don't lose your head

[jemerite]

Characters: Those interested parties placed in the Apartments and jemerite
Date: August 7th, Sunday
Summary: Zombie attack.
Warnings: Zombie attack.

Notes: Forward dated to the last day of the storm, backtagging encouraged! Any business not covered by either the 'Victims' or 'Dominique' categories, please feel free to make your own threads and tag

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dominique

[jemerite]

[Stop that zombie!]

[ebony_bone]

[Being moved from the apartments is not ideal, is disturbing and tumultuous, more than she would really like for Jackie to go through right now. Jackie has been better, has been going out more, talking to people, but it is still far too soon for trouble to come knocking on their door again, in Dominique's opinion.

She does what she has to to keep them safe. She protects Jackie with her body, from the storm outside, and from the crowd of displaced residents when they make it to shelter. It's too much noise and half-panic in one place, so she takes Jackie through to the hallway beyond, not too far away from the group, but quieter.

That's where they are when the screaming starts. She thinks it just reaction to the storm, again, maybe some damage being caused by the wind and rain outside that's visible from the lobby, but it doesn't stop. Not alarm, or surprise. Fear.

She stands from where she'd been sat beside Jackie on the blue floor, moving to see around a curve in the hallway, to see what's going on.]

[jemerite]

[The screaming follows Zinc everywhere she goes. She has attacked three now, been interrupted from her meals each time. She is angry now, truly, and none of her victims have turned to come and assist her in the hunt the way that they should. She cannot escape out into the storm.

She will have to kill them, all of them, and she is moving through the quieter halls in search of somewhere to crouch and wait for the unsuspecting.

She goes still when Dominique comes into view, head jerking like an animal, taking in the sounds and the smells. There are two, and she has already been spotted, she is covered in blood, the red smear of it dripping from her mouth to coat her neck and her clothes. There's no hiding, and she goes taut. She's going to attack, there's no question as to that.]

[ebony_bone]

[For a woman with only one good eye, Dominique is incredibly observant. It takes her a matter of seconds to take in everything about the girl, the blood, the way she's moving. Another might mistake the blood on her to mean she's been attacked, but Dominique knows her body language is not of a victim's, doesn't even appear to be quite human. She trusts her mind and her gut, has survived too much not to, and on this they are both in agreement: this girl is a threat.

She turns, immediately, can't judge from how the girl's crouching how much speed she'll have in her limbs, how much time Dominique has to protect Jackie. There's a significant amount of hallway between them, hopefully it's enough. She yanks Jackie up, roughly. Opens the closest door. Shoves the other woman inside.]

Bar it, Jackie.

[She shouts it through as she turns to see where the girl is, hoping the other woman has the sense to trust her, to listen to her.]

[thesamename]

Dominique! Don't you dare.

[Her fist thumps against the door, but no, she does not try to pull it open. Still, she hesitates to lock it, she would prefer if Dominique could get in her easily... There's another thump, her fist hitting the wood in frustration, but she throws the lock.]

[jemerite]

[She can move reasonably quickly, when she stops pretending to be human, when she uses the brute strength of her muscles to force her limbs to move despite the resistance of her worn joints. It isn't graceful, but she isn't trying to be and that makes it easier.

There is only one woman there, when she rounds the corner, but she knows the other is nearby. She will find them all, eventually. For now, however, her attention is on Dominique, rushing in on her with the intent of wrestling her to the ground and ripping out her throat.]

[ebony_bone]

[She knew Jackie was going to protest. It isn't important, as long as she locks the door, stays inside. She doesn't have chance to think on that at all. The girl's on her, as soon as she turns.

She looks fragile, wasted away, but there's more strength in her limbs than there should be. Dominique is pushed back by it, but she keeps her footing, lashes back. She needs to incapacitate her, or at least get some distance between them.]

[jemerite]

[Zinc does not acknowledge the pain of the attack, just bares her teeth and continues to claw wildly at the woman. Her nails are blunted, but she is strong and whenever she gets her hands on clothing and jerks, she rips things easily. It bares skin for her to attack with her teeth, shoulders and arms, though Dominique does not let her get close enough for the neck itself.

She is inexhaustible, and while Dominique is able to injure her and buffet her back, bruises showing on her skin, ugly in color, nothing deters her, and she is never stunned for long.]

[ebony_bone]

[For all of Dominique's experience and training, she has never been in a fight like this before. The girl does not attack like a human - she attacks like an animal. Claws and teeth, determined to rend and tear more than the blunt force humans normally relied upon, without weapons. And she isn't winded by any of Dominique's attempts to fend her off, not for long, anyway. Isn't stopping or thinking at all, it seems.

It would be easy to be overwhelmed. She recognises this, and there is no one to help if she makes a mistake, lets those teeth get anywhere more vital, loses her footing. She only has one other defence, and should she be knocked out or lose focus in any way, she won't be able to use it.

It's difficult, to split her attention between fending off the girl's attacks and shifting her walls, allowing her mind to stretch and reach for the girl's, but she has definitely had experience in that. The command is old, well-practised, and simple.

She wraps herself through the girl's mind and tells her to stop breathing.]

[jemerite]

[There is no breath to still, not a drop of it. Air moves in and out of Zinc's nose, her mouth, but that is so she can smell, can taste the air, is aware of every wound she inflects, where the blood flows, where there is weakness under the skin. She knows how close her pursuers are, knows which ones were here prey from the blood still spilled all over their clothes. All of them are frightened, some of them have their fear tinged with anger. They are the ones to be killed first, to terrify the rest of the herd.

She does not stop.]

[ebony_bone]

[The girl doesn't stop. Dominique waits, continuing to fend off her attacks, but she doesn't slow or lose energy, doesn't seem effected at all. That wasn't possible. The girl wasn't resistant to Dominique's abilities, she'd had no trouble whatsoever slipping into her mind. It was simply as if she already didn't breathe.

Dominique can't figure it out, not properly, can't search the girl's mind for the answer while still needing to defend her physical body. She shifts the command, cutting it down and spreading it further, heavier, tinged with anger as teeth rip through her skin one more time. Stop moving.]

[jemerite]

[Zinc jerks into stillness, frozen in place, and without the steady shifting of a pulse or a breath, she is like a puppet hanging on tensed strings.

Her eyes are large and dark, confused emotion at their very center.]

[ebony_bone]

[It works, sudden and abrupt, and Dominique can't deny the rush of relief it gives her. She extracts herself from the girl's hold carefully, taking a step or two back, checking over her injuries briefly. She's bleeding, from multiple wounds, but they are largely superficial, and blood loss won't effect her for a while yet

[jemerite]

[The virus fights with her, snarling and screaming, frightened and infuriated, but it is impotent against this strange magic. The intensity and tension fades from Zinc's expression, her muscles.

Her throat constricts with a whimper, frightened in kind, wondering what this woman is doing to her, is going to do to her. Frightened about what the others will do to her, of being punished, of being abandoned and hated. Frightened of herself, because she had always know the animal was lurking in her and she was not in control well enough to keep it down.

She is in pain, body aching and mind conflicted, frayed. She is lonely, desperate. She is disgusted with herself and resentful.

Zinc keens, the sound winding deep out of her chest.]

[ebony_bone]

[That keening is a terrible sound, but now the girl's been subdued, Dominique's priorities shift to Jackie and the safety of others. She releases the command to not move, letting the girl go, but leaving a compulsion to stay nearby in its place. Her abilities do stretch quite far, but she is not limitless, and if the girl runs, she might slip past her range too quickly to stop.

That done, she turns back to the door she'd told Jackie to bar, resting a hand on it as she calls through,]

You can come out, Jackie. It's safe now.

[jemerite]

[Zinc drops to the floor where she was standing. Had been a creature caught on strings before, and now they have been cut. She curls up in a ball, does nothing but wail with her face buried in her hands.

She isn't going anywhere.]