To kill the living dead

[gardienne]

Who: Eponine and Cuthbert - CLOSED
What: Cuthbert kills Zombie-Eponine, who was still seeking revenge for Ian's death
When: Towards the end of Week 3, after R has turned her, and after she's turned Orc
Where: The Fourth Floor.
Warnings: DEATH. And zombie death. And Eponine in general.


It's been a good couple of days now, a good couple since Eponine asked R to bite her. And she's changed, dramatically. Her once tanned skin is now dull and grey. Her dark eyes, already dead, are colourless. There are open sores all over her body, highlighting the tears in her face from Homura's mask, adding to the numerous others. It had hurt at first, as her skin cracked and buckled and exposed her flesh. But she had welcomed the pain, and embraced it eventually. It stopped her thinking.

And now... now, for once, it's silent. Her head's silent, and Eponine finds now that she cannot think of anything: not her murder of Homura, or of seducing Orc, or trying to seduce Marius, or Marius' friends laughing at her, or Aunamee, or her worry for Eva and Sigma or of guilting R into doing what she wanted. She can barely even remember her name. "Nnnnnnnn" is what she groans to herself now.

All she wants now is brains... BRAINS. And, as she shuffles down the corridor on the fourth floor, her arms wrapped awkwardly about her, she spots dinner.

Comments

[tis_allgood]

Cuthbert's first reaction at Eponine's approach was fear and distrust. To be fair, that's his first reaction to just about everything in an Arena. But he recognizes the face of the woman heading his way. He takes a step toward her before he notices something truly off about how she's acting and how she looks. Somehow he feels like he's seen this before, but he can't quite put a name to it, or a reason.

"Eponine?" He takes a couple of steps back so he can keep a bit of distance between them. "What's happened to you? Are you hurt?"

[gardienne]

She looks up at her name. It's a word she recognises, dimly, 'Eponine'.

"Nnnnn" She tries to speak, but she can't. Her mind's oddly blank: it'd be scary if she could register that she can't speak, but it doesn't occur to her. She begins to shuffle towards him, though. No matter who this man is, he can provide sustenance for her rumbling belly. She needs to eat his brains.

[tis_allgood]

It doesn't take long for Cuthbert to understand what it is that's wrong with Eponine. He's seen it before, he had even hung around with R outside the arena on more than one occasion. And he had seen what the zombie could do when he was moved to.

He backs off further, groping toward his pack for the first weapon he can get his hands on.

"You don't know what you're doing. This isn't you. If you're in there somewhere I hope you can hear me before this goes too far..."

[gardienne]

"Nnnnnnnnnnnnn" is all Eponine can reply as she lurches towards Cuthbert. She's gone completely, much less 'human' than R was ever reduced to. She can't understand Cuthbert's words at all, but it doesn't matter . She only wants his brains. She breaks into a stumbling run straight at him, her hands, tipped with her long blackened nails, stretched out so that she can claw at him straight away.

[tis_allgood]

The first thing he grabs is his flashlight, which is a surprisingly effective blunt weapon. He takes a swing at Eponine's hands. The last thing he wants is for her to get her hands on him before he can do anything to free himself.

He tips back and drops his pack, he doesn't want to give her anything to hold on to. Most of these moves are sheer panic on Cuthbert's part, but his training keeps him from losing it completely. He can still get a handle on the situation.

"I think it's thee or I now, and I don't intend to lose. Gan, I hope you forgive me for this."

[gardienne]

When the torch hits, Eponine looks down at her hands in surprise. She hadn't quite realised what had happened, hadn't registered Cuthbert hitting her with a torch at all. But after a glance, Eponine forgot about the pain and lurched forward again, still moaning and still reaching for Cuthbert's head. She was going to rip his head from his shoulders and slurp up the brains she could smell in there.

[tis_allgood]

He really doesn't want to have to do this, he likes Eponine well enough and this is going to be difficult to face later. But he's not about to let himself be eaten. Bert thinks he's come too far already to go out like that. So he swings the flashlight higher, aiming the heavy part of the tool at Eponine's head.

For once he's too absorbed to talk.

[gardienne]

Eponine falls back immediately, completely knocked out by the flashlight. She isn't dead, but she's unconscious. Either way, she won't be hurting Cuthbert in the present minute anyway. She lies, sprawled, on the floor of the museum.

[tis_allgood]

Bert is shaking and trying to get himself back together. He hadn't expected to be up against someone from his own district like that. He also knew that until he heard an official announcement, she probably isn't really dead. So before he can think better of it he draws his flashlight back against and smashes it with all his strength against her head.