spin_kick_snap | Koreatown, Los Angeles, Wednesday

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Koreatown, Los Angeles, Wednesday

After discovering that Anders could heal the infected, the heroes of LA had been buoyed up by the knowledge that they could stop the spread of the zombie virus. Regenerator couldn't change anyone who had become of full-fledged zombie, but he was able to heal those they got to in time. It helped that the victims tended to have as much as a whole day between when they were bitten and when they turned. Stealth got word out to the populations that were most vulnerable, promising 'free and discreet care' to anyone who needed it, for whatever reason, and soon people were coming to them, either to be healed by 'Genny or two get heroes to help transport the infected back. 'Genny set up a walk-in clinic in a warehouse Stealth had procured and rather than patrolling, Banzai had started helping him there. She was fast, she was agile, she was good at calming people down--she made an excellent assistant and a new rapport sprang up between them.

They were saving lives. They were making a difference. It even made having to move back in with her family (under the guise of visiting for 'spring break') more palatable.

This rush of good feeling lasted for three days. Just three days. They knew they weren't stopping new zombies from turning, but between the people they were healing and the zombies the rest were killing, they really thought they were making a difference.

They were wrong. They were so wrong.

It was Sarah who woke Kathy up from her nap, eyes wide and a little scared. The fear alone had the bottom dropping out of Kathy's stomach; Sarah didn't do scared. She'd gone to school everyday through Seventeen territory and hadn't even flinched. "Sarah," she said, holding out a hand. "What is it?"

"Something's happening," Sarah said, going to sit on Kathy's bed and curling up against her big sister. "Something big. There was some kind of terrorist attack today--like a biological thing. People were screaming and rioting and attacking one another on Hollywood and Highland. Just out in the street in the middle of the day! Like--people ripped one another's throats out and stuff. It's all over the net--people were taking videos and running and screaming--they attacked little kids! And the way they looked--!" Sarah shuddered, hiding her face. "It was awful. Like a horror movie but for real. I watched people die. It looked like some were getting eaten."

"You shouldn't be watching this kind of stuff," Kathy said absently, stroking her sister's hair while her mind whirled. "It's just going to freak you out. Don't worry, the superheroes will fix it."

"I hope so," Sarah said, cuddling close. "Cause the videos I saw? It looked like the end of the world."

[NFB, but Kathy's going to be calling people. If you want her to call you (or want to call her), ping in and she did!]

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The dread had been right. Raven wanted to yell. To point ou that Kathy promised.

But, well. Kathy promised. She wouldn't just break that willy-nilly.

"They still need you."

It wasn't a question.

"They declared a state of emergency this afternoon while I was napping," Kathy said. "There are videos gone viral all over the net of zombies maurauding through the Chinese Theater on Hollywood. People are calling it some kind of terrorist attack for now, but..." She shook her head. "It was a slaughterhouse. And I was sleeping."

I've tried so hard and got so far but in the end, it doesn't even matter

Was there some kind of distortion on the line? Kathy frowned at her phone.

Raven just assumed Kathy had a radio on. "I don't think you can blame yourself for needing to sleep sometimes. It's not like you got a mutated no-sleep gene."

Raven must have the radio on. Probably to make their dorm less quiet. It was weird not sharing a room anymore.

She missed her roomie.

"I wish I did sometimes," Kathy said. "And not just because I'd be able to really up my study time." She pulled up one of the videos Sarah had shown her, one that had cut out before anything too graphic happened, but showed the stampede of people fleeing and sent it to Raven. "This is from just a few hours ago."

Even now, Kathy could hear the sound of sirens on the streets and helicopters overhead.

Raven watched the video, grimacing. What would Kathy even have been able to do? One girl, even a superpowered one, in that big crowd of people?

"Right," she said with a sigh. "Well I asked Jalian to prom. So I can't come out until Saturday."

She was six, maybe seven times faster than the zombies. She could take them out and let more people get away!

"You asked Jalian to prom?" Kathy asked, happy to think about anything that wasn't the slow collapse of her city. "Raven that's awesome! Tell me she said yes! Tell me everything!"

Let her be a normal girl on the phone with her bestie for a few minutes.

"Of course she said yes," Raven said. "I'm amazing."

That confidence was much easier now that the plans had been made.

"We talked about what to do beforehand and what to wear -- she's going to wear blue and I'm going to wear white so we're kinda matchy but not -- and about time travel. That part wasn't really prom related, though."

"Are you going blue to prom then?" Kathy asked. "You'll have to take a ton of pictures either way and send them to me."

In that moment, Kathy wanted nothing more than to go home. She could picture it--the four of them (six, if they invited Dante and whoever he was going to go with) going out to a loud and raucous dinner first, taking rickshaws to the community center, getting their pictures taken as couples and as a group...This was exactly what she'd wanted from her senior prom, a night of laughter and memories to carry away to college with her.

Deliberately, she shunted those thoughts off to the side where they could live with other thwarted desires. "Though now I have to ask--what about time travel?"

"I am," Raven confirmed. "It's my last school dance, I might as well do it as me, you know?"

That was something she probably wouldn't have decided at this age, were it not for Kathy.

"And we're both time travelers. Jalian's from the future. She was trying to see if the TV had any parts she could use to get herself back to her own time after school ends."

"I'm so proud of you," Kathy said, hands clasped over her heart. "Damn it, Raven, you're awesome, you know that?"

Yeah, yeah, time travel, Jalian, time machine, whatever. Raven was being brave and strong and that needed to be acknowledged right now.

"I am," Raven agreed. "Which is why I'm coming out to LA after prom. It sounds like you all could use a little extra awesome on top of what you've already got going."

"To drag me back to the island as a musclebound leather daddy?" Kathy asked.

"That's super tempting, but no," Raven said. "Kathy, I don't care about graduation and all that. But you do. And -- well, I'm pretty sure if you're not coming back now, you're not going to come back in time to finish your classes. And if this is that important to you, then I'm going to come help."

Kathy started crying then. Quietly, fat tears dripping down her cheeks, but Raven could probably hear her sniffling and the catch in her voice when she spoke. "I have to warn you, I'm living with my parents. They're going to be tough, but I could make it happen. If you're sure."

She should try to be stronger, tell Raven to stay where it was safe, but she just wanted the comfort of a friend who was on her side so badly right now.

And from someone's open window or something, Aaliyah sang, "I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you in my life / I wanna say thank you / I love you and I miss you."

Man, Kathy's radio was spot on, today. It was a little eerie.

"Of course I'm sure," Raven said softly. "Kathy, you're one of my favorite people." Then, to lighten the mood a little: "And besides, I've seen what happens when you team up with the wrong people. I gotta be there to watch your back."

Right? She'd already yelled at Sarah to turn the radio down several times today, just because it was getting downright unnerving.

"It'll be nice to have someone I can trust by my side," she said, trying to keep her voice from quavering. "I mean, the other heroes are great, but we're not friends. But--Raven, you don't fight. Are you sure you're gonna be okay out here?"

"I don't go out looking for fights," Raven said. "Doesn't mean I can't do it. I've fought off ice wolves, creepy dolls, giant spiders, mutated drug addicts. . . ."

That last she'd actually killed, but she was pretty sure Kathy didn't want to hear about that.

"So long as the zombies aren't packing giant drill arms, I should be good."

"Thank god for that," Kathy said. "..Wait, are you going to be packing giant drill arms? This sounds like the kind of thing I should know."

Kathy sighed and brushed her hair away. "The zombies are dead so they can be put down. They don't feel pain." Kathy still felt bad about that. "But those who are just infected and haven't turned yet, they can still be saved. Regenerator can heal them."

"I can, but I'm not good at making it spin," Raven said. "And that's good to know. I'm hoping it's nice and easy to tell the difference?"

"The infected people are covered in bites and just look really, really sick," Kathy said. "They're not usually out and about. The zombies..." She shook her head. "They're coming at you, clacking their teeth together, and trying to eat your face."

"So pretty obvious, yeah," Raven said. She looked around the room. "Hey, you want me to bring your stuff with me when I come out there? You were only packed for two weeks."

"More clothing wouldn't go amiss," Kathy agreed reluctantly. "But that's about it, I have pretty much everything I need. Even if I don't make it back for grad, we'll go back for the summer."

Kathy was clinging to that belief. Clinging. It was the only thing keeping her from grabbing Sarah and portalling home right now.

Homeward bound,
I wish I was homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting silently for me.

No, seriously, where was that radio?

Raven wouldn't argue with portalling out or with having another Li as a roommate. She also wasn't arguing with Kathy's prediction for the summer, but she was also planning to pack more than just more clothes.

She might not remember much of it, but she had lived through the Depression and World War II. "Plan for the worst" was hardwired into her.

"Must be a trip for you, huh? You might have to take summer school for something other than getting ahead."

She had no idea how bad "the worst" actually was.

Sarah and Raven would both gang up on Kathy and make her relax. It would be horrible!

...Kathy couldn't imagine anything better.

"We'll see if Stanford still wants me after the shame of summer school," Kathy said with a wry grin. "But surely 'missed grad saving the world' has to hold some water with these people."

"If anything," Raven said, "they should want you more."

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