video; event day four

[keephersafe]

[The device falls from a slack hand, found in a pocket and puzzled over for only a moment before it's dropped. A smear of dirty water smudges one corner of the camera, and someone stumbles halfway into view on the screen.

That someone is soaked through, wearing a white shirt and a dirty, red tie that stands out almost ghoulishly against the pallor of his skin - just a little too grey to be natural. Maybe it's just the cold. He's shivering and gripping his upper arms, viewing the bloody carnage that surrounds him with the wide-eyed bewilderment of a child.

But no matter how you spin it, there is something visibly off about this man. His colour is one thing, but the bluish veins that stand out against his skin and the pewter-grey shade of his eyes paint a very peculiar picture.

He looks more like the bodies surrounding him than anyone who might be watching.

The backdrop paints a clear picture of just where he is, and takes a few shuffling steps forwards, displaying something that looks like uncertainty. His expression works - confusion, worry - then he moves out of shot.]




[[ooc: inviting anyone to come across him in person, or shout at him from the phone! he'll come back and pick it up. all I ask is pls don't shoot him in the head.]]

Comments

action;

[morework]

[ Some of the areas they managed to clear, not without significant losses. Cullen patrols, briefly, to ensure they stay that way. He hears the sounds of a new fight in the distance, and intends to join it shortly. For now he still walks where it is quiet enough to hear his footsteps, where--

Where one of the creatures is still standing, amidst the fallen. Cullen draws his blade and yet-- Something about it seems off. Not at first glance, but that look. More alert than their eyes ever were, though Cullen blames his imagination. He advances briskly, ready to strike, and yet-- ]

If you can still speak, do it now.

action;

[keephersafe]

[R is still puzzling over why he feels so cold - he can't remember shivering before - when the voice snaps his attention upwards. His gaze flashes over to meet Cullen's, the direction of the wind holding the scent of Life away from him for now, and his eyes widen.

He takes an uncertain step back.]

I... can. [And he nods. Not even a day of silence and he's already rusty.] I can speak.

action;

[morework]

[ Cullen stops in his tracks, nearly startled. He did not expect an answer, he realises. He lowers his sword without hesitation. It does not yet find its way back into its sheath.

You look dreadful, he doesn't say. Obvious enough. Irrelevant. As opposed to: ]

Were you infected?

action;

[keephersafe]

[R eyes the sword warily, but dares to tear his attention away from it to look at the bodies strewn around them. It's like the worst kind of nightmare - he's never seen so many Dead fallen in one place before. The groups they venture out in aren't big enough, and no one comes to the airport to find them.

Wavering, he hesitates. Was he infected? He is---

But this is strange. This is the first Living person he's spoken to in years except for Julie, and for a moment he feels a fierce spark flare up in his chest. Had it lasted longer, he might have said something stupid, but it fades within moments and he answers timidly.]

I don't know h... how I got here.

action;

[morework]

[ Infected and delirious with fever, he keeps at the back of his mind. But there is another possibility. Cullen takes a step closer, and confirms what he suspected: Not a face he has seen before. A new arrival then? ]

Do you know about Wonderland already?

action;

[livemoore]

[ Liv is covered in carnage, she smells like the dead, and she's helping to drag people to the burn piles. She's mostly sad for all of these people, and out of respect (and also because she doesn't need to eat), she leaves brains where they should be, in the people who died. It's as she's carrying a detached arm - looks like someone went the amputation route - to the fire pit when she sees another walker. A rogue one, shuffling a little, and she drops the arm to pull out her knife.

None of the walkers advanced on her because she's dead, she guesses. She has scratch marks all over but never got sick. So, it's not surprising that this one doesn't advance on her like she's a walking buffet, and when she gets close enough, she reaches out to grab his shirt and get a grip in order to, well, kill him. But there's something about this one, and she hesitates, looking sad. ]

I'm sorry this happened to you.

action;

[keephersafe]

[He reasons that it must be the gore covering her that keeps him from being able to smell her. R watches the woman approach, unsure enough of his situation to delay in keeping his distance from her. She reaches out, and his arm comes up in time for her to miss his shirt and hit his wrist instead.

R frowns at her, confused, the expression only shifting his eyebrows by a fraction. No one has ever said something like that to him before. No one is sorry for people like him. He meets her eyes and shakes his head, parting his lips to speak one word.]

Why?

action;

[livemoore]

Holy shi-

[ Liv takes one big step back, still holding the knife and looking at him like she just saw...well. A zombie talk to her. ]

Are you...are you alive?

action;

[keephersafe]

[People approaching him with weapons drawn appears to be the theme of the day. Not an unusual theme, but it's one he can always do without.]

That's.. debatable.

[He almost smiles. It's almost a joke. He's Dead, but he's Different. Julie made him different, and now he - just like M, the other Dead, the boneys... - isn't quite sure what he is.]

I'm not one.. one of them.

action;

[livemoore]

[ Liv studies him for a minute, eyes moving over his face. He's not one of them, but he definitely doesn't look...alive. ]

But you're...

[ How to put this delicately. ]

Do you have a heartbeat?

[ There, good job, Liv. ]

action

[punful]

[It's been a, uh, harrowing time for Sans. The zombies don't come after him, so surviving hasn't been the issue, but there's just...a whole lot of mayhem and a whole lot of death, and a whole lot of people who don't deserve what's happening. He's mostly just been on the roofs, watching, because that's what he does.]

[Right now he's in the streets, though, ostensibly making his way back toward where Wirt left Greg to check on the kid. There's three zombies that he can see, including this one. It doesn't even take a second glance to notice that this one's acting a bit different. And Sans isn't an expert on any of this, but he's gonna take that to mean that this poor asshole just turned or something. For all he knows, there's a few minutes of clarity and awareness while your body starts hunting for brains without your say-so. Which is horrifying.]

[So he's gonna deal with it the best way he knows how--with humor.]

lookin' like death cooled over, champ. well, don't let me decay you from, uh, whatever sorta undead stuff you're gettin' up to.

[He's just gonna scoot on by this one and continue on his merry way.]

action

[keephersafe]

[He can see the other two, as well, but they don't seem to be interested in him at all. That only stands to reason - most of the other Dead aren't interested in him, or each other, save for when they need to form a group to hunt. They lack that vital connection that the Living have. One that R tries to emulate in his friendship with M, his peculiar hobbies and his general distaste for the way they are required to exist.

R reacts to the voice immediately, looking over with an uncanny sharpness in his eyes.. when compared to the other Dead currently shuffling through the streets. It doesn't show too well through the unclouded pewter grey, but there's a someone behind the gaze that lands on Sans, not just a mindless husk.]

.. What?

[Excuse him, he can be slow on the uptake at times, and this has already been one hell of a morning.]

action

[punful]

[He slows when the zombie turns toward him, because he catches a certain awareness behind the gaze immediately. Like maybe this guy hasn't fully turned yet.]

[Then he stops dead when the zombie actually speaks.]

[He wonders for a second if maybe he's just hearing things, but Sans isn't really the sort to just hear things. It requires a sort of wishful thinking that he just really isn't capable of anymore.]

...you're still in there, huh?

[He glances over at the other two zombies to see if they're reacting to either of them, but they're obviously not. They seem to have a cursory interest in the noise, but they're not making much of an effort to come Sans's way.]

[Here he really thought he'd gotten used to the idea of zombies. Could have even called himself genre savvy.]

well that's, uh. different.

[And there's a massive joke in here somewhere, if he can parse it. A zombie who's supposed to be dead, but isn't. A skeleton who you'd also think is supposed to be dead, but isn't on both counts. It's like the start of one of those "walks into a bar" jokes.]

action

[keephersafe]

['Still in there'? It's an interesting way of putting it, but it works. R knows some Dead who you could say were definitely not 'in there' anymore, but simply going through the motions. He's more 'in there' than any other zombie he knows. Stubbornly so.

So, he nods.

He follows Sans' gaze to the others, the ones he can see but can't find any sniff of Life in. They don't look too much different to what he expects, and yet.. something in him knows they aren't the same. He frowns, and his attention moves back.

Sans isn't what he expected, either. 'Different' would be the word. He'd suspect a boney here, save for the entirely normal speech and the lack of eerie humming. Something new, then, and he isn't sure yet of what to make of it. That's why he doesn't move, doesn't venture to come closer or run.

New things can be dangerous, and as curious as he is, he has a level of self-preservation (which is also strange, for someone who is already Dead).]

I'm not.. the only one... who's different here.

action

[punful]

[The zombie nods. It--he--heard Sans, understood, and responded. That's not just something you could chalk up to a basic stimulus-response thing. That implies not just sentience, but sapience.]

[Sans abruptly decides to stop questioning it. This guy is a zombie, or at least looks like one, but he's sapient. It could be for any number of reasons that Sans doesn't have time to think about. The point is, he's talking to a person.]

[His stance relaxes even more.]

heh.

[No, it would be weird, right? Zombies are still human to some degree, and humans--in his experience--all have some kind of universal understanding of what a skeleton is supposed to mean. Moreso than what a zombie is supposed to mean, apparently.]

yeah, 'tween you and me, we're just, uh...spitting in the face of the whole concept of death, huh?

[They could form a band. The Not Deads.]

you might wanna find somewhere to hide. the other zombies don't seem to care, but there's plenty of regular living folks around. probably not gonna stop to find out if you're still a person or not.

action

[zackthekiller]

[Zack's not exactly in the mood to be mowing down hordes and hordes of zombies after the clusterfuck yesterday, but if it's just one measly little zombie...]

[He readies his scythe, grinning with a murderous glint in his eyes as he chuckles to himself. He doesn't particularly care if the zombie hears him. It's just one zombie. What damage can it do to an experienced killer?]

Heh heh heh... Looks like I missed one...

action

[keephersafe]

[Of course he hears him - it would be hard not to hear someone making any noise in this quiet street - and his head tips very slightly towards the sound. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots the scythe, and he glances over to give it a better look.

Ah. More pointy things. This is just not his day.

He doesn't move, not to run away, or approach. Either of those options don't seem like particularly good ones. If anything, it looks like he's staring this new potential assailant down.]

CW: murder intentions

[zackthekiller]

[He isn't moving.]

[He isn't lying down, either. He's just staring with those literal dead eyes.]

[Zack wants to kill the zombie. He really does. However, that dead expression and the fact that this thing isn't really attacking... It's ruining it for him.]

Well? You gonna come over here and try to bite me? I'm right here, you know!

[keephersafe]

...

[It's actually worse when the Living start goading the Dead. R finds their way of survival distasteful enough as it is, without people standing around screaming for it.

He might even call it second-hand embarrassment.]

You don't want.. me to bite you.

[Unless he has some kind of deathwish, and suicide-by-zombie isn't something that R is going to have any willing part in.]

[zackthekiller]

...?!

[Hang on. Zack's so shocked that he lowers his blade.]

... Did you just fucking talk?!?

[Zack's not the one with the deathwish here.]

[Audio/Video]

[ghflskhu_ph]

[Bill flicks through the different communication channels with rapid-precision, noting which users are still alive and active and which poor saps either dropped their cameras or met an untimely end.]

"DEAD, DEAD, ACTIVE, uh. HMM..."

[And then he comes across this channel. It looks like an of the other 'dead' streams except this one particular individual keeps coming into view. Almost like it.. belongs to him? NAH. Bill's temporarily human face scrunches with annoyance as R blocks a sign that will better help him identify the location.]

"HEY SHUFFLES, MOVE it or LOSE IT you're WRECKING the SHOT."

[keephersafe]

[The name attached to the channel is 'R'. It looks like there might be something after the letter R, but there definitely isn't.

R is in the middle of trying to figure out where he is. The sign is useless - he can't read it, no matter how hard he tries - and nothing about him looks like anything he's seen before. The last thing he remembers is curling up under a bush trying to get out of the rain, and the idea that he might have walked somewhere with no recollection of it is.. troubling.

The voice comes from the device he abandoned. He looks to it, frowning very slightly, and his approach is - while hesitant - certainly direct. He crouches, carefully, and picks it up again.]

Ex.. excuse me?

[ghflskhu_ph]

"I SAID--"

[Bill halts halfway with a blink. Did.. Did he just hear it speaK??? Up close this guy looks even more cold and clammy, there shouldn't be any vocal chords left in that thing. It wouldn't be unheard of for a half-rotted human to still have some cognitive centers, and really this is Wonderland, it's not as though things had to follow any rationality. Still, it's enough to throw the triangle momentarily offtrack, his mouth remains agape until his voice, much softer and hesitant, tries to regain some of its forced bravado.]

"..SAID, UH... W-whyyyyyy don't you GET IN THE SHOT a little BETTER?... And say that AGAIN?"

[keephersafe]

[He might be slightly insulted if he knew what was going through Bill's mind. R has always considered himself rather well-preserved, for a Dead person, but...

He has to admit, he is undeniably dead.

The phone is... familiar, in the kind of way that something you haven't seen in long enough to grow unaccustomed to is familiar. He holds it up, moving it away enough to get his head and shoulders in frame (if slightly crooked) and blinks once.]

Were you.. talking to me?

[ghflskhu_ph]

[Familiar or not, Bill has carefully cultivated a reputation as one who can't be ignored; if R didn't recognize the device, chances are Bill would find someway to draw his attention to it through sheer annoyance alone. Bill blinks back.]

"HUH. WELL WHADDIYA know. SEEMS SENTIENCE hides in some PRETTY odd PLACES NOWADAYS."

[Huh. How very wonderfully, delightfully odd. Bill tilts his head, perplexed. There are actual ghost and skeleton monsters here, an empty skull didn't always translate to an empty headspace this shouldn't be such a milestone and yet... Can he even read this guy's mind? Well, in his current flesh suit he can't. Would it even be a good idea to try later? There must be something holding this bag of bones together!]

"Yeah I'm TALKIN' to you. HOW ya FEELIN' there SHAMBLES? Ya got a name?"