Video/Action; Sleep with one eye open

[ushahin]

[The video opens up to Ushahin. He's looking a little more ruffled than usual, though only those who know him well will notice the signs. He's breathing hard, like he just finished running, and keeps pushing his hair back with one hand. Every couple of seconds, his eyes dart off to the left. There's a rhythmic banging sound in the background.]

If it's not too much trouble, I would appreciate some assistance. I seem to have found myself trapped by these creatures. Damnable thing aren't affected by my powers.

[It was a move borne of stupidity on his part. He'd known his powers didn't affect the dead and still he'd gone out. Now he was paying the price for it.]

I have found shelter in one of the shops for now, but I don't know how long it will take them to break through. If anyone can arrive in less than twenty minutes-- [There's a loud splintering sound and the video is dropped as he scrambles for something else to barricade the entrance with. He returns shortly, looking decidedly unnerved.] --perhaps it would be best to make that fifteen minutes. I would be greatly appreciative. If not, well...

[Eaten by zombies. What a terrible ending for someone who's lived as long as he.]

Comments

[voice]

[synthedick]

[The bad news is that Nick doesn't move too fast these days, given his damaged leg and cane. The good news is the stores are close to where he is, and the walking dead aren't hungry for someone who doesn't have any organic flesh on him.]

I'm on my way. Stay down, stay quiet, and hold out for as long as you can.

[ushahin]

Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere.

[He might as well have a sense of humor about possibly being eaten by the living dead. He'll just sit here and cower behind a shelf, hoping that the barricade will hold out.]

[action]

[synthedick]

[Despite his limp, Nick manages to make it to the shops in under ten minutes. It's a good thing, too -- there's one store in particular that a mob of zombies are gathered in front of, and by the way the door is cracking and buckling as they push against it, Nick's arrival is not a moment too soon. Though they're willing to struggle against a barricade for the chance of a fresh meal, the undead crowd isn't the least bit interested in the synth as he makes his way toward them. It makes putting them down less of a hassle.

But it's no easier on Nick himself. Tucking his cane under his arm, he sighs as he pulls out a knife and gets to work, starting with the one closest to him. Just one swift motion is all it takes to shove the blade through the back of the base of the skull and into the rotting brain; having effectively destroyed the part that's keeping the husks moving, down they go, one by one. It's a mercy, he reminds himself. They're not people any longer, and that's if they ever were. There's no telling when it comes to the gods and their machinations.

It takes Nick longer to quietly execute every last one of them than it took him to walk there, but he eventually makes it through the pack. Only one seems smart enough to try to attack him, but even with his own, poor condition, he's fast enough to dodge its lunge. It joins the rest on the ground.

He keeps his blade in hand, his other back on his cane as he gives the door a push of his own. Whatever was keeping it held is still in place, but just barely.]

You still in there?

[ushahin]

[Ushahin spends the next fifteen minutes cowering behind one of the shelves in the store, hands pressed over his ears and eyes shut, trying not to think of the grisly fate that awaits him if the zombies break in before help can arrive. Their minds are driving him into a frantic state. The dead have no thoughts, just being reanimated corpses, and so he can't get any thoughts off of them. It's like staring into a deep, dark void, and for someone as reliant on his powers as Ushahin is, he might as well have gone blind without being able to use them.

He doesn't notice when the pounding sounds stop, not until Nick asks a question. Strange, he hadn't noticed any other minds arriving. And with his powers on high alert as he is, Ushahin definitely should have noticed. He pulls aside the various bits and pieces of furniture he blocked the door with, opening it up just wide enough to ascertain that, yes, all the zombies are dead, and that his rescuer is the only one left. He pulls the door open.]

Thank you. I would have been eaten if you had not come.

[He blinks and sends out a tendril of power. Nothing. It's not like when he was trying to go into Wade's mind. Then, he had felt the man's mind, he just simply couldn't enter it. Here, there's nothing. He might as well be one of the dead men walking the streets. Without a second reality to cloud his vision, he does see Nick as he actually is, instead of the mismatch he usually perceives the residents of Hadriel as being. Rather than calming down, he feels a new form of agitation.]

What are you? Some strange golem?

[synthedick]

[Well, at least the fellow got a word of gratitude out before asking the question Nick expected, though he generally expects it when they're not surrounded by a bunch of corpses that had been, only moments before, trying to break down any barriers that stood between them and their next meal. If the question bothers him, he doesn't let it show, nor does he allow any annoyance to seep into his voice: he keeps his tone calm, and his glowing, yellow eyes focused on his ward.]

I'm Nick Valentine, and what I am is getting you out of here. You got somewhere safer than this to hole up?

[voice]

[synthedick]

[Huh. Now there's someone he didn't expect to offer him help.]

Will do, Shadow. You know this guy?

[voice]

[synthedick]

[As concise as ever. That, unfortunately, doesn't tell Nick much, like if this guy is dangerous himself, or if he's a friend.]

Anything I should know to make this rescue go smoothly?

not here

[skelebro]

[He watches Nick's response tick up, which is good, because that's one less thing for Sans to worry about. He'd never admit to being concerned, if vaguely, for a guy who has about as much respect for boundaries as a stray dog, but...eh. He's far enough away from the kerfuffle for it not to matter, he thinks.

Nobody needs to know.]

voice.

[bekommen]

[This is a bad idea.

This is a bad idea, and Nick knows it; this is exactly where every goddamn zombie movie protagonist she's ever seen goes wrong, by caring too much and trying to help. And it never works out, does it.

Still ...]

Where are you?

[ushahin]

[He's never been so very thankful to hear a familiar voice in his life. He answers Nick, his voice soft and tight with the fear that comes from the steady banging sounds in the background.]

A shop by the colosseum. It was all I could find.

[bekommen]

[The shops aren't so far away. She could probably make it in time. She fought off a few zombies on her way back home from the bar, so she knows that if she aims for their heads, her energy bolts are enough to stop them.]

Don't leave unless you have to. I'm coming.

[ushahin]

I shall await your arrival. Be careful.

[He knows that Nick considers herself to be a monster of sorts, but he's never asked about the particulars of her abilities. He can only hope that she knows how to take care of herself. Ushahin goes to cower behind the shop's counter as he waits for his knight in shining armor to arrive.]

action.

[bekommen]

[She makes it there in twelve minutes, because she runs her way through the crowds of zombies and doesn't stop to fight any of them. She moves slower in Morphus, and speed is the main advantage she has over zombies. Once she arrives at the shop, she circles around to a window at the side of the building and knocks loudly on the glass.]

Hey! I'm here. Let's get going.

[video]

[pellameno]

[ The video is so dark that Ushahin can hardly see Pell, and he speaks in hushed tones. ]

I'm trapped myself at the moment, but I hope someone gets to you soon.... someone well armed, it sounds like. I'll keep you company until then.

What powers are you speaking of?

[ushahin]

You have my thanks. My powers? They are the kind that--

[He winces as another loud Thump! comes from the door. A shudder runs through his frame.]

--that allow me to warp the minds of men and monsters alike. Alas, there is nothing left in these creatures enough to be called a mind.

[pellameno]

It'll be alright. You've barricaded yourself in?

[ He glances offscreen, towards the door of his own hiding place, then back to Ushahin with a warm smile that he hopes is comforting. People are coming for the other man, he saw the messages. ]

Their brains are likely in a state similar to the rest of them. I'm not sure how they manage to move or sense anything, to be honest. I can't sense anything from them, not thoughts of even a presence. Makes it difficult to get around them.

What were you doing out?

[ushahin]

Yes. Though they remain stubbornly persistent.

[They are going to eventually crash through by sheer force of numbers. The barricade he made out of shelves and chairs won't hold out for too much longer.]

I ran out of food and assumed I would be able to handle them despite their numbers. My mistake.

[pellameno]

Where do you live? I can bring you some supplies when I leave this shop.

[ He's gotten pretty good at sneaking around, and it helps that when they get to be a group, they're highly flammable. ]

voice;

[verinumeri]

[ On the bright side, Mr. Hope would likely bring him back, making it more of an intermission than an ending.

The dire situation prompts his selecting to call rather than text. ]

Have you received help?

[ushahin]

[Aw, he didn't know that Hermann cared. His eyes flicker over to the door, which has every bit of furniture in the place tossed in front of it, and then back to the phone screen. He looks less perturbed than most people trapped by hungry zombies would be.]

Not yet. But it is on the way. Do not fret, doctor. I have not lived more than a thousand years to meet such an ignoble end.

[verinumeri]

[ Of course he does not care.

He simply is averse to any deaths. ]

I am not fretting.

[ Said with just the sort of tight, prickly tone that means he is, and he knows it, so he sighs. ]

It would be a strain on Mr. Hope were you to die. However, I wouldn't expect your old age to protect you.

[ushahin]

[Uh-huh. Not fretting. He's so sure. Hermann should know better than to lie to the psychic. Ushahin can always suss out the truth.]

When you live as long as I have, doctor, you begin to see the patterns of things. I know when death will come for me. Not today.

[verinumeri]

[ Well, it wasn't entirely a lie. It's irritatingly complicated, because he still doesn't like this man, but no one should die because of something like this. Obviously, no one should die simply because he dislikes them. ]

As keen as I am on patterns, Mr. Dreamspinner, I do not know that what these gods inflict, particularly Mr. Fear, will follow them so neatly. Can you attribute survival to 'the pattern of things' if your plea for direct aid guarantees it?