Morning Coffee And Sweet Surprises (Closed to Poprockz)

[Drobabes]

Kuznet took a sharp left immediately after exiting the building. Within moments he making his way into a discreet building that housed the entrance to one of his main operations. It was nothing extravagant as far as the armies definition of technology went, but it was his own personal set-up. A mostly mobile room that he packed up and kept with him in each area that he would be spending the majority of his time. In it, it simply contained six large computer screens with multiple view points from each camera around the base. And while he did have a few of the live feeds set up under his desk for more immediate needs, this was his central base of operations that ran on a completely different power supply.

Once inside, it didn't take him very long at all to find where she was.

"Phillip, grab your squad and head to the east side, she's leaving the treeline now. Orders are to incapacitate. Over."
__________________________________________

With her eyes still wet and her arms crossed in a nervous manner, Cora approached the girl, what was her name again?

"Salina?" she spoke, unsure if she had that right. She could have likely gone to the other women, but not only did she seem occupied with the man in her arms, but Cora didn't trust in her ability not to lose her nerve around the women and express what she needed properly.

"Can you come back into the mall with me so I can grab some medicine?"
______________________________

"...I there someone else down there? I'm uh... I'm looking for my brother. He had a birth mark on his face..."

Delvin had looked up at the man approaching, but upon hearing him speak, he quickly looked away. His eyes, which had been just a bit shocked and dull before, suddenly grew wide and almost wild as they evaded the picture that the man held up before him.

"I can't...no..."

His voice was quiet at first, and pleading, almost as if he were talking to someone else. But as he went on to speak, huge droplets of salty tears forming in those brown pools of sorrow, it began to rise in volume until it was almost bordering on yelling.

"He's gone. He's gone. Couldn't stop him. I wanted to stop him, I begged him to stop we both did but he...oh god, he..."

His hands start shaking and he grips onto Sabastian's back with sudden intensity, turning his face away and trying to hide away in the little mans comforting embrace.

"He kept cutting!" he sobbed, his whole body shaking with his hard breaths and hiccups.

"...fed it! Made me taste it!"

Vin couldn't continue, his voice edging off into ramblings that made no sense as he kept mumbling something about cutting and eating it, his mouth muffled against Sabastian's shoulder.
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"I understand. Next time I'll be more careful."

Quint stopped his prodding for a moment as his eyes went up to look at Damien's face. He was keenly aware of the fact that he wasn't even flinching from his touch, and knew that it spelt trouble for any future use of the hand if they couldn't treat it properly. Which, the zombie man was not personally worried about, so long as the guy could handle a bit of pain every day. It would suck, but if he wanted his hand to work again, then Quint was going to have to peel back his sealed layer of goop each day to apply a new one, and the only real trouble he could foresee was if Damien allowed any scar tissue to grow. That could also be dealt with, but it would mean taking a blade to his hand again to remove the tissue that had grown incorrectly.

"He kept cutting! Made me taste it!"

He had opened his mouth to growl out another something or other, but Delvin's desperate voice made him mentally flinch. He stared over towards them, almost like his brain had full on lagged for a moment, before the warmth of Damien's blood running over his fingers brought him back. Pulling a tentacle forward from behind his back, he squirted a bit of his healing gel into the wound and used a finger to massage it down into it to temporarily stop the bleeding. When Cora came back out with the supplies, he would just peel it off and finish cleaning it up properly.

Releasing Damien's hand back to him, Quint scooted a bit closer to the tall, steely eyed man, so that they were face to face. As he did this, his tentacles reached forward and behind his back, and not a second later, Damien would be able to feel them almost gently prodding along his skin, from top to bottom.

"I assume she checked you for wounds, but I just want to be sure" he said, his voice much more calm, clear, and distinctly lacking any of the earlier bite.

"When you get into knife fights, you always have to check yourself for stab wounds as soon as you can. Even if you think you didn't get stabbed, you still need to check because your adrenaline is pumping and you may not even feel it."

As he spoke, his crystal eyes made a point of looking directly at Damien's own, even going so far as to tilt his head down a bit towards him to grab his attention.

"A lot of deaths from stab wounds happen because the person who receives them bleeds out-not from the initial damage done. If you can stop the bleeding as soon as possible, then you greatly increase your chances of surviving long enough to get the help you need."

Quint pulled his tentacles back and laid them down by his sides after he had examined him thoroughly. The chaos behind them was no less diminished, but as he went on, he did his best to command Damien's attention and to keep his mind focused and clear. Keep it from wandering too far into something that might damage the man.

"When the damage is done from something that gets left in the wound, it's very important that you don't pull it out without the help of someone more experienced, unless you really know what you are doing."

He reached forward then, not too quickly, and took hold of Damien's hand again. Once he had it, he gently pried the flesh to the side and pointed with one of his fingers. Damien wouldn't be able to see exactly where it was, considering it was covered in blood and sticky gel, but Quint was simply trying to give him a rough estimate of where the cut had gone wrong.

"Right here, you have tendons and nerves attached to these muscles," he said calmly, his eyes glancing up to make sure that Damien was listening and paying attention.

"When that knife went in, it cut through here, and got stopped here, by the bone. Now that's not when the nerve got the damage. The nerve got damage, right here...when you yanked it out. It was too hard, and sliced right through on the way out. What you want to do next time..."

He let the inner flesh go while still holding onto Damien's hand with his other. With his now free hand, he reached out and grabbed a small twig from the ground. Quint then placed it on top of the cut without actually putting it down into his skin, and then he began to make a wrapping motion with his other hand.

"...is wrap it as tightly as you can without completely cutting off the circulation for too long. You want to make sure that whatever is in there can't move even a centimeter. Not only could it cause more damage by getting jostled around, but it's also acting as plug to keep the blood in. If this were in a major artery, for example, you could bleed out within a matter of seconds by pulling it out."

 

[Poprockz]

The woman was walking quickly, trying not to draw attention to herself at the same time. She needed to get out before they came for her. It was likely that a child had climbed the tree and found it, which would buy her some time before an adult noticed the camera and brought it to the military's attention. The tree was in one of the camera's blind spots, so she had assumed that using that spot as the pick-up/drop-off point would be safest. It seemed that she was wrong.

She just needed to get far enough away that she could find a good hiding spot to wait. They might notice that she was missing, but no one was going to be coming to save her. She just hoped... no, there was no time to think about that now.

Glancing behind, she noticed a group of soldiers jogging down the field after her. Her eyes widened in fear and surprise and she started to sprint. The soldiers also picked up the pace, both parties now knowing that the other was completely aware of the situation. It couldn't end like this, she couldn't be captured!

It was now or never.

The woman suddenly stopped and quickly grabbed something from her pocket, a small perfume bottle filled with liquid. She popped off the top and raised it, intent on drinking its contents before a shot rang out. She screamed, falling to the ground and clutching her hand. Though she was injured, her frantic eyes looked for the bottle and found it, tipped over and spilled into the green grass. There was maybe a drop left, certainly not enough to do the job.

----------------

Having been watching Sabastian and Vin, Salina didn't notice Cora until she spoke up, at which point blinked and looked up. "What? Oh, uh yeah. Yeah, I think there's some medical stuff in the pharmacy and like... in the large department store, I'm pretty sure." She nodded as though trying to decide if that was true, followed up by a more sure nod and an additional, "yeah."

Though she trudged through the mall doors with Cora, she paused once inside and then turned back to her, holding her arms out awkwardly as though she was offering her a hug. "Oh, sorry, did you want to be carried there fast? Not that you have to... but I figured you might have asked because I'm fast. Might give you a bit of motion sickness though. Maybe."

------------------

"He's gone. He's gone. Couldn't stop him..."

The man gave Vin a look of shock and disbelief, shaking his head and taking a step back before rubbing the stubble on his face. "No, he..."

"...fed it! Made me taste it!"

Sabastian's eyes widened as it sunk in- Vin had been made to eat human flesh. Even worse, it was the flesh of someone he had seen and spoken with. If anyone there could sympathize with Vin, it was himself. It was sickening, wrong, and went against every fiber of one's being. There was something fundamentally disturbing about consuming another person, especially one you knew. To experience someone becoming simply a mouthful of meat was heartbreaking, and he felt so dejected that Vin had to go through something so vile.

"Shh, shh... I'm here. He can't hurt either of you anymore." The blonde's voice broke, not sure if that was even the right thing to say. It didn't take back what had happened, nor did it assuage the awful flashbacks Vin might be having in those moments. One of Sabastian's hands went to the back of Vin's head, gently stroking him in the hopes that he might find comfort in that.

"It should have been you."

It had been all but whispered, an almost haunted expression coming to the muscled man's face. Sabastian almost couldn't believe what he had just heard, the blonde's head snapping up before staring in shock, hoping he had been mistaken.

"IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU! You fucking liar!" The muscled man spat, his lips trembling with rage and pain. He was breathing hard, his shoulders rising and falling with each breath. "You could've helped him, but you were a fucking coward who couldn't step up!"

It was at that point that something inside Sabastian snapped a bit, a purple tentacle swiftly shooting out and wrapping around the man's neck before yanking him within an inch of Sabastian's face. Though the man still looked angry, Sabastian's eyes were filled with a deep hatred for the selfish prick currently in front of him. If he hadn't been holding Vin in his arms, he might have gotten up and thrown down to teach him a lesson. As it was, he tried to hold on to the sliver of self-control he had left for the sake of his lover.

"You have no idea what you're fucking talking about. I'm only going to tell you to fuck off once. If I have to do it twice, I'm going to kick your ass, and no one here will give a fuck." He shoved the man backward when releasing him, causing him to fall hard on his ass.

Sayori couldn't believe what she had just heard. While she certainly understood that the man was in pain from losing his brother, his accusations were completely uncalled for and downright cruel. In addition, the news that Vin had been force-fed the brother was still echoing in her mind. What kind of sick individual did such a thing to another man?!

----------------------

Damien also looked over to Vin, a bit of a concerned look coming to him. Of course he already was aware of what had happened, but it didn't make it any less unpleasant to hear again. However, Vin was in Sabastian's arms and he trusted that with time, Vin would heal from his wounds. They just needed to get him away from this place soon.

What brought his attention back was the fact that Quint was scooting closer. Based on their current relationship, he assumed that it was for the purpose of giving him a quiet, verbal lashing. He was prepared to receive it as well, but instead got a more considerate and informative tone. It surprised him to the point that he simply stared at Quint for a moment before looking away while feeling slightly bewildered. It felt a bit odd to be touched by Quint as well, the steely-eyed man having flinched at the first unexpected prod.

Quint wouldn't be able to feel much as far as wounds went, as the only thing out of the ordinary was the zombie-seemed burn on his back. Though the hardened goop was a bit raised from his skin, it was also transparent, letting anyone check on the status of it. The burn was still very red with a small section of black, but it certainly didn't look enflamed or infected.

When Quint began his medical lesson, Damien listened quietly. It seemed as though Quint was truly taking the time to impart some helpful knowledge, so he wanted to honor that by focusing on what was being shown. It surprised him that the pulling of the knife had actually been what messed him up the most. It was true that he hadn't been particularly gentle when yanking it. After all, he had been trying to do it quickly rather than carefully.

He hadn't even thought of the risk of bleeding out down there, but now that Quint mentioned it, if he had been any more careless with the knife, he could have easily lost a lot of blood with no way to get to help. Cora could have tried to stop the bleeding, but how would she have gotten him out to Quint? And if he was further weakened by blood loss, he would have been easy pickings for that rat. He wouldn't even have been able to resist its snapping jaws.

Throughout the small lecture, Damien would occasionally nod to let Quint know he was listening.

"IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU! You fucking liar!"

Try as he might to have been a good student, he couldn't ignore what the man had just loudly bellowed. Having been looking at his hand, his head immediately jerked up and his eyes fixed on the muscle-head. Like Sabastian, he too was outraged by such a selfish accusation. How dare he say something to the man who just barely avoided being dismembered himself?! Those steely eyes of his seemed to darken a bit as his muscles tensed.

 

[Drobabes]

Niles was on his way over, having been closer than the squad. After the event's up on the hill he was keenly aware of his position in their hierarchy, which was currently at the bottom. On paper, and as far as the compound went, he was still Second Officer but the tides had changed behind the scenes. After that fucking mutt had broken his bones and laid him up in the hospital for a week, he knew that his usefulness had come into question, and the pressure had only been mounting ever sense. He thought that if he had been able to shoot that smart mouthed little prick and stop them from taking Cora, it would have put him back in Kuznet's good graces. But it had backfired. Horribly.

He raised his gun and took aim when he saw the target, seeking any opportunity that could work him back up the ladder. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, however, he heard a shot go off from behind him and whizz past his shoulder.

"Who the fuck?!"

His head jerked around, his eyes looking black even in the morning light. Jonathon was standing behind him, lowering the sniper riffle to his side and giving Niles a pompous grin as he strode by.

"Better luck next time Niles. I'll be sure to tell Francis all about this one over poker later."

"You fucking piece of..."

He was gone before Niles could finish his sentence, jogging up to the women and knocking her hard in the back of her head with the butt of his rifle.
__________________________________________

Cora looked over at her and gave her a soft nod of her head.

"No, that's alright. It was just a safer idea to travel in pairs-but thank you."

She went a bit quiet after that, her eyes looking around the mall as she picked up the pace so that they could get their trip over with. As soon as they got to the pharmacy, she went to the back, which the door had been forced open. That fact alone told her that the place had probably been cleaned out, but she wanted to check anyway. At least she knew the name of the medicine she was looking for, having had to take it many times before.
_________________________________________

"He can't hurt either of you anymore."

Another wracking sob shook his big body. His mind-in as fragile a state as it was, still desperately latched on to those comforting words. It was over; not only for him but for that poor man. He didn't have to wake up again to the sight of another piece of his body missing, forever crippled by an evil that was almost incomprehensible.

"IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU! You fucking liar!"

He would have froze, almost did, infact, but his eyes wanted to move and look over at the other man. He pulled back from Sabastian and stared, at first not sure how to react to what he was saying but feeling something akin to fear nonetheless.

"You could've helped him, but you were a fucking coward who couldn't step up!"

Vin was already on the ground so it wasn't too far of a fall from his knees back to his ass, his breath leaving him in a quiet whoosh of air. He looked like someone had just punched him in the kidney, the color draining from his face as he could only stare for a moment.

Was that true? Could Vin have helped that man survive if he had took the attention off of him? At the time he had felt like there was no other option, but maybe he had been being selfish. After all, he could have survived without a leg or arm. He...he could have done something...

"I'm, I'm sorry" he choked, the guilt sinking him beneath the waves of despair. Even Sabastian's sudden display of righteous anger, though it made him flinch, wasn't enough to stop the poison from flowing into his veins.
___________________________________

The words being shouted didn't surprise him, but the sudden display from Sabastian had him tensing, unsure if he was going to have to do something. Their tentacles weren't much different than their hands so it was a bit expected that Sabastian would use one to grab the guy, but the way he had grabbed his throat scared him a bit. He trusted Sabastian not to kill him, but things were obviously very tense and his grouchy friend was already in a high state of stress; accidents could happen. Soon the issue was resolved, though, the man being let off with just a warning.

When his eyes came back to Damien, he noticed the way he was tensing. It was pretty obvious that he cared about Vin, though that spoke nothing, yet, to his character. Although...it did give Quint an opportunity to test it.

"Damien" he said, trying to get his attention. If that didn't work, he would reach out and put a hand on his shoulder for a brief moment.

"He's in shock. The guy just lost his brother, he probably doesn't even realize what he's saying."

Quint's tone was pretty neutral and his face almost hard, but despite his own detachment from the big muscly guy, he was still Cora's brother and still had the same tender heart that the tough, sweet women had. They had only survived Kuznet's cruelties, after all, by clenching onto their humanity with teeth bared.

"Besides, Sabastian will keep him in his place."

 

[Poprockz]

All Janet saw before the butt of the rifle struck her was the brunette officer. He had a face that seemed both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, and he seemed to be in a good mood.

-------------------

"Oh, no sweat, then." Salina quickly put them down and nestled her hands into her pockets. The two of them moved in silence since she was just as quiet as Cora. Though she did seem to glance at Cora every now and then just to make sure she wasn't uncomfortable or something.

When they arrived at the pharmacy, the zombie girl followed her into the back and glanced around curiously. It wasn't everyday that one got to peak into the back of the shop.

Since the group of men had been using it as a sort of base, it had several empty bottles of liquor on the floor, as well as cigarettes, food, blankets, and a couple bags. Though upon further inspection, she found that one of the bottles of rum was only half drained. It was picked up, the large bottle being tucked under her arm.

"Do you uh... want help looking for stuff? Not sure what you need, but two eyes are better than one. I mean two sets of eyes. Like four of them. Not that having less than two is bad, I mean..." There was silence for a second, the woman cringing slightly at her excessive word vomit.

--------------------

While the interaction was happening with Sabastian and the man, Laneesha walked over to Jeremy and deposited Zach into his arms, instructing him to hold him tightly just in case. Though she didn't explain the entirety of the situation, Jeremy got the idea that it was important by the tone in her voice. If he woke up soon, it was likely that Jeremy would be the best person to comfort him. All the while, she kept an eye on Sabastian and the other man.

Sabastian could already see the effect those words had on Vin, turning back to see Vin sitting back on the ground with a look of shame and despair. It felt like someone was twisting a knife within him, to see how much damage that asshole had done to him. He understood that the muscled guy was grieving, but that didn't give him a free pass to be emotionally abusive to a survivor. Vin had been taken too- it wasn't his fault that any of this had happened!

Though Vin had fallen back and away from Sabastian, he simply made up the distance and shuffled on his knees until he was close to him again. Once more, his tentacles went around his torso (being careful not to go over the man's arms at all). He was sure that Vin wouldn't appreciate having his movements restricted right now. With that, he put his arms around Vin's shoulders and pulled his head back against him. "You have nothing to apologize for."

After having landed on his ass, the muscled man sat there on the concrete for a few moments, likely thinking about the threat that had just been made to him. However, he soon was getting back up onto his feet. It seemed as though he wasn't going to be deterred by one threat, as he approached the two of them once more. His eyes were wet and streaming by this point, and his voice was still full of anger as he engaged them.

"F-fucking do it then, bitch! I've got nothing left because my brother is fucking DEAD." His lip wobbled and he sniffed, wiping his nose off on his forearm before continuing, pointing his finger at Vin in an accusatory manner "We were... we were so close to saving him. He died down there with a fucking pussy who didn't do a damn thing but piss his pants and feel bad for himself!"

Sabastian gritted his teeth and glared, having half a mind to truly beat him within an inch of his life. Maybe that get him back into his right mind. This was absolutely unacceptable.

He was just about to get up when Laneesha quickly grabbed the grieving man by the shoulder, swiveled him around, and slapped him. It wasn't a slap fueled by anger or rage, more akin to a controlled one where she was simply trying to shock him. She was successful in doing so, the man staring at her as a hand went up to his wet, pink cheek as though trying to confirm it had actually happened

"Get ahold of yourself. Something horrible happened to your brother and now he's dead. You have a right to be upset, but you will not harass that man. You don't blame the pigs for not saving one another, you blame the butcher for killing them. Now sit down and wait." She didn't wait for a reply, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him over near the mall doors before sternly forcing him to sit against one of the walls.

--------------------
"Damien."

Damien responded, albeit a bit slowly. The hand on his shoulder helped to draw his full attention back to Quint and he listened to him talk about the other man.

He's in shock. The guy just lost his brother, he probably doesn't even realize what he's saying.... Besides, Sabastian will keep him in his place."

He knew what Quint was saying was right, but it didn't make him feel any better about it. If he was being perfectly honest, he didn't really care about that man one bit. He didn't know him and wasn't fond of him at all. So while he knew that if he had lost Cora or Vin and he would likely be in a similar state, he didn't necessarily connect with the man, nor empathize with him.

Vin however, was someone he did care about, and thus he prioritized Vin's wellbeing over the other's. He was able to connect to Vin and Cora (and even Sabastian) in ways that he simply was unable to do with strangers at this point.

Maybe he felt some camaraderie with Vin over him having to watch someone go like that. To witness someone innocent suffer like that. Though he supposed innocent was a relative term, he imagined that it would have been hard to helplessly watch as someone slipped away. No... he didn't have to imagine.

"*crack* AAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Father, let me out! Let me out please! Father! FATHER!"

Damien's eyes had glazed over for a moment before he shook his head and ran his hand through his hair, resting it on his leg where his finger began to tap rhythmically. It was a darker memory he didn't want to dwell on- he was past all of that. Taking a breath, he avoided looking at Quint and nodded, his eyes wandering to the muscled man again before saying, "as long as it's taken care of, I guess."

 

[Drobabes]

The next time that Janet opened her eyes, she would find herself in a cold hard chair surrounded by concrete walls and bright florescent lights. Both her ankles and wrists were secured against the legs and arms of the chair with metal handcuffs, and if she made the mistake of looking down, she would see that the floor beneath her was stained by large patches of rusty brown.

There were no windows in the room, nor any kind of tools. The only other thing in that small cell of hers was the large metal door to her right.
______________________________________

Rather than acknowledge the young women's awkward demeanor, Cora simply nodded and looked over at her. She zombie girl was cute, but they just didn't have time for small talk or for feelings to be put at ease.

"Yea. Baclofen or Diazepam-which is Valium. If you can't find that, then we'll see if these guys had any weed on them. It's not my first option, but it will serve the same purpose..."

She kept looking around, seeing...well not a whole lot of much. There was some random products here and there, and the place stunk of something akin to rubbing alcohol, but she wasn't seeing a whole lot of medications.
______________________________________

Delvin allowed himself to be pulled down again, the stress of it all simply drowning him. The feelings of guilt and shame were already planted in his soul, but for the time being, he was simply too shocked to be able to muster any more emotion.

His hand comes up to wrap around Sabastian and his eyes just travel down to the ground. The rest of what the man says falls on almost deaf ears.
______________________________________

At first he wasn't sure if he had heard him. Quint watched him, noticing how he seemed to space out for a second before his finger started tapping on his leg. It was a nervous twitch, similar to the one he had seen earlier, though Quint himself didn't quite know what to do with that information just yet. The zombie man had thought he had something this morning, but after the way that Cora had come at him...well he just didn't know. Best to just file it away for a later time.

"as long as it's taken care of, I guess."

Slap!

"Damn..." he said, his blue eyes going over to Laneesha as she both metaphorically and physically put the smackdown on the guy. She was definitely a commander, there was no doubt about it.

"Looks like it just did."

Quint adjusted the way he was sitting a bit, needing to get a bit more comfortable while they waited for Cora.

 

[Poprockz]

Janet stirred, blearily looking around for a moment. Her eyes went first to the door, then the ceiling, then the floor. It seemed as though this was a torture room, though she was a bit surprised that there weren't any cameras visible. Though it was possible that there was one out of her line of sight, or some kind of recorder hidden nearby or on the chair.

This had been expected if she was to fail- to be dragged underground and interrogated. They would be disappointed though as she had no intention of spilling her guys in anything other than a literal sense.

-------------------------------

The girl nodded and started searching through the medicines as well, her movements normal and natural. It seemed as though speed was primarily for running, or perhaps she was just saving her energy. Speaking of, while she was checking the labyrinth of orange and white bottles, she took a large granola bar out of her pocket and started to eat it purposefully. It didn't seem like she particularly liked it, but was eating it out of necessity.

After a while, she sighed and approached Cora. "I couldn't find any of those things... Sorry. I think they might have been cleaned out a while ago. Give me just a sec." With that, she swiftly (though not inhumanly) walked out of the office to check the other guys.

-------------------------------

Though Sabastian was surprised that Laneesha had stepped in, he was also quite grateful. Vin needed him right now, so he wasn't inclined to leave him if it wasn't necessary.

Turning back to Vin, he shuffled a bit closer to Vin and pulled him close once more, resting his head atop Vin's. "Hey... Don't listen to him..." He wanted to say that it wasn't Vin's fault, but he knew how twisted one's own mind could get when wondering if one could have done more. The "what if's" would never be reality now, so there was no point in giving them any power.

"You had a responsibility to me to stay alive and as whole as possible. You came back to me safe, and I'm so goddamn relieved. I thought I was going to lose you again... I didn't want that. I never want that again..." The blonde zombie squeezed him slightly, a few tears welling up and dripping into what was left of Vin's choppy hair.

----------------------------

Damien stared in surprise, also appreciating how quickly and directly she had handled the situation. It saved him from having to get up and... Well, what could he have done? It wasn't as though he could really defend anyone right now.

His tired grey eyes looked away from Vin and toward Quint, drawn to his movements. He looked a lot like Cora, though with a more boyish charm. It was interesting to him that one of them became a zombie while the other hadn't. Perhaps it was random, or perhaps their genes were just different enough to warrant the differentiation.

Something suddenly was on his thigh, the man jumping and looking down before seeing that it was just Bowie laying his head down. The snake seemed a bit lethargic, the digestion of the rat taking most of his energy it seemed. It looked quite bulbous and slightly off-putting if Damien was to admit it, that large lump in the snake's body was very apparent.

Glancing at Quint, Damien asked, "So... did you used to play baseball?" He was trying to make small talk, hopefully to create less tension between the two of them bit by bit.

 

[Drobabes]

While no obvious cameras were set up in the room, there were two small lenses set directly above her head near the flourescents. Most poor souls who found themselves down in this place never noticed them, as they were placed in such a way as to be almost obscured by the lighting panels, while also being difficult to spot in general unless someone had the thought to stare into those bright lights for more than a few seconds. Or, if they were simply very good at taking in details quickly.

Once Janet was awake, two things happened, although not immediately.

The first was that the temperature in the room began to drop. It was not a drastic swing, but rather a slow, creeping cold that would proceed until the air was chilly enough to raise gooseflesh and cause the hard chair and concrete beneath her feet to radiate that cold to her skin and on through to her bones.

The second thing that happened, was the door swung open rather suddenly and tall, older officer with almost soft, brown eyes stepped through. He met her gaze but gave no indication that he would speak with her. What he did instead, was stroll up to her quickly and bend down in front of her chair. His hands then reached down and began the process of taking off her shoes and socks, if she were wearing any.
____________________________________________

She already knew the place was likely going to be wiped clean, but she hadn't expected it to be so thoroughly and methodically dealt with. It was truly a wonder they hadn't taken the common stuff off the shelf, such as the regular Aspirin, shampoos, and general vitamins. She searched every empty box, behind every counter, and anywhere that might have even just had a bottle or few singles pills drop down behind it. But there was nothing.

When she turned around to head back across the room and look in the general store area, she was a bit annoyed to see Salina searching a bit slowly and just eating as she did so. Cora was too stressed and irritated to make the connection, if there was any, that the young women might not be able to keep her super speed up for extended periods. Instead of irritably saying anything about it, however, she proceeded to simply ignore Salina and look on the counters, only turning her attention back when she was spoken to.

"Alright" she said simply, starting to follow behind when she suddenly stopped herself.

Salina was heading in the direction of where those other men were. The men who had been killed, from what they had heard earlier. With a little shiver, she shook her head and quickly turned away, not needing to see that carnage as well.
____________________________________

"You had a responsibility to me to stay alive...I thought I was going to lose you again... I didn't want that. I never want that again..."

His lips tremble a bit and more tears pour down his face. His grip suddenly tightens and he puts almost all of his weight against Sabastian's chest.

"I wanted to see you again" he chokes out, his voice quiet now.

"I didn't want to die down there..."
_______________________________________________

While he noticed Damien looking at him from the corner of his eye, his own blue eyes were looking further out at the group, doing a quick head count of everyone and checking on Sayori to see how she was holding up. He knew she wouldn't feel comfortable coming near right now.

"So...did you used to play baseball?"

His flinching had brought Quint's eyes back to him, and then down to Bowie. It wasn't the first time he had seen the reptile with a large bulge in his belly, but it was certainly the first time it had been so big. The infection must have made him able to handle such a big meal, but Quint had also noticed that Bowie had grown quite a bit from his previous size. If he had to guess, he would say he had likely gained at least two more feet on his length and about twenty pounds on his weight.

"When did she get the tattoo done on her leg? And the one on her shoulder?" he asked, rather than answer Damien's question. Though in a way, it was slightly still on track. Quint recognized that it was his own bat she had gotten inked onto her skin, though he hadn't had a chance to ask her what the letters symbolized.

As far as playing baseball went, it was true. Himself, Sarah, and Cory used to go out and enjoy the sport with Brandon whenever they could. It wasn't so much that they necessarily loved it, but rather, it was therapy for them. It was a way to prove to themselves that the damage that had been done to their bodies, while not completely reversible, at least had not crippled them. They could still live normal lives, and sometimes they really needed that reminder.

He didn't feel like sharing all that with Damien, however, as he still had no trust for the man.

 

[Poprockz]

Still a bit groggy, she didn't think to look up again for more cameras, simply assuming that there was one nearby. There she waited for something to happen, though it seemed as though she would be waiting for a little while. After a bit of time, the woman shivered, wondering to herself if the room had always been this cold. It was likely that she just hadn't really noticed until it had seeped into her skin. It was a bit uncomfortable, though not unbearable.

The sudden opening of the door made her jump, but that was about it. She knew one of them would come eventually, so it wasn't too much of a surprise. The man that entered looked familiar... Was he the one that hit her on the back of the head? She wasn't entirely sure. Perhaps she was confused. Anyway, though they may have locked eyes, she too was loathe to speak, merely letting the silence continue.

Her gaze followed him as he began to remove her shoes and socks and she realized a grim reality: they were probably trying to remove her protections against the cold to make it more uncomfortable for her, to "loosen her up" as it were. Either that, or they planned on removing her toenails or toes to get information from her. Whatever the case was, she started to brace herself, strengthening her own resolve. She was as good as dead in this case.

The dead don't speak. The dead don't speak. The dead don't speak.

---------------------------------

Salina headed toward the men, pausing as she looked down at them. It made her stomach churn, the woman clenching her jaw as she started to approach. The moment her shoe stepped into the wet blood, she gagged, turning away for a moment and trying to keep her granola bar down. It was difficult, but she managed to do so via vigorous swallowing and looking away. Once it passed, she took a deep breath and started to hum loudly, mostly to drown out the wet sounds of her shoes. The song she chose was "Under Pressure" by Queen.

With that in place to help, she moved from body to body, reaching into their pockets with a deep cringe on her face and a few moments where she once again had to pause to keep her food down. When she finally got something out of the beanie guy's pocket, she looked up to find a large ziploc back full of gummies. At first she was a bit dissapoined, but upon giving it a sniff, she found that it was more than meets the eye. The smell made her feel a touch drowsy to be honest, but she passed that off to be the energy she had spent that day.

Once again she hummed somewhat erratically as she made her way away from the bodies, shuddering before leaving them behind to approach Cora. Holding out the bag, she swallowed some excess saliva and said, "The beanie guy had these. I think they're weed gummies by the smell. I think it'll help. Maybe."

--------------------------------

Blinking through his tears, Sabastian sniffled slightly upon hearing what Vin had to say.

"I'm sorry we couldn't grab you sooner. When he took you, I didn't even notice until I came out of my stall and he had fucking dunked a shit-ton of perfume everywhere so I couldn't smell." The blonde's eyebrows pulled down in a scowl. "I also kicked in the door to the shed like an idiot because I thought it would get us to you faster, but all it did was dunk more perfume. I'm sorry..."

For the first time, he noticed the bandage on the side of Vin's head, glancing at it and gingerly reaching up to touch the edges. "Did he hit you?"

------------------------------

Sayori had been looking directly at Quint when he looked up, the woman quickly looking away toward Laneesha instead. Why did she do that? It wasn't as though looking at him was weird or anything. Now she felt more awkward about looking away than she did about looking, thinking to herself with a bit of exasperation that she was just reacting really weirdly for no reason. Her arms were crossed as she simply stood, waiting for Cora to get back.

She didn't want to approach Quint and Damien for obvious reasons, nor did she want to intrude on Sabastian and Vin's moment. That only left Laneesha and their group, all of which she didn't know very well and didn't really trust. Thus, she was content to simply wait for the expedition to return.

--------------------------------

"When did she get the tattoo done on her leg? And the one on her shoulder?"

Though typically he might have been annoyed at Quint refusing to answer his question, Damien recognized that it was actually a step in the right direction. Though Cora's brother refused to let Damien dictate the conversation, he was still engaging the steely-eyed man without being particularly rude or hostile. That in of itself was encouraging, so he had no qualms letting Quint take the reins on their talk.

"About a week or so ago when we were searching for Sabastian, Vin offered to tattoo us. He got a paint gun from a local guy at the fort we were at, so we took some time for it. Maybe Vin could give you one too if you asked." Damien had purposefully left out the fact that he had also gotten one. If he had to guess, Quint would probably find his tattoo to be stupid and melodramatic, so it was best to simply let it be. It would probably have soured the conversation, thus spoiling any progress.

 

[Drobabes]

After the articles were removed, her ankles were restrained with two cuffs and looped through a ring at the base of the floor, essentially preventing her from completely lifting her feet from the floor. The Officer then stepped back and gave her one last glance before exiting and shutting the door behind him.

A few moments later the door opened again, and Janet was blessed with the big man himself. He strode in casually, his icy eyes staring her down with each slow step as he came near. Once he was about four feet from her, he stopped and crossed his hands behind his back, not bothering to glance back as the door was shut behind him.

"Hello little one. And where in this big wide world have you come from?"

_____________________________________________

When Cora heard her gag from the other room, she turned and almost headed in. She wanted to call her back, to tell Salina to not worry about it and that they could simply use something else. She didn't want the young women to be scarred by the bodies and the blood that was likely staining the floor, but she was quickly reminded that, for better or worse, Salina was a part of the group that had killed those men.

The humming was heard soon after, though she simply glanced in the general direction with a worried look on the her face. A moment later Salina was seen coming towards her. She uncrossed her arms and pushed her hair back behind her ears before she reached her hand out to take the gummies. They weren't muscle relaxers, thought if he ate enough of them, they would certainly do a better job of it.

"Thank you Salina" she said quietly, putting the gummies down into her pocket, her earlier annoyance completely forgotten. After glancing at her face again, she quickly turned and gave one last glance around.

"This is enough for now, let's get out of here."

Strange and beautiful eyes aside, Cora could tell that the young women was very clearly uncomfortable by what she had had to do. They didn't need to stay there any longer, now that they had something to use.
_____________________________________

Delvin was listening, but only so far as to hear his soothing voice, even if it was distressed at the moment. The how and why didn't really matter to him at the moment; the only thing he needed right now was those cool arms wrapped around him.

"Did he hit you?"

His breathing hitches for the briefest second, and though he had almost calmed down enough to stop shaking, his had began to tremble badly as he reaches up and weakly tries to pull Sabastian's hand down and away from what was left of his ear.

"I'm fine, it'll be fine. Everything's fine now."

His voice was calmer than it had been. Almost soothing in a detached sort of way, and it was unclear if he was really speaking to Sabastian, or to himself.
________________________________________

Though their eyes only met for a brief moment, it helped to quell some of the tight tension in his shoulders. She obviously wasn't comfortable, but she was safe at least. He would go speak with her once this was over.

"About a week or so ago..."

A week? And then Sabastian had been broken out by that other zombie, maybe... That's right. Just a few days ago. Had it really been such a small amount of time? It had felt like years.

"So it's still healing. It's going to start itching soon, she'll have to wrap and tape it at night so she doesn't scratch it."

Quint heard the suggestion of asking for his own tattoo but decided to gloss over it, as he already had one on the bottom of his foot and didn't like the idea of having them on more visible areas of his body. Turning his eyes back to Damien, he gave him a brief once over, taking in the way he seemed worn down. Good.

"I won't be able to set your arm right away. We'll wait for the medicine to kick in, or if she couldn't find anything, load you up on whatever pain killer we have. I want you to ride with me when we leave, and while we wait, we're going to start that therapy."

Moving up onto his haunches a bit, he brought his hands into his lap and crossed his fingers together. At the same time, two of his tentacles came in front and crossed over each other, hugging near his stomach, in a similar way that one might cross their arms.

"We'll drive in front and alone. Therapy is private and needs to stay that way. Of course, I can't stop you from talking about things with anyone if you feel the need, but as far as we are concerned, nothing you tell me gets told to anyone else. Not Sabastian, not Sayori, not Cora. No one. Whatever we talk about is going to be completely confidential, and I have every reason to keep that treaty between us because it's to no one's benefit for me to break it."

He glanced around a bit, popping the knuckle on his ring finger, which was now empty, before bringing his eyes back again.

"It also needs to be said that, whenever we are doing this, you can expect no hostility from me. My job is to sit there, shut up and listen, and ask questions where I feel like it's important. I might make a comment here or there if I feel like it's important to point something out or offer a different viewpoint, but other than that, this is about the work that you have to put in. You also have the right to come to me at any time of day or night and ask for a session. It doesn't matter if I'm asleep, busy working on something, whatever-you can ask. Just ask to talk in private, and I'll know what you're saying. There may be some times where I ask you to wait, but I won't do this often, nor lightly. "

He paused after that, waiting for Damien to respond and either agree or ask questions he might have. To not agree to any of his terms would only result in his anger to flare up again, though Quint was not a mind reader, nor the thought police. He was free to disagree. And Quint was free to dunk him in honey and leave him tied to a tree all night.

 

[Poprockz]

Her feet on the cold floor were uncomfortable now that her socks and shoes had been removed. She always had been sensitive to cold, especially in her feet, so she had no doubt that they would soon be numb at this rate. Because she had expected the man to stay and question and/or torture her, she was a bit surprised when he simply left. It left a bit of a feeling of foreboding settling in her stomach.

It was entirely likely at this point that the General would show up, and he honestly scared her. Though he had always treated her with the utmost politeness (though they didn't cross paths hardly ever due to the fact that she cleaned his office only on the rare occasion that the other cleaner was sick), she had been told that to be captured by him would result in her suffering and eventual death.

Thus, when he entered, instead of surprise she instead conveyed guardedness. Her eyes avoided looking up at the massive figure towering nearby, instead focusing her grayish-blue eyes on the nearby wall. She knew she was in deep shit, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

"Hello little one. And where in this big wide world have you come from?"

In all likelihood he was being condescending, though it wasn't apparent from his tone of voice. After all, while she was indeed 41, anybody would look little to a man of that size. Anyone would seem little in significance to a man of his rank as well.

"I'm not sure what you mean, General. I lost my home just the same as anyone else did." Her voice was quiet and even. Even if the conversation wasn't going to go anywhere, it would at least buy her a bit of time in a pain-free existence whether that was seconds or minutes.

------------------------------------------

Salina nodded at Cora's thanks and mumbled, "no problem." When it was suggested that they leave, she looked relieved, the woman walking at Cora's side back the way they came.

After clearing her throat for a minute, she asked, "so uh... is that guy your brother? The one who looks a lot like you? I thought so, but it seems weird to me that people that almost look like twins wouldn't both be zombies. Not that you not being a zombie is bad, but like... um, well genetics and stuff." She seemed to be fishing for something to talk about, though perhaps regretting it just a little once she was done.

-------------------------------------------

The way Vin responded to him actually made Sabastian a bit scared. There was something off about Vin's injury, and it was obvious that it triggered the big man. He could feel the way his demeanor changed, that unstable hand trying to persuade Sabastian's to leave it be. The fact that his voice was eerily calm was the most unsettling part of it all, that tone making him extremely concerned.

He wanted to reach up and take the bandage off, to see what was underneath so they could treat it. However, he knew that such an action might just traumatize Vin further. It sucked because there was clearly blood there, and it might get infected if they didn't do anything about it. Sabastian was torn, the blonde temporarily allowing his hand to be guided away. His mismatched eyes looked over to Quint before returning to Vin. They would have to address it and apply some goop to it, but he supposed it didn't have to be right now.

Sabastian kissed the top of Vin's head and spoke in a reassuring voice. "Yeah, it's okay. You're okay. Cora's going to come back and help Damien, and then we're going to get in the cars and leave. Then we're going to drive until we reach someplace we can rest. You're never going to come back here, and you're never going to see this place again. Maybe we'll go to the place Damien wants us to go to, or maybe we'll go someplace else. It's up to us, but we'll all be together and I'm going to be right there with you."

Though he suspected Vin might be a bit out of it, it seemed like Vin liked hearing the sound of his voice. It felt like there wasn't much he could do to help Vin, so even if it was a little thing, he wanted to bring him some comfort.

-------------------------------------

The comment about Cora's arm was tucked away as a mental note. He would have to make sure to remind Cora of this, as well as doing the same for his own tattoo. He would have liked to think he had enough self-restraint to not scratch it, but he didn't want to risk an absent-minded scratch to mess up Vin's work.

What followed when Quint began speaking again, seemed to be the run-down of how Quint wanted things to go. It seemed the man was intent on getting started on Damien as quickly as possible. Thought Quint's speech, Damien didn't react other than pursing his lips slightly, unaware that he had a slightly skeptical look on his face. Obviously he didn't have much faith in Quint and his claims.

Why should a man who hated him have any reason to be trusted? He claimed that whatever was said would stay between them, but there was no guarantee of that. His statement that "there would be no benefit" to sharing was quite weak in Damien's opinion, as it was entirely possible that Quint would try to milk him for enough information to slander him to Cora. Even if he didn't do anything with the information immediately, he would always have the opportunity to use something said in confidence as a way to leash his sister's lover. He wasn't as concerned about him leaking the information to anyone else, and it wasn't like he was going to keep everything in his life private in regards to Cora, but he didn't feel comfortable having her hear information about him when it wasn't an intimate conversation between the two of them.

His skepticism only deepened as Quint continued on to the part about not judging him or "becoming hostile." That was absolutely a false claim, and he had absolutely zero trust that Quint would hold to that. He was far too temperamental to be able to rein himself in if Damien said something that reflected poorly on his own character. To expect anything else would be foolish on Damien's part. It didn't matter though- it wasn't as though he was going to do these sessions for any reason other than to satisfy Quint's demands.

It was also odd to him that Quint would even suggest Damien coming to him for addition sessions beyond that which was absolutely necessary. What, did he think that there was any way Damien would go up to him to tug on his sleeve and cry on his shoulder? The audacity of this prickly man to think that Damien would ever rely on him for emotional support... He didn't even regularly do so with Vin who he liked and trusted a lot more. The only person he would ever truly feel comfortable with was Cora, and he didn't see that changing any time soon.

"I appreciate you telling me all of this. If you feel like a session would be appropriate once everything is settled here, then I would be willing to do so." He figured a more diplomatic response would be good. It wouldn't do him any good to argue with Quint over any of his claims, nor his request.

 

[Drobabes]

The General stared down at her, a small smile curling his lips as he turned to the right and took a few steps.

"I see. So then, you answer my question, not with confusion or anger, but with calm. You do not beg to be released, nor demand to know why you have been brought here. You give no indication what so ever that you are innocent, nor even seem surprised at my arrival."

After having walked about halfway across the small room, he had pivoted slowly and walked back on the same straight line. His massive body came to a stop in the spot where he had been prior, but now he looked down into her eyes with a deadly seriousness as any good humour left his features. He let the silence between them thicken, and then he asked, very calmly,

"Do you think I am stupid, Janet?"
_________________________________

"Cora's going to come back and help Damien, and then we're going to get in the cars and leave. Then we're going to drive until we reach someplace we can rest. You're never going to come back here, and you're never going to see this place again."

The more that Sabastian spoke, the calmer Delvin seemed to become. His hands slowed their trembling until they were simply limp on the little blonds lower back and thigh, and his breathing became very even as he simply stayed there leaned against his cool chest.

For a long moment after Sabastian was done speaking, Vin didn't say anything. He simply looked down at the ground until the movement of Cora coming back caught his eyes. He then tried to sit up a little bit, bringing his arm up front, though he made no other move to be free of Sabastian's hug.

"Can we get in the..."

He stopped, realizing that they were at the back of the mall, and the cars were parked on the other side. He wanted to simply hide away and rest, but after what had just happened, there was no way that he wanted any of them to be split up again.

"...nevermind."

He tried to move again, but winced when he felt pain radiate through his left ribs and through to the back of his shoulder. There was definitely something cracked in there.

"I wish we could go to Damaris...but I don't want anyone to follow..."

Where would they go that they could be free to rest?
_________________________________

Cora could tell that the young women was simply trying to fill the awkward silence, and truth be told, the tough women herself wasn't opposed to it. It gave her something to focus on as they quickly made their way back through the mall and kept her eyes from wandering too much at all the empty spaces where someone could all too easily be hiding.

"Yea he's my twin brother" she said, giving Salina an awkward little smile.

"I don't know why I didn't change. I was out on a small hike during the worst of it... I got lost," she said after swallowing to wet her mouth. She didn't think she was a good liar, but given the circumstances, she was going to have to get good at it in order to not only protect herself, but everyone else as well. She had never been particularly trusting, but after the events of the last few months, and with everything else going on at the moment, she was especially on edge. Still, it wouldn't do her any good to make up some outlandish tale that she couldn't keep track of, so it was better to let just a bit of the truth slip in.

"And ended up running into Damien. We talked for a bit, and he ended up cooking me some pizza back at his cabin."

Cora smiled more genuinely after saying that, still finding the whole situation a bit amusing and funny, with how hurt his pride had been when she refused to eat the second time. That little smudge on his nose...her sweet lover. She was still shaken with the fact that she had come so close to losing him again.

"Anyway, um, I think it was something that was airborne. I wonder if because I wasn't in the main city, and I was out in the woods, that that had anything to do with it. I was bitten," she said, lifting her arm to show the healed bite mark.

"And I lived through it obviously... Maybe that had something to do with not turning at the beginning?"

She gave a little shrug as they walked through the doors, looking around to find Quint and Damien sitting next to each other. She immediately started towards them, a look of determination in her eyes.
__________________________________________

He was watching his face as he spoke, but after his agreement with his terms, Quint didn't say anything further but give a small nod. He could only guess as to the doubts that Damien was having with him, but he had meant it when he said it would not benefit him to try and use it against him. In his mind, he needed to change Damien into someone that could not only withstand the horrors that they would face with being chased by Kuznet, but also turning him into a man that would be worthy of Cora's trust and devotion.

In a different life, this would never be something that Quint would ever condone. The very idea of trying to control or change a person went against every moral fibre of his being, knowing that it was absolutely wrong to try and take someone freewill away. If someone did not want to change, then they never would, and it was cruel to try and make them do so. However, Damien was a special case and seeing as there were always exceptions to the rule, he didn't find himself feeling at all guilty about what he was trying to do. And besides, a part of that was still true.

Damien needed to make the choice to be better if he were to be, and only time would prove to Quint that he had already made that choice before they knew each other.

"We couldn't find any painkillers" Cora said, coming to stand near them and reaching down with both her hands to help Damien back up onto his feet. Quint stood as well, crossing his arms over his tentacles as he waited to see what she wanted to do.

"But we did find some weed gummies. It will work just as well, but I want to combine it with some ibuprofen to help get the swelling down."

 

[Poprockz]

Kuznet's thinking out loud was simply met with a measured stare from her. It was true, she could have tried to sway him with tears or outrage, shock or disbelief, but they were way past that. The only reason they could have been coming after her was because of the locket, and if they knew she was connected to it, then her guilt was assured. What use would it have been to pretend when they all knew what the true situation was? Perhaps it would have amused him, or bought her more time, but that wasn't assured and it wouldn't be worth the effort.

"I know you're not. That's why I'm down here, after all," she replied, just as seriously, her eyes moving from the wall to look up at him with a resigned expression.

Though she was calm, her body shivered slightly, not only from the cold, but also from the fear of the situation. Just because she was expecting all of this didn't mean she wasn't afraid. It was natural to fear pain and death, and with the big man standing over her, he could inflict it with the snap of his fingers.

-------------------------------------

The blonde sighed, glad that Vin had stopped trembling. It was a good sign, an indication that he was a bit more stable at the moment.

"Can we get in the... Nevermind"

Sabastian glanced to see what he was looking at, his eye catching Cora and that other zombie coming back. Thank God. The sooner they got back, the sooner they could get the fuck out of this fucking place. Anyway, he knew what Vin meant, but didn't answer just yet. It seemed like Vin was just as eager to leave, though they both knew they had to wait for the rest of the group to be able to mobilize.

"I wish we could go to Damaris...but I don't want anyone to follow..."

Vin's movement caused him to bring his attention back to him, looking back in time to see him wince in pain. It seemed as though he had some kind of internal injury perhaps, which was worrying. There was nothing for it- he was going to have to get Quint to excreet some goop for Vin to drink whether the big man liked it or not. He didn't want to be insensitive or forceful, but Vin's health came first and foremost.

"Maybe we could talk to Quint and Cora about it. They might know some tricks to throw Kuznet off our trail enough to be able to make a short visit or something. What's your sister like, again?" He was indeed curious about her, but it was more to give his lover something good to focus on, hopefully letting the time pass more quickly before they left.
-------------------------------------

Salina listened, smiling at the part where Damien made Cora pizza. It seemed as though Cora's own smile was infectious in tandem with such a sweet memory. The zombie's expression indicated that she thought it was a very sweet meet-cute.

"Anyway, um, I think it was something that was airborne. I wonder if because I wasn't in the main city, and I was out in the woods, that that had anything to do with it. I was bitten, and I lived through it obviously... Maybe that had something to do with not turning at the beginning?"

"Oh wow, that's pretty gnarly. I don't know... It was probably airborne, but there were people in the woods who turned too without being bitten so I don't know." The girl shrugged, opening the mall door for Cora and waiting for her to pass through. It was nice to see that everyone was still resting where they had been before, though it was a bit unfortunate that Zach was still unconscious.

-----------------------------------

It was a relief that Quint wasn't pushing him to say anything more. While he would do so if he needed to, he didn't want to lie to Quint if he didn't have to. He truly did intend on doing the session though. What would he talk about as an opener? Maybe something not so personal like... school? His relationship with the house staff? His business? Damien contemplated this, thoughtfully silent until he felt a pair of hands on his body.

Looking up, he was happy to see Cora back, the man standing as she helped (though he didn't want to put too much weight on her).

"We couldn't find any painkillers."

Though it was unfortunate, Damien sighed and thought to himself that he would just have to bear with things in that case. There were people out there who popped their arms back in from being dislocated without medical professionals, and while it would hurt, it definitely wouldn't kill him. Just a snap and a few minutes of pain and the worst would be over. Upon the mention of weed though, Damien tensed slightly.

He didn't like the sound of being under the influence of something, even if he had heard that it wasn't harmful. Just like alcohol, he didn't love the idea of not being completely alert and in control of his inhibitions and actions. Not only was it from a survival standpoint, he didn't want to act in a way that would be too silly. While he liked being playful with Cora, and could successfully banter at times with others, he didn't like having to relax his hold on the way he acted. Perhaps it was silly, but he would be terribly embarrassed if he ended up acting like a fool in front of them.

Clearing his throat, Damien spoke to Cora with a slightly tense voice, "are you sure I need the weed? If it's just for pain, I could go without. It would probably be better to keep them for later just in case we need them for something else."

 

[Drobabes]

Her answer seemed to please him. He was not above reaching out and backhanding her so hard that her front tooth would have flew out across the room if she had showed him any indication of insolence. Instead, her show of respect was met with equal respect in turn.

"Good. This will make our communications more productive, then."

Standing up a bit straighter, if that were possible with such a stiff posture, he looked down and began.

"Why don't you start by telling me why you came to My compound?"

His icy eyes watched her carefully, looking at every gesture from her body, conscious and unconscious.
_________________________________________

He nodded at the suggestion of Cora or Quint possibly having a suggestion of how to get there safely, though he personally did not think that was an achievable goal. Unless something happened to really take up all of Kuznet's time and resources, he doubted he would take their eyes off of them. But it was still a comforting thought.

"What's your sister like, again?"

"She's a bitch" he said flat out, though it was said with a tired smile of affection on his face, as if it were not truly an insult to call her that but rather something worthy of bragging about.

"But she's tough and self sufficient, and knows a lot of tricks to patch people up."

He paused for a moment, staring off as if he were seeing something awful again before he suddenly took a shallow inhale of breath and let it out quickly.

"I hope Lizz got there safe..."
__________________________________________

She found it a bit interesting that Salina knew of people who had been out in the woods and been turned, therefore disproving that particular theory. Cora wanted to write all this information down in some kind of journal; perhaps someday when they were all safe enough to do so. She didn't answer however, having gone straight over to Damien as soon as she had been able to spot him again.

"...If it's just for pain, I could go without..."

Cora looked up into his serious expression, reading through the lines of what hadn't been said. With one hand, she reached up quickly and caressed his cheek as she spoke, trying to reassure him that everything would be okay now.

"I think you may have gotten the wrong impression from public media, baby. It's not just about the pain-you have to be completely relaxed as it's reset. Ligaments and muscles have been torn and stretched way too far when it got popped out, and if you try to put it back in by force, it's going to cause more damage."

She moved her thumb from his cheek and down to his shoulder, continuing to gently stroke him. Despite her brother standing right there, there was only Damien in her eyes. The world around her didn't matter right now.

"We don't have access to the type of medical care that we did before, so we have to try and take care of our bodies as best that we can now, otherwise we'll start losing range and motion much sooner than we should, and we don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. We have to stay strong."

Cora let go of him then, looking down just long enough to reach into her pocket and pull out the gummies. From the package, she selected three in total for him to eat, which was about thirty milligrams. It was a lot for someone who didn't regularly ingest them, but she had a goal in mind.

"It will take about two hours to hit you, and if you start to get nervous I'll be with you, but it should just make you go to sleep. If you feel like you can't fall asleep, then I'll give you another one and that will do the trick. Then we'll reset your arm, and you can sleep off the effects. You'll be groggy and probably a little out of it when you get up, but it won't be any worse than a hangover, okay? And you won't have to stay awake and be high while your arm is reset."

Those hazel eyes looked up into his own with nothing but concern and affection as she held the gummies out before him, hoping that he wouldn't push back against this. If they really had to, she would simply give him the ibuprofen, but she was scared that he wouldn't be able to relax enough to let Quint do what he needed to do. And speaking of, the tall zombie man stood beside them, a silent observer to their conversation.

Though his expression didn't change much, his sharp eyes were keenly aware of their interaction and it gave him a feeling that he couldn't bring into words.

She willfully reached out and touched him. She didn't shyly try to hold his hand, and she did not try to fake her affections like Quint had observed her do before. When Cora had reached up to touch his face, it was almost like she wasn't even conscious of the effort, her hands simply working as an extension of her feelings. Naturally, like water. Her eyes were clear, and focused. They didn't dart away or try to avoid his gaze, and they didn't look all around like a scared animal prone in some clearing. Her body was tense with stress, but her shoulders were back and almost relaxed.

Swallowing a bit, Quint finally turned away, occupying himself by bending down and scooping Bowie up into his arms. It felt a bit weird to be holding the big boy with such a massive weight in his belly, but Quint wasn't as easily grossed out by the snakes natural need to feed himself. Once he had him in his arms, he did a similar move to how Cora often would, and wrapped him up into a loose ball, using both of his arms to cradle the snake against his chest like a baby. With his tail and a large portion of his smooth body now partially draped over what was left of the rat, he wasn't quite so grotesque to look at, and he could approach Sayori and Laneesha, giving a small nod to the scarred commander.

"So what was this proposition you have?" he said, trying to keep an irritated sigh from escaping on the last word.

 

[Poprockz]

Ah, it was finally time.

She felt simultaneously relieved that she wasn't in suspense anymore, and anxious that she now had to defy him in earnest.

Janet replied in an almost nihilistic tone. "Unfortunately our conversation won't be productive. I will not tell you anything you want to know, regardless of what you do. Though I understand we must go through the motions anyway." There was a resignation in her eyes, one that indicated that she had already surrendered to her fate. She had been prepared to die the moment she left camp, prepared for her eventual discovery, and prepared for the consequences of not drinking the poison in time. She wasn't ignorant to the horrors she could face. Even if she didn't know more about him, it was a given that a General could think of more than one way to make one's lips a bit looser.

She only wished she could... Her eyes flicked away from him once more to look at the wall, a deep sorrow in them if one looked closely.

"The dead don't speak, do they, Janet? Isn't that right?"

-----------------------

Vin's response about his sister was surprising, but it gave Sabastian a bit of a wry smile to see the way his lover's eyes got a bit of light back in them at the thought of his tough-as-nails sister. She sounded like a badass, one that Vin highly respected based off of his tone. He only hoped that she was safe, and that she would like Sabastian when she met him. It was entirely possible that she might not accept the fact that Sabastian was a zombie, and that made him very anxious about meeting her someday. Aside from being a zombie, she could also just end up disliking him in general which would put Vin in a bit of a tough spot. He never wanted to be any sort of wedge between them, so his fingers were crossed that she would be cool.

"I hope Lizz got there safe..."

He sighed and started to rub Vin's back, "I bet she did. She's pretty tough, and she went together with Maverick. The guy may be dumber than a box of rocks, but I'm sure she could get some use out of him." Sabastian still didn't like the guy, but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt in his gut while thinking about him and... Tiffany.

---------------------------

Her hand upon his cheek was welcome, the man leaning his face slightly into her touch for comfort. It was a bit odd to need comfort over something so insignificant as taking weed for the first time, but here he was. His mother had always referred to it as "the poor man's cocaine," not deigning to have it in her house. Of course outside of his mother's influence he had been given the opportunity to try, but it had always been a bit too uncomfortable for him to do just for curiosity's sake. When Cora's hand went to his shoulder, his tenseness dissipated, the man looking down into those eyes that only held love and concern for his wellbeing. He didn't like that he might fall asleep but... she promised to be there with him.

Cora could have handed him a fistful of laxative chocolate and he would still have accepted it if that was what she wanted. As it was, he could see that she genuinely thought it would help him through the process. While he did manage a medical supply company, he didn't know a whole lot about medicine himself, so it made sense to defer to her own knowledge on the matter, even if it was a bit of an unorthodox treatment.

Damien reached out and gently took the gummies from her, popping them in his mouth and chewing them up. He made a bit of a face for a moment from the taste, but continued nonetheless. Ugh... They tasted sweet, but also a bit... well, that was probably the weed in them. It wasn't bad, necessarily, just weird and a bit off-putting. Soon they were ground up enough to swallow so he did so, letting it all slide down his throat and into his stomach.

"Nng. I like sweet things, but those were... a bit odd."


--------------------------

Upon his approach, Laneesha turned to him and nodded back, her stance straight with her arms behind her back as a lot of military personnel would do. Her dark eye focused on him as she listened, the woman recognizing what he was inquiring about.

"Ah yes. I imagine Salina gave you an introduction, but allow me to repeat and expand. We are from ZUHD- that's Zombies for the Unification of Humans and the Dead. We are a group of half-zombies, humans, and full-zombies that aim to coexist under one banner someday.

I'm sure that you and your blonde friend have faced adversity for being what you are, and I'm sure your humans have also struggled in their efforts to evade the undead. Together, we can ensure a mutually beneficial relationship. The humans are suited to labor, and the zombies are suited to command. That is the best arrangement in order to make sure that we can avoid any crimes taking place. We zombies ensure the prosperity for the humans and protect them, while humans will assist in making a more domestic capacity, as that's what they dynamic is set up for at present."

Laneesha paused and gestured at Quint, "would you have any questions?"

 

[Drobabes]

That flick of her eyes was caught, something pulling her face into just the briefest glimpse of emotion. It was as light and sweet as the smell of a fresh baked pie on the wind, though Kuznet decided to save his dessert for after dinner.

"You are quite confident. It intrigues me, what information they may have told you in order to prepare you for the inevitable. Hmph"

His cold eyes never left her own, but he gave her a practiced smile and noise of amusement.

"Whatever it was, I am sure that it was mere kittens play to what will truly happen in this room. Like little children telling ghost stories around the fire."

Lifting his eyes, he looked at something behind her before he began to circle, going towards whatever it was.

"It may take hours, days..." he spoke confidently, coming to a stop almost directly behind her before he bent down into an almost squat and pulled a little metal tool out from one of his pockets. If she were bothering to strain her neck enough to see, she would be able to make out something that looked similar to a dental pick.

"...or weeks..."

With the hooked end, he reached down to the floor and stuck it between a crack in the pavement. He then used the pick to loosen, and then lift, a small piece of rubble up. It's color and design had been such that, unless you knew where to look, it was completely camouflaged.

Setting the chunk aside, he reached down into the hole that it had revealed and pulled out a long, slender, black duffel bag. It was very similar to the type of thing that campers might carry their beers in, and was very cheap and uncharistically dirty in it's look to be an item of Kuznets. It was his, however, and as he carried it back around to where she could see it, there was almost an affection in the way his fingers danced across the rough material. Bending down once more, this time in front of her, he sat the back down on the ground and unzipped it.

Inside, there were zip ties, rope, duct tape, black strips of cloth, several syringes filled with different colored liquids, and a very long and surgically sharp knife. It was this that he took first, lifting it up in front of his face and eyeing the blade for a long moment before his eyes suddenly shot up to her own.

"But I will break you, Janet."
____________________________________

He nodded, grateful to have something else to think about. He didn't personally know or like Maverick either, but Lizz had been with him when they showed up. The fact that they had all survived together up until that point gave him a bit of hope.

After spacing out for a moment, he noticed Quint trying to address them all, and though he looked up, he didn't bother to answer. He hadn't been paying attention at all to what they were talking about and he didn't even know who these people were.
______________________________

Cora gave him a bit of a weak smile and chuckle, nodding in understanding.

"That's probably the weed you taste. It's kind of unavoidable unfortunately."

She took his hand after that and gave it a little squeeze as she turned to watch Quint and Laneesha talk.

...

Quint listened with patience, being careful to remain neutral. He didn't like the insinuation of what she was proposing, as it didn't sound very far off from slavery. And if it didn't start off that way then he could all too easily see it turning in that direction sooner or later.

"would you have any questions?"

He was quiet for a moment, giving it some thought before he responded.

"Yea, a few. It sounds like you are hopeful that this structure will work, mentioning that crimes will not take place, but can you assure that? Don't get me wrong-I'm trying to withhold my judgement Laneesha, but I have my doubts. People are flawed, and it hasn't been that long since the collapse of regular society. Who's to say that this system you are advocating for isn't just as susceptible to corruption as every system before it? It may not start that way, but can you confidently assure that no one will get greedy?

As far as for facing diversity," he gave a small shrug.

"Everyone in my group has faired fine so far. It's dangerous, yea, but my sister and Sabastian seemed to have been able to hold their own on each front equally well. While I know that is happening, and I don't doubt it may get worse before it gets better, I personally believe that people are good on the whole. It's definitely going to take some adjusting, but I think we'll all figure it out given enough time. The idea of living under that kind of structure just doesn't sit right with me; I don't think I could ever put myself in a position with such strict structures set on people. I don't know...what do you guys think? Cory?"

He turned to look at each of his companions, even Damien for the briefest second, before looking at his sister, their eyes locking.

"Yea," she said, clearing her throat a bit and walking over to her brother to stand by his side.

"I spent a very large portion of my life in a house that was more like a dictatorship than a home. To be put back into any kind of system that even minimally resembled anything like that would cause me a great amount of mental distress."

She crossed her arms and tried not to hug herself at the idea of it, and though she wasn't as good at this negotiating as her brother, she still gave it her best effort because he had given her that look that told her Quint wanted her to back him up.

"I have a question of my own, as well, before you answer that. You said the unification of half zombies, humans, and full zombies? I may have been misled, but none of our encounters with any fully turned humans have thus far been pleasant."

Her face turned to Sabastian, meeting his gaze for a second before coming back to Laneesha.

"They've all acted like crazy psychos if I'm being flat out honest, so I don't currently have any trust in them."

 

[Poprockz]

Janet swallowed as she saw him unearth the bag full of tools, fear taking hold in her heart. It was normal to be afraid of that which would be unpleasant- there was no shame in fear. The only shame there would be was if she succumbed to him the way he promised she would.

"But I will break you, Janet."

She gave him a cold stare and simply replied, "the dead don't speak, General."

In the following days, the horrors that took place in that cell were unmentionable. Though she screamed like any person would, she was unexpectedly tough. No matter what was done to her, it was as though there was a steel wall up in her mind. It was curious the way it seemed as though she had made peace with what was happening, not a glimmer of hope in her heart and thus no expectations of salvation. Even the offers of making the pain stop were met with simply a hard stare or a shake of the head. Pain was her new existence now, and she had accepted it.

Every time she was in an unimaginable place of existence, she would repeat the mantra over and over and over. "The dead don't speak." Sometimes it would be in whimpers, and other times it would be screams, but it was always the same. When her mouth was gagged, it was obvious that it hadn't stopped in her mind, the endless chant anchoring her resolve.

-------------------------------------------------------

As Quint spoke, Laneesha took in his words, carefully contemplating them as it was her job to give a response. Her eyes went to Cora and Sabastian when referenced, her expression neutral until it returned to Quint and his comment about people being good on the whole. It was then that her expression changed a bit, her face darkening and her eyebrows furrowing as though she didn't agree with that statement at all. Though a moment later when Cora chimed in, she readjusted herself to be neutral once more.

When Cora was speaking, Damien caught the way in which Cora put her arms around herself in a subtle way, recognizing it to possibly be a bit of self-soothing. He wanted to get up and wrap his arms around her, but he was hardly in a position to do so. Perhaps once his arm was set, he would at least be able to offer a little comfort.

In any case, he very much agreed with both her and Quint- it didn't sound like a society in which humans had much power. And where there was a deficit in power, there could be corruption and exploitation.

The leader nodded in acknowledgment once Cora was done. "Alright, let me tell you about them then. There are two in our organization- a pair. They currently lead the organization and have thus far been fair and equitable. I can vouch for their character, as I have personally seen them do very honorable things. Something to know about them is that their libido is in overdrive, and thus they have different needs than normal people, but they're still able to use logic and reason. I have not seen anyone be mistreated, but I can understand your trepidation given your experiences." Laneesha seemed to have a bit of pride in her tone when talking about them, her stance a bit straighter almost like a child piping up about how great their older sibling was. On the other hand, if anyone looked, Saleena averted her eyes for a moment and busied herself with checking up on the guy who had lost his brother.

Sayori had quietly drifted toward the group until she was at Quint's side, though still a few steps away. She very much didn't like the sound of what Laneesha was proposing. It sounded like a labor camp where the zombies were the wardens and the humans were the prisoners. Whether there were bars or not, the humans needed food and shelter and that in of itself could be a prison, keeping them quiet and compliant. The small woman had a troubled look on her face as she listened, the whole thing not sitting right with her.

Meanwhile, Sabastian was still holding his most precious person, his head turned so he could keep tabs on the conversation. The shared look between himself and Cora was clear, both of them knowing what she was referring to. He definitely wasn't trusting of this bullshit the lady was spewing, but he couldn't tell whether she knew whether what she was saying was bullshit or not. She really seemed to believe it.

"I know our current system isn't as appealing to everyone and it may change over time, but that is precisely why it is completely up to each individual as to whether they want to join. No one is prevented from leaving." Laneesha paused, giving each person a polite look before continuing.

"Now that society has essentially collapsed, there needs to be some kind of order. Humans are scared of zombies, plainly put. And to be quite frank, I believe that their fear of regular zombies is healthy. However, there is prejudice out there for half-zombies and full zombies that leads to violence and injustice. I would like it if human-zombies were able to introduce themselves to humans in a friendly and polite way, but that simply isn't viable. There is too much distrust for there to be coexistence until the unfamiliar is made familiar. We also have several human delegates sitting in on our leader's meetings so that there isn't unfair treatment, and they can bring issues to our attention. Now..." she gestured at Quint and Sabastian.

"You have two zombies in your group. One who looks to be a relative, and the other who I assume has some social ties to someone here whether that be his lover or someone else. It is through knowing them beforehand that has enabled you to be more open-minded. If you were simply a human group who came upon a half-zombie, I imagine you would be far less trusting. When one is trying to survive... compassion is often too expensive."

 

[Drobabes]

It had been four days and she still had not cracked. His own patience was limitless when it came to such interesting puzzles, but his officers had duties and their own side projects that they were eager to return to. On the evening of the fourth day, Kuznet decided to send Francisco and Niles away, and call in Johnathon to take their place. If brute force and torture would not work, then perhaps a more unorthodox approach was in order.

He stood outside the door, looking down at the small syringe that Johnathon had just placed in his palm. His thumb ran along the small cylinder, his eyes staring into the clear liquid.

"The effects should work pretty quickly, but if you want me to question her then you'll have to administer it. Her perception of reality will bend and she'll be very impressionable, but if she recognizes me while she's delirious, it may just tip her off enough to fight it. She may also fight it if she sees you administer it, so I would-"

He stopped his instructions as Kuznet raised his palm up, demanding silence. With little more than a nod of acknowledgement, Johnathon stood aside and simply opened the door for him, watching as he strode inside before shutting it once more.

Kuznet strode up to her confidently, letting just the slightest show of irritation translate through his quick footfalls and tense shoulders. It was an act, of course, his hands hiding the needle behind his back as he 'crossed' his hands in his usual pose. Once he was directly in front of her, he bent down to her slowly, his icy eyes staring deeply into her own.

"This is your last chance, Janet. Do you truly wish to die down here? In the cold dark?"
___________________________________

Jameson was walking around the edge of the supply buildings, both to do a bit of a perimeter check, and to get a longer walk in as he cleared his mind. Two large sheep dogs trailed closely behind him, taking their job quite seriously as they also scanned the edges of their new territory. They had been an unexpected surprise and at first, an annoyance. However, over the last two days, Jameson found himself quite appreciative of their ability to work diligently and independently, while also being friendly enough to lift the spirits of the citizens and soldiers that were under his care. Even Zac had warmed up to them, the young man having been a bit bitter at their arrival at first, considering they had thwarted his attempts at espionage before. Now, Zac was usually the one feeding them and attending to their needs.

"Hey, Genevieve!" he called out, giving her a wave as he came out from between the buildings.

"Have you seen my Second around here? I wanted to see how Jesse's training is coming along."

Of course, he had other things he wished to discuss, but that was information that didn't need to be talking about out loud.

Francisco had given him the drop (aka, the teddy bear) four days ago, and had told him to check four key areas over the coming days for a return package, or at least a sign from Sabastian, who he was hoping that Robert may be able to sense. Best case scenario was that the whole group would come back to the base in one piece, but it had been four days and not only had there been no packages or signs, Francis himself had yet to make contact.

Try as he might, he was beginning to grow nervous.
_____________________________________

While Laneesha spoke, Quint kept eye contact, but Cora had looked away when her eyes caught movement. She saw Salina seemingly look away, though to Cora, it was obvious that the young women didn't feel comfortable with with her leader was saying.

"You have two zombies in your group...It is through knowing them beforehand that has enabled you to be more open-minded. If you were simply a human group who came upon a half-zombie, I imagine you would be far less trusting..."

"Not everyone is like that. That's not enough proof that your system is better."

Quint looked behind him, surprised that Delvin had spoke up a bit out of nowhere, and with a barely contained edge to his tone as well.

"I came across a half zombie and his human wife not too long ago, and through our interactions he proved himself to be a very good man. It didn't take me long to see that, and see that whatever this is is just something that has affected him. He's different now, but not inhuman. That was before I knew that people could be affected by whatever this is and not fully turn into a brain dead zombie.

And then again, a while after that, I had the opportunity to stay at a small military run base for a while that was out of Kuznets reach. The main commander of that base was cooperatively working with a half zombie, on equal terms. Neither one was above the other, they were simply working together to get the job done. He hadn't told the regular citizens under his watch that the half zombie was staying at their base, but that was to protect the half zombie. Before I left, I was told that the commander and half zombie were working together on a way to educate the regular citizens on the different types of zombies using the intel they had gathered, and they were making plans to introduce him in a safe manner."

Vin got up on his feet with a minimal amount of wheezing and huffing, seemingly being tired of simply sitting on the ground, or maybe he simply wanted to be able to meet Laneeshas gaze on equal ground.

"At the same base I had a chance to drink and play poker with a large portion of those regular citizens, and the talk of zombies inevitably came up. Some people already knew of both the fully turned and half turned, or affected, people. There was some apprehension, yea, but no one was picking up pitch forks and saying burn the witch."

He seemed like he could have gone on, but a wave of dizziness forced him to reach out and put a hand on Sabastian's shoulder in order to steady himself and catch his breath. Quint was a bit worried about the guy, but he was also grateful that he had stopped. While he had every right to question the bullshit, their own half zombie got the feeling that the angry and bitter approach wasn't going to work in this case.

Turning back to Laneesha, he gave her a bit of a frown.

"Well, it certainly sounds like your current leaders are organized and fair, but unfortunately, I don't think that any of us are going to be willing to join today."

He gave another look around to his group before turning back to her.

"I would like to be able to keep in touch though, if that's a possibility? Things are always changing and evolving, and it might not be a bad idea to have people willing to work with you even if they are not a part of your organization."

While Quint extended his metaphorical hand to the zombie groups leader, Cora looked down at the ground and bit her lip. She seemed to be struggling with something, and after a few seconds, her eyes came up to meet Sayori's. There was a mixture of worry and questioning in her gaze, as if she wasn't sure if she should speak up or not, about what was on her mind.

 

[Poprockz]

How long had it been? Days? Weeks? It was hard to tell the passage of time when the lights overhead were bright and unyielding, but only at random intervals. She was tired... So very tired. Not only physically, but in every way imaginable. Therefore, her bloodshot eyes barely looked up when Kuznet entered, a small glance given to him before she hung her head once more. Though, what she saw caused her to look up with more focus this time.

He seemed a bit... different. It was though that careful mask had slipped just a bit, and she could see the hints of his impatience and annoyance. Perhaps he had grown tired of her resistance, or maybe he was now simply unwilling to waste more of his time on a hopeless cause. She certainly hoped that was the case, as an end to the suffering was always welcome.

"This is your last chance, Janet. Do you truly wish to die down here? In the cold dark?"

"Yes." Her hoarse voice answered. "I want that very much... But what I want is irreverent." The woman's lip trembled for a moment before she sighed, a dullness returning to her gaze. He was teasing her, toying with her. She shouldn't even dare to hope of any mercy from him.

-------------------------------------

"Oh! Hello sir." Genevieve gave him a warm smile before walking over to him, a laundry basket at her hip that was filled with yarn and knitting needles. She had been teaching some of the men how to knit. It was a good skill to know, even if one was primarily in the business of fighting. Everything was about survival now, and to be as self-sufficient as possible would be a boon for any of the soldiers if they ever got stranded in sub-par conditions. At least then they might be able to find some materials and make themselves a blanket to stay warm with. Or perhaps they could use it as a hobby to clear their mind. After all, everyone had a heavy weight on their shoulders, so it was nice having something quiet and calming to do.

"I believe that he's actually with Jesse right now, so it's the perfect timing." She adjusted the basket and then pointed at one of the larger buildings. "I think they're in there for today, but I'm not sure for how long. Anyway, I'll have to say goodbye for now, Officer. I have to go check up on Robert. He wasn't feeling super well last I checked..."

Genevieve shrugged and sighed, starting to walk away. "Must have been something he ate..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile in the building, Jesse was in the building with Officer Stanley, each of them sparring with one another. One could tell that he was still very much going easy on Jesse (as he hadn't even broken a sweat). On the opposite end, Jesse was sweating, her short hair kept out of her eyes by the utilization of several hair clips. Pig tails were great and they looked good on her, but it didn't feel good to be yanked by the hair. 'Anything is fair game in a fight,' he would say, often taking no regard for rules or more orthodox methods. If there was an advantage to be had, he would take it to teach her a lesson.

So far over the course of her trainings, she had had her hair yanked, things thrown at her, dust in her eyes, as well as being backed into corners and even tripped by her own shoelaces (which were now VERY tightly knotted these days). Every time there was a lesson to be had, and every time she learned to be a bit wiser. Today, the focus of the lesson was to utilize ones surroundings to get the upper hand. Though she hadn't noticed yet, he had left some "cleaning supplies" near the door, hoping that she might at least be curious and try to splash him or something. It seemed though that she hadn't quite gotten the hang of thinking as far out of the box.

"I'm not even a little bit tired, and you're approaching your limit there, Jesse. How are you going to lay a hit on me if you keep doing the same thing over and over?" The officer asked, crossing his arms while remaining in a balanced stance.

"I'm... *huff* not doing the same thing! *huff* You're just really good at countering *huff* whatever I do!" Jesse responded in an annoyed voice, clearly frustrated with how things were going. She had tried several things to put him off balance or trip him, but he was like a goddamned robot.

-------------------------------------------

When Vin spoke up, Sabastian too was surprised. Honestly, he found it just a bit touching, his heart feeling a bit of warmth from the man's words despite their edge. He liked to think that even though he wasn't saying it, he was also thinking of Sabastian and how he had accepted him as well. While he wasn't as much of a fan of Vin standing at the moment, it seemed like something he really wanted to do. So when Vin started getting to his feet, Sabastian made sure to have one or two of his tentacles hovering near Vin's hips in case he lost his balance.

Honestly, the whole Robert thing was just a testament to Vin's good heart, the blonde unconsciously smiling with admiration as he remembered the kindness with which he spoke with the redheaded Christian. Even though the whole church was against them, he had still been working with him to find a way for both of them to escape, not letting prejudice cloud his judgement.

"At the same base I had a chance to drink and play poker...Some people already knew of both the fully turned and half turned, or affected, people. There was some apprehension, yea, but no one was picking up pitch forks and saying burn the witch."

Sabastian nodded in agreement before feeling the man's arm on his shoulder. Immediately, his tentacle lightly wrapped around Vin's hips so as not to put pressure on his ribs, while he pulled Vin's arm just a bit more around him. Looking up, he softly said, "lean on me." While he was still shorter than Vin, he could definitely support all of his weight if need be.

Meanwhile, Laneesha simply watched their display, no indication of what she was thinking behind that dark eye of hers. Though when Quint informed her of their decision, she did look the slightest bit disappointed, a bit of what might be interpreted as concern in her expression. Perhaps she had wanted to gain new members to the organization, or perhaps she was thinking of what would happen to them off on their own.

"I would like to be able to keep in touch though, if that's a possibility? Things are always changing and evolving, and it might not be a bad idea to have people willing to work with you even if they are not a part of your organization."

"Hm." Laneesha seemed a bit thoughtful for a moment, mentally mulling over the suggestion before nodding. "Very well. I think that sounds like an excellent suggestion. Besides, it would be nice for you to have a place to go if things ever become desperate. Obviously we need to be careful in revealing where we are located, but we do have a drop spot. There are very specific conditions that need to be met before you can be admitted though."

Rummaging into one of her pockets, she came out with a half-dollar coin, holding it out for Quint. "First, you must show up with this. Secondly, you must say my name. and third, you must submit to questioning via a link." She tapped her head and nodded. If you meet those conditions and are at the designated spot, then we will take you in. If one of those isn't met... then we may be suspicious of you and may require a more thorough questioning. If you would prefer to simply talk, then you just need to show up at the spot and use the walkie-talkie we have stashed there."

Sayori felt Cora's gaze upon her and looked up, a similar worry in her eyes. It seemed as though the two of them were on the save wavelength, concerned about the practices of what was going on in that organization currently. What if the people there wanted to leave and had no choice but to stay or face severe consequences? However, Sayori was also unsure about voicing this, as she wasn't sure she wanted to provoke that other group at the moment. It looked like Cora was tempted though.

The look on the small woman's face said that she wanted to encourage Cora to speak, but still wasn't sure about it, her hands fidgeting a bit anxiously in front of her.

 

[Drobabes]

Even now she didn't break, her eyes simply glazing over into that accepting expression once more. She had come into his compound with the knowledge that she may very well meet her end here and prepared to wait the grueling and exhausting process of achieving it. She was an interesting puzzle, one that Kuznet was very close to cracking. His icy blue eyes had caught her taking the bait a moment before, in which she had lifted her head just the slightest amount, taking note of his posture. Now it was simply time to play his cards...

He gave her a pause after she had spoken, his face slowly twisting into a hard scowl. Without warning his hand came up to swing through the air, the back backs of his knuckles cracking across her cheek bones. His other hand, which held the small needle, swiftly and efficiently shot out to a wound on her thigh. It was a large slice from his knife, now covered in cracked and dried blood. In little more than a fraction of a second, he injected the concoction into the tissue of her muscle, a mere fraction of a centimeter from the slice, pushing the plunger down fully before withdrawing it back into the palm of his hand. Before he took his hand away, he dug his thumb down deeply into the cut, distracting from the pain of the small sting, if it had even been felt at all.

"Your wish shall be granted, Janet" he growled, his thumb still pressing down cruelly and he leaned in close to whisper in her ear.

"You will be left in this hole to rot."

Yanking his hand out of her leg, he gave her one final look of pure, seething, anger before he got up and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

...

Once outside the door, his posture straightened and his mask effortlessly dropped. He took the clean rag that Johnathon handed him and used it to wipe the blood from his hands as he recapped the syringe.

"How long?"

"An hour; maybe two. Her perception of time should begin to warp very quickly."

"Good. Record it."

Johnathon pulled his hat up from his side, adjusting it on his scalp as he gave his commander a nod of understanding.

"Of course."
_____________________________________

A small frown touched Jameson's face as Genevieve relayed the information that Robert was ill.

"Alright, thank you Genevieve. If he gets any worse, please let me know. I have some information in my desk from Tommy's reports that I've been filing through, and I may be able to give him something for the discomfort."

With that he gave her a little nod and smile, heading over to the building. He gave the dogs the 'Guard' command just as he was reaching for the door, watching as they both took off in opposite directions to circle the compound. Once they were gone, he quietly entered, not bringing attention to himself as he slipped along the wall and placed his body nonchalantly near a stack of training equipment.

Crossing his arms, his patient eyes watched the two of them spar. She was exhausted, frustrated, and while she certainly had learned something over her time with Stanley, she just didn't seem to be getting it as far as paying to attention to what was going on around her. Sighing a bit, he uncrossed his arms and reached up with both his hands. His good hand took the bill of his hat and began to lift it, and he used the fake wood of his prosthetic to help turn it around on his head. Now with his cap facing backwards, he looked up and caught Stanley's eyes.

Raising his good hand up to his mouth, he gave Stanley a "shh" signal, and then a, "keep going", before he started to strategically walk his way over towards Jesse, making sure that he was never in her direct line of sight. He did, however, very slightly place himself in just the farthest edge of her peripheral vision; just to the point where she may question if a shadow had fallen. As he walked, he reached down into his pocket and withdrew his pocket knife, gripping it tightly in his hand, though he didn't dare to open it.

While Stanley was doing an excellent job of teaching the young women, Jameson decided that it was time for him to step in with his own lesson. He was the commander, and while he did have his own duties to attend to, each and every person in the compound was ultimately his responsibility to keep safe, and to ensure that they could rise past the challenges of what their minds told them they were capable of. And right now, Jameson decided that Jesse needed a healthy kick of fear to not only knock her down and humble her, but to remind her that she was capable of more if she simply realised that she didn't have time for frustration to be getting in the way.

He made it to the other side and then waited until she took a moment to huff and back up, likely getting ready to go at Stanley again. While he was waiting, he had transfered the knife over to his fake hand, shoving and forcing it down into a small groove that he had carved out in the palm. It was a very tight fit, but he didn't want it coming loose and potentially being dropped from too much force hitting it. Right now, the knife was closed, so only the wood and metal end of it was sticking out from his hand. However, it was more than enough to inflict a nasty sting and bruise.

Just when she was readjusting her body to move, Jameson leaped forward and grabbed her hard, quickly weaving his fingers up through her hair from the base of the neck and then grabbing her with an ironclad grip. He didn't try to yank her down or throw her body off balance, but instead, brought the butt of the knife up and quickly jabbed her multiple times in the ribs and back. His hits came lightning fast and hard, ensuring she would really feel the sting and panic of what it was like to be stabbed, although she had the benefit of feeling more pain than if it had been a thin blade rather than a blunt weapon.

He only held her for about five seconds, his last hit actually being a false swipe across her throat as he yanked her head back, and then he forcefully threw her forward towards the matt they were standing on.

"Get down on the fucking floor and give me ten!"

He shouted, towering near her short stature to ensure she didn't give him any back talk.

"I just killed you twice little girl! Now count backwards while you think twice about ignoring what's around you! Count Jesse! 10! 9!"

He kept on her, not giving her even an inch to breathe. She was small, and less physically strong than his boys, but he knew she was no less capable. She just had to learn how to do it.
_____________________________________

Delvin was grateful for the support, finding that he needed it more than he initially realized. He would definitely need to sit back down again soon, but for right now, the strength of Sebastian's small frame was enough to keep him on his feet, his own larger body leaning on him full force and not feeling the need to do otherwise.

While Quint received the instructions and agreed upon the terms, going on to ask where the drop point would be located, Cora took that look that Sayori gave her to heart. She couldn't walk away from this without saying something, even if it made little difference to Laneesha. It hadn't made a difference to the tough women herself when Sayori had tried to talk to her as well, but had the situation been slightly different for her, and had she needed that extended hand, she would have taken it.

Once they were done with their discussion, and Quint was turning to walk over to Sabastian and Vin, Cora stepped up to the zombie commander and extended her hand. She almost looked as if she were going to place it on the womens arm, but then stopped herself rather abruptly and took it back.

"Laneesha..." she started, meeting her gaze with some apprehension, though it quickly changed to something that was a bit harder and weary.

"We were, legally, General Kuznet's adopted children. He took us when we were twelve and orphaned, but he had his hands in things long before that."

Quint's eyes widened just the smallest bit, and he turned back around slowly, looking at Cora like she had just grown a second head. Sure, she had gotten angry earlier, but she never talked about this stuff. Ever. If any talks were ever done with anyone, it was always with someone very, very close to them, and he always started the conversation.

 

[Drobabes]

(I had to do this in two posts, the site is not letting me post a certain amount of characters)

"We didn't live in a small town, though it wasn't huge. And my point in saying that is that, no one knew what was going on. No one, Laneesha. Not one person in that town suspected a thing because he was that good of a manipulator and master psychotic actor. He also had the resources and power to back up whatever he wanted to do, and not just silence, but destroy anything that could change that. I hope that what you are working for is good, and honest...but if it ever turns out to be a farce, then I just want you to know that you have people who will believe you and will support you as best they can."

The green of her hazel eyes seemed to almost burn with the intensity of what she was saying, under that morning sun as she she stood before the half zombie. She knew that Laneesha likely really did believe in her cause, but she had also seen the women show true kindness in helping to rescue Vin, and true compassion with the care of the people under her. Cora could tell that she was a good person, and she couldn't stand the thought of someone being used in the way that they had been used.

"Hopefully it won't come to any of that," Quint said, almost quietly.

"But if it does, I may have a few friends that can help. I just have to find them, if they are still out there."

Cora turned her face to him, looking up at her brother with a sudden realization. Or rather, maybe an expansion on what she had already realized before, in that, he had to have been doing something to keep the full might of the military from tracking them down. Perhaps Sarah was using her families money to help him, or perhaps he had different methods, but whatever the case was, she felt as if she was seeing a side of him that she had never known. It was too early to know if she liked it or not, but a small whisper in the back of her mind questioned if he had had to leave any of his morals along the side of the rode as he fled them away from their captor.

 

[Poprockz]

If he had truly wanted to hurt her, his fist could have easily broken her jaw. As it was, she assumed that he didn't want to waste his energy, simply wanting to express his disdain for her. Nonetheless, it hurt and left her face feeling slightly numb and hot, the sting following a second afterward. The woman grunted as he dug his finger into her leg, but it certainly wasn't anything she was surprised by. He seemed to enjoy trying to get under her skin, digging and digging not only for the end result, but also for the joy of the process.

Panting with a bowed head, she watched him through the strands of her hair as he left the room. She doubted whether "letting her rot" was actually his intention. In truth, he likely was bluffing out of frustration to see if she would call out for them and spill her guts in a last-ditch effort to stay alive. They should have known better by now that there was no chance that she would ever do such a thing. Due to this, she knew that as long as she stayed resilient, she would be allowed to pass into her final peace.

That fact was freeing, the woman starting to weep in her cell. One might think her tears were sorrowful, but they were actually tears of relief and gratitude. Granted, a few of the tears she shed were tinged with a bit of bittersweet sadness, but on the whole she was just happy to be let go. All that pain, all that suffering had been worth it, as they were still none the wiser about the secrets she kept.

Time went on, maybe about three days or so, she couldn't quite remember. It all felt like a blur, her time spent alone in that cell. They had already been denying her food and water a couple days previous, so she knew that she was likely dying of dehydration at the moment. It felt surreal, her surroundings shifting and slowly rolling when she wasn't looking. Or maybe she was looking? She wasn't sure. Her limbs felt lighter, the room itself feeling like it was on a space station. If she wasn't tied down, she was sure that she would float right out of her chair.

------------------------------------

Of course Stanley knew of Jameson's arrival the second he came, but he didn't give any indication of having noticed other than a single flick of his eyes when Jesse wasn't looking. Ignoring the other man's presence for the moment, he watched as Jesse once again launched herself at him, this time rolling on the mat and kicking her legs up at him from a position on her back, her feet aiming for that precious spot between his legs. He merely hopped back and caught her ankles on the way up, lifting her off the floor. She wildly swung her arms in an effort to hit him, but he merely swung her back and forth a bit to make her a bit dizzy.

"What was that? What were you going to do if anything happened besides landing your kick? You'd be on your back and I could easily keep knocking you down." It was at that point he actually looked over at Jameson, only giving a small nod to let him know that he understood what he was going for. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he knew that Jesse wasn't going to pick up on it, and that was a problem. She needed to be more aware of her surroundings, and she needed to get out of the rut she was in. Jameson was an excellent teacher in both of those regards.

"I was trying something new! I thought that's what you- Oof!" Jesse had been unceremoniously tossed away from him onto a mat, the woman landing on her stomach and quickly scrambling to her feet, irritation in her eyes.

"Being creative and stupid can go hand in hand, Jesse. Just because you can eat a boiled egg with a spoon, doesn't mean you should." He eyed her for a second, seeing Jameson creeping up in his peripherals. As a generous gesture, he decided to give her one more chance. "There is so much in this room that you could use to your advantage if you would only think about it a little bit."

However, at that point Jesse was at a point where her frustration was boiling over. It was like she couldn't do anything right. If she tried thinking outside the box, it didn't work. If she followed standard practice, it didn't work. She didn't understand what he fucking wanted from her! Did he want her to hop onto a box or throw it at him like Donkey Kong?! This room basically just had boxes and some other random stuff, none of which would help in her struggle. Why couldn't he just tell her what he wanted her to do?! As she clenched her teeth, she had no idea that Jameson was starting to close in behind her.

"Yeah? Well I looked and all there was was a shit-ton of boxes! What do you want from me?!" she huffed in exasperation, openly glaring at him.

Stanley sighed, crossing his arms and shook his head. "If I spoon-feed you, you won't grow. Didn't you say you wanted to be able to protect yourself and others? Or maybe you changed your mind and now you want to be Tommy's little wife who stares out the window and waits for him to come back. I'm sure your dad would like that, at least." The Officer knew he was poking the bear; it was unfortunate that in her anger she didn't recognize that he was just trying to rile her up more.

Oh hell no. He did not just say that to her. Jesse readjusted her feet and prepared to come at him once more. This time, she was going to wipe that composed look off his fucking face.

However, when she was just about to start, she felt someone grab her by the head and dig their fingers into her scalp. Though her hair was short, there was enough of it to get a grip if one had the opportunity to weave their fingers into it. It was so sudden and unexpected, the girl feeling the hard stings of something being stabbed against her. Her eyes were wide, but she didn't even have the time or capacity to scream, only a sharp gasp being made. It hurt, and in the back of her mind she knew through her panic what those thrusts were- she was being stabbed in the back and ribs.

Was she going to die? How could this happen? What happened?

She fell to the mat after that final swipe across her throat, though she hadn't felt the knife slice her skin. Maybe that was what it was like to be killed, the wounds not quite registering in her brain. Her shaking hand came up to her throat and back down, her confused eyes noticing that there wasn't any blood there.

"Get down on the fucking floor and give me ten!"

Flinching hard, Jesse looked up at Jameson and simply stared for a moment, trembling like a leaf on the mat. She wasn't sure what to do or think, but when he yelled the second time, it jarred her enough to be able to quickly get into the push-up position. From there, she began to do the push-ups as requested, though a few times she fell to the mat due to the shakiness of her body.

"T-ten! Nine! Eight! S-sev... ngh. seven..." Jesse felt like she was in shock, the fear of what had just happened still pumping through her veins. How had he come up behind her? Where did he come from?

 

[Poprockz]

Once the discussion regarding the drop point was finished (the location being at a place called "Spruce's Hill), and she had given him a little map, she was prepared to check up on Zach. However, when she heard her name being called, her attention went to Cora and she patiently waited to hear what she wanted. Though her eyes watched Cora's movement in reaching out, she neither withdrew nor reacted, simply observing. One got the impression that Laneesha didn't approve of her touching the woman's arm though.

As Cora spoke about their past with Kuznet, Laneesha listened with a serious expression, making sure not to interrupt. When one spoke about their harsh past, it was a gift that one gave to another in order to impart wisdom. For things of that nature, Laneesha wasn't going to simply brush Cora off. However, it sounded like Cora was suggesting that the leaders of the organization might be cunning and cruel like the General, and that didn't sit well with her. Cora didn't know them, and perhaps was projecting onto Laneesha's own situation.

"Hopefully it won't come to any of that, but if it does, I may have a few friends that can help. I just have to find them, if they are still out there."

This was a bit of a surprise for Sayori, the woman looking at Quint with a confused expression before looking away. He had people out there who knew about everything? Even if he did, there was no guarantee that they were alive. She was curious to know how they had become involved, since she only knew of one other person that used to have the inside scoop: Sarah. Or maybe they didn't have the inside scoop and were just friends Quint knew were very helpful- she wasn't quite sure what to think about it all.

The zombie glanced at Quint before fixing Cora with a difficult-to-read expression, as though she was contemplating saying something. After a moment, she seemed to come to a decision, returning Cora's attention to her by speaking her name.

"...Cora. Come to the side with me for a moment." With that, she beckoned for her to follow, the zombie walking a little ways away from the group, but not too far to be of any concern. Once they were where she wanted, she stopped and crossed her arms behind her back and looked into the distance.

"Did you know that zombies do not get infections? Because of the change that occurred in our bodies, we are now far more resilient than we were. Even without gel from certain zombies, we heal faster and it is very difficult to kill a zombie via blood loss due to the fact that we regenerate blood quickly as well..." It was a bit difficult to follow where she was going with this, but her posture was not threatening, nor did her expression give any indication of malice when it returned to Cora's face.

"Did you know, that anesthesia isn't effective for zombies? It gets processed by the body too quickly, so you need a very large amount of for a zombie, as opposed to a human." There was a pause, a moment of hesitation before she continued in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I was once a Sargent, First Class, though that title doesn't mean anything anymore to me. I was more than happy to continue to serve, especially due to the state of the world. Of course it didn't escape the notice of my commanding officer that I had changed, and he assured me that it wouldn't be an issue. I was reassigned to a research institute to oversee their practices, as they were trying to figure out the best way to deal with the zombie threat."

Her expression became a bit darker, her posture a bit stiffer. "Upon my arrival, I was stripped of my rank and contained. They kept me in a room that was referred to as "the cold room," as it was too costly to use other resources to keep me in line. It was there that I had numerous surgeries. The first time they tried to use anesthesia, I woke up in the middle of my surgery with my belly open. I could smell the scent of my own organs as I lay upon the table. Later, they didn't bother with the anesthesia and simply used Cannabis oil to keep me subdued when necessary. There was no part of me that they didn't want to take and research, including my eye." She tapped the spot underneath her eye.

"Not one human tried to help me in any way. Not one of them treated me with kindness or human decency. Though they didn't take advantage, I was left naked in my room like an animal in a cage, a test subject. To say that I was miserable was an understatement, and I couldn't understand why it was happening to me. All I knew was that everyday something would be taken from me." A deep breath was taken, the woman centering herself after having disclosed such painful memories.

A spark of fondness came to her eye then, as though she was comforted by the memory of what came next, her voice softer and a bit more enthusiastic. "And then they came for me. He opened the doors to my cell and told me it was time to go, and that there was a place for me where I could continue to seek those who needed shelter. They clothed me, and freed the rest of the subjects as well. Their names are Jasper and Charlotte, and I trust them with my life. I appreciate that you are trying to help, but I assure you that they are not being disingenuous. Regardless... I'll keep your words in mind."

------------------------------------

Damien had watched Laneesha take Cora over to the side, the man continuing to monitor them. He couldn't quite hear what was being said, but he hoped that Laneesha wasn't being rude to Cora. If only he could go over there and stand at her side as a support... But the situation simply didn't call for that, nor could he afford to be moving around too much at the moment.

 

[Drobabes]

Pt 1/2

Johnathon took the time to change into plain civilian clothes and grab a basic satchel before he entered the room. His jeans were a basic plain blue, his shirt a white cotton T with nothing of note on the front or back, and the bag in which he had hidden the voice recorder was nothing more than a basic black laptop bag. He had taken care to give himself a quick touch up to the clean cut of his short hair, and shave his face clean to give himself a younger appearance. He was not an old man, but he was approaching his late forties, so any shift to his appearance that could give him air of, "plain thirty year old white guy" before he was old enough to easily fall into the category of "some older gentleman" would help his strategy.

He approached her at a soft pace, sitting the bag down on the ground slowly as he gauged her reaction. He would not call out her name just yet, unsure if it may hinder him in his attempts to gather information from her if she became suspicious of how he knew her name.
_____________________________________

Jameson could tell she was basically at her breaking point, so while he did continue to shout out the countdown from above her, he decided that for now this would be her last physical training for today.

"Two! Come on princess, this is the last stretch! You want me to go out and get your daddy to come save you again? Get your fucking chest off the matt!"

Up until recently he had left the training to Stanley and hadn't been treating her with the same intensity as the other soldiers. That changed today.

Not only did he want her to feel on equal footing, there was a very real possibility that something had happened to Francisco. The Officer had not checked in, and while Jameson was trained not to panic, he also knew that they may need to be ready for a different kind of attack. They always needed to be ready, of course, but this was the first red flag that told him to start being on the lookout.

"One! Come on Jesse, get up."

Jameson didn't wait for her to stand on her own, but instead bent down and grabbed her underneath her arm. His hand was solid and strong, but he didn't jerk or grip her roughly. Instead, it was more like his physical touch was in complete contrast to his harsh tone of voice, his strong muscles helping to support and lift her little body up onto her feet and making sure she could stand before he let her go. After a moment of letting her catch her breath, he looked at her pointedly.

"That's enough for today Jesse. You will go to the kitchen and get a meal and some water, and then either go take a nap or do something to relax. I want you to mentally recoup," he emphasized, his voice softening down as he pointed his finger at the side of her head before moving his hand over to his knife and prying it loose from his wooden fingers.

"I want you to come to me tonight, after dinner, and give me a small report on what you think just happened here. After, you'll get some sleep and first thing in the morning I want you to join the class on Security Theatre that Joe is holding in the old college theatre room. You'll want to stay for the whole class because after the verbal lessons are over, they'll be doing physical demonstrations and I want you to have enough energy to join in the practice runs. Is that clear?"

His voice was now quiet, still holding the same amount of authority but knowing when someone needed a harsh lesson, and a soft acknowledgement.

 

[Drobabes]

Pt 2/2

Quint looked down at Sayori when he caught her looking his way. He didn't immediately tear his eyes away, being well practiced with remaining indifferent, but he made a mental note to have his story straight if she ever asked about what he meant. Perhaps she would already come to her own assumptions, but it wouldn't be difficult. Because of Sarah, he had some friends in high places, and that's all that her or Cora needed to know. It was not the whole truth, but it would be enough to satisfy their curiosity as he saw no reason for them to want to go poking when it wasn't necessary to remain safe.
_____________________

Though Cora didn't know what to expect, she went willingly with the women and listened quietly as she went on to tell her of the horrors that had likely led to all the scarring on her body.

Throughout her story, Cora had become a bit stiff and pale, although she turned her body away from Damien and her brother a bit. This was a private conversation and they didn't need to come over to check on her; it was just a bit much to hear.

"Their names are Jasper and Charlotte, and I trust them with my life. I appreciate that you are trying to help, but I assure you that they are not being disingenuous. Regardless... I'll keep your words in mind."

She was quiet for a beat, having to take her own stabilizing breath before speaking.

"That is..." she stopped, seemingly having a difficult time finding the right words. Instead of trying to continue with that sentence, she instead changes paths a bit.

"I do not know where exactly you came from and it's not my business in any case, but I would not be surprised if Kuznet somehow had a hand in that himself. Or someone as disgustingly evil as him. It's...very disturbing to constantly be reminded that people can justify such cruelty in the name of research, or willingly choose to forget or ignore a persons humanity when they deem them as something different than themselves. I'm... Well, it's probably of little comfort to you, but I am sorry."

Her eyes flicked over her shoulder to her brother for a moment before she quickly looked back to Laneesha.

"It can be very difficult to believe that there is anything good in a world so filled with cruelty, but that is a lie that Kuznet tried to force us to believe. We only barely held onto ourselves by constantly denying him that small piece of ourselves, and I'm happy that they helped you to hold onto your own. You can take my words with a grain of salt if you wish, but sometimes I feel like that's the only piece of us that separates us from something...well, something I just hope I don't ever become."

She let out a sigh then, lowering her arms which she had not realized she had crossed and running her fingers through her hair.

"I'll keep your offer in mind as well. Thank you Laneesha, for the offer and for explaining. I feel more confident in them now, knowing that."

Confidence didn't equate to blindly trusting of course, but for now at least, Cora didn't feel the heavy weight of worry.

 

[Poprockz]

1/2
She heard his soft footsteps before she saw them below. Janet had previously been marveling at how swishy the tiles seemed, but the shoes brought her attention back upward. When she saw him, her eyes widened and she opened her mouth, her bottom lip trembling.

"Elias? Elias, is that you?" She tried to reach up for him but found that she could not due to the restraints. She figured that she must truly be at death's door to see him before her, or... perhaps he had come for her? No, this was probably just happening in her head, or perhaps one last wisp of a dream.

"Elias... my sweet boy..." She looked him up and down with teary eyes, focusing on his face as much as she could, though it was still a bit blurry. "Your mother had to be so strong... It hurts. It hurts so much, but it's worth it for you. How are you? They didn't do anything to you did they? He said they wouldn't if I did what they needed and kept quiet and I've been... I..." she quietly sobbed for a minute, the emotional trauma of the past week coming to the forefront now that her walls were down.

---------------------------------

Jesse did as she was told, still shaking and pale as he pulled her up to her feet. It's true she had been close to death before with the zombie in the bathroom stall, but at least she had had a sliver of control in that situation, and had known what was coming when her dad came in. A few moments ago, she could have been stabbed to death, completely helpless and unaware of her imminent demise.

When he spoke, she barely recognized what he was saying, almost as though she was hearing him from underwater. Still, she was able to understand the basic gist of what he wanted her to do: eat, rest, report later.

"Yes sir," she answered simply, turning and almost robotically walking out of the building, as though she was relying on pure muscle memory to get her to her destination. The next thirty minutes was a blur to her, the young woman going to the cafeteria as directed, taking and consuming her meal along with a glass of water. Every bite felt tasteless, the water being entirely drained before she knew she had drank it all. Though the other soldiers chatted, it was all background noise, as though she was completely separate from it all.

Once she was done, she walked over to the hospital. Though instead of visiting Tommy, she avoided his room and instead went upstairs into one of the rooms she had cleaned out in-between trainings. It was her intention to have a date night with Tommy there one of these days, so she wanted it to at least be somewhat clean. There she sat on the floor, her back against the wall, looking up at the window directly across from her. She simply stared at it numbly, the silence permeating the air.

----------------------------------

Stanley watched her go out the door, reaching up to rub the stubble on his cheeks before looking over at Jameson. "So, did you come to make the girl piss her pants, or were you coming to see me? Any word from your contact yet?" With a sigh, the man sat down on a nearby box, rubbing the outside of his though as he did so. It always got kind of sore before bad weather, as dumb as he thought it was. He always thought that it was an old wive's tail that this sort of thing happened to certain people with old injuries, but now it was just a pain-in-the-ass reality.

He thought to himself that it was a good lesson Jameson had taught her today, one that she wouldn't soon forget. Kids like her often romanticized the practice of fighting as though it was this "cool" "brave" thing one did, when in actuality it was gritty, ugly, and opportunistic. It didn't matter what you did as long as you came out on top, and the idealistic types had a hard time accepting that. This would scare her, give her the fear she needed to fight like she actually meant it.