Handguns and Second Chances [Casey]

[romain zadok fontenot]

and somewhere in the wilderness, we found salvation,
scratched into the earth like a message.

Zadok couldn’t help but stare at Harewood House as he got out of his car. It was quite possibly the biggest estate that he’d ever seen in his life. Nothing like it was anywhere near his native bayou, anyway. Everything there was pretty much cabins and small houses. There were no mansions. No pretty multi-acre sized gardens. It was a swamp after all. It couldn’t support such a thing.

But Harewood House, now that was a sight. The gardens were huge, though overgrown and a bit of a mess after two years. And the house itself was enormous. A bit square-shaped and boxy, but it was three stories tall, and sort of…sprawled. He couldn’t really thing of another term to describe it. It covered a lot of ground, that was for sure.

After a time, Zadok finally managed to get over his awe at the size of the place. Clearing his throat a bit, he frowned, surveying the area critically. It was pretty, and it was a shelter, and it was pretty much right on top of a water supply. But on the other hand, it was entirely open. There were no walls, no outer defenses of any sort. And that, combined with the size, might just be a problem. Turning to speak to Casey, he decided to skip his usual lighthearted remark for now, instead getting right down to business, so to speak. “Well, it’s better’n nothin’. But I’unno, cher, we’re gon’ have one hell of a time tryin’ to keep it safe.” He shrugged, then, too tired to put up any argument just then. And he was sure that she had already realized everything he’d just said. “We’ll have to look into puttin’ up defenses of some sort tomorrow, when it’s light enough to see what de hell we’re doin’.”

Tucking his hands into his pockets, Zadok started towards the house, not really waiting for Casey to lead the way. He was sure she’d catch up to him before long, and probably would even pass him. Not that he’d mind, of course. He found her no-nonsense attitude rather amusing. Oh, he appreciated it, of course. It was something that would keep her alive in times like these. But his laid-back personality sort of clashed with it. He didn’t particularly care. The point was, he’d finally found someone who wasn’t trying to take his head off with a pipe or some other nasty thing, and he had no intention of taking that little fact for granted. Casey probably wouldn't let him, anyway. If he started to, she'd probably bludgeon him with her new found baseball bat.

-------------------------------------------------------------

TAGGED Nixie! As Casey.
WORD COUNT Four hundred and thirty-seven
TUNAGE Lazy Eye - Silversun Pickups
NOTES xD I got bored and decided to make all of my posts lovely <3

[casey leigh kerr]

But if I'm sitting here lonely with no one to hold me
--At least I'll have my health, I'm trying to control myself.

Casey slowed stopped in front of the house, sticking her feet to the ground waddling with the bike until it slowed down enough for her to stop it without snapping her legs off. Looking up, she stared at the house in all of it's glory with little more than a look of ennui. She might have been excited, were it under a different situation, or maybe if she weren't so damn tired. In the dark, even the looming figure seemed welcoming. One thing was for sure: there would be beds in that house, beds that were big and comfortable and nice to sleep on. Maybe, after such an exhausting day, she might be able to get a good night's sleep. Maybe. She doubted it though.

A few thoughts crossed through her mind as she swung her leg back around the bike and pushed it toward the house. They didn't have food supplies, they didn't have medical supplies, and if they used their modes of transportation to do a lot, they wouldn't have gasoline. She wasn't worried about water, though: it was still in great supply, and rather close. It was probably toxic as-is, but fortunately she had paid enough attention in science class back in the day that she thought she might actually know how to solve this problem. For now she wanted sleep.

She was reminded that she had left the bike still running when the idling growl finally slapped her to her senses. Shaking her head to wake herself a bit, she turned the key and the motor quit. Now all was silence. Except for Zadok talking, which he seemed to do a lot. Casey didn't actually mind, though. In all honesty, he wasn't really as bad as she wanted to make him out to be, and she appreciated having company that wasn't trying to kill him. She might have been crazy, but she trusted him enough. He hadn't done anything that said otherwise.

Still, she wouldn't admit that to him. It tasted too much like defeat, and that was worse than practically anything she could imagine. So she nudged the kickstand down with her foot, leaned her bike onto it, snatched the keys out of it, and took her helmet off in a quick procession. As she strutted past Zadok, she shook her hair out, the blonde falling all about her face. She didn't say much in response to what he said earlier beyond an acknowledging grunt. With her helmet tucked under her arm, she grabbed hold of the door knob, trying it as though she expected it not to be locked. For some reason, she had half expected it not to be. Exhausted and irrationally angry, she cried out at the injustice and kicked the door hard with the tip of her boot, effectively rattling but not opening the door.

Casey yelped and jumped back, yelling a string of swear words that would bring the roses to a sailor's cheeks. Biting down on her bottom lip, she glared down at her toes as though it was entirely their fault for everything that was wrong in the world. "Son of a bitch!" she muttered under her breath. Then, she looked up at the approaching Zadok and immediately passed the blame to him. "Fucking locked."

notes: nana nana nana nana BATMAN!
count: 544
sounds: Control Myself - Maroon 5
outfit: it hasn't changed!

[romain zadok fontenot]

and somewhere in the wilderness, we found salvation,
scratched into the earth like a message.

Zadok grinned from ear to ear as, just as he’d predicted, Casey sauntered past him in what he could only describe as a huff. Nope, it didn’t surprise him one bit. She didn’t seem the sort to just let a little thing like his heading for the house first slide without it hitting a nerve, and without trying to one-up him. But, he didn’t really mind at all. This way, he could check her out without her noticing, and subsequently without her beating the life out of him. Of course, the minute he realized that he was, in fact, checking her out, he immediately felt extremely guilty, and mentally kicked himself. If his grand-mere could see him now, she’d be severely disappointed. She might even smack him with the butt of her shotgun.

Turning his attention back to more appropriate places, Zadok watched as Casey tried to open the door, as though she expected it to be unlocked. That wasn’t likely. But he kept his mouth shut and let her do what she wanted. It was best not to piss her off any more than was necessary. But then, when she gave up and kicked the door, cursing up a storm, he blinked in surprise, and had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. It was horrible of him, in his mind, but that didn’t keep him from being amused.

Zadok drew to a stop beside her, ignoring her scowl. Quite a feat, to be honest. He’d always felt rather emasculated whenever a woman gave him that look. But, instead of feeling uncomfortable at Casey’s glare, he simply grinned at her. “Hey, now, don’ you be talkin’ bout my mamma like dat. I might jus’ take offense.” He winked, then tugged his lock pick set from his jacket pocket with a ridiculous flourish. “Allow me.”

Carefully stepping past Casey to the door, he opened the case and selected the W pick. It was the best for door-locks. Then, pushing the extension into the lock, shortly followed by the pick itself, he wiggled the pick a bit. His uncle had taught him the right motion, the right amount of force, and it sort of came naturally to him after eight years of picking locks. Not that he was really proud of that, but it sure as hell came in handy. After only a matter of moments, Zadok felt the tumblers give way, and he couldn’t help but smirk as he tugged the W pick out, twisted the extension, and turned the doorknob. Easy. All it took was a bit of patience, and a bit of finesse. Pushing open the door, he stepped aside and gave a tiny, absurd bow to Casey. “After you, ma petite enflamme.”

Zadok continued to grin at her for a moment, probably slightly goofily, but he didn’t really care. And then, before she could punch him or anything, he backed up another step or two and busied himself with putting the pick and extension back into the small, leather case. Then, zipping it closed, he shoved it carefully back into his pocket. The damn set had cost too much money to go losing it. And now, it was worth even more than it had cost. He didn’t think he could ever forgive himself if he dropped it somewhere. Not only that, but it would probably have his poor uncle Gautier turning over in his grave.

-------------------------------------------------------------

TAGGED Nixie! As Casey.
WORD COUNT Five hundred and sixty-nine
TUNAGE Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters
NOTES xD I got bored and decided to make all of my posts lovely <3

[casey leigh kerr]

But if I'm sitting here lonely with no one to hold me
--At least I'll have my health, I'm trying to control myself.

Casey couldn't say that she wasn't impressed at Zadok's lock picking prowess, and that she wasn't highly amused at the way he had gone about it. He was slowly growing on her, to say the least. In fact, as she watched him wiggle what looked to be like a professionally bent coat hanger, she gave the first wholehearted smile she had given in what felt like a long, long time. Rolling her shoulders, she stood up slowly and sauntered up the steps. Her toes still hurt, but they were a long way from broken. In the next few minutes, she was positive the problem would solve itself.

Before she entered, she slung the baseball bat out of it's makeshift harness and readied it. Then, she cautiously stepped through the door. Her feet didn't make a sound on the marble floor. She was rather like a ninja when she needed to be. And she needed to be. Casey hunched, looking like some primal huntress, and probably a little bit silly, but she wasn't taking any chances. If there was anyone else in this house — specifically a raider, she would know about it before they knew about her, and they were going to lose their life. She had survived this long on instinct, and she wasn't going to die because she'd gone soft or was worrying about what she looked like.

The house was empty, anyway. Dark, and empty. At least as far as she could tell. Turning her head over her shoulder, she nodded as though to tell him that it was safe. Of course, she was sure he really didn't care, and the more she thought about it, the more ridiculous she felt. So, she shrugged, and took a few steps out of reach to put the baseball bat away. Then, she took the box cutter from her back pocket, but didn't bother opening it. For once, Casey felt... safe.

Heaving a sigh, she wandered over and plopped herself on the staircase leading up to the next floor and took to examining the toes of her boots in the diminishing light. "Y'know what I miss more than anything else?" She asked, thinking more out loud than actually posing a question to Zadok. Of course, if he answered, she'd be alright with it. If he didn't, she'd actually be surprised. She wasn't going to wait anyway, so it didn't really matter. "Electricity." Shaking her head, she leaned back and propped herself up. Lounging against the stairs wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was nice to actually stretch out after standing on one's feet for so long.

The yawn came on suddenly; it was long and loud, and seemed like quite a noise to come from such a small frame. Of course, it echoed through a couple of rooms before coming back quietly. A small smile crept onto Casey's lips and she shot up, her long fingers curling around the banister as she peeked over it, looking into the next room. You couldn't see in the dark, but her eyes were sparkling with some sort of child-like delight. Leaning up, she gave a yodel which, too, echoed back. The yodel was horrible, as she had never been one for yodeling, but what could be more appropriate for an echo? Casey giggled.

notes: ECHOOOO echooo echooo.
count: 583
sounds: Drunken Lament - Ludo
outfit: it hasn't changed!

[romain zadok fontenot]

and somewhere in the wilderness, we found salvation,
scratched into the earth like a message.

After he’d finally managed to put the lock pick set back into his pocket, Zadok readied his shotgun and started making his way carefully into the house after Casey. And then, he felt like a complete moron when he realized how ridiculous he was being. There was obviously no one in the house; raiders didn’t bother with locks, and they generally made more of a mess of things. The house was in fairly good condition, after all. No, if raiders had invaded it, it would’ve been completely trashed. But it was better to be safe than sorry, and all of that, so he didn’t lower the gun until Casey turned and nodded at him.

Heaving a sigh, Zadok closed the door behind him, locking it once more once it was securely latched. Then, rolling his head on his shoulders, he wandered over to where Casey was sitting on the stairs. He gave a half-smile and opened his mouth to answer her question with some joke or other, but didn’t have any chance before she answered it herself. She really was an impatient woman. Not that he minded, of course. But he did nod in agreement with her statement about electricity. It certainly was one of the many things that he regretted losing when this whole ordeal started.

“Well, cher, I tink we could set up some sort of generator. We’ll just have to go back into de city sometime, which we needed to do anyway, for food and medical supplies, and hopefully some gas.” He pushed his fingers into his hair, trying not to think too much about everything that they needed. The most important thing right then was that they had shelter, and they could sleep. Something that he needed desperately.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he struggled for a moment to suppress a headache. He didn’t really pay much attention to her yawn. They were both tired, and that was perfectly understandable. But, as it was, it took him completely by surprise when she actually yodeled. Like, straight up, mountain goat herdin’ yodeled. He froze for a moment, then slowly lowered his hand enough to stare incredulously at her. A broad grin, the first sincere one he’d given in a long, long time, slowly split his face at the absolute absurdity. Something that he appreciated wholeheartedly, to be perfectly honest. It brought a touch of humanity to life, which was a damn hard thing to do these days. Zadok was still smiling when he finally managed to speak. “Cher, you jus' made my night.”

-------------------------------------------------------------

TAGGED Nixie! As Casey.
WORD COUNT Five hundred and sixty-nine
TUNAGE Buried a Lie - Senses Fail
NOTES xD I got bored and decided to make all of my posts lovely <3

[casey leigh kerr]

But if I'm sitting here lonely with no one to hold me
--At least I'll have my health, I'm trying to control myself.

Was she just tired, or was she actually enjoying herself for the first time in two years? She didn't know, but that didn't stop her from continuing to laugh as the yodel echoed back to her. She let her head fall back onto the stairs with a heavy thunk as she continued to laugh until she was out of breath. The only thing that could really make it any better was if, per chance, by some miracle every one she had known that died came bursting through the front door, yelling surprise! If that little boy in Hoole was riding Rachel's shoulders (though, admittedly, that would be strange because neither of the two of them had known the little boy.)

Shaking her head, she heaved herself forward. All of her joints cried out against it, which brought to attention just how tired she really was. Still, she didn't want to go to bed just yet. After all, they needed to wander around the entire house and secure all the doors. At least make sure they were locked, for now. Tomorrow they would have to make rounds, find some boards or something to put over the windows and excess doors. This was a prime location, and she had no intention of losing it to raiders or anyone else for that matter.

After a moment, she slowly rose to her feet. It was time to start checking doors, at the very least. Unless they were as skilled as Zadok at lock picking, or could magically walk through locked doors, the duo inside would know about any intruders. A smashed window was not a quiet thing, nor was busting down a door. As she had experienced earlier, this house had been built of materials that carried sound exceptionally, which could be both a gift and a curse. After coming out of her thoughts, she nodded toward the hallway she had previously been using for vocal practice. "We'd probably better get to checking doors. We can split up to cover more ground or stay together for that safety in numbers crap."

Then she stopped and turned back around. "Hey, uhm..." She started. For a few moments she looked hesitant to finish the line that had continued in her head. Nonetheless, she shrugged her shoulders irritably, and then shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "I'm sorry I've been kind of harsh. Haven't had a lot of human contact and all that, not the most social creature." And, she didn't add, she wasn't just going to let anyone waltz into her life so easily. But it wasn't his fault, and she needn't hold it against him. But she probably would for a while. Meanwhile, she gave a half smile.

notes: BRAAAAWWG.
count: 453
sounds: Pure Imagination - Maroon 5
outfit: it hasn't changed!

[romain zadok fontenot]

and somewhere in the wilderness, we found salvation,
scratched into the earth like a message.

Zadok stepped aside to let Casey pass, then scratched his head as he took a mental inventory of the exits. There was the front door, which they’d just came in and he’d securely locked, and then most likely a back door and at least two side doors. Given the sheer size of the place, chances were high that there were a hell of a lot more, but he wasn’t entirely sure. Then there were windows to worry about, and there had to be dozens and dozens of those. Not to mention, they didn’t exactly have any lumber with which they could board them up right then, nor any nails, and he wasn’t in the mood to go scavenging right then. He would in the morning. But right then, the only thing he wanted to do was eat something and then flop over on a bed and pass out.

Zadok hoped that there was some sort of food stuffs in the building. If there wasn’t, he was sure to have low blood sugar the following morning, and that wouldn’t do at all, if he wanted to get anything done. Oh, he supposed he could go back into the city for supplies later that night, if he needed to. But he’d really rather not. Raiders tended to be more active, or at the very least more agreeable to the concept of attacking innocent passersby, at night. Oh, he could probably take care of himself, but all in all, it was just a pain in the ass to go back into the city. It would mean that he’d have to stock up on gas again, and all manner of inconvenient things. So, he just kept his hopes up for the food to be in the house.

Casey started walking by, and then stopped to speak. To apologize, which didn’t seem in character for her at all. Zadok studied her closely for any sign that she was giving, whether it be subconscious or otherwise. Then, finally deciding that there wasn’t one, and that he ought to just take her at face value, he answered her lightheartedly. “Don’ worry ‘bout it, cher. I know I’m not exactly de easiest man to get along with. Hell, I can be downrigh’ scandalous sometimes.” He shrugged, then started to follow her. “Now, I know dat most likely, nobody’s here. But, it’d be best to stick together until we know for sho’. I, for one, don’ wanna turn a corner and find myself at de wrong end of a raider’s knife. Or pipe, or, Le Bon Dieu forbid, gun.” He winked again, then walked past her. “So, just how many exits does a place like dis usually have? Like, fifty? It just so happens dat I am a swamp rat, so I have absolutely no clue.”

He didn’t wait for her to catch up, again sure that she would pass him soon enough. Instead, he started making note of the windows that he passed. Just so that he could make the job easier in the morning. The last thing that they wanted to do was to waste valuable time that could be spent doing something useful. Procrastination was never a good thing these days.

-------------------------------------------------------------

TAGGED Nixie! As Casey.
WORD COUNT Five hundred and thirty-seven
TUNAGE It's For the Best - Straylight Run
NOTES xD I got bored and decided to make all of my posts lovely <3

[casey leigh kerr]

But if I'm sitting here lonely with no one to hold me
--At least I'll have my health, I'm trying to control myself.

Casey shrugged at his question, and then realized that being ahead of her meant that Zadok couldnt actually see the motion. "I honestly have no idea. I suppose I never payed much attention to this place before Hell came to Earth." She sighed then, dragging her long digits across the dusty glass of a show case as they passed. The case held various trinkets and bobbles, plate and things that weren't particularly interesting or surprising to see in a place like this. After all, no one had lived here for some hundred years, and probably wouldn't for a hundred years after. If there were even people in a hundred years.

Casey didn't want to think about it, so she shrugged her shoulders again, lifting them until the leather of her coat touched the bottom of her earlobes. Instead, she cleared her throat and quickened her pace. A bit of paranoia entered her head. She hadn't really been much of a gamer before, being too busy and active to sit down for long periods of time. However, she had played a couple of games. Mostly survival horror, usually involving some kind of zombie infestation after this exact kind of thing happened. Somewhere, for some ungodly reason, the idea just had to creep up in the back of her mind. Now she was waiting for something to jump out of nowhere and try to eat her face off.

Shivering, she stepped up so that she was walking side-by-side with Zadok. "Sooo..." She said, trying to start a topic of conversation to get her mind off of the things that weren't really lurking around in the dark. Now she wished she had a flashlight, which in retrospect, really should have gone into her bag. But it didn't, and now she was wandering around a huge house without any light, failed to light any candles which were in excess around the house, with a guy she really didn't know that well but was slowly and begrudgingly starting to like. "I heard —" She stopped talking for a moment, thinking she heard knocking, but dismissed it as her mind falling back into paranoia, and then decided to try again. "I heard there were people who are immune to the virus." She said, thinking about that instead.

She wondered if there was a way to take those people and experiment on them, to create some sort of anti-virus from their blood or DNA like all those terrible science fiction movies she used to watch on TV when there was nothing else to do but sleep. There weren't any movies anymore. No electricity. Nothing to do, really, but sleep. Casey frowned. It wasn't the time to get all angsty. It was, however, time to be grumpy, which she was more than obliged to do. This time, however, she didn't take it out on Zadok, instead stewing in silence over all the stupid things that she missed.

notes: nana nana nana nana BATMAN!
count: 486
sounds: High & Dry - Radiohead
outfit: it hasn't changed!

[romain zadok fontenot]

and somewhere in the wilderness, we found salvation,
scratched into the earth like a message.

Zadok turned his head to study Casey for a moment as she fell into step beside him, rather than forced her way out in front. It surprised him a bit. He really had been expecting her to be all gung ho again. Oh, he didn’t have any problem with her walking next to instead of in front of him. But yeah, it was a bit out of character. Shrugging slightly, he turned back to the path in front of him, straining a bit to see what he was doing in the darkness. Yes, he did regret the loss of electricity. It would have made this little job infinitely easier. Oh, well. He’d make do. No use in complaining now, when there was no one to hear him. Well, there was Casey, but he was sure that he’d find no sympathy there. Probably just a fist to his nose for being such a whiny little bitch.

He wasn’t quite sure what the next room was, to be perfectly honest; if he had to make a guess, he’d say it was a music room, though there weren’t any instruments in sight. But just about everything, from the very nice-looking carpet to the paintings lining the walls to even the panels painted onto the ceiling depicted various musical instruments and other things with such connotations. Mostly lyres, he noticed. But there were other things, as well. For instance, the ceiling panels seemed to have the nine muses painted on them. Blinking a few times, Zadok continued through this room. There was nothing resembling a door that could be locked in there, and as such, there was no reason for them to hang around.

The following room was a dining room, and that’s about all he noticed before Casey spoke again. He turned his head to look at her again, but didn’t stop walking. “Yeah, dat’s what I’ve heard, too. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s just a rumor. But I sho’ hope dere are some people with immunity. Makes dis entire situation jus’ a bit less bleak, non?” He smiled a bit, then. He couldn’t really help it. She seemed to be in another bad mood, and he was trying to lighten the mood again. Lord, but the woman had the worst mood swings he’d ever seen. And that was saying a lot, considering some women he’d met over his brief life.

Finally reaching the end of that room, he poked his head into the next, and stood there gaping for a minute. A gallery; and sure, he’d seen plenty of them before, but this one was different. Renaissance-era paintings lined the walls. He’d learned to develop the talent for recognizing such things due to his former…profession. And each of the paintings in that room would’ve gotten quite the price. “Day-um. You have any idea how much money all dis could’ve made me back when money was still useful? And when I had no qualms agains’ robbin’ people blind, o’ course.” He shot Casey another grin before proceeding into the room, then spoke again. “But, yeah, I dunno. Maybe we’re all immune. All of us survivors, I mean. Would be nice, wouldn’ it? Not havin’ to worry about gettin’ that shit. Hell, maybe dey could even figure out some sort o' cure fo' it.” He frowned in thought. “Or maybe we jus’ got lucky. If dat’s what you could call it. I, for one, have a bit of a case of survivor’s guilt. Not dat you’d be able to tell, jus’ lookin’ at me.”

-------------------------------------------------------------

TAGGED Nixie! As Casey.
WORD COUNT Five hundred and seventy-seven
TUNAGE Charlie Big Potato - Skunk Anansie
NOTES D: It's such an utter pile of steaming, smelly cow shit that it makes my sinuses bleed. I'm sorry. <3