Stage One: Hope in Darkness

Detour (Lara)

We were met at the gate by a woman with short blonde hair and a bad attitude,

"The hell do you want?" she asks with venom in her tone.

"We don't want trouble, just trying to stock up on some supplies and maybe find a friend." Ryan believed that honesty was the best policy, also making friends with this group could be a good thing for all the people back at our own camp. Alienating them by being an asshole would not get us anywhere.

"Can't you morons read?" She says with a head jerk to the rather obvious sign posted on the gate.

'This gate will remain closed until further notice,

No Trading

No Entry'

"We did see the sign but-" Ryan quickly gets cut off by the woman. Her patience seems to be running even lower than before. Not that she had that much to begin with.

"Then keep walking." She snaps, and the small slot in the door slams closed. We all share confused looks. Sure the apocalypse made people suspicious but these guys were just being assholes. Ryan shrugs, before knocking again. The guards up in the watchtower look down at us with hands firmly on their weapons. Maybe they would decide that we just weren't worth the hassle and shoot us.

The small door opens again,

"Do you have a death wish?" she bites out.

"Well not today anyways, but can I ask why the gate is closed?" The woman looked a bit amused by Ryan. But only a bit. I guess that's why she answered his question.

"It's none of your concern why we stopped, don't owe an outsider like you anything." Or maybe she really didn't find him amusing. Ryan was not going to give up so easily. It was one of the charming parts of him.

"Well we've been on the road for a while now and your camp is the biggest we have come across. We come from a camp down south a ways. Maybe we could help each other out? Not every day you get a chance to make friends in a world like this one," Ryan really did have a way with words when he wanted to get his way. The man was damn hard to say no to.

"We don't trust outsiders," The venom in her tone had lost a bit of its bite. Still plenty deadly but not overly hostile. Ryan was wearing her down. Guess that pretty boy smile of his was good for something after all. Ryan does that shrug of nonchalance again that he seems to have perfected.

"Well... We don't trust outsiders either...But how is anything ever going to change if we don't pull together." Ryan gives her that pretty boy smile again, "Let us prove to you that we can be trusted."

Her jaw tightens and loosens in waves. She is mulling over his offer. We don't have the time for this shit. What was Ryan thinking?

"A couple of our men have vanished and until they return or are found this gate stays closed," She says on a exasperated sigh, "If you find them, and report back to us. We could talk about being on more friendly terms."

"Like open the gates and trade friendly? Answer some questions about our friend friendly?" Ryan wants more than just a vague answer. He is trying to get her to say it.

".......Yeah, we will open the gates and you can ask some questions." She looks in pain to be saying those words.

"God I hate errands," I mumble. This lady was just giving us the runaround. All we wanted was to ask her some questions and get supplies but for her to even consider it we had to do something for her. Figures, everyone wants to be the ones on top. Just hate that it makes us on the bottom.