i'm a hurricane

Birdie looked over her shoulder as she continued through the heavily wooded area, following Loren's footsteps left in the dirt to avoid making noise. Birdie had been firmly kept on her tiptoes for so long - safety wasn't guaranteed, not anymore, but the thought of coming face to face with a hoard of walkers scared Birdie more than anything. "Loren," she whispered once she was certain she heard a disturbance in the trees. Once she'd had her friend's attention, Birdie nodded in the direction from which they'd just came from, gripping tightly to her pistol, just in case.

Luke stopped to hitch one of Ashton's arms further onto his shoulders. Ashton wasn't heavy, but he was injured, and so he and Michael took it upon themselves to help him walk through the growth of the trees until they could find somewhere quiet to bandage his wound, all the while Calum was walking behind to ensure nothing snuck up on them. "How you doing, Ash?" He asked, sympathetic for his best friend. He hadn't been bitten, but he'd taken quite the fall while running from bandits, and the fact of the matter was, his ankle was more than likely sprained.

Loren kept her gaze firmly ahead, keeping her breathing as calm and quiet as possible, not wanting to attract any attention to them. As much as she knew they could probably face a few walkers, too much noise would attract too many and they didn’t need that. She paused, though, when she heard Birdie’s voice. Looking over, she frowned slightly, curious about the noise, and she made her way in that direction as cautiously as possible.

Ashton hissed out quietly as he tried not to put too much weight on his leg. “Just dandy, mate,” he said quietly, trying not to show how much pain he was in, because he already hated that he was slowing them down, he didn’t want to cause more distress.

Michael helped Ashton as much as he could, holding his other arm over his shoulders as they walked carefully, trying to make it as painless for Ash as possible. “Hey, we’ll find somewhere to sit down and rest before you know it,” he offered up, offering a weak smile to Ashton, though he knew they all needed some rest. Things hadn’t been going in their favor lately and he hoped that they could just find somewhere safe to hide out for a bit.

Birdie took a step back as the rustling came closer, and she aimed her pistol, not ready to shoot, but aiming, choosing her actions accordingly to whatever threat lurked behind the growth. As three men emerged though, the one in the middle clearly injured, Birdie took a step back, still aiming her pistol, looking to Loren as she assessed the situation. "Injury, no blood, no wound." She murmured to Loren, looking to her friend. "Oi." She said, so the guys could hear her.

Luke almost tumbled as he heard a voice, looking up to see two girls, both armed, weapons aimed at them. "Fuck," he hissed out, readjusting Ashton. "Look, we're not looking for trouble, okay?" He promised. "Our friend, he sprained his ankle, he's hurt, we just wanna pass through as fast as we can and not get killed in the process." He promised, lifting his free hand in surrender.

Loren watched the men carefully, focusing, not wanting to get distracted and not wanting to risk anything. “It’ll be getting dark soon,” she pointed out, watching the men, “You won’t make it through this area before dark with an injury like that slowing you down.”

Michael did his best to keep Ashton steady, though he looked over to the women, watching them cautiously. You could never know who you could trust in times like these - he and his friends had already learned that the hard way a few times. “We don’t really have a choice here,” he pointed out.

Birdie studied the group again carefully, weapon still clasped in her hands. "I'm a nurse, I can help your friend." Birdie relaxed enough to release her grip a little more, but still not letting her guard down. "She's right, you won't make it through this place at the pace you're at." Birdie warned. "It's only us two, you could easily overpower us. Now stop being so fucking stubborn and stop drawing attention."

Luke listened to the exchange but knew, deep down, that the girls were right. Hauling Ashton through the woods was no easy task, and the overgrowth just made things much more difficult than necessary. As Calum caught up, Luke pursed his lips into a thin line. "Listen... we only want him," he nodded towards Ashton. "Fixed up and then we'll be going."

Michael was almost amused with Birdie’s warning - not because he doubted her, but just because it was kind of amusing in general, her pointing all of this out but also ordering them around. “Alright, uh… Okay, yeah,” he said, nodding slightly, “Is there anything we can do in the meantime while we wait for you to fix him up?”

Loren watched them and nodded slightly. “Set him down, we’ll help you fix him up,” she said, motioning before she looked to Birdie, certain Birdie would be doing most of the work. She’d do what she could to help, though; it was important in times like this, especially when they had no clue about these guys.