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rainbowfic2023-11-29 10:18 am
wallwalker) wrote in rainbowfic2023-11-29 10:18 am
Psychedelic Purple 28, Blackstar 4 - Spring Break
Name: Spring Break
Colors: Psychedelic Purple 28. beneath this mask I am wearing a frown, Blackstar 4. As the pain sweeps through, Makes no sense for you. Every thrill is gone. → As the World Falls Down (Labyrinth)
Supplies and Styles: Chiaroscuro, Gesso (character from TRPG campaign I'm in,) Modeling Clay (Oatmeal), Photography
Word Count: 1544
Rating: PG-13
Warnings (click): Violence, delusional narrator, mention of zombies.
Notes (click): Backstory for a zombie-based TRPG - it's not immediately obvious for in-character reasons.
Summary: A doctor who needed a vacation finds himself camping in the forests near Portland, and (to his surprise) sharing it with ahorde crowd of students on Spring Break.
---
Patrick simply hadn’t expected Portland to be so crowded!
He’d gone jogging for a while on one of the local trails that went through the woods, just to get away from the crowds. As a doctor, he always tried to set a good example. He didn’t run without taking a bottle of water, and he took breaks when he felt like he was too tired. It was important to have an active lifestyle, but too many people just overdid it.
Not that he was really being an example to anyone, since he was alone. No one else had been in the woods with him the entire time; he’d honestly enjoyed the quiet, looking around at the woods, amusing himself by finding plants that he recognized from his old foraging classes. Apparently the crowds of spring breakers didn’t care for the forest.
Why were there so many of them, anyway? He figured they’d be off on the beach, not hanging out in a riverport in Oregon. But then again, who knew why kids did what they did?Oh God, there was so much Not him.
They wouldn’t even let him say- He didn’t have any kids, so how would he know?
---
Eventually he had to leave the forest. It just seemed like a waste, foraging for food with so many shops and restaurants nearby. As long as he stayed clear of the crowds, he’d be fine. Easier said than done, but he’d started learning to recognize the sounds ofscreams and growls raucous parties, and knew how to stay clear.
It wasn’t that he hated teens, or college students, or anything else. He’d been one himself for a great many years, and Spring Break had been one of the few chances he'd had to let off steam. He hadn't had time for parties with his pre-med course load. Ironically, medical school had actually been easier. By then he knew what to expect.
Being a doctor had been worth it, though, even if he’d had to argue with more and more parents about whether or not vaccines were safe and whether or not it was all right to feed their babies essential oils instead. (They were, it wasn’t, and in the end he’d started refusing to treat new patients unless they agreed on the standard recommended vaccine schedules.) Helping miserable little kids smile again was worth it - and yeah, it sounded cheesy, but it was true. Maybe he was just a big sentimental fool.
Was that why it hadn’t worked with Cara? He’d wondered sometimes.That horrible look on her face, the bared teeth... She’d gotten awfully angry when he spent too much time working. He’d tried to talk to her, had even promised that in a few years, when his practice was established, they could have a baby. He guessed it hadn’t been enough. Her long blonde hair was matted with -
But there wasn’t much point in worrying about old ex-wives, was there? Maybe she’d found someone else who made her happy. He hoped so.
---
It took him a while to find a gas station that was empty enough to suit him. The man at the front counter was out - probably busy with the crowds - and most of the water and food was gone, but he managed to find some blue sports drink and pre-packaged soft oatmeal cookies. Not the healthiest option - and it made him really crave some actual hot oatmeal - but it was something to eat, and meant he didn’t have to go foraging or dip into his emergency supplies.. Besides, he could sympathize with supply chain troubles. It had made his practice very difficult in the past two years.Trucks overturned on the road, or drivers leaving the cabs to run but there was nowhere to go -
He couldn’t really blame all of the kids for coming to Portland for Spring Break; he’d done the same. He’d kept hearing about beautiful riverside views and forests, and it made him think about how much he missed hiking. So he’d gone for a vacation, leaving the practice in the hands of his nurseswho were all gone now, because there was nothing that medicine could do anyway, so what was the point?
Now that he was there, well, maybe it wasn’t the best choice he could’ve made. But he’d make the most of it.
He left the money on the counter. They’d see it sooner or lateras if it mattered anymore.
---
His RV was in the woods. It wasn’t very good anymore, didn’t always run on command, but it was still a place to sleep.He couldn’t start the engine; they’d hear him. He’d set it up to be a decent home away from home and concealed it as best he could without offering too many of its comforts. The whole point of this trip was to rough it a little, get away from it all.
Hopefully none of thehordes of Spring Break crowd would decide to take a hike. They didn’t like forests as much, no guarantee of food, and it made it harder to stay together. He’d hear them coming - he’d done this kind of thing before - but he still didn’t want to deal with the company; he just wanted a chance to clear his head!
He sat back in the vehicle, sipping from the bottle of tangy blue water and taking a small nibble from a cookie from time to time. He didn’t keep much food on him at any one time; he knew that it could attractbandits bears if he wasn’t careful.
As much as he missed his ex-wife at times, he was glad he was free to do this sort of thing. This was the kind of thing that a married man would have some trouble doing, going off into the woods on his own. Definitely made it easier to be awidower bachelor...
It was getting late; he’d been out and about all day. Time to get some sleep, he thought. He double-checked the doors to make sure they were lockedas if it mattered, they’d get in if they found him, sooner or later before wrapping himself up in a blanket on the old mattress, drifting off to sleep....
---
Those “special officers” had gunned his family down in front of his eyes.
He and his wife Cara had gone up to the University to visit their son. It was a surprise visit, meant to coincide with Morris’s arrival back on campus; he’d gone off to a beach in California over Spring Break. Cara had been worried with all the rumors of this mysterious superbug floating around, but Patrick knew that sometimes a kid needed a chance to let loose. He certainly had needed it more than a few times, back in Med school....
Five days. That was how long ago his son had been infected. He’d had no idea, thought it was just a drunken crazy, he hadn’t looked like one of the infected people they’d warned him about. Besides, for most people the change was nearly instant, and he still looked... normal when they first saw him on campus. He didn’t know if it was because his son had a good immune system, or if he’d gotten a weak strain that had needed time to strengthen inside of its host. It wouldn’t have mattered; there wasn’t a cure for any stage of exposure. If he’d reported the bite they would’ve isolated him, then killed him....
He’d stepped back to take a picture of the two of them, mother and son, when the worst of the effects hit his son’s brain. He’d watched his son with terror in his eyes, just before something had snapped in him and he’d gone for his mother’s arm. He’d watched Cara’s face go from fear to anger, a horrific snarl - it had been almost instant for her.
He’d never forget it - Cara and Morris, both lying in front of him, faces twisted, hair falling from their scalps and skin already starting to go gray. They found them almost immediately - apparently someone else had come off of his son’s flight with the infection, and they were tracing them. They’d pushed him away as they prepared to burn the bodies. They hadn’t let him say goodbye.
He couldn’t live with it. It was just... easier... to pretend.
---
Patrick woke up to the sounds of dawn, birds singing in the trees. He shook his head to clear it; if he’d dreamed the night before, he’d forgotten.
Of course he’d dreamed of it. It was all he dreamed about.
Back to his little getaway, he thought, stretching. He would change clothes - eventually he’d have to find a way to wash them, he thought, but that wasn’t a priority yet. He’d stay in the forest today, he thought; he could always forage for food, and he’d grabbed enough bottles to last him a day or so if he was careful.
Yes, this was good. He’d always loved camping.And these woods were as good a place to die as anywhere else.
Colors: Psychedelic Purple 28. beneath this mask I am wearing a frown, Blackstar 4. As the pain sweeps through, Makes no sense for you. Every thrill is gone. → As the World Falls Down (Labyrinth)
Supplies and Styles: Chiaroscuro, Gesso (character from TRPG campaign I'm in,) Modeling Clay (Oatmeal), Photography
Word Count: 1544
Rating: PG-13
Warnings (click): Violence, delusional narrator, mention of zombies.
Notes (click): Backstory for a zombie-based TRPG - it's not immediately obvious for in-character reasons.
Summary: A doctor who needed a vacation finds himself camping in the forests near Portland, and (to his surprise) sharing it with a
---
Patrick simply hadn’t expected Portland to be so crowded!
He’d gone jogging for a while on one of the local trails that went through the woods, just to get away from the crowds. As a doctor, he always tried to set a good example. He didn’t run without taking a bottle of water, and he took breaks when he felt like he was too tired. It was important to have an active lifestyle, but too many people just overdid it.
Not that he was really being an example to anyone, since he was alone. No one else had been in the woods with him the entire time; he’d honestly enjoyed the quiet, looking around at the woods, amusing himself by finding plants that he recognized from his old foraging classes. Apparently the crowds of spring breakers didn’t care for the forest.
Why were there so many of them, anyway? He figured they’d be off on the beach, not hanging out in a riverport in Oregon. But then again, who knew why kids did what they did?
---
Eventually he had to leave the forest. It just seemed like a waste, foraging for food with so many shops and restaurants nearby. As long as he stayed clear of the crowds, he’d be fine. Easier said than done, but he’d started learning to recognize the sounds of
It wasn’t that he hated teens, or college students, or anything else. He’d been one himself for a great many years, and Spring Break had been one of the few chances he'd had to let off steam. He hadn't had time for parties with his pre-med course load. Ironically, medical school had actually been easier. By then he knew what to expect.
Being a doctor had been worth it, though, even if he’d had to argue with more and more parents about whether or not vaccines were safe and whether or not it was all right to feed their babies essential oils instead. (They were, it wasn’t, and in the end he’d started refusing to treat new patients unless they agreed on the standard recommended vaccine schedules.) Helping miserable little kids smile again was worth it - and yeah, it sounded cheesy, but it was true. Maybe he was just a big sentimental fool.
Was that why it hadn’t worked with Cara? He’d wondered sometimes.
But there wasn’t much point in worrying about old ex-wives, was there? Maybe she’d found someone else who made her happy. He hoped so.
---
It took him a while to find a gas station that was empty enough to suit him. The man at the front counter was out - probably busy with the crowds - and most of the water and food was gone, but he managed to find some blue sports drink and pre-packaged soft oatmeal cookies. Not the healthiest option - and it made him really crave some actual hot oatmeal - but it was something to eat, and meant he didn’t have to go foraging or dip into his emergency supplies.. Besides, he could sympathize with supply chain troubles. It had made his practice very difficult in the past two years.
He couldn’t really blame all of the kids for coming to Portland for Spring Break; he’d done the same. He’d kept hearing about beautiful riverside views and forests, and it made him think about how much he missed hiking. So he’d gone for a vacation, leaving the practice in the hands of his nurses
Now that he was there, well, maybe it wasn’t the best choice he could’ve made. But he’d make the most of it.
He left the money on the counter. They’d see it sooner or later
---
His RV was in the woods. It wasn’t very good anymore, didn’t always run on command, but it was still a place to sleep.
Hopefully none of the
He sat back in the vehicle, sipping from the bottle of tangy blue water and taking a small nibble from a cookie from time to time. He didn’t keep much food on him at any one time; he knew that it could attract
As much as he missed his ex-wife at times, he was glad he was free to do this sort of thing. This was the kind of thing that a married man would have some trouble doing, going off into the woods on his own. Definitely made it easier to be a
It was getting late; he’d been out and about all day. Time to get some sleep, he thought. He double-checked the doors to make sure they were locked
---
---
Patrick woke up to the sounds of dawn, birds singing in the trees. He shook his head to clear it; if he’d dreamed the night before, he’d forgotten.
Back to his little getaway, he thought, stretching. He would change clothes - eventually he’d have to find a way to wash them, he thought, but that wasn’t a priority yet. He’d stay in the forest today, he thought; he could always forage for food, and he’d grabbed enough bottles to last him a day or so if he was careful.
Yes, this was good. He’d always loved camping.
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