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018] [video/action]

[For those who know him- and his story- it should come as no surprise that Daryl's face pops up on the network now, backlit with a hazy, mid-morning sky, bare branches, and a landscape that's probably unfamiliar to everyone but him. And he doesn't look happy: hair damp and clinging to skin already streaked with dirt, his expression probably says it all-

Welcome to my world.

But just in case it doesn't (and for those who haven't heard about this crap yet):]

It's the brain. Only way to put 'em down. Don't let 'em grab you, don't let 'em scratch you, don't let 'em bite you. Hell, don't let 'em anywhere near you if you can help it. [He scowls.] ...Easier said than done since we're crammed in here like a bunch of damn sardines- [never before has Wonderland made him feel more like an ant trapped under a magnifying glass........] -so I'm gonna say it again: Brain.

[If he seems more annoyed than anything else, it's because he is; this is business as usual for him, but just like back home there are people here he cares about, people who don't deserve this shit. That's his main concern. This won't last forever, but he'd like to keep the horrible deaths to a minimum if at all possible...]

Got some stuff out here, y'all can come find me if you need it-- [He pauses, and for a fleeting second considers making an apology... But the moment passes without one. Anyone wanting to ream him out for bringing this hell to Wonderland can do so when it's over- ain't no time for in-fighting unless someone don't got a pulse.] Out by the water, where the beach used to be. Don't got too many of 'em over here yet... [And of course as soon as the words leave his mouth, a figure shuffles into view of his camera, drawn, no doubt, by Daryl's deep and enduring love for the things.....

The feed ends there. DARYL SMASH.]

[[ooc: HIT HIM UP HERE VIA VIDEO OR ACTION IDK. He's at the quarry area now, but he'll go wherever he's needed. He has a stockpile of crap with him so if you wanna grab something from him there's that. Also walker-exterminating lessons, those are also a thing.

ALSO. This is a catchall, so if there's something you wanna do with him on a day other than the first day, just specify that and I'll roll with it! He'll be roaming so feel free to assume he's wherever you want/need him to be!]]

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_{[Adam's reluctant to reply with video, scared of what it might reveal about the state of himself. Being warned about what happens in this place doesn't make the sudden, overwhelming changes any easier to stomach, and a part of him is still deathly afraid his own fucked up head has turned against him.

He sticks to simply making use of the audio at first, though try as he might to contain it,there's a waver in his voice.]}

What the hell happened?

_{[Thing is, he doesn't know who Daryl is, or his story, or even much about how Wonderland works, but there's someone on the network claiming some kind of authority over things and that's enough for Adam to latch onto.]}

[The voice issuing out of his device sounds young, it sounds scared... But more than that, it sounds confused, and not just about the geeks.

And while Daryl is the last person you really want explaining things to you when you're already scared, he's getting the feeling he's got no choice. At this point, the biggest favour he can do this kid is to keep it brief, and so he does.]

Event. [A short pause, and the scowl is probably evident in his own voice when he continues:] Mine. From my memories... [Aaand then there's some sarcasm:] Welcome to Georgia.

[Population: decimated.]

You hurt?

_{[Event. He's heard the term. He doesn't like the term, but he's heard it.]}

Georgia. _{[The echoes the word with flat disbelief. The last few nights aren't the worst he's ever had since escaping Hell, but the restless stretch of hours are never pretty and the last thing he'd wanted to find when the sun rose was a world gone completely crazy on him. Crazier than usual.]} This is some place you've been before?

_{[He wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't woken up the prison bars himself. It reminds him of how people relive memories in Heaven, only without the peace.

Out of all possible responses, the question gets a breathy sound. Laughter.]}

Not worse than before. Do people normally get hurt when this happens, or does that come later? With the zombies?

[Daryl don't like it much neither, but there ain't shit to be done about it other than deal with it. It's a hard knock life...]

Yeah. Home sweet home. [And then he frowns at "zombies". He keeps hearing that term...] We call 'em 'walkers' back there but it sounds like y'all got some idea what they are. Keepin' away from 'em, that's what's best... But you gotta be careful of other stuff too.

_{[This is almost exactly like Heaven... without the heavenly part. Just undead people who hunger for human flesh instead.]}

Because they eat people. _{[It's as much a confirmation as a question.]} What... other stuff?

_{[The eating people part, that's the basic idea every zombie movie to ever exist has given him. He'd know better than to intentionally go near them, even if they were harmless. They're still corpses. There's still... something wrong with them. But that's as far as his knowledge goes.]}

[What're you talking about, kid? This is the lap of luxury here.........]

Eat, or tear apart. Ain't really sure how much they really need to eat. Ain't like they starve like we do. That's what you gotta watch for, the walkers ain't the only thing that'll kill you. You seen a whole lot of food around here? Clean water?

[Starvation, dehydration, accidents... The mundane shit, that'll get you as quick as an eater.]

_{['Cause that's reassuring. He takes a deep breath on the other end of the phone, one that's supposed to be steadying but really only highlights the fact that he is breathing. Being alive again means he can suffer through all of those things just like anybody else.]}

So... _{[He starts off slow, halting. This is a lot to absorb when you're trying not to let it show.]} ... if you've been here before, what did you do for that stuff?

_{[He hasn't sat down and cried about the shitty hand he's been dealt in a long time, not since he'd been too young to appreciate what it meant to hold your own. He'll try and hold himself together now until he can't. That's the only thing he can do.]}

[The best thing Daryl can do for any of these people is to tell it like it is. It's hard to stomach, he knows, but sugar coating isn't his style and ain't gonna help nobody.]

Back home we scavenged, hunted... Probably gonna have to be the same here. Place likes to jerk us around but there's usually somethin' to be found if you look hard enough. Killin' us all ain't gonna get 'em what they want. [Beat.] Not like we got any idea what that is.

[He feels for the kid, honestly... What a way to be welcomed to this place.]

Where are you? You inside? If you're stuck somewhere I'll come find you, just gotta know where to go.

_{[Killing them wouldn't get them what they wanted. Maybe that's true. Except if even the angels who'd wanted to start a war on Earth don't know who's behind this place, then Adam doesn't have a clue what might be. Maybe killing them five times over is the point. Maybe there is no point other than seeing suffering in action.

Maybe wanting to survive when faced with that possibility is stupid.]}

If you know the area, you must know places good for that.

_{[Places outside... places Adam hasn't dared ventured yet. In actuality, he hasn't taken a step outside of his room-turned-cell, and if not for the fact talking on the device doesn't require him to move, he might not have reached out to the network at all.]}

I'm in the... _{[He hesitates. What other word for it is there?]} ... prison. Everything turned into this big prison. Something to do with your memories?

[He's pretty content with the validity of that opinion- if the place wanted them all dead it could just magic up a giant fish tank to drown them all in. It's not a happy thought- because the natural conclusion there is that suffering is what Wonderland's after- but if there's even a small chance of making it out of the events alive, Daryl's gonna be all over that.]

It's where we were holed up, right before I got dragged here. Just about the safest place around. Safer than bein' out in the woods, at least back in Georgia. We cleared it, can't be sure Wonderland did the same.

[Adam can't see it, but Daryl's already heading across the "yard", making his way up to the gates calm as you please, all but ignoring the walkers milling in the distance. He'll deal with them later- won't do no good to get in there and find the kid dead because he stopped to "admire" the scenery.]

You got a name, kid?

_{["Safe" is a word that's lost all its meaning at a time like this, if it'd ever had any to begin with, what with words like special, and destiny, and illegitimate son hanging over his head.]}

No going outside unless you want to die screaming, basically. All right.

_{[His tone is dark but calm, if a person isn't listening closely. He's been revived from a similar death before, but carrying those memories around doesn't feel like it makes him any braver or better, just the foresight to know how much pain he's in for.

There's a stretch of silence before he answers.]}

Adam. Who are you?

Name's Daryl, and that ain't what I said.

[His voice isn't carrying quite as much edge as it could be.]

Cover's good unless you're trapped in there with the geeks. Back home we went through, cleared the spots we could and blocked off the ones that were too far gone... Don't know if this place did the same. Could be wanderin' the halls...

[Like the one he's staring at when he turns a corner. Not quite an infestation just yet, but it could be. He takes care of it easily enough, but it doesn't bode well for the rest of the place.]

Which floor you own? [He asks because he's passing by what looks like America's room- first floor in the Mansion, cell block A here.]

Pretty close. Right? You mean if we don't run out of food and water or turn into one of them first, they're not going to stop until a person's in pieces.

_{[Although he says "we" and "person" in a matter-of-fact way, he's really thinking about himself. Worst case scenario: he stays behind his cell door and dies slowly, or meets a zombie and dies quickly.

He's calm about it, and yet at the same time, he's not. The muffled sounds from Daryl's end don't provide much in the way of comfort.]}

... Why?

[There's a bit of shuffling, a grunt and then a thud, two more, before Daryl's response comes through.]

That's right.

[It ain't pretty, but it is what it is.]

And if you wanna tell me where you're at I'll come get you. I got some stuff out here, food, supplies... Might be some in there too but if you got nothin' to hit 'em with you ain't gonna last long enough to find shit.

[He's sensing that this kid doesn't quite trust him, and honestly... He don't blame him. Still, people starving to death or getting overrun inside isn't acceptable and he'll push if he's gotta.

LUCKY YOU, ADAM.]

Come get me? _{[His tone is incredulous.]} Who's gonna get you?

_{[If this is the Apocalypse: Zombie Edition, then Adam can only assume everyone's chances are slim to none. Choosing to run around where the flesh-eating monsters are makes those chances even slimmer.

He's not ignorant: no risk means no payoff, but the prison is an unknown variable in an already shaky perception of reality. Adam doesn't know where he is, or what's waiting for him, or who he's talking to on the phone. Everything, down to the very shift in temperature, is dangerously foreign. Given that, there's no real harm in listening to this stranger, is there? They're working off a sliding scale of shitty to shittier here.]}

I was on the tenth floor before. _{[He pauses briefly.]} I don't know if it's still the same.

[Daryl rolls his eyes. It's not like the kid knows him, but...]

Relax, kid, I can take care of myself. Don't need no babysitter. [Seriously. If anyone's gonna survive this shit...] First floor's got all the usual rooms so we're lookin' good-- [He grimaces, though Adam can't see it.] Clinic's a god damn mess, bet Martha ain't happy... At the stairs now, just hold tight. Ain't gonna be long.

[He heads up, one floor and then two. Everything's mostly the same, save for the lack of doors and, more obviously, the lack of mirrors. Just give him a bit, kid-- there's a small pack of geeks shambling over from the end of the hall.

Pains in the ass...]

You don't need to get your face chewed off just to come find some guy you don't know.

_{[He has a talent for making surprise and gratitude sound an awful lot like sarcasm, and returning from Hell hasn't done him any favors in that regard.

He's he's not a kid who needs a babysitter, either. He's monster fodder, same as anyone else, and no one has any special reason to put their neck out to keep him alive. So why? This guy can't really be trying to find his room in this mess.]}

Are you serious?

_{[He doesn't relish the idea of listening to you die on the other end of the phone, Daryl. He's maxed out on traumatic experiences.]}

[What was that? Sorry, he can't hear your sarcasm over the groans and splattering gore...

Once that's taken care of, though, his surly ass is right back on the line... And he doesn't even sound particularly out of breath. He's got this down to a science. A messy science, yeah, but he isn't too worried about all of that.]

What room you in?

[...He also isn't worried about any of the kid's protests: note the way he carefully ignores them. Stubborn as a mule, this one- he won't be turning back now, that's not how he does things.]

_{[If not for how ridiculous it'd be, Adam is half-tempted to tell him to go away and hang up the phone, but he doesn't. The bed emits a squeak as he gets off of it, tone riddled with tension now that he knows there's someone out there trying to get to him.

He's not thinking about how badly the last time had gone, but the sense of dread is still there.]}

You should go back.

Ain't goin' nowhere. You to the left of the right of the stairs?

[It seems like the setup is the same as when it's a Mansion-- the hallway seems deceptively short, but Daryl'd rather not waste his time... Or keep the kid in danger any longer than he needs to be.

Even if he seems insistent on hanging out up here until he starves to death.

Yep, he's just gonna stab a few more geeks while he waits. Come at him, shitheads, he could do this all day...

...No but really. Where you at, Adam?]

_{[Sure, he doesn't want zombies to eat the guy while Daryl's distracted by the phone, but--

He exhales sharply, a rustle of static over the connection. Would it hurt people to actually listen to him? It's a mystery to him what's going on out there, and for all he knows this guy is two seconds away from getting his arm ripped off by a hungry corpse.

Goddamn it, he doesn't know. He hasn't been outside long enough to check if the way to his room is still the same.]}

Right?

_{[Adam's uncertain and his answer turns into a question as a result. Shit.]}

Fourteenth room.

[Don't take it too hard- Daryl doesn't listen to anybody.

At the question!answer, he starts down the hall, eying the cells as he goes. What a fucking mess... Not that it was much better at home, but now that he's more accustomed to the relative comfort of the Mansion it's strange to see this where mirrors and nicely furnished rooms should be. ...Sucks.

Not that he ponders it for long- he's too busy squinting through the semi-dark at the peeling numbers on the wall: 6, 8, 10, 12--]

If you got anything to bring, grab it now.

[Yahtzee.]

_{[Despite the relatively civil (and coherent, on Adam's part) phone conversation they've been having, when someone comes waltzing into view Adam has the look of someone whose eyes are betraying them. He lowers his arm, letting the device hang limp.

Nothing about this has felt so real until now, and it's not that pleasant of a wake-up call.

He hasn't latched the cell door but he's pulled it nearly closed, leaving him standing behind the bars. The thought of what's outside the cell is more discomforting than acting like an inmate inside. Fact is, Daryl's initial assessment had been right: although it feels like he's lived longer than any normal human has a right to, Adam still looks young, out of his depth. He's dressed practically, jeans and boots and all, but there are no weapons in his cell. Nothing that can be easily slung into a bag and carried off, aside from water and liquor bottles scattered about. He'd just been starting to settle into the mansion; he's not prepared for zombie-infested Georgian wilderness.]}

I didn't think you'd actually come.

_{[Which is to say... Adam has no idea what to do about him now that he's here--not just a voice on the phone but a real person in the flesh. He splutters before Daryl can get another word out.]}

And go where?

[It's okay, Adam, no one ever is.

Daryl snorts softly at that question, nodding at the bottles.]

Someplace they got more than a liquid lunch, to start.

[He's not judging you- what you wanna drink and how much ain't his business- but he's just pointing out that the nutritional value of what was in those bottles is approximately "starve to death".]

C'mon, get movin', if it's anything like back home more of 'em'll be comin' at us.

[Out of nowhere, for real this time.

Turning to peer into the hallway again, he reaches to his belt and pulls his hunting knife from its sheathe, checking it over before holding it out to Adam. He's got the crossbow, and so he won't miss it too much.]

_{[Keeping his strength up hasn't exactly been a priority--not before the Mirrors had taken over and he'd tried to throw himself out a seventh floor window just to get rid of it, and certainly not after, when he'd had to deal with Michael and the fallout from what Michael had done. And this is guy is asking him to dive back into the deep end? Start swimming again? What for, to get in the middle of this bullshit?

He looks at Daryl like a caged animal that can't quite figure out why someone is trying to lure it out into the open.]}

Wh-what, the prison cafeteria? _{[He wavers, confusion and apprehension alike at work despite the edge in his tone. He'd been more put together when he could hide behind the device, pretending at least a part of this isn't happening.]} You said this was the safest place. If we can't stop this, might as well stay.

_{[His gaze drops to the knife. Daryl can do what he wants, but he doesn't want to leave. He doesn't want to have teeth sinking into his flesh again. If they're anything like the ghouls, even a little bit, then nothing's going to keep them from getting to him, not a knife, not a gun, nothing.

Maybe this Southerner knows how to fight just like Sam and Dean, but Adam...?]}

I've never used one.

_{[As before, he doesn't sound so much scared of trying as resigned to ignorance.]}

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