Shittydifuck I'm too late for submission
Jul. 7th, 2012 10:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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hackerdii2a2ter2Um... so I know I'm already late for our submission and this awefully long and probably full of faults, but I also put too much effort into it to let it go to waste completely. So I hope you'll enjoy it.
Sorry talianora, I should have told you that I was working on something!!
Hello, Goodbye, hello
You’re one of the 60% of America’s population that survived the initial outbreak of 12/6. There’s no estimate how many of those survived the following four years like you did.
Your name is Sollux Captor and your knack of hearing the recently deceased in your head will give you your biggest chance yet.
You dragged yourself to the roof to get some air. These days, that’s an achievement for you.
Parazombies are screaming on the streets. Sounds like a body of them drawing through, probably hunting an animal. It’s okay. You can block out these noises as long as there’s no fresh one among- …you hear lively cursing. You need to kill it. Not out of pity, but for your own sanity.
You look down. Seven Parazombies, chasing one, shoving a bicycle. Wait. A Zombie can’t do that. It’s a survivor! You try to pull yourself up. Where’re your electroshock tasers? You dash staggeringly down the stairs (you nearly fall, they’re steep as fuck), unlock the door. Channeling body energy into your tasers, you hit the first from behind. It jerks violently and drops dead. Two turn to face you, you get another one with a head shot.
Your babies have a range of up to ten meters, but now it gets dangerous for you. You have maybe two shots left before losing your consciousness from the strain. Shit, you should have eaten. You concentrate and hit the one next to you. Three down, you get dizzy. Now the other person- he’s around your age- stops and draws a weapon as well, a big sickle. Which is a idiotic choice, but even in America bullets are a rarity by now- he decapitate two in one swift movement. You raise one eyebrow commendatory, before targeting a gifted Zombie!Granny which makes the ground quake. He’ll not show you up.
Is it weird to feel socially anxious between Zombie apocalypse survivors? Is there an etiquette? Should you hug? What, no, that would be weird, why are you even thinking that.
(Maybe because you haven’t had physical contact with anybody since you left your fathers in the middle of the night. You didn’t even say goodbye).
You didn’t care much what other humans thought about you when there was still a bunch around.
He extends his hand, frowning. “Congratulation, you are partly capable. I’m Karkat!”
Karkat asks how you fortified the place (a functioning key and a lock). Karkat wants to know if there are other humans (no) and where one can take a shit safely “without getting my ass chewed off” (stick it out of the window and relax). Karkat also tells you what he thinks of the untidiness and what it indicates for your mental health. In short, Karkat’s an annoying motormouth who should mind his own fucking business. You wish you could lie down again.
While you show him a room where he can stay until he fixes the bike, you hear a loud whomp from downstairs. He doesn’t ask, maybe because the look you give him tells him strikingly to shut-the-fuck-up. Instead he focuses his attention on the kitchen. “What if you have rats here? You know they can transmit the Parasites? If not for your own sake, try to think of the sorry-as-fuck vestige of humanity and don’t staff the undead with your repulsive body the moment you die?”
“At least you get some kickass super powers from it.”, you object tentatively. Now he gives you a glare of shut-the-fuck-up. Yup, you definitely won’t tell him that you already got infected when you struggled with Aradia.
Misery loves company, but your mood improves with Karkat around. Sometimes your snark-offs get you out of the rut of depression, sometimes it makes it just worse. But at least the guy is entertaining. Maybe you just waited for this, a change of tides. After all, you’re selfish, right?
The temporary stay turns into months of living together. Spring turns into summer.
After Karkat settled down he starts to organize your trips for provisions and knick-knacks systematically. You go along with it as long as it suits you. Judging by his habit to give you several simultaneously tasks, he’s used to order a bigger group around.
You wonder why he stays here, being so ambitious. Karkat could join a gang that rummages the wastelands, or one of those “free states” with high hopes and agriculture he talks about sometimes.
He told you only this much: he got separated from his family. With the help of a friend (what’shisname- Gamzee?) he reached a zone controlled by the military. He left because he preferred the freedom outside.
You don’t press it, like he doesn’t talk about the obvious fact that you have a Zombie locked in your apartment. That’s your arrangement and it works for you.
When you’re not on a trip, you spend your time doing shitty D.I.Y jobs, sitting on the roof, playing board games with your own rules. You fill lazy hot summer days with dramatically reading shitty novels to each other, making snide comments. Nothing really happens, but you always find something to do. Once KK nearly fell out of the toilet window. Another time you hacked a warehouse open. Frustratingly it only contained tons of toilet paper. KK laughed his ass off. You also had to blow up some dangerous gifted Parazombies, but most Zombies (and especially the fresh ones) gather at the infection frontier or by safety zones. One night KK and you tried to jerk each other off. It was a disaster. Although you kind of wanted to give him a blow-job back then. You’re actually into girls, but you imagine the intimacy would be nice. When did you start to call him KK again?
“I wish we had electricity.”
You tense, waiting for KK to elaborate.
“Then I could kick your ass at Halo9.”, Karkat mumbles.
He pedals while you are standing on the hind wheels and observe your surroundings. A fresh D.I.Y job that works quite well for you. You sigh, relieved- for a moment you thought he might suspect your tasers’ incredible lasting batteries.
“I wish we had any working computer, period. Hell, I would love a running Wii.”
“Let me guess, you were more machine than human before twelvesix.” You always thought you would be a genius hacker as profession someday. In hindsight you lived through your technology. Not that you regret it, you had Aradia around, but it seems almost surreal compared to your life now. “I was apeshit bananas at computers, yeah.”
“You know. They still have computers at the safety zones. They… probably could use somebody like you? For all the fucking forums with zombie survivor guides they filled, natural selection wiped out a lot of technology-savvy people like us!”
“Ehehehe.” Your head bumps into his sweaty back.
“Yeah, probably. On the other hand, you would be totally hamstrung without me. Dunno if I can square that with my conscience!” You don’t hear his answer, because you realize that you forgot Aradia for a moment. Just like that. You decline Karkat’s offer to hang out in his room when you get back and go fetch a brutish smelling bag filled with cow brain. You sit down in front of her room, slicing off meat, shoving them under the door. You hear her shuffle, then noisy eating.
Sometimes you try to tell her some anecdote, or remind her of a mutual memory, but you resign. You couldn’t hear her voice when you finally found her after three years. Somebody must have tried to raise her from the dead by implanting a Parasite into her, by the look of her face. It’s rumoured Ghoulszombies like her regain memories and habits from their old life. By some crazy misconception “Aradia” never tried to kill you, even when you forced her into this room, but neither did she show any other signs of recognition.
“God-fucking-dammnit Sollux. How long do you want to stay here?” KK paces around the living room. “It’s autumn. We don’t have any means to heat this place. And why would we, care to remind me? This area’s cleared of supplies.” You stay silent. He’ll shut up when you ignore him. Not this time. “Do you think she wanted this? Stop the presses and disgorge the sip of coffee you just took all surprised, because gathering from what you told me about “AA”- with a face like she was some gagworthy cute and hot babe doing a somersault on a motorcyle while conjuring forth the remedy for Parasites and a map to Atlantis- she never would have wanted her rotting remains locked up like the victim of a rapist abductor.”
“The fuck- You don’t even - even if it’s only a fragment of her, she’s not a danger to anyone-“
“Wow, it’s downright disgusting how you debase yourself just by opening your mouth. Even I, the biggest and lowest shitheads, had the decency to let my friends be killed when they turned undead- it was the one thing I could do right!” You should shut up now, but of course you have to press your fingers into his wound as well.
“Of course you let them be killed. I can picture it perfecty, you ordering others to do it, or handing them over to the military when they were infected. Is that what happened to your bosom bro Gamzee? Why else isn’t he with you?” “That’s-“, his face turns red.
“No, back off- it doesn’t concern you in the slightest how I deal with Aradia. Go your merry way, find yourself a nice winter resort and take your fake caring with you.” Karkat stomps to his room without reply. It’s the first time you managed that. You already regret what you said.
Karkat stays eerily quiet in his room. You want to apologize. But how? You never needed to before. Either he or you always let your grudges fall instead of talking it out, or Karkat took the blame on himself. It’s still better like this, you tell yourself. He should leave before winter- you don’t deserve to be forgiven, anyway. You wonder what KK had to live through. It’s already morning when you manage to sleep.
Something wakes you. It’s KK, leaning close to you, looking startled.
“I- sorry, but I had to-“ “You don’t need to apologize.”, you say, half asleep.
“I’m sorry, KK.” He shakes his head, adverts your gaze.
“Maybe you can come back next spring? Or I’ll get us walky-talkies-“
“Um. Let’s talk about this tomorrow.” He gives you a pleading look.
“We’ll stay friends?”
“Retarded genital-bumping ones, but yeah.”
“Right. Sorry for waking you.”
This went relatively well. Maybe because you were in a sensible mood after your dream.
Drifting back to sleep, you try to remember. You walked with Aradia like you used to and you mentioned that you wanted to fix Karkat’s bike… You hear the floor down the hallway creak.
Turning to your other side you realize that your keys are missing. You are barely out of the door when you hear Karkat’s scream. Of course he didn’t know that he wasn’t dealing with a normal Parazombie. You’re just in time to see the freed Aradia climbing along the ceiling, her long bushy hair and her tattered skirt dangling from side to side, while Karkat backs up towards downstairs, pointing your useless taser at her. You never told him that you make them work without the batteries. The Parasites’ long sensors sprouting out of the whole where her nose and mouth used to be, probe the air.
Aradia leaps at Karkat and they fall down the stairs, brawling. You don’t know who you are yelling at to stop. She’s now over him, ready to leech his innards out through his nostrils, until you put your hands on her and give her a shockwave. It harms you as much as her, your mouth goes dry. Your advantage is that it can’t paralyze you. You wrench her off Karkat- his face is slick from digestive saliva, his head nods weirdly. Before you can do anything for him the Parasite starts clawing at you with his attena to snatch you, juices dripping. Without care you thrust your middle- and forefingers right into the whole and fry him. Sparks fly in the dark, it screeches and reeks, then Aradia’s body falls limp to the floor. You burnt the Parasite out of her body, but now she’s gone forever. Shaken you turn to KK, raise your hand. With mild horror and a weird sense of satisfaction you notice that the Parasite bit off half of the two fingers on your right hand. Serves you right. You pass out.
You wake up lying on the floor, next to Karkat. Your body is heavy and anemic, while your head feels too light. It’s hard to think and you smear blood everywhere. You force yourself to stand up. You get a first-aid kit and treat your fingers. Somehow the loss of Aradia feels more real than your own missing flesh. You try to think slowly and deliberately what you need for Karkat. He’ll be alright. He’ll be down with a bad headache for a while, but you’ll play saucy nurse for him. He’ll be alright. “KK.” You shake him. His head nods weirdly again. “Hey, buddy.” You know it already, don’t you. “Bro. You shouldn’t have taken my keys and my taser. I’m still mad at you for that.” No use denying it. It’s why you killed the Parasite. If he had killed her first, would you have reacted the same way? “Sorry I didn’t tell you about my gifts. But then you would have known that I’m infected with the Parasites and left me.” You lift him carefully, support his broken neck. You watch his face regardful. You look to Aradia’s corpse. You did this to her, because you were too weak to grant her her final rest. You are so very tired. You don’t want to get over this.
Closing your eyes you try to visualize the two like they have been, tentatively raising your wounded hand to your racing heart, electricity charging…
Oh no. No. Nonononononoooooooooo. It's KK's ghost-you’re not ready. Then it gets even worse. Karkat’s moving again. First his head quivers, then his whole body spasms. Ohshit ohfuckohshit it screams in your head. This is all wrong, please no His curses deteriorates into wordless pleading, agonizing cries. If this hadn’t been KK, you might have tried to flee, but the prospect of leaving him suffering is worse, after what happened to Aradia. Now wouldn’t it be fitting for you to die at his hands the moment he’ll lose his mind?
You clutch him and say it’ll be alright, you will kill you both, you’ll deliver him.
You should just do it, but… After a while KK’s screams subside to convulsive sobbing which he tries to swallow without breath.
Sollux, if you do that I’ll flip my shit so hard, it’ll go straight to the afterlife and block it- no, I’ll start again-
“It’s okay. I’m just done with this crap.”
You- can hear me?
“I always could heard the ghosts of the recently deceased.”
…Good. Because I’ll have you know that I’ll kick your ass so hard the moment you even think about ending yourself, that it’ll join my shit’s flipping course into orbit, just flipping endlessly. And so will I, flipping you off from inside every single afterlife there is, because guess what, you sorry asshole don’t get an “Get out of life free” card before your time.
“Only if I can’t win in a blinking contest.”, you laugh weakly. “That was our rule in monopoly, remember.”
Sollux
I’m a fucking Zombie now- there’s no way you can keep your eyes open longer.
“This is stupid.”
You clarify some facts, oddly impersonal, even though you are still holding him. Why the taser wasn’t working. The fact that you were both infected. Why Parazombie!Aradia was so agile and fast. You can let go of me now. And if you even try to lock me up and keep me as a baby-eating monster pet, I swear I will browse your face off first.
He must have noticed your hand, because he grabs it now. His movements are uncoordinated and jittery. Let me take care of that. Your wounds close fully. So that was his power.
Okay. Here’s the plan: we’re decamping to the next free state, where I WILL dump your sorry ass into the care of other people. The moment I act weird or when you stop hearing my voice, but at least when we reach the state, you mercy-kill me. Understood? For having no facial expression anymore, his look is unflinching.
You nod. You’ll do anything to make his remaining time bearable, you’ll make sure he can decease in peace. If necessary you’ll fight all his demons. And if it makes it easier for him to think you’ll survive this, you’ll play along.
Of course he is clever, he sees through you as well.
You’ll see who manages to convince who.
You can’t take the bike because Karkat’s body control is lacking, so you prepare yourself for a long march. You bury Aradia.
Parazombies, Zombie hunter and wild animals, they’ll all be after you.
KK brushes his stiff hand against yours and you gladly take it.
You blink into the sun and brace yourself for the most important and scariest challenge ahead, filled with dread and longing at the same time.
“Let’s talk.”
Sorry talianora, I should have told you that I was working on something!!
Hello, Goodbye, hello
You’re one of the 60% of America’s population that survived the initial outbreak of 12/6. There’s no estimate how many of those survived the following four years like you did.
Your name is Sollux Captor and your knack of hearing the recently deceased in your head will give you your biggest chance yet.
You dragged yourself to the roof to get some air. These days, that’s an achievement for you.
Parazombies are screaming on the streets. Sounds like a body of them drawing through, probably hunting an animal. It’s okay. You can block out these noises as long as there’s no fresh one among- …you hear lively cursing. You need to kill it. Not out of pity, but for your own sanity.
You look down. Seven Parazombies, chasing one, shoving a bicycle. Wait. A Zombie can’t do that. It’s a survivor! You try to pull yourself up. Where’re your electroshock tasers? You dash staggeringly down the stairs (you nearly fall, they’re steep as fuck), unlock the door. Channeling body energy into your tasers, you hit the first from behind. It jerks violently and drops dead. Two turn to face you, you get another one with a head shot.
Your babies have a range of up to ten meters, but now it gets dangerous for you. You have maybe two shots left before losing your consciousness from the strain. Shit, you should have eaten. You concentrate and hit the one next to you. Three down, you get dizzy. Now the other person- he’s around your age- stops and draws a weapon as well, a big sickle. Which is a idiotic choice, but even in America bullets are a rarity by now- he decapitate two in one swift movement. You raise one eyebrow commendatory, before targeting a gifted Zombie!Granny which makes the ground quake. He’ll not show you up.
Is it weird to feel socially anxious between Zombie apocalypse survivors? Is there an etiquette? Should you hug? What, no, that would be weird, why are you even thinking that.
(Maybe because you haven’t had physical contact with anybody since you left your fathers in the middle of the night. You didn’t even say goodbye).
You didn’t care much what other humans thought about you when there was still a bunch around.
He extends his hand, frowning. “Congratulation, you are partly capable. I’m Karkat!”
Karkat asks how you fortified the place (a functioning key and a lock). Karkat wants to know if there are other humans (no) and where one can take a shit safely “without getting my ass chewed off” (stick it out of the window and relax). Karkat also tells you what he thinks of the untidiness and what it indicates for your mental health. In short, Karkat’s an annoying motormouth who should mind his own fucking business. You wish you could lie down again.
While you show him a room where he can stay until he fixes the bike, you hear a loud whomp from downstairs. He doesn’t ask, maybe because the look you give him tells him strikingly to shut-the-fuck-up. Instead he focuses his attention on the kitchen. “What if you have rats here? You know they can transmit the Parasites? If not for your own sake, try to think of the sorry-as-fuck vestige of humanity and don’t staff the undead with your repulsive body the moment you die?”
“At least you get some kickass super powers from it.”, you object tentatively. Now he gives you a glare of shut-the-fuck-up. Yup, you definitely won’t tell him that you already got infected when you struggled with Aradia.
Misery loves company, but your mood improves with Karkat around. Sometimes your snark-offs get you out of the rut of depression, sometimes it makes it just worse. But at least the guy is entertaining. Maybe you just waited for this, a change of tides. After all, you’re selfish, right?
The temporary stay turns into months of living together. Spring turns into summer.
After Karkat settled down he starts to organize your trips for provisions and knick-knacks systematically. You go along with it as long as it suits you. Judging by his habit to give you several simultaneously tasks, he’s used to order a bigger group around.
You wonder why he stays here, being so ambitious. Karkat could join a gang that rummages the wastelands, or one of those “free states” with high hopes and agriculture he talks about sometimes.
He told you only this much: he got separated from his family. With the help of a friend (what’shisname- Gamzee?) he reached a zone controlled by the military. He left because he preferred the freedom outside.
You don’t press it, like he doesn’t talk about the obvious fact that you have a Zombie locked in your apartment. That’s your arrangement and it works for you.
When you’re not on a trip, you spend your time doing shitty D.I.Y jobs, sitting on the roof, playing board games with your own rules. You fill lazy hot summer days with dramatically reading shitty novels to each other, making snide comments. Nothing really happens, but you always find something to do. Once KK nearly fell out of the toilet window. Another time you hacked a warehouse open. Frustratingly it only contained tons of toilet paper. KK laughed his ass off. You also had to blow up some dangerous gifted Parazombies, but most Zombies (and especially the fresh ones) gather at the infection frontier or by safety zones. One night KK and you tried to jerk each other off. It was a disaster. Although you kind of wanted to give him a blow-job back then. You’re actually into girls, but you imagine the intimacy would be nice. When did you start to call him KK again?
“I wish we had electricity.”
You tense, waiting for KK to elaborate.
“Then I could kick your ass at Halo9.”, Karkat mumbles.
He pedals while you are standing on the hind wheels and observe your surroundings. A fresh D.I.Y job that works quite well for you. You sigh, relieved- for a moment you thought he might suspect your tasers’ incredible lasting batteries.
“I wish we had any working computer, period. Hell, I would love a running Wii.”
“Let me guess, you were more machine than human before twelvesix.” You always thought you would be a genius hacker as profession someday. In hindsight you lived through your technology. Not that you regret it, you had Aradia around, but it seems almost surreal compared to your life now. “I was apeshit bananas at computers, yeah.”
“You know. They still have computers at the safety zones. They… probably could use somebody like you? For all the fucking forums with zombie survivor guides they filled, natural selection wiped out a lot of technology-savvy people like us!”
“Ehehehe.” Your head bumps into his sweaty back.
“Yeah, probably. On the other hand, you would be totally hamstrung without me. Dunno if I can square that with my conscience!” You don’t hear his answer, because you realize that you forgot Aradia for a moment. Just like that. You decline Karkat’s offer to hang out in his room when you get back and go fetch a brutish smelling bag filled with cow brain. You sit down in front of her room, slicing off meat, shoving them under the door. You hear her shuffle, then noisy eating.
Sometimes you try to tell her some anecdote, or remind her of a mutual memory, but you resign. You couldn’t hear her voice when you finally found her after three years. Somebody must have tried to raise her from the dead by implanting a Parasite into her, by the look of her face. It’s rumoured Ghoulszombies like her regain memories and habits from their old life. By some crazy misconception “Aradia” never tried to kill you, even when you forced her into this room, but neither did she show any other signs of recognition.
“God-fucking-dammnit Sollux. How long do you want to stay here?” KK paces around the living room. “It’s autumn. We don’t have any means to heat this place. And why would we, care to remind me? This area’s cleared of supplies.” You stay silent. He’ll shut up when you ignore him. Not this time. “Do you think she wanted this? Stop the presses and disgorge the sip of coffee you just took all surprised, because gathering from what you told me about “AA”- with a face like she was some gagworthy cute and hot babe doing a somersault on a motorcyle while conjuring forth the remedy for Parasites and a map to Atlantis- she never would have wanted her rotting remains locked up like the victim of a rapist abductor.”
“The fuck- You don’t even - even if it’s only a fragment of her, she’s not a danger to anyone-“
“Wow, it’s downright disgusting how you debase yourself just by opening your mouth. Even I, the biggest and lowest shitheads, had the decency to let my friends be killed when they turned undead- it was the one thing I could do right!” You should shut up now, but of course you have to press your fingers into his wound as well.
“Of course you let them be killed. I can picture it perfecty, you ordering others to do it, or handing them over to the military when they were infected. Is that what happened to your bosom bro Gamzee? Why else isn’t he with you?” “That’s-“, his face turns red.
“No, back off- it doesn’t concern you in the slightest how I deal with Aradia. Go your merry way, find yourself a nice winter resort and take your fake caring with you.” Karkat stomps to his room without reply. It’s the first time you managed that. You already regret what you said.
Karkat stays eerily quiet in his room. You want to apologize. But how? You never needed to before. Either he or you always let your grudges fall instead of talking it out, or Karkat took the blame on himself. It’s still better like this, you tell yourself. He should leave before winter- you don’t deserve to be forgiven, anyway. You wonder what KK had to live through. It’s already morning when you manage to sleep.
Something wakes you. It’s KK, leaning close to you, looking startled.
“I- sorry, but I had to-“ “You don’t need to apologize.”, you say, half asleep.
“I’m sorry, KK.” He shakes his head, adverts your gaze.
“Maybe you can come back next spring? Or I’ll get us walky-talkies-“
“Um. Let’s talk about this tomorrow.” He gives you a pleading look.
“We’ll stay friends?”
“Retarded genital-bumping ones, but yeah.”
“Right. Sorry for waking you.”
This went relatively well. Maybe because you were in a sensible mood after your dream.
Drifting back to sleep, you try to remember. You walked with Aradia like you used to and you mentioned that you wanted to fix Karkat’s bike… You hear the floor down the hallway creak.
Turning to your other side you realize that your keys are missing. You are barely out of the door when you hear Karkat’s scream. Of course he didn’t know that he wasn’t dealing with a normal Parazombie. You’re just in time to see the freed Aradia climbing along the ceiling, her long bushy hair and her tattered skirt dangling from side to side, while Karkat backs up towards downstairs, pointing your useless taser at her. You never told him that you make them work without the batteries. The Parasites’ long sensors sprouting out of the whole where her nose and mouth used to be, probe the air.
Aradia leaps at Karkat and they fall down the stairs, brawling. You don’t know who you are yelling at to stop. She’s now over him, ready to leech his innards out through his nostrils, until you put your hands on her and give her a shockwave. It harms you as much as her, your mouth goes dry. Your advantage is that it can’t paralyze you. You wrench her off Karkat- his face is slick from digestive saliva, his head nods weirdly. Before you can do anything for him the Parasite starts clawing at you with his attena to snatch you, juices dripping. Without care you thrust your middle- and forefingers right into the whole and fry him. Sparks fly in the dark, it screeches and reeks, then Aradia’s body falls limp to the floor. You burnt the Parasite out of her body, but now she’s gone forever. Shaken you turn to KK, raise your hand. With mild horror and a weird sense of satisfaction you notice that the Parasite bit off half of the two fingers on your right hand. Serves you right. You pass out.
You wake up lying on the floor, next to Karkat. Your body is heavy and anemic, while your head feels too light. It’s hard to think and you smear blood everywhere. You force yourself to stand up. You get a first-aid kit and treat your fingers. Somehow the loss of Aradia feels more real than your own missing flesh. You try to think slowly and deliberately what you need for Karkat. He’ll be alright. He’ll be down with a bad headache for a while, but you’ll play saucy nurse for him. He’ll be alright. “KK.” You shake him. His head nods weirdly again. “Hey, buddy.” You know it already, don’t you. “Bro. You shouldn’t have taken my keys and my taser. I’m still mad at you for that.” No use denying it. It’s why you killed the Parasite. If he had killed her first, would you have reacted the same way? “Sorry I didn’t tell you about my gifts. But then you would have known that I’m infected with the Parasites and left me.” You lift him carefully, support his broken neck. You watch his face regardful. You look to Aradia’s corpse. You did this to her, because you were too weak to grant her her final rest. You are so very tired. You don’t want to get over this.
Closing your eyes you try to visualize the two like they have been, tentatively raising your wounded hand to your racing heart, electricity charging…
Oh no. No. Nonononononoooooooooo. It's KK's ghost-you’re not ready. Then it gets even worse. Karkat’s moving again. First his head quivers, then his whole body spasms. Ohshit ohfuckohshit it screams in your head. This is all wrong, please no His curses deteriorates into wordless pleading, agonizing cries. If this hadn’t been KK, you might have tried to flee, but the prospect of leaving him suffering is worse, after what happened to Aradia. Now wouldn’t it be fitting for you to die at his hands the moment he’ll lose his mind?
You clutch him and say it’ll be alright, you will kill you both, you’ll deliver him.
You should just do it, but… After a while KK’s screams subside to convulsive sobbing which he tries to swallow without breath.
Sollux, if you do that I’ll flip my shit so hard, it’ll go straight to the afterlife and block it- no, I’ll start again-
“It’s okay. I’m just done with this crap.”
You- can hear me?
“I always could heard the ghosts of the recently deceased.”
…Good. Because I’ll have you know that I’ll kick your ass so hard the moment you even think about ending yourself, that it’ll join my shit’s flipping course into orbit, just flipping endlessly. And so will I, flipping you off from inside every single afterlife there is, because guess what, you sorry asshole don’t get an “Get out of life free” card before your time.
“Only if I can’t win in a blinking contest.”, you laugh weakly. “That was our rule in monopoly, remember.”
Sollux
I’m a fucking Zombie now- there’s no way you can keep your eyes open longer.
“This is stupid.”
You clarify some facts, oddly impersonal, even though you are still holding him. Why the taser wasn’t working. The fact that you were both infected. Why Parazombie!Aradia was so agile and fast. You can let go of me now. And if you even try to lock me up and keep me as a baby-eating monster pet, I swear I will browse your face off first.
He must have noticed your hand, because he grabs it now. His movements are uncoordinated and jittery. Let me take care of that. Your wounds close fully. So that was his power.
Okay. Here’s the plan: we’re decamping to the next free state, where I WILL dump your sorry ass into the care of other people. The moment I act weird or when you stop hearing my voice, but at least when we reach the state, you mercy-kill me. Understood? For having no facial expression anymore, his look is unflinching.
You nod. You’ll do anything to make his remaining time bearable, you’ll make sure he can decease in peace. If necessary you’ll fight all his demons. And if it makes it easier for him to think you’ll survive this, you’ll play along.
Of course he is clever, he sees through you as well.
You’ll see who manages to convince who.
You can’t take the bike because Karkat’s body control is lacking, so you prepare yourself for a long march. You bury Aradia.
Parazombies, Zombie hunter and wild animals, they’ll all be after you.
KK brushes his stiff hand against yours and you gladly take it.
You blink into the sun and brace yourself for the most important and scariest challenge ahead, filled with dread and longing at the same time.
“Let’s talk.”
no subject
Date: 2012-07-07 10:08 pm (UTC)If you can get me the tags in the nest hour or so, I can probably resubmit our entry with this, if you'd like.
EDIT: Went ahead and did the tags and submitted this, if you don't mind :). Much better than my entry, thanks for submitting something for this round.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-07 10:42 pm (UTC)okay, of course I like it to be used- I'm just sorry for the inconvenience. I also send you the tags to tumblr
(Also, your picture is still wonderful. Maybe you could just add it to the story?!)
Category One
TAGS PRESENT: body horror, gore/vore
TAGS NOT USED: suicide
No other Cat.1 tags apply.
Category Two
TAGS PRESENT: none
TAGS NOT USED: character death
additional tags: zombies, imprisonment, parasites
no subject
Date: 2012-07-07 10:53 pm (UTC)here, let me be over-emotional
afdzdfsffasdsajd bows and and rolls on the ground out of thankfullness-