Koreatown, Los Angeles, Wednesday

[spin_kick_snap]

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!]

Comments

[vdistinctive]

The radio at the diner kept swapping between upbeat sexy songs and laments about growing old. Eliot blamed the kitchen staff, and hid away in the office.

[spin_kick_snap]

But he couldn't hide from his phone!

More specifically, he couldn't hide from his mentee, who was calling to make him feel really old and tired.

Sorry about that, Eliot.

Ring ring!

[vdistinctive]

He was about to find out he couldn't do anything more to help out his mentee going into the fight of her life. The word the narrative was looking for was impotent.

"Hey darlin'," he answered. "How's the zombie problem shapin' up?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Hey Eliot," Kathy said and her voice was very small. "Do you want the good news or the bad news, I guess?"

[vdistinctive]

Somewhere outside his office, a radio started playing ominous music.

Probably some ad or something.

"In my experience when someone says it like that, they mean there ain't really any good news," he said. "But you're still kickin', so I s'pose it ain't all terrible."

[spin_kick_snap]

"And we can heal the infected!" Kathy said, clinging tightly to that bit of hope. "Getting bit isn't a death sentence. So long as 'Genny can get to them--or, well, they can get to 'Genny, he's pretty much staying at the clinic we've set up--they can be healed. And since it seems like there's a twenty hourish incubation period, that gives people time to get to him. So, see? Good news!"

Just not enough to balance out the bad.

[vdistinctive]

"That's great," Eliot said, not sounding nearly as enthusiastic as Kathy probably would think he should. "Sounds like he's got his work cut out for him."

Being one person in the face of a zombie outbreak, with a skill he couldn't teach or pass along to anyone else.

. . . Okay, seriously, had the kitchen staff put on Fantasia or something? He could swear that was "Night on Bald Mountain" playing.

"Alright, let's hear the bad news."

[spin_kick_snap]

"There was an outbreak right in the middle of the tourist section of LA," Kathy said. "Zombies got into the Chinese Theater somehow, ran amok all up and down Hollywood Boulevard. There was a stampede and a riot or something. People got trampled, people got killed, people got bitten and at least a few were eaten. There's video footage, it's been playing all over the news. Right now, people are calling it some kind of terrorist attack, blaming a bioweapon or some kind of chemical thing, but..."

It was just a matter of time.

[vdistinctive]

"Shit," Eliot said succinctly. "Well. I mean at least it's probably finally gettin' the CDC's attention." This was very, very bad. "Darlin', I know you're still doin' the good work and all, but please tell me you gotta plan for gettin' you and yours out of this before it's too late. What's your tippin' point?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Uhh..."

That was a comforting answer, wasn't it?

"Portals, I guess? I mean driving is terrible in the city on a regular day and LAX has already rerouted the flights scheduled to come in today. So portals are probably our only option, really."

[vdistinctive]

"Alright," Eliot said. He hadn't had Portalocity fuck with him the same way a lot of other people had, so he saw no problem with that answer. "But I was also askin' when. I need to know you know your limit. That when you know when to retreat."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Uhhh," Kathy said again, floundering for an answer. She'd been so focused on them beating this thing that she hadn't considered the possibility they'd lose.

Demi Lovato started singing just then.

You can take everything I have
You can break everything I am
Like I'm made of glass
Like I'm made of paper
Go on and try to tear me down
I will be rising from the ground
Like a skyscraper
Like a skyscraper

"Cool it with the music, Sarah!" Kathy yelled. "I'm on the phone!"

"I told you!" Sarah called back through the wall. "I'm not listening to anything! You're crazy!"

[vdistinctive]

"Dammit, Kathy!" Eliot rubbed the bridge of his nose and wondered why he ever let Parker talk him into teaching in the first place. "You always gotta have an exit strategy!" Hardison and Parker would probably give him skeptical looks at this. But just because his own exit strategies weren't always obvious didn't mean he didn't have them.

Admittedly, most of them involved him throwing himself at the threat until his team could slip by and get out of the way of danger.

[spin_kick_snap]

Okay, well, that was her exit strategy. Just replace 'her team' with 'the population of Los Angeles.' And his understanding of the danger with a teenager's naive belief in their own immortality. She was fast and she had Regenerator. With those two factors, what could take her down?

"Winning's like an exit strategy, isn't it?" Kathy asked.

[vdistinctive]

"No," Eliot said. "Winning's the main strategy. But ya gotta be prepared for losing, kid. Especially when you're fightin' a goddamn army."

A mindless, unreasonable army that could recruit you against your will.

"Don't make Leverage have to come out there and steal ya."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You'd have to be willing to steal my whole family unless you wanted me back out here by the next portal," Kathy said frankly, just giving Eliot more reason to invest in rope.

The crew really did need a 'brainwashed' chair or something, didn't they?

"Even if I were willing to turn my back on my fellow heroes and, like, the lives of ten million innocent people--" which she wasn't, just saying "--I couldn't leave LA without my family."

[vdistinctive]

"We could steal a whole family," Eliot said. Then he could punch her dad in the face a few more times. It'd be great. "You do understand that ya ain't actually likely to be able to save ten million people, right?"

Hell, even when Eliot liberated countries they were small ones.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I know," Kathy said and from the heaviness in her voice, Eliot would be able to tell that she was still taking each loss as a personal failure. "But, I dunno. I still feel like we can stop this before it gets much bigger. Sure, a few hundred have died, but that's nothing compared to millions."

[vdistinctive]

"And I ain't sayin' you can't," Eliot said. "I just wanna know that you're thinkin' about that. That you're gonna recognize when it turns unstoppable and get outta the way of it."

[spin_kick_snap]

"That just seems so wrong," Kathy said, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Just giving up and leaving people to die a grisly death. It's--how do you do that?"

[vdistinctive]

"By rememberin' that you can't help anyone else if you die a grisly death with 'em." Eliot's tone was firm, but gentle. "Dead's dead, darlin'. And the world is a mighty large place, chock full of people dyin'. Ain't no shame in cuttin' and runnin' when you know ya can't win."

[spin_kick_snap]

"But all those people left behind..." Kathy mourned. "It just doesn't seem right to leave them to die because I have an out and they don't."

Kathy would have died in the snow cave.

"I know you're right, I just don't like it. I can't like it. That's not who I am. And knowing that I'll probably have to make that choice doesn't make it any easier to face."

[vdistinctive]

"The hell ever gave you the idea any of this was gonna be easy?" Eliot asked.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Nothing!" Kathy replied, stung. "I just thought it would be harder in different ways. Ruthless calculus isn't something I've ever been good at."

[vdistinctive]

"Just means you gotta work on it more. Now I wanna make it clear: I ain't sayin' you all can't stop what's out there. I'm sayin' if you don't plan for the worst, you're that much more likely to end up dead. And then all those millions of people you're already tryin'a grieve for are even more screwed, because their best damn superhero and -- hell, I dunno, future mayor -- got her ass killed by poor plannin' instead."