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[adaptiveimmunities]

Story ideas, fanmail, marriage proposals all go here. I'll respond when I can.

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[kingofthezombieslook]

[He hardens a little, sitting back.]

Sound like feral ghouls.

[adaptiveimmunities]

[That is not a term Shaun is familiar with, and he frowns a little.]

What's that?

[kingofthezombieslook]

[He considers the best way to explain this to him, leaning forward.]

Not all ghouls are lucky. Sometimes that high dose of radiation fucks with the brain, too. Makes them forget who they were. A kind of - oh shit, what's that word? Dementia. Can make 'em aggressive.

They attack people and get themselves killed. But there's no cure for it.

[adaptiveimmunities]

[Shaun considers that for a moment. He's still not sure he'd call Hancock's condition 'lucky,' but he guesses it's better than the alternative. He settled back into his own seat.]

For us it's not lucky or unlucky--it's every mammal on Earth. We die, we turn into zombies. The lucky ones get put down before they can do any damage.

[I guess that makes me lucky.]

Would you rather have taken me with you?

[No. I know I was lucky you were there to take care of me, even if I wish it hadn't had to happen at all.]

[kingofthezombieslook]

[Now that was fucking blatant and Hancock blinks.]

No, I really wouldn't.

[adaptiveimmunities]

[Shaun is well aware that he's crazy, and he's no stranger to explaining that fact to others. He points to his head.]

I talk to my dead sister. We both know she's not real [he says like it's totally normal to assign sentience to your delusion] but ignoring her makes me want to swallow a bullet, so we talk. Well. I talk.

[kingofthezombieslook]

Ah.

[Well, honestly, he's heard weirder. And he's certainly heard voices in his time. Granted, he was very high, but still.]

You want to talk about her or should we pretend it's not happening?

[adaptiveimmunities]

[Does he want to talk about George with a relative stranger? No, he absolutely does not. He shakes his head.]

I don't want to talk about her, but you don't have to pretend I'm not crazy when you hear me talk to her.

[kingofthezombieslook]

Eh, kid. I don't think you're crazy. But this is a first date. So we don't have to talk about her.

Instead, tell me how you're finding this place so far.

[adaptiveimmunities]

[He lets out a little laugh.]

Weird, mostly. It's not really what I expected when I signed on for redemption. I was expecting... [He pauses. Well, I'm not really sure. Maybe Hell? Or Purgatory? But on a boat? I don't really believe in that shit, but it seemed appropriate.

[kingofthezombieslook]

Hell is what you make it. There's nothing here except what you think of it.