The Plan? You Make It. // Definitely OPEN. Koios.

[lacey g. carrigan]

There were no windows here. Lacey liked windows, but a common room -- a safe house-- did not risk having windows. There were some other places but, come now, who'd wanna go over there at this time of day? They were most likely barricaded.

Lacey was all mainly new to this. She wasn't about to go out there by herself. Considering her past, she'd probably lock herself in a jail cell, unluckily of course. No, Lacey would certainly wait for a friend, or at least partner, to go out there with her. That made the most sense, didn't it? Of course it did. You'd be stupid to go out by yourself, at night no less.

So Lacey waited. She was lounging in the most comfortable chair she could find. She was wearing her normal sort of garb: that of a tattered dress and thick black boots. She didn't fit into pants well, or didn't really like to, so she just wore durable leggings. These happened to be purple, an odd yet charming color. Overall, it was easy to say that Lacey had long since given up on taking care of herself in the beauty kind of way. Or had she ever cared? She never wore make up or did her hair, so it was safe to say that, no, the natural beauty never cared. So Lacey, with one booted foot on the armrest of the chair and the other flat on the ground, lounged in the chair, fiddling with a strand of her hair.

It was about time for a little sort of meeting. Lacey, being pretty new and all, couldn't risk missing it. That is why she was there so early. Hopefully she wouldn't be alone for long. The room may have been safer, but it was still lonely, even if she could hear friends and fellow Koios passing by. Nothing beat talking face-to-face with someone. Apparently she was going to have to wait a little longer, though, go figure.

Outside was still as brutal as ever. It was night and the zombies, ever on the prowl, were on that prowl even more. Lacey found herself wondering if they ever slept. But just wondering made her feel a little sick. It wasn't the right time to be thinking of the gruesome dead people. She would never call them "Creatures." They were still mostly human.

Just in a not-so-alive way.

(So yeah, this sucked, but it's the first post on here, and I was too afraid to post in the still-empty outdoors.... without company, I mean~)

[kyle collins]

It was quiet. Very quiet. Deathly silent. The only sound Kyle could hear was the rhythmic beating of his converse on the dusty ground and his ragged breath as he barrelled through the last half a mile or so to the Koios headquarters. Contrary to what most horror movies suggested, in this day and age you couldn't get “too quiet” – what you didn't want was a roaring, shrieking, screeching zombie lunging after you. And so quiet was good. Usually. Albeit slightly creepy.

By rights, Kyle should have stopped moving about an hour ago. He had seen the sun sinking lower and lower over the horizon and watched as the red tendrils of sun had bled into the sky, turning darker darker and finally into blackness as it had disappeared completely from view. There were even any stars out tonight. The number one rule of the runners: as soon as it gets dark, stop. Hide. Find shelter somewhere and wait until morning – hope that you don’t get eaten. But being a complete dumbass (with an absolute lack of common sense), Kyle had reasoned ‘hey, I’m only a few more miles away from HQ. I may as well carry on’ – not his greatest idea. Fortunately for the moron, he hadn’t run into any of the undead as of yet – minus a brief incident of having to silently inch past a zombie-filled alleyway about half an hour ago. He was lucky. Although the risk of being crunched on by a zombie during the day was still pretty high, during the night it was just suicidal to be outside and running around. But hey, he was only about five minutes away now.

He tried to quieten his disjointed breathing (because not being able to listen out for zombies over the sound of your own exhaling was even more stupid) and kept a constant eye out – he had learnt after a few incidents previously, both of which had entailed him almost getting grabbed by a zombie, that keeping a keen look-out was beyond vital.

..And then he was there. He barely glanced at the rusty ‘FRITCH TESTING FACILITY’ sign mounted proudly upon the head of the building before ramming into the front doors and heading, still running, down the corridor. Because he never liked to slow down until he was in complete (well.. as complete as can be) safety. Once halfway down the long main corridor, he heard the main doors slam shut behind him and he started, skidding to a stop and glancing over his shoulder. But of course, there was nothing there. On shaky legs (mainly because of the non-stop running, but also slightly because he was a coward) he pushed open the door on the left, leading into a laboratory. From there, he took a series of three others doors until he found the room he was looking for – a small, barely noticeable storage room. In here, he closed the door behind him and crouched down, feeling on the floor with trembling fingers for the familiar cracks which signalled the trap door. He found them, yanked the door up and slid inside, completely disregarding the ladder and instead choosing to just drop down and land in a half crouched, half I’m-an-exhausted-mess- heap on the floor. The door slammed closed again behind him and he waited a few minutes until his heartbeat had slowed before heading toward the common room. Sleeping probably would have been a better idea for him right now, but he was still wound up from all of the running; adrenaline still pumping through his veins (because that was all that was keeping him going on some days). As usual, the common room was pretty empty (people were usually too busy scurrying around and doing.. whatever it was they did to ensure that the Koios members didn't all die a horrible death) – but he did notice a girl (with cool purple leggings) in there who he hadn’t seen before.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the majority of the dust (which there was a lot of – y’know, crumbling buildings and all that), he could finally remove the damned gas mask from his face and he coughed. Damn, he hated wearing that thing. “Heyyy,” he greeted, collapsing into a chair near her and wiping an arm across his forehead (and leaving a lovely streak of dirt there at the same time). “Are you new here?” because he hadn’t seen her around before. But maybe she had just been busy elsewhere. “I’m Kyle, by the way!” cue cheesy grin. Because he liked to talk. And he didn't have the opportunity to very often nowadays.

notes: pshh. your post was awesome. how dare you suggest otherwise. (welcome to the site, by the way). :]

[lacey g. carrigan]

Lacey hadn't been expecting company just yet. A lovely surprise! She shifted to where she was sitting normally, not bothering to get us since he sat down. "Hello! I'm Lacey Carrigan!" Oddly enough, she had a bit of a "cajun" accent still, from when she lived in New Orleans. Most people still didn't have an accent after so long, but both her parents were about half-French when they moved in to New Orleans, so it stuck. "And, well, let's just say I'm new to actually doing things."

After a moment, a split second, even, of thinking, she decided to add, "I mean, I've been working 'behind the scenes,' so to speak. I'm now a runner." Saying that out loud made her kind of nervous. She didn't really want to have to go outside, but duty called. It would have happen soon enough anyways. She just didn't want it to be that time already. She was a fraidy cat, after all. She would have to have someone come with her on her little.. journeys.

The thought that she would have to wear a gas mask was no more appealing. I mean, sure, all that was necessary, but she wished it wasn't so.

Then she really began to notice his current physical state. He seemed to be a bit worn out. A little lightbulb appeared over her head. "You're a runner, too?" she said aloud. It wasn't so much a question as a statement. She was about to ask him a whole bunch of questions about it, but surprisingly managed to bite her tongue (very rare), since he hadn't exactly confirmed her "question" just yet.

Meanwhile, Lacey was just thankful for the company at the moment. The questions buzzing in her head subsided as she waited a little while longer. Lacey was all together quite the perky little girl. She wasn't a little girl, though, but she might as well have been since she was so chipper all the time. She used to dress rather young, too, with bows in her hair and little light up shoes, but times changed. It was sad to think of the times as they were. Quite a damper on even the brightest person's day.

((Egad my muse is fading. So sorry for the shortness, choppiness, and/or all together fail.. ness! ahh haha))

[kyle collins]

’Hello, I’m Lacey Carrigan!’ Kyle flashed her a smile. She had a nice accent. ’..Let’s just say I’m new to doing things. Ahh. That just proved why he hadn’t seen her around before – she was new. Or so he thought, until her next sentence. “’Behind the scenes?’ Whatcha been doing?” he cocked his head to one side, a habit when asking a question, suddenly curious as to where she’d been stationed previously. And then the rest of her words sank in and he grinned at her. He was about to say something along the lines of ‘me too!’ (or something as equally moronic) when she asked him if he was one, anyway. For a split second he wondered what had given it away, but then he figured that his dishevelled and dusty appearance, coupled with his out-of-breathness, was a slight giveaway.

“Yep!” he confirmed, shifting into a more comfortable position on the seat. And then he began the task of reassuring her, because she looked nervous. And Kyle liked making people feel better. “It’s not that bad a job.. I mean, actually, it’s pretty cool. You get to go outside a lot more than most other roles. And I guess it’s less dangerous than the other jobs.. Like soldiers or hitmen... I mean, at least we don’t go out looking for zombies, y’know?” he laughed nervously, not too sure of what he could say to reassure her – because the truth was, most runners were sent out alone. If the message was important, then usually a group of two or three were dispatched, so that if one ‘couldn't make it’ (i.e. was munched on by a zombie) there’d be someone else to continue on to relay the message. But they were in short supply and more often than not sent out alone. And it was pretty daunting.

Kyle could remember the first few times he had been sent out – he was too moronic to actually be scared, like a normal person probably would have been, but he still felt an edge of uneasiness. It was the ‘who’s gonna save me when a zombie grabs hold of me?’ question that make his stomach churn with anxiety. He’d found a way to prevent this, though: not to think about it. Simply don’t take into the account that you might die, keep an eye peeled at all times, and you should be fine. He liked wandering around outside (and running) too, so it was a job suited for him. “You’re not always on your own either, don’t worry,” he smiled at her. Not a lie, but it would be rare to ever be sent with someone. For now, he just wanted to set her nerves at ease. “It gets easier after the first few times – don’t worry. Just keep an eye out and you’ll be fine!” Kyle flashed her a cheesy grin. She seemed nice. “Uhhh, if you ever want anyone to come with you, ask me? I wouldn't mind!” because he wouldn't. Kyle was more than happy to go out of his way to cheer up a stranger, and besides, even if the ‘higher ups’ didn't issue her with someone to run with, that didn't mean no one could, did it?

notes: pshh. don't worry about it. P: you're all good.

[lacey g. carrigan]

Lacey was a little stumped when he asked her what exactly she had been doing. It wasn't difficult, so she supposed the hesitation came from it being unexpected. "W-well.." she said, trying to remember, even though it hadn't been but a day ago. Trick questions, however non-tricky they may have actually been, made her blank. "I worked with my parents in the lab.. sorta. I didn't actually do anything cool.. But I at least did stuff. For a while, we didn't even bunk in here. That was a fun time in my life..." she mused sarcastically. At least they weren't in too risky of situations. As in, they were never bleeding in the middle of the square awaiting the diseased, cannibalistic people. That's just silly.

As he seemed to get more relaxed, so did she, and his reassuring actually worked for the most part. In fact, though they were talking about zombie-related things, she was hardly really thinking about the zombie-related part. Which was obviously a good thing, since she wasn't freaking out. Not that she would freak out when facing a zombie or anything... (ehem...)

It was when he suggested to tag along that she really lit up. "That'd be great!" she said vividly. She had always been afraid to be sent out alone. She was positive that going on quick, little run-abouts would be A-OK, but for longer, more taxing running, she wasn't too sure. Even though they wouldn't exactly get to talk anyway, the company of another was more relaxing in itself than anything. Company and the sun.

So now that Lacey was feeling more confident, she no longer felt quite so sickly. And she had technically just made a friend, which was an A+ in her book, obviously. She was a social butterfly after all. The thought of being outside even alone was seeming appealing now. Plus, she wasn't completely helpless after all. She would be able to handle one or two zombies. Now, more than that was still up in the air.

At least she knew she was faster than them.

((Well good, cuz I was kinda worried lol. Should we continue this outside soon? I dunno how much longer we alone could talk without there actually being a meeting or anything. Just a though. It's whatever.))

[kyle collins]

The bit of reassuring Kyle had done regarding the whole ‘being a runner isn’t the end of the world, I swear’ thing seemed to have worked and he was glad. The girl seemed.. Less tense now. And what he had said was mostly true anyway – their job was.. Relatively safe. It was safe in the sense that they weren’t heading out of headquarters with the objective to find zombies. Of course, fighting them would be more dangerous. It wasn't so pleasant in the sense that you were nearly always sent alone, and that if you didn't move fast enough you’d more than likely end up travelling around outside at night. Which was pretty suicidal, hence why the Koios leaders suggested that anyone stuck outside after night fell should take cover – but Kyle wasn't sure about that. Running around outside during the day was one thing, sleeping out there was another. It just seemed.. Creepy. And then, of course, there was the whole ‘getting lost’ issue which Kyle had totally never done because he had exceptional navigation skills; it wasn't hard to do. It wasn't like they had freakin’ GPS to go by. More often than not it relied on memory and deciphering the rushed instructions from the higher-ups. Not fun. The last main issue was when running into zombies. Not being equipped to fight them properly (hell, they were supposed to move fast and travel light – lots of guns weren’t possible for them, unlike the heavily armed soldier and hitmen) usually meant that the best form of attack was a good defence running like hell in the opposite direction.

“..The lab? Cool,” it sounded safe, at least. Unlike the people who’d been recruited after being found lying bleeding in a heap in an obscure part of the city somewhere. As for him, he’d pretty much (literally) run into a soldier because he was clumsy and after narrowly avoided being shot, had followed the group back to the main headquarters where he had then enrolled. Because there was safety in numbers, right?

“Awesome,” he couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm when she said that him tagging along would be great. He could relate to her, though; he could remember how freakin’ terrified scared he’d been when he’d been told that he had to go outside again. On his own. Running in a completely random direction. Now that he’d been outside again quite a lot though, he knew that it wasn't too bad. Sometimes it could be a bit difficult, but generally, if you were careful, you didn't run into (too much) trouble. “Yeah, there’s not much to worry about. Apart from the zombies, mind you. But they aren’t so bad. Just keep an eye out. And run like hell if you see any.” He decided against mentioning how some of them.. Seemed to be getting faster recently. It was strange. But he thought nothing of it. “When do you wanna go?” he asked, slipping off the chair and suddenly feeling re-energised. “Now? Tomorrow? Next week? ..Now?” he cocked his head to the side, ignoring how ‘now’ wouldn't be too great an idea since it was dark outside. But whatever.. Kyle was the King of bad ideas.
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notes: OKIEDOKIE. left it open for you to decide what to do. xP if you wanna take it outside, feel freeeeeee.