WHEN THE DARKNESS COMES I NICK CLARK

In Our Chaos Is Calculation

Author's Note: In terms of the existence of zombies specifically in the FTWD universe, When The Darkness Comes deliberately goes against canon to explore the idea of how these characters would react to the blurring of the lines between fiction and reality. For this story, I am aiming really to keep mostly everyone alive because I prefer the old group dynamic from Season 1. Videos for characters canon and original, can be found on my Youtube channel via the link on my profile.

~*~

In Our Chaos Is Calculation

"Is that meant to be ironic?" Tobias said tersely, eyes narrowing.

Lourdes smoothed down the front of her faded T-shirt, brow furrowing. "Yeah, it's a complete symphony of satire," she said, rolling her eyes. "With tropes amongst the trumpets and wit amidst the woodwind."

"I refuse to engage in a war of words with you," Tobias said, swinging his computer chair round, turning his back on her.

Lourdes crossed her arms over her chest, obscuring the words that had upset Tobias so, the slogan boasting THIS IS MY ZOMBIE KILLING SHIRT. She'd donned it that day without thinking, nobody else reacting to the slogan except Tobias. His obsession with the undead was only eclipsed by his love for Lara Croft, but as of late, his fixation had become a witch-hunt, his fascination evolving into fear.

The recent flu outbreak had seen Tobias trekking through Tor, spending every night on the Dark Web searching for the truth, certain the government were orchestrating a large-scale cover-up. He'd become so paranoid, Lourdes only had to sneeze, and Tobias would dive for cover, convinced her germs would see him joining the ranks of the snake gods. His fervour disturbed Lourdes, even as it lured her in, enveloping her in its embrace.

In a moment of high melodrama, they had burned Tobias's George Romero film posters, Tobias solemnly announcing in sepulchral tones they were sacrificing ancient fable for unbridled reality, trading fiction for fact. But during the ritual, Lourdes had experienced a flash of cruel clarity that this was precisely why she and Tobias were so unpopular, both being relegated to the sidelines of high school society. Nobody wanted to know about irrational numbers or how a polyhedron had a polygonal base and triangular sides with a common vertex.

"Look at this, Lo," Tobias said loftily, angling the computer screen in her direction, "and see if this piece of visual communication proves me correct in my assumptions about the undead"-

- "Pass me a sleeping bag, Toby," Lourdes said, rolling her eyes again, "I've got a feeling I'm gonna be here all night."

Tobias just fixed her with an icy glare, Lourdes ignoring him, stooping down to see the screen, her hair falling around her face, framing it with darkness. With a heavy sigh, Tobias clicked play, filling the silence with static, Lourdes watching the scene unfold, the picture grainy and dark, making it hard to make out exactly what was happening. The footage looked like it had been taken from a window, going straight into zoom, focusing on a small figure in an alleyway, the camera shaking, making the figure blur in and out of focus. What disturbed Lourdes the most though was the way it just stood there, its stillness unnerving. But before she could blink, the figure suddenly shot forwards, staggering at an almost sprint, its head flapping sideways onto its shoulder, becoming almost detached from its neck.

Lourdes violently reeled back, Tobias muting the screams, his face filled with pompous satisfaction. "See?" he said, trying and failing to hide his triumph.

"See what?" Lourdes tried to say coolly, her heart still pounding in her chest.

"The truth!" Tobias exclaimed, flapping his flabby hand at the screen.

"It looks fake," Lourdes said, struggling to keep her voice steady.

Tobias just looked at her as though she'd just thrown up a hairball. "It looks fake?" he echoed icily. "Are you blind?"

"Okay, you don't need to start insulting the visually impaired to get your point across," Lourdes snapped. "I get it. You believe it's real. If you want to be cozened, that's your choice, not mine."

"If I want to be tempted by the truth, so be it," Tobias said, assuming what Lourdes called his Spock air, "you can't stop me from being lured onto the rocks."

"Let me be your Lorelei instead," Lourdes said mockingly. "You know you want to."

"Where art thou oh Rhine?" Tobias pretended to ponder.

"Geography jerk," Lourdes muttered, picking up his battered Pikachu, turning it over in her hands.

"Mythology whore," Tobias taunted, spinning round and round on his seat.

"So says the token Tolkein tart," Lourdes parried.

"You win," Tobias said, sighing heavily, spinning to a stop.

"Don't I always?" Lourdes said with supreme satisfaction.

I don't ever think about death
It's alright if you do, it's fine
We gladiate but I guess we're really fighting ourselves
Roughing up our minds so we're ready when the kill time comes...