[Intro Log #01] Enjoy your new vacation home

[oasismods]

INTRO LOG #01

The Crash "-̭̫̜̩̪̑̈́̓̌̐-̞͓̘̩͖̿́͒͑͘░͙͈̥̦̼̌̊̒̾̅░̨̢̠͙̖̉͊̽͌͝░̫͔͎̤̘̀̑͋͛̾ȩ̨̬̙͛̐̋̀̕͜m̻̬͈̠͒̌͌̍͌͜ ̡̲͈̙̼̽̾͆̊̃f̖̟͉̲̪̈́̾̀̂̀ą̢̯̘̙́̇͑̈̋i̪̱̙̘̟͌́̄̊͘ļ̢̛̲͕̣͐̎̿͛u͕̣̥̘̳̓̃͗͠͝r͉̠̗͖̰̉̅͗̚͘ę̛̺̥̝̘̄͑̌̈́.̣̫͕̰̭̓͂̈́̓͊ ̟̗͔̟͋̿̒̚̚ͅA̠̫̬̼̣̒̇͛́̊l̫̬͎̤͈͑̀͂̐̆ë̡̧̝̺͖́̍̂͂͝r͙͍̱̫͕̆͊̾͐̕ţ͙̻̣̝͒́̄̈́͆!͕̫͓͉̹̌̍̽̂̓ ̧̛̲͎͖̳̌̆̾̏░͖̲̞̼̹̇̄̌̈́̊░̡͍͎͍̘̇̈́̕͝░̪͚̼̦̃̋͊̆͜͠è̛̞̬͙̠̖̊͌̂m͖̝̟̗̣̽̄̐̚͠ ̛̹̯͈̮̼̈́͊͌͠f̧̰̖͋̊̈̊̑͜͜ą̨͚͎̹̀̎̑͋́i̞̬͓̭̳̎́̓͘͠l̢͈̲͇͕̈́̆̐̌̈́ư̰̞͚̻̺̔͑̓̑ṛ͎̯͚̇̔̾̔̏͜ę̛̻̼̭͊͆̕͜͝.̯̖̫̣͔̔̋̔̽͠ ̺̼̟̲͌́͒̔̅ͅĄ̹̝̖̺̂̇̽̒͊ĺ̛̺̰̰̤͎̾͗͝e̛̗̭̻͕̹̓̔͆̆r̢̛͙͖̘̻̈̚̚͘t̰̲̠̖̻̉͂̆̓̇!̬̞̟͉̺̂͆̊͑͐" You awaken to godawful static overlaying a female voice that's too monotone to be anything but a recording. The static makes it difficult to understand the warning, but it's clearly a warning if your surroundings tell you anything... You're buckled into a sturdy seat bolted to the wall behind you. Around you, there are dozens of others like you, some awake and others still unconscious, but it seems most of the seats lining the walls are occupied. The lights are dim, likely auxiliary lighting, leaving you mostly in the dark. You smell smoke and hear the sizzling crackle of electrical systems popping and shorting out. Some of the seats were jarred off the wall, leaving the occupants either wounded or dead. Count yourself lucky all you have is a headache and various aches accounted to whiplash. You appear to be in a drop ship or an escape vessel of some form but the pilot is dead and the hull bears a massive gash where it buckled under the impact and sheered off. Through the door-sized opening, you can see vegetation. The air that wafts in is heavy with a humid heat, but it's obviously breathable. Once you make your way outside, you'll see greenery: Trees, grass, and shrubs tangled with vines that grow wildly and suffocate the trees they climb. In the distance, behind the ship, you can make out a sandy desert that seems to stretch on endlessly. Forward through the trees, however, you may see a crumbling wall, but more importantly, you'll see signs of civilisation. Buildings and other structures seem contained within those decrepit walls. Maybe the natives can fill you in on what's going on, because the last thing you remember isn't being in an escape shuttle. As a matter of fact, you don't remember much about your arrival or where you are. But it's going to be a bit of a hike, better get moving. Though you might want to grab the backpack of supplies under your seat before you go. "W̞͓̝͓̓̀̍̒͘͜ȃ̢̗̪̤͇̔̃̚͝░̟͙̯̳̱̈͂̈́̈́͠n̬̘̬̤̠͛̅̈́͋͝i͓̟͈͎͙̐̆̈́̔̓n̡̟̤̟̤̑͐͋͐̚g̩̱͖͉̻͌͛̈͆̈́!̧̪̰͇̦̓̂̆̌͝ ̢͔̣̠̗̾̉́̌̒C̢̥̟͍͊͊͑̀̚ͅr̛͙̪̙̟͐̽̓̅͜i̫͖̻̣̘̽̑͂̾̎t̩͇̦̬̞͊̌̑̈́͝i̡̳̠̞̐̿̍̎̀͜c̡͕͙͕͕̓̊̌̾͘å̼̯͍̙̲̍̏̚͝l̢̥͉̮̙̋̆͐̆́ ̢̰̞͕̯̋̈́̈́̋͌f͇͔̟̻̈̽͌̒̉ͅa̳̰̠͉͔͒̑̈̈͘i̟̭̦̺͎̍̾̽̈́̐░͕̣̥̭͛̿̓̽̐ͅ░̰̪̠͇͍̆͛̀͝͝░̘̱̩̳̘͆̈́̆̀̚e̛̻͈̳̳̺̊̔̚̕.͙̟̳̼̾̀̅͊͊ͅ" With that, the power dies, leaving the drop ship in the dark, crackling and groaning as the hull cools from its catastrophic re-entry. [Mod Note: In case you missed the testdrive, this is your chance to play out your arrival or any other intro CR] Traversing the Forest Between the crash and the ruined city is a lush forest full of skittish wild life, the ruins of a farmhouse-like structure, various flora, and the occasional body. Try not to get too close to those bodies, kids. They have a tendency to wake up and try to get ya. The closer to the city one gets, the more frequently they'll see a dormant body. Hopefully you took the time to set up your small ear piece. Once inserted into the ear, the device will prompt you for your name. Once spoken, the device in your ear will be given its own address and all someone has to do is tap the button on their ear piece, speak "private to" then their friend's name, and it will open a private channel to the comm device coded with that name. Open radio signals can be sent by simply tapping the button and speaking. Once you reach the city gates, you will find a mass of corpses piled against the closed gates. These corpses will stir when they catch the scent of the survivors or hear their approach. You may want to take care of the dormant infected before they fully regain awareness. Or, you know, trip the closest person to you and run like hell. Maybe they'll be too distracted chewing on your former friend to follow... Once inside the city, you'll meet its only surviving occupant. He's a bit unique and a bit... well... he's unique. ⨷ TK Baha's Warm Welcome ⨷[TALK] "Smells like livin' folk. Yer just lucky I got no munitions left." Sitting on a porch with a shotgun balanced in his lap was a scarred gentleman wearing dark goggle-like glasses. He was missing a leg and looked a little worse for the wear. His voice was thick with a drawl, but he seemed to be well and alive. He chuckled and lowered the shotgun back to his lap, patting the barrel. "Naw, ain't seen nothin' worth shootin' in a long time. Heehee! Ohhh-hoo boy, you lot've seen better days. Well, come on over here and git that gate shut before somethin' with an appetite thinks we're open for business." TK smiled and laughed again, beckoning the shipwrecked survivors to come closer. "Let's see. First things first, you lot gotta have somewhere to stay. Hotel's open an' prices 're cheaper than ever! Forgive the staff, they ain't too lively, though if you know what I mean. Heeheehee! You get it, right? 'cause they're all dead. Make yerselves at home. You're gonna be here a while." TK pulls out an old, worn, folded pamphlet and holds it out. There are plenty to go around. "This here's a tourist's guide ta everythin' ya need to know. Or, well, kinda some of it. Anyway, it's useful. Take it. The name's TK Baha and I been around these parts a while. Anything you need, you let me know, okay?" "You got a good set a' legs, right? See, I gotta ask you a favour. I ain't been keeping up with things. Gonna need you to find me a power cell for this here transceiver. Think I stashed the last one at the hotel reception desk. Or was it the minimart? The fuel station? Anyway, you get me that and I'll get this here piece of scrap workin' again."

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Comments

crash + forest + fuel station - ota

[strangelic]

1. The crash

[ Castiel snaps his restraints open the moment he's really self-aware. Whether he was unconscious or not isn't altogether clear to him--all he knows is that he's not in Purgatory any more. The air is different, the light, the pressing scent of death and flame and atmosphere around them. As he pulls himself forward, it's the dead that he prioritizes, moving to each of them in turn, flipping the bodies over with little care. He glances over the faces, just to see if there's anything that he can do, crouched low among them.

Though everyone else was leaving, he lingered, not mingling with anyone else, his senses easily picking up the creatures among them. Perhaps he was still in Purgatory. Perhaps the portal had done something to him, triggered some kind of delusion. In any event, he was mistrustful, hanging back with the dead, in no obvious rush to press into the forest and hunt for civilization. ]

I'm sorry. [ He says to the corpse of a young woman, who wouldn't be able to hear him even if there were any ears left to her crushed skull. So sentimental. ]

----

2. The forest

[ It's just like Purgatory, the forest. Castiel can smell water nearby, he can feel the desert, and the vibrancy of the overwhelming life pressing in around them. Unlike Purgatory, though, the sun shines, and the plant-life is stunningly verdant. It's not enough to strike him with any feeling of hope, just compassion for the world around him. This must be Creation - it feels much like Creation - but the underlying feeling that there is something wrong with the world grows as they venture deeper, and as Castiel comes upon his first infected body.

He spooks away from it as it rises to challenge him, sluggish at first, rotting flesh peeling away from its gruesome visage. Not pleasant, even though the creature is clearly very much alive. Alive, but not...

Faltering at his next step back, Castiel stumbled, a tree branch responsible for the angel's less than graceful tumble.

And no, he really doesn't need saving, but just for a moment it really looks like it. ]

-----

3. The fuel station

[ Cas elects to turn over the fuel station. He has little interest in hunting for food, or finding a place to rest - he'd rather investigate the lake later, when he has time to head off on his own - but the fuel station offers other potential, as well as familiarity--after all, it had been a station just like it where he had first tried to manifest after raising Dean from Hell. A lot of good that had done him.

He's quiet for most of the journey, and when they arrive he goes to searching, focused and decidedly antisocial, quiet, gruff when addressed. If he focuses on the mission, on finding the fuel cell, it keeps his mind from wandering to other things; puzzling where he is or struggling with his vast list of regrets. A fuel cell must resemble a car or cell phone battery, right?

Perhaps he should have grilled Mr. TK Baha a little more, before he'd accepted his role.

Oh, but look, they have those little air freshners in the shape of pine trees. Breaking open the packet of one, Castiel breathes in deeply. ] Ah. Still fresh. [ That's not odd, right? ]

fuel station

[pinner]

[Athena's separated from her little group at the location and is looking around curiously. There's others here but she tends to ignore most everyone out of a desire to look around at everything. Even if it is all old, there's things here she's never seen before.

Including little tree air fresheners.

She approaches the man with the tree and stands beside him. At his assessing that it still smells fresh she nods seriously.]

Fresh is important.

[And because of that reason she grabs one of the tree packets to put in her backpack.]

I'm staying with a group of men.

[Which is exactly why she thinks better and grabs a few more to keep. There weren't any showers they might need those soon.]

[strangelic]

[ Of course, he'd been opening his mouth to suggest just that. People just smelled overwhelming in general, and this was the best way to bring the forest with him, and block out some of the stench of death that lingered around the place.

To that end, Castiel went about affixing his own pine tree to the topmost button of his ruined shirt, pulling the little tie closed with dirty fingernails. If cleanliness was next to Godliness, then Castiel was presently as far away from the latter as he could be. ]

There, that's much better.

[ He took down the last one from the stand, worrying it between his fingers before offering it out toward her. If she was being polite leaving the last one behind, then he was going to prove that there was no need. ]

[pinner]

[She wasn't expecting him to put one of the trees on him. Laughing at the fact that he did, she brought her hands up to finish straightening it for him.]

It's a little large, but it suits you.

[She looked up and gave him a smile, nodding eagerly.]

If you're wanting to smell nice, you should take the last one and wear it too. The smell would be stronger.

[strangelic]

[ He hesitated at that, then nodded appreciatively: ] Thank you. [ Maybe it was a tie thing, and he just needed something dangling from his chest to tidy him up a bit. That was surely it, right? Of course, he was still struggling a little connecting with the fact that he was surrounded by people again, so the laugh, the tenderness--it might have been less a hesitation and more a flinch.

He grips the last tree a little harder in his hand when she suggests he keeps it, puzzling about it for a few moments, before placing it into the inside pocket of his ragged coat. ]

Maybe later. You never know when you might miss the smell of the trees. [ It's a legitimate concern. ]

[pinner]

I'll miss the smell of the orange trees the most.

[There's a sad look on her face as she realizes she probably won't ever get to go to the manufactured groves in Tomorrowland ever again. She smooths the fabric of her dress to try and look more put together and then forces a smile. Everything's going to be just fine.]

I think you should take this too.

[On the hook next to the little trees are two blue dolphins on a string. They likely had a scent that belonged to them too, but Athena thinks now they're just meant to hang and look nice. She takes both of them off the hook and puts her hand through the looped string to wear as a bracelet. The other is offered to him.]

As a lucky charm. I never actually believed that things could be lucky, but it's a nice thought to have in a place like this. You never know when luck could come in useful.

Forest

[zimasoldier]

[Bucky's been scouting back and forth with and without his group. He made sure his comm was set up in case they needed him, but he just didn't feel safe knowing there were so many of these bodies around. The closer they got to the city, the more they saw.

He'd been focusing carefully on his hearing, the sounds around him, distinguishing animal from the rustle of a breeze. But more importantly, he was listening for the telltale sound of something staggering about the brush. When he hears said staggering, he edges closer to the sound and spots both an infected and a survivor.

The man stumbles and Bucky's right there, bracing a hand against his back to keep him from falling. The metal arm quickly flips the fire iron he'd picked up and tosses it like a javelin into the infected's head. Not a feat he could've pulled off before his augmentations at the hands of the enemy. Superhuman strength, speed, and the added power of the metal arm made him a very effective killing machine.

The infected drops to the ground and Buck faces the angel, looking him over carefully for injuries.]

Are you hurt?

[strangelic]

[ He was most decidedly not hurt, kept on his feet as well as intervened upon. As the body crumbles, Castiel puts his own feet underneath him, sparing just a glance for the offending branch that had almost taken him down. It's such a little thing, falling, but as far from normal for him as it's possible to be. Thrown down, fine, but knocked off his feet by surprise? That was a different thing.

Castiel looks to the stranger immediately. If this were Purgatory, then his savior could be as dangerous as anything else here, but the man is human... Mostly. Immediately puzzling, incomplete, strong--no, not human in the traditional sense, beyond all the (most of) the relevant constituent parts.

The no-longer-alive-alive-but-not thing on the floor was no longer the most curious puzzle to untangle. ]

I'm fine. [ Oh right, manners. He hasn't needed those in a while. ] Thank you. [ Another, equally long pause, before he adds: ] I didn't expect it to move the way it did.

[zimasoldier]

No sweat, pal. None of us did, the first one we saw. [He noted the hesitant speech and suddenly didn't feel like the most awkward human being in the area. The recently deceased, excluded.]

They're like nothing I've ever seen before, but some people around here recognise them. It's probably not best to wander around alone with these things out here.

...you sure you're okay? You look kinda like you've been through hell.

[strangelic]

[ Sorry, Bucky, you're still the most awkward human being here, but if it brings you some comfort... ]

Hell would have been preferable. [ The souls in Hell don't try to kill you. As Castiel straightens back up, he scrutinizes Bucky again. ] How would you know? Have you been?

[ So in the list of questions he expected to be asked, was that anywhere near the top? ]

[zimasoldier]

[Comfort is a thing of which he doesn't possess in excess, unfortunately.

He can sympathise with that statement a few times over, at least, he thought he could. Then Cas asked that question and Bucky's mental train misses its station. Was it just him, or was this guy practically looking into his soul?]

I--not literally. I guess. [He can still hear screams, please, feel blood on his skin that isn't there anymore. He watches his body move like a machine on autopilot. He never gets the full pictures, and maybe he doesn't want them, but he knows enough... If that wasn't Hell, he didn't know what was.] But close.

[Yes, he'd take eternal damnation over the past 70 years of what HYDRA made him do.]

You believe in Hell?

fuel station

[dirtyredneck]

[Athena had concerns about people smelling. Daryl was the most obvious and readily available example of why her concerns were very, very, very warranted. He was already sporting a pretty rank odor after a day of scavenging through a wrecked ship, hours of trudging through a forest, and dispatching the dead that didn't stay dead. Walker blood tended to splatter a bit so he had some coverage, particularly along his legs. And that only added to the stench.

He was checking out what was left on the shelves of the gas station, sometimes pushing things around to get a better look at them. He was watching the other people who'd decided to check it out as well. And he was making sure to keep Athena within his sight. She was a tough girl, but she was still a girl. A child. One that had been sheltered from the walkers before running away.

Daryl had kept himself back while Athena approached Castiel and only drifted over after she had moved on.

Eyeing the man, he did his best to make himself look as big and intimidating as possible. Spine straight, but shoulders hunched forward a little, head slightly down, all physical presence as he stared at Castiel.

Just stared. Threateningly.]

[strangelic]

[ Castiel knew threatening posture when he saw it. After a year in Purgatory, Castiel had faced down any number of creatures, vampires, were-things, leviathan, and threatening posture was something they all had in common. It twisted something in his gut, preparing him for a fight at a moment's notice, but all he did was straighten very slightly, narrowing his blue eyes suspiciously. It was a demonstration of his restraint that he didn't summon his blade into his hand at once.

Not that he looked at all threatening himself. Worn, perhaps, and a little bit crazy, with an air freshener tied to his shirt buttons.

He stood his ground, not that he was guarding anything in particular, save his own back with the counter behind it. He wouldn't break the silence first, unsure what the man's problem with him was, staring down Daryl just as keenly.

Maybe he just wanted to be pine fresh too.. ]

[dirtyredneck]

[The man might not look that threatening to others, but Daryl recognized a man readying himself for a fight. Someone wanting to posture and be seen as stronger than he was. He'd been in those kinds of fights before. He'd started those kinds of fights before. Where he pushed the other man into throwing the first punch. More often, though, he managed to get the other man to back down. That was what he was hoping for now.

If the man thought he could get away with looking at Athena the way he had. That nervous laughter and strained attempt to control himself when she'd reached out to help 'straighten' his make-shift tie. There'd been a lot of men in Daryl's life that had looked at kids like that and gone off to hurt them later. And that wasn't going to happen here.

Daryl moved in closer, getting himself within inches of Castiel. Leaning in. His own blue eyes held the other's as he growled low.]

Keep away from the girl.

[strangelic]

[ Castiel held his nerve, still, as Daryl pressed into his space. He could feel the man's aggression, but it in of itself was familiar, something he recognized from his usual companions. It was protective, and in his experience protectiveness meant a relationship, likely familial.

He flicked his eyes up, defiantly, where anyone else might have been ducking their head, pulling away. Castiel wasn't afraid, and he hadn't done anything wrong. He didn't inhale, puff up his chest, not making any aggressive moves of his own beyond the initial eye contact. ]

Your sister?

the forest;

[officio]

[ Tap. Tap tap tap.

Not too far away, Padmé keeps tapping on her earpiece, trying to establish a comm link to-- well, to anyone outside the planet. She tries coordinates, codes, whatever she can think of... and receives only static.

She stops, though, when she catches movement out of the corner of her eye, turning to look just in time to see a man stumbling back in the face of-

of... something that shouldn't be moving. She wastes no time in hurrying closer, grabbing the knife she's tied to her waist with a rope. ]

Are you alright? We must move, quickly, before it gets up! [ She had to run away from one of them, before this, until a well-thrown knife stopped it -- whatever is making these corpses move, a dark use of the Force... she still feels pity for them, the people they must have once been. ]

[strangelic]

[ The fallen branch that had tried to take him down is assessed quickly, and dismissed, as Castiel finds his footing again. Grateful, he glances up at his new companion - a young woman, the scent of blood, bearing the resemblance of pregnancy, at first glance. She was fighting hard to keep moving, he thought, but she'd also stopped for him, concerned.

He moved at once to put some more distance between himself and the corpse, gesturing for her to lead the way. ]

I'm fine, thank you. It just caught me off my guard.

[ Which was true. Alive things shouldn't look so...dead. ]

[officio]

[ She gives him a small smile and a nod as she starts moving, as fast as her current state allows her to, the sharp breaths still making her throat burn. ]

I've heard the others speak of a farmhouse, between here and the wall.

[ It might offer a place to rest before continuing on to the ruins of the city that can be seen from where they are. And to the city they must make it... especially if there are these creatures around, dead and yet not, victim and attacker at once. ]

I was going to head there, myself. [ She pauses, admits: ] They caught me off guard, too, the first time I came across one. This is the second one of the corpses I've seen move... something like that would be enough to make anyone surprised. [ Surprised and scared, more like. ]

[strangelic]

[ Castiel can run - he really can, he's had to - but he slows his pace to meet hers. He won't leave her behind; he'd go back and kill that thing himself if it saved her. As they pass a particularly difficult spot, he slows, dropping his hand on her shoulder, protectively.

Something he shouldn't have done. Such pain. But he presses on, trying to ignore the rush of empathy, helping her to climb the slight rise. ]

If there's a farmhouse, we should find it. You can rest there.

[ She seemed like she needed it, and perhaps it would give him time to assess--help her, somehow. ]

2.

[kickingand]

[ This is nothing like Purgatory and yet everything like it at the same time. It doesn't feel the same way, isn't caked with grime in every heavy breath. The air isn't quite as bitter and Dean's fairly sure he doesn't feel the same ominous weight that he did, even if every step is somehow reminiscent of the same trepidation. Things are hiding out there, waiting around corners, but Dean isn't even sure if that's his shaky paranoia or if there's something crawling along, waiting for the right second to make it's move.

Besides, it's always better to be on guard - expect a fucking bear and you won't get caught up when one actually appears. Because as far as Dean knows- well, who the hell knows what's in this forest. And maybe that's the worst part: he just doesn't know what to expect.

His own footfalls are slow, waiting to hear cracks of twigs in the wood and listening for any sound that's out of place. His heart is beating in time and for the first time since he got back, which isn't altogether that long, he almost feels like he's back where he's supposed to be. Like he never left to begin with, like things are whole again. And it's twisted, it's--

Finding Cas around the next bend isn't the part that's unexpected - really, he should've learned by now that the angel has a way of falling - or even the undead. It's the fact that Cas can't seem to pick himself up and dust himself off the way he used to. Instead the damn angel trips, falters, and nearly hangs himself out to dry in front of a goddamn zombie, and Dean's out of his own wandering path and into Castiel's in a heartbeat. He'd just been walking by his lonesome, so thank God for small favors, but he immediately grabs for Cas' collar, hauling him to his feet. ]

Up, get up.

[strangelic]

[ It's not that he can't, not really, and the last thing he's planning to do is let a zombie creature maul him, but for a moment the reality of it has knocked him senseless, everything about it wrong. Not Purgatory, but not Creation, surely? If this was Creation then it was broken, it was wrong, not as God made it.

And what did that mean? How deeply did his Father's disinterest in this world go? How much would He allow it to suffer?

And his own suffering was to watch it crumble, it seemed. Fair enough.

Except that the moment he hit the ground on his ass, rushed footsteps came toward him, and it's Dean - Dean - that rushes to his side and heaves him, clumsily, back to his feet. He gets his heels under him, just as the creature lunges for Dean's outstretched arm. ]

Watch out!

[kickingand]

[ Dean's halfway inclined to just roll his eyes, annoyance rolling out of him in a grumbled noise, all half-heated growl. He practically shoves Cas away, trying to get him out of the line of fire more than anything, wanting him to move to make it that much easier for both of them to repel away from the situation. Even if at the end of the day, Dean's really just inclined to try and punch the thing in the face.

But he's fairly sure he'd pull back a stump in the process, the real reason why he's already swearing under his breath, muttering obscenities about just how much he misses having a blade at his disposal. ]

Pick a direction, i'll follow-

[strangelic]

[ Oh good, running. Well, it's fortunate he hasn't forgotten how to do that, and so as he's pushed, Castiel calculates a direction and breaks off into a jog, sparing just a glance back toward Dean as they weave between trees. There are other bodies, and they begin to stir from the commotion around them as they pass, just a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye...which suggests that running through this minefield isn't the best of choices.

The moment they stumble into a clearing, Castiel stops and whirls around, ready to stand his ground. Reaching into his bedraggled sleeve, he draws his angel blade out of concealment, the silvery hue catching the greenness of the light refracted through the leafy canopy, listening acutely for movement from behind the crashing that was Dean.

Just like back in purgatory--he may not want to fight, but he almost certainly has to. ]

The forest; One were kitty to the 'rescue'!

[allthesame2me]

[Alex had taken up with Clint when the group of survivors had fled the crash site, but he was trying his best to help make sure no one got left behind. Needless to say, he hadn't expected the appearance of the infected, nor how they seemed to react to the living around them. Alex had never been a big one for zombie movies and thought that maybe, just maybe, this had been why.

He wasn't surprised that the walking dead were a reality. Honestly, his world had been turned rather on its ear when he'd become a lycanthrope and all the more when so many other supernatural beings had proven themselves real. How could he believe in some and automatically rule out the idea of zombies and their ilk.

He's moving through the woods, on higher alert than he'd ever been before, when a strange scent hits him squarely between the eyes. He pauses, co verse hovering over he ground and not a single muscle in his body moving save for that nose as he slowly breathed in. His gaze sweeps he surrounding area and falls on Castiel and if he'd been in either of his furrier forms, his fur would have begun to visibly bristle. The man he was watching wasn't human... Alex wasn't certain what he was, but he wasn't human.

And then one of the infected rises from the ground before the stranger and he stumbles backward, looking to have lost his balance, but Alex was already moving by that point. What good were enhanced abilities if you didn't use them, right? He dashes across the uneven terrain, hefting a branch as he moves, and comes at the infected with a full on 'home run' style swing, crushing in the side of the creature's skull. There is no question that it is dead... again. In the same motion, Alex spins and grabs for the front of Castiel's jacket, holding firmly so the other man doesn't continue to tumble to the ground.]

You okay?

[Golden eyes stare out of an extremely androgynous face, searching Castiel's own with concern. This close to the man, Alex is certain that he's not human and the other man's presence tickles over his skin in a most peculiar way. For his part, Castiel is free to know exactly what Alex is.]

I apologise for him in advance

[strangelic]

[ Castiel isn't sure which is worse, the walker or the were, although one is trying to eat him and the other is...saving his life. So his instinct that there is a threat, the immediate presence and spiritual scent of supernatural creature, makes him respond defensively even as the question comes, grabbing for Alex's forearm and gripping it with considerable strength, eyes wide.

He only gets his feet underneath him a moment later, and a moment after that gets his bearings enough to know that he's not immediately in trouble. This creature is trying to intercede on his behalf.

It's just that in Purgatory, there was no such thing as a friendly creature. It would have put a knife through his neck by now. His voice is a low growl, unfriendly: ]

Let me go.