ZRP-2: Chapter Two, Paradise in Hell

Eve looked at Sam...then smiled a bit.
"For now."

Hibiki put an arm around James' waist. "I don't think so...One less finger for you to do what you said you would." She grinned.


Miranda let him go. "Good."

(James)
"Really? All that just happened, and you still want to try that? Hibiki, I love you to bits, but now is not the time for this."

(Sam)
=Smiling, I got up and got out of my jacket, tossing it into an empty chair, keeping the bullet wound out of sight of Eve=

=I rubbed my ear, feeling it smart already=

And I apologize for running off like I was Indiana Jones.

=I rub my injured arm, trying to bend it, only making the pain worse=

Now the only thing I can shoot off is my mouth.

"Fine." Hibiki just rested against him. "Sleep then."

Eve stayed on her bed. "When can we go back to sharing a bed?"

Mira scowled. "Good!"

(Sam)
"Maybe later......I just want to sleep is all."

(James)
"After that? I don't know if I can Hibiki......I mean, I just saw my worst fear come to life earlier. I lost my finger for Christ's sake! I can't sleep.!"

Eve starts gently pushing Sam to her bed. "Then do...I promise I will let you sleep alone and peacefully tonight."

Hibiki sighed. "I know...But you have to sleep."

(Sam)
"Okay......thanks Eve."
=I got under the covers, welcoming the gentle warmth=

(James)
"I would, but we both know what's going to happen. We'll get a few minutes of rest, then Cooper will knock on the door saying Clarissa wants to talk."

=I hear the voice inside me resounding in the back of my head, dripping with sarcasm=

Bravo, Andrew...bravo... *slow claps*

=I sigh and hang my head in shame=

Can you at least be happy for me getting back alive?

Eve made sure the covers were over Sam, then she kissed her forehead. "You're buying the next date." She smiled down at Sam before heading to her bed.

Hibiki sighed. "True."


Mira paused...then hugged Andy. "I am you idiot."

(Sam)
=Closing my eyes, I whispered to her=
"Good night Eve. Sweet dreams."

(James)
=I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, holding her tight=
"Do you still think wiping out the Shepherds is worth all this?"

Eve smiled, then went to bed.

Hibiki sighed. "Yes. It is." She placed a hand over her womb. "For our child..."

=I smile, hugging her back with my one good arm=

Thanks Mira.

=I try to hug with my injured arm, but get rewarded with pain=

I thought I wouldn't see you again when Charles took the shot.

(James)
"For our child....."
=And then next thing I knew, I was kissing her. For some reason, it almost felt like the first time I had kissed her; warm, soft, full of love. It wiped away the hurt I endured today=

Hibiki kissed back, just losing herself in the moment.

Mira sighed, just hugging her idiot boyfriend.

(James)
=For the first time in days, I was able to feel my heart beat in my pants without a rising pain in my stomach. The urge to take her right there and now was very strong, and I growled into the kiss as I felt my hand go for the hem of her shirt. Something inside me still said it was wrong, too soon, far too soon=

Hibiki guided his hand there, letting him fufill some urges.
She was just lost in it all.

(James)
=I broke off the kiss, pulling my hand away and scooting away from her, my head shaking=
"No....no, it's too soon. It's.....Hibiki, honestly, I can't, not now."

Hibiki looked down. "I'm sorry. I keep pushing..." She sobs. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be acting like this. I have no clue what's wrong with me."

=I simply smile, kissing her lightly on the forehead, exhaustion starting to overwhelm me like a tidal wave=

Well...fuck the pain for a few more minutes

=I then hug her with both arms, blocking out the pain for this moment=

(James)
"No, it's okay.....we're just....tired, hurt, and looking for comfort."
=I got up and sat in a chair=

"But now is not the time."

Hibiki flopped onto her side. "It's not. But I want it. It's unfair to you...I don't know how to stop it..." Hibiki rolled over and covered her head with a pillow. "I'm a horrible wife."

Mira just relaxed into Andy's arms.

(James)
=Getting up and walking over to her, I knelt and kissed the top of her head=
"You're not a horrible wife. You're a wonderful wife. But you just need to not be such an addict."

=Getting up, I sat down on my own bed=
"Besides, the world's hardly kind to people like us, who get so gushy for each other."

Hibiki sighed. "I'm not an addict...just...twenty something years, finally got someone. Then you get hurt and I'm left wanting a bit more." She sighs. "And it isn't kind."

=I then surrendered to exhaustion, my body flopping onto the bed like a felled tree, Mira still in my arms=

Ehh...my urges can wait...

=I groan a bit in pain, but then flop onto my back, trying to get what sleep I could=

It's been a long day...

(James)
"Heh, well I wish I could oblige you Hibiki, really nothing would make me happier. But what I find sad about our relationship here is that we've been screwing each other this whole time, and we hardly know a thing about each other."

Hibiki scowled. "We screwed twice. The rest of the time we've traveled, talked, and been together."

(James)
"And yet I hardly know a thing about your life before the outbreak. The most I know is that you were a SWAT officer, you're a black belt in martial arts, and that katana of yours was owned by your grandfather. But that's about all I know."

Hibiki closes her eyes. "Ikezawa Hibiki. Hibiki Ikezawa. I never cared. Born in Baltimore. Moved to Kyoto then back before my tenth birthday. I am fluent in Japanese and English. I love motorcycles, and was building my own before the outbreak. I love sushi, spaghetti, and pot roast. Need I get into the fetishes?"

(James)
=I smirked=
"James Martin. I used to live on the West Coast, Washington state. I got most of my outdoors-man skills from my dad. He used to take me and my brother out hunting every now and then, taught us everything he knew."

=My hands were clasped together, and I looked down at them. Gave me something to focus on besides Hibiki, as I struggled to remember my old life=
"I was going to college, like my brother was supposed to before he fell into a bad crowd. This was a month before the outbreak and.....life was different. I had a future, I had a life. Hell.....even came close to asking out a girl before she got eaten. The rest, is pretty much the same; ran with my parents, but they got killed. Brother died, courtesy of the bad crowd who turned out to not be that friendly. And then I ended up with the caravan."

"If it makes you happier, I won't get eaten...no one will stop this child from being born..." She turned over to look at James. "I swear."
She then rolled back over, presenting her back. "I don't know what happened to my parents. For all I know they are dead."

(James)
"What about your time in SWAT? Any good stories to share?"

"I drove a tank through a crack house. It was fun. I also got to fly the SWAT Chopper - was a really sweet Blackhawk. Even had these cockpit mounted rubber bullet guns for crowd control. Was some test thing. Was really fun to fly." She grinned. "It was on loan from the National Guard for a year. We got to repaint it and everything. They nearly let us keep it...but guess what? Someone told the Genie he wished the world was the The Walking Dead."

(James)
"Heh, yeah.....hey, how did you end up in SWAT anyway? What made you choose that?"

"I wanted to kill people." She said.

After ten seconds, she started laughing. "Kidding...I actually wanted to do some good. So, I joined SWAT. Figured I'd do good there. I actually did. Busting into the Crack Factory in that tank? Dozens of people were taken off the addiction and lived better lives...And once we cleared an apartment of some gangsters. And then a small girl gives me a flower and says thanks for taking the bad men away."
Hibiki sighed. "That's why. For the people who needed help."

(James)
"Yeah, that's a good reason."
=We were both silent for a bit=

"I wanted to be a writer, before the outbreak. Get a job in video games, make amazing stories. Who knew I'd end up inside one of the most overused genres of all time?"

Hibiki laughed. "And you're even sleeping and going to propose to an Asian woman. Who knew?"
Hibiki rolled over to finally look back at James, smiling.

(James)
=I grinned at her=
"Yeah, who knew? If not for the outbreak, where do you think you would see yourself now?"

"Probably sitting at home, working on my motorcycle." Hibiki answered.

(James)
"Alone?"
=It wasn't easy, to hide to prying tone in my voice. I guess I wanted to know if she would really be alone=

"Yes. Alone." Hibiki answered.

(James)
"I know I asked this before, but really? Not once did you ever meet someone special, or that made you do that thing with your toes?"

"I didn't. No one made me feel that way...I hadn't found them yet."
She sighed. "I was alone...then God gave me Eve. Then you. Then Sam..." She smiled. "I don't care my life was destroyed. I was given a better one, in the end."

(James)
=I didn't want to mock her beliefs, but it was impossible to hide the snort=
"God? You really still thank God? I mean, the outbreak, the Shepherds, the world we now live in? If he's real, he left this world a long time ago."

"Evil exists because we have free will. If Evil didn't exist, we would not have the free will to choose - or deny - it. If you believe he left you, then you are either wrong, or you know you fucked up bad enough that he did." She sighs. "There's hope for this world. But thinking like that isn't going to help."

I was cruisin' on back to the lockdowntown in the Ford. Why? Because it eating me up. Being there in perfect safety (and bliss)
while Jennifer could be in danger. Yes, yes I know. I shouldn't have all these concerns for her. Because she might've left.
But I... uh... I don't know. I just know I care about her. And that's something worth living for in my book. Why discard it?
Why risk it?

(James)
"Hibiki.....I won't argue this because in the grand scheme of things it's a moot point. But my faith....I used to have a lot of faith in God. I prayed, I went to Church, I was always a good person. And then the world went to Hell, my family dies, and I'm suddenly scavenging for scraps. The best thing in my life now, is the beautiful, wonderful woman in front of me who I'm having a child with. In this whole damned wasteland, I found a flower I want to protect with my entire being. That wasn't God Hibiki, not to me. It was just chance......and I'm glad every day that we met."

"All that faith in God. You call me chance?" She sighs. "All that happened to you? Go to Job." She closed her eyes. "I'm glad too. But you're a stubborn bastard that gives me a headache, but fuck me, I love you so much..."
She sighed...and soon, exhaustion just took her into sleep.

(James)
=My faith......was honestly not something I enjoyed talking about, and I hated that it was brought up. People always say remember the story of Job, and how despite all that he still praised the name of God. Well I wasn't Job. Take away my life, give the world a plague that killed the people I cared for.....and I wouldn't find any reason to believe in God anymore. Actually, that was a mistake; did I believe in him yes. Did I still pray and praise his name? No, not anymore. I've seen good people, good, honest people far better than me suffer in this world, killed by the Shepherds or bandits, or eaten by the dead. And I always asked myself "If he loved us all....if he cared for each and every one of us, why make us suffer? Why put the ones he loved in such desolation, or if he didn't cause it then why allow it, or for it to continue? Laying on the bed, my back to Hibiki, I silently wept as I drifted off to sleep=

I was getting closer, I'm starting to remember things here and there.

I'm almost there Jen.

(James)
=While I slept, I had the usual nightmare. Jonah was back in it, I was bound again, only this time Slate was there as well. He and Jonah went about torturing me, cutting me or cutting things off while I screamed in agony. Then there was a knock at the door, waking me from my dream. It was dark, probably still night or early morning if the lack of light from the window told me anything. I got up, slowly--since my stomach was still a bit tender--and grabbed the SPAS shotgun from the dresser, where I had left it earlier. Then I walked to the door, and opened it, the business end of the shotgun aimed at Cooper, standing outside=

*Cooper*
=He eyed the barrel of the gun for a moment, his face calm=
"This how you treat everyone that saves you?"

(James)
=I lowered the gun, aiming it now at the floor=
"Only when it's so soon after getting kidnapped and having a piece of myself cut off. What's going on?"

*Cooper*
"I know it's a bit soon, but Clarissa wanted you to know asap. She and the others came to a decision: now that Slate's dead and our problems taken care of here, we're going to join you in this fight. Soldiers and resources will be at your disposal, and you and your friends will have always be welcome here."

(James)
"Tell her I said thanks. We'll head back to the lockdown town soon, spread the good news."
=With that, he left me standing there, and I closed the door. A wave of relief hit me right then and there, as I slowly realized what we had accomplished: we now had the beginnings of a strong army, to fight the Shepherds=