Jessie unhinged the door, shoving through the solid entrance. Throwing his bag down on the coffee table, the cans of soda banging together, he took in a deep breath of air. He had practically been running on adrenaline since he had left. "K, I'm back!" He yelled, being sure for his voice to reach wherever she might be. "Great..." Kat yelled back from the kitchen. Walking into the open kitchen, he heard Kat messing with the radio, static filling the area. " 'Thought you were working on the generator?" Jessie asked. "I got bored." Kat replied, screwdriver in hand. She flipped a few switches, and the static cut to silence.
"Was that... Supposed to happen?" Jessie questioned, tapping the small machine. He scraped off some dust on the antenna, as if it was blocking a signal. Touching the channel button, he slowly flicked through the options. Most of them were plain silence, or just static. The painful whining of one of the infected startled the two as he instinctively flicked around, checking for the corpses. Kat smiled, chuckling a little before laughing out loud. She flicked the button once more as it cut away. "Well, at least we know this baby works, heh." Jessie said, smiling at his mistake.
Suddenly, a sharp ding jolted though the air. A yellow light flashed on the radio as the static cleared. A slightly garbled voice echoed through the device, asking, "Can anybody hear me?" Snatching a napkin and a pen, Kat wrote, Do we answer?. Jessie nodded his head before replying, "Umm.. Yea. We can hear you." A cheer was heard from the other side before the voice said, "Figure I should introduce myself. My name's Walter. Walter S. I've been scrolling though this radio for hours."
"Um, I'm Jessie, and this is Kat. It's nice to talk to somebody else." Jessie replied, eyeing his friend before giving a thumbs up. Kat shrugged before whispering something to herself, and then returned the gesture. Walter's voice was... Weird. They were both thinking that it was familiar, but they couldn't point it out. Maybe an old friend? Walter soon cut into the silence, saying, "So I'm sure you all know about the fungi, right? Well, I... Found some information on them. Go ahead, ask me anything."
"Well, what about that stringy stuff? Myceli-something-or-other?" Kat asked, not at all embarrassed by her pronunciation. "Mycelium." Both Jessie and Walter said, before Walter continued, "It's like the Internet. They use it to communicate. It's how those things are so smart and coordinated." Kat nodded her head as Jessie reminisced the nets of the stuff he saw outside. They were talking through that? Shaking those thoughts out of his head, Jessie asked, "How do they walk like that, decayed? I thought they needed the brain to operate."
"They do," Walter replied through the radio, " but somehow they extend how long the brain lasts. It only works for a couple of days, so most of them are just corpse by now. They need to reproduce, fast." Kat nodded her head, saying, "Hey, buddy, it was nice talking, but we need to go. We'll talk more tomorrow." She quickly flipped the switch before exiting the kitchen towards her room.
Jessie simply looked her direction and smiled. He admired that spirit, even if she hated him. Jessie collapsed the tower of the radio before he turned and started to go his way to his room in the opposite direction. Opening the door, he studied his room one more time before he went to sleep one more night. It wasn't much. A simple bed with grey sheets, with a nightstand on the side. On that stand was a small light with a wire linking it to the generator room. A small pile of unwashed clothes sat to the side of his bed, in a corner. The tan walls really made the place more barren and lonely than it already was. After getting into the well-made bed and sliding under the comforter, Jessie closed his eyes and, a few minutes later, let sleep grasp him and drag him under.
"Was that... Supposed to happen?" Jessie questioned, tapping the small machine. He scraped off some dust on the antenna, as if it was blocking a signal. Touching the channel button, he slowly flicked through the options. Most of them were plain silence, or just static. The painful whining of one of the infected startled the two as he instinctively flicked around, checking for the corpses. Kat smiled, chuckling a little before laughing out loud. She flicked the button once more as it cut away. "Well, at least we know this baby works, heh." Jessie said, smiling at his mistake.
Suddenly, a sharp ding jolted though the air. A yellow light flashed on the radio as the static cleared. A slightly garbled voice echoed through the device, asking, "Can anybody hear me?" Snatching a napkin and a pen, Kat wrote, Do we answer?. Jessie nodded his head before replying, "Umm.. Yea. We can hear you." A cheer was heard from the other side before the voice said, "Figure I should introduce myself. My name's Walter. Walter S. I've been scrolling though this radio for hours."
"Um, I'm Jessie, and this is Kat. It's nice to talk to somebody else." Jessie replied, eyeing his friend before giving a thumbs up. Kat shrugged before whispering something to herself, and then returned the gesture. Walter's voice was... Weird. They were both thinking that it was familiar, but they couldn't point it out. Maybe an old friend? Walter soon cut into the silence, saying, "So I'm sure you all know about the fungi, right? Well, I... Found some information on them. Go ahead, ask me anything."
"Well, what about that stringy stuff? Myceli-something-or-other?" Kat asked, not at all embarrassed by her pronunciation. "Mycelium." Both Jessie and Walter said, before Walter continued, "It's like the Internet. They use it to communicate. It's how those things are so smart and coordinated." Kat nodded her head as Jessie reminisced the nets of the stuff he saw outside. They were talking through that? Shaking those thoughts out of his head, Jessie asked, "How do they walk like that, decayed? I thought they needed the brain to operate."
"They do," Walter replied through the radio, " but somehow they extend how long the brain lasts. It only works for a couple of days, so most of them are just corpse by now. They need to reproduce, fast." Kat nodded her head, saying, "Hey, buddy, it was nice talking, but we need to go. We'll talk more tomorrow." She quickly flipped the switch before exiting the kitchen towards her room.
Jessie simply looked her direction and smiled. He admired that spirit, even if she hated him. Jessie collapsed the tower of the radio before he turned and started to go his way to his room in the opposite direction. Opening the door, he studied his room one more time before he went to sleep one more night. It wasn't much. A simple bed with grey sheets, with a nightstand on the side. On that stand was a small light with a wire linking it to the generator room. A small pile of unwashed clothes sat to the side of his bed, in a corner. The tan walls really made the place more barren and lonely than it already was. After getting into the well-made bed and sliding under the comforter, Jessie closed his eyes and, a few minutes later, let sleep grasp him and drag him under.
