#怎么我每次为某样东西发疯的时候都是五千字起步hhh

[hunxi-after-hours]

hello. no one asked for this but the purpose of this blog is so I can turn my brain upside down, shake it vigorously, and dump out all of my thoughts such that each day I may come closer to my greatest life aspiration (being a himbo) SO. it is now time for me to do a far deeper dive on the production and fight choreography of the 《逆流而上》 performance from season 4 of 《披荆斩棘的哥哥》 / Call Me By Fire than anyone really cares for

still with me? have a drink close by? all right (holds out hand) let's get egregiously deep in the weeds together

BACKGROUND / CONTEXT

《逆流而上》 (something like "Upstream" or "Against the Tide") is all of a four-minute performance by 石凯 Shi Kai, 井胧 Jing Long, and 阿如那 Aruna. combining singing, acting, and some legitimately very good stage combat, the performance presents the narrative of a plucky young upstart gangster (Jing Long), who steals something he probably shouldn't have from a seasoned mob boss (Aruna), and in doing so pulls his friend and maybe gang leader (Shi Kai) into the battle

(where are you getting this plot summary, hunxi? from my brain. unfortunately. because I've watched this performance several dozen times. that is not an exaggeration. this is however simply my interpretation of the performance so Costco container of garlic salt etc etc)

BLOW-BY-BLOW (hah)

aka hold my hand, I am going to walk you through the entire performance

but it's only four minutes! you protest

did I stutter? are you still holding my hand? is now the time to warn you that this post is over five thousand words? well let's get moving then

0:11 - 0:40 Opening

here we are, setting the scene:

jing long's character returns from the street (hear the sirens and street traffic) to their warehouse hideout, carrying a mysterious duffel bag presumably crammed full of whatever he stole from aruna (likely cash, given the lightness of the bag)

glancing over his shoulder, he checks that no one is following him before throwing the bag to his back and skipping his way into the warehouse. he scans (a badge? some other form of RFID?) his way into the front door, swings from an overhead pipe, and slides down the fireman pole to make his entrance onto the stage proper

shi kai's character is established with his feet on the desk, watching security footage and toying with something in his hand (we hear a burst of static and the bleep of a walkie-talkie)

so already! we have learned the following:

jing long reads very much as a cocky young upstart, everyone's little brother who's too hot(headed) and too cocky for his own good

shi kai reads as slightly older, more responsible, more cautious. though he slouches leisurely in his swivel chair, he is still keeping a wary eye on the security footage around the warehouse

in addition, I would like to express my respect and admiration for the costume designers of this piece — note that all of the performers involved in fight choreography (named actors and stuntspeople alike) are dressed in long sleeves, long pants, and sensibly closed-toed shoes. given the physicality of the performance, you'd definitely want clothing that can protect easily-skinned areas like elbows and knees. also, longer (and looser) sleeves and pants can handily hide other padding if needed (e.g. elbow or knee pads, or just extra layers of clothing)

shi kai is dressed in a baggy brown coat over a relatively high-necked black shirt, as well as baggy pants and black leather gloves. the looseness of his outfit leaves much more room for potential padding underneath, which makes sense as the "bruiser" of the two with much more fight choreography. I would dock points for the silly little bandana (what are you wearing that for, your opponent to strangle you with?) but it's a fun accent piece so we'll let it slide on style

jing long is dressed more "stylishly" or roguishly, with a white tank top under a leather jacket that is pushed up to almost his elbows. he also wears full leather gloves, but with holes around the knuckles; so, clearly not a bruiser or someone who punches things with regularity. while the leather jacket is good for protection, it offers much less padding than shi kai's coat. this then comes back to bite jing long, who gets flung to the ground later by aruna and takes a solid moment to recover

0:41 - 1:20 Establishing the Jing Long - Shi Kai Character Relationship

in this sequence, we begin the singing (something that I personally find deeply hilarious is how the lyrics have almost nothing to do with anything that's happening onstage. we could unpack this for a while but for now I get a good laugh out of it), but more importantly, we get into the acting:

as jing long walks across stage toward shi kai, high five-ing shi kai on the way over and spinning him around in his swivel chair, jing long does so with a swagger, evidently proud of his heist

shi kai appears to be more skeptical; as jing long sits on his desk and unzips the bag to show him the spoils, shi kai instead raises his eyebrows and gestures at the security footage, as if to ask "well, were you followed?"

jing long's character rolls his eyes and crosses the stage to the couch, where he flops and sulks about shi kai not being appropriately impressed

shi kai gets up and follows him, and though the lyrics rapped here have nothing to do with the plot beyond general vibe, the moment reads very much like shi kai lecturing jing long about the need for caution and discretion. fascinating moment where shi kai's character is clearly saying something but the words coming out of his mouth are not what he's saying diegetically (except maybe "back off")

jing long is evidently fed up with shi kai's nagging, until they both hear footsteps in the scaffolding overhead — someone has followed jing long back to their hideout

I do love the detail of jing long looking up, directing our gazes to the mooks running through the catwalks. jing long gets up to go deal with them — again, hotheaded youngster — but shi kai pushes him back onto the couch with a pointed look which very much reads as "older brother once again cleaning up after younger brother's impulsive decision"

now that we've done all the set up! let's get punchin'

1:21 - 2:04 Fight Sequence 1 (Catwalk Fight)

in which jing long gets to sit on a couch and do vocal acrobatics while shi kai cleans up his mess

the degree to which this set is almost completely OSHA certified but also Strategically Not OSHA Certified in certain places brings me so much joy and anger, but it's nothing worse than what the original Next to Normal set on Broadway pulled, so I will put my hard hat down

shi kai climbs up the stairs to the upper level of the warehouse, where a bunch of convenient mooks/stuntpeople await him to be mowed down one by one. this sequence is very much reminiscent of platform fighting games

A NOT-SO-BRIEF ASIDE ABOUT STAGE COMBAT: one of the reasons why I absolutely love stage combat is because, done right, it is the biggest inside joke you can pull off in front of a live audience. the audience is convinced that these two characters are Legitimately Trying to Hurt Each Other, but the performers are secretly in on the joke — they are executing a perfectly and exquisitely choreographed movement sequence in which they hoodwink the audience together. for a medium that is premised on hoodwinking the audience together, stage combat is extra fun because the hoodwinking is dialed up to eleven. it's not just convincing the audience of the immediacy and urgency of a fictional world, it's also convincing the audience that you hate each other's guts when secretly you're trying not to break out into a huge grin (or maybe other people are better at staying in character, I was never cut out for acting). it's ALSO making the audience think that serious injury and damage has occurred, when in reality nothing of the kind has happened. it's the wordless trust and synchronicity that your scene partner will be exactly where you both agreed they will be, just as you will do exactly what you promised to do

in stage combat, none of the blows actually hit with the level of force they appear to — this is incredibly important in live theater, which is performed night after night for days to weeks to months in a row. the fight choreography must be sustainable. that means no performer can be a hero and say "oh you can hit me for real, I can take it" because the body reacts instinctively and if you know physical contact is coming, it doesn't matter how good of an actor you are, at some point you will not be able to suppress the flinch. also, you have to be onstage doing this again tomorrow, or even tonight, and if it's a blow that will injure or bruise, you can't keep taking damage in the same spot repeatedly and expect to make it through the run

which is to say — stage combat should be safe. it should appear to be violent, feral, unhinged, vicious, whatever the scene needs, but it has to be safe and sustainable. what that also means is that the ferocity of the attack, the damage of the blow, the lethality of the strike depends less on the attacking performer's "strength" and wholly on the "victim" selling the force of the hit. cradling your face after a slap (conveniently hiding that your cheek is not even reddening because there was no contact made). doubling over after a "blow" to the solar plexus to sell that gut-punch. depending on your genre, maybe even doing a gratuitous backflip off a platform if you've been "sent flying." half of stage combat is camp (the other half is knapping)

so! shi kai mows his way through a series of stunt performers, who are really doing the lion's share of convincing the audience that his character is a competent brawler. no shade to shi kai — the man is also singing through much of this sequence

most notably, shi kai is singing as he delivers that flying kick at 1:49. the audio cuts a bit strangely here, which allows you to hear the strain in his voice as he jumps into half of a pull-up and kicks a stuntperson in the chest

if you've gotten way too deep in all the extra behind-the-scenes material for this performance, you'll know that this was a sequence that shi kai really struggled with because the director kept asking him to kick the guy with more force and shi kai felt guilty hitting the stuntperson every time. it wasn't until the stuntperson confirmed that he was wearing chest padding that shi kai finally relaxed and felt like he could put more force into it

most of the choreography has the combatants coming at each other with a big ol' overhand haymaker/icepick attacks (whether with a steel pipe or a closed fist). this is a classic stage combat move, partially because it looks Big and Scary and Impressive, partially because it's extremely impractical in an actual fight: it's slow, utilizes an excessive amount of wind-up, and leaves a huge opening where a fast attacker can dart in for the advantage while your arm is still in the overhead swing, which is what shi kai does with the first stuntperson

I am fairly confident that they are adding additional sound effects for punching, hitting the ground, and later, jing long strangling aruna — partially because I don't think we'd actually be able to pick up those sounds in the general noise of a live performance, but also primarily because they sound, um. somewhat canned

give it up for the professional stuntpeople who are really selling this performance, and also because of how extra they are across the board in "being defeated." I'm specifically calling out the second guy at 1:36 for his little foot twirl when shi kai gives him that head smack, and the last guy at 2:01 for bouncing off the edge of the platform where there is deliberately No OSHA Protective Railing. like my guy you could've just somersaulted onto the mat that's presumably discreetly laid out below, the bounce was completely gratuitous

speaking of moments where you can spot the "seams" of the fight choreography: watch this enough times and you can see how the stuntperson doubles over and waits for shi kai to knock him off the platform from 1:59 - 2:01; the slight pause there is partially hidden by the rapid cuts, but if you watch the stuntperson you can see him holding the position in preparation to be kicked off the platform

2:05 - 2:50 "ARUNA!!!!!!!!!"

time check: we are now two minutes. into a four minute performance. and only now does aruna, our third character, show up, and what an entrance it is. in the performance cut that aired, the editors briefly flash to the greenroom, where the other contestants of the show, watching the performance live, erupt in cheers for aruna's arrival. shouts of "he's coming, he's here!" and "ARUNA!!!!!!!!!" briefly interrupt the performance's audio as the other contestants clap, yell, and rise from their seats in primal enthusiasm. one gets the sense that aruna is not only a fan favorite contestant, but also a cast favorite as well

it is exceedingly difficult to get screenshots of the fight choreography since it all blurs. you will simply have to trust me and watch it

aruna's entrance + first lines are maybe the closest the lyrics actually come to making diegetic sense hhh

aruna's character rolls up with an entire crew, only to wave them off, presumably because he thinks he can take care of these upstarts on his own. to be fair, he's not completely wrong about that

I love the way they did the first moment of eye contact between aruna and jing long; aruna, high up on the catwalk, looking down at jing long on the warehouse floor with a nonzero amount of scorn. jing long, in contrast with his earlier insouciance and general slouchiness on the couch, now sits up, slightly hunched over, with what looks like fear in his eyes. as it turns out, he didn't pull off his heist as cleanly as he thought he had, and now the consequences are coming (literally) to beat his ass (literally)

they also take time to establish the location of shi kai's character, high up on a catwalk on the other side of the stage. this raises the possibility that the earlier mooks he dispatched in Fight Sequence 1 were simply a distraction aruna sent ahead; more importantly, it means that jing long will have to fend for himself against aruna until shi kai gets there

but not to worry! jing long and shi kai's side ALSO has disposable mooks (very hardworking stuntpeople). note that these stuntpeople (unlike the, uh, assorted 小鲜肉 in the background who wear tank tops) are dressed with sensible coverage

aruna one-ups shi kai's initial fight sequence by taking on three people simultaneously, more or less in a melee (they do attack him very politely in sequence. this is choreography after all). the first person he dispatches with a spinning kick, which is tremendously impractical in real life (slow! difficult to aim! not actually more forceful!) but looks cool in choreography

the second person comes at aruna with an openhanded haymaker, which makes it tremendously convenient for aruna to get inside that stuntperson's range, twist him around to feign a joint lock, and use him as both shield and leverage to kick the other two guys (the joint lock is feigned because it's real easy to get injured in a real joint lock. later, the two of them also untwist the "joint lock" to get better and safer leverage on the shoulder throw)

blink and you'll miss it — when the stuntperson hits and breaks the coffee table behind him at 2:46 - 2:47, you can see him briefly check over his shoulder to make sure he's falling where he wants to. I can only hope that the coffee table was pre-broken for the effect

the shoulder throw at 2:48 looks pretty gnarly, but if you slow it down you can see the stuntperson strike the ground feet-first to absorb the impact before pretending to crumple. that being said, the speed and the force of the impact are probably enough to rattle his bones a little

after summarily dispatching the three stuntpeople, aruna points at the bag by jing long's feet and gestures an unimpressed "give it back"

2:51 - 3:26 Fight Sequence 2, Electric Boogaloo (The Showdown)

you know it's a Big Fight Scene when they take a break from singing to do a pure instrumental + fight choreography interlude. after aruna summarily dispatches three stuntpeople and tells jing long to return what he stole, jing long, true to his character, flings the bag at aruna in a "fine, take it!" and goes in for the attack

aruna dodges easily, and as he goes to the side, he picks up a plank of plywood that he swings at jing long

it passes way over jing long's head, because jing long has planted one hand on the ground to slide by underneath

side note: in the behind-the-scenes material, shi kai was the one practicing a sideways knee slide. considering that 1) no knee slide made it into the final choreography, and 2) jing long is the one doing this close approximation here, that makes me wonder if a) jing long and shi kai at any point switched roles, and b) at what point the set was finalized vs. the fight choreography set, because there isn't enough space in the catwalk fight sequence for shi kai to slide safely or practically

but that's neither here nor there

aruna swings at jing long twice, and jing long ducks out of the way both times. props to jing long for making sure he comes back up between swings before ducking again, because otherwise it would make aruna's character look a bit foolish for repeatedly swinging at empty space

on aruna's third swing with the plank, he shatters it against jing long's left side. I'm hoping the plank was either really thin or pre-broken because that is a hefty cloud of dust

jing long then comes at aruna with — you guessed it — a haymaker, which allows aruna to grab him by the entire forearm and sock him in the stomach. this makes jing long double over, conveniently setting them both up for—

the next stunt these two pull involves partnerwork and coordination; aruna falls backwards, dropping his center of gravity to the floor and pulling jing long forward. he then gives jing long a boost with his foot (ah, my bad. "a kick"), which allows jing long to flip over him in a very showy manner

if this was actual combat, aruna would have probably kept hold of jing long's forearm in order to slam him against the floor. but since this is choreography, aruna lets go of jing long's arm, which allows jing long to catch himself on his hands and turn that into a forward somersault

don't be fooled by how far jing long rolls. after the first roll to dispel momentum from the flip, he's doing the rest of the rolls on his own merit

again, the "ferocity" or "strength" of an attack is sold by the "victim," so by lying on the floor for a bit longer and struggling to get up, jing long is selling aruna's fighting prowess. also, even if this is meticulously planned stage combat, the performers are still absolutely getting their bumps and bruises

shi kai enters — somewhat tardy, but I love this entrance because it's so funny. a plywood (?) siding hits the ground with a cloud of dust, presumably bashed in from the force of the two stuntpeople colliding with it, who then fall to the ground as shi kai struts in. the two stuntpeople roll around on the ground as if shi kai just pummeled them into the wall, but in reality the three of them were probably j chilling, waiting for their cue, before the two stuntpeople jumped at the plywood shoulder-first to knock it down for shi kai's entrance

again, stage combat is a huge inside joke! what looks like shi kai kicking ass and taking names as he comes to his lil bro's rescue is actually just the stunt crew going "nah man leave this to us, we'll make you look cool" and shi kai going "oh ok you guys sure?" and them going "yeah!!" and yeeting themselves at the wall

neither here nor there but I love shi kai sprinting across stage to get to aruna. it really builds up the momentum and intensity of the fight. the fact that he does this while spitting "now call me by fire" is. well. pretty fire

aruna's turn to throw a haymaker! shi kai easily ducks under it for the waist tackle, which 1) helps transfer all of his sprinting momentum to twirl the two of them around, and 2) results in a net zero change in positioning. throughout this whole performance, aruna is consistently positioned on stage right (frame left), and shi kai / jing long are consistently on stage left (frame right), just to make "who's on whose side" a bit easier for the viewer to track

aruna even does a fun little jump/flail to dissipate shi kai's momentum, which I find delightful. throw the didis a bone, aruna, they already can't beat you two-on-one

shi kai does a little jump + snap kick, which aruna easily parries with his hands. choreography!

aruna then goes for shi kai's leg to take him to the floor (what's with this choreography characterization. in less than two minutes aruna has gone to the floor at least three times. let the man rest)

I guess in a real fight it might make sense for aruna to use his greater strength and mass to pin his opponents to the floor, but that requires following through and punching their lights out, which he, uh, does not

shi kai's spinning flip is "assisted" by aruna — the quotation marks is because that maneuver requires anchoring one's weight on the leg that aruna's holding, but because shi kai's doing it with that foot elevated, it's much harder than it would've been if shi kai's foot was just on the ground. trust me on this one. it's all about core strength and leverage

much like how aruna politely let go of jing long's arm while flipping him, aruna politely holds shi kai's leg long enough for him to flip as well

they use this moment to briefly split apart and breathe for a second in the choreography

shi kai's turn to throw a haymaker! in an echo of earlier, aruna grabs that arm and puts it into a (very loose) joint lock, and loops his left arm around shi kai's chest in a "headlock." I would like to praise aruna's fight choreography technique here, because he is executing a lovely fake headlock — arm barred across shi kai's collarbones and shoulder, not actually anywhere close to shi kai's throat. likewise, shi kai's free hand is on that arm, which anchors both of them relative to each other and also allows for shi kai to "struggle" without being in danger of dislodging aruna's grip to somewhere more dangerous

aruna then pivots them and "kicks" shi kai onto the couch — either he misplaced his foot or he's really selling it, but that flail does not look very controlled hhh. meanwhile, shi kai finally gets to flop on this very squishy-looking couch, which jing long has been monopolizing for this entire performance. again, it's shi kai's job to sell the force of aruna's kick, so he whiplashes very convincingly onto the cushions

this is also a classic of stage combat: "throw" your opponent into what is actually a soft landing place with very little real force, and let your opponent control the force and direction and theatricality of how they land

aruna, stumbling back from kicking shi kai, has his outstretched arms caught by two of the stuntpeople he laid flat earlier. also another visible "seam," as he essentially backs into their arms so they can catch him

he then flings them off, which is tremendously unrealistic sdlfksdjls but we can cut the man a break, he's been onstage for a minute and a half and that minute was almost entirely fight choreography

side note: you can hear aruna's heavy breathing, which means that they decided to keep his mic on during this fight sequence?? well I hope they turned aruna's mic off shortly after this for the next stunt they're about to pull

the flying kick + punch combo is also tremendously unrealistic (like, way to cancel out the force of your own strikes as you try to go in opposite directions simultaneously), but it looks showy. if you watch carefully, you can see the second stuntperson (who presumably gets socked in the face) do his extremely extra flip while he goes down just a hair late

3:27 - 4:08 (end) Finale

and now it's time for the big finish! I do love the editing on this performance, since no matter who's currently engaged in a beatdown, they'll periodically give shots to the third person so we know where they're positioned. in this case, we saw jing long levering himself back up during the aruna - shi kai showdown and gearing himself up for—

jing long runs at aruna and launches himself into the air to lock his legs around aruna's neck

moment of silence for aruna's neck. and all the rehearsals they had to go through while jing long figured this out

another visible "seam" — as aruna backs up towards the center of the stage, he's subtly checking over his shoulder (the wrong shoulder, likely on purpose so that he can still be taken "off guard" by jing long's attack) and killing a few seconds while jing long gets a running start

to be honest the spinning leg lock just looks fun. probably not for aruna but once they get into position jing long lets his arms go like "wheeeee"

letting his arms go is also important for weight distribution, balance, and lowering himself to the ground once aruna's spun them enough times. hey can someone send a memo to 偶像剧 that this is clearly the superior form of the 公主抱 + 转圈圈 combination

aruna goes to the floor — again — to let them both down and they roll away from each other to disengage. hilariously, at some point in this scuffle, aruna loses a shoe. you can spot it by shi kai's foot in the next shot, and also when aruna stands, facing the didi gang, his right (shoeless) foot is visibly smaller than his left

this manuever also yanks the earpiece out of aruna's ear — at this point I'm just impressed that all of their microphones stayed on their faces

while shi kai helps jing long get to his feet (love that you can hear the unsteadiness in jing long's voice. that doesn't stop him from being exquisitely on key or belting), aruna goes and grabs the duffel

I am also irrationally charmed by how shi kai mirrors aruna's chin-jerk. in my personal postcanon imagination for this stupid four minute performance I like to think that they follow the 不打不相识 rules of friendship, and aruna takes these two chuckleheads under his wing. oh wait that's what already happened in the rehearsals for this performance. anyway

a moment of appreciation for the dynamism of the last shot — in the ringing silence after the last note, aruna hurls the duffel bag behind him with a yell, and the two sides charge at each other as the stage goes dark. this must have been a late add, because their dress rehearsals have the didi gang getting up in aruna's space and surrounding him, and the stage goes to blackout in that stationary image. ending on this clash is such a lovely evocation of movement and further story as both sides throw away the original "goal" of this confrontation (the duffel) for the thrill of the fight

OK SO THAT WAS A LOT OF RAMBLING, NOW WHAT?

you know, I wish I knew what the point of this exercise was too beyond trying to shake all of these thoughts out of my brain. all I know is that I watched this performance a couple of weeks ago and it's now become my entire personality. I think about it multiple times a day. I've watched it so many times I know all the cuts, and maybe most of the choreography by heart

I think there's something about the rawness of this performance — both in a primal, punchin' kind of sense, but the relative lack of artifice. this performance is very much a back-to-theatrical basics; a rare piece that doesn't rely on an overabundance of flashing concert lighting or pyrotechnics to elevate the atmosphere of the song. much like the barebones aesthetic of the set (mostly scaffolding), this performance relies on very little special effects beyond good old-fashioned theater. legitimately, I'm not sure they had many lighting cues beyond "lights up" and "lights out," which is tremendously refreshing to see.

and of course, naturally, I've been obsessed with the fight choreography. hopefully the several thousand words have convinced you that the choreography is well-made and well-crafted within the context of the song and performance and narrative; I think for me, it was the refreshing novelty of seeing actually good fight choreography in cmedia. it's just been. so long?? since I've seen down and dirty fight choreography that hasn't been stylized and slow-moed to hell and back, strung up and strung out on wire work and wind machines. there's also a down-to-earth-ness to the stage combat here — reminiscent of HK gangster flicks, for sure, and their overlap with kung fu action films — from the lack of wild stunts and acrobatics that feels especially appropriate to the presented narrative

and it helps that everyone brought their all to the performance! aruna, shi kai, and jing long's characters all shone through easily, subtly, in embodiments that felt effortless, though jing long would be the first to argue otherwise (he struggled quite a bit, and went to Professional Screen Actor Aruna for advice). and even if the characterizations felt seamless, I loved being able to see the "seams" of the performance; how they put the fight choreography together, the little tells where you can spot the immense amount of work that went into honing this performance into something stage-ready. the effort everyone put into this is palpable, from the shortness of breath to the strained voices and strained back muscles (big mood, jing long). it's the fly on the painting that brings it to life; it's sneaking a peek of the human effort and time and work it took to put this together

I am rapidly running out of words to explain why I love this so much, but to actually explain all of it feels like it would strip away the emotion and render it nothing more and nothing less than appreciation. but there is a healthy mixture of all of that: appreciation, admiration, enthusiasm, knowledge, satisfaction, that makes my deep affection for this performance that much stronger, that makes me stop my workday whenever this comes up in my playlist again to watch it all again, even if I already know every grunt and every thump, every run and every belt by heart

(bows to an empty auditorium) thank you for your time as I yammer on about another niche interest. I'm off to go elevate my watch count into the triple digits (kickflips off stage)

LINKS

纯享 4-minute performance video

full episode (their section begins 41:20 and runs approximately to 1:00:00)

extra reactions from the greenroom

additional rehearsal footage

[itsfreerealestate]

「 僵尸世界大战AU 」

- 灵感来源是&（以及群里的接龙hhh

- 其实更像是僵尸世界大战+丧尸之地+惊变28天 混合AU

- ooc/剧情不合理/错字都是我的锅

————

乐佩·科洛纳 Rapunzel Corona

存活小队中对医疗及病理方面知识最多的人，在病毒大肆爆发前是旧金山医学院的临床见习生，病毒爆发后一开始本来决心不逞英雄，后来由于看到太多无辜生命死在眼前，她不想再无动于衷而决心遵守希波克拉底誓词，一路上只要是还有救的人她都不会袖手旁观。平常看起来好像依然充满求生欲还经常鼓励大家一起活下去，其实早就做好了坦然面对死亡的准备。因为想去到芝加哥找到葛朵的旧友而踏上求生的旅程，目标是找出这场闹剧中的零号病人。

乐佩的第一天

伊始之日时在医院里看到许多医护人员推着急诊病人从电梯中慌忙走出，她经过人群时因为强烈的血腥味而瞟到床上病人的狰狞模样，在乐佩搭上电梯准备离开时目睹了那位病人开始对周围医生的突然袭击，她则因为电梯门恰时关上而逃过一劫。

回到大厅的乐佩不敢相信自己看到了什么，还没回过神的她看见医院大厅还是一片正常，慌乱之余她想起来自己的导师葛朵医生前两天还念叨过巴拿马近来爆发的一种传染病，在她急忙向主治医师办公室跑去的同时看到葛朵向她跑来并让她赶快离开，她将自己的笔记本交给乐佩说那种传染病已经出现在加州并且扩散速度非常快，此时一辆救护车突然冲破医院的玻璃墙并制造了大规模的恐慌，葛朵让乐佩赶紧离开加州然后去笔记本里记录下的地址找她。随着越来越多的丧尸出现在医院，乐佩在离开时被从失控的救护车里逃出来的急救员同事卡桑德拉救助，她帮乐佩摆脱了缠人的丧尸，乐佩趁机开车和她��起从医院逃出。逃过一劫的两人本打算一起结伴逃离这场灾难，但卡桑德拉在两人开始逃亡不久后便被丧尸袭击，自知命不久矣后的她为了不拖累乐佩而跳车消失在了夜色中，最终乐佩一直将车开到了荒无人烟的郊外才终于停车宣泄了一下自己的情绪，而后她又擦干眼泪开始着手自己的下一步求生计划。

相遇

病毒在旧金山爆发后的第五天，乐佩在开车驶过高速路时遇上坐在栅栏上抽烟的杰克，第一眼看他浑身浴血的样子差点以为他也被感染了，本来打算对他视而不见的乐佩因为想起卡桑德拉曾经对自己的帮助还有自己当初的行医誓言而最终停车问他要不要搭车。

物品/武器

- 医疗包：在药店搜刮到医疗包后就一直随身带着，基本消毒酒精，碘酒，绷带，创可贴，抗生素，镇定剂等等都有

- 平底锅：乐佩的专属武器，不太会使用枪并被杰克警告过枪支的后坐力，情急之下救过她一命并且越用越顺手

- 笔记本：原本是葛朵的病理记录本，乐佩发现里面记录了一些关于这次病毒的已知信息和葛朵对潜在感染源的猜想，里面还有葛朵让乐佩去往的她的老友在芝加哥的地址

- 斧头：防身物品之一，在了解丧尸弱点以后相对高效的武器

杰克森·奥弗兰·弗罗斯特 Jackson Overland Frost

存活小队中的近战输出，高中毕业后曾在军队中服兵役一年因此身体素质和应激能力都较为良好，病毒爆发前只是个在DQ兼职的普通男孩。病毒爆发后随着时间推移而逐渐掌握了射杀丧尸的技巧并一度以血腥暴力为乐趣，原本打算利用乐佩的善心夺取她拥有的物资，也认为她在目前的世界中还保留善心简直既无谓又天真，后来被她多次帮助并得知她的经历而选择相信她的理论，后来性格逐渐恢复成原来的样子，也同时开始逐渐信任对方。逃亡的目的地是华盛顿特区，目标是找到自己服兵役时关系很好的指挥官诺斯，杰克听说诺斯曾在国土安全部工作，他认为他们一定会有对病毒爆发情况的对策因此想要找到他们。

杰克的第一天

伊始之日时正在去接妹妹艾玛放学的路上，他看见其他家长急忙将孩子们带走的模样就有种不好的预感于是带着妹妹迅速回家，途中看见了街道上人们慌乱奔走的样子还有已经被感染的人攻击其他人的样子，一时之间的惊吓使得艾玛的哮喘发作，杰克在包里找不到她的哮喘气雾剂于是他开车去到药房。药房里和边上的超市都人心惶惶，每个人都在争先恐后地抢夺着商品食物，杰克也迅速地拿上了一些必需品后便带着艾玛逃离了混乱的现场。

成功回到家后的两人正以为可以带上父母一起逃命的时候，杰克的母亲那时已经被邻居感染并且失去理智开始袭击他们兄妹二人，杰克在情急之下发现找出抽屉里藏着的手枪并朝母亲开了枪，随后他才意识到那东西已经不是自己的母亲了。回过神后的杰克看见浑身僵住的艾玛，他顺着她的视线看向她手腕处的咬伤，在意识到自己被感染之后艾玛流泪说自己很害怕，但她更害怕自己变成那副恐怖的模样，在万分艰难地对变异的艾玛扣下扳机后，杰克决定遵从她的遗言努力活下去。

相遇

病毒爆发一周后杰克所剩的所有子弹都用完了，加上车因为之前被丧尸袭击过也撞过很多东西而在高速路上临时抛锚，没什么求生欲的杰克当即坐在路边栅栏上抽起烟听天由命，没多久他听到车停下的声音，有人问他要不要搭车，睁眼看去发现是个看起来手无缚鸡之力的金发姑娘。

物品/武器

- M1911：杰克父母放在主卧里的枪，他用这把枪杀死了异化后的母亲和即将异化的妹妹，在第一周里对杰克的生存反击起到了关键作用

- 0.45英寸ACP：杰克和乐佩在去到一家枪店中拿到的手枪，因为用起来很顺手所以后来他就一直随身携带

- 弹枪：车里的一直携带着的武器之一，杰克最经常使用

- 金质项链：原本是妹妹艾玛的项链，里面有家人的照片，杰克在艾玛死后就一直戴着

希卡普·黑线鳕·哈道克 三世 Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III

存活小队中的信息智囊，病毒爆发前在洛杉矶读大学，几年前刚入大学时因为被兄弟会的人捉弄而成功黑进过他们所有成员的电脑。本来上学的时候比较沉默寡言，在病毒爆发后因为不敢相信自己遇上了这么扯淡的事而开始变得话痨。逃亡时的目的地是明尼苏达因为听说那里适合养老。

希卡普的第一天

伊始之日是在回学生公寓的路上。希卡普看到大道上空飞过好几架直升机，身旁的交叉路口好像也有出车祸的，警车和救护车的鸣笛声让他开始警觉并加快了回公寓的步伐，他好像也看到不远处公园里有人被突然袭击，尽管心里不愿意承认但希卡普知道自己看到了人吃人的场面。希卡普回过头看去发现岔路口的人们都从车里出来并开始疯狂逃离着，希卡普看着四处奔散的人群，尽管不知道他们究竟在躲什么但他也下意识地跑了起来，他转头看见迎面餐馆中急忙跑出来的人被一个面目狰狞的“人”追着出来并被咬伤时开始变逃边下意识地计数，最终回头发现被咬到的人变异只需要十五秒。在发现变异的人越来越多时希卡普逃到一条阴暗的小巷子里，情急之下拼命掀开了井盖并成功躲在下水道中逃过一劫。

希卡普在逃亡过程中结识了一只流浪黑猫，它的头上也只有一只小耳朵，希卡普本来打算叫它一只耳，却明显感觉到它很讨厌这个名字。黑猫很专注地盯着在吃东西的希卡普，原本以为是丧尸的希卡普在发现只是一只饿了的猫以后松了口气并分给它一些食物。每当希卡普想摸它时它都会表现出明显的敌意，有一次它甚至用没长齐的牙直接咬住他的手，但希卡普只是任由它闹也没怎么抵抗，后来他就发现这只猫总跟着他。本来不想管这只猫的希卡普鬼使神差地将它从丧尸群中救下，后来看到自己大腿受伤的他做好了自我了结的准备，希卡普告诉那只猫说他才不想吃猫肉并让它赶快离开，但它却还是待在他身边。后来希卡普发现他腿上的只是逃离过程中的金属刮伤，在那之后他就给黑猫起名为没牙并决定带着它一起找个家。

相遇

希卡普和没牙待在郊外的一个超市里一直勉强生存着，直到病毒爆发后第六天，希卡普醒来时听见超市里有动静，他拿着球棒警惕地靠近了药品专柜后看见了地上拖着的金色长发，随后他顺着金发看到了正在搜寻医疗用品的乐佩，听到身后动静的乐佩一把抓起一个平底锅和希卡普对峙着，杰克听到动静后迅速找到了他们的位置，在发现大家都是人类后便松了口气。杰克没放松警惕并质问着希卡普他腿伤的伤是怎么回事，希卡普说如果这是被咬了的话他早就变异了。乐佩因为发现希卡普有伤口感染的迹象而帮他注射了抗生素，由于明尼苏达和芝加哥方向顺路，乐佩也决定带着���卡普一起上路以免他的伤口有其他并发症。

物品/武器

- 球棒：本来是希卡普室友的东西，最开始拿着它防身但效果不显著，使得他在第一周时基本都是靠躲才得以生存

- 狼牙棒：希卡普的自制武器之一，把长钉打进木桩里的长棒

- 火弩：自制武器之一，被改良后的箭柄在被浇上酒精后只需一个火星就可以点燃，可以远距离较为高效地消灭敌人

-  手枪Glock19：希卡普随身携带的保底武器，万一最后防线被攻破他还可以自我了结

- 假肢：在芝加哥逃亡事件中失去了小腿后，为了能继续活下去也为了不拖累其他人，希卡普用一些现有工具自制了一条假肢，并在乐佩的帮助下成功将其佩戴，之后在limbo里做体能训练并最终能做到像原来一样走路甚至跑步

梅丽达 Merida

存活小队中的远程辅助，病毒爆发前在南加州的马术庄园中当教练，庄园的主人是梅丽达父亲的老友麦葛芬，由于梅丽达是苏格兰裔所以激动的时候会突然口音变得很重或是说一些客人听不懂的俚语。因为想要去到弗吉尼亚寻找定居在那里的家人而踏上了求生的旅程，另外梅丽达的父亲有很多持证枪支，他们在自家农场边上有私藏的武器库，所以她去到弗吉尼亚的另一个目标也是希望获得更多的火力以便和家人一起逃离。

梅丽达的第一天

伊始之日时梅丽达本来很平常地在平原上骑着她的爱马安格斯，在接近森林的时候安格斯一反常态地停下并显得有些紧张，梅丽达觉得奇怪并带着它回了马厩，后来感觉到马厩里的其他动物们也都出奇地不大安分。不久后梅丽达突然接到了母亲的电话，对方在电话那头让她立刻回家关好门窗并一直说着什么东亚之前爆发的狂犬病已经扩散到美国了，梅丽达刚想���些什么却发现电话线路断断续续，同时她看见窗外数架直升机从铅灰的空中飞过。

在电话线被切断前梅丽达听到母亲最后说的话是让她赶快回家，随后梅丽达骑着安格斯去到了老麦葛芬的宅邸想要询问发生了什么，老麦葛芬的儿子把她拉到一旁说他觉得父亲有些不对劲，他让梅丽达先去客厅等等。在客厅里等了片刻的梅丽达听到楼上传来玻璃摔碎的声音和挣扎的声音，越来越觉得不对劲的她打算上楼一探究竟，却发现麦葛芬父子面目狰狞地向她袭来。情急之下梅丽达夺起挂在墙上的长剑防卫着，庄园警卫听到动静后也破门而入发现了被感染的麦葛芬父子。梅丽达和警卫一起拼命地与两位已经被感染的人战斗着，梅丽达渐渐发现丧尸们很难缠，在成功斩杀麦葛芬的儿子后她察觉只有将他们的大脑摧毁才有用。警卫紧张得对着他们一通乱开抢本以为他们就会真的死亡，没想到没什么用反而好像还让他们变得更暴戾，这使警卫不幸也被感染而变成了丧尸。梅丽达逃到庄园的仓库里并拿到一把麦葛芬收藏的十字弓，瞄准丧尸眼睛的她最终成功将两位被感染者杀死。她也发现本来在庭院里的安格斯不见了。梅丽达调开电视看见新闻正在大肆报道这次的“狂犬病”并意识到了事情的严重性，后来她拿走了警卫尸体旁的枪和他剩下的子弹，以及带走了十字弓并返回马术庄园寻找安格斯。

一路回到马术庄园后梅丽达发现好在庄园地址比较偏僻，她找到了跑回马场的安格斯并带着它一起去到邻近的房子并打算警告他们，却要么是被当成是骗子要么就是被她身上的血迹吓到赶她走的，唯一相信她的人还抢走了她手里拿着的手枪和子弹。在被丧尸包围的紧要关头安格斯好像自愿做饵一样离开了梅丽达并带走了原本包围着她的一大帮丧尸，最终梅丽达开着麦葛芬的车逃离了庄园。

相遇

WHO正式宣布活死人病毒爆发十天后，杰克，乐佩和希卡普在路过贝弗利山庄时选了一座看起来很有钱的豪宅决定留下过夜。三人探索了整个宅子都没发现任何丧尸的影子，正当乐佩逐渐放松警惕并欣赏起挂在主卧墙上的画作时，一支箭倏地划过她的脸颊直插入她眼前的画中吓得乐佩没忍住叫出声来，乐佩转身看到一位手拿弓箭的红发姑娘正死死地盯着她。其他二人顺着声音找到了主卧，杰克看见梅丽达手拿弓箭指着乐佩便也拿起枪对准了她的脑袋。梅丽达说这间房子是她先攻下的地盘，杰克则说她是一对三自不量力，僵持不下的场面后来因为梅丽达被突然出现在她眼前的没牙吓到而打破。杰克最开始提议把梅丽达绑起来以免她打歪主意，后来半夜盯梢的乐佩在其他人睡后偷偷给梅丽达送去食物并给她毛毯取暖，她还问梅丽达要不要考虑加入他们的存活小队，没想到梅丽达趁机挣脱开绳子，她警告乐佩这种非常时刻善心不会有好报，随后拿上了她的武器开车离开了豪宅。不久后豪宅开始被丧尸攻陷，千钧一发之际，一直都没真正离开贝弗利山庄的梅丽达回到豪宅并用十字弓射杀了在希卡普身后的丧尸，最终成功帮助一行人逃脱。

物品/武器

- 金属弓箭：梅丽达的个人物品，因为青少年时期经历过系统训练而基本百发百中，迫不���已近战时也能派上些用场

- 十字弓：原本放在麦葛芬庄园的仓库中，后来因为使用起来顺手且高效而变成梅丽达的专属武器

- 卡宾枪：比较轻便的步枪，梅丽达经常用于远战，对协助杰克清除掉他盲点区的敌人有很大的帮助

- 猎枪：不得已的情况下会使用，不是很方便携带但梅丽达用起来较为顺手

弗吉尼亚→芝加哥线大纲

在很久之后，四人成功到达弗吉尼亚时，他们发现整个州的病毒爆发现象没有西部城市那么严重，也许是地广人稀的缘故，丧尸数量尽管也很多，但并没有几人想象中那么糟糕。梅丽达很快便找到了自己家，却发现整个房子都一片狼藉，窗户和阳台玻璃碎了一地，厨房周遭的刀子和血迹表明这里一定发生过激烈的斗争。在找遍整个房子都没看见任何人或者尸体的痕迹后，大家很快便意识到丹布洛奇家除了梅丽达以外很可能已经全军覆没了，梅丽达看着破碎在地的家庭合照沉默了许久，接着她带着几人一起破入了她父亲的武器库，除了父亲最爱的雷明顿700和Mac 10冲锋枪以外其他所有的枪支都还安然无恙地摆放在武器库里，几人把有用的物品搜刮了个遍后便踏上了前往芝加哥的旅程。

中途希卡普犹豫了很久是否要带着无牙一起离开队伍并自己去明尼苏达建立属于他们的家，几人在郊外一家废弃酒店过夜时一起给希卡普办了个简单的送别仪式，喝了酒后的梅丽达和杰克甚至说要把希卡普绑在车的副驾驶上好让他无法离开，在安排两人睡去后，负责守夜的乐佩则把她在芝加哥的目的地址写给了希卡普，并告诉他如果他改主意了欢迎他随时再来找他们，那晚没牙也在乐佩膝上枕了一夜。

第二天几人拥抱告别，希卡普带着无牙一起驶向了明尼苏达，而其他三人则一并往芝加哥前进着。在笔记本中记录着的，葛朵的老友是一位代号为”Pitch“的人，并且地址所指的方向正是芝加哥市立医院。众人艰难地闯入医院，并在一间单独的病房中找到了Pitch，乐佩从他那里得知这间医院的病理室里有这个国家零号病人的血液样本，并把芝加哥第一天的情形讲述了一遍。乐佩听后因为认定零号病人的信息能帮助他们研究出终止一切的对策而决定独自前往病理室拿取血液样本，杰克和梅丽达完全不把她的话当一回事并擅自决定要和她一起去，Pitch觉得他们好笑的同时也决定帮助他们，他为他们草拟了一张医院的地图并指明了病理室的区域。三人几乎是千辛万苦去到在医院另一头的病理室不料科室的门是指纹认证的，情急之下门突然自己打开了，三人成功将丧尸们��绝在门外。正当几人疑惑时，病理室内的对讲机突然响了，里面传出的是希卡普的声音——他和无牙在决定回到他们这个大家庭后成功潜入了医院的监控室并黑进了这里的控制系统。成功拿到血清样本后的几人去到控制室和希卡普一起回到Pitch的病房中，发现他的病房也快要沦陷，临走前Pitch说现在全世界最安全的地方莫过于耶路撒冷，他委婉提到了耶路撒冷早在病毒爆发前就做好了强大的防范措施，并听说他们建立了名为Limbo的高墙并成功阻挡了丧尸的入侵。乐佩让Pitch和他们一起走，但他因为女儿已经离世，他早就没有什么继续抗争的念头了因此让他们赶快离开。最终众人拼命逃出被包围的病房，乐佩在逃跑过程中回头看向Pitch，目睹了排山倒海的丧尸群体无视般地直接绕过了他的景象让她惊诧。

四人拼命逃上了车，却不料在车门还没关上时一些丧尸袭来并咬到了希卡普的小腿，随后大家立刻关上门成功离开了丧尸群。在发现他腿被咬伤后的杰克在众人十分紧张的状态下二话不说立刻将他的腿斩断，乐佩见状马上用布条裹住希卡普的腿防止他出血过多，同时嘴里边数着十五秒。梅丽达将她的剑柄放到希卡普嘴里防止他在剧痛下咬到舌头，时间一秒秒地过去，杰克颤抖着将手枪抵在希卡普脑袋上，最终十五秒到了后大家发现希卡普并没有被感染而松了口气，乐佩当即就为他用酒精消毒并开始包扎，杰克说也许他就不该回来找他们，希卡普面色苍白地摸了摸没牙，说他倒觉得和他们在一起更安全些。

杰克在不久后成功联系上诺斯并试图询问他是否有任何关于这场病毒的消息，诺斯有些委婉的态度让杰克有所察觉，他立刻告知诺斯他的队伍有零号病人的血清样本，并且他本人的实战经验也让他可以继续在他麾下做事，唯一的条件就是让诺斯派人把他们带到耶路撒冷的limbo里去。电话那头的诺斯听后沉默了片刻，并承诺他一小时后会联系他们。

一小时后，诺斯发来消息指明明天日出时他的人会在克利夫兰终端塔等着他们。在到达克利夫兰后，四人带上了他们所有剩余的物件和武器，把厚杂志环绕贴在双臂和双腿周围并做好了一鼓作气而上的准备。在日出时，四人竭尽全力摆脱丧尸群的穷追不舍，来接他们的直升机近在咫尺，希卡普用他的火弩来告诉直升机驾驶员们他们的方位。梅丽达在斩杀丧尸的过程中不慎让它们的血液溅到嘴里，几人冲上塔顶后梅丽达直奔悬崖般的塔顶边缘做好了随时坠落的准备，乐佩见状本慌忙地想去阻止却被梅丽达制止了，她闭上双眼默数着十五秒，并因为最终没有感染而成功搭上了直升机。

众人逃过一劫般地终于来到了耶路撒冷的limbo高墙内，乐佩和血清样本被带去见存活下来的WHO病毒学家，诺斯把杰克编排入守卫队去保护高墙周围，希卡普带着没牙被送去做了截肢的后续治疗，而梅丽达则在高墙的某个帐篷里见到了自己存活下来的三个弟弟。

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然鹅耶路撒冷也依然不是终点...limbo之后还有很多但还没码完...如果将来有人看的话再说？

以及因为迪士尼皮克斯梦工厂总部都在加州所以设定他们几个的伊始之日都在加州w