Life is for the living. Death is for the dead. Let life be like music. And death a note unsaid.

Langston Hughes, The Collected Poems

Carter was awake when the screaming started. Obviously. The only times he got a moment's rest was when he was altogether too exhausted to function. And even then, he doesn't look forward to reliving the worst moments of his life as soon as his eyelids drape over his eyes. If anything, the minute he plunges into the darkness is the minute he wishes he were awake again. But he was awake this time. And it counted. Being one of the first people out the door, he faced the horde coming out form their graves head on. He fired shot after shot, deciding to use up his ammo before using his internal energy to fight the monsters.

He ran out of bullets faster than he could replenish them, and it wasn't long before his long sleeve shirt became splattered with the clogged up blood of the undead. Head after head after head. He had underestimated how many had died here when they arrived. They just kept coming, and it took all of Carter's concentration to find out where the other threats were.

The girl he'd been almost unforgivably rude to the other day catches his eye. She looked completely helpless, just standing there, waiting for someone to kill her. Carter would fucking everything to high hell if he let yet another person die. He raised his voice high enough to make his vocal couch roll around in his grave, calling out to her with his hands cupped around his mouth. "KIMI!" He yelled, only speaking again when her head was turned his way. "C'mon! I'm pretty sure there are some trying to climb over the wall." 

Carter didn't stop to see if she understood before taking off toward the magic metal wall that had been erected while he was lurking inside. He climbs up easily, though there's a sheet of sweat covering his face when Kimi joins him. Her distraction is unacceptable in this situation, and he snaps his fingers in front of her face. "Nice view, huh? Do me a favor and start killing shit, please." He says before turning his gaze to the zombies trying to reach their feet. He concentrates on its head, and a second passes before its head explodes.

Crawling Up The Walls // Kimi & Carter

Kimi had always been a light sleeper, even more so over the past year. She’s one of the first awake with the first sounds signalling that they’re under attack. However she isn’t the first to make a move to help. It wasn’t the usual groaning and shuffling sounds of the dead. Gunshots were ringing out and that made Kimi stuck in place a few moments before finally pushing herself off the ground and out of the mess hall with the others.

Everyone else was pulling out guns and knives - she even saw one man running out with an axe - whilst Kimi had nothing but the runes on her arms. They were no good against guns. Against people who have other ways to attack that aren’t bites or dead fingers grasping for her.

Standing out in the open she feels bare and helpless. She’s almost ready to just hide it out. There’s too much going on for her to even pinpoint exactly where she should be. It’s just all chaos and she’s stuck for what to do. Kimi’s stopped in place when a voice calls out to her and she only turns to find Carter shouting to her to help him. She doesn’t catch exactly what he says but it’s obvious enough he wants her to follow him. 

The same fear that’s constantly threatening to freeze her on the spot is building. Stopping now would just get her killed but running towards the growing sounds of moaning and cracking on the other side of the wall will do the same.

Kimi’s following Carter’s lead climbing up a pile of debris up to the top of the wall. She’s altogether unprepared for the bird eye’s view that being atop the wall offers and she can’t help but be distracted as she looks over the chaos.

{Carter is seconds away from shaking his head when the small box of cigarettes in her front pocket makes itself known. He sighs and runs a hand over his face before getting to his feet.} Fine. {He accepts, holding his hand out so she'll lead the way. He knows what she's doing, offering something else to think about, but even when he's not thinking about the two deaths he caused, he feels them deep in his bones.}

[Kris tilts her head to the side when he answer. She can hear the bitterness in his voice and his words just send it home. And she can’t blame him for it either. Because she can see a lot of herself in Carter right now. She saw it in Layla too. But there’s a difference between her and Carter and that evident in the “my lie has been utterly stripped of goals” line. At least after Katie died she had one goal, to keep going so she could kill as many of those shamblers as possible. It was unhealthy and driven by anger, but it was still a goal in the midst of her feeling despair and nothing at all. And while she does understand Carter’s loss and his anger on a some level it leaves her at a bit of a loss as to what to do or even say. All she knows is that he’s probably tired of hearing “I’m sorry” and “It’ll be okay” because he’s probably heard them a million times. Instead she offers hima distraction, the same thing she did with Charlie.] Hey, I’m thinking of heading out for a bit to get some fresh air. You wanna come with me? 

{Carter narrows his eyes at the young woman. Why the hell would a stranger want to know about his issues? If anything, it makes her look a whole lot more suspicious than she did a few moments ago, even if her words sound sincere. He decides to focus on her last question, since that is the easiest to answer.} I used to act. {He states simply, seeing no reason to expand on the subject. She doesn't really want to talk, he tells himself, there's just something she wants from him.}

[She laughs at his imitation of her accent and considers trying his, but she’s not very good at the American accent at all.] That is a large amount of pressure you have just put on me. [She jokes lightly, though sensing that talking about what he thinks is the wrong this would end the conversation.]

[She looks up at the ceiling for a moment in thought.] To be honest I was going to ask something you wanted to talk about. Anything on your mind- or off your mind- if you want to keep away from your thoughts. [She says carefully, not wanting him to think she wants to get in his business.] But if anything, I must ask how you spoke in my accent so well?

{Though her laugh makes him feel better, he quickly spirals back down into his previous mood.} Yeah. Robyn's a prettier name though.

[Robyn gives a small laugh.] Japeth? So I’m Japeth. 

{Calming down a little Carter shrugs.} Started with a 'J'. Jeb.. Jid... Jeg... Ja... Japeth. I think. Japeth the Goat.

[Robyn listens, interested, but it’s nothing she’s ever heard of and she’s having trouble following.] Did this goat have a name?

{Carter laughs and holds his hands up, shaking his head.} No, no! He was always prepared, see? He always played this little banjo, and he almost killed the main character because they took the wrong route through the mines, but he flew away on his helicopter horns because he was the massive organized badass.

[Robyn turns to look at him, raising a brow curiously as he explains. There’s a smile threatening to spread across her face, though.] I remind you of a goat? I don’t know whether to be offended or…no I pretty much just think I should be offended.

{A sudden though pops into his head, and he's speaking before he can think twice.} No offense, but you remind me of the goat I saw in a movie once with my sister. It could like, take off its horns. And it had a fucking pair of horns for everything. To open cans and hold his keys and there's even this one pair that had helicopter things on it. He sang a song about being prepared. So, yeah. You remind me of a goat.

[Robyn shakes her head, taking out the tiny screwdriver and turning itin her fingers.] No, I don’t think so. But maybe along the way, someone will need them? 

{He's not surprised by her answer. It's so predictable he wants to roll his eyes. Her question makes him snort and shake his head.} Practice would mean that I want to improve, wanting to improve would mean that I have a goal, and my life has been utterly stripped of goals. So, no. I'm not practicing.

 Just keeping an eye on things. [Seems silly since they were behind the walls and have cleared the area, but that’s just how Kris was. No matter how safe they seemed, she was always looking out. That’s how she was, looking out for monsters that could pop out to rip their peace away from them at any given moment. Kris’s expression softens as she glances at him, then at the water bottle.] You practicing?

{Her question is a bit too polite to deny right away, and though he's really rather busy, he spares a glance and a shrug in her direction.} Depends on what you want to converse about. {He replies mockingly, replicating her accent to near perfection. A small smile is tacked on the end of his question, though it's more amusement at his own humor than a kindness towards her.}

[She sighs gently in order to keep from chuckling about this because he seems to be too bothered by the fact that she almost stepped on the bottle.] Yes, you are correct, I apologize for nearly stepping on your bottle. [She says, sounding entirely sincere.]

[She thinks about his answer to her question and after seeing his blue marks decides that it’s the best she’d probably get. How did anyone do any of the things that were possible now? Science certainly wouldn’t be able to explain it.] Will I be disturbing you by having a conversation with you?

{Carter nods, but all he can see in his mind is people with glasses being bitten while they searched for them on the floor. They're probably all dead, he almost says to her.} Yeah. I don't think anyone uses any right now, do they?

[Robyn pulls out the kit from her pocket.] Glasses repair kit. [She shrugs a little bit, opening it up and looking inside.] This might come in handy. 

Whatever. {He grumbles back as he hunches over the plastic bottle once more.}

[Kimi vaguely remembered speaking to Carter a while back. It’d been ages, maybe even when she’d just found the group. Either way she remembered him being friendlier. Maybe it was the place or maybe she’d just caught him in a bad mood. She didn’t know him well enough to tell. Kimi starts to step away, there isn’t much else to say and in all honesty she doesn’t want to speak much now.] I will. Sorry. Again.

Yeah, but you almost did. {He says, putting his focus on the fact that if it hadn't been for him, she would have done it. Her question makes him frown. He rolls up his sleeves to his elbows and waves fluid, glowing blue marks on his forearms in front of her.} I don't know. I just do.

[She looks to where he’s pointing and is a little surprised to find a spinning bottle she hadn’t even noticed before she remembers to answer and looks back at him.] Okay, okay, but I have not stepped on it see? [She takes a step away from it for his comfort.]

[She pauses for a moment.] How are you doing that?

{Carter nods. He reminds himself to try.} Find anything good? {He asks, internally proud of himself. Today was going much better than the other days, even if she almost kicked his water bottle.}

[Robyn watches him a bit as he says it, wondering how much she should prod to get him to say what is on her mind. She shrugs herself.] Not really. Just looking at looting some things out of the backroom. 

Yeah. {Carter says with a sour look on his face that makes it pretty obvious that he doesn't want to continue this conversation. He opens the window even further to make his point known.} It's open now, you know.

[Cian shrugs, not quite sure how to respond. He wasn’t sure what had happened counted as a friendship, but there had been something there towards the end that he would be forever grateful for.] Like I said… lovely woman.

{Carter scoffs and goes back to the bottle.} What are you even looking at? It's not like we have the best view in town. {He comments, referring to the exorbitant amount of nothing happening outside.}

[Kris can here something slide across the floor, drawing her gaze downward in time to see the spinning water bottle on the floor. The hand hovering over her sword drops to her side.] Oh. Sorry about that. 

Yeah. I kind of noticed. {He bites back harshly. It's not like him to be this much of a jerk, but she'd knocked it entirely off course, and now he was going to have to spend another hour to get it go at the right speed again. He sighs.} Be more careful next time.

[At his sudden anger Kimi’s even more taken a back.It’s frustrating for herself that she struggles to reply for a moment. Kimi had hardly spoken since the move here and when she does this happens.] No.I - um - sorry. [Her voice trails off and she’s keeping her focus on the bottle in his hands.] I was distracted.