ZRP-2: Chapter Two, Paradise in Hell

=I look to Eve=

I was focusing on that.

=I look to James=

It's just those two were bickering like high schoolers after a first date gone wrong.

Eve panted just a bit, scooting over to hug Sam awkwardly. "You're paying for dinner."

Hibiki smiled. "Sure. If you walk."

=I sigh and stand up, escorting Mira back to our room=

Well...that rest is much needed...

=I start heading back to the hotel, feeling drained=

(James)
"Wow, really?"
=Still, the thought was tempting. To once more try and walk.....still, it seemed a bit soon=

"How about we try when I get to the hallway?"

(Sam)
"With what?"

"No, not really."
Hibiki started to roll James along.

Eve shrugged. "Can we just go to our room?"

(James)
"Maybe the door then...."
=It sort of lighthearted chat during the walk back=

(Sam)
=I took her hand, and we followed James and Hibiki back to the hotel=

"How much longer are you going to be in this thing? And whatever happened to motorized ones?" She joked.

Eve's hand tightened in Sam's. "We made it."

(Sam)
"That we did."
=I squeezed back=

(James)
"I think they ran out of power for the motorized ones. And while you were asleep earlier....I tried walking. Painful, but I'm getting there. Might try again, maybe a small walk to the bed or something."
=Eventually, we reached the hotel=

=I sigh, trying not to flop down from what has happened the past two days=

Good lord...this feeling sucks

=I get to the door of the hotel, my mind thinking on taking a shower, and follow the other four inside, looking for our room=

Mira shuffled behind Andrew, exhausted.

Eve rested her head on Sam's arm. "I want to take a nap."

Hibiki scowled. "That was reckless. If you fell and seriously hurt yourself..."

(Sam)
"When we get to the room, we'll take a nice long nap Eve. Believe me, I think we earned it."

(James)
=I grimaced a little, bracing myself for another argument=
"I can't afford to be in this wheelchair forever Hibiki. Back there just proved it. The sooner I'm out the better."

=I shuffle back to the room with Mira, my shoulder feeling like hell=

100 rounds on full auto...man, I'll be feeling that in the morning...

=I look to Mira, who's exhausted as I was, if not more so. We then get to the room, I open the door. I then get near the bed and flop down on it, exhausted=

"There is a difference between trying to walk when you are healed and trying to walk while you are healing." Hibiki retorted.

Eve groaned. "Why does this feel worse then any other time I ran from a horde?"

Mira fkopped down on her bed and went right to sleep.

(Sam)
"Because there was someone other than your mom running from the horde, someone you cared about?"

(James)
"Hibiki.....we just can't afford to wait anymore. I can't afford to wait anymore."
=We entered the hotel, splitting up from Sam and Eve as we headed for our own room=

=I slip off the 416, and set it beside the bed=

Now...all I want to do is sleep...

=I slip into exhaustion, the numbness of sleep overtaking me=

We both need it...

"You aren't healed." She scowled. "You really wanna fuck with me Ja.es? I am pregnant and I carry a fucking katana. You are sure you wanna piss me off?"

Eve nodded. "I guess."

(Sam)
=We walked down the other hall, to our room. I opened the door, dragging Eve with me, and made for the bed. Soft sheets, and lots of sleep. Bliss=

(James)
"Hibiki what do you want from me? I turned myself into a liability to all of us, so I may as well do what I can to not prolong that."
=Reaching the room, I grabbed the handle, opening the door, then I wheeled myself in=

"Stop being a fucking moron. If you don't wait, you'll make yourself an even worse liability. Stop it right now. Don't dish this bullshit out; you'll only prolong being a liability."

Eve threw her shoes, socks, jacket, pack, everything either on or by her bed, then crawled into Sam's bed, waiting for the other girl

(James)
"Well then what am I supposed to do Hibiki? I can't sit idly by while you guys all risk your necks out there. And I can't afford to stay in this wheelchair."
=I stopped right by the bed, not looking at her. I felt angry....and ashamed=

(Sam)
=Following her lead, I kicked off most of my gear, and crawled into bed with Eve, holding her close to me=

"You wait. You fucking wait. Like I have to wait to find out if it"s a boy or girl. You have to fucking wait."

Eve curled up close, gently nestling her head on Sam's chest. "I love you."

(Sam)
=My chin rubbed the top of her head affectionately=
"Love you too Eve."

(James)
=At that point.....I was just so angry. I wasn't going to hit anyone, or raise my voice. What I did was more extreme; I rose from the chair, gritting my teeth at the pain, and turned to face her. There were tears in eyes though=
"You think I don't know that? I want to wait Hibiki, to get better, to see our child be born. But every moment I'm in that chair, helpless.....useless, I'm terrified that something will happen to you, and I won't be there. That you'll be alone."

=My legs felt a little shaky, but I didn't care=

Eve closed her eyes and smiled.
"Do you know any lullabies?"

Hibiki went nuclear.
She slaped James right back into the wheelchair so hard the chair rolled backwards a bit.
"If you do not wait, then you will remain useless. Stop being impatient, stop being self-righteous, stop being stupid. Stop. Being. Selfish."

(James)
=The slap shocked me a little, if only because I didn't expect her to slap me. I didn't even bother to stop the chair, as it rolled right back into the wall. My head was hung low, I couldn't look her in the eye=

(Sam)
"Not really......not the words anyway. Just the tune."

Hibiki glared at him. "You walk when you are healed. Not before. After. Try that again, you sleep alone. I need a living, healthy husband. Not a dead one."

"I never was sung a lullaby...would you sing me to sleep as best as you can? Just this once?" Eve asked quietly. Shyly.

(Sam)
"Well, I think there's one. Kinda old, and pretty basic."
=Closing my eyes in concentration, I worked to remember the words=

"Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky....."

(James)
"And I want to be able to stand tall by you Hibiki.....I just want to be able to walk with you. Not wheel on by, or have you push me."

"Then fucking WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE HEALED." She nearly screamed.

Eve closed her eyes, her body relaxing. "I...love...you..."
And Eve was asleep.

(James)
=I was just silent the whole time, not willing to look at her. Couldn't even muster the will to say anything=

(Sam)
"Goodnight Eve."
=I held the sleeping girl in my arms, waiting for when sleep would take me as well=

I awoke before dawn, the next morning. I got up, drank some water. my eyes ere a little wet from the previous night. The sun hadn't risen over the horizon yet, so it was dark. I made my breakfast and then left the school. I didn't say goodbye. It wasn't necessary. I scoped out the area before I left, looking for any undead, lucky for me, it was too cold for any of them to be out and about. I hoped they all froze to death.

I figured I could walk about 10 miles a day, without tiring myself out too much. Steady wins the race. Besides, I thought to myself, haven't you stayed in one place long enough? Don't you want to explore this new america? this, undead, america? I had strange thoughts. Perhaps it was a good thing I was leaving then. Who knows, I might've eventually left willingly, without prompt.

Oh wait.

I chuckled to myself at my own private joke.

I walked across the street, into the jungle known as Chicago. It was like walking through memory lane. Not necessarily my memories, but still. I had flashbacks of before the Zombie apocalypse hit. It was nice. Then of course, reality hit, and all the smells and smiling faces disappeared. And I was alone on the street. If it hadn't been the zombie apocalypse, I would've thought something was up. But this was the new normal. Emptiness. more than 50% of Chicago died in the initial outbreak. the least casualties were in the ghetto. Well, for a while. A lot of them died because they had to get food or wasted too much ammo in the beginning. Put a lot of them back into the grave.

As I walked I avoided the piles of undead that were now just dead. it smelled. When spring would get closer, the birds would come. for now, stray dogs, the occasional fox, a maybe a wolf or three will come in and nibble at them. I watched from time to time, with a fascination that could only come from a biologist. I hoped the virus wasn't non-discriminant, I didn't want to fend off zombie dogs and animals. That would be terrible. Not that it wasn't already terrible. But I guess years of killing human zombies in video games desensitized me.

I eventually passed a butchers storefront. I stopped in front of it. Curious. It was oddly well kept. Dead zombies littered the area, all of them with gunshot wounds to the head. All of them. 30 or so zombies laying about. I made an impressed face, despite knowing that no one would see it. I looked around, nodding. "All right Nick, let's see what's in here..." I began to open the door of the store when I suddenly met resistance. "...Or not."

I walked over to the window, instinctually, and knocked. Nothing. I tried peering into the store, like some people do when looking into a dark store. I couldn't see anything, it was all dark. I scratched my head. "Well, I guess nobody's home." I started to walk away when I heard footsteps. Heavy footsteps, like someone was running. I turned just in time to see a flash of blonde hair and blue eyes only to be suddenly on my back. I let out a breath of air. "Ow." I said half-heartedly.

My gaze was up at the dark sky, as tendrils of light began to streak across it. The sun was rising. A woman entered my suddenly vertical line of vision. She was blonde, blue eyed, pretty tall, or at least, from the ground she was pretty tall. she was pretty cute. She was giving me a hard look. I smiled stupidly. What can I say, I'm a sucker for women. "Hey there.." I said quietly, looking up at her. She grunted, and helped me to my feet. I groaned a little. She could hit hard. "What are you doing?" She said in a slight russian accent. Well, maybe it wasn't russian, but it sounded russian to me. "I was wondering the same thing." I said, trying to be wry. She gave me an exhausted look, which, if I may, all but made my heart skip if you know what I mean.

(James)
=The will to argue was gone, and I was so ashamed I wasn't sure I could be in the same room with her right now. My hands moved for the wheels of the chair, and I started wheeling myself for the door=

"If you want that door to open, you better learn to stop trying to get yourself killed."

Eve slept soundlessly, curled up against Sam. Her dreams were sweet. No nightmares invaded.

(James)
=Right as I was a foot from the door, I stopped=
"You saying you intend to keep me here?"

=There was an edge to my voice, as if I were challenging her. And I hated it=

Abel laid above the covers in his bed. Just looking at the ceiling, eyes wide open, and awake. He wasn't tired, but he wasn't sure why not. He just thought. Not about anything specific... just, everything.

"No. Fucking hell. You want to return, then you better not be acting stupid. End of discussion."

(James)
"Fine."
=And that was the last thing I said to her, before I opened the door, wheeled myself out, and closed it behind me. I went down the hallway, feeling sick to my stomach, God I needed some air=

=I settle into a deep sleep, not aware that I am snoring like a damn chainsaw=

Well...yeah, it's been a long day...

=I continue to snore as I sleep like a log, my dreams pleasant=

Abel sat up at the foot of the bed. He grabbed his USP that they let him keep when they entered the facility, from its dropleg holster. He cradled it in his hands a moment, then ejected the clip, letting it hit his coat on the floor, making a light thud sound. He pulled the slide back, making sure the chamber clear, even though he knew it was, better safe than sorry. He pulled out a pin and let the slide come forward slowly. It popped off the lower receiver, and Abel put the body to the side. He grabbed a red grease rag from his coat, and began cleaning the firearm.

(James)
=I didn't see anyone else in the hotel that I knew, which was fine really. More than anything I just needed some space. Exiting the hotel and onto the street, I went to the right, heading for the giant arch=

Hibiki stood there for a few minutes.
Then she fell to her knees and just cried.

(James)
=The.....walk, wasn't the right word. Neither was drive. Ride, maybe. Either way, getting to the arch was quite, uneventful. The one thing on my mind though was the argument I had with Hibiki. It was the first time I think that we had ever, actually argued like that. It killed me, to do that, to argue with her, shout at her. But it was too late to change what had happened, and all I could do was try and make amends. Wasn't sure how though, because somehow 'sorry' didn't seem good enough=

Abel whistled as he cleaned and put his pistol back together.
Once he was done though... He was back to nothing, now just staring at the wall, in silence. He let out a deep sigh, then stood up. Abel rubbed his hands together, and walked around the room. Maybe hoping he'd get tired and fall asleep. He looked out the window, but saying is they were set up on the bottom floor, there was nothing to see other than barricades.

Yeah. You're not going to believe this, but I managed to get myself lost while everyone I know fought the Zombies.
Pretty lame really. Miss out on all the action because I got lost. It's a big city and I'm not used to that. So...
Right now, I was just relaxing outside. Just thinking things over by the giant Arch. Figured I need a spot to just think.
Why not here?

(James)
=I never made it to the arch, having stopped half way there. Somehow......somehow I just knew I needed to go back to that room, but honestly I couldn't.....I couldn't face her, after the fight. Maybe I'd just go back and face the wall or something. Turing around on the sidewalk, I wheeled myself back to the hotel=

Hibiki stopped crying and just sat her, legs splayed out behind her, slightly away from her sides.
"You...idiot."

Jennifer Jennifer Jennifer Jennifer Jennifer

"Wait, what? Dude, are you crazy?"

"Yes, why does it matter?"

(Sam)
=Eventually, I drifted off to sleep. It wasn't that it was late or anything, I was just tired from running=

(James)
=Making my way back into the hotel, my arms were already starting to feel sore from constantly rolling the wheels. Going down the hall, I stopped outside the door to the room, unsure of what to do. Dare I knock, or should I just enter? In the end....I went with both, knocking on the door lightly, then entering the room. Hibiki was still there, collapsed on the floor in an awkward sitting position=
"Hey...."

Hibiki looked up from her lap.
"Are you still trying to be an idiot?"

(James)
=Slowly, I wheeled over to her. Seeing her like that.....was unbearable=
"Not anymore Hibiki......not anymore."

=When I was close enough, I reached out a hand, gently caressing her cheek and wiping away the tears=

She looked up at James...and she pitched forward to rest her head in his lap. She started crying again.
"I can't lose you now. Not now."

(James)
=I held her head in my hands, fingers twining themselves in her hair, my own tears falling on the top of her head=
"And I don't want to lose you. I don't want to leave you Hibiki."

Hibiki sobbed. "Then promise you'll let yourself heal before you try to be yourself again!"