jonfaria
It was astounding how someone could still manage to hold onto their ties from a previous world. Tess the scientist, still longing to put whatever various degrees earned to use for the good of mankind. Jon had abandoned a large part of his own dedication to the medical field - yes, he would take care of his own without hesitation, and those who he deemed a not-so helpless case (if the mood struck him). For the most part, though, he’d adopted the lifestyle of a thief rather easily, letting go of practices most people saw as ‘common decency’ in what felt like the blink of an eye. Maybe she just couldn’t let go?
“You’re fucking insane,”
But, well, that really wasn’t his problem. “You are literally insane. Some separately fucked up part of me gets this - you wanna be the hero or, whatever - and bringing back some dead parts? Maybe I’d help you lug a limb or two back to camp. A live one, though? Something that if this 'controlled environment’ were to fail?” He made sure to lean in, fingers bending in exaggerated air quotes and a lowered tone of voice to add that this was NOT something they should talk about casually; let alone in the open, “Everyone here would be dead, and you’d undoubtedly be the first to go. And what about supplies needed to conduct whatever examination you’re going on about?– Fuck, have you even thought all this through?”
At this point, Jon wasn’t sure if convincing Tess not to do this, or her finding someone who was stupid enough TO do this served as a bigger issue. At least if he were the one to go with her (what the fuck was he even thinking…) he could be in some form of control. Running and hiding would certainly come in handy for bringing back one of the undead, but he decided not to aggravate her further. She’d only try to bite back, futile but, then it meant she’d never shut up about the issue. Heaving a sigh, he finally stepped back from her personal space bubble, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose in equal parts thought and frustration.
“… how would you even get it back to camp? If you don’t plan on telling anyone, which would be the smarter option, then we’d have to figure out a time to sneak it in without anyone else’s knowledge. But it’s the riskier option, too. Everything about this shit is risky, you get that, right?”
it was insane ! it was completely and utterly insane. tessa was well aware of this fact. that’s why she spent a whole day pacing up and down her ‘ lab ‘ trying to decide if to go forward with it or not. she hadn’t slept in two whole days because of this for crying out loud. but, at the end of the day, tessa was willing to risk it all. for so long she had spent standing on the sidelines ; letting people fight the battles and walk all over her. the only thing she had ever had that was her own had been her mind ; her ability to save others, even after they stepped over her. now, at the worst time ever, she decided to fight the battles and save others at the same time. tessa was willing to face the thing that scared her the most in order to save humanity.
so, yes, some things she could not change about herself.
“ i know ! “ she shouted, realizing quickly afterwards that they were suppose to be quiet. her eyes shifted to the side before coming back to jon. taking a deep breath, she continued in a softer voice. “ i know it’s insane. that’s why i will be doing the work. i will be the one facing it, treating it, operating on it. so, if something does go wrong, it will come after me first. that will give you time to kill it before it can crawl out of the building, which i will lock tightly might i add. “ she would be the distraction if things did go south. that thought sent a cold chill down her spine, because the redhead did not want to die, but she would take that risk. “ as for supplies, i don’t need a fancy lab to open it up. i have a few equipment i grabbed before the out-break that will get me started. if we run out, i was thinking we could go look for a hospital nearby. “
this was all about one step at a time. tessa was already internally freaking out about this entire ordeal she was trying to do, but god she was determined. the stubbornness in her eyes showed it. even if every other part of her showed how scared she was. truth be told, it wasn’t even fear about the plan, not all of it. most of it came from having the frustrated male standing so close to her. part of her remembered how her husband used to do the same thing. he would intimidate her, belittle her, and beat her to the ground, so that part of her was waiting for him to do the latter. when he backed away, she visibly relaxed and released a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. her eyebrows came together and she smiled tightly. eyes growing softer as she shrugged. the idea of telling the leader had come up, but tessa wanted something concrete before going to them.
“ i get that it’s risky, jonathan, but ------ welcome to the new world ? everything is risky nowadays. why not risk ourselves for something that could save us ? think about it ! don’t you think that all those people that found the cure for viruses and made inventions that changed the world we lived in were scared in the beginning ? but, they did it, and changed science and technology and how people thought. we need to make some progress and we are not going to do it by sitting here thinking about risk. “ she took a deep breath. “ please, help me. i need you, jonathan. for more than just helping me bring it here. if something does go wrong and i die, i need someone to carry my research on. i want you. “