Last Savant Standing

The problem with quotes on the internet is that they are often not true. Taeil Park . 17 . Student

[taeil--park-blog]

                                          “Luck does not strike twice.”

Apparently, that was today’s lesson for the South Korean after mother nature knocked him off his feet in a rather ungraceful manner for the second time this week. He might have escaped the first round of quake perfectly unscathed, but at the moment, there was a salmon sculpture about three times the size of his calf crushing his ankle and basically pinning him to the ground, unsheltered.

Excruciating groan of pain fell past his gritted teeth until it was cut short by a familiar metallic noise.

Clickers.

Well, maybe he wasn’t that unfortunate, after all — having a chance to spot the enemies before he did anything that might risk his survival had proven to spare his life up to this point and Taeil couldn’t be more grateful. However, unless he could somehow drag his body to a safer hideout soon, the boy realized it wouldn’t take long for those predators to notice his presence and eventually feed on whatever little meat left attached to his scrawny bones.

That was when ebony irises met another pair of eyes.

Pressing right forefinger against delicate lips, the former student gestured at his potential rescuer to stay quiet. This could be his only hope to escape the tight situation in one piece, so they’d better not screw it up.

[theremaining-blog2]

Separated from the loved ones, the groups attempt to get back to the base and repair the base. For those away from the base, they have collected what needed and are heading back to the base, to see the damage done. Those at the base are working tirelessly. However, things never seem to go as planned.

Location: Outside the Museum The walls are slowly being rebuilt, the few clickers that straggle in are easily taken care of. Until a nearby building collapses, the sound reverberating through the entire city, and drawing the attention to the living and the dead. The Park soon becomes overridden with clickers, the last defense those who stand at the wall.

Location: Within the Museum, Trapped The barriers around the museum were not the only things that crumbled. The brick fro the museum peeled back in places, revealing large holes. As the building fell, and the numbers of the Infected grew, a few slipped past the defense and now lurk about the Museum, looking for their human prey.

[sidecarsnaffle]

Dust rose into the air lazily, a sharp contrast from the earlier moments of thundering activity from the earth. People had ducked under whatever surface that they could, and nothing was heard by shaking and bumping. She was reminded of the bombs that had been dropped, and her eyes shut tightly, muttering whispers to a deity that had yet to consider her. She was rooted to the floor for a moment after the worse of it was over, still feeling like there was more to come, another wave of activity that would shake the museum clean to the ground. When nothing happened, she slid out from her place under an archway and moved about, checking to see if anyone else was living.

“Everyone okay?” Her voice drifted through the rubble and dust as she let out a tiny cough and pulled her sweater tighter over her frame. She was seeking anyone, anyone alive that could shed some light on the current situation. Her head was foggy, still fighting the elated heartbeat and fear that had taken her moments earlier. “Hello?”

[taeil--park-blog]

Had his parents been here, they would’ve known what to do.

Had his parents been here, they would’ve kept him safe.

They had been born in a land of natural disasters; they could’ve easily brushed this one off their shoulders, too.

Unfortunately for the last remnants of humanity, life was not a kind entity. It took, and took, and took from them, mercilessly — until they were stripped off all strands of hope to keep going and die with nothing but memories.

Today was no different. While peace had never meant to stick around since the beginning — given their circumstances, how it bid farewell always came in the most unforeseen ways. Those long, sleepless nights of building defenses, wiring makeshift sources up to turn the power on, and unending work to take care of their tired bodies eventually shattered before their eyes as divine intervention shook their world upside down in a calamitous quake.

And suddenly, people were already running in panic — exactly like how it had been the very first moment the virus had broken loose.

“Everyone okay?”

A familiar voice echoed from the distance when the earth finally stopped rumbling. It was a funny question, he thought initially — because even if they survived in one piece, who would be completely fine in such chaotic situation? Taeil appreciated her effort to ensure the community’s well-being, though, and left his safe hideout under the main table in the kitchen after she called out the second time.

“Sorry, I—” it was very typical of him to quickly stutter as soon as he opened his mouth. “I can’t speak for the rest of the group, since... Well, as you can see, I’m alone here,” he breathed out a nervous chuckle, “But yeah, I believe I’m good, thanks. You?”

[dianaxsurvivor-deactivated20160]

She had always been okay with blood. It never made her pass out. She never feared needles or surgery. When she fell and tore her skin, most of the time, Diana laughed. Her distaste for blood came when she saw it daily, whether hanging from the clickers’ mouths or in the dead, injured, or dying. Hunter had lost a lot of blood. A few millimeters upward in his leg and the bullet would have pierced through a major artery. Then his chances would have slimmed down to near one percent. Without transfusions and coagulants, there would be no such thing as survival. Luckily, Diana didn’t have to face the worst and was able to leave the vicinity with only scarlet on her hands. She could get rid of that. She could watch it mix with the water in the sink before heading down the drain. She could say goodbye to the fear that had taken hold of her because the end result was positive. There may not be a God, but there was luck and it had sprinkled its magic before disappearing into nothingness. Diana hoped it would not be a stranger to the group of survivors stuck in the museum.

A voice caused Diana to turn, splattering a few droplets of water on the floor. She had seen the boy before – always keen to bring her a tray of food. She appreciated the gesture despite her appetite having been curbed with the stress of the past couple of days. He knew she wouldn’t have left Hunter alone to get it herself. In case anything bad happened, Diana wanted to be there.

“Taeil, right?” Diana said gently. “I’m fine, yes. It’s just been hectic. Ya’ get a lot of injuries in this world.”

[taeil--park-blog]

At the mention of ‘injuries’, Taeil’s worry escalated. The word didn’t make a sweet pair with ‘a lot’ and he certainly couldn’t just let Diana deal with her wounds alone, especially when they came in numbers. The fact that the brunette had spent a good amount of time inside didn’t do his nerve any favor and now he found himself peeking back and forth into the lavatory, even though all he could see was a marble wall separating the entrance and the innermost part of the room.

“You sure you don’t need my assistance?” he asked, hand scratching against his not-so-itchy scalp, “I’ll stay here until you’ve finished, okay?”

Offering company was, by far, the best he could do to help, given their situation. At least by doing so, he could make sure the woman was still alive and not lying in a pool of blood against the cold, hard floor. This was a method usually done by paramedics when they transported someone in critical condition: they carried on two-way communication to keep the patient’s consciousness intact. Taeil was no master of health and medicine in general, but such trivial information had always been his cup of tea whenever he’d surfed the internet before world peace had gone down the toilet.

“So that man you’ve been looking after. How did you two meet, if you don’t mind me asking?” Their profiles certainly didn’t resemble each other enough to make them siblings — although, what did he know? The South Korean was an only child and therefore, he’d never had to share similar facial features with anyone who wasn’t his parents, anyway.

[paige-elliot-blog]

The boy was practically startled into tripping over himself when Paige spoke up, and her smile softened into something a little more apologetic. The boy was young, but from what Paige had seen of him since arriving at the museum he seemed like a hard worker, an asset to the team, and that seemed to speak for the fact that he’d survived this long at all. She could only imagine how difficult it must be, thrust into this sort of situation as a teenager. Alone and afraid in a crumbling world.

It was hard enough for Paige, who had already been grappling with the fact that she would have to let go of everything she’d worked for, everything she’d loved. That day had come sooner rather than later for her – but she could not claim to have lost as much as everyone else, who’d had full lives ahead of them. Families they should have had more time with. What normal things had this young boy missed out on?

“Suit yourself,” she answered with an easy smile, ignoring his obvious nerves. Oftentimes that felt like the best way to go, to ignore the nerves and hope they went away on their own. Calling attention to them certainly never helped, so she tried to put him at ease instead, teasing gently, “I think you’d look dashing in pink, though.” Without leaving him too long to get embarrassed over that, she waved him over with her freshly painted hand and patted the ground beside her. “Want to keep me company for a bit?”

[taeil--park-blog]

Was that supposed to be a compliment? Or could she only mean to use it as an icebreaker?

Whatever the woman’s intention might be, human interaction remained an unsolved mystery to the boy. At least she seemed nice, though — a trait he’d thought had extincted along with their species. “Well...,” he stopped and shrugged, “...maybe I’ll reconsider if you have blue.” It was a lame shot, Taeil knew, but he still deserved a medal for trying to reciprocate the cordiality when he was under literally zero obligation to do so. A sudden realization hit him, however, as there was a chance she might take his words seriously and cause his plan to backfire. As much as he loved the color of the sky, he was still your typically conservative Asian male when it came to taking special treatment for his fingertips.

“Actually, that doesn’t sound like a good idea, either. Nail polish is, umm... You know, an effective electrical conductor. So... Yeah, it can give me troubles when I deal with power sources in case of blackouts later on,” in a hurried attempt to take his statement back, a lie slipped off Taeil’s tongue — not very smoothly, of course, since delivering fabricated commentary was against his principle as an engineer-wannabe. He didn’t deny that at times, such thing was, indeed, necessary; he just always felt incredibly uneasy performing it by himself.

When asked if he cared to keep the stranger company, the South Korean couldn’t help eyeing the spot she patted in hesitation. Although he didn’t mind spending time exchanging small talks with someone who clearly had the capacity to keep a conversation going, being in such close proximity with an opposite gender was another thing outside his comfort zone. Not to mention there had never been too many people asking for his presence in the past — unless you were a teacher or a bully who needed a free punching bag after school.

“Sure,” Taeil eventually nodded as he folded slender legs to sit across the blonde. “With all due respect, I believe it’s more convenient if we can see each other’s face while we speak,” he explained, not wanting his fellow to get the wrong impression. “So... Correct me if I’m mistaken, but this is the part where we introduce ourselves, right? My name’s Taeil, and you are...?”

[theremaining-blog2]

On the morning of December 13th, 2016, everything seemed to be fine. It was business as usual. The morning light faded away into a dreary afternoon, and then something odd started to happen. Water started to shake, walls ridded themselves of plaster, some crumbling beneath the vibrations. The city was shifting beneath their feet in the most powerful earthquake in what some might have dubbed history, if they could.

Power went down. Communication went down. Everyone knew that when they emerged from cover, things would be even worse than before. Each group of people that managed to find each other, each knew that they had something to find, a task to complete.

Location: Outside the Museum Task: Repair the Walls, Clear Debris from the Door, Gather Supplies Members:  Cristine, Jesse, Hunter, Emma, Marlon,  Athena, Luca, Elijah, Tobias, Paige,  Lance, Kathryn, Connor

Location: Within the Museum, Trapped Task: Get Communications and Electricity Up, fix the holes in the walls. Members: Aiden, Taeil, Thalia, Liam, Axel, Marigold, Tatum, Robert, Diana, Liadan, Rebecca, Persephone, Frankie,

Note: Be on the lookout for more plot drops along the way, for this is an involved event. This event starts TODAY, February 14th, and will end Sunday, February 28th. Use the tags trevent: location for tags.

[estellerozanov-deactivated20161]

Penelope was already taken with him and popped onto the chair next to him and grabbed his hand to look at his finger. “Daddy, it’s a burn, yep,” she confirmed with a knowing nod. Connor chuckled and nodded at his daughter’s confirmation. Gloves were in short supply, so he used a Q-Tip to ease some of the aloe vera out of a tube and asked his daughter, “Do you remember the Doctor Book? What image does it look like?” Glancing toward Taeil he said, “The Doctor Book is my old medical notes.”

“The first. I don’t think it’s second degree.” Her voice chirped and plopped back, pleased with herself. Connor walked over anyway and glanced. Sure enough, his daughter was right. She had recently become obsessed with his medical notes and demanded that he read her them as a bed time stories. If it wasn’t for the fact that the words were so huge and hard to pronounce, he would have made her read them to him. Instead, he asked other questions when they read, forcing her to read the easier words. Penny, I forgot what this word was. Every time she’d peek at it, and then tell him the word.

The boy in front of him didn’t look very old himself, but given that Connor himself had been very advanced he was going to give him shit about playing with electricity. Kid probably knew tenfold more than he did, and that was absolutely fine with him. He’d always been accepting of the fact that other people, no matter the age, were better and more knowledgeable than him at things. Plus, he’d managed to win his daughter in not point six seconds. She was pressing Willabe into his good hand and tell him all about the stuffed Wallaby.

Gently, Connor soothed the gel over his finger and retreated back to the supplies to squeeze some more into a small container. Handing it back to the boy, Connor smiled, “How old are you? If you don’t mind asking. You don’t seem that old, and to be an electrician, it’s impressive.”

[taeil--park-blog]

The sweet girl’s eyes gleaming with excitement as she actively engaged in the father-daughter discussion reminded the South Korean of his own experience with his old man. When he’d been a young, curious boy himself, Taeil had spent a lot of time having the late Mr. Park showing him all there’d been to know about the world. The role had eventually been passed to various search engines once little Taeil had discovered the internet, but nothing could’ve ever replaced what Kwang-min’s presence had always meant to his son. Even now that he’d been gone forever, Taeil continued to live in his legacy, with all those courteous Eastern values he’d learnt growing up.

“Your dad’s been teaching you well, I see,” he chuckled and gave Penny a proud pat on her head. The dark locks felt soft against his palm despite their lack of time to take care about such petty matters, a sign of how much the doctor had tried his best to look after his blood and flesh. Taeil almost didn’t wince at the chilling sensation from the applied aloe vera gel as the bubbly child kept him busy with her endless story about the wallaby-shaped doll.

“Ah, 17. Had my birthday just a few days before arriving here,” he answered without shifting his gaze from Penelope as she was still speaking — Taeil only focused back to the physician after the imaginative tale was actually finished. “I’m not a legit engineer, though. Just someone who used to read about the electronics a bit more than your average teenagers,” he shrugged with an amused smirk he struggled to contain, “But thanks, Doc. I’ll take that as a compliment. Penny can come see me sometimes for some cool DIY tricks if she wants, I’ll make sure to pick the most kids-friendly ones so you don’t have to worry about her finger getting fried like mine.”

[dianaxsurvivor-deactivated20160]

Scarlet stained her hands, crusted under her fingernails, creased in the lines of her palms. She hadn’t stopped working until every wound was cleaned, deemed bullet free, and patched up. It had taken her around two hours. Diana was accustomed to blood, but would have finished faster if she hadn’t spent a few moments in shock. There was so much of it, filling her vision and causing her stomach to churn slightly. She pushed past her emotions, insisting she be the only person who took care of him. Stubborn even in the middle of an apocalypse, but she knew what she wanted and how she was going to get there. “Christ,” she breathed as she took a step back from Hunter who lay unconscious on a makeshift mattress. His chest was moving up and down steadily. All she had to watch out for was a fever from infection. If there was any luck left in the world, any G-O-D, Hunter would be out of the woods. Feeling secure enough to leave for a moment, Diana hurried to the nearest restroom. She pressed the soapbox until there was a cloud of white foam in her palms. She scrubbed them through and through until they were bright pink and aching. “How the fuck did we end up here?” She asked herself. “How the fuck did we end up here?”

[taeil--park-blog]

This was his third day volunteering in the kitchen — and as usual, every shift was ended with him distributing plates of meal to every hungry survivor in the building, making sure that they were all in pretty good shape to allow functions. The clinic was his last destination — and after handing the head physician’s share of lunch, Taeil entered their makeshift ward, only to be welcomed by unexpected silence. Setting the almost-empty tray on the night stand next to the sole bed in use, he looked around to no avail, in search for a certain brunette that was supposed to sit on the stool before the unconscious patient and tell him to just leave the food where she could see it.

“Maybe I should ask the doctor and go after her,” he muttered to himself as he walked out of the room. After a little investigation, the South Korean figured the woman he was concerned about had seemed to use a nearby restroom for one moment too longer than she should, rendering it quite worrisome, even to those who didn’t appear to care whether she made it back or not. The boy actually wasn’t quite sure himself if he would be fine becoming the personnel sent to the female-only territory, but seeing as nobody else was willing to get the job done, he decided to proceed until just right outside the area.

As soon as he arrived at its entrance, there was, indeed, a feminine voice echoing inside the flickering lavatory. Although it could’ve been anyone’s, Taeil saw no harm in trying to find out if the sound, in fact, belonged to the lady he’d like to meet.

“Miss Diana? Is that you? Are you okay?”

[paige-elliot-blog]

While vain was never a word Paige would have used to describe herself, she’d certainly always cared about her appearance. Fashion and makeup were fun, and there was simply no denying the fact that the better she looked, the better she felt. So despite the decided lack of people left in the world, she still made a point of trying to maintain her appearance as best she could, making use of what little makeup she had left and the hairbrush that had been important enough to make it in her pack, alongside numerous painkillers and her family photo album. Silly as it may have been, ten extra minutes in the morning worked wonders on Paige’s outlook.

It was for the same reason, after losing focus of the inventory she was taking count of one too many times, that she settled down under a giant whale with a half-full pot of pink nail polish and set to work on her fingernails. The familiar smell and the comfortable, repetitive motions helped her to ignore the constant, dull ache in her head, as well as the very depressing reasons she was not doing this at home. She hummed quietly to herself, just finishing her left hand when she felt a set of eyes on her. Paige was quick to look up and offer a smile. “I can do yours next, if you want. I’ve got plenty.”

[taeil--park-blog]

Ever since his arrival at the haven, Taeil had always been running errands, ranging from the usual electricity repair to cooking and managing the laundry. It might sound like a set of troublesome work to most people, but to him, it was exactly the distraction he needed. There wasn’t much to do anymore in this decaying world that could help keep his mind off the poignant memory of his parents’ death — so any chance that meant he could be busy contributing to his group, he wouldn’t let it pass him by.

Now that everything had been taken care of, the only remaining job was to relax and look after himself. For some reason, however, the South Korean felt quite restless tonight and therefore, decided to go for a stroll around the museum to enjoy the view he had been disregarding until now. His little adventure eventually brought him to this giant whale statue under which an unfamiliar blonde was seemingly preoccupied by her... nail art.

While the former student understood how staring could potentially be considered impolite, he found it impossible to shift his gaze from her polished digits. There were so many questions in his head at the moment that he couldn’t just ignore, including why this person believed such tiny detail of self-beautifying would still matter in the apocalypse. When her voice finally broke the silence between the two, Taeil almost tripped over his own feet from the surprise.

“Ah, umm... Nah, I’m good, I guess. Thanks for the offer, though,” after a moment of regaining composure, he managed to respond — although in stutter. The image of having his fingertips dipped in pink was so horrendous it made him cringe. “As if I haven’t given these people enough reasons to bully me already,” he thought before pressing his lips together and looking away.

[fighterfrankiearchive]

T-that’s fine with me. Frankie rolled her eyes endearingly and took matters into her own hands. She unwrapped the delightful treat from its plastic and split it, then handed one piece to him. The guy was much too sweet for her own good and if she was a worse person then she would have taken full advantage of it. But instead she felt the need to protect it for a bit longer, not let the world ruin what gentleness he had. It was amusing because he was the exact opposite of her. Had she encountered him in any other circumstances she would undoubtedly had taught him to not be so easily fooled. But the apocalypse changed people and she wasn’t going to be an exception.

“You know, you may survive for now but keep this sort of thing up and you won’t be surviving for long.” It wasn’t quite a scolding, but it was more of a matter-of-fact tone that she took on. Just another lesson for him to learn. “Trust me buddy, you might wanna learn this now instead of the hard way.”

[taeil--park-blog]

Blinking in hesitancy, Taeil stretched his arm to accept his share of the yellow-colored snack. Tearing the sponge-like chunk into smaller pieces, he then began to eat slowly without shifting his gaze from the brunette as she spoke.

“Trust me, you’re not the first person to ever say that,” he replied after painfully swallowing the surprisingly dry third bite. Indeed, she wasn’t; one too many people had told him the exact same thing in the past, including that Twinkie Queen who’d once lived across the country — wait... What? No, no, no... This couldn’t be it, right? She couldn’t be that Twinkie Queen. Meeting one of his closest online buddies sounded too good to be true at time like this; the striking resemblances had to be some kind of miraculous coincidence.

“I believe this is not something you can expect me to master simply by giving free lectures, though,” he continued, brushing the implausible speculation off as he went, “So... I don’t know, maybe you can be my personal life coach?”

[untamedtate]

“I already ate. Also, I am not an invalid and can feed myself. So if you would kindly remove your death grip from that spoon, darling, and be off to do whatever inessential job there is for you – that would be fantastic.” She stared at him, waiting for him to snap to and be on his way with his tail between his legs. “Do I need to repeat myself in a clearer fashion?

[taeil--park-blog]

He honestly had no idea what he had done so wrong to piss the woman off this much. He was merely entering the room with intention as pure as gold and basically leaving her undisturbed until she herself had spewed venom his way. For someone who claimed to have had their meal, the brunette surely sounded like a hypoglycemic hyena on their period.

“Low blood glucose does that to people, sometimes — you know, the whole cranky attitude and uneasy feeling,” the South Korean spoke in a low tone as he set the paper container on a table across her seat. “What harm would an extra cup of soup do to you, anyway? It’s also better served warm, so...,” he shrugged before stepping back to his initial spot and casually dropped his own glutei on the floor. He normally wouldn’t care, but then again, was there anything else left to do in this dying world that didn’t involve looking after the remaining companies you were sharing a roof with?

“I’m not leaving until I can be 100% sure you are well-fed; it’s a part of the job description, after all. Unless you do need a tampon or such — which, by the way, I totally won’t mind getting for you,” folding his arms, the boy began to sip his share of lunch. He wasn’t sure where the courage was coming from, though. It was just there — along with a baseless belief that she wouldn’t actually hurt him; because why would she, right?

Right?

[untamedtate]

“I don’t remember saying that you could stand in the same vicinity as me. Or breathe the same air as me, for that matter. Go away before I cut off one of your extremities.”

[taeil--park-blog]

“O-oh...,” the South Korean’s gaze shifted back and forth between the brunette and the pumpkin soup inside the bowl he was holding, “Okay, then. B-but you sure you don’t want your lunch? I-I can keep it for later in the fridge, if that's what you wish.”

[estellerozanov-deactivated20161]

“What do we have here?” Connor asked the person who was barely around the corner as he shifted his daughter, Penelope, from his left arm to his right. He had her stuffed wallaby named Willabe in his free hand and a smile came to his face. He was always a better person with his daughter nearby, and now more than ever he was reluctant to let her go, despite how she mildly protested with him. Her attitude was showing more and more every day, the bit of sass and fire that Connor swore was from her mother, even if she was only around for two months.

To be fair, it could have come from Connor, she had witnessed him being grumpy before, the sarcastic way his words would roll out of his mouth to other doctors. Bumping her lightly to make her laugh, her hands reached for Willabe and he handed the stuffed animal over and placed her on the ground. “Stick around, okay? We’ll explore more later.” Six, six and forever trying to explore and get into trouble. It gave him some amount of anxiety to let her on the floor, but he smiled at the person who gaped at them. “That’s Penelope. Penny, even. I’m Dr. Hopkins–err, Connor. Either or. Force of habit.”

[taeil--park-blog]

Long story short, the tip of his digit somehow got fried while he was trying to fix the circuit that was supposed to supply electricity to the storeroom and weaponry. Taeil could barely curse in the spur of the moment — although that was most likely because he wasn’t familiar with the vocab to begin with. Throughout his long-term love-hate relationship with wires and power sources, this was the first time he found himself in such agonizing pain. He tried sucking it, but the nerve endings only numbed for a brief moment before they stung again. Back in the day, his mother would’ve tended such wound by smearing the gel from the tip of this aloe vera plant she’d grown by the window pane above their sink. Now, not only his mother had gone, Taeil also doubted the museum still kept a spare of said herb somewhere despite its name.

The door to the clinic was already half-opened when the South Korean arrived, so he quickly assumed there was no need to knock. Once inside, the pleasant sight of the physician with his daughter greeting him and he politely responded to the warm welcome with a nod.

“I burnt my finger,” the boy blatantly answered as he showed the inflamed body part. “It doesn’t usually hurt this much, but I’m afraid they’ll have to hire a new-yet-nonexistent electrician unless my problem is resolved,” he shrugged and pressed his lips together into a playful subtle beam. At the sound of the young girl laughing, the delighted expression widened into a grin. Taeil adored children and always had his way to bond with them. “Cute name to suit her cute face,” he chuckled as he moved to sit at the edge of the examination bed. “Little cupcake can sit with me through the medication,” pale palm patted the spot next to him and glanced at Penny. “With such a bright smile, maybe you can even preserve your anesthetic for other patients, Doc.”

It wasn’t quite like him to be this chatty around a stranger and yet, the cheerful aura from the kid’s presence seemed to be taking all the nervousness in him away.

[fighterfrankiearchive]

“Yeah, but as the Twinkie Queen I think I have the authority to declare your claim to that treat null and void.” The poor guy looked so nervous about the prospect of confrontation that she couldn’t help but laugh a bit. While she may be something of a bully, Frankie wasn’t so bad as to make this poor kid shit his pants. “How about this?” Her bright hues turned to his own darker ones. “We compromise by splitting it in half.”

[taeil--park-blog]

Twinkie Queen? Frankly, it wasn’t the first time the South Korean heard someone self-proclaiming the title. While the sweet treat was such a classic adored by many people, not a lot liked it that much to roll their sleeves and shamelessly incorporate the brand with their personal moniker in others’ presence.

Truth was, back in the day, there had been this user on a mainstream MMORPG he’d used to play who went by the exact alias when they’d first met — although later on, he’d figured that the person had also known for several different names, depending on which character they’d logged on to at that time. The two had grown close and still kept in touch until the very last day their worlds had been connected by the internet.

Taeil wasn’t sure if his online buddy was a girl, however, for the way they’d spoken had always indicated masculinity. Now that he thought about it, though, the brunette herself didn’t sound too feminine in those few lines she had thrown his way up to this point — so who knew. The snack remained the highlight of their conversation anyway; additional questions would have to wait until he could recharge his blood glucose level.

“T-that’s fine with me,” the former high school student shrugged and nodded repeatedly. “O-or you can have it all, I don’t mind. I think I still have a tin o-of shredded beef jerky in my bag, I’ll survive.”

[fighterfrankiearchive]

“If you touch that Twinkie, darling, I’m sorry but I’m going to cut off your fucking hand because it has my name on it.” She informed them in a joking tone. Sort of.

[taeil--park-blog]

“Really??? B-but I thought it also had my name on the other side!” the South Korean nervously glanced at the sweet treat in his hand, turning it around before showing the supporting evidence of his statement and gazing back into pools of hazel. “See?”

[theremaining-blog2]

NAME: Taeil Park

Age: 17

Origin: San Francisco, California

Formerly: High School Student

Dexterity: Technology, Do It Yourself

Inability: Communication, Combat

BEFORE THE OUTBREAK

Born to South Korean parents in San Francisco, Taeil and his parents moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan when he was 15.

He was the new kid and had a hard time fitting in. Taeil’s parents were very strict and always wanted him to focus on his school work rather than friends or girls.

During school, he mostly spent the breaks alone, always working on something new and related to either physics or electronics. He was hoping to become an engineer not only for his love of putting things together, but also for earning the money he would need to give his family the life they deserved.

Taeil never felt he was special no matter how much his parents or teachers told him he was. With all the time he had to himself, he became quite the expert at odd things from the internet.

AFTER THE OUTBREAK

Taeil and his family lived close to his school. When the outbreak began, he knew that would be the safest hideout. Unfortunately, everyone was too panicked to be orderly about things. Taeil’s parents were killed by militant officers who believed they were infected right after they left their house.

Taeil somehow got away and found himself stuck at the school with a few other students. Some he knew some he didn’t. They all stayed in the building until the bombing ceased and the government announced their official safe zones, the closest one to Michigan being in New York City.

They all packed up in a school bus and made their way across the unguarded border to Canada and eventually, to the supposedly secured area. Not everything went as planned, however, as the driver made a wrong turn and led the teenagers to a street jammed with the infected.

Taeil honestly didn’t remember how he made it out alive from there. He was just outside the museum at the end of the day for all he cared, along with an unfamiliar blonde that greeted him with the muzzle of her gun. As the two sat down and talked, the tension began to melt away and they ended up walking into the museum together. To safety.

CONNECTIONS

Rebecca Richman: When Taeil moved to Grand Rapids Montessori High School, he had to take catch-up classes on biology and chemistry due to different academic requirements. He then met Rebecca who was assigned as his lab partner on both subjects. After their painfully awkward acquaintanceship, they eventually bonded over the fact that Taeil was practically her mentor in theoretical aspects while Rebecca was his when it came to drawing tissue and flow charts.

Diana White: The first time Taeil saw Diana taking care of Hunter at the clinic, he couldn’t help feeling a pang of envy in his chest. The scene reminded the boy why he wished his parents had been there to look after him, too. Since that day, Taeil had always wanted to talk to Diana and maybe get to know her a little better, but the introvert in him was too reluctant to start the conversation.

Frankie Rose: Taeil met Frankie when he decided to try a mainstream MMORPG and she offered to help him level up. While they never exchanged photos and only called each other by their usernames, Taeil had learned a few basic things about her personal life over time, such as where she resided and the field of her study. They didn’t expect to finally meet in person at the museum, but after revealing the true history of their friendship, the two agreed that a lot of catch-up sessions would be necessary.

Thalia Reynolds: Back in the day, Taeil used to work as a part-time server every summer at a Korean diner in downtown San Fransisco. During the same year when his crush on the owner’s daughter bloomed, Taeil was introduced to a fellow employee named Thalia. With the infatuation leaking into the way he spoke to the girl, Thalia quickly figured it out and nudged him with the topic every now and then. Taeil didn’t get the chance to say goodbye as she had already left when he came back in the following year, but he was completely taken aback by their reunion at the museum.

Kathryn Atkins: A few drops of water and maybe a piece of leftover bread were the things he actually expected from the stranger when he arrived at the museum. Instead, Taeil found himself watching Kathryn cocking a gun between his eyes as soon as she woke up. She gave him a chance to explain the situation, however, and he gladly took it despite his doubt that she would even listen. The long discussion ended with her proving him wrong and lowering her gun. They even bonded for a while before deciding to join the group on the other side of the wall together.

CONSENSUS

Face Claim: Christopher Larkin

Availability: Taken