forum Resurgence | One on One | Mature-ish? | Closed

Started March 14, 2021 by @Mojack group

tune

The Resurgence, also known as the war between humans and the unknown. No one knew where it came from, and even a year and a half later, the origin of the virus remains unknown. It happened to fast- there’s a reason we called it the 9 week war, taking only that much time for the infected to overpower man.

Now, survivors roam a silent world. The safest spots are the bunkers, or some place underground. Unless the infected get in, then it just becomes a death trap. Rumours of cities, still active with people, float around. It’s said some islands remained devoid of the infected, and what infected came to the land were killed. Australia comes to mind, although you shouldn’t trust gossip. It could be outdated info for all you know.
Other spots are military bases, which again, are typically safe, unless an outbreak happens. It’s also more in the open, so you have to take special care in building up defences.

But one of the riskiest, yet common places for survivors to live - is out in the Wild. Aka the entire world. When you were denied a spot in a bunker or couldn’t get to a shelter in time, you were out here. You had to learn to survive, either alone, or in groups. Sometimes, it’s safety in numbers. Other times, safety in numbers, according to the infected, is just a moving buffet.
Sometimes survivors garner enough resources to make their own safe zone. These ‘survivor cities’ aren’t complete safe zones, obviously. But they’re places where survivors come to live, and in great numbers too. Rumours spread, and survivors travel.
Survivor cities aren’t built from the ground up. Usually, it’s just a empty city, taken by the survivors. That’s why some buildings are so unkempt, so overgrown- because no one has lived there for over a year.

You live in one of these survivor cities. Whether it’s on your own or with some other roommates, be it strangers, friends or family, you made your home in one of these cities. It’s not a fair place to live, and food is hard to come by, although the penalties for stealing are major. People have been exiled, a death sentence on its own, just for stealing food.
Not all people who come by the city are residents. Some come to trade what they have in exchange for other goods. Others come for information, or for directions, something that can turn to a trade on its own. Overall, these survivor cities have built up to be one of the greatest safe zones there are, perhaps a sign that one day, mankind will be able to rebuild in this broken world.
But then, a stranger comes to town.

And history repeats itself.

---

GUIDE TO IDENTIFYING INFECTED

Mutated infected are easy to identify, with their beastly, otherworldly features. Specific mutations cannot be put down, since when an infected enters the mutation stage, there’s no telling what could leave the stage. All I can say is that there’s no coming back from a mutation, and that they’ll be a shell of their former self from that point on.

Non mutated range in their difficulty to being identified depending on their remaining intelligence, with most infected losing intelligent capabilities and becoming easy to identify. Urges to harm or bite people are the first to come to mind. Non verbal, unless the infected maintains a high level of intelligence (in which case, STAY ALERT). Foamy saliva, clacking teeth when near meat (writer’s note: intelligent infected can somewhat suppress this symptom. in case it wasn’t obvious, most infected symptoms do not apply to the intelligent). The best way to identify an intelligent infected is via blood. Is the blood is red, it’s human. If it’s black, it’s infected, and should be put down immediately.

Writer’s notes:
- infected are not zombies. when they die, they stay dead, though their corpses should be disposed of. the farther an infected is in mutation, the harder it is to kill.
- mutations are something that happens due to an unknown reason. mutations occur within 4-5 months of being infected, in which it enters a dormant state while it mutates.
- most infected are unintelligent compared to humans, but possess their own language, that only the infected can understand. mutated are slightly more intelligent than their average infected, although this varies.
- most infected, and some mutated, will become dormant during the day.

---

Good ol’ infection RP. Where your character is one of the survivors residing in a decently populated ‘survivor city’, and my character is..the ‘stranger.’ Who is this stranger? What will they do? Let’s find out!
Also, this does come with some twists. One, I shall reveal here: your character is unable to catch the virus, unable to get sick from it, unable to turn into an infected, etc.

If I do not know your writing style, I will ask for a writing sample.

First, the rules/notes.

1. Do not autohit, but don’t dodge everything either. Play to your strengths, but remember your weaknesses.
2. This will probably be a mature RP in terms of violence n blood. Though there’s a time and place for those two. It’ll be a bit darker, considering that most of the human population is infected OR dead, so only commit to this if you understand that.
3. And as always, swear to your heart’s desire!
4. Ask questions as needed. I’ll be pleased to answer.
5. Response time may vary, from same day to several days later. Please keep that in mind!
6. Absolutely no one liners. I’ll swing you into the sun if you do one even though you’ve read this rule
7. Please try to have good grammar/punctuation!
8. Say the sexytimes somehow happen in this, it’ll probably be a fade to black sort of thing. Sorry. I’m not good at writing that stuff, nor am I extremely fond of reading it.
9. If you have any ideas for this..let me know. And when it comes to the Mutated and Infected- keep in mind, Infected look more human, Mutated barely have any human features. This means if you want to make an encounter for a Mutated, be it in your character’s backstory or in RP…go wild in creating its appearance! The only guideline I’ll give is that they do look somewhat grotesque, so you’re probably not gonna get any beautiful or pretty looking Mutated anytime soon.
10. This list may change (most likely won’t, but I always mention this just in case).

Oh yeah, and the setting of this is somewhere on the west coast of North America.

THE TEMPLATE
Remove brackets!

Name:
Gender/pronouns: (any gender, any pronouns goes for this.)
Orientation:
Age: (20-25)

Appearance:
Clothing:
Background: (secrets are welcome..write as much as you want.)
Personality:

Equipment: (anything notable on their person goes here.)
Skills: (any skills, from survival skills to just ‘for fun’ sort of things.)
Fears: (anything they fear.)
Relations: (anyone, be it dead or alive, in the city or out of the city, that they have a relationship to? name the character, their status, and their relationship to them! Remember what I said about roommates? this is your chance…or not.)
Other: (fun facts, anything that I forgot, mannerisms, habits, etc go here.)

Name: Ada Jo
Gender/pronouns: Female (She/her)
Orientation: Bisexual
Age: 25

Appearance: Standing at around 5'7 and three quarters, she has an ectomorph figure. Her light brown hair goes down just below her shoulders, but she prefers to keep it up in a ponytail or bun. Ada has medium brown monolid eyes and warm ivory skin. Her eyes are pierced, but she doesn't wear any earrings. There is a small scar on her wrist from a fall she had when she was twelve.
Clothing: Ada normally wears a tank top with a short-sleeve unbuttoned shirt to go over it and cargo pants. Then she has on combat boots or gray sneakers. She also wears a dog-tag necklace around her neck and a fanny-pack with supplies around her waist.
Background: At first, life was pretty good for Ada. She lived in a small home with her two parents and older siblings. Both of her parents were professors so she grew up as a naturally curious person. While Ada loved to play with others, she'd go to the library with her older sister and read stories about knights and superheroes who'd save the day. She also enjoyed watching hospital dramas with her grandma whenever she flew in to visit. When she was in high school, she met Nicholas, but they only clicked at the beginning of their freshman year in college. Nicky majored in enviromental science while she majored in nursing. They started dating towards the end of the fall semester sophmore year and eventually got engaged a few months before the Resurgence.

When it began, Ada and Nick were staying in his mother's home. They decided to stay there till they could figure out the situation. On one fateful day, she returned home very late in the evening from trying to find some supplies. Ada found Nick sitting on their bed looking awfully strange. His skin was light gray and looked shriveled, some veins were popping out, his shirt was stained with saliva. It didn't take too long for her to realize that he was infected. What made her heart break was a handgun next to a sticky note that said "I'm sorry". The rest they say is history, or perhaps her brain blocked out the memory.

About five months later, Ada found out about a survivor city ten miles away. She immediately packed everything she could and left. On the way there, she met a man named Anton, who happened to be an ex-Russian spy. They agreed to stay and work together when reaching the city. When they were outside the city, they found a box with a boy in it. Tony, they named, was not infected but was frail and lost his parents. The three of them work together as a unit and family now while living in an apartment in the survivor city.
Personality: Most people she knew describe her as a strong and cool-headed person. Ada is very compassionate and caring. She tends to be self-reliant, but loves being around others no matter how closed off she pretends to appear. Internally, she keeps her worries and problems to herself in hopes of solving them on her own. Actually, Ada likes to busy herself by helping; it makes her feel better and keeps her distracted. She tends to predict things, figuring out possible solutions for scenarios.

Equipment: Hatchet, handgun, bag with First Aid kit and other medical supplies, flashlight, Swiss knife, taser baton, matches, rope, and a walkie talkie all in a black backpack with a flower keychain
Skills: Basic First Aid, tying knots, cooking, map/compass reading, Morse code, close-range fighting, making water drinkable
Fears: Heights, Being alone, New/unexpected things, small crowded spaces
Relations: Nathaniel Jo (Father, 58, Alive?); Leila Jo (Mother, 60, Alive?); Oliver Jo (Older Brother, 30, Alive?), Rebecca Jo (Sister-in-law, 30, Alive?), Stephanie Jo (Older Sister, 28, Alive?), Nicholas Duval-Kang (Ex-fiancé, 25, Dead), Anton Kuznetsov (Roommate, 45, Alive), Tony (Roommate, 6, Alive)
Other: In the survivor city, she sort of serves as a nurse. Sometimes people come to the apartment with a broken arm or some other injury, and she treats them in return for supplies. Also, she has Nick's tablet, but doesn't know the password for it; Ada keeps it safe and hidden because she's attached to it.

(Here she is!)

((Looks good! Give me a bit to craft a starter.))

Name: Ahvo Kari
Gender/pronouns: Male. He/him.
Orientation: Asexual panromantic.
Age: Just turned 25.

Appearance: 6”, maybe a bit under, but fairly tall, although rarely stands straight up. Ahvo is of athletic build, with mostly fair skin. Dark green eyes, somewhat defined cheekbones. His hair goes down just below his ears, and is a dark brown, to the point where people have mistaken it as being black. Shaves when possible, but because of his lack of materials, it’s not often. Usually has some very light facial hair.
Perhaps the most peculiar is his left arm. A sudden shift in skin colour and texture is here. His arm is a dark green, almost black, and scaly in feeling. A bit more jagged than a normal arm, with small blunt scutes rising up from it. Notably, has several ‘eyes’ of varying sizes on this arm. They stay closed, forced by Ahvo. His fingers shift to claws, which may not look sharp first glance, but are. Extremely so.
Clothing: Ahvo wears clothing that not your average person would wear. It’s also, unfortunately, hard to take off. But it’s worth it, according to him.
What could be described as a full body suit is worn. Dark in colour, and hard to move in, but once you get used to it, it’s a little easier. It’s some sort of armour, hard for the average infected to pierce, and weaker Mutated. It could even save his life in a gunfight. What seems to be a cloak is swung over his right arm most of the time (though he still has the suit, so it’s not like anyone pulling it away is going to immediately see the horrors that lie beneath).
Has a helmet to cover his entire head. Not many features mark it, one might even wonder how he sees anything in it. Peculiar of all, attached to the suit (it seems to be something that Ahvo added himself for whatever reason) is a metal covering, that would cover his lower face, if not for the helmet. Almost like a muzzle.

Background: Ahvo was born in Finland, and had a fairly average life, aside from the fact he wasn’t too good at making friends as a child - or an adult. It wasn’t exactly his temperament, but rather his mind, not providing him with what to do once he met a new person. Which wasn’t often, since he was born in a more rural area. Ahvo at first had the comfort of knowing everybody. He primarily relied on others when it came to meetings, and he wasn’t the best with carrying conversations.

His normal life became not so normal after his first job, which long story short: it was far from what Ahvo had thought it would be. He knew the basis, but he wasn’t expecting whatever had happened in his job. He’d left his home country and actually travelled quite a bit on his job.

When the Resurgence came, Ahvo was one of the first to be exposed.
But he never became one of the mindless infected. And it wasn’t the entirety of Ahvo that got infected either. It was his arm. At the time, Ahvo didn’t know that. He was surprised when the 80 seconds had passed, and he didn’t turn. With his job in shambles, Ahvo returned home, only to arrive and find out that they weren’t as lucky as he was. Everyone had either ran off (he opted to believe that was just the sole case) or perished. At least there weren’t any bodies to find.
Humanity was falling, and fast. One of the first to be exposed, one of the last to take a boat to North America. But around the time he’d arrived in the Americas, it was the dawn of the final day, of the ninth week. There would be no more official boats, no more planes. Mankind had fallen, it seemed. And Ahvo became one of the wanderers. The survivors, rather, and Ahvo fared quite well, though one of his dwindling needs was the need to speak, the need to socialize. To be with other humans. In the early times, this was hard, but as more survivor camps (gradually becoming cities) popped up, he was able to engage in small talk.

Then, four months passed, and the effects of being exposed hit him. Ahvo had been in great pain for days, until his arm ‘mutated.’ Only his right arm, thankfully, as Ahvo was left handed. But he’d still rather not have to deal with it. Ahvo took to covering up this side of him, mentioning to those who asked it was an injury before the Resurgence that greatly mangled it, but he was unable to amputate it. That story works. So far.

Personality: Distant and closed off, Ahvo prefers to stay alone. In the beginning, he may have craved human connection, but as time went on, and certain things happened, Ahvo became more reclusive. He doesn’t really want to be mean or snappy to others, but he’s able to if he needs to be - one of the things his job has taught him. You could even consider him to be better at shooing people away than making friends. Ahvo hopes his appearance is enough to ward people off. Often, though, it’s enough to gain their interests.

Equipment: Rifle ammo, and plenty of it. Just no gun, which he’s been looking for, for some time. Hunting knife. A fairly large bag, but small enough for him to carry on his shoulder. Some pens, pencils, and a small journal. A case, and in that case, some needles, which are filled with an unknown orange fluid, cold to the touch. A kit carefully stored in the bag with the materials to make whatever that fluid is. A small blanket.
Skills: Tracking, but also getting things - or people, off of his trail. Decent marksmanship, more so than the average person. Conserving his energy. Neat handwriting, fast hand writer (and typer). Can identify a good amount of plants.
Fears: Himself. Meeting people. Has haphephobia, the fear of being touched.
Relations: Sohvi Kari (Mother, deceased). Paul Kari (Father, deceased). Anatol Serech (Coworker, infected). Yanina Hyrc (Coworker, infected). Marie Balzac (Friend, unknown).
Other: To a degree, the infection has reached Ahvo’s brain. Usually, this would be when one turns, but for whatever reason, Ahvo remains in (mostly) control of his own body.
He’s an optimist, despite everything.

Several days earlier, a few miles away from the Survivor City…

We hunger.
No. I do not.

Forced awake by his own shared consciousness, Ahvo found himself engaging in a battle of minds, of urges. He inwardly cursed - his supplies were across the room. For some reason, he hadn’t carried them close like he usually did. His right arm jerked around, as though controlled by another force. In which it was. It didn’t take long for him to attempt to move towards the other side, but he found himself on the floor, as the snarling voice shouted in his mind.

Feed! Kill! Hunt!
I will not!

Ahvo crawled forwards, which was hard. Just with one arm, he pulled himself across the wooden floor, swearing - it wasn’t a nice floor, and he was bound to get at least one splinter from this occasion.

There are so many, and so close.
You are a worthless parasite.

His fingers brushed the tip of his bag, and he put his focus into opening it. After what felt like forever, he managed to unzip it. Then came the task of searching it.

Do not!

His right arm clawed at the floor, leaving noticeable marks in the already torn up room. Ahvo found his case, and struggled to open it for a few seconds, but was able to. Wasting no time, Ahvo moved into a sitting position as he took one of the needles.

Whatever you do, I will always come back!

Ahvo thrust the needle into his arm, and injected the medicine.
It all became silence after that.

---

Now, just outside the Survivor City.

Ahvo had been to a Survivor City before. But not one as big or populated like this. Nor as guarded. Patrols had been spotted at least two miles outside of the City, probably more. Some of them glanced at him, but paid no attention, most likely having more important objects.
Not to mention the watchtowers, which had probably been placed by the Survivors here from the ground up, not from Before. Armed guards, waiting for any Infected to show their faces, only to be mowed down. Ahvo couldn’t help but feel tense walking on the outskirts of this territory. He was human - he told himself that, repeatedly. But if anyone saw his arm..well. He didn’t want to think about what could happen. What would happen.

It seemed that Ahvo was not the only new arrival to the Survivor City. The closer he got, from different directions, other survivors approached the City. And there were some departures, too. He could see the big gate from here, the big wall - if he had to bet, much like the watchtowers, they were built by the survivors. Made sense to him.
Ahvo looked up as he passed through the wall, and into the city itself. The dirt ground crunched below him, the sun high in the sky above him. The city wasn’t as busy as the rumours said it would be, but it was still busier than your average place. It wasn’t like the streets were covered with people, but there were people, yes, walking around and probably tending to whatever business they had.
Ahvo realized just how much he stood out in his gear here. He wouldn’t be surprised if someone though he was military. Or former, at least. Or maybe he stole the gear. Which he did, in a way. But it was for a much better cause.
Continuing walking again, he could see why the rumours had stated this city was one of the most populated in the area. There were probably more in the buildings, too. Ahvo glanced at the windows, some broken, some not. He swerved into another building that looked empty enough, and sat on a chair, right at the entrance.

Momentarily slipping off his bag Ahvo opened it and looked for his journal. He found it in a short amount of time, and opened it. The pages were filled with writing - day one, day two..though eventually, he’d stopped dating the pages, because after a while, he had lost track of time. They were all filled with notes on his day to day encounters, the highlights of each day. Carefully taking a pen, he began to write down one of today’s key events - his journey to, and arrival, at the Survivor City.

One in the afternoon. Ada stared down at her watch as she stood against a tree nearby the old school building. Tony, her roommate, sat on the pavement while finishing up a drawing of an astronaut on the moon standing in front of Earth. The woman gazed down at the drawing before noticing a man walking over to them.

A sigh of relief left her lips when seeing the man. She tapped on Tony's shoulder, signaling him to stand up. The boy opened his small satchel then let the crayons roll in before standing up. Markez, the man, smiled at the two. He opened up his bag then took out a box of iron supplements, which he then placed into her hands.

Ada smiled as she looked down at the box. Ever single time Markez was in town, she always anxiously waited for the yellow and white box to lay between her hands. The corners of her eyes watered as she hugged it then glanced over at Tony, who held up a drawing he made to the traveler.

Markez is a friend of Anton, the other member of Apartment 203. He wanders around a few survivor cities and trades with the people in it. Once Anton, Ada, and Tony made it to the one they're at now, Markez started to make trips there more often; at least once every two weeks. He gives them different kind of things, more importantly iron supplements for Tony, and in return, Ada usually gives medicines she made and other things they can offer.

Pulling out three small bags of powdered herbs, she handed them over to the traveler along with a supressor that Anton fixed for him. He placed them all in his bag, took the drawing, then waved to the two before heading down the street. The both of them stayed, just in case anything happened before watching Markez disappear.

Eventually, her and Tony left. Ada didn't like to stay outside for long without having some purpose for it. They walked along the street, sometimes saying hi to people. The walk back home wasn't too far for them. When they were close by, Tony stopped. She almsot dragged the poor kid till she realized.

In the direction Tony was looking, was a figure at the entrance of the empty building. Ada squinted trying to figure out who it is till realizing that it's the first time seeing this person. He looked strange, wearing clothes you'd only see in movies. Thankfully he was writing in a journal and not looking at them. chill went down her spine. Who is that? Not wanting to know, she squeezed the kid's hand and they continued walking home.

Ahvo’s writing was quite easy to read, not to mention small - though partially to conserve space in the journal. He wasn’t sure where he’d find another one once he ran out of space in this one. Ahvo seemed to be unaware of any eyes on him, though he did look up once he finished his writing. He glanced around a few times, spotted no one, and assumed if there was someone watching, they’d probably left by now. Probably just curious too, he added in afterthought.
Snapping it shut, Ahvo put it away and stood up. His next goal for today was to find somewhere to stay, which would hopefully be today’s biggest hurdle. He had plans to set up in this Survivor City for a bit longer than he normally would. Standing up, Ahvo walked out the building and back into the streets.

Ahvo looked around. There were some people, out on the streets, who had set up shop to sell their goods for whatever they could get. Here, money had somewhat lost its value, with the only people who wanted physical money being the people who collected it for whatever reason; sometimes as a reminder of history, other times because they just enjoy collecting.
Ahvo spends a fair amount of time surveying the area. It’s a bit interesting, that these sorts of cities took only a little over a year to become…like this. Grand places, for people to gather. Either to stay permanently or not. Ahvo marked himself as the latter. He didn’t like the idea of staying somewhere permanently, not with what he was.

“Excuse me.” Ahvo had surprised a woman, though it was more his appearance than how he just turned up out of the blue that had earned that surprise. “Do you know where I could stay?”
“Stay..?” The woman mumbles. “Like, here?”
“In the city, yes.” Despite the calmness of his voice and figure, he was hoping that this interaction would be quick.
“There are apartments,” the woman points out to him. “Some you will need to find the building owner to stay. Others, you can find a room and it’s yours.”
Ahvo wasn’t sure how to find a building owner, so he would probably settle for the latter. He nods. “Thank you.”
Turning away, Ahvo walks off, back into the streets. Not caring what building it was - although, he just hoped it was one unowned; he chose a building that looked particularly empty as to avoid disturbing any other residents in the building. It seemed pretty quiet in here anyways.
He spends some time, looking around, at once was most likely a fully occupied residence. He moves down a hallway with some doors; different rooms, different numbers. Finding one near the end of the hallway, Ahvo knocks on the door, waiting a few seconds. Once no one answered, he opened the door.

It was clear that people hadn’t resided here in a while, but it wasn’t an extremely messy room. Ahvo could make do with what was here. The bed seemed good - it would be nice to have somewhere soft to stay. He shut the door behind him and continued to look around his temporary room.

Standing outside the door, Ada stopped for a moment. Her finger traced over the gold-painted numbers on the door. 203. Below the three, there was a dark red stain that has been there even before she got there. Probably blood is what she assumed. After almost a whole year of living here, she can't believe that she never thought of removing it. The curiosity of who lived there before appeared in her mind till she forced it to go away with a simple shake of her head.

She knocked on the door three times before using the key to open it. Tony shuffled inside first then went to the window with his binoculars. All she could do was let out a sigh when she watched her little roommate till she remembered to close the door after her. The sound of the door shutting was always so satisfying to hear. It felt reassuring, like a weight was being lifted off of her chest.

Across from the kitchen area, a man appeared from another door. "How was the walk, Lyubeemaya?" He asked while pushing a strand of his ebony hair away. It was only Anton, no one for her to worry about. Whenever he isn't out doing border patrol or watcher duty, he's in his room either fixing weapons, trying to invent new things, or sewing. He threw a rag over his shoulder while looking at all the goods she was setting down.

A small laugh left her lips as she looked up at him. "Better than other days," She responded. Setting her backpack on the counter, she took out all the things she had received from the trader. An allen wrench was among them, she picked the tool up for a second. It felt a little bleak in her hand before she handed it over to Anton.

The man took the allen wrench, holding up with a subtle grin. "Good", He smiled, still examining the wrench in his hand. "There's still enough time before curfew, let's put all of this away and go up to the rooftop."

Ada glanced over at Tony, making sure that the kid wasn't paying attention to the two of them. Clearing her throat, she stood beside Anton with her back turned from the window. "Do you know anyone who wears full body armor, a helmet, mouth covering, a cloak covering his right arm, perhaps a few feet shorter than you?" She asked in a whispery tone. "We were around the corner when Tony stopped and was staring at this strange person. I've never seen him before."

Biting the inside of his cheek, he put his hand on his hip. Anton went over the details given a couple of times till coming to the conclusion that he did not. "No. The first time I'm hearing of anyone like this," He whispered back, "I don't even think I've ever seen a person like that while on watch duty. I'll talk to Eugene tomorrow, I'm sure it's just a soldier or someone who fights. Don't worry."

It took her a moment to give a nod. She still was getting chills just thinking about this random person. Never has a newcomer ever made her worry this way. Maybe she just needs a nap or some water. Ada tapped her finger against the counter as she glanced out the window.

It was not long before Ahvo began to set up in the room. Of course, much to his worry, he didn’t have a lock or anything like that for the door. Maybe he could move a chair in front or something like that before he went to settle for the night. Ahvo didn’t have much with him aside from the bag.
He would not make the same mistake as before, setting the bag next to the bed and bringing out the case, placing it on top of the sidetable. Easier access.
Ahvo turned to what looked like a kitchen, and approached it. Maybe he would do a bit of cleaning around here. Even if he wasn’t going to stay here for too long, it would be something to keep him busy. And nice for the next residents of this place, he decided. Whenever that would be. He wasn’t even sure if there was anyone else in this building with him. Maybe not on the floor he was on.

Curiously, Ahvo walked to the sink and attempted to turn it on. The handle gave way easy enough, but no water came out. He wasn’t sure what he had expected, to be honest. Ahvo kneeled down and peered under the sink, opening the cabinets. He hadn’t a clue of how any of this worked to the extent that, someone trained in this profession would. Dusty in here. Ahvo closed the doors.
You listened to me.

Ahvo stiffened at the voice. One that only he could hear. The rough, inhuman voice that echoed in his mind.

“I didn’t,” Ahvo responded out-loud, standing up and turning back around, moving towards the bed again. “I came out of here out of my own will.”
Maybe according to you, but the instinct was there, in the back of your mind. If you were a normal human, you wouldn’t have even thought of going to such a crowded area.

“That isn’t true.” He muttered, standing in front of the sidetable now. The medicine within the case worked to suppress the Mutation, from what Ahvo could grasp of it. But it worked decently, and was easy enough to make. And that mattered to Ahvo.
But before he could open the case, he found himself stiffen, lifting his head as his right arm tightly grasped his other.
Let me stay. I won’t do anything, I just want to observe. For a little bit, and then you can inject that suppressor again.
Ahvo thought on it. “Does me taking the medicine send you to sleep?”
It blinds me, and deafens my senses, the voice nearly hisses in his ears, causing him to flinch. He almost looks around, making sure there wasn’t anything in the room with him, any ears that could be listening, but there’s nothing.
“I’ll let you stay for a day or two. But that’s it.” Ahvo says, and the arm relaxes, releasing his human one. After that, the voice falls silent, and Ahvo sighs, practically falling onto his bed.

Once they took care of putting the goods away. The three of them got ready to go up to the rooftop. Ada's roommates both got ready in a flash while she took a moment to stretch out her arms. She took the key from the table then the three of them headed out.

The rooftop is one of the only places where she feels completely safe. It does take a while to get up there since they live on the second floor, but going up those stairs is worth it to her. The building they live in is a high-rise, but only a handful of people live in it; some also on the second floor. No one ever really comes up to the top though, she doesn't understand, you can see everything up here.

Tony stood a couple feet away from the edge. He held up his binoculars while moving his head in the direction of the entrance to the survivor city. Anton sat down and rested his head against the electric generator. The man pulled out a small notebook from his shirt pocket then started to look through it.

Ada wasn't sure what to do. Her eyes scanned around what she could see, but there was nothing really intriguing. The heat from the sun was beating down on her, leaving her to be a little bit tired. She wiped her forehead with a bandanna from her fanny pack then went over to the generator to sit down.

"Do you think anything is going to happen tonight?" Anton asked, still staring at his notebook.

She sighed, "Who knows? I'd rather have either a patient or nothing at all tonight. Anything that's not a runner, infected, or mutated. I'm too exhausted to deal with those already."

Flipping to another page, her roommate chuckled. He glimpsed over at her. "A runner. Those backends do not have any of those damn monsters anyways, I have been there many times. There's nothing."

"Let's see if your pager goes off tonight, then we'll see who's laughing," She teased. Crossing her arms, she laid back feeling the heat on the generator. "I feel like there is something lurking around here whether it's in the backends or in one of these buildings."

"Maybe there is, I wouldn't be too surprised. Some of those things are awfully smart you know." Anton shook his head, not really sure what to expect.

Getting back up, she wandered over to where Tony was. Ada tucked back a strand of hair as she gazed down below. There were a few people on the street that she recognized. A small smile appeared on her face as she waved down at them before she looked over to the back part of the city.

"I wonder if something is going to happen soon."

For what felt like a long while Ahvo lay there, on the bed in peaceful silence. But of course, something had to interrupt him. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a sleep that was uninterrupted. Or a rest. Not that he planned on sleeping in all this gear.

What is that? He thought, to no one in particular. It was a buzzing, for a moment he’d thought it was in the building, like an alarm had gone off. But a few seconds of looking around for the source led to him that the buzzing was not in reality, but rather, in his mind.
Don’t move.
What?
Don’t.

For once, Ahvo had listened to the voice in his head. There was something that made his hair stand on end, and the fact that it was oddly silent was another thing. The buzzing had stopped. Ahvo followed the Mutant’s orders - only stiffening when the door knob shook. As though someone were trying to get in.
But he would’ve thought, if someone wanted in, they would have just knocked, and Ahvo could have answered. For a brief moment, the idea of making a sign that he could hang on his door appeared, but he was more focused on what was on the other side.
The door opened.
Don't move. The voice repeated, and Ahvo stayed silent. An uncanny darkness on the other side of the door, yet, Ahvo could see nothing. But he heard it. Footsteps, definitely not human. And he saw it - but not all of it. Slight claw marks, seemingly out of nowhere, lined the peeling walls.
It’s blind, but it smells you.
Is it invisible?
What do you think?
He could see the faint imprints in dust. Long, spindly claws, it looked like, yet he was bothered he couldn’t see what this thing truly looked like. The footsteps stop, and it sniffs.
It’s confused. It smells both one of its own yet a human.
Does it think there’s one or only two creatures in this room with it?
How about you ask it?
The footsteps began again, staying away from the direction of Ahvo. He had never seen one that was invisible before. He wondered, just how many had mutations like this?
You can move, but only a little bit. Breathe quietly.
Where am I supposed to go?
A place that won’t get us killed. Ahvo crept to the side, keeping his breathing even, despite the entire situation. The Mutated seemed more interested in whatever was on the other side of the room. Ahvo had made a few steps forwards when he remembered something.
My bag! He began to track backwards.
No, we can get that later! But the voice fell on deaf ears, as Ahvo continued towards his bag. He wondered, how had this thing got into the city? It had to have set off some sort of alarm, right? Right?

A group of armed men were dashing down the street. Some carrying rifles while others held other kind of weapons like crossbows. All she could hear was their boots against the asphalt road; everything else was dead silent.

Anton's pager went off at the same time she watched the group run. Her roommate pulled the pager from his belt then held it up to see the message. "ND. 8th District. 12FVWB. Mutated, threat, and invisible," Anton read out loud. "Invisible?"

The three of them looked at each other for one second then bolted to the stairs. Ada eventually had to pick Tony up so they could back to the apartment faster. Running back down was never a problem for her, but holding a kid while doing so slowed her down a bit.

Anton rushed in then immediately ran out with his rifle and gear. Ada grabbed her backpack then took the emergency bag. Then she placed Tony in the bathroom with the emergency bag. The kid held his walkie talkie but pulled out a piece of paper and a small pen then began to draw.

"Mom, check this out," Tony murmured. He held up a blank piece of paper, or at least that's what she thought at first. Next the kid took this small purple pen then pressed the button on the side. Under the light a drawing of a smiley face.

Her eyes widened. That's it, make it visible. "Tony that's wonderful," She nodded, "We'll be back. Lock the door after I close it and remember what we practiced." Without wasting any time, she shut the door then left the apartment.

Holding up her walkie talkie, she panted while running before pressing the button. "Anton, where are you? Over," She asked.

Almost a few seconds after, she heard her roommate. "Not too far from the sight. Crown Street. Why? Over"

"Go to Mister Allard's and ask for some buckets of paint. Tell him I'll pay him back. It needs to be visible so you can get it. Over." She didn't hear anything from Anton after.

An invisible one, this has to be the most insane one she's heard of yet. Why should she be surprised about it? Ada made her way around the corner of Crown Street. She saw as some men were up on the top of some buildings while others were outside the building with the mutated. Her eyes laid on Anton, who held up a paint bucket as he pressed the button on the walkie talkie.

"Okay, I got four. And Ada….the CCTV camera and motion detector picked up something else. I think someone's in there. Over."

She stopped. Placing her hands on her knees, she tried to catch her breath. "What? Who's in there?" She asked herself.

Ahvo picked up his bag by the handle, carefully slinging it around his shoulder. The Mutated seemed to be okay, shifting things aside as it looked - presumably for the human, in this room.
Must not have a good sense of smell.
It doesn’t. It relies on hearing.
How do you know all of this?
The voice didn’t respond.
It was only when Ahvo placed the case inside his bag did the creature in the room stop. His one mistake - he didn’t think that he was that loud though, putting something in his bag. Apparently, though. To this Mutated, he was. A low growl, quiet, emerged from the invisible thing across the room. He could hear it as it slowly turned to face the source of the noise, then fell silent, and still.

Get out.
What?

Barely having time to react, Ahvo threw himself to his right, away from the bed, just as the Mutated suddenly darted forwards. What were once light footsteps were heavy, fast paced ones. Someone running - or rather, something hunting. Ahvo had been thrown off balance - what he wore was not made for fast maneuverability. Luckily, his accomplice seemed to have an affinity with this sort of stuff, and was able to warn him in advance. If it hadn’t been there, then Ahvo would have probably stayed still…
Don’t stop! Get out of here!
But this time, Ahvo couldn’t get away in time. He felt the much larger thing crash into him, knock him into the ground, and immediately go for the head. Ahvo was lucky he wore full protection. On the other hand, he wasn’t in a good place to escape or fight. The Mutated hissed - a noise that would have had Ahvo having a hard time believing this was once a human being.
Acting on its own terms, Ahvo’s right arm - his Mutated one - managed to grasp the invisible arm of the Mutated tightly. The creature shrieked, perhaps in surprise - maybe even in confusion, finding one of its arms under attack.
Enough for it to pull away, while on the bright side for itself, it was free. On the other hand, Ahvo was able to escape and make a run for the door, opening it - and slamming it shut while he was on the other side. He backed up, heart beating in his ears. The door was slammed a few times, the Mutated trying to find a way out. But it fell silent.
Was it still in there? Ahvo backed up, towards the other side of the hall.
Or were there more? He cast a wary glance down the hallway.

Ada watched as a group of men disappeared behind the corner of the building. Four of them were carrying the paints buckets along with their weapons. She pulled out her handgun, checking to see if it was loaded. Although her job was to get people out of the area the Mutated were in, she wasn't sure what was going to happen.

She was too focused on the people moving sround ready to attack that she didn't realize Anton standing next to her. His nudge startled her, she jumped then shot him a glare. He quietly chuckled then whispered, "Ten people, including you, will go in. We expect that the person is trying to escape right now. Five are already at the back, the others are over-"

Out of nowhere, she heard a terrifying shriek. The slam of the door was as startling as a gun shot. What made everyone scared was the silence that quickly followed. More people raised their weapons while carefully creeping forwards. The four from the second group were at the entrance, but stopped, waiting for the signal.

Assume the worst. That's what she always thought to herself. Assume that the Mutated is the most powerful one yet so you can effectively prepare for whatever happens, even if that means death.

Ada moved slowly as she approached the entrance of the building. Opening the door, she peaked in looking for the person. They scanned around till eventually landing on, the stranger from before? "Fuck," She mumbled. Well it doesn't matter, get the person and go. Get the person and go!

Hesitantly, she opened the door wider for the others to get inside. She only took one step inside and still held the door. Staring at the stranger, she waved her hand, beckoning for them to come over. The sound of claws caused her body to freeze.

"Hurry and come quietly," She mouthed, reaching her hand out. "Please"

If the creature had been trying to escape the room before, it had stopped for now. Ahvo knew there was a window in that room, although it was closed, and he was sure that if the creature had been able to fit through, he would have heard the window open or get broken. Which he hadn’t heard either. It was waiting - waiting in there, he had-
We’re wounded. The voice broke his progressively panicking thoughts, in which he lifted his head up. How had the Mutated pierced his suit? Ahvo would make time to get to a place to seal it up.
Bleeding. Bad blood. For humans. Ahvo could only figure out that the voice referred to the colour of his blood. Luckily enough, the suit he wore was a dark colour, so his blood would blend in with the rest of his suit. That, or he could simply say it was the Mutated, that he was able to get a shot at it. That story could make sense - the creature had shrieked, after all. Ahvo decided to say that if anyone were to notice.
How bad is it?
You will not die. Not to this. The voice only stated, and left it at that.
It slightly helped that the wound was on his back, and unless someone had really good eyes and was looking behind him, they would be unable to notice it.

Ahvo heard something and glanced over. There, he was able to see a human. She had opened the door - he realized there were more people, probably coming in to deal with the creature.
Good luck. He could only think as he stepped forwards and quickly headed for the exit.

The silence was deafening. Aside from her and the stranger, there were other people, waiting for the right moment to attack the Mutated. Every step someone made lead her to be more anxious. Any tiny sound caused her to grip the door handle harder than before. Ada pulled her gaze away from the stranger, only for it to gravitate to the door of the apartment.

Her patience was beginning to wear very thin. Despite the stranger making his way towards the door, she couldn't help but try to take a step forward. By the time the person had gotten close enough to the exit, she grabbed him then forced him outside.

One of the other men there was standing up against the wall. She noticed two others getting ready to open the door with the Mutated on the other side. Briefly, she watched them as they slowly counted down from ten.

Ada rushed out as quickly as she possibly could, but being outside didn't really calm her nerves down. Right away she could hear someone shouting "Now!" then the door busting open. The Mutated's shriek was worse than nails against a chalkboard. It didn't get any better after hearing the sounds of paintbuckets being thrown, gun shots, or people being thrown against the wall.

Everyone else outside was standing guard. Anton was close by with his rifle ready. She only kept looking forward as she rushed away, grabbing the stranger's wrist in the process.

"Are you hurt? Did you get attacked by it?" Ada questioned the stranger. In the corner of her eyes, she took a quick glimpse at him. "I'll take a look at you for any injuries then we'll wait till they kill it. Worst comes to worst, run or hide. Got it?"

At the sudden contact of being pulled forwards, Ahvo could feel himself stiffen, perhaps freezing up. His heartbeat too - if it wasn’t fast before, courtesy of the Mutated - it was now.
He could feel the slight sting of the wound kicking in now. He only had to hope that his suit was dark enough to hide his blood, and that it didn’t brush on anything where the blood would show. A very unsettling situation, he’d much rather flight than fight right now.
Stop it.
What?
Stop overthinking things. I will handle your thoughts. You only act. You’re affecting the both of us here, the more you do it.
Ahvo fell silent in mind for a few moments, but the act was hard to accomplish.

Ahvo looked down at his wrist then back at her, at the woman. He’d made an attempt to pull his arm away, but it was barely noticeable - instead, it seemed as though he’d frozen up. He was lucky, wearing all of this armour. Ahvo was decent at holding his own expressions. But not in such a rushing situation, especially one where his phobia had been triggered.
“..I’m fine,” Ahvo barely mumbled out, after a moment. His right arm slightly wavered, despite all attempts to hold it still. “Not injured. Do not touch.”

There was a sudden shattering of glass from the room, as the Mutated seemingly dove from the window towards the side, somewhat covered in paint and blood, most of it its own. The Mutated shrieked, clearly fleeing the city.