making the rounds, open!

[Maik Anders]

if I’m a bad person, you don’t like me

With a small stumble, Maik left the cabin, glancing back to the offending bump in the threshold of the door that never failed to get him. He smiled, shook his head and looked away, clomping happily down the stairs in boots that were just a size too big for his feet.


Tahoe was a nice place. It was very earthy. It didn’t smell overwhelmingly like death and dust, not like the roads between did. There was a fresh blast of air in his lungs and he held it in eagerly before slowly letting it out. Dirt crunched beneath his feet as he walked along, heading for the next cabin. As he walked, he held the flap of his satchel open to dig inside in search of any packages. There were a few things that he seemed to recall a Tahoe resident asking for, and he could barely read his own handwriting on the paper that he’d scribbled on to help him keep track. That would probably make things a little difficult as far as his attempts at organization went. Maybe he’d take a pause to practice on that a bit. Holding a pencil still felt strange.


Lifting his head up to look to where he was heading, he quickly set himself right as he realized that he’d been veering off the path in his lacking attention. Tilting back slightly to look over the whole of the next cabin, he moved confidently up each step to head for the door. Even if nobody inside was expecting anything, he could still do rounds in case someone was wanting him to keep an eye out for anything or wanted him to make a delivery. Those were always exciting. They made him feel quite dependable.


Pulling open the screen down with an unwarranted loud screech, he politely knocked on the door. These cabins were not like the houses that littered the areas outside safe zones (not that he didn’t knock on those either, just in case). These cabins held living occupants! They held survivors. They held people that he imagined still expected etiquette and courtesy. So he knocked, and he waited for someone to answer or to call for him to come in. It also seemed like a nice warning sign. After all, zombies didn’t knock.

well, I guess I’ll make my own way.

[Sarah Martin]

She'd been napping. Last night had been her turn to do overnight watch, and she spent much of the next day sleeping if she could. It was midday though, about time to get up anyway, but still the knock on the door startled her awake.

It was so rare now, to hear that sound. It used to always happen to her in college with roommates asking for things, at home with her parents, in the workplace when she'd had an office. But it was so rare now.

Without thinking she went to answer the door. She'd long since stopped caring what she looked like after waking up anymore, and so opened the door, messy hair, sleepy eyes, tank top and pajama bottoms and all. And no makeup! God, she could remember a time when she wouldn't leave her bedroom, much less the house, without makeup on. How times have changed!

She smiled when she saw who it was. The runner...Mike? He got stuff for them sometimes, and was generally useful around camp when he was here. She often wished he'd stay on, it was safer here for him than out there.

"Hey Mike, what can I do for you?" she asked cordially, the sleepiness draining from her expression almost immediately.

[Maik Anders]

it’s a circle, a mean cycle

When a familiar face opened the door to greet him, Maik brightened visibly, straightening up some and grinning broadly. He liked Sarah. She was a kind girl, and she was tough. Sometimes, he wondered if he would have liked her before the incident—but he thought that about anyone, and it seemed a pointless thing to wonder anyhow. “Hi. Hi. Sarah.” He greeted. See, he remembered her name and everything!



”I, um. I’mmmm- I’m ar-ound. Um…“ He chuckled, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head. When he opened them again, he ducked his face down to look to his satchel bag, moving his hands to grab either side of it, holding it up between them. “Just… “ He trailed off, a moment stretching on without another word before he nodded pointedly to nothing in particular and lifted his gaze back up to her, one eye narrowed slightly more than the other and his grin sitting crooked on his face. “I… just—checking to- to see if you want anythin’. Or, uh- or’f you wanna send some-somethin’. Somewhere.” Again, he nodded, this time a bit more quickly as if doing so could make her feel as pleased as he was.

I can’t excite you anymore.