#the OGL stuff is bringing out some nasty bad takes and I’m sad | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mareebrittenford · 6 years

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Space Zombies AU Pt 2

I had so much fun writing my characters into an AU, fan fic style, that I think I’m going to continue it, rolling more prompts into it as I go, sort of extended universe style.

So far in the story... (part 1 can be found here ) Lyse, looter and scavenger of abandoned and destroyed space ships found herself on board a ship that had supposedly been overrun by a plague. Except the sick are still walking around and seem to want to eat her.

She managed to escape back to her own ship with the friendly dog she found on board. But that’s just the beginning of her problems...

He’s out. Completely unconscious. The man that was a dog (wolf according to him anyway) a few moments ago looks almost dead. I scramble over to him.

My heart rate had started to return to normal after that frantic sprint. But now it picks up again. I yank off my glove and press my fingers to his neck. I’ve always been bad at this, often not being able to find a pulse on someone who’s awake and looking at me. But on him I find it almost immediately. The gentle beat under my fingertips is faint and probably too slow. But he’s not dead.

I roll him onto his back and start checking him for injuries. His pale skin is absolutely filthy, covered with smears of substances that I’d rather not know the origins of. But his skin is remarkably smooth. No scars or abrasions at all. Not even the kind you pick up in everyday life, let alone what I’d expect from what he’s just been living.

He’s emaciated, his ribs and hipbones are far too visible, but I can see what he could be. Small and lean and agile. Just my type. Instead of what he is now. Young and fragile.

“Are you seriously ogling an unconscious guy? Ugh.”

I look over at the round window into the main body of the ship. Phil is there watching me.

“I’m checking him for injuries.”

“Yeah sure. Injuries.”

“Have you got the secondary quarantine set up?”

“Yep all ready to go. I’ve fobbed Felipe off, he agreed about the quarantine considering what you saw over there, but I didn’t tell him about your friend. I’d advise you get him hosed down and out of that airlock asap.”

“Right. Okay, go forward, lock the hatch down and let me know when you’re clear.”

I expect him to protest locking his sister out of the forward sections of the ship. But he saw those zombie creatures too.

I grab a hand sprayer off the wall and start showering the man with Sanichem, the nasty green chemical that supposedly will kill off any toxins or viruses. Of course whatever was going on on that ship is brand new, so who knows if it’s gonna work. I’m still minimizing the risk.

He yelps as the cold fluid hits him, leaping into wakefulness with an aggression that betrays a dangerous past.

I dodge back, but he freezes in his attack stance and stares at me. “You’re real?”

I grin. Stupid hormones. “Yeah. I’m real. Hold still. I need to do decon before we go inside.”

He obeys, spreading his arms and legs wide as I circle him, utterly un-selfconscious of his nudity. Living on cramped ships means most people I know are relatively comfortable naked, but this guy takes it to another level. It’s as if he’s forgotten he’s completely bare and vulnerable.

He bends his head so I can scrub the chemical through his greasy tangled hair. At least it’s fairly short.

He’s starting to shiver more violently, but we can’t skip this.

I hand him the sprayer and turn away to start stripping off my gear. I hesitate, feeling almost dared to be as casually naked as he is. But after a moment I leave on my underclothing. The technical fabric is no barrier to the chemical, and no matter how at ease he is, I’m not comfortable getting naked like this.

I shove all my stuff into the sonic decon crate and switch it on, wishing we could use that for people. Instead I have to endure the Sanichem.

“Spray me down and we can get somewhere warmer,” I tell him.

He’s obviously familiar with this process, because he’s quick and efficient. I still flinch as the chemical hits my skin. It’s cold and while it doesn’t burn me it sure feels like it.

“Are there more people on board?” He asks

“Yeah, my father and brother. But don’t worry. They’ve locked us down for quarantine in the aft section. It’s all set up.”

“That’s fine. But you need to tell them to get the ship out of here, now. You aren’t the first ones to try to scab here, and as far as I can tell they have destroyers out there maintaining the quarantine. If they catch you this close then we’re all in big trouble.”

Wonderful.

“You hear that Phil?” I call out. No doubt he’s eavesdropping. He may have principles about invading other people’s minds, but it doesn’t stop him from being a little sneak in every other way.

“On it,” his disembodied voice says. And with in a few seconds I feel the inertial pull before the dampeners even it out.

“Can you bend down a little?” The guy asks, the mundane request almost amusing after his dramatic pronouncement.

Is it really necessary to spray my hair? It was inside my helmet the entire time. I sigh and crouch, and his fingers gently unwind my braid. The sensation of his fingers in my hair is the same, yet entirely different from Phil’s. Damn. Is this what having a soul mate is? Lust at the simplest of touches?

He doesn’t linger, and within minute he’s tapping me on the shoulder and hanging the sprayer back on it’s hook.

“Phil? You good? I’m ready.”

“Okay.”

The hatch slides open and we step into the more pleasant temperature and humidity controlled environment of the ship.

I let him take the first shower. He stinks, and he’s still shaking from cold. Plus I don’t know how much more of him casually standing around naked I can take. I busy myself laying out a set of my clothes for him and reconstituting him a meal, while the Sanichem dries to an unpleasant crust on my skin and continues to drip from my hair.

He’s only gone a few minutes, and by the time I’ve washed myself he’s dressed and tearing into the food with all the table manners of, well, a wolf. The basic coveralls we all wear are beige and baggy, and hell, I’ve already seen him naked, but there’s something so adorable about him with his now clean hair flopping in his face, and crap I am in so deep and I’ve barely even spoken to the guy. But he’s radiating contentment, and soulmate link means his happiness is my happiness.

There’s no where to sit besides the floor. The living quarters are in the forward part of the ship. All we’ve got in this rear section is the sanitation rooms and storage. It’s configured with isolated air and water systems, so it can be used for containment, but comfortable it’s not. It’s lucky there’s even a bunk and food reconstituter.

I sit on the floor, leaning my back against the wall. He sits beside me and offers me some food from his tray. Which is incredibly sweet considering that he’s obviously starving and there’s plenty more food packs in the cupboards.

I shake my head. My stomach is still rolling from the horrors on the other ship, so I have no interest in eating anything myself. Instead I watch him. For all he’s cramming food down his throat at high speed he’s amazingly neat. No food is spilled or smeared across his face. He uses his utensils carefully. He doesn’t try to speak with his mouth full.

“So you like roast beef then?”

As if that reconstituted food really counts as beef. Still, he looks up at me and smiles.

“You have beautiful eyes,” I say, and his eyes widen and he turns away quickly. I want to hit myself. What sort of conversational opener is that? He does have amazingly eyes though. They transform his face from average to striking.

His throat works as he swallows quickly. “Sorry,” he mutters.

Sorry? Sorry for what? Calling me across the system to save him? I don’t think he did it on purpose. And so what if he did? I want him here with me. Whoever he is.

“What’s your name?” I ask, and his eyes flit up for a second, before disappearing beneath his lashes again.

“David. David Smith.”

“Old world.”

“Yeah. I was born on earth, believe it or not. What about you?”

He’s finished the food and is setting the tray to the side, so I stick out my hand to shake. “I’m Lyse Aptar-Lucero. Born on Aptar station.” As if that wasn’t obvious by my station designation name.

He takes my hand and he smiles, his eyes meeting mine again for a brief moment. I wonder if it’s an earth culture thing, avoiding direct eye contact, or perhaps he’s autistic. Whatever it is I can feel his discomfort. So I turn and face forward, resisting the desire to watch him.

“Is Phil your father or brother?”

“Brother. Felipe is my father.”

“And they’re okay with you bringing me on-board?”

I shrug. “Phil is. And Felipe is probably going to try to vent you first chance he gets.”

David tenses and I put my hand on his shoulder. “He’ll try. I won’t let him.”

“Why?” he whispers. “Why would you protect me? Why aren’t you afraid of me? You saw what I am. And you saw… what happened back there.”

The sadness and loneliness is such a massive pit, I could fall in and never find my way out.

I elbow him. I know he wasn’t the one who massacred those people, or infected them or whatever happened. I know it.

“We extras have to stick together, right? Just cause you’re a little more extra than most, no reason to be a jerk about it. If you infect me with that zombie thing I’ll be mad though.”

He shakes his head seriously. “No, I’m clean. It’s spread by body fluid as far as I could tell. Blood and saliva. You have to get it in an open wound. And they only went after humans. They weren’t interested in me as a wolf. So I just stayed a wolf as much as I could.”

“How soon will we know if we’re infected?”

“Fast. We’d already be showing symptoms.” he rubs his face. “I watched a few people go through it. It only takes about an hour.”

An hour. That’s horrifying. And this emotional link thing, I think we’re amplifying each other or something, I feel my horror and I think it’s making him upset, which is just freaking me out more. Damn. I need to get some lessons from Phil on creating mental barriers.

I throw my arm around his shoulders, hoping to comfort him a little, to ease that rebounding pain. And amazingly it works. It dampens immediately and he snuggles closer, leaning into me, although theses a new undertone of… something I can’t quite distinguish.

“You still didn’t explain why you’re not scared of me. Everyone else who’s seen what I do...”

I rub his back. I think he’s been alone for a long time. To assume that even his own kind would reject him.

“Because we’re the same stupid. And besides the link…” I’m not sure how to talk about that. Should I ask straight out? ‘Hey do you think we’re soulmates?’ What if I doesn’t think that at all? What if empathic links is one of his abilities? Of course his echoing loneliness suggests otherwise, but still. He could simply not believe in soulmates. My friend Georgia thinks it’s all rubbish.

“You’re a wolf too?” he asks.

“No, no, I’m a chameleon.”

“You can turn into a lizard?”

I snort a little at that. “Of course not. It’s just a title. Oh, I guess for you it’s not. I’ve never met anyone who can actually change form. It’s amazing.”

“Amazing huh? Nobody ever said that before.” He’s sounding drowsy and confused. This is probably the first time he’s relaxed in weeks.

I shove him into the bunk and he’s asleep in seconds.

I consider joining him, I’m bone achingly tired. But I look around at the mess of chemicals spattered on the floor. The airlock is probably worse, although it has a drainage grate. We can’t afford to waste the Sanichem. So I open the hatch to the airlock and use the hand blower to sweep as much as I can into the grate and down the drain for cleaning and reuse. I even wipe everything down with a damp rag, purely because I hate the smell of that stuff.

I’m so ready to climb into the bunk, helplessly anticipating how it will feel to sleep touching him (oh man I have it bad,) when I feel the ominous clunk of a navigation lock.

A larger more powerful ship has send a pulse that’s stalled our engines.

The military has found us.

#au tuesday #space zombies au #part 2 #extra fakes characters

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