<div style="text-align: center">《 Anise and Armando 》<br/>
<i>Location: LDS Church<br/>
Addressing: Ezra, Rebel, Kennedy, Dan </i>​</div><br/><br/>Anise was terrified, pushing with everything she had to get the door closed again. It wasn't enough. Even with Rachel, it wasn't enough, and she knew it. Through the chaos of everything, she heard her brother. Giving her directions, which she complied with, trusting Ezra would get her out of the situation as he always did. The shot fired made everything else quiet for a moment, not because there was silence, but because her ears were temporarily ringing, be it from the sudden noise or her adrenaline pounding in her ears.<br/><br/>Ezra reached her quickly, adding his weight as he shoved rotten limbs back into the doorway. Finally, the door clicked back into place.<br/><br/>"Like you said, there will be other churches," Anise said, yanking Evelyn away from the front door. The woman finally seemed to consider that perhaps this wasn't the place she wanted to die and followed in stunned, horrified silence. Anise hadn't even considered that her brother's concern would turn to fury. If her mind hadn't been going a mile a minute, she might have caught it. As a result, she reacted too late.<br/><br/>"Ezra!" she shouted, running to reach her brother after he'd hit a stunned Rebel. Someone was going to shoot them if they kept up, between him and Kennedy and all the problems they were causing.<br/><br/>"I'm sorry!" she apologized to her brother. A stupid miscalculation on her part. She was reaching for Ezra's hands, checking him over, inspecting him for scratches and blemishes. Her heart was pounding, and after a second inspection, she threw her arms around Ezra, pulling him tight. Mostly, it was for his own reassurance. She was alright, though knew he needed a moment to cool off. She considered Rebel over her brother's shoulder, hoping he was pleased with himself.<br/><br/><br/>Armando grunted and shook his head. Blood poured from his nose. It had been a long time since he'd been hit in the face, especially with that sort of force, even if unintended. His senses returned to him as the anger faded, even as he landed in the pavement over a broken piece of asphalt. Momentarily blinded, he still had been pulling Kennedy back, trying to put distance so the two men couldn't go back at it again.<br/><br/>"Shut up," he growled, "Can you both just shut the fuck up?"<br/><br/>Noises faded out for a moment and he heard one of the girls screaming, then the sound of gunfire. Whose, he didn't know until he jumped up to try and assess the situation. The shot hadn't come from Rebel or Kennedy. Dan? He saw Ezra running towards the church, and that scene unfolding. Ezra came back to blame Rebel, though how was that fair?<br/><br/>"I told you that the church wasn't secure! You wanted us to secure it so Evelyn could check out and a few of you could pray?" He slung blood from his face and yanked Kennedy to his feet.<br/><br/>"Next person that hits one of us in the face is getting tied to the back of the carr-" His threat was cut off as he looked up the street to the horses careening in a panic, and Dan trying to stop them.<br/><br/>"Dan, move!" Armando shouted. The horses were wearing blinders, narrowing their vision. He didn't know by how much, but didn't think Dan should test their vision by moving in their pathway. He didn't hear him or didn't move fast enough, but luckily he was punted off a solid shoulder rather than trampled by panicked hooves. It went from bad to worse as the carriage caught, jerking the animals to an abrupt stop. Rigging snapped in places. The carriage groaned and splintered in complaint. The outside horse went up, coming down on a broken signpost.<br/><br/>Armando ran to aid Dan, first helping Clair out of the straining carriage, pointing her towards the others, shouting for her to get clear. He removing his knife to cut breaching and leather straps that he couldn't make sense off, trying to free the uninjured horse as it grew increasingly more distressed at its partners panic and whatever had spooked it from before. The smell of necros? The gunshot? Dan was trying to hold the animal. The twin shafts went next, cracking and slamming sideways into the two men as the uninjured horse double barrel kicked at the material knocking into its back legs that should not have been there. He dropped his knife and Armando yanked Dan back, letting the one ton beast destroy the carriage without kicking their faces in. It wasn't worth the loss of life, and eventually the horse broke free, dragging shaft chain against pavement as it bolted back the direction they came from. Blood marred its light grey coat, but it was hard to say if it was his blood or from the other horse's injuries. Its partner, in even more distress without the other horse, lashed out and flailed.<br/><br/>"Fuck," Armando lamented. He knew the horse was done for, though the noise it made as it struggled and screamed rivaled the worst thunderstorm he'd ever heard. It was a beacon straight to them from every necro and human in the surrounding area. He moved around, trying to grab hold of anything attached to the animal's face that he could use to keep it momentarily still. He pulled the driving rein underneath the wooden collar, curling the beast's neck towards its chest, and handing it off to Dan for him to hold tight. The huge draft horse was momentarily frozen, mouth gaping, nostrils flared, the sclera of its large eyes showing white.<br/><br/>He gestured Dan behind him, making sure his trajectory was clear and safe. Removing his firearm, he took his shot, standing off to the side to avoid being knocked around by the dangerous animal. An additional shot after Ezra's wouldn't matter so much now. It was the last remaining bullet in his secondary weapon, and he took aim between the animal's eyes one handed, expecting its legs would buckle and that would be the end of it. He wasn't trained in dispatching livestock. Instead, it ricocheted off the thick skull and and ended up in the pavement. It did nothing to subdue the beast. On the contrary, it made it all that much worse. It yanked hard enough to drag Dan into Armando, lashing out with punishing hooves. It caught Armando's weapon hand and dragging the handgun underneath its thrashing body. Pain shot up his arm. Down another gun (he wasn't about to try and recover it), a carriage, and one of Hale's horses. Armando could only pray the other had gone home and wouldn't succumb to any injuries they hadn't had a chance to take stock of.<br/><br/>"We have to leave it." The risk to wasn't worth it. For all of his effort, likely he'd gotten his hand broken. If he hadn't considered the possibility of deflection at close range, he might have bounced the projectile right back at himself.  He doubted he would be able to get close enough for a follow up shot even if he thought he could find a place to get a bullet to penetrate through to the brain. Even if he thought he could take aim on a flailing animal with his offhand. Even if he wanted to risk losing his primary weapon with the one remaining bullet chambered. Even if they had the time.<br/><br/>"We have to get everyone moving. Are you alright?" he asked, collecting his knife with his offhand from where it had skidded several feed away, turning his back to the suffering animal and redirecting to prevent loss of life.