Play@YSDC

Z-Day + 1 - 6:00 AM Mountain Time - 4 miles east of Scobey, Montana
In the living room-
Jake squeezed Caitlin in a bear hug, tears in his eyes. "I'm just so relieved you made it here in one piece," he said. "Clyde, get the back door and let Caitlin's friends in."

"Right, Pop," said Clyde. "Good to see again, Caitlin." He hurried off through the dining room to the kitchen.

Mary hugged Caitlin next. "Are you and your friends hungry? We were just finishing breakfast, but there's plenty left."

"Oh, you poor dear," said Veronica to Caitlin. She closed and barred the front door once Caitlin was inside.

In the kitchen-
Clyde opened the back door, and two youngsters with blond hair walked in. The woman was beautiful, with Russian features, and the man was handsome and looked vaguely Scandinavian. Then a pretty, dark-haired woman in her late twenties entrered behind Lara and Sven. They hadn't even known she was behind them. She wore a short black skirt and a white blouse with a V-neck. She and Clyde seemed to recognize each other. Clyde was a plain-looking, strong man in overalls, and he carried a hunting rifle.

"Oh, Clyde!" said the woman, running up to him and throwing her arms around him. "Thank God you're here!"

"Tricia?" he said. "Hey, I'm glad to see you're alive, but my wife is in the other room and she might get the wrong idea."

"Your wife?" Tricia released Clyde and stepped back. "Oh..."

OOC,[b]Lara[/b] and [b]Sven[/b], you may roll Psychology.

Perplexed, Lara sees the girl, a waitress..or? She lets the girl run past the trio and nods at the family inside. "Spasiba.." She shuts the door and bolts it. Then pockets the 9mm. When sure there isn´t anything wrong about to happen, she backs up to the wall next to the door and watches the reunion.

With all the hugs and reunion initiated, Catilin turns to make introductions. "Everyone, this is Lara and Sven. Lara helped Dad and myself escape the barnhouse, and we ran into Sven on the road... almost literally."

In the dining room-
Caitlin and her family walked into the dining room from the kitchen while Clyde led Lara, Sven, and Tricia in from the kitchen after barring the back door.

"I'm Jake Bell," said the big, middle-aged rancher to Lara and Sven, sticking out his hand. "Welcome to the Bell Ranch, and thank you for getting my niece here safe and sound. You're in my debt, and you can stay on my ranch as long as you like. You'll have to work like the rest of us, of course. We can be self-sufficient here, but it'll take all of our efforts to do so." He looked at Tricia. "I thought you said you were with two others, Caitlin. Who's this?"

"Oh, I'm not with them," she said. "I just arrived at the same time. I'm Tricia Barrett, a waitress from Scobey and probably the only survivor left from there. Can I please stay here too, Mr. Bell?"

Shock crosses Caitlin's face. "I thought she was with you?"

The homestead and wholesome atmosphere of the ranch, combined with the morning meal - makes Lara feel something close to relaxation. The same sensation you have when you´ve studied for two months on a dig site - only to know that you don´t get the spot. You know you have the knowledge but don´t need to show it off. You can rest - because you know it wasn´t for nothing. That feeling is easy to bear. She´s happy to be safe. To be at a place like home.
"Domoĭ, home..."
She sighs and watches the family reunion unfold.

In the dining room-
"It's okay, Pop," said Clyde. "I know her from the diner is Scobey. She's all right."

"Please, Mr. Bell?" asked Tricia, looking at Jake with wide doe-like eyes. "I can pull my weight and work as hard as anyone else."

Jake gave her a warm smile. "Of course you can stay with us," he said. "I won't turn you out on your own, not with those crazies out there looking to eat anyone they can get their hands on."

"Oh, thank you, thank you!"

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet my family." He indicated each in turn. "This is my wife, Mary. My son Clyde you've already met, and this is his wife Veronica. My niece, Caitlin."

"Hi." Tricia stared at Veronica. "Wow...you're so beautiful..."

"Er, thanks," said Veronica.

OOC,It's actually the morning meal.

Lara stays seated, her back towards the wall. "My name is Lara Voronova. I escape skinheads. Run from deads. Find Caitlind and father. We drive here and find sad Sven." She pauses and adds, "Thank you for letting us stay."

In the dining room-
"You're quite welcome," said Jake. "And thank you again for bringing Caitlin here safely. You had a run-in with those Aryan Brotherhood types near Scobey, huh? I never liked living near those Nazi scumbags. I'm glad you got clear of them."

"I escaped from them too," said Tricia. "I had been trapped up on the roof of the diner where I worked in Scobey when a bunch of them rode in and 'rescued' me. I had to play along with them until I got a chance to slip away."

"They are gone now, I shoot them." Lara pats the 9mm she had taken from Mutt.

In the dining room-
"Wha-" started Mary.

"What do you mean, they're gone?" said Clyde. "There were, like, a couple hundred of them in that fortified plot of theirs outside Scobey! You couldn't have killed all of them. Unless they'd had their ranks thinned out by the crazies..."

Tricia shook her head. "There were still a lot of them there when I left about an hour ago," she said.

"I think I know what the mixup is," said Sven. "Lara got away from skinheads further south. So there's more of them up this way?"

"Yeah, a whole bunch of heavily armed Nazis," said Jake. "They've got some land about a mile southeast of the Scobey city limits. They're led by some self-styled general - though he calls himself Gruppenführer - named Holt. Benjamin Holt. They've never bothered us none, though I don't much like having them nearby."

OOC,[b]Lara[/b], you got the 9mm pistols from [b]Deadeye[/b] and [b]Nitro[/b], not from [b]Mutt[/b] - though one of them had taken it from [b]Mutt[/b]'s dead body originally.

Caitlin stood there, leaning on a wall listening to the conversation. It was nice to just unwind for the time being.

"Oh I misunderstand. Have slept bad. I fled from skinheads before not here. Are they here?!" Lara gets up, not as comfortable as she had been just a few seconds ago. "They chasing you?" She looks out a window towards the back side and tries to see if there´s someone out there.

Lara turns to the others. "If we could see you from road. So can them. We should light out and hope they not come here. The skinheads I mean." She continues to look out for any movement in the dawn light.

Caitlin speaks up from leaning on the wall. "Lara, there was nothing in our rear view the whole way here, even with our turn arounds and detours. Besides, the gate is still locked and, if we keep a constant watch, we'll see them coming before they even come close."

Very OOC,Of course, however, since this is a survival apocalypse thing, SOMETHING's gonna breach the compound eventually, hahaha.

OOC,It's a ranch, not a compound. The fence helps, but it might not keep out zombies for long and it certainly won't stop humans forever - you got in, after all.

In the dining room-
"Oh, no," said Tricia. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to lead them here, I just didn't know where else to go."

"Now don't you worry none," said Jake Bell. "I said you can stay, and I meant it. I'll not turn you out and let them get their hands on you. We're not fleeing, either. This is our ranch, our home, and we can hold it, like Caitlin said. Clyde, you can stand first watch."

"Sure, Pop," said Clyde.

"I think Lara means we can put the light out," said Veronica. "So they don't see it."

Jake nodded. "It's still dark out, though," he said. "But we can close the shutters, so that the light won't get out."

"I'll do it," said Mary, setting to work.

Caitlin, finally starting to relax a little, check her ammo reserves. Looking up at Jake she asks, "What do we have to defend ourselves with... if it comes to... you know."

Lara checks the mag in the 9mm. "Three rounds left...bad." She hesitates. "We came with car fully loaded. Best we fetch it!" She gets up and comments. "Foolish forgets. I got keys." She starts for the door. "Who want comes and helps?"

In the dining room-
Everyone had finished breakfast by this time, and Tricia helped Mary clear away the dishes.

"I've got four," said Sven, checking the other pistol.

Caitlin found that she had fourteen spare shells in her box, in addition to the two loaded into the shotgun.

"I've got my old carbine," said Jake, "Clyde's got his Marlin, and the women have shotguns. We've got a decent amount of ammo for them too. Not as much as we had yesterday, but it should last us some time. Things have quieted down."

"I'll go with you," said Clyde to Lara. He walked with her to the front door and moved aside the barricade. "Once we open the gate, we can drive your car and its supplies right into the barn." He opened the door and led her outside while Veronica covered them with her shotgun.

Lara Voronova/Caitlin Bell/Sven Petersen,The pickup truck that brought you here ran out of gas on the road close to the ranch.