˗ˏˋ✰ 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 ✰´ˎ˗

exclusive jake muller: @tigerpalm​

truthfully,  he  didn’t  deliberately  try  to  spook  her.  he  wasn’t  sure  where  they  were  going  or  what  was  behind  them,  but  the  fact  that  he  had  a pistol  in  his  holster  made  things  feel  less  frightening.  

even  if,  y’know,  you  can’t  shoot  a  ghost.  

he  shakes  the  thought  off…  the  last  thing  he  needed  was  to  explain  to  sherry  about  why  he  was  laughing  and  what  dumb  thought  popped  into  his  head.

❝     d’you  know  which  way  we’re  goin’     ?      his  voice  is  low  but  he spoke  with  purpose,  his  steps  soft  and  his  gaze  shifting  to  either  side  and  then  behind  them  every  few  moments.  looking  for  what  would  be  some  entryway  to  a  room  that  would  lead  them  out  of  this  cursed  place.

a slight shake of her head was all she could really give the man. sherry wasn’t one to believe in ghosts but, then again, she had seen it all at this point. it wasn’t like it would faze her much.

“i was kind of hoping you knew where we were going...”

the blonde had never really gotten a good look at the place either. every shadow made her skin crawl and her eyes caught onto different things. call it her being paranoid, but it helped her get to know her surroundings.

gaze  falters,  a  side  step  taken  to  glance  over  her  shoulder.  he  swore  he  didn’t  hear  anything,  but  he  doesn’t  say  that  out  loud.  he  doesn’t  want  the  girl  to  feel  like  she  was  losing  her  mind.  but  maybe  it  was  helpful  to  just  be  honest.      ❝     could  it  be  that  someone’s  coming  after  you     ?     ❞     he  doesn’t  know  where  he’s  going  with  that,  but  asks  anyway.  maybe  it  was  some  reason  to  end  up hearing  voices.

still,  he  draws  his  pistol  from  the  holster  attached  to  the  back  of  his  belt,  checking  the  clip  for  bullets,  before  he  gestures  down  the  corridor  to  their  right.  it  was  probably  a  good  idea  to  get  out  of  here  before  they  were  both  hearing  more  voices.  he  takes  the  first  step,  deciding  to  be  the  leader,  though  he  wasn’t  sure  which  way  would  be  smarter,  the  back  or  the  front.

❝     c’mon.  we  gotta  keep  movin’.     ❞

“don’t say that!” her voice laced with panic as yet another chill ran down her spine. 

sherry was fine with zombies and B.O.W’s but this was not something she liked. (obviously. no one liked their name being called by someone random.) the blonde couldn’t believe the man just decided to scare her even more.

“yeah... moving... i’ll be close.”

Be open, she says. Sebastian’s not comforted by it– it brings back memories of another world, of other monsters– but his own anxiety isn’t going to help anything, so he pushes it aside.

He decides he’ll just be happy his daughter isn’t here with him.

The direction is one he finds easy to follow, so Sebastian takes the steps necessary to stand on the opposite side of the door. If he were still on the force, he might’ve insisted he go ahead nevertheless; this woman’s got more experience with B.O.W.s than he does, though, and he’s sure she‘s got clearance for this stuff for a reason. Sebastian respects that. Hell, in the short time they’ve been together, he respects her.

Standing so that he’s hidden by the doorframe and the wall, Sebastian meets his companion’s gaze silently and nods once. I’ll follow your lead.

slowly entering the room, her eyes squinted as they adjusted to the sudden darkness. all sherry could do was take out her flashlight and flash it away from her. it wasn’t something she was used to doing, but she knew it was safer for the both of them. giving him the signal to follow, she quietly searched the room.

she put a finger to her lips as she took in the room. it was cold and quiet, almost like no one had entered the room in the first place. nothing out of place or clear from dust. (so what exactly entered... unless someone left?)

“do... you think someone entered the room? it doesn’t look like anything has been touched in years..”

but then again, what would she know? she could remember the time she took shelter with jake... a whole j’avo was running around and she hadn’t had a clue.

Sherry says it like Sebastian hasn’t had his guard up since this all started.

When he’d moved here with his daughter, he’d been under the impression the place would be safer than Krimson City: sleepier, less eventful, less steeped in corruption. A viral outbreak, of all things, hadn’t been on his bingo card. Hell, a part of him still can’t believe it’s happening, never mind the fact he’d put a bullet through what had once been his neighbour only two hours ago.

The door that’d closed stays closed, and Sebastian’s mind tells him they’ve overstayed their welcome. With the infected roaming the streets outside, the chances of this being a safe encounter aren’t high.

But he thinks about leaving an innocent person behind. He thinks that if Lily hadn’t been out of town at a sleepover, and if he weren’t in town, that he would’ve wanted someone to find her for him.

And considering the door that’d closed has the name “JOEY” on it in colourful letters…

“I’m gonna check it out,” he says. Sebastian reminds himself he’s still got five bullets in his six-shooter. “Someone might need help in there.

“A zombie would’ve gone for us immediately, right?” Sebastian isn’t exactly an expert on them.

“i think it is best to be open about what they can do.” her hand reached out and stopped him from venturing any further. with a shake of her head, sherry cocked her gun. 

the blonde hadn’t seen something like this since raccoon city. sure, there was edonia and china, but this was almost exactly like when she was a kid. sherry was tired of it already. she finally felt exactly what claire and leon had been going on about. yet, the thrill of it helped her get this far and to her dismay, she let herself tag along with a strange man.

“i’ll go first... just be prepared for what it is.” she cleared her throat before turning to look at him. “i have a feeling it would be eating up all of our bullets.”

with that, she silently walked toward the door. her hands itched to grab her trusty stun rod, but fought against grabbing it from her side. she thought about his words awhile back and softly smiled. (at least it was good that he wanted to help others. almost reminded her of someone.)

blue eyes narrowed as she slowly turned toward the man. 

“don’t say that.” her voice dripped with irritation. she knew he was right but she didn’t like how forward it was.

unfortunately, sherry had known they weren’t alone just by the extra pair of footsteps she had been hearing. at first she played it off as an echo until a door had shut to their right. (him saying that almost made her swing, but, she knew it wasn’t necessary.) 

“let’s... keep our guard up for now...” 

“well, that’s... pleasant.” 

sherry was used to “spooky” stories especially when it had to do with death. yet, hearing it from the kid didn’t sit right with her. (maybe it was because the kid just said it straight up.)

“better not disrupt his eternal slumber.” her voice had a slight shake to it, yet she quickly masked it with a small laugh. 

she found it better to go on with the joke rather than being so uptight. it still was unsettling to her but, that wasn’t something she was willing to show. she had been through it all, so what was another thing to give her nightmares?

a chill ran down the blonde’s spine, making her expression slowly fall. (if he hadn’t called her then.... who did?) her eyes slowly looked down in a panic, hoping it was just her imagination. although, she knew that in this life, nothing was ever an imagination. she didn’t know what was fake and what was real anymore. at some point, she wished she was still a locked up lab rat.

“i could have sworn it was you...” her voice was low as she mumbled those words. maybe it was nothing...

sherry couldn’t tell if it was the universe telling her to sleep or if something was out to get her. she hoped for the first. her head became light as she started to dwell on it.

“who was it, then?”

The thought that Sherry’s cute drinking out of a bowl comes unbidden into Jake’s mind.

Then she brings up stopping. “What?” Because she thinks he doesn’t want her to. “No– hey, you’re fine. It’s not like I’m offended.”

Jake’s head cocks up, chin pointing briefly in the direction of Sherry’s bowl. “Keep goin’ if you wanna, Sherry. It feels warmer when you drink straight from the bowl, anyway. You can feel it in your chest.”

A point that he emphasises as he goes to drink another mouthful of soup, gulping it down and letting out a soft sigh once he does.

“…what was that you were saying about utensil-less food?”

a small laugh left her throat as she brought the bowl back up to her lips. sherry couldn’t help but think about how right he was. you could feel it in your chest...it was warm and nice. she wanted him to teach her more of his ways...maybe cook for her some more if he felt comfortable. (he looked cute when trying to reassure her.)

“i used to eat sandwiches... sad, cold chicken nuggets. sometimes fruits but that was only if they wanted to give me fruit. i learned to make a makeshift spoon out of a pudding cup lid.”

they were fond memories she kept, but sad if given the context. although, that never stopped her from making it more lighthearted. she missed those little sandwiches cut in triangles.