-- She needed a distraction. Something to draw them away. Preferably before her dwindling food and water supplies were exhausted.} {quietly} Grand-pére... If you're watching. If you can hear me. Clear my path... @Cooler_Than_PI @LevelUpDead @SoManyArrows

@_ConOfMan @Cooler_Than_PI @LevelUpDead --a small smile belying the tell-tale thump of dread in his heart* You gonna fart, 'least you could do is jack open a window, Ace.

@SoManyArrows @_ConOfMan @Cooler_Than_PI -- to pull them from the dark. Hand drifting for the headlight switch, she flashed the tanker's high beams, hoping like hell for some kind of answering signal from the shadow in the window.} Come on, come /on/...{whispering} Do you see /anything/?

@LevelUpDead @_ConOfMan @Cooler_Than_PI -- silence for a beat, wrist twisting to hand @LevelUpDead a bright red baton, and tapped the tip of his own flare to hers* 'cause they just been answered. Let's part the wave, Ace. On three...

@SoManyArrows @LevelUpDead @Cooler_Than_PI -- beside the tanker, thrusting her hand up towards the man.} You are a godsend. May I ride with you?

@_ConOfMan @LevelUpDead @Cooler_Than_PI --*reaching to her outstretched hand, he gripped her wrist, pulling her into the cab as the wheels started rolling backward* What happened to the guy? *swinging the door shut, he dropped back onto the bench seat --

@_ConOfMan @LevelUpDead @Cooler_Than_PI --Dammit, Ace, *bending over @_conofman, he fished the map out of the door* We got the wrong church. *dropping a half eaten KitKat into the girl's lap* You like chocolate?

@SoManyArrows @_ConOfMan @Cooler_Than_PI -- handset, thumbing the transmit button.} {softly} Professor. It's us. Sorry for the delay, we picked up a passenger. You still okay?

@LevelUpDead @SoManyArrows @_ConOfMan --*jumping as @LevelUpDead's voice cut through the silence, he snapped up the handset, thumbing the button* Yes! Yes, I'm still okay. I was beginning to worry about /you/, though... How far out are you?

@Cooler_Than_PI @LevelUpDead @SoManyArrows -- tanker as she made her way towards Thea.} He's a /good/ man. Smart. Kind. Brave. {Looking desperately back at Daryl, she searched his face for empathy, knowing full well she had no right to ask for yet another favor.} He's my friend. Please...

@_ConOfMan @Cooler_Than_PI @LevelUpDead -- ain't gonna make it with us. You're gonna need all the brave you can get. *turning his palm toward @_conofman he offered her the handset* Tell him we're five miles out.

@SoManyArrows @Cooler_Than_PI @LevelUpDead -- Not infected. Still smiling.} Robert? It's Sophie. We're five miles away. {A cautious stealing across her face, she dropped to a seat, a death grip on the handset.} Is... Is that really you? {hushed} Mon Dieu... I feel like I'm about to wake up.

@_ConOfMan @SoManyArrows @LevelUpDead --*quietly* Cure claustrophobia with a touch... *shaking his head, he moved to the window* Sophie, I can't tell you how happy I am to hear /your/ voice.

@Cooler_Than_PI @_ConOfMan @SoManyArrows -- {Scarred visage almost unnoticeable in the low light of the tanker, she reached to squeeze his arm, lifting her chin towards the windshield.} Walkers. Not many... Three or four?

@LevelUpDead @Cooler_Than_PI @_ConOfMan --he peered up just in time to see a walker disappear under the front grille* One...

@SoManyArrows @LevelUpDead @Cooler_Than_PI -- without question.} Robert! You need to get to the front door as quickly as you can! {blinking} Something tells me we wil be difficult to miss...

@_ConOfMan @LevelUpDead @Cooler_Than_PI --*the bolt tip leaving a faint glowing trail with a wave of his hand* Can't tell if that's a mirage or another one of them damn old castles.

@SoManyArrows @_ConOfMan @Cooler_Than_PI -- for a beat, she turned, reaching for the handset, thumbing the transmit button.} {murmuring} Professor? Can you see us? {Gambling they were in the right spot, she flicked the tanker's lights on and off, hoping like hell he was faster than the average academic.}

@LevelUpDead @SoManyArrows @_ConOfMan --watch through the side mirror* Can't thank you enough, but I can try... There is a petrol pump to the left of the sanctuary. There!

@Cooler_Than_PI @LevelUpDead @SoManyArrows -- determined, she peered cautiously out the window, preparing to run.} {curiously} What branch were you with, Daryl? Your accuracy... Navy?

@_ConOfMan @Cooler_Than_PI @LevelUpDead --*gaze locking on @_conofman in the backseat, he crooked a finger, pulling the door open for her* You wanna pump the gas, I ain't gonna complain.

@SoManyArrows @_ConOfMan @Cooler_Than_PI -- {eyeing the gauge} Almost there...

@LevelUpDead @_ConOfMan @Cooler_Than_PI --gaze to hers* You know we're gonna need fuel for the chopper, Ace. That bird ain't goin' nowhere on a red line.

@SoManyArrows @_ConOfMan @Cooler_Than_PI - the thought of what happened the last time she'd run the wrong people, she bowed her head and let go. Trusting the pair. Taking a leap of faith.} There's a place back in the US. We have a group... Professor? Have you ever heard the name Declan Harris?

@LevelUpDead @SoManyArrows @_ConOfMan --a long-forgotten habit of worrying his fingers, and shook his head* He never arrived at the rendezvous, Thea. They held back. Waited for him as long as they dared. I... I just assumed he'd died.

@Cooler_Than_PI @SoManyArrows @_ConOfMan -- /too/ far, we should be able to get back to the bird and into the city. {murmuring} Did he just give her a big wad of stale pudding?

@LevelUpDead @Cooler_Than_PI @_ConOfMan -- bumped over another truck-sized pothole* *quietly* You and Michael... You ever get to see all this before it all went to shit, Ace?

@SoManyArrows @Cooler_Than_PI @_ConOfMan -- over the engine.} Hey Professor? Are you a nervous flier?

@LevelUpDead @SoManyArrows @_ConOfMan --*his gaze flitting desperately between @LevelUpDead and @SoManyArrows* You won't leave me behind, will you?

@Cooler_Than_PI @SoManyArrows @_ConOfMan -- pair, pulse starting to race.} Good people are in short supply these days... Ready?

@LevelUpDead @Cooler_Than_PI @_ConOfMan --*quietly* Grab them cans on the floor. Chopper guzzles gas faster'n a tick on a warthog.

@SoManyArrows @LevelUpDead @Cooler_Than_PI -- door open, she peered cautiously out into the dark, heart thumping so loudly she was certain everyone could hear it.} {under her breath} Grand-pére, protegez nous...

@_ConOfMan @SoManyArrows @LevelUpDead --and clutched it defensively, peering into the dark* You wouldn't think an eminent biologist would be interested in symbolic interactions and sociology. What was that? Can you see them?

@Cooler_Than_PI @_ConOfMan @SoManyArrows -- move if he needed her.} I met Declan about a week after the outbreak started. My brother and I... We were holed up in the research library. High ground, heavy doors and /lots/ of vending machines. Declan, he and Liz came crashing through the doors one night. --