Zombie Island

Participants:

cardinal_icon.gif simon_icon.gif

Scene Title Zombie Island
Synopsis The night after he was attacked by the monster, Simon looks for Cardinal to start rounding up the zombie hunting team.
Date April 30, 2009

Shooter's Bar and Bistro

A place that used to be a cafe and is making a slow progression towards being a dive bar. During the day, the balcony and a good portion of the sidewalk is taken up by outdoor chairs and tables, where people can enjoy a beer as well as a sandwich or whatever else is on their menu - a decent, if simply array of bar food. During the evening, unless it's a warm night, these are taken inside, and the kitchens are closed. A wide variety of beer is available, along with hard liquor and maybe a few wine labels, but nothing fancy. The interior decor is similar to traditional British pubs, with a hardwood bar and brick wall. There's an old pool table towards the back, along with a dart board. The building is actually two storeys high, but whatever is upstairs is inaccessible to the general public.


The previous night was one from hell, and Simon spent most of it awake and at the window of his room in The Garden. Looking for the monster in case he didn't blind the thing like he had hoped. Tonight, though, he has decided to take things into his own hands. No longer was he going to just go about his life, waiting for dark and terrible things to jump out at him. The Greenery is plagued with horror stories and murders, and Simon almost became another corpse to add to the tally. He's not going to let that happen again.

That brings him to Shooter's tonight, the first stop on his list. He's at the bar, face and arms scratched to hell, with a beer in front of him. He looks more like the hardened men around him than ever before. The bottle is brought to his lips and he chugs some of the amber liquid down. His eyes scan the room, looking for a familiar face.

"You're lookin' like hell, kid." The thief caught sight of the young man shortly after he entered, and as Simon looks around, Cardinal's right there stepping up beside him. An emptied beer bottle is thumped down onto the bar, one hand waving at the bartender before he turns to regard the teenager. A single brow crooks up, over the edge of his shades. "What happened, get in a fight with your sister? Girls, they got nails."

Simon rolls his eyes around and the land on the older man, not looking nearly as cheery as they usually do. "Funny," he says, managing a grin that's somewhat authentic, but mostly forced. He turns and lets out a sigh. "Mallory is tough, but this isn't her work." He points to his face, finger lightly brushing against one of the deeper wounds. "It was the monster. You want to talk somewhere more private?" He motions with his chin to an empty table off in the corner of the room. Far away from the weasels at the bar.

"The zombie? Shit." The new beer's swept up in Cardinal's hand as it's set down before him, a small fold of singles tossed onto the counter before he pushes himself up straight. A step back and away, and he turns to head towards that empty table, his head shaking, "C'mon, kid. Gimme the story."

At the table, Simon's beer is chugged once more before the bottle finds a new home on the wooden surface. The kid leans forward, eyeing Cardinal, and says, "I was walking through the Greenbelt at night. I know I was asking for it, given all the rumors, but there was someplace I had to be." He shrugs, rolls his eyes at his own stupidity, and continues. "Next thing I knew, the monster or zombie or whatever you want to call it was there. It was so - creepy." He makes a disgusted face and shakes his head. "It tore me up a bit, but I managed to fight back, get away."

"That's the cliff's notes version…" Cardinal drops down into the chair, leaning forward to rest an arm on the table, one brow arching over the edge of his shades, "…now, give me details. What'd it look like, what'd it do — did it talk at all?"

The kid shrugs and grabs his beer from the table before leaning back in his chair. He starts to describe the monster in detail. It was the second time he saw the creature, and both times were up close. Therefore, he gives a pretty accurate description. "Ugly as all fuck," he says at the end, to clarify. "It didn't talk at all, but it did make noises. And there was something else, too, something you'll need to know if we're going to kill this thing." Yep, Simon wants the zombie dead before it do any more damage.

"Okay." A firm nod, Cardinal's brow furrowing, "What is it?"

Simon grins and lifts a finger to his neck, making a slicing motion across his jugular. "I cut the thing before it managed to hit me. Sliced it right here," The hand is lowered and he drinks a bit more beer before continuing. "I don't know if he felt it, but for some reason I did. I wasn't cut or bleeding, though. It just hurt - bad." He swirls his the liquid in his bottle around idly , looking to Cardinal for a reaction. "When I kicked it, though, and poked its eyes, I didn't feel anything. Just when I used the knife. I think it, somehow, makes us feel its pain, but not always. Does that even make sense?"

Cardinal's lips purse in a slight frown, and he brings a hand up to rub against the curve of his jaw. "Interesting," he murmurs, "Some sort've… empathic pain transmission? Fuck, listen t'me, I sound like a college graduate." A swallow's taken, and then he gestures with the bottle, "No real damage on your side, though?"

Simon waves a hand in hand, smirking. "Don't worry, you don't have me fooled." The hand drops and Simon nods, though, agreeing that it's a possibility. "Sounds good, though. There was just pain. It was bad, but I wasn't actually hurt. Not until he got his claws on me, of course." He pulls up his left sleeve to show off a pretty nasty cut on his arm. It will probably become a sexy scar soon.

"You cleaned it out, I hope…?" Cardinal reaches out to take the teenager's arm and check out the wound, lips pursing a bit, "Just in case, you might want to go see a friend of mine. Although she's — harder to get a hold of than usual, thanks to the fuckin' media."

Simon lets Cardinal take a look at it, but he shakes his head. "Naw, don't worry about it. This isn't going to kill me, and I cleaned it out well." When Cardinal is done, he settles back in his chair. "Thanks, though. Everyone seems to be recommending people in case I get hurt. Your friend, and then some girl at this bar in Manhattan." He shrugs and glances down briefly at his wound, before looking back up. "So, are you down to hunt this thing, or what?"

"That's her," affirms Cardinal as he leans back once more, seemingly satisfied at having made his token suggestion for someone to take care of the teenager's injuries. The beer's brought up in his hand, and he gestures, "Damn straight we are."

Hmm, same girl. Maybe Simon will have to head that way one of these days. Not anytime soon, though, he hopes. "Great. I'll talk to Zuleyka and Rocket when I head back to The Lighthouse." Yep, he thinks the two of them would be more than happy to go hunting. "We should probably do this sooner rather than later, Cardinal. Before the next body washes up."

"Agreed," Cardinal nods, firmly, "Especially since me'n Jake are gonna be headin' out of country for a bit, so — the sooner, the better. You gotten anyone to show you how to shoot a gun yet, kid?"

Simon shakes his head and says, "I'm going to get on that soon, I hope." Tonight, if he has his way. "Where are you guys going?" he asks, raising a brow curiously? His beer is brought to his lips and the contents of the bottle are gone in a moment.

"Same place you are, kid," Cardinal replies, flashing a grin, "If you're takin' Monroe's offer, that is. The Land of the Rising Sun herself…"

Simon close his eyes for a moment and lets out a sigh. He looks tired, for a moment, but bounces back right after. "Right. I still haven't had a chance to talk to Adam. Any idea where he likes to hang out. I should get that over with soon, too." There's a lot going on for Simon now, and it's starting to show in bags under the kid's eyes.

Cardinal tilts the beer bottle back to his lips, and he takes a swig thereof. Lowering it to rest on his knee, he cocks his head a bit, one brow arching again. "You all right, there, kid? I mean, outside've the whole zombie bullshit."

Simon shakes his head and shrugs, "Yeah, I guess. There's just a lot of shit going on and I haven't had a good night's sleep in a while. Maybe I'll try and do that today," he says, looking down and off to the side, before bringing his gaze back around to fall on Cardinal. "How are you, man? Got anything else going on, or just the trip?" Apparently, he doesn't want to make himself the subject of conversation for long.

"Anything I can help with?" A shrug, to the question, and Cardinal leans the chair back a bit with a creak of wood as he shifts back in it. The beer bottle's used in another gesture, "This, that. Nothing… all that serious, unfortunately. Calm before the storm, or maybe I'm just being ignored by certain people. S'possible."

Simon reaches, scratches an itch somewhere on his head, and smiles. "Right now? I don't think so. The zombie is a priority for me." Like he said, sooner rather than later. Time to clean up this Island a little. "I doubt you're being ignored. Adam seems to like you, after all. And you get a free vacation out of it." With a double dose of murder, most likely.

At that, Cardinal exhales a low chuckle, his head shaking a bit. "Ah, I wish life was that simple," he murmurs, gaze hooding, "Well, maybe after this I can get back to work. There's… a lot of work to do, here on Staten."

"What is your work anyways," Simon asks, glancing at the empty bottle in his hand for a moment before setting it on the table. "I figured you were, you know, some kind of - criminal or something. But not a murderer or anything. Just - outside the law."

"Material and information acquisitions," Cardinal replies, tongue firmly in cheek as he adds wryly, "That is to say, I'm a thief and an information broker. These days, less've the former, more of the latter."

Simon thinks for a moment and nods. "Yeah? That's pretty cool, I guess. Maybe you can help me after all," he says, though he doesn't go into details right away. "Maybe, though right now I just need to wrap my brain around some things."

A slight nod, and Cardinal points out quietly - his expression turning serious, "There's a lot around the city to wrap your mind around, kid. It goes deeper than you might think, all around. Just be careful who you trust."

"Yeah, I'm starting to realize that, more and more." Simon eyes Cardinal and says, "Can I trust you? After all, you're one of these Staten types. You could just feed me false information and take my money if you wanted." He grins, but doesn't retract the question.

"I could," Cardinal says easily, one shoulder rolling up in a shrug before dropping down once more, his lips twitching in a subtle smile. Through those dark glasses, he regards the young man, noting after a few heartbeats of time's passage, "And that's for you to decide. Anyone can say 'trust me', after all."

Simon nods, meeting Cardinal's gaze until the man speaks again. After that the kid smiles. "True. I guess I'll know when I know," he says. Another beat passes and he adds, "Well, I think I'm going to head home, talk to the other guys. I'll see you soon, though, yeah?"

"You know where to find me, kid," Cardinal nods his chin up, to the teenager, that smile widening a bit as he adds, "Zu's got my number, too, if you need me for anything. So's Brian, for that matter. Watch yourself."

Simon rises and nods. "Ok, then. I'll get in touch with you soon." He offers Cardinal a small, and then glances to the side towards the door. "Have a good night, man, and be safe." With that, he starts to move across the room, making a beeline for the exit.


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