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TWO: The City
Topic Started: Jan 5 2014, 05:46 AM (2,760 Views)
Rob
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[ *  *  *  *  * ]
"I know a little bit of first aid," Elaine frowned. And she was pretty certain that the only people with any sort of good proper medical knowledge, were Dr. Westlake and and the little Mr. Youngren. She looked around, noting that Kuzneatov wasn't the only one who was injured, several soldiers and civillians lay about, dead and dying, with several more bleeding from various wounds.

"Damn," she muttered. It was a difficult position to be put in, with the state of their soldiers, but they needed their medical staff. "Maybe... maybe if we go by night. We wouldn't stand a chance in an all-out battle, but maybe we could sneak in after dark and pull them out quietly?" Adding in a masked worry tone quietly, "If they aren't dead by then." She sighed quietly, then turned away. "Come on Alexy, let's go to the infirmary and see what I can do about your shoulder."


---

Westlake kept his eyes on the ground as he walked forward, a million things running through his brain. He was soo... upset. And mostly with himself. He'd killed a man, he'd put a gun to a man's face and pulled the trigger and the blood still painted the front of his shirt and his arms. He wondered briefly if him and Felix being taken were some sort of karmic reaction to what he'd done, and his face dropped, overwhelmed by guilt. He looked back, as if searching for some answer to universal balance, and locked eyes with Barry for a moment. The stocky man made a crude gesture and Wes looked back towards the ground.

"Snake!" he shouted, half-jumping half-stumbling backwards, pulling Felix along with him, just as the rattler struck out, missing his foot by half an inch. Westlake stumbled backward, crashing into Barry, who swore at the collision and shoved him hard to the ground.

"Idiot," Barry snapped at Westlake.

The rattler hissed, following Westlake's trail, snapped out and bit Barry about the ankle. He cried out as the fangs sliced through his skin, then growled in a rage, trying to rip the snake off, "This is your fault, you tweed!" he growled at Wes, "Fucking hell!"
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Techie
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Alexy groaned and Nodded, "Just... make it stop bleeding, I gotta... Urgh, I gotta go get West an' the other kid back..." He said as he stood up and walked back to the clinic with Elaine's help.
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Rob
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Elaine frowned, about to say something about stupid Russians getting killed from infection, when she opened the door to the infirmary to step inside. She stopped short, breath caught, and swore. "Oh, holy hell..."

There were no people, no patients, but there was blood everywhere, bits of brain matter and fractured chips of skull spattered up the wall and across the floor. Two men lay dead on the floor, at least, Elaine wondered, it looked like two men. One of their heads was almost completely gone.

She approached them, to make certain the second man wasn't about to get up and attack them, and found him frothing at the mouth and definitely dead. "Drug overdose," she muttered, then spotted the gun over near the man with the missing head. She lifted the gun, looked it over, "Huh. One of ours? Not Josie's, the recruits don't have guns issued yet."

Elaine gave the gun to Alexy, and went to the cupboard to pull out some gauze. "You came from here, right? Any other soldiers in here, that you knew of?"
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Nikki
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The heat was starting to get a little hotter as the sun rose even higher along the horizon, heating the air and sad below their feet. He started to wonder how these people even made it to the base in such heat, considering it took quite a while from there to the city. Maybe they were accustomed to the heat by now, but who knew, who even cared to know anyway. All Felix knew, is if they didn't make it to the city or get rescued before then, they'd probably be deader than dead. Wait, a snake? Was that was West had shouted about? If he hadn't though, or even pulled him along, he might have been bit by it. Thankfully he was pulled back, even if he did land on his ass though.

Gavin however, turned stopped in his tracks, his upper body turning slightly upon the commotion. Idiots, all of them were idiots. How he could have just left them all int he desert to die, but then what good would that do. Instead he made his way over to them, mostly to Barry as the man tried prying the snake from off his ankle. In a quick motion of the hand, he ripped the snake from off the others ankle. Once off he tossed it to the ground followed by him stomping upon it's head. It didn't take much for him to crush it's skull, killing it under his foot. Now, what was he to do with this man? There wasn't anyway he was going to survive considering he'd just been bitten by a venomous snake. Surely wouldn't last on the way to the city either, there was only one thing he could do. Well perhaps a couple, but he certainly wasn't going to be sucking any venom from anyone.

"You're turn now," he grabbed the man by the neck, holding his firmly in hand. Then he pulled out a knife from his pocket. Sure, perhaps killing a man with a gun may be quicker. As quick as he could, he pushed the knife through the others skull. Barry fell to the ground as soon as it was pulled out, then his attention turned to the two blondes.

"Get up both of you!" Gavin gave them both a harsh kick , Felix doing as he was told almost immediately. If he could easily kill one of his own, then there wasn't anything he wanted to do to gain the same fate.
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Rob
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Used to getting beat-up, Westlake barely felt the kick. He stared at Barry's crumpled body, blood pooling rapidly around his head from the knife wound. He felt, rather than saw, Felix stand up, "I could have saved him," Westlake said haltingly, then jumped to his feet and glared at Gavin, "You didn't have to kill him! I could have saved him!"
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Gavin looked at the other, his glare nothing more than a facial expression to him. He did not care if he could have been saved, it made no little difference to him anyway. That glare though, he did mind quite a bit, so he grabbed West by the neck and pulled him closer. Face to face he was with him, eyes staring back into the blond man's eyes. "I'm sorry, since when did I manage to care?" a low growl emitted from his throat, "let's say you did save him, then what? He'd still would have been a injured man, nothing bed dead weight to the rest of us."

Slowly he brought the knife in his other hand towards the others face, the blade pressed up against his cheek. "You see that sun over there, correct?" one of the corners of his upper lip pulled upwards, "the higher it gets into the sky, the hotter the air gets, not the mention the sand below our feet." With a shoved he released the man's neck, only the have him fall onto the heating sand below.

Gavin stood above him now, Felix could only watch what was happening, too afraid to make things worse for Westlake. "Now be a good boy like your friend and shut your mouth, or you'll be the next," Gavin growled once more. Before he moved away, he quickly jabbed his knife right next to Westlakes head. The sand around it made a shuffled sound, scrapping against the hard metal of the knife. Then, he leaned over into his ear, whispering low enough for west to hear but other not.

"I'll make sure you're death would be... a slow one," with that he stood back up, making his way to the front of the group, "we've lost enough time, get your asses moving."
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Noodles
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Consuelo's mind caught on "breakfast" for a moment, at this time of day, calling a meal "breakfast" is ridiculous, but she ignored it. Instead, she scoffed and said, "What, have you army scum become so desperate in the last three years that you'd consider a seventeen-year-old a man?" She didn't acknowledge the last bit of what he said - it wasn't important. She let her eyes trail past Rob's face and follow Manny instead. His eyes were wide as he sputtered and allowed Ben to guide him away, and Consuelo realized, shit, I've said too much.

She dropped Rob's shirt and took two steps back. "You-" her voice cracked and she paused, steeled herself, relax your shoulders, you don't care, condescend, tried again, "-you should let your pet go when you get back."

--

Once the door swung shut behind them, Emmanuel whipped around to face Weaver. "You don't believe her, right?" he snapped. "That's crazy, totally crazy, who the hell is that??" He licked his lip, feeling the small cut that matched Rob's as he tried to compose himself. The back of his mind itched with uncomfortable familiarity, like hearing a cartoon character speak and not knowing why you know their voice.
You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.
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Rob
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Seventeen?! Rob wanted to look back at Manny, but didn't, and instead watched the trail of emotion flickering in the woman's dark eyes. He heard the crunching echos of Ben and Manny's footsteps, and barely noticed his shirt being released, his mind was racing so fast. His breath caught in his throat as he came to a glaring conclusion. "Do you... do you know him?"

---

"She's acting like she knows you," Weaver muttered. "So you tell me who the hell it is? You from March town? Or you born in the city? Maybe she's your mom," he snarked.

---

Westlake felt the coldness of the blade against his face, and managed to register that it was still sticky with the other man's blood, before he got tossed to the ground like a discarded doll. He half-sighed and moved to stand, but then Gavin was on him, words floating into his ear, threatening his death. A slow death.

Despite the morning heat, he felt a chill run through him. He watched Gavin continue on for a moment, before one of the others almost stepped on his hand, and then hauled him to his feet and shoved him forward, trailing just behind Felix.
Edited by Rob, Jun 10 2014, 04:20 PM.
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It almost seemed like the sun stayed put in one position in the sky, burning the skins of those who walked on the earth below. It was scorching, no actual way to beat the heat unless one was safely in shade. There wasn't much of that anymore, not even the comfort of being in a vehicle was an option. It was harsh for those whom hadn't gotten use to how the world worked now. Felix was feeling quite a bit of the sun on him, even through the clothes on his back. His pale, light skin didn't do well this long in the sun. His skin felt like it was burning to a dark, crispy blackness. Like the kind you'd see chard over on grilled meats. It wasn't pleasant that was for sure, no in the least bit.

The gang, however, seemed to be doing a lot better than the little Swed was. None of them even looked phased by the blistering heat. Surely it meant they were use to this by now, the sun that was. Many of them darker skinned, even the leader of the gang as well, despite the lighter areas of scars. Gavin at this point, was heading in a different direction, towards what looked like a door on the side of a sand dune. Was it a door? Yes it was, must have been some sort of shelter out here in the desert and as soon as the large scared man made it over, he opened the door with no hesitation. "Get in," he gestured for all to walk into the confines of the shelter.

A pair of stairs lead deeper into the sandy area, into a large room, walls lined with cans of food. Cans of course didn't parish as fast as anything fresh and it was certainly better than eating nothing. They were taking a short break from walking to eat, which was ok with Felix. If there was anything he'd enjoy more, it was eating. Unknown to the two little prisoners, they were being watched closely from afar but one of the gang members. He seemed to take some liking to them, the pretty blondes.
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Rob
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The heat was jarring. It was one thing to be in the confines of the infirmary, sheltered with a breeze blowing through the windows, and a basin of water to wet his hair and face, but out here... It was like walking through fire, Westlake's clothes were sticky with sweat and his eyes stung with it. He reached a hand up, running it across his forehead and over his eyes, but it was mostly in vain as his hand too, felt drenched in it.

When he drew his hand away, and spotted the door, he thought for a moment that he must be hallucinating. And then the leader opened it and gestured everyone inside. Westlake frowned, not looking forward to disappearing into this ominous hole in the ground. But it least it should give some reprieve from the heat, and he followed without complaint, sticking close to Felix, and descending.

Westlake stared in surprise at the cans of food adorning the walls. So this is why the leader had been so blase about food and surviving, he'd had this place to fall back on. It was cooler than being outside, at least, and he looked forward to being able to sit down, and get off his sore feets.

He regarded Felix with some concern, "Are you alright?" he asked quietly, "You're looking a bit red." He pressed a hand to Felix's forhead. "Are you feeling ill?"
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Noodles
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"Yeah, are you really making a your mom joke right now?" Manny sneered. He huffed and ran a hand over his face and through his hair. "Yes I'm from March Town do I look like some freaking city heathen?" But what Weaver said snagged in his mind. She wasn't his mom, that's for sure, but she did seem so familiar to him. She could be... But no, it couldn't be her, her movements were wrong, sharper, and her body so different from his sister's willowy shape.

---

"No," Consuelo answered forcefully, "but I know enough about kids who act like they're older than they are and the fools who believe them — you'll suck whatever you need out of him and let him crash and burn." She continued to back away from him with carefully controlled steps. If she couldn't trust herself not to say too much, she could at least try to keep up her façade.

Betraying who she was wouldn't keep Manny safe. It could only make things harder for him, make it harder for him to leave the FWA. She had seen enough soldiers die in the city, and she wouldn't let her baby brother be one of them. Before her mind could run away with the though, she turned tail and ran, sandwich forgotten.
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Rob
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Rob watched her flee and then headed toward the others quickly, a billion questions haunting his mind. She's lying. He spent enough time prowling the more seedy streets of March town and his home village of Mizkrig, to at least realize that much. Can't do anything about that now. But Manny...

Rob entered the room, arms crossed protectively over his chest, addressing the entire room, "We encountered a woman. She said she was alone, but we can't be certain of that. She's left, but that doesn't mean she won't be back with others. Pack up your shit, we're leaving."

He strode over to Ben and Manny, giving Manny a small smile- I don't believe her, she's lying about something, it's that, right? You're not a kid, you wouldn't lie like that, I trust you -and then looking at Ben, "Make sure nothing gets left behind. I'm going to go down, to let Alex know we're leaving."

"Yeh, alright," Ben nodded, and Rob left the room. "You heard him soldiers, pack up your shit, anyone who doesn't have anything, help somebody else, let's go, go, go!"

---

Rob exited the hospital with a sigh. The mission was short, they hadn't gotten much of anything done- but better safe than dead. He'd seen previous Delta commanders lead their people into terrible situations, staying far longer than what was safe. Not following the rules. Rob sighed again, as he rounded the alley next to the hospital and spotted their transport vehicle.

“Alex, we're going,” Rob said, walking up to the front of the vehicle, to spot Alex, “The others...”

He trailed off, spotting Alex near the other end of the alley. She wasn't alone. A large man, shaven head covered with an inked-in spider's web, held a vicious looking knife to her throat and regarded the Major with a certain practiced ease. Rob met the man's eyes with a glare. “Let her go,” he demanded in the most authoritative voice he could muster.

The man raised a condescending eyebrow, “You aren't really in any sort of position to be telling me what to do. So how about you put all your weapons on the ground, or I'll gut this pretty lady.”

Rob frowned. He didn't really have a choice. He pulled free the pistol and knife from his thigh holster, setting them on the ground and putting his hands in the air, “Now let her go.”

The man frowned, “Don't be sneaky. Ditch the pistol at your ankle.”

Rob's eyes widened just slightly. How the hell did he know...? He ducked down, pulling out the little shooter and dropped it down with the rest of his weapons. I can still kill him several different ways, even if I'm unarmed.

“Now c'mere.”

Rob approached, stopping a stone's throw away from the man, “Now let her go. I'll take her, we'll leave, no harm done.”

“Except what if I enjoy causing harm?” the man retorted and slashed his knife heavily across Alex's throat. Rob startled back, as blood sprayed out, coating the alley wall, and splashing onto Rob's jacket.

“Alex!” Rob shouted. He watched, as if in slow motion, as the life drained from her eyes and the man dropped her body- lifeless- to the ground. He stared for a moment, and then rose his eyes darkly toward the bald man, who was walking toward him.

The bald man reached an arm out to grab him, but Rob took his hand, pushing him pass and bending the offending hand back until the alley echoed with an audible snap. The man's mouth sputtered explicatives, as Rob dropped into a fighting stance. The man hesitated in a step toward the Major, remapping his plan, inwardly kicking himself for underestimating Rob- he had seemed so small and harmless, the man had expected an easy time of it.

“You broke my fucking hand!” the man raged at him. Rob just stared at him, green eyes cold and focused. The man charged, attempting to barrage the Major with a series of punches. Rob was able to dodge most of them- one or two landing hard against his side and one that clipped his jaw as he was trying to multi-task spot his gun, and the impact was jarring enough to spiral him out the back end of the alley, behind the hospital.

He recovered quickly, dropping back into his fighting stance, but then realized that the man had stopped attacking, but instead stood blocking the mouth of the alley with a peculiar smirk on his face. Rob furrowed his brow in confusion.

“That him, Dietre?” came a man's voice, from behind Rob.

Rob reflexively snapped around toward the speaker, and the bald man surged forward, grabbing Rob's arms and twisting them behind his back.

There were two other people, both of them men and at least as tall as the bald man- Dietre- who was restraining him. Shit.

“Dunno,” Dietre replied. “Check him, Anderson.” One of the other men, a skinny, broody looking fellow with a long neck and large forehead, stepped forward, barely even looking at Rob, and started to push up the hem of Rob's shirt.

“Hey, hey, no!” Rob protested, all sorts of scenarios flashing through his head.

Dietre took note of it, but Anderson ignored him, revealing Rob's chest to the cool night air, then tapping a finger to his ribs, “There,” he muttered, pointing out the pair of star tattoos emblazoned dark across the fair skin. “It's him.”

Rob's shirt was yanked back down, but it was a short-lived relief, as suddenly he felt the ghost of Dietre's breath across his ear. “Nice to make your acquaintance, Major Oliver,” Dietre purred, voice utterly dripping with glee. “Anderson?”

Anderson gave Dietre a nod, received Rob's gun, which the other man had fetched from the alley, and stepped toward him.

Rob frowned. They're going to kill me. With my own gun. And I'll never see Manny agai- His train of thought was cut off as Anderson brought down the butt of the gun, striking Rob across the face. He barely had the chance to register seeing stars before a second blow landed, knocking him unconscious. He slumped in Dietre's arms, face falling slack and blood streaming down the side of his head.

“This way,” Dietre ordered. And they took Rob, and left the alley, disappearing off into the night.

---

Completely oblivious to everything happening down in the alley, Ben and the group in the room were packing up.

"Right then," Ben muttered, "You guys ready to go?"



[note: No, I say, NO. Nobody in the room saw what happened.]
Westlake
 
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Felix let out a light sigh, his eyes closing at the feeling of West's hand upon his head. No, he wasn't feeling ill, no in the least. Then again, the intense heat they walked in at least gave him the odd feeling of feeling ill anyway. He knew better than that, it wasn't him actually feeling at all sick. "N.. no," she stuttered just a bit, "It's just the heat, I can't take it."

The room showed little light within it's walls, things almost barely visible, but well enough to be seen. It was large enough for all to sit and be comfortable, certainly enough food to feed those whom were hungry as well. There wasn't any doubt that everyone need something to stuff into their face holes, the weary heat of the sun and the radiating heat from the sun surely took a lot out of them all. Above, in the ceiling, was a large fan. It didn't connect to the outside, no light shone through the blades nor did they move a single bit. At least, for the moment they didn't. "Cain," Gavin called from the stairs as he made his way down.

A younger man came out from the group of men, a younger man at that, seeming to only look about in his early twenties. "Yes sir," he spoke with respect for the older man, awaiting the orders he was to be given.

"Get the generators going, get some light and air in here," with a nod of the others head, he darted off into the darkness. It was only a few minutes, it seemed, that he was gone; but soon the lights had flickered on and the large fan in the ceiling began to spin. The blades made a soft wafting sound as they began to pick up pace, circulating the air around and creating some sort of cooling breeze.

That was certainly better, as each and every man letting out a relieved sigh. Even their leader, whom peeled the sticky, wet shirt that clung to his body. His tan skin glistened from the salty bodily fluid that drained from his pours, only to slowly evaporate into the air as the fan cooled the sweat from his body. It wasn't much longer till there were cans of food being opened. Cans of fruit, vegetables, and the like. All warmed due to them sitting down where they were. There was something much more lovely that was taken out after, large containers of water, that they rolled out.

Felix could almost taste it, though that was probably just the saliva that was collecting due to the food and water being passed about. How he hoped and prayed they would be getting some of that. Then again, why wouldn't they? They needed to be kept alive, so of course they would, they definitely would. "Someone look after those two," Gavin spoke from where he sat. One quickly jolted up, wanting nothing more than to look after the two. Because it was his duty now, though not directly given to him, he preceded to get the blondes some good and drink.

((dats intense shit you've got going robby pants))
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Rob
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Westlake stared awkwardly at the food and drink handed to him. The food looked plenty appetizing, but he didn't feel much like eating at all. He was just as likely to throw it up. Still...

"Eat, Felix," he said quietly. "We don't know how long we'll get to rest, so we may as well take advantage." He took a tentative sip of the drink. Despite the odd color, it tasted mostly like water, and had a tinny, almost peachy aftertaste. "It's not, not terrible..."


---


Ben ran a hand through his hair. His face still hurt, but at least the bleeding had stopped, and he just really wanted this trip to be over with. He was embarrassed, but he could get past that, and he wanted out before anything else went wrong.

"Gene, Abby, pick up all your shit," he ordered, watching for a moment as they gathered their things to go. He pulled his own backpack on, and gave a look to Manny, who still stood looking a bit confused, by the door. "Come on kid, we're going." And Weaver led the way out the door.
Edited by Rob, Aug 25 2014, 01:19 PM.
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