Cornelius Falcon's Story

Cornelius' eyes adjusted to the darkness of New York's subway almost immediately, he trailed down slowly holding the hilt of his M16 cautiously, he walked morosely through the tunnel which was in complete darkness: the only light was being generated from his eyes. As he approached the tunnel's clearing, he quickly spotted a station he nodded to himself in confirmation. His hands brushed against the wall as he pulled himself up on the ledge, as he regained his balance on the concrete ledge he walked further into the station, the place was devoid of the undead, probably because of the gate which had been hastily set down, blocking the undead from entering however the floor was still slick with blood, giving the atmosphere a slight unease.

Cornelius' head twitched and he moaned as his ears began to pick up the sound of a angelic choir which slowly descended into demonic howls, he paused breathing deeply against the nearest wall whimpering, before muttering "It's all in your head. C'mon... get up and carry on." his head looked backup and determination entered his eyes, he began pressing on ignoring the sounds being generate by his mind, only barely. Cornelius noted that the voices in his head had increased direction and volume, in their attacks against his mind he probably needed to find some medication again, his supply was dwindling after all.

After Cornelius reached the end of the station's side walk, he glanced into the opposite tunnel an uneasy second passed before Cornelius hopped off the ledge of the station, and into the complete darkness of the other tunnel. Cornelius could see barely mostly because the red glow from his eyes provide some light for his iris, but this time he had reluctance to continue in this light probably because the audible hallucination he experienced had scared the crap out of him. He paused before raising his left hand, he focused on the matter around his hand and commanded it to glow, a few seconds passed before his left hand was shrouded in a blue light which lit up most of the tunnel.

As he walked onwards, more confidently he eventually reached a maintenance door, he trailed through it slowly the splatters of blood covering the walls. As he walked on he heard a distinct moan, he paused and gestured the light off his hand and off in a forward motion. It slowly traversed forward, illuminating one of 'them' it was sloped down against the wall moaning. It however spotted the light, and was now shambling towards Cornelius. It took a moment to hit Cornelius what was happening, but after the realization hit him he immediately charged into the zombie, forcing it into a wall he grabbed its head and began smashing it into the wall, after a minute Cornelius let go of the zombie's head and it fell to the floor, the wall was damaged and cracked due to the force Cornelius exerted onto it, and the zombie's head was beaten, bloody and half of it was torn in half. He moaned tiredly, as he gestured the light to come back to his hand.

Cornelius ignored the corpse not wanting to glance at it, trying to avoid the guilt that would crawl up his spine. As he carried on down the maintenance corridor he found a door which held a ladder to the surface, Cornelius let out a sigh of relief. His hands gripped around the bars, and he began hauling himself out of the darkness and into the light.

Kaza was gathering up supplies. It was getting harder and harder to find fresh ingrediants for food. No matter how much she tried and she truly did put in the effort, canned foods did not agree with her stomach. It gave her cramps and made it hard for her to run in her usual sprint. So... she only ate when she felt like she was going to pass out from hunger. It was a bad idea but eating seemed to weaken her, in Kaza's opinion. Unless the food was freshly made. It was all because of her child hood. Her mother loved to cook and they never ate out or went to fast food places. Her mother's cooking was quite heavenly. She'd never had to open a canned good in her life. Until now, that is. The first time she ate the cold slime called soup, she had thrown up.

At least it wasn't hard to find water. She already had a bunch of bottles in her blue duffle bag. She didn't have much because she was only visiting New York for a college interview and a tour. She actually lived way out in the country. Sure it was fun for a while but being by herself was getting a little lonely. She never talked much, but when she did, there was always a bunch of people to hang on to her every word.

"I need to find a traveling buddy or something." Kaza snorted to herself. She'd never really been a people person but this strange madness had her longing for some human comfort. Not like the huggy, back petting type of comfort but just a presence would be nice. No matter who it was. Maybe a fighter too. She had her two knives but they were hardly any use from a distance. There was no way she was going ot let them get close to her. Her years as an athlete paid off though, she had to admit. Kaza was able to outrun everything. The undead included. So much running was starting to give her shin splints. The young brunnete gritted her teeth. She hadn't had those in forever. Hopefully it wouldn't last too long. They could get really painful.

As she walked on the lonely sidewalk, her eyes saw a sturdy looking station. Would it be safe to rest for a bit? She needed ice for her legs but it was probably impossible. Cold water would have to do. Could she even find some of that? Well it was a subway station. There had to be some sort of supplies there.

Kaza pulled out a knife and walked in slowly her eyes opened unusally wide and her arms and legs tense, ready to run. Then she heard a noise and froze. Was it one of the undead? Then she realized it came from under her and she caught a glimpse of a hole of some sort. Maybe it was a tunnel? Her insticts were screaming at her to run but her curiosity won in the end and she scurried over carefully and peered in nervously.

A wide smile broke across her face. It was another human being! A guy. Well, that was okay.

She reached out and offered a hand. He looked tired. Well that was a pretty high ladder. Did he really climb the whole thing? "Hey, need some help?"

Hopefully he wouldn't shoot her and think she was a monster.

Cornelius was around half-way up the ladder and could see the light pour through the hole a slightly anxious and almost hopeful feeling washed over him. Cornelius smiled thinly having delved through the dark, the light would be a welcoming and appreciated change of scenery. As he kept climbing up and up the feeling kept growing in his stomach. He tried not to dwell on it however and just concentrated on the climbing, he could bask in the sunlight when he was on the surface and away from the corpses of undead. Which would relentlessly pursue anything with a pulse to eat it, did they even need this function? They were dead clinically, and most of them were rotting by now this proved a welcome distraction, and kept Cornelius off the feeling in his stomach.

As Cornelius was finally nearing the top a face popped into view and he almost let go in fear, however the rational sense of self-preservation prevented him from doing so, Cornelius stopped a moment and squinted upwards. "Hey, need some help?" the figure said, the voice was female a human he looked down quickly not wanting to show his eyes and give away his condition, he felt vulnerable on the ladder as he could easily be gunned down. He refrained from saying anything as his voice might give him as well, he did however nod to acknowledge her. When he looked briefly upwards he noticed she had stuck out a hand, Cornelius took it gently grateful for the help.

As he scurried up towards the surface gently pulling the girls arm, he said quietly "Thanks..." as he pushed himself out of the hole and onto the ground he stood up, brushing his hoodie before turning slowly facing the girl. Cornelius didn't know how she'd react but he felt a lot more confident on the ground, rather than the ladder. He gripped the stock of his M16 defensively, if she tried to harm him he'd be prepared at least. He did have quite a few options, and gunning someone down wasn't the one he particularly favoured.

The voices in his head were mostly jumbled whispers, however the most prominent one sounded something among the lines, "She's going to kill you!" it was chanting something else, but it was jumbled along with the rest of the voices which sounded like a sort of static. Cornelius quickly raised his hands, before calmly stating, "I'm not going to harm you." his eyes focused on her and he regarded her anxiously.

"Thanks.." He spoke up as he grabbed her hand and she tugged him up, trying not to lose her balance. The small physical contact had her breathless and giddy. How long had it been since she'd touched someone. Few weeks... not that long to most people. But Kaza was a girl that always had people by her side. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so lonely.

His eyes were so pretty. They were so strikingly red. Well, that wasn't something you saw everyday. It was kind of fascinating actually. Then she was reminded of her manners. It was rude to stare.

Kaza took a couple steps back to give the guy some space. He looked to be around her age. Well that was a plus, wasn't it? Though, Kaza was sure she wouldn't mind any age. Old or really young. She wasn't even that much of a talker but it would seem that she took all of her company for granted. She had no idea she would actually miss their presence and their idle chatter, she used to think were so stupid. Then her eyes caught sight of something black and she turned her focus to the gun for the moment. It looked dangerous and it sent a small shiver down her back. Did it work? Yeah probably. Kaza mused that if it didn't work it would just be dead weight and no one would want that.

I'm not going to harm you." He said and she nodded cheerfully. He could probably if he wanted to but Kaza had absolute faith in her speed. She could most likely out run him.

"I won't hurt you either. Or try to anyway." She had to crane her neck a bit to look at him. The guy was kinda tall but Kaza was also extremely short. "So yeah. I was just on my way to look for some supplies, this being a subway station and all." She fished through her bag and brought out a sealed platic water bottle. "Would you like some?" In normal circumstances, she would never had shared her few supplies with a stranger she only met for a few seconds. But she'd do anything to be in a human presence for a bit longer. Then she smiled sheepishly, her thin face flooding with color.

"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself, silly me. I'm Kaza Avrielle. It's really nice to meet you." Her eyes were warm, which didn't happen often. They were usually cold and uncaring but Kaza was feeling really lonely. She didn't care if she seemed to eager or pathetic.

"I won't hurt you either. Or try to anyway" the girl spoke. Cornelius' eyes widened and he blinked owlishly, her response was unexpected and surprised Cornelius, as people didn't really tolerate his kind, as most people whom he met him regarded him as a herald of the apocalypse or a freak or something similarly creative, and of course they either tried to kill him or runaway the latter being the second option. Cornelius didn't hold a grudge against people for this and honestly he'd do the same in their position, but unfortunately for him he was the one who was different it kinda gave Cornelius a more open, accepting nature as he was the one who had to endure.

His eyes focused on the girls, did she know what he was? The most probable answer is no. Even people who had talked to him in the past were still anxious around him, Cornelius decided to play it casual. "So yeah. I was just on my way to look for some supplies, this being a subway station and all." the girl began rummaging through her bag, before pulling out a bottle of sealed water, "Would you like some?" the girl offered, Cornelius shook his head before politely declining "No, it's alright. I've got more than enough supplies... you have it." he winced slightly as the voices inside his head had gotten louder, they weren't really saying anything in particular, more like shouting random words inside his ear, it was driving him crazy.

"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself, silly me. I'm Kaza Avrielle. It's really nice to meet you." The girls eyes were warm and she looked genuinely friendly, which was a shock, as he hadn't seen a friendly face in ages, this sight gave Cornelius slight comfort. He was about to return the gesture, but the voices inside his head crumbled into a large static, causing him to gasp sharply, it took him a second to recover before he looked back up at Kaza, before stating dryly, "Migraines are a pain..." he paused before looking back up, "Anyway, I am Cornelius Falcon... and it's likewise to meet you." he nodded politely, before outstretching his hand, to preform a handshake.

Cornelius looked down at the ground before his ears picked up the faint sound of moaning. He realized he should get moving, as the unending horde of undead was always honing in on the living. He turned to the Kaza before suggesting, "I suggest we cease our conversation or go to have it somewhere safer." he gestured the opening to the subway, from which a faint moan was emitting. More would be drawn, and Cornelius wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

Kaza nodded and put the bottle back in her bag. He seemed like a nice person. He looked friendly anyway. Then her eyes widened a bit as he let out a gasp. That looked really painful.

Her brows were furrowed in concern as he passed the migraine off lightly. She guessed he was used to it. Thankfully she didn't have those. Headache were the most dreaded things in her opinion. She hated the shorts burst of pain that left you disoriented and dizzy. She'd rather have shin splints anyday. Hopefully it wasn't too bad for him.

"Anyway, I am Cornelius Falcon... and it's likewise to meet you." Cornelius, huh? It was a nice name. She grinned and took his offered hand. The little act of civilized manners comforted her and she shook it enthusiastically before releasing it almost regretfully. During these last few days, Kaza could feel herself craving for human contact. All the other people she ran into never bothered to stick around. It hurt. She knew she was small and looked weak but she could hold her own. How else would she have survived this long all by herself? She was a natural athlete. Just as she was wondering what to say next, a thin chilling moan broke through the air and Kaza tensed, her hands clenching and her eyes going wide. Her knees were bent, ready to run at the slightest bit of movement. Cornelius snapped her out of her little spook with some common sense.

"I suggest we cease our conversation or go to have it somewhere safer." he spoke matter of factly and she turned to look at him. He wasn't just going to leave? A thrill of emotion shot up her small body and smiled softly to herself. Maybe he wasn't going to ditch her right away.... Cheerfully she nodded and let him lead the way.

Cornelius' eyes focused on the entrance of the subway, after a brief second a body tumbled down the stairs that led into the subway, followed by two more he could hear the moans growing, it would seem a horde had locked onto their location. His face darkened as he muttered under his breath, "Perfect..." he turned his back, before quickly beckoning Kaza to follow, his eyes scanned the doors all that led deeper into the subway he seemingly picked one out at random before attempting to open it: it was locked. Cornelius scowled before hesitantly sighing, as he could see the first zombie was already heading towards them "Screw it!" Cornelius yelled dismissively, as he then proceeded to kick the door off its hinges, he knew that this would probably lead to questions in the future but survival was all that mattered at the moment.

As Cornelius looked through the door, it was a long narrow hallway with several branching off directions a door was dotted at the end. His head turned as he looked at the undead behind him, they were dangerously close now as he could see more spilling into the entrance, he began muttering incoherently as he dashed inside the hallway, expecting Kaza to follow behind. Cornelius began running at a near inhuman speed towards the door, but then he realized Kaza was behind him and he slowed down, significantly not wanting to blow his cover... yet anyway.

As he reached the door, he quickly pushed the handle fortunately this door led into a small clearing which had a stairway leading up towards the streets of New York. His head turned as he examined the room, there was a table in the corner followed by several upturned chairs there also seemed to be a crowbar in the corner next to a bucket and a broom. Cornelius looked back into the doorway, before urging Kaza to hurry up and get in here, he planned on breaking the door handle after Kaza got in here, not wanting the undead to follow behind.

She forced herself to not panic and run as soon as she caught sight of the moving corpses lurch toward them. She wanted to stick with Cornelius for as long as he would have her. The sickening smell made her wrinkle her nose but she never lost her concentration and quickly scampered after her new companion. her mind was racing and she could feel the familiar charge of adrenaline rush in through her veins. Everything seemed so much clearer and she kept her eyes on Cornelieus. Of course, her knives came out from her bag just in case they were needed. Her specialy wasn't really in close combat but she knew enough to defend herself and buy her some time to get away. Maybe that made her cowardly? Kaza didn't really care. Most of the zombies outsized her. Her skill was running and so she did what she did best. Sometime skilling a one or two helped relieve the stress off her shoulders but that was rare and only when she felt overcome with grief. She hardly ever lost control. But she was human too and she couldn't be strong all the time. What human could in this.. apocolypse?

Kaza sprinted through the hallway forcing herself from looking back. She was scared. When she had been attacked, it was outside, where it was easy to run away. She almost never went inside a building unless it was to scavenge for supplies. Those trips were usually quick and cautious. Kaza almost cursed herself. She had let her guard down when she started talking to him. Stupid. She was normally out of buildings by then.

Then she saw his red eyes urging her to get in the room and she pushed her thoughts aside. Things seemed okay for now. He looked as if he knew what he was doing and she felt some reassurance in that. So she rushed into the room and out of the hallway, finally taking a deep breath.

As Kaza rushed into the room Cornelius automatically slammed the door shut, before grabbing onto the handle and bending the handle sideways: into the door successfully sealing the door behind them. Cornelius turned to face her, before he smiling weakly "That was close..." he began "I expected a couple, but a horde..." he shook his head dismissively, "They won't be able to get through this door, either. I think anyway..." he paused before turning to examine the room once again. He didn't find anything unusual, it seemed pretty standard he scowled lightly, before walking over to the crowbar next to the bucket, he put it in his duffel bag, this tool had quite a few purposes and Cornelius was sure it'd be useful in a variety of situations.

Cornelius turned back around facing Kaza, she looked alright but she was taking a quick breath. Cornelius looked back up, then back at the streets which led to the streets of New York. The subject had brought to mind what Cornelius should do next, he probably needed some pills for his mind, was beginning to see visual hallucinations again, the anti psychotics would definitely help ease the situation for him. The pharmacy had been looted, but the hospital? the thought lingered in his mind, it was surely the only place that hadn't been looted: it was also riddled with infected, that problem hardly hindered Cornelius however, as he had gotten used to this.

Banging began on the door, the undead had reached the door and were now trying to get in. Cornelius chuckled dryly, the wouldn't be able to get in even if he hadn't damaged the door, that was just a safety precaution. Still the banging did prove a distraction for Cornelius' mind, interrupting his train of thought. He turned to Kaza, before briskly asking "You alright? You hungry or anything?" Cornelius had loads of supplies and would be glad to share them, as he could obtain them a lot easier then most people now days.

Kaza just nodded as he spoke again. Her small form was now sitting against the wall, her wrms resting on her knees. That freaked her out. Now they were cooped up in some room... and Kaza shoved those thoughts aside. She had made it this long. Of course she was going to survive this. Her parents and her coach would have expected no less from her. She couldn't disapoint them now... And if there was any hope that her family was alive back in her home town, she had to at least search for them. Maybe the infection hadn't been as serious over there. It was a ridiculous though but it gave her a surge of strength anyway and she flashed a small smile at Cornelius.

"Nahh I'm okay thanks." It was most likely the canned stuff and she didn't want him to see her in such a pathetic condition. It didn't agree with her stomach and it definelty let her know. Of course, she may die from malnutrition before the virus ever got her, but she'd worry about that when the time came. Kaza put one of her knives away but kept the longer one, it was more like a dagger, by her side. She also took out some water and began drinking it slowly. So where would they go now? Kaza couldn't help but be interested in what the guy was thinking. She never would have thought about barricading them in this room. She would have ran the hell out of there. It almost made her laugh. She was so cowardly... and such a scaredy cat. But... she was still alive now wasn't she? She'd have to thank her coach later.

"So what's next?" Kaza asked curiously, standing and doing some leg stretches. Damn. Her shins were starting to hurt. But it was such a little thing compared to their situation that it didn't bother her as much as it normally did.