Day 49: Late Afternoon - T & M Electronics

[hes_deadjim]

The rain was really picking up by the time McCoy left the bar. A roll of thunder rumbled through the air. He paused under the awning, squinting up at the dark sky. He hadn't seen a storm like this in years. Not since Earth. It was looking to outdo any storm he'd ever seen too. Was it safe to even drive through this weather? If he was worried about

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[otnemememento]

Leonard pulled down the hood on the sweatshirt he was wearing, wiping the rain water on his sleeves. He quickly surveyed the building- only a few people in sight, most other patrons hidden behind shelves of various electronics.

Okay, what am I doing here? he thought, turning to look out the front window of the establishment- the rain continued pouring, the street nearly empty from the soggy weather. Good enough.

Deciding to spend some time out of the rain, he headed for the nearest wall of products. Radios, some repaired televisions, a CD player that had seen better days- Leonard didn't have time for much entertainment. Songs were okay, but TV shows and movies were out of the question because of their length. He managed to find something to occupy his interest, fiddling with the remote from a newer set. When did they get all these buttons?

[reacquainting himself (again) with Neku]

[composers_proxy]

If it wasn't for the skeleton-print hoodie soaking up the rainwater, his hair would be having a major malfunction today. As it was, he had to shake off plenty of the water once he stepped into the store. Seeing that it was an electronics store, the employees didn't seem terribly pleased, but it wasn't like he was a wet dog or anything.

Rolling his eyes at the employees as well as their dubious selection, Neku started glancing up and down the aisles. Just a bunch of crap, though he actually wouldn't mind having a cd player to carry around during the day. Anything to beat the moronic elevator music they played all day on Radio Landel: your choice for smooth listenin' days and creepy d.j. nights.It wasn't long before he spotted Leonard though, who seemed to be confused by a television remote. Well... he supposed he shouldn't be all that surprised. How long had he had that memory problem anyway

[otnemememento]

[Sorry this took so long! D:]

Leonard grinned with a short laugh at the teen's words, though serious thoughts were on his mind. He was reminded of his condition at every turn, even through something as simple as a remote. How long has it been? Everything else keeps moving forward. When you can't remember the days, can't keep track of time... everything just stops.

He turned the remote to the back, looking for any sign of a date. Just a battery compartment and company name in text so small it was unreadable. Typical.

"This is probably going to sound strange," he prefaced as he returned his attention to the youth, knowing his condition wasn't people expected, "but what year is it?"

[composers_proxy]

[it's all good, i've been fail myself. DX]

Leonard laughed, but still inspected the remote carefully. At least he seemed to have good humor about his condition most of the time, but it still had to suck pretty bad. Neku had already given him the run-down a few times, so he wasn't going to be too upset if he didn't get all the way through it again. He felt kind of obligated to mention the possibility of getting stuck in a town overrun with zombies though, that would be pretty hard to forget.

"As long as you don't care if the answer is strange," he shrugged, "cuz I don't know. We're stuck in a pretty ass-backward town today, so I don't think this is anything to go by. It was 2008 last time I checked."

[otnemememento]

"2008?" Leonard asked, his tone a mixture of confusion and disbelief. How long has it been? There was no real way of knowing, and even if he did get the answers, they'd simply fade moments later. He returned the remote to the shelf, suddenly feeling much older than he liked. Years passed, but it was as if everything had changed only the day before

[composers_proxy]

"Yeah, I know. We're cool," he nodded, watching as Leonard moved along through his picture collection. It was hard to feel sorry for himself when other patients had it a hell of a lot worse.

"I'm not sure. I've been here a little less than a week. You were here before that, but that's all I know," Neku gave a shrug. He glanced over at some of the employees and found it obvious enough they didn't like having the Landel's crew around their town. He could only imagine if they turned into walking dead like the kid on the bulletin implied.

"Anything else, or you ready for some other stuff that's a little harder to swallow?" he asked. Leonard had usually handled stuff well, especially given his condition. Neku had been a wreck almost the entire first week of the game when he hadn't had his memories. He didn't understand how the guy could do it, but he was just glad he did.

[otnemememento]

Leonard looked over his notes as the teen talked (Neku, according to the photograph), trying to coordinate what he was saying. The early pages had been arranged to tell him enough: he'd been institutionalized for nine days, and something was very, very wrong about the entire place. Leonard was getting that vibe from the people around them- he followed Neku's eyes as he looked over some of the other patrons. The employees were giving them suspicious glances, and a woman passing the window outside looked inward with a spiteful stare.

Leonard's eyes moved downward to his notes- he couldn't help but notice they weren't welcome. He'd only started to examine a strange photo of what looked like a guy in a cheap Halloween mask when something Neku said caught his attention.

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking away from his journal once more.

[composers_proxy]

His eyes flicked to the side as he followed Leonard's, but came right back, glancing up at the man. He crossed his arms over his chest, but there wasn't exactly a great way to word things no matter how many times it came up.

"It gets dangerous," he said, voice dropping to a softer level. "Just make sure you're near the buses at the end of the day. The people here have been known to get pretty rowdy and there's not always supervision, you get my drift?"

Zombie invasion just had a slightly less believable tinge to it.

[agh, sorry for the fail DX]

[otnemememento]

Dangerous? What the hell does he mean by that?

Leonard took another casual look around them, a doubtful smile on his lips- the glares were no better than before. Even when they weren't looking at them, they gave off an appearance of quiet hostility. Neku's serious tone only fueled Leonard's growing suspicions.

"Yeah..." he said as his smile disappeared, looking at the photograph in his hand. Somehow, that Halloween mask didn't look so cheap the second time around. "I hear you." The picture had to be a fake, though. Despite the writing on the back, his own handwriting, there was no way something like that was possible. Still...

He took a step toward Neku, turning to keep the picture hidden from anyone who may have been looking. "Does this have anything to do with it?"

[composers_proxy]

Though he hadn't gone into detail, Leonard seemed a little doubtful and to be honest, even Neku had his doubts. It wasn't until he pulled out one of his pictures and turned it toward the teen that Neku was sure the bulletin board hadn't just been a load of BS. Any other time he'd have written it off as some cosplay gone wrong or a movie filming or something, but the only way Leonard could've gotten that picture was if the whole zombie thing was legit.

"Unfortunately," he nodded, expression grim. "Believe it or not, that's no costume. It's like something out of a bad horror movie only it's real." He just hoped they weren't the fast zombies. Slow and they had a chance, but those fast ones in the movies lately were pretty messed up.