entranceway | [Video] Entry #2

[The camera's pointed at Jay's shoes. Wherever he is, it's carpeted, and it's at least somewhat well-lit. When he finally speaks, it's at a whisper and oddly flat.]

If anyone was thinking about using the last house on...Lakeview Drive for shelter...

[A gas can swings into view, and a narrow stream of gasoline leaks from the spout onto the carpet. The camera tilts for a second, revealing a well-furnished suburban bedroom with lazy gasoline loops painted across both the floor and the bed.]

...Don't.

[Jay starts down the stairs, trailing fuel behind him.]

Don't get anywhere near this place. If you're looking for me, [He tries and fails to suppress a cough. The fumes must be getting to him.] I won't be around either.

[He's in the living room now. Jay pans the camera across the room--couches, coffee table, TV, stereo--before dribbling the last of the gasoline across the floor and up to an open window. He tosses the can aside.]

Last warning.

[Jay reaches up to the inactive stereo, twisting the volume dial as low as it can go. Hand visibly trembling, he switches it on. Nothing. Good. He switches the input to "radio". His breathing is audible now, high and ragged.

He twists the volume knob, and the speakers come to life with the deafening roar of...well, you win some, you lose some.

Jay bolts from the house, leaving the front door hanging open.

There's chaos for a moment, leaves hit the camera lens, and then Jay's looking down from a reasonably sized oak tree. A corpse shambles into view, heading straight for the house. Jay cuts the feed.]

[OOC: Jay has just attempted to create walker-bait out of the last house at the end of a dead-end street. Very loud, very flammable walker-bait. He's stolen Tim's lighter, and he's planning to shut the front door and light the place up through the window once enough bodies find their way inside.

Feel free to use this post to yell at him/cheer him on/try to stop him/try to help him.]

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[Woah, that's a reaction. She cocks an eyebrow, but is much more interested in what comes next.]

Sorry.
But that's interesting, albeit not like anything I've ever heard.
Not that I'm saying it's not a possibility.
A lot of my job is figuring out shit that shouldn't exist.

What did you do about it, then?

[So she's not quite convinced, but she's not quite...not-convinced, either.]

Got it on camera, mostly.
Used the tapes when I couldn't remember.
Made sure people knew what happened.
Tried to find anybody who was still alive.

ended up getting shot

At least I did something

[Oh.

Oh shit.]

I'm sorry, kid.
That's a shitty thing to have happened.

It's hard, being the only person who understands the gravity of something like that.
Until you go down with it.
I get it.

["That's a shitty thing to have happened."]

[It's the understatement of the century, but it's still oddly...nice, he guesses. Nothing dramatic, just acknowledging that bleeding out alone (until he wasn't alone) on the floor of an abandoned school is kind of awful.]

Thanks.

[That's all he can really say. It's sincere, though, and he hopes it doesn't come off otherwise.]

[But now Jay's curious.]

Back home, are you
You know

["Are you dead too?" isn't a question he ever imagined himself asking, but here he is.]

[She's real good at the understatement of the century gambit, seeing as it's her main speech pattern. Sometimes things don't have to be grandiose tragedies, or apocalyptic defeats. Sometimes, things just suck.]

I was, for a while.
Not anymore.
It's amazing what a few billion credits, top medical technology, and two years will do.
So I know how it is to die and live for a cause only you understand.

[Jay stares at his phone.]

Whoa.
That's crazy.

I only really had a couple hundred dollars to my name, so I guess I wasn't exactly a great candidate for a medical miracle.

[It sounded smoother in his head.]

But that's good.
Not that you're dead but that we're

not alone, I guess.

Oh I sure as hell didn't pay for it.
Someone with money just decided I was too important to stay dead.
He wanted me to do a job for him, which I did wanna do, just not for him.
So I did it and stole all his stuff at the end instead of coming back.
The crew liked me better anyway.

[She knows its... hard, to say the least, though. Knowing there's no going home. Knowing she's marching towards her end, too. (Or, well, so she thinks.)]

If you ever need to talk about this stuff, let me know.
There's a higher percentage of people in this place that've died and come back than just about anywhere else, but its still terrible.

So y'know. Whenever Wonderland actively stops trying to kill us for a while.

[There's a long pause while Jay considers his response.]

Sure.

[He doesn't need to talk about this stuff, no matter what Tim says. He's fine. He's handling it. He's dead and he's scared, but who wouldn't be? He's reacting like anybody would.]

I'll let you know.

[He can see why Shepard's crew liked her better, though. Wouldn't hurt to see her again.]

[Yes you do Jay come talk to her about your problems, she's got this, she's totally got this.]

Absolutely.
I'm gonna get back into the fray, but stay safe, kid.
Maybe no more fiery explosions for 24 hours.
Doctor's orders.
Or uh, commander's orders.
Whatever.

[Jay actually snorts quietly at "commander's orders".]

24 hours. Sure.
You stay safe too.

Trust me, I'm handling way better than last time.
Having guns instead of magic is much more my wheelhouse.
Then again, give the person the stuff they're trained in, and it goes better.
Who knew?

Anyway.
See you later.

Who knew?

To be honest, I think Tim and I are gonna stay inside until this all blows over.
See you later.

[She'd better be as good at this stuff as she sounds. Then again, she's a "space marine". She should be.]

Good thinking.
Bye, kid.

[Oh, she is. And now she's off to fight more things, so they don't have to.]

[Video] Entry #2 - Event Day 3

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