thisonetime | 1. (video)

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1. (video)

[The feed comes on, but at first, everything's dark.]

The hell is this?

[Then there's a shot of Ellis's gray eye, and then it pans back out to his face. He's covered in a layer of dirt and various bodily fluids, and beyond that, he's tired and bruised in a few places. The stone ceiling of his barracks room can be seen in the background, and Ellis looks quite perplexed.]

Hello? Anybody out there? This funny little book's talkin' about worlds bein' unmade and records bein' kept and whatnot, but it ain't makin' much sense.

Like, how'm I here if everythin's not made anymore? And hell, you can't unmake shit! My friend Keith tried to unmake a car once, cause he thought it was haunted, but all he got was a broken car and a face full'a burnin' oil. He quit messin' with it after that, mostly 'cause he went blind for like six months. Don't know if it was really haunted or nothin', but I guess anything can happen, after the zombies an' shit...

[Ellis just trails off, then looks around the room. With his free hand, he rubs the space between his shoulder and neck and winces. Getting pounded into the ground by a charger sucks, and he's still aching.

Then, he turns back to the camera and smiles, though it's a little uneasy.]

So, hey, m'name's Ellis. I'm lookin' for Nick, Rochelle, and Coach, if any y'all out there.

[And they had to be, didn't they?]

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[Kloe arrives shortly after, and she's instantly on guard once she spots the bat.

She'll just be lingering close to the doorway.]

You look like shit.

[Ellis, not startled by Kloe's presence, does not whip out the bat and club her in the head! Good show on both of their parts, surely. He does chuckle at her, though.]

Yeah, well, 'pocalypse does that to a man. You're miss Kloe, ain'tcha?

Doctor. I'm doctor Kloe.

Oh, sure, doc. Like I said on them books, I'm Ellis. No fancy titles or nothin', just Ellis's fine.

[He tips his hat a little and grins.]

Right.

[Kloe takes a seat, the closest one to the doorway, and stares at Ellis.]

So. Talk.

O-kay, well, huh...

[Ellis dusts his hands off, though there's no dust on them, and then... he starts.]

There's zombies all over my country. Maybe all over the whole damn world, I dunno, I ain't never been to China or Africa or nothin'. And them's disease-kinda-zombies, too, not like-- radiation zombies y'all see in movies, or Frankensteiny shit, just the sick kind.

And I'm like, cool, getta kill me some zombies, yeah. Only, I never got sick or nothin', or even bit, but I dunno. Them dudes in the hazmat suits got sick, an' the docs and the nurses, and the riot police dudes, them too. But me and Rochelle, Nick and Coach, we're all right peachy.

And I got here, and I heard y'all was responsible for some kinda zombie invasion thing in this here castle, so I figured I oughta talk t'you.

[Shrug.]

Uh... huh.

[That's a lot of information. Some of it is basic. People getting sick. And dying. And zombies world wide.

But that large amount of people not getting infected? That's just plain weird.]

Are you all carriers?

Man, I dunno, I ain't no science guy or nothin'. I ain't sick, so I figured I'm immune. Makes sense, don't it?

It does.

[And Kloe feels a twinge of fear. If he was a carrier and wasn't exactly aware of it, he could infect the Keep. And that is bad. Very bad. The possibility of a repeat of her mistake is the most terrifying thing that could possibly happen.

But she, outwardly, keeps her cool. Can't go and start freaking him out.]

How many people have you been in close physical proximity to since you've arrived?

Oh, just one, and it weren't even real close or nothin'. I went to the kitchen, the one up here in the rooms an' all, on this floor, an' this guy just walked outta like nowhere.

[Ellis scratches the back of his neck.]

I kinda whacked him upside the head with m'bat here. Didn't seem to hurt him none, though, which's good cause I don' wanna kill nobody.

[At least he doesn't seem like a crazy psycho killer. Which is good for her. And everyone else, too.]

Right, well, try not to attack anyone else. You could get punished for that. Most of the people here won't attack you without a reason, and there aren't zombies.

[She still keeps weapons on her person all the time, though, anyway. Because glowy blue freaks.]

To be cautious, the best thing we can do is send you to Sycora and see what she thinks. She didn't cure me, but she created a medication that prevents me from infecting anyone else.

[According to Sycora it works, and she's starting to believe it. Kloe has slowly, very slowly, become more lax with her precautions. And no one has died. Yet.]

[Ellis looks sheepish about having attacked the guy, but that passes. Instead, Kloe gets a look of confusion and curiosity.]

Oh, huh. Don't hurt, does it? The meds, I mean? Cause most'a the meds I been usin' have been, like, pill bottles fulla I don't know what and needles fulla 'bout the same. Does weird shit sometimes.

[Kloe takes a moment to pull up her sleeve and points to a lovely little patch on her arm.]

No pills. This is it.

[Point.]

[Ellis bends down to peer at the little patch.]

Like them patches people used instead'a cigarettes? That ain't so bad, I could do that, I mean, if I need to, I guess.

[He's not opposed, just... confused. And really hoping he doesn't even need the patch.]

...Yeah. Like that.

[Cigarette patches whaaat]

Yeah, okay, okay.

[He rubs his chin thoughtfully, and then one corner of his mouth lifts in a sort of hopeful, lopsided smile.]

So I gotta go see a Miss Sycora, get myself one'a these little thingers here, and then I'll be ay-okay?

According to her, yes. If your virus is considerably different than mine it might take a few days. I was in isolation for at least a week.

Oh, shit.

[He doesn't want to be in isolation for a week! But...]

Actually, that brings me 'round to a good question, one I been thinkin' about for a li'l while now. Where y'all from? Maybe we got the same thing.

[She kind of doubts it, since she's never heard of green fever or whatever it was he called it, but hey, you never know.]

New York. Or what was once New York.

[Ellis breaks out into a huge grin.]

Shit! Really? I ain't never been there, s'way too far north, but I always wanted to go. Thought it'd be real cool t'see.

I don't see what would be very "cool" about it.

What, no, come on - s'got all these big buildings, an' like, car shows, an' all kinds'a food, an' all these people live there, an' I guess it's got artsy kinda shit if you like that. Or, least, it did. Dunno 'bout now, though, zombies might'a got it.

[Ellis sighs, shaking his head.]

Goddamn zombies.

[Kloe just kind of gives him a look. A confused look. Until she realizes what the issue might be here. It's really jarring wrapping her head around the time-skipping things.]

Right, you're talking about the original New York. Then yes, I assume it was an interesting place eighty-something years ago. Before the Zombies took it over. I've never seen the ruins myself, I never went on recovery missions, but I've heard stories.

[Ellis just... stares. Okay. This is not the weirdest thing that's happened today, but it's still thrown him for a loop. He blinks twice, then a look of childlike amazement comes onto his face.]

Y'all're from the future?

[Kloe wonders whether or not it was a bad idea to dump all this information on him.]

Apparently. It's more like everyone else is from the past.

[Which is still really damn weird.]

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thisonetime - 2012-03-29 06:18 (UTC) - Expand

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