Descent into Madness (Private)

[Jade Aldemir]

He refused to look at her again, and a part of her felt insulted, hurt, that he thought that little of her. Still, she couldn't help her heart beating firm and fast in her chest, the adrenaline surge that wanted her to run back to the safety of the UV lights not far away. Jade didn't want to think about the fact he probably could overtake her before she even made it out the door of the building they huddled in. Her body shook from the cold that drenched her to the core from being in the rain. Totally not from fear. Not at all.

 

The gruff, gravely voice was so unlike what she was used to from him, and it became even more disconnected the clearer she could hear it as he uncovered his face and... She couldn't stop the involuntary gasp as she laid eyes on what had happened to his once handsome face. There were streaks along his jaws that almost seemed like seams, and her brain fizzled out at imagining what that could have meant. Deep down, she had her suspicions, especially with Kyle comparing himself to the nightmares that roamed when the sun went down.

 

Her heart hammered harder against the back of her ribcage, and she tried to keep it from showing how scared she was, especially when he moved on to taking off his gloves and the hand wraps. What the fuck had the government done if this was the end result? The Scorpion's mind refused to wrap itself around the idea. Even with the zombies and virus, what she was seeing and what he was talking about were so far outside her idea of reality that her mind just blanked out. A hand came up and covered her mouth to hide her shock, her fear, because no matter how much of a hardass she was, there were some things too terrifying to ignore. "K-kyle... What..."

 

Something deep down wanted her to run far, far away, but the look on Kyle's face, his posture and body language... he expected it, braced for the worst, and all Jade could do was slide to the ground with a solidly loud noise, staring at him in shock. "What the hell? Who did this to you?"

[Kyle Crane]

It was hard not to pick up on that little gasp, something that she couldn't control but gave him an idea of how horrible he must look to her, even before the rest of his form was revealed. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye as he continued to look down, and cautiously looked up to see her covering her mouth. 

 

Yeah. That about summed it all up. He was a disgusting freak of an infected who'd fully turned, and yet been 'spared' the loss of his mind. It was almost worse having someone who knew him from before react like that. Her question though? That he could answer. He paused though, hesitating for a long moment before speaking. Kyle knew he'd need to be careful so he didn't reveal too much of the changes to his jaws. 

 

"Jasmine. Wife of Amir. Some General in your military. She got bit early on in the outbreak and he was taking her to get a so called 'cure' when he was killed. It turned her into a sentient-volatile. The smoke they used to pacify the infected went unnoticed - seen as incense to most - but it was slowly changing me into... this. It was how the blue liquid reacted when exposed to the air. Anyone infected reacts to it by becoming pacified if they were fully turned, and if they weren't? It edged them closer to turning and becoming something new, something different."

 

At some point when he spoke, he found himself drawn back into the memories of his time in the countryside, and stopped focusing so intensely on keeping his jaws from moving aside from the lips barely cracking open. Pain at what she'd done to him, from the very start, and the knowledge he'd been damned the moment he set foot out there still tore at him.

 

"I got in close, befriended the Children, helped make the various safe houses out there safe and cleared out volatile nests. Eventually I met Her, and slowly I was brought in on all the secrets. Jasmine had answers, she had the 'cure' I so desperately wanted for everyone here. Only, she wanted me to blow up all of Harran and the countryside with a nuke she'd found instead. I refused, she shoved an entire phial of the blue liquid down my throat. We fought. I felt myself becoming stronger, more feral and I won. Staggered out into the sewers to try and get back to everyone here and..."

 

He trailed off. He hated this bit of knowledge, because he knew without a doubt that the outside world had become infected as well, and though the whole of Harran now found itself walled off on both sides of the bridge, it was likely too late. "I found myself on the other side of the walls, right at sundown. There were  people all around..." He trailed off, letting her fill in the blanks. His tone was full of self loathing. 

[Jade Aldemir]

Dark eyes kept casting over his face, taking in every detail she could make out in the flickering, dim light as she listened. She pulled her legs up to her chest, both out of fear, but also out of cold. Toned arms wrapped around her legs, holding them close to keep her heat in. Jade rested her chin on her knees her brows knitting together in concern, disgust, and a myriad of other emotions she couldn't put a finger on.

 

It was so strange that it was blue, whatever the liquid was that had caused this. All of this. And it turned into an incense when exposed to the air? There was so much that wasn't making sense to her, and she wasn't a stupid individual either. "Pacified? They made it so this thing pacified the infected?"

 

There was that temper flaring, eyes narrowing as she lifted her head up to look at him. She wasn't angry at him, but at the GRE and the government for this... this... this betrayal and manipulation. It wasn't right! And for what fucking purpose, for that matter? A quiet growl escaped her, deep in her throat, and she hoped like hell Kyle didn't hear it. She didn't know improved his senses were, and it didn't even cross her mind to think about it.

 

Wait. Was that why the infected seemed so drawn to certain roars and screams? Some more then others? Because Kyle had been influenced - scratch that, changed - into this thing in front of her. All this as a reward for his hard work and dedication... Fucking hell, and she thought she had it bad. But then that bombshell...

 

She didn't know what to think, how to feel about the fact it was no longer just isolated to the two sectors of Harran, but was now all the way through the rest of the city. Fuck fuck fuck.

[Kyle Crane]

He could still smell fear radiating off her, but the shivering seemed to be about temperature too. Kyle you absolute moron. He sighed, another chuffing sound that wasn't muffled now, and flared the slits further up his jaw a bit, despite his attempts to keep them closed. "Are you cold? I can endure the UV lights or we can get one of those barrels in here and a fire going?"

 

Despite his looks, he was still himself during the day. He still cared, and because he cared he wanted to help. He could tell that she'd figured out just how bad things were, and winced. He hoped he'd only gotten into the other part of Harran, but he didn't really know. There was a risk he'd gotten elsewhere.

 

Pausing, he looked around, then noted that there were several working lights in the area, and after a moment of hesitation he stood up and flipped the lights on, exposing every bit of horror to the light, and Jade. If she could look past the initial transformation she'd notice horrible burns along part of his face and scalp, and along both arms. The way they cut off at clothing lines indicated a lot more unseen underneath. 

 

He wished, not for the first, second, or even hundredth time that his attempts to go into the sun, to burn with fire, or to drown had worked, but none had. It'd just made his body hardier, sturdier, and more difficult for survivors to deal with at night. When he'd realized that he'd stopped trying. It was bad enough they had to deal with him at all. He didn't want to be responsible for even more deaths due to his selfish attempts to take himself out.

 

"You got any questions, while we get you somewhat safer?" He had heard the growl, and previous snarls, but he didn't want to say anything, though he knew it was lingering effects due to her near change to fully infected.

[Jade Aldemir]

"I can handle it." The woman immediately shot back, shooting down his options. She didn't want to move, to draw his attention to her more then it already was. But she also ached from all the running and jumping and free running she'd been forced to do the past half a year. Six months... had it really been that long? Or that short of time? It felt so much longer then six months, but the days raced by, uncaring for what those in Harran were dealing with. The fact the Ministry had tried carpet bombing their city told her that not many people did either. That still hurt.

 

She hissed quietly at the sudden flash of lights, and she had no idea how much she'd been acting like one of the infected until the light washed over her, bringing some amount of calm to the anger that had started brewing like days old coffee in her stomach. Once her eyes adjusted to the light - she'd been an idiot and followed his movements, curious to what he was doing when he turned the lights on - she once more gasped, her posture straightening up as she saw the sheer amount of burns that covered his body alongside the mutations and pallor of his skin. Jade wished the lights had stayed out.

 

But its Kyle. Her mind reminded her, and he was a friend. You didn't judge friends - not too hard anyways. Kyle wouldn't hurt her, especially while the sun remained up. She believed him when he said that, deep down, but instincts were not thrilled at her being so close to him. In charge. Alpha. What? She shoved the nonsensical thoughts away, shaking her head at her own thoughts. "What... what happened? Those burns..."

[Kyle Crane]

Stubborn, he thought in annoyance, though he didn't push her on it. The fact she'd not run away or shot him in the face was more than he could have hoped for. The hiss when he turned the lights on, alongside those earlier growls and snarls... she definitely needed the light, even if it wasn't actual sun, there was something grounding about it. 

 

He began rummaging around, avoiding her gaze for a long moment while he looked for scraps of material or old blankets or rugs. Anything that might help warm her up since she was being stubborn. After the silence started to stretch out he sighed. "I tried to kill myself. I walked out into direct sunlight with only the tattered pants I'd still been wearing on. Thought I might be able to spare everyone whatever I had become hunting them at night."

 

There. A few curtains of fairly absorbent material and what looked to be the tattered remains of a blanket in the chest next to where he'd been crouching originally. He hesitated for a moment, then slowly, cautiously shuffled toward her, clawed hands outstretched with the offering of mostly dry material.

 

At this close range he knew she'd see every pockmark, every scar from weapons turned on him, the spots he'd torn bolts and arrows out either while still instincts only at night, or just after dawn when the pain started to cripple him as his mind came back to him. "Unfortunately for everyone, instincts kicked in and I'd usually find myself in a building. The last set of burns were from a fire, but I feel like my body's changing - adapting to what causes the injuries and I didn't want to make things worse for everyone else.

 

"And it clearly wasn't working anyway," he gave a defeated shrug, then froze, realizing he'd forgotten to focus on keeping his mouth moving as little as possible again, and with the lights as bright as they were... Eyes full of fear met hers. Shit.

[Jade Aldemir]

Dark eyes watched the man across from her as he worked his way across the room, looking here and there for God knew what. The longer she was in light, in his presence, the less fearful she felt. He avoided looking at her when she asked her question and it worried her what that could have meant. Still, she waited, before he sighed - a weird sound without all the clothing and the apparent difference in his throat structure. Her face paled though, at the unexpected origin of his burns and scars, and her hand flew up to her face again, her mouth open in shock.

 

He then rooted around in a chest near where he'd been originally, pulling out material. What was he up to? It dawned on her, slowly, as he approached her, hand extended with the material, that he was trying to find something to help her stubborn ass warm up. Originally, Jade's attention was fully on the material, her brain struggling to process what was happening, before she carefully reached out and grabbed it, pulling it close. She lifted her head to look at him, to thank him, and to show she was listening - that's what one did after all when someone spoke, right?

 

Big mistake. Big, big mistake. Pockmarks, scratches, gashes, and those hideous, snaking burns. Her brain was vaguely aware he was talking, and latched onto what he was saying, except... his mouth... Her fear spiked again, adrenaline surging, and unfortunately, she was as far back as she could get. What would happen if she ran? He was partly between her and the door, and her eyes remained fixed on that splitting mouth that reminded some part of the Scorpion of a lethal snake. Sun, fire, water... none of it worked, and judging by the healing skin, there wasn't much that could kill him by the hand of man either.

 

Fuck. She was going to die, but internally, something killed her more at the look of fear in his eyes as he realized he'd done something he shouldn't have. Still, her eyes remained on his mouth, her heart painfully trying to escape her chest.

[Kyle Crane]

She's shocked or disgusted by me, judging by that reaction, he thought to himself as he watched her looking at him in the light, and the thought came back again when they were face to face and he'd allowed himself to slip up and let her see his face moving in the god-awful ways the transformation had forced on him. 

 

Clearing his throat, he snapped his lower jaw firmly shut, resolving to find some workaround to keep it in one piece, maybe with a bit of jaw protection? Time enough for that la-

 

His head snapped to the side, inhumanely fast as he heart the howls and screams, and then the thuds of something much larger staggering near to them. That was ... a demolisher, if he was reading the scent and weight of the footsteps right. That combined with many virals was not a good option with Jade so exposed and he cursed softly.

 

"I'm real sorry about this," he said as he took another step forward and grabbed her, throwing her over his shoulder before scrambling out into the daylight - scant as it was with the hellish storm overhead. At least his bag had all his scarves and wrappings, but this was gonna hurt.

 

Once outside, he could feel the way his skin started to react and sizzle, though it wasn't as bad as it could have been, the shadows and gloom of the day protecting him some. He growled low in his chest due to the pain he felt, but kept going, keeping a firm grip on Jade with one arm, the other one cracking open to reveal a tentacle as he jumped straight up and then latched on to a nearby building, using his momentum to drag them forward and near to a different safe zone he remembered.

 

It was high up, out of sight, and had an area he could keep to the shadows where the UVs didn't hit. Better for him, better for her. As the pain increased, he couldn't hold back one of the howl-roars, though this time it was more due to pain instead of the echo-location he usually used it for.

 

This really wasn't going in any sort of way that he could see a good outcome from. Fuck.

[Jade Aldemir]

They stared at each other for a a long time, though in reality, it was merely seconds before he cleared his throat, as if to say something, but then his head whipped up and to the side far too fast for her eyes to immediately keep up - almost like a lag spike on a web site with a slow connection. Now that he wasn't directly focused on her, her brain let her know of the approach of something big and heavy, and her heart rate spiked again. Big, heavy, and accompanied by a choir of screaming, howling virals. Shit.

 

Of course, Jade's mind had barely comprehended what was coming before Kyle apologized to her. Her eyes focused on the movement of him stepping closer, but before she could fully get a word out, he'd grabbed her and swung her over his shoulders like she weighed nothing at all, and her indignation let itself be known through a startled yelp. "What the hell are you doing, Crane?! Put me down!"

 

She squirmed and thrashed, but his grip was firm on her as they exited the building and back out into the deluge of rain. God, she hated this time of year. She used to love it - a break from piercing heat and much needed water for the region that struggled for fresh water. Now? It gave the monsters on the street more cover, more time out to hunt and thin their numbers even more.

Granted, they still got hurt, if the crack and sizzle of the exposed skin on Kyle's body were any indication. She could only imagine a truly dark and stormy day being even more of a boon to them. The Scorpion mentally shuddered at the thought, but it was there and gone before the familiar feeling of weightlessness made itself known, and his muscles bunched and coiled under her as he braced and jumped. His arm shot out, and if there'd been any color to her face, it was now gone as she watched his arm open up and a tentacle came flying out, quickly getting them up and out of the way of danger.

 

And that roar right in her ears. Her hands clamped over them to drown out the horryfing noise, and defensive anger rose in her own chest, but she tried to tamp it down. He was in pain because of the UV lights - purposefully putting himself in the way of harm to protect her from something far worse on street level. She was still scared, though. So very scared - but she didn't let it show. "Fuck, that hurts, Crane!"

[Kyle Crane]

As he'd moved he'd felt somewhat guilty for grabbing her so suddenly. The cursing wasn't unexpected or undeserved, nor was her reverting to his last name. Her movements as she clamped hands over her ears had him cutting off another howl  in a strangled sound that died entirely as he forced himself to go utterly silent. 

 

If they'd had more time he'd have gone about things differently, but with the swift approach of the virals and the damnable demolisher right behind them, he'd not wanted to risk her. She was alive, and he was determined to keep her that way - and unchanged - if at all possible.

 

He released his grip on the building he'd used to propel them further forward and up, giving them a moment of hang and then freefall before his tentacle shot out again, gripping onto the rooftop and yanking them into the covered terrace area, which was full of UV lights guarding the entrance. He knew the windows and anywhere a volatile might be able to get in would also be covered, but he'd deal with that if he couldn't find anywhere not bathed in the painful light.

 

Stumbling, he let her down, then staggered and collapsed to his hands and knees, chest heaving with painful gasping breathes that hissed a bit more than he would have liked, had he been aware of it. After a moment, he clawed his way inside and past the first room where more lights awaited him, hiding just past the archway leading to the second 'room' where the sleeping mat and radio had been laid out for whoever used the place.

 

He remembered setting this one up now, though he wasn't entirely interested in seeing if all levels were clear currently. The lights were still on so he assumed they were. The lowest floor was blocked off, so there was no real way into the place from the ground.

 

Kyle wanted to cover his face and arms more than ever, but the tenderness and slight smell of singed flesh told him he'd not healed enough yet and the material directly on that was likely to cause him more agony, and offer no real protection. He stayed huddled on the ground, half collapsed where he'd landed, a low pained moan slipping past his guard. But she was safe. That's what mattered.

 

"Sorry..."

 

God, he sounded terrible now. 

[Jade Aldemir]

That weightless feeling as they entered a brief freefall would have been exhilerating any other time, but right now? Jade was terrified, confused, and angry about how he was handling her. Her heart slammed into his shoulder and his ear with quick, harsh beats, and when he went silent, her hands dug into his skin for support and as an anchor. She had no idea where they were going or entirely what was going on, but the demolisher's roar told her enough to realize that Kyle was trying to save her ass.

 

Before she could do anything about that realization though, he'd shot them into another safe zone high up and away from the streets, where they'd have cover from the rain and the pack of monstrosities stalking down below - or as much stalking as a demolisher could do, at any rate. Once they landed, and the smell and sound of sizzling flesh hit her, he stumbled, unceremoniously dumping her to the ground before collapsing to the floor.

 

The light hurt him. That's right. The roar had been of pain, not that haunting, shiver inducing roar survivors swore let the night hunter find his prey. Panting, gasping breaths tore at something inside her before the once-man scrambled into the building and away from the lights that kept the horrors at bay. She laid there in a heap for a long moment, eyes scanning where he'd disappeared to, before her aching, sore body pushed itself upright and before she could think much of it, she rushed to her feet and inside.

 

Years of training lent her strength as she hooked her arms under his arm pits and hauled him backwards with an initial inertia inducing pull. She was so much smaller then him that she knew her dragging him wasn't going to feel good, but she wanted to somehow help. "Shut up."

 

He didn't need to apologize for more then scaring the crap out of her, and right now, she wasn't having it as she pulled him further and further from the UV lights that kept her safe but left him without his gear - that was still down on the street, inaccessible for either of them right that second. Lightning laced the sky with light somewhere over the city, and a few seconds later, thunder filled in the void left behind. They were safe. That's what mattered.

[Kyle Crane]

The last thing that Kyle expected after he'd collapsed was to be hoisted up by the woman who he'd just terrified. She seemed to have realized what he'd been trying to do though, and was responding in kind, getting him away from all the painful lights.

 

As he was hauled further into the room where the bed and shelf were for sleeping and crafting, he relaxed. The innermost room didn't have the UVs, as all the windows and the whole of the bottom floor were bathed in the painful beams.

 

His heartrate started to slow some, his breathing becoming more even, and he managed to get his feet under him, to help her navigate to somewhere for them to sit and talk. Now that they were truly safe, and he was essentially trapped there until closer to sunset, he knew there would likely be even more they had to tackle.

 

"Thanks," he croaked, wincing at how rough his voice sounded now. That damned light did a number on him, the UVs even more. He glanced around the safehouse, hoping it was one of the more well maintained ones, and as luck would have it - it was. Seemed the location was handy for many of the survivors left. He just hoped that nobody tried to stop by today. 

 

"So... what now?" 

[Jade Aldemir]

Jade stared at the man once she set him down - well, more unintentionally dropped him because he was heavy - as he asked her 'what now?' She had no idea why he was asking her that question, since he was the one who threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and launched them up here into a different safe zone.

 

"You're asking me that question, Kyle?" She finally asked as she sat down on the nearby couch. The bedroll gracelessly slid off and hit the floor by her feet, and she looked at it, as if it had commited some cardinal sin. Really? She'd barely sat down. "You're the one that yanked us up here. What the hell was that about anyways?"

 

She gestured toward the opening that led outside in indication of what she meant. Out there. What the hell had he brought them up here for? And to top it off, she'd dropped the fabric he'd been trying to hand her to dry off when he hoisted her up off the ground, so that too was still left back with his pack as well.

[Kyle Crane]

There was a long pause as he just sort of looked between the doorway and her, the sudden realization of the absurdity of the situation striking him. He tried to stop the noise before it could get past his guard, but once it started it took a minute or so for it to stop.

 

The chuffing this time was a different sort than the sigh, an amused air about it, and he just couldn't seem to stop. Laughter, at a time like this, really? He chided himself. After a second of silence he cleared his throat. 

 

"Ah... sorry about that. Why did I bring us up here? There was a demolisher on the way, very, very near to the safe zone, and there was no way it was going to stay on the right side of the chainlink fence. It had about eight virals with it, minimum.

 

"Once it's gone by I'll take us back down to get our things. I just wasn't sure what, if anything, you might still want to know.." His hands were so interesting to him suddenly, and he pretended to study them while avoiding her gaze. He'd need to get something to wrap the wrists back up to hide the vented openings sooner rather than later, he felt.

 

Though... he looked around the safehouse, noting the folded blankets and small stash of rations. There were probably enough scraps to make do for the time being. It wasn't currently occupied, nor was it a long term home of anyone - he didn't smell one scent stronger than any other of the lingering ones - so that meant the stuff he could see was up for grabs. 

 

Not that he felt particularly up for standing and getting it just yet. He nodded to the stack of packaged food and the blanket sitting on the counter, indicating them to her.

 

"Looks like some of the Tower's folks have been by here, leaving it stocked and ready for whoever needed it next."

[Jade Aldemir]

The weird noise seemed... amused almost and she stared at someone she considered to be a friend for a long moment as he... laughed? Was that what that noise was? He was laughing? At a time like this? Besides that, what was so funny, exactly? Finally, he got control of himself, and she shook her head, pushing herself up again from the couch.

 

A towel or a blanket would be awesome to find. The woman was absolutely frigid now that she was in a properly insulated environment, and the shaking was getting ridiculous. Made her feel weak and not really in control of her body. It was part of why when she'd started turning, her frustration and anger at her lack of control had given way to fear and outright terror. She never told anyone else though - it was a sensation that took up residence in her head, unwilling to leave.

 

She never wanted to deal with that level of fear again. Jade paused, her head shooting to look at him when he told her just what lay out on the streets below, and if the Scorpion strained to listen over the rain, she could hear the large infected and its entourage as they worked their way down the road. She shuddered, but not from cold. Instead, she focused on grabbing a clean, fresh blanket and a granola bar and wrapped the blanket around her body before she sat down on the couch again, huddling in close to the material.

 

"I'm not sure what else to ask... not with that horde out there." She finally admitted before she tore open the bit of ration she'd grabbed and with a hunger she hadn't realized was there, quickly finished it. She glanced at him, noticing how he avoided looking at her, but she didn't pull attention to it.

[Kyle Crane]

As she moved around the safehouse apartment, his eyes traced her steps, never looking directly at her unless it was her feet. The longer he was able to heal, the more striking his eyes would become - instead of the standard red and yellow of a volatile they were an almost luminous orange in the light, and he'd noticed that even that changed in shadows - they glowed faintly with an orange-golden hue.

 

Fiddling with his clothing from where he'd slumped after Jade had dropped him - he was heavier than he'd been before, but also a lot bigger if the height difference was true and the virus wasn't playing tricks on his addled brain. 

 

"Well... I'm not entirely sure what to talk about since this wasn't exactly how either of us would have wanted to see each other again. Assuming on your part there, but..." He looked up briefly as she sat back down. Good, she'd grabbed the blanket and one of the rations. 

 

His own belly cramped, reminding him that he'd not eaten anything at all today. When he'd woken the taste of raw flesh and blood had still been in his mouth and it'd turned him off of eating. Something in the recesses of his mind growled and insisted that he go hunting out in the rain. He shoved it back down, then pushed himself up to his feet.

 

Swaying slightly, he took a moment to steady himself and assessed the new damage. It wasn't good, but nothing that wouldn't heal if he took precautions the rest of today and again tomorrow. There was another potential area to store food - a working fridge that hummed in the kitchen portion of the hideout, and he limped his way in there, his movements not quite human, but not the desperate creature scrambling to get out of the entrance UVs from earlier.

 

There was a packaged 'hamburger' meal that looked a bit out of date, but would do nothing to him. It'd barely dented his gut before, when he was fully human, so now? It was just another bit of 'fresh' food. He scarfed it down, careful to turn from her to open his mouth fully. Last thing she needed was more nightmares about the thing he'd become.

 

He spotted a few bottles of water tucked under one of the counters and grabbed them, then stared at the jackpot of energy drinks hiding just behind those. Grabbing two he brought those and a couple of the packaged 'dessert' things over to Jade, offering her first pick. Once she'd chosen he was going to go look for rags to bind his arms, since they looked quite different with the vents open to allow the tentacles under room to fit comfortably. Binding them hurt, but he preferred that pain to the one caused when he looked at what the virus - and fucking Jasmine - had done to him.

[Jade Aldemir]

Assuming on her part... A part of her was glad to see him - he was her friend and she cared about him more then she really wanted to think about. It hurt to get close to people nowadays - look at what happened to her brother, or what happened to Amir when they were rescuing the man in front of her. Man... was he even a man anymore? He had the mind of one still, but not once the sun went down. Her eyes turned to the closest window, not really seeing in that moment. She instead pulled the blanket closer around herself. "I... I'm glad you're alive, Kyle."

 

Jade hated how small her voice sounded right then and she cleared her throat to try and get rid of it. She turned her attention back to him from the window in time to see him get up and head to the fridge humming away quietly. Instinct spiked her adrenaline as he stood, but she quashed that right away. Didn't stop her heart from pumping harder, but she couldn't do much about that except breathing exercises. A convenience store burger disappeared into that strange mouth that made her instincts yell even louder. Instead, the woman pulled her knees to her chest to warm up quicker, taking another bite of her granola bar.

 

What the runner hadn't expected was the cache of water, energy drinks, and manufactured sweets that he then found while snooping around the room they were both trapped in, though for different reasons. He offered her first choice of the limited options (which was really nice of him in this all for yourself world), her eyes drawn to the vents in his wrists befrore she looked up at him. "What the hell are those?"

[Kyle Crane]

Crane was startled as she admitted she was glad he was alive. He wasn't sure if what he was counted as 'alive' but at least he didn't look exactly like the volatiles with their gaping chest cavities. He tried to clear his throat, but it came out as almost a chittering noise, which in turn caused a comical WTF??? expression cross his face.

 

"I am... I'm glad you're alive too. I'm just sorry you have to see me like this, instead of-"

 

He cut off there, before they went down into morbid places with his attempts to correct the wrong done to him - and everyone around him now, as they stood no chance when he was full on hunting at night.

 

When she asked him about his arms - specifically the vents that kept his arms from bursting due to the extra muscles now housed there - he winced. Well. No poing in hiding it now. 

 

"You remember how I used something to move us up here? They're stored in my arms. Those vents you see help my arms expand so they aren't cramped badly. I normally bind them as these arms are a dead giveaway that I-.... I..." 

 

He gave up trying to talk, then his stomach rumbled again, and he glared down at it, shifting slightly to try and not cramp it as that just made the hunger pangs worse. Glancing around, he finally settled on a really beat up looking can of... something and used his clawed hands to tear the lid clean off. He sniffed at it, then wrinkled his nose. Beans. Great.

[Jade Aldemir]

She snorted. Snerked. Then outright laughed at first the chittering noise that reminded her of a rodent-like noise, then at the confused as hell expression he gave as follow up. "What the hell was that?"

 

It wasn't the hysterical laughter from earlier, when they had a fence between each other and the rain pouring down on her. Gah. She was so embarressed by that display, even now. Mercifully it'd stay between them. Hell, this whole situation probably would stay between them at this rate. Who'd even believe her if she told them who she'd met and what state he was in? Still, laughter was better then crying.

 

But it was cut short by his follow up comment, and the mood turned somber again, though, if only to her, the air in the room didn't seem quite so heavy to deal with. With distance (and oddly, the thin layer of blanket) between them, he didn't seem as scary, and more and more, she was seeing Kyle, not the monster he'd unfortunately become.

 

"Kyle..." It was hard to have words to assure him, because it wasn't alright, the situation he found himself in. It wasn't alright what he did at night when he had no control. Those screams, staticy and peaking beyond the range of what the radios could handle... The reminder was there and gone again. Still, his luminescent eyes moved to his arms, which she asked about.

 

Before she could really react, his stomach growled loud enough for her to hear and she lifted an eyebrow. Was he really that hungry that his stomach was just about to eat itself by the sounds of it? "Hungry much?"

 

And then when he tore open the can and saw the contents, he crinkled his nose, which made her laugh again. There was just something comical about a volatile like creature reacting like he was. She tried to stifle it though, for his sake, into the material of the blanket that was helping to warm her up again. "Don't like your mystery prize, Kyle?"

[Kyle Crane]

He couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed when she laughed at the noise and then his expression, but at least she wasn't freaking out about it. He'd not meant to kill any positive shift in mood with his words, but there was so much they had to talk about... She seemed less afraid now, even if there was a lot of (understandable) caution. He was glad that she'd not had much chance to react to his explanation about his arms - besides the jaw, that was one of the things he hated the most. It was so different, so inhuman, and made him feel so very alone. 

 

Kyle wasn't sure if he could still blush, but he imagined if so, his cheeks were probably quite flushed. Damned stomach. He was grateful to her for trying to hide the laugh, but also for making him feel more normal - something that he just... didn't feel anymore. "Not really. Beans. Didn't like them before, and they taste pretty vile now." He eyed the contents thoughtfully, glancing over to her. "No idea if you like beans. All yours if so." His body was always running on empty, due to how hard his feral self ran itself ragged at night. And no matter how many he went after, the hunger never lessened. Though, if what he sometimes woke up in was anything to go by, he preferred volatiles to humans.

[Jade Aldemir]

Even when he was starving, he was one: giving it to her, and two: was being picky. There was just... something about the juxtaposition that was hilarious to her, but she focused more on the now opened can of beans being offered to her. Carefully, she reached out, keeping one hand around the edge of her blanket to keep it around her and the other trying to avoid those claws that held out the can of beans to her. Jade wasn't sure if the virus would pass to her through a scratch, though it didn't really matter for her, did it? She was already infected, already so close to the edge of losing herself for eternity, and she didn't want to go through that again. The woman had already done that and didn't want to experience it again.

 

Still, she managed to avoid getting nicked by those claws as she got the can from him, and without pausing, gulped down some of the contents. It was her turn to make a face, though, her nose crinkling as she finished swallowing down some of the beans. "OK, no, I don't blame you. Lima beans. Yuck."

 

Still, food was food, especially in the walled off city of Harran, where fresh supplies were limited to the extreme and every little thing mattered.