I don’t think you deserve my mercy. To think I was so nice to you, too.

Timeline/World: Until Tomorrow – New York City
Current Date: September 4, 2023

Character: Vincent Adams
Race: Human
Age: 35
Current residence: New York City Ruins, New York
 

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I’m a nice guy. Cue groans from millions of dead people. I know what was beginning to be seen as nice guys on the whole internet thing when the world went to hell. Guys that think they’re nice but they’re nice, they’re douchebags and whatever. This has nothing to do with that. I’ve got the one girl that matters at my side, and I didn’t force her into the relationship.

I mean the point of my being a nice guy from the fact that I try to mind my own business; I don’t go around telling others what they’re supposed to do; I don’t condone violence. That kind of thing. There are times when violence will be tempting though and certain people—no matter the gender—seem to push my buttons just so. The only person I’ve ever shown any violent tendencies towards was Boyd and I punched him just the once. He deserved it.

With that being said, there are people on my shit list. People who are well aware of my sun limitations but still choose to ignore it and try to somehow convince me that I don’t know my own issues and that it’s all make-believe, that vampires aren’t real and that I should go out and get more sun. Okay, first off, I never said I’m a vampire; I grew up being told I was and that was hard enough to move past. Second off, I can’t be out in the sun as otherwise I’ll burn to a crisp and I know my limits.

I can spend a bit of time under the sun now but it’s still while I’m covered and only for short periods. At least I don’t instantly blister. I’m still not about to go take a long afternoon stroll while the sun is way up there in the sky and don’t get me started on cloud cover. Those are just about worse than full sun.

A few days ago, some twat—to use less offensive language than I would like to because, see, I’m a nice guy—that I’ve struggled to get along with because she refuses to understand that, one, I’m very happy in my relationship and, two, I could do with some more sun because I’m pasty white, decided that taking off with my umbrella was a good thing.

Now, I do help out where I can. Usually in the very early mornings or the early evenings when the sun has dropped enough. I prefer evenings but at times, the help needed has to be in the mornings, I’m flexible. I do cover up, I do take my umbrella, and it just so happens that on that particular morning, I lost track of time. I was in a heavily shaded area and by the time my basket was full, the sun had shifted and my path back to drop off my basket, and then head back home, was very, very bright. I could have managed a few minutes without the umbrella but beyond that, I would have started the unpleasant process of my skin beginning to redden and then burn.

I had my hat, and I was wearing longer sleeves and even gloves, but my face and my neck both were exposed one way or another. I looked for my umbrella, it would have made it possible for me to get back, but it wasn’t where I’d left it. I so happened to find it when I saw the twat in question having some sort of whatever-the-ef-is-this gymnastics-game-what display with it. She was twirling it around like it was a toy, just acting out the princess part of something.

I yelled at her to give it back to me because I needed it. She taunted me about how I would have to come and get it and I was having none of it.

Thankfully, I suppose you could say, there were a few others in the group I’d been working with that were a lot more understanding than her and with the help of one of those stupidly huge leaves that only grow way up high in the trees, I was walked home. They got my basket where it belonged afterwards and the rest.

Just last evening, the twat came by to drop by my umbrella that was looking fairly worse for wear as though she’d played rough and tumble with it for some stupid reason. Needless to say, I got on her case about shit, and I was not kind about it. She begged for mercy—if not in those words—and I told her that she didn’t deserve a single ounce of it. I’d been nice to her up until that point, I’d been friendly—without being over the top—I’d made it clear I wasn’t interested and all in all I’d just tried to be generally nice.

She had, however, just pushed things too godamned far and she was lucky I wasn’t registering her as having pretty much endangered my life since I hadn’t been able to go anywhere until the umbrella was back. After dark, sure, but during the day? Not really.

She’s left me alone since and she better keep it that way.

Final Word Count: 868

If I’m awake before nine, I’ll be surrounded by people more awake than I am. Do I really want that?

 
Timeline/World: Until Tomorrow – New York City
Characters: Vincent Adams
Race: Human
Age: 34
Current residence: New York City Ruins, New York
Final Word Count: 786 words
 

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Due to my skin condition, I used to be a night owl. That was a given for when I still was back home, my cousin and myself, both dealing with the same condition, a condition that was fairly rare, to begin with, and it led a lot of our family to believe that we were cursed. It still makes me shake my head when I think about it.

I’m aware that we were born in a fairly remote area and that our conditions were possibly unheard of as we were growing up, but for people to believe that we were cursed—vampires, was their word of choice—still baffles me. It wasn’t a moment too soon that we both managed to head to New York for a different chance at life. Sure, we had to keep covered and make sure to be out of the sun as much as possible but it could be managed.

For the most part, when I first landed here, I just made sure to have as many evening classes as I possibly could. It was the only thing that made sense and I admit that I was a little braver than Xen about wandering out and about, even while covered. Her parents had been a little more zealous in making sure she stayed in darkness at all times and it took her a little longer to wrap her mind around the idea of being out and about during the day. We really just required a good bit of covering up.

I had a roommate at first, I had to explain to them why I needed them to keep the curtains closed and they refused, so I had to manage a makeshift curtained-off area around my bed. It wasn’t exactly pretty looking but it did the job. I used to joke that if I were to get up before nine—at night, I meant but never really specified—I’d be surrounded by people who were far more awake than I was and I didn’t know if I really wanted that.

It took me the better part of a few months to slowly work up the nerve to change my schedule around to something other than what it had been for all of my life up until this point. I’d been burned a good few times while stepping outside not being covered enough that I didn’t think I really wanted to chance it all that much. Sure, I did learn. I covered up even though it wasn’t always fun. I wore long-sleeved shirts even in the summer, I learned to wear caps though they looked terrible on me, and I wore gloves, full pants, and boots. I even carried a small umbrella with me at all times.

I’ve never been self-conscious enough to worry about what other people might think of me when I roamed around, a dark umbrella kept close to my head to provide all the shade I needed. So what if I was this slightly skinny—I did bulk up after I moved here—pale guy, covered in head to do in dark colours with an umbrella over my head? Let people judge. Let them call me a vampire, or a wannabe goth kid, or whatever else they think they should call me. I was just doing what I had to, to not be burned to a crisp for spending even just a few moments outside.

It really did take Xen a lot longer to change her habits but her choice of clothing seemed to be more readily accepted. The long skirts, the stockings, the fingerless gloves, the umbrella, it all looked dainty and ladylike on her, I think it worked in her favour as she never liked being in the spotlight. Her preference was always being the one taking the photos of the people in the spotlight.

Now, well, miraculously—I know it’s technology but it’s still close to a miracle for me, really—we can spend some time out in the sun. I can’t just stand there for hours on end, sunbathing, I’ll still burn. I can, however, cover less and work in semi-shaded areas without having to worry about potentially just burning up completely because I didn’t cover enough. Up until Doc Flynn, that wasn’t even just an option so I can’t complain about finally being able to have that kind of freedom, it feels good to be able to feel the warmth of the sun directly on my skin and not just through my clothes.

I don’t think I’ll ever take this for granted; it’s just that one thing that changed my life too much to forget where it came from and the good it did me.

This is me, ignoring what you say to me, because this mistake is mine to make.

 
Timeline/World: Until Tomorrow – New York City
Characters: Vincent Adams
Race: Human
Age: 32
Final Word Count: 676 words
 

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I’m a little surprised that it took him close to five months to get eaten. I mean, this is terrible, someone’s life ending this way is a sad thing but, at the same time, I think that most of us were expecting it. Boyd had somehow, rather miraculously, managed to tone down his annoying behaviour for close to three months after I’d punched him. Again, I don’t condone this behaviour and I didn’t do it a second time when he started acting up again but it was tempting. I’d had no choice, back then. Not really.

We had peace for those three months, give or take. Two and a half months, is more like it but this is akin to comparing apples and oranges, we had peace for a while and it was wonderful peace, I’m not going to lie. When he started to go back to his old habits, we all sort of just rolled our eyes and tried to ignore him but it was hard to ignore him because he was making plans to ‘travel’, I think the idea actually made most of us giddy but, strangely enough, I wasn’t in that group of people.

While the idea of getting rid of him in that way would have been very nice, I knew better. I knew how much of an idiot he was. He was the guy who didn’t know how to tell the plants apart to make sure the ones he’d pick would be safe for eating. He was the one who didn’t believe in the man-sized carnivorous plants or the fact that there were new species of things out there that he couldn’t just ignore.

I did what any normal person would have done for someone they worried about—and it still is beyond me to state why it bothered me so much, the thought of his potential death while he was out there considering his behaviour over past years—I tried to convince him to stay. I tried to tell him about what was out there, I asked him about how he was planning to get his food and where he was planning to sleep, all little things that would have made a world of difference if he hadn’t been so painfully lazy but he shrugged off most of my concerns.

I knew he was ignoring me because he could. Somehow, somewhere in that brain of his, I could almost hear him think to himself that he was ignoring me because it was his mistake to make, that maybe, he could learn from this. I was probably just imagining that because he wasn’t the type of guy but still.

Within a week’s time, give or take, he’d ‘packed’ himself up to go. He had a suitcase on wheels—I don’t even know where he got it from—with his clothes. He packed no food, no water, nothing. Just his clothes. As though somehow he was going to hail a taxi, go on to the airport and get on a plane to elsewhere.

A week after he left, just walking away, dragging his suitcase over uneven terrain, we heard from one of the messengers—people who wander between the settlements with news, information, even ‘mail’ at times—that Boyd’s suitcase had been found scattered not even a few miles away from where we were. He was nowhere to be found but there were blood splatters everywhere.

So most of us are pretty certain that he either got mauled by an animal or somehow attacked by someone else, the latter is unlikely but we’ve heard of it happening, so it hasn’t been crossed off of our lists. I feel bad that he’s dead. He wasn’t a great guy but he still didn’t deserve to die. I tried to keep him from making that mistake but I guess that I just wasn’t the type of guy he’d listen to. Then again, I guess you wouldn’t really want to listen to the guy who punched you in the face to teach you a lesson.

I can count on one hand how many times you’ve done this.

 
Timeline/World: New York City – Surviving Earth
Characters: Vincent Adams
Race: Human
Age: 32
Final Word Count: 657 words
 

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Some people somehow seem to believe that they’re leaders when they’re just not. They think they have a right to bully everyone into doing all the things they personally have no desire to do and I only have so much patience for people like that.

Point made, I think, when I punched this one guy just last week and, surprisingly enough, he’s behaved since then.

Now, mind you, I don’t condone this behaviour. I don’t even condone violence because it doesn’t solve anything but, as far as this guy was concerned, I didn’t really have a choice. He pushed too far, he wouldn’t listen to reason and I wasn’t the only one getting sick and tired of his little bossy act.

I feel the need to point out that while I can now spend some time out in the sun, I still can’t be out in the full sun and I can only handle some shaded sun for a few hours before my skin begins to burn. So my work options are actually a little limited but my proper team lead knows this and works well with me most of the time. I tend to get either very early morning shifts and usually in more shaded areas or late afternoon shifts. I don’t mind either, my schedule is fine to be shifted as needed and I adapt well.

The arsehole, on the other hand—we’ll call him Boyd because of random reasons that have nothing to do with the fact that this might or might not actually be his name—complains when he gets shifts that aren’t between particular hours or when he’s asked to do something in particular. He whines and complains about always doing these jobs that no one else ever wants to do and just… I think we all can count how often he’s done these jobs on a single hand, it’s that bad.

I don’t know why he’s still on this team for how little work he does. He’d rather just be tasked with ‘supervising’ but not a single one of us needs to be supervised anymore. We know exactly how to do the jobs we’re tasked with and just, all in all, it’s a mess.

So yes, a week ago, I gave up trying to talk some sense into him, he was complaining about a sunburn when he’s so dark he probably can’t even get a sunburn—I’m aware he probably can but bear with me—and complaining that he always got the hardest of jobs. So yeah, I punched Boyd in the face. I missed his nose, something I’m sort of bummed about because it would have really given him something to bitch about but his eye swelled up pretty quickly, even though you couldn’t see the bruising. He’s that dark-skinned.

I have nothing about black-skinned people or people with dark skin in general, I’m still just making a point of the fact that Boyd is an absolute idiot but he’s been so well behaved since that just maybe, he’d gotten the point. I’m not holding my breath over the fact that he might be able to remain this well behaved for more than a short while before he’s back to his annoying self, but for now, it’s just so peaceful that I’m not going to complain.

Everyone has noticed just how quieter work was and how smoother everything was going, so we can all pinpoint the source of most of our problems with the one guy who never managed to keep his mouth shut.

I’m not going to hit him again if he gets back to his old habits. At least, not until he pushes too far and that ‘too far’ took at least a couple of years to come about so I’m hoping that we’ll be all right, at least for a short while. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope for the best.

There’s a time and place for everything, you know?

Timeline/World: New York City – Surviving Earth
Characters: Vincent Adams
Race: Human
Age: 30
Final Word Count: 528 words

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For once I was more than willing to go for the ‘let’s agree to disagree’ mindset. I’m a mellow guy, I don’t like to pick fights unless I know I can win them and I try to be a gentleman most of the time. The only person I’m not a gentleman around is my girl and only because she brings the bad boy out of me or something.

I admit that I wasn’t very useful to the folks out there when the snow melted and the sun came back out from behind the clouds when the jungle made its presence known. I burned under that sun, in a literal way, that is until the doc found a semi-cure and while I no longer really burn, spending too much time under direct sunlight still results in pretty uncomfortable sunburns, more for my cousin than for me but still.

So I wasn’t much more than a useless lump during the first short while and I kept Mal occupied in much the same way I used to before the world went to hell. A lot of people didn’t seem to appreciate the fact this gorgeous creature was all mine and some complained that I was using up too much of her time, that others had need of her presence and it amused me more than anything else to listen to them complain.

Was I hogging her time? Of course, I was. Should I have settled for the fact that yes, everything had its place and time and maybe I should have let her roam more? I don’t know. I didn’t force her to our shared pleasure and I know that if she’d have wanted to wander she could have, very easily so in fact, so I will disagree with the complainers.

Once I could be outside more, though still not for long periods of time unless I kept to well-shaded areas, I did spend more time helping with the rebuilding efforts, with the gathering, the hunting, the whatever verb you want to put in there that ends with ‘-ing’ and helps us along with this survival thing.

I believe that we’re doing more than surviving at this point, though it isn’t quite living, it still is better than just trying to get by. We have comfortable little homes, we have food though that still needs to be portioned a little, we have mostly running water and some access to electricity, I think as a society that has lost everything to the snow just six years ago, we’re doing pretty damn well for ourselves and those who do not agree with how I spend my free time by claiming that there is more to this than life… well they can go suck on a rotten cactus or something, this is my private life, they have no say whatsoever about it and I’m not even going to argue about the fact.

I do what I want. What I want is quality time with my most beautiful, wonderful one and the moment she says ‘no’ is the moment I stop, but otherwise, that’s just not going to happen, so give up.