#catastrophicstart

Bishan took another sip from the water before putting it back down next to his feet. His head was killing him, the pain shooting through him with every movement. He could barely look through his right eye, and he hadn’t eaten anything since the other day. That in itself wasn’t special, just that he was pretty sure he would not be able to keep anything in his stomach. He looked at the lists of reparations that had to be done that week and sighed, knowing he had to at least finish planning the schedule. 

He could’ve called in sick, but he knew this was on him. He was about sixty percent certain he had fought with Kai, but it could’ve been one of several people. Fought and lost. Waking up on the bar floor and dragging himself home.

damn him. 

damn him and his well said reasoning. damn him and his commitment to his role and damn him and his heart of gold.

fletcher had kicked her out. refused her, rejected all of her help. it hadn’t mattered what she’d said, or how much she’d argued. he’d shut the doors and locked them tight, dragging a promise from her that she regretted and loathed now with her entire being, binding her by her word to leave the clinic alone. 

and leave it alone, she had, if only to find a place to let out her frustrations in peace. she needed to find her composure again, to find that balance she so prided herself in so she could be ready for whatever fletcher asked of her, whether it be run and find what he needs —

or deal with the dead inside when they passed.

for now, it’s the place of faith that suffers her temper. the thief had stormed inside the building, finding it empty and, with her version of god as her audience, screamed bloody murder into the air with all her might. it’s a question of her already shattered faith, how he could do this, a wonder as to whether or not he’s done with testing her as he so often has. the curses were not pleasant, though they were plenty and eventually, she draws a knife, throwing it hard against one of the benches with everything she had. it finds its aim, sinking into the wood with an awful sound and, while breathing deep, max runs her hands through her hair, searching for the will to be rational.

and it’s only now does she notice the figure in the doorway of the entrance, and it’s only now that she glares back, walking to the damaged bench to retrieve her blade.

odd for him to be here, that much he knows. he hadn’t stepped foot inside the tavern since he’d fled from it all those weeks ago and, even he couldn’t come up for a reason for it; the way he sat at the bar as if he ever belonged there in the first place. 

it’s a simple soda in front of him, a craving for something sweet and fizzy being the only thing keeping him there as the noise of the other town’s folk rattled around his head. maybe it’s because he missed some form of noise, after being outside on the curb for so long. a little bit of normality after all of the fear that still riddled him to the core. he knows he could go back and sit with jesse, but, how could he face his brother without a brave face now?

Even in the goddamn shade of the building, Eades found no relief. She was wet. And sticky. No matter what they did, nothing would keep her from the humidity. Eades wasn’t a stranger to a constant moistness, it was hard to keep dry on a boat - but the heat just made it absolutely unbearable. 

A grimace gave her away, unable to hide her discomfort. It didn’t matter how little clothes she wore (or none) it was fucking disgusting. She glanced down at her hand as she rolled a lit cigarette between her fingers. All she could think about was the heat and what she’d give to be able to jump into a lake right now. That wasn’t the best choice, who knows if any biters somehow got sunk into the water and were just waiting to snap into you.

The idea made her even more irritated and she lifted the cigarette to her lips, taking an angry drag. Her comfort was short-lived as she heard the crunch of dirt as someone came near. She straightened and turned around, knowing she wouldn’t be able to hide her smoking. It was something she eagerly nabbed off an infected with its brain blown off. Not like they had much use for them... still maybe they should have turned it in...

“Something you wanted?” She asked, sizing up the other person, trying to anticipate what their intentions would be.

Jesse definitely wasn’t well by any stretch of the imagination just yet, but he was feeling far better than he had at any point in the last week or so. And while his stomach hadn’t fully recovered from the revolt he was finally able to keep some food and water down. It was a testament to that as he was sat up in bed, chewing absently on a cracker as he scribbled down notes in a notebook propped up against his upright leg. 

They’d lost too many people. They’d slacked, somewhere along the way, on keeping them safe. And while he had been just as much a victim of it all as any of the rest of them, the guilt still weighed on his shoulders. They needed to do more, be better. They couldn’t call themselves a safe haven when something as simple as the water was killing them. 

It seemed like months had passed since Maverick’s last supply run. In reality it had only been a couple of weeks while he healed up. His body still wore the shadows of bruises in some places and if it got too humid, his ankle started to hurt again. Under the given circumstances, he shouldn’t have been as excited about the run as he was. But he got antsy if he stayed in the walls too long. Seeing the world beyond their safety was what kept him sane.

Combine his normal angst of staying inside the all’s with everybody suddenly getting sick, he was going absolutely stir crazy. It didn’t help that Fletcher was the main people in charge of caring for the ill. Now he had heard that Holly was sick too. He wasn’t exactly close with her like he was with Fletcher. But it still made him nervous. She was a medic. What was gonna happen if the medics started getting sick too? It made him want to get this run started and over with already. Hopefully the supplies they were off to find would help and they wouldn’t come back to more bad news.

well... it’s a bar of sorts.

not what he expected but then, he’d walked in expecting... not quite so much, really. it had alcohol and patrons, it had ever dwindling stock that worried him irrationally considering his own vices. but it’s where he’d be working from here on out and he’ll be damned if he’d complain about it before bash was ready to up and leave here.

he spends the morning getting to know where everything is, helping himself to a small shot of watered down shit here and there whenever he felt his head start to spin or his knee start to bother him. again, he’d curse the walker he was moving away from and the pavement he ate shit on for causing such an horrendous bother to him.

bash wouldn’t let him live that one down, that’s for sure.

still, it’s not something he dwells on as he wipes the bar down and pretends he knows what he’s doing and that he didn’t, in fact, lie about his career. like hell did he want any responsibility outside of pouring drinks and making sure his little brat of a companion didn’t get into too much trouble.

the bar doors opening with another person to serve distracts him from his thoughts long enough to pay attention to the fact that they were, in fact, standing before him expectantly and he did, in fact, have to take notice.

the flier wasn’t quite as nice as it could have been - she should have asked one of the artists in the area to help - but she was pleased with it nonetheless. she’d gone around all day, sticking it in some of the areas - the coffee shop, obviously, the diner, even the door to the city council. a help wanted! flier, letting people know what she was up to. 

“if you’re talented at all,” she said to them as they walked past her while she tried to nail a flier into a tree in the middle of the park, “you should come see me at the paper office - i want our first issue to come out by the end of the month, and we could use some writers or artists. tell everyone you know.”

it was nice to have a purpose, and she handed one of her fliers directly to them, a smile on her face - something most didn’t know she was even capable of. “i’m going to have a wanted staff meeting tomorrow night, so if you’re interested, you should come. i think i can even con them into giving us some extra coffee and treats for it.”