Bring Your Street Rats

Isabel saw someone leaning against a wall smoking. She was so nervous about getting got. Her fancy dress and delicate skin made her stand out against the others in the street. She looked like a porcelain doll that was thrown in the trash. She flinched and squeezed her eyes shut trying to imagine the warm bed she ran away from. It was all worth it, she reminded herself.

Sigh. Why did Rikter have to be so stubborn? There he was sittin' outside the store, looking at me with those damn eyes! 'Help me, help me!' they screamed, but every time that mouth opened, there was a different answer. 'Oh no, I'm just fine.' Then he would smile. Sigh. Talk about an irritating kid.

There was only so much I could take, so I sat up on the stool, crossed my legs, and tore my gaze away to half-heartedly read some manual that an old woman gave me to fix some antique lamp of hers. Gidget had been around when she'd came in, and I knew that if I wasn't careful, the brat'd try to con her out of it, or flat out steal it from her hands. Father would have half a mind to kill me, then... he still didn't realize that I let him and Rikter in the store after he'd said not to.

Well, Rikter...except he was around when my father walked in, standing there as he yelled and hollered and ranted... My grip tightened on the book, watching my hands fade to white from the strain. 'You're better than this trash, Carson! Why let yourself be influenced by ruffians?! Do you want to end up on the streets like them?' Now, Rikter just sat outside the store all day. Gidget had no problem, though.

It was the first time I'd ever really wanted to deck the old man.

"Have you seen the rest of my team? And what the hell do you mean 'market day'?"
Jess passes the knife from hand to hand.
"I can't believe I'm unarmed..."

Allen straightened up at the sight of the girl and after tapping Kent on the shoulder, he gave a cat call. Which...lead all the other guys to do the same.

Andrew shrugged, "Not from around 'ere, are ya? Market day is just a day where the towns folk sell there wares..."

Isabel's eyes popped wide open at the sound of the cat calls. She was shocked and nervous. Her cheeks blushed blood red and she looked at her feet in embarrassment. "I will not blush," she commanded herself uselessly.

"Why the hell would there be townsfolk? Where would they get wares from? And why is this place so much tidier than any other non-green zone I've ever seen?"

Delilah left her work, her bag over one shoulder and her thin jacket wrapped tightly around her. She didnt want to go home quite yet. She didnt want to face her father. Maybe just wandering around would be good. Just walking for a bit.

Luike crouched low on the fire escape, watching the people walk below him. MOre people for him to pick pocket from. more people to supply his income. felix, the scrawny city kitten, had taken a liking to the boy and sat next to him, in a somewhat amused stance.

Andrew shrugged, "Well er...third class 'as gotta work a ' eck of a lot ' arder but we make a livin'." He had no clue what a green zone was...doubted they even had one. "What's a green zone?"

Allen stepped out of the shadows, edging toward the girl. "'Ello Lassie," He smirked, she was blushing as red as a beat. He looked her up and down, she was pretty no doubt but with her fancy dress she didn't fit in. Probably first class...he scowled. "What are ya doing down 'ere?"

Isabel took a step back nervously, "I--um--I'm," she tried t think of anything to say. She wasn't about to tell him that she was a run away who people were looking for. She wasn't about to tell him that there was a very large amount of money for anyone who returned her to her future husband. She couldn't do that. "You see, I'm," she tried again but once again failed.

"What are you, stupid?"
Jess stares at the lunatic who doesn'teven know about the zones.
"A green zone is somewhere safe from the zeds. It's where people go if they don't want to be eaten."

Felix jumped down from Luike's side and walked over to the girl who seemed to be stamering. Luike grumbled softly and watched the fuzz ball risk its life.
"Mow?" the cat mewed up to her and rubbed against her leg.

Allen looked down at her and scowled even more. Stupid girl...didn't she have enough sense not to come here?! "Look, why the 'ell are you down 'ere?"

Andrew tapped at her, crazy lass she was. "Zeds?"

Jess stares at him for a moment before throwing back her head and laughing. She howls with mirth for nearly a minute before, gasping for air, she tries to explain.
"You are as thick as corpses in a red zone. Zeds are... Zeds are the walking dead. They're everywhere. Thousands of them, and we live in green zones, which are zones protected by the AZTF."
She grabs the badge on her shoulder and shows it to him.
"I'm a private, see? That means I fight the biggest thing humanity has ever faced. Well, that's what Wade and Shyker and the others say."

Isabel, now angry at herself for being nervous and the boy for being cruel, scowled right back, "I have as much right as any to be down here, thank you very much!" Isabel, although she was supposed to be docile and innocent, had, due to the majority of her company being men, made it a habit to get angry quickly and go off like a rocket when she was angry.

Allen smirked, "Really sweetheart? Why do ya wanna be down 'ere with street rats? We're filth accordin' to the likes of ya."

Andrew blinked, she was crazy. What zombies? "There aren't any zombies 'ere, miss...not that I know of. Yer not from 'round 'ere, are ya?"

"Then. You. Are. Thick," says Jess, trying to work out how he doesn't know about zeds. "And you're the one who isn't from round here. If you knew anything about the world at all, you'd know about zeds. Are you an alien or summing?"

Isabel flinched slightly at what he called her, "First of all, do not call me sweetheart," she hissed, "and secondly, it is no business of yours why I want to be here." She wasn't about to tell him that the reward for finding here was enough to make him rich. That was a mistake she wasn't going to make.

"I'm an /Immigrant/ not an alien. I 'ave as much right ta be 'ere as ya, I'm from Ireland." Andrew answered.

Allen chuckled, "No need ta get defensive, lass. I ain't gonna 'urt ya."

Isabel stepped away from him, "Well then stop talking to me."

Bump?

"I thought Ireland was overrun as well," says Jess. "How did you get here?"

"Why do I 'afta?" Allen chuckled, taking a step toward her.

"On a very crowded ship...three months ago." Andrew chuckled.

Isabel - "Because I said you had to! I swear to God I'll..." I paused not knowing exactly what I would do.