Roleplay

"Fine, we'll take turns," Li Mei replied. Although she wasn't sure if Mercury could carry the dog, she wasn't in the mood to argue about it. She tensed up when Duchess growled, but managed not to drop her despite her nerves.

"Violet?" she asked with a raised brow, unsure of what he meant by the sudden nickname. She shrugged it off, following him to the first island. "Ah, you're so heavy," she grumbled to Duchess, having to hoist the dog up occasionally so she didn't slip. The combined weight of a giant dog and duffle bag were really weighing her down, so she would need to take lots of breaks if they were to make it all the way across the river.

Eventually they needed to reach an island that was far away, so Li Mei slipped into the water and held Duchess up as far out of the water as she could. Luckily, the mudslide had made the river shallower, so she was able to wade pretty far while keeping Duchess's injury dry. When they finally reached the island, Li Mei climbed onto it and set Duchess down. She flopped onto her back, chest heaving from exhaustion. "Alright, you need to take the mutt for a while," she breathed out. Her back was already aching, but she didn't say so out loud knowing that Mercury would probably just tease her for being 'old.'

Mercury watched Li Mei drag Duchess to the little 'island' huffing and puffing "You know," Mercury called out to her from the 'ground' he reached before them, shaking his head to get rid of the water on his hair "I could carry your bag while you carry Duchess? I bet your poor old bones will turn into dust while you try to carry both!" He snickered, watching the woman finally reach where he was and put our majesty down.


Duchess happily trotted over to the teen, rubbing against his leg as Mercury petted her "Got it, wouldn't want your back to ache now, would we?" He asked to the mutt, getting a hushed bark, almost as she understood him.


He attempted to tie up his hair into what resembled a bun and used a thick black strand like a hair tie, managing to keep it out of his face as he eyed the next 'island' "I'm gonna get a head start, this distance is shorter than the one you went through." He nodded towards the exhausted woman and picked Duchess up in a fireman hold again with her body behind his neck and her paws in front of each shoulder. He grunted a bit, yet stood firm. The trigger-happy hound has stilled too, almost afraid to breathe.


"Meet you there~" He singsonged before dropping to the water again, off to the next island we go.


"I fuvking hate water," he hissed out to Duchess when they got a few steps ahead. It was cold, uncomfortable and made his clothes stick to his body. Alright, he already knew he was underweight no need to throw it to his face. C'mon now.

"You coming?" He yelled towards her, as impatient as ever.

Li Mei lifted a hand to wave him off, too exhausted to snap at him for calling her old again. "No, just take the dog. I'll keep the bag," she panted. She didn't quite trust the little punk enough to let him carry her belongings yet. She sat up and slowly caught her breath, frowning at the layer of mud caked onto her body and duffle bag. It was a damn good thing her bag was waterproof.

With a deep breath, she stood up and followed him. "Do you ever stop being annoying?" she asked irritably, grumbling as she waded into the water.

Eventually it became too deep and she had to swim. She looked ahead to where Mercury was carrying Duchess. "Hey, slow down or you're gonna exhaust yourself too quickly," she called out. They had made it most of the way across the river, but still had a ways to go.

Li Mei was approaching an island when something grabbed her by the ankle, trying to pull her underwater. She gasped and dug her nails into the pile of trash, trying to drag herself out of the water. "Get on land!" she yelled to Mercury. "There are zombies underwater!" Her free foot kicked around blindly under the murky water. She must have hit the zombie in the head, because the grip on her ankle loosened enough for her to scramble on land.

She spun around as the zombie emerged from the water, pulling itself onto the island. Li Mei grabbed her bat and slammed it down on the zombie's head, but more were climbing onto the island around her. They must have been attracted by her and Mercury passing through. Her heart hammered in her chest, but she continued taking down those closest to her.

"Nope! I need it to survive, like your glasses unless you wear them like those posers who don't need them~" He 'yelled' again, quite enjoying himself.


Panting slightly, Mercury answered "No, no! The second I stop I'm collapsing to the ground. Better *huff...* to reach it as fast as possible." He could already feel his shoulder ache under the weight of his beloved companion. He didn't mind it, actually. It made him feel alive to feel her warmth, to feel her fast but steady breaths. It reminded him there were other alive things in the world.

Of course, you can sometimes come across other survivors, but, most of the time you just glance at each other and go your separate ways. The world turned into a lonely, a very lonely place for a lot of people. Not like Mercury was as aware of it as someone who lived before the apocalypse. Yet, the memories of the place he grew up were always at the back of his head. Making him feel-

His depressing thoughts were cut in half by Li Mei's yelling. With a sudden rush of adrenalin, he launched himself forward and managed to get on land. Panting on his hands and knees as Duchess stood guard over him. Growling and baring her teeth.


Mercury forced himself up straight when the hound attacked a zombie's leg who dared to get too close. Dragging the decaying bone away as she shook her head like rabid. "For fuvk's sake," He pulled out a sharp military-looking knife with a worn-out handle from his bag, attacking the zombie that was distracted by the defensive mutt.

", Is there ANYWHERE these things don't dwell at!" He yelled angrily, pointing Duchess towards another zombie to distract for him so the teen could easily slash the throat.


He mostly stayed behind until Duchess fully got a zombie's attention, not trusting himself with his stiff shoulder and slightly wobbly legs. Now, now, don't judge him! He might be terrible at carrying heavy things but at least he is fast! Carrying heavy things didn't allow you to survive gigantic hoards, knowing how to parkour did. It was the first thing he remembered someone teach him. Hell, even before reading and writing.

"Any ideas? What should we do?" He asked, unsure.

Li Mei cleared an opening for herself and hopped over to the island Mercury and Duchess were on, helping them take down more zombies. Her eyes shot over to the edge of the river. They were so close. They were not gonna die here, dammit!

"Take Duchess and go! I'll hold them off," she called at Mercury over her shoulder, standing between him and the zombies that were approaching their island. Luckily the b*stards weren't able to swim, so they had to wade slowly through the water. That would buy them some time.

Li Mei held her ground as long as she could, trying to give Mercury as much time as possible to escape the river. Soon enough the zombies were surrounding her and her bat wasn't good enough. Cursing under her breath, she pulled out her pistol and fired a few quick shots. Three bodies fell around her, but another grabbed her arm as she tried to escape. She hissed in pain as its overly long nails raked across her skin, but she managed to slip away and hurry to the next island. Almost there! she thought, eyes locked on the riverbank ahead. She dove into the water and swam as fast as she could despite the stinging in her arm and the weight of her duffle bag.

Finally, she pulled herself onto shore and scrambled to her feet. "Don't stop now!" she said to Mercury, pulling him along as she ran away from the river. "We need to get some distance between us and them!" Bright red blood ran down the scratches on her right bicep, but she barely seemed to notice with the adrenaline pumping through her veins.

(Mercury really said PARKOUR lol)



"Don't have to tell me twice-" He huffed and threw Duchess on his shoulders again. It was relatively faster and easier as the adrenalin kicked in, letting him ignore the pain until he made it to the shore. Panting and shivering but alive with a dry bandaged mutt.

He wasn't a good swimmer, so Li mei was remarkably close when he finally regained his breath a little and his shivering from the cold subdued. His breathing was frantic as he mulled over if pulling her would make her lose her balance or actually help. Of course, he didn't have a chance to act as he was tugged away from the river with Duchess hot on his tail.


"Distance? Got it-" He freed himself from the woman's hold and took the lead. Well, at least Duchess's lead, he wasn't sure if Li mei was following him. The highway was turning into a city again with buildings filled with flora. He shouted, "Left!" Over his shoulder even though he wasn't sure the elder was still there.

Diving into a little opening between two apartments, Mercury paused before rushing to a trash container. He quickly hopped on top of the closed lid and jumped to the nearest fire escape with most of its railings gone or fallen. Even though Duchess made it with a strong jump, the teen's hands were the only thing that held the cold metal. With the hound pulling at his shirt as he hauled himself to safety, Mercury didn't stop to take a breather. Quickly got to work on releasing the ladder.


The metal hit the ground with a thud, allowing easier access to Li Mei "C'mon! You used a gun we need to get up high!" He wiped his bloody hands on the white shirt he wore, bleeding from the frantic job he did with the knife to release it. at least, it wasn't rusty.

((LOL))

Li Mei was surprised at how quick this kid was. Maybe that was how he'd survived this long. She wasn't quite as fast, but managed to keep him in sight even as he ran ahead.

By the time she swerved left into the alleyway, Mercury had already dropped a ladder for her. The zombies were slower during the day, but those things could still run. The sounds of their screams were getting closer as she clambered up the ladder. "Come on!" she said, running up the remaining stairs to get to the roof. Zombies weren't the best climbers, but eventually they would figure out how to use the ladder. That, or they would pile onto each other until they reached the fire escape.

Li Mei ran to the edge of the roof, eyeballing the distance to the next building. It wasn't too far, but just far enough where zombies wouldn't think to jump across. She, Mercury, and Duchess should be able to make it if they got a running start. "We're gonna have to jump," she said, nodding at the next rooftop. Walking backwards a ways, she took a deep breath before rushing forward and jumping. She landed on her feet on the rooftop then knelt by the edge, holding her hand out. "Hurry! I'll catch you if you fall."

"Okey, okey!" He rushed after Li Mei, taking the steps two by two as he tugged the growling hound after him. He didn't even attempt to pull the letter back, knowing the rusty mechanism wouldn't work without the help of gravity.


He eyed the relatively short distance as well then glanced back, no zombies yet. While he was quickly looking at his surroundings for anything worth picking up, the elder already jumped across.

Mercury picked up a dusty shawl and tied it on his shoulders. He would like to NOT catch a cold why thank you. Listening to the cries of the undead, he got closer to the edge and threw his backpack across. Duchess jumped after, looking like she almost lost her balance before huffing and sitting down next to his bag.


"No, we'll just collide!" He called before taking a few steps to gain momentum and jumped across. Rolling on the ground to slow himself. If his shorts shoulder is slightly torn on the progress, who cares? He thought the shawl would be slightly better protection than that.


"Now what?"

"Now," Li Mei replied, panting as she finally had a second to catch her breath, "we take a break." She dropped her duffle bag, relieved to finally take the weight off her aching shoulder. Only when she caught sight of red droplets on the pale rooftop did she realize how much she was bleeding. She glanced down at her arm, where blood trickled down her wet skin. "Sh*t," she mumbled, plopping down on the rooftop and digging through her bag. While scratches wouldn't cause her to turn, they were at risk of infection.

Pulling out a bottle of clean water, she rinsed the wounds before wrapping them in bandages. By now the zombies had made it to the rooftop nearby, but couldn't jump across. Li Mei ignored their distant cries, letting them fade into background noise. They would have to give up eventually. "Hey, I'm gonna change so don't look," she said before turning away from Mercury and removing her wet clothes to be replaced with dry ones. Her new shirt was a bit looser on the shoulders, exposing what appeared to be an old bite wound on her right shoulder. It had long healed over, so it certainly wasn't from a zombie. The tooth marks looked sharper than a human's, anyways.

Once she had changed, Li Mei glanced over at Mercury and sighed. She couldn't help but feel bad that he was probably cold in his wet clothes. "Here," she said, tossing him a spare shirt and pants. They were both fairly thin so her clothes might fit him. She figured anything would be better than wet clothes.

Mercury looked at where they came from with concern "Are you sure? I'm not sure if they can't get on here..." As if agreeing, Duchess carefully got close to where the zombies' cries were coming from, sniffed the air then jumped back. Deciding that staying behind Mercury's legs, where she didn't get covered at all, was safer than whatever was going on with the rotting people.


He finally gave up after giving a concerned look at Li Mei's arm. So, Mercury dropped next to his and took out his trusty coat. He didn't wear it though, just getting out a cigarette. With his back to his backpack, he carefully watched the woman wrap up the wound. Sorting the things she did step by step to make sure he did it right too. His long and calm breaths got a little hectic and shorter when the zombies made it to the next rooftop. Making him cough because of the smoke. "Eww," he imminently turned around to enjoy his smoke without having to look at an old lady.


"Hm? Oh!" He jolted in place and threw his cigarette butt down, when he turned around, well, let's say he stared at the bite mark for a solid minute before snapping his head away acting like he didn't see it. If glancing at the bite mark several times while retrieving the clothes counted as ignoring "Thanks... turn around, I'm gonna go to the other corner to chance. Zombies are WAY too creepy to chance near."


Since he also had to pat down his soaked hair and use the shawl as a makeshift belt, it took him a little longer than Li Mei to change. The clothing was still a bit baggy and long on him but at least he was pretty sure he could run around with it. When he was done, he also gathered the guts to ask "Hey, Mei?"

After a little pause, he continued as he sat down next to Duchess "So...what happened to your...um, shoulder?" Mercury had turned his back to her, carefully laying down his clothes to dry.