Nauthiz - Chapter 2

There had been a time when he would have felt rather uncomfortable doing this.

The zombie couldn't help but muse on this fact as he sat in the break room of the Target where Hanna worked. Occasionally he'd come to visit when the redhead was on break to keep him company, and his visits had become frequent enough that none of the other employees had really minded him just sitting in the break room and waiting. So he sat at one of multiple cheap tables and stared absently at the various run-down snack machines and the bulletin board that had been overtaken by a variety of pamphlets and notices for the employees as he waited, his mind wandering.

He'd actually had a job or two before meeting Hanna, and suffice to say, being undead had drawn a lot of stares and made it all a bit uncomfortable. He was generally a bit oblivious to just how much he stuck out, but anyone would notice the stares and whispers after awhile. Then, of course, he'd met Hanna and that had all changed.

A small smile came to his face at the memory. The redhead had been the first one to not flinch at the sight of him, and he supposed this wasn't too surprising, all things considered. Hanna had never been the type to care what the outside world thought, and to the zombie that made all the difference. Hanna didn't care and had accepted him with open arms,  pulling him along for on the roller coaster ride that was his life and laughing all the while. It didn't matter who stared at them, all that mattered to the redhead was enjoying life with friends at his side.

To Hanna's zombie friend, this had been a drastic change from the stares he'd been receiving for years and the silence of his own thoughts, and he greatly appreciated it. To have someone who didn't care what people thought, to be at his side and grow to understand just why he was so different, to protect that person and keep him smiling because he deserved it...

He would gladly have braved all the stares in the world for that.

The zombie nodded absently as he propped his head on his hands. Indeed, he would have gladly braved the stares to keep Hanna happy, and that's why he'd visited.

Well, that and Hanna had forgotten his lunch, and that was a disaster waiting to happen.

There was an eruption of frustration from just outside the door, which suddenly swung open, revealing Hanna, who had one hand over his face. "Argghhhdammit first those VHS tapes and now no lunch!" He groaned. He then proceeded to catch sight of his zombie friend. "Dumain! Hey!" There was a pause as Hanna noted the paper bag on the table. "My lunch!" He proceeded to dive for said lunch. "Thanks, oh god, I so owe you for this."

The undead man cracked a smile at this. Crisis averted, apparently. "Difficult shift?" He asked as raised a brow, watching as the paper bag was nearly torn open in Hanna's haste to get to the food.


"You have no idea - this couple came in looking for a VHS thingy and I spent like two hours searching for one just to convince them we don't sell them anymore." He laughed through the sandwich he had rooted from the bag. "How's your day been? No mysterious shadows or getting yelled at by Worth yet?"

The zombie shook his head. "Nothing terribly interesting, although that dog down the street keeps looking at me oddly." He made a slight grimace at this, remembering the dog's growls. He hoped they wouldn't have another adventure with animals trying to steal his undead limbs again. "I also checked around the park, though I didn't find anything interesting. I suppose frightening shadows aren't fans of lounging in broad daylight."

"Maybe you might just smell like bacon." Hanna referenced the bacon in his sandwich with a chuckle. "Dogs like bacon. And that shadow could be gone. Kinda hope it isn't - I really, really want to get out of here. Heyyyy, you think they'd hire you? People'd totally listen to you and it wouldn't be so boring!"

"I doubt it," His friend murmured as he watched the redhead eat. "The whole 'undead' thing and lack of a real resume probably throws most people off. Though I imagine Worth and Lamont would make interesting references."

"I bet just having Worth on a resume won't get you hired anywhere." Hanna laughed.

"Most likely," The undead man agreed. The two fell silent for a moment before orange eyes drifted to a plastic bag that Hanna had dropped into an empty seat. "What's that?" He inquired, nodding toward it.

"Oh, that's this bag of return stuff I have to sort." Hanna lifted the bag and rifled through it, setting every item on the table as he spoke. "The manager told me to do it even if I was on break or not, and I mean I'm going to be running around the store for like twenty minutes just trying to find where this all goes and-" Hanna stopped short, staring intently into the bag.

The zombie blinked in confusion. "What is it?" He asked, leaning forward slightly. He could never be sure when something caught Hanna's interest. It could be some all important clue, or it could be something relatively inane.

Hanna tossed out another item, furrowing his brow at the bag. "I have no idea. I've never seen it before. It looks really freaking cool, though." Hanna reached in and pulled out another item. "Who would leave a cool shiny thing in their bag like that, though?"

He received a shrug in return. "I was under the impression most electronics went under the label of 'cool and shiny', really. Perhaps it's just very old?"

Before he could get an answer, Hanna's cellphone rang, the standard 'Old Fashioned Lover Boy' jingle ringing through the air. The zombie blinked, then nodded at the redhead, expecting him to answer it.

Hanna went for his phone, forgetting the item in the bag still looped around his arm. "Hello?" He asked into the device.

"Hanna!" Veser's voice was so loud the zombie could hear it across the table. He was breathing heavily, the sound sending static through the poor, cheap cell phone. "Oh holy shit man, you've gotta get over here!"

Hanna was on his feet by the time Veser finished his 'holy shit'. The bag was till looped around his arm and his lunch was forgotten on the table. "Ves, what happened?" He signaled the zombie to follow as he headed for the door.

His friend was in trouble and nothing could stop him now.

"Worst. Night. Ever."

That was all Veser could think as he sat on a bench, bookbag at his feet. He kept alternating between putting his head in his hands and glancing at his cellphone, only flashing the occasional smirk at some random girl. Ordinarily any spotting would be a reason to at least give a catcall, but the variety of college students gathered throughout his campus and the nervous murmurings made it rather clear this was anything but an ordinary evening.

It was at that point that Hanna appeared, target bag swinging to and fro beneath his arm. "Veser!" He ran up to the teen, marker in hand.

The half-selkie glanced up to see the redhead and his zombie partner approach. "'Bout time, man," He said as he stood, shoving his phone into his pocket. "I know you had work but it's not every day my fucking dorm room is attacked."

"What happened?" Hanna asked, skidding to a stop. "Is it weremites or-or those really vicious spider like things we had in my apartment that once?" He sounded terribly excited about finding out the culprit.

His friend shook his head. "I don't know what it was, that's part of the problem. Like I went to class and of course I missed something big the other night and we had a fucking quiz-- dude, stop looking at me like that, I know," Veser paused to shoot a glare at the zombie, whom was raising an eyebrow with the sort of expression that went with 'I told you so.'

"Anyway, so I come back to my room and before I get there I hear this screaming from some guy down the hall and suddenly there's this black shadow out of nowhere that went right past me!" The nine-year old exclaimed, gesturing dramatically as he did so. "I nearly had a heart attack right there!"

"Was anyone hurt?" Hanna's partner asked, brow furrowing in concern as he glanced around, trying to see if they could perhaps spot an ambulance or anything like that.

"No, although the thing clawed the hell out of my door and I guess it scared a few people in the halls." Veser shivered as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "It was really, really weird."

"Dude, wow. It didn't actually get in your door, just destroyed it?" Hanna thought for a second, frowning. "I have no idea what this is. It sounds like nothing I've ever heard. This is gonna be awesome!" Hanna punched the air. "We're gonna find this thing - whatever it is - and we're gonna make sure it doesn't like... attack anyone else." He nodded.

Veser snorted. "You seem so sure."

"He always is," The zombie said before looking to Hanna. "Should we check out the dorm?"

The half-selkie shrugged, "You can try if you want, I dunno if it's been blocked off by the police yet."

"We'll get in. You wanna come with?" Hanna asked. "Or you wanna sit here?"

"Dude, think about it. Would I ever say no to possibly breaking the law?" Veser asked as he shouldered his bookbag, his mouth spreading into a sharp-toothed grin.

The zombie nodded. "We should hurry then, we're drawing attention as it is." And so with those words the trio began their trek across campus, trying to draw as few stares as possible considering their current entourage.

Hanna led the way, slipping nonchalantly past a policeman and into the building. He trotted down the hall and under a string of police tape, heading for Veser's room.

The door, when Hanna found it, made him want to grin elatedly and grimace in worry at the same time. Veser hadn't been exaggerating. Claw marks, a good few inches deep, ran from the top of the door right down to the bottom, marking up the floor as well. There were several sets, spanning different angles across the wood.

Whatever it was, this thing wanted in, and it wanted in bad.

"Woah." Hanna ran his finger along one of the claw marks. "How did this not go through the door? Wow."

"Fuck if I know," Veser breathed."You'd think it would have."

"Perhaps it was just trying to scare people?" The zombie spoke up, brow furrowing.

"Well, gee, if that's the case I think it fucking succeeded!" The half-selkie snapped as he glanced nervously down the hallway. Whether he was watching for the police or the creature wasn't entirely clear. "Do you recognize them at all?"

"Not at all - look at this thing, it's got paws or whatever the size of my hand!" Hanna exclaimed, holding his hand up to the marks and finding his fingers fit in the grooves. "Whatever it is, it's got to be pretty big. Kinda reminds me of like, a puppy scratching at the door to get in or something, 'cept it like a puppy on steroids or something."

"Maybe it was a werewolf?" Veser suggested, then gave a smirk. "Maybe Toni spread the word to her lady wolf friends about how awesome I am."

"Somehow I doubt it." Hanna's partner shook his head. "Besides, I think we'd recognize werewolf claw marks."

"Yeah, and if a werewolf wanted you, why would it burst in here in wolf form when human form is easier?" Hanna poked at the splinters of wood on the door. "Full moon or no full moon."

The college student sighed as he stared at the splintered remains of his door, shoulders slumping. "Guess so... so you've got nothing else then?" He let out a groan and raked his fingers through his hair. "Fantastic. And here I thought a pop quiz was my biggest problem."

Hanna didn't answer for a moment, marker uncapped and drawing in dark black ink against the white threshold. "I'll keep looking into it, but this should at least reinforce the door if it wants to come back for another try." He was smiling still, though, like it probably wouldn't, but it was better to keep his friends safe.

"If you say so," Veser said as he scratched the back of his neck. "Thanks, man. Sorry there wasn't much else for you to look over here."

"Nah, it's cool. It's a mystery now!" Hanna stood up and capped his marker, stuffing it in his pocket. "I can't wait to find out what did this and see what we're facing." The way Hanna spoke, he sounded more like he was in the middle of a good book. But the smile on his face was determined, and if there was one thing Hanna's determined smile meant when it came to his friend's safety, it meant that he'd make sure nothing happened to them.

Bright green met bright blue for a moment, and then Veser smirked. "Yeah, I guess so. Hopefully this one will end up better than the last one, eh?" He drawled as he held out a fist.

Hanna completed his end of the bro-fist gesture, grinning. "Yeah, it'll definitely go better than last time. It's probably gonna end up some irate puppy or something." Hanna laughed. "Some yippy little thing with huge claws or something, that'd be cool."

"Man, I hope not. How lame would that be if my whole campus was turned upside down by a freaking puppy?" Veser snickered, then gave a wave as he adjusted the bag on his shoulder. "I'll see you later, man, I gotta see about finding a place to sleep. I'd sleep here but I don't want cops barging in on me or anything."

"Yeah." Hanna paused a second. "If Ples won't take you and you can't find anywhere you can always come crash at my apartment. We've totally got room." He grinned, waving a little back, the bag swinging on his arm with the motion. "And I think any puppy'd be scared of Mrs. Blaney and wouldn't come upstairs."

The half-selkie laughed as he turned and began to walk down the hall. "I'll keep it in mind. See ya."

Hanna's partner watched him go, then turned to the redhead. "We should leave as well, there's no sense in getting you in trouble with the police... again."

"Yeah, and I can't really explain myself out of this one. C'mon, Jeremy, let's go back to the apartment and crash." With this, he started for the exit, slipping past the cops silently. "I don't think going back to work'd be a good idea, either. It'd be like Worth, except with the possibility of getting not-paid. Heh." At this point, Hanna remembered that he still had the Target bag looped around his arm, and he reached into it, pulling out the final item from the bottom.

The thing was about the size of his palm, flat, squarish and very, very old. It had a blue, vaguely glass-like panel with a multitude of scratches and dents and chips broken from it, and a crack in the bottom tight corner. The edges of the thing where round, and there were a couple loose wires dangling from a few empty spaces where knobs or buttons might have been at one point. Two knobs remained, one a dull blue and the other a dark, bloody red. The back was a rusted mess of metal, raised like there once was something written there. Hanna turned it over in his hands, cocking his head at it as he looked it over.

Orange eyes blinked in confusion as the zombie stared at the item. "What is that?" He asked as he raised a brow. "I'm fairly sure I haven't seen you sell anything like that at the store, unless it's very old..."

"Ohman, this is nothing you get at Target. It's not even like, a really old gameboy or something. It's... really broken." Hanna shook the thing a little, and the only thing that happened was a shower of rust. "Who would own this kind of thing?"

The zombie shrugged as they turned a corner and began the familiar trek toward their apartment, hardly noting the way the city seemed to chip away as it transferred from fancy campus to dingy back alleys. "Perhaps the sort of person who enjoys... ah, tinkering? Though I'm not sure what it's supposed to do..."

Hanna shook the thing again and poked at some of the empty spots with tiny wires, shocking himself slightly once, but otherwise nothing. He poked one fo the knobs and the cracked screen lit up a dull, worn out blue. "Woah! Icarus, check this out. I turned it on!" Hanna didn't have to look to know when they had reached his apartment, eyes fixed on the blue screen. "Let's see if we can find the instructions on it."

His partner nodded as they made their way way up the rickity stairs to the third floor, their footsteps echoing through the old building. He'd largely let his mind wander to the other problem at hand when the redhead had begun tinkering with the object, though now he was back to the present and just hoping Hanna wouldn't get himself shocked again.

Hanna opened the door with his back, heading to the mattress and tumbling on it as his fingers played with the knobs. The screen showed a number, 2023, and when he spun the knob it flashed the classic exclamation point in a triangle warning sign. "That's weird, I think it's supposed to cycle through numbers or something but it's broken." He shook the thing again and it flashed the warning sign. "I wonder what the other knob does..." Hanna went to spin it, and it stuck. He tried, but his fingers couldn't make it move. "Remy, can you help me get this thing turning?"

The zombie nodded as he made his way across the small apartment, stepping over the bag that object in question had come from before kneeling on the mattress and gently taking it from Hanna. "Strange. Do you suppose the number means anything?" He wondered aloud as green fingers gripped the knob and with a slight grunt and a squeal from the resisting gears, twisted the thing.

This was probably a mistake.

The screen flashed a bright green, and it was like all time stopped. Hanna could feel his lungs expand slightly with every second. He could feel his heart pressing against his chest with every beat. He felt the mattress dissolving beneath his fingers but he couldn't move fast enough, his body locked in the same state of time as everything else. The mattress dissolved, and then the room, and then he found his lungs felt empty and he couldn't breath in.

And then, he blinked, and air rushed into his lungs and time was right again and wow, he thought, that was fucking awesome, except he wasn't on his mattress anymore. He was in a pile of rubble, on his back, and the sky was a dark, smoggy gray. He didn't remember seeing the sky from his room. He sat up. Maybe he was on the roof?

The land around him stretched blank and barren, trees recognizable that once stood on his street dead now, the rubble where his building once was.

"Toto, I don't think we're in my apartment anymore."