Fandom Life in a Quarantine Zone { The Last of Us 1x1 with icedthemoon }

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva
Aspiring Artist | 23 | Current location ;; Colorado

Carlos was not phased by these words. How similar he was to the angry that was Basira who took her troubles out on anyone around. She could rage for hours, burning bridges before anyone had a chance to even find them, but only because she feared so heavily what might happen if someone were to even begin to cross them. She was hurt too many times before. Who hurt you, Blue Eyes? Who told you that the only way was FEDRA? “Love, you have never been in charge of me. If you were in charge, you would be alone out here, probably still breaking behind a counter where one of those friends was going to inevitably find you and take your very meaningful life.” No judgement, only fact. “It is because I am not your subordinate that this works. You are not a soldier boy. Let it go. And maybe actually tell me what you mean next time. Generic cranky like you’ve been the whole time does not equal the same thing as ‘if you talk too loud, the entire hoard will hear you.’ In case you forgot Officer Price, I was not in the know like you of the privileged. While you got all that training, I was slumming it.”

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[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price
Former FEDRA officer | 25 | Current location ;; Colorado

Kaleb stopped walking when he heard Carlos talking. His head turned to look at him. Kaleb was so used to be in charge and having his group listen, that having someone who was now his equal was weird to him. He wasn't even sure how to answer that, there was no rebuttal that he could think of at the moment. Just what could he say. Sorry? That wasn't great. "I appreciate you bringing me out of my state behind the counter. Next time I'll be more specific on what I'm talking about. And I did not ask to be raised and trained, it wasn't a choice. It was a demand." Kaleb was still very guarded on what he talked about. He finally started walking again.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva
Aspiring Artist | 23 | Current location ;; Colorado

Well that went better than he expected. He thought for sure that would be another argument, but he would take this as a victory. One step closer to whatever destiny he was chasing. He was not sure how it was supposed to be, but he knew it was right. He fell in line with Kaleb again as he walked. “Now, how about we start over? You want supplies for survival. That’s good, because I would absolutely love to survive as well. What supplies are you looking for? You probably need more ammo for that pistol of yours.” Carlos looked over him in consideration. “Probably things for a medical kit for in case things go wrong. What else? Can we find more bombs? That was the most beautiful picture I have seen in a long time.”
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[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price
Former FEDRA officer | 25 | Current location ;; Colorado

Kaleb sighed heavily, glancing over at Carlos. It was clear to him that no matter what he did or said, Carlos was not leaving his side. The man seemed determined to be here with him. "Medical supplies, ammo, a map, and yes things for explosives like nail bombs, trap mines, and molotovs." He answered, and then rolled his eyes. "You had a very weird version of art" Kaleb added as they walked. It was a long road, that he hoped would lead them somewhere far from Denver. Kaleb couldn't see much ahead but barren land. "I just hope we find another town, otherwise we'll be camping out in the open and I don't like that."​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva
Aspiring Artist | 23 | Current location ;; Colorado

See? That wasn’t so hard, was it? Of course not! This was how a partnership was supposed to work. A perfect partnership of a palatable pair. “That all sounds wonderful, but you do know I have no idea how to make any of that right? Good thing I have an expert!” He observed their open land barren of towns and only felt a growing sense of adventure. He gently nudged Kaleb’s shoulder with his own as he thought of the perfect way to remember this. “Have no fear my strange beauty. We can always cozy up for warmth in the chilly waste lands.” He chuckled.
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[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price
Former FEDRA officer | 25 | Current location ;; Colorado

Kaleb was not going to do anything more with Carlos than travel beside him. He was not looking for anything, at all. "At least one of us will be able to keep us alive." Kaleb said, his head still facing forward. He felt the nudge on his shoulder and looked away. "My only fear is being discovered sleeping by people that would rather see us dead." He'd heard tales of groups of survivors out in the country that would not hesitate to kill people that they found either in cities they claimed or on their way to find a city.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva
Aspiring Artist | 23 | Current location ;; Colorado

Carlos thought about that. People who murdered for no reason other than yay more dead people seemed a bit extreme but also likely. He heard plenty of stories through the QZ from people who got to leave. He was very good at listening when he needed to be. “So we make sure to camp in a shelter not surrounded by murderous maniacs. Seems simple enough. We can even take turns watching if that would make you feel better.”
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[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price
Former FEDRA officer | 25 | Current location ;; Colorado

Kaleb paused in his steps as he glanced over at Carlos. His gaze then turned back to look in front of him. "How do we camp in a shelter if there is no shelter to be found?" He asked. "I can't build something out of thin air because we need to be safe." Kaleb added, though the offer to take turns watching was sweet to Kaleb. He didn't like it though. He didn't want to entertain anything more than traveling together.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva
Aspiring Artist | 23 | Current location ;; Colorado

Carlos also paused. “If you could, that would be magic, and as magical as I know that you aren’t, I doubt you are that magical.” There were plenty of ways to solve a problem that seemed unsolvable. They simply had to work through the problem to find solutions. There were always solutions around the corner if you look. “Well, I’m sure it’s not a literal barren wasteland. There’s bound to be something like a cave or a jutting piece of land that can be a temporary roof. Natural shelter! I may not have ever left the QZ, but I have seen pictures of what it’s like out here.“ he studied them for the beauty of natural art of course. He went through a phase replicating them with his paints around the QZ.
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[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price
Former FEDRA officer | 25 | Current location ;; Colorado

Kaleb listened, and even he had to admit that made perfect sense. “Then you are in charge of finding us appropriate shelter for camp.” Kaleb told him. If Carlos wanted to tag along, then he can find this shelter that he’d seen pictures of. Kaleb didn’t really care, he was more intent on getting as far from Denver as he could.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva
Aspiring Artist | 23 | Current location ;; Colorado

Carlos couldn’t help but have his goofy grin. It wasn’t about winning. It was about meeting in the middle, except what Kaleb didn’t see was that they were already on the same side. Until he could see that, this was good enough for now. “You’ve got a deal, Blue Eyes. You get us as far as you need to feel safe from your horrible friends and then I will find us something beautiful enough to draw as soon as we find a journal. There’s bound to be one down there. Salim’s buddy was always bringing us supplies he found in these abandoned towns.”
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[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price
Former FEDRA officer | 25 | Current location ;; Colorado

Kaleb looked over at the man when he spoke. He only nodded. “Fine.” And so they walked, and the landscape did not change much. Every so often an eagle would cry and fly overhead, and a hot breeze would blow over them. It seemed like no time at all but up ahead, was a small city. Bigger than the town they’d left behind. A glance at the sky showed that they’d walked half the day already. “Can we actually go through this city quietly?” Kaleb asked. If they did it right, it would take a couple days to search all the possible places they could. At least they could stay somewhere safe for the night anyway. ​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva
Aspiring Artist | 23 | Current location ;; Colorado

In their comfortable silence, Carlos spent his time thinking first about how he got there which eventually turned into a new design. Oh it was going to be the best design. This one was going to have to be monochrome since the likelihood that he was going to find any colors was slim. Could he find paints? Not the spray stuff. He never got to have a lot of those little acrylic things or whatever. The very little he had was amazing. The portraits of all of them hanging in their little room were all created with those. For a long time, he thought those were his best work. Then he made the mural. That was the best thing he’d ever done. Now, he had nothing, and he imagined how it could be if he had just a pencil- He looked over at Kaleb, took approximately three seconds to process the words that came from his mouth, and then nodded. He put a finger to his lips with a smile.
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[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price
Former FEDRA officer | 25 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Nodding to that, Kaleb continued to the city. A sign outside of it, battered and ripped, read. ‘Welcome to Paradise New Mexico.’ Well. They were official out of Colorado and far from Denver. Kaleb entered the city quietly, looking around. “Let’s check this building here first.” Kaleb whispered tipping his head to the right to show the two story office building.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva
Aspiring Artist | 23 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Being quiet was not necessarily difficult for Carlos but it was a little out of character. Sometimes. He could be silent when the occasion called for it. Running from the guards, slipping past them, and overall being trouble meant that he learned early on how to be sneaky. So, if they were being quiet so as not to alert the entire population of infected, he could be stealth guy. He was good at stealthing when it was to safe his own skin. Instead of saying ‘Yes, that is exactly where I would like to go to find whatever supplies are required for bomb making and also for survival and potentially also art things but it’s definitely fine if they aren’t in this building first,’ he merely nodded like a good boy and winked not like a good boy, and stepped quickly and silently to the building. This time he would actually survey if this was when they had to fight for their lives. Windows were boarded up. Front door? Or maybe a back door if the front was questionable? They may not have been in that town long but it was enough to see that it was not at all like the pictures showed them being from before.
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[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price
Former FEDRA officer | 25 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb rolled his eyes at the wink but knew that Carlos was going to be quiet. He walked up to the front door, noticing the boarded up windows. He grabbed the handle and pulled, the door opened. It revealed a turned over desk in front of it, almost like a barrier. He vaulted over it silently, looking around. He didn’t see anything right away and headed quietly down the hallway ahead of them to check out the first room. There wasn’t anything in the first room, and he kept moving. The second room had rags, bottles, alcohol and a worn map of the state. Better than nothing he supposed. Kaleb moved out of that room and looked around for Carlos.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva
Aspiring Artist | 23 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Carlos followed Kaleb into this building, hopping over the table and crouching immediately as he observed Kaleb do before. He was learning. As Kaleb headed into one room, he decided to inspect another. There was no reason for them to stick together always. If one of them found trouble, the other would probably figure it out quickly. His first room was a little worse for wear. If the windows were boarded up, he could only assume someone lived on this bottom floor at one point. As he searched he found various sharps, bottles of something that promised it was the best in the whole south, and what appeared to be someone’s sleeping area filled with tattered blankets and a makeshift pillow. With that being all in that room, he moved on to a second where he found who he could only assume was the guy who used to live here. The body was pretty gross looking, and he held a notebook in his hand. Carlos bent down, whispered, “May I see that, my friend?” and gently pried the hand away from the book. There were several pages of diary entries and drawing. This guy was good. He could have been great if he had more time, Carlos thought. What a beautiful story he created in so little of time. “I will continue on your legacy, brilliant one.” He pocketed the notebook to view later and quickly searched for the writing utensil this man used. Ah! Pencil. Great. Eraser was still good? Good enough. He slipped back into the hall to join Kaleb.
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[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price
Former FEDRA officer | 25 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb looked across the hall to see Carlos coming out of another room. He nodded as a silent acknowledgement of his presence. He made his way down to the next room, slipping inside. This seemed to be a larger conference room and he could see the windows had been boarded up, even though the room was empty. Kaleb found some bullets for his pistol, along with spare parts, and some more rags. He shoved those in his pack, looked around for anything else useful but saw nothing. He left that room and headed down into the next. He poked his head through and immediately crouched. A runner was standing in the middle of this room, hunched over as if in pain. Kaleb moved forward silently into the room, looking around for a silent weapon. Then he remembered he'd packed his medical kit and with it, he had a pair of scissors. He pulled the scissors out, opened them and snuck up behind the runner. He grabbed its forehead in one hand and used the scissors in the other to quickly kill it, dropping the body silently to the floor. Kaleb walked further into the room, and found another thing of bullets and ooh, hello. A hunting knife. Perfect. He shoved that stuff in his pack and headed back into the hallway.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva
Aspiring Artist | 23 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Silent nod of approval and on to the next office type room. They were all starting to look the same, and he only just started. He wondered if he could find anything else this guy had before his tragic demise. He also wondered how he died. Perhaps he would ponder that later when they stopped to rest. He moved through the next room, opening drawers, opening cabinets, and checking on any shelves. Rags, another couple of mostly drunk alcohol, a bunch of spare parts that maybe could be good for something. Next room. Some tape! Good, now he could craft things like the kindergartener that he was. Oh, more tape. Tape stash. Some bullets for a gun he did not have. He could hope they worked for Kaleb when they made it back together. Couple of letter openers and small stabby things. This guy was violent. Or maybe he simply wanted to survive. Eventually he made his way back into the hall to nod towards Kaleb snd hold up the handful of bullets as a question. He held them out to him. Can you use these?
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[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price
Former FEDRA officer | 25 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb looked over at Carlos and then bullets he held in his hand. Kaleb nodded, took them and looked at them. A thumbs up indicated that yes, he could use them. Kaleb tucked them into his pack and turned to check out the last room in this hallway, then it was to the stairs to check the second floor. He ducked into the last room, which was just as empty as most of them. He found tape, sharps, some alcohol and rags. He could at least make a molotov now. Kaleb ducked back out and made his way to the door at the end of the hallway, but he would wait for Carlos before he went up.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva
Aspiring Artist | 23 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Since Kaleb was checking the last room, he chose to take the moment to look at the journal again. No, he chose to use the moment to do what he did best. He closed his eyes, listened, and moved quickly to a corner so that nothing to come up on him. Then he took out the pencil and he sketched for the first time all day. All yesterday. It did not last long, because he wanted to make sure that he was ready to move as soon as Kaleb was done. As soon as he heard his movements coming back, he shoved the journal back in his pack and moved to the stairs. He scooted his way to the door, opened it, peeked inside, then opened it wide with a bow. For you.
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[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price
Former FEDRA officer | 25 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb looked over at Carlos who had come over, opened the door and looked before opening it wide with a bow. Kaleb rolled his eyes and walked through. He didn't feel like giving into much more than he had to. He stepped up the stairs slowly, carefully. Once at the second floor door, he pushed it open, and looked down. It was similar to downstairs, and Kaleb took one side of the hall and left the other for Carlos. Kaleb headed into the first room, empty, literally. Nothing was inside. He stepped back out of the room and walked to the next. He didn't even open the door when he heard it. click click A clicker was inside. Kaleb looked around for Carlos, to tell him to leave this door alone and keep quiet. Once he saw him, he'd point to the door, put a finger to his lips and shake his head.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva
Aspiring Artist | 23 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Carlos stepped into the first of his rooms. It was mostly empty. The kind of barren room that only had the shadows of a precious life. He found what he could only assume was some sort of device. He tossed it into his pack to examine it later. As he came out of that room, he caught Kaleb’s attention. Not that room? He lifted both hands as a promise of behaving and listened by the door. Click click. Ahh one of those nasty guys. Alright, fair enough. He pointed to the room and shook his head. He gestured his head onwards down the hall and began his next rooms check. One room had a handful of potentially useful supplies. The next had a woman standing in a corner, hunched. This was strange but also seemed similar to… oh right, the runner. He really wished he had more experience with this prior to living it. He quietly moved forward, pausing any time she so much as quivered, then wrapped his arm around her neck, yanked, and eventually put that lifeless body on the ground. He backed away, imagining a life as something so mindless, and entered the hall once more.
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[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price
Former FEDRA officer | 25 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb could see that he was a fast learner, and nodded when he saw that Carlos had understood that they leave the room alone. He walked on, entering the next room with a good amount of medical supplies and some sharps. Good. He left that room and walked to the next one, opening the door to see an empty room, with only a desk pushed up against the wall. Kaleb backed out and made it to the last room on his side, before they took the stairs down. He entered, and immediately crouched. Runner. He stepped forward, grabbed his knife and in a quick slice, dropped the runner. This room had some bottles, alcohol and tape. Not great but okay. He headed back out and waited by the stairs again.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva
Aspiring Artist | 23 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Approving nod! Carlos was totally going to win him over. This was great. It was a great challenge and great game. It was also nice to have someone treat him like an equal. All his people ever did were expect him to always know what to do and be a certain way. They were always barking orders. He didn’t want that anymore. Never again. Not saying he did not appreciate Kaleb’s natural leadership. That part was nice. This part, parts with approving nods, was also nice. So he checked the last few rooms which had some supplies like a couple of bullets of varying sizes, a couple of canister type things that might be good to hold something, and a couple more sharp things he thought might do well if he could figure out how to use them. He moved along to the stairs and nodded with one of his genuine and charming smiles. He bowed and gestured so that his partner may go first. He was a gentleman.
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