Matthew Hubble sat on his porch with an American cigar hanging off the end of his lip. On the table to his right lay two objects. The first, an ashtray. The second, a half empty bottle of whiskey. Also, he had a 12 gauge shot gun balanced across his left knee, resting just past the vanishing point of his jean covered joint.

His blue chequered shirt had been buttoned up the full way, his black shoes, which were a little worn at this stage, were polished and on each of his feet. On the porch, there was a small coffee table, and a lean, which was basically just a wooden stick nailed to the support posts. But on this lean there was a picture of a time when the future was brighter, and he was younger, as he is in his seventy second year now.

The man in the picture was smiling, and the women beside him was doing the same. He wore a full Navy uniform and the women wore a bright sunset red dress. It would have been taken when he was in his late twenties, before any of this happened.

The fingers on his left hand tapped silently against his upper thigh, as if trying to impatiently decide upon something. He rose up from his seat in the shade. The gun slid off his knee and into his empty hand. The tip of the cigar fell onto the ground. Ashes returning to ashes.

He stepped inside what used to be his family home, and wandered into the sitting room, the first room on the left. He proceeded to open the window. A breath of fresh air wafted in and gave a new life to the room. Matthew bent down and found the box he was looking for. It was lurking under a chair in the far corner of the room.

He retrieved it and brought it back to the window sill. After wiping the dust off with his old hand, he opened it. An antique music player rested inside. Carefully he lifted the little musical treasure from its resting place and placed it down beside the open window.

It was ready for a dance. The music that filled the air was old, dance music. Sophisticated, but delicate. As if the most unexpected noise could disrupt and ruin the entire concerto.

Matthew sat back down in his seat. Cigar still teetering on the edge, shotgun still in hand, whiskey still at the ready. The music glided through the air. It was crafted so magnificently.

Then the grunting and wailing erupted. It was a high pitched beastly cry. Then the man burst through the neighbours garden across the road. He was ghastly. His clothes were half torn. His mouth was open in an inhuman, wild creature like manner.

He ran for the old man and the source of the music. Mr Hubble remained unmoved in his seat. The creature paced across the road as if it had no mind to do anything else. It nearly faltered in stepping onto the path on Matthews side of the road but it continued regardless.

Matthew rose. The creature went to sprint onto the ten foot by twenty foot lawn that lay on the far side of the porch. It was met on the border between path and garden, by a bullet.

Matthew had fired the gun and the bullet lodged in the creatures skull, leaving only a small hole where the bullet had passed. The old man strode over to its dead corpse and lodged another in the head. This time half of the beasts head turned to instant mush.

Matthew returned to his house, he did not cut across the grass but walked around by the path, by doing this we could catch a glimpse of the red and black muscle car that rested in the garage, and then he picked up the music box, turned it off, took the picture from the lean, and went inside. 

It was nightfall soon, and that meant that soon the real threats to his life would emerge. Not that the Old Man seemed particularly phased by anything anymore.

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A closed collab with xkatieshepherd, Colm, riptearton, DTMN, Ty694, EchoOfInsanity + Starwarsfreak117.

When a virus outbreak causes hordes of the undead to roam the streets, a handful of survivors find themselves banding together to fight the coming apocalypse.
It's all about survival.

Characters:
Name: Olivia Rose Johnson
Age: 16
Appearance: Blonde hair, blue eyes. Slim.
Personality: On the outside appears shallow, materialistic but is actually quite perceptive and insightful.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Fast running, good at sensing danger. Not the easiest person to get along with.
Author: xkatieshepherd

Name: Lucas Snowdon
Age: 19
Appearance: Tall, black hair blue eyes. Tanned skin
Personality: Quiet, mysterious. Secluded. The only thing he really likes doing is playing his guitar.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Knows how to handle a gun. Strong and fast. His quiet personality makes people unsure of him though.
Author: xkatieshepherd

Name: Matthew Hubble
Age: 71
Appearance: Tall, grey thinning hair. Dark brown eyes.
Personality: Lack of patience. Genuinely nice. Appears hardened due to army experience, but is actually a softy.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Knows a lot of seemingly useless info. Good memory. Knows how to handle a gun. Not that strong on the outside.
Author: DTMN

Name: Rudolf Kerman
Age: 31
Appearance: Bulky, fighters build. Not very tall, has a lot of muscle. Bald. Golden eyes.
Personality: Quick temper, not good with people. Likes hitting things. Good with animals.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Very strong. Prefers hand-to-hand combat with zombies. Cannot plan at all.
Author: DTMN

Name: Jessie Orchard
Age: 26
Appearance: Dark blonde shaggy hair. Tanned. Hazel eyes. Tall, athletic build.
Personality: Very chilled, not angered easily. Can be intimidating when he wishes. Would never leave a man behind.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Strong, intelligent + athletic. Reckless when protecting people.
Author: riptearton

Name: Anne Orchard
Age: 15
Appearance: Long, light blonde hair. Blue eyes. Shot.
Personality: Physically strong, mentally weak. Clings to people who'll look after her.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Strong + very clever. Good judge of character. Very weak. Doesn't cope well with danger.
Author: riptearton

Name: Charlie 'Chaz' Evans
Age: 30
Appearance: Tall, bald. Strong build. Several scars.
Personality: Lone wolf. Deliberately doesn't form relationships with people. Dark secrets of past.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Strong, good at hand-to-hand combat. Good with weapons. Is very stubborn.
Author: Colm

Name: Rachael Higson
Age: 18
Appearance: Long blonde hair, petite. Blue eyes. Soft features.
Personality: Loves her brother unconditionally, loves all human beings. Incredibly timid. Cannot do harm to anyone - including zombies.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Timid. Cannot harm zombies.
Author: Colm

Name: Gavin Higson
Age: 18
Appearance: Wavy blonde hair, strong frame. Blue eyes. Shares sisters soft features.
Personality: Very protective of his sister and those he forms bonds with. Willing to do whatever to ensure survival of him and his sister. Little patience for those with a lack of respect.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Strong and protective. Will do whatever it takes to protect his sister, even if it gets him killed.
Author: Colm

Name: Zachary 'Griff' Griffin
Age: 35
Appearance: Average height. Black, uncombed hair. Dark reddish-orange eyes.
Personality: Acts funny and silly sometimes, secretly hates the situation. Secret drinker. Very aggressive.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Knows how to handle a gun, can be intimidating. Doesn't look strong but actually is.
Author: Ty694

Name: Alex Kigin
Age: 25
Appearance: Tall, 6"2. Dark brown hair kept neat, Steely grey-blue eyes.
Personality: Mostly prepared for situation. Won't hesitate to kill a threat. Angered quickly.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Very good with hand-to-hand combat. Also very good with gun and aim.
Author: Ty694

Name: Riley Jones
Age: 18
Appearance: Small and thin. Short, choppy black hair and apple green eyes.
Personality: Sarcastic, very loyal and a good fighter. Easily befriends people, doesn't trust easily. Has a siberian husky, Loki, who follows her everywhere.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Very fast, good with hand-to-hand combat. Intelligent + creative. Knows how to survive. Doesn't make good first impressions. Not great with teamwork or using guns.
Author: EchoOfInsanity

Name: Alexander
Age: 17
Appearance: Tall and tanned with black hair cut into a military buzz. Brown eyes. Big smile, muscly.
Personality: Majorly sarcastic, rarely serious. Creative, witty and smart. A bit unsure sometimes. Major fan of LOTR and Star Wars. Best friends with Craig.
Strengths/Weaknesses: His height which could work out either way for him. Likes to conserve ammo which can be bad. Has moments of 'battle rage' and not overly patient. Can run fast and far.
Author: Starwarsfreak117

Name: Craig
Age: 17 (almost 18)
Appearance: 5 foot 6. Unruly brown hair, brown eyes and glasses.
Personality: Speaks his mind, oblivious to embarrassment. Likes to joke. Fond of innuendos. Patient listener. Not shy. Smart, but not as athletic as Alex.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Controlled, calm and patient. Has good focus, knows when to strike. Focus can blind him to what else is going on. Complements Alex's weaknesses and vice versa which makes them a powerful pair.
Author: Starwarsfreak117.

Name: Denmen Con
Age: 26
Appearance: 5"6. Broad, well muscled. Sharp blue eyes, dirty blonde hair. Clean shaven.
Personality: Doesn't trust people, still talks and laughs with them. Questions everything he does since Z-Day started. Had to beat entire family down once they turned. Confident although mentally unstable and may snap.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Good with machines, quick to make friends. Knows how to fix/work a gun although aim is terrible. Mental instability gets in way of making judgements.
Author: chimerakiller2

Name: Taylor Whickman
Age: 36
Appearance: Thin, short black hair and forest green eyes. Fairly muscly. Wears dress shirt and jeans.
Personality: Very caring personality. Calm and thoughtful through any situation. Level headed, knows who he should and shouldn't trust.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Physically weak. Clear headed and calm. Good planner. Very good surgeon, good shooting aims. Can't live on his own.
Author: chimerakiller2

updated Mar 3 by xkatieshepherd