shots in the dark
IV: Kai
where's the proof in you?
They reach the cusp of the thick cluster of trees after only a week. By then, a good amount of the leaves, now gold, crimson and orange, have fallen. It's cooler now too, so they stop traveling during the night and start walking during the day instead. It's a bright morning, the air crisp and cold against his skin. Titling his head, Kai watches as Jinora picks the tiny pieces of leaves out of her hair. She stretches out of her hairband in between her fingers before she pulls her hair back into a messy bun with an old hair elastic, when she stops and looks at him with questioning eyes.
Kai looks away, his cheeks having a slight pink tinge, and focuses on the ground instead. He scoops up a bunch of leaves, stands up and sprinkles them over her head. "Hey!" Jinora protests angrily, puffing her cheeks out. Kai grins down at her.
"Loosen up Jin," he tells her, and before he knows it she's knocked him down headfirst into a large pile of leaves. He has to spit some out of his mouth, leaving a moldy taste behind.
"Maybe you should pay more attention to where you're going," Jinora laughs. It's loud and she even snorts once, and Kai realizes it's the first time he's heard her really laugh. It's... it's nice, actually. She gives him a light kick in the side. "Now get up, we should be able to reach Senlin before next Friday."
"You've been keeping track of time?" he asks, and takes the hand she offers to help pull himself up. It shoots volts up his arm and his fingers are still tingly when she releases his hand.
She holds up her other arm, revealing a gray wristband with a battered looking watch. "This thing still works," she taps it with her fingernail.
Kai shrugs - useful. Just like Jinora, but recently... Recently he's started to think maybe she can be more than useful, maybe this alliance can be more than temporary. Not that they'd be friends or anything, God no. Good acquaintances, or survival-teammates. And if one survival teammate isn't pulling their weight, well then, he's leaving.
Kai shoulders his backpack and tosses her her own. She catches it quickly. Her reflexes have already improved greatly in such a short time span. Kai would like to think he could take the credit for it, but the truth is, Jinora picked up skills easily; she's better at adapting than he had thought she was. Better than him, maybe, given their circumstances.
"Let's go Jin," he says cheerfully.
"Don't call me Jin," she says, exasperated, but he swears there's the tiniest smile on her face. After three weeks it's worn her down; Kai knew it would. "You know," she starts when they set off walking. "I visited Senlin once when I was a girl."
"Uh, you still are one shortstack," Kai compares their height, since he's more than a good head taller than her. And she's a girl. Definitely a girl.
Jinora rolls her eyes. "You know that's not what I meant. I came here with my family because my dad had some work to deal with in the city, and the rest of us went and saw a play. What did we see again...? Oh, it was Love Amongst the Dragons. The backgrounds were beautifully painted."
Kai raises his eyebrows. "Really? Funny, my mother worked on that play. She painted those sets, she always wanted to make it in art." Not that she got to.
Jinora's face lights up. "I'm guessing her talent wasn't passed down to you?" she smirks.
Kai laughs. "Get me a pen and a piece of paper sometime and you can find out."
"I'll take you up on that one day, Kai," she warns, her brown eyes are bright and happy and completely focused on him. Kai flushes slightly.
"I'm sure you will Jin."
"Did you hear that?" she hisses, throwing her arm out to stop him, and Kai knows now is not the time to be thinking about how she's so close to him her breath is tickling his ear, but he is. She takes a step back and his mind clears. They whip out their weapons in sync, Kai's finger tense against the trigger, ready to pull. There's some shuffling in the trees, the crunching of leaves. Something is coming closer to them. And from the sound of it, there's more than just one thing.
"Commons, maybe?" Kai whispers.
"Dunno," Jinora answers, and even though it's a useless answer it's kinda reassuring to hear her voice break the quiet. Or just to hear her voice.
Kai's eyes flit from tree to tree before there's a loud moan and he whirls around to see a Common staggering towards them. He shoots in the heart but another follows it and there's one coming up behind him now. He trusts Jinora to take care of the one behind him - trusts her to watch his back. It's a strange notion but it's soon driven out of his mind as he shoots another zombie and hears the other one fall.
Panting, he turns around to see Jinora standing above a zombie with her knife hilt sticking out of its chest. Half closing her eyes, Jinora pulls the hilt out, and it makes a squelch sound when it comes out, the blade slick with black blood. "Disgusting," she mutters, glancing up at him. Her eyes are unnaturally bright. Her first kill.
"You okay?" he asks, keeping his gun out. There could be more around them.
Jinora sniffles and wipes her eyes. "I'm fine." She picks up a leaf and wipes the blood off her knife. There's some of the blood on her fingers, staining her pale skin. She's shaking; she's alive.
For some reason, he's grateful. Hesitantly, Kai places a hand on her shoulder. "Okay," he says slowly. "Tell me when you're ready to move on."
Jinora takes a deep, shaky breath, staring at the zombie lying face down in the dirt for a few moments. "I'm ready... I'm ready now."
Kai makes sure to watch her out of the corner of his eye the rest of the way.
When she finally speaks it's a few hours later when they've stopped for lunch. "I got it from a dead man," she utters quietly, taking him by surprise. Kai looks at her, concern spreading over his features. He leans in to get a better look at her, staring at her even though her back is to him. "My knife, I mean. I found a dead man and took it."
She turns to him, blinking rapidly. She looks sad, ashamed. Older. Kai swallows hard. He's never been good with comfort. "The dead are dead," Kai says simply, fumbling over his words. He knows what he wants to say, but how to phrase it?
"I know, but-"
"You can't pity them, Jinora. You can't," Kai says, looking down at his hands. "Mourn them, honour them, but you can't pity them. If anything, we're the ones to pity. We're the ones left behind in this hellhole." Their eyes lock, brown boring into green, and he knows she understands.
Jinora manages a shaky smile. "You've never said my name before."
"You mean your name isn't Jin?" Kai asks, and Jinora giggles. It's brief, but it's there.
"Shut up Kai."
A few more zombies stumble into their way. More Commons, always in smaller packs than they're usually found. The zombies are dealt with swiftly, and for every two Kai kills, Jinora murders one. She's getting better at it too.
Kai knows they'll find the large hordes in the city. But they'll find food and water in the city too, and their supplies is starting to run a little low. Jinora shows him what berries you can eat and which ones you can't. He tries to memorize them and she quizzes him while they walk; they have to kill time somehow. In turn, Kai quizzes her on fighting techniques he's taught her. She's much better at remembering than he is. Maybe it's because there isn't so much she wants to forget.
He's twenty and he's going on his fifth mission. Skoochy's coming with him and he's grateful. It'll be easier if he has his best friend by his side. "Bet I'll kill more zombies than you asshole," Skoochy boasts and Kai pulls him into an armlock.
"Shut up Skooch," Kai laughs, stealing Skoochy's hat. "I'll kill twice as many and I'm still taller than you."
Skoochy elbows him in the ribs and wiggles out of his grip. "That's low," he mutters, grabbing his hat back and jamming it on his head.
"Just like you," Kai adds and Skoochy tries to glare at him.
The Head Hunter snaps at them to, "Shut up and get ready." So they do. They pull on armor and cover any piece of skin with as much fabric as possible, leaving only their eyes bare to see and grab their weapons: guns.
There's a new recruit joining them, a seventeen year old named Sam. He's chewing his bottom lip. "Don't be nervous," Kai tells him, while they wait for the walls to open. To let them out into the outside world. "You'll be fine."
They go to the grocery store. They get the food quickly and the zombies are kept at bay with ease but they'll be coming soon - they are coming and Kai needs to get out of there. They all do. The Hunters take off sprinting with Kai and Skoochy in the lead when Kai notices Sam lagging behind. Sam trips, falls. The zombies close in. It's against protocol to, but Kai turns back to help. He can't let Sam die on his own.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Skoochy yells, curses, and then runs after him. They help Sam to his feet and beat the zombies away so Sam can gain some ground. Kai and Skoochy set off running but the zombies are too close now. Kai's always been faster. Skoochy falls behind. The zombies close in. Skoochy screams. Kai turns in time to see Skoochy get his mask ripped off, to see a zombie's black teeth bite into his flesh.
Sam doesn't even look back, the ungrateful bastard keeps running. And Kai, frozen, has to be pulled back to the Sanctuary by the Head Hunter. He struggles against her grip. He can hear Skoochy screaming, hear him dying...
It teaches him how to prioritize. How to value his life above others. How to value his friends' lives above strangers. He doesn't cry at the funeral. Instead, he punches Sam and gets suspended from the Hunters for two weeks.
Kai doesn't care. It's hard to care about anything anymore.
Jinora takes the first watch, and when she goes to wake him up she finds him lying wide awake. She falls asleep quickly. Vaguely, Kai thinks she looks sort of adorable when she's asleep.
So you could have died on your fifth?
"I should have," he muttered, placing his head in his hands, shaking. Part of him wants to cry. Part of him knows he should cry. There aren't any tears left. He knows Skoochy understands.
And he knows Jinora doesn't.