[ open ] how does it feel to be on your own

[biggestdouche]

Who: Kyle Madigan and OPEN.
What: Kyle's in a bear suit on a roof shooting zombies.
Where: Somewhere along in the Eastern District.
When: (Backdated) Saturday, November 6.
Warnings: Total badass, right here.
Notes: MUSIC CHOICE, GO

Comments

[biggestdouche]

Kyle kept an alert lookout through his scope, not sure if he would find anyone out there except zombies slowly crawling their way over to the building, trying to make their way up.

(He wasn't sure at this point if it would ever end, but he still reserved some hope that it would be soon.)

That is, until he spotted a familiar face while passing over the streets. It wasn't that long ago since he had seen his alien-turned-human friend, but to him and the days that seemed to pass slower than usual, it felt like ages. He was about to put down his gun and give his friend the usual greeting, when he noticed that the man (alien?) didn't look like himself.

Kyle realized that the creature on the ground below him, staggering through the streets, was not the friend he once knew, but now one of the undead. Kyle placed his finger on the trigger, took a deep breath and-

He couldn't do it. His brows furrowed, trying to invest all he could to pull the trigger (it was so easy before, why couldn't he do it now?), but a sense of hesitation rose up in his body, trying to think of a way to keep the undead creature away from climbing up to him, but without having to shoot someone he trusted straight in the head.

[turian_honor]

The head came up, blue eyes - once sharp and deadly, now clouded and blurred - snapped toward the sudden cessation of sound. The building was still, even as its eyes raked over its front facade. Every muscle froze, standing stock still in the street, tense, waiting.

Nothing happened.

The animal - the creature - did the only logical thing. It darted sideways, into an alley. Self-preservation warred with the need for feeding. There was nothing left of the man he'd been. Just the animal.

And it was taking the opportunity to stalk the man who had once been his friend, advancing closer to Kyle's building through the back streets. It would worry about getting to the man soon enough. Now, it only wanted to get closer. Every so often, it darted out of cover, peered at the building, and then slipped away again.

[biggestdouche]

"Shit," he brought the gun down, attempting to find where the zombie (friend wasn't the right word for him, as any part that was left of his friend was long gone) had run off to. He removed the bear head, placing it next to him, as he kept both his ears and eyes alert. I should have taken the shot.

Making sure to keep the gun close to him, the man quickly covered the edges of the building, attempting to find the creature in the depths below him. The creature had noticed him, looked at him, and didn't seem to recognize him at all; this left a feeling of dread in the pit of Kyle's stomach.

He would have to kill the empty shell that was Garrus Vakarian's body before it got to him first.

[turian_honor]

Movement. Sound. It didn't sound like the others. It sounded different. Good. That meant food.

It could see the building. How did it approach? How did it get inside?

Little leftover vestiges of training, of instinct, slipped into its movements. It hugged the walls, ducking and twitching with erratic motions. If it held to one course, it was a target. It crawled sometimes, falling and snarling as the broken ankle tripped it up. Pain was not a consideration. Pain was ignored.

It reached the building. A scent. Blunt fingers, nails torn and caked with black blood, picked at the wall, seeking handholds. Finding none, it let out a wet snarl of frustration. So close now...

[biggestdouche]

He heard the snarl from down below. Very cautiously, Kyle creeped over the side of the building to look down, only to see the creature trying to find a way up. At this point, Kyle's desperate to find a way to stop what used to be his friend from climbing up, and avoiding any thing that involved shooting him in the head (but he isn't alive- it's not him).

There's not much he can improvise with to keep the creature down, though. The only reason he even came up here is because it was so open and that he didn't have much to carry or be concerned about. The fact it was so open helped him take down the zombies even more, but now faced with this, with watching the creature below him trying to find it's way up, he kept his mind calm.

It was all about strategy now.

[turian_honor]

Another snarl, and with a sudden surge of energy, the body rammed its fingers into the side of the building, trying to create the handholds it lacks. Bones snap. Streaks of dark fluid splattered over the building. Only when its hands were a mangled mess did it stop, growling and whining.

And then it went very still.

Stared upward.

Darted sideways, aiming for a door or window to break through. It didn't care what happened to its body. It just wanted the prey.

[biggestdouche]

Kyle slowly stepped back to the center of the building top, keeping his ears open for the direction the creature had scattered off to. He held his breath, listening to the eerie silence he was so used to for the past week. It was a relief to him that the creature couldn't crawl up the building, and Kyle had remembered to pull up the ladder of the fire escape once he had used it.

(But in the back of his mind, he knew that this zombie wasn't like the others- that it would find a way to climb up there.)

And so, all he could do was wait. Let the time pass until the creature either got bored or until it found a way up there.

Kyle could only hope for the former.

[turian_honor]

There was a window.

Without warning, it launched itself straight into the glass. Shards ripped at its skin, leaking still more fluid all over the floor. It was inside. Stairs. A way up. The prey was a hunter - a sniper, whispered some small part of the leftover mind. It knew the prey would take high ground. A good vantage point.

It had to go up.

The prey would expect the quick way, the front stairs. It would have to take another route. And it had to go quietly.

Approaching the stairs with remaining predatory grace, it stalked on silent feet, only the sound of dripping fluid and raspy inhalations betraying it.

DOES THIS MEAN THAT kyle is gonna officially kill garrus? :'(

[biggestdouche]

Kyle heard the terrifying sound of glass being shattered and he had realized the creature had thrown itself into a window and was now in the building. Kyle looked at the door that lead to the top of the building and tried to figure out a way to block it, but with nothing but himself there to block the door, he would have to figure out a more efficent way to at least stall time before it made it's way up the stairs.

That's when he saw the bear head and got an idea. Very quickly, Kyle started to remove the remainder of the bear suit, trying his best not to trip over it from his hastiness. Immediately, he scooped up the head and went to a ledge, one straight across from where the door was, and set up the suit to make it look like it was sitting and watching the streets down below.

The suit drooped a little and the head wasn't on straight, but he figured that the creature wouldn't be smart to realize that, and in it's hunger, would head for the suit. Kyle grabbed the sniper rifle and pressed himself as close to the side of the door as much he could, so the monster wouldn't see him.

Then eagerly waited for the creature to come out.

... Probably :(

[turian_honor]

It did its best to move silently, swiftly, sweeping its head from side to side in a manner utterly alien to the human species. Even for an undead horror. If it weren't for the broken ankle, it would have looked to be more at place in a Jurassic Park film, than any human should.

The remnants of a turian brain in a human body.

It heard movement, and froze, its head cocked. Up. It had to go up. The stairs were a simple matter, easy to navigate, straightforward. All it had to do was follow the sound, and the scent. Every so often, it would pause, tracking, its body drawn up in a half-crouch. Ruined lips pulled back over teeth in a feral grimace as it reached the top.

There.

The prey hadn't heard it. It froze at the head of the stairs, just inside the doorway. Somehow, the mess that was its throat tried to growl. The body crouched lower, legs splayed at an awkward angle.

And then it leaped for the suit.

YOU'RE TEARING ME APART RED (AND GARRUS)

[biggestdouche]

He heard the growl echoing inside, right beside him. Kyle stopped breathing for a moment, listening. It sounded like the creature had waited for the right moment, and what he was hoping was the distraction of the bear suit.

The creature leapt out and Kyle held his gun close, sniper rifles were obviously not used for close combat situations, but if needed, he could still shoot off a few rounds while the creature was near him.

But it had gone for the suit instead. His distraction had worked, but instead of taking the shot at that exact moment, he waited just a second longer. Waiting for the creature to realize that the suit was just a ploy, and then in the confusion of it all, Kyle would finally take the creature down.

WHOOPS SORRY BRO

[turian_honor]

It fell upon the suit with a crazed ferocity, tearing at it, chewing on it until the poor suit's fur began to literally fly. Growls of frustration started to build as the suit failed to reveal a gooey human center. It finally gave up, throwing the empty head across the room with a snarl.

And then it turned.

Cloudy blue eyes locked on the man. Ruined hands tried to flex, tried to ready talons the human body didn't have. Again, it tilted its head, the movement borderline avian. Lips pulled back, black-stained teeth jutting forward as it spied the prey.

The creature sprang again.

</3 love is gone

[biggestdouche]

Very quietly, Kyle brought his gun up as the creature started mauling the bear suit (which a part of him was a little disappointed about, considering how much he used it) as he kept his aim, waiting for it to still.

But when it reared it's head to look at him, Kyle didn't expect it to move so fast.

(That creature was not his friend anymore.)

Without any hesitation and following his instincts, he pulled the trigger.

baaaaww

[turian_honor]

The shot caught it mid-leap, the round tearing through skull and gray matter in a gush of black fluid and rotting tissue. Velocity spun the entire body around, twisting it.

When it fell to the ground, twitching, it let out one last rattling snarl before everything went still.

CRYING FOREVER, SORRY BRO ;_;

[biggestdouche]

The creature had fallen.

It was quick, swift, and accurate- the impacting bullet, the creature slamming against the ground, it dying -and Kyle felt no remorse. While it had surprised him at first, he had easily pulled the trigger as he had done to the zombies before, like the monsters he faced back home, like the bounties he killed for money. The creature was no longer Garrus Vakarian, but the former human-like shell of the friend he once knew, and Kyle understood that if he were on the same end, he'd want Garrus to put him out of his misery.

A moment passed, as he waited for any more movement just in case it was still alive, but when he realized that the zombie met his untimely end, Kyle lowered his gun.

And instead, raised his hand- as a gesture to the greeting his friend and him both shared.