entranceway | Action + Video - I'm off on this super fun adventure

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Action + Video - I'm off on this super fun adventure

[ARRIVAL; Action]

[It's been something of A Day for Louis. A roller coaster of some really awesome and some really horrifically terrible shit. One minute, he was standing over that absolute jackass, Abel, and the next he's stumbling out of the first floor storage room out into the corridor with some comedic arm flailing. He catches himself, then stills, glancing around the space that is definitely not Ericson's courtyard.]

Toto, we're not in Kansas any more.

[He lets out a soft laugh that's toeing a little too close to hysterical. Carefully, he slides what looks like (and turns out IS) a chair leg with nails rammed into the top from an inside pocket of his held-together-by-love-and-duct-tape trenchcoat. For the observant, there's a blood stain on the upper arm, dry, a few weeks old, but definitely there, and definitely around a recently duct-taped hole. He raises his makeshift mace as he edges to a window, peering out at the perfect, beautiful Walker-free grounds.]

Oooookay, Lou. You're having a little bit of a psychotic breakdown. That's okay, that's fine. It's been a weird day. You knew it would have probably happened eventually. It's all good. Someone'll snap you out of this any second now.

[If you're heading towards him or passing him by, congrats, you've got his attention, he'll wave at you with his free hand.]

Hi there, mental breakdown conjuration. How's it hanging? Good? Good. I'm great. Not freaking out at all.

[LATER; Video]

[Once he's been filled in on what's actually happening (but still not utterly convinced this isn't some kind of stress-induced hallucination) Louis picks himself a room. He has his first hot shower in literal years, and even trusts the (magic????) closets to give him a new set of clothes. Aside from the trenchcoat. That remains as filthy and duct-taped as always. He's not parting with that for anything.

He sets himself up in the kitchen, where he sets up his communicator with a few false starts. It's been a long-ass time since he got to play with actual electronics. He's got a veritable feast on the table around him- ranging from god-awful junk food to fancy-ass steaks. They never truly starved in the school, but when all you have to eat for nigh on eight years are variations of rabbit, fish or berries, you can't help but indulge. He'll regret it later, when his system freaks out from suddenly having too-rich nutrients again, but that is a risk he's absolutely willing to take. He grins, giving the camera a thumbs-up. He doesn't get what's happening at all, but he can't just sit still, this...this keeps him active.]

Hey there, fellow captives-slash-mental breakdown prisoners! The name's Louis and I'm brand new to this... whatever it is. AnyHOO, seen as it sounds like I'll be here for a while, I thought I'd get to know you a little better. [He raises a dirty, dog-eared pack of playing cards t the screen.] So! If any kids wanna come to the kitchen and share in my bountiful feast and have a good old game of War, you're totally welcome to. Highest card gets to ask a question to the other person, fun, right? Or, I guess, you can be boring and do it over the video instead. What'd you say?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yep. Soon as they realised how fucked everything was, off they went. Our nurse stayed, Ms Martin," he gives a shrug. "She's the only one who ever gave a shit about us anyway."

The only one who ever treated them like they were worth anything. That they weren't just broken, unwanted kids that would one day be a burden to society as a whole. She was a good person.

"Clem said they get pretty weird. I guess I'll have to find out for myself just how weird that is," he turns his card, revealing a queen of spades. "Sweet! Okay, so what sort of world do you come from? Not full of the undead, I take it?"

"Well, glad you at least had her," she says, considering that, though her head tilts, considering the things she's heard and seen. "Do I want to ask what happened to her?"

It was the best way to handle it. Waiting to see what happens and cope with it. "Least we're usually not in all of it together."

Wendy laughs at that. "Until the summer I came here? I thought it was kind of normal. A small town in Oregon, in the woods. My dad raised me and my brother. This summer though I learned we have unicorns, and vampires, and zombie invasions, and a crazy demon pyramid thing, and my boss' brother has been caught in an alternative world and... Yeah."

"Yeah, she taught Ruby a whole ton of medical stuff, which has saved our asses more than once," at Wendy's question, his smile falters. "She got bit, and turned."

Which is one of the many wonderful ways you can die back home- but it's for sure one of the most common. He lets out a low, appreciative whistle.

"Thaaaat's a lot of weird shit to happen over one summer. It's like going from naught to sixty in half a second. There's demon pyramids? What did it want to do? Take over the world with right angles?"

She winces, if only because she feared that was going to be the answer, and it can't ever be a good answer. "I'm sorry. Damn, all of that really sucks." And she means it. She's dealt with some things, but never anything like that.

"It was something. Then I came here and it just kept being something so.." She shrugs. "He was trying to take over the world, without right angles but still," she admits, making a face at the thought of it. "He was here for a while. I didn't know it at the time. I found out later."

He gives a soft shrug in response. You get numb to it, after a while. People die, people turn. No avoiding it.

"It does, but what can you do? World is what it is. Best we can do is live to another day."

He doesn't even think about the future- no point, you never know when it'll be wrenched away form you. It's a mentality that's not earned him much respect amongst his peers, but it's kept him alive this long, it's doing something.

"This place is weird enough without demon triangles messing stuff up. Did you manage to beat him?"

"What I keep telling people here, and so far I haven't died. Don't care if you come back. I have no plan of dying here."

And while she might not plan on it, doesn't mean she isn't going to do her damndest not to.

She nods, even as she moves to flip over a jack of diamonds. "We did. And here he just vanished one day so there's that. Mr Pines, he was the one that beat him, and he's pretty cool for that though I wouldn't tell him."

"Me either, but me dying here would be a whole lot of not fun for everyone anywhere near me. But generally trying not ot die in the first place is a good way to go."

He flips over his own card, revealing a nine of hearts.

"Well, good on him for beating the demon triangle, I guess," he smiles. "You win. Ask away."

She considers him for a minute, having heard others talking about that issue. If he dies, he turns. Which is frightening. "Is it wrong to point out that if someone had to, you know, deal with that, when you came back that time you would be normal? I think. I know if you die violently? You're like you were before after it."

Speaking softly, more than before, not depressed but not as animated. "So not sure how that would work here for you."

"I guess so. I haven't lived through it yet, but I will." Which is the weirdest thing. "Will you teach me how to handle zombies, or walkers, or whatever they're called?"

He at least lets out a soft huff of laughter at it- you learned to accept the whole...taking care of things, it becomes a normal part of life. You have to have some gallows humour about it all or you'd go crazy.

"No, that's actually pretty comforting. Coming back without turning at all is a pretty nice thought."

He grins, giving a little salute.

"Sure. From what Clem and Michonne said, it sounds like they could show up here at some point. It'd be a good idea to know how to handle yourself."

"And not everyone dies here, though a bunch of people keep dying in this place," she says, nodding. She's seen it often enough though. Too up close and personal for her taste too.

"Yeah, they were here once before. I basically sat on a rooftop and when they got too close to the house I was in, I chucked Molotov cocktails at them. At least until a friend drove a car he found straight into the house next door and everything blew up and... yeah, him too."

"So this place has favourites to bump off? I don't think that'd be a comforting thing. It's like being the most popular kid in school, but knowing the popular kid gets sacrificed to some volcano god or something."

He grimaces, because yup. Sounds about right.

"Yeaaah they don't really stop when you set 'em on fire. All you end up with is a Flaming Walker- which is less of a fun sounding cocktail and more burning horror death," god they had a bunch of those to clear up back home. "Don't worry, I'll show you how do it properly, so if it happens, you're less likely to die."

"Maybe it's favorites. Or maybe they're crazy and jump into things, you know?" Which she always figured was more what it is than anything else. "Or they're crazy adults. Might be that."

Yeah, she's totally buying that.

"Once they were on fire, made it easier to hit them with a crossbow. It's the one thing I know how to use well. I have a pistol, and I practice with it all the time, but only used it on targets." She makes a face then. "Frank gave it to me as a gift but he's not here anymore."

"I can totally get behind it being crazy adults. They're pretty good at doing that kinda thing."

Life would be much easier if adults stopped fucking things up for the rest of them, to be perfectly honest.

"Can't say I'm all that great with ranged weapons, I can't hit the broad side of a barn door," he keeps trying, but good lord he sucks so badly. Instead he grins, pulling out an old chair leg, complete with nails hammered into the top, from the recesses of his coat. "I prefer to use this! I call it Chairles."

She pauses, considering that. "You know, does seem to be more adults than kids, so you might be right," she points out, thinking this sounds about as good an answer as anything she's heard. And sadder to think they just keep doing it over and over again.

"Lack of practice, or lack of ability," she teases, grinning as she asks. "I can show you tho..." The words die as she sees the chair leg. "Dude, that is fantastic. Holy cow." Laughing at the name, head canting as she looks it over. "That is badass."

"It'd be the perfect plan. Too bad for them we worked it all out. Now all we need to do is ruin the whole thing."

He flashes her a grin to show he's (probably) joking.

"Little of both. I tried with a bow and arrows buuuut I suck so bad at it," like so bad, the worst. Her appreciation of Chairles IS noted though. Suck it, Aasim, someone thinks it's cool.

"I know right? It's my goddamn masterpiece. It takes out walkers with one good whack."

"Ruin it by doing stupider things so we die?" And yet, even as she asks that, she's chuckling. Not that she's rushed into it, but it is Wonderland. What's the worst that could happen? Well, that gets answered fairly often.

"And it's good for close quarters. With guns and things, if they got too close, they would do no good, would they?"

He nods. Guns haven't ever been his favourite thing, even less so after the whole Marlon debacle.

"Nope, when you've got a walker bearing down on you, you don't have time or arm room to aim. That's when you need something blunt and heavy or real sharp, like a knife."

She nods at that. "Frank was used to dealing with gang members and, well, apparently from what he told me? Taking down a full like corrupt organization and kind of causing a war zone in the middle of New York," she admits, at least looking kind of sheepish. Even if she sounds proud.

"But yeah, so that means the Chairles?" She says it slowly making sure she's saying it right. "That totally makes sense. Since it's both in a way."

"Yeeeep, that sounds some pretty war-zone-causing stuff right there. Bullets flying everywhere is just plain dangerous. Plus they make a lot of noise. You don't really want that with walkers. It just brings more of them."

And then suddenly you find yourself fighting a herd and that drastically lowers your survival chances. He nods, grinning.

"Hence Chairles. It's pretty good for getting rid of a bunch of them in a hurry. And I got my knife too, just in case."

"Yeah well in this case, from what I know? It brought about super heroes, for one." They had talked about it on and off during her practice, and she had listened intently, though she knew he didn't tell her everything.

She falls quiet for a minute before flipping over a card. A seven. She rolls her eyes. "And just when I have a serious question to."

"I don't have much... okay any experience with super heroes, but yeah. I'd guess that gunshots would bring them in their droves. To do their superheroing, I guess."

He grins, turning over his own card- a two of diamonds.

"Well, lucky you, looks like you get to ask it."

"Frank was kind of one. He just didn't believe in second chances, but he was protecting people," she says, feeling the need to defend him even if he is gone.

She is quiet a moment, considering before sighing softly. "You don't have to answer this but... have you killed a lot?"

"Sometimes, you don't get to give out second chances, when you're protecting other people."

It just...doesn't always work that way, so he understands. At her question he cants his head.

"You mean walkers? Yeah, a lot. I wasn't really keeping an active tally though. Maybe forty or so?"

He stopped counting, back when they realised it wasn't going to stop. That they were just living what life was now.

"How did it happen?" It's technically cheating, but despite the events with them, she's never brought herself to ask anyone. And then the words are coming out, asking before she can stop herself from pushing too far.

She winces though, thinking about it more after she asks. "Nevermind. You're here now. None of that matters right now."

"What, the walkers?" he shrugs. "I don't know, I don't think anyone knows. One day everything was fine, the next, suddenly the dead are stumbling around eating people and the world is falling to shit before our eyes. All we know is that you turn when you die and if you get bit you're in for a terrible time and then you die and turn anyway."

It's all pretty bleak, really, but he doesn't mind talking about it. The world is what it is. He's had years to get used to it. It's the world he's come of age in. He offers her a smile.

"Gotta admit, this whole Wonderland gig is a lot better than that. Looking forward to getting a full nights sleep for a change."

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