<br/><div class="floatleft"> (http://katidamo.wikispaces.com/file/view/MadelynHeadshot.JPG/378449894/MadelynHeadshot.JPG)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Madelyn Kovac<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Jack's Apartment<br/><strong>Wearing:</strong>Gray Hoodie, Phantom Tee, Blue jeans, and Gray sneakers.<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Jack, Elena, Michael<br/><br/>Madelyn would be lying to herself if she didn't admit to being relieved. She could stay here for a bit with Michael and Jack could protect them. All her life she'd been able to hide behind big brothers when she really needed to, and today Jack was playing that role.<br/><br/>She sipped her coffee, and the hot liquid was just shy of burning her lips. It smelled wonderful. She'd always loved the smell of good coffee. The sounds coming from the kitchen foretold food's preparation and she wondered for a moment if she should offer to help. She pushed herself up from the couch and thought better of the idea as her head still wouldn't allow her to keep her balance. She was barely able to keep the mug in her hands steady before sliding back down to a sitting position. Thankfully there was nothing spilled. Madelyn's mind searched for other ways she could be of use. Maybe she could wire up some sort of alarm that would alert them when someone tried to get into the building. She'd wired up noisemakers for school plays before. A bit later she could ask Jack if he had any electrical tape. As for wiring she could just take apart an alarm clock.<br/><br/>Satisfied that she at least had a plan for when she could stand again, Madelyn paid attention when Elena spoke.<br/><br/>She mentioned Left for Dead and Madelyn recalled many a game with her older brothers, and it began to hit her how much she missed them even when they weren't dead. The pain was tenfold now, and given a lull in action, Madelyn's heart finally had the time to break. A tidal wave of sadness hit her as she really had time to think about what it meant to lose hope of ever seeing her brothers or her Father ever again.<br/><br/>It was exactly as she'd feared. The moment there was nothing to do,  she might break down. She kicked off her shoes so as not to mar the nice clean couch then drew her knees up to her chest. Then Madelyn pulled her hood up and moved her head so that her hair cascaded over her face. She didn't want the others to see her like this. All her life she'd put up a stong front, for the sake of her brothers and father because she knew all she had to do was cry to get what she wanted. She refused to abuse that power, preferring most of the time to solve her own problems.<br/><br/>But this time was different because no amount of crying would give her what she wanted. She wanted it to give her family back to her. The hugeness of the situation overwhelmed her. She felt buried alive in the scale of this apocalypse and the realization that this was in no way a video game and she herself be foolish to continue treating it as such even if it made it easier. So this time, in the lull between now and the next crisis, she would allow this indulgence of weakness for as long as she could keep it to herself. The floodgates were open. Normal tears washed away what was left ot the blood under her eye. She tried to be silent as she cried, with only an errant sniffle betraying her disposition. Maybe she could play it off as allergies...