bury the hatchet or bury your friend right now [pav & nemo]

PavellumPendulum

oh, to be seen as the poet, not just the muse
Original poster
DONATING MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
  1. Looking for partners
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per week
  2. One post per week
  3. Slow As Molasses
Writing Levels
  1. Adept
  2. Advanced
  3. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. No Preferences
Genres
Romance, modern, comedy, post-apocalyptic, slice of life.
Step on the glass, staple your tongue
Bury a friend, try to wake up
Cannibal class, killing the son
Bury a friend, I wanna end me

5:32 AM.​
The sun rises over the city, breathing life into it as its citizens awaken. A chill sweeps over the land in the form of a bitter breeze, but it does not stay long, making way for a warm, spring day. The hustle and bustle begin as shops began to prepare for opening and children soon follow, awakening to get ready for school. The first death of the day occurs in Saint Agnes hospital. Nurses on a well needed break sip at their coffees in the break room.​
6:12 AM.​
A nurse goes in to check on one of the patients under her care. He groans in bed, shifting under the covers. She attempts to coax him awake. She screams as he comes at her with his teeth, tearing into her neck until she goes silent. Other nurses run in to see the horrors. The outbreak begins.​
7:59 AM.​
More reports of people being attacked rush in. The police and paramedics are not given a single second of rest. The death toll is estimated to be at 200 in the city and increasing rapidly. Every news outlet is reporting the same issues happening worldwide. Mass panic begins. Cars are abandoned on the roads where the crashes leave no space to pass through.​
8:15 AM.​
The mayor declares an evacuation order, but no one knows where to evacuate to. Many hide in their houses, blinds closed, avoiding the fighting. Walking corpses litter the streets. The death count has surged to 700, out of the eight hundred thousand residents in the city.​
9:23 AM.​
No one is answering the emergency lines. Jobs are being abandoned. The estimated death count is well into the range of two thousand at this point. The epidemic has decimated thousands worldwide. No politician, no organization has any idea what to do. Chaos reigns.​
 
  • OMG
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Elliot Harper wasn’t born for the apocalypse. He wasn’t built for it; tall and lanky as he was, pale and ginger to the boot as well. Neither did he have any competencies or skills required to survive. He was a law student with few hobbies next to it other than the artistic. What was he going to do once he encountered a zombie? Bore it to death with a plea on why his brain wasn’t particularly appetising after it being fried with hours of studying dry material? Or smack it with his guitar that he had promptly forgotten to bring with?

No, Elliot Harper was quite frankly, doomed. He knew it. Everyone else just expected it. Long he had avoided going to crowded places, taking note how the most zombies seemed to splurge there. Mass hysteria, the male knew to call it. One bitten and then the rest followed. No, the ginger knew better than to go to the public places such as hospitals or libraries. No other place to catch an infection as fast as he could do there.

However, too little crowd was bad as well. What if he got ambushed? He didn’t know the intelligence level of those turned. If they did retain their former skills Elliot was quite sure he would be an easy target, just not a meaty one. Thus he found himself wandering through abandoned streets. A few cries here and there signifying that those people hadn’t been turned yet, panicked faces, emotions in overall. None who seemed to bother with the man who was just looking for something, anything, to hopefully keep himself safe until this all flew over, whenever that was.

Awkwardly the ginger shuffled over towards an empty car, eyes shifting to scan the area. It seemed empty, below looked empty as well. Carefully his hand reached over to the door of the car. No alarm. With another concealed move the man pulled a bobby pin from his hair, his overgrown fringe falling in front of his face as he stuck the item into the key slot, twisting and turning. He had seen this in movies, how hard could it be?
 
The area was growing silent.

Though there were distant cries and gunshots further in the city, the sounds seemed like they were coming from another world. Bodies littered the ground: the dead who were shot in the head after reanimating were quick to fall. This had become common knowledge. The human skull was a powerful thing, however, and most could not find the power within to crush a head with enough force.

The morning was chilly but warmth would soon come. Not that it mattered. Not many were outside to enjoy it in the first place, due to the dangers. Within a few hours, cities had become mass graves. The lone man twisting and turning a bobby pin into a car door was one of the few survivors. Of course, it hadn't been easy to open the door, but luckily, time was on his side. No zombies seemed to be in the general vicinity, more pulled towards downtown where all the noise was. He was in the surburbs, surrounded by middle class housing and nicely trimmed lawns. Aside from houses, there is a small convenience store near him, though the windows were shattered.

The click of the car door signaled that it was open. The vehicle was old and already siphoned of all of it's gas somehow. The keys were still in the ignition. Documents, coupons and receipts lay in the center console, with nothing much else of note. In the glove compartment was the vehicle registration, more documents and a slightly melted chocolate bar.

The backseat held nothing but a child's car seat.
 
  • Sympathy & Compassion
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Useless.

After opening the car door Elliot found that the whole endeavour had been fruitless. Nonetheless he took the key, hoping that perhaps he could use it from a distance to set off alarm to distract the attention towards the car when he needed it. The rest he left behind, unsure whether they were untainted, or confident that they were going to be of no use to him in this lawless state they had entered.

Shutting the door he rounded the car, trying to check if there was anything in the back that he could use. Elliot sneezed at the dust that came when lifting the trunk, hand rummaging through a dirty blanket and finding a portable flashlight before giving up on that as well and closing up. In the end the haul had been of no worth to him. Elliot had found nothing that could help him in the fight and in defense, neither had he found anything that he wanted to use. Perhaps that was why such an old car was abandoned in such a nice place, because someone else had been there before him.

Sighing Elliot turned his face between the shop and the road. He really didn't feel like trying his luck without a vehicle, but neither did he feel lucky enough to approach the convenience store for fear of encountering any zombies.

Some company would be nice. Someone that had more of a clue on what to do than he did. Placing his leather bag on top of the trunk Elliot decided to check what he had with him and what he could discard. If he was going to travel on foot he preferably did so light.

Grateful for the space he had in his bag, but also dreading to rummage through everything he had Elliot first threw out two big pills, his heart sinking a little at the thought of throwing away all that money. However, he wasn't going to attend classes in a while and as such he saw no reason to carry around jurisprudence, or any papers related to it. In the end Elliot was left with his half-eaten breakfast, a warm apple, a bottle of water, iPad, and his powerbank. In his pockets he had his wallet and his phone, which meant nothing, but also everything.

With yet another sigh the male strapped on his bag, letting it fall against his hip before deciding to head into the direction of the highway. Perhaps, if he was lucky he could manage to hitch a ride, or maybe try to rig another car and drive that.
 
Many had already fled. To where, no one knew. Communications were mostly down at this point, with cell service shoddy at best. Regardless, it only became more obvious as the minutes ticked by that the outbreak had been enough to practically destroy civilization all over the world, just like that. The lull of everyday life had been disrupted... Perhaps permanently. The noise Elliot made did not seem to elicit a response if anyone was around. Not a single car on the street seemed to be moving, all abandoned. Papers, keys, a few purses here and there... Whatever had been lost in the chaos, the owners had given up on in favor of surviving. Hopefully the choice had saved them.

It would take him about 10 minutes or so to get out of that neighborhood without much of interest happening. Some areas looked even untouched, political signs still dug into front lawns, the morning paper set on their doorsteps. Other houses had not received the same luck. Bloodstains splattered across windows, doors swung wide open, broken flower pots...

But not a soul in sight.

The end of the suburbs was marked by the lack of perfectly measured lawns. The city's sign stood proud, faded from the years. Thank you for visiting Aurora the chunky lettering said. The highway stretched out into the horizon, branching out to other cities, signs dotting the sides for directions.

Near the sign, a vehicle stood, hood popped. A woman stood over it, fiddling around with the vehicle, a man standing behind her with a nervous expression.

"Can you tell what's wrong?" he asked, worry plaguing his features. He was a giant of a man, standing at a solid 6'4'' or so, dark skin in view due to his choice of khaki shorts and stupid dad shirt.

The woman stood up, sighing, dark purple hair coming into view. She was tall too, a whole 5'11'', chewing on her lower lip. "Dunno. Everything looks fine... She was chugging earlier this week... Maybe we should've taken her in yesterday." she muttered, before sighing, scratching her head, "This fucking sucks."

They didn't seem to notice Elliot's appearance yet.
 
He was yearning for a good smoke, the kind that would evaporate the thoughts and worries in mind. First he had the long hours at the office he interned for. Fetching coffee all day, sorting documents, drafting pleas for which he didn’t even get to set up a strategy for, or get any sort of input in. They were long and braindead days that made him and his talents feel wasted. Then, just as he had gathered the courage to stand up and boldly ask for a case for himself this happened.

Now he was dragging on for ages. Bag finally lighter by a tree, missing the taste of coffee that usually lingered on forever in his mouth, and yearning for a cigarette. He had been alone for just as long, seeing no soul, hearing no deceased. For a while Elliot had started to believe that he was alone in this world. That he was the last surviving member of planet earth.

That was until he saw movement in a distance away. Past the sign that waved you out of the city, near another row of abandoned cars, two figures were rummaging around. Their movements were too controlled to seem part of the infected crowd. Their lack of immediate reaction when he came near, or the missing of animalistic grunting all suggested to the male that perhaps these were survivors like he was.

It was a bet he was willing to take a gamble he would wager for now. Scraping his dry throat the male approached the pair, scrambling together the last remaining boldness meant for the office.
 
The woman popped up instantly at the sound of him approaching, with a mean stink-eye, bracing herself for company. The apocalypse had just begun so obviously, being on high alert made sense. She stared at Elliot, furrowing her brow, looking him up and down briefly before speaking. "... Hey there." she greeted him, holding her hand up, "Don't come so close. You running from Aurora too?" The man with her crouched down to rustle through his backpack, letting the woman handle the conversation. The worry plagued his face, making it obvious that he was not in the mood for talking.

The woman adjusted her stance, frowning. "We're trying to get away from the city but our car gave out. You don't happen to know anything about old engines, do you?" she asked, resting a hand on her hip.

There was relative quiet around them. With all the abandoned cars and lack of buildings, they could at least enjoy this break from the chaos of the city.
 
Freezing in his step Elliot rose up his hands, uncertainty settling on his face as he held his arms above his head. "I'm clean, don't worry," he defended himself, but remained still in his spot. Eyes shooting to the sides the ginger was grateful that there weren't any infected surrounding him, with him standing in a rather vulnerable position.

"Yeah, I'm hoping for a quarantine zone where I can hide," he explained, eyes switching over to the man that was searching for something in his bag. Looking back up at the woman he then glanced over to the car they were standing next to, slowly shaking his head.

"No, I didn't have any luck with the cars either," he mumbled, a frown setting over his face as he realised that this car was just as broken. Great, the world was ending and now the cars weren't working. Just great. He should have gone for engineering, or something more practical had he known that the apocalypse would come so soon.

"My name is Elliot, Elliot Harper," he introduced himself to the pair, hoping that telling them his name would gain their trust now that they knew he wasn't one of the many zombies.
 
Her eyes kept looking him up and down, as if she'd suddenly see something new, something that would reveal the depths of his personality, but she eventually just sighed and clicked her tongue. She turned towards the man beside her, who only nodded, silent, before she looked back to Elliot. "Looks like we're all in a shitty situation. Car's shot, but... If you wanna come with us, you can. We were trying to get to Ottawa, since the news showed they were setting up quarantine before Aurora could, but... Situation's changed. It's a 4 hour drive and I dunno if we could make it on foot." she said, now approaching him, with the other man close behind her, "Call me Kate. Full name's Katesch Tsekani, but that's a mouthful."

The man beside her finally spoke, with less strength to his voice, obviously the more timid one. "Amenmeremes Tsekani. You call call me Merm." he started, pausing, as he darted his eyes around, still very cautious of their surroundings, "... I'm... Glad to see more survivors."

Kate nodded, now stepping over to the car to open one of the passenger doors, only to reveal a child, perhaps around 7 or 8, expressionless as he stepped out of the vehicle, school backpack still with him.

"This is Cairo. Say hi, baby." Kate introduced him.

He waved.
 
“Elliot,” the redhead responded, only to realise belatedly that he had already introduced himself moments before. Feeling a blush crawl its way up from his neck the male quickly coughed to himself.

“Yeah, I’m glad to see more like me,” he grimaced, quickly smoothing over his earlier stumble. His newly found companions had strange names and Elliot was sure that he was going to forget about them soon enough, but it seemed that they had time. Time enough to learn, to remember, and hopefully to survive.

The prospect of having to walk all the way to Ottawa didn’t sit too well with the male, what with them being far away and all. However, it seemed to be their only option so far, as much as it sucked to hear.

“Doesn’t seem like we have much of a choice but to walk,” Elliot sighed as he hoisted his bag up higher. As great as it was holding his books it wasn’t very practical when it came down to long hikes, the leather already leaving its mark on his shoulder.

“That unless we want to go back into the city and try to find another car,” he continued, though he wasn’t sure how lucky he would be this time if he were to return.

Either way it was going to be a risk.
 
Kate shrugged, squinting in the direction of the city once more, frowning, "I doubt it. Everyone who was able to drive got outta there quick and anything else is either broken down or will require some hotwiring, probably. Less safe in the more populated areas too." She turned to her husband and son then, frowning, "I guess we should get our stuff out of the car."

The family began to get their things out of the van. There wasn't a lot that they could feasibly carry, especially on such a long trip up north on foot. Since they'd been expecting to be on the road for a while, they had brought everything plus the kitchen sink, but it was going to take some reflection to figure out what they most definitely needed to carry. In the end, they settled with filled up on as much food and drink as possible, alongside a small first aid kit, a small traveler's map and a few sentimental trinkets. The rest was just clothes and the like, which probably wouldn't do them much good sitting in their bags.

Turning to the east, Kate frowned, with Merm behind her, holding Cairo's little hand in his.

"If we head east, we should be able to get to Peterborough in a day or two, I guess? It's gonna be a long haul to Ottawa though." She sighed, turning to the men behind her, "Let's get going then."

And so began the walk.

Agricultural fields surrounded them, emptied cars dotting the roads. Most were crashed, some still turned on but smoking under the hood. It was midday at that point, and though the warmth of the sun was nice, it didn't really change the fact that they were going to be walking for days.

Merm looked over to Elliot as they walked, attempting to make some small talk.

"So... Elliot. Wanna tell us about yourself? It looks like we're going to be together a while." he smiled apologetically, as Cairo stared up at the man, watching his expression.