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[quizzical]

Alyssa walks slowly, trying to understand all she is seeing, paying careful attention to how the strangers were treating each other and any animals in sight. Could these people really be peaceful after the greeting after that initial ambush? Or could they be the slug worshippers that Emily described?? She couldn't blame them for having an armed guard ... and they would have had no way to know who was in the car entering the driveway. *So I'll keep an open mind, keep cool, and keep my senses sharp to see how actions matched words in the future...*

Spoiler! Highlight the box below to view the hidden text.

[ April 25, 2008, 3:35 am ] - quizzical rolled 1d20 ± 2 and obtained 8 ( 6 ). Reason : Alyssa - smell.
[ April 25, 2008, 3:34 am ] - quizzical rolled 1d20 ± 2 and obtained 8 ( 6 ). Reason : Alyssa - listen.
[ April 25, 2008, 3:34 am ] - quizzical rolled 1d20 ± 2 and obtained 22 ( 20 ). Reason : Alyssa - spot.

Alyssa returns her mom's wave and walks in to the kitchen, hardly daring to believe her eyes ... and nose. She nods towards the stranger and glances quickly around the room to see if a trap is springing...

[Dehoffren]

The butterflies flitting around Leon's stomach could only be matched by the rumble induced by the smell of fresh baking. For a brief moment a remenbrance of his mother's Latkes melted on Leon's tongue but this passed all too quickly. "This is not what I was expecting" he said out of the corner of his mouth to James. "Do you see those men over there" giving a curt nod in the direction of the men with the pistols "They're carrying some material, why walk around with a swatch of cloth wrapped around their arm and a firearm?"
As Alyssa nearer the farmhouse Leon slowed his pace further. The house seemed to be a hive of activity, the glint of sun light against metal caught his eye. Taken aback by the gorgeous woman inside Leon could help but say out loud forgetting the dangerous situation that they might be in "Wow, look at her"

[Xaztam]

James wasn't taken by the woman's looks as was Leon. With the passing of his wife so recent the last thing on his mind was romance of any kind, besides she wasn't really his type. He wasn't sure what to think of the gun toting men with there arm bands. The gun he could overlook if they weren't so likely to be pointed at him and his friends, again. It was the arm bands he couldn't fully understand. Hopefully it was just to identify who should be there so that a slug lover or some other threat couldn't sneak in as easily.

James' heart started to beat a little faster. If that was the case than shouldn't Alyssa's mother have one as well. He immediately turned his attention to the older woman. Was she marked as the others where? Did these people really want to live in peace, or where they just using those who lived here?

[fury]

Several loaves of freshly baked bread were on the kitchen table, Alyssa's mother was busying herself putting the kettle on the stove and readying mugs. [color=#6666CC;]"There is some stew cooked love, Mary brought some of the ingredients with her. "[/color] She looked to the newcomers, [color=#6666CC;]"Hi I'm Alyssa's mother, Anne nice to see you all. This is Mary,"[/color] she points at the stunning looking woman, who steps forward hand outstretched to Alyssa. [color=#6666CC;]"Mary Gottle, sorry about the intrusion but we need somewhere to stay and someone who knows something about farming and animals. "[/color] She smiles, [color=#6666CC;]"There is one man who had his own allotment but thats all we have found on our travels. Sorry about the welcome too, we were attacked about a week ago. Some crazies, took 9 of our people for food. They actually ate them raw and we were helpless, managed to push them back eventually but I think in these times you just can't be too careful."[/color]

[Xaztam]

"It was more Anne's easy manner than Mary's words that took James off edge." Clearly not as tense his eye continued to eye everyone and everything for signs of trouble. Trying to be polite he introduces himself, "It's a pleasure to meet you both. names James Roberts."

[quizzical]

Alyssa gives her Mom a huge long hug, letting the stress and terror float away, safe again in her mother's embrace. Then she picks up one of her mother's hands and placed the pharmacy bottle into it.

Alyssa turns to face Mary and tentatively holds out a hand. "I wish we'd met under better circumstances - I've also seen horrors and heard about what some violent cults have been doing. I brought back 4 other survivors with me ... here's James and Leon now. Where are the kids? Did Jenny and Marcus stay behind? We better go get them and push the landrover here. The engine may be beyond repair but it's loaded with goodies. But first I have to ..." and with that Alyssa reaches for a loaf of bread (or a thick slice if one is handy. "Mmmmm. Nothing like fresh bread for comfort food..." and bites off a chunk.

Before indulging in her second bite Alyssa asks, "So how many people do you have with you Mary? What are your security plans? I suspect it is easier to keep vehicle out like we were doing before than ambush the ones that pull in - you never know when you'll be shooting at potential friendlies rather than slug-lovers..."

[Dehoffren]

Leon slouched in the background as the formal introductions were made, giving a small nod in acknowledgement to Alyssa's mother he looked around the farmhouse kitchen, still a little apprenhensive after their intial meeting and the gate. He listened as thier story unfolded, his once peaked appetite lessen by the thoughts of cannibalism. "Our story is not without its drama either" butted in Leon "But tell me where are these cazies hiding out and how many of them are there? Back in the big smoke they seemed to appear out of everywhere" Taking a moment to put his thoughts in order, as he realised that what he was about to say could sound ridiculous "We also encountered some slug like creatures, have they reached this far as yet?"

[fury]

[color=#6666CC;]"There are about 50 of us so far, the plan was to find an area like this and settle. Work the land, protect it and start a life, after that well...."[/color] Mary shrugs. [color=#6666CC;]"Most of the decision making is left to our leader, "[/color] her eyes soften at his mention. [color=#6666CC;]"He has saved so many of us from the jaws of despair and death."[/color] She stands in silence for a moment, and then returns back to the conversation. [color=#6666CC;]"We found a small herd of cows and a couple of sheep. They are in the field at the back, we were praying for someone with some animal skills. Managed to keep them alive for a couple of weeks now, two of the cows are actually giving milk. We have been giving it to the couple of kids we have with us, one of the cows ended up in there."[/color] she nodded towards the stew pot, [color=#6666CC;]"we thought we deserved a treat."[/color]
She also breaks off a piece of the still warm bread and nibbles on it, [color=#6666CC;]"Security, well we have 15 men and women who have had some kind of weapons training. Police officers, soldiers, even a karate black belt they are taking care of that. We raided a army base for weapons. They have arm bands so people know to keep out of their way if there is a problem. They are training up as many people as they can. It's a sad world but thats the only way to survive it."[/color]
She looks at Leon as he asks his question, her eyes seem to burrow to the heart of him. [color=#6666CC;]"The cannibals we came across at a council estate not far from the town centre. Don't know how many of them there were they were like rats, they just kept on coming. As for slugs, yeah we've seen them. They like the darkness and the wet, we are hoping we may be safer from them away from the main sewer system."[/color] despite her icy control she gives a shiver.

[quizzical]

" Well, you have your animal expert and a few more hands but this has been one hell of a day... oops, sorry Mom, but I'm not kidding about it being like Hell. There are two youngsters with us and want to let them know everything is OK. Can a couple of folks help us push the car down the lane towards the farm? Or we could use it to block the entrance and just carry in the supplies. If I sit down I won't be getting up any time soon, so I'll just take another piece of that awesome bread to keep me going..."

Yawning hugely, Alyssa hugs her mom, waves to Mary, cocks her head at James and Leon to invite them along, and heads back out of the house and up the drive.

[Xaztam]

James offers the two woman a smile and nod. Then turns and follows Alyssa out of the house. Things where starting to look up. These people seemed to be decent enough even if they where a little trigger happy. But then again could you really blame them. He'd see enough first hand to be more than a little weary of strangers.

[Dehoffren]

Falling into step with James, Leon made a little conversation as they began to backtrack "So that explains the arm bands then.What do you think of the set up? Seems pretty organise to me but I was wondering who this leader is that Mary spoke so highly off, strange I thought he would have been at the house?"

[fury]

Mary leaves the house and whispers to one of the men with the armbands, he moves away and brings back 3men and a woman to help move the landrover. [color=#6666CC;]"Get a move on"[/color] he barks at them and they move swiftly to follow not far behind Leon and James. They are silent, and a little grimy when the landrover is reached they look to Alyssa for instruction

[quizzical]

"Marcus! Jennifer! You can come out. It's safe!" calls Alyssa, looking for the teens. When they do not quickly appear, she asks the lightest of the guards to drive and directs the others to push. "We need to find Jennifer and Marcus and they don't know you..." she adds somewhat apologetically.

As the guards get the landrover moving, Alyssa says quietly "I agree with James. The way her face lit up when talking about him made me a little uneasy. We should watch each others backs - maybe try to stay in pairs - until we have a better sense of them. Keep your weapons to your selves. They know about my bow, of course. They don't need to know about anything they haven't seen. I'm sure this sounds weird and melodramatic, but can we have code word or something to secretly indicate distress or a need to talk? How about 'Oh, I wish Emily were here' or something. Let's walk towards that house I mentioned while we talk; hopefully the kids will have gone there..."

[Xaztam]

"Yes, I like that idea." James responded. He wanted to accept the situation without any reservations but it was all to good to be true. "We definitely need to keep our guard up."

"Jennifer!"

"Marcus!"

[Dehoffren]

Stuffing his hands in his trouser pockets Leon shuffled along with the others "I have to admit I'm not the sort that takes things on face value. People tend to do desperate things in desperate times" he observed "I think keeping to out little group is a great idea but lets try not to arouse their suspicions too much. Hostility is the last thing we need"