Mall Trip (Open)

[landoncarter]

If one were to ask Landon earlier that day or even now he would have said that he should have seen the signs. He woke up to a day that made him remember when times were easier, when his parents were still around to wake him in the mornings. A time when he did not in fact have to sleep in the living room on a couch just a tad to short for himself while his brothers, sisters, cousins, and aunt slept in the few bedrooms upstairs. Of course he wasn't complaining because he had no problem with sleeping on the couch, it was where he had chosen to sleep so that he would be the first to face anybody who entered the house uninvited.

As stated before he woke to a morning that reminded him of times past and it should have been the first clue that everything was going to pot once everyone in the house was awake. And sure enough his good day went sour very quickly. His Aunt Rita came down still in her night gown and gave him a 'sweet, innocent' smile before grabbing herself a cup of coffee and sitting across from him. "You know none of you have been out much lately. Perhaps you should take the others to the mall for a free day." Now most people would hear that as a suggestion or an offer of something nice, but Landon heard the threat between the lines if he did not agree.

He had simply nodded his head in agreement before standing and putting his dishes in the sink for his aunt to wash and going to round up the other six occupants of the house. An hour later, many screams and shouts, pushing and shoving, and clothes finding later and everyone except Rita was filing out of the house and into the car. The teen glanced into the rearview mirror with a frown. "Ya'll know the rules by now. Go have your fun, but at the first sign of trouble find either me or Ian. Ariana stay close to Ian or me same goes for you two," here he looked at his aunt's kids.

Parking was rather easy since there weren't that many people here and everyone bailed out before dispersing and leaving Landon on his own for a good two hours at least. Running a hand through his short hair he looked around to make sure nothing was coming before entering the mall. He now had at least two hours to kill before his family came to bug him about food or home or something else.

"What to do, what to do?" he muttered, glancing disinterestedly into some of the shops he passed by.

[Marnie O'Malley]

Marnie had gone back to the mall, much to her own chagrin, but it was something to do. Plus, she needed some new clothes and wanted to get some more things for Lily.

She was dressed in a pair of low rise jeans and plain red tee shirt. Over that was a red plaid shirt left unbuttoned over it. Her blond hair was fluffed around her shoulders. She had a long necklace hanging around her neck. In her ears were matching earrings. She kept her scope rifle slung over her shoulder as she moved slowly along the shops. She heard voices coming from another part of the mall. Fear gripped her as she made her way toward them. As she neared, she found it was a young man and a few kids. Relief spread over her as she made her way toward them.

"Looking for something in particular?" she asked the young man lightly as she beamed at him. "This place can get pretty spooky at night. You don't wanna be here then"

She grinned at him broadly. It was nice to see other humans mingling around here. She wondered if Derrick was home yet from the hunt.

Lily had come with her, being she couldn't let Derrick take her on hunts. Marnie let out a little whistle and Lily came running. She grabbed Marnie's leg and clung to it, peering at the new boy warily and shyly. Marnie put a hand on Lily's head

"This is Lily. She's a bit shy. I'm Marnie. What's your name?" she asked him brightly.

[landoncarter]

Landon kept an ear out for his siblings and cousins as they moved further from him. All of them knew better than to go to far away because there was no telling what could be lurking in other parts of the mall. His head snapped around when he heard footsteps and didn't let his guard down when a woman came walking over. His eyes glanced over at the others, making sure they were alright before looking at the woman with a small smile. It wouldn't do to get to comfortable around people because there was no telling if they might be a danger to his family. "No, not really looking for anything...something to do perhaps," here he shot her a bigger grin and leaned against the window he had been looking in just moments ago.

"My aunt wanted us to get out of the house because we needed fresh air," he told her,"she really just wanted the house to herself for a while...after all sharing the same living space with seven other people can get a bit annoying."

He tensed when the woman first whistled, not knowing what to expect and the whistle not only brought a little girl running towards the blonde woman, but his siblings and cousins running to him. Ariana wrapped her arms around Ian's waist and buried her head in his stomach while the others huddled together, waiting for Landon's okay that things were fine. He let out a quiet sigh and gave the woman a 'did you have to do that' look before patting his youngest cousin on the head.

"Nice to meet you Marnie, Lily," he tipped his head towards each other them,"I'm Landon. This is Ian," here he pointed to a boy who looked just like him,"my twin brother, then there's Ariana, Jamie, Gabriel my brothers and sister and then Kayla and Chelsea my younger cousins."

He pointed to each child as he called their name, Ariana being the youngest and smallest at the age of nine, Chelsea being the next youngest at the age of ten, Jamie coming in at the age of twelve, then Gabriel and Kayla at fourteen, and of course himself and Ian at the age of eighteen. He glanced at the others and made a shooing motion, telling them without words that they could go back to whatever they had been doing before Marnie's whistle had brought them running.

Almost immediately they scattered again and Landon was left with the woman and child."Are you looking for something particular or are you just here to pass some time?"

[Marnie O'Malley]

Marnie beamed at the kids as he said each of their names. Lily shyly waved to Landon and pressed her face into Marnie's midsection. Marnie let out a involuntary 'woof' as Lily did that but smiled at Landon.

"I came for some clothes for Lily and myself" She replied. "yeah I hear ya. It can get tedious" she said nodding. "Sorry about the whistle. It's just a signal we use to one another when things are safe."

She beamed at Landon. "Is your whole family ok?" she asked meaningfully hoping that she wasn't being too forward. "I-I mean did any one take the vaccine? My ex boyfriend did. He had to be put down"

Marnie swallowed at the memory. She blinked, forcing away the images as she focused her attention on Landon. She motioned to a bench and sat down. Lily climbed into her lap and curled up. Marnie gently ran her hands through her blond hair soothing her. Lily seemed to be a little on edge around strangers. She just took a long time to warm up to people.

Marnie glanced to Landon.

"have you bumped into any radicals around? There aren't that many but I know they're cooking up something" she said as she waited for Landon to reply

[landoncarter]

Landon smiled at the little girl when she waved at him, but didn't have a chance to wave back before she hid her face in the woman's stomach. He turned his attention to the blonde lady when she mentioned coming for clothes. He personally thought that she should have brought another person to help protect herself and Lily in case zombies had been here, but said nothing because if she felt safe enough to come out on her own then who was he to try and tell her otherwise. "It's fine. I suppose each of us has our different ways of communicating at distances. For us though a whistle means that there's danger and we need to get meet up quickly."

When she questioned about his family he sort of shut down. His gaze moved from the blonde haired woman to the ground under his feet and he just sort of glared at it. He wished he could safely answer that with a 'yeah they're all just fine' but he couldn't. Ever since this thing started nothing had been fine. Still she had told of her tragedy so it was only fair he returned the favor. He refused to look at her as he talked, it would only make him feel worse about it."No," he whispered, voice barely heard over the short distance, but came to a normal level as he continued to speak,"my parents took it when it first came out and were some of the first to go," he took a shaky breath before continuing,"my uncle took it a couple of days later, not knowing there was a problem. I've been with my aunt since I was nine."

He looked up with a rather strained smile."It's kind of hard to provide for a house full of people when you're barely old enough to understand that your parents aren't coming home but my aunt was in shock at the fate of her husband and sister and there were a lot of kids at the time so someone had to bring in food. I suppose you could call me the protector of the group...I'm the oldest with the exception of my aunt and so I have to provide safety, food, and shelter."

He had not meant to continue talking like that. His plan had been to tell about his parents and uncle and leave it at that, but his mouth hadn't listened to his brain and had just kept talking. This woman must think he was an idiot or something. He followed her over to a bench and sat down on the other side, turning sideways so he could still keep eye contact and all with her. Just because she was being friendly and open about things didn't mean that she couldn't have something up her sleeve. He shook his head and shrugged about the radicals.

"I don't really go out enough to run into any and I'm sure they're cooking something up, they always are and have been for I don't know how long."

He probably would have continued talking had there not been a scream of terror from the opposite direction his family had gone. He jumped to his feet and narrowed his eyes in the direction of the scream as another followed the first."What the hell is that about?" he asked.

[Marnie O'Malley]

Marnie looked at him sympathetically.

"I'm so sorry" she said to him quietly. "It's not an easy thing."

She heard the scream and immediately grabbed her gun. She grabbed Lily's hand and kept her close to her as she hurried after the scream. Lily clung to her leg in fear. She clicked back the hammer on her rifle and lined it up with her line of vision. There was a Re-Animated standing by one of the stores. Landon's family came running forward. Marnie gently let them pass her before aiming the gun at the Re-Animated's head.

She cocked the barrel back and slid her finger around the trigger. She pulled it. A loud pop went off. The bullet shot out from the nozzle and impacted on the Re-Animated's skull. The zombie dropped to its knees before falling face first down on the floor. Blackish blood began seeping around the body. It was finally dead for good. She turned to Landon, slinging her rifle back onto her shoulder.

"Come on. We can come back later to get what we need" she said as she gently led them out of the mall. She looked at him.

"Do you need a lift anywhere?" she asked as Lily's clutches tightened around Marnie's thigh. A gentle breeze caught Marnie's blond hair ruffling it softly. Once outside, Marnie took a deep breath. She hated shooting but it was something that had to be done now.

[landoncarter]

That was why Landon hated telling people about the things that had happened in his life since this whole thing started. They felt bad about it and were sympathetic even though things just as bad or worse had happened to them. He knew that he wasn't the only one who had lost parents or relatives, Marnie had proved it when she told him about her boyfriend of the time. He just gave a small shrug of his shoulders happy to toss it off as if nothing had happened. He had cried about it a couple of times when it first happened and he might not be over it, probably never would be, but there was no use wallowing in self pity. Doing that could get him or his family killed.

He followed after the blonde when she started towards the screams and stood back to watch her take care of the Re-Animated. His siblings and cousins slid to a halt in front of him, the eighteen year old sweeping Ariana into his arms as she buried her face in his neck and Ian sweeping Chelsea up as the ten year old did the same thing. He agreed that they could come back some other time and followed Marnie out the door. He felt like an idiot for leaving his gun at home, but he had been in a hurry to leave so his aunt could have some peace and quiet for a bit.

Crap. His aunt was going to murder him when she heard that he had taken her precious children (Ariana, Jamie, Gabriel, and Ian included) to the mall when the chance of attack was possible without a gun. He didn't want to die! He was brought out of his 'I don't wanna die' thoughts by the woman asking him if they needed a ride.

"Nah," he tilted his head towards the car not to far away from where they were standing,"I got a ride, but uh...how many bullets you got in that gun of your's?"

His eyes had moved from her to the Re-Animated coming their way. They had already surrounded a couple of cars and from where Landon was standing it looked like a couple of people had gotten caught before they could make it to safety.

[Marnie O'Malley]

Marnie checked.

"About six rounds. Come on. I know a quick way out of here" She said as she grabbed Lily's hand and hurried over to her GMC truck. She climbed in and put Lily in the seat. She turned on the car and put it in drive. She motioned to Landon to follow her in his car.

When she was sure he was safely inside his car, Marnie put the car in drive and slammed on the accelerator. The truck screeched into motion and she turned the wheel left. Marnie glanced into the rearview mirror, making sure Landon was following in his car. When she was sure he was, Marnie led him through a section of the mall that was not developed yet. The tires bounced over debris, but it was the quickest way out of the parking lot and onto the road. Lily was clutching the seatbelt and throwing Marnie anxious looks. She put a reassuring hand on the little girls arm and gave her a private wink. When Marnie was certain they were away from the danger, she pressed the brake and put the truck in park. She shoved open her door and hopped down, a cloud of dust settling around her. She waited for Landon to pull up behind her to make sure he was ok.

Marnie reached into her truck behind her seat and grabbed her spare pistol.

"This is my spare. In case you come across anymore unwanted guests" she said holding it out to Landon.

[landoncarter]

Luckily for Landon the only one other than himself that had yet to get into the car was Ariana and that was because she was still in his arms. As Marnie went to her own truck and got in Landon hopped into his car, handing his sister off to Ian and starting the car. He really needed to think about upgrading said car into something that might hold all of them and their stuff better...maybe even to something that he could hide a weapon or two in just so he could be ready for stuff like this. The trip through the undeveloped section of the mall got Landon screams and shouts to get back on the road from the younger people in the car.

He hoped that she knew exactly where she was going because if this had been for nothing he was going to be angry. When they came to a stop Landon got out, closely followed by Ian and Gabriel who wanted to know what was going on. Ian because he was pretty much a second-in-command and Gabriel because he never listened to Landon anyway. Honestly, you would think that with everything the eighteen year old did for his brother he would get enough respect from him that he would just follow his rules. It wasn't like there were a million of them or that they were keeping him from having fun. They just kept him safe and alive which is how everyone liked him.

Dark eyes looked at the blonde when he handed him the pistol. He took the weapon into his hand and aimed it towards the ground before looking at her."Thanks, are you sure you want me to take your spare though? I have more than enough people to find me something to hit a Re-Animated with. You've gotten protect yourself and Lily."

He felt bad taking a person's bad up weapon offered or not. Plus, he didn't know if the woman lived alone or if she lived with someone. What if this and the other gun were the only protection she had? "Why don't you come back to our house and have some coffee or something? Just until we're sure that those things aren't going to be showing up anytime soon," he offered.

[Marnie O'Malley]

Marnie nodded.

"Oh I'm sure. I have another rifle in the back" She said motioning to the cargo area of her SUV.

Landon offered for her to come to his house for coffee. She smiled.

"Sure. I have to head home though around 5. My boyfriend's cooking dinner" She said beaming at Landon. It would be nice to mingle with other people. She needed some friends so this might be a nice little treat. She grinned. "Lead the way to your house"

She climbed back up into her truck and closed the door. Lily seemed a bit more relaxed now and giggled. They followed Landon behind in his car. He pulled into a nice home. It looked inviting and homey. Marnie carefully helped Lily out of the truck and began following Landon up the steps and into the house.

Inside it was cozy and modern. She liked it immediately. She waited for Landon to do the introductions, not wanting to appear to be rude or inconsiderate. She waited for Landon to make the move. She glanced around. The house had some modern decor and a bit of old time charm to it.

She clutched Lily's hand. Lily glanced up at her and gave her a big grin. Marnie winked back at her.

[landoncarter]

So long as he wasn't taking her only other weapon, even if it was just for a little bit, he had not other arguments."I'll make sure to run you out of the house before five then," he told her with a chuckle. He went back to the truck, the other two getting in as well, and pulled around Marnie. It wasn't really that far from the mall to his house and if Re-Animated were getting around now then he would have to think about moving them somewhere else. That was why they were in the house they were in at the moment, nothing was there.

Once home Landon parked in the driveway, no garage on this house, and lead the way inside. He was glad that he had thought to ask Marnie over because his aunt wouldn't go nuts on him if there was someone else here to talk to or something. The woman came stomping down the stairs and Landon grinned, even if Rita didn't look happy. "Hey Rita," he greeted before quickly turning to the blonde woman and child standing in the house,"this is Marnie and Lily. We met at the mall...right before the creatures of evil showed up again."

He knew that so long as Rita knew her 'children' had been in danger of dying...er...becoming dead but not dead he was safe from her wrath of bringing them home so early."Marnie, Lily meet my aunt Rita."