| |
Darkseeker
|
Cassian Alaric Male // 18 // Asexual Panromantic // M: Reyes
Bloody hell. The creatures were still screaming their heads off. Cassian wasn't amused. Part of him was tempted to just… end it and leap off, but to be completely honest, he'd hate to be, what was it, infected. Infected and a blood-hungry little creature with dead eyes. Truly, he felt like the main character of a horror movie, like he had stepped into hell accidentally and couldn't leave. It was like a claustrophobic feeling, being stuck on the top of a plane with a stranger who probably thought he was insane. He'd always wanted to climb on the top of a plane, but never because he was being threatened by the death and resurrection of… other people. Yay. I love my life more than anyone could possibly imagine. “I can't say the same for you.” “I sure hope not,” he muttered under his breath. “It'd be such a shame to look like you do now.” Oh great now they were exchanging little retorts. Out of the ways he could die, he'd die with a judgemental stranger covered in blood. Lovely. “Is that your stripper name?” He almost choked on a laugh. Okay, okay. That's decent. That was decent. His eyes searched hers and, to his horror, amusement crept into his face once more. At this rate, you'd think he was watching a comedy show based on how many times he'd found something funny. “That's a good idea. Might just change it for you.” Every time he laughed, it seemed, she judged him and his horrible reactions. Maybe I should adopt a cat. God knows I need the emotional stability. His coping mechanisms weren't the best, he agreed, but it's better than just Geronimo-ing into the hoard below then. Jokes like that aren't funny Cassian. The woman dug out her phone, damaged and beaten almost as badly as her. Nope. Stop joking. This isn't a comedy hour. Her voice went solemn and Cassian blinked at the dead battery symbol flashing in front of his eyes. It seemed they were very different people. Funny. Someone with a dead phone, and a psychopath with an almost fully charged one. Not funny. Maybe we should fix the humor. She reached for his phone and he loosened his grip. His eyes had been stuck on the missed call from his brother. Maybe I should have called back. The thought of his family being one of the creatures killing around them made his throat drop. His tongue felt like a weight. He couldn't respond to Reyes' snapback, and kept his eyes below them as if it would be better than eye contact. “Does it matter what happened? This is what’s left of everyone else now.” He flinched as discreetly as he could and hoped above hope that the woman hadn't noticed. “I’m Reyes.” Cassian raised one eyebrow as he surveyed the chaos below them once again. So the stranger has a name. Reyes. Never heard that one yet. ‘The virus doesn’t appear to be airborne but we urge citizens to take extra caution when dealing with… Aggression takes over the host and causes them to lash out, if you see someone, do not engage with them, isolate and quarantine…’ Well, at least they weren't the only ones going through the same hell. The thought did little to give him any ounce of comfort, though. One good thing in that hellish paragraph, was the fact that it wasn't airborne. They could still get infected, though. Cassian was assuming it spread by touch or bite, but he wasn't always right. I hope I'm not right. “If you have any calls you want to make, I’d say your peace now. Because I do have a plan to get us out of here, but you’re not going to like it.” He clutched his phone and stared down at the little screen. It was like a buoy in the middle of the ocean, anchoring him from drowning into hysteria. I should really call my brother. I should tell them I actually do care about their existence. I shouldn't have ignored his call. Cassian was still deciding when Reyes sat up and wandered to the middle of the plane. It was nerve racking. Like anxiously watching a tightrope walker, hanging over a giant chasm. She offered up a seat near her, and Cassian slowly made his way there, continuing to clutch his phone, his bag, and that useless mug. Is this what my brother felt like when I forced him to carry all my stuff? Probably. Reyes leaned back, but Cassian’s heart was still pounding. What if they fell? When she leaned back, she looked in pain and her hand grabbed for her head. Cassian instinctively reached out to steady her, but stopped an inch away, hesitantly watching her. If she died, he would be alone, and her injuries weren't helping. She slowly got into a steady position, but he continued to watch her through (surprisingly) worried eyes. His hands withdrew again, slowly watching Reyes in case she, he didn't know, felt pain again? “I was planning on going back in there at night. These things will be just as blind as us when the moon is up. There won’t be much to see since it’s a crescent. We’ve got to go back into the plane and through that tunnel.” His eyes followed where she was pointing. Oh good. Blood was everywhere. “Make it to the bathrooms,” her index finger moved and he tried to follow, but his eyes kept straying onto the people. The walking corpses. They were an infestation. They were everywhere. “And then we can live another day. Simple.” He didn't respond, only snorting as if that would suffice as a good reaction. She continued on about leaving the airport, waiting until morning, waiting for authorities. He scowled. Seems like a lot of waiting. How would they actually get out of there with the help of authorities, though? The bloodshed was everywhere, and an airport wouldn't be the first priority. The more important folk would be the first choices to help, wouldn't it? “I don’t suppose that mug has anything in it?” He opened his mouth to answer when a screeching alarm sounded. Oh fuck. The creatures were absolutely flocking to the building. Those things just kept going, body slamming and clawing at the doors, the windows, everything. There was so much chaos and noise. He couldn't hear himself think much less speak. The creatures inside the plane were screeching. They were trying to break through the goddamn plane. “Holy shit.” His eyes were wide in disbelief. Those things were more insane than him. His entire joking façade melted away in a mess of terror and odd fascination. “You think that's our cue to run and hide in the bathrooms?” He rose into a stance that was somewhere between standing and squatting, awkwardly hunching over and offering a hand to Reyes to assist her. He felt like a pubescent teenage boy again who didn't know how to have social interactions. “You want the ladies’ or men’s restrooms? In my opinion, the women’s is closer and the food areas are right next to it. Also, you can't really comfortably sit in urinals, can you?” Glad you're up to joking, you lunatic. “And hopefully, we'll find some other people to tag-a-long on this road to hell.” |
|
|
| |
Lightbringer
|
KHUFU CARABELLA 16 - Male - Mentions: Charlie, Sadie (brief), Aurora (brief) The danger never quite registered itself in Khufu’s mind. To him, he was watching a spectacle; watching an experiment, a story, playing a VR game. To him, the dead man running at him with scalding burn wounds that he did not react to at all was not happening. Or perhaps it was, but not to him. And so, he stared. The thought that he may die did not occur to him. In fact, nothing occurred to him at that moment; perhaps it was fortunate, then, that there was someone else present. Khufu had never believed in karma. He’d simply thought that whatever happened, happened, and that the world operated without a care as to the morality of its inhabitants. It wasn’t a thought of pessimism or nihilism, but more so the way he applied logic to things. To him, the world did not care about things that were assigned meaning by humanity. And yet, for a moment, he thought that the man pulling him out of danger was, perhaps, an act of good karma. As he stared up idly at his face, he thought that this wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t helped him to his feet. He thought that maybe he would have died there. He thought that maybe, this was proof that karma was real. “We need to run,” The man said to him. Khufu wordlessly obliged. They’re rushing out of the coffee shop and into the airport. The man is gripping his wrist tight enough to bruise; the only reason that the guy wasn’t dragging him along was simply that Khufu was faster than he was. Still, he found himself slowing down a bit to let the man take the lead, if simply because he really had no idea where they were going; some part of his brain — the part that memorized the layout of the airport — dimly registered that they were going near the escalators, towards the check-in area. The exit was not that way. Then again, who was to say those dead-not-dead things weren’t swarming the exits? Who was to say the outside world would be safe? Khufu was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of thudding. It was different from the strange, heavy gait of the dead-not-dead — it was unnatural, almost wet thuds paired with a gross crunch, a sound that sent chills down Khufu’s spine. He glanced up for a moment to look, only able to register red splattering against the floor like paint before a hand buried in his hair to hide his face in the man’s sweater. He accepted it with grace, squeezing his eyes shut. He didn’t want to see. He felt the man turn and pulled away, turning on his heel and maneuvering his wrist so it didn’t twist in the stranger’s grip to run after him. He understood why he turned, hearing the familiar unnatural footsteps right behind them — thu-thud, thud, th-thud — that were progressively getting fainter behind them. He ran. He ran for a while. It became familiar to him, eventually — running like every step would be his last if it wasn’t fast enough, weaving through the crowds of terrified masses and dead men walking alike, ducking underneath a flying arm and ignoring it when he stepped on something that crunched organically. He thought he understood, then, why they sprinted that way — the sort of one-minded panic that came with it, only moving the goal of going forward and not caring less about anything else. His eyes flicker down to his feet, watching them move with a strange sort of satisfaction. Thud. Thud. Thud. There’s blood on his sneakers. It’d splattered over the white of his shoes, almost like it was some fucked-up art piece instead of a reminder of what was going on around him. If it was an art piece, he thought to himself, it would be an ugly one. The man in front of Khufu abruptly slowed down. He would have slammed into his back if not for his reflexes kicking in, bloodied shoes digging into the floor so that he skidded to a halt, stumbling. His free hand that wasn’t in a bruising grip grabbed onto the back of the man’s sweater, balling the fabric between his fingers, mouth parting to urge him to keep moving — Oh. Was that his phone? He must be contacting his loved ones, Khufu realized. It was a dumb thing to do in the middle of a terrible event, some part of his mind remarked, but he couldn’t find himself telling him to let it go and run. He wasn’t sure why. “Where the hell are your parents?” He remembered why. “They’re not — My —“ He couldn’t seem to get out words for a moment, trying to get out two different explanations at once. He came to the airport alone. His friend was supposed to be picking him up. His friend was supposed to be coming here. He only found himself blindly shaking his head as the man’s attention was turned back to his phone. He probably didn’t see his response. It was fine, Khufu thought. He needed to deal with his own things. He searched his pockets for his phone, relief coursing through him as he found it resting in his parka pocket. He pulled it to his face, allowing facial recognition to scan him. It failed on him twice (he later would find out it was because there was blood on his face) and he rushed to put in his passcode. He had to call Eden, first. He had to tell him not to come here. Then he’d call Ikira, she was never too busy to take a call, try to meet up with her. She was strong and he always felt safe with her. He wanted his sisters right now. He heard the shouted warning of the man he was traveling with a second too late, the second before he was grabbed harshly by the shoulders, a sudden weight that sent him staggering and his phone to the floor. The woman who had jumped onto him gripped his shoulders tightly, hard enough he swore they would be dislocated, the ring on her finger creating more painful pressure through the jacket. As he stared into an open, foamy maw that was leaning in for the kill, he found himself thinking, she made me drop my phone. He grabbed her by the top of her head and forcefully slammed her jaw shut, then brought back his head and headbutted her as hard as he could. His ears were ringing, but he felt the grip on his shoulders loosen. It was enough for the man he was with (he’d almost forgotten he was there, honestly) to pull him aside. He easily slipped out of her grasp and found himself standing beside the stranger as the woman whipped around to face them. I need my phone. The woman began to move, but Khufu had already dropped to the floor, reaching toward where he’d dropped it between her feet. She stepped on his arm in her rush to get to the stranger, causing him to yelp out in pain, but it was fine. It was fine. He could tell it wasn’t enough to break his bone, maybe to fracture it, but if he was lucky he’d just come away with a bruise. It was fine. He just needed his phone, that was all he needed, his phone, his phone — Got it. His fingers wrapped around it and he scrambled to his feet just as a loud thud and crash sounded off to the side. He glanced over, slipping the phone back into his pocket (he couldn’t risk dropping it again, couldn’t risk not being able to contact anyone — he had to make his calls later) in order to see the woman falling as her fingers uselessly scratched at a backpack that connected to her face. The guy threw his backpack at her. It was probably a good call, but — … didn’t he leave his luggage in the cafe, too? He wasn’t given time to fully absorb that thought as the man tugged at his sleeve, gaining his attention. Come with him, he said. That was fine, that was fine. That’d be fine. Just until he could see his sisters again. Just until he was able to call them and confirm they were alright. He wanted his sisters so badly. Screams rang out behind him. Khufu didn’t bother to look. He ran. It was an easy pattern to fall into. Run. Run. Duck. Swerve. Run. He’d always been used to weaving through crowds. He didn’t know that’d ever be applied to running without the context of being late, didn’t know it’d ever be something that would save his life. He didn’t even know his life would ever be threatened. And yet, here he was, running, running, running. The man is yelling at someone on his phone. Someone named Sadie. He mentioned a sister before, she must be it. He must be worrying about her sister. At least she’s alive for him to yell at, he thought to himself. He wasn’t sure about how long that would stay true, though. The airport was in utter chaos. Some people ran from the bloodied should-be corpses, some ran simply for the sake of it, some chased and some wandered aimlessly in search of prey. It was strangely difficult to make out which was which; not a single person didn’t have any blood on them (he supposed he was similar to them, in that regard), splatter coating almost every inch of the floor. Alarms ring out through the air, and that blood was promptly washed away. Someone pulled the fire alarm. He didn’t make the mistake of looking up and getting the water in his eyes, but he slowed down slightly in an attempt to not slip on the floor and crack his skull open. Eyes darting around, he found that the dead-not-deads seemed to have slowed down, as well, frantically looking around for the source of the sound as ugly, inhuman sounds tore from their throats. They’re distracted. They were distracted — this was as good of a time as ever to find a hiding spot, to get away from those — were they people? He didn’t know, not anymore. The man he was with abruptly stopped by the disability stalls, pounding at the door. They must have locked it, he thought. If that Sadie really was in there, she’d probably open the door for him, but — It didn’t open. It didn’t open. Was he wrong about his sister being in there? Was she already — no. No. He was sure this man’s loved ones were fine, just as he was sure his own was. Shaking away those thoughts, Khufu looked around frantically for somewhere else to hide, hide while they’re still distracted, hide while you still aren’t getting tackled to the ground with your throat ripped out. His eyes fell upon a bright red door with a restroom sign above it. Clearly, the man had the same thought, as he dashed for that door in a mad run. Khufu followed suit. He didn’t close the door. Scrambling in after him and ignoring whatever was going on with that guy and the other person in the bathroom, he slammed the door shut (too loud, it was too loud, those… people, corpses, whatevers, they were attracted to noise — hopefully the alarms drowned the sound of the door out) and searched the knob for a lock. No, no — no, there was no lock here, why wasn’t there a lock here, wasn’t that a safety hazard? What did they do when the airport was closed? Khufu clenched his teeth, turning around and effectively slamming his back against the door, sliding down until he was huddled in a sitting position and blocking it shut. If anyone living wanted to get in here, they’d just have to knock and say something. Like a normal person. He didn’t think those dead-not-deads could talk like normal people, if judging from the unholy noises they made in lieu of words. At least, he hoped they couldn't. His sneakers laid flat against the floor, blood running off of them to pool into pink-tinted, transparent puddles on the ground. He brought out his phone, ignoring the fact water was still spraying down on him — he needed to contact people, he needed to be sure they were alright. His fingers attempted to tap against the screen, but the water ran off of it, keeping it from detecting his touch. His annoyance came out as a borderline snarl and he rushed to take off his jacket, using the inside of the fur to wipe off his phone and then holding it with one hand to shield it from the water as he typed. Eden first. He had to make sure he wasn’t coming here. He attempted a call, listening to his phone ring, ring, ring, ring… “Your call has been forwarded to an au —“ He ended the call. He tried again. And then a third time. Every time, it went right to voicemail after the last ring. Damn it, now’s not the time to be busy, please, please, something — His last call went to voice message, and he hissed to himself before bringing the phone to his face, lifting his jacket to follow its path. “Don’t come here. Just — Just stay safe, wherever you are. Don’t come here, it's not safe. I-I— I lo —“ Beep. He stared blankly at the screen for a few seconds before moving on to Ikira. She always picked up the phone, he thought. Always, without fail. Still, when the last ring rang out and no one picked up, he found genuine and full terror settling into his bones, settling in a way he’d never felt before, not even during the rest of his run here. “I love you,” He said into this voicemail. “I love you, I love you. St — Stay safe. Tell me where you are when you can. I love you, sis.” Beep. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like the terror that had now set in, shaking him to his core. He was used to nothing happening, used to feeling fine — he didn’t want what was happening, didn’t want to know this, but — but no one was picking up, what was happening? Where was everyone? By the time he came to Saiko, his hands were shaking. He knew she wouldn’t pick up. She was always busy. It’d be fine if she didn’t pick up, it wouldn’t mean anything. She’s just doing her duties, being a good sister and person, as always. It’d be fine. It’d be — “Khufu.” The fact that she answered somehow only served to make him feel worse. “Sis,” He choked out. “S-Sis, I, I’m — This is —“ “Khufu. It’s okay. Calm down, calm down.” The translucent quality to her tone usually settled him down. He remembered how often it’d bring him to sleep, her hand threading through his hair as she hummed to him. Her voice was calming and soft, usually, usually, but now it just made him panic more. If it was okay, then why did she pick up? Why wasn’t she at work? If it was all normal, then how was she here? He took in a breath between his teeth — “Calm down, Khufu. It’ll all be alright.” She said, again. Khufu tried to breathe. “Have you seen the news?” … The news? He blanked out for a second before pulling his phone away from his face, swiping up and bringing up his browser. There were news articles. A worldwide pandemic, they said. They’re attracted to noise and visible flesh, they said. Cover up your skin and stay out of their line of sight. Hide until the authorities show up. He stared at the article for a second before bringing the phone back to his ear. “Khufu? Are you still there?” “Y-Yeah,” He said, shakily. He swallowed. “Yeah, I’m still here.” His heart rate was starting to slow down. His sister always knew what to do, anyway. He’d be fine. “Are you — Did you, did you see them too?” He asked her, huddling into himself underneath the jacket. He was starting to get cold, he noticed. “Yes. I’m fine, though. I'm hiding out right now with the security.” She assured him. Khufu let out a shaky breath he didn’t know he was holding. No wonder she was so calm, then. She was safe. “Are you at the airport or are you with your friend already? What are you doing?” “I’m — Yeah, I’m still here. Eden got a flat tire.” His voice was steadying again. “I’m hiding out with the restroom with, um… a man and his sister, I think?” He glanced up, scanning the room before spotting another girl. Thin, blonde, lots of blue on her person. He blinked, “And, um, someone else. Girl.” He paused for a moment before adding, “I didn’t know she was here until a second ago, though.” He heard a slight giggle from the other end. “Well, that’s good to know.” She soon said. “Hide with them until we get news from the government or until I can send help over your way. These things seem to lack most basic brain functions, so they'll lose interest in you so long as you keep the door blocked. Make sure you keep your phone charged, too.” “Okay,” Khufu said. He should have known she always knew what to do. She hummed in acknowledgment of his "okay", and rushing to get it out before she hung up, he briefly said, “Thank you, sis. I love you.” There was a short pause on the other side, and then a quiet “I know” before there was a click and she hung up. He brought the phone away from his face and smiled at his screen. Saiko was safe. That was enough for him. He slipped the phone into his pocket and glanced up at the others. "Hi," He greeted, somewhat plainly. He glanced over at the man's sister. "You're dressed brightly." Done with his simple greeting and effectively calmed down, he laid his jacket over his chest and legs, covering himself from the water that continued to spray down and rubbing at a spot on his cheek in an attempt to get what he figured was blood off. Ah, he forgot to relay his plan. He glanced up at the others again and began to speak. "I think that we should barricade ourselves in here until the morning comes. The people outside don't have enough brain power to keep interest in us if they don't see a chance to get inside, so we should be safe. We can keep up with the news —" he waved his phone with one hand. "— with this, and if we find out anything new, then we can move. I don't think those things can talk, so we can probably trust anything that can form words." He gave them a bright smile and nodded. Yes, he was calm. Perfectly calm. He'd make his sister proud. "We'll be fine if we can make it through the night." |
|
|
| |
Neutral
|
Reyes Collin Female // 23 // M: Cassian The consistent ringing made Reyes’s head throb, causing her to reach for her forehead once again. The heat on her palm made contact with her skin, which only fueled the pain in her head. She quickly removed her hand, as it wasn’t helping the cause. Her mind trailed back to the airport; If there was an actual fire, the alarm should stop once the fire was put out… but if someone handled that thing manually… Spending the night in the bathrooms was going to be a lot more difficult to manage. The sun was just a slither of light now, casting shadows on the flat, airy landscape. It was somewhat difficult to see overall, but the two could still be easily spotted if they were close enough to one of those things. Movement in her peripheral caught her attention, causing her to cock her head in the general direction she saw it. The wheat field that was placed right in between the city and the airport had little trails being carved through them. The creatures that had wandered into the field were now sprinting at the noise that the airport gave off. Great. Now their chances of survival only began to drop—but the more she thought about it, did a few extra creatures coming into the playing field really make a difference? Reyes looked back to the airport, which now had bundles and hoards of those things outstretching their boney arms in ways that would be described as painful—in fact, she swore that one of them had a dislocated arm. They can’t feel pain, can they… Or if they do, they simply ignore it. Reyes thought back to when she kicked in the pregnant lady’s face, and how relentless that lady was even after getting her face caved in. Now that she thought about it, they’d seem to do anything to get what they want. They mindlessly tackled each other out of the plane when chasing Reyes… and now they were mindlessly hurting themselves to get what they wanted. They all should’ve been dead. The moment that brunette tackled that blonde and ripped a chunk out of her throat, Reyes knew she was dead. So why did that same blonde stagger back up onto her feet? The thought sent chills down Reyes’s spine as she recalled what happened in that hell hole. They all ate each other, not holding back a single muscle from getting what they wanted. Every single one of them foamed from their mouths… Reyes could still remember the dripping sounds of white, thick saliva falling from their lips. The thought only brought her back to the girl who sat in front of her. The one with the gory chunk bitten off of her cheek- the girl’s mouth salivated before she seized too. How long did it take her to become one of them? 5--- 10 seconds? Reyes couldn’t recall. The entirety of being inside the plane felt like a century, but it was probably only a few minutes. The virus isn’t airborne--Thank god for that. If it was airborne, Reyes would’ve been died a long time ago. In fact, now that she thought more about it, how did the virus spread? It’s not airborne and it’s not spread through touch- after all, Reyes experienced plenty of those plagued hands on her and would’ve turned by now if it was spread by such. Since it’s a virus, doesn’t that mean they technically need a live host? Reyes looked down to the hoard that only continued to gather. There were a lot more than she had anticipated. She managed to make out Cassian’s curse as she could only guess that he was seeing what she was seeing. Reyes could feel the tremors of those things that were inside the plane—they were going insane. Their determination to get what they wanted was nothing to be taken lightly. There mere feeling of those slight vibrations and the sound of those shrieks made Reyes’s hands begin to tremble. She placed one of her palms on her knuckles before folding her fingers together to try and stop the shaking. “You think that’s our cue to run and hide in the bathrooms?” Reyes tore her eyes off of the bloodthirsty hoard, focusing on Cassian. His stance changed into a squat-like position as he held a hand out for Reyes. She looked up at his eyes, searching them for any malice. A small part of her was cooking up a scenario where he just tossed her down as bait to those things. Although, the more she studied his face, the more she could see the desperation that radiated from him. Just like Reyes, he didn’t want to be alone in this mess. Just swallow your pride, Rey. Steadily, Reyes grabbed onto his forearm, gaining a steady grip just above the guy’s wrist as she pulled herself up to obtain the same position as Cassian. “You want the ladies’ or men’s restrooms? In my opinion, the women’s is closer and the food areas are right next to it. Also, you can’t really comfortably sit in urinals, can you?” How could this guy talk so much? His tone was trying to take a humorous one, but in such an inappropriate time like this, it only annoyed Reyes. “Last I recalled, guys took shits too,” Reyes gave Cassian a side eye. They could just as easily sit on the ground or in one of the stalls in the men’s bathroom- his mention about the urinals just gave his words an extra spice of shameless humor. “We’ll try the women’s bathroom.” She added on. She wondered if she could ever get used to this guy’s form of… whatever it was- comfort? Was he trying to make Reyes feel better? Was he trying to make himself feel better? Why am I even thinking about this? After the authorities come, I’m never going to see this guy’s face again. “Stay quiet and stick close to me,” Reyes spoke quietly, being close enough to him for her words to reach him. From what she could tell, the thumps were coming from the sections behind the emergency door, so they should have no problem entering the plane. They just had to be very quiet going through the rest of the place. It’s going to be just fine. I’m going to live through this and see my parents again. I’ll see Delilah, William and Daniel. I’ll be able to stay with them, share stories with them… return to my normal life. Everything will be alright Rey. Reyes had to reassure herself, hiding the fact that she knew that she’d never be normal again after this experience. Hell, if she didn’t need therapy before, she definitely needed it now--- and so does Cassian. She didn’t want to draw attention or lose any kind of balance by standing up entirely, so she shuffled over toward the emergency door. She only realized that she was still holding onto Cassian’s arm when she felt a bit of resistance. Oh. Leave it to Reyes to forget that she was holding a death grip on this guy. One would think he was some kind of hostage with the way that she held onto him with that one hand. She promptly let go as she looked down toward the door. The emergency door was still wide open, and there wasn’t a single soul in sight. Well, it’s not like those things have souls anyway. Her palms brushed against the cold surface of the plane as she leaned over a bit more, cooking up ways to get inside without making too much noise. The alarms were a good diversion, but if they made any sudden changes to that consistent ring, it was likely that those things would notice and just like that they’d be goners. Reyes was now practically leaning entirely off the side of the plane; her palms were pressed tightly against the top of the emergency door as she twisted her forearms and readjusted her fingers. Now, she had enough leverage to slide down and squat-hop into the plane. She envisioned it perfectly, so now she just needed to actually do it. She took a glance over her shoulders every now and again to double-check if Cassian was still behind her. “If I slip you better catch me,” These words weren’t a plead, but a demand. She was placing a good portion of her life in the hands of this stranger…—the more she thought of it, the less she liked her blatant trust in people. She took a deep breath in, puffing out her chest slightly as she leaned entirely off the edge. Her shoes shuffled onto the sides of the plane briefly before dropping entirely (thanks to gravity) and dangling by the bottom of the door. For a moment, a fearful thought that she didn’t have enough strength left to finish this pull-up had brushed her mind. Thankfully, when it comes to life-or-death situations, humans seem to surpass their limits. She always heard the same rumors about a mother summoning enough strength to lift up a car to save her baby--- so, hopefully, Reyes could become this mother on steroids today. She exhaled as she pulled herself up, gaining a better grip on the top of the door now that her toes were pressing against the middle of it. Her bottom dipped lower as she tried to look inside of the plane. She could only see so much at this angle… She shuffled a bit closer. Reyes peeked her head inside, being met with an empty, bloodied row of seats. Not a single body was inside. She reached her left foot into the entrance, putting only a slight amount of weight onto it until she was sure that she wouldn’t make any noise upon impact. Slowly yet surely, she mingled her way closer until she was positive that she could get inside without struggle. She released her grip on the door and swung her body into a cushion. Only a small squeak was sounded, but it was drowned out by the ringing. She didn’t dare to look around and trigger anything traumatic as she popped her head out from the entrance, scanning above her for Cassian. “Come on princess, I’ll catch you,” She ushered him to follow, reaching out a hand in case he needed something to grab onto. The guy was bigger than Reyes and might struggle to do the same maneuver, but he didn’t exactly look scrawny, so Reyes had hope. Thump. Those thumps were getting ominously closer, which caused Reyes to look back inside and check if the coast was clear. The things were getting somehow more violent as they were tossing themselves at the windows. She couldn’t see them as they were behind the curtains, but she could only imagine the looks on their faces… the blood on their bodies… This was definitely going to be a challenge. Her attention was immediately stolen by the wretched smell that fogged this plane. She could feel her throat burning, which was probably due to the abuse it went through when she had her crying fest. She could see the seat where the old couple resided, which was completely empty now. Fuck. I didn’t even see them outside… are they at the back of the plane? Reyes’s heart dropped. She didn’t know what she’d do if she encountered them as these It was too late to turn back. They had to go through it all and make it to the restrooms. It was their only choice. Where else could they go? The city was likely overrun, and it’s not like they’re survivalists. Hell, Reyes could tell that that stripper definitely couldn’t skin a rabbit. This was the smartest move. Just wait for help. Outlast those things. There are no other choices. Perhaps they would come across other survivors too? Maybe they’d have food? Wait-- food. Reyes dug into her pocket to feel the plastic bag of almonds that still somehow managed to survive in there. Thank god. She had never been so grateful for a bag of almonds in her entire life. If she managed to survive this, those almonds will be the first things to be absolutely demolished. Her stomach would’ve growled in defiance if Reyes wasn’t surrounded by the goriest scene that she had ever come across. Focus. Reyes squatted down to the flooring of the plane, glancing at the cockpit before looking back at the curtains. With a shaky breath, she summoned whatever courage was left in her and took those few steps forward. Her hands brushed the soaked chairs as she slowly closed the distance between her and that blood-curdling thumping noise. Thump... Thump… Thump. She couldn’t tell if that was her heart or the things behind those curtains. Reyes instinctively looked behind her, scanning for Cassian for that tidbit of reassurance. Surely, he knew by now to not make a single fucking noise. She swore if he chuckled and attracted that demented thing over to them, she would strangle him in the afterlife. Very gently, Reyes brushed her fingers along the blue curtains, shifting the fabric to the side as she peeked into the second section of the plane. There they were. The mere sight of them made her want to be back at the top of the plane. I have to do this. There were only two of them from what she could see—but It was far worse than Reyes had imagined. They were just so... violent. Not in all her years had she seen something so damn vile. They were so intently thrashing at those windows that their faces were practically glued to them. Good. The more focused they were on that side of the plane, the better. Reyes somehow managed not to tremble in fear as she shuffled past the curtains, officially entering the second section. Her steps were filled with caution as she slowly strode toward the second pair of curtains. If she was right, the bridge should be connected to the middle half of this next section. They just needed to get past these two and- Her heart fell into the pit of her stomach as an elderly figure tumbled out from the second pair of curtains, fixated on joining the other two. The creature had tripped over their own footing, landing face-first into the floor before quickly recovering themselves. A shock of grief and fear ran through Reyes as she recognized the old man. No no no. She stared into his baby blue eyes, which were now surrounded by bloodshot red instead of white. Frozen in place, Reyes could only watch as the figure stood up, fixated on the window, and readied to throw its body at it just like the others. The problem was that it stopped in its tracks. As if their situation couldn’t get worse, his head cocked toward Reyes. Her gut twisted into itself as she locked eyes with it. Run. Why wasn’t her voice working? Run… She wanted to speak but she couldn’t summon the power. The guttural shriek sounded as the old man came tumbling over with a newfound speed for his meal. “Run,” Her voice was surprisingly firm, as she expected Cassian to be right behind her. She dove for the thing’s legs, forcing them to lose their balance and topple over. Her arms swooped around the underside of the man as she body-slammed him into the others, which were now fixated on her. This should give Cassian a good enough opening. The old man acted as a barrier for a brief moment, which allowed Reyes enough time to get the hell out of there. Her arms unlocked from around his waist as she sprinted toward the curtains. Her hand swooped up the blue fabric to smother the face of another oncoming beast from the third section that had followed the old man’s screech. With it now blinded, she swooped her leg under theirs, causing them to fall with a heavy thud. She didn’t care if Cassian was ahead of her or behind her now, all she knew was that she needed to get the fuck out of here. One would’ve given up at this point, but Reyes only sprinted deeper into the plane. She could see the bridge’s entry; it was so close. There was only one body in her way that blocked the entrance, and that body was running full speed at her with the intent of murdering her in cold blood. Reyes ran headfirst into the situation, planting her hands on the thing’s chest as she shoved it into a seat. It wasn’t hard to divert its powerful strides into the corner and throw it off balance, but her gait was knocked out of balance in the act of doing so. Just as fast as she stumbled onto a seat, she quickly pushed off its soft surface and regained herself. Finally- she was at the entrance. And holy hell was it dark. The blood on the windows stopped any light from coming through, and the ringing of the alarm sounded throughout the entirety of the tunnel, practically defeaning Reyes. She stuck to the side, keeping her eyes fixated on the glowing bit of light at the end of the bridge. Her strides covered lengthy bits of ground, not caring how loud her steps were since it was being drowned out by that horrible ringing noise and the distant screeching of riled up creautures. The ringing and darkness in this bridge should throw off her pursuers, but Reyes didn’t dare to look back. Just a few more steps and she’d be in the airport. Just a few… more. The sudden wave of light hit Reyes as she took her first step onto that white marbled ground. She immediately dove toward a desk that was a good ways off to the side, tucking herself under its wooden surface. She did it. She was in the airport. She made sure that she was entirely squeezed inside of the desk before she dared to take another breath. I’m still fucking alive. |
|
|
| |
Darkseeker
|
Cassian Alaric Male // 18 // M: Reyes
He was shivering. Why was he shivering? It wasn’t out of fear, surely. He had already gone through being chased by those things, so what was it? Was he cold? No. He was just shaking. Wow. Maybe the world was ending alongside his sanity. That was a nice thought.
Reyes gripped onto his forearm and he pulled her up, straightening a bit as she got into a similar position as him. The older woman reminded him so much of his brother. A sarcastic, judgemental person with, well, human emotions. It was a nice thought, and a reminder that he had to call his brother. He had placed the phone in his pocket to steady Reyes and continue dragging around the plain white mug. Why did he still have the mug? Sure, he could be slow on the uptake, but really, how long could you hold a mug? He was mainly shocked that it hadn’t tumbled out of his hand when he had heard the alarm. Most of all, he was extremely surprised he hadn’t fallen off of the plane when the alarm had slammed into their eardrums. It would be rather sad to become infected because an alarm scared him. He bet Reyes would watch him fall, mutter a quick “oh well,” and move onto surviving. The thought was entertaining, but not in the current situation, he had to remind himself. He should shut up. Reyes seemed as if she had half a mind to chuck him over the plane and onto the floor below them. That would be another bit of a sad death. “Last I recalled, guys took shits too. We’ll try the women’s bathroom.” He shook his head in amusement. Sounds like a plan captain. It appeared, thanks to his amazing deducing skills, that Reyes wasn’t very happy with his little snips at humor. Let a man live without being judged, c’mon. He glanced at her and couldn’t see anything past the blood and injuries and grim look. It was like watching the main character of an action film, with fear in her eyes but with a determination only the star of the show could have. She was clearly the sensible one of the pair, with her bright eyes watching his insane, wide-eyed look. “Stay quiet and stick close to me.” He nodded mutely, but doubt kept striking him over and over again. What if they didn’t make it out? At first, no doubt had really clouded his mind. It had just been full of fear and worry and pure terror. Reyes was still gripping onto Cassian’s arm when she started shuffling. He blinked in confusion and followed her as best as he could without sending both of them toppling down and over the body of the airplane. She let go rather quickly when they started moving and Cassian slid to make their movement more comfortable. Well, as comfortable as one could be in the current situation. Reyes continuously glanced over at him before saying, “If I slip you better catch me.” Cassian rolled his eyes when she turned back around. Aye aye, Captain. If she slipped they would both go over. Cassian was already struggling with his bag and mug - what’s the goddamn point of the mug at this point? - but, he could try. But by all means, he would truly drop her and himself if he had to stumble to catch her. Thankfully, she didn’t slip. He squatted above the entrance and squinted to watch Reyes’ movements. He felt like he was about to fall off the plane, but tried squaring his stance to get more steady. Reyes seemed to be inspecting her surroundings. Cassian had half a mind to warn her off of looking at the gruesome scene, but she was already eyeing all of the blood, all of the horror inevitably waiting for them inside the airport building as well. Reyes disappeared into the plane then. No doubt scouting for the bodies that weren’t there. “What the fuck, Reyes.” She had popped her head out and managed to scare Cassian halfway to his grave, if he wasn’t there already. A scowl immediately lit his face and he glared at her. “God, you look like my paralysis demon,” he muttered, shaking his head and ruffling out his hair. The locks slid into his eyes and he irritably swiped at them. “Come on princess, I’ll catch you.” She stuck out a hand and motioned for him to hurry up. He swatted her hand away as spitefully as he could and slid in as gracefully as he could, in which his gratefulness could have been compared to an elephant ice skating. He stumbled in and promptly ran into Reyes. Thankfully, she was distracted, having looked inside at the resounding thumps. He glanced around at the bloody seats of the airplane. The thumps echoed, making it so much more ominous. He was about to ask what they would do next when Reyes pulled out goddamn almonds. He blinked at her. What a fine pair they made, her with her little bag of almonds, and him with his blood-stained duffle and mug. Yep, we’re definitely going to die out here. Cassian tried following her, but a pit of dread was sinking in his chest. The thumps were getting louder. Were those things throwing themselves at the windows? Nope, nope. He was not up for this. His hand clutched the mug closer to his chest and he used his other hand to grip the duffle. He was ready to run. And throw the mug at whatever moved. That was important. His eyes made contact with Reyes’ as she swung around. If looks could kill. She looked ready to strangle him if he made a single peep. He let go of the duffle bag strap momentarily to give her a thumbs-up. Oh, he wanted to mock her so badly. It almost rivaled his desire to live. And, oh my god what is she doing. She was slipping into the curtain where the creatures were. If he didn’t need her to survive, he would’ve run off without her. Just the sight of the creatures made him want to curl in a ball. She stepped into the curtain. Please Reyes. Give me at least an hour to get ready for the blood. He followed her, but not before he heard the sound of a body falling onto the floor. His eyes widened at the sight of another creature joining into the window slamming fray. But then… Reyes was stopping? He reached to grab her arm and shake her out of her stupor. He gripped her tightly but then… but then the old man - was he considered an old man anymore? - looked at Reyes. He immediately let go of her as the creature, the vile thing, started racing towards them. Oh my god. Run, run, run. Right now. Move. Reyes was diving at the thing and making it fall. The other creatures were watching now, but at least the thuds against the window had stopped. Oh she’s gone. His eyes dully watched Reyes sprint the hell out of there. He grunted and raced after her. Reyes was knocking those creatures down left and right. Cassian was tempted to throw the mug, but it looked like the woman was taking care of everything, barreling straight into the creatures as if they were playing a football game. They were running through the tunnel with the screeches of the creatures behind them, and the siren, deafening call of the alarm. He could hardly see, trying his best to follow Reyes’ footsteps, but it proved to be a tad bit harder, you know, because of all the noise. Then, there was light. He was blinded and stumbled a bit, running into Reyes again. Water was raining down, and the alarm was screeching, but it felt like a good victory to him. “Holy fuck you’re crazy,” he laughed in relief. They weren’t dead. He had to pat down his chest with one hand to make sure he hadn’t been unalived. His duffle was in one piece, he was in one piece, Reyes was in one piece, the mug was still hanging useless in his right hand- Yep. Everything was accounted for. The moment lasted very shortly, however, when the gurgles of the (un-alived?) people hit his eardrums very suddenly. Don’t celebrate too soon. He glanced over at Reyes and just grappled at her arm, keeping as fast as a pace as he could without running as he headed for the bathroom. It was so close. “Alright, the moment's over. Let’s try not to die, shall we?” He slammed into the door with his shoulder and let go of Reyes as well. Squinting in the bathroom light. He couldn’t really see what with the water pouring. He stood in front of the door to let Reyes go through. “Ladies first, madam.” It wasn’t because he was trying to patronize her or because he was polite, though. His thoughts were consistently straying towards calling his brother back. How would the conversation go, he wondered? A little flash of what it might go like was rushing through his head faster than the water droplets slicking his hair. He shook his hair out and tousled it again. ‘Hey Alec. I’m sorry I ignored the call earlier, please don’t be dead?’ No, no. Rewind. ‘Hey Alec. Tell my idiotic triplet siblings that I love them and I’m sorry we couldn’t die together, like how we were born together, like we planned as kids. Tell dad I’m sorry I couldn’t be good enough to help him get rid of his debt. Tell mom I’m sorry I wasn’t perfect enough to make her stay with us. And- and I’m sorry for leaving you with all the responsibilities. I’m sorry for being selfish and leaving you on open all the time and ignoring your calls and arguing with you so goddamn much. I’m just- I’m sorry. If I die, I’m sorry for everything and anything I ever did or have done. Just please be okay.’ Maybe he’d tell Alec that he was the best brother he could have ever asked for, or that Cassian had always looked up to his older brother, always wanted to be like Alec. Maybe they’d reminisce for the last minutes they had together. Maybe they would get to both apologize and argue and get to say goodbye one last time. His lips pursed and his eyes started to feel warm, his throat closing a bit. His nose burned and for a horrible moment, he was afraid he was going to tear up and cry in front of a stranger. But he couldn’t call Alec. How could he, after all those arguments and anger and rage, with only Alec being the sensible one. With Alec being the one who seemed to care. But I care too, the child-like, plaintive voice in his head echoed. He gingerly pulled the phone out and shielded it from the chaos roaring around them, clicking into his phone and holding a finger, just one finger, over the call button. It’d be one single button. It wasn’t hard. He glanced up at Reyes for an almost reassurance, and he froze in that pose with his eyes turning back to the little screen that held a portal to all the things he regretted and wanted to say. Should I? But what if he doesn’t pick up? What if they’re dead by now? What if I become a liability because I’m wasting time wanting to call them? What if after what if. The little game of these- these what-ifs weren’t helping his constantly pounding head. His teeth clench and his finger waivered, for one little moment, closing in ever so slightly on the call button. Water droplets from his hair fell onto the phone. It seemed to mark their deaths even further. What if I can’t do this little thing? How am I supposed to survive? No, no, no. Too many questions. Too much stalling. Too many regrets just piling and piling up, up, up. A scowl was his response to the never ending cycle of fear and hesitation. It was just his brother. His older brother. His best friend since before he was born. Wasn’t that what they said? It was so simple, so why couldn’t he do it? |
|
|
| |
Lightbringer
|
ATAEIA SIGEBRYGHT 28 - Female - Mentions: Jabari Ataeia's head dipped to the floor, eyelids fluttering a moment as she desperately struggled against the fatigue that threatened to overtake her at any moment. No. Stay awake. Just a little while longer. She lifted her head, fighting against the tide of sleep as her chin raised, pale blue eyes lining up with the signs above. DELAYED, the space next to her flight read in bright red letters. Too many flights had gotten delayed, now, it was almost concerning -- though, she supposed it may not matter much to her. Not anymore. Still, she felt anxiety rising up in her throat, threatening to choke her, threatening to spill out any given moment. She felt like she was about to vomit. In response and in a meager attempt to stave it off, Ataeia let her tired, glazed-over eyes fix into a glare, staring at the sign like it would change if her look was withering enough. She just needed to wait until there was an update. She had to get on that flight. Then she'd be done. Stay awake just a little while longer. Letting out a breath, she leaned back into her seat and sunk into her jacket, shoving her hands into her pockets so that she could fidget with her phone. When her hand met up with a charm that most certainly didn't belong to her own phone, she withdrew it. Right. She put his phone in the same pocket. Her head lowered once more, eyes that were devoid of tears losing focus until she was staring at nothing. She didn't have any money left. She didn't show up at work after she got the news, so she wouldn't be getting her next paycheck. She put all the money she had into this flight so that she could fulfill her brother's wish, all the money that was supposed to have gone to his college fund. He would have gone to college next year, she thought to herself. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. Frustration built up in her, spreading its bitter taste over her tongue as her hands balled up the lower half of her jacket. It built and built until it was roaring in her ears, blocking everything out, making her throat burn and her sight blur. Why was it not her, but him? Why did he have to be the one to go? He could've taken care of himself, he could've had a bright future ahead of him, not like her, why did it have to -- "Someone! Please! Help me!" Her gaze shot up from where it was fixed on the floor, staring into the crowd that seemed to have formed around a certain area in the airport. "A druggie is attacking my child. Help get him off! Please call a medic or an ambulance or do something!" Ataeia slowly stood. People were running from the scene, screams ringing out through the air. They were bloodcurdling, some terrified, some inhuman shrieks, but nothing was quite as terrible as the sheer terror that tore through that man's voice. The terror of losing someone precious. She moved forward. Moved through the crowd that had formed, standing shock-still like they couldn't believe what they were seeing. She moved, pushing through the crowd and shoving people aside as her eyes remained fixed on where the scream had come from. She pushed to the front of the crowd and suddenly found herself going still, just as the people before her had. So that's why the flights were delayed. A small girl was collapsed against the floor, pale, blood-drained arms lying uselessly against the ground as her neck twisted strangely, torn apart to reveal the red that lie underneath. Not far was the clear reason for this scene, a man -- no, a thing -- grabbing a little boy and tearing into him with its teeth, jaw hinging like a snake, a predator, to tear into the boy's flesh, already bloodied visage dripping red into his wounds. A woman screamed and wailed, trying to pull the man off of the boy, and another man stood shock-still, staring blankly with a pale face and sweat visible on his skin. She -- What -- What was -- No. No, it didn't matter. She had to help. Someone -- He said to call a medic, right? Maybe they could save one of them. Maybe it wasn't too late for these people's family. With shaking hands, she withdrew her phone from her pocket -- no, no, wrong one -- she took the other phone and haphazardly shoved the other one back in, taking careful notice to not look at it before she was clicking onto the emergency call button (she didn't think she'd ever be using that one, some part of her thought) and typing in 911 as fast as she could. "There are no operators available to take your call. Please hold as --" No operators? No operators? Since when would there be no -- Ataeia started to panic. She looked up, hoping someone else was already on the line with 911, hoping someone else would be able to help, bu -- Was that little girl... was she moving? The girl rose slowly, foam (it felt familiar to her, but her brain wasn't functional enough at the moment to place it) dripping from her mouth and blood running onto her chest as her eyes began to focus once more, fixing upon the woman, her mother. She lunged forward, grabbing her arm and -- Blood flew into the air once more. Everything felt quiet and loud all at once. A scream tore from Ataeia's throat before she realized she'd opened her mouth at all. "RUN!" She'd screamed at the man. "RUN! YOU'LL DIE, FUCKING RUN!" The man that'd ripped into the boy's throat was gone, having moved on onto someone in the crowd. In his place, the young boy rose, his gaze starting to fix on his father. In a moment of desperation to save at least one member of this family, she ran forward, fully tackling the guy with all of her weight so that they tumbled to the ground as the boy lunged. She only had a second to catch her breath until she was lunged at again, effectively getting her off of that man as she found herself on the floor, wrestling with a little boy and grabbing him by the shoulders in a dumb game of keep-away as his teeth snapped uselessly through the air, attempting to bite her face off. His face was still clean, his teeth still not bloodied -- he was just a kid, dammit -- Foam dripped down onto her collar, accompanied by a less bubbly and far thicker fluid trickling onto her shirt that she recognized to be blood. Shocked out of her thoughts, her eyes met bloodshot ones, dancing with a manic, inhuman sort of energy. This wasn't a kid anymore. That was the last thought that cemented her will. She clenched her teeth and drove her knee upward into the kid's stomach, taking the moment to -- The kid didn't flinch. Why the fuck didn't he flinch. What the fuck. His teeth remained above her face, snapping at her like a rabid dog. His eyes didn't even close, remaining fixated on her face as if she were a five-star meal. Panic hitting her like a tidal wave at the fact that he didn't fucking let go, her grip on his shoulders tightened and she shoved as hard she could, driving her heel into him hard to push him further away once he was effectively off of her so that she could scramble to her feet and fucking run, not looking behind her once. She didn't know where she was going, but she needed to go. She needed to -- God, she had to catch her flight, where else would she go? Would this suspend her flight indefinitely? She blew all her money, what would -- she had to get there, how would she -- Alarms suddenly rang out all around her, and the next thing she knew, Ataeia was getting drenched. Her hair stuck to her face, worsening her already bad eyesight, and her high-heeled boots skidded against the floor, sending her sprawling onto her ass. She landed with an "unff", pain shooting through her at the bruises that'd most certainly form and at her belt and bag digging into her skin. Damn it. Who the fuck turned on the fire alarm? After shaking out of her daze from the sudden fall, she finally looked up, eyes flickering around for danger. But -- no, no one was looking at her. Some people were running and screaming, but some (the ones with bloodshot eyes, she realized -- was this happening all over the airport? Was this really all that common? What the fuck was going on) stared up at the ceiling, glancing around frantically and shrieking. What were they looking for? Did the noise bother them? God, whatever. Ataeia had better things to do. Scrambling to her feet in hopes of getting somewhere before those things saw her again, she scanned her surroundings, trying to figure out where she was. She was just running blindly -- where was she even trying to go? It was useless to run. She had nowhere to go if she left the airport, anyway. Her only business was here. Her eyes soon fell upon a restroom. Her only business was here, so why not hide? She'd remain in the airport until they opened up business again, until she could actually catch her damn flight. Yeah, that sounded good. That's what she would do. She speedwalked (not ran -- she didn't want to fall onto her ass again) over to the restroom, listening to the click, click, click of her boots against the wet floor, her hand running along the wall as she snarled at the annoyance of her hair sticking to her eyes. One hand steadying her as she went and the other frantically trying to keep water out of her face, she headed into one of the two bathrooms, shoving the door open and letting it slam shut behind her. Leaning against the door and surveying her surroundings, the first thing she noticed was the urinals lined up against the wall. Damn, wrong bathroom. She must've not been paying enough atten -- ... Oh, fucking whatever. Big deal, she went into the wrong gendered bathroom. She was about to fucking die, who cared? It's not like anyone was going to be using it anytime soon. She sure as hell wasn't going to risk going back out there just for this, anyway. After taking a moment to catch her breath, she walked forward, surveying her surroundings for a moment as everything that'd just happened slowly sunk in. Water ran down her face and coat, dripping onto the floor. Drip. Drip. Drip. Those people had died. Blood -- there was so much blood. That family, they were -- were they all dead? She didn't look at that father after she'd tackled him, didn't bother to look -- did she constrict his movement? He just got tackled, was he able to run? Did she daze him? She could've -- she wanted to save him, but did she -- Blood. Drip, drip, drip. There was so much blood. Her slow stroll ended at the opposite side of the bathroom. Head lowered and fists clenched, she lifted her foot and drove her heel into the wall, frustration finding its way into her mind again. Thud. So many people, fucking dead. Her flight -- her flight was delayed. Just one thing. She just needed to do one more thing. Thud. All she needed was to do that one thing, and then it'd be over. Then she'd be done. Instead, all fucking this. That man -- he could be dead, did she even help? Couldn't he have moved on his own? Why the fuck did she do that? Thud. More families were separated. More shit was going on in the world. Was this some sort of cruel karma? What did she do to deserve this? What di -- Thud. Thud. Thud. Her foot froze mid-strike. That wasn't her. Her face slowly began to turn in order to look at the door, and yet, she faltered. She was too loud. She must've attracted the attention of those -- those things, with her incessant kicking. She knew those things were bothered by noise. Why did she do that? Why did she do that? She fully turned to face the door, staring. Thud. Thud. Thud. The wood shook underneath the barrage of fists. There must be multiple outside, she thought. Her foot moved forward to go to the door, to stop it, to push back -- ... Didn't she cause this, anyway? She was the one who made the noise. She wouldn't be able to catch her flight anytime soon, anyway. Maybe it was better this way. Ataeia stopped in her movement. Stared at the door. Thud. Thud. Thud. Ataeia stepped back once more, sliding down against the wall and raising her legs to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her chin against them, staring, unfocused, down at the floor. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. |
|
|
| |
Lightbringer
|
Jabari Algarotti | 34 years | Male | Mentions: Ataeia, (indirectly) Roxanne, Alyssia There was a skinny lady in a tight skirt with heels, trying to run. The skirt restricted her steps and the heels proved to be her undoing. A man who was significantly taller and heavier raced along and shoved her out of his way. Her arms flew forward as she tried to catch herself. Jabari imagined the crunch that her wrist had as they collided with the ground. There was a heavy set male behind them who appeared to be behaving unusually, pursuing, but he casually chased after the woman who was down making sure to take a good bite. Why weren’t they helping? Those who were running pushed and shoved, bumping into each other. They were moving in the same direction, so how was that increasing their chance to survive? Nobody liked to run, especially not in an airport. There was no good reason to run in an airport. They must be late. No, duh. They were impatient. That was the normal reason for shoving of normal people on normal days. The conflict was so strong his brain didn’t know what to do. His feet felt glued to the floor, and he felt his knees ache from being locked stiff. His eyes didn’t leave his family. His daughter was covered in enough blood to kill her, and she had fallen. How had she gotten back up? Now, she was latched onto her mother, and then some guy started attacking Rowan, which led to his little skinny daughter latching onto her mother’s arm. Rowan’s mouth was in a circular howl, and her eyes were rounded. Why would a little girl bite a woman like that? This wouldn't happen to him, so he must be dreaming. What a misbehaving child! Wait. That was his child! His beautiful little girl was covered in blood. It was that man. He did it to her. He ruined everything! What was wrong with him! Several people stopped, trying to get his attention. Some people weren't panicked. Did that mean that some of them were wrong? Perhaps nothing was wrong, and he was crazy? “HEY! You! You can’t just fucking stand there!” Watch me! His thoughts challenged. He was barely aware of that voice. "It's fake! Hey, hey you! Good acting, huh! Bravo, you had that bloodcurdling scream down perfectly! 'Help! That druggie is eating my child, ahh!'" He felt his heart lift. Surely, this was some elaborate TV show. Although he hadn’t signed up for anything like that, his family couldn’t possibly be gone. He could feel his brain fogging as he tried to figure out what was going on. He looked around for someone to help. This shouldn’t be happening. He was here to pick up his family. Everyone was fighting someone who looked like they had overdosed on drugs, or they were fleeing the scene. “RUN” Someone was screaming, “RUN! YOU'LL DIE, FUCKING RUN!” The hope that had begun to build disipated much quicker as those loud words shattered his thoughts. Could he leave his children? Should he? His eyes began to dart, and he jerked his head around like a chicken trying to look around. Somene else was screaming at someone to run. Were they talking to him? A dull glance around and he realized that he was the only person standing still. He heard someone rushing over to him, and he turned listlessly, wondering if he should be preparing to defend himself. He felt a slight warmth through his numbess as someone knocked the man off his child. Someone was helping him. Someone was doing the job he was supposed to do. He took a step toward her. His eyes widened amazed that she had come in here so passionately and knocked the attacker off of his son. His sight became blurry, when his son began to attack her and wouldn't let go. The hard sound of her knee hitting his son’s belly made him feel sick. "My son....he's only misbehaving." He wanted to stop her, but couldn’t bring himself to as his son had attacked her. “Please,” his voice was trembling. “Don’t hurt him. He’s a little boy. He’s my son.” Keely dropped her mother and started taking steps toward him. By this time the blood had trickled down her legs. She loved to wear her Princess Belle flip flops although they were a little too small for her, as she refused to give them up. Each step left a little tiny Disney emblem blood stain on the ground. Her eyes were red rimmed, and Jabari felt the blood drain from his face. The blood was sticking her pink shirt to her body, making her seem smaller than she really is. He swore he could almost smell the metallic scent. How was there still blood in her body to bleed out? How was she able to stand? She screamed at him. What had he done to her? No, it was what he had not done. He hadn't protected her. He had let some predator tear into his daughter. Warm tears fell down his cheeks, and his sight blurred. She was running toward him, and he opened his arms instinctively to her. "Forgi..." he started as she lunged for his arm. Instinctively, he grabbed her by the shoulder to restrain her mouth from making contact. "Keely. Please." His voice was barely audible. He couldn't hurt her. He had to get out of here. He started moving to get away, and she latched on. His stomach twisted as he had to forcibly knock her off. The woman had tried to save his son, but now she was running. He raced after her, because he couldn't help them. It appeared that with so many people running, he was unnoticeable in the crowd. It was hard for the druggies to determine who was persuing the afraid people, and who was a druggie. Unexpectedly, he managed to avoid anyone grabbing ahold of him. He heard many tears and loud cries, as he sped past. His autopilot demanded that he try to survive, although there was so much going through his brain confusing him that he was fighting the deer in the headlights effect. He darted a glance around behind him, checking for observers or persuers before he followed the woman into the men's bathroom. He pushed through the doors a little while after she had walked through. He felt his muscles relax slightly, as he let his guard down slightly and tried to process recent events. Something welled up inside of him and exploded as high pitched laughter. He didn't want to attract attention, so he fought to control himself. As the laughter died down, he muttered,"I'm alive. Of course I'm alive. I'm like three to four times the size of my children. Why am I alive?" There had been times when his son had been macho, and boasted that he would beat his dad. Today, Jabari had run from his seven year old son. He had abandoned them. His child wasn't the same. What had happened to them? He collapsed against the wall and slid toward the floor. His knees were bent up close to his chest, and he buried his face in his arms across his knees. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he was beginning to sob. “I..I…” he couldn’t say it. He didn’t want to say it. He couldn’t admit that his family was gone, because he had not intervened. He broke into muffled wails unable to speak. Waves of grief assailed him, oppressing him. He couldn’t breath. He was trying to gasp for air, but he couldn’t breath. Finally, he gasped. It felt like he hadn’t taken a breath in so long. He heaved. He gasped. What should he do next? He should start planning that. He felt nothing. He couldn't believe that any of the past fifteen minutes was real. "What are you doing here? This is the men's bathroom." His voice grated harshly. "Sorry. Please. I'm sorry," his voice immediately became softer and contrite. "No. I mean it's good to see you. I know you might not want me around after...." He had to swallow tears again. "But I am really greatful for your help, and I didn't know where to go." He remembered that he had his car parked, and he had paid for parking. If he stayed here too long he would have a huge debt from his parked car. He began to look more carefully at the door wondering if it could keep those people? things? out. Should he introduce himself? What were you supposed to do in a situation like this? Would she want to work together, or would she try to kick him out of this relative safe haven? What about food? How long were they planning to stay here? "Do you have any idea what happened to those people?" |
|
|
| |
Neutral
|
Reyes Collin Female // 23 // M: Cassian I'm still fucking alive. Those words burned through the small slither of peace that Reyes had. She glanced over her shoulder to look at Cassian, who seemed just as bewildered as she was. “Holy fuck you’re crazy,” His voice was somewhat muffled out by the ringing, but Reyes could make out his words. This was the only time that Reyes didn’t look at him oddly when he laughed; In fact, one might’ve even seen her crack a smile and let out a weary snicker. She always rushed headfirst into dangerous situations and was always scolded for being so bold: this was the only time something good came out of it. Her heart was beating rapidly and thumping in her ears. She still managed to pump warm blood up to her head as she grasped the situation. The bit of relief that she felt getting inside the airport was over. Her little moment of serenity had gone just as quick as it had come. They still had to make it to the bathrooms. It seemed like Cassian had the same train of thought when he heard those shrieks begin to get a little too close for comfort. She felt her arm get hooked around by Cassian’s as she was practically flung out of her seat. She tried to cuss, but because of the sudden movement all that came out was an exasperated and pitiful ‘fughk’. It was only when she lifted herself from the ground that she realized just how scared she was. Her knees wanted to buckle in, and the entirety of her legs was trembling. She gave in to the pressure for a brief moment before she forced herself back up. She managed to collect her stride to match that of Cassian’s so he wasn’t pulling her along as they made a beeline toward the bathrooms. The scene that plagued the airport was horrendous. The water was discolored with red, every little wall was splashed with blood as if it was some canvas. This bit of the airport was eerily empty, though. Perhaps it was the fact that she was sprinting in a daze and couldn’t notice if there was anything around her. She was somehow managing not to slip when she looked over her shoulder. One of them made it out of the tunnel. As if unaffected by the sudden wave of light, it was now sprinting toward the two with a built-up rage. Reyes felt another pump of adrenaline rush to her as she quickened her gait. Hurray, mistake #1. She slipped over the hard marble, making a half-hearted tumble toward the ground; but thanks to Cassian’s grip on her arm, she managed to catch herself. She could hear the creature behind them fall with a hard thump. Its screeching was almost the same consistency as the ringing. She didn’t dare look back a second time as she raced toward the bathrooms. The sudden movement of her head caused another wave of dizziness to rush to her vision- which only made the situation worse as her temple began to throb once more. Suddenly, Cassian let go and opened the doors. They really were that close. Cassian said something, but in the rush of the moment, Reyes had blocked it out as she dove into the bathrooms with the last bit of energy she could muster. It almost looked like an actual dive since she tripped over herself in the process. Her body flung itself to the tiled flooring as she rolled onto her side. Due to the momentum, she slid further into the bathroom, causing her to nearly collide with a stall. The thing behind them must’ve struggled in the water because it didn’t seem to run in right after them. Thank God for that. Reyes immediately sat up, rushing over to barricade the door with her body as if she hadn’t just pulled some NFL move. Even if they were out of sight, that thing could still be after them-- It could still try getting in. With her back against the door, Reyes finally gave in to her knees. She plopped onto the ground with a loud huff, making sure to put just enough pressure against the door in case something tried to fight its way in. For a moment she was tense as she prepared herself for resistance, but not a single noise outside of the ringing was sounded. Reyes supposed that the thing must’ve lost sight and eventually lost interest after Reyes and Cassian entered the bathrooms. The idea of having a break from fighting for her life allowed Reyes to calm down a bit more. She was still in a state of shock but managed to collect herself. She looked down to her feet, which were huddled in a pool of discolored blood. For a moment she thought it was her own, only just realizing moments later that the water was washing her clothes off. The fact that it wasn’t even her blood that was being washed off caused her stomach to turn in a terribly familiar way. She had to bring her palm to her mouth to stop that lump of puke from coming out. The acidic liquids burned at her throat, but she managed to swallow the bit that made its way into her mouth. She looked up at the little sprinkler that was connected to the roof. It violently poured out water onto everything within its radius, splashing Reyes’s face in the process. She never thought that she’d be stuck in the women’s bathroom with some stranger, running from cannibals whilst getting rained on inside an airport. My, how life likes to throw curveballs. She reached for her mangled bun that was barely being held together by the tattered hair tie. Her fingers plucked the tie out, letting her hair fall to her shoulders. Her sensitive scalp ached due to the amount of time that Reyes had her hair up. She instinctively reached for her head to begin rubbing the sensitive spots but faltered when she saw the blood on her palms. Reyes dipped her head to her knees, shaking her hair out. Little bits and strands fell out in small, tangled clumps as she pushed the hair away from her neck. She could feel the scratch on the nape of her neck being hit with cold little droplets. She hadn’t realized just how hot the wound had become until a cool liquid surfaced on it. Was it infected? The thought sent a small panic through her as she looked toward the mirrors. It was too far away from the door, so she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. Reyes began to vigorously rub her hands together, washing off the blood that clung to it. She needed to check the mirror, but she wasn’t going to leave this door unguarded for the life of her. She flopped her hair back over her neck before briefly scanning her surroundings. She needed to find something to barricade the door and keep it shut in case one of those freaks tried getting in. There were about 6 stalls in the bathroom accompanied by 3 sinks and a large mirror. The marbled countertops were relatively clean given the state of the outside of the airport, which Reyes was thankful for. There were two paper towel dispensers planted on either side with the hand motion sensor label planted in the middle of the black compartment. The little bits of beige paper that poked through the machine were absolutely soaked now, so they were practically useless. At least she was getting a shower and washing her clothes at the same time, a win-win situation, right? Reyes opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out like a child catching snowflakes. She let the water gather in her mouth before swallowing it. The water had an irony tint to it and lacked quality minerals, but at least it helped ease the throbbing that rushed through her body from the dehydration. If she could, she would go to the sink and just help herself to the water- but she was far too attached to the door to even think about getting up. What would happen if they were stuck in here with one of those things? The mere thought sent a shudder down Reyes as she looped her arms around her legs. It was only then that she felt the goosebumps on her arms. She placed her wrist on top of her forearm to feel the temperature from her body- surprise surprise, it was cold. She curled into herself, tucking her head behind her knees. Her hair fell around her on either side, somewhat tickling her shoulders as she prepared herself for a long night. She couldn’t close her eyes. Every time she blinked, she could see the horrifying scene that unraveled around her back in the plane. She could hear their blood-curdling screams. Every time she closed her eyes, even if it was for a brief moment, the scenes became more vivid. There was always a new victim that came to her attention, a new story behind their life. A life that was to abruptly taken away. She looked toward Cassian, then towards his duffel bag. He should have something in there to help them, right? Maybe he was a murderer and had some kind of rope and tools to tie the door shut. Maybe he also had some tarp to block the water, a first-aid kit-- he could’ve shoved a whole buffet in there for all she knows-- now Reyes was blindly hoping for Cassian to pull things out of that duffle bag like a magician with its hat. Her eyes zoned in on the stranger and his phone. He seemed to be lost in thought as his amber eyes tore into the little rectangle. He’s probably thinking about his family. I mean, what else could he be possibly thinking about? Another degrading joke? Reyes interrupted her judgmental thoughts with another sigh. As much as she wanted to deny it, she was grateful for him. She likely would’ve gotten tackled by that thing if he hadn’t dragged her along with him. Even if she wanted to refuse it, she needed a companion—you know, someone human that wasn’t trying to get at her throat. Reyes was blatantly staring at him, but she didn’t care. He seemed to be on the verge of tears given his body language, which made Reyes become a little more self-aware of their situation. This was the first bit of emotion that Reyes could relate to-- other than the fear of being eaten alive, of course. Cassian’s finger rested on his phone, and he seemed to just… sit there for a moment. Staring at the phone. There was no doubt about it that he was experiencing the same thing Reyes did on top of that plane. Well, at least he’s not alone now. Shit. She felt bad for him… How was she supposed to comfort someone again? Pat their back? She was never the best at this. Even if she felt pity, there was always an air of awkwardness whenever someone else cried in front of her. Her friends always asked to go out to eat whenever they went through a bad breakup... so perhaps food would be comforting? Reyes reached down for the bag of almonds that she oh so adored. A small growl sounded from her as she stared at them hesitantly. She looked back to Cassian, who was now looking back at her. Dammit. She wanted those almonds. You can do this Rey. Once help comes, you’ll be eating like a fucking king. She didn’t know what to say as she tossed the bag over to Cassian, refusing to leave the door. “y’know… Fiber..” These were the only words that her brain managed to gather. You couldn’t think of anything better than that? She tore her eyes away from Cassian, wanting to give him some kind of privacy in this delicate state. Rubbing her temple with her fingers, she focused on the source of the water that was pouring down on them. “If-“ She began before abruptly pausing. How the hell do people function words. Reyes’s searched her brain, but her mind seemed to go blank. “If it makes you feel better, it already looks like you’re crying.” Really Rey? Reyes plopped her head back against the door, regretting ever speaking. She was referring to the water going down his face in little droplets- they looked like tears- okay? She just wanted to make him feel better with a bit of the sarcasm that he used, but now she just felt like an ass. Now that she thought more about it, from the get-go she was pretty rough on this dude. She was in far less of a stable mindset than he was, and now he was falling into the same amount of despair that Reyes had. Well, she still had that despair; she just managed to suppress the rest of her emotions after crying relentlessly. She had to, to survive. She wouldn’t have been able to summon the courage to go through with her plan if she just sat there and wilted away. Whenever Reyes coped with the stress she always distracted herself with something to do. Perhaps Cassian just needs something to do. No. She looked back at him again, recalling the time when he hesitated when Reyes told him to call his family. Why had he procrastinated calling his family? Did he not have a family worth calling…? Damn, now Reyes really felt like an asshole. Her older sister, Delilah, was always the one who was good at comforting her. She should be here, not Reyes. Reyes felt the same burning sensation in her throat as she looked down to her feet. She wanted to cry out but all she could muster up was a few tears. She swiped her forearm over her nose, stopping the snot from gathering. “You’re fucking contagious,” She spoke with a hoarse voice before sniffling. She let out a small chuckle at their hopeless situation. It was not meant to be found funny, but one that realized just how fucked they were. The congestion began to build up in her nose and a rush of warmth filled her pale face. She couldn’t differentiate the tears from the water at this point. She pulled out of her phone, which was long gone from recovering. Her chest ached at the thought of her family as she stared into the black screen. She didn’t even know if her words reached them. She didn’t even know if they were still fucking alive. This phone was all she had left to contact them, and now it’s gone too. She shoved the phone back into her pocket. It was useless now that it was soaked, but she kept it there more for comfort than anything else. She never anticipated crying in front of a stranger, but at this point, that was the least of her worries. She looked up toward Cassian with watery eyes. “If we can survive this, so can they right?” These were meant to be reassuring words… They instead came out in a form of a question that was grasping for hope. Reyes tried to muster up a comforting smile but all that formed was a twisted sob. Her nose ached from the abuse it had endured, and her eyes were blurred from the tears that gathered in them. Everything hurt. |
|
|
| |
Neutral
|
Aurora Solus | 16 | Female | M: Sadie, Charlie, Khufu. Aurora let out a relieved sigh, closing her sky blue eyes for a moment and leaning back against the shining, seemingly stainless white wall of the bathroom. It was cold as ice, but, why should she care? The sixteen-year old had a lot more important things to worry about, such as trying to find another way to spite her mother. Or, she could focus on the fact that she could finally take a break from the endless waves of people flooding the airport- SLAM! Or, another person could walk into the bathroom. Shit. Aurora jumped, spooked by how loudly the crimson red door to the right of her had opened, a loud sound echoing across the bathroom. She heaved herself up from the wall that she was leaning against so that her back and legs were straight, but was surprised to find that the one who’d slammed the door open so loudly was none other than… a really short teenage girl. At least, Aurora thought that she was a teenager. She didn’t really know. This girl could be in elementary school from how small and petite she was. What Aurora did not expect was that she’d say, loudly since the restroom was so damn empty and fairly echoey, “Thank God! Only one other chick in here. This hellhole’s packed; you wouldn’t believe the lines in the other restrooms.” Well, Aurora hadn’t been to the other restrooms, and she didn’t really care much about them, either. This one was good enough, since it was completely empty and the only one to answer Aurora’s calls was absolute silence. Or, at least, that’s how it used to be before this girl came in. God. Damnit. The teenage- or, maybe preteen, girl was walking over in Aurora’s direction, wheeling her suitcase along with her. The sixteen-year old felt tempted to take her knife out of its sheath in an attempt to scare the girl into shutting up. But, she already knew that that wouldn’t work. Great. Maybe Aurora would just leave— “Say, since you’re around, would you mind watching my things for a sec’? Can’t have anyone yeeting on in here and stealing my shit; my brother would chop my head off if we lost all this! Anyway, I’m electing to trust you, so…” Then, with a swift and rather hard shove of her arms, the suitcase went wheeling across the floor in Aurora’s direction, and the girl just barely managed to not get toppled over by the load. What the hell? Who in their right mind would trust a stranger with something that was so important that their brother would “end up chopping their head off if they lost it.” But, then again, this girl didn’t seem like she was in her right mind. Aurora wasn’t in the talkative mood, though. She never was. So, she stayed silent, too anxious to voice her thoughts out loud. Maybe she’d steal the stuff. She didn’t really know this girl, anyways, so why should she care whether her brother got mad or not? The sixteen-year old turned her head around to look at what the other girl was doing. It looked like she had a pair of earbuds on, and was focused on… browsing through the bathroom stalls? Whatever. This girl was crazy. Leaving the stranger’s stuff behind, Aurora headed for the crimson door, hoping that from inside the restroom it’d look less ugly. No, no, it looked just as ugly as it had before. Still questioning the airport’s choice of color, Aurora flung open the bathroom door, but what she saw had her think that her eyes were deceiving her. A man- a man was getting mauled. There was a bloodied, crazed person on top of him, ripping apart and tattering his clothes and most likely his flesh as well from how much blood was gushing out and pooling on the floor below him. The sixteen-year old stood in shock for a moment before finally realizing that she’d end up just like the man if she didn’t shut the restroom door. Slamming the door shut, Aurora backed up with wide eyes and a mind that was far from blank. What the hell? Did those people have rabies? Aurora had never been taught how to deal with something like this. And just when she thought that her dad had taught her everything, the world had to show her that she was wrong. She could hear the other girl talking over in the bathroom stall, but her mind was in too much of a flurry to bother to listen to the words that came out of her mouth. All she could focus on was the blood curdling screams coming from outside of the crimson door in front of her, which was still really fucking ugly. The teen could feel her heart pounding inside her chest, and that’s when she could feel something collide with her body. Or rather, someone. She jumped, taking a few steps back and looking at the girl who’d bumped into her. “Sorry, sorry. Uhm. Some shit’s happening to my brother. Ehe~ Need to check something…” The girl walked over to the restroom door. In a voice smaller than the other girl’s height, Aurora said, “D—don’t open that door.” Aurora should’ve spoken louder, because she did it anyway, even though her whole body was shaking wildly and the panic outside hadn’t died down in the least from the all too noticeable screaming that now plagued Aurora’s mind. Outside was the same man from before, with tattered, bloodied clothing. In the background, people are getting chased, and running… and falling. The floor is painted red with blood.
“Holy shit!” Aurora says right as the man lunges, the other girl closing the door just in time so that he slams into it instead of them. She could almost feel the other girl’s anxiety and fear radiating off of her, which made Aurora more anxious. She backed inbetween the wall and the sink, her entire body quivering. She couldn’t take her mind off of the chaos outside, wincing as the sound of nails scraping on wood and growling began. One, two, three— there were too many screams to count. Aurora could feel tears well up in her eyes. The other girl has dropped her phone and is on her knees, scrambling to pick the device up. A voice is coming from it, saying, “SADIE! FUCKING, ANSWER ME!” Is that what this girl’s name was? Sadie? Aurora assumed that whoever called her must care about the girl an awful lot to call her at a time like this, where some probably wouldn’t give a damn about who lived and who died as long as they could save their own asses. If only Aurora’s mother cared about her enough to call. Her phone hadn’t rung or vibrated even once, but it wasn’t like she was expecting it to, anyway But, then again, she may already be dead. Sadie— or, whatever this other girl’s name was, was whimpering as her brother or father or whoever the person over the phone was was questioning where the hell she was. Sadie’s crying was only making Aurora feel worse, a tear rolling down the teen’s cheek as she stroked her right arm in an attempt to soothe herself. It… didn’t really work. Her sky-blue eyes clouded with hopelessness, Aurora can still hear Sadie talking over the phone, but, then, the other person’s voice went silent. Could he have died? Or, maybe it was the phone that died. Aurora didn’t really know, but Sadie is saying “Charlie?” “Charlie, hey, where’d you…? Charlie, you better not have— Char—” Well, Aurora was right about the phone dying, since the other girl started to pour her stuff out on the ground, looking through it until she found a phone charger. Aurora wasn’t even sure how she managed to pick it up, much less plug it in from how damn shaky her hands were. Of course, Aurora was trembling, too. Aurora blocks her ears as another scream arises from outside, followed by thudding against the door. She just wishes that all of this was some horrible prank or a part of her wild imagination, but knows that this is reality. She stares at the ground. “Hey,” Sadie says, and Aurora whips her head around so that their eyes meet. “my brother’ll be here soon. Do you— We need something to defend ourselves— Do you… Do you have any idea what’s going—” She was about to answer, but that’s when the overhead alarms started to go off, shrieking loudly and huing the airport with red. Water rained down from above, soaking Aurora’s hair and clothes. She felt like she’d just come out of a swimming pool, water even pooling beneath her as it dripped off of her hair and shirt. Somebody had pulled the fire alarm. She wasn’t actually sure where it was, but that meant that most likely, those rabid, rabified people were everywhere in the airport, possibly outside of it as well. However, she hadn’t heard an announcement over the speakers about them, which seemed odd to her. If the situation was this damn serious, shouldn’t you tell everyone about it so that they don’t end up dead? Aurora scrambled to take out her phone, which had water droplets rushing down the screen but thankfully, it was still working. After shakily and just barely punching in her password, Aurora scrolled through the internet, looking for any mention of what she assumed to be some sort of virus or infection. That’s when something caught her eye— a video that had a thumbnail with one of those… things on it. Aurora didn’t bother to look at the clip, though— she didn’t think that her ears could take anymore screams of terror or loud, ear-splitting screeches. And then, something— or, no, someone threw the restroom door open. Instinctively, Aurora got to her feet and prepared to run while also gripping onto the sheath of her knife tightly. But, when she got a closer look, she could see that the one who’d opened the door was in fact human. It was a guy who looked to be about in his early twenties with a height that was close to Aurora’s. He had voluminous black hair which made his already pale skin appear even paler— but, besides that and his hazel eyes, the sixteen-year old didn’t bother to pay attention to the man’s physical features. She just cared that he wasn’t rabified. That was all. She could hear Sadie say, “Charlie?” “There you are, you fucking bitch,” the man says. This could’ve been who Sadie was talking with over the phone, actually, it was pretty likely in Aurora’s mind. How else would he have known that they were in here? Plus, by Sadie’s reaction, she 100% knew this person. Aurora turned away, hoping that maybe, just maybe she wouldn’t be noticed by anybody. She wiped her tears from her face with her sleeve, just in case she was seen. She didn’t want anybody’s first impression of her to be some terrified, sniveling child. Plus, maybe this was a chance for her to show off how smart she was. But, she then noticed yet another person had come in through the door after who she assumed was named Charlie, at least, by Sadie’s reaction. He must’ve come in while Aurora wasn’t paying any attention. She didn’t know this person’s name, but he looked to be about her age. Great. How in the hell was a group of mostly teenagers supposed to survive hordes composed of possibly hundreds of rabified people? Also, why was Aurora still referring to these people as if they had rabies? Oh, well, she had much more important things to worry about. Like how the kid who’s name she didn’t know seemed to just be ending a call as he brought his phone down from his face. She didn’t really bother to pay much mind to what he’d said or done before. But, now, Aurora was a bit more focused. "Hi," the kid greeted. Pfft. How plain. "I think that we should barricade ourselves in here until the morning comes. The people outside don't have enough brain power to keep interest in us if they don't see a chance to get inside, so we should be safe. We can keep up with the news —" he waved his phone with one hand. "— with this, and if we find out anything new, then we can move. I don't think those things can talk, so we can probably trust anything that can form words." Okay, now he was starting to sound smart. Aurora turned around, facing him as well as the other people in this rag-tag group. She’d keep her mouth shut. For now. But, what in the hell were they supposed to make a barricade out of? This was a public restroom, not a goddamn storage unit. Unless he was suggesting that they just lean against the door to keep it shut. That could work, too. With a bright smile, the kid said, "We'll be fine if we can make it through the night." Yeah, but, what about the days that followed? Three minutes without oxygen, three days without water, three weeks without food. Was that the saying? Whatever, it didn’t matter. What did matter was that the group couldn’t stay in this bathroom forever. They’d need food somewhat soon. But otherwise, a restroom was an ideal place to hide out. They had all the water that they needed, as well as easily accessible toilets. Aurora was lucky that she’d made it here before the chaos ensued. Aurora propped herself up, and let out a lengthy sigh. This was going to be a rough night. ___________________________________ kind of gave up near the end of this piece of shit |
|
|
| |
Neutral
|
• TIME SKIP • Currently 6am. The sun hasn't risen yet so it's somewhat dark. The EAS is being broadcasted on every phone/device including the airport's speakers. this isn't going to be the most realistic because aowifdhfwes The EAS reads/says the following; " EVACUATION IMMEDIATE This is not a test. Pandemic outbreak avoid infected, check media. " - End of EAS The EAS will repeat a few times before ending the broadcast. The Media; There will be an EAS notification stating the coordinates of the quarantine place and the coordinates of the (hopefully) nearby town that is secured enough to take you to the quarantine camp. The network will shut off in approximately 30 minutes (The characters don't know this) |
|
|
| |
Lightbringer
|
Robert Kelvin Wiles | 23 | Male | M: none Robert chewed his nails as he sat on an upside down ten-gallon bucket. It was horrible habit that he would have to break, but right now was not the time. Besides, his thoughts weren’t on his issues, rather that they were thinking about the beautiful red wood trees he was missing out on. His brother had planned the entire trip for him to go and see them, sort of as a getaway from homework. He had always wanted to see them and to stare up at them in awe. He always wanted to try to climb one and had been wondering on the plane if a park ranger would permit him. At least he hoped they would. But no, no, no, the trees would have to wait because of some demon-possessed people. He let out a deep sigh and then his stomach gurgled. I really should’ve chosen a better place to hide, he thought with his head in his numb-nailed hands, like a kitchen. He looked around him like he had about every couple minutes. Nothing had changed. The door was locked and barred by a plastic trashcan, a mop and the mops’ bucket. The walls were bare except for the schedule and a couple hooks and shelves to hold supplies. The single light flickered on and off and on and off. It wouldn’t last very long and he didn’t think that he would either. He was hungry, but the food on the plane was too expensive for his student loan indebted wallet. He had decided that he’d wait until he found a McDonalds where they’d serve him some real food. Mmm, he could think of the warm buns and the thin but ketchup covered meat that laid between the two pieces. His stomach lurched again. He needed to stop this fascination with carb-loaded food. Diet, remember! He told himself, but he didn’t want to listen. He wanted a large of those hot yellow sticks of pure potato carbs and salt. He needed that wonderful, refillable cup of coke that would fizz just right in his parched mouth. Alas, he had chosen to duck into the janitor’s closet where one’s only source of water was the dirty mop water and he wasn’t that desperate. Not yet. He looked at his watch. It was 3 am and he really wanted to take a nap. His eyes drooped and the flickering light seemed to grow even dimmer. Then his stomach gurgled again, which thankfully woke him up some. He didn’t feel thankful, though. He looked back at his watch. It was now 3:02 am. Rats, he had hoped for at least ten minutes. He just couldn’t let himself sleep. Not with those demon-possessed people out there. They seemed indestructible and very driven to destroy more and more of God’s creation. He had heard of demon possession before, but only from the Bible. He would’ve never imagined that they were like this. He looked around and he knew that he was alone and it seemed like a good time to pray. He hadn’t done this in a while. In fact, he and God didn’t seem to be communicating at all and right now he really hoped that He’d pick up the phone and wasn’t mad. Thus he prayed in the private quietness of the janitor room and he barely whispered the words. “Dear God, I really, really hope you’re listening. I’m not sure what to do. Uh, please watch over me while I sleep and not let them come in and destroy me. Thank you, Lord. Amen.” It wasn’t a great prayer and he knew that God accepted any message, no matter how short and no matter the fact that he hadn’t talked to him a weeks. The prayer felt good to say, like he was having lunch with a grade school friend. He looked back at the door, shadows could be seen throughout the little cracks. Some screaming echoed in the distance, but he was tired. He could sleep. Then a muffled noise erupted inside of the little closet. Robert, dreaming of redwood trees and hamburgers, woke up with a sudden start. Crap! Did I remember to write that paper? He shot up and was confused to why it was dark. He groped around in the dark trying to find a light switch. Instead he felt the plastic of the bucket that he had been sitting on three hours ago. Then he remembered. He was not in his dorm. He did not have homework due, having done that the previous night. He was not going to see the red woods. His heart lowered a bit, but he remembered his prayer. He was still alive and God had been faithful. Then he recalled the reason why he had woken up. He quieted his thoughts and listened to a speaker outside of the closet. It was an announcement. Something about a pandemic and that he needed to check the media. Up on a shelf was his phone. It had been charging since he had run it dead while on the plane playing CandyCrush. He reached out for it and typed in the code, 1234567890. It was easy to remember and he figured that it was too simple for anyone to take the time to type out all the numbers. It was a list of coordinates. One for a quarantine camp and one for a town that was able to transport people to it. That was great. Now all he had to do was get out of his closet and he’d be off to the camp. Maybe it would be close to some red woods. Hopefully everything will be back to normal soon. With his phone providing light, he gathered his stuff, that being the device itself and its charger which he crammed into his carryon bag—a backpack. It was moderately heavy, having a sketch notebook, some homework and writing/drawing utensils with him. It was a large history book that really weighed him down and he hoped that he wouldn’t have to leave it in the closet. He thought about it. He wasn’t the fastest runner and he really didn’t want to loose his phone or notebook. It had some really cool drawings in it already. So he reluctantly removed the thick book from his bag and made sure that his name, number and address was printed legibly on the first page. Then he put it up on the highest shelf to keep it hidden from any ole thieves. Hopefully, he could return and grab it after the pandemic and it would be untouched. He’d figure out how he’d recognize which closet it was in after he made it out of the airport alive. He reluctantly removed the stuff he had crammed in front of the door. Slowly, he cracked the door so that only his good eye could be seen. It looked clear. There was some blood on the walls and on the floors. He listened. He couldn’t hear anything. He didn’t feel any vibrations. He could only smell blood and he didn’t think it wise to try to taste anything. He took a deep breath and declared that it was clear to go. |
|
|
Spring 
Day Weather: 
Fog
