[ shí­ sān - location: serenity - action/visual ]

[gotcouplings.livejournal.com]

Since the first few posts on the network, Kaylee has been slowly making just-in-case preparations: securing the parts of the drill, stocking up on provisions, double-checking that Serenity is in fine working order--everything she's learned to do during her time with Mal. The lovely system failure was a clear case of You Can't Be Too Careful, and there's no way she's about to be surprised again.

After checking her surroundings, she quietly leaves the ranch house and heads for the ship. Just have to send a quick blip to River and she'll be set to go pick her up and move. Kaylee pulls her tablet out as she heads up Serenity's ramp, absently hitting the buttons on the panel to close the cargo bay up as she starts the feed.

"River, mei mei, gonna come get you at the zoo, alright? Stay safe 'til I get there. And Jayne, mind checkin' in--"

A loud stuttering clunk halts her, and she steps forward to peer curiously back at the door and investigate whatever is jamming the gears. It's a fortunate turn--just as she spins around, an Extra, bloody and drooling, lunges at her. Kaylee twists out of the way and scrambles for the stairs, catching just enough of a glimpse of the bay doors to see another body stuck fast in the gears, and a third Extra clambering up over the top of the ramp.

The tablet catches glimpses of stairs and zombie flesh as Kaylee makes her way up toward the mess hall. In the distance, the dull thud of a body toppling over the ramp can be heard as the mechanic rounds the corner for the next set of stairs. There's an awkward fumbling to shove the kitchen's door closed before Kaylee finally leans back against the wall to catch her breath--

--and promptly screams and drops her tablet as another Extra lunges at her from behind the table. The tablet's screen cracks and goes black as it hits the ground, and for a time only the sound of the scuffle can be heard before another screech of metal cuts them off. The dining room remains silent.

On top of Serenity, the mechanic grimaces at the tips of the Extra's fingers that had been caught in the hatch as she had slammed it closed. A quick glance over the side of the ship shows a few other Extras slowly gathering around the ship. Kaylee sighs, dragging her knees up to her chest. Stuck on top of a ship with no way of contacting the others.

"Shiny," she mutters.

Comments

[Voice]

[mercenaryacare.livejournal.com]

"Gorramit, Kaylee!" Jayne yells into his tablet before shoving it in his pocket to take hold of Vera with both hands so he can blow a zombie's brains out. Once that's done, he fishes it back out.

"You all right there? 'M I gonna hafta come and rescue you?" He curses under his breath when there's no answer, and makes his way towards the ship. He's not far, but who knows how many zombies lie in between them?

"Walkin' into a gorram piece of unpleasantness," he mutters as he turns the tablet off and puts it away.

[ location: serenity ]

[gotcouplings.livejournal.com]

From her vantage point on top of the ship, there don't seem to be too many zombies around the ship. At this point, there might be more inside than out, which isn't much better considering the grating sounds she can occasionally hear from below the hatch. Gorram things in her ship. Thanks a ton, hamsters.

It's easy to see Jayne's approach, though Kaylee doesn't do much more than wave her arm at him. Any loud noises might divert attention to the wrong thing, and she really doesn't want them heading off to grab for Jayne.

[ location: serenity ]

[mercenaryacare.livejournal.com]

Jayne comes up stealthily, taking in the situation and weighing his options. He sees Kaylee wave and stares at her a minute, mouth hanging open. Finally he shakes himself out of it and slowly circles the ship, picking off zombies as he goes. Once he's back at his starting point he looks up, puzzled.

"Howdja get yourself up there? And how the hell you expect me to get ya down?"

[ location: serenity ]

[gotcouplings.livejournal.com]

As soon as Jayne has seen her, Kaylee makes herself nice and small while he makes his way around the ship. She waits there, listening carefully for any signs of trouble down below. It isn't until he shouts up at her that she finally peeks back over the side.

"Gorram things're in her," she replies quietly, motioning down at the ship. "Should be a ladder in the shop, though..."

[ location: serenity ]

[mercenaryacare.livejournal.com]

He frowned, looking at the hull of the ship like he could see through her.

"Ya got any idea how many? Cuz I was hopin' to get down to my bunk and arm myself better."

[ location: serenity ]

[gotcouplings.livejournal.com]

Kaylee scrunches her nose, glancing back toward the hatch.

"Least three?" It's a guess, considering three was all she had seen. There could be more, for all she knows right now. "Caught at least one in the mess hall. Might be one in the hall to the bridge, though..."

[ location: serenity ]

[mercenaryacare.livejournal.com]

"Three ain't bad, but all it takes is one." He thinks this over for a moment, then gets an idea, which is sort of a big deal for him. "Be right back."

He heads off to the shop and scans around carefully until he's sure it's zombie free, then grabs the ladder, bringing it back out for her.

"All right, how's this? I'm gonna lift up this ladder to ya, and you drag it up there with you. I'm goin' in to get more guns and ammo, then I'll come back out and help ya down. But..." He pauses, almost not wanting to say it. "If I get bushwhacked in there and don't come back, you still got a way down."

Not that he was planning on getting bitten. But even he could be sneaked up on.

"Gimme twenty minutes. Oh," he reached into his pocket and fished out his tablet, tossing it up to her. "So you can call for help if, ya know, things go south."

[ location: serenity ]

[gotcouplings.livejournal.com]

While he's gone, Kaylee keeps a careful eye out for any others approaching. Even while he's setting the ladder, she's more interested in watching for zombified Extras than she is listening to what he's saying, at least until he starts mentioning the idea of his getting overpowered by one of the things.

She starts, "Don't--" but pauses when he keeps on talking anyhow. No use in telling him not to, he's Jayne after all. Kaylee frowns anxiously, and carefully drags the ladder up onto the ship. The catches the tablet gingerly, and places it in her front pocket.

"Yào xiǎoxīn."


[[ Translation: Be careful. ]]

[ location: serenity ]

[mercenaryacare.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, yeah," he says, sounding like a person who heard that one too many times from his mother. He heads towards the cargo hold of the ship and makes a disgusted face at the half chopped up zombies stuck in the ramp. He kicks the leg of one, but there's no response so he goes to lower the ramp, gun at the ready.

It comes down and he does a quick visual sweep of the cargo bay. It looks empty, but there's plenty of places to hide. He comes in, kicks mangled zombie parts out of the way, and closes the ramp back up, turning this way and that, so his back is never exposed for long. Once he's sealed in, he makes his way for the stairs, still cautious.

Everything's fine until he ascends to the top and the one Kaylee warned him was in the hall pops out of the doorway into the cargo bay.

"Wo de ma!" He nearly trips back down the stairs, but he manages to balance on one leg and shoot the zombie through the eye. It collapses to the ground and Jayne gets his footing, coming up and kicking the thing hard as he curses under his breath.


[Wo de ma = Mother of God]

[Visual]

[allthatlife.livejournal.com]

It felt like an eternity since Martha had enjoyed a full night of sleep or spent longer than a short spell of time in one place. Thanks to her military training, she'd kept calm - for the most part - and dealt with the chaos as calmly as possible, but, when she caught a brief glimpse of Kaylee - followed by nothing but silence and an ominously blank screen - fear bubbled into life in Martha's stomach.

"Kaylee! Kaylee!"

As if her friend could hear her. As if her friend would be able to reply.

She needed to get to Serenity, but Project Indigo wasn't cooperating. Her judgment was clouded by fear and grief and - it didn't bear thinking about, but she couldn't help it - the fact that the device couldn't locate Kaylee in the first place.

[ Visual ]

[gotcouplings.livejournal.com]

It takes some time before Kaylee responds. Jayne's still inside, and she spends several minutes fumbling with his tablet while she waits for him to come back out. She should let people know she's alright, though, and with a sigh she finally switches the tablet on and gives Martha a shaky smile.

"'M alright," she says first off, giving Martha enough of a glance at both herself and the top of the ship to prove it. "Jayne's here... How're you holdin' up?"

[Visual]

[allthatlife.livejournal.com]

When her tablet switched back on, Martha made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob. She could hardly believe her eyes. The sight of Kaylee - tired and shaken but alive - was almost too good to be true.

"I'm a lot better now," she said, when she managed to speak. "I thought you'd ... I ..."

She gave up and laughed again.

"I'm really glad to see you."

[ Visual ]

[gotcouplings.livejournal.com]

Martha's reaction...wasn't really all that surprising. Even after all they seemed to survive through in Taxon, there were still some glitches that threw everyone for some pretty decent loops. Kaylee hated to admit it, but this particular glitch seemed to be topping the cake.

So much for a few months of peace and quiet.

"Y-yeah. I thought so too, for a minute there... Imagine I'm just as happy to see you."

[Visual]

[allthatlife.livejournal.com]

"So you're definitely all right?" she pressed, "You didn't get bitten?"

She was aware that she was fussing unnecessarily - she must have got that from her mum - but the surge of relief was so strong that she couldn't help herself.

"Is Jayne still around?"

[ Visual ]

[gotcouplings.livejournal.com]

"No bites," Kaylee promised. "Couple scratches, maybe some bruises, but no bites."

Everyone was going to be fussing this week. Kaylee didn't mind it so much. Fussing meant people still had a reason to check in on each other.

She nodded down at the ship. "Yeah...workin' his way through the ship, had to get at his bunk for ammo. Should be back any minute."

[Visual]

[allthatlife.livejournal.com]

"Good."

Cuts and bruises mended easily enough. A bite - a zombie bite - was an entirely different matter.

"Are you going to stay in the ship?" she added. She wasn't sure how secure it was, but, at the same time, heading outside was probably just as dangerous.

[ Visual ]

[gotcouplings.livejournal.com]

Kaylee bit her lip thoughtfully.

"Don't know yet. All depends on whether we can clear the few that got in out or not. Be best if we could, I think."

[Visual]

[numbersnfigures.livejournal.com]

Watching the attack alarms Spencer and after Kaylee's screen goes black he immediately gets on his tablet, hoping that she hasn't broken it for good.

"Kaylee? C-Can you hear me?"

[ Visual ]

[gotcouplings.livejournal.com]

It isn't Kaylee's tablet that finally responds. Rather, she's still sitting on top of the ship, holding Jayne's tablet close to her.

"I can, yeah. How're you 'n Kate doin'?"

[ Visual ]

[numbersnfigures.livejournal.com]

"I'm stuck in the library a-and I haven't spoken to Kate yet. Kaylee, are you safe?"

From what he had seen, it certainly didn't seem like it.

[ Visual ]

[gotcouplings.livejournal.com]

"Do you need help?" Because they can manage that, maybe. After Jayne is finished getting what he needs from inside the ship, anyway.

At his question, though, she pauses a moment before nodding slowly. "Think so, yeah. Jayne's here now--his tablet, mine's inside someplace still..."

[ Visual ]

[numbersnfigures.livejournal.com]

"Well... I am stuck here... but I don't want to put you through any more trouble. I-I'll be fine..."

[ Visual ]

[gotcouplings.livejournal.com]

Kaylee really doesn't like the idea of Spencer being stuck with nowhere to go. There were too many hiding places for creepy-crawlies in libraries...

"Wouldn't hardly be trouble, if you need the help. If nothin' else, I can send Jayne your way."

[ Visual ]

[numbersnfigures.livejournal.com]

Spencer made a bit of a face. He was just thrilled with the idea of Jayne coming to get him, after the last conversation that they had about him being "Core-bred" - whatever that's supposed to mean. Then again, Jayne seemed like a man who had no qualms about shooting as many things as he possibly could.

"I don't want to put you guys in danger... but Kate and I do have some high powered weaponry stashed here that used to belong to John Casey. It could be helpful..."

Actually, now that Spencer was thinking about it, Jayne bore a striking resemblance to Casey...

[ Visual ]

[gotcouplings.livejournal.com]

Jayne had that influence on people. You were either terrified of him, or, like Serenity's crew, completely unfazed by everything he did...most of the time.

"Might be. Jayne's got some stuff in his bunk, but I doubt he'd ever turn down a shot at more." Come to think of it, Jayne was looking for a place to stash her while he ran off to get River anyway.

"How secure's the place?"