The Furry Forums
Creative Arts and Media => Roleplay => Serious RP => Topic started by: Entaru on March 22, 2010, 09:13:29 PM
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Somewhere near Anchorage, Alaska...
The wind blew harshly outside the refuge. What was once an abandoned research center had become a haven for those who seeked shelter in the North. It was crowded and cold, but it was safe.
And safety was hard to come by these days.
A few children ran about, playing hide-and-seek. To them it was just another vacation. No one wanted to tell them the truth. No one wanted to tell them that they would never see home again. Never play on lush green lawns, trying to tip over daddy's Barbeque Grill while he's trying to start the the coals to impress the neighbors. Never play in the cold brooks down underneath the bridge. Never pelt mommy with a snowball, even though she threatened to ground you.
Let them play...at least they have that.
More refugees piled in every day. Soon there would be no more room. The leaders, or those who delegated themselves leaders, were talking about forcing some of the refugees to leave. Those with children were excluded, as well as the elderly. The young and alone were the ones on the chopping block. When the next group of refugees came in...then they would decide. At least those who they chose would have a chance at surviving outside. No one wanted to make the choice...but the Apocalypse makes people do things that they would never have done otherwise.
Then came the refugees...
Everyone in the center has been called to a meeting in the multi-purpose room. It was time to choose...
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*White had his machine guns in his paws and found his butterfly knife on the table as usual* "Haha, Alaska never caught me with these babies and now they don't care anymore because they all know it's a matter of every man for himself. But I know the defecation will hit the fan shortly on everyone's part, I want to be ready when that day comes because I don't want to go down on my knees!" *He let out a laugh and laid on a bench staring up at the ceiling* "Stupid refugees keep coming in and filling this place up, I wish they'd stop coming around hoping for some free care because I sure as heck don't want to hear anything about it, I'm here to live not exist." *He got up from the bench and looked out his window at the road checking out the folks walking by* "All of em have the same expression, fear and confusion." *The wolgon said softly under his breath*
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"If one of these kids bumps into me one more time...!" Veronica exploded in her mind as another child ran past and bumped her as she stood in the multi-purpose room. She moved over to a wall and leaned up against it, out of the path of the rambunctious children, she hoped. "I shouldn't be upset with them; they're only having carefree fun. Why shouldn't they anyway? They deserve to have no worries." She sighed to herself. "It just tends to be a little too annoying sometimes with all that's going on..."
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Shinzuu stood and watched from his post, surveying the incoming refugees. He picked up his walkie and keyed it in. "Alpha , Charlie, what's the count so far?" The radio then came alive. "This is Alpha Company. We've already reached over 300 count!" "This is Charlie Company. We've reached more than 500! There's at least another few hundred behind them!" Shinzuu growled as he received the numbers. There was no way they are going to be able to house most of these civilians. Years ago, he swore himself to protect the world, but this was ridiculous. Refugee increase had been steady, but today had been a mad rush. "Alpha, Charlie, do not let any of the refugees go beyond the hangar! I repeat, do NOT let any of the refugees beyond the hangar! Bravo, I want you to seal off the doors to the hangar so that no one gets the idea of breaking past, you hear me? Anyone who tries to break past, shoot them!" Shinzuu slammed the walkie down as he keyed out, not waiting for an answer. Dammit all to Hell! This is NOT going to work.
Shinzuu sighed as he tried to calm himself. This has been the first time in ages that he's lost his cool. He has fought in 5 wars in the past and 29 skirmishes during the escape operation to the north. However, this was different. He is about to go against the very people he had sworn on his honor to protect. And now, he looked at his watch, was that moment. Shinzuu handed his walkie over to another soldier in the same post. "Take the mantle, Dick. It's time for my meeting. Let us hope that it will not result in bloodshed..." He slowly walked off, heading for the meeting room.
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A meek buzzing noise emenated from a small grey box as Tori pressed her ear against it. Damn this racket. Why can't these people sit and converse quietly? Tweezers in hand, the grease-stained wolf twisted a copper wire into a small hole. With a sudden zap, Tori yanked her hand away, "Ouch!" She put the tip of her finger in her mouth, "Damb shtatic..." Tori leaned back as she sucked her finger, glancing about the multi-purpose room. Children raced about as the adults mingled, filling the room with an echo of voices. Tori had never been the socialite, prefering the cold hard steel of machines to the soft fur of her fellow Ze-ites. She daydreamt of the days she use to spend upgrading her Jeep before being forced into this refuge. There wasn't enough room here to keep a car, so she was forced to spend her time fixing dead radios or extending the range for walki-talki's. With a sigh, Tori sprawled out on her bench, having no issue putting her feet in some stranger's lap. The poor guy was sleeping anyways.
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"Everyone just settle down! There's enough room for all of us inside this hanger, so no pushing, no shoving. Remember, we're your friends!" Felix said, to the ever growing crowd of refugees inside the Hanger. Charlie Company was recently ordered to prevent the refugees from getting beyond the hanger.
That was, easier then said then done of course. Even with a lot of experiance in the Corps, from his cloned brain or otherwise, Felix wasn't the best at crowd control. He walked along the rows of dirtied people, all hope restored to their bleak faces. A lot of the people looked up to him like they reached salvation. He walked at a brisk pace, occasionally stopping to tell new refugees what was going on, before going to the hallway connecting into the hanger. Opening the door, he slid a hand through his hair, sighing.
"How are we going to support the population of Earth.... or what's left of it...." he said to himself, letting the cool air of the hallway settle on his skin. It felt a lot better then the heat of the hanger. Walking along, he noticed some other troopers running.
"All able bodied peoples to the meeting room, something important is going on!" One yelled, still running. Felix shrugged and followed them, at a brisk pace.
"I wonder what this could be...."
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Gavin sat sullenly up against a wall in the far corner, fruit cup in one hand, spoon in the other, backpack resting against his legs. Mostly, he appeared to be drifting, but every now and then, the monkey remembered that he was supposed to be eating and would take another spoonful. He surveyed the break room disdainfully- things hadn't felt right ever since Trish got up and left, without a word, without telling him where she was going, or what she was trying to do...and things had been even less wonderful since he had been forced to book it to Alaska, and from there to this bleak refugee compound. His tiny home town in Kentucky had become overrun with riots to the point it was dangerous to step outside anymore. Why Alaska? Easy. It was desolate. Cold. Just like Gavin.
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The hum of generators filled the hallways, broken by the occasional echoing clatter of soldiers or messengers running back and forth through the maze of turnings and steel doors. Kitt strolled down one such corridor that connected the hangar to the canteen, a single light strip flickered and buzzed in the corridor roof as he walked, footsteps echoeing down the hall and back up to him. Taking a drag on the dishevelled cigarette he swung his AK-47 over one shoulder, the clatter of metal against his backpack and ice pick...
Several soldiers ran past him towards the meeting room, Kitt watched them run past with mild amusement, damned civilians where making everyone run round in circles... best to just chuck them out and let them survive the cold winds of Alaska on their own... Not that it was really all that cold, he'd been posted in Siberia before the confusion broke out... him and his team had taken a small, single engine plane from the nearest airstrip, leaving its previous owners dead... they'd headed across to Alaska, positively warm compared to what they'd been putting up with...
That had been two weeks ago... his team?... dead... but who cared? He was alive...
Another soldier was running down the corridor towards him at a brisk pace... Kitt took another drag on his cigarette, lazily saluting to him as he passed, shouting to him in a thick eastern accent...
"Whats the hurry comrad? Not like any of us are going anywhere, eh?"
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The soldier looked at Kitt with worry engraved into his face.
"That's exactly what happening! The councilmen are announcing to everyone who has to leave the Refuge. C'mon!" Grabbing Kitt's wrist he dragged him along into the multi-purpose room.
The multi-purpose room was packed full of people. Some were working, some were eating, some were sleeping, but all were worried. A bedraggled old frog, holding a stack of papers, walked sullenly to the podium at the end of the room. Councilman Zugler, normally a kindly old man, had chosen the short straw and was forced to be the one to announce the names. He cleared his throat into the microphone, silencing the crowd. He looked over the congregation sadly, as he knew that he was sentencing many of these people to death.
"People of the Refuge...As you know, there have been issues about space. A new wave of refugees are at our gates as of now. The Council has decided that, in order to restore what is left of our races, to excommunicate 900 people." The crowd gasped at the number. More than 1/3 of the Refuge was being forced out. Many parents clung to their children, willing to fight to the death should they have to.
"Those who have been chosen were based on their chances of survival outside these walls. Those with the highest percentages of survival are to be excommunicated." He stopped, surpressing a sob. The highest percentage in the entire Refuge was only 19.7%. He despised himself for what he was about to do. "The list of the Excommunicated will be listed alphabetically by last name."
"Aaronson, Kate..." A cheetah woman in the back let out a surprised yelp as a set of soldiers lead her off. The list continued as more and more people were taken away.
"...Chance, Leeroy..." The frog squinted at the paper for a moment and sighed. "...Clone, Andrew the...Clone, Felix the..." One of the soldiers looked mournfully at Felix. "Oh God...I'm so sorry Felix. C'mon...you have to follow me." Everyone listened intently as the list went on.
"...Goltbenz, Nero..." A hyena boy, no more than 17, shrieked as he heard his name and clung to his parents. The soldiers struggled with the boy and family before restraining them. The mother howled in rage and sorrow as she watched her son get dragged away. The frog continued. "...Hepeho, Gavin..." A few civilians looked back at Gavin muttering to themselves, some mournful, others relieved that they had been skipped. A soldier walked up to him with a stern look on his face."Please come with me, sir."
"...Justins, Jacob...Katame, Shinzuu..." Many soldiers protested at the choice, but were shouted down by one of the councilmen, this one an Elder. The soldiers marched up to Shinzuu and saluted. "Sir! It's been an honor to serve under you, sir!" The soldiers led Shinzuu away, trying to keep from crying.
The crowd was beginning to get antsy as the frog continued. "...Kyzon, Webphry...Lahershia, Tori..." The crowd turned their heads to a surprised Tori. She was one of the best mechanics in the Refuge and they were sending her away. A few murmurs began to go about the room about the Council picking at random. A soldier took Tori away, without saying a word.
"...Magnus, Sonya...Magnuson, John..." The people of the crowd turned to John, not knowing what to say. A soldier placed his hand on John's shoulder. "Please come with me, sir." The soldier led John through the crowd. As he walked he could see a small fox child waving him good-bye with tears streaming down his face.
Many people had left the multi-purpose room because they had been spared, bot most simply didn't wish to hear any more names. "...Ukima, Mao...Uzima, Veronica..." A man shouted at the Council for not choosing percentages at all. He accused the them of simply drawing names out of a hat. The Elder councilman screeched for the man to be silent, lest he wish to take someone's place. The man quickly shrunk away, as the rest of the congregation stopped talking altogether. None would take the place of an Excommunicated. A soldier walked up next to Vee with a frown. "Come with me, cadet."
The room stayed silent as the remaining names were listed. "...Vincent, Todd...Vladimir, Kitt..." The soldier at Kitt's side covered his mouth in shock. He turned to Kitt in tears and placed his hand on his shoulder. "I...I'm sorry." He walked away so as not to put himself through any more guilt, as Kitt was escorted out.
"...Williams, Millie...Wolf, White..." No one said a word. He had not made himself much of a name, other than 'the grumpy guy'. Despite this, a little cat girl ran up to him and held ahold of his leg and screamed "NO!" The girls parents quickly took her away, and White was led out quietly.
The last names were listed off quickly and, finally, the 900 names were given. The incoming refugees were let in. Those who were excommunicated were led outside one at a time. Small groups banged on the doors, trying to get in, but to no avail. Many more walked into the endless white to die by the cold, as it was far preferrable to a meetup with a creature. Some groups accepted their fate (if bregrudgingly) and made their way south.
You are one of these lost souls, and have banded together with others. You seem drawn to eachother by an unknown force. All you know is that the only way you will survive is to stay with them. You have already spent a week outside the walls of the Refuge, and have made your way into Canada.
This is where your adventure begins...
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(During the name releasing)
Shinzuu returned the salute to the soldiers and more led them out, then them leading him. As he passed the one he left in charge, he placed two hands on the boy before walking off. "I've trained you the best I could, young one. Don't let me down. My last order is that you take control and ensure the safety of these people by 120%. Can I count on you?" The young man saluted, tears in his eyes. "Y-yes, sir! All hands! I will now be assuming command under direct order of the General himself! Salute!" All the soldiers gave a final salute, the guards outside gave 3 shots into the air for their salute. Shinzuu stood tall and saluted. When he arrived outside, one of the guards handed him his duffle with all his affects and supplies. "Good luck to you, sir. We've packed all the necessaries and then some. God-speed."
The last week had been grueling, but manageable. During the trek, more than half the group had already died out, but morale was still high, and he did his best to protect the people and keep order among them. Shinzuu didn't like the situation more than anyone else, but he knew his responsibilities. As the "herd" settled in for the night, he stood at the highest peak and kept watch like he always had for the last week. In the distance, he spied some buildings just as the sun set over. He started to draw in the dirt, his lamp lighting his little post, but muffled out almost completely to avoid being seen from afar. Hmmm... it seems we only have one more day until we hit the first remains of civilization. We're going to have to plan and hope we don't hit any skirmishes.
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Gavin was currently swinging from a tree by his tail, what better thing for a monkey to be doing? Below and some ways off to the right, a camp had been set up, and reddish light from fires and flashlights sweeped the terrian that was splotched by snow. They were conversing...he wasn't as sociable. Not now at least. He simply chose to swing, back and forth, back and forth, the sweet scent of pine needles filling his nose...
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*White followed behind the others on what has seemed like the longest journey ever on his legs muttering to himself* "I'm surprised me as a 600 pound man versus these puny little shrimps of assortments of sizes lives longer than the ones that have died? Does this mean I'm more resistant to harsh traveling conditions and post-apocalyptic trauma? I guess so, but my center of the point is as in my size and body weight.... WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET SOME FOOD?! I'm starving back here!" *The wolgon roared from behind the group to gather some attention while he continued his walk*
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(During the selection)
Veronica held her head high as her name was called and the man shouted from the crowd. When the soldier came to escort her and spoke to her, she nodded and walked alongside him. "Don't worry about me. I've been trained well, I'll be okay." She said to the frowning soldier reassuringly.
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Veronica laid on the ground, sprawled out. Looking up at the night sky, she named off constellations softly to herself. "Orion...Orion's belt..." She murmured. "Big dipper...little dipper..." Her mind wandered as she stopped concentrating on what the constellations actually were and started forming random pictures out of the stars.
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(during selection)
Kitt nodded, finally stubbing out his smouldering cigarette... so be it, how could he have thought he could stay here? Damn civillans, ruined everything... He turned as two soldiers came to escort him, so be it....
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A week, one whole stupid week... and here he was, still with this group.... he couldnt even say why he had stayed with them....
Kitt sighed, walking towards the lone figure that stood at the peak... He had seemingly taken the role of a leader, in a time of confusion... With the soft clink of equipment against equipment Kitt stopped beside Shinzuu, he looked down at the rough map in the dirt. Looking back up at the landscape before him, still he kept silent, watching Shinzuu out of the corner of one feline eye....
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Shinzuu sighed as he looked on. "Kitt, was it? I heard that you were a cadet for the Soviets. Funny how we're all in the same line now, huh? I'm guessing you were trained as a scout. Not many would think of coming out here unless they were trained so. We have a day's worth of a hike before we hit our first deserted city. I doubt we'll run into THEM, but I don't want to count on it. It's well over zero degrees here, there is a small chance that we might see a couple. I hope you can use that AK well. If we DO run into some, I'll need you to cover for the civilians. *pulls out his M500 and examines it* My hand cannon's too limited. Also, I'd like you to work together with my cadet, Veronica. She's the wolf she-devil in BDU's. You think you can do that?"
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Kitt turned to Shinzuu, and then back to the bleak landscape...
"Yes... I was trained as scout..."
He shook his head lighty, running a paw down the cool wooden stock of his weapon...
"And yes... I can use this gun well... I train for many months with only this gun, and ice pick... the soviet armed forces turns stupid youngsters into the brave men we are...."
He laughed moodily, shifting his weight onto the other foot...
"Fat lot of good it did all of 'em too.... I can work with your cadet, desperate times call for desperate measures.... though these civilians, better they fend for themselves, though i have an inkling that you would not do such a thing...."
Kitt pulled back the pin on his AK with a loud ~Ka-lack-shnik~ and slung it over one shoulder...
"And yes, My name is Kitt... Kitt Vladimir, i look forward to serving alongside you and... Veronica?"
He seemed to have slight trouble with the name, rolling his "R's" too much...
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(during selection)
Felix sighed, and waved off the other soldier.
"Well... I should've assumed I was to be sent into that hell... thanks for the comforting words though Private.. means someone cares"
Felix followed the other soldier, but stopped in the barracks to grab his personal belongings, and later at the armory to get his equipment from his locker. He looked longingly at the locker, which had his name taped to it. It was one of the few things he really could call his. Now some other lucky joe would get it. He peeled the tag from the locker and crumpled it and moved on.
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Felix looked over the rag-tag group of Excommunicated, as the Council called it. "Quite a harsh word for sending out people to protect you..." He thought outloud. He knew most of these people wouldn't make it. Especially the civilians who probably couldn't handle the stress of living outside a safe haven. Walking around, he frowned as he listened to a few teenagers crying, and some other people groaning that they were cold.
"Be happy that your cold.. it keeps THEM away" He told that person, and they shut up.
Walking further, he spotted Veronica lying on the ground. She looked to be a young girl, and looked out of place in the band of misfits and soldiers. Sitting down next to her, he asked.
"Miss Veronica is it? Hi I'm Felix the Third... and yes... I am a clone..."
That word... people used like it was a curse, and yet here he was, risking his life for them.
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"I heard that!" She called out while still staring at the sky when she heard Shinzuu say her name and call her a 'wolf she-devil in BDU's'. Then she chuckled at hearing Kitt having trouble with her name. "Just call me Vee, if it'll help you out." She called before turning her head towards Felix as he spoke to her. "Oh hi. Yes, my name is Veronica. Vee for short. What's going on, Felix? Tired of the civilians?" Knowing that he was clone didn't seem to bother her and she just talked to him casually.
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"It's not that I have a problem with them... I mean they are nice people.. But more likely then not they will either slow us down or just die... it pains me to say it, but it's the truth..."
He said, no regretting that decision. Why decrease the morale of your own people, in a time where sanity is a must.
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Shinzuu chuckled at the Soviet Scout's experience. "Months don't cut it, son. It's the actual experiences that count, as well as YEARS of training. As you can see, she's down there. Go get acquainted." He chuckled as he pulled a small canteen from his coat pocket. Veronica was almost a spinning image of his old recruit days, and the years following that. Even with his importance, he still loved playing with all the upper-echelons because he knew none of them would dare do anything to him. Indeed, being the only NCO in history who was feared even by a General. However, this was no time to reminisce, he was still young, anyways. "Sergeant Fenix, get your keister up here, double-time! This is NOT the time to be trying to get laid! Now move it!" Shinzuu then took a swig and waited for Fenix to get up to him.
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Veronica couldn't help busting out in laughter after what Shinzuu said to Felix. "Sorry, I know that's not what you're trying to do...I just wasn't expecting that." She said between laughs. She sat up and looked over to where Shinzuu and Kitt were. "Yes, come on over. Have a seat and talk a while." She said with a chuckle as she patted the ground beside her.
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Fenix did as he was ordered, however he had enough of this crap he got. For Being a clone, for being a 'pushover' (how in the military was that possible). He didn't care that First Sgt. Shinzuu had a reputation for being a hardass and just being plain rude. He didn't appreciate the crap people gave him anymore, because quite frankly, he was one of their best.
Jogging over, he gave a glance to that Soviet guy.
"A Commie.... here?" he thought, but when he reached Sgt. Shinzuu he knew exactly what he was gonna say.
"Watch your tongue boy... I have 2 generations and more worth of experience in me compared to your few years. Don't think because your a higher rank, you can do whatever you want... I should wipe that smile from your face..."
He still could remember the day the nukes fell, but that memory was a fading memory. He could only make out a muffled explosion, and then suddenly a whoosh of air. And then darkness.
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Shinzuu looked down at the clone and snarled. "Watch it. The Council and the Elders made me General of the refuge for a reason. Just keep it in your pants until AFTER this situation is no longer a threat to our whole existence. Now come here. Runs his finger along the diagram he drew in the ground. The first deserted city is about a 6 hour hike from our current location. There's a possibility that there might be a small contingent of THEM there. I need you to help run up and down the line and keep order and protect the main of the civilians. Take Rocher and Cal with you down the middle of the group. I've already told Zera and Manta to take the rest of the rookies as border. I'm going to be up front with Chester and Cadet Uzima will bring up the rear with the Soviet Scout. Can I count on you?"
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"Honestly I don't see how they made such a young trooper a General, but they must've had good reason... Just don't mess with me and I'll get your job done."
"We won't let you down sir!" he said, giving a crisp salute, then ran back to find Rocher and Cal.
Finally some action. Felix was growing soft with all these civvies around.
"No... that thought process is a one way ticket to an early grave..." he said to himself, now setting his mind to the task, nothing more...
Nothing less.
He was a marine after all.
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*White grumbled as the people ignored his request and pushes on through the rest of refugees until he saw the general standing there* "Hey you!" *He held his MAC-10s down and walked forward* "I'm tired of all this walking and not seeing any sort of accomplishment out here in this plain land, I'm friggin starving and if possible I want to get wherever you're going faster. So can I offer my "services"?"
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Shinzuu sighed and tossed his half-eaten rations over to the wolgon as he continued to drink from his little canteen of alcohol. "For starters, you can shut your yap and keep it down so that everyone can get enough sleep and rest for tomorrow's hike. Here, you can eat the rest of that if you're really that hungry. We won't make it anywhere faster, we're going to protect these remaining people whether you like it or not. We've lost more than half the people since being excommunicated a week ago. Now, what we have left here are the stronger of the initial ejectories and we will stay in this together. The second you go on your own, you die. But, if it'll help you shut up, we're about a day's walk from the first deserted city. We only have one problem. The temperature out here is a fair amount above zero. We might run into THEM. However, if we make it to the city and stay alive, we'll have plenty of food and supplies restocked. Now, is that all? If it is, go to sleep after you eat. My men and I will keep watch, so rest assured."
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((sorry for the lateness, Enty told me the everyday stuff started today.))
-During Excommunication-
Tori blinked in surprise, staring at the floor. Wide-eyed, she stood robotically. Not until the solider touched her shoulder did she swipe at her radio, not wnating to be left stranded without something to work on. She had yet to be hit with the full realization that she'd been given a practical death sentence.
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The grease-wolf sat alone on the edge of the encampment, tinkering on the radio again. It was the only thing keeping her from lashing out at her fellow ex-refugees. Tori didn't hear any of the conversations because one, she didn't care, and two, she was too busy trying to pick up a signal on her not-so-much-of-a-radio-anymore. Without proper lighting, she had all but broken the poor thing three times in the past week.
"Wish I had my power-tools...or even a lamp..." She cursed under her breath and punched the ground, "Ouch..." she muttered, bringing her knuckles to her face, "I really need to stop hurting my hands."
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*White growled at him* "Fine. But don't take it that I'm just another citizen to be under the thumb of your party military. I can fight too." *He trudged away pissed off trying to avoid the sleeping refugeesand laid down on the ground some distance away from the general snacking on the rations; he growled and mumbled to himself until he was snoring loudly asleep*
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Gavin kept swinging on and on, even as the night grew closer and darker. Then his tail grew tired and he decided it was time to move on in life. Gavin pulled himself up best he could and got a good grip on the branch his tail was wrapped around. He scanned to see if anyone had caught eye of him, the unusual loner, and when he realized he was unnoticed, he scaled up, up, up, upwards, and took post in one of the pine tree's top branches. Sleeping far away from others was always prefferable.
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The next morning, Shinzuu stood before the whole remainder of the group and did his best to yell out his instructions like he had been for the last week. He knew they would quiet down to listen because those that didn't ended up being the dead half of the group. Shinzuu told them of his plan about getting to the city and stocking up on supplies. He also told them who their guards were and what to do in an emergency or event of a skirmish.
As the day wore on, it was both alarming and refreshing to feel 40 degree weather (though he'd never thought he'd like anything below 70). By mid-day much of the group were tired and they stopped for their usual break. Shinzuu took out his water canteen and surveyed the land, patrolling the front and getting updates from the others one by one about their sides.
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Veronica had shushed the group as Shinzuu had talked about their plans. Afterward, she had walked along quietly behind the group for the trip, urging people forward when the started to slow down. When they stopped for a break, she took a drink from her canteen and walked up to the front of the group. "We haven't lost anyone, though I had to push some people on because they started to slow down and would have made us fall behind." She reported to Shinzuu. Giving him a salute, she then turned around and started to walk back towards the back of the group.
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Kitt walked up alongside Veronica, he kept his AK slung down at waist height always ready....
"So.... Vee... You trained in american forces, how long you been in training?... They say you guys get all the latest equipment, nothing worked back at our outpost... not even the heaters"
He laughed under his breath continuing to watch the civilians to check none fell behind....
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*White walked along still grumbling under his breath talking softly* "I can almost wish something would attack us now, just so we have something to do on this journey. It's starting to feel a little bit too much like Nevada in terms of things to look at when it's just a bunch of people walking out here in the middle nowhere for days upon days in pathetic hopes for a place to stay and resources to live off of."
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Little did the group know, that someone was watching them from the top of a building in the abandoned city. They signaled to their comrades in a silent alarm and the beings scattered. They would wait for the group to come through and pick off the weakest ones. They watched the group in silent anticipation, waiting to strike.
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After receiving all the reports, Shinzuu turned to the group. "We're moving out in 30 minutes! Get ready!" He took out his binoculars and pointed them towards the city. It looked empty enough. For a split second, Shinzuu thought he saw a moving dot, but he shook it off as nothing. However, he was now more alert than he had been up until now. His gut was telling him not to go, but if they didn't, the majority, if not all of them, will die from starvation or lack of supplies. They were out of food, first aid, medical supplies and (not everyone) warm clothes, though he doubt they're going to need too much clothes, since they're moving around in warmer conditions now. It was a tough decision...
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Veronica listened to Kitt as they reached their spot at the back of the group again. "Well, I was sent to military school when I was 14. My parents believed I had too much of an attitude problem. Which makes me think...they're probably dead now..." She said as she looked at the ground, concentrating. "Well anyways, I've been serving under Shinzuu most of that time. That's why I still have the attitude and why he called me a wolf she-devil." She chuckled. "We do get some really great up-to-date equipment..." She said, looking down at her P-90 which was slung around her shoulders like a guitar would be and touched it sort of admiringly. She loved her sub-machine gun. "But then again, having some more old-fashioned/traditional weapons is very nice too." She drew her twin sai from her hips and eyed them admiringly. "These babies are really great to use and quite elegant too." She grinned as she put them back in their places at her hips.
-
"My parents die when i am young also... lets just say, they get on wrong side of KGB... i'm taken in for conscription, and i spend rest of my life up till now in training...." He looked down at the P-90, admiring the work of the engineer who had designed the weapon... running one paw down his own Kalashnikov in the same admiring way.... When she pulled out the Sai Kitt actually took a momentary step back, though if asked later he would deny it....
"Fine weapons indeed.... though personally, i prefer somthing with a little less style... "
WIth that he reached around to the ice pick clipped to his soviet issue equipment pack... the pick was made of a light steel alloy, with the mean look of a tool not built just for scaling icey terrain...
"We need to keep these damned civilians moving...."
-
Shinzuu checked his watch and sighed. "Alright everyone! Let's move out!" The last 5 hours of the hike were not too bad, though they were about 1 hour behind schedule. As they entered the city, it was only moments before the sun began to set. Shinzuu sent a couple soldiers to scout the area quickly. When they came back, he got their reports and turned to the rest of the crowd. "You are all in luck, folks! There are FOUR full-sized supermarkets as well as 9 more all around the city! There are shopping stores everywhere for you to stock up on supplies and clothing! BUT! That will be what tomorrow is for! For tonight, we shall be staying at the Hilton in the middle of the city!" They all cheered for joy as they set off, but that happiness quickly faded to screams. After everyone was across, 2 Acolytes and their minions dropped from the surrounding buildings into the middle of the "herd". Shinzuu quickly drew his katana. "(censored)!!! It's a trap!"
-
Veronica listened to Kitt as they all walked along, chuckling when he stepped back when she drew her twin sai. She was actually enjoying this little chat. It brought her a little more joy hearing that they would be able to get a lot more supplies and food and sleep in a very nice hotel. Unfortunately, the enjoyment was cut short after Shinzuu spoke to the group when they entered the city as a couple Acolytes and their minions dropped from a building. She grabbed ahold of her P-90 and started pushing through the group. "Anyone who can't fight for their lives better make way for those who can defend them!" She urged as she made her way through the group and aimed at the Acolytes and their minions.
-
During the trip, Felix had gathered the two people allotted under his command. It felt good to have a purpose again. Even though it was basically just babying, he wanted to do the best job possible, the people he was guarding were the only lifelines in this world, and he had to keep them alive.
When Shinzuu announced the supermarkets and hotels, Felix clapped Rocher and Cal on the shoulders and smiled to them. After all Providence smiled on them. The three soldiers pumped fists into the air and cheered. But that cheer quickly faded when the Acolytes dropped in.
Felix sprung into action, shouldering his FN-SCAR and took careful aim.
"Rocher.. get these people out of here! Cal, take up a position on the left of them for suppressing fire!"
The two troops listened to his orders.
Rocher was a young Ze-Ite of a red fox origin, already the look of exhaustion had settled on his young frame. He was forced to grow up too quickly. Cal however was an Elder.. a clone just like Felix, except he kept that a secret from the others.
Felix had given the man a clones word of honor to keep his secret.
-
*White watched silently as the other refugees screamed* "Seriously, people should fight first and then scream when they're actually dying. Alright looks like I might actually prove myself 'worthy' to this band of misfits." *He pulled up his MAC-10s playing the opportunist role* "Come on fellas, come to big daddy." *He taunted the Acolytes from a distance*
-
Gavin's depression-plauged dreams and fitful rest had been short-lived, as it was soon, very soon that everyone started to move onward. and he eventually woke up to realize that he was being left behind. In fact, by the time he opened his eyes to peer around, he saw that was the among the last stragglers in the pack..."Shoot!" the monkey growled, lowly. "Well now I feel like an idiot..." He clambered down from the pine tree and hurried to catch up, wondering what could lie over the hill...
-
Kitt pushed two civilians aside, throwing them roughly to the ground, as he brought his AK-47 up to his shoulder and aimed down its iron sights... civilians rushed across the reticule, not allowing for a clean shot without taking the heads of several innocent civies...
"Do Ríti! Get down, Sprostací!"
Several men and women ducked or leapt aside, the entire scene was a mad scramble with civilians literally clambering over each other in an attempt to get away... Kitt growled in annoyance and squeezed the goddamn trigger, the harsh bark of the kalashnikov cut through the screams....
-
Shinzuu couldn't believe his the spectacle. Though there were a couple monsters, most of the attackers under the Acolytes' control were mind-controlled people. Shinzuu ran into the crowd and began running his sword through the lot of the enemies. "Left and rear flank, aim center and fire! Front and right duck with the civilians! Everyone duck!" Shinzuu hit the deck and dragged as many civilians with him as he can, while others were still struggling within the midlesses' grasps.
-
Kitt kept firing of burst shots, spent shells clattered to the floor as the opponents where flung of their feet... One of the Acolytes minions rushed a civilian to his left, the woman's screams where cut short as the minion rushed on towards Kitt. Swinging his AK over one shoulder he unclipped his ice-axe from behind his back and brought it around in a long arc, the steel alloy head of the pick found its mark with a wet crunch, the minion screamed in pain clutching his shoulder....
Wrenching the pick out of the now still body Kitt dropped to one knee and opened up with another burst from his Kalashnikov, shredding the legs of one minion and crushing the chest of another... Kitt cared not who these opponents where, or had been, they had to die...
-
*White smirked and fired upon a passerby minion with one MAC-10 by squeezing the trigger for a few milliseconds and 15 bullets were already sprayed into the side of the mind controlled subject* "These things always fire so fast, it's a shame I don't have an option for semi-auto, but oh well." *He opened his jacket to make sure all the clips were in there still* "And people wonder why I'm always heavy." *He laughed to himself*
-
Veronica took the opportunity given to her by everyone being told to duck. Firing upon the minions with her P-90, she took several down including a few who had a hold of a civilian or two. Unfortunately, she was too late in acting for those civilians because they fell to the ground limply with the bodies of the minions holding onto them. A minion approached her from her right and she quickly released the P-90, drawing a sai and stabbing it in the chest.
-
A minion clutched a screaming civilian, shoving him forward, using him as a shield... Kitt unleashed a fully automatic volley at the advancing minion, the loud chatter of the AK-47 pierced even the sound of general combat. Bullets tore through civilian and minion alike in an indiscriminate fusillade of white hot death...
"Sprosti Cowards!"
Kitt slung the Kalasnikov over one shoulder, deciding it was best to conserve ammunition... unhooking his ice pick he growled under his breath... He hated civilians, but that didnt mean he would stand by when cowardly idiots slaughtered them...
-
Shinzuu ran through the crowd, plowing through another 3 with his katana. However, one jumped in and grabbed his katana arm. "You didn't!" He quickly grabbed the M500 with his left hand and aimed it into the mindless' torso behind his back, and fired. The mindless let go and flew back a few feet, a 6-inch hole in its gut. He ran back towards the rear, tossing his katana into the air towards Veronica, switched gun hands and blasting two mindlesses that overlapped, with one shot. "Vee! Toss me one!"
-
Veronica didn't even have to look. With her left hand, she drew a sai and tossed it to Shinzuu. Catching Shinzuu's katana in the hand the sai had just left, she quickly spun around. When she did so, she sliced a minion's neck open. She turned back to that same minion and stabbed it in the stomach. Tossing the katana in the air, she grabbed her P-90 again, shooting and taking out another group of minions. Letting go of the sub-machine gun, she caught the katana as it came back down to her.
-
Grabbing another minion Kitt flung him round and brought the handle of the pick across the minions neck, just below the jaw... grabbing the two ends of the pick he shoved his knee into the middle of the minions back, and with an almighty crack broke its neck... dropping the now limp body he used the momentary pause in fighting to survey the situation... many of the civies where dead, which mattered not... but so where some of their own soldiers... which did matter....
Ducking suddenly, a blade skimmed through the air above his head, ricochetting off his soviet issue helmet... and the high-ups had said the helmets were useless these days.. hah!.. Without turning Kitt brought his ice pick in a swift uppercut that found its mark with a wet crunch and a blossom of blood... turning to face his would-be attacker he brought the muzzle of is AK up to the minions chest, and squeezed the trigger...
-
The commanding Acolyte surveyed the battle as he sliced a soldier in twine. Many of the minions were dead, but that didn't matter. They were expendable. Noting one of the soldiers were doing better than the rest he switched targets. Brandishing his Shaolin Spade, he charged at Vee. His face was shaded by his hood as he thrusted its moon shaped edge at her throat.
-
Felix acted fast as he rushed the Acoylte with the Spade and tackled him before he could get Vee with the Spade's blade.
Ripping his knife from his sheath, the Acolyte threw him off.
"This is not looking good... a 6 foot pole arm against a 6 inch knife..."
-
Shinzuu caught the sai in his left hand and held it in reverse, and ran it into a mindless that was trying to grab him from behind. He fired off a round, killing 2 more and impaling a 3rd. Shinzuu took the sai out of the mindless behind him, turned, then ran the sai through its head. He then quickly pointed the M500 at the Acolyte, and fired a shot towards its head, the shock wave of the bullet grazing a burn into Felix's arm and tearing the part of the sleeve.
-
The Acolyte seemed to almost phase out of the way of the bullet as he dodged. He let out an angered snarl and turned his attention back to Felix. He spun the spade about his head and swung the spade end in a diagonal arc at the clone.
-
Shinzuu quickly ran in and blocked with the sai, catching the spade between the blades. "Felix! Get your stupid butt out of the way, now! " He grunted, the strength of the Acolyte being more than he can handle on an empty stomach. Shinzuu quickly took the M500 and rammed it into the Acolyte's stronger arm and pulled the hand cannon's trigger.
-
The Acolyte howled in pain as his arm was blown clean off. However, due to the sudden decrease in resistance from the sai, the spade end plunged into Shinzuu's shoulder. Ripping out the spade with his remaining arm he screeched a command to retreat and ran as fast as his feet could carry him, which is pretty ******* fast. He cursed to himself as his contingent retreated, decapitating a civilian woman as he ran by.
He would remember Shinzuu's face...
-
*White looked around as he got up from under a few dead refugees that he had hid under for the majority of the battle* "Damn, that was quite the fight guys. Not that I care really, but how many of us are there left?" *White surveyed the situation quickly noticing that Shinzuu had been severely stabbed in the shoulder and that there were tons of dead minion bodies around, along with several casualties among the refugees, there being barely any of them left*
-
Shinzuu quickly ran in and blocked with the sai, catching the spade between the blades. "Felix! Get your stupid butt out of the way, now! " He grunted, the strength of the Acolyte being more than he can handle on an empty stomach. Shinzuu quickly took the M500 and rammed it into the Acolyte's stronger arm and pulled the hand cannon's trigger.
"I try to help people.. and I get yelled at... but then the spade went into his shoulder so all Karma is repaid" Felix thought as he got back up. He wiped the blood from his hands and slipped the knife back in it's seath, and bent over and picked up his weapon, in his haste in dropping it, the sight had become damaged.
Nevermind the weapon, a bunch of civvies died!
-
Shinzuu holstered his M500 and took the sai from his left hand with his right, and handed it back to Vee for his katana. "Thank you, Cadet. It was a better defense than my katana in that situation. Now, as you were." Shinzuu walked back over and assessed the crowd while he grabbed a torn piece of cloth from a dead civilian and wrapped it tight on his wound with his right hand and his mouth. "Private Rocher! On me! *Rocher scuffles over* Take a head count and role-call. I want to know who's still alive and I want the remaining men to stay guard. We need to get to the Hilton, now! Go, go, go!"
-
"No, no, no no no no..." Gavin burst onto the scene in the town just in time to see that everything around had already been to hell and back....Too late. "What...what happened here?" Deep in the back of his mind, a spark of the truth started to burn....but for now denial was what filled that void. The death. The death scattered around with utter randomosity. The blood that pooled and the few remaining refugees scurrying for their lives. It wasn't possible. The young monkey stepped onward into town, withheld in the hopes he'd find someone to bring his mind back to reality. Or something.
-
A civilian moaned at Kitt's feet, his chest torn open... Pulling back the bolt on his Kalashnikov he aimed between the man's eyes and fired a single shot.... turning he spat on the ground, looking across the gruesome scene... shouldering his weapon he walked back towards Shinzuu and the others, wiping blood from the head of his ice-pick...
"Glad to see your still alive comrade..."
With that he clipped the ice pick back to his pack, and took out his AK again, ready to move on...
-
Shinzuu merely scoffed, "Tch! I've been in far worse than this. Though I did have more people then." He surveyed the mess as he walked on. A majority were severely wounded or dead. It seems I've failed twice in one week. This is not looking good for us. Rocher came running back and saluting. "Sir! We've confirmed our numbers! As of 5 minutes ago, we have confirmed 341 civilians killed as well as 13 of our men! 14 more are severely injured! Our numbers are now down to 82, sir!" Shinzuu growled and looked Rocher in the eyes. "Gather up all the severely injured and get all the medics and anyone who has the little bit of medical knowledge into the hotel, and tend to their wounds. Send our fastest scouts to retrieve medical equipment and supplies from the hospital across town. Double time! Move!" Rocher saluted, "Sir!" He quickly ran out, relaying Shinzuu's orders and taking a team with him to the hospital on the other side of town.
-
Veronica nodded as she took her sai and handed Shinzuu his katana. Putting her sai back in its place, she looked around at the gruesome scene. She wasn't that surprised to hear that there were only 82 of them left. She knew that many of the people in the group would not be able to defend themselves properly. She looked down at her feet and pulled out a rag. Going down on her left knee, she used the rag to wipe blood off of her right boot. She then stood back up and used the rag to clean off her sai before putting it away, taking hold of her P-90, prepared to move on to the hotel.
-
*White rather irritated being ignored again by the people as again they didn't say anything further and kept following along to the hotel* "Fine by me, when it comes down to a moment of importance it I'm not gonna be caring about you guys either." *He grinned to himself and kept himself distanced from the others as he followed behind* "Rather used to this my whole life anyways, just because of my size these stupid people have never worked well with me and my crabbiness, not sure if the crabbiness was a result of the isolation and pent-up bitterness over the years."
-
Kitt looked over at the wolf who was staying just behind the group, walking alongside him he gave a mock salute, he slung his AK over one shoulder...
"You fight with the strength of many men, comrade..."
He pulled a hip flask from his combat pack, his ice pick and various ammunition clips clinking... taking a swig of the fiery Slivovica he offered the flask to the wolf...
"You want drink comrade? is good stuff..."
-
*White was tempted to yell at him before he even started talking by looking at him, but upon seeing the flask and friendly gesture he nodded to the Russian soldier and took the flask lightly, taking a sip and putting it back down* "Thanks for the drink." *The wolgon handed the feline his drink back* "Are you from around here, you look like you just got off the boat Mr.. uhh?" *White was at a loss of words since he was not really used to continuing another person's conversation and he didn't even know who he was talking to as of yet*
-
Shinzuu stood before the crowd as the emergency teams left. "Alright, everyone! Listen up! Now. All of you are still alive because you either fought well, had good hearing or just plain dumb luck. That doesn't matter. What matters now is that you just got a taste of what's to come as we continue on. We are now going to head out to the Hilton as planned. However! You will follow STRICT guidelines from now on and you will not go anywhere without escort. Let's move out!"
-
Veronica just shook her head at the big guy's crabbiness as she started to walk, glad that Kitt had approached him and started a conversation. "Come on, let's go." She said as she grabbed ahold of a couple of civilians' arms who were still frozen in fear, lifting them up onto their feet and making them move forward. Freezing up like that wasn't going to help them out during fights. She didn't expect they'd last long in the next one.
-
Kitt took the flask back, taking another swig before finally stowing it back in his combat pack..
"My Names Kitt, Kitt Vladimir.... and I flew to Alaska actually, I was posted in Siberia so there where no harbours near...I suppose i could say i'm lucky to be here at all... or unlucky to be here.. whichever way you see it..."
Kitt paused for a moment, shoving a civilian unkindly in the small of the back, urging him to move forwards...
"And what name do you go by, comrade?"
Kitt waited for the wolgon's response as he continued to shove and herd civilians back into a group using the butt of his Kalashnikov wherever a civie proved too frightened to move under their own will.....
-
"Alright, my name's White. Last name and such not that important really, especially these days. I hope the name Kitt goes well with you since the last name requires more effort than I'm willing to give to utter." *He chuckled as Kitt smacked civilians to make them move faster* "I can see you're not exactly a fan of these civilians either, I've always wanted to see Russia but now I guess I'll never get that chance. As far as being a good move on someone's part, I wish I had a bomb shelter to live out this apocalypse. I mean if the world's military forces couldn't handle sludge ball creatures, what makes us think we have a better chance in a rag tag team of below Class 3 armed civilians? I say next to none, but I'll tag along till the end seeing as how Anchorage didn't give me a choice. How did Russia fair in this disaster?" *He tried not to let out a cackle as he caused uneasiness in the civilians around him that overheard his conversation*
-
"You are right... White... I in fact hate damned civies, useless... pointless... stupid... civies!"
Between each shout he shoved the poor civilian in front of him harder and harder until finally the man broke into a half run just to get out of the felines way... Kitt growled under his breath, smirking...
"And Russia is fairing well enough, it is cold in much of the country... but the motherland, she is breaking up... the people are being abandoned by the government, the army has abandoned the government, and the people abandon everything.... when i see the chance, i get out of there, Siberia is not best of places to be posted all year through.... "
Kitt grabbed a civilian, a young fox, by the arm and shoved her forwards...
"Move! You want to live, then keep with the group!"
-
Gavin sauntered forward, faster and faster, past broken down buildings and refugees crying over the dead bodies of their friends. Almost feeling like he wanted to cry himself, he pressed on, getting deeper into the town, deeper into the heart of whatever had occured in his abscence. Soon he came across a ragtag group of people...people who could only be classified as: 'people who knew what they were doing.' Just what he was looking for! The monkey ran up to one of them, a wildcat with a gun and a soldier's attitude, and gingerly put a hand on his shoulder...."Sir! Sir, I was in the far back of the group this whole time...could you tell me what in the world happened here?"
-
Tori helped set the wound for one of the civilians. Ever sence morning she'd been in a haze, and nothing was really registering until now. She'd managed to stay out of the way in her fight, mostly due to falling over a rock and into a ditch. She patted the civilian on the back as she made her way to help with any other casualties.
((sorry, best i could think of due to my absence. Need some sort of explination why she didnt do anything))
-
Kitt turned to look at the monkey, raising an eyebrow in bewilderment...
"What happened?... I can tell you what frackin' happened... half the civies are dead, you wanna go like the rest of 'em?.. cos if not, get with the group, and stay with the group..."
With that he picked up a civilian by the scruff of the neck, all the time keeping his eyes out for any more creatures or minions.... A female fox sat, crying over the dead body of her mate, Kitt crouched down beside her and helped her too her feet carefully... he sighed, taking her paw and leading her back to the group... they had all lost people and friends today...
-
As Tori was checking the back of the group for stragglers, the exchange between the monkey and the wildcat caught her eye. There was no need to be so blunt, he was just asking a question. She thought of going over and offering an explanation of the events, but she herself barely knew. It took her nearly the whole encounter to climb out of that ditch thanks to the mud. Luckily she didn't care much about cleanliness.
Tori jogged to reach the monkey, "Hey, sorry about him, I dont know what his deal is," she offered her hand, covered in a now brown work glove, "Name's Tori."
-
Felix had been listening to the Soviet and White Wolf's conversation this whole trip, and each passing second of it made him sick to his stomach. He had enough of their crap.
Felix ran up the the Soviet Cat giving some civilians a hard time, and he decked him in the face.
"Oh lay off, we're supposed to be protecting these people.. and you're just mimicking your people's own government... I had a feeling having a Communist on-board with our party was a bad idea... guess I was right. All your doing is causing problems with civilians, who have their own problems!"
Then Felix turned to that really annoying White Wolf guy who gave everyone problems, and just wouldn't shut his mouth.
"And your no better yourself, for crying out loud you WERE a civilian, you just got lucky and found a pair of Mac10s and started posing like an action movie hero. For all your complaining, you have done absolutely nothing useful to us in ANY way... now unless you are ready to actually start carrying your weight around here, I expect you drop the attitude before I make you drop it... you get me?"
He stared into the eyes of White... he understood completely now why people didn't like him.
A few of the civilians gave Felix a curious gaze, wondering if he'll be another jerky soldier, or one who honestly cares.
-
Tired of listening to Felix's complaints, Shinzuu stopped in his tracks, turned and pulled out his M500 and pointed it at him. "That's enough, Felix! As much as I don't really approve of Kitt's methods, he gets the job done! We might have to be rough on the civilians if we're going to keep them moving and alive! We can't slack down for anything! And in case you didn't notice, Sergeant, we're all in the same boat! Now shut your yap and help with moving the rest of the group out! You're on first shift for guard duty." Shinzuu retracted the hand cannon and holstered it, continuing to move forward, ushering all the remaining people forward. He grumbled to himself about insubordination and annoying little soldiers with a holier-than-thou complex.
-
Tori tensed and turned, shocked at the sudden outburst from the clone and the apparent leader. She hadn't even moved her hand from the 'shaking-position'. Her jaw nearly dropped. She agreed that their actions were, well, on the jerky side, but being so brutal about it wasn't the best move in her opinion. She didn't want any fights to start, they just got out of a battle for god's sake. Tori turned away from the scene and back to the monkey, just prying nothing serious would happen.
-
Felix started mumbling about incompetent youngsters who somehow got to be his boss every big world-changing event.
Wait he's only 30 years old... Shinzuu isn't that far behind... oh thats right Felix was a couple generations cloned... right.....
"I gotta start remembering that more often so I don't feel like a senior citizen..." he thought to himself.
Well Felix attempted to serve his insubordination punishment to at least keep people alive and to not just yell at the Commander, hand cannon or not...
Speaking of which... Shinzuu insulted the Sargent in their first meeting, and he wonders why he's angry and complaining a lot.
To get back on the task at hand, Felix started to move ahead of the group and began scanning the area for hostiles.
No visuals... and about 5 more hours of just watching the same area over and over. He glanced back at the nervous looking Tori.
"Excuse me... Tori is it?" he asked, checking his corners one more time, before turning to face her.
-
Veronica just shook her head at the whole ordeal. Everybody was yelling at each other, and for what? To show that they were better than the other in some way? It was just plain stupid, even if one of the guys yelling was Shinzuu. As they "resolved" their issues, she kept urging the people forward. Every now and then she would have to pick a person up off the ground and get them moving again. "Boys and their egos..." She muttered and rolled her eyes.
-
"Ah...yes", Tori did her best to look sincere. She was happy that no guns went off, but this was surely a bad start to civil relations. "Can i help you with something?" she asked. Officers never typically payed any attention to her unless they wanted their equipment modified, so her nerves sky-rocketed. She began to picked the dried mud from her glove, grinning akwardly.
-
"I just wanted to know anything about that guy who calls himself White... nasty fellow he seems... and well I need someone to talk to to kill time, to be perfectly honest"
Felix said, exhaling and watching the steam that came from his gasmask when he did so.
-
"Oh well, your guess is as good as mine, I rarely talk to people," she scratched her neck, "And I've never seen too much of him, or anyone really. I've been called a Wire-Noser before." Tori stared wide-eyed at her feet while she talked, unaccustomed to the social interaction. Not to mention, she'd never talked to a clone before. It didn't seem too different actually.
-
"'Tis Gavin." He smiled off-handedly, utterly shocked by the exchanges going on here. "Nice to meet you, Tori...though...why'd you come up to me like that? Most people don't even notice me." Gavin looked over her, then the clone in the gasmask, his smile dropping and quickly being replaced by his usual blank expression.
-
Tori glanced at Gavin, then back at the Clone. She turned ever so slightly to the monkey, "I just didn't like how that soldier treated you, and I thought you might need an ally in this group." Tori rubbed her shoulder and grinned at him, even more unfomfortable than before.
-
Gavin noticed her uncomfortableness and shook his head. "Just that......just that...nevermind. You sure you want to be my friend? I haven't had one in a long time, warning you right now." He stuck his hands in his pockets and frowned. The monkey had been wary of any kind of relationship ever since Trisha....
-
The Grease-Wolf laughed nervously, "We're in the same boat then, I haven't had a friend since I discovered wrenches," Tori couldn't help but pat her tool belt. It was the only thing she had left from her old home, and it was a comfort to her. The wrench comment was true. After finding her passion, she didn't make time for friendships, and lost those she'd already had.
-
Gavin chuckled, but it was the dry sort of laugh that came from not being happy for a very long time. He nodded eagerly at Tori, truly glad that he had a friend but unsure how to go about the friendship process. "Well then, guess we should walk alongside the group here then. I think they pretty much know what they're doing."
-
Shinzuu sat restlessly at the cafe of the Hilton as one of the medics stitched up his arm. He didn't like it, not one bit. If he had his choice, Shinzuu would just wrap it tighter and go back into the fight, but he knew his responsibilities and priorities came over his personal preferences. He had to continue to make decisions that would benefit the whole group's survival.
-
Kitt got back to his feet, wiping a thin film of blood from his muzzle from Felix decking him... Spitting a glob of blood and saliva into the snow he straightened back up...
"I get my job done... Though you are right, I lost my whole team, all my comrades.... I shouldn't take it out on damned civies..."
With that he walked ahead of the group, avoiding any eye contact... AK at the ready he gripped the weapon tightly, paws shaking slightly....
Once at the Hilton Kitt sat with his back against the wall, hip flask in one paw he took another deep swig he pulled his helmet down further over his eyes, looking down at the ground he stripped his AK-47, and rebuilt it, over and over...
-
Veronica couldn't help but chuckle when she walked into the cafe of the Hilton and saw Shinzuu getting stitches. She knew that look. "Still hate getting medical treatment, huh Shinzuu?" She questioned though she already knew the answer. She found a jar of whole pickles in the fridge and grabbed one from it. "Ah, I missed these things..." She sighed before taking a very crunchy bite out of the pickle.
-
*White sat down at a table in the lobby and just sat there quietly, somewhat ignoring what Felix had said to him and irritable once again* "I have plenty reason to not be happy with anyone here, just like everybody in Alaska is not so happy with the rest of the world." *He passed the time by opening his butterfly knife and flipping it around* "I'm not your ordinary civilian, but I'm definitely no hero."[/]
-
Shinzuu scoffed at Veronica's comment, "Tch! If it puts people's minds at ease, I'll do it. I still say there's still no replacement for good, old-fashioned quick healing of a well trained body to save on supplies. We can't afford to just use up our supplies for every little scratch." The medic finished up and snipped the thread after tying it off. Shinzuu rolled his sleeve down and sighed as he got up. He walked over and took Veronica's jar of pickles and took one out, eating it. Shinzuu put the bottle onto the table and walked on towards the entrance. "Heh, even with preservatives, those pickles still expire. That's why we have these." Shinzuu reached behind the bar and pulled out a box of Twinkies. He took out 3, bit off the tops of their wrappers and downed them in one bite. "Now that's good eatin'." Shinzuu made his way outside and placed a hand on Felix's shoulder. "I'll take watch. I expect you back here in 2 hours." Shinzuu downed two more Twinkies before putting the box down and grabbing his booze from his pocket.
-
*White sniffed the familiar scent of junk food in the air and hovered around the twinkies box as Shinzuu left* "Oh my god, I must have one. I never thought I'd see such delicious artery clogging goodness here." *He looked around sneakily and then made his way to the box and tried to take one while no one was looking* "Mine, mine, mine, mine!" *He dug his paw inside and tried to grab the delicious treats that awaited him*
-
Kitt walked through into the cafe, it was where a large number of civilians had seemingly congregated... leaning against the cafe counter he unzipped his winter jacket, it was too warm inside, he was used to the cold.... Pulling out a pack of his own rations he was about to set about eating the mediocre meal when he though to himself...
"I'm in a cafe... why the heck am i eating rations, when i'm in a cafe?"
Smirking to himself he opened a cupboard and pulled out a pack of smoked ham, tearing open the packet he ambled over to where White was apparently trying to get some kind of snack without anyone noticing...
for some reason the prospect of fresh food, the chance of survival, and maybe that decking from the clone, Kitt was feeling in high spirits, and his outlook on all of this was a lot better than before... for the first time in ages he had to supress himself from laughing, the huge wolgon sneaking up on a pack of twinkies was aprantly very amusing to Kitt...
-
Shinzuu heard the rustling and chuckled. "Too late, you trigger-happy pig. I already ate the last one. They expired 3 months ago, but they were GOOOD." He continued to watch the premises as he spoke with White. "You know. Years ago, I signed my life over to the battlefield. It really doesn't suit you, in my opinion. They say that a part of your soul gets torn every time that you kill someone. I swore years ago that I would take the burden from civilians like yourself. Why must you insist on fighting?"
-
Kitt walked up beside White and Shinzuu, kalashnikov over one shoulder he chewed on another slice of ham... He mumbled past the ham obviously pleased at finally getting somthing other than rations... "Its true, though i didnt exactly have a choice, my country signed me over to the battlefield... cant be helped..."
Taking another bite of smoked ham he threw the now empty packaging away...
"So Shinzuu... we got here, now what?"
-
Shinzuu sighed and kept eying the surroundings carefully. "We're going to rest for one day before we head out again. Tomorrow, we fully restock on supplies and get a new change of clothes. Even though I'm fond of these, my BDU's and camouflage just don't cut it for me. Plus, this military coat is quite a bother. I'm probably going to find something similar to my old civies that were left in the base back down south. Green's just not my color, you know? We'll stay one more night, and then we'll be off early the next morning. It should be ample time before we get attacked again. That Acolyte was far different from any others I've ever encountered. If he's as smart as I make him out to be, he won't be back for another week. He might send others, but he'll be out for a while. Now, why don't you get some rest for now? Come back in 6 hours and take over for Felix then."
-
"Sounds like a plan sir, see ya in six hours or so...
With that Kitt saluted, the traditional soviet scout salute, before turning and walking off to find somewhere to sleep... he gave up and simply dropping his combat pack to the floor and lay down leaning against the cafe wall with his pack as a pillow, and because he had been ordered to by a superior officer, slept...
-
*White looked at the inside of the box after Shinzuu told him it was already a futile effort* "Damn! So close to such delicious treats of heaven... wait what? Fighting? Me? No you must be confusing me with someone else, why on Earth would I want to fight for my own life in the post-apocalypse? I mean it's not like my life depends on my own actions now or anything, not like as if the entire world's government system has crumbled under a wave of sludge creatures that we know almost NOTHING about. You're suggesting I not fight at all in this dire moment? I think I'd rather die trying than on my knees anytime." *The wolgon sighed* "There's no point in arguing with you." *He walked away quietly*
-
Veronica eyed her pickle then shrugged. "Tastes fine to me." She said before finishing off the pickle. Rummaging through a cupboard, she found an unopened box of Triscuits. She set the box on the bar and unzipped her jacket, which exposed the fact that her top only covered as much as a sports bra. Many of the guys that had a view of her stared and women whispered to each other as they gave her dirty looks. "Don't give me those looks." She said, rolling her eyes after she had looked around and seen the reactions. "Military training does this to a person's body, it's not my fault that these guys are staring because of my clothing choice. I have no interest in having any of them and I have no interest in what you girls think of me." The guys faces dropped as they resumed what they were doing and the girls decided to attempt to chat-up the guys. She finished taking off her jacket and hung it over her arm as she opened the box of Triscuits, starting to eat them.
-
Kitt rolled over from his pack, the noise of Vee and other people had woken him up... he pushed his helmet out of his eyes and stared groggily at Vee...
"Couldya keep't down a lil'... some people'r tryin... sleepmshsffrhhhsshhh......."
The rest of his sentence was lost as he rolled back over onto his backpack, snoring within seconds....
-
Gavin eventually came to the Hilton.......to be thrown off his feet by all the blood, all the suffering and anguish within the walls there. His kindly encounter with Tori had given the monkey a false sense of reason, a false sense of place in the world...maybe even a false sense of pride in his abilities to socialize. Once he gathered his bearings, Gavin slipped off his pack, slumped his shoulders, curled his bandaged tail and went to look for a secluded place to sleep where no-one would see, bother or even care about him.
-
With a mumbled grunt Kitt shoved himself up from his pack, rubbing his eyes he yawned widely... He got to his feet and hoisted his combat pack back onto his shoulders, ensured his Ak-47 was strapped securely across his back and set off towards the front of the Hilton to find Felix and relieve him of the watch... on the way he passed the monkey who he had met earlier...
Walking past him Kitt looked the other way, he felt embarrassed about the way he had acted earlier, it was only the way he had been trained... he knew no better.... but then again, what did he care? That monkey was just another civillian, another burden... Kitt shook his head lightly, trying to sort out of the conflicting ideology.... better he just found Felix and got onto watch duty, though he had a feeling Felix may not exactly take it well that he was being relieved for a 'commie', as he had so bluntly put it...
-
Shinzuu walked up to Kitt after 6 hours and kicked him awake. "Wake up, Cadet. Your shift. I'm going to go give Felix a piece of my mind for disappearing on me." As he began to head for the lobby, he noticed Veronica still sitting on the chair and couldn't help but notice her attire. "Private! Fix your uniform, now! Pick whatever clothes you want tomorrow, but until we go out, you will dress properly. Now zip it up and then hit the deck and give me 50 before I come back from mangling that damned lazy Felix."
-
Veronica smirked at those who had been her onlookers after Shinzuu spoke. "Told you the military did this to a person. Didn't say how though." She chuckled as she put her jacket back on and zipped it up. Setting her box of Triscuits on the counter, she got up from her seat. Getting down on the floor, she did as she was told and started her 50 push-ups. "Just because I'm not looking doesn't mean you are allowed to look at butt either." She retorted, sensing eyes on her.
-
Shinzuu found Felix lying behind the couches in the main lounge and walked up to him, kicking the bottom of his feet. "Get up, you maggot! Sergeant, you are 4 hours late for your shift, having to have other people take it for you. Now hit the deck! Give me 300 and then you can recover yourself. Afterward, you're relieving the Russian Cadet on watch, you'll be taking the rest of the watch shifts. It is now 0200 hours, I expect your keister up there no later than 0230 hours. Knock 'em out quick, or else you're doing watch while we're out until we get back tomorrow night." Shinzuu walked off, his face red (though not visible) with anger at the lack of discipline from this clone who claims to be "All-superior".
-
*White dozed off on a table in the lobby rather uneventfully, just snoring and drooling on the table; occasionally muttering some inner desires for more food, and his tail wagged with a smile. Refugees bumbled about and the soldiers would occasionally walk by and scoff at his laziness in the moment of paranoia and fear of further oncoming attacks, but the wolgon was not concerned in the slightest as he slumbered*
-
Shinzuu found Felix lying behind the couches in the main lounge and walked up to him, kicking the bottom of his feet. "Get up, you maggot! Sergeant, you are 4 hours late for your shift, having to have other people take it for you. Now hit the deck! Give me 300 and then you can recover yourself. Afterward, you're relieving the Russian Cadet on watch, you'll be taking the rest of the watch shifts. It is now 0200 hours, I expect your keister up there no later than 0230 hours. Knock 'em out quick, or else you're doing watch while we're out until we get back tomorrow night." Shinzuu walked off, his face red (though not visible) with anger at the lack of discipline from this clone who claims to be "All-superior".
(i don't appreciate you warping my character into doing stuff, I'd much rather do things of my own volition sure your CO-GM, but that doesnt mean I'd like to be shoved into situations)
"Aye aye.... sir...." Felix groaned
this new general sure was a really big jerk. Just like that last youngster who bossed him around.
He began doing his pushups.
1..
2..
3..
4..
5..
And the whole sequence went just as monotonous like that. His muscles ached and burned, he was perspiring heavily, and he felt as if he couldn't breathe.
"Good Work out...." he breathed.
For about 10 minutes he got to rest, and then he grabbed his rifle and tapped the Soviet guy's shoulder and told him he could go inside and sleep.
"Why do i get the arsehole superiors... just Once Fate, I would like one that doesn't have a stick shoved so far up his arse that he takes it out me"
-
Shinzuu walked up to Rocher and asked him for a report on the injured they brought in. To his dismay, only one survived, the others died after hours of makeshift surgery. Shinzuu made rounds through all the first floor rooms that people had been limited to and found one for himself near the front desk. As he closed the door, he slammed his fist right through the wall. "Dammit!" Shinzuu removed his fist and fell to his knees, looking at his opened palms. I failed to protect them. I've stained my honor. I couldn't save them.....
-
Veronica had finished her push-ups rather quickly, more quickly than everyone watching her expected for sure. She had stood up with a sigh. "Now time for a shower." She had said, grabbing her box of Triscuits so no one else would eat them. When she was heading for a room, she heard Shinzuu yell along with a loud thud and what sounded like the breaking of drywall. She cautiously approached the door and knocked on it. "Shinzuu?" She spoke in a soft tone which would seem unlike her. "You okay in there?" She stared at the floor as she spoke, feeling a little awkward checking up on a commanding officer and not talking military-like when she did it.
-
After the conversation went stale with Gavin, Tori too joined at the Hilton, finding a nice corner to curl up in. Waking with a nice welcoming knot in her back, she sauntered into the kitchen to find something to tinker on. She'd crushed her radio when she fell in the ditch. She listened to what she was making out to be the self-proclaimed boss barking out orders. She didn't see the point of making them do push-ups other than him trying to assert dominance. Seems like a waste of valuable energy. What good are push-ups gonna do us now? We already do all the exercise we need traveling, they're just burning much needed calories. Tori looked up at her companions as she pulled her nose from a cupboard, I'd tell him, but he's a little too trigger happy for my tastes.
A squeal erupted from behind some counters as Tori jumped up. "I found a Stereo!" The elated wolf pranced into the middle of the room, tearing off the battery cover, "And it's got batteries!" Many of the civilians began to whisper in hope. Pressing the "on" button, Tori's ears perked up as the familiar buzzing noise came from the dusty silver box, only for her head to pull into her shoulders as the sound stuttered and died. A few groans came from the survivors as they went back to moping. The wolf sighed as she sat down hard, her sudden joy deflated. It was finally starting to settle in on her that they were all going to die out here.
-
Shinzuu heard the knock and sighed. Softly, he spoke back. "Just take care of your rounds and gets some rest. You'll need it for tomorrow. Make sure you remember to wake up early for the meeting. Shinzuu slowly got up and went into the bathroom and turned on a hot shower. He disrobed and walked into, at least it still worked. Shinzuu just stood and basked in the hot water, the events of the evening flashing through his mind's eye and the grief that struck through his heart as he recollected his failings in his mission to protect the people.
-
Veronica silently moved away from the door. When she found an empty room, she entered it and closed & locked the door behind her. She went into the bathroom and turned on the water, letting it warm up as she prepared for it. Stepping in the shower, she washed herself up. She didn't stay in very long as she just wanted to get clean and get out. When she was done, she turned off the water and got out, drying herself off. She redressed without her jacket and went back out into the main part of the room, carrying the jacket with her and hanging it over a chair. Lying down on the bed, she closed her eyes and let her thoughts envelope her as she waited for sleep to come.
-
Not wanting to risk running across anyone, Gavin took an unconventional route to find a place to sleep---- he took the stairs down into a basement level, where nothing more bothersome than the stench of must could be found. He went into what looked like a conference room and plopped down on one of the red leather couches. It barely complained under his megar weight. Gavin took his metal baseball bat--- it had been attached to his pack like a freak sort of walking stick ---and wrapped his fingers around its cool surface gingerly, anticipating, thinking...of any number of things. He couldn't risk falling asleep without having it close to him. Closing his eyes, letting his tail droop....he almost felt...at peace with himself.....but that was a far-off wish indeed.
-
Kitt sat on one of the kitchen sideboards, repetitively stripping and cleaning his AK-47, and then reassembling it... over and over he repeated the task, thinking to himself....
He watched as.. Tori?... Pulled out a radio, he shook his head dismissively... his own radio hadnt picked up a signal for weeks now... he sighed, pulling the stock away from the body of the weapon.... unscrew the barrel, clean, rescrew barrel, unbolt stock, clean rebolt stock... he continued in this fashion, helmet tilted down over his eyes so he didnt have to meet eye contact with anyone...
-
Dejectedly, Tori drug her feet to an empty seat. She did her best to force herself back into a positive mindset, but her sudden realization had drained her. They were all doomed. If not from those creatures, than from starvation. Her stomach growled in agreement. The civilians around her ate freely, with no fear of later lack of rations, and it didn't help her growing hunger. Tori swallowed her spit to quench herself. There was no need to chow down when so many already were. I can go for another day or two. Somebody needs to put an effort into rationing; especially to make up for everyone else's gluttony.
-
Felix yawned deeply, all that was supplied to him was an uncomfortable rock of a chair. He looked outward into the deserted city, and nothing. Not even a rat trying to find scraps of food or anything.
"And here's a toast to a 'General' who's racist to clones! The night is still young and we still live on, to Shinzuu! For making my life miserable and making everyone else's life easier" He said, raising his flask and taking a swig of it.
It wasn't any of the good stuff. Shinzuu would probably freak if he had alcohol, so it was just water... plain... dirty... water.
"A new toast to Earthen kind, surviving another day in the End of Time. A toast of peace love, tranquility, and everything that will never happen again" he said to himself as he took another swig of water.
"Yep... gonna be a LOOOONG night..."
-
While he slept, the eyes of Gavin's mind took a drastic change for the worse as they decided to warp his dreams...Visions of Trisha. Again. And again. In some she was dancing, raven hair caught luminously in the glow of that old diner they used to go to so often. In others she was crying...looking over her shoulder a last time before climbing aboard that truck, headed to who knew where. Needless to say, the monkey tossed and turned. His fur bristled, and on his brow one could see tense sweat dripping slowly. Indeed, it was going to be a long night.
-
Kitt walked out of the Hilton in the cooler air outside... he noticed Felix sitting alone on a large rock just to the left of the hotel's entrance.... Walking over to him Kitt slung his AK over one shoulder and dropped his combat pack to the ground, before sitting down himself, and leaning his back against another nearby rock...
Pulling out a cigarette he lit up, and took a long drag before exhaling and looking out across the city... he looked over to Felix and took another drag...
"S'gonna be a long night, eh?"
-
Shinzuu had finally gotten out of the shower and just dried himself, and flopped onto the bed with nothing but a towel. He sighed as the night dragged on, the sight of his failure running through his mind continuously. After an hour or so, Shinzuu finally fell asleep. He woke up at around a quarter to eight the next morning and groaned as he got up. At least we had no scuffles. To wake himself up and to keep his discipline up, Shinzuu jumped out of bed (As well as his towel, not on purpose) and hit the floor, doing 100 push-ups and then moved onto sit-ups.
-
For Veronica, sleep came rather quickly. It was a dreamless night for her. She was up early the next morning, yawning and stretching. Getting up off the bed, she left the room. She went around knocking on doors and waking all the others up if they weren't up already. Finally, she got to Shinzuu's room and heard movement inside so she knew he was up. She knocked lightly and turned the handle, slowly opening the door. "Shinzuu, I --" She started to report that she had woken everybody up, but abruptly stopped when she saw that he was naked and covered her mouth. "Oh I'm sorry." She said rather quickly, running her words together, and closed the door fast. She walked at a rushed pace to the lobby, her cheeks beat red under her fur.
-
Kitt had fallen asleep against the rock and snored lightly, his helmet had tipped down over his eyes... the first morning rays worked their way up until they finally shone into his previously shaded eyes... groaning the soviet feline rolled to his left, only to end up jabbing himself painfully in his side with his ice-pick...
giving a mumble of pain he pushed himself up, stretching and groaning.... His cigarette had burnt out to a tiny butt, and even now still smouldered slightly... giving one last drag on the wretched thing he got to his feet and yawned, hefting his AK-47 onto one shoulder...
-
Kitt walked out of the Hilton in the cooler air outside... he noticed Felix sitting alone on a large rock just to the left of the hotel's entrance.... Walking over to him Kitt slung his AK over one shoulder and dropped his combat pack to the ground, before sitting down himself, and leaning his back against another nearby rock...
Pulling out a cigarette he lit up, and took a long drag before exhaling and looking out across the city... he looked over to Felix and took another drag...
"S'gonna be a long night, eh?"
"Yep.." He began to say, but then saw the Soviet Cadet quickly fall asleep.
"Lucky he gets to sleep... only 6 more hours of guard duty" He thought, yawning.
-
Next Morning!
((for those of you who aren't there yet))
-
Kitt looked over at Felix as he checked and loaded his Kalashnikov...
"if Shinzuu gives you guard duties again, I'l happily take 'em for you comrad..."
With a loud ~kashnik~ he let the bolt on his weapon slide home and secured the strap across one shoulder... pulling his combat pack up from the rock he pulled it onto his back and yawned again...
"I dont mind doin' it... I never seem to wake up feeling any better than the night before.."
-
Shinzuu stopped his sit-ups at the top as Veronica walked in on him naked. "What is..?" He stopped as Veronica cut him short to say sorry and left. What's her problem? Am I getting pudgy or something? I keep fit everyday... Finally, he shrugged and finished up before jumping up and then getting into his worn and torn uniform. Ugh... finally, I'll be able to get back into better clothes. These things are useless and smell worse than a pile of (Censored) baking in the sun. Shinzuu walked out of his room and saluted the others while returning hellos. He went straight for the cafe and started going through the makeshift buffet that Rocher had made for everyone. Shinzuu chuckled as he saw the young fox in an apron over his uniform. "Hey Rocher, you might make someone a good wife someday."
-
Veronica had grabbed her food from the buffet in silence, only speaking to tell Rocher that he did a good job. She had sat down at a table by herself and had already been eating for a few minutes when Shinzuu walked in. Not wanting to look at him since she was still feeling embarrassed, she stared at the table as she ate her food. Taking a drink of her orange juice, she quickly spit it back out. "Ugh! That's disgusting!" She shouted, not concerned with looks she was probably getting from others. She put the glass in the middle of the table, knowing she wouldn't touch it again.
-
*White grumbled as he rolled off the table and his chair onto the ground into a morning sunbeam shining through the window* "Wow it's a friggin miracle, I'm still alive." *White brushed himself off and got up, the ears on his head almost turning into pancakes from folding down to lessen the amount of sound coming from the girl pissed off at her expired orange juice* "Hey you lady could you quiet down? The Sun's coming out so some of us aren't exactly awake yet, can I have that orange juice drink if you're not gonna drink it?" *Before waiting for a reply, he walked over to the table and grabbed it and shot it down like as if it were hard liquor*
"Damn you were right, that is some strong stuff, but I think I can hold it down." *He grinned at the girl and walked away going back to his table domain by turning the chair right side up again and sitting down to hang his head over the back of the chair* "I'm sooooo bored."
-
Solitude. One measly little word was all it took to sum up the monkey's existance, his reason for being, and as if to prove this point...Gavin woke up alone the next morning. He half expected to turn over, open his eyes, and see Trisha there. But that was a broken hope. Sighing, the monkey unslung his pack and started to rifle through it for breakfast, letting the bleak thrumming noises of the desolate basement level keep him company.
-
Kitt walked into the cafe; surprised, and very glad, to see that a makeshift buffet had been set up... getting his breakfast from a fox who had so far not talked to he turned back to the tables, almost all of which where full of civilians or groups of soldiers... almost every table, except the one Vee had sat at... recognising her as the cadet Shinzuu had ordered him to train alongside, he walked over and sat down on the opposite side of the table...
He mumbled a friendly "Morning..." In between yawning widely... he dropped his combat pack and AK to the ground at his feet with a heavy thunk and a clatter.. before turning his attention to some very tasty looking scrambled eggs and bacon...
-
Not finding sleep for the rest of the night, Tori stared with bloodshot, black rimmed eyes at the buffet. Are these people crazy?! We should be packing, preserving, and rationing whatever food we find, not chowing down! She looked across at the civilians and officers eating as much as they please, and spitting things out if it wasn't perfect. We'll be scavenging for roots and hunting mice before the week is out at this rate! The wolf couldn't stand the look of the food any longer. With her aching hunger and need to conserve food, she fled outside.
In the cold morning air, she contemplated ways to stand up to their leaders. Someone needed to tell these people that a normal diet wouldn't suffice in the world they'd been thrown into. If I confront the General, or any other officers for that matter, I'm afraid I might get shot. With those tempers, I doubt they'd put up with a civilian making suggestions.
Tori rubbed her shoulders in fear of inevitable starvation.
-
Shinzuu finished up his breakfast and then jumped up onto the couch at the edge of the lounge, adjacent to the cafe. "Okay folks! Here's the news you've been waiting for! I know you are all really enjoying your spoiled breakfast, but you might want to listen up, lest you prefer to stay in the hotel all day. Now, today, we will all be going out, in a group, to grab new needed clothes. Before you get all crazy, know that you may NOT go anywhere by yourself, always stay with your assigned groups. Tomorrow, we're going to be leaving here, so enjoy your time as much as you can. Private Rocher will call out your names and your assigned groups. Each group will be led by 2 soldiers. Men, make sure you bring your groups back in time for supper at 7pm sharp. If there is an emergency, be sure to shoot your flares and head straight back. Medic team, you will bring 4 with your group to gain our traveling medical supplies. Remaining Scout Team, split into two groups. Alpha Team will be getting preserved foods throughout the city for our travels. Bravo Team will search the city for any and all weapons and ammunition. Alright, let's make sure we finish up and be out of here in an hour. Role call will be in 45 minutes."
-
Kitt listened to Shinzuu, but most of his attention was directed to the bacon and eggs... he swallowed the still piping hot breakfast with ferocity, and ecstatic pleasure...
"Oh god... you have no... idea.... how nice that tastes... after a year of living off'a soviet issue rations..."
He looked up, realising that the only person who could have heard that was Vee, who was eating her own breakfast... he shrugged, swallowing another mouthfull...
"And now im going crazy... talking... to myself...
-
Felix's shift was finally over, and he came in during the middle of his speech, and began grumbling.
"Enjoy the time you have here" he mimicked, using an annoying high pitched tone to himself, so no one could hear.
"Feh... easy for you to say, you got the Presidential Suite, and you make everyone else's life miserable" he uttered under his breath, inaudible to anyone.
-
Veronica glared at White when he spoke to her rather rudely and practically sneered when he grinned at her, then had responded to Kitt's "morning" with one of her own. She listened to Shinzuu's speech without looking up, rolling her eyes at the squeals of joy from the women of the group when he mentioned getting new clothes. "And I don't even know what group I'm in... She thought to herself.
-
Finally calming down, Tori sulked back into the Hilton, completely missing the speech. She looked across the buffet table, and how little was left. Hunger rose into her throat, and was difficult to swallow down, but she managed.
There was a chatter about new clothes that found it's way to her ears, which twitched at the idea. I hope they don't plan to throw away what they already have. Extra clothes could come in handy for treating wounds, amongst other things. Tori thought to speak up again, but found her voice caught in her throat. With a frustrated sigh, the wolf leaned against the nearest wall in defeat.
-
After 30 minutes, the roll-call began, and people filed into their groups. Felix was paired with Rocher to take a group of civilians. Tori ended up in Kitt's group alongside with White. Shinzuu led his group with Veronica which also included Gavin. All the other groups headed out first right after they were finished. Shinzuu led his group out last, "Alright, folks, where do you want for us to go first?"
-
Gavin looked up at the group leader for a lingering second before quickly looking down at his feet. The one named Veronica probably knew ten times better where to go than he...for Gavin could never comprehend much of anything outside his emotional, secluded little head. He sucked on his lower lip and waited...he would go wherever they wanted. No need to voice an opinion.
-
Kitt loaded his Ak-47 and looked over the group he had been assigned to.... White could be a problem, and the wolf.... well he didnt even know her name, but hopefully she would be smart enough to not get them in trouble...
"Right.... Food.... we cant survive without it... we need to find it... lets get goin'..."
With that he led the group out of the Hilton into the deserted and war torn streets.... he kept his weapon ready, drawn up to one shoulder.... turning slightly he looked over at the wolfess....
"You.... firstly, i dont know your name.... secondly, try and keep an eye out for a supermarket, anything where there could be packaged food..."
-
*White moved into the group without really saying much of anything because he was still too tired to really argue at this point and noticed Kitt eying him in a mistrusting manner* "Don't worry about me kitty, I'll be a good wolgon alrighty? Just find me some food and I won't cause you any trouble, also don't miss with your piece there." *The wolgon pointed at the AK-47 attached to Kitt* "So are we going to go today or are we going to stand around here all day staring at each other and worrying about the next meal?"
-
Veronica remained silent as she moved into her group. Of course she had to get grouped with someone who she didn't really feel comfortable around right now. Though he didn't seem faltered by the incident. She didn't plan on giving her opinion on where they should go first but when no one spoke she let out an annoyed sigh. "I don't really think it matters what we do first. We have several things to get done but as long as we get them all done, it shouldn't be a problem." She said, looking off in a random direction.
-
Tori nodded to Kitt, understanding her duty. She didn't entirely care about being called by her name, as long as she was acknowledged. She glanced at the Wolgon, disapproving of his words. "Look, I know you two don't exactly get along, but could you hold the harsh words for after we finish our job?" She bit her lip for letting her thoughts out, but pushed it to the back of her mind, "And I don't think a supermarket would be the best place to look. That's where everyone heads first, so it's more than likely empty by now. We stand a better chance looking in houses and abandoned semi-trucks." Tori scratched the back of her ear, slightly nervous that these two hot heads may take her suggestion as a command.
-
Kitt smirked, watching the Wolgon...
"The kitty dont mind what you do... so long as you dont get us in trouble..."
Turning back to Tori he raised an eyebrow in surprise, and then nodded...
"I like your thinking... lets get to it ladies and wolgons...."
With that he pulled his Kalshnikov to his shoulder, and lead the way out into the streets, keeping an eye on the other two, and the other on all the alleyways....
-
Tori smiled inwardly at Kitt's positive reaction. Glancing at the Wolgon for only a second, she followed the wildcat, keeping her hand on the pistol at her side. She'd never used it, in fact she'd never used any gun before, but it couldn't have been much different than a power drill. Just point and pull the trigger. Tori silently prayed that it wouldn't come to that, thinking it be best to conserve her ammo.
-
Kitt walked softly, managing to make almost no sound, even with his heavy combat pack, helmet and weaponry... he looked over one shoulder at the wolfess, and then back to the streets as they continued to walk...
"I still didnt catch your name comrade.... though if you dont want me to use it... i'm fine with that..."
Listening for an answer he pulled himself into the back of an abandoned truck, rifling through the contents he found nothing but engine parts... jumping back down onto the road he moved onwards, keeping an eye on the other members of his group.... and the surroundings...
-
Shinzuu had lead his group through an abandoned Macy's and kept watch on his group occasionally as he searched through the racks for a set of clothes that's similar to his ideal outfit he used to have. After a long search with his peripherals, he found a short-sleeved, zip-up, black leather shirt, a long, black leather coat, black leather jeans, and new boots that were better than his current ones. Shinzuu checked his watch and yelled out to everyone, "Alright, everyone! We're heading out in 30 minutes! Get dressed and we'll be out looking for personal food items. This will be emergency rations for you personally. The meals will be provided and rationed by my men. We don't know how long we're going until we reach the next city, so this emergency food will be in case we run out." Shinzuu made his way towards the exit to check the surroundings. On his way, he found some black leather gloves and a rack of shades. "Oooh. Come to papa..."
-
Veronica had looked around the woman's department for clothes to suit her style. She found a pair of dark blue skinny jeans with rips down the front of the legs and a plain black tank top with suitable undergarments. Then she searched the shoe department and found a pair of black knee-high boots (no heels). She went to a changing room when Shinzuu had yelled his 30-minute warning and switched outfits, putting her old outfit and boots in her bag. Her hair had been tied up in a bun this whole time since she was not allowed to have hair down loosely in the military setting. Now she took the hair tie out, putting it on her wrist, and let it hang down freely. She ran her fingers through it to make sure there were no knots then put on the black leather fingerless gloves she had found. She left the changing room and headed for the exit.
-
Gavin, being a cynical little monkey, couldn't care less whether he looked like a drunk cowboy than if he looked like he just walked out of the Ritz. So, since this was the case, he solemnly gathered the essentials: underwear, t-shirts, one or two pairs of jeans, and stuffed them into the available space in his pack. Then he went to find something to wear right then. Everything there had been so expensive back when it was in operation. So expensive, in fact, that Gavin almost felt guilty as he took the cheapest yet most functional set of clothes he could find: work jeans and a red checkered shirt over a white tank. A pair of bargain cowboy boots completed this terrible (Yet functional!) ensemble. Once changed, Gavin quickly darted down the immobile escalators and then barreled through the front doors, hoping he hadn't been left behind...again. Gavin wasn't known for his ability to keep up.
-
"Alright everyone LISTEN UP! Since we're ordered to escort you, I say let's make this a bit interesting... I saw we find nearest clothing store, and get the best dang clothes we can!" Felix said, addressing his group.
The others gave a savage whoop as they stormed a nearby Kohl's. Felix and Rocher both shot the lock off, and the civvies began tearing the place apart, looking for better clothes. Felix himself was busy eying some sports sunglasses that protected against UV rays. Like he needed it, he just liked 'em cause they reflected blue in light.
Rocher was busy helping a woman find her perfect match in sweater.
When the 30 minute mark came around, Felix left with a trash bag full of clothes, and almost laughed as he saw the others look incredibly ridiculous in their 'outfits'.
-
Elsewhere in the Macys, a small group of women huddled around a dress rack still trying to find a garment that was to their liking, unaware that they were being watched. One of the women, finding a little red dress, ran off to find a dressing room.
The woman, after a short walk spotted what she thought to be another survivor huddled in a corner, his back to her. From where she stood he looked like a nude black wolf Ze-ite. He seemed to be writhing in pain. "Oh my God!" She turned to where she had left her group. "Hey! I found another survivor!" Turning back to the man she slowly approached him. "Sir? Are you alright?"
No response...
The woman stepped closer. "I have friends coming, don't worry. Are you alone?"
No response...
The woman's group came around the corner. "Oh jeez...finally someone alive."
"I think he's hurt. We have to help him." The woman and her friends walked over to the man. One of the women knelt down in front of the man and touched his shoulder. Suddenly the man turned his head...a full 180 degrees. The woman at his shoulder shrieked as his shoulder stretched and enveloped the woman's handd. Standing up to his...it's full height, it stared at the women with empty eye sockets, it's fake mouth dripping with black ooze. The creature grabbed one of the free women by the neck and twisted it in imitation of its own. It didn't bother with the one at it's shoulder as she was slowly getting sucked into the creature's body. Grabbing another by the hair, it ripped off the woman's scalp before impaling her on a 'Caution: Wet Floor' sign. The remaining women ran screaming, leaving their trapped friend to a slow and agonizing suffocation inside the creature's viscous body.
-
*White tapped Kitt on the shoulder as they were walking along* "Where are we going anyways?" *The wolgon looked around hoping to see something of interest, but was more interested in his party at the moment* "Also who are you?" *White pointed to the female wolf that had never spoken to him before* "It would be nice to know who I'm dying with in the case that this is our last day on the planet, never know what's gonna happen, even if it's 5 minutes from now or 2 hours. An unpredictable world we live in these days..."
-
Kitt jumped as White tapped him on the shoulder, he spun round to face the wolgon, weapon raised, and then stopped....
"Jeezus ya scared me buddy.... and i dont know, like miss... uh.... miss wolfy here said, we look for food supplies, but not in the supermarkets... chances are theyre cleared out.... all we need is one good.... "
He stopped as they approached a large articulated lorry... the paint on it's sides had long been worn off, and it was covered in rust... but was still locked at the back... aiming his Ak at the lock Kitt unleashed a burst, blowing the lock to smithereens...
With a loud screech of metal he pulled open the rusted doors to reveal palletes of boxes... jumping inside he tore open the first box with his ice-pick and rifled through the contents...
"We got some packaged dry foods here... looks like it hasnt gone off... looking good people!"
-
Jumping to look at the contents of the box, Tori uttered apathetically, ""People just call me Tori. I'm a mechanic." Grabbing at one of the packages, she checked the expiration date, "3 months bad - sounds like it's still good." Tori began to check the other boxes, reading what they contained off the side labels.
"Corn Pops...Fritos...Lays...Cracker Jacks...Sounds like this truck was on it's way to a grocery store." the wolf sneered as she came across a box filled with bags of rotten baby carrots.
"I say we take everything that's good back to the Hilton. Finding a way to carry it all might be an issue," She looked to Kitt for any thoughts.
-
*White smacked his fists together* "I might be quite large, but I am quite strong Tori." *He grinned greedily upon seeing the food supply* "I can carry anything ya got for me." *The wolgon said in perhaps an overly confident manner* "I've been carrying like six 20lb bags of uncooked fries together all the time back when I still worked in Anchorage, I think I can handle a few bags of chips and junk food." *White turned back to Kitt* "I believe I shouldn't be telling you this, but let's not get too far apart." *White moves over to Tori to await instruction*
-
Tori's eyebrows raised slowly, "It's not your strength I doubt. It's your ability to hold on to so many boxes at once. A mule can carry a pounds upon pounds of sticks on his back, but remove the strings to hold them together, and he can hardly carry one." She gazed up at the boxes again, trying to think of a way to haul them back all at once.
"We need to minimize how many trips it takes to get these back."
-
Shinzuu heard the screams and ran towards the women's section and watched as the one woman got impaled while the other got sucked into the creature's body. "Private! Get these people out of here, now! Fire a flare when you get outside!" Shinzuu took out his katana and unsheathed it. "Alright, you sick bastard. You're going to be tangoing with me now."
-
The creature bubbled in amusement. It waited for Shinzuu to make the first move, seeming to grin at the absurdity of such an insignificant creature trying to take it on. It pulled the woman out of it's body and threw her to the floor. Her body and clothes had partially dissolved, and black ooze came pouring out of every orifice to join back with its master.
The woman was very much so dead.
-
Shinzuu snarled and charged the creature, feinted a cut and ran past, kicking the clothes rack into the monster. Quickly, with one arm, he picked up a smaller rack and began to beat the creature in the back 3 times before throwing the whole rack at the creatures head. From there, Shinzuu charged from behind, aiming to cut it in half at the torso.
-
The creature was mildly surprised by it's opponents speed...but only mildly. The creature allowed Shinzuu to bash it a few times, recovering easily from each attack. As Shinzuu slashed into the creature, his blade stopped halfway. The creature let out a triumphant cackle as it's wound closed in around the sword.
Now it was it's turn...
The creature's torso stretched and darted around behind Shinzuu. Grabbing him from behind, it hurled Shinzuu up into the air. Slamming into the ceiling, Shinzuu dropped back down to be met with the creature's fists. The creature seemed to juggle Shinzuu as each punch kept him airborne. Finally, with a resounding crack, the creature slammed both fists into Shinzuu's back slamming him into the floor. The creature stood over Shinzuu, laughing in it's own alien tongue.
-
Veronica ran in the direction that she had seen Shinzuu run after the screams. When she got to where he was, he had just been slammed on the floor by the creature and now the creature was standing over him. She waited until she was close enough for her to do what she needed to to get Shinzuu out of there. Aiming her P-90 at the creature's face, she shot quite a few times, mainly just for a distraction. While the creature was distracted, she quickly grabbed hold of Shinzuu and hefted him up, slinging his arm around her neck. She then made a beeline for the exit with Shinzuu in tow.
-
Gavin, as well, heard all the screaming and commotion....and after a few minutes of pointless deliberation he was about to return inside the building to investigate. He shoved open the doors and stepped inside, feeling chills run through his very veins. Then he stopped---- Veronica was running out, with Shinzuu in tow. And if Shinzuu, the leader of his group, was down...then....then this was no place for Gavin to be. Certainly no place for him to interfere. He held open the door for them, trying to help in some way.
-
The creature screeched in rage at being interuptted and slithered after Vee. Fortunately for her, it's attention span was incredibly short and was distracted by another group of people running away. It let out a gutteral howl as it chased down and overcame the other group. More creatures seemed to come out of the woodwork and began to corral more civilians into the center of the room. Their screams seemed to chase Vee and Gavin as they ran.
It was too late for them now.
((In other words....time to cut your losses and run!))
-
Felix heard the screams and counted himself and his group lucky, but it wouldn't last.
"EVERYONE OUT!" he yelled and a few people freaked out and ran, but were quickly destroyed by the things.
Felix opened fire on them with Rocher, but it didn't seem to be making any bit of difference. The two glanced at each other and began to run back, firing as they went, pulling goo off of a few creatures, but never enough for a kill.
-
"Oh good heavenly Gods...." Gavin breathed in one short burst after seeing the...the monster. A shiver racked his furry body. After Veronica and Shinzuu looked like they were out, the monkey broke out in a run that could only be described as insane. He was quite the fast little thing, easily overtaking a few blocks and a long stretch of street in his blind panic. Feeling some meager sense of responsibility, he looked back over his shoulder, slowing down a little, to check and see if his two group mates were still coming...
-
Kitt looked from White, and back to Tori.... "Stack the boxes onto one of the large wooden pallets, and then we drag it... i've got several lengths of rope meant for climbing ice.... White, you'l pull most of the weight, me and Tori will pull and try to keep the boxes on the pallet... lets go!"
With that he pulled one of the wooden pallets, which was around 5 metres by 5 metres and could easily carry a large number of boxes stacked... he dropped the pallet out of the back of the lorry onto the ground, and then jumped down after it and tied a length of climbing rope to one end...
"Right, stack 'em up... just try not too make it TOO heavy.... we got the rest of the day, so long as nothing goes wrong i reckon we could do all of this in only a few trips..."
-
Shinzuu grunted as Veronica dragged him on out. Never before had anyone managed to really hurt him before, let alone break 2 of his ribs. As they left the building, he reached over Veronica's belt and pulled out the flare gun. He aimed it to the sky and pulled the trigger, alerting everyone back to the hotel entrance and possibly to be leaving the city. Shinzuu put the flare gun back onto Veronica's belt and chuckled a little to himself. "At least my new threads weren't torn."
-
Veronica was sort of grateful that the other civilians had taken the creature's attention off of her and Shinzuu. She did feel sorry about their demise though. There was no denying that. She ran through the door that Gavin held open and watched him sprint off after her and Shinzuu were out. She slowed down some once she was out of the building and away from all the creatures though. It was quite difficult trying to run while carrying the well-toned...muscular...wait, what was she thinking?! "Carrying his weight, girl, weight." She thought to herself, almost furious at herself for thinking about him in such a way. At any rate, the thought distracted her from Shinzuu's comment about his clothes.
-
Shinzuu's heart sank as the continuing screams of the civilians continued to resound through the doors. Dammit. I failed again. This time, I lost all but one civilian. If only I had brought my gun with me. If only.... Shinzuu's mind began to slowly drown into the "What ifs" episode and his face turned deathly grave. Was he really so powerless to help others? Has getting to the shelter impaired his ability to fight and protect? He himself had rescued and brought in half of the people in the refuge at the same time by himself. Now, he can't even handle less than that with fellow soldiers. Sorrow overtook him as they continued on back to the hotel's entrance.
-
When they got back to the hotel, she gently set Shinzuu down. Noticing the look on his face, her eyes narrowed as her face grew more serious. "Oh no you don't. Don't even start with whole 'I let them all down, I'm a failure' routine." She said in a stern tone. "People are going to die. It's inevitable. You even told me that once. So stop guilt-tripping yourself into thinking that this is all your fault. You know it's not." She just looked down at him after she was done speaking, letting her expression slowly soften up.
-
Felix and Rocher kept running, even when they saw the flare.
Some of the civvies under their command stopped and looked at the flare, and one was overtaken by the creatures. The man, a wolf, was being engulfed alive by a small group of them, their bodies wrapping around his, the man gave a couple screams, before a bang resounded from the other side of the street, and Felix was holding his smoking gun.
"THE HECK ARE YOU DOING? THAT WAS ONE OF OUR PEOPLE!" Rocher cried out, confused as to why Felix would shoot a civilian.
"Listen.. a shot to the head was a much quicker way to die then being suffocated from being under those things!" He yelled back as more civilians fell to the beasts.
The pair hauled (censored) all the way to the hotel, and to their horror, the doors would not open.
Rocher began frantically pounding on the doors, and yelling, as panic overcame him.
"OPEN UP! WE"RE STILL ALIVE OUT HERE!!!! ITS ME FELIX AND ROCHER!"
Felix, through the panic, kept on firing at the masses of tar advancing on them, hoping to at least slow them down with the weight of lead.
-
Shinzuu growled, with Rocher's voice ringing in his ears. "Private, shut up and just break the damned door. It's only glass." Shinzuu watched as all other groups began running back. Most of them, only 2 or 3 survived. The only group that made it back with a full roster was the medical team and Alpha and Bravo. The medical team came to Shinzuu and began inspecting him. "That hurts you maynards! I have 2 broken ribs, end of story. Now wrap me up so I can get up already. Bravo Team! My gun and ammunition!" One of the men came over with the M500, a metal ammunition box, and a backpack. "Sir, we found the ammunition you requested, but we only got 100 rounds. We did find materials for the bullets, so you'll have to make the rest on your own time. Only you, Sergeant Felix and Veronica know how to make bullets. The rest of us only have basic knowledge, more than half of us didn't even finish basic training." Shinzuu waved him off and inspected his gun, reloading the 3 missing shots fired the other day. One of the medics handed him an aspirin and he swallowed it and got up. "Alright people! We're moving out in 2 minutes! Bravo team is now handing out ammunition and guns if you need them. Rocher! Take 3 men with you and grab whatever you can from inside. Felix, help me get everyone in order and educate the civies on usage of the weapons they choose to have." Shinzuu surveyed the carnage around them. ]Dammit, only 22 of us left?
-
At the the first sign of the flare Kitt had stopped, his grip tightened on his Ak-47 and he turned to the other two....
"We gotta go... now... leave the food, we can come back...."
With that he grabbed Tori by the scruff of her neck, and turned her round to face the way back to the hotel... he gave her a rough shove...
"Go, quick!"
He started to run, either the other two ran with, or where left whatever it was that had got the first group.. the roughness of the shove hopefully conveyed just how worried he was....
-
Veronica sighed as she wasn't even acknowledged. Walking off, she opened the doors for Rocher and Felix and whoever else needed to get in. There was no point in destroying them when someone could easily walk over and make the doors open. Hearing her name mentioned, she turned her head. "Oh, the bullet-making junk..." She thought to herself as she walked back over and started to sit down, only to realize that there was no sense in doing it so she straightened back up and stood there waiting to leave.
-
The creatures, seeing that their quarry had hid in the hotel, gave up chase. They didn't care if they had EVERY survivor...just as long as they got a lot of them.
And today they had...good God, they had.
-
Tori hesitated, wishing not to abandon all the food they'd found. On the other hand, that flare surely ment those creatures were back. She wanted to believe they could come back for the food later, but something was telling her they wouldn't have time. Forcing herself to move, she grabbed the closest box to her (a case of Corn Pops) and followed Kitt. She was a little behind, and couldn't run as fast, especially with a box in her arms, but the Hilton wasn't far, so she wasn't worried about falling behind.
-
*White smirked at Kitt* "There is no way in Hell in that I'm leaving all of this here." *White picked up two crates worth in his arms and ran as fast as his legs could carry him for a heavy set man a little ways behind Tori* "I'm surprised you can run at all with that box. Good to see that you can hold your own." *White turned his head to check on Kitt* "Remember soldier man, we need you alive too. Don't want you getting too far behind." *He grinned with a competitive glance*
-
Kitt ran alongside the other two, weapon brought up to his shoulder he kept aiming it left and right, traversing the street... there where so many places for someone to hide, behind the rows of cars, all the doorways.... "Just keep going, we're almost there.." He ignored the comment from White, though couldnt help smirking back... the hilton came into view as the group ran between the long rows of burnt out or abandoned cars, Kitt jumped and rolled over a low sports car, aiming down the iron sights of his weapon he kept the other two covered....
-
Shinzuu checked his watch as Rocher and the men were leaving the hotel with sacks of supplies on their backs. "30 seconds and we're moving out! Bravo team! Say hello to your new squad leader, Staff Sergeant Veronica, newly promoted. You all will be permanently responsible for weapons and ammunition. Medical Team! You'll be under Sergeant Felix, or should I say Sergeant First Class? You all will be in charge of our last 4 civilians and our medical supplies. Alpha Team! Newly promoted Corporal Rocher will be leading your squad. You will all be in charge of food and rationing. Make it count! Scout Team, you'll be under our new "Comrade", Corporal Vladimir. You will be the extra eyes and ears of our small group. If anything gets through, I'll personally send you to Hell myself!"
-
Tori caught a glance of the group about to move out, "If I get left behind I'm gonna murder somebody..." she mumbled. Her tail bristled at the thought of being left on her own with these two.
Using the box to slam open the door to the Hilton, Tori stumbled inside, pausing to catch her breath. The last sentence from the General was all she caught, and she mentally nodded in agreement.
-
*White tumbled inside after she slammed the door open and all the food slid from his grasp upon the floor and smacked in a wall nearby; he got up cracking his neck* "Ugh... well Mr. Almighty warlord, we have come back with a successful hunt." *The wolgon directed his statement at the general with a short glance without noticing that their leader had been attacked already and then walked over to the fallen food and started picking it up*
-
Shinzuu began moving out, "Alright people, let's move! Scout Team, form the perimeter now! Felix Team, get into the middle! Veronica Team, surround the group, but stay inside of the Scout Team!" Shinzuu double-checked his M500 and marched on as he slammed the chamber shut with a loud Clack!. So far, nothing in their way, but he wasn't going to risk staying around to find out how long that false sense of safety would last. It was now 2pm and they were already on the run. Pity, it would have been nice to stay one more night on a bed.
-
After Rocher and Felix piled into the hotel, they were both surprised at the quick assignment of new teams. Felix clasped the new Corporal on the shoulder, before he assembled his little group of civilians.
Gavin, Tori, White (unless he doesn't count as a civilian) and himself.
Quite the Medical team
"Alright listen up, I am First Sargent Felix... You will follow my orders, and you will follow them to the letter, now let's move it people!" he yelled, going up the middle like Shinzuu ordered.
Stopping in front of the General, he gave him a quick salute in thanks before he resumed his orders.
-
Veronica's eyes almost bugged out of her head after hearing herself being promoted. As surprised thoughts tumbled through her brain, she moved Bravo team into position surrounding Felix's team. "Alright Veronica, don't screw this up. You have bigger responsibilities to fulfill now. People are counting on you." She thought to herself as she took hold of her P-90, not even thinking about the fact that she was losing the opportunity to sleep on a bed for one more night or the embarrassing moment from earlier.
-
Felix, was truth be told, the saddest to leave the hotel.
He didn't even get that much sleep, with all the guard duties he had to do. But then it gave him a purpose.
Sleep came with dreams, and dreams in the apocalypse were sometimes disgustingly brutal and just plain macabre.
-
Gavin was, truth be told, the happiest to leave the hotel. Or....I guess, more literally, you could say he was the one who found the most relief out of it....No more having to stay cramped with so many people. Not to mention the threat of attack was lesser when they were not sitting ducks. Instead, they were moving ducks now! Sure, he was a part of a group now, a group that had a higher focus, but it was a small group and one that could easily ignore him and let him fall behind or get way in front as was commonplace with Gavin. As they moved out, he decided to stick to the far right-hand side of Felix's ragtag band of merry men, just barely out of sight but keeping up nonetheless.
-
Kitt saluted, brimming with delight...
"Sayuz, Comrade! Ve wont let you down!"
With that he turned to the scout group, and with a few shouted instructions, got them to form the perimeter ahead of the group... raising his kalashnikov to his shoulder he walked silently... just like he'd been trained.... and the promotion had been a nice surprise... despite the fact that in the soviet armed forces there was no 'corporal'... he pondered as he checked under a burnt out car.. moving on he came to the conclusion that corporal was at the same rank as 'štotnik'....
Shaking his head lightly, he focussed on the task at hand...
-
Gavin, the more he walked, began to have doubt in his mindset. He wondered, briefly, if this was what he should be doing, how he should be acting...like he didn't even care about himself, about these other people....Sure, it was hard to break himself of his habits, his bleak outlook, even harder to break free from the cloud of depression overhead that choked and consumed. Tail twisting, frustrated sweat beading on his forehead, he slid a bit closer to his group. Just in case they noticed him. And if not....no matter to the monkey.
-
Even as they walked, Tori didn't let go of the box in her arms. There were so few of them left, and those who remained were mostly soldiers, at least that's what she considered them. They all had guns strapped on. Guns she didn't even know the name of. All she had was a tool belt, a pistol she'd never shot, and a casket of Corn Pops cereal. She looked down at the box in sorrow, fearing that she might be the next to die.
She had to find a way to better arm herself against those creatures! They had to be weak against something. Guns seemed to only slow them down, and she doubted bladed or bludgeoning weapons would do anything. There weren't very many up there in the cold, at least compared to what she heard they were like closer to the equator. Cold might be the answer, but they're still up here. It isn't effective enough... Tori shuddered as she thought of the possibility of them being invulnerable.
-
*Watching from a distance the wolgon made sure he was in a safe position, or at least as safe as it could get for him at this point in time; his MAC-10s raised, he was ready for some close range action again* "There is not one sludgeball creature that can get past my guns and my wits about me right now when I got enough paranoia to make old horror movies look like crap while at least being conscious of my backside."
-
Shinzuu led them all for two days with barely any rest for himself. He stayed up later for every night on watch and kept himself as sharp as he could be. The death of the civilians kep him up until around 4am every night, but his watch would wake him up at 7 o'clock each morning. It was now the night of the third day and he sat alone again on the highest point of their camp on watch. He sighed as he surveyed the area, the images and screams of all those civilians and soldiers echoed continuously through his mind.
-
The last few days had been rather uneventful. Veronica always kept her spot at the forefront of her group that was surrounding Felix's small group, always remained alert though nothing had ended up threatening them. Now she sat amongst everyone else, watching them with mild interest. She made sure no one wandered off from where they were camped. Then she spotted Shinzuu alone at his watch post. She sighed. Rising to her feet, she slowly and quietly walked over to where he sat then sat down next to him. She was silent for a minute or two as she looked upon their surroundings. "You're pushing yourself too hard, you know." She finally spoke, her voice was soft, mainly because she didn't want to abruptly break the silence. "You can't do everything, Shinzuu. Not by yourself." She looked at him for just a second before looking back out at their surroundings.
-
The silence of the world around the group shattered as a cry for help echoed through the air. The voice had not come from within the group but seemed to be coming towards it. However, the voice seemed to be followed by crackling brush and shouts of anger. Suddenly a hyena boy came bursting out of the surrounding forest. He was bloody, injured, and very much so frightened.
"Someone! Please help me!" The boy ran into the safety of the group just as a detachment of Acolytes came bursting out of the brush.
-
Shinzuu's ears perked as he watched the scene and aimed with his M500, firing all five shots at the Acolytes before reloading quickly and firing again. "Everybody wake up! We're under attack! Felix's group, take the front line! Scout team, give them cover fire! Veronica's team, you're second line. GO! *Turns to Veronica* You, too, sergeant. Get donwn there now." Shinzuu jumped from his spot and ran to the front with the others.
-
Felix took up the middle, aiming his gun at the child's general direction, he waited for whatever chasing him to come out.
-
The newly appointed štotnik Kitt looked up at the shouts and bursts of weapons fire... He and the scout group had remained slightly apart from the rest, keeping up a second watch at the perimeter... as Shinzuu shouted Kitt raised his weapon, as did the others in his team.... They krept forward through the undergrowth, silently, they where adjacent to the acolytes now, cutting them off in a textbook pincer movement...
Kitt held one paw up... the scout team's fingers tensed over triggers... and then he let his paw drop, in the direction of the acolytes... Bursts of american semi automatic weaponry tore towards the acolytes, bolstered by the loud bark of Kitt's soviet AK...
-
Veronica got up without a word and headed towards where she needed to be. Gripping her P-90 with little emotion, she aimed and fired upon the Acolytes that appeared from the brush. "Always interrupted..." She thought to herself, disgruntled. As she got into her position with her team, she looked around at them staring at her. "What are you waiting for? Shoot!" She commanded. The team did as they were told and shot towards the Acolytes, as she did the same.
-
"Oh man I have been waiting for something to happen for like forever and a half!" *He jumped up doing a flip action with his MAC-10s and running up to support Kitt* "Aye there captain, fire off the bridgeport!" *The wolgon laughed as he shot about 10 bullets into one oncoming Acolyte in less than half a second and aimed his gun upon another one with his eye lined up in the sight*
-
Seeing this new development, to Gavin, was the equivalent of having his head rammed into a brick wall at a few zillion miles an hour. Everything went still, freeze-frame, and speaking of freeze, a newfound chill rose up through his body and utterly squashed any former confidence he held. His tail fell, deadweight. Do something.... He watched as Felix aimed, as Veronica moved, as the wolgon laughed and shot, as the civillian child ran. Do something... He watched as the child turned into Trisha in his mind's eye. Gavin had never wanted to see her like this, but his heart had other plans in store. That was now Trisha who was about to be killed, would be killed, is being killed....Do something, Gavin...
Gavin broke out of his trance in a hurry. How, why had he been so selfish this whole time? It was stupid of him. He reached for the metal baseball bat on his back, knowing he'd have to go for the hunter's rifle if things got worse......which they probably would knowing the world as it turned.
-
Felix fired in bursts to maintain accuracy, hitting a few minions in the upper chest area, but an AcolyteInitiate got too close, so Felix took out his knife.
The Initiate in front of him had a meat cleaver, not a fun thing to have chopped in you.
Felix side stepped an overhead swing and sliced upwards on the Initiate, cutting his face, while the man howled with pain, Felix stabbed him through the heart, kicking him off his knife.
He picked his gun up again and continued to open fire.
-
The boy cowered within the group using other civilians as shields.
The remaining Acolytes tore into the group like a scythe. The innocent were cut down while soldiers were massacred. The Lieutenant spied Shinzuu and charged him, his ooze-like arm shifting into a blade. He slashed at him with a diagonal cut in attempt to disarm Shinzuu. A Sergeant took the confusion as an opportunity to attack the clone. He rushed Felix, his claws slicing through the air creating a high pitched whistle. He tore at Felix's legs in a whirlwind of blades. A Grunt noted Gavin's charge and ran to shield bash him away.
-
Shinzuu spied the Lieutenant coming his way and fired at a grunt that was about to nail Gavin in the head and quickly pocketed the gun back into his chest holster, drawing his katana. His finely honed blade clashed with the enemy's as he brought up his leg and kicked the Lieutenant in the stomach to push it back. I'm won't make the same mistake as before, treating you like a normal Acolyte. Shinzuuu quickly charged the Lieutenant and drop-kicked him, pushing him further back. He rolled a recovery and brought his sword through in an upward slash.
-
Veronica continued to shoot at the oncoming attackers. She reloaded when she had to and her hand was a blur when she did so. Seeing the Lieutenant charging at Shinzuu, she made sure that she would continue to look over there in case Shinzuu needed help. The Shinzuu she had known before this whole horrible mess had never needed anybody else's help but it seemed that things were getting tougher and tougher for him each day. She knew he was letting things get to him too much, but she also knew that no matter what she said, he probably wouldn't change. Of course, she wasn't quite sure she wanted him to. She was used to the old Shinzuu. If he was ever different it might be odd to her. She couldn't help but grin when she glanced over between shots and saw Shinzuu dropkick the Lieutenant. That's what she was used to. She turned her attention back to the others quickly and continued her shower of bullets.
-
Tori, knowing her pistol would be useless, ran to the hyena boy.
"Don't worry, we'll protect you," she assured him, knealing down. A civilian in hytserics would only worsen things.
Tori kept her hand on her pistol, mostly to reassure herself, as she put her other hand on the boy's shoulder. Catching a glimps of his face, she recognized him as the hyena lad that was torn from his parent back at the refuge. It was amazing that he'd managed to get so far.
What was his name?...Miro?...Mero?...Nero! That was it.
The wolf nodded to him, "Just stay here Nero." Tori stood, drawing her pistol. If any of those things got past the others, she'd shoot it down, or at least she'd try.
-
Felix screamed as claw tore into leg and he fell over. Blood seeped from the wounds at a dangerous rate, and now was not the best time to bleed. The blood flow started to cloud his judgment a little, he was losing a lot more then he originally thought. All he wanted to do now was to kill the (censored) that made his blood spill.
He scrambled for his gun and found it, but not before stabbing the Sergeant in the legs to pay him back. Grabbing his gun, he pumped more lead into the Sergeant's legs, making him cry out in pain as his legs were shredded. The traitor fell over, crying out, howling at the pain, as his legs seeped blood.
"THOUGHT THAT HURT YOU (censored), YOU'VE SEEN NOTHING YET" He yelled as he struggled back up, leaning on the wreckage of a car to steady himself.
He took careful aim, and let loose a burst into the Sergeant's face.
-
Gavin trembled as he saw the grunt charging at him, then as Shinzuu fired at it......what was it again.......oh, don't bother trying to remember....Hoping the shot was a good enough distraction that he would no longer be nailed in the head by a grunt, he dove to the side, hands tight around his bat. Then he swung, swung, swung, swung...swung, swung at the beast...with all the might he held. Gavin didn't know if it would even work, let alone injure the thing, but it was just a stupid bat and wouldn't be missed if he had to go for his gun.
-
The whole scene had turned into a massed free for all, grunts charged about the place, tearing into what civilians where left, or pouncing on unsupported soldiers.... Kitt and his scout team fell back and spread out, all the while firing off burst shots into the crowd of acolyte minions...
"Do Riti! TO the left!"
One of the scout team turned to his left, saw the rushing minion, pulled the trigger... but all to late... even as the grunt was torn apart by return fire the soldier beneath him was already dead....
-
One of the grunts charged at Tori and Nero. Instinctively she pulled the trigger. The jar in her arm wasn't as much as she'd expected from what she'd heard, but then again, handling staple guns probably was about the same.
As she fired again and again, a moment's thought of how many bullets the gun had crossed her mind, just as the 6th shot pierced the creature.
Tori's heart sank lower and lower with every 'click' the pistol sang.
Once again acting on instinct, she cried out, "HELP!"
-
Tori's cry was cut short as the Grunt slammed his shield into her chest, knocking her prone. However, just as the grunt was about to land a killing blow, his head suddenly burst forth with blood as a metal prong stuck out of his left eye. The Grunt dropped as the prong dislodged itself, showing it to be one of two pickaxes being held by Nero.
"Are you alright?"
_________________________________
The Lieutenant stumbled backward, but regained his balance in time to barely block the slash with his ooze-blade. The Lieutenant grinned at his opponent from under his hood, and in a sudden swirl of his robes, attempted to disarm Shinzuu with a Butterfly kick against his blade.
-
Shinzuu ducked and slid under the kick, ending up back to back with the Lieutenant as he lands. Shinzuu hooked his left arm onto the Lieutenant's right arm, and forced him down, using the Lieutenant's own momentum against him. He jumped up and gripped the katana with both hands, and came down with an execution strike, aiming for the Lieutenant's neck.
-
((Heehee :3 Brother and sister..... :P ))
"You like that? Huh? Does it hurt?" Gavin asked as he continued to pound the creature with his bat, almost as a gang member would pound an innocent victim in a dark alley somewhere. He didn't know where this bloodlust was coming from....all he did know was that he wasn't going to hold back any longer. For Trisha's sake he was not going to be a damn coward.
-
Veronica continued to shoot at the attackers. There wasn't much else to do anyway. She kept glancing around at the others to make sure they were doing alright and didn't need any assistance. The attackers numbers had decreased but so had their own. One attacker got too close and she drew a sai with her left hand, stabbing it through the neck and the chest. As the attacker fell to the ground, she holstered her sai and continued her hail of bullets.
-
Rubbing her chest, Tori returned to her feet, "Thanks, sorry I'm not much of a protector."
Seeing another grunt charging behind Nero, Tori threw the first thing she found on her belt, a monkey wrench. Hopefully it would discourage the creature.
"Behind you!"
-
"SOMEBODY HELP ME THE (CENSORED) UP!!!" Felix yelled, his legs bleeding profusely, as no one noticed him... sitting in a pool of his own and enemies' blood.
Life sucks. His own squad didn't seem to pay any sort of attention to the fact he was DYING.
Heck they were the Medic team for crying out loud.
Talk about a horrible irony.
-
Rocher fired off a few shots from his M-4b Carbine to ward off the other Acolytes as he ran to assist Felix. He dragged Felix all the way back behind the first line where two of the Medics were waiting for them. Rocher stood up and looked over a Felix's wound, his face grew dim. He looked over at the medics, "Do whatever you can to fix that up. *Looks over to Felix, blushing a little* Don't worry, sir, I'll man your post. You know, Sarge... I never got say this... but if we don't make it through this, I just wanted you to know that I lo..." Rocher's words stopped as he found the tip of two blades sticking out of his throat. His eyes rolled back as he choked and gagged for a whole second before his head was subsequently removed.
-
Although Felix didn't like Rocher that way, he still was horrified to see the man die in a horrible way.
"YOU SON OF A....." He didn't bother finishing the sentence, he had already grappled at the offenders legs and took him to the ground. In response to Rocher's head being removed via blade insertions. Felix returned the favor by forcing the grunt's arms to stab himself in the head, but Felix wasn't done there.
He grabbed Rocher's fallen gun and went full auto on the Grunt's head to be absolutely sure, and to be sure payback was served. He kept pulling the trigger even when nothing but clicks came from the gun. He bent his head down to the mutilated face of the grunt and yelled defiance in his dead foe's ears, probably stinging his ghost now.
He was dragged back screaming the whole way, by the medics and was injected with a bit of morphine; He was no longer angry... he seemed a lot calmer... and eventually fell asleep.
(Felix doesn't like it when bffs get hurt and or die... it tears him up on the insides)
-
The Lieutenant, who hadn't expected the attack, was beheaded in one foul sweep of the blade. The body sat there for a moment before collapsing to the ground, finally dead.
________________________________________
Nero quickly ducked underneath the wrench as it slammed into it's target's face. With a quick spin, Nero swung the pickaxes in a scissor-like fashion, executing the Acolyte as the points entered his brain. "Thanks! I guess we're even."
-
Shinzuu flung the Acolyte blood off his blade as he switched the katana to his left, while he drew out his M500. He just caught sight of Rocher being beheaded. Shinzuu spied several more coming in from the rear and spotted more from the flanks, beginning to wipe out the unexpecting scouts and 4 of the 6 civilians. He fired two shots, killing 3 of them. "Scout Team! Veronica's Team! About face!"
-
At Shinzuu's shouted command Kitt acted on impulse, his soviet military training took over and he swung his AK around in a wide arc, the frsit Acolyte was brought within his iron sights as he squeezed the trigger... The weapon jolted in his paws, again and again, the loud and unmistakable bark of a Kalashnikov rung through the air as the first couple of acolytes where flung from their feet... the rest of the scout team turned, and opened fire themselves...
They had been ordered to hold the perimeter.... no matter the cost...
-
"Can't these stupid things just all be dead already." She grumbled to herself as her and her team followed Shinzuu's command. She ran at one of the attackers, releasing her P-90 and drawing her twin sai. "I'm. Tired. Of. Fighting. You. Things. Just. Die." Each word was emphasized by a stab or a slice she gave the attacker. As the dead attacker fell to the ground, their blade came up and cut her across the stomach. It wasn't a deep cut but it was enough to hurt and make her bleed. She holstered the twin sai and grabbed her P-90, running back to her line. Once she was back in the line she started to shoot at the remaining attackers, ignoring her wound.
-
The last Acolytes dropped in the hail of gunfire. As the guns ceased firing, their echoes could be heard throughout the quiet landscape. Many laid dead at the feet of the group, both friend and enemy alike. The ground was dyed red with the fallen and the wind seemed to mock the travelers as it blew gently as if the world was fine again. Nero stood toward the back of the group overlooking the charnel house that was the battlefield.
-
Gavin let out a sweet sigh of relief as he noticed that yes....he'd finally hit the creature to death....Shaking uncontrollably, tail jittery and hair on end, Gavin reslung his metal bat and reajusted the straps of the pack on his back. He needed a drink. A few drinks. Heck, he needed a few drinks, a bed and a locked door with how badly his mind had just been thrown around. But those were things he wasn't going to get...Not now at least. He sidled back to his group nervously, trying to will himself to stop shaking, to take a few deep breaths and calm down, but being unsucessful even at something that small......
-
Shinzuu panted as he looked around the carnage at the end of the battle. Only eight people left, including himself. He slowly walked over towards the now dead medical team. Shinzuu slowly sifted through their remains, looking for any salvageable items that will come in handy to them in the future. In a soft voice, nearly choking, Shinzuu gave out his commands. "Veronica, grab any and all ammo and supplies of the like that are relevant to our current weapons and take the big guy with you. Kitt, take Tori and Gavin and take care of Nero and Felix. Finish patching him up. I'll see what medical supplies we have left that we can salvage."
-
Kitt nodded, wiping blood from his muzzle.... that split second longer that the rest of the scout team had taken... had cost them their lives..... he shook his head, sling his ice pick back onto his combat pack, the weapon still dripped with blood... He eased his grip off of his AK, his paw shook slightly even once he had let go of the cold steel, turning to find Tori he steadied his breathing forcefully...
Despite what he had said to SHinzuu... he'd never actually seen any real combat, never seen his whole team die, and no way he could stop it.... paw still shaking he walked up to Tori, and turned her round, nudging her softly in the direction of Gavin, Nero and Felix.... he spoke in a shaken voice, quite unlike his normal bravado....
"Glad to see your still alive Tori..."
-
Tori nodded to the shaky wildcat, a little racked up herself, "Just lucky I guess. Nero helped a lot." She smiled at the hyena, showing both acknowledgment and gratitude. It's got to be luck keeping me alive. I don't have the skills necessary to fight...Yet...here I am.
"You alright? Not wound'd are ya?" she asked, relaxing enough to let her grammar and diction slip to the tone she used when speaking to car. She was starting to get used to normal social behavior. The wolf was beginning to realize she wasn't going to be condemned if she talked like a hick.
-
Veronica gave a silent nod in response to Shinzuu's order as she released her P-90 to let it hang freely and held her left arm casually across her stomach. She grabbed a roll of gauze that was on the ground by part of the medical team. Raising her tank top to reveal her stomach as she walked, she started to wrap the gauze around herself and secured it when she was done. As she lowered her tank top to cover her stomach again, she started searching the fallen for ammo and supplies that would be useful to them.
-
Kitt shook his head, not daring to open his mouth... he felt sick.. really sick.... breathing heavily he swallowed...
"no... im not wounded....."
He pulled the pin back on his AK with a loud ~kerchick~ and slung it over his shoulder on its strap.... he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a hip flask, taking several really deep swigs of the fiery liquor he had in it.... his paws stopped shaking quite so much and the feeling of wanting to throw up the entirety of his intestines went....
"Well ya did good.... wouldn' wanna see you dyin now would i?""
-
Nero walked up to Shinzuu and put his hand on Shinzuu's shoulder. "Thanks for saving me back there. I would have been a goner if they caught me." Nero smiled politely as he spoke.
-
Shinzuu didn't respond, just concentrating on find the supplies and getting blood off of them. His mind had broken alongside of his heart. It was indeed a bit of a hollow victory in his mind. The cost was too great. Inside of his head, Shinzuu began to run through reparations in his mind, trying to convince himself of his duties and that he had to push on. He got up and started looking for bags and sachels to place the items.
-
Gavin stuck himself closer to the group, awkwardly, as one would post a random post-it. He stretched and for....for a reason he didn't exactly understand, he grinned at Tori and the boy, then grinned at the hazy sky as he looked up at it, squinting. "You know....." he said. ".....You know, I'm sorry for always being at the back. For never acting like I mattered, or like any of you mattered. But now that we've been through this, I feel.....I feel different. And I like feeling different." Smiling stupidly, he lowered his gaze. "Again, I'm sorry."
-
Veronica pretty much had her arms full of ammo and supplies. Looking at the ground around her, she found a bag. "Ah, here we are." She said quietly to herself as she knelt and set the ammo & supplies on the ground by the bag. As she started stuffing the things she had found into the bags, she started humming. "And I will always do my duty, no matter what the price. I've counted up the cost. I know the sacrifice. Oh and I don't want to die for you. But if dyin's askin' me, I'll bear that cross with honor, cause freedom don't come free. I'm an American soldier, an American. Beside my brothers and my sisters, I will proudly take a stand. When liberty's in jeopardy, I will always do what's right. I'm out here on the front line, sleep in peace tonight. American soldier, I'm an American soldier." She sang, because humming wasn't enough for her. It was most likely loud enough for everyone else to hear and normally that would bother her because she was self-conscious about her singing (even though she had been told she was a good singer plenty of times), but today she just had to get it out. It was the best kind of release for her.
-
Relating to Gavins words, Tori smiled back at him, "No problem, I understand completely," she put her hand on his shoulder, a bit of dried mud flaking off onto his arm, "I'm not so worried 'bout talking anymore either." The wolf grinned up at him, contemplating whether or not she should tell him about the "bit- o'-Acolyte" on his cheek. "Nice work with that bat by the way. Speaking of which, where's my monkey wrench?" With that she turned from him, scouring the ground for said item.
-
After Felix's leg wounds have been sealed, and he had been left sitting for some time.. he finally was coming too. At first all he could see was darkness... then eventually some blurry surfaces. His hearing at first was really terrible, but it started coming back.
He leaned upwards, but noticed he was restrained to a makeshift stretcher, and he couldn't incline his head far enough to see how bad his legs were.
He heard a woman sing, and inclined his head just enough to see her.
"Hey... mind telling me how bad my legs are... I wanna get back into the thick of it asap!" he called, hoping he would actually get a response.
-
Shinzuu walked up and pressed Felix down. "You'll be fine in a few days. You will not be going into action anytime soon. You're no good to us if you're banged up like this. Just be glad that Gavin and Tori put a stretcher together for you." He sighed and walked off, frustrated by the situation and plans for what they could do with just 8 people left. Shinzuu took a quiet walk around the carnage, closing the eyes of the deceased and doing his best to clean them with torn pieces of their clothing. He listened intently to the words Veronica sang. Indeed, we are all soldiers.
-
Veronica turned her head in the direction of Felix and was about to get up to go over to take a look to see how well she could answer his question when Shinzuu approached him and answered for her. She stood up and slung the bag of ammo/supplies over her left soldier, grabbing a piece of torn cloth off the ground. Drawing one of her twin sai, she wiped the blood off with the cloth then replaced the sai before drawing the other and doing the same before holstering that one too. She dropped the cloth back on the ground and searched for more ammo/supplies, only to learn that she had found all their was on the fallen. She sighed as she looked around at carnage.
-
Kitt listened to Veronica's singing as he cleaned and reloaded his AK, sighing he slung the weapon over one shoulder and walked up to Gavin and Tori... he coughed to get their attention...
"I've been told to keep and eye out for you two... it seems your the only civies that pulled through, so.. uh.... yeah.... its my duty to make sure youre okay i guess...."
He kicked his boot against the ground, looking down he pulled his AK off his shoulder, and held it at the ready, simply because it made him feel more at ease and in control of the situation..... He looked down at the pistol, now empty, on tori's belt....
"You want some more ammo for that?... i gotta spare clip and i could show ya how to fire it proper... though you did well enough on your own back there..."
-
"I'm fine. Don't ask about me." Gavin smiled at Kitt. He truly did not want others to ask about how he was, because he didn't know anymore. He didn't care what he was feeling anymore. To Gavin, right now felt like the few seconds on a roller coaster, at the top of the biggest drop, before you fall....where you feel weightless, and as if anything could happen......."I need to help around here, don't I?" he muttered to himself, still smiling. Then he folded his arms behind his back. "What would you guys like me to do? I'm bad at being impulsive. I need some sort of direction."
-
Suddenly, Nero let out a surprised yip as if in realization. He quickly began patting himself down, in an attempt to find something that he feared he misplaced. "Oh God...Please don't tell me I dropped it!!" He seemed to check every nook and cranny on his body in his search, even taking off his shoes. In his franticness, a piece of aged paper dislodged itself from it's hiding place on him and floated to the ground, unnoticed by Nero.
-
Tori nodded to Kitt, "Yeah, actually, that would be nice. I was also hoping for maybe something more potent against those guys." she looked down at the pistol.
Hearing Gavin's comment, Tori scratched her ear, "I've been working on gathering food lately, maybe you could help me with that."
She began to search for her wrench again, remebering she was over by Nero at the time she threw it, she headed over there, just in time for an odd piece of paper to flutter past her nose. What's this?... Tori reached out and picked it up, scanning over the peculiar item.
-
The paper was almost yellow with age. It seemed like something out of an old book in a museum. The only thing that seemed to differentiate it from a museum piece was that it wasn't brittle. In fact the paper felt like it was almost new...but it's age was obvious. Upon closer inspection one would find that the paper had a pinkish hue beneath the yellow. On the paper was a stange sketching, along with indecipherable runes.
The sketch showed what look like a statue of a well muscled man at first glance, but more details soon became apparent. The man's face was featureless besides an insane lipless grin stretching far behind the man's head. His wrists split into a pair of four-fingered hands, set in a venus flytrap-like fashion. These strange deformations were only multiplied by the man's chest, which was splayed open like the petals of a flower with a rune burned into every 'petal'. Through the hole, a ribcage could be seen housing a small pyramid shaped object. Every detail seemed to be painstakingly drawn out to the greatest anatomical presicion.
Tori's stomach turned slightly as she held the paper, seeming as if it did not wish to be held. Everything in her mind seemed to scream at her to forget the image on the paper, and yet to study it further at the same time.
-
Tori swallowed hard, wishing to look away from the gruesome paper. She figured one of the Acolytes dropped it, and that closer inspection may help them. But then again, this parchment creeped her out, and she was typically able to stomach such things. Best bet was that the others would throw it away it, thinking it to be nothing but a morbid sketch from one of the Acolytes. Not wanting that to happen, she quickly pocketed the item.
The wolf had had her nose to close to the ground in search for her wrench to take notice of Nero's antics, otherwise she would've brought it before him. Alas, the oblivious wolf went back to her original action of finding the lost monkey wrench.
-
As Tori continued her search for the lost monkey wrench Kitt took of his backpack and rifled through the contents... underneath his stacks of ammo clips for his AK he found what he was looking for, a small box of low callibre bullets that would fit for Tori's pistol... pulling out the box a bullet fell out and rolled away, Kitt jumped to his feet and gave chase, he caught the bullet as it bounced off a rock, and looking down, found a monkey wrench half covered in blood and mud beside the body of a dead acolyte...
Picking both objects up he pulled on his backpack and walked up to Tori who was still searching... he held out the box of ammo, and the wrench...
"Think i found somthing of yours miss.... and if ya just hand me the pistol i can show ya how to reload it safely..."
He smiled, for the first time in quite a long while....
-
Shinzuu finished up his activities by burying the dead, Acolyte and non-Acolyte, in a mass grave, laying them in a line. He ran out of dirt fast, since it was more of a ditch that he expanded rather than something he dug up. Shinzuu saluted the dead, mumbled a soft "Namu satsu.", and turned around to walk back over to the group. Shinzuu found a high spot to sit at watch and lost himself in thought, talking to the dead Lieutenant Acolyte with his mind. Of the many that I've fought in my years of life, you were the only one I've ever met to be a decent fighter. It's a shame that we had to be on opposing sides.
-
Veronica found a clean area of grass and laid down upon it. Staring up at the sky, she let her mind wander. She mainly thought about the day that her parents had told her they were sending her to military school and the events of the years that followed. Military school never really broke her though like it did to your average girl who was either sent there to straighten out her attitude or to teach her that a things weren't just going to be given to them without earning it. It did teach her to control her temper better than she used to but the attitude was still there, just kept in check by needing to talk to the higher-ups in particular ways. Compared to what was going on now, military school was a piece of cake. It never prepared you for the emotional parts but for some reason she wasn't emotional. She figured it would come back to bite her later. Closing her eyes, she sighed, putting her hands over her stomach where her wounds was beneath her shirt and the gauze. She missed the simplicity of military school.
-
"Blast it! WHERE IS THAT PAPER?!" Nero started to panic as he could not find the paper. That paper held crucial information on the Acolytes that could be used against them. "Someone help me find it! The fate of the world may depend on it!"
-
Tori smiled up at Kitt, "Thank you," she took the wrench and reattached it to her tool belt. As she was about to grab her pistol for the lesson, she overheard Nero's screech.
"Umm, excuse me, but what's on the paper?" Tori asked the frantic hyena, thinking of the drawing she'd picked up. She scratched her side as she approached him.
-
"No problem... now, with this pistol...."
Kitt was about to reach for the pistol, when Tori turned away to Nero.... he sighed, his paw still outstretched, as if hoping to grasp thin air.. he sighed and let it drop to his side... while waiting he looked over Tori's shoulder at Nero who seemed to have gotten himself in a fluster over somthing or other...
-
"It has a scary-*** guy on it with some weird writing. I stole it from an Acolyte when I heard them saying that it was important." Nero was incredibly flustered at this point, not knowing how or why the paper disappeared.
-
Gavin originally didn't want to get too involved with whatever was going on with Tori, Kitt, that new child, and his strange peice of paper....but...He changed his mind once he heard Nero speak those last few sentences. After all, a scary-*** guy? Weird writing? You know something like that had to be good. The monkey sauntered over to them and joined them. "....Now what's going on again? I heard you guys talking, and, well.....monkeys get curious too." His tail started to twist again as he glanced over them. He wasn't as embarassed as he would have been otherwise, but was still nervous playing the game of socialization.
-
Shinzuu paid no mind to the small gathering near the wounded Felix. In fact, he didn't really care about what goes on between them. Shinzuu's only thought now was to survive in this Hell-forsaken world. Never once had he thought he'd prefer that ice-block of a refuge over going back home. But, what's done is done, and no use crying about it. Instead, Shinzuu continued his watch, sighing occasionally as he tickled his old memories of the barracks and making his superior officers' lives a living hell. He smiled.
-
Veronica had gotten up from her spot on the grass and wandered around the area aimlessly. She finally silently walked up behind Shinzuu and spotted the smile on his face, which made a half-smile appear on her face to see him feeling better. "Someone seems to be feeling a bit better, judging by the smile." She said quietly. She looked around casually as she stood there before finally sitting down beside him.
-
"WELL IF I'M NOT ABLE TO SEE COMBAT, CAN I AT LEAST WALK! It's getting really uncomfortable strapped down to this thing. I mean I thank those who did, but now it's just weird..."
Felix groaned, and with the large group of people arguing over a scary looking dude on a paper with weird writing, Felix wanted to see, unfortunately he couldn't move.
The world was slapping him in the face and laughing at him.
-
Tori pointed at her chest while talking, "With a pyramid in the chest right?" The wolf pulled the paper from her pocket and showed it to Nero. She wished not to part with the parchment, feeling it to be important, and selfishly wanting to keep it to herself. However, it was not hers, and her Morales kept her from stealing.
"It's pretty morbid."
Why would you steal something like this from an Acolyte. But then again, I picked it up too.
-
"THAT'S IT!" Nero swiped the paper as a wave of relief went over him. "Thank God! Do you know what this is?" Nero held up the paper for the others to see.
-
Shinzuu snapped out of his trans as Veronica spoke and chuckled a little as his mind caught up with what she said. "Just remembering my days back in the military. I made every superior officer's life a living hell. Kind of like you did to me when you first showed up for military school. I guess there has to be at LEAST one other person there like me. I really hated your guts when you first came into my unit, but I guess in the last couple years, you've really grown on me. It's hard to believe that the little sassy witch has now grown into a battle-hearty (censored)."
-
"A really creepy drawing?" Tori suggested, having no clue what the creation may be. Her best bet was that it was a view into the Acolyte's imagination, or dreams. Maybe it was even some sort of pedestal god. Another question that plagued her mind was how Nero found out what the despicable thing was. Maybe he was spying on them, over heard them speaking of it, and stole the thing. Maybe that's why he was being chased.
-
Kitt shrugged.... he lit up one of the last remaining cigarettes he had, and squinted at the drawing as he blew out a stream of smoke....
"Art never was my strongest subject..... something to do with where the... things... came from?"
He shrugged again, looking around the group as he took another drag on the cigarette....
-
Veronica couldn't help but grin the entire time that he was talking. It didn't offend her at all that he said that he kind of didn't like her at first. She was used to it. None of the other high-ups really liked her that much, even after her being there for a while. Shinzuu was the only one who ended up liking how she was. "Well, someone's got to be able to match-up to you at your own game, if not beat you. And, come on, you worked with me. You should have known I'd be this way since I already had the attitude and the temper to fuel me." She chuckled. She looked back at the group and saw Nero holding up some piece of paper while everyone was ignoring Felix yelling to be freed. Shrugging, she looked back at Shinzuu.
-
"According to the Acolyte I stole it from, these runes give directions to a temple where an Acolyte artifact is stored." Nero pointed at the pyramid in the figure's chest. "That is the artifact. It's supposed to be the Acolyte's greatest weapon but it's also their Achilles heel. I was planning on stealing it, before I got caught swiping the paper." Nero face turned to one of grief as he explained further. "Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I can get it myself anymore. I've deciphered some of the runes and everything they say isn't good. I know it's a lot to ask of you all, especially after I got most of you killed, but if you could help me this may change the outcome of this whole apocalpyse."
-
Gavin streched widely, subconsciously excited by this new development. It was all fascinating to him, especially the drawing, the way it made his gaze so fixed, the rather beautiful (in his opinion) way all the lines were drawn....and he didn't really care about just how much the boy was asking of him by this. He had nothing better to do, not to mention he owed a bit of debt to the world for his attitude, and he owed an even bigger debt to Trisha. Smiling at the boy, then at Tori, he let his tail go limp once his muscles finally relaxed themselves. "Count me in. I'm up for whatever is asked of me."
-
Shinzuu chuckled lightly, "Maybe so... maybe so." He turned his attention to the struggling Felix and his complaining mouth. Shinzuu sighed in humor as he watched the clone struggle in the makeshift stretcher. He stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I'm proud of you and all you've done up to now. Continue to do your best. Your survival is proof of your prowess. Don't ever trade your honor for anything." Shinzuu slowly turned, deciding whether or not to head for the group and leave Veronica to do guard duty for a while.
-
"Forget that paper for a second now and just unstrap Felix, for God's sake!" Veronica yelled in between the two different parts of what Shinzuu was saying so as not to interrupt him, getting tired of hearing him have to yell and tired of the fact that he was being ignored by the ones right next to him. She looked back at Shinzuu as he was standing up. When he placed his hand on her shoulder, she looked at it as he spoke to her, smiling slightly at what he was saying. When he started to turn to leave, she quickly but gently grabbed his wrist. "Could you stay?" She asked, not looking up at him. "I kind of don't want to be alone right now." She looked towards the mass-grave.
-
Felix sighed as no one seemed to listen. It was odd, the people sent to moniter him were concerned about a paper, yet everyone away from him seemed to care that he wanted to be allowed to stand up.
"I dunno maybe i'm on the wrong side of the fence right now... or just really unlucky" He said to himself as he tried to reach for a cigarette.
He managed to wiggle an arm close to his jacket pocket, and when he grabbed the cancer sticks, they slipped out of his hand and plopped on the floor.
"Well at least it'll encourage me to quit for a couple seconds... or minutes" he said to himself, sighing again. He couldn't feel too much in his legs, must be morphine.
He knew they weren't badly torn up that he couldn't walk, just lots and lots of blood.
Good lord he remembered the blood, and how pissed off he got at the Grunt.
-
Losing her temper, Tori shouted back at her fellow wolf, "He's not dying! He can wait! This paper just might be the key to surviving this Hell! But of course you're too busy flirting away to notice that aren't you?!" Tori's nose scrunched up in regret for talking back. She was strong in all, carrying around engines and everything, but that girl had special training. She bet her face would be in the mud in seconds if it came to that. Still, she didn't cower or apologize, and leered at Veronica defiantly.
-
"Can I say one thing... how do i go to the bathroom stuck like this.... not to be pushy but I kinda want to do somethign besides sit here and eavesdrop." he shouted (kinda) squirming a bit to try and scratch his back.
Although quietly to the side to Tori he said
"Good job... 'General' Shinzuu has been sucking up to the rookie in a way frowned upon in the military... glad to know someone can see through the veil, She doesn't deserve special treatment for looking good"
He added with a spit on the floor, which was basically a not so subtle insult at his commander, whom he was not on good terms with.
-
In response to Felix, Tori smiled and knelt down, releasing him from his bonds. She was glad she wasn't the only one annoyed. With a nod, she offered a hand to help the Clone to his feet.
Looking back at Nero without moving from her helpful position, Tori said, "If it helps our species get past extinction, I'm all for helping you."
-
Felix grapsed Tori's hand and helped himself up, but not before almost falling down.
"(Censored!!) .... that hurts... take it slow Felix" he said to himself just to keep his mind off the pain. Slowly but surely he helped himself up, but he had to lean on a wall to ease all the pain.
Fortunately as he was 'falling' he grabbed his smokes, and lit one.
"Thank you very much...." He said, while looking down at the bloody bandages on his legs. Cripes it hurt like a mother (Censored)
-
Veronica's first response to the shouting was a hearty laugh. She stood up slowly and turned towards the group. "Well, how would you feel if you were strapped down to something and yelling to be freed and everyone around you was ignoring you? I bet it would drive you crazy! And flirting? Please. Just because you couldn't get a date to save your life because you're too busy lubing up a car doesn't mean that you need to take it out on me because I'm just talking to a guy that I've known for a long time. That's pathetic." She had noticed Felix make a quiet remark to Tori. "And that's the thanks I get for being nice to you and telling them to release you? Being talked about with the girl who didn't give a damn about you? Well then, next time you can yell and complain and struggle all you want because you won't be getting any help from me." She watched Tori finally release Felix and let out a chuckle. "Aw, isn't that cute? He applauded you so you decided he was useful enough to let go..." She rolled her eyes and turned halfway away from the group and now her back was to Shinzuu, crossing her arms and looking out for possible attackers even though there were none. They could go right on ahead and have a problem with her. That was something she had been used to her entire life. No one had ever liked her attitude or how she had no problem speaking her mind. She was perfectly fine with that fact and she actually grinned thinking about it. Lucky for them, she was relieving her temper through words and not actions. She knew she shouldn't injure them...or injure one of them more...because then they wouldn't be able to fight for their lives as well and she wasn't that cruel.
-
Felix took another drag on the cancer stick and sighed.
"Well there goes possibly the one friend I made here..." he mumbled to himself. He excused himself from the group and walked... stumbled more like it after Veronica. He had to lean on walls and random stuff to keep balance, and he was swearing up a storm the whole time.
When he finally managed to balance himself on a wall near Veronica, he contemplated what to say.
"Veronica..... I'm sorry for talking behind your back... my life went from bad to worse in the span of a couple days. From my comfortable home back on the base, to the possibility of never being able to use my legs without crutches or some form of help again. The past few days have been hard on all of us really... but I've been being stupid and bottling it up. I'm sorry for using you to vent my frustrations against the commander too..."
He paused to take another drag from his cigarette and then limped forward a little more.
"Hell... I'm just sorry for being a pain in the (censored) to everybody right now... I appreciated your motion to get me untied, and I understand if your mad at me. Just wanted to let you know that... I'm sorry" At that point, his legs were giving out, and he fell forward n pain once more.
"(CENSORED!)" he yelled. Not so much in pain, as in frustration.
-
Shinzuu took Veronica's arm and pulled her aside. "Come, we don't need to put up with those ungrateful maggots. Let them survive on their own. It appears that we are no longer needed for them." He led her down to the east and clutched his weapons tight as they left. Whether it be the government or people. They will never know what life is."
-
Tori sighed and bit her tongue, knowing she'd spoken too much as it was. Tempers were flaring and fights were starting, there was no need to press anyone further.
"We should probably find some form of shelter. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's tired," the wolf scratched the back of her neck awkwardly as she glanced up at those who surrounded her. Today had taken a toll on the team, and it was best to rest.
-
Felix glared at Shinzuu and spat in his direction.
"Taking someone else down because your angsty Commander? If you want to die, don't drag someone else into it!" he yelled.
The commander was taking stupid risks again, this time intentionally, and kinda literally dragging someone else into it. He knew he couldn't stop the pair of them in his condition, but (censored) he would try to at least talk some sense into them. He dragged himself up and began limping after the pair, telling Veronica not to go on his suicide mission.
-
Veronica stopped, turning herself towards Felix. "Stop. Don't waste what strength you have and make your wounds worse." She said, looking him up and down. "I accept your apology and give you one of my own. I'm sorry, but I'm going with Shinzuu. Good luck in your mission." She gave him a nod and turned away. She caught up with Shinzuu and took hold of her P-90 as they headed east.
-
Kitt scratched his head and pushed his helmet up out of his eyes with two fingers... taking one last drag on his cigarette he dropped it and ground it into the dust with the heel of his boot...
"Ooookay.... so i dont pay attention for a minute or so..... and it seems everyones fighting...."
He pulled his Kalashnikov into a guard position and pulled back the bolt with a loud ~kerchick~.... "I shouldnt have bothered coming along with you guys, you just argue, and make problems out of nothing.... theres a reason why im even alive, and its because i fight for one person, me....."
He growled under his breath "Ugh... but if i leave i dont stand a chance....."
-
"Sorry. I hope them leaving wasn't my fault," Tori pulled at one of her ears nervously, "But I suppose what's done is done."
The wolf looked around for a few seconds for the box that contained the Corn Pops. Spotting it, she lugged it up to her chest.
"Let's go," Tori muttered, heading off in the direction the were originally heading.
-
Kitt stood, unsure of what to do for a few seconds... he was a soldier born and bred, and now a soldier without orders.... deciding on the most logical thing he ran after Tori, catching up with her as she picked up the box.... Slowing back down to her pace he walked alongside her....
"Dont you go wandering too far... we dont wanna lose any more people than we already have...."
-
Gavin's appearance turned from relaxed to on edge, his expression from gleeful serendipity and joy-of-randomosity to shock, as he watched the two leave off on their own.....Why? Why would they do something like that? Perhaps they had had the same feeling Gavin experienced, the off-handed glance of fate that told them to just go with their instincts. Whatever the reason, it saddened him greatly, but not so much so as to ruin the monkey's outlook. He turned and joined Tori and Kitt, smiling at the both of them, though this time 'round the smile was a bit more broken. "Why'd they do that?" Gavin asked Kitt, again thinking of Kitt as being one of more leaderly stature than himself.....he knew very well how it had turned out last time he'd asked Kitt a question, but it didn't scare him. He wasn't really scared of anything anymore.
Knowing the Acolyte and their kind, he probably should have been scared.....waaay more scared.....But acting with normal emotion just wasn't Gavin's style.
-
Kitt turned to look at Gavin as they walked... staring straight ahead again he replied "I dunno why they gone.... all i know is we're gonna have it even harder without them two at our side...." He turned and looked back to Gavin again, attempting a half smile, it was however masked by a haunted and sullen look in his normally bright, amber eyes...
"We just keep going.... its my job ta make sure you guys okay, thats what im gonna do..."
-
"Then defensive position goes to you. You should be in charge of keeping people safe," Tori suggested to Kitt, taking a decisive tone, "If Felix heals right, he should help with that too," the wolf glanced back at the Clone, "Nero, if you could figure out how to get to that symbol or whatever it is, that would be helpful," Tori indicated her head toward the paper in the hyena's hands, "Gavin, I think it would be helpful if you were to help with hunting and gathering for food," She looked up at the monkey at her side, "And I'll try to work with whatever machines we can find to craft them into weapons or vehicles." Tori stopped, knowing the others still needed to catch up with them.
"There are only five of us left, so we need to push ourselves to survive."
-
Kitt stopped, slightly surprised at Tori's confident tone.... he didnt mind that she was taking control, it felt better be being given orders, it almost seemed to be reassuring to be given a direct order by someone.... He gave a mock salute, keeping one paw tight on the grip of his gun...
"Aye aye..."
With that he stopped to wait for the others to catch up, he kept his gun steady, scanning the horizon....
-
"Will do." Gavin mock-saluted as well, his pathetic effort making it come off more of an accidental heil-Hitler than anything. He would do as he was told from now on, so long as his 'newfound karma' agreed with it. "You know..." he reccomended, also stopping alongside Kitt to wait upon the others, ever so ready to grab up his bat in a happy fury if anything went wrong..."...I'm pretty good at swinging from trees. I don't know how that'll help, but, hey, never know." He smiled dorkishly.
-
"Actually..." Nero ran up and caught up to the group. "I've already discerned enough of these runes to know where this temple is! It's actually fairly close, about 100 miles to the southeast. I heard the Acolytes already dug it up but they haven't been able to get at the shrine inside."
-
Felix gave the pair a curt nod, before turning around and.. being thrust back into new orders.
Orders he had control over. He smiled and gave a crisp salute to Tori.
"Things were certainly starting to perk up, besides the whole legs in pain thing" he said quietly to himself.
-
Tori nodded to Kitt and smiled at Gavin, "If you can find a way to use your abilities to your advantage, go ahead and do it. And if you want to help with fighting, feel free."
Turning to Nero, the wolf's eyes lit up, "100 miles? We could make that in just a few days!" in a sudden realization, the color drained from her face, "But Southeast? There'll be more Acolytes, and I don't know if we can handle another onslaught," Tori's ears drooped, fearing all hope was lost, "We don't have much of a choice though."
-
"Don't worry...I can keep them off of us as long as we move silently. With those two gone our chances of getting by unnoticed have greatly improved." Nero took the lead of the group and pointed to the horizon. "Just follow me."
-
"Heh heh..." Gavin laughed cordially at what Tori told him. It made his spirits lift to think about it, to think about being useful, being wanted...needed, even, if it could at all be so.....He gave a polite nod Felix's direction, poor guy had been put through a lot. What the boy, Nero, was saying did not really sink in until a few mentally drawn out seconds later, when his tail perked dramatically. That sure sounded exciting....But follow a kid?.....Gavin wasn't so sure about that.
Though...Nero had proven himself thus far. Maybe....mayhaps the child knew what he was doing.
Certianly he knew what he was doing better than Gavin did.
That would have to be good enough for now.
Shyly holding his hands behind his back to quiet his tail, the monkey smiled at Nero, in submission to the whims of the world.
-
Kitt followed behind Nero, keeping his weapon at the ready he kept near to the back of the group, so that he could see everyone at once.... He was really the only one left who could handle a gun well, barring Felix due to his injury... that reminded him...
"Hey Tori.... we still didnt finish that lesson with your pistol... if we do get confronted, we dont want you injuring yourself with it, eh?"
He caught up with Tori, pulling two spare clips of ammunition for the pistol, flicking his tail curiously...
-
Now following Nero, Tori looked up at Kitt, "Oh! Yea, forgot," she grinned, a little embarrassed. Looking down at the box in her arms, she bit her bottum lip, "Umm..." Glancing over at Gavin, she gave him a pleading look, "You think you could carry this for a little while?"
-
Chuckling, Gavin took the box from her as he strode along. "It's no problem...see?" He then proceeded to wrap his long, ever-windy tail around the box...."No hands!" He wasn't sure whether he was simply too lazy to carry it in his arms or whether he just felt like being silly. Either way, having his hands free was always a good thing.
-
Tori giggled, wishing she could do such a thing with her tail. It was a little short for most wolves, and was certainly nothing compared to Gavin's. Not to mention it wasn't strong enough to hold anything up.
Now having her own hands free, the wolf pulled out her pistol and turned to Kitt, "So how do I load it?" she asked, feeling a little stupid for not knowing how to by now.
-
Kitt couldn't help but smirk at Gavin's performance... Stopping for a moment he lifted Tori's paws up to waist height and pulled out a fresh clip of 9mm ammunition....
"well its quite easy really... so long as your careful and treat this thing with respect you'll be fine... first ya just press this button here on the hand grip, that ejects the spent magazine..."
He showed her where the button was and depressed it, the old magazine dropped out and was caught in one deft movement by Kitt...
"Next you slide the new magazine in through the bottom of the grip like so..."
He helped her slide the new magazine in until an audible click resounded... "That means its safely locked in place... this switch at the back is the safety, remove the safety, bring the pistol up at shoulder height"
He stood close beside her, showing her how to aim easily down the sight and brace against the inevitable recoil....
"And then just squeeze the trigger... you wanna only fire single shots, we don't have much ammo....."
He let go of her paws, taking an awkward step back.... "Well yeah, that's all you need to know, you can have these two extra magazines too..."
He handed over another two magazines to her and half-smiled, tail flicking ....
-
Nero shook his head in amusement at the group. "C'mon, everyone...we need to get to the next town. There's an old train station there. If we take one of the trains, we should be able to get to the dig-site with little to no trouble."
-
Tori smiled, "Thanks!" she took the extra magazines and put them in some empty slots in her tool belt, next to the pistol.
Looking up at Nero and cocked her head, "Do you know how to drive a train? And how do we know it's not infested with Acolytes?"
-
"Because Acolytes have no use for them. They think technology has polluted the world...thats' why they don't use guns. Cars, trucks, trains, planes, they don't use 'em. Everything is man-powered with them." Nero explained as they walked. "And yes...I have a bit of experience with locomotives. My father was an engineer before the Apocalypse." Nero's face dropped slightly as he mentioned his father.
-
Gavin noticed the drop in Nero's face and felt his own spirit drop with it, thinking of Trisha, but quickly recovered, his dropping spirit caught in a net of reason. His tail had to be held carefully to keep the box from slipping, so he walked a bit slower than everyone else, falling in line just a meter or two behind Kitt. The breeze lightly ruffled his golden brown fur as well as his hair.....and it felt good. "Well, I just hope it all goes okay," he said. What he had meant to say was: I just hope I see her again.
-
Kitt turned, still smiling, and carried on walking.... he listened to Nero explaining, but also kept his his eyes out and weapon ready... it was true that with such a small group being found was harder... but still..... He looked behind him to see gavin falling behind slightly...
"Hey Gavin, you wanna get up front a lil' bit? That way i can see all o' you... dont want anyone gettin seperated now..."
He stopped for a second or two, allowing Gavin to get ahead of him....
-
"Oh...I'm perfectly fine being in the back, but if you'd like me to move up....guess I can do that...." Gavin shrugged in agreement, then strode up ahead, stretching again, a big stupid grin on his face. What in the world was wrong with him? This was no time to be feeling so happy, but ever since he'd killed that Acolyte....the monkey seemed to have been on an emotional high. He wasn't quite sure when he'd crash.......or what that crash would do to him.....
-
The next few hours passed by slowly as Nero led the group. A few skyscrapers could be seen in the distance. Broken and skeletal, they were as dead as their old inhabitants. The sky was grey with overcast. It had been that way since the beginning of the catastrophe. It never rained, but the sky always seemed to foreshadow it.
Drought and stormclouds...no wonder the world felt dead.
Nero hadn't spoken a word since they headed out, his eyes dead set on the skyscrapers of the dead city. Looking at him, many of the group was reminded of the Refuge.
Whatever happened to it?...
-
Kitt kept walking, eyes searching all the time... his paw shook slightly against the grip of his AK-47, the tension was killing him.... the last two ambushes had gotten to him, and he was quite literally jumping at shadows... He walked at the back of the 'pack', so he could see everyone clearly. He felt a duty to protect these people, they where all he had...
"Hey Nero... how far now?"
He talked in a hushed voice, unwilling to talk loudly, paw still squeezing the grip of his gun.....
-
"Not too far. The train station is located about a mile out of town. By the time anything there realizes what we're doing, we'll be long gone." Nero turned his head only slightly to answer Kitt. His eyes never left the skyscrapers.
-
Gavin noticed Kitt's tension whilst he was walking backwards in a humorous manner. Unlike Kitt, he wasn't bothering to look around, wasn't bothering to keep a good grip on his weapon, wasn't bothering to keep an even walking pace....in other words, the idiot of the lot. But to Gavin, this idiocy was to be enjoyed and relished, not condemned. After all, if the world was coming to a slow 'end'....everyone should try to enjoy themselves the best they could, taking encounters as they happened and not otherwise....
"Kitt...." the monkey called gently..."You know you don't have to hold that gun so tight....ya hold it tight like that and it may just slip out of your hands for how much you're sweating...."
-
Kitt let go of his AK briefly, it swung from his shoulder strap as he wiped his paws across his combat fatigues... he only marginally managed to disguise the fact that his paw was shaking ever so slightly before he returned his grip back to the weapon...
"Guess I'm just on edge.... eh?"
He swung around to face the direction of the rustle of dead leaves, only to see a magpie fly of screeching its cry... wiping his brow with a shaking paw he turned back to Nero as they carried on towards the city...
"Don't you think a train is gonna draw a lot of attention to us?... I realise its the only way we're gonna make it but..."
He sighed, boots crunching rhythmically over the dry soil..
"I dunno... just had a bad feeling ever since most the group left or died...."
-
"Doesn't really matter if we attract attention. If we can get the train moving they wont be able to catch us." Nero finally tore his eyes away from the skyscraper and smiled. "You know...many a wise man has said to trust your first instinct about a situation. Unfortunately, they're all dead now. What does that say about how wise they really are? Ignore the doubt...it wont help you where we're heading."
-
Felix had managed to find a crutch of sorts and dragged himself along with the group. Every five steps, he stopped and sweep ed his rifle around, looking around for any threats.
"For the life of us kid, I hope your right" Felix muttered to Nero, before getting a grip on his crutch and moving onwards, stopping occasionally.
-
Kitt watched as Felix dragged himself along, he would have at least tried to help him but they needed all the people with weapons ready.... following along with the rest of the group he listened to the constant crunch of boots on the dry, cracked earth.... he kept his gun level, or as level as he could keep it... and continued to walk through the wasteland towards a hope he wasnt even sure existed....
-
Taking pity at Felix's state, Tori contemplated a way to craft a makeshift wheelchair for him. Who knew, going into the city, there might be a wheel chair in a hospital. To add to that, the hospital was bound to have medicine left over, and penicillin would do some good for any wounds, not to mention some pain killers. Heck, she could pick up a defibrillator while she was at it; the device might save some lives.
"Are we going straight to the trainstation, or do ya think we could make a pit stop at a hospital?" Tori asked the hyena.
-
"Hospital? I don't know...that's actually in the city. Do you really want to risk being seen?" Nero looked at Tori hesistantly. The hospital was near the center of the city...very out of the way. Who knew what would see them on their way in and out.
-
Kitt frowned, muttering under his breath.... he looked between Tori and Nero.... "We dont stand a chance if we get seen Tori.... Felix can't run and only two.... three, counting you, have guns...." He sighed, chewing on the dog end of a cigarette... "But it's up to you guys, I just dont like our chances alone like this..... though medical supplies would be usefull..." He shrugged, waiting to see what the group collectively decided.....
-
"Well then, lets take a vote. It'll be quicker than arguing and a lot quieter too." Nero turned to each of the group in turn as they spoke their choice.
((Just say Hospital or Train to vote))
-
"Train" Felix said.
As much as he wanted to walk, getting out alive was also a very very good idea.
-
Kitt sighed, growling under his breath... "Train dammit... we needa get outta here... and i dont likek being so vulnerable..." he turned away from Nero, tapping one boot impatiently on the ground... medical supplies would have been good... but he had a bad feeling about going deep into a city with only three guns between them....
-
Tori bit her tongue as she weighed the choices. Thinking of the team she sighed, "...train. If we're lucky, maybe there'll be some supplies on it."
-
"But then again... the hospital would be more likely to have medicines....."
-
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