He didn't respond immediately, in fact he had an unusual gut feeling about the situation that he couldn't quite put his finger on just yet. The constant normal questions being fired his way were throwing him but he knew better than to trust anybody anymore. It was literally life or death out here and he knew better than to give in to his human nature right now if he wanted to make it back to the community today. "Huh?" He yelled back in confusion, eyebrows furrowed in confusion before snapping back to the reality of the situation. "I don't need your help." He called out sternly, "I am not alone. I have people. I have a girlfriend." All things were true but they didn't relate to this specific situation or the house they were in right now.
He heard the clunk of the knife hitting the ground, the noise causing him to slowly peak over the bannister to try and catch a glimpse of her and the knife on the ground. "What the fuck is going on?" He whispered to himself, the situation was causing confusion and he didn't know how to act anymore. The voice.. her voice seemed all too familair. "What.. what is your name?" He asked sounding a little unsure in himself as he slowly slipped the knife back in the sheath, he wasn't sure if he was going to regret that choice. Gabe stepped towards the stairs for a better look at who it could be that he was speaking with, not fully showing himself yet just in case there were some surprises like a potential gun or more people.
The mention of his people, of his girlfriend, made Emine look around the house once more from where she stood. A wave of confusion washed over her face, from the way that they answered her questions, they weren't really getting anywhere further from where they had started this interaction. "You and your people and your girlfriend all live here? In this house?" She very clearly wasn't getting it. But still, she didn't want to be seen as a threat, she couldn't be. She was just a school teacher from California, she needed people to know there was still good out here, even if it was just her.
Until he asked her what her name was. That was the first time as she stood on those stairs that she considered lying to him. She knew that she wasn't dangerous, but how could she say that same thing for him? She could go with something simple, she thought, Emily was close to Emine. Or maybe just say Em, it wasn't technically a lie because that was what her boyfriend used to call her. A boyfriend that was a lot closer than she even knew. "Em." She called up the stairwell, shaking her head at herself. "Well, it's Emine but my boyfriend calls me Em."
Not a threat. Yeah right. That's what they all say and then suddenly they have a knife to your throat as their friends are removing everything you found on the hunt from your backpack as you watch. He'd been through these scenarios multiple times in the last two months and he would be damned if he was caught on the receiving end of it today. Those two water bottles would be coming home with him today as his prize.
"What?" He scrunched his eyebrows at their question, he couldn't remember the last time somebody asked him if he was hurt that wasn't from him community. He tiptoed towards the bannister to see if he could sneak a glimpse of the person over it but it seemed they weren't close enough. "No, I'm not hurt. Listen to me you have 4 minutes now to get the fuck out otherwise I'm coming down there." He threatened once more. "This whole place is booby trapped, if you don't leave it's either me that gets you or the traps you will stumble into." He was lying. There were no traps, at least none that he had set up anyway.
The way that the 'what' came out of his mouth sounded so human, so familiar to her. In situations like this, Emine had always been the first one out of there. She knew better than to push against people in todays world. But standing there on the step, a stranger above her, there was something inside of her that was begging her not to go. Not to leave him. "Do you live here?" Her question ignoring all other threats and comments the man had made. She turned her head to glance over her shoulder at the mess of the abandoned house they both stood in.
"I'm sorry if I've intruded into your space or something, but listen, we have a community that could help you. You don't have to be on your own like this." If there was anything she could come out with, it was that she helped someone today. She wanted to take another step up the stairs, get a look at the man who viewed her as a threat. But what if he was right? What if she tripped a wire being curious and never made it back to the team? The next thing she did was stupid, so very stupid. Emine threw down her knife, her only weapon, onto part of the stair landing, "I told you I'm not a threat."
OPEN STARTER | LOCATION 02: Children's Wing/Library
The past two months had worn Nathan down in ways he hadn't expected. Days blurred together beneath the constant hum of generators and fluorescent lights, each one ending exactly where it began. Inside Saint Marlowe. He'd asked more than once to join the scavenging teams, always receiving the same answer. Not yet. He couldn't entirely blame the soldiers. He caught the hesitant glances they exchanged before politely turning him away. He understood some. Nathan looked like he'd snap in a strong breeze, and he knew his nervous habit of wringing his hands probably didn't inspire much confidence either. They weren't trying to be cruel. If anything, they were trying to keep him alive. Still, it was hard not to feel like another patient trapped inside the hospital.
Saint Marlowe had its own rhythm now, one Nathan couldn't seem to escape. Boots echoed down hallways at all hours. Radios crackled somewhere in the distance. Sometimes, when the building settled for the night, something else echoed through the sealed floors the military insisted everyone avoid. He'd gone looking more than once despite the warnings, curiosity always getting the better of him, though he'd never ventured far enough to satisfy it. Eventually, he'd accepted that the best thing he could do was what he'd always done best... make himself useful. The children's playroom had slowly transformed into a makeshift library. The shelves filled with every anything he could rescue from abandoned waiting rooms and offices. It wasn't much compared to the library he'd left behind, but people came anyway. Sometimes for a book. Sometimes just for a quiet place to sit and pretend the world still made sense.
He was shelving another stack of books abandoned by a group of children who had been far more interested in playing tag than reading when someone appeared in the doorway. Nathan glanced up, offering the same warm smile he always tried to wear, even when it felt a little borrowed. "H-Hi," he greeted. "Looking for something to read?" His eyes drifted toward the shelves before a sheepish smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "My selection's... honestly limited. Turns out hospitals stock an alarming number of romance novels." A quiet laugh escaped him as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Not that I'm judging. Desperate times and all."
Ever since Emine had found this place, been forced to make home somewhere that never felt like home, there was something off that she never could quite place. Maybe it was the way the place creaked, or the way that the people whispered to each other that felt like secrets she would never know. No matter what it was about the change of scenery here, it kept her awake. She tried sleeping at night, she tried sleeping during the day. There was always the panic awakening after a few hours. She never felt safe.
During this almost sleepless time, she often found herself wandering. She wanted to know more, she wanted to be as prepared as she could be and with not a lot to offer fighting wise, she would at least know every corner and speck of her 'home'. That's how she knew she'd find him here. Among the books. "Always looking for something to read." She smiled at him warmly, "You know, anything to kill the time or make me feel.. normal?" Emine scooped up a copy of a childrens book on the floor nearby where she stood, looking over the cover carefully before extending her arm out to hand it over to Nathan. "I used to read this one to my class. It feels like years ago, but really I had just read it a few months back."
Gabe had to get out of the community everyone once in a while, he was thankful for the safety of the walls but it really did make him feel like he was going insane sometimes. There was nothing natural about the way they lived, there was nothing normal about military maintaining the walls.. or the walls being barricaded by sandbags or abandoned vehicles. Leaving every now and again to look for supplies and make him feel as though he was doing his part really helped clear his mind. Todays location was the nearby abandoned neighorhoods.
Searching through peoples empy homes felt odd. This used to be where people were making memories and growing their families, living their everyday life and now their things were just left behind for others to decide whether or not their belongings where useful to them. Gabe was searching through one of the bedrooms in a home, a bedroom that looked like it used to belong to a teenager at some point, when his hand reached underneath the bed to grab what looked like two sealed water bottles. He froze in place when he heard what sounded like footsteps down stairs.
"You have 5 minutes to leave otherwise I come down there and kill you." His hand reaching down to his belt to grab his knife, he was hoping it was an empty threat but these days.. you just never know.
It wasn't often that you would find Emine outside of what she considered the safety of the community she now lived in. She didn't feel she had much to offer outside anymore, her teacher skills were nothing when it came to surviving in the broken place that was once her home. But it wasn't in her nature to turn down the chance to be helpful, even if it left her feeling vulnerable to whatever could be lurking in the corners of the world now.
So far in her search, she had come up empty handed. It always felt like that was the case for Emine whenever she went out with the group, they always found more than she did. It left her feeling useless, but never something that she was express. She had to be the light, she had to provide something. She knew that the group would be meeting back up together again soon to go back to their community, and if she wasn't going to bring anything back with her, she would at least enjoy her favorite part of this all.
Her eyes scanning over each wall carefully, trying to memorize the faces of each person in every photo. She wondered who they were, who they are now, if they even are someone anymore. Her fingers trailed along the staircase railing as she took the first step, the creak it made hadn't even phased her until the voice above came through clear enough to send shivers down her spine. She had never run into another outside of her community before. "I-.. I'm not a threat, I promise. Are you alone? Are you hurt up there?"
Is that EMINE KARTAL? Before the outbreak, the 29-year-old worked as a KINDERGARTEN TEACHER. Those who have crossed paths with them describe them as CLEVER, though pressure often reveals their EMPATHETIC nature. They are often associated with WILDFLOWERS TUCKED IN HER HAIR, AN EMPTY STARE WHEN NO ONE IS LOOKING, QUIET SINGING EARLY IN THE MORNING.
NAMEย emine deniz kartal. ย NICKNAMESย em. ZODIACย aquarius.ย BIRTHDAYย feb 3rd.ย GENDERย cisย female.ย PRONOUNSย she/her.ย PLACEย OFย BIRTHย california.ย SEXUALITYย pansexual.ย ย OCCUPATIONย former kindergarten teacher.ย AESTHETICSย refined yet reckless, freshly sharpened knives, stormy nights, chaotic undertones, old books, quiet confidence, black cashmere, fresh flowers, soft-spoken danger ETHNICITYย turkish.ย EYESย deep brown with caramel highlights.ย HAIRย dark brown wavy hair.ย HEIGHTย 5'7.ย BUILDย slim, feminine.ย SCENTย smellsย likeย a hint of berries.ย ALLERGIESย none.ย LANGUAGES english and turkish. HOBBIES organizing anything and everything, sketching people and things in her journal, writing letters to never send, bird watching, arranging wildflowers for decoration, teaching the children something new everyday, keeping a small library alive for young and old, braiding peoples hair, naming the wild animals ย HABITSย always carrying a bandage or two, keeping kids drawings hung up on the walls, counts heads every time she goes in a room, tucks flowers in her hair and other peoples, insists on routines, tilts her head when she is thinking, talks to the plants when watering them, says 'good job' to everyone. ALIGNMENTย neutral good.ย ย ELEMENTย air.
BEFORE THE OUTBREAK โ
trigger warnings n/a
if sunshine was human form it was born feb. 3rd to the kartal family in the shape of emine. ever since she was a little girl, emine cared about everything and everyone. she grew up close with her sibling, close with her parents, and close with the world.
her parents were turkish immigrants, who barely spoke english and emine made her mission when she was a child to teach them. the first time that teaching spark really lit up for her.
when emine was a teenager, she kept that same light in her. she volunteered for anything she could in school and in the community. on top of that, she played sports and worked a part time job to help with the bills at home (even when she was told she didn't need to).
after high school, emine went on to get her degree in teaching and continue giving back to her community in anyway that she could. she had dated here and there, never able to really cling to something serious because she had always knew what she wanted in life and it didn't stop with love.
it wasn't until she met gabriel that she really fell for the first time. she became a hopeless romantic with him, through love letters and silly little gifts and arranging a pinterest board for their future life. emine thought that she had it all, and she did, until the outbreak happened.
AFTER THE OUTBREAK โ
emine was quietly grading papers in her apartment when things went to shit. she had been hearing things lately, but tried her best to distract her mind from it all because underneath it all, emine had a tendency to get nervous and anxious when things became out of order.
her sibling had burst into her apartment that night, barely giving emine any time to really think about what she should be packing in her bag before abandoning her entire life behind.
all emine could think about and talk about was gabriel once they got into the car, but they both knew that they had to reach their parents first. when they got to their childhood home, it was empty. when they got to gabriels place, it was empty. emine was heartbroken. but emine knew she had no choice but to keep going.
they ended up stumbling upon a small group of people also looking to get out and survive and stuck with them for a bit. a few weeks later, they found the place they would now call their home. emine still has hope her parents and love are out there somewhere.
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