Dead USA (DrTrollinski and Elwin)

[DrTrollinski]

He jolted forward and put his hands on her shoulder. ".. I'm here to help you!" He yelled. It was obvious there was something wrong - he looked over her shoulder and saw the figures slowly approaching in the mist. ".. Look! If you leave my side, you are going to die, okay?! They're coming! Now come on!" He said as he tugged on her shoulder, he took hold of one of her hands and started to pull her towards the car.

 

[Elwin]

Luna looked at his fingers. They were winding around her arm. "You can't do this to me! I've died! I am undead. I can prove it..just don't take me to hell!" She spat blood at him, trying to prove that she wasn't human anymore. "I am red.." She shouted. "Like the grass and like you..you don't have to punish me please!" Tears streamed down her face and she fought to get away from him, lashing out her fists towards the man's red face.

 

[DrTrollinski]

He removed one hand from her shoulder and held it up to block her punches. She must have been hallucinating. Jesus Christ - What did she do out there? Did she get poisoned, or something? When she didn't stop hitting him, he quickly reached out with his free hand and slapped her, followed by grabbing her wrist. ".. Jesus Christ, Luna! You're not undead!" He screamed in her face. "You're alive, alright!? I'm not here to punish you! I'm here to save your ass from being torn to shreds, now come with me, or things are going to get really messy for you, okay?!" He yelled.

 

[Elwin]

Luna felt her eyes becoming wet as her face stung. Water leaked from them rapidly. She felt numb, like she had been defeated by Satan. "I didn't do anything wrong..." She cried and used her free hand to dig into her palm. Her teeth were gritted hard. It wasn't fair, she hadn't even had a chance to escape. "Please, my Mom is transcendental and I want to join her, don't take me prisoner." She attempted to tug away but it was a lot weaker this time. She felt her body giving in. Her energy was being sapped away. It must have been the doings of Satan, taking her soul.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Your mother is gone, Luna..." He said weakly, tears filling his eyes. ".. You're not, and right now, you have two boys that are relying on you to come home safe." He whimpered; he picked her up and hastily put her over his shoulder. He didn't know where his strength was coming from. Probably from how the horde was getting unrealistically close now. He had to make a move - he didn't care how much she kicked or struggled, he ran over to the car and almost threw her into the front passenger seat and hopped in himself, engaged the locks, and then slammed the car engine on. He made sure the locks were engaged, too. "I'm not taking you prisoner, alright?! You don't need to die - Think of Clay, and Jackson - Do you remember those names, Luna?!" He yelled.

 

[Elwin]

Luna tapped the windows. She was in some kind of box and he had trapped her inside. Who were these boys who needed her? She only had her Mother, who was an angel. "I don't know any boys.." She yelled, crying. "I know me and I want to escape..." She was trembling. Her hands were still red but they were leaving her alone. Luna watched her kidnapper climb into the box with her. "You are manipulating me.." She said, pointing a trembling finger. "I might be dead but I'm not a fool.." Luna felt her eyesight sway. It was so hard to focus on one thing.


(I might be a while replying after this, I'm off to the cinema soon!)

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. No, I'm not. You've been drugged, or something." He sighed. ".. Just sit down and be quiet. You do know, two boys, one's called Clayton, the other's called Jackson. Clayton's twelve, and Jackson's eight. Do you remember now? Surely you remember?" He sighed as he continued to driving towards the house - it wasn't too far away now. He was upset. He hoped Luna would get over this.


(Alright, what time will you be back?)

 

[Elwin]

Luna closed her eyes for a moment. The man's words were going through one ear and out the other. When she opened them again she tried so hard to understand what was going on. He suddenly no longer felt like a threat but she couldn't focus on who he actually was. "We need to go before the catch up.." She said, biting her lip. Luna stared at her hands infront of her. They were still red, but not all over. Just patches.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Of course we need to move. There's a safe place not too far from here. It's where you were with all of us before--.. Hell, before whatever happened to you." He sighed a little and continued driving onward - he left the horde behind at a quick rate, but he prayed that they wouldn't catch up to them and find them once they'd gotten inside the house. If they did that, it would have been one hell of a fight for survival, no doubt. He went as fast as the car would carry them until he ended up back outside the house - the car slid to halt across the grass and he flicked off the engine and unlocked the doors. He went around to Luna's side and helped her out, followed by dragging her inside.


He looked around, and thankfully no one had seen them come in just yet, so he lead her upstairs and into the bathroom, with nothing but the very dim sunset illuminating what they were doing; he sat her on the edge of the bathtub, locked the door, and then began to wet down a hand towel.


".. How are you feeling...?" He asked.

 

[Elwin]

Luna stared at him. Her head was mashed and she struggled to focus. "I..." She knew who he was now. But her eyesight still messed with her mind. "It..it was my fault, I wasn't drugged." Luna felt ashamed. It was no secret that she had little life experience but to not even question the consequence of eating wild mushrooms? Only a fool would do such a thing if it wasn't a choice of life or death. Greg was a blur of colours mashed together. She knew she must have looked insane, but memories of the night slowly faded. "I don't remember much..but I was scared. I still feel scared." Luna looked down at her hands. She realised that they weren't red, they were just covered in her own blood. Her nose hurt an awful lot too. Luna felt tears stream down her cheeks but she felt foolish, so she kept her head down, looking at the floor beneath her.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Well--.. You were poisoned or drugged by something out there, because you weren't acting normal. Hell, you tried punching me in the face a few times, and that ain't like you." He sighed a little and used the wet hand towel to wash the blood from her hands and face - he also cleaned her nose, but he'd identified that as the source of the blood, so he was gentle when he did that. Once her face was cleaned up properly, he put his hand under her chin and gently lifted her head so he could see her face. He sighed again when he saw that she was pretty much crying - the nose could wait for a few moments.


He pulled her close and hugged her, gently rubbing her back. ".. You had me worried, I--.. I'm just glad you're okay." He whispered to her, setting his forehead down on the top of her head.

 

[Elwin]

Luna sighed, twiddling her fingers. She felt so dumb. "I didn't mean to make you worried, it is so hard to play it safe all the time. I fool myself into thinking that everything is okay, but it isn't okay at all. We are so close to danger..it's only a matter of time.." By this point Luna was whispering her words. The hallucinations were fading, she just had an awful headache and restlessness. Luna was remembering parts of the night vividly. She remembered seeing her Mom and the grass pulling her to the floor. She remembered how everything was red and the sharp pain on her cheek. "I'm sorry for being a nightmare. You shouldn't have to leave your children to go looking for me." She said, finally looking him in the eyes.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Danger, pff." He said, rubbing her shoulder as he pulled away and sat on the edge of the lid of the toilet, looking across at her. ".. We'll be fine, okay?" He reached out and took hold of her hand with both of his own. ".. About me leaving to come for you, I--.." He sighed a little. ".. I wanted to find you, because I care about you - I owe you at least that after all the things you've done for me and my boys." He said, giving a faint half smile. ".. Half the reason I came looking for you was because of Clay. He got pretty upset while you were gone, found him crying in here. Said he missed mom, and he wanted to talk to you." He explained, looking over his shoulder towards the door. ".. I left him to nap for a while, but... Once we've got your nose fixed up, you're free to go and wake him. He'd be happy to see you." He said.

 

[Elwin]

Luna frowned for a moment as her brain pieced things together. "Clayton, of course. He is such a strong boy." She smiled a little, but it had a tragic feel to it. "It isn't anything you owe me, what I do for your sons. I'm just doing what any decent person would do." She shrugged at this and pulled her hand away from his grasp. "I am so truly sorry what happened to you. I can imagine it is ripe on your mind and I don't know what being in love with some feels like. But if it is anything like the love I had for my Mom then it must be heart wrenching." Luna spoke with sincerity. Her hallucinations had pretty much gone and only the aches of her mind followed.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. It's too bad there's not many decent people, isn't it?" He sighed a little and patted her shoulder. ".. They don't see you as a 'decent person', Luna... They see you as someone else who cares for them. Someone who they can say they trust without hesitation... To us, I think you're more than just a 'decent person'." He said as he slowly rose up and walked to the door; he was about to walk out, but then he turned back halfway.


".. It's funny... Being in love with someone's a lot like that, as it happens... It's--.." He thought for a moment. ".. It's strange at first, because first you sort of see them as a best friend - someone you trust, care for, rely on. Over time you sort of get used to the change, but honestly... Aside from the kissing and all that, it's a lot like just having a permanent best friend, but it's a bit more of a... treasured thing." He sighed a little and ran his eyes down to the ground. ".. I'll get you something for your nose." He said as he walked out and slowly made his way down the stairs to get something from the medical bag.

 

[Elwin]

Luna fluttered her eyelashes, and wiped her tears. She could only relate the love she had for her Mom. She was like her bestfriend. There was never any others. Before the infection people were unkind. Nothing has changed really. Maybe humanity deserved it. She stood up and walked to the mirror while waiting for Greg. He had cleaned her up quite nicely but she was still a wreck. Her hair was tangled and fell around her in waves and her face was paler than anything, which only highlight the tired circles beneath her eyes.

 

[DrTrollinski]

A couple of minutes later Greg returned. He waited for her to sit back down and then ducked in front of her - in his hand he had some steri-strips. It was the best he could do for a broken nose - when it came to broken noses, it wasn't as if a surgeon could go in and fix it, unless a bone fragment ended up somewhere it shouldn't have. Hell, he didn't even know if it was broken yet. He carefully ran his finger down the bridge of her nose and then touched the sides of it as well.


".. Hm... I don't think you've broken it. You've definitely cracked the bone, judging by the swelling. Trauma to the head can cause nosebleeds as well, but... I know for a fact that ain't what caused it this time." He said as he gently eased the steri-strips onto the bridge of her nose and then stuck them down. He'd put them on so it put a fair amount of pressure on her nose - this was painful, but necessary. He looked at her and then sighed as he reached up with his thumbs and wiped the tears from her cheeks. ".. Good as new." He cracked a very faint grin and then rose to his feet, stretching his back. "You can go see Clay, if you want. He was asking after you like I said. First room on the right of the bathroom." He said.

 

[Elwin]

Luna groaned. She really needed to stop acquiring injuries, whether it was a car crash, falling down a hill or running into a tree. She stood up, noticing little splashes of blood on her front. "Oh for gods sake." She mumbled, pulling her hair back into a tight braid. Luna turned to Greg. "Speaking of bedrooms. Are we going to clean up the mess in the back bedroom? Y'know with the undead?" She was at the doorframe now, ready to turn and make her way to Clayton.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. I'll probably ask Phil to take care of that. I'd like to do it as it's my sister in-law, but... I don't want to get blood all over me, and I'd rather remember her for what she was, rather than what she is." He sighed a little and rubbed his forehead, looking off down the hallway. Looking into the bedroom Luna was outside of, they could see that Clay was lying on the bed and sleeping, just like Greg said; Greg went and stood beside her and peered inside.


".. Just wake him up. He just cried himself to sleep while you were gone, and he was asking after you, so I think seeing you will uplift him a bit." He gave a weak smile and patted her shoulder.

 

[Elwin]

Luna looked down at her sweater. "The blood and my nose? What should I say about that?" She sighed. "I'd rather not tell him about how I've been hallucinating in a dark forest for a couple of hours." Luna looked into the room at the sleeping boy. She felt so bad that he had been upset about his Mom and she hadn't been there for him at all.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Just say you tripped over on your walk in the fog because you couldn't see where you were going. Hit your nose on the ground." He shrugged and then put his hand on her back, gently easing her into the room. ".. Look, pink, red, blue, green - He'll be happy to see you. I'll leave you two to have a few minutes, alright?" He gave a sad smile and then gently closed the door over.

 

[Elwin]

Luna hesitated and gingerly walked over to Clayton who was spread across the bed. She sat down on the edge and gently put her hand out onto his arm. "..Clay?" She whispered. He didn't stir so she spoke a bit louder, moving closer to the boy. "Clay it's me, Luna"

 

[DrTrollinski]

As soon as Clay came around, he needed to think for a moment. Was this a dream? No. It wasn't. He knew that voice, and that voice had come back for him.


"Luna!" He whimpered, quickly sitting up and flying into her to hug her tight, his face pressed against her chest. ".. I thought you weren't comin' back!" He cried out weakly, his arms locked tightly around her body.

 

[Elwin]

Luna laughed a little. "I wasn't gone that long dude." She hesitated. "Well maybe longer than I should have been out. But I'm back now" Luna squeezed Clayton. "How have you been feeling? Are you hungry? Thirsty? If you need anything you can always ask me you know." She smiled at him, rubbing his back.

 

[DrTrollinski]

He kept sobbing. That painful thought that he had in the back of his mind had returned - It was troubling him, and it was something that he hadn't said to his dad, but somehow felt like he could say it to Luna without trouble; he just held onto her and kept crying for a few minutes, finally, after a lot of tears, he managed to blurt out four words.


"I'm a bad person..."