{"id":850,"date":"2011-11-18T08:28:50","date_gmt":"2011-11-18T14:28:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.illinoir.com\/wp\/?p=850"},"modified":"2011-11-19T08:41:10","modified_gmt":"2011-11-19T14:41:10","slug":"more-about-ak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.illinoir.com\/wp\/?p=850","title":{"rendered":"More About Ak"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Word Count: 30219<\/p><\/div>\n

Not much progress today. As much as the character of a corporate sponsored Zombie Hunter intrigues me, I wasn’t able to write much. Also, I discovered Assassin’s Creed: Revelations multiplayer, and that…well, it was a time sink. Every damned November, all the good games come out and battle with my ability to focus.<\/p>\n

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There was a silence between the man and me then, as we stared at each other. He still didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t trust me, for whatever reason. I got the sense that trust didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come easily to him. But, as the silence lengthened, a smile crept across his face.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ah hell,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. He seemed to have made a decision. The gun lowered. He slung it on its strap over his shoulder. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sorry about all this. The name\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Ak\u00e2\u20ac\u009d — he pronounced it \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ock.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He extended his right hand. I lowered mine and shook his.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Brains!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Now is your chance. Now is your chance. Now is your chance.<\/em> Westy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice was urgent, desperate, and hard to resist. My grip tightened on Ak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hand. I had a hard time letting go.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pleased to meet you, Ak,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I said.<\/p>\n

Ak winced. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hell of a grip you got there.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He grabbed my right hand with his left and pried it loose. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all skin and bones.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He held my wrist in his hand, his fingers easily encircling it and then some.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I, uh, I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t eaten in a while.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

He let go of my wrist, put his hands on his hips. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Looks like you haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t eaten in months.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He tilted his head sideways, trying to see past the shadow the brim of my hat cast across my face. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Or years.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a medical condition,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I said. It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t entirely untrue, just not the entire truth. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m naturally gaunt. Never have to diet, at least.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d There was the lie. I tried to change the subject: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You look awfully familiar.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Even in the dim light I could tell the man was embarrassed. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yeah, I hear that a lot, but you know, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still not used to it. Ever since they put my face on that beer bottle, I got everyone coming up to me all the time, askin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for autographs, wantin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to take photos with me, tryin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to get me to take care of their Z infestation. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gettin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to be so I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go out in public anymore.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Beer bottle?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I wondered. And then it dawned on me. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Holy shit! You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the Zombie Hunter!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d For it was him, the tattooed, gun-toting man that graced the labels and tap handles of Zombie Hunter beer. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a big fan!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Brains!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d This man hunts us. This man kills us.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This man is a fucking living legend!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I said this to Westy, but made as if I was addressing an imaginary crowd so as to not raise suspicion that I was stark raving bonkers.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Please, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just an ordinary guy. I just happen to be really good at killing the undead. Those beer guys really made a big deal out of all that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I love your beer!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yeah, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not bad,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m more of a High Life guy myself.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yeah, me too,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I said. I was nearly beside myself. I never got to meet celebrities and now, here I was, just sitting around, shooting the shit with the Zombie Hunter. How cool was that? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I mean, no, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m like, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll drink whatever, you know?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Uh, yeah, sure,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ak said.<\/p>\n

More awkward silence fell between us during which time Westy took the opportunity to pipe up.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Brains.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d This is the Zombie Hunter. Do you know what that means? He hunts zombies. We are a zombie. He hunts us.<\/em><\/p>\n

I had to had it to old Westy; he was really getting the hang of conversational sarcasm.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not much progress today. As much as the character of a corporate sponsored Zombie Hunter intrigues me, I wasn’t able to write much. Also, I discovered Assassin’s Creed: Revelations multiplayer, and that…well, it was a time sink. Every damned November, all the good games come out and battle with my ability to focus. There was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nanowrimo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.illinoir.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.illinoir.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.illinoir.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.illinoir.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.illinoir.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.illinoir.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.illinoir.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.illinoir.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.illinoir.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}