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After travelling for the better part of the day, Michael had finally reached his destination. A large, fortified manor house sitting on top of a hill. Two me armed with assault rifles guarded the door. Michael walked up to them with a confident grin on his face.

"Hey! You there! Stop!" One of the men shouted as he raised his rifle to point at Michael.

"Woah, easy now," Michael said as he raised his hands. "I'm just here to collect on a bounty your boss put on some bandits."

"That right?" The other guard said. "Well, we still can't let you just walk in with all those weapons. Give 'em to Bill. He'll hold onto them until you're done."

The other guard, evidently named Bill, stepped forward and offered to take the weapons. Michael gently placed the rifle in his hands before pulling his bowie knife out of its sheath and handing that to Bill as well. When that was finished, the other guard gestured towards the door with the muzzle of his assault rifle and they both walked in.

About ten minutes later, Michael and the guard exited the manor house. His payment consisted of a few protien bars, two bottles of water and three clips for his M110 rifle. All in all a good pay. Michael collected his weapons from Bill, slinging the rifle over his shoulder and sheathing the bowie knife. Glancing up, Michael decided his next stop should be Hospis. He knew there was an operational bar in the area and he might be able to find some work there.

He grabbed the M16 and observed the weapon. Man it looked good to Stranger. "Busy? Not really. There are other people here who take care of this place. I just go out and scavenge for people here." Stranger switched his bolt action for the M16. I could take you there."

A stressed out man poked his head in the door. "Hey. Stranger. Our G.I. buddies are back."

"G.I. buddies? And sure, it'd be nice to not wander alone for a change."

"That's what we call some soldiers that have gone rouge. They have been harassing us for some time. Long story short they want our supplies." Stranger loaded a clip into his M16 and loaded a round into the chamber. "This might get violent." Stranger hastily made his way into the hallway. "Wait for me!"

There was a crowd outside. "Alright get back! I said get back!" There were five soldiers, with their weapons leveled at the crowd of civilians. Stranger made his way through the crowd. "Hey! Hey, whats the problem here?"

Lilian followed, she figured she could use the practice anyway and the place appeared like it could use any help it could get against these clowns. She got to the door and noticed the soldiers aiming at the crowd, the stranger walking forward to talk to them.

Instead of rushing out she looked around, the room was quiet everyone looking out the windows as it unfolded. Some cowering behind the reception desk or anything really that looked like it could be used as a shield to buy them maybe another day. She'd have to wait and watch on for now; if she just ran out there it'd probably just end with everyone getting shot. Knowing this she realised there wasn't all that much she could do.

"Listen." Stranger was getting nowhere with the soldiers. "We can't just give you our stuff. We will be willing to share if you can show us you can help out around here." Stranger gestured to the crowd. "We all pitch in some way around here." "And I don't think you heard me the first time," The soldier pulled back the action on his M4. "CRIK CRAK" The sound of metal crunching together seemed deafening. "so I'm done with being civil." Stranger soon found himself looking down a gun barrel. "Look we can't just-" "You shut up! I'm gonna kill him." The soldier started yelling, as if at the hospital itself. "And Im gonna keep killing them until you co operate." Stranger looked the man in the eye. "You better not do that." The solider hit Stranger in the face with the Rifle butt, knocking him to the ground. "Or what?" Stranger started laughing. "Or what!?"

Hearing them barking their demands Lilian had an idea, she did have some supplies on herself anyway perhaps she could trick them into thinking that they were all that was here at the moment. Then another idea came to mind and she headed back to the doctor. but stopped by the janitor's closet first, grabbing a couple of bottles and taking them with her.

"They're demanding all the medical supplies" she exclaimed, barging into the doctor's room.

(Last post tonight I swear!)

Stranger knew that someone would pull through for him. Lillian managed to convince the soldiers that a backpack and a few bottles was all they had. He was still smiling as Lillian looked at his face. "They got me pretty good huh?" "Yeah. You know your lucky. They could have cracked your skull." Lillian dabbed disinfecting alcohol on his face. Stranger grimaced. "Or shot me. That could of happened... Thanks though You saved me." "Not a problem." Stranger sighed. "Its been a long day. Lets plan on setting off tomorrow. I need some rest."

"Good idea and I doubt they'll be back any time soon." she smiled on that ominous note.

Charles had made a small campfire on this hillside, it wasn't much, but he could cook and keep warm. He had still been following those people, he would keep following tem until he got what he wanted. He hadn't had much training with the gun, but he still knew how to tear someone apart with it, many scavengers and wanderers had learn't that. He would finaly get some rest.

(... Forget what I said earlier.)

Stranger had told Lillian to relax for an hour or two before they were to head off the following morning. He had gathered up some supplies. He just wanted to stop by the bar for a bit of a drink. Not for alcohol though, that was actually quite common. What he wanted was coca cola. He had a bit of a sweet tooth.

But as he walked in he saw a familiar face...

(thats Michael by the way.)

Alexander trudged down the disused highway towards what he believed( and hoped) was the Hospice, when he noticed something out of the cornor of his eye. Turning he say a group of bodies laying beside a shack, moving towards them, he notice that there was a suspisously head sized hole in the wall of the shack. He took in the scene, the details flooding into his mind. He saw the knife wounds, the tan line around the neck of a bandit (indicating something had been taken), and a clucth of shell cases laying in the dirt near the bushes.
"these men where stabbed, yet shots were fired. . . and an item was taken from that of a bandit. . ."
vendetta kill? vegence kill? a bounty?

He couldn't be certain.

Glancing at the scarf on his wrist, he continued down the road, noticing three sets of foot prints. . .

Jeff made it home without a hitch. The secret building was well hidden. Once inside he opened a disguised entrance closing it tightly behind him and locking it. Jeff walked carefully, stepping over and dodging the traps he had set out, almost stepping on a tripwire that would send a wall of blades swinging out. He finally made it to his actual house, sitting in his chair.

" Ah, home at last," said Jeff as he slid his back pack off and put it on a hook.

He put his gun on the rack, walking over to his chair and taking a seat. He thought about all he had done that day, five bandits dead, five less bandits trying to kill him or others. He laid down and looked at the ceiling, getting a good days rest.

The sun beat down on Michael's head. After leaving his client's fortified manor, he had set his course for the settlement of Hospsis. He'd been there a few times before, mostly for work but there was one time when he had needed to be patched up after he'd run afoul of some target's that were harder to kill than he'd thought. Thinking of the botched job sent Michael down memory lane, remembering all the hits he'd worked and all the bounties collected. Even all the way back to when he was still with the army, back in the days before the flare hit. As the fond memories rushed back, Michael didn't even notice the bandit sneaking up behind him.

Michael's first indication that anyone was behind him was the butt of the bandit's AK-47 smashing into his back. The blow sent him sprawling onto the ground and almost knocked his rifle out of his grasp. For a few seconds, Michael did nothing but lay on the ground. But s he tried to rise to his feet, he felt the muzzle of the AK pressing into the back of his neck.

"Put your hands up and turn around slowly, jackass, or I'll have to put a bullet in your brainpan." The bandit said. What an obnoxious dick, Michael thought but he did as he asked and turned around. "Alright, I'll just be taking your food, water, and this here gun." The bandit sayed as he leaned down to pick up Michael's prized sniper rifle.

Just for a moment as he reached down, the bandit took his eyes off of Michael. This was all he needed and he quickly yanked his bowie knife from its sheath. Grasping the hilt with both hands, Michael plunged the long steel blade into the back of the bandit's exposed neck. He went limp almost immediately, the AK-47 dropping from his dead hands. With a sucking noise, Michael pulled the blade loose and wiped it clean on the dead bandit's camouflage fatigues.

Michael glanced around to see if the bandit had any buddies hiding nearby before kneeling down and searching the bandit down for anything useful. He found a Colt M1911 tucked into his pants and two mags of .45 ammo hidden in his pockets. Quickly, he slung his rifle and stored his loot before standing up. Hospsis was in sight now, it wouldn't be long before he reached it.
----------------------------
The first thing Michael noticed when he entered the bar was the boy standing at counter, a glass of fizzy brown liquid in hand. It was the kid that had jumped out of the bushes when the bandit was sticking him up, incidentally saving his life.

"You!" Michael exclaimed to him.

Stranger looked over to see a familiar face. It was that man who he ended up saving the other day. The kid smiled. "Why look who it is? What brings you to Hospis?" The two talked. They told each other their names. "So you came here just for the bar?" "Yeah, well sort of." Michael replied, "Im actually trying to get a job." "So you are a merc?" "Geuss you could call me that." Stranger took a long sip on his drink. He was deciding to tell him where they were going or not... He decided he would. The man seemed like an OK person to Stranger.

"So let me get this straight," Michael said, "you plan on going down to the coast because that girl is looking for somebody." "Thats right. We should be passing by one of those non irradiated safe zones too." "Sounds like a chase to me." Michael chuckled. Stranger sighed. "Maybe... But I plan on scavenging what I can down there... You are welcome to come along. We could use someone like you... Of coruse we will share whatever we find with you. How does that sound?"

"Sounds just perfect to me." Michael said as he sat down at the bar. He ordered a bottle of whiskey before turning to face Stranger. "Just know now that if the gak goes south and there's a good chance that I could die, I'm bugging out."

Stranger inspected his M16 on last time before heading out. He had said his goodbyes to the people at Hospis. He remembered a few of them looking at him like he was a dead man after he told them were they were going. They were gracious though. They gave them ample supplies for the trip. They didnt even ask for him to find something in return.

The trio stood at the gates of Hospis making last minute checks to their gear. Stranger took out his K BAR combat knife, running his fingers lightly on the knifes edge. Michael smirked at him and asked "Whats that for?" "Stranger laughed and displayed the knife jokingly "Oh this? I keep this for close encounters."

And with that Hospis was at the back of the group.

The trio was headed into a warzone.

It had taken a while, but he had found some.
Alexander had reached the hospice and had gone to the first trader he found, it took three different traders to find what he was lokking for,

"What can I do you for lad?" the trader asked
"Skittles. Green Skittles."
"Um. . . ok. . . odd request, but your lucky, i have a small jar of em"

Alexander pulled out a jar of Strawberry jam and tossed it to the trader, taking his skittles.

After talking to a few of the guys around the bar, he found out that the Three Travellers e
were headed to the coast,

Alexander stood at the gate and stared at the three sets of tracks that set of into the distance
"well I wont get far just by standing here"

Jeff woke up, a days rest well good. He packed his supplies for the day but found he was running low. " Well, looks like I need a little trip." He packed all the supplies needed for a week long trip, leaving maybe one week of supplies left. He grabbed his M4, sliding the masterkey attachment on it, holstered an M9, slid his kukri in it's sheathe along with an array of other knives. Before he left, he set his final trap, rigging the place to blow in case anyone decided to find a way inside. He left the door locked, choosing to take the even more secret way out. When he climbed to the top, he locked the trap door, covering it in the brush that covered it before. With that Jeff set out, walking along towards Hospis, maybe they would have the supplies he needed and a trip would be unnecessary.

Upon arrival he found this not the case, but found out the group from yesterday had left on a trip for supplies. With this news he rushed out of town, before seeing a group of three in the distance, quickly making his way toward them.

Stranger was wondering how bad the coast would be. He heard rumors of the military actually making engines work again, giving them tanks, APCs, even air support. He knew it was going to be a rough trip. He looked at Lillian. She seemed distance. What was she even looking for?

Strangers thoughts were broken by a familiar voice. "Hey! You miss me?" Stranger turned. It was Jeff.

With a grin he lowers his binoculars, the group were on the move again. He couldn't take them on in a direct fight, so he would watch, plan and wait for his chance. Downing a filthy bottle of water, he moves swiftly across the hillside, he always tried to get the height advantage. For now he would follow.

As he walked, Alexander noticed thet a fourth pair of boot prints joined with those of the Three Travellers.
"did this person join with these people? or are they following them?" he asked himself

Looking up at the steadly greying sky, he thought the foots-hils around around the path would make a perfect
sniper position, easy to move but pleanty of cover to hide in.

Alexander quickened his pace and made a mental note to keep an eye on the hills,
as he marched down the path, the first drops of rain began to fall

Stranger pulled up his hood. It was raining. "We can't stay out in the rain long." Jeff said. "Tell me about it..." Stranger scanned the area around him. "If we dont find some place to make a fire we might freeze to death." The nights were getting colder after all.

It was really coming down now. The group had managed to duck into a suburb and raid a house. "We're gonna do gaks with sleeping tonight. We don't want to have our throats slit in the night." Michael said on a grim note. Stranger peered out the window and pointed. "Throats slit? You mean by someone like that?" A dark figure was slinking through the downpour towards the house. Stranger could tell that he was armed... And he had some kind of mask on. Jeff raised his M4. Stranger put his hand on the barrel and held it down... "Wait until he gets close. There is probably another one around back. Ill go check."

As Stranger opened the door the two almost bumped into each other. A armed man, wearing a mask resembling a crude skull. Stranger reached to draw his knife and swung a punch at the intruder. The man blocked both of his attahe attacker jumped on top of Stranger and started choking him. But Stranger knew a thing or two about hand to hand fighting. He thrust his hims, knocking the man off of him and putting Stranger on top. It wasent long before Stranger plunged the knife deep in the mans Chest. He could only imagine the horrific expression behind that mask.

Jeff walked out into the rain to confront the other attacker. " Who are you?!" Jeff screamed at the approaching man. The man didn't say a word, only kept walking towards Jeff. Jeff raised his M4 at the man, ready to fire. He screamed again, aiming at the skull on his mask. At that moment, the man rushed Jeff, knocking his gun to the side, hitting him in the face. But Jeff was a much larger man, grabbing the man by the throat and kicking him back into the street. The man pulled a handgun out, firing at Jeff, but he moved out of the way. In a swift motion he kicked the gun out of his hand, followed by stepping on his head, crushing his skull. Jeff walked back towards the house, opening the door as the rain dripped off his hat. Everyone stared at him, " What?" Jeff asked. Lillian looked at him, " You're bleeding." Jeff put his hand on his hip, pulling it away, seeing the blood on his hand.

While Lillian fussed over Jeff's wounds, Michael hurried to the house's second floor, unslinging his rifle as he did so. As he rushed up the last step, he quickly spotted a window that would be perfect for keeping watch on the neighborhood. Michael kneeled down in front of the window, poking the long barrel out through the shattered frame and raising the scope up to his eye.

Though his visiblity was badly affected by the downpour, Michael could still make out the form of another skull faced attacker, this one armed with a SAW. Calmly, he moved the crosshairs to line up with the attacker's broad chest and pulled the trigger. The rifle emitted a loud crack as it propelled the 7.62mm round through the barrel and into the target's chest. The attacker spun around as the bullet caught him, dropping the SAW before falling to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Michael grinned fiercely before checking to see if there were any more assailants. When he was satisfied that there were no more, Michael pulled the rifle back into the house and leaned it up against a wall. Calling down to the three people on the first floor, Michael said:

"There was another one of those skull-faced gaks out there. I tagged him, but I'm gonna stay up here and watch for anything else."

"lucky, it seems to just glance you more than anything. I don't think it even hit anything, but you'll have a new battle scar" Lilian said as she examined the wound.

"It may need stitching, but I don't have the stuff for it. All it'd do in this case though is close it up so it'd heal faster and probably lessen the scar" She then applied some antiseptic to clean the wound and finished by bandaging it up.

Stranger walked back to the front room. Looking around him he saw that the fighting was over. Lillian was tending to Jeff's wounds. She looked at him "You all right?" Stranger just stared off into space. "I said are you all right?" "Uh... Yeah..." Stranger had never killed someone with his bare hands before. He went up the stairs.

Stranger walked into the room where Michael was. Michael looked over his shoulder. "You wanna wipe that knife off?" Stranger didnt realize he was still holding the knife, and he quickly wiped the gore off on his jeans. "I think there are more of them. Those had to be milita of some sort.If we stay here we better be ready for a long firefight."

Alexander looked up sharply as he heard a shot go off, he tensed and waited for a minute,
he thought he heard another shot fired but the rain made it difficult to tell.
"that must have been close to hear it from here, maybe just down the road" he thought to himself

Alexander pulled out a revolver, made sure it was loaded and drew his blade, and slowly started making his way across the street, hood up over his head

"I think there are more of them. Those had to be milita of some sort. If we stay here we better be ready for a long firefight." Stranger said.

Michael glanced at the kid for a second before turning to peer out the window again. As much as he hated to admit it, he was right. This house wasn't very well fortified and there had to be more of the skull-faced jackoffs hiding in the suburbs. But as he was staring out the window, watching for any signs of life he saw something.

"Hey, kid, hand me my rifle." Michael said to Stranger. Stranger complied, handing the sniper rifle to the waiting hands of Michael. He quickly brought it up to his face and peered down through the scope. The rain was still turning their visibility to gak, but Michael could just make out the form of a man carrying a pistol and a knife slowly walking down the street.

"gak," He muttered. "I think I see another one of those milita guys."

Carefully, Michael took aim at the partially obscured form. There was a satisfying crack as the bullet fired, but unfortuanetly it missed the man and slammed into a stop sign a few feet behind him. fething rain, Michael thought as he lined up another shot.

Alexander heard a crack, and then a pop as something supersonic whizzed past his head and slammed into the Stop sign just behind him. CRAP
He stopped dead and held his hands out and dropped the pistol and knife into the mud , then held his hands high.
He knew that the weapon was too loud to be a pistol, but not as loud as a shotgun, so he gambled that it wasn't on those guys with the masks he saw earlier.
"I MEAN YOU NO HARM" he called out, but knew that who ever shot at him may not have heard him over the rain

then he noticed something. . .

a couple of man shaped figures moving towards him from down the road
and they had weapons

"well this is going to be fun"