fandomhigh | History in Living Colour - Friday, Period 3 (Week 5)

"The events of the past don't always match up with what's written in history books. Someone I once knew said 'history is written by the victors' but that's not always true. Sometimes it's written by the people who couldn't comprehend what really happened, so they made it up or tried to reconcile what really happened with what makes sense in their head. Sometimes it's written by people who weren't there, so they made a good guess. This ties back to good old Arthur, but I'm afraid today won't be as simple as playing with swords and answering a question.

Welcome to the Roanoke Colony, 1588. This was the first serious attempt by England to establish a permanent settlement in the Virginia Colony, but the colonists who came here disappeared. Guesses were made about their untimely demise or abandonment of the colony, but they were largely wrong.

The historians of the time didn't say it was zombies, although that word, really, could have come up with something better, because they couldn't comprehend what a 'zombie' was. The reanimated dead aren't new, they just weren't embraced until around the time of Mary Shelley. There's a perfectly logical, scientific explanation for the living dead, a couple in fact, but I won't get into details. Why pass up a chance to explain it? Because we're in the middle of the colony and the undead colonists, ravaged by their condition and trying to survive by feeding and making more of themselves, are closing in on our scent. In this trunk," he said, kicking the wooden box at his feet, "you'll find whatever tools you think you need to survive. Say it out loud and the Danger Shop will have it appear when you open the trunk. Within reason. No weapons of mass destruction, if you please. I'd go with a political joke, but if you've heard one, you've heard them all. Go on then. You're a survivor of the Roanoke Colony. Survive. Try to get to the boats down by the shore. You wanted history in living colour? You're about to get it. Oh, and practical exam next week. Just a little thing. Sink or swim type scenario, but if you can get through this, you won't have a problem. Brush up on Japan, late 19th century. Or your people skills. They'll probably help more."

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Zombies? Anemone flinched and contemplated skipping out of class and taking detention instead.

The Doctor waited until after his little speech, then headed for Anemone. "Problem?"

"I don't like zombies," Anemone said shortly. "The movies always give me nightmares."

Which was true. She was just leaving out that her former squadmates sometimes referred to her as the "living-dead girl" because of the trances her sickness caused. Anemone didn't like being called a zombie.

"I don't think anyone actually likes zombies." He stopped when he saw the grin on Dean Winchester's (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomhigh/1896676.html?thread=120096484#t120096484) face. "I stand corrected. They won't hurt you, but you don't have to be here. If you want to leave, I won't stop you."

Anemone followed his gaze to Dean and couldn't help a little grin.

"I want to try, I think," she said slowly. "Can I ask? What is wrong with them?" She wasn't going to hit people if they were just sick.

That was the answer he wanted to hear. "They're dead. What you're seeing is the bodies reanimated by a virus. The physical movement is there, but what made them the people they were disappeared when they died. The virus in their bodies, transmitted by bodily fluids - blood most of the time - gathers in the brain stem and stimulates the natural processes of the host body. It mimics human life, but it's just the body's way to responding to the base needs being activated in the brain, which is done by the virus so it has something to feed off, multiply and have a way of spreading to other hosts. In this case, anyway. Sometimes you might find the dead walking around because of possession by a parasite or an energy-based being popped in to say hello. But this lot? Definitely dead."

"Dead-dead. Not mind-controlled dead or caught in a different waking-reality dead, but dead." Okay, she could deal with that.

Anemone looked down at her white dress and sighed. "They're going to try and bleed on me, aren't they?"

"I'd suggest not letting them get close enough to bleed on you. They can't really hurt you in here, but I wouldn't recommend letting them try. Remember: there's no shame in running. In fact, I'm a big fan of it."

Alice noticed Anemone's hesitation, and leaned over to lower her voice.

"How much destruction do you suppose we could do, were we to pair up?"

They were dead, not sick. As long as she remembered that, Anemone could do this.

"Not enough," she said confidently, tossing her hair over one shoulder. "I think I might need a big stick, to whack them out of the way."

"That chest can give us weapons," Alice said. "I should very much like a vorpal blade, if it has one. One knows where one stands, with a knife."

"I used to have talon-whips," Anemone replied, considering the chest. "They wouldn't work here, but a knife might be similar enough to use."

"Let us see what the chest has," Alice nodded. "Conveniently, I've discovered that nearly anything can be a weapon, if wielded properly."

She had a feeling Anemone might understand.

"Pots, pans, books," there was a slight hesitation, and Anemone grinned. "Pie..."

"Pie?" Alice beamed. "I've never tried that one. That sounds like a story."

"Ask Mr. Durden what he thinks of pie," Anemone replied innocently. "I want to know what kind of face he makes."

History in Living Colour - Friday, Period 3 (Week 5)

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