The Changing Air: RATED T

SUMMARY: Tak knows the world is changing fast, and dangerous times are ahead. What he didn't count on, however, was his changing feelings towards his most beautiful comrade, Karen. Can love exist after death? T/K

A/N:
The time period on this isn’t too important, but I’ll just say it’s somewhere between the Children of Romero’s poster prank and the church debacle that got people killed….It will later end up going past Kiss of Life.
A Karen/Takayuki fic…am I the first with a long fic like this? Surely the first rated M on ff.net? OMG!
Rated T. There will be M content in much later scenes, but only on fanfic.net. Even there, I’ll clearly mark when those scenes come about so you can skip them if you’d like!

Does it make me a sick person to write Zombie smut? Naaahhhh… OK, so I won't be posting anything too smutty here. Check the story on fanfic.net if that's your thing.


***

The prank-no, the political statement with humorous undertones- went off without a hitch. Tak had to say, he was impressed once again with Popeye’s ingenuity.

The Children of Romero stood back, admiring their handiwork.

The group had broken perhaps one small law when they had broken into the school, but they had succeeded in placing the false label on top of all of the first aid kits in the whole place. Karen had been instrumental in the planning of this prank, scoping out the kit’s locations over the last week. They had also dropped off several kits on the front steps of several local businesses and hospitals.

The label read “Zombie Attack Survival Kit. Includes a machete, anti-brain eating helmet, holy water, and some antibacterial soap. Warnings: COR is not responsible for any ineffectiveness of Zombie Attack Survival Kit, or any state of panic created from its contents. Do not use if you are nursing, pregnant, or ignorant.”

Some might call it tasteless. Popeye thought it was brilliant, and the rest of them were amused enough to use the stickers they printed up.

The group left the last revamped kit where they found it and made their way back to the window where they had popped out the screen to enter.

Tak jumped through first. The window was deceptively high off the ground; but since they had all miraculously been able to enter it, getting out was no trouble. He made sure every single person got out, grabbing his comrades hands to steady them as they jumped to the ground. Being that some of the small group were somewhat balance-challenged, this was no small task.

The last person out of the window was Karen. She didn’t struggle as she placed a thigh against the frame and swung her other leg around. Her movements were swift and exact. No, she wasn’t exactly as graceful as a dancer, but she was certainly the most capable Zombie Tak had ever seen.

Though she could no doubt jump down on her own, she nonetheless accepted Tak’s proffered hand with a tugging of her lips into a smile. It was almost like it came naturally for her, sometimes. It was as if she didn’t have to stop and think, ‘Ok. Now, move the muscles of your mouth…’ She just did.

Her small hand met his and he could almost imagine he could feel it tighten against his own. He could imagine the small pressure, and the soft feel of her skin.

But he could only imagine.

***

It was a cold night as the group made their way back to the Haunted House. Not that that was particularly meaningful, seen as how they couldn’t feel it, but it did mean the recent rain froze to the ground. It was slow going sometimes, when one of them would trip and fall on their ass in a rather embarrassing way.

But never Karen, of course.

Popeye held the door open as everyone made their way in, and stared at Tak as if to say “Well?”

Tak shook his head slightly. He didn’t feel like going in just yet. TV didn’t particularly hold interest for him even when he was alive, and there was really nothing else to do but stare at the chipping paint on the walls. It’s not like they slept, really. Some of the kids in the Haunted House would stare vacantly for long periods of time, and Tak would often think of that state as a sort of sleep. But Tak, for one, could never do that. He never slept. Too restless, he guessed. The world was full of too much that needed changing, too many fights to be won…how could anyone sleep in such dangerous times? Why is it that no one else seemed to see how serious their situation was, and that sitting around wasn’t helping them?

He heard the door open up again, and a blond head popped out.

“Are you leaving again?” Karen asked in an even voice. That distinction, ‘even voice,’ was necessary with Karen, who could put real emotion in her voice like few others. For most of them, their voices remained flat. Tak liked to think that he was rather better than most at that, at least. Maybe he could emote his voice slightly better because he was so angry so often? Anger was easy for Tak to voice.

He shook his head in response to Karen. “Just going to…wander.” He shrugged. “Guess after the excitement…I’m anxious.” ‘And bored,’ He added silently.

He started walking away from the porch at a slow pace, heading for the forest in the distance across the field. His heavy boots crunched over the icy grass, and it wasn’t long before he heard a second pair of feet crunching behind him. Light footsteps in low-heeled shoes, steady and even and gaining on him fast.

Karen made her way beside him and matched his pace.

“You know, we plan to have a small party at the House this Friday.”

Tak would have snorted if he could. A party full of trads, no doubt. This trend was not something he appreciated.

Karen seemed to pick up on his mood, even though he didn’t say a word. “I just wanted to tell you. I know you hate surprises.” She smiled. “I wanted to give you time to prepare for scaring my friends.”

Yes, yes. Tak was very scary. And yes, he liked using that to his advantage. But what really bothered him about Karen’s joking comment was the way she said ‘friends.’ Her friends. Friends from another world, a world they had no business touching. Yes, he was bothered that Phoebe was messing around with the dangerous world of the trads, but more than that he felt….jealous? No, that couldn’t be right…

But a pang of envy went through him as he thought about all the hours she was away, all the time when she was at school. She had another life separate from the Haunted House, and separate from him. Even if he wanted to, he could never be a part of that life.

Unlike Karen, Takayuki’s looks were just too far on the “zombie” side of things. He could never pass like she did. Not that he wanted to; he was proud of being “Differently Biotic.”

What a laughable word. They even had to label us as “different.” As if that wasn’t evident. “Different” was the best word for creating gaps, which inevitably led to hate, which led to violence…

Violence was coming.

But walking silently beside Karen, he could almost imagine, could almost pretend that everything was going to be ok.

But he could only imagine.

***

A/N: What do you all think of my Tak’s POV? Is it realistic enough, or am I OOC? Don’t worry; this is most certainly not the end! I don’t know how long this will go, but I’m pretty sure it will be the longest Generation Dead fic on Fanfic.net....
Please review! I have other fics I’m working on, but I’ll put some effort into updating this if I get encouragement!