ZOMBIES [open]

[Elenaphant]

It had spread over the city in a matter of a week. In the first day people it was almost difficult to believe. Reports of corpses reanimating, chewing flesh? The skeptical remained it was media sensationalism. Clearly someone had been using bath-salts, or it was some poor hobo who contracted something fierce from the rats and garbage they'd eat. By day three, a significant portion had contracted the disease, and all it took for it to kick in was a scratch. Government officials began quarantine; people urged to take caution and stay away from public places until things cooled down. Schools and malls shut down, while brave store-owners tried to sell to a public that had gone into survival mode. Firearms were being bought in large quantity one way or another, though officials were strongly against going out and shooting the victims. The medical sector couldn't keep up with the infection rates, and the people were demanding answers. Conspiracy theories ran wild. Was it biological warfare, or was one of their dastardly neighbourhood psychopaths responsible? A natural mutation thanks to the over-prescription of antibiotics? Vegetarians swore it was in the meat, thanks to the lack of hygiene of today's industrial farming--meat eaters have ruined humanity for good and turned veggie puritans into cannibals. 

By the end of the week, the number of walking dead were in the thousands. The streets weren't safe to walk in; hordes travelled and most frighteningly they retained some intelligence. They'd crowd shelters, attempt to shatter windows, set things on fire. The closer they got to fresh blood the more frenzied they became. Cyborg and Starfire had just finished putting out a fire. Thank goodness they had people who could fly on their team, because Cy was not driving his baby through all that. Neither of them would have made it without mowing them over. 

"This is frightening," Starfire admitted as she looked down at the rotting masses. "Only a few days ago these people were fine."

"We're all infected, Star. The moment our body starts shutting down, we're like them." 

They needed fuel to keep the generators running. While the zombies couldn't swim, there were still villains out there who would take advantage of a situation like this. Then there was the need for amenities and running water. The immediate danger gone, they took off in search for supplies.

ooc: Feel free to hop on in however you like; the setting is general. 

[Deleted]

When the world ended seemingly overnight, Paige abandoned everyone she knew, save for her brother. When the memories couldn't be ignored, she thought about whether the other members of the Rats Nest had survived; they were probably in the bellies of the walkers that had flooded the old subway tunnels, she'd guessed. It all happened fast, too fast. She remembered leaving for a mission, just a routine snatch and grab, when the aging decrepit groans echoed throughout tunnels that had been abandoned for years. As it stood, she barely escaped the horde; there wasn't enough time to warn the others, either. Day by day she witnessed people being eaten alive, was that the fate of her fellow mercenaries? As she stood on the balcony of her foster parents' apartment flat and watched the chaos in relative safety, she didn't see any reason to doubt that.

Nos probably got out. Bastard's tough, a bunch of slow, dumb corpses won't stop him.[/i] [/font]Paige thought, knowing that such self-reassurances were pointless. Even if they did survive, she couldn't expect them to help her, not when she was in such a hopeless situation. The apartment flat was overrun, it's former residents crowded outside her door after she'd rushed in, a frenzied pile of furniture barely kept them out. What's worse, Neil had been bitten when her foster parents turned. Their corpses were splayed out on the pavement beneath the balcony, paper daggers were still lodged into their foreheads. She'd done her best to dress the nasty bite wound on her brother's ankle and keep him in bed. They didn't talk about it after that; Paige, because doing the rational thing was out of the question; and Neil, because he didn't want to make his sister suffer any more than he was already.

"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUUUUCK!" Screamed Paige in a rage, not caring about the small group of walkers that faced her. She cursed a world that seemed to hate her, a city that was supposed to be new start, and herself for failing the one person she cared about. By the time she was done shouting, her throat felt raw, and her face beet red, all cathartic feelings to her. Giving the city one last hate filled glare, she walked back into her apartment and sat at the kitchen table. A Beretta with a full, ten bullet clip rested beside a tourist's map of Jump, which was marked marked with a bright red sharpee; her apartment was crossed out, while gun stores, supermarkets, and pharmacies close by were circled.

Neil needed medicine, he was still moaning. Pain killers, antibiotics, fresh gauze for his constantly bleeding wound, alcohol; all things that she'd run out of and needed by the end of the day. Paige kept telling herself that he'd pull through, he was a Murdock after all, Murdocks were supposed to be the toughest bastards around. Thinking that didn't keep her from glancing at the hand gun every now and again, and swearing that it wouldn't come to that did nothing to reassure her.

"Right... Right okay, closest pharmacy is just two blocks away. I can do this... I can do this. Need some fresh water, non-perishable food. Energy drinks. Need... need those too." The fact that most of the survivors in this district were either gone, dead, or walkers didn't dissuade her. If she waited any longer, she'd starve, and that meant Neil wouldn't have someone to take care of him.

She dressed lightly; plain blue jeans, brown work boots, a drab green button-up shirt that half halfway tucked in so that it wouldn't be too uncomfortable to have a pistol stuffed in the back of her pants. Going out the front door wasn't an option, which left the balcony drainage pipe. She'd found that it was made to last, whether it could support her weight was another question altogether. Though if she did fall and break her legs, at least she could punch her own ticket before she'd feel teeth chomping down. Before she left, Paige walked into Neil's room. There, she could see that he'd gotten worse; his skin was ashen white, and his veins were grey and sickly looking.

Instead of grimacing, she forced a weary smile. Neil's eyes blinked open and looked her way. Even that simple act appeared painful to him. "Sis... You don't have to go out there..." He said in a coarse whisper. 

For a while, Paige let that sit while she gathered a leather backpack and slung it over her shoulders after stuffing it with a few notebooks, "...I do. We need food, and you need medicine. Nobody is coming, Neil, not the army, not the cops, not even the..." she stopped, not wanting to say 'Titans', "I'll be fine, okay? I'm faster than they are. Just try to sleep, and I'll be back before night hits.

"...Please don't die, Paige."

She couldn't answer him.

The drainage pipe, fortunately enough, held up when Paige made her way down it. When she stepped lightly to the ground, she took in the scene: piles of wrecked and flaming cars as far as the eye could see; buildings and stores with smashed, bloody windows; corpses strewn across the street and in cars, most bearing signs of decay; but what Paige wanted to look out for the most were the walkers, the corpses that decided to get up and walk again. She and Neil had seen enough zombie flicks to get the gist of their behavior; slow, dumb, but tenacious and prone to herding together when they see a fresh piece of meat. She didn't underestimate them for a second, the screams of those who did served as a reminder of what would happen if she did the same.

As far as she could see, the streets were mostly deserted, save for the occasional walker feasting on a dead body inside a car or on the street. Nonetheless, Paige made her way down the sidewalk crouched low, gun in hand. She was familiar with it, but wouldn't pull the trigger unless she absolutely had to, bullets were scarce and precious. Fortunately, she didn't feel that that risk would arise, as she made it down the block unhindered in ten or so minutes, good time. She didn't stop to rest, though, as there were only a few hours left until night time. All the while, thoughts of surviving kept her pushing forward.

[Deleted]

It seemed like the world was on fire, buildings, cars, people. Charlie looked over the city with teary eyes. Quickly she wiped them away with the back of her sleeve though since no one was watching, the tears didn’t really stop. The short-haired blonde looked over the scene from the roof of her safe haven, an empty water tower on a four story building. Her metal bat had found a better use by barring the door to keep the zombie horde out. So far they hadn’t come looking for her but incase they did she had everything ready to pack. Charlie was good at running away, from people, emotions and luckily hordes of the undead. God she should have watched those stupid zombie movies! Then she would have run soon when the rich families started flooding her yard, snarling and disfigured. She had thought it was some elaborate joke at first, but when they went for Mab... Charlie sobbed at the memory. Her house wasn’t exactly Fort Knox but the large oak doors held long enough for her to grab a few things and fly off the balcony.

Now she was looking at a city was on fire, and she had no where to go. Her instincts took over when she heard banging coming from the metal door below. The fight or flight ones, but for Charlie it was always flight. Soon she was floating higher and higher as the feeling of running grew, it was funny how she always wanted to control her powers on command and now that she more or less could it just worried her more. Quickly she flew away before the door basically exploded off its hinges. Charlie wasn’t worried about being spotted, people rarely looked up as it is and zombies were no different. She was just relieved none of them could fly, now if Starfire or Raven had been zombiefied then Charlie would panic.

The streets below seemed deserted enough so she floated down, her sneakers landed softly in an alley and kept low to the ground. There were a few of the undead around, but they were scarce and to busy doing... things to notice the blonde girl. Slowly she crept around the corner to see what looked like a pharmacy roughly a half a block away. She need to restock on some things, water mostly and some food would be nice. In her scramble to escape from her large house Charlie had managed to fine some first aid supplies, it was a great find but you couldn’t eat gauze.

“Okay Charlie you’re playing ninja,” she whispered to herself and wiped her face again. Tears would only hinder her now. Her green eyes glanced at every shadow and every sound, but with every scene she saw Charlie wished she could keep them closed. Blood everywhere, bodies charred or dismembered. With effort she kept down the protein bar still in her stomach, when her eyes trailed up to the faces of these bodies she glanced away. She wouldn’t be able to stay on the ground if she saw their eyes. Quickly she slipped into the building through a small hold in the wall and nearly screamed when she came face to face with a corpse. Not a moving one, their brains were smeared all over the tiled floor meaning they wouldn’t get up ever again. Needless to say the protein bar came up after that.

She managed to compose herself in a few moments. Now it was time to collect what she could. Charlie started stuffing bags of chips and protein bars into her backpack. Every so often she glanced around for anything moving. It was now that she regretted leaving her bat behind.

(OOC: Yes Sporkums she's in the store you're about the raid^^ Incase you didn't already know.)

[Gaunt]

This wasn't really anything new to Gaunt. Sure, he'd never had to deal with it on this scale, but it wasn't like he'd never seen zombies before. He had been through some wild times in LA a few years back, and he'd made it through all right then. The last decade had made things easier. Vampires grew stronger with age, and Gaunt was noticeably more powerful than he'd been then.

Unfortunately, the rest of the city wasn't coping so well. There was a quarantine in effect, and the entire city was in a panic. That was bad for business, to say the least. Normally Gaunt wasn't the biggest fan of law and order, but a bare minimum of stability was needed to keep his business going. He was going to have to help in cleaning this up. Gaunt loaded himself up, with armored canteens of blood and packing bandoliers and ammo belts with spare clips for Vera. The gun was slung across his back, ready as a last resort.

"Seal it off and lock the place down after I leave. No zombies allowed in. If one of you turns, you know how to handle it." With one last instruction to the Renfields, Gaunt was on his way. He could hear the magnetic locks sealing behind him as he headed down the tunnels. There weren't many zombies down in the old subways yet, so it was an easy trip. Probably for the best, it wasn't long after sunset. His powers weren't at their peak quite yet.

By the time he reached the surface, Gaunt was at full power again. With a moment's focus, that power came to the surface. Energy surged through his entire body as his vampiric strength charged up. One shove ripped the rusted gates off their hinges, sending them flying into the crowd of zombies outside. The lesser undead were crushed or knocked aside as the iron hit them. "All right, you silly sods, come and get it!" Gaunt shouted. He wasn't worried. He was immune to disease, and had enough blood back in the Warren for a full transfusion if he needed it. This would be a cakewalk for someone like him.

[Deleted]

Vincent had been deep in sleep the moment he felt the corruption start to spread. It was a sensation like no other; a darkness Vincent knew would leave its mark on the world. The presence of that darkness stirred Akroxus and tore at the seals between the two. Memories of Vincent's past flooded into the boy and shattered the innocence he had been holding onto all this time. The process seemed to only last mere moments, but days had passed in the outside world. And chaos had spread like a wild fire.

He awoke in a cold sweat to a dark room. Already the embers from his forge had burned out. A flick of his wrist and a light orb appeared to show he was still his room. Weapons were scattered everywhere still. No one had come into his room once the corruption had started. Not like anyone would have been able to do so. The stasis Vincent had fallen into would have prevented anyone from entering.

"How long has it been?" Vincent asked out loud as if he was talking to himself. However, a voice inside his mind answered.

'A couple of days. While you slept, a darkness has ravaged this world. What happened to protecting this world?'

"You know very well my wish is to return to our world. We do not belong here. Unfortunately, we must deal with this affliction before finding a way back."

Only a hollow laughter resonated within Vincent's mind before the silence returned, and the silence was deafening. Vincent considered checking to see if anyone was still in the tower, but he knew he had nothing to say to any of them. He rummaged through all his belongings and dressed himself, placing armor plating over his arms, legs, and torso before throwing a black cloak over it all. He was reminded of the first few weeks he had spent with Akroxus, but the darkness he had contended with then was nothing like the darkness that was out here. A silver light washed over the room as all the various weapons were pulled into the bracers he had on. Vincent did have his twin blades at his sided, but there was no telling just what was out there. Plus, it was too dangerous to leave all his weapons just laying around. They would be put to better use with him.

Vincent materialized on the roof of the tower to see a ravaged city before him. Smoke rose from all throughout the city from all the countless fires. The most prominent sensation was that of death. It filled the air, and Vincent could feel that corruption inside of him. It was everywhere already. At least he could feel the presence of survivors out there. Now it was time to get to work.

He disappeared in a silver blur before materializing in the middle of a street. Vincent did not move, but the undead immediately turned to him. It was almost as if his energy had alerted them. That was a discouraging thought, and there was only one way to test it out. Vincent drew his blade and flashed forward, decapitating a couple of the undead instantly and silently. The bodies crumbled to the ground, and Vincent narrowed his eyes as the removed heads continued to make gnawing motions at him. There was no hesitation as he blasted the heads with his energy, leaving scorch marks on the asphalt.

Unfortunately, it seemed his energy was drawing some of them as other undead rambled down the street. It would make movement considerably slower, but Vincent could deal with it. This was not his first time moving through an army of the undead. He pulled the hood up over his head and ran into the shadows with silent steps.

'Why do you insist on helping them? They brought this devastation upon themselves.'

'That may be true, but not all deserve such a cruel fate.'

'As you wish. You should head over to store in the right. Someone you know is there.'

Again Vincent scowled as he felt the demon fall silent. He had to wonder how the demon could feel energy in his current state, but he would have to deal with that later. He was more interested in who could possibly be there that the demon recognized. So Vincent quickly made his way through the alleys to the other side and stopped in a shadow as he scouted out the street. No large groups of the undead. Good. Vincent could only see a couple here and there. Easy enough to avoid.

Just to be safe Vincent drew one of his swords before dashing across the street. He was nothing but a black blur as he zoomed across into the shadows near a broken window. So the undead only noticed him when he actively used his energy. That was good to know so he could still enhance his body with his power. Vincent would have sighed in relief, but this was no time to relax just yet. With the sun over the horizon, things would be considerably more dangerous now. He had to find whoever was in this place and find a place to hold up for the night. So Vincent entered the store, sword at his side as he slowly made his way around to try and find any sign of life.

[Deleted]

Finally, she'd arrived. Everett's Pharmacy, once owned by a middle-aged couple savvy enough to fortify their business. In the end, it wasn't enough, and for days nobody could grab the valuables inside after the horde broke through. Now that the store was barren, Paige could only hope that potential looters had died or moved on before they could hit the place. She crouched behind a parked minivan and cased the store from a distance. The glass on the display windows were smashed, with bits poking out all around; it'd definitely be risky to mantle over. The door, meanwhile, was knocked clean over; though stepping on that broken glass would give away her position. In the end, Paige decided to give the window a try; but as soon as she was ready to move out, she saw another person, a girl, clear out some of the glass on the window and climb into the store.


"Shit." Paige muttered, eyes darting all around for signs of other survivors or walkers that the girl might have led. Mercifully, there weren't any hushed whispers or nightmarish groans. So she had a single looter who looked about her age, definitely not a match for someone with her skills. Creeping up on the pharmacy, Paige slowly traced the girl's steps into the store. There, she could see her vomiting up her lunch at the sight of a dead body, one of the first walkers the Everett's shot, probably. Silently, Paige cursed the girl, she didn't know if there were any other dead around!

Paige then realized that the girl wasn't going for medical supplies, just food. Food that could easily feed two people for a day or two. Food that could mean less time spent looting another store and staying on the streets. Food that she needed more than this stupid stranger that would probably get her killed with all her crying and vomiting. Paige didn't even realize that she'd pulled out her gun, and for a moment, she stared at it.

Could I really murder someone? For a few snacks?

She didn't believe there was a God or a Heaven, just what was right or wrong, good or evil. Murder was definitely on her list of 'evil' things one could do. But... she'd murdered before to keep Neil and herself safe. The only difference is that her victims were already dead. And this girl wasn't trying to kill her, she was just looking after herself; just like her. Hell, maybe she had a family too. 

So the girl wasn't trying to kill her...not yet. The world had gone to Hell, and she herself was living proof of how low people would stoop to survive. With that very dangerous possibility in mind, Paige slowly crept up on the girl. Her mind was running at a hundred miles and hour, cobbling together a plan. She decided that she'd only shoot if the girl gave her trouble. 

Gently, Paige pressed the barrel of her pistol against the small of the girl's back, where she guessed was her spine. In a low, dangerous voice, she spoke, "I want your stuff. Move, do anything that might make me angry, and I'll put a bullet in your god damn spine, take your stuff anyway, and get away before a bunch of dead come and eat you alive." She couldn't believe she'd just said that. Leaving someone to be eaten alive? What the hell was wrong with her?!


You're doing this for Neil. Think about Neil. He'll die without food, not just medicine.

That rationale didn't comfort her in the slightest, but it didn't dissuade her from continuing to threaten this stranger. The scary thing was, she was completely prepared for the possibility that she'd try to fight back, and she wouldn't hesitate to make good on her threat. For this stranger's sake, she hoped she understood that a very desperate person was robbing her.

[Deleted]

Tanami was, quite possibly, one of the safest people in the city during this apocalypse. Granted, he was on his own, and that wasn't a good thing to be during a zombie outbreak. The fact remained that sand was a very effective method of keeping ones personal space to oneself. A few shambling zombies stood in his way as he rushed down the street, but to be completely honest they didn't stand a chance in hell of catching him. Perhaps there really was no cure for this condition, but Jacob Katran was not one to give up hope that easily. He wasn't going to kill these things if he could help it. That said, he wasn't going to lose any sleep if push came to shove. The man was a sight, really; a man in a baseball uniform from a decade ago, and from Gotham to boot, toting a bag that seemed stretched around a massive block of some sort. It was harder to carry the 60 pound weight, and he'd already lost focus a couple times, with predictable back-pain related results, but the added 20 pounds of stopping power was a fair trade off.

The wannabe hero wasn't going to just protect himself when he had the power to help other people. He'd seen smoke go up in several plumes from a couple streets over, and he'd set off at a dead run, careful not to injure himself and draw the noses of the zombies as a whole. A streetsign, bent at almost 90 degrees, told him that he was close to where the flames had started, but several plumes of smoke had disappeared. Sand started leaking from the redhead's backpack, falling through the mesh and floating behind him, as though connected to his back with invisible strings. The cloud spread to a considerable size; loose sand had much more volume than the same mass of sandstone. He turned the corner, ready to blast zombies off whatever shelter they'd set fire to, only to find two people of some note floating in the street over the ashes of a former car flame. The baseball player walked closer to the flying pair, sand sweeping over smaller flames and smothering them with a wave of his arms. "Starfire and Cyborg? Does this mean the Titans have some idea of what to do? Need an extra pair of hands, maybe?"

[Deleted]

While packing the food away in her bag she indulged herself in one of the candy bars she’s found on the ground. The taste of chocolate and carmel quickly overcame the taste of bile from earlier’s stomach purge. She was quick in her packing efforts because one never knew when a mob of the undead would fill the streets. Charlie wasn’t sure if she should worry about survivors, she had mostly watched them from rooftops until she knew they were no danger to her. Then she would converse with them, see if they knew any safe places to hid. Occasionally they would bargain or ask her to join their group, and as much as Charlie wanted to she felt it was smarter to travel alone unless things got really out of hand.

The feeling of something cold and foreign on her lower back confused her. Charlie was about to turn around when a voice spoke, low and threatening. It was a girl from what she could tell, looking for her supplies. Dammit! She should have been more careful! She urged herself to be calm, if this girl saw her start floating who know how she would react. Her mind quickly worked out what she could possibly say to someone desperate to survive. What would she say to herself? She would say something human, not a sob story but try to appeal to the survivor. “P-please don’t shoot,” she whispered and cursed herself for stuttering. With a deep breath she continued, “Look killing me and stealing my stuff might hold you over for a couple days but it’s better to have someone watch your back out there.” She held her arms out, “I am completely unarmed and I’m not dangerous to you I promise.”

Very slowly she started to turn towards the girl when she noticed another person in the store clad in what appeared to be armor. Her eyes noticed a sheathed sword at his side and lowered her head in defeat. “So my luck ran out, I was wondering when it would,” she mumbled. Charlie stood very still and took a deep breath to calm her racing heart, her feet were hovering centimeters off the ground. 

“I promise I can be useful,” she said but not pleaded. It would only make her seem weak and in this world it could get her killed. “I can go places others can’t and I’m a great medic, could stitch up just about anything,” from her multiple crash landings came gashes and wounds she’d taken care of herself besides saying a medic seemed like a great plan to survive, everyone needed a medic more than ever right now. “I’m a great thief and I’m fast, you could use me to get supplies. So please don’t kill me or take my things, the undead have it right with strength in numbers,” with another deep breath she tried to shut up her inner voice saying to try and go for the gun. Tears were threatening to fall again but she bit the inside of her cheek so hard the metallic taste of blood covered her tongue. If these were her last moments she would not show anyone her tears, instead she tired smiling.

[Feathers]

Silverwing was in the Titans tower when it happens. No one was aware where the walkers came from, or how it even started. But that wasn’t her main concern of right now. She was more concern about her family, her grandfather in Star City. Lately, they manage to stay in touch through text message and phone calls. It was the first time that both party had something to share more than the usual do.

Making each contact as if it was their last, and the hope to look onwards the hour and days ahead of them. But sadly, 5 hours ago the line was dead. She wasn’t sure if it had to Star City lines or Jump City. Point was, they both lost touch with one another. With a hundred and millions of question running through their mind, wondering if the other was safe and sound.

Scare. She started to pray. She prays to the Big Guy in the sky, to watch over her family and friends. She pray that a cure or a solution would be found, to end the madness. She wouldn’t mind if he took a few life of her to make it happen. She just wanted the trouble to end.

Ending her prayers with a heavy sign. She started to scan through camera surveillance. Hacking through the security camera. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but she need to do something or find something. Maybe a solution?

And gosh, does she need to pray often? She saw something absurd but possibility a hope. She turns her attention to one camera, taken from Downtown Street. Instantly, she recognizes the hairless pale ghostly looking men. It was Mr. Nos! Don’t judge by his appearance, he had saved her neck in the past, and forgotten about him.

“STAR! CYBORG! YOU NEED TO LOOK AT THIS!” She pulls the camera to full screen, showing Mr Nos. Taking down the walkers like twig, despite several of them hanging on his back. She started typing codes to sent the video capture to her team mates. "Urgh...guys!?" She held her breath, and trying her best not to think the worse case scenario.

OCC: Elena, I hope you don't mind thats Silverwing is in the tower. Radio-ing, you guys (or anyone) with info. Beware, gramatical error. I had to post super quick during lunch break. So, I'll tidy the tiny details later. *finger cross* Oh, and Gaunt gave me the permission post him looking like a member of Expendables!

[Deleted]

Vincent could make out faint noises as he made his way through the pharmacy. He found a couple of corpses here and there but found no reason to be worried as the heads had been destroyed. Whoever had been in here before had been proficient in holding out against the undead. So there was a chance someone was still alive in here. By the looks of items still remaining, this place was a good area to start. It was finally once he heard a voice that Vincent knew he was in the right place.

He turned the corner to find someone holding another person at gunpoint. His first thought was to rush forward and disarm the person until he saw that bright orange hair. Vincent simply stood there as he lowered his blade. He had not expected to run into her of all people first. She had been gone forever and now here she stood before him. Sure, she was threatening the other girl, but at least she was still alive.

'Don't tell me you still care about her after she disappeared without a word?'

Vincent just ignored the voice as he noticed the other girl floating. Another metahuman. He had to wonder if only gifted individuals had survived this chaos. If that was the case, it offered some ideas as to why these undead were attracted to his energy. However, he had a situation to deal with first.

"Put the gun down, Paige," Vincent said after he other girl had finished her long explanation. If Paige did not know he was there, she most certainly would now. He pulled down his hood as well so there would not be any question about his identity. Vincent had no idea what Paige had been through, but he was not going to let an innocent be hurt.

"There are enough supplies here for all of us and more. No need to scare the girl," he continued to try and persuade her. The other girl had done an excellent job in keeping herself together, but Vincent recognized the fear in her eyes. There was only so much a person could handle that was not experienced in this kind of environment.

'Now this is certainly interesting. I never imagined your little friend would have turned into a killer...'

'She has not killed anyone yet. But we do what we must to survive. Even if we do not like it...'

'And you would know all about that. Wouldn't you?'

'...'

Vincent took in a deep breath to steady himself and keep himself from falling to the demon's taunts. His grip on his sword tightened, and that could easily be mistaken as a response to Paige not having backed down yet. He really hoped she did as she was the last person Vincent wanted to raise a weapon against.

"We can figure this out, Paige," Vincent said as he stepped to the side where he would be in clear view of her. Everything that happened next would all depend on Paige's next actions, and Vincent was hoping for the best.

[Deleted]

The moment her victim started to beg for her life, Paige steeled her emotions. She couldn't afford to feel sorry for this stranger; much less trust that she wouldn't slit her throat in her sleep. Still, when the blond slowly turned around, Paige didn't make good on her promise by backing away. "I'm not going to kill you," said Paige through gritted teeth; "I just need these supplies more than you do." The girl might have disagreed, but she wasn't in a good position to argue. In fact, Paige wasn't sure she even heard her over her own blubbering. 

Screw it, it'd be easier to just knock her out. I'm wasting daylight here...

Paige turned the pistol over and grasped in by the barrel; ready to smash the butt into the girl's head, when she was stopped after noticing her seemingly grow a few inches. Quickly glancing down, Paige saw that the girl was floating. She was a super, and that made her far, far more dangerous than a normal human. In her head, she could see this girl, a flier, easily breaking into her apartment and taking her revenge, maybe finding Neil in the process, the result would be obvious. She grasped the pistol properly and gradually leveled the sights to the blond's stomach, she'd need to be the one keeping the walkers busy while she cleaned the place out. Paige's arms were shaking, her finger trembled against the trigger. Her first kill would be a defenseless survivor whom was unfortunate enough to have powers.

Don't take any chances, it's either her... or you.

She started to squeeze the trigger-

"Put the gun down, Paige," someone demanded tersely, and Paige's finger depressed the trigger.

How?

She didn't need to look to know who it was, Vincent, that idiot savant whom she'd met and shared an uncomfortable first meeting with. Part of her was glad to know that he'd survived, but now his presence complicated things. She wasn't going to put her survival at risk just because it was the "good" thing to do. "Not going to happen." She said, keeping her eyes trained on the blond, her finger still hovering over the trigger. She knew that killing them both was the right thing to do, the smart thing, but Vincent's presence made it difficult to do something that... callous. She blamed his good nature.

At his attempt to reason, Paige rolled her eyes, knowing that he was talking bullshit. She'd seen the shelves, pharmacies couldn't feed three young adults. She wasn't sure what to say, so she kept her silence and continued to train the gun on the blond. Part of her was hoping that Vincent would make this easy by trying to stop her with force. She was disappointed then, when he sighed and walked to the blond's side. Apart from the dishevelment, he looked much the same. There was something very different about him though, he looked hardened, less naive. 

Then again, he wanted to work things out, like this situation was just a simple disagreement and not a matter of life or death. Before Paige knew what she was doing, she'd started to shout, "God dammit, there's no figuring out shit! In case you didn't realize, we're stuck in a city full of monsters! The people who tried to 'figure things out' are the corpses trying to kill us! I'm surviving because I'm willing to do whatever it takes to stay alive! Food is scarce, sharing isn't a possibility, and trusting people to do the right thing, the logical thing, is only gonna get me killed! So no, we're not gonna figure this out, you two are gonna get the hell out of this store, because all of this shit is mine!"

Paige glared pure venom at Vincent, unaware of the steady stream of tears flowing down her cheeks. Everything she'd said was true, but she'd left out that it was also the reason why she despised herself for devolving into something so... monstrous. Even her self-reassurances that it was all for Neil couldn't help her deny what she'd become. If she survived all of this, which was doubtful, she'd punish herself accordingly. Right now, however, she had to deal with the guy who was looking ready to use that sword of his. She shifted her aim, lining the barrel so that it was facing Vincent's chest. "I won't ask you again, Vincent." She said softly, her tone was apologetic, but stern. She didn't want to kill him.

Unbeknownst to the survivors, a small posse of zombies, numbering between five and ten, had wandered down the street. The sounds of something shouting, something alive, aroused their primal curiosity. They shambled towards a pharmacy, rotting men, women, and children, hoping to find their next meal.

[Buse]

The girl ran. She had to get somewhere - anywhere safe. The situation was crazy. There were dead men and women walking the land, hungry for the living. It was a real nightmare, which before that moment belonged only to the wildest imaginations(or to every other horror movie). Every time she thought she had lost them, she would end up face to face with more monsters. She was hungry, she was tired, and most of all, she was scared - more scared than she had ever been in her whole life. She just wanted to go home, but even then, deep down she knew her home was long lost. And it was running from zombies that she ended up reaching a dead end. She tried to turn around, but a trio of zombies had already closed the only exit, and were approaching slowly. She took a couple steps back, ending up with her back to the wall... that was really how it was going to end? Killed and eaten by zombies in a forgotten and forsaken alley?

"Wow, you look eight kinds of boned", a voice above her proclaimed. Looking up, she saw a boy... a man? A dude in his 19's, in a white T-Shirt, black pants and boots and a brown overcoat, with a black domino mask and green headphones slung around his neck, nonchalantly sitting on top of the wall. "Seriously, you might as well be drowning in tea. Well, not anymore, since I'm here. You really could have won the lottery some good five times with that luck, you know."

Before the girl could utter a single world, the boy jumped down, landing on front of her. In his hands, she could see... boxing gloves? Yes, golden boxing gloves. Was he insane?

"Yo, ever wanted to figure how Rocky Balboa would fare against three zombies? Not gonna lie, I always wondered that myself." He continued talking as the zombies approached, completely calm. Not only that, but he turned around so he could face her - and have his back to the zombies. "I mean, he'd get tea if he were to face a zombie apocalypse, since he's only a normal human and all. But seriously, how many zombies could he take at once if he were at peak physical condition? Some five, six? I mean, he's just a boxer, and most normal humans can't do this." And just like that, he quickly turned around, using the spin to throw a zombie to the ground with a single punch to the face. The other two were still a couple meters from him. "You can call me Expresso, by the way. Nice to meet ya." Without even stopping to breathe, he advanced, clotheslining a zombie to the ground and backhanding the second one. Before the first zombie could get up, he punched his face again, managing to... well, let's say the zombie wouldn't get up again. Noticing the positive effect, he quickly did the same to the other two. "Wow, never thought these guys would be so... squishy. Anyways, are you alright?" He finished, turning towards the girl.

The girl nodded. Well, that was it, she was saved. Though... what would she do now?

The hero answered that question. "Well, there's a working safehouse that way", he said, pointing out a direction. "The path back is zombie-free if you go around the block and follow the 9th street. I'm going to go the other way, see if I can attract some more zombies, clean the area up a bit. Good luck!"

She opened her mouth to thank him, but before she could say anything, he was already gone.

[Elenaphant]

Cyborg was the one who answered the radio call. Starfire had gone off in the opposite direction and deposited him on a rooftop. Until she returned, he was sort of stranded... unless he wanted to brave the zombies. Considering that night was falling, he didn't think it was worth the risk just yet. All it takes is one bite and you're done for. The team couldn't afford to lose members. He turned on his communicator, and back at the tower his face filled the holographic screen. On his communicator he could see Silverwing, and noticed her upset.

"Hey, hey, don't panic. The tower is the most secure place in all of Jump City. You'll be fine," he soothed, which was a little funny since he was the one outside, alone, with the sun setting behind the horizon. Reassuring her helped him stay calm. "What's this you need to show me?"

The screen on his communicator switched to a feed of one of the many surveillance cameras around Jump, that he himself had worked on to install with the help of Robin, and city's law enforcement. What he saw wasn't exactly the most comforting image. Those were once people he was taking down. Anger and frustration quickly rose within him; he couldn't hide his expression. Even if they found a cure, how were they supposed to bring them back hacked and slashed? They couldn't. After all this was over, if it was ever over, Jump would be a ghost town.

There was nothing the Titans could do about it.

Shaking his head of the bleak thought, he tried to connect to his teammate. "Starfire, we're going to need to head out and stop a mass slaughtering. In this case I'm not sure who we're helping; the zombies or the villain. Head back to my current location."

He waited for a 'roger that' or whatever would be Starfire's equivalent. It didn't come. "Starfire, do you copy?" He waited again and was answered to radio silence.

Now he was worried. "Starfire? Are you there? Do you read me?" He switched over. "Silverwing, I'm unable to reach Starfire. Use the computer surveillance to try and find her location. I'm hoping it's just a technical problem."

Cyborg couldn't entertain worst case scenarios now. "I'm heading out. Wish me luck."

[Deleted]

Twitch stood on top of a Dumpster, a walker dumbly throwing itself at the metal platform before shifting its attention as the blue-haired hero jumped over to a safer fire escape. He hooked one arm through the ladder as his communicator let out a small ring. The masked man reached into his pocket and pulled out the small yellow device, flicking it open to see the face of everyone's favorite half-robot talking to the wrong person.

"Starfire, do you copy?"

"Hey, Cyborg. I think you have some tech issues. This is Twitch. What's this mass slaughter you're talking about? Give me directions." He flipped off the fire escape and darted away from the zombie, afraid to fight back for fear of damaging the rotting person. He didn't want to kill anyone. He agreed with the Titans' point of view; there had to be a cure, and you couldn't cure someone who was in several pieces. "I'll make my way over there."

[Buse]

Man, I should have gotten a baseball bat. Expresso kept going through the city, trying to reach downtown, or at least a place with a high zombie population. He had to protect whoever was still alive... really? Ok, truth be told, he didn't really care. Sure, dead people don't buy coffee, and he liked some of the citizens. But all in all, he was just having his fun.

"When you're super, you know what to do... kill zombies!
Drink some coffee and go crazy too... punch zombies!
The situation is pretty bad,
Pretty much everybody is dead,
Gotta hit those tea drinkers in the head...
Kill zombies, yeah!"

The hero... hero? The super went around town, singing a made-up-on-the-spot tune to himself as he went, stopping along the way just to spray "no zombie is safe from Chicago Ted" on a wall. After a bit of walking, he remembered he had headphones around his neck... but before he could turn them on, he noticed a small concentration of zombies ahead. Wait, not just that... there was a fight? Yeah, there was some ugly dude punching those walkers out as if they were nothing. Expresso decided to put the gloves and headphones back in the pocket dimension and, after pull out the big guns: His gauntlets, of course, and a large boombox. "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!"

A song started playing in the boombox as he dashed towards the fight, kicking a couple zombies out of the way and punching a third one out, leaving a small free area near the other fighter for Expresso to put the boombox down and then dash towards him, smashing the heads of the zombies that clinged to his back. "Need any help there, boss? Cause this place is gonna get pretty crazy." Immediately after speaking, he turned to punch out a zombie that neared, then used the opportunity to chug another mug of coffee.