[The good news for him is that there’s any number of things that will dissuade her from her sink grill, or at the very least distract her thoroughly. Such as getting her backpack returned to her full of treasure. She’d picked up those stray books, sure, but really reading was something of a treat, when she was meant to be on alert at all times. He doesn’t have to dump the contents onto the floor, because Ryder immediately sits criss-cross-applesauce and sets the bag in her lap to sort through. Belatedly she registers what he’s said and looks up to give a grateful, if sheepish, smile.]
"The pen is mightier than the sword." Edward Bul...something. [She wants to say 'bulletin' but that's ridiculous. Not more ridiculous that Ryder of the apocalypse, of course.] Guess -- the same for paper and shields? Thank you.
[It really is...much too nice. Ryder manages to turn that overwhelmed feeling from the verge of tears to an awkward, throat-clearing laugh. In the end, Teo won't get too many more quotes unless he pesters her for them, because if left to her own devices, Ryder picks up a book and everything else fades away. She'll even fall asleep with the first book she's decided to read out in the main room instead of her bed like she keeps intending. It's a good day.
The next few days are good, too. While Teo is gone, she lets herself enjoy the finer points of having a place to call their own, figuring out how much hygiene she could get away with without wasting any water and making the most of safe, private time as much as her guilt allows. Ryder never really has to leave, though now and again she peruses what apartments she can get into, taking advantage of the empty building. Food supplies had been moved over already of course, but it's fun to pick through the little pieces of lives left behind. It should probably be sad. It's hard to be sad when Teo's around to provide for her for no real reason, or when they can simply share the same space, not saying a word because they each had a book to work through. He never really seemed to let himself get too comfortable, since he wouldn't eat around her or let her see his face at all, but it doesn't bother her as much as it probably should. If she could have pictured a perfect life for herself, this is what it would have been like. Probably not too many people thinking that when the world's gone to hell and all the passersby on the streets below are dead.
It's as she's contemplating this that she spots him coming back from what she'd jokingly started to refer to as "shopping" to really make their life sound all the more domestic and normal. The usual swell of relief is stopped -- he's not alone down there. But rather than sneak up on the zombie meandering about to put it out of its misery or quietly go around so as to not alert it, he... Ryder squints, like maybe she isn't seeing it right. It looks like he gently leads the dirty, scratched up woman away from the apartment building with more ease than she ever could with someone living.
...She decides to not question him on it, and hurries back to their own apartment so she can greet him like normal. After that, she frets less about his insistence on going out without her, and doesn't feel quite so guilty when he brings something only she can enjoy. Another day of thinking and Ryder has a request along with her crooked, shy smile for him when he wakes from one of the few rests he actually took.
Even now, all this time later, hospitals are dangerous places. She doesn't expect this city's to be any different, but it's pretty damn hard to not acknowledge that Teo could survive in ways no one else could. He'd be safe -- she's sure of it, especially since medicine was easier to transport a lot of than books, and he might even be able to take his preferred bow and arrow with him this time. He'd only need to find ones she could remember names of, anyway -- mostly things for pain or various antibiotics, but what different estrogen treatments she could remember from prescriptions and all that teenage research. Not strictly necessary, especially in her case, but something bones something density, which would be a stupid reason for apocalypse death, and he liked spoiling her! It's fine. Still, she waits by the window to keep watch, trying to stay awake with a book so she won't miss him when he returns.
It's not the door or his voice that wakes her -- shit, she fell asleep? How long has she been out? -- but an unfamiliar RATTA-TAT-TAT-TAT that has her stumbling onto her knees and peering through the blinds. People. Real, living people. That fact is enough to boggle her mind and leave her confused as to what it was happening down there. But then there are others, their usual shuffle and sway she had grown accustomed to faltering before their bodies dropped to the pavement. She doesn't realize she's been gripping the windowsill until she pushes herself up towards the door and her fingers seem much too cold.]
Shit, shit --
[It was too dark to tell. She doesn't think he'd move with a horde like that, especially with other survivors around, but she doesn't know, and she'd sent him out there, and there were so many shots being fired because wasn't this gun illegal to own to try and stop the number of massacres? God, she doesn't fucking -- ]
Hey! Stop! [She's yelling before the door to the apartments is open, which would probably be wise, if she was putting any thought into it. Even if Teo wasn't here, they needed to stop, or they'd bring too many over and he wouldn't be able to fix it. They'd have to leave.] Stop! You can't do this!
[There's a couple of voices -- all bewildered by her sudden appearance and the fact that she was coming over to them not for help, but to try and push the gun's nose to the ground instead. One of them -- some woman, she thinks -- grabs her around the middle to pull her back and reason with her. She hears something along the lines of "Shh, sweetie, you're safe now! Calm down! You're safe, I've got you!" and rather than turn to explain, Ryder tries to fight the reassuring voice off with elbows and teeth. Someone calls her crazy, and there's a frantic debate about whether or not she's already been infected.]
Let me -- go! [Another girl's voice, this one sounding younger than her even, trembles while asking if they should shoot her, too. "She's still a person!" someone snaps back. Oh, nice that they've settled on that, she supposes. It doesn't stop one of them from trying to snap her out of it with a hard slap or her from getting yanked backwards by the arm.] Stop! Stop shooting, go away! I need to find him!
["Oh honey," is that first, gentle voice, only it's sadder now and more nasally thanks to the fact that Ryder had apparently got her good enough in the nose to make her bleed. A detached part of her says maybe she should be grateful that she's sympathetic instead of pissed, but the rest of her just wants all of them to shut up and get out of there. "None of them were alive. If your boyfriend or brother was -- "]
Just leave! [If he's there, would he be okay? Would she be okay, with her starting to taste blood from a cut on her lip? That's a problem for future Ryder to worry about. Another series of pops goes off to keep the interested undead at bay.] Teo? Teo!
["Can't you shut her up?"
"I can't get a proper hold on her!"
"Damn it, this was supposed to be easy..."
"Look at her, she has to have supplies, we could just --"
"You wanna fucking do it, Josh?"
"We leave her, she's dead anyway!"
"Jesus Christ, no! What the fuck are you thinking?"
It's a lot of noise to pay attention to, and rather than keep up with it, Ryder goes back to trying to wrench herself free. Poor woman trying to help yelps as Ryder bites her hand again. Some guy shoves her off and away, and her palms hit the pavement hard as she catches herself. There will probably be scrapes later.
"Shit, if we -- "
"We can't get anything with this bitch around! We're fucking wasting bullets!"
A shove of someone's boot pushes her down, presumably so the rest could get enough space between them and her that if she leapt at them again, either she wouldn't be able to catch them or they could get a good enough shot to stop her somehow. A few more bodies fall, groaning, but she can see their forms continuing to make their way towards her. Now that the others were getting out of there, Ryder was the only real way to try and sate their hunger.]
Go...away!
[She doesn't have to see much to know Teo isn't one of these at least, and she kicks at the closest one's face until it's stalled enough that she can scramble back onto her feet and lunge for the still-open door. With any luck, the survivors would dismiss her as zombie food and leave this part of the city alone for a while. With even more look, the things she manages to shove in front of the door to try and hold the horde beating to get in at bay would work and she would not actually become zombie food. Still, as she's blocking things off, she stupidly calls out.]
Teo?! Teo, if you're out there, answer me --
[Because otherwise she won't be able to help him get inside before she retreats back to their peaceful little apartment and curls up in front of the door, face buried in her knees. He'd be okay. He has to be. He has to be okay, or it's her fault. All her fault. No sleeping through the panic this time, because what if he really didn't come back?]
no subject
"The pen is mightier than the sword." Edward Bul...something. [She wants to say 'bulletin' but that's ridiculous. Not more ridiculous that Ryder of the apocalypse, of course.] Guess -- the same for paper and shields? Thank you.
[It really is...much too nice. Ryder manages to turn that overwhelmed feeling from the verge of tears to an awkward, throat-clearing laugh. In the end, Teo won't get too many more quotes unless he pesters her for them, because if left to her own devices, Ryder picks up a book and everything else fades away. She'll even fall asleep with the first book she's decided to read out in the main room instead of her bed like she keeps intending. It's a good day.
The next few days are good, too. While Teo is gone, she lets herself enjoy the finer points of having a place to call their own, figuring out how much hygiene she could get away with without wasting any water and making the most of safe, private time as much as her guilt allows. Ryder never really has to leave, though now and again she peruses what apartments she can get into, taking advantage of the empty building. Food supplies had been moved over already of course, but it's fun to pick through the little pieces of lives left behind. It should probably be sad. It's hard to be sad when Teo's around to provide for her for no real reason, or when they can simply share the same space, not saying a word because they each had a book to work through. He never really seemed to let himself get too comfortable, since he wouldn't eat around her or let her see his face at all, but it doesn't bother her as much as it probably should. If she could have pictured a perfect life for herself, this is what it would have been like. Probably not too many people thinking that when the world's gone to hell and all the passersby on the streets below are dead.
It's as she's contemplating this that she spots him coming back from what she'd jokingly started to refer to as "shopping" to really make their life sound all the more domestic and normal. The usual swell of relief is stopped -- he's not alone down there. But rather than sneak up on the zombie meandering about to put it out of its misery or quietly go around so as to not alert it, he... Ryder squints, like maybe she isn't seeing it right. It looks like he gently leads the dirty, scratched up woman away from the apartment building with more ease than she ever could with someone living.
...She decides to not question him on it, and hurries back to their own apartment so she can greet him like normal. After that, she frets less about his insistence on going out without her, and doesn't feel quite so guilty when he brings something only she can enjoy. Another day of thinking and Ryder has a request along with her crooked, shy smile for him when he wakes from one of the few rests he actually took.
Even now, all this time later, hospitals are dangerous places. She doesn't expect this city's to be any different, but it's pretty damn hard to not acknowledge that Teo could survive in ways no one else could. He'd be safe -- she's sure of it, especially since medicine was easier to transport a lot of than books, and he might even be able to take his preferred bow and arrow with him this time. He'd only need to find ones she could remember names of, anyway -- mostly things for pain or various antibiotics, but what different estrogen treatments she could remember from prescriptions and all that teenage research. Not strictly necessary, especially in her case, but something bones something density, which would be a stupid reason for apocalypse death, and he liked spoiling her! It's fine. Still, she waits by the window to keep watch, trying to stay awake with a book so she won't miss him when he returns.
It's not the door or his voice that wakes her -- shit, she fell asleep? How long has she been out? -- but an unfamiliar RATTA-TAT-TAT-TAT that has her stumbling onto her knees and peering through the blinds. People. Real, living people. That fact is enough to boggle her mind and leave her confused as to what it was happening down there. But then there are others, their usual shuffle and sway she had grown accustomed to faltering before their bodies dropped to the pavement. She doesn't realize she's been gripping the windowsill until she pushes herself up towards the door and her fingers seem much too cold.]
Shit, shit --
[It was too dark to tell. She doesn't think he'd move with a horde like that, especially with other survivors around, but she doesn't know, and she'd sent him out there, and there were so many shots being fired because wasn't this gun illegal to own to try and stop the number of massacres? God, she doesn't fucking -- ]
Hey! Stop! [She's yelling before the door to the apartments is open, which would probably be wise, if she was putting any thought into it. Even if Teo wasn't here, they needed to stop, or they'd bring too many over and he wouldn't be able to fix it. They'd have to leave.] Stop! You can't do this!
[There's a couple of voices -- all bewildered by her sudden appearance and the fact that she was coming over to them not for help, but to try and push the gun's nose to the ground instead. One of them -- some woman, she thinks -- grabs her around the middle to pull her back and reason with her. She hears something along the lines of "Shh, sweetie, you're safe now! Calm down! You're safe, I've got you!" and rather than turn to explain, Ryder tries to fight the reassuring voice off with elbows and teeth. Someone calls her crazy, and there's a frantic debate about whether or not she's already been infected.]
Let me -- go! [Another girl's voice, this one sounding younger than her even, trembles while asking if they should shoot her, too. "She's still a person!" someone snaps back. Oh, nice that they've settled on that, she supposes. It doesn't stop one of them from trying to snap her out of it with a hard slap or her from getting yanked backwards by the arm.] Stop! Stop shooting, go away! I need to find him!
["Oh honey," is that first, gentle voice, only it's sadder now and more nasally thanks to the fact that Ryder had apparently got her good enough in the nose to make her bleed. A detached part of her says maybe she should be grateful that she's sympathetic instead of pissed, but the rest of her just wants all of them to shut up and get out of there. "None of them were alive. If your boyfriend or brother was -- "]
Just leave! [If he's there, would he be okay? Would she be okay, with her starting to taste blood from a cut on her lip? That's a problem for future Ryder to worry about. Another series of pops goes off to keep the interested undead at bay.] Teo? Teo!
["Can't you shut her up?"
"I can't get a proper hold on her!"
"Damn it, this was supposed to be easy..."
"Look at her, she has to have supplies, we could just --"
"You wanna fucking do it, Josh?"
"We leave her, she's dead anyway!"
"Jesus Christ, no! What the fuck are you thinking?"
It's a lot of noise to pay attention to, and rather than keep up with it, Ryder goes back to trying to wrench herself free. Poor woman trying to help yelps as Ryder bites her hand again. Some guy shoves her off and away, and her palms hit the pavement hard as she catches herself. There will probably be scrapes later.
"Shit, if we -- "
"We can't get anything with this bitch around! We're fucking wasting bullets!"
A shove of someone's boot pushes her down, presumably so the rest could get enough space between them and her that if she leapt at them again, either she wouldn't be able to catch them or they could get a good enough shot to stop her somehow. A few more bodies fall, groaning, but she can see their forms continuing to make their way towards her. Now that the others were getting out of there, Ryder was the only real way to try and sate their hunger.]
Go...away!
[She doesn't have to see much to know Teo isn't one of these at least, and she kicks at the closest one's face until it's stalled enough that she can scramble back onto her feet and lunge for the still-open door. With any luck, the survivors would dismiss her as zombie food and leave this part of the city alone for a while. With even more look, the things she manages to shove in front of the door to try and hold the horde beating to get in at bay would work and she would not actually become zombie food. Still, as she's blocking things off, she stupidly calls out.]
Teo?! Teo, if you're out there, answer me --
[Because otherwise she won't be able to help him get inside before she retreats back to their peaceful little apartment and curls up in front of the door, face buried in her knees. He'd be okay. He has to be. He has to be okay, or it's her fault. All her fault. No sleeping through the panic this time, because what if he really didn't come back?]