Reese Harlow
Peter
Just a quick note to everyone: I am getting back into the swing of things at school, so I am going to apologize in advance if I’m even less active than I appear to be.
I will return (hopefully), very shortly!
have a completely unrelated gif
(Source: chocolate-cats)
Reese had been around enough types of people in his lifetime to peg down what everyone is about; whether the person is around for kicks, to start something, to watch it all unfold, or completely unaware — it was a type of observational profiling that Reese had accustomed himself to after several years of trying to read how people will react to various situations. It was generally how he got through high school: knowing when to crack a joke, and when to get his fat ass running in the opposite direction. It was survival of the fittest, and it was no different in the face of a zombie apocalypse.
However, as life would have it, there are just some types of things you don’t account for, things you don’t expect.
Harley Dixon was one of them, at least to a small town law officer like Reese. There had been times when he was on patrol on guard duty, when he was people watching rather than zombie watching, that he had recognized various faces. He tended to pick people out in the bustling crowds and start listing off the things he could tell about them, but only the complete obvious facts that people eyes’ tended to glaze over.
As Reese strolled around under the guise of night, he thought he caught a glimpse of someone’s silhouette turn a corner, and one he found himself recalling briefly from his long days standing up on the wall of the outpost, looking down. He suppressed a laugh, snorting silently, and smiled.
It seemed as if no one could follow protocol. Stay indoors until the quarantine was over?
Apparently, not fucking likely.
Reese deliberated for a moment, wondering if he should just let the man go, but then again… where could he possibly be going? Reese turned around back to follow Harley. As he caught sight of the retreating figure down the street, Reese stopped, placing his hands in the pockets of his coat and mustered up a friendly grin.
“I don’t think you’re going to find the Seven Eleven open tonight,” he called out into the empty night. “Of course, it’s a shame, because I am in a M&M crisis — got none left.”
He saw Harley stop and turn slowly around.
“Don’t imagine you’re out here looking for a midnight cherry slushie.”
There were some ideas Reese had, he reflected, that were pretty dumb. This could potentially be categorized as a Dumb Idea.
(Source: aaron-beasley)
There was only so much pacing and jumping on the bed a grown woman could do before she realized she ought to smarten up about this quarantine business. Never before in all the months and years since the first zombie shambled across her path did she have so much downtime. The apartment she called home was quite large in size, on the north part of the freshly cleaned out part of town the previous owner had quite a sum of money if that wasn’t made evident by the various royal colors and ornate pieces of furniture. She’d come across however, a bloodied and shattered lamp around a bloodstain on one of the almost royal carpets that led her to believe the previous owner had been one of the unlucky ones.
Standing at the kitchen table where her supplies were laid out over the surface she tied her hair back away from her face before dropping her hands to her sides as her gaze swept over the items on the table. Yes, of course she understood the whole idea of a quarantine was to stay inside but she’d spent a long time outside—and even before the outbreak she’d had enough time between the walls of her cubicle—this bird had to fly.
Hitching the satchel over her shoulder she opened to drop in some items. Two water bottles, one unopened and one she could refill, two packs of trail mix and even a chocolate granola bar if she got lucky later. Among other provisions not worth mentioning she secured to flap shut before sliding both a pair of thick workman gloves and a flashlight into another pocket on the bag she rested her hands on her hips and pursed her lips as her gaze was drawn to the final item on the table.
A crowbar.
Both a tool of many uses and a weapon she’d chosen it earlier on, far before she’d joined this Outpost she’d found it in the bed of a truck along with an old claw hammer. Which wasn’t with her anymore and sitting among a nest of zombs several towns over. Lifting the instrument she tested the weight in her hand for the hundredth time before dropping it to her side and squinting at the flat surface of her watch—another handy find of hers she’d nicked from a store.
After stepping into her boots and making sure they were done up quite nicely she pulled on a two-toned windbreaker and moved to the door. Slowly she unlocked it, holding her breath as she mentally ran through her check list:
Food: check
Water: check
Map: check
Flashlight: check
Gloves: check
Weapon: check
Letting out a breath she opened the door and looked both ways, the hallway was deserted. Stepping out she quickly and quietly locked the door before jogging off down the hall, lucky for her the building was more or less empty of the living. Outside her building the place felt….wrong. In the short span of time since her arrival she’d almost grown used to the constant hustle and bustle of everyday life she’d forgotten since the outbreak. Chewing her lower lip for a moment she ducked into an alley and decided on using a back way—or one of the Scavenger doors out. She’d been walking for a good solid ten minutes when she paused in step to listen to the approach of another set of footsteps. Everyone should be inside, shouldn’t they? As her heart leaped into her throat she had to beat it back as she tightened her grip on her crowbar and pressed herself against a wall as she moved onwards. Approaching the corner, the light was at her disadvantage and she was unable to see a shadow.
Somehow she doubted it was a zombie, they were about a million things but one thing they weren’t was quiet. Still, nothing should surprise her now and quickly she moved forward swinging her crowbar out and only just stopping in time to avoid hitting someone she did in fact recognize and ungracefully tripped over her own two feet in her haste to adjust her aim to crash into a nearby trash can and collide with a brick wall before landing on the ground.
Gritting her teeth she glanced up at the guard she’d met just before the quarantine, Reese…Harlow she believed and offered him a sheepish smile despite the expression of shock on his face. “Sorry about that.” She murmured awkwardly.
So much for sneaking out.
There was almost a second-hand high from breaking the rules. He had been a delinquent enough times in his life to know why people rebelled, but after being a law officer for so long, and being the (what he hoped to be) helpful voice at the other end of the phone, he had forgotten just why people kept being tenaciously pent on doing the complete opposite of what they were told. It was exhilarating and for a few brief moments as Reese walked along the dark subdivision, he reflected on how utterly wrong that was, considering his austere adherence to code.
Doing something wrong always felt so right though, and he was having no complaints on his nightly strolls these days, as he took liberty into his own hands. Honestly, what did the Council expect? That everyone would actually follow basic instructions? Everyone had to complicate things, for their on reasons. It was a human’s inherent duty, it seemed.
He was humming under his breath to some half forgotten tune as he was turning a corner, when suddenly a figure burst around the wall. Reese flinched, his instincts going into a hyperactive mode as he reeled backwards to avoid being hit. His eyes met with his assailant’s for a brief moment, and his eyes widened.
Maria? He could never forget a face like hers. Even as it fell forward towards the ground before he could halt the sudden motion of her crashing into..everything but him, it seemed. It would have been more comical if it weren’t for the fact that his life had just flashed before his eyes.
“Holy shit, are you all right?” he asked, extending an arm to help pull her up. He offered a wide grin, having seen her face being illuminated by the faint glow of the waxing moon and one of the only functioning streetlamps farther down the street. It was rather…nice…to look at.
He realized he was still holding her hand. Oh god. Wait. It as a woman’s hand. This probably surmounted the most contact he had shared with a woman, let alone a human being, in a long while. Shaking off the brief pause of silence he relaxed his grip on her gloved hands and smiled again, his lips muffling a light chuckle as he did so.
“Maria! Out for a walk…or…out for a kill?” Oh sweet god, he tried making a pun. If she hadn’t already tried to kill him, that would probably be reason enough to start pummeling his face inwards.”Probably would have had a considerable dent in my face were it not for you stopping yourself. I admit, were you a zombie, that would have been embarrassing, catching me off guard like that. But knowing it would have been you doing me in — not comforting, but considerably less shameful.”
Reese had this problem that once he started talking, he couldn’t stop. As he noticed Maria’s politely bemused smile, he dwindled down. Slightly. He couldn’t help it when he was around women, and exceptionally beautiful women at that. Oh god, was he blushing? No. Well, maybe, yes. But not visibly, right?
He nodded to the street ahead of him, placing his hands in the pockets of his coat. “I was going to head out the Northern part of the Outpost for some more enthusiastic night strolling. I don’t suppose you were going to head out that way? I could always use a little night time company.”
There was an awkward pause as Reese had those split seconds to reflect on what he just said. His heart exploded into a trillion tiny bloody pieces and clogging his throat. He went into panic mode.
“I mean, what I mean to say, obviously, I mean not like, company as in…well, that sort of company, I meant more as a friendly companion who would share in some special time tog- Special time? Oh, um, not special but more like special as in secret — Oh god, as in more, you know, not…strangers but on the way to being more than familiar faces, you know, a less formal introduction, you know, more than the average ‘How are you?’, and someone would reply ‘I’m okay’ and well, you know how the rest goes…”
Jesus.
Christ.
Reese leaned back his head and stared up into the blank, velvety black sky and watched his breath waft up in white mist in the cold air.
“It probably would have been easier for the both of us if you just killed me. Continue on with your night. I’m just. Christ, I’m sorry. I will never publicly associate with you, if that’s what you want.”
Way to be a man, Reese thought dourly to himself. Way to be.
i would. but i’ve got two replies to do here. and a project that i will probably end up doing two hours before it is due.
No worries! I totally understand the world of procrastination and it’s hindrance to do anything. And then staying up late forcing yourself to finish those godawful assignments. Again, don’t worry ‘bout it.
