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dinklebat · 2 years

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Static Screams

Zombie!Creepypasta

(Bitey Bitey AU by @krayolacolor)

Tw: dehumanization, medical malpractice, gore, cannibalism, death, general horror, angst, and whump, also I wrote this in one evening without proofreading.

wc: 2.9k

Summary: A series of severely damaged tapes reveal Cody (X Virus) and Jack (EJ)’s attempts at curing the (zombie) virus that has taken so many of their colleagues.

“Testing, testing.”

Through the static, the image of a dark-haired boy adorned in a gas mask and goggles cuts in. He impatiently taps at the screen, his scowl deepening.

“It’s not a touch screen,” a bored voice calls out from behind him, out of sight. He clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes, muttering something under his breath.

“I know, I know. I’m just trying to see if it’s recording or not.”

“The only thing it's recording right now is your stupid face. Just take a few steps back and chill.”

The first boy takes a few steps backwards, the rest of his body coming into frame. He’s visibly scrawny for his age, even covered in layers of protective clothing. He clears his throat and awkwardly waves a hand at the camera. “Um, hi. If you’re watching this, I’m either dead, or I’m about to win a Nobel Prize.”

He steps back, revealing more of his surroundings. The walls are old and weathered at their edges, but every surface seems to be well-maintained, polished and sterilized to perfection. Dark countertops are covered with various instruments and tools: beakers, bunsen burners, microscopes and more. Sitting at one of the various machines is another man, with dark, almost gray skin and large, pointed ears akin to those of a bat.

“Either way, here is the current situation. A viral outbreak has occurred and is quickly evolving into a larger pandemic. The virus behaves most similar to rabies and encephalitis. What starts as nausea, migraines, and a high fever escalates to rapid swelling in the brain, resulting in a loss of cognitive function, aggressive behavior, and a craving for raw meat. Other symptoms include disrupted sleeping patterns, necrosis of appendages, and organ failure. The virus appears to be transmitted through bodily fluids such as blood and saliva. Whether it can be transmitted through other fluids such as tears and sweat requires further testing.”

The boy pulls out a small sign labeled “Experiment 7A: Test 1” and proudly displays it in front of the camera.

“For our first series of tests we will be pre-existing viral medications for similarly behaving pathogens, especially those designed to fight encephalitis in order to reduce swelling of the brain.”

Suddenly a series of shouts ring out as a door slams open. The scientist quickly runs behind the camera, tilting it to better record the commotion.

A large beast, covered in moss-like fur broken up by bone-like armor, carries in a moaning, decaying body. The thing in its jaws clearly used to be human, but is now nothing but a hollow shell with bloodshot eyes and rotting gashes decorated by maggots. A girl with pink-streaked hair runs in after the large monster, muzzling the infected before prying it out of the beast’s jaws, only to immediately plop the writhing mass on the floor.

“Tadaaaaa,” she cheers. “We caught a zombie!”

She hops onto the counter, swinging her legs excitedly. “I totally lost an earring, but otherwise no one was hurt.”

“They’re not zombies. That would imply they’re undead,” the boy in the gas mask quickly corrects, earning an eye roll from both his companion and the girl.

The other researcher, the man with dark skin and pointed ears, turns towards the newcomers, his ears twitching impatiently. “It would probably be safer to tie up and muzzle it first next time,” he reprimanded. “But otherwise well-done.”

He picked up the infected as if it were a rag doll and plopped it into a chair. The thing growled and clawed at him, but it seemed unable to break his skin. From his pocket, he pulled out a syringe, carefully tilting the infected’s body around. His fingers trace the skin deftly , feeling for the vein. He plunges in the syringe and the body begins to still for a moment.

He steps back and sighs, seemingly admiring his handiwork. The infected’s eyes roll as its body begins to spasm and seize, foaming out the mouth.

“Damn it!” someone knocks into the camera, as the tape darkens into static.

The screen tears and crackles as a new image appears. Muffled audio slowly rings in as he pulls out the sign again. The “1” has been erased, replaced by a “7”. Despite this, he remains optimistic in tone as his voice cuts through the static.

“We’ve determined that the antiviral medication was primarily ineffective at fully eradicating the virus, although it may be preventative in earlier stages. We’ve decided to now try introducing pre-existing vaccines into the system instead, namely rabies immune globulin. This is also typically used as a preventative treatment, but I theorize we may be able to at least slow the viruses’ ability to reproduce in the host.”

Another infected has been pinned to a chair, squirming in its chains.

“Cody, can you just take notes afterwards?” his bat-eared colleague complains as he tilts his face towards the camera, revealing dark sockets where his eyes should be. Cody scoffs, but hands him the shot, quickly pulling his hand away from the reach of the infected.

“It’ll be better for documentation in the long run if we have visuals of what occurred.”

“Mm,” the eyeless man hummed, injecting the test subject with ease. “I think it would be better to save memory space for full dissection of the specimens instead of these trials, that’s all. Especially since we can’t exactly go out and buy more right now”

The infected’s movements slowed slightly, its eyes glazing over.

“Alright, Jack, I’ll make sure to save you a tape.”

The voices fade out as the screen tears again. Sentence fragments clip in and out as the tape corrects itself, revealing a new image. Cody stands before the camera once more, though his goggles are now crooked and his hair is far more unkempt.

“Modern science is proving…ineffective, so Jack has suggested that we turn to the dark arts.”

“I said ‘ask around about magical alternatives’.”

“Same difference,” Cody waved away his partner’s protests. “So this week, I will be joined by my colleagues, Ben and Kagekao.”

The scientist gestures to the side, where a short blonde boy with bleeding eyes and a masked man with dark hair sit impatiently. Cody adjusts his goggles and holds up his sign displaying the test number: 16.

“First up, BEN. I would like you to attempt possessing one of our subjects.”

The blonde boy clicks his tongue disapprovingly, but approaches the infected nonetheless. As he moves, the screen appears to glitch and tear around him. Even the parts of him that appear outwardly normal on the screen are translucent, showing reflections of objects nearby where there should be flesh.

“Traditionally, possessions by more powerful spirits like BEN do not adhere to typical physical limitations of mortals. This is how they are able to contort bodies into otherwise impossible forms, such as rotating the head 360 degrees. Thus, I have hypothesized that BEN will be able to manipulate the body independently of the virus's normal restrictions, allowing for easier study and perhaps even isolation of infection,” Cody rambles to the camera excitedly.

“This is gross,” BEN mutters, stepping into the subject’s body. It convulses for a moment before slowly blinking its eyes.

“Yeah…gross…” it repeats, its speech slurred and gravelly. Its eyes stare blankly at the camera, a cloudy and unfocused gaze.

“How so?” Cody tilts his head, clicking his pen against his notebook. The possessed creature flinches at the noise.

“Well it's always…weird but…makes feel…sick…like really…really dirty clothes.”

“Do you still have any of the urges previously exhibited in infected subjects?”

“Not really…just kinda…tired…achy…” the possessed body’s head bobbed up and down, as if it were nodding off to sleep. It strains itself, trying to move beneath its restraints, chest heaving in deep gasps.

“Well, for a first test it could’ve gone worse,” Jack chimed in coolly. “Please try to exit now.”

The body convulsed again, even stronger this time, knocking both itself and the chair to the floor before finally stilling. BEN stepped out, gagging and shivering. “I’m def not doing that again. Don’t even ask.”

Jack leaned in closer to the specimen, his ears tilting towards it. “Strange. Its breathing and heart rate have slowed significantly.”

He nudged it with his foot but the infected remained unresponsive. He kneels down curiously, poking and prodding at the decaying mass of flesh.

“Even asleep they’re never this docile,” Cody agreed, jotting it down in his notebook.

“That’s because its soul dipped,” Kagekao laughed. “Normally when you kick someone’s soul out, they keep trying to take back control. But he was so horrified by what his body had become that he just left instead!”

Ben snorted. “That’s a first for me.”

“Very interesting,” Cody’s eyes widened beneath his goggles. “BEN, are you sure you wouldn’t mind going just one more time?”

The screen crackles, movements of the various individuals blurred under layers of static. By the time it finally clears, Cody looks even worse for wear. His outer layers of clothing have been scratched and torn and the lenses of his goggles are beginning to crack, revealing massive eye bags underneath. He shakily holds up a sign. “Test 30.”

“I’ve decided to move on to magical items. Our peers up in the mansion are trying to quarantine from the lab as much as possible, but they’ve graciously provided us with as much as they could.”

He gestures to a hastily-packaged box of miscellaneous objects on the counter behind him. “For our first trial, we’ll start with Rowan.”

“Hi!” another boy chirps, waving excitedly at the camera. Compared to some of the others, the blonde looks relatively normal, other than the bandages covering his chest. He begins to unravel the bandages, revealing large, rotting cavities in his chest filled with moss and mushrooms. Sitting right where his heart should be is a swirling crystal orb which he yanks out with a sharp tug. He holds it in his hand for a second, glancing nervously at Cody.

“You promise you’ll put it back, right?”

“I’ll try my best.”

“That's not very promising,” Rowan grumbled, but handed the orb nonetheless. As soon as it leaves his grasp, his body collapses to the floor, lifeless. Cody blinks owlishly, visibly stifling the urge to study him instead of the situation at hand.

Jack then drags in an infected with its chest already carved out. As Jack holds back the head of the subject, preventing it from tearing into Cody’s flesh, Cody crams the orb into the cavity. Roots sprout from the edges, latching onto the new vessel.

Cody turns to the camera, briefly explaining, “This orb is a fae artifact that provides immortality to the holder when placed where the heart should be, as long as the creature attached to it is fed on life force. According to records, it has worked on both magical and non magical beings, so we have high hopes for this one.”

“Cody.”

“We already talked about this, you have to keep meticulous records for future research-”

“No. Cody, the necrosis is reversing.”

The dark haired boy whips around, examining the specimen. Slowly but surely, the flesh was beginning to regenerate.

“Any improved cognitive function?”

“Nothing visibly, but intracranial pressure is slowly decreasing, so it’s not impossible-”

A growl erupts from across the room. A moss-furred creature the size of a dire wolf with rotting flesh stalks towards them. Its face is covered in an exoskeletal skull, with a jaw that cracked open ominously.

“I thought Rowan said he fed it beforehand…” Jack raises an eyebrow, the goo dripping from his eyes intensifying ever-so-slightly. He steps forward, blocking Cody from its view.

“Easy…” he whispers. Its hollow sockets gaze down at his own.

Then it pounces, tearing at him. Shouts and screams echo through the room as its tail knocks over the camera, crashing it into darkness. Muffled growls rumble through the audio for a bit, until eventually the camera is picked back up and placed in its proper position by an extremely disheveled and stained Cody.

In his hand is a dark, dripping orb. He pants heavily, adjusting his goggles using the reflection on the screen.

The camera refocuses, revealing an equally rumpled Jack, covered in scratches and bruises. The creature is pinned beneath him, but the action has little meaning. Its body lies utterly limp, a result of the orb’s removal.

Still panting, Cody plops the orb into Rowan’s chest. It pulses in delight and the body begins to move again, as the creature rapidly rots away into nothing but dust. As he regains control over his body, Rowan leaps onto the rotting corpse of the infected, tearing into it.

“Rowan-” Cody backs up in a panic. The blonde looks up, blood dripping down his mouth. Recognition soon fills his gaze.

“Sorry, I- I haven’t felt that hungry in centuries,” he trembles, averting his gaze. “I’ll…I’ll clean this up.”

Jack pats the smaller man on the back and whispers something to him quietly. Cody blinks, then returns his focus to the camera. “Moving onto Test 31-”

The screen returns to static for a few seconds before a new image quickly fades into view. This time, Jack stands in the foreground, holding the sign, as Cody works quietly in the background, peering into his microscope.

“Magic has proved almost entirely ineffective thus far, but I have a working theory on why,” the eyeless doctor explains. “Whereas someone else decided just to give up.”

Cody puts his hands over his ears childishly, tuning out his partner.

Jack chuckles, his hand instinctively raising to hide his pointed smile. “Anyways, the majority of items and individuals that we have available are either demonic or fae in nature. Both of these species share a weakness to iron, a substance which can be either extremely conductive or entirely nullifying towards magic depending on the type of mana channeled.”

Cody leans in closer to his microscope, muttering to himself, but Jack remains unphased. “The diet of the infected, which primarily consists of raw, red meat, is extremely rich in iron. This excess iron build up is likely interfering with otherwise smooth proceedings. It may also account for some of the liver and pancreas failure we’ve seen in several subjects. Thus, if we restrict the iron in a subject’s diet over a period of time, returning to more anemic levels-”

Suddenly, Cody jumps up from his seat, his hands flapping excitedly. “JACK! JACK!”

The man sighs, pointed ears swiveling towards him. “What is it now?”

“I think I found a combination of antiviral antibodies and chemicals that kills the virus. It worked on all 3 of my samples!” The boy jumped up and down, eagerly showing off his petri dishes to his partner.

“I’m still blind,” Jack patiently reminds him, tapping his dark sockets. Even so, he is unable to hide the excitement creeping onto face. Cody blushes beneath his gas mask and mutters an apology.

“We should test it on a live subject as soon as possible,” the smaller boy grins.

“But Nina said that they’ve already cleared out most of the local packs.”

“Well, there’s one group we haven’t tried yet,” Cody whispers, running over to the camera and clicking it off.

The screen goes dark for a moment before flashing with color a final time.

Cody carefully preps a syringe in front of the camera, enthusiastically noting each step in his process. In the background, Jack and Rowan pin down a squirming infected. This one in a later stage of decay, his face torn and skin gray. Despite this, he remains strong, struggling against both Jack and Rowan as Nina cheers behind them. He growls and claws at them, bloodshot green eyes narrowed.

But Cody remains calm as he preps the syringe. He nods to Jack, who twists the infected’s arm, revealing a pulsing vein. As the others pin back his dangerous teeth, Cody presses in the syringe, injecting his latest creation. The subject pauses his struggle, falling limp into Jack’s arms.

The others hold their breath, but the infected continues to stare lifelessly.

‘I thought you said this would cure him,” Nina sniffles, tears beginning to creep down her face, leaving dark streaks from her mascara.

“I said it would kill the virus,” Cody repeated, kneeling down and taking the subject’s face in his gloved hand. “I don’t know how reversible the other effects are. With some intensive care, we might be able to restore cognitive function, or he might remain a vegetable.”

He releases his grip, sighing. “At least we’ll have a way to reverse early stage infections. I should also be able to easily adapt these results into a vaccine.”

Nina sobs harder, running in and hugging the infected tightly. “Doby…”

“Nina…?” a hoarse voice whispers. Dobby blinks slowly, the horrors of the lasat months slowly dawning on him. Tears flood down his face as he breaks down. The others pause, aghast.

“OMG YOU’RE OKAY!” she wails into his shoulder.

“Hh…it all hurts…” he murmurs.

Cody removes his goggles, taking a closer look at the scene playing out before him. “Incredible…”

Jack smiles, the goo from his sockets dripping down like tears. “Good job, partner.”

“One down, half the world’s population to go,” Cody replies, leaning towards the camera and clicking it off for a final time, plunging everything into darkness.

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kemakoshume · 3 years

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so, let's talk euphoria. now that season two is out i know everyone has a lot of thoughts so i thought... why not add mine to the pot. this is my void, i'll yell into it all i want! :'D

so, there's a lot of points of critique for the show and i wanna go through most of them (at least the ones i have opinions on) and just... hear what you guys think. so, the main criticisms i hear about the show all the time are: 1. omg it's so unrealistic and 2. why couldn't they have set it in college?

addressing the first point: it's not really that unrealistic lol. i think the only unrealistic aspect of the show is that the girls aren't getting dress-coded left and right, but other than that... i'd argue that it's honestly pretty tame in terms of subject matter compared to what goes down in real life.

the "my high school wasn't like that" defense for the hatred of the show goes both ways. just because your personal high school experience wasn't like that doesn't mean other peoples' wasn't, and i think this is probably my least favorite take about the show because it's very dismissive of other people's lived experiences.

[tw for discussions about: drugs, sex, p*dophilia in media, abuse, etc. below the cut. pls lmk if there's something else i need to tag] ~

i went to a relatively big-ish school (one high school, 4000 people) in a relatively small school district. we had our fair share of shit go down, and i know this to be true for other schools that were nearby mine as well. i mean... the first time i saw someone high off of ACID was in the fifth grade. it was in the middle of math class when the come up hit her and sure, i didn't fully process that until i was older, but that just gives you an idea of the shit that occured in my district even though my county was conservative-ish, middle class, and the population was mostly black, latino, white, and asian.

when i hit high school, oh... all bets were off. kids came to school high off of xanax as early as my freshman year. a lot of them had parents who'd been prescribed them and they took their scripts, or they had their own mental health things going on and were prescribed them by a doctor (we had a lot of adderall going around at my school too). kids had water bottles full of vodka and would drink all day at school. i can't count how many times i saw someone eat a weed brownie at lunch and watched the high hit them in the middle of class the next period.

we had a small gonorrhea outbreak amongst some students my freshman year as well, and chlamydia my junior year. sex was a thing that was happening constantly, in all corners of the school, regardless of sexuality or age. i remember hearing two boys getting it on from my classroom because they were being very unsubtle in a nearby bathroom, and there were so many "caught sucking **** in the bathroom" videos that went viral from my school on twitter. obviously that's disgusting because... children... but we, as students, didn't realize how bad it was from that angle because we were stupid kids too.

likewise, i knew plenty of Cassies from my time in school. girls who got their nudes leaked (the vault thing where boys would collect them was indeed a thing at my school and has recently come up again now that we're all adults and now understand 1. how gross that was and 2. that some of those boys, now men, probably still have those photos somewhere), girls who dated a different boy every week to distract from their insecurities and their home lives, and girls who unfortunately got pregnant at young ages and were forced into a similar position as Cassie's character. i personally know four girls who got pregnant in high school, two of which kept the baby, and two who had abortions at fifteen years old. that's not unrealistic just because it didn't happen to you or someone you know.

i knew some Maddys, who found self worth in relationships that weren't healthy and from older men and from validation that was really just sexualization in action because that's what they thought love looked like. i knew girls, and was one, that excused abuse because i thought my part to play in the relationship made it okay. i followed the example modeled to me by my parents just like maddy and landed myself in some bad situations navigating that just like maddy. i had an angry phase like her despite (deep down) being a good person and i thought it was easier to pretend not to care about anything and be vindictive and play games.

i know three Rue's. one of which is my best friend — who is now clean and sober, woohoo — but our high school years were rough on her. she, unfortunately, did not have a mom like rue's who forced her to get treatment, so she masked all her sorrows and mental health things and her assault and so much more with drugs. there were three separate times i almost lost her in those years and many more occurred after we were adults. i don't mind that it's not set in college mainly because of rue's storyline. she wouldn't have been able to be forced to go to rehab, or stay in her hometown, or deal with mandatory NA or having to have an adult sponsor. rue being a minor is integral to her plot in the show. cause you wanna be real about it? if she were an adult and using drugs the way she is in the show now, with no pressures associated with living under her mom's roof, or seeing her sister (that shoulders the weight of her trauma) everyday, or having to go to NA... she'd probably be dead and there'd be no story to even be following.

i know Mckays: dudes who peeked in high school and realized in adulthood that they have nothing of value really (yet) to give now that they're out in the real world. i know a few Kats: girls who started sex work underaged to scrap their way through life for whatever reason. i dont like how the show has gone about her storyline per say, but i dont think it's entirely unrealistic. i can think of four people off the top of my head who i know that got fake IDs that said they were 19 when we were 17 and started dancing at our local strip club(s). i know a few (toned down) Nate Jacobs who had anger issues and repressed sexualities and used women even though they didn't really like them. i know two Fezcos, who started dealing drugs to make their own money because their parents were neglectful. i knew a few Jules, both in terms of being out and trans in high school and trying to find their worth through sexuality and fooling around with older people, and overall just being... a lot.

i've seen plenty of relationships like rue and jules formed out of codependency and shared trauma and a lack of emotional maturity, even now as an adult. i know relationships like the one they're going to build up this season like the one rue and elliot will have, out of a shared loved for destructive behaviors.

i, personally, dabbled in drugs, especially when my health started to decline and my mental health took a noise dive. drugs weren't hard to find despite them not being prevalent in our city because we had a small drug ring within our school made up of a few students. i had sex sort of a lot after i lost my virginity as a junior. i didn't party much, but plenty of my classmates did. we did have things happen like teachers sleeping with students (male and female teachers, coaches, language tutors, etc). it's not that outlandish of subject matter, personally. so, i get it if this wasn't your experience but please stop saying its not realistic at all.

so, all of that being said, i know a lot of people's other issues with the show are 1. its glamorizing addiction and stigmatizing mental health issues and 2. it's sexualizing teenagers.

i'm gonna rapid fire these, honestly, because i dont have the mental energy to go in depth on these right now. 1. it's not glamorizing addiction or mental health issues. it explains that mental health issues can be a basis for addiction, not an inherent cause, and if you think it's glamorizing addiction then im just going to assume we're not watching the same show. we see Rue laying on her back gargling her own vomit while her sister cries because she found her in an OD. they constantly hit home that Rue's drug use and addiction is splitting apart her family. she & her mom fight — even physically — on top of emotionally clashing, and her sister was traumatized.

the christmas special episodes really ram it home that this show is a real deep dive on mental health and addiction and the naiveté of teenage immaturity in adult life circumstances that are forced onto them. if the aesthetics distracted you that badly, that's kind of a personal thing, honestly. because if you look past the pretty colors and the glitter for two seconds, the messages in the show are pretty spelled out. if you dont like the triggering aspects of the show, don't watch it. that's the beauty of streaming, you can turn it off if you don't like it. and teens that are watching it should be monitored better by their parents. we can't stop making any and everything that could be misunderstood or misrepresented by children because ultimately the show isn't exactly for them.

and addressing the last thing, maybe i’m not all up in arms about the sexual aspect of the show because at the end of the day it’s not p of c. it’s adults who look like adults and we’re all aware that — outside of the subversion needed to watch the show — the actors are 20-something year old adults and look like it. no person who’s attracted to children *ick* is going to watch the show and feel anything just because the characters are supposed to be teenagers, because ultimately the actors are still adults and we’re all aware of that. what they do get off on are films like cuties that actually depict real human children in less than savory circumstances (i literally saw one clip of that shit online and blocked every variation of the name cause idc what the message was supposed to be i don’t need to see fucking EIGHT YEAR OLDS shaking their butts and talking about sex). why? because those are actual children being sexualized and i don’t care what the rationale was it’s not okay.

maybe i just don't feel that strongly about this aspect of things because i’m old enough to remember things like... skins, pretty baby, the amy fisher story, the crush, Kids, leon the professional, etc. where actual kids/teenagers were being filmed in very... not okay situations for the sake of 'realism'. THAT is not okay [yhara zayd did an amazing video on the issue about these here]. Kids literally only got made because Harvey fucking Weinstein was at Miramax & started an entirely new company in order to distribute the film as unrated instead of NC-17, so they could keep everything in it without having to take the NC-17 rating. THAT'S a problem. when Alicia Silverstone filmed a topless scene with a body double when she was underaged in 'the babysitter' the director got mad... because he wanted HER on-screen, underaged, topless. THAT'S an issue. so, adults masquerading as teens has it's issues, sure, but that doesn't make them real children and i don't think adults making content in a reminiscent fashion about their formative years automatically means they're doing it to make unsavory content "about kids" ......with no kids involved lol.

at the end of the day, it's a show on an adult network behind a paywall, so all the criticism about how teens are romanticizing the show aren't really valid to me. teens will ignore the core message of literally anything to romanticize it. that doesn't mean the media doesn't have merit because of that. i'd love more representation in the show in terms of skin tones, and the dialogue could be made to sound more natural. other than that, i think this show and Sex Education are probably the only two shows that really don't deserve to be roped into the same conversation as shows like Riverdale or the new Sabrina, or Gossip Girl or whatever else. It falls more in line with shows like Degrassi (except that show was a little less explicit and lacked nudity, as it should be, because the actors were kids) or Skins (except again, those actors were kids so it's not as much as Euphoria is).

you honestly just like the show or you don't at this point, but i think there's a lot more nuance to be had around the discussion of the show and issues people have with it. if you're a lexi in a sea of the euphoria cast members in your real life that's okay, but look at the show with more depth than your own experience. don't watch it if the material is triggering for you and don't ask for it to be canceled just because it's hard for you personally to watch. protect yourself and your peace and watch content that you enjoy.

#euphoria #hbo euphoria #rue euphoria #maddy euphoria #kat euphoria #nate euphoria #fez euphoria #cassie euphoria #.ava speaks #ava talks euphoria #tw.drugs #tw. abuse #tw. pregnancy #tw. cp talk

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shinylugers · 4 years

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tw; n*zi mention and stuff. if you don’t like it, don’t read???

Let’s talk about Rockfort and Steve. Looking back on a few consistent files and timeline of the game, it could have been about a year’s worth of time which would have had Steve taken from his home by Umbrella when he was about sixteen. He would have served his days out in the detention center with other inmates as well. That’s a long fucking time for someone underage to be serving with a bunch of possibly dangerous male-only criminals. I use the term ‘criminals’ actually lightly, due to the nature of Steve’s imprisonment. He was simply in the wrong place, the wrong time, and was involved. He knew too much.

It’s any wonder why he was allowed to keep his hair while the other prisoners were shaved down. Maybe it’s because of his age they found some modicum of mercy.

More deliberation forces me to think that Alfred, in his SENSITIVE STATE of mind, might have had more torturous plans in store for someone with vigor and youth. Naturally, the anatomist could have some sphere of influence too - as a ‘man’ of science and distinguished taste (ie; torture). There could have been differentiated experiments forced on a person Steve’s age, or there could have been a form of conditioning involved that resulted in different turnabouts.

The actual implications that Steve got off easy compared to the rest of the prisoners sits with the proof that he retains his hair, while the other zombie inmates you see have their heads shaved. Most look malnourished. They all bear the same uniforms while Steve manages to cloth himself with mildly different materials. Vest, a nice cotton shirt, camo pants and combat boots. Its also possible he managed to snag these during his escape, but it seems highly unlikely.

Sidenote, he wears these... which are essentially bondage cuffs? These aren’t found on any other inmate in the game, zombie or not. Both versions (DSC and CV). It seems to be capable of binding one’s arms behind their back.

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

The little differences didn’t leave Steve without some wear and tear of his own. Burnside was still tagged with both a numerical collar and a ‘branding’ of a barcode by the facility’s militia -- (or in the worst case scenario, Alfred himself). Much like N*zi concentration camps, this is a form of perma identification. ( NOTE: DSC is the only version of Steve with a branding. But both have the same collar and issued vest with the tagged uniform. )

[ please defer to myrmecitis’ post found here for a better overview of rockfort and viral analysis ]

Moving along ... one of the interesting files that you find in the barracks is from a prisoner that mentions another cellmate called “Bob”. Suspicions point to it having belonged to Steve Burnside. Code Veronica doesn’t give a huge amount of insight on where he’s placed beforehand, alas, it seems DSC does a better job at this despite removing other key components of the lore.

You find out that room with the security computer and tables with a separate bunk-bed room is where Steve was kept and escaped essentially right after the explosion happened on the island.

However, in the original game there is no computer, and where it was in DSC, there is a second level where another set of tables magazines, an old tv, and some uneaten food sit. Interestingly enough, you also find a small kitchenette area where Claire states that the soup is still warm; indicative that the outbreak must have rapidly infected those still within the detention center.

The Prisoner's Diary is found in the prison building bedroom on the left-hand side bunk bed from the door.

May 13th This room stinks of death. Based upon the information I've found, I believe that I'm far south of the equator. Lucky for me that Bob in the bunk below me, is one of those interesting types of guys...

May 16th Today Bob told some crazy story of why he was put this place with me. Bob said that he used to be an attendant to the head of this place. This "boss" named Alfred supposedly placed him in here because of a tiny little mistake.

What does that mean? What's going to happen to me?

May 20th Without warning, a group of military men took Bob to the building behind the guillotine stand. At midnight, I'll sneak out of here to see him.

I've been hearing that anyone taken to that building never comes back. On top of that,there are these REALLY large plastic bags constantly being removed from that place. I'd better pray for Bob...

May 21st I was wrong. I shouldn't have gone there. What is going on in there?! All I could hear was some insanely creepy laughter and the sound of Bob screaming! I don't know what to do. I can't stop thinking about it...

Is that going to happen to me?! I can't let it... I just can't...

May 27th Since my last entry, all of my fellow inmates have been taken to that building! I know that I am next... It's obvious that we were all here to be used as Alfred's guinea pigs. There's no way out! What am I going to do?!...

It makes a little more sense on how and why Steve is able to shoot a gun, knows how to fly a goddamn plane, and understand military coordinates to find the basic location of their island versus Australia, where they eventually aim to hit in the escape measure at the ripe age of seventeen.

He had help from good ol’ Bob and probably some of the other inmates. Rockfort was both a military training facility and later a camp that held Umbrella’s transgressors captive. It wouldn’t be a shot in the dark how many knew about planes, guns, and the like. A gear-head isn’t hard to find in those ranks.

Striked out above was what I initially believed -- but if you’re a person who thinks that some portions of the written novels are canon, you’re like me. Let’s be real then. According to Steve, he’s been in the cockpit several times of private planes. It’s also stated by Steve that his father was a private truck driver that distributed/brought Umbrella’s products to their labs. For the longest time I believed he was a techy and was datamining information, but this works too.

But ari-- how the hell did Steve manage to be avoid infection with the air-borne T-virus strain? Yet again, I tell you to reach out to myrmecitis’s post regarding the virus. But the best explanation that sits in the lore is that Steve had a natural immunity, as do the STARS members. Certain chemical and DNA reactions issue different results and it’s possible that Steve was immune to that particular strain. Herd immunity or the game of chance.

However, we know for a fact that directly implementing a higher potent virus such as T-alexia in an injection results in something far different for our unfortunate Steve. I’ve got more brewing but that’s for another time.

#code veronica #resident evil #steve burnside #˪♞˥ ʜᴇᴀᴅᴄᴀɴᴏɴ #resident evil code veronica

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yourdeepestfathoms · 4 years

Text

We All Still Die (part one)

[The Walking Dead/Zombie Apocalypse AU]

Word count: 2181

TW: Blood

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

-Fresh-

Aragon isn’t really awake yet. She never is until at least her second cup of coffee, and she hasn’t even had one. She doesn’t have that luxury anymore, really.

She’s having a hard time getting her eyes to focus in the prickling grey-orange sunlight bleeding down from the setting sun, but it certainly looks like there’s a man near that tree up ahead, crouched down on all fours, gnawing at a leg.

A human leg. Definitely. It’s still wearing a sneaker. And a sock.

The man gnawing on the human leg suddenly stopped chewing, as though some sound had disturbed him. He slowly looked up from his meal. His eyes didn’t blink, and they seemed to be too large for his face. His mouth hung open. Drool and blood trailed down his chin.

She heard about the outbreak in London. Of course, at the time, she hadn't thought it was as serious as the eleven o’clock news made it out to be. They get hysterical about everything. A couple of inches of snow, and it’s THE SNOWPOCALYPSE. She can’t really be blamed for putting their ZOMBIEPOCALYPSE warnings in the same category. Boy who cried wolf, right?

But it seemed the newscasters were at least a little right, because it’s been half a year since the disease went viral and there’s a zombie chowing down on a human leg just a few yards away from her.

Damn, she really missed her coffee machine.

She caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye, and a herd of at least ten more zombies came staggering around the bend in the woods. They were covering ground pretty steadily. Faster than most would have expected.

The zombie with the leg saw them coming. He rose from his crouch, teeth bared, leg in hand. Some of the zombie herd moved towards him (herd? is that the right word? maybe a flock? a decomposition of zombies? an infestation, perhaps? anyway.…) and they start a messy tug of war with the leg, mostly using teeth.

Others look around for different prey. One goes for a squirrel. Some seem to be eyeing the tree Aragon was sheltered in, though she’s covered by enough leaves that she doesn't think they can actually see her.

Still, this is really not good. The herd may not be that big, but they’re closer to her camp than she would be comfortable with. She would have to take them out quietly and carefully without attracting anymore that may be lurking around.

And then, there was a gunshot.

One of the Walkers crumpled to the ground from a bullet in its knees. The others whipped their head around to the tree where the green-clad gun wielder was perched precariously with a pistol in hand.

“Anne!!” Aragon barked in frustration.

The woman, Anne Boleyn, leapt down from her tree and sliced off the nearest Walker’s head with a sword she had apparently stolen from a museum when the world went to shit. She flashed a smile at Aragon before going for another.

Good grief. Well, at least she could count on Cleves to listen to orders.

“Take that, you stank ass BITCH!!”

Nevermind.

Cleves stabbed her machete deep into the skull of a Walker that was missing its right arm. She yanked it out with a glorious spray of dark red blood, then whipped around to embed the blade into the temple of a second, piercing its brain and killing it once and for all.

Aragon sighed heavily, watching the two idiots slash away at the Walkers. While their method of attack was effective, it was dangerous and very loud. The whole point of the rule “no call outs” was to keep from attracting any other zombies. Same for using guns unless they were absolutely needed. Not that she expected Anne and Cleves to ever understand that when they were paired together. That was exactly why she was basically having to babysit them on this scouting and hunting trip.

With another sigh, Aragon raised her crossbow, aimed, and put a bolt between a nearby Walker’s eyes.

“Bullseye!” Anne cried, throwing her arms up in the air. “Good job! Ten points to Catalina!”

Aragon exasperatedly rolled her eyes. “Will you--” Her breath caught in her throat. “ANNE, BEHIND YOU!!”

Anne whipped around and screamed as a Walker lunged for her, hands grabbing, eyes rolling, teeth snapping, ready to take a bite out of its prey--

--but then something smashed into the back of its knees and it tumbled to the ground. Much stronger jaws clamped around its head and ripped off a large, dripping chunk. Parts of the brain came with it.

“Eyy!” Cleves cheered. “Good boy, Pixie!” She rubbed the top of the brown and white pit bull’s head. “Good boy! Such a good boy!” She shot a smirk at Anne. “Once again, Pixie saves your ass.”

“Oh, pssh,” Anne said dismissively. “I knew it was there. I was letting him take it down for me! To motivate him!”

“Uh huh,” Cleves nodded and then laughed.

Aragon climbed down from her tree and approached the two. They both were already prepared for the lecture she had sitting on her tongue.

“We go for the head, Anne,” Aragon said. “You know that.”

“I do.” Anne nodded. “I’m just a shit shot.” She gave her gun to Aragon, who confiscated it with a sigh. “But hey! Look! We got them all, and with no bites!”

“I know,” Aragon said. “There was a lot this time. The most I’ve seen in awhile.”

“I’m sure it’s okay,” Cleves said. “We can handle them.”

Aragon looked at her, then nodded. She scanned the area quickly.

“We should be heading back,” She said. “Anne, you still have the rabbits, right?”

Anne held up the five hares she had tied to her belt. “Yup.”

“Good. Let’s get away before anymore muertos show up.”

“Muertos,” Anne echoed as Aragon led them back to the camp. “Is that really what we’re calling them?”

“Or Walkers,” Aragon said. “That’s what most people call them.”

“Is that ‘dead’ in Spanish?” Anne said. “Muertos?”

“It is.”

“What’s it in French?” Cleves asked.

“Morte.” Anne answered. “What about German?”

“Tot.”

Anne laughed loudly. “We are definitely not calling man-eating zombies ‘tots’!”

“You asked!”

It wasn’t long before their camp rose up from the thicket. The ski lodge was a safe haven up on the hill, an island cloud of heaven above a world turned to hell. It’s been their base for three months now, when the group first reconciled, and Aragon was hoping to keep it that way.

Firelight could be seen glowing from the cracks between the boards put up against the windows. The planks were a necessity, as they had all seen Walkers easily smash through glass. Whether wood would hold against the strength of the undead was unknown as of right now, not that anyone was eager to find out.

A young woman was up on the abandoned ski lift when they arrived, but instead of keeping watch with her sniper rifle, she had her head buried in her journal, writing away.

“Cathy, what have I told you about writing while on watch?” Aragon said.

“It’s...an efficient use of my time?” Cathy guessed with a mischievous grin.

“It distracts you,” Aragon corrected. “And writing in the dark no less.”

Cathy squinted up at the sky. “But the sun is just starting to set!”

“Ah, ah,” Aragon tutted. “Come on, now. Dinner is going to be made soon. You can take a break for now--although you’ve technically already had one.”

Cathy and Anne giggled.

Aragon walked into the ski lodge, the bell on the front door signaling their arrival. The smell of roasting meat wafted throughout the building, meaning Maria had already started cooking. A soft tune from a record player set a sort of ease upon the base.

“They’re back!” Kitty squealed, leaping up from the couch. She ran over and hugged each of them, then gave Pixie a vigorous petting. “No bites?”

“No bites.” Anne said.

Kitty nodded in approval, then went back to petting Pixie.

“How was it out there?” A sweet voice like an angel’s asked.

Aragon looked forward and couldn’t help but smile when she saw the woman walking over to them. Jane always managed to make her heart flutter and her knees feel weak, no matter if it was the first or hundredth time she saw her that day.

“Fine,” Aragon said. “We ran into some muertos, but nothing we couldn’t handle.” She decided to keep out Anne’s shitty shooting and the loudness of their process of killing the Walker. She kissed Jane, then leaned down to kiss her stomach as well, eliciting a giggle from her girlfriend. “And how are you both?”

“We’re splendid,” Jane said, gently rubbing her belly. She was currently four months into her pregnancy and if Aragon wasn’t worrying about the Walkers, then she was worrying about that. Jane found it incredibly endearing.

“That’s good,” Aragon smiled. “I’m glad Jane Jr. isn’t causing her Mama any trouble.”

Jane laughed loudly. “Jane Jr.? Really?”

“Yes! Named after the greatest woman on earth!” Aragon proclaimed.

“I didn’t realize I was a mirror,” Jane mused, making Aragon’s ears flame red.

“GOD, you two are SO GAY.” Anne yelled loudly before kissing Cathy passionately.

Aragon rolled her eyes in amusement. Jane laughed again, then sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace. Aragon sat next to her, carefully rubbing her stomach.

“It’s not going to jump out and bite you.” Jane teased. She took Aragon by the wrist and moved her hand to rub the bump more firmly. “They won’t feel you if you do it so softly.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Aragon said.

“You won’t, silly.” Jane nudged her. “Oh, and by the way, we are not naming them Jane Jr.”

“What?” Aragon gasped in horror, making Jane laugh again. “Jane Jr. is a perfect name!”

“But I’m Jane.” Jane said. “Besides, what if it’s a boy?”

“Then we name him Ezekiel or something.” Aragon replied breezily.

“Absolutely not.”

They both laughed. Such an action was sometimes hard to do in the middle of an extinction of the human race, so Aragon always cherished these little moments they were able to have.

“Dinner!” Maria called.

“Coming!” Aragon called back. “Here, let me help you up--”

But Jane was already on her feet. She smiled at Aragon fondly. “You gentlewoman.” She said. “But I’m not helpless.”

“Just taking precautions!”

They walked over to the dinner tables, where everyone was already seated. Anne was retelling her amazing victories in the forest to Cathy, Maggie, and Kitty, while Maria was passing out bowls of stew and Cleves was refilling Pixie’s food and water dishes. Aragon and Jane sat down.

“It smells amazing, Maria,” Jane said.

Maria smiled. “Thank you! I try my best with limited supplies. Those hares will make an amazing breakfast tomorrow, by the way.”

They all began to eat, savoring the meal, as they did with all of the ones Maria cooked. Food was getting harder and harder to come by nowadays, so they all made sure to be grateful with whatever they got to eat.

Cathy was the first to finish and went out to the balcony to scout the forest below for a moment. When she came back, her features were firm and forced, but her stride was fast, like she was anxious to get away from something.

“There’s a Walker out front,” She said, and that was enough to send everyone into a panic.

“What?” Kitty squeaked, cowering in fear.

“How many?” Aragon asked.

“One, that I could see,” Cathy answered. “But it’s pretty dark out there.”

“I’ll go check it out,” Anne said, removing her sword from its sheath on her back.

“I’ll go, too,” Cleves said, then whistled for Pixie to follow her.

“Be careful!” Aragon called after them.

Jane went around to Kitty and hugged her. Aragon noticed that the poor girl was shaking- she always had a more intense fear of Walkers and Aragon wasn’t sure why. She just assumed it was from Kitty’s young age. Being eleven in the zombie apocalypse couldn’t possibly be easy.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Jane murmured sweetly. She pulled Kitty into her lap and began to rock her soothingly. “Cleves and your big cousin are going to take care of it, okay?”

“B-but what if they--”

“Shh,” Jane kissed Kitty’s forehead. “They’ll be just fine. Anne is as tough as nails, you know that? She would never leave you alone, I promise.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Aragon noticed Maggie shifting anxiously. She looked as worried for her best friend as Kitty was. Aragon walked over and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

“O-okay,” Kitty whispered, then nodded. “Y-you’re right. Nothing is wrong. Everything is okay.”

And then Cleves and Anne burst through the front doors, eyes wide, faces pale, and a limp child clutched in Cleves’s arms.

“Jane!” Anne cried, “Get your medical supplies!!”

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