Chapter 28- Last Dying Breath Part 1

[Adventureless_Hero]

First of all welcome to the forums.
Kalani did mishandle the situation in so many ways. If he had told the Tower folks about what had happened to him in the first place they most likely would have helped him. But he has also just met these people and had no idea what they were like.
As far as some of things you brought up specifically: It seems like Kalani bailed on being the rat because he got freaked out after the war. Think about what it would be like to look around after the battle and see what the Mallers were capable of doing and then realize that you are the one responsible for causing it. He didn't want to help these people out anymore. He only helped them in the first place because he thought he had to to protect his daughter. After the war his priority shifted to laying low and trying to find another way to get Hannah back that didn't involve causing another situation like the war. At least that's how I see it anyway.

Bah, I have to spread the Rep before I can hook you up again, but agreed! I think it must have been a difficult position Kalani was in. Knowing what we know about the tower members, it is easy to say K-man should have told Michael about Hannah and his relation to the Mallers. Shit, Michael's smart, they could have used K-man as a double agent! But unfortunately for everyone, Kalani didn't know much about Michael and the Tower. The Tower was in a shite situation at the time Kalani showed up, so he saw them bickering with each other and stealing from each other. Not a good impression. So, he felt the best thing he could do, the only thing he could do to get his daughter back safely, was to play ball with the Mallers.

After the war, he saw the aftermath and probably shoulded a lot of guilt, especially after seeing Tommy's corpse and realizing that his daughter was only a few years older than the young man. Letting the Mallers think he was dead would have bought him some time to come up with some kind of plan. Hell, in the number of times I have listened to We're Alive, I came across a point where I sometimes felt Kalani wanted to tell the truth, but just couldn't. I feel bad for the guy, but it was a shitty situation all around.

Want to blame someone, blame Scratch! Fucking Pippin volunteered for the position of rat!

[Osiris]

Do not worry about the Datu thing. Kalani puts Datu's favorite CD in and turns up the radio. When the duo gets a call about it, Datu could say something, I never heard an alarm, did you? Kalani says No, i didn't it must have happened shortly after we left.

I guess Datu is some sort of high functioning autistic person whose brain completely shuts down when his favourite song comes on? Sorry, but even when I'm stoned so bad that I see talking fish I still know who is around me and who isn't, no matter what song is on the radio. It also isn't hard to figure out a time line of events. Without question Datu knows how long his favourite CD runs and probably has a strong grasp of the running time of his favourite songs on it.

"That shit happened at ten after one. Where were you?"
"I was in the underground."
"You went down there at one. What were you still doing down that at ten after?"
"Listening to Justin Beiber and waiting for Kalani to come ba--oh shiiiiiiiiiiiit he stole dat shit from dur BURRRRRRRRRRT."

Case le closed.

Granted not that simple or even close to accurate. Character names may be right though. I think. Anyway, the point I'm making is that if Datu really did blank out on who wasn't around him and for how long--while preparing to head out on a mission--during a zombie apocalypse... he is truly too stupid to live. OR, he's attached to Scratch or possibly Durai in some way. Then again, he may not be in league with any of them and Datu simply bonded with Kalani over their time together at the Stadium.

That could even be where Kalani first approached Datu for help. Never forget that the history of the story is written and not actually witnessed. From that point of view, it's all very subjective and Datu's account of what actually went down at the Stadium could contain omissions that would have betrayed Kalani. I'm not saying definitively that Datu is one of the Mallers, but he may have been trying to protect Kalani until they could figure out a way to get his daughter back.

'Hey Datu... you know how you felt about Samantha?'
'Yeah.'
'I feel the same way about my daughter.'
'.....'
'Not in a I-wanna-hit-that sort of way, ew... no I mean how much I love her and would do anything to have her back.'
'I knew that.'
'Will you help me?'
'Of course! I'm Datu! Plus nobody really pays much attention to what I do anyway.'

[Eviebae]

I got your point the first time around. I was piggy backing. Perhaps you should be less concerned with me 'getting it' and just roll with what happens.

I know you are, but what am I Pbbbbbbt!

Seriously, though, I think Kalani handled it as well or better than most people. Heat of the moment and all that.

Datu's not military and he blissed out for a minute. Perhaps the joyful moments are so brief, they are way more powerful and absorbing. It made sense to me motivation-wise

[Grognaurd]

You might be right. What we have is conjecture and opinions. I just think the alarm is not all that loud. The characters are able to speak over it without having to raise their voice.

Datu might not even be in the building at time. At best, he is in the carport. Datu, is pretty easily distracted. He certainly did not cause all those accidents because of his powers of perception.

[Osiris]

First of all welcome to the forums.
Kalani did mishandle the situation in so many ways. If he had told the Tower folks about what had happened to him in the first place they most likely would have helped him. But he has also just met these people and had no idea what they were like.

I think he rolled with it exactly the way I would have. Going into a situation where you don't know any of these people, with the stakes that you have in that particular hand... no, telling a bunch of strangers why he was there in the hopes that they wouldn't a) kill him or b) toss his ass to the curb, would have been the dumbest move he could have made aside from walking in with a gun and saying 'Nobody move! This is a robbery!' It's easy for us to say he could have just asked and the Tower folks would have helped, because we're on that side of the fence already.

No, I think Kalani handled that situation the only way he could. He played his hand close to the chest and did what he had to do in order to ensure his daughter's safety. Some call that selfish. I call that realistic.

Though I do agree with the rest of what you say. And it sort of makes sense if you consider for a moment that perhaps Datu knew what Kalani was doing there and the two of them were trying to figure out a way to get Hannah back on their own.

[Osiris]

You might be right. What we have is conjecture and opinions. I just think the alarm is not all that loud. The characters are able to speak over it without having to raise their voice.

Datu might not even be in the building at time. At best, he is in the carport. Datu, is pretty easily distracted. He certainly did not cause all those accidents because of his powers of perception.

True. Datu certainly has been painted as a fucktard since coming aboard.

[Osiris]

I know you are, but what am I Pbbbbbbt!

Seriously, though, I think Kalani handled it as well or better than most people. Heat of the moment and all that.

Datu's not military and he blissed out for a minute. Perhaps the joyful moments are so brief, they are way more powerful and absorbing. It made sense to me motivation-wise

I'm not military and I have no trouble at all keeping track of who is around me and for how long. I don't believe that's the reason why.

[loydmilligan]

Bah, I have to spread the Rep before I can hook you up again, but agreed! I think it must have been a difficult position Kalani was in. Knowing what we know about the tower members, it is easy to say K-man should have told Michael about Hannah and his relation to the Mallers. Shit, Michael's smart, they could have used K-man as a double agent! But unfortunately for everyone, Kalani didn't know much about Michael and the Tower. The Tower was in a shite situation at the time Kalani showed up, so he saw them bickering with each other and stealing from each other. Not a good impression. So, he felt the best thing he could do, the only thing he could do to get his daughter back safely, was to play ball with the Mallers.

After the war, he saw the aftermath and probably shoulded a lot of guilt, especially after seeing Tommy's corpse and realizing that his daughter was only a few years older than the young man. Letting the Mallers think he was dead would have bought him some time to come up with some kind of plan. Hell, in the number of times I have listened to We're Alive, I came across a point where I sometimes felt Kalani wanted to tell the truth, but just couldn't. I feel bad for the guy, but it was a shitty situation all around.

Want to blame someone, blame Scratch! Fucking Pippin volunteered for the position of rat!

Your point about Kalani after the War is a good one. He does take note of Tommy's age and I am sure that would put a real face to all the damage he had caused.

I still do not understand why he did not try and get some confirmation from the Mallers about Hannah's well being...however, I suppose that can be attributed to fear.

Some interesting ideas about Datu, perhaps he was "in" on the killing of Pippin, though I think if he were, then Kalani would have said so in his journal. More than likely he was just being careless (or a bit stupid) with his vouching for Kalani. And I do think it says something about Michael's sharpness that he was not able to notice the inconsistency in Datu's story with his own personal experience.

[Osiris]

Your point about Kalani after the War is a good one. He does take note of Tommy's age and I am sure that would put a real face to all the damage he had caused.

I still do not understand why he did not try and get some confirmation from the Mallers about Hannah's well being...however, I suppose that can be attributed to fear.

Some interesting ideas about Datu, perhaps he was "in" on the killing of Pippin, though I think if he were, then Kalani would have said so in his journal. More than likely he was just being careless (or a bit stupid) with his vouching for Kalani. And I do think it says something about Michael's sharpness that he was not able to notice the inconsistency in Datu's story with his own personal experience.

Kalani wasn't a dirtbag though. He wouldn't have named Datu.

[Zombiphobe]

I just think the alarm is not all that loud. The characters are able to speak over it without having to raise their voice.

I remember when Michael and crew got back from rescuing Datu from the Arena, Pinstripes had broken in and the alarm was going off. However, it was barely audible to them on the street level. I can't imagine you could hear it any better in the garage.