by Bearsy <3 » Tue Jan 03, 2012 5:09 am
~Richard Hill~
Status: Alive 'n' kicking
Currently: Near the outskirts of the city {specifically; on top of a car}
Rick had barely wrapped the blanket over his shoulders when the boy appeared, followed slowly by the zombie. He grabbed for his Glock and scrambled back, eyes never leaving the man (no... that wasn't a man, not anymore) as he brought the pistol up and curled his finger around the trigger. A look from the corner of his eye confirmed that the boy was on top of the car, and he looked back at the zombie, took aim, and--. "Whoa, kid!" He straightened up, lowering the gun as he did so while he watched the boy dispatch of the zombie. Rick ran a hand through his hair, eyebrows raised at the boy, who by now had spun around and was talking.
"Didn't want to die, huh? You're going the right way about it. That was... brave. But stupid. So stupid." He sighed, crouching back down on the roof to see the boy better. Rick smiled, just to show he wasn't mad or anything, and cast a look back up the street. "I'm Rick. Used to be a policeman, but don't let the uniform fool you; I have no powers over anything that's going on here now." A grimace forced itself in place of the smile, and he looked down at his knees, cradling the Glock carefully in one hand.
In one swift movement, Rick sat back down on the roof, letting his legs dangle over the side and gesturing for the kid to climb up. "Now I can't promise anything, but I reckon you should stick close. Boy your age shouldn't be out alone in all this." He cocked his head to the side and holstered the Glock, eyes fixed on the boy. "I don't say this because I don't think you can fight; you've just proved you can, but no one, not even the best fighter should be on their own. Everyone needs sleep. Everyone needs to feel as if they're protected at some point." Rick spread his hands, palms up, "Personaly I wouldn't feel right, letting a kid go off on his lonesome in this place, but I can't force you." He let his offer sit, leaning back on the roof and alternating between watching each side of the road. If the boy had been alone a long time, this kind of offer may be hard to accept, but Rick wasn't the kind of guy who could leave a child at a time like this and then sleep at night. He knew what was waiting out there, and one slip up could bring down a horde on you, and Rick had seen what a group could do. They could tear people from your arms, drag them away right in front of you and leave only one thing on your mind: escaping. Running to survive. Rick shook his head; no point dwelling on the past. What was done was done, and the dead couldn't come back. Not really. Or, the body would, but them, the person? They were lost.
Rick wasn't holding out for a cure-- he'd seen what happened to the military and had little hope of anything surviving that could possibly create a vaccine or anything like that. He'd even given up on rescue, but that was so long ago now that just the notion that he'd believed someone was coming to save them made him roll his eyes. Secretly, perhaps Rick had known all along that there was no help; no Marines, no rescue helicopters coming out to pick them up, but he'd never let the others know. They had to keep hoping, praying, that they'd be saved, otherwise Rick had no way of getting them to stay together, to stray strong. If they knew what he had, that from the onset they were on their own, well they'd have all taken a gun to their heads and prayed to their personal Gods that they'd be taken swiftly. Maybe it was selfish keeping them alive long enough for them to be killed and eaten by the zombies, but Rick tried not to think about that.