Soft grunts filled the air as slender hands gripped oaken branches to pull the weight of a young woman up into the tree’s heights. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” She said breathlessly once she reached her destination. Body leaning against the tree’s narrowing trunk for support and hands becoming fists at the sight before her. Green infused hazel eyes watched a throng of dead wander around a Walmart that had been their destination of choice. “How does it look?!” A man’s voice yelled up into the branches and she turned to spare a glance down at her partner. “It doesn’t look like a fucking walk in the park, Godfrey!” She was greeted by momentary silence before he yelled again. “….So it’s like bad?”<br/><br/>“No it’s just peachy keen. YES! It’s<span style="font-style: italic">like</span>bad, you flipping moron!”<br/><br/>“Hey, no need to get sassy with me Trixie!”<br/><br/>Releasing an indignant huff Trixie sat down, dangling her legs, and trying to find a safe course to get inside. She chewed on her thumbnail in habit ignoring the sounds of Godfrey shuffling up the tree to sit at her side. “Daaaaaamn.” He whistled in awe. There was infected sauntering in all the streets near the abandoned shopping center and masses right outside it. “Glad to see America hasn’t changed so much that a Wal-mart is always packed with brainless idiots…. You see any Shrieks or Runners, Miss Hawkeye?”<br/><br/>First slapping Godfrey for making an Avenger reference then narrowing her eyes to try and get a better view of the streets she mumbled, “You know it’s hard to tell Runners apart from Husks. And Shrieks tend to stick in buildings or come out later in the evening. So to answer your question, no I don’t see any Runners or Shrieks. But there is a Hulk.” Godfrey’s eyes widened and he whipped his head in the direction Trixie was pointing. His curly afro slapping her in the face. “Hey! Watc-“ “You’ve got to be kidding.” He interrupted, speaking breathlessly as she once had. The blonde sighed patting her black friend on the back in comfort as they watched the huge monster push through the shambling Husks.<br/><br/>“I think we should look for another store to raid, don’t you think so?"<br/><br/>“Agreed…. And I really wanted to get some sports magazines out of there Trix. I’m fucking horny and you’re useless to me!”<br/><br/>“Ouch. Back at you. Who knows, maybe we’ll find us both some hot men in this apocalypse shithole yet, Reggie.”<br/><br/>They began their descent from their tall tree but stopped when Trixie raised a hand that curled into a fist. Godfrey quickly learned that meant halt and be quiet when he grouped up with the Ranger months ago. She gestured at a Runner walking at a fast pace down the Tacoma Park sidewalk. Godfrey watched as she reached back to grab her compound bow from its harness and plucked an arrow from the attached quiver. Steel arrow heads glittering dangerously in the morning’s light. She pulled the bowstring taut, touching it to her mouth, and released when the target was in her cross sights. Aluminum and steel embedding itself through the zombie’s eye socket causing it to stumble then fall over dead. Well dead again… Deader than before? Both humans released uneasy sighs and slipped down the rest of the way from their perch. Trixie retrieved her arrow and put it away but not before she wiped the gunk on Godfrey’s sleeve. “UGH! Really woman?!” The teen moaned, hands pulling the fabric of his thick flannel shirt to stare at the black stain, “This was once Abercrombie and Fitch!”<br/><br/>“Well now it’s Abercrombie and ick.”<br/><br/>She replied keeping her bow in hand as she moved across the park to a bush. She gave a low whistle and a bulky head pushed out of the branches. Slobber falling from large toothed maws and a tiny stump of tail wagging at its master. “Good boy! You stayed like a good boy didn’t you, Titan?!” Godrey Reginald Blackwood rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and leaned against a swing-set watching the woman before him patting a large Rottweiler.<br/><br/>Trixie Bee Savage was one of the strongest women he had ever come across. Hell, she was scarier and stronger than any man or zombie he had ever met too! You understood she was cut from the Cloth of Badass just by looking at her. When he first met her she had one side of her head shaved off with the other half of wild blonde hair blowing with the force of her Humvee moving under her. Crushing zombies apart while screaming at him to get in her damn vehicle. She was covered in tattoos and despite being so tall and lithe she had a surprising amount of sinewy muscles rippling under her skin. Trixie possessed a wide range of deadly skills from her years of service as a High-Ranking Officer in the Army Rangers. A very elite class of soldiers trained to be merciless. However what she had in perfected killing and survival skills was counteracted by her lack of skill at cooking, manners, and being considerate of others shortcomings.<br/><br/>But there was still a good heart there; after all she took him in, a coward of a gay teenager with no particular set of skills other than running and cooking, and she kept him alive. Godfrey let a smile grace his thick lips as his chocolate eyes continued to watch the woman wearing the strangest ensemble of a jean jacket, holey wrangler jeans, a pair of good steel toed boots, and an Aerosmith T-shirt yet still managed to make it look good despite it also being decked out in military-grade gear. It was like a bad 80’s cop movie. When she finished baby-talking Titan the Corpse Killer, yes that’s his full name, she stood running an archery gloved hand through her platinum locks and eyes moving to the large Walls in the East.<br/><br/>“I don’t know if we should move closer to the Haven or not, Reggie.” Her eyes moved back to look at the teen with the stupid expression on his face and raised an eyebrow. “Decided to go straight Reginald? Couldn't resist my charms any longer could you.”<br/><br/>“Not in this life. And don’t call me Reginald, Trix. Reggie is bad enough… And I have no clue whether we should or not. You’re the boss but we are low on supplies.” He sighed pursing his lips and scratching at his temple. Trixie chuckled hugging her bow close to her before going back to a serious expression. Absentmindedly stroking Titan’s head with her free hand while staring at the Tacoma’s Safe Haven. “Well if they follow routine’s like the ones we had in Salt Lake then afternoon outside patrols should be happening soon. It would be risky if they saw us, but their trucks would be drawing the attention of most the freaks in the area…”<br/><br/>Her brows furrowed in thought before she clapped a hand against her thigh and began moving. Godfrey grabbed his pack and shovel from under the tree they climbed and jogged to her side. “So? The plan is…” Trixie looked at him with a smirk patting his cheek. “We’ll do some recon. See what stores they are in the area closer to the Haven and check them for any leftover supplies. If we don’t find jack-shit we’ll decide whether to infiltrate or not.” Godfrey nodded and thus began an hour of dodging Husks and armored Haven vehicles scouting the area. They crouched low in the shadow of a broken golden arch that made Godfrey crave a greasy burger and stared at a CVS a few meters away. “Looks like a good place to start.” Trixie stated, her voice dropping into her serious soldier tone and Godfrey unconsciously trained now knew to be quiet and watch their six. She lifted her bow and took aim at a one of two Husks blocking the entrance, she gave a low two tone whistle and patted Titan’s collar which made the dog growl and hunch up. When she fired her arrow the dog raced forward as well tackling the other Husk and pinning it. Teeth ripping into the things throat until Trixie arrived and stabbed through the socket with an arrow. She signaled for Godfrey to high-tail it into the CVS, cautiously, and he swung the door open slowly. Shovel at ready as Trixie backed in behind him keeping her eyes on the road. “Clear.” He said and she nodded lowering her bow and closing the door behind them. “Alright split up and be careful. Look for anything useful. We are in and out in five.” Godfrey released a whine at her orders, palm sweaty with nerves. “You fucking chikenshit. Take Titan with you and you’ll be fine.”<br/><br/>“M’kay….” He said as she went left and he and Titan went right.