Status: updates coming soon-ish =D
Forsaken
Nikolai
Opening the door he made his way out into the street, heading towards the main road leading out. The grey sky rumbled overhead, promising rain. The rolling thunder loomed above him. The rain was a welcome asset, as it slowed down the zombies from realizing one of the living was among them. Not that he had to worry about that, but just about every one else seemed to. One by one the sky opened up, droplets falling down. It wasn’t hard to find her- even with her hair being a greasy, tangled, matted mess, the red stood out against the dull coloration of her surroundings. As the rain steadily got heavier and heavier, he saw she wasn’t moving, and wasn’t unconscious like he had thought- she was simply staring at the sky, blinking when the rain got in her eyes. The little droplets made small rivulets across her skin, noticeably taking away the dirt that coat the reddened skin. From how her body had tensed up, he knew she was aware he was here, but she did nothing. Her expression was… resigned? Not quiet hopeless, but just accepting and resigned. Another stab of guilt ran through him- this woman could have had a husband, children. Siblings who needed her.Parents who loved her. How much damage- no, not damage, how much pain and suffering had he caused her? Or what if they were still alive, and she’d been forced to come to city to try and scavenge supplies? Why else would she wander in here? It wasn’t exactly a secrete that the highest population of zombies could be found within a city. Whatever her reason, she was desperate for supplies to risk even coming this far.
Ignoring the male glaring and growling at him, Nikolai leaned down, picking her up. She hung like a rag doll, having fainted after a look of pure fear had crossed her face. Other than silent threats, the male made no move of protest, only silently following, glaring daggers into Nikolai’s back. The Russian didn’t concern himself with it, only with his aim of getting her back to the apartment, cleaning her up a little, and then sending her back on her way to her family. It was the least he could, even if it defied all logic- maybe his desire to be reunited with his own family was the reason he was saving this woman’s life. Logically it didn’t make sense- in the face of such disaster, the general population had completely degenerated back to the basics over the years. Tight knit groups that watched over each other protectively, mostly consisting of families, or people who’d been close before the infection. Rarely did complete strangers just join up and take care of each other. That was dangerous, a threat to one’s own survival, or the safety of the group. It had taken thousands of years for humans to get to their pretty pedestal, and only a year and a half to knock it down. Humanity was back to hunting and gathering, tribes. Maybe not camping out on the plains and eating bugs for food, but the basics were the same. But, he rationalized, she wouldn’t be a drain on his resources for long. It didn’t matter anyway- he was almost ready.
Keeping an eye out ahead of him, he watched for any sudden movements that could clue to undead- while the rain kept them from being more aware of humans, it also made it more difficult to see if someone was infected or not. Nikolai made a note to check her for bites- even if she wouldn’t be a danger to him, it still wasn’t fun being bit, and no matter what she had done wrong in her life, there was no way she had done anything to deserve what was in store for her, were she to have a bite.
The rain dripped down in his eyes, requiring for him to adjust his grip on her to wipe the water out of the way so he could see straight- he had to be careful. Even though they couldn’t cause any lasting damage to himself, they could most certainly cause great harm to the woman. Nikolai didn’t know how much good her little friend could do in a fight.
Getting the door open was no issue, as all the man had to do was shift the very light weight into one arm- most of her weight seemed to come from her long hair anyway, though that might have more to do with the debris obviously having taken residence in the tangled mess. Waiting for her little friend, who didn’t take long to follow suite, Nikolai closed the door, locking it and adjusting the chair back under the handle- now that he had gone outside, he would need to fortify the door better, to keep the older ones from figuring out that there was an entrance into the building. And food. Without question it was most important to make sure they didn’t know a food source was in here. Then they’d bring reinforcements. That was the pain of the smart ones- they somehow managed to bring the stupid ones with them. En mass. They were the reasons for hoards.
Finally getting back to his room, Nikolai shed himself of his wet coat, before looking down at the unconscious woman.
“Tori, could you clean her up? The water in the bathrooms still work here.” He asked his daughter, though it was more in the ‘I’m telling you but being nice about it’ phrasing rather than just a flat out command.
“You know I can’t do that.” Her reply was soft, apologetic. Suddenly Nikolai remembered that himself.
“Of course.” He more muttered to himself than making an outright reply. However, the reasons why were something he didn’t want to dwell on. Carrying the fragile female to the bathroom, he started the water, before stripping her down and setting her in the water- immediately the dirt started to separate from her skin, turning the water brown, as the blood came off, and everything else that was clinging to her skin, polluting the water. He saw that, without question, the biggest obstacle was her hair- the fiery mane clearly hadn’t seen a brush in some time, with twigs and dirt and other debris clinging to the strands. Carefully trying to work out the tangles, the water became more and more polluted as the debris separated from the strands.
When he finally got her as clean as she was going to get, he grabbed two towels, wrapping her up in them and drying her off before setting her down on a bed. Leaving for a moment, he came back with a change of clothes, as she was roughly Veronica’s size, or would have been, were she at a healthy weight. The male was on the bed next to her when Nikolai came back, watching every move Niko made, looking ready to bite.
“You, calm down.” He spoke, ignoring male as he dressed the woman- there were no perverse thoughts, or touching anymore than was necessary to get her into the clothes. She didn’t have anything he hadn’t seen before, and besides, he was a man of science- if anything, he was only interested in how she had adapted to survive in her environment. Once she was in clean and dressed, he spent a second towel drying her hair before leaving her, the dark male lying next to her protectively, glaring daggers. Nikolai continued to ignore him, closing the door and leaving. Tori stood in the same corner she always did, watching her father. He went to another room, closing the door, wrapped up in his own plans.
Ignoring the male glaring and growling at him, Nikolai leaned down, picking her up. She hung like a rag doll, having fainted after a look of pure fear had crossed her face. Other than silent threats, the male made no move of protest, only silently following, glaring daggers into Nikolai’s back. The Russian didn’t concern himself with it, only with his aim of getting her back to the apartment, cleaning her up a little, and then sending her back on her way to her family. It was the least he could, even if it defied all logic- maybe his desire to be reunited with his own family was the reason he was saving this woman’s life. Logically it didn’t make sense- in the face of such disaster, the general population had completely degenerated back to the basics over the years. Tight knit groups that watched over each other protectively, mostly consisting of families, or people who’d been close before the infection. Rarely did complete strangers just join up and take care of each other. That was dangerous, a threat to one’s own survival, or the safety of the group. It had taken thousands of years for humans to get to their pretty pedestal, and only a year and a half to knock it down. Humanity was back to hunting and gathering, tribes. Maybe not camping out on the plains and eating bugs for food, but the basics were the same. But, he rationalized, she wouldn’t be a drain on his resources for long. It didn’t matter anyway- he was almost ready.
Keeping an eye out ahead of him, he watched for any sudden movements that could clue to undead- while the rain kept them from being more aware of humans, it also made it more difficult to see if someone was infected or not. Nikolai made a note to check her for bites- even if she wouldn’t be a danger to him, it still wasn’t fun being bit, and no matter what she had done wrong in her life, there was no way she had done anything to deserve what was in store for her, were she to have a bite.
The rain dripped down in his eyes, requiring for him to adjust his grip on her to wipe the water out of the way so he could see straight- he had to be careful. Even though they couldn’t cause any lasting damage to himself, they could most certainly cause great harm to the woman. Nikolai didn’t know how much good her little friend could do in a fight.
Getting the door open was no issue, as all the man had to do was shift the very light weight into one arm- most of her weight seemed to come from her long hair anyway, though that might have more to do with the debris obviously having taken residence in the tangled mess. Waiting for her little friend, who didn’t take long to follow suite, Nikolai closed the door, locking it and adjusting the chair back under the handle- now that he had gone outside, he would need to fortify the door better, to keep the older ones from figuring out that there was an entrance into the building. And food. Without question it was most important to make sure they didn’t know a food source was in here. Then they’d bring reinforcements. That was the pain of the smart ones- they somehow managed to bring the stupid ones with them. En mass. They were the reasons for hoards.
Finally getting back to his room, Nikolai shed himself of his wet coat, before looking down at the unconscious woman.
“Tori, could you clean her up? The water in the bathrooms still work here.” He asked his daughter, though it was more in the ‘I’m telling you but being nice about it’ phrasing rather than just a flat out command.
“You know I can’t do that.” Her reply was soft, apologetic. Suddenly Nikolai remembered that himself.
“Of course.” He more muttered to himself than making an outright reply. However, the reasons why were something he didn’t want to dwell on. Carrying the fragile female to the bathroom, he started the water, before stripping her down and setting her in the water- immediately the dirt started to separate from her skin, turning the water brown, as the blood came off, and everything else that was clinging to her skin, polluting the water. He saw that, without question, the biggest obstacle was her hair- the fiery mane clearly hadn’t seen a brush in some time, with twigs and dirt and other debris clinging to the strands. Carefully trying to work out the tangles, the water became more and more polluted as the debris separated from the strands.
When he finally got her as clean as she was going to get, he grabbed two towels, wrapping her up in them and drying her off before setting her down on a bed. Leaving for a moment, he came back with a change of clothes, as she was roughly Veronica’s size, or would have been, were she at a healthy weight. The male was on the bed next to her when Nikolai came back, watching every move Niko made, looking ready to bite.
“You, calm down.” He spoke, ignoring male as he dressed the woman- there were no perverse thoughts, or touching anymore than was necessary to get her into the clothes. She didn’t have anything he hadn’t seen before, and besides, he was a man of science- if anything, he was only interested in how she had adapted to survive in her environment. Once she was in clean and dressed, he spent a second towel drying her hair before leaving her, the dark male lying next to her protectively, glaring daggers. Nikolai continued to ignore him, closing the door and leaving. Tori stood in the same corner she always did, watching her father. He went to another room, closing the door, wrapped up in his own plans.
♠ ♠ ♠
Comments?