#goldlighter

The plane touching down is one of the most interesting and depressing things to happen lately. She’s exaggerating, of course; there’s been plenty more depressing than this, but taking a flight to the Maldives for an outbreak and not a vacation feels pretty damn depressing. The weather as she steps off is incredible, and the desire to strip down to her underwear and wade into the water is indescribable, though when she sees undead bodies ebbing between land and water, she decides that she can wait for some cleanup and some time before thinking about a swim.

She and the others that came with her go through a series of tests before they’re allowed to leave the containment zone, and then they’re assigned sectors to work through for the final wave of cleanup before restoration can begin. A lot of infected still left, some trapped in rooms and buildings that weren’t cleared on the initial outbreak, some still hiding in places often looked over, some that didn’t die despite being riddled with bullets. Claire retains enough history of being caught in outbreaks that she often helps the BSAA in their final wave of things before TerraSave moves in.

Speaking of the BSAA, Chris waits for her with a personal cache of weaponry he prefers, checking and rechecking them each as she approaches. They always request to work with each other when they’re both in the same place, and this time is no different.

She wastes no time in pulling him into a hug, holding tightly for long moments before letting him go. “What a bitch this whole situation is, huh?” she says with a smile at him while opening her own case and starting to pull her own guns and knife out, inspecting them and tucking them into her various holsters. “First time we’re finally in a real vacation spot in years, and we can’t even enjoy it properly.”

This part of cleanup still requires more artillery and what she’ll use later, when TerraSave proper comes in. She’s got jeans and boots on, but a tank top to combat the heat, and holsters now comfortable with years of wear slinging guns at her sides, across her back; hooked to her belt and strapped around her thighs; a knife at her boot and one on her hip. Can never be too prepared.

hey at least he's not AS white as claire is

“Claire- I’d be lost without her. I really would. She kept me grounded and was my biggest support system- I met everybody else through Claire. She’d tell me about her brother and their old place. She... talked to me more than my mom ever did. There’s something in putting someone down as your first emergency contact, on the first legal form you fill out by yourself, and its your best friend. Claire’s been my mom figure in absentia. She didn’t need to do anything she did for me. It would have been easier for her to leave me behind to die with Raccoon, but she didn’t. She gave me some kind of second chance I never even knew I needed- and...”

Sherry pauses.

“i’m not actually a dad, so no. Although for a few years, piers and merah would get me whatever crap they’d picked up from the tourist spots on our journeys. usually something completely useless and to make fun of me.”

sherry’s the closest he’s got now, a pseudo-niece, but they’ve barely interacted and china hadn’t exactly been a good moment for him. he’s always wanted to be a dad, but the chance for that faded long ago.

“why? trying to find a useful dad gift for someone?”

“Yeah, I figured people would get you stuff. I was just wondering if you wanted anything. I’m trying to get everybody this year- I can actually go out and about so I’m taking advantage of it.”

She’s never gotten the chance to connect with him in the first place, either. It was solitary confinement for years, then It was Edonia, then China. There were no in betweens where she could even say hello and explain who she was.