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scandalousfemale · 4 years

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Ch.2 The Safety Dance

Chinese!OC x Kelce

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Zombies were meant for apocalyptic movies and TV shows where one could binge watch for a day and return to their mundane life. But something happened, a lab test went wrong and suddenly the outbreak started. This story takes place exactly three weeks after zombies slowly started to take over the planet.

Series master list

WC: 6,726

Warnings: Violence, mentions of familial death and murder, THIS IS A ZOMBIE APOCALYPTIC FIC, there are mentions of weapons, we’re looking at someone’s wounds here, fighting, fear, ptsd, trauma, greasy old men being gross, please be aware that you are responsible for the media that you consume

A/N: I want to thank every single person who supported me this far. If you’re reading this it means that you liked the first chapter and you’re back for more! That means more than I can ever tell you because I love writing this series so much. Of course, it does get a little bit hectic because there are so many characters to take care of so thank you for little notes along the way from @rafecameron and a million thanks to @millyelliot for being my BETA reader and holding my hand while I cry lol I hope you all enjoy getting to know my characters a little more.

Waking up in a tour bus bunk was what Kaili felt waking up in a coffin would be like. The space was small and dark, and if it wasn’t for the quiet chatter towards the front of the bus, she’d believe that this was her own personal hell. She’d barely remembered falling asleep the night before, she must’ve passed out halfway through the movie and someone carried her to the bunk. If only so she wouldn’t be disrupting the flow of the common area.

Kaili made it a mission to learn about the characters in front of her today. She needed to know if she could trust them, even though a small part of her told her that she could. She pushed back the curtain to her bunk and slid out of the hole she had slept in only to find Kiara and Sarah on the seat next to the kitchen. She rubbed her eyes to adjust to the sunlight before giving them both a small smile and then indulging in caring for her hygiene that she hadn’t been able to do in weeks.

“The boys have breakfast outside,” Sarah offered a sweet smile and Kaili couldn’t help but smile back. She nodded and exited the bus onto a RV campground. The people in the surroundings must be familiar with the area and faces because not one person looked out of place. She took in the rows of RVs around them, noting that privacy was a privilege that not a lot of them had, if there wasn’t a door next to yours then you were lucky. Maybe it was because no one wanted to park next to a bunch of kids or maybe it was the intimidation of trying to get out of a parking space next to the monstrosity that they called a bus but the few spaces next to them were empty. Of course, there could also be other reasons as to why the spots were empty but Kaili didn’t allow herself to dwell on the thought for too long, willing herself not to get sad about their current situation.

It didn’t take long for her to spot everyone she was looking for. JJ was holding a map, huddled with Pope as an older gentleman stood next to them, speaking quietly and rushed as he pointed out spots on the paper in front of them. The man couldn’t have been any younger than forty, his disheveled salt and pepper hair and tired eyes did not compliment the wrinkled green shirt and khaki shorts he was wearing. Kaili didn’t notice that she was focused on making the guy out until someone cleared their throat in front of her.

Rafe was cooking rice and beans in a pot over some fire, which made her wonder why they didn’t use the fully equipped kitchen they had indoors. He eyed Kaili as she stood by the door way of the bus trying to take in her environment. She stretched and it did not escape her that it was the first time in weeks that her joints didn’t creak and crack as she moved around. She finally moved from the doorway and sat down next to Topper on a lawn chair.

“Mind if I sit here?” She asked though she was already sitting down next to him, giving him a small smile though he barely looked up from his radio. He must’ve been looking for something specific because he went right back to messing around with the dials, switching from song after song until he found the news he wanted.

She ate her breakfast, or lunch, in quiet. She didn’t say much to anyone else and neither did the boys say much to her. It was nice, she had to admit, to be able to eat and take her time or not have to worry about watching her back, though it doesn’t mean she stopped being aware of her surroundings. The storm clouds settled over the camp as she saw a man in the distance and if it were any other situation and she was with any of her friends, she’d tell them that that’s one of the sexiest men she’s ever seen.

She might’ve gone up and made a move had it not been for an apocalypse going on. Even if the guy’s shirt rode up just a little and she could see the muscle on his pelvic that creates the V…or even how his arms are flexed from carrying the plastic bags. Kaili licked her lips and as she helped herself to eye candy before quickly diverting her gaze when the man started walking towards her. Her cheeks immediately heated up when the man got close enough for her to recognize who he was.

The smile on Kelce’s face, though small, proved that he definitely had seen her make eyes at him and if dying of embarrassment wasn’t such a shameful way to go in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, she’d have done it.

“What do you have there?” Kaili inquired about the bags Kelce was holding, hoping to ignore any thought she’d just had for him.

“A couple of trades,” he replied, getting the hint but his smile was even wider now. “Since we’re headed back to the market tomorrow anyway, I felt like it was time to get some new things.”

“What do you mean?” Kaili tilted her head, not sure what he was talking about.

“In the campgrounds, people trade goods, since money doesn’t really mean a lot to them right now. So, say I have a pancake mix with no stove, it’s useless, right? But you have a stove and you’re dying for pancakes but I’m not giving it to you unless you give something back. So, then the question arises, what’s it worth to you?”

Kaili raised her eyebrows at the man in front of her, really taking the time to drink him in. Almost like JJ, everything he says kind of has an edge to it. Even when he’s laughing or telling a joke, there’s a hint of either pain or anger that she can’t quite place. Of course, there’s the fact that he’s sexy but also that he looks, for lack of a better word, strong. His shoulders are wide and he holds them back like he knew he could take on anyone that comes his way but he also has scars running from his knuckles and disappearing into his long sleeve shirt. When her eyes met his hard brown eyes again, she could tell that he had just sized her up as well.

“Apparently a lot,” she tilted her head as he motioned to the bags he had placed next to Topper.

“Not enough,” Topper interjected as he rummaged through the goods that Kelce had brought back. “We need food and weapons.”

“We’re getting food tomorrow from that grocery store Wheezie pointed out,” Kelce brushed off his friend’s criticism.

“And if it’s cleaned out by tomorrow? What then? We’ll be hungry until the next place we can find,” and though what Topper was saying did make a lot of sense, she could also see that Kelce brought back things that might be of necessity. He brought back clothes for layering, winter hats, and a bit of canned foods.

“I’ll go back in a couple of hours, a lot of people aren't awake yet. Talking about trading though, you might want to start setting up our spot. Maybe something good will come to us instead since you have such a problem with how I trade,” Kelce bit back. And as much as Kaili wouldn't mind watching two boys argue with each other, she’d much rather do anything else. So, she excused herself from the friendly fire and ducked back into the bus to rummage through her bag, there had to be something in there that she could trade. All she had was maybe a couple of days worth of spam, if only for a person, and extra knives. She also found four switchblades and of course, her extra change of clothes. There was also a mini sewing kit she refused to part with and the bags filled with medicine that she wouldn’t mind parting with some of her inventory.

As she separated what she was willing to trade and wanting to keep, a little girl had sat down on the seat next to her.

“Do you always carry those?” Wheezie pointed to the knives on her weapons belt now strapped around her biker shorts from last night.

Without breaking from her task of separating which medicine was necessary to them, she answered back with a simple, “yes.” Because since she found this belt and the knives with Wei, she hasn’t.

“Why?”

Now, that had made Kaili stop to look at the girl. Her glasses pushed back against her face as her curly hair was pulled into a bun at the top of her head. Then she realized that some people weren’t exposed to the horrors of the world just yet. Maybe Wheezie was protected enough not to see a family member dismembered in front of her. How she wishes she could say the same.

“It’s dangerous out there.”

“But you don’t have to worry when you’re with us. Plus, Topper said the only people on the campgrounds are the living and breathing ones.”

Finishing up the bag she was willing to trade, she wrapped the handle around her wrist to make sure no one could pull them off, “Wheezie,” she said the girl’s name for the first time as she stood, “humans are the most dangerous of them all.”

“How?” The younger girl asked, a flash of doubt already crossing her face.

“Because you know what zombies want. They want to kill you. With humans, you don’t know what they want. They will smile to your face and then have an ulterior motive.”

Wheezie took a pause to think about what had been said and right when Kaili thought the conversation was over, she had turned to leave the bus, Wheezie stopped her in her tracks.

“You don’t trust us, do you?” It was a heavy question that had no simple answer.

“I want to,” was the best way that Kaili could explain it. Then Wheezie nodded at her as Kaili left the bus. The cold wind hitting her legs first and causing goosebumps to appear all over her body. She hugged her arms around her body, thinking about going back inside and putting on her long pants and long sleeve again but honestly, she couldn’t be bothered.

She hadn’t even made it past the floor mat that was being set up at the end of their bus yet when a voice called out to her to ask where she was going.

“I want to see what I can trade,” she said as she looked at Kelce’s face and if she hadn’t known better, it would’ve looked like he was upset. But he couldn’t have been upset at her, she hadn’t done anything to cause that reaction.

“I’ll come with you,” he said and Kaili would have protested if it looked like he was going to give her a choice.

After disappearing into the bus, Kelce came out a few minutes later holding a Letterman jacket with the name SMITH printed across the shoulders on the back and a small bag of his own.

“Wear this,” he pushed the jacket into her hands as he easily took the bag away from her so that she could stick her arms into the holes. And so she did. She mumbled a small thank you to him before grabbing onto her bag again and followed Kelce’s lead.

It didn’t take long for Kaili to get a peek into Kelce’s plastic bag, it was all filled with hygiene products such as deodorant, dry shampoo, and razors. Which made a whole lot sense as to why the trio she met at the pharmacy started throwing everything they saw in their bags.

“Remember what I said,” Kelce all but whispered next to her, “you have to know what your product is worth and how much what you’re asking for is worth. Some people will ask you for more but you have to be smart about it.”

Reaching the first group of people that seemed to be trading, they had set up all of their products on the floor. Two guys with guns standing beside the blanket as if they’ll guard it with their lives and honestly, Kaili wouldn’t doubt that they would. Even if what they were selling wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Just a couple of magazines, jerky’s, and individual bullets. She hadn’t noticed but somehow, as they walked around and bargained, she had stepped closer to Kelce. Or maybe he has stepped closer to her. There was just a level of security being next to him that clouded her judgement, that made her squeeze next to him when someone else tried to step into her bubble. Something that made her feel alright when his arm came around her to move her out of the way when a brute pushed his way through the crowd.

Kelce was a natural at communicating with the traders. She was surprised to find him to be a people person because of how closed off he was in the bus but even now his eyes looked more distant than ever making her think that maybe he wasn’t really a natural, he was just trained very well.

At one table, he traded in canned corn for beans and then whispered in her ear that beans were better because they are heavier so that they would stay full longer and she guessed that made sense in a bus full of growing boys. He’d also traded two razors, shaving cream, and a deodorant for one blanket. Causing Kaili to raise her eyebrows in question.

“People, during a crisis, usually don’t think too far ahead. Maybe they don’t think they’d survive that long but all I know is that winter is coming very soon and we don’t have enough blankets for everyone to stay as warm as we need to be.”

As Kaili looked at Kelce there was an edge to his tone, “and you don’t trust that the bus would take you very far,” she concluded, saying the words he didn’t.

His face gave a hint to smile and the playful gleam to his eyes made him all that much more attractive, “it’s big, hard to maneuver, no matter what Topper says. I also don’t miss how everyone else looks at it. These are just the early days, people aren’t so desperate yet but they will be and they’ll see our vehicle,” she didn’t miss how he didn’t say tour bus, “then it’s only a matter of when, not if, we’ll run into a group big and strong enough to take it from us.” He shrugged as if she should’ve already worked out the equation in her head. Maybe she was too busy enjoying the luxury of the shower and the bed to think twice about it but he was right and she hated that she wasn’t able to pick up on how people looked at that bus at the end of the camp.

“Are you prepared? When that happens, I mean.”

Kelce smirked and spared a glance around them before he brought his hand up to tuck her hair behind her ear and lean in. To anyone else, it might look like he was about to kiss the nape of her neck but he stopped to whisper her a sweet secret instead, “I’m a great shot,” he leaned back with a wicked smile. She didn’t miss how his eyes flickered to her parted lips right before she averted her eyes and began walking to a new group of people who seemed a bit more rowdy than the rest.

“Where’d you learn?” Kaili attempted to regain her breath, she didn’t need a distraction. Not now. Not when the world is crumbling.

They passed people huddled around radios, some listening to the president’s speech about how everyone was ‘all in this together’, it made her want to laugh but also cry at the same time. The people hidden away in mansions with gates and guards were definitely not fighting the same fight as the ones who were on the streets. Others were listening to the news about the widespread pandemic. Kaili didn’t stick around to listen but she caught a couple of sentences, talks of vaccines or having the whole city sprayed from the air were talked about being in the works.

“My father loved to hunt and he didn’t believe in doing anything we weren’t the best at,” Kelce's smooth voice broke through her line of thought and she welcomed it, “that’s how I learned.”

“So you’re telling me I’m standing next to the best shooter in wherever you came from,” she’d meant to tease but her tone came off a lot more impressed with him than she intended it to be.

All he did was nod once, never losing the smile.

“Lucky me.”

A group of guys that were causing a bit of a ruckus were trying to draw attention to their small tent as they pushed a couple of people out of their way to drop the heavy bags off of their shoulders with a thud. She could hear the metal clanking against each other and she knew exactly what they were before the men began to unzip the bags with a bright smile on their faces.

“Fuck,” she heard Kelce say below his breath next to her when the guys started pulling out guns and machetes one after another. She had wondered how many stores or maybe even homes they had raided to be able to accumulate their stockpile but that was a thought she pushed to the back of her mind when she saw a sniper with a stand and a machete that looked sharp enough to cut someone’s head off. She knew that she needed it. One of them would be a great service to the group if they were able to strap the sniper on top of the bus, it could help them with enemies, humans and zombies alike. As for the machete, it would be a better use for her because she wouldn’t have to get too close to her target and that was a privilege that her throwing knives did not allow.

She was the first one to step in front of the men, “what are you willing to trade with?” was her question, not taking her eyes off of the weapons.

“Well, baby, what are you willing to offer?” one of the greasy men with handlebars mustache had stepped before his friends and asked her.

“I want the sniper and the machete with the black handle,” Kaili didn’t waste time as she got on her knees and started pulling some products out of her bag, “I have spam for days, a Swiss army knife, and pills. I have medicine for anything you think you need. Asthma, anemia, you name it and I got it.”

The man didn’t waste time stepping in front of her kneeled figure and putting his hands on his hips, “you know what? I kind of like my little porcelain doll like this. How’s that for a trade?” the greasy man said as he looked over her shoulder and Kaili noticed that he wasn’t talking to her. He was talking to Kelce, as if asking him for permission to trade the weapons for her. Hearing Kelce chuckle behind her, disgusted, her lips curled about to give him a piece of her mind before the man was off of his feet and slamming onto the ground on his back. Kelce on top of him in an instant, his hand wrapping around the guy’s shirt while the other fist met the man’s cheek.

“That’s no way to talk to a lady,” Kelce’s jaw ticked as the man’s friends were now at their side but before they could even touch him, Kaili pulled two blades from her thighs, pointing the sharp instrument at their throats.

“Gentlemen, I don’t think this is a very nice way to conduct a business, don’t you agree? Now, before you get a tiny bit ahead about yourselves, I think that my offer was very generous. If you don’t believe so, that’s fine. We can walk away,” Kelce grunted behind her but she kept talking, “what do you say?”

The shorter man in front of her with red hair, freckles, and green eyes looked to the other one beside her, “Abby is asthmatic, we’ve been trying to find a pharmacy forever and you know we don’t even know what we’re looking for. The name’s all different and weird, man. I mean, I need it.” The other man seemed to agree so with great caution, Kaili looked them over again before sticking the knives back into her thigh band.

“I have salmeterol xinafoate, fluticasone propionate powder. I actually have a couple of those. I have a couple more other brands, I’m not really sure what Abby takes but they come with inhalers. Here,” Kaili gave them the bag which still also included the spam, not worrying herself with Kelce as he was still talking to the guy but at least they were off of the floor now.

The green eyed man took the bag gratefully as his friend shooed away the crowd that had gathered around them. Telling the people that if they’re not going to trade then they were basically wasting their time because no one was fighting today.

Kelce hadn’t mentioned standing up for her the entire time that they had looked around for more supplies and she didn’t bring it up. Not even when he glared at the man in front of her when she wanted to trade one of her throwing knives for a power drill. Yes, it was completely useless to the man selling it but for her, it was the only way to attach the sniper to the top of the bus.

After a couple of rounds to some other families, they’d finally made it back to Topper packing back up.

“What the fuck?” he looked at them with wide eyes as he saw the new found weapons.

“Is this not what you asked for?” Kelce said, already defensive but he was quickly distracted when he saw what Topper and Kiara was putting away, “how’d you manage that?” he pointed to the soggy used-to-be-frozen pizza in Kiara’s hands and something that might have looked like it used to be ground meat, Kaili wasn’t sure.

Dinner wasn’t half as bad as she assumed it would be but, then again, she wasn’t one to be picky. Earlier, when Kiara was fixing dinner with JJ, Kiara had the help of Rafe to put up the sniper on the rooftop and she was quite proud of the purchase, if she did say so herself. Rafe was also kind enough to praise her a whole total of one time. She must’ve been getting through to him.

“Hey,” Kelce nudged her with his leg as she shoved half a piece of kiwi in her mouth, courtesy of Sarah. She learned it’s best to just not ask anyone where they got anything and appreciate that they were willing to share it with her.

“If you teach me some of that first aid stuff, I’ll teach you how to shoot.”

“Wait,” Kiara squeezed her way into the spot in front of them, “teach me, too. I can teach you literally anything you need to know about cooking or mixing pre cooked food.”

“You guys know I’d teach you this without expecting anything in return, right?”

“Don’t,” Kelce advised, carelessly grabbing onto Kaili’s knee as he spoke, “don’t do anyone any favors without something in return. Including us.”

Kaili kept her eyes on Kelce’s hand until he pulled away from her, her eyebrows arched in question.

“What Kelce means in ‘rich people mentality speak’ is that if we can offer you something in return, you should take it. Like his jacket,” Pope pointed out and though his words could have been taken as a snarky response, she didn’t take it like that. She also chose to ignore his latter statement.

“What I meant was what I said,” Kelce refuted.

“Well, what you said came off kind of gross,” Kiara sided with Pope as she rolled her eyes.

“Good thing I wasn’t talking to you though, isn’t it?” Kelce’s voice stern but collected and Kaili could see it now. He didn’t have the air of a free spirited person the way that JJ, Pope, Kiara, and John B did. He was more put together in a way that he felt he always had to present himself. That brought her back to what Pope had just called him, rich. Of course, she couldn’t believe that she hadn’t seen it before. The way it was so easy for him to talk to strangers in such a charismatic way that it almost seemed practiced. Instilled. He was rich and that meant that his friends, on their own side of the firepit, Topper and Rafe, had to have been rich as well. Not like it mattered anymore, as Kelce said, money doesn’t get you much in the streets.

“Okay,” Kaili announced when Kiara made a move towards Kelce, “so I can teach you both, or all of you, first aid but I refuse to do it if it’s inflicted from one person to the other. So, stop getting at each other’s throats.” With a nod, Kiara had a triumphant smile as she plopped herself down beside Pope and JJ.

Feeling Kelce’s eyes still on her, she shrugged, “what?” but Kelce didn’t respond. He just shook his head at her, a small smirk on his lips.

Kaili was about to head inside to see how Sarah and John B were doing when the man that JJ and Pope were talking to earlier today came towards them with a map. The middle aged man looked like he was about either about to flee or pass out at any moment by the way that he was fidgeting and looking over his shoulder. Kaili definitely didn’t like that. A man who looked like he was running from another kind of demon. He wiped the back of his palm across his sweating forehead even if it was one of the colder nights that South Carolina has seen this past week. A part of her wanted to reach out to the man and tell him that he doesn’t have to worry about looking back as long as she was in front of him but another part, told her that he might’ve just brought trouble to her door step and she didn’t want to comfort that.

Pope had motioned Kiara to get up and follow him inside of the bus, a small act that Kaili caught.

“I found the map,” the older man said, JJ immediately moving next to him as he laid the map close to the fire, the only thing illuminating any of them on this dark night. She’d found herself moving closer to what seemed like a torn up and taped map of the United States, red and blue markers decorated the paper with lines and x’s. She wasn’t quite sure what she was looking at though.

“The guys, the military, man. They’re just picking people up left and right and they’re separating the men and the woman and I can’t have that. I can’t lose my girls,” he was still pointing to the x’s on the map. Kaili cleared her throat as if for either of them to explain to her what was happening since both the man and JJ seemed lost in their own world.

“Right,” JJ said as he looked to his friends and Kaili, “This is Mark,” JJ said without glancing back at the man, “he’d came up from Florida and he said that it’s a shit show down there. Bodies scattered on the street and then turning into fucking zombies. His stories are...something else, man. Apparently, Georgia is just taken over by the military now. They are snatching people up and no one really knows where they’re taking them, so I think it’s time we seriously think about leaving the east coast. He’s taking his family to Canada and they’re passing through New York to do it, he said it’s the safest way and I kind of believe him?” JJ ended his statement sounding like it’s a question.

The blonde boy sat on his knees as he traced the map, showing the group which route would be the easiest but there was an uneasy feeling bubbling up inside Kaili. It’s impossible that Wei and her were wrong but then again, does this mean that they would’ve been doomed either way? Before panic could take over her a hand came to her shoulder, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Are you okay?” Kelce asked her, eyes scanning her face as if he was waiting for any signs that she’d vomit her dinner on him but all she gave him was a shake of her head before she turned back to JJ who was still rambling about the roads.

“No,” she said as she stood, realizing that she’s declining both the men who were talking. All eyes turned to her and she took in their faces. Except for the man with the map, the boys surrounding her had such sweet baby faces and she will not watch another person die in front of her.

“I’m from Maryland, everyone there was basically told to go south because everything started in New York and though that might not be true, I can honestly tell you that Maryland is gone. There was nothing left there when W—, when my cousin and I ran.”

“You’re wrong,” Mark confidently said as he stood up himself, eyeing Kaili like she was the new threat, “nothing could be worse than the south and passing through New York is the easiest way to get to Montreal.” The conviction in his voice almost made her believe it, if she hadn’t seen the horrors of the states above them herself.

“Okay, so even if New York isn’t the epicenter, let’s say the news had lied, you’d have to actually get there alive and there’s a chance Canada will not let you in. Then what? You turn around and go back the way you came? The plan leaves you cornered and vulnerable. You need to think about getting gas in those states. States I’ve just told you aren’t safe.”

“You think I don’t know about getting gas? We have to stop for that anywhere that we go anyway,” the man insisted.

“Okay,” Topper tried to interject but Mark took a step forward. Kaili didn’t miss that he wasn’t the only one to do that. JJ is now standing, staring at the map in his hands. Topper is glaring at the space between Mark and Kaili.

“Listen,” Kaili took a breath before she continued, “I don’t have a say in what you guys do. I was only brought in to help your friend, I’m not dumb enough to think otherwise but I do know that we will go our separate ways if you want to go up north.” She declared. She took a pause to shake her head as the images of her parents clouded her mind, “I can’t go back there.” She softly whispered.

“Then it’s settled,” Mark spoke, his speech hurried as he took the map back from JJ, “leave the girl before she gets you killed and take my advice. Go north,” he gave JJ a quick nod and made his way back to his family.

The silence that he left behind would’ve made anyone else uncomfortable but not when she was lost in her head. She just wanted the flashbacks to stop.

Topper gave a quick nod to the guys and walked back into the bus, along with Rafe, probably going to talk about the best way to leave her behind, she assumed.

“How many?” JJ asked suddenly as he sat in front of her and Kelce was still beside her. Feeling a bit uncomfortable that she’s the last one standing, she reclaimed her seat.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“How many people have you lost, or watched die, however you want to put it?” And the question squeezed her chest tightly. She didn’t want to think about it but it was all she could think about as she dug her nails into the part of her thighs that were exposed.

“Five, that I know,” she said with an exhale, “my parents first, they were...eating my aunt and uncle in law. Then I lost my little cousin three days ago. She was barely sixteen,” tears swarming her eyes as she squeezed her leg tighter.

JJ nodded in understanding, “I lost my dad,” he said as if the memory doesn’t affect him but the strain in his voice gave him away, “he was an asshole but it still hurt. He’s actually the first zombie I saw. I thought he was high as fuck again when he came at me but then he didn’t stop. Even when I broke his arms. So, yeah, I killed my dad. How’s that for fucked up?” He released a humorless laugh.

“I lost my parents,” Kelce said next, his voice low and JJ winced as if he had already heard this story. Of course, they all must’ve. “My dad had killed my mom when he saw what she had become. She was trying to attack my little sister so it really only made sense but when he came to, he just looked at me and shot himself. He couldn’t take it, I guess. Not that he cared that he’d be leaving two kids behind.” Kelce said in disgust, “and then I told my sister to stay close, stay next to me so I can protect her. I told her that it was the only way to make sure that she was safe but when we got to the ferry for the mainland she wouldn’t stop crying and crying about her friends. I mean, I get it. She’s thirteen and she cares about them, too, but before I even realized it, she was gone.”

“What happened to her?” Kaili hadn’t realized that she was holding her breath.

“I don’t know. She sent me a text before our phones went off. She said her friend is sailing across the Atlantic, that their parents have done it before and how she wished that I’d listen and I’d gone with her, but how could I have been listening when I was thinking about our safety? You know? She said that she had called my name and that I’d just kept walking into the ferry, following my friends.”

“Is that why you don’t talk much? So you can listen?” Kaili asked.

Kelce shrugged, “when I’m not thinking about her, sure.” He turned away from them both. JJ offered her a small smile.

“See, you don’t need to suffer in silence here. We’ve all gone through something,” and though it was true, it still didn’t make her feel better. “So when you need your space or you need to work some shit out, let us know. We’ll listen or leave you alone, whichever you prefer.”

And just when Kaili was about to thank them for their kindness, Rafe showed up at the door, “so are we done having a heart to heart or are you guys going to sleep out here tonight?” He said. But there was something in Rafe’s voice that betrayed the cold exterior he was trying to portray and she wondered if their little heart to heart was heard by everyone else in the bus.

“I should probably check on John B anyway,” Kaili excused herself, ignoring the grumbles behind her as the rest of the boys told Rafe that was uncalled for.

The energy inside the bus has shifted, more than likely Topper and Rafe had filled the girls in on their change of direction and Kaili’s inflexible heart. She was aware enough that it was probably her trauma speaking when she said she wasn’t going back. She knew that maybe the information could be right and maybe she could be wrong but that doesn’t help the fact that her body was rejecting the idea of even going. Yes, she’d be alone if they left without her but she wasn’t going to ask them to change their minds either if it was already made.

She made her way into the bigger bedroom at the end of the bus where John B has taken up space right now after washing her hands and her arms, making sure that he was going to be as protected as possible. The boy looked to be sleeping the night away but at least his color was coming back and the sweating had stopped.

Hearing someone come into his space, almost as if instinct had taken over, his body stirred and he opened his eyes, tension leaving his body when he found her standing by him.

“You’re looking better,” Kaili offered a small smile as she sat beside him on the bed, asking if she could look at the sutures she performed on him.

“All thanks to you,” the boy said as he lifted up his shirt, wincing as he moved, “I was sure that I was a goner,” he continued with a faraway look in his eyes.

She maneuvered him in a way that made it easier for her to look at the stitches without having to undo the entire bandage on him.

“What even happened?” She inquired and though she knew not to pry, it was curious to her that in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, someone would die from blood loss from a wound instead. “I know your friends said it’s a knife wound but it looked like you were stabbed with something a bit more...bigger? Thicker than a knife.”

“Are you telling me you don’t believe I fought off a whole bunch of pirates for their boat so we could cross over to South Carolina safely?” John b joked as he offered a flash of a smile before Kaili shook her head with a small laugh, making sure that his wound was looking better and not infected.

“Yeah, I guess I wouldn’t either,” he began, “I was trying to run away from some zombies with my friends. They’d all jumped over a fence and I guess I over shot it or under shot it, I don’t know. I was jumping and then the next thing I know, a part of the sharp end of the metal fence was in me, I didn’t even really feel it at first, my only thought was like I hope that Sarah hasn’t left without me—because we were going to her house to get her, you know? I don’t even think that I screamed.”

“He most definitely screamed,” Pope said at the entrance to the bedroom, “I know you’re not supposed to remove the thing lodged inside a person but it was either leave him there or pull him out and we’re not really in the habit of leaving people behind.”

“Lucky you,” Kaili sweetly said to John b as she looked to Pope, “to have friends willing to risk their lives for you.” And this she said to the both of them. Afterwards, she’d gotten up from the bed, John b had nodded returned to closing his eyes and Pope excused himself to the kitchen.

Kaili had washed her hands again, thoroughly before returning to JJ’s side as he put on another movie for the night.

“So, I think our best bet is just going west to California,” Rafe announced to everyone in the bus, sparing a glance at Kaili.

“What?” Kaili asked, confused.

“You’re not going north and we’re not going south. We sure as hell can't swim the ocean so we’re going west,” Rafe explained and left no room for discussion as he turned back around to Topper and right then, her heart might’ve mended itself a little bit tonight.

Tags: @stfukie @kindahavefeelingskindaheartless @rafecameron @outerbankslut @thegreatestofheck @starlightstarkey @stargazingstarkey @anxietyandtacos @spideymyluv @tomfreakinghollandneedsaoscar @pogue-writings @bedazzledbanks @pankowrudeth @bricksatanakinswindow @cutiecolbsss @downbytheouterbanks @butgilinsky @jiaraendgame @deathcompass

#kelce obx #obx kelce #kelce x oc #oc x kelce #kelce outerbanks #outer banks au #my writings #LIAB

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otomeshistarlight-blog · 5 years

Text

Rant incoming

I was scrolling through the JoJo tag when I saw this post and I just ... I’m really tired y’all.

First of all, according to a google search it looks like the age of consent in Italy is 14 (if I’m wrong, please correct me) so Narancia is very legal, as is Giorno. America’s laws are not universal. The world is not so UScentric that whatever we as a country deem inappropriate is likewise considered to be inappropriate in other countries. There are varying standards throughout different societies and one is not necessarily more correct than the next. Whether or not I think real life fourteen year olds should be having sex is irrelevant- because even if I don’t agree with it, it’s gonna happen anyway - but Narancia is not a real fourteen year old so whatever the law dictates in America OR Italy is irrelevant.

What this boils down to is that there is no victim here. Narancia cannot be taken advantage of. Narancia cannot be sexually assaulted and face the physical/emotional consequences of such trauma. There is nothing inherently wrong with shipping him in ANY pairing, regardless of the ages involved. If I want to write about him getting wrecked by Bruno I will damn well do it because not a single person is being hurt by me doing so. If this is something that triggers you and causes you distress then don’t 👏🏻 fucking 👏🏻 look 👏🏻 at 👏🏻 it. 👏🏻

Fighting for the rights of fictional characters solves nothing. It helps no one. It doesn’t benefit real victims and it sure as hell does not stop real people from being victimized in the first place. This is a nonissue that people are taking up arms over for no reason other than a perceived moral superiority that makes them feel more in control of the world around them. It stems from feeling helpless and lost in a society that doesn’t bend to their every whim. Fandom space is the only place they feel like they have any power so they take on the role of morality police, try to dictate what people can and cannot like, and then accuse anyone who won’t do what they say of heinous crimes. It’s extremely toxic and harmful, not to mention it lessens the severity of sincere pedophile/abuse finger pointing so the chances of a real predator getting away with it are greatly heightened, and I’m just done with it at this point.

Let’s say I’m looking through the porn tags as I am won’t to do and I come across a post that features blatant child porn. Real child porn. The 3D kind that, yknow, actually features real children being exploited and assaulted for realsies. I’m understandably appalled so I file a report with tumblr and they don’t even look at it because they’ve been bombarded for the last year with false harm to minors reports and the user is never penalized for actually doing something inherently wrong and immoral. Y’all have heard about the girl who cried wolf right? Like, y’all know how that story ends don’t you?

But no. Instead of directing your efforts towards anything worthwhile, you’re going to keep going after shippers. And for what? Because oh no, the fictional seventeen year old who could just as likely be nineteen is being paired with a fictional twenty-five year old. The horror. What is the world coming to? Think of the children!

Except ... these supposed children don’t exist. How can you victimize a piece of paper? The same argument applies to loli/shotacon too mind you, and there is no crime in looking at drawings regardless of their perceived age, especially when the topic is anime where you can have a character who looks like a five year old girl and she is in fact a 400 year old vampire. Like?? There is absolutely no logic you can apply to this that has any internal consistency let alone actually makes sense.

Me: these fictional minors don’t even look like sixteen year olds, where have you seen a real teenager who looks like this?

Antis: they look like teens you pedo!! And ageing them up is still pedophilia because they are canonly sixteen so you’re still thinking about teenagers in a roundabout, highly contrived way

Me: *shows you a 300 year old loli vampire* okay so I can definitely fuck this one right? She’s unrealistically old!

Antis: no!!!! You’re just using her canon age as an excuse to be a freak who preys on children! She might be 300 years old but she still has the body of a child!!

Me: okay so I’ll just age myself down to self ship, no biggie.

Antis: absolutely not!! You’re still an adult and ageing yourself down doesn’t make it okay!! I’m reporting you to the authorities right now!

Me: but ... who am I supposed to imagine fucking then?

Antis: one of the few adults you find in anime, except this one because he’s an abuser, or this one because he tortured a little girl and not the serial killer either because wow problematic

Me: so what you’re telling me ... is that I’m only allowed to thirst after your preapproved, precious cinnamon roll faves even though my tastes or needs in a relationship might vary greatly from yours?

Antis: yes, exactly. I’m so glad you’re finally on my level of intelligence and moral superiority. : ^)

Me: oh, I see now. So what this boils down to is that you just don’t want people to enjoy something you don’t personally agree with. Got it.

Antis: absolutely not!! I’m thinking about the betterment of society by telling you what you can and cannot enjoy! You liking these questionable things is harmful against the greater good! Won’t you think of the children!?

Me: soooooo we’re just gonna ignore how much that sounds like a fascist/communist society or ...?

Antis: : ^)

Y’all should absolutely read 1984. It would do you some good. Because having an attraction to a fucking anime character is not a slippery slope, but this puritanical shit? It sure as hell is.

Let me pose this query: what is stopping an anti from going on a book burning campaign or fighting to get certain books banned? Lolita? Flowers in the Attic? All of the works by Marquis de Sade (a personal hero of mine)? Alternatively who are the only people who actually engage in book burning/banning?

Overzealous religious nuts. Everything about the anti movement is the same “our children shouldn’t be exposed to such filth” battle cry that religious sects - specifically the western ones - have screamed for decades now except with a cute little sjw hat on top. No rock n’ roll music. It’s Satan’s music. No porn. It’s tainting America’s youth. No alcohol. It’s leading our country down the path of sin. No violent video games or movies. They’re turning people into mass shooters. No problematic themes in fictional works because it’s turning people into pedophiles/abusers.

And that is just ... factually incorrect. There is absolutely no correlation between Lolita being published and an uptick in children being sexually assaulted. There is no correlation between lolicon or shotacon breeding more pedophiles. Because that’s literally not how it works. Period. I’m not going to accidentally stumble on a loli doujin and think “huh yknow what? This sounds fun!” I could even read loli doujins at length and that’s still not going to convince me that actually engaging in sexual situations with toddlers is okay. Like ... I don’t know why these people think we’re so stupid that we don’t know the difference between right and wrong but this is just insane. The only people who look at loli or shota and then go on to commit crimes against real children are the ones who were already having those kinds of thoughts in the first place. The only people who play Grand Theft Auto and then go shoot up a church are the ones who were already having violent thoughts to begin with. These thoughts are not magically implanted into our brains regardless of what media we consume and that’s just a goddamn fact.

Yes, media impacts reality but not the way you think it does. Even all those sources antis link to about the supposed correlation between the two are twisted to meet their own rhetoric. It’s called marketing and anyone with half a brain cell knows that it exists. It’s meant to encourage us into thinking we need some product so we spend money on junk and keep capitalism going strong. it works more often than not. However no amount of marketing is going to convince a mentally sound person that shooting up a mall is a valid life choice to make. It just doesn’t work like that and you could scream until your blue in the face that fucking kids is the bees knees and I still wouldn’t touch a real child because that’s gross. Period. And since I can’t touch Bakugou Katsuki or Narancia because they’re just figments of someone’s imagination and pen and paper ... then where lies the problem?? What is the issue with writing or drawing fictional characters, regardless of age or moral compass, in sexual situations?

I’m a CSA survivor that has been on the internet for a LONG time. I’ve seen some shit I sorely wish I could forget. Everything from real life gore, real life death, bestiality, necrophilia and yes even real life child porn. I don’t think there’s a single problematic thing I haven’t accidentally stumbled on and it’s horrific. It’s disgusting. I know all too well how awful these things are and I know even better how it feels to be a victim of rape and sexual assault and pedophilia and grooming. Like. That was my life growing up. I know what these things look like and I can assure you without a shadow of a doubt that whatever is going on in fandom space isn’t even comparable. Please. Draw your OC fucking a dragon mascot character instead of fucking a real animal. Please write about a fictional father fucking his fictional son instead of fucking a real child or a real sibling. Do whatever you want with your imagination - and I do mean WHATEVER. If you want to think about eating your favorite characters shit then by all means. Enjoy. It doesn’t effect reality in any way besides maybe giving someone a cathartic coping outlet and there’s nothing wrong with it.

There’s nothing wrong with ANY topic being explored in fiction.

The only problem is when someone commits a crime in reality. When someone hurts another living being. And consuming this so called problematic fiction does not lead someone to real life crimes. Period.

Finding myself on that stupid gore site when I was 14, BestGore I think it’s called? Did not make me want to try killing someone. I’ve never even seriously contemplated doing it because death is awful in every regard, I wouldn’t seriously wish that on anyone let alone convince myself that it’s okay. But according to antis me being exposed to that sort of content means I’m more likely to go out and commit murder?

Literally what crack are you smoking?

Get the fuck out of here and do something worthwhile with your time if you honestly find these topics so disturbing. If not then shut up, sit down and let people enjoy their fandom experience however they see fit. Because this right here? This treating fictional characters like they matter, like they’re real people? It’s not fucking cute. And as someone who was raped from the time I was eleven until I was eighteen by a family member I can safely say that you aren’t doing shit to help anyone with this holier than thou, I know better than you crusade.

And that is the goddamn truth whether you like it or not.

#discourse #anti #shipping

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