#wanderingaroundwithoutmysoul

[thechxckmxte]

When Kaplan thought of JD, he could always remember how the raven haired male always seemed to wear a smile on his face. And yet, that smile always seemed to increase in size when he was in the company of Rain.

In his eyes, the two had an unmistakable bond that many could envy. They could argue like cat and dog, give it to each other as good as the other but when the situation came to it, they’d fight Hell itself to protect each other and they did. But only one made it out.

A part of Kaplan wanted to offer some ill conceived assurance, perhaps tell her that JD would be thankful she set him free of the virus. But would the phrasing just be too off?

Hearing her confession about what happened in that room before he fried the Red Queen, a small part of him couldn’t help but be surprised. He always considered her to be someone so fiery, so stubborn that not even death itself could have her. Hearing that she was ready to die, it was disheartening.

But then his mind went to The Hive itself, how it felt to feel teeth rip into the flesh of his leg and arm, have those various sets of teeth snap at him so hungrily that all he could do was scream and fight. He remembered that even he considered that choice as well and for a moment, actually turned the gun on himself. He just couldn’t in the end.

In that moment, Kaplan’s frame shifted and he took a seat beside his comrade, offering a weak smile. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad they didn’t,” he admitted. “I don’t want to be the only one of our squad. . .If you know what I mean.”

Her later words made him nod as Kaplan had arrived to the same idea himself. “I was thinking that too.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for how things went down. I. . . I wish I listened to that fucking computer.”

— @thechxckmxte

If Kaplan had told Rain that immediately following the incident, she probably would've replied with two words, as sharp as the snap of a mousetrap: "Save it."

Rain didn't blame him for what happened that night, though. She never did. Not really. If she did, she wouldn't have told him to get up on the pipes before her, leaving her alone in the horde of undead flooding into the tunnels. She wouldn't have blasted a hole in the zombie that bit straight into the meat of his calf. She wouldn't have tried to help him when he fell, though her deteriorating vision made that nearly impossible, anyway. Instead, Rain would've tried to punch his clock the moment they first found refuge from the outbreak.

Kaplan was a friend. He always would be. Had Rain ever explicitly told him that before? Probably not. That bordered on mushy, in her opinion. She didn't like that.

"Don't you go apologizin' to me." She took a deep breath, flexing her fingers from where they were resting on her biceps. "...You know unnecessary 'sorry's bug the hell outta me, man."

"You were tryin' to complete the mission. I know damn well that if I were in your position, that's what I would've done." The exact details of what happened in the Red Queen's chamber were still largely unknown to Rain. She wasn't sure if wanted them. "You never could've guessed what was behind those doors. And hell, who'd trust a goddamn word from a machine that just went ahead and killed about five hundred people in one fell swoop?"

"I'm pretty sure that bitch was set on killin' all of us the moment we set foot down there." Her voice grew harder. "Y'know that ugly motherfucker that attacked the train? She didn't mention that thing because she wanted it to surprise us. Right before you showed up again, it was trying to get into the lab and she wanted Matt and Alice to kill me in exchange for the door code. If it weren't for you showing up... You wouldn't be talking to me right now because I wouldn't have a head on my damn shoulders."