forum I'm in the mood for another apocalypse roleplay... (CLOSED for now, welcome to stalk)

Started March 06, 2021 by @Becfromthedead group

tune

Kas nodded a bit and forced himself to his feet, groaning in pain and grimacing. The adult crutches, even at the lowest setting, were a little too tall for him. He wasn't quite five feet tall, so they were just too big.

"Okay, I'll adjust this one… Let's see… Bring it up, just a little lower than the others, aaand… Here. Try this one?" Tohru said, offering the next one he adjusted. He quickly went to fix the other in the pair, then passed them on to Kas.

Kas tested the other pair, which seemed to fit a little bit better. "I think these work, but I don't know exactly where they're supposed to be fitting… I don't really know how to use them, either…" He was swaying a little by now, looking pretty dizzy.

"They look about right. And they can be adjusted later if not. So, um… You basically alternate between using your good leg and the crutches to move yourself forward. It might be a little tiring at first, but I promise it's better than continuing to walk on that poor knee of yours," Tohru explained, "Just move slowly to begin with. I'll spot you. Make sure you don't fall or anything- which I doubt you will."

"Okay…" Kas slowly, carefully started to make his way forward, looking very unsteady and uncomfortable with the crutches. They were unfamiliar, and it was difficult to find the coordination. It would be difficult under ordinary circumstances, but already being disoriented wasn't helping.

"Yeah, that's it," Tohru encouraged Kas, "You're doing fine there. You'll get the hang of it, especially once you stop hurting as bad."
Tohru slowly paced alongside the kid, trying to make sure he didn't slip up.

Kas gripped the crutches a little tighter, clearly uneasy. They definitely weren't easy to use, especially in this state. He slipped with the crutches, but barely managed to catch himself with his good leg. "I-I dunno if I can do this… I suck at it…"

"Kas, you've got it. It'll just take a little more time, but it's probably super tiring right now. I don't blame you," Tohru encouraged him, "I probably would be struggling, too. If it gets to be too much, you can hold onto me instead for now, and we can try again once you're feeling okay."

"Mmmm…" Kas stopped and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to catch his breath. "I'm so… tired…" He muttered, more to himself than to Tohru. "A-And it… it hurts so much… how am I supposed to go down the stairs…?"

"Well… um… if you need me to hold the crutches while you use the railing to go down, you can use that. Or I know you're probably opposed to this, but I could carry you downstairs instead," Tohru suggested, "Do you need to stop and rest a minute before we move on?"

"I can try the railing, but… I don't want to fall and hurt myself worse…" Kas looked down at the stairs, which seemed pretty intimidating with his injured leg. And he was really tired and dizzy, so he was worried that trying to go down them without help would end very poorly.

"If you need to grab onto me, I'll be here," Tohru promised, "I'll walk right next to you the whole time in case you need my help."
He cast Kas a weak smile.
"I'm really sorry about all of this. It seems pretty rough. How did you manage to hurt yourself in the first place, if you don't mind me asking?"

Kas offered the crutches to Tohru and took one slow, shaky step onto the stairs. "Um… I was staking out in a tree and some zombies showed up and started climbing it. I couldn't climb down. They would've gotten me. I… had to jump, a-and when I landed, my knee just made this horrible popping noise… but I didn't feel it hurting yet, so I just did my best to run. I could tell that I was hurt, but what other option did I really have? At least I managed to make it to your porch before I collapsed."

"Ah… yeah… You're pretty lucky, then. I'm glad we were actually able to help you," Tohru replied, taking the crutches and staying very close to Kas' side in case he needed more help.
"Sorry it happened, of course, but it's almost certainly better than getting ripped to shreds by zombies- or even worse, getting bitten and going through the whole process of turning."

Kas nodded and clung to Tohru's arm, hoping it would help with balancing. "Yeah, I guess so… sometimes I can't help but wonder, though… I mean, this world's so terrible nowadays. I hardly remember a time when we weren't suffering endlessly for this." He fell silent, toying with his words. "Maybe… it would be… better."

Tohru shook his head gently. He wasn't going to snap back with such a delicate topic.
"There wasn't a day I spent alone that I didn't think about giving up. But I wouldn't say it's better that way. I know pain. I've watched people turn. I wouldn't wish a fate like that on my worst enemy," he said quietly, "I'm fighting for a day where you kids won't know endless suffering. Even if I have to die trying."

Kas stared at the stairs as he slowly made his way down them. "But how long until that day comes? What… what if it never comes? What if we just spend our whole lives fighting, hoping for something better, and then it just… never happens? We'd have wasted our whole lives for something impossible, and watched our friends die along the way… is it really worth all of that?"

"Well… it's either maybe waste it fighting or definitely waste it laying down and dying," Tohru replied, his voice breaking off a bit, "This hope of rebuilding, or having someone else rebuild if I don't make it- it's all I have. I don't believe in any god or afterlife. I just need to make things right here, as much as I possibly can. Some of our friends, our family, our lovers… they're dead and gone, but I'm sure they'd want us to push on. I don't see us in particular saving humanity, but the more of us that survive, the better chance we have at maybe being able to survive as the human race."

"Y-Yeah, I guess so… I worry that we're going to all die off, though. I doubt very many people are having babies right now. It's not exactly smart given the circumstances; there's no way to really take care of them." Kas sighed and carefully took another step, still uneasy and upset.

"Not right now, no. But if things calm down a bit, if a cure is found… People could start to repopulate again then. Mind you, I will not be helping in that effort," Tohru laughed slightly, "But, seeing as there are a lot of kids orphaned by all of this, I'd be more than happy to take some in."
Tohru paused a bit.
"Someone out there is definitely looking for a cure. Or at least a way to make it stop."

"Yeah… and maybe there's some parts of the world that aren't affected that we could go to. I mean… zombies aren't alive, but they can't last forever with no other people around, right?" Kas asked hopefully, tripping on the stairs and barely managing to catch himself with the rail.

Tohru grabbed Kas' other arm, making sure he didn't fall.
"Here. You can just hold my arm the rest of the way down."
He gave a small frown.
"Zombies… are alive," he whispered, "Not sentient. But they are alive. At least, that's what the doctor and a couple of the scientists on my old team determined. At its base, it's a disease. Although the one thing I'm not sure about is whether the disease eventually kills, or if they keep living, as long as they have food. And they can eat animals as well, so even if humans evacuated-"
He stopped, his mouth going dry.
"I wish I'd understood what they were talking about better… Since I'm the only one left, possibly."

Kas held tightly to Tohru's arm, pretty unsteady and nervous. "Yeah… I'm guessing most zombies aren't exactly going to be compliant for testing and stuff. It would be pretty difficult to really figure anything out about them without putting the doctors in danger."

"I'm sure there are ways. They have some of the same limitations of the human body- because at the end of the day, it's still a human body. Just no pain receptors, so they can do more than we can. Trap them properly, leave them with food, see if they die off… It's possible, just not easy," Tohru agreed, "All of what my friends gathered was through observation in the environment alone. With the right equipment and team, I'm sure we could figure it out. It's just getting there."

"Yeah… it seems like it would be too dangerous to be worth it." Kas stumbled again and clung tighter to Tohru, his legs wobbling dangerously. He whimpered softly, trying to get his legs to work. "This is so stupid… w-why don't my legs work…?"