it moved back into the shadows and Ruby let out a soft sigh that was nearly a whimper. "Damn.." She shook her head and took a careful step backward. "I'm really sorry.. I don't want to hurt you.. I mean I will if I have to.. but I was sort of hoping you'd maybe rescue me.. not that you understand anything I'm saying.. just stay there.." She whispered mostly to keep herself from panicing as she started another step backward.

It was definitely a girl, not a squeaky voice strangling around a mouth full of blood and hate. Rescue her? He had to smile. She sounded cute which he was sure wasn't the idea she was after, with her warning about bashing him to bits if she had to. He was still planning on staying in the shadows and not getting anything bashed, but attempted to tell her it was safe. He stretched his empty hand out from the darkness, a fist with the thumb up. It was an 'okay', he'd stay put, hoping he didn't have what looked like a driver wrapped around his wrist in a moment.

He didn't say anything which was just what you'd expect from one of those things, they didn't talk and so he had to be one of them. She was too busy trying to get away from him slowly as not to provoke him, to even notice the thumb up gesture.. all she saw was his hand move. She jumped back and tripped herself on the edge of the shelving, nearly sending herself sprawling across the floor. Thankfully she caught herself in time to stay upright but dropped the golf club in the process, for a second she froze, her eyes going back to the figure in the shadows as if she expected he'd be on top of her trying to eat her face.

He heard the clatter as the club fell. He jumped out to help her up, but stopped short of flailing hands and feet. Of course she'd put up a fight. "If you need a rescuer that freakin' bad, I'll h-...," he said, finding that she hadn't actually fallen, only the club had. He was instead face-to-face with her in that breath as she caught herself, his arm outstretched to help her up. He pulled his hand back quickly before she started punching. "Help."

There really wasn't any flailing as much as wobbling and she was holding onto the shelf which was sturdy enough not to topple over on her, thank goodness. She didn't swing at him or make any motion to indicate that she might as she stared at him in shock. He'd acted ... he hadn't said a single word and didn't expect she'd think he was one of those things??? "I don't ... whatever." She shook her head, a little disgusted at the fact that she'd given him every opprotunity to open his mouth and utter a syllable that would prove he wasn't one of those things and now he made fun of her and acted as if she'd done something wrong by being scared and trying to get away. "Yeah, I believe that you would.. not."

"Would.. not... huh? Look, I needed to be sure. Speak up in the wrong place at the wrong time and they -do- jump out of flippin' nowhere. Had it happen right in front of me. Guy thought we were in the clear, he started laughing, next I knew he was missing an arm and was being beaten to death with it," he said, relaying the gruesome scene for her as the balloon he'd tried to anchor came bobbling around on the drafts behind her. He reached out past her to grab it and tie it down now.

[Lovely]

"Needed to be sure of what? I was talking the whole time! You could have whispered something back like 'hey I'm not going to try to kill you!' Laughing and loud noise I can understand not being cool but when someone is standing there right in front of you talking to you like you're one of the zombies.. that's when you speak up! You scared the heck out of me." Her voice, even in 'yelling' at him, never rose above a harsh whisper. She finally let go of the shelf and her gaze ran over the muscular looking arm that stretched past her to retrieve the balloon. She was trying to act tough but there was something softer in her expression as if she really needed someone to rescue her and make her feel safe.

He grinned and offered her the balloon if she wanted it. He suspected a flag like that saying 'here i am' wasn't high on her priorities. He paused a moment then reached to the other side to tie it to the shelf. "Let's not start on who scared who, alright? I'm sorry. There. Better?"

Right... great.. whatever you say. She replied silently but nodded her agreement to what he said just because she didn't have the energy for much else. "Sure." She didn't believe for one second he could have possibly been scared of her. "So.. ah.. what now.. muscles?"

He finished tying the balloon and brought his arm back, flexing it and looking at the tight rise in his sleeve as if surprised to find she was right. "What that? I dunno... you think so?"

He was probably going to try to steal her stuff and ditch her in a minute or worse, so why not do something she never would have done before? She lifted one hand up to feel his arm, nodding her head as if to tell him yes, he had muscles. In a bold move, her other hand 'snuck' around him to find out if his behind was just as firm as his arm.

The sudden 'goose' did make him jump, reaching out for the shelf to steady himself. That wasn't expected at all. He looked down at her with a teasing smile. "Heeeeey now. I charge extra for that," he said, though wasn't exactly stopping her, either.

"Ohhh." She nodded, sort of smiling but trying to look serious as if she was considering the cost, her hand shifted away from him and into her pockets as if searching for something. "I don't have any money.. I only have this.." She pulled the pair of panties out of the pocket of her sweat shirt, they were pink, lacey, and small, kind of cute and sweet with a touch of 'can't help but be sexy.. just like her. "I'm not sure they'll fit you.."

He cleared his throat a little. "I'm sure they'd fit a little bit of me... but pink's not really my color, thanks. Alright... I won't charge you for that one," he said after a moment of consideration.

The first impression of him hadn't been so good but now that he wasn't acting like a zombie and scaring her, she was quickly warming up to him. Maybe she was just feeling bold and on some kind of after scare rush? "Well.." She started with just the hint of a smile on her face. "What if I want to do it again?" She asked as she shoved the panties back into her pocket.

[Lovely]

He grinned, a slight shrug as he thought not-too-hard about it. She slipped her 'currency' away safely in her pocket. "Mm depends. Try it and see."

Her eyes cast over his face, she was curious about his expression and invitation. She bit at her lower lip trying to hide the smile and walked her fingers back to grip his behind firmly. Ruby watched his face and waited to see what he'd do now that she'd 'called him on it'.

"oh well now you've done it," he said, trying to be scolding but he couldn't help the turn of the grin. He returned the favor, pulling her closer and trying to decide if what was under his fingers was all her or a little lace, too.

"Ooo!" She squeaked softly and blushed more warmly though she giggled quietly too. Her eyes seemed to light up as he pulled her closer and she felt his hand firmly cupping her behind. "I think yours might be a little more muscular than mine."

He squeezed again as if testing then nodding. "Probably, but soft and curvy is nice. Please tell me you're not going to try and eat my brain now. I'd really like to keep it."

She shifted closer to him as he squeezed again and her hand tensed slightly as if squeezing back. "No plans on eating anyone's brain.. umm I think if I was going to do that I wouldn't have been so interested in your butt."

"You pass. You're not one of them, thank god. So... I guess I should ask you your name now," he suggested, letting go a little to look around for others that might not be so interested in copping a feel before chewing their arms off.

"I guess if you want to know it.. you should." She also glanced around as she let go of him and licked at her lips. "What's your name?" She asked him since she did want to know, though he could have any name and it wouldn't make a difference, she was just very relieved he wasn't one of the ... things.

"Wink. My name.. it's short for something else but I'll never tell. I just go by Wink," he said, not sure she'd believe him or if it mattered anymore. You could call me Joe if you wanted to, I guess."

She laughed softly and shook her head. "Why would I call you Joe if your name is Wink? Besides.. I like it, it's unique." She smiled at him and stepped over to pick up the back pack she'd dropped when they'd first surprised each other. It was brand new and very empty, her hope was to fill it with some food and other useful items before something ate her brain.

[Lovely]

"Ok, so that's not fair," he pointed out as she stepped away, leaving him wondering. He looked at the empty pack she had and the awkward sack he'd picked up along the way. "That's not fair, either. Probably hold a lot of shit in that, huh?"

"What's not fair?" She asked to his first declaration of it and then shrugged at his second. "Yeah.. I guess.. I mean I don't actually have anything in it yet. Wait.. here.." She pulled the panties back out of her pocket and stuffed them into one of the small compartments in the pack. "Now there's something in it." She grinned slightly, doing her best to hang onto anything normal and every bit of positive energy she could manage to.

He laughed though tried not to keep it loud. "I meant your name, hotshot. You haven't told me yours, yet. And the pack, well, I'll just have to offer to carry it for you now that it's full of your worldly possessions."

"Well you haven't asked me my name yet.. you only said you should ask." She pointed out with a tiny smile and she twisted the strap of the pack around her hand. "With all your muscles you'd probably have no problem carrying this.. but that would mean we'd have to stay together since you have all my stuff." She held the pack out toward him and her eyebrow arched up slightly. "My name is Ruby."

"Ruby... and pink? That's very colorful of you," he grinned, taking the pack up on a fingertip to test the relative empty weight plus her hand that she'd tangled in the strap. "Does this mean you want me to carry you, too?"

"Haha.. I'll have you know pink looks really pretty on me.." She defended playfully and looked down to her hand and the strap as he held onto the bag. "Well... maybe carrying me isn't such a good idea but.. I'm all for sticking close.. now that we found each other and.. we're not interested in each other's brain.."

"You'd be surprised," he said, almost offended, but he had no real reason to be. She had to be smart enough to stay alive this long, right? He could hope. "As long as you can keep up, I don't think you need to be tethered. I'm not running off with your pack, I promise."

"Well good.. cause the last person who did.. got his brain eaten.. Just goes to show you even in a world gone nuts there's karma." She let go of the bag and slowly brought her hand back toward herself, her fingers immediately went to the hem of her shirt to twist into it, obviously a nervous habit. Her eyes skirted around the room and then over Wink, for all her bravery it showed that she was scared and unsure, from her comment he might realize that she'd already met the wrong guy and was worried about making a similar mistake again.

"Well as long as I'm driving, the karma bus is only gonna hit the things that try to kill me first," he said almost proudly. He looked the bag over carefully first, checking for anything looking like blood when she'd mentioned her last traveling companion. It seemed clear of it and likely she'd have burned it if there was any doubt. "Or that try to kill you. I guess you might appreciate that."

Her head tilted to the side as he seemed to examine the pack, she chuckled softly. "It's not the same bag.. I lost that one and everything in it when he tried to take off on me.. that's kind of why I had underwear in my pocket.." She blushed again as she explained the reason behind that. "Maybe I should have grabbed his butt before asking his name.. things might have gone better. Thanks for.. well.. promising not to run off and hitting things that try to kill me.."

[Lovely]

"Sure. Any time," he said. Once she confirmed the pack was clean, he slipped it over his shoulder, his sleeve lifting a little to show the marks and lines adorning his arm that had been put there before the scare and the evacuations. "Makes no difference to me what you carry or how as long as it's useful. I guess that counts, but it doesn't have to."

"Having a pair of clean underwear is comforting.. I don't think I could explain, it just is." She shrugged and sighed, glancing around again as she shook her head. "It's always so quiet.. it's creepy.. We should probably work on filling the bag as quickly as possible.. umm I can grab another one if you think I should?"

"Grab anything you can, right?" He wiggled an eyebrow. He could grab her again, but if she was going the same way he was, at least the same direction as her pack, there would probably be a chance for that later when they were somewhere safely barricaded for the night. "Useful and easy... I mean like food and stuff."

She just smiled as he made his comment and wiggled his eyebrow at her, she could think of something to grab alright. "Okay I can handle that.." She winked at him and picked up the golf club that was acting as her weapon for self defense and turned to trot off down the aisle, piling boxes of snack crackers in one arm on her way to grab a second bag.

He looked at the club in her hand and was thankful she hadn't had the chance to come at him swinging. She trotted off and he realized he was watching her more than the door or the windows. He looked at the aisles now and started feeling the hair on his neck tickle. He started off behind her, grabbing other useful things to throw in the pack.

She realized rather quickly that he was coming up behind her as she paused over some canned pasta. "You like Chef?" She asked, covering for the nervousness at being here in the semi open. He had her first pack on his shoulder and she shifted to deposit her boxes of snacks and grab a few cans of assorted pasta varieties. She wasn't really picky about it, having learned that you couldn't be if you wanted to eat. "I got that bag a couple aisles over, looks like it was a clearance display or something from school supplies." She chatted quietly, not wanting her voice to carry much or block any sounds they needed to hear but not liking the dead quiet either.

"You can whisper in my ear about school supplies any time you want," he said, whispering back as he gave her this bag to fill as she wanted. "I'll find another, maybe two and meet you in the express lane, okay? Anything funky happens, don't be afraid to scream."

"Hopefully I won't feel the urge to scream.." She whispered back as he told her where to meet him and to scream if she needed to. She took the pack and looked around them again, thinking about a few different possibilities. "If you tell me you have a car, I might kiss you."