#Dead Island Slayers x Numen

[theexaltedbride]

Dead Island 2 Slayers X New Numen Reader. (Female).

You failed to get to the evacuation zones in time. There were just so many zombies around, so much chaos, and the earthquakes damaged the roads, preventing you from taking any of the pre-prepared routes. By the time the military pulled out and set up the quarantine zone, it was already too late. 

You were trapped in Hell-A, and you had no choice but to run, hide, and pray for the storm to pass. Days turned to weeks, and the earthquakes continued, causing power and water to be inconsistent until it shut down completely. You had to survive by moving from house to house, hoping to find enough resources to live just one more day, and not to run into any marauders who might be interested in taking advantage of the situation and a lone woman without a group.

You were pretty lucky at first, none of the infected around you were anything more than rotting Shamblers who could be outpaced by a fast walk or a light jog. But your luck was set to run out, as a Butcher moved into your area, and began stalking you. It could smell your blood, hear it pulsing in your veins, and it wanted to hear the musical rhythm of your heart beating in terror as it slaughtered you. Like a skilled predator, it waited until you were vulnerable, when it came in for the lunge, and you first knew of its presence by being impaled in the side by one of its bone spikes, then by a bite on your face.

You were mauled by several of the infected, tossed about like a ragdoll, bitten into. You only barely escaped with your life by biting the Butcher right back and tearing off its nose. While it was confused and in pain you fled and found an alleyway to recover and think up a better plan, hiding in a dumpster, where the stink of it hid your scent from the Butcher, long enough for the virus to course through your body and begin repairing you. Parts of your body are different now, your eyes are a different color, almost like one of the infected, your jaw feels strong enough to crunch bone (like a dog does), and you feel like you have way more energy than you did before your infection.

Something in your blood responded to the virus, and it began to work with you rather than against you. It called out to others like you, and you could sense them nearby, but so could the Butcher, as it finally chased you out of the dumpster and into the streets, where someone else finally came to your rescue. 

Amy:

-Amy saved you from the butcher by running in with a war cry and a pistol, firing off bullets as fast as she could pull the trigger. While the Butcher was fast, she was even faster, moving like the wind. She ducked and weaved round the Butcher’s strikes, using some old cavalry sword that she’d made sharp with some mods to slice the Butcher up. Once it was dealt with, she focused on getting you to safety, and has been by your side since then.

- Amy has been a great help in getting you used to your new status and keeping your spirits up. She’s had to go through the loss of a leg, and turning that into a positive, as well as the shock of discovering she was a Numen. She knows what you are going through even more than you do, and is always there to empathize with you.

-When Amy trains you she focuses on building up your stamina as much as possible. Even if you have super speed you wont always be able to use it and sometimes being able to outlast an enemy in a fight is more important than being stronger than them.

-Whenever you feel ashamed about your bite and stab scars, Amy will take time to ask you to help her adjust her prosthetic leg as a subtle way of showing she understands, and to show how much she trusts you by letting you help her in that way.

Bruno:

-Bruno showed up by doing one of those action movie slides over the hood of a car and shouting for the Butcher attacking you to “Pick on someone who hits back!”. Bruno brought the hurt on the Butcher with an electrified machete, that sent the monster reeling back and screaming as 1.21 Gigawatts of ‘payback’ flowed through its body. Once it was dead, he used that same electric machete to jumpstart a car and use it to take you back to Emma’s mansion where you could be given first aid.

-While you were recovering and still healing from the Butcher’s attack, Bruno was always there to help you out and had several calming playlists to keep your mind from panicking too much as your body put itself back together and the group slowly introduced you to what they knew about being a Numen.

-Bruno teaches you a lot about gadgets and inventions (almost as much as he does about music and videos) and wants to make sure you always have some trick up your sleeve if you are ever in danger.

-You’re starting to pick up that Bruno goes out of his way t make your music playlists empowering to you or to help you come to terms with being humanity 2.0, but in a good way, more heroic than what the Eschaton Group is like.

Carla:

-Carla came roaring in on one of her fixed up motorcycles when she sensed you in danger. Like something out of an action movie she jumped off the back of the bike and let it slam right into the Butcher, knocking it off its feet, while she pulled out a tricked out mace to smash the Butcher’s head in. Once the threat was dealt with, she put you into a princess carry and ran with you all the way to Emma’s place, kicking zombies to death along the way while constantly talking to you to keep you from going to sleep.

-Carla knows your fast, but she trains you to build up some upper body strength. You can use both speed and strength to get the upper hand on any Butchers who come after you in the future. Carla won’t always be around, but she wants you to be safe.

-Whenever she gets a motorcycle working again, she loves pulling wheelies and showing off that same trick which helped her to save you. Sure she’s wrecked a few bikes, but its worth it for her to see that glimmer in your eyes.

-Carla sometimes struggles to train you as much as she wants during sparring sessions because she doesn’t want to accidentally hurt you.

Dani:

-Dani’s accent was one of the first things you noticed when she came to your rescue. Matched only by the constant cacophony of gunfire from her. She seemed to have guns hidden in hammerspace, as each time a magazine ran dry, she just pulled out a new one and kept on firing, even with how a Butcher seems supernaturally able to block bullets, it wasn’t able to stop every single shot and soon Dani had turned the Butcher into paste, before taking the time to provide you some initial First Aid. 

-Dani comforted you as you were taken back to Emma’s mansion, and you learned that a lot of hard swears can actually be pretty endearing when said with a comforting tone and some genuine care. 

-Dani has put you through a full gun safety course so you can soften up a Butcher (or any other threat) from afar before it can get too close to you, as well as teaching you to swear like a sailor and get yourself hyped up. Don’t get scared, get angry!

-She’s started trying out some different hairstyles to find something which matched your hair to your new Numen eyes, so you wouldn’t have to be afraid of looking different.

Jacob:

-Jacob played the role of the dashing hero out of nowhere, ducking and weaving through the attacks of the Butcher, while sometimes taking hits and managing to turn it around against the Butcher. Once he dispatched it (by turning a feint into a suplex that broke the Butcher’s back) he dropped his normally comedic attitude, and promised you that he’d get you help as he slid his arms under your own and started to pull you towards the mansion. 

-Jacob has always got a kind word or smart comment ready to help lift your spirits up, which proves very useful during training when he teaches you how to fold your body and handle getting hit, and turning it around against an enemy.

-The two of you tend to hang out a lot and just talk about things, a Jacob really impart his devil may care attitude about being a Numen to you. Its just the same as being a regular human but with extra steps.

-When you admitted fear and shame over other people seeing your mutated eyes, Jacob took the moment to gently remove his own sunglasses and show how he has one discolored eye, effectively blind in one eye even after becoming a Numen. He knows a lot about how you feel.

Ryan:

-When Ryan initially found you he was full on using a fake firefighter voice to sound heroic as he fought off the Butcher and eventually stomped the monster’s head in. He then put you into a fireman’s carry and ran with you all the way back to the mansion. Ryan didn’t know much first aid, but he had the strength and stamina to get you back to the mansion for treatment, where he chose to be by your side the entire time.

-It took you a while to learn Ryan’s secret, as he kept up an act of being a real First Responder to keep you calm and feeling safe. It wouldn’t be until after you made a full recovery that he told you the truth.

-Ryan’s training with you has been focused on helping you think on your feet and come up with responses and plans quickly when under attack. He isn’t much of a planner, but when the going gets tough he still manages to keep his head.

-When you both grew to trust one another more, Ryan admitted that he is always afraid. The mask of bravery he wears is an act for everyone else. So he can sympathize with you when you admit you are afraid of Butchers, but he also helps you to learn to mask that fear and keep it behind a mask, until the mask becomes real and the both of you are genuinely brave enough to fight whatever horrors Hell-A throws at you.

General Headcanons:

-The Eschaton Group tries to recruit you into their faction and pull you away from the Slayers. They know you have powers that the rest of your friends don’t, and they want that on their side. They tell you that the age of baseline humans is over. Numen are inherently superior and should rule the world to come. But you recall the fear and pain you endured while you were still a ‘baseline’ human. It pushes you to save others, and use your powers for the better. Great Power comes with Great Responsibility, and those with the means to protect others have a duty to do so.

-You’ve taken to wearing sunglasses to cover up your Numen eyes, so you don’t scare anyone with how different you are. Its even become a bit of a game for everyone to bring you some new sunglasses and see which one works best for you. Sometimes this leads to some very good finds, and other times it leads to hilarity as you are running around Hell-A slaying zombies in the most ridiculous sunglasses your friends could find.

-Your own Numen powers are beginning to develop the more you test them. While the others get things like super strength and rabid fury, you are developing the same kind of regeneration as them mixed with an incredible movement speed. When you trigger it you move faster and smoother than everyone else, its like they are all walking through water or mud while you stroll past them. It’s fast enough you could even dodge the strikes of a Butcher if one were to attack you again. It only lasts about ten seconds, but that is still just enough to finish off a zombie or to pull someone out of danger. 

-The sight of the Butcher infected still sometimes inspires fear in you. But you know you can handle it. You’re a Numen now, you have the power to beat the shit out of these monsters, to save people, and you have friends and a lover with you who have that same power. It will take some time to conquer this fear, but you know you can do it. 

-Since you have other Numen allies to help you master your new powers and status, you’re discovering that it is easier to control your abilities with those who support you and you’re learning it faster than the other Slayers who had to learn it from trial and error. It almost acts as a direct challenge to the ‘Sink or Swim’, method that the Eschaton Group uses.

-Your vision is slowly changing, you can see things, almost as if you can see through walls to pick up on when infected and uninfected are around, its let you get the jump on some of the more dangerous autophage variants out there. 

Bonus: Bruno’s Playlist for you.

-Disturbed “The Curse”.

-Transistor ”She Shines”.  (The one by Supergiant Games)

-Skillet “Feel Invincible”.

-Disturbed “The Light”.

-Karl Sanders “The Elder God Shrine”.

-Matthew Good “Weapon”.

-Matthew Good “Fated”.

[theexaltedbride]

Dead Island 2 Slayers X National Guard Reader (Gender Neutral)

(Art is not mine. Its taken from the old, and sadly dead, zombie Tabletop RPG “All Flesh Must Be Eaten” by Eden Studios.)

You were part of the failed attempt by the military to wipe out the seemingly endless hordes of the undead in Los Angeles. After its failure you were re-tasked with aiding in quarantine for Hell-A and evacuation procedures for the remaining survivors of LA before Zero Hour. The moment when no one, alive or dead, would be allowed to leave the city to stop the risk of infection spreading to the rest of the country, the continent...the world. 

You’ve seen so much horror, so much suffering and heard so much screaming, but you still strapped on your boots like everyone else. Some may have gone too far, others not far enough, in trying to stop the infected, but you did everything possible while still keeping your soul. 

Not all of you were even originally from LA, but the outbreak was so bad that National Guard units even from as far as Texas were being called up to come in and reinforce the quarantine zone around the infected regions. Not even a single zombie could be allowed to escape and cause outbreaks elsewhere. All options were on the table, and everyone had to go above and beyond the call of duty to save humanity, which for some (like your unit) meant going in and destroying clusters of the infected where they seemed to strangely be congregating in areas that would keep them safe from artillery and airstrikes. 

This is how you discovered you were secretly a Numen. You were immune to the infection. One of those things got too close and ripped off your mask before your pistol went under the monster’s chin and fired off a round.

Some of the infected matter got into your eyes, your nose, your mouth, you knew that was when it happened...deep down you knew you were infected. But you were too scared to tell anyone. So, you covered it up, and while you managed to pass out somewhere private, you woke up as yourself. The disease which turned others into monsters had given you new strength, made you feel younger, stronger, faster, healthier. Were it not for the occasional head splitting headaches, you probably would call it the best thing to ever happen to you. 

It certainly made the coming days easier as you fought through countless swarms of the undead, saved who you could, and even gave up a seat on an evacuation plane so that others could get to safety. 

You were there at the failed attempt to burn out the undead from around the Hollywood Sign, you can still smell the roasting corpses, before finally falling back with the others to the last evacuation flights out of LA. Somehow you ended up as part of the security detail for the same flight as Emma Jaunt. But then her husband turned out to be infected, and it spread like wildfire inside the plane.

You survived the plane crash by assuming the crash position, only to wake up being carried out by one of the other survivors, who saw you writhing in your seat, this same person...a fellow Numen of all things, would eventually become your lover.

Amy:

-At one point Amy’s prosthetic slipped and she landed on the ground, your training kicked in and you grabbed her and carried her to safety, all the while firing round after round from your pistol into the oncoming swarm, driving them back just enough for you to get away. You swept Amy of her feet figuratively and literally. 

-Amy and you both share the same story of having given up a flight to safety so that others could get out first. You’ve bonded over this and its not uncommon to hear Amy call you Superhero for it, even though she did the same thing.

-She’s not normally one for uniforms, but likes the way your PT gear fits on you when you both hit the gym at Emmas Mansion. Though her regiment is more designed for stamina while yours is an all purpose strength builder. she still loved to see you sweat all the same and hit the showers with you.

-As a sign of trust, you let her carry your dog tags, and she keeps it tied together with the little cross she sometimes prays to when she’s afraid. She even went so far as to look into a prayer for soldiers, so she can pray for you when things get tough.

Bruno:

-Tends to keep thinking you’re in the Army despite how many times you explain how the National Guard works as his only experience with anything military was the evacuation, movies, and videogames. 

-He loves to joke that the footage he gets of you could be used for recruitment videos, or how you already are a super-soldier, even without the Numen part of you.

-He happily shoots guns Gangsta style until you teach him the right way to do it. The entire time you had your hands on him and helped Bruno shoot straight, he was just blushing and nervously nodding. It would take several tries for the lessons to stick, which gave you plenty of material to tease Bruno with later on.

-Likes to watch you flex your muscles when you’re alone together, and when you sleep in bed, he tends to idly play with your dogtags enjoying the sound and feel of them, while committing the details in them to memory. He kind of wants to get a set of his own now, only far more tricked out than yours. 

Carla:

-Loves to arm wrestle you because she knows you can take it and sometimes likes to play the knife game with you. (Carla wins most of the time and your poor fingers would be covered in bandages, were it not for your Numen abilities healing you up faster). Carla has also been a bit rougher with you in sparring matches and wants to learn what you know, half of the time its so she can really learn to fight like a soldier, but the other half of it is just so she can spend more time with you working out and pushing your bodies to the limit.

-Can’t keep up with you during PT runs around the mansion and makes excuses about leg cramps, or that she does it so she can check you out as you run. In truth it’s really that you run faster than her, but at least she gets a nice show out of it. 

-She thinks you look good in your uniform, but thinks it would be a little tighter.

-Tends to be disappointed when you explain real military life isn’t like the movies, but appreciates you being honest with her. 

Dani:

-Surprisingly good with firearms once you taught her the basics, you soon discovered she was putting in extra practice with Curtis to impress you and to look good for you while shooting. She’s also the most serious about trigger discipline out of everyone in the group.

-Loves to swear and drink, and tends to challenge you to a contest of one or both of those things since soldiers do both in ample amounts. Or at least that’s what she learned from movies. 

-Tends to take your camo-cap, beanie, beret, or helmet, from off your head and put it on herself. If you want it back you gotta pay the toll. Or you could try to put her in a friendly headlock, whichever works.

-Geeks out over deciding which military focused tattoos would look great on you and which ones she can get for herself so you both have a matching set.

Jacob:

-”Yes Captain, my Captain!” Is a common phrase from Jacob when he’s messing around with you. It was annoying at first, but the sincerity and positive energy he puts into it brings a smile to your face...of course its also led to some confusion as others think you’re a Captain now.

-He can’t stand all the pomp and circumstance of a regimented lifestyle like the military, always taking orders and having to obey etc etc. But he has to admit, you make it appealing in your own way. 

-Jacob’s not into any of that PT and weapon drills you run for the other survivors, but he does like watching you do it while sitting back with a cigar. He can also be found cheering you on when you have a sparring match with one of the others. 

-He might occasionally make a comment about soldiers or military being mindless drones who kill, but he won’t say it to you or around you. 

Ryan:

-You actually remembered Ryan from the airport and kept referring to him as a firefighter, until he (in one of his first displays of affection to you) shared the truth that he wasn’t really a firefighter. Just a male stripper who used the costume to get past the guards. Something about that sent you into a deep fit of laughter, and 

-You’ve both had shirtless (or even fully naked) flexing contests in the mirror to see who has the best body from all their training and working out. Ryan always says you look better than him no matter what.

-He jokes about perhaps dressing up in a uniform too and taking on the role as your CO, which you tell him no because you’ve grown to really like his Firefighter persona. (Especially since impersonating a soldier like that is disrespectful and in a crisis situation might be even more illegal than impersonating a firefighter.)

-Ryan has a keychain that reminds him of his brother, and so you gave him one of your tags to add to it, so he can think of you whenever you are separated for a while by your missions.

General Interactions and Headcanons:

-Due to your position, duty, and uniform, survivors tend to call you ‘Trooper’ ‘Guard’ ‘Soldier’ or by the rank you are wearing at the time.

-You have a growing collection of dog tags from every undead soldier you put down. They might have been monsters when they attacked you, but before that each one was someone’s father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter...someone’s lover. Its only right they get some kind of closure when all of this is over. 

-Your bayonete is slowly becoming your lucky charm. Its always there when the swarms get big or when the ammo runs dry. Its also pretty intimidating to hostile survivors and when stabbed into a zombie it gives you some good distance to catch your breath and figure out your next move.

-You are the best at handling Grenadier Walkers, and can sometimes re-arm from them if you manage to take them down without igniting their explosives.

- Thanks to Ryan and you both wearing uniforms that seem to indicate you are in positions of authority, random survivors defer to you both for help and guidance. You are starting to become somewhat of a team leader because of this.

-Surviving military personnel, like those at the beach, are a little more lenient to you and the Slayers if you speak first. They might be willing to part ways with some extra supplies if you ask nicely or can offer something in return. Teh extra bit of firepower is going to really help out in the days to come.

-You made sure that everyone learned proper gun-safety and trigger discipline. Emma, Andrea, and Michael nearly shot someone by accident when you first arrived at Emma’s mansion. There are no hospitals, so accidental shootings are even more dangerous now than before. This is a crisis situation and everyone needs to know how to handle a firearm, even at its most basic level, without hurting themselves even if they don’t like guns. Out of the whole group Bruno and Luciana appreciated the lessons the most. While Amanda is absolutely not allowed to handle a gun ever again.  

-Andrea looks to you for guidance as an authority figure more so than the other Slayers and taught Amy a soldier’s prayer to say for you.

-Carlos is happy to help you do maintenance on your firearms, and even watch as you explain certain things so he can help repair the group’s equipment.

-You’ve taken to occasionally having shooting competitions with Curtis.

-Luciana was excited to learn from you that in their off time a lot of soldiers indulge in nerdy hobbies like miniatures, tabletop RPGs, or Anime weaboo stuff. Its not always just guns and marching and chest thumping. 

-Dr Reed was initially worried about your presence, as not everything about his operation is actually approved of by the CDC, but you presented more valuable data and were of too low a rank to know the full truth and be a risk to his plans. 

-The Other Numen of the Eschaton group don’t exactly like you. They see you as an agent of the old order, one which must die out (along with the ‘unevolved’ parts of humanity). But so long as you don’t get in their way (and because you have six other Numen on your side/one devoted lover) they hold off on trying to harm you. Someday your two groups may come to blows. Not now, but eventually.

-Sam B did not initially trust you as he’s been burnt by the authorities too many times. But after everything you’ve all been through together, he trusts you as much as he does the rest of the Hell-A Slayers. He may not have much love or trust for anyone in authority, but in his eyes, you are one of the good ones, maybe even the best.

-Patton initially saluted you, old training taking over as he mistook you for an officer, and then was a little hostile to you. Like many veterans abandoned after their service, he has a bit of resentment towards the military for using him and tossing him away. But when he sees you being an action hero and saving people, that will quickly turn around. 

-The Nightmares can get bad sometimes. You can remember the screams of people you considered your brothers and sisters, you can still hear the calls over the radio:

“Ghouls are climbing over the fence, we’re hanging on by a thread!”

“3 O’ clock! One of those big fuckers just flipped a humvee!”

“The Earthquke cracked open the sewers, we got...we got fucking monsters spilling out of the ground!”

“Oh God we just lost the civvies! The quakes knocked over the evac bus!”

“The quakes just knocked over the artillery over by the hill, I repeat, artillery battery is unable to engage.”

“This is the boardwalk FOB, we’ve taken 90% losses! We need a ride out of here or we’re all going to die!”

“Get those Little Birds out of here! The fucking ghouls are jumping on them!”

“Ghouls breaking through the...shit...we cannot hold this position any longer. Broken Arrow! Broken Arrow! Broken Arrow! Turn our position to glass! I wanna die quick by the bombs....6-4 signing out...God help us...”

You’ve been left twitching in bed or reaching for a weapon, only for your lover to calm you down. They brush away any shame or fear you might have. They’ve fought through swarms of the undead, killed monsters alongside you and stood up to the Eschaton Group for you. They won’t abandon you because you have some chronic night terrors. They love you and once all this is over, they will do whatever it takes to get you the therapy you need, and be by your side to support you no matter what.