Realistic or Modern Patient Zero (A Zombie Survival RP)

[Rumble Fish]

Catelyn watched as the man named Ivan walked off towards the cabin when Colt turned back towards her. Colt explained how Catelyn stumbled into a shit storm which caused Catelyn to sigh slightly looking away from Colt's face. "I'm starting to feel that all we have left is shitstorms..." Catelyn sighed before taking one last hit of her cigarette then flicking it to the ground and stomping on it. "So what's a pretty face like yours doing with this ragtag group? I'm assuming you're here for more then just the love of the town." Catelyn chuckled half heartily accidentally putting weight on her bad foot which she immediately regretted.

Colt turned back to Catelyn as she spoke up, mentioning how they just seemed to in a perpetually bad situation, which was a statement Colt could not disagree with. The woman sighed and looked away as she folded her arms. With a deep sigh, she looked to the woman as she then asked her what she was even doing here. The ‘pretty face’ comment caught her off guard. She shook her head and brushed a hand against the scarred side before thinking of an answer. “We’re doin’ what yer doin’. Tryin’ t’live.” She sighed as she took out her cigarette to puff smoke from her nose, “We were out for supplies for our group but… we can’t go back. Not yet.” She took the radio and looked at it, hoping it would speak up. The longer they went without Luca or Andy responding the more the veteran worried. Taking out her flask, she took a long drink from it before, with a shake of her head, she put it away before turning back to the woman, “Also, I’m leadin’ this ‘ragtag group’.”

"This is a lot of people for a supply run?" Catelyn questioned taking a short turn to look around at the various people. Looking back at Colt Catelyn couldn't help but looking towards the girl's scar on her face. Catelyn figured it was best to not ask about it right away and decided to change the subject instead. "So got anyone special waiting back at the cabin for you? Family, friends, loved ones, pets?" Catelyn said the last part quieter while looking over at Jenna's dog. "Maybe a bad time to mention but I'm allergic to cats and not a fan of dogs." Catelyn smiled looking back to Colt.

“We had less.” Colt responded before going quiet as she then asked if she had anyone waiting for her when they get back to the Lodge. That question was too familiar to Colt. Sasha had asked her that. And at one point the answer was yes. But now? Colt sighed and took another drink, leaning back as she did. This was hell. “No.” She responded finally with a slight hiccough, “I don’t.” She added. Granted it was a huge group but friends? Family? Colt sighed before looking to the woman as she mentioned not liking dogs. The woman let out a quiet snort and shook her head slowly, “I don’ like kids’r babies and yet we got em at the Lodge.” She responded, still gazing where Ivan had gone. Hopefully he would listen and not engage. They needed to wait.

"What you drinking there? I can guess its not water." Catelyn question quietly while giving Colt a half-smirk. Catelyn could tell that whatever Colt was drinking was clearly alcoholic just from the smell alone. "I figure while we are waiting we can play a small drinking game, to ease the tension, You ask me a question and I answer then you try to guess if I'm lying if you guess right I drink if your wrong you drink. what you think?" Catelyn asked cheerfully but quiet at the same time not wanting to bring to many people into the game or conversation.

"Nope." She sighed before glancing once again at the woman as she proposed a drinking game. The veteran gulped slightly and rubbed the back of her neck. "Um... I'd say yes but I gotta still have some of my wits about me." She said, still staring unblinkingly ahead. "I mean, could still do it without the booze y'know?" She added. She was already somewhat half-cut evident by her slight swaying and the slurring in her tone yet, she was still alert. Somewhat.

"Maybe we can play it later," Catelyn said to Colt with a reassuring wink. "How about, I make an assumption about you and if I'm right you smile but if I'm wrong you shake your head no?" Catelyn said in a light-hearted manner this would be a quick way to learn about both Colt and the group she would be joining.

“Um, okay.” Truthfully Colt was incredibly unsure about all of this, smiling being one thing that she had not partaken in for some time, “Uh… so, start I guess.” She kept her eyes forward, watching for any kind of movement in the trees. She could not be too careful now.

"You were born and raised in Aurora." Catelyn said while moving one hand to her chin tapping a finger on her lip trying to think of Colt's backstory. "You got that scar from wrestling a bear!" Bouncing on her one good foot Catelyn smiled before once again going to speak. "And you left the country to find adventure at a young age." Catelyn said moving one hand to her head in an overdramatic way pretend to faint.

Colt looked at the woman as she asked her three questions in rapid succession which baffled her. Why was she so eager to find this all out? They hardly met. She shook her head twice but stopped at the third one. She was technically right. Colt blinked a few times before forcing a grin onto her face. In no way a genuine one. Smiling was not something she was used to.

Catelyn could tell just by looking at Colt's grin how unnatural it was for her to smile which caused Catelyn to chuckle. "You know you could have picked something else if smiling was this rare for you." Catelyn said smiling to show Colt an example. "Okay your turn, if you want, three assumptions about me, go." Catelyn whispered while wearing a poker face hoping Colt wouldn't be able to figure out anything about her.

Colt blinked and her face dropped back into a stoic gaze. The woman sighed as Cate mentioned her inability to smile and simply shrugged as a response. As she then asked her to say three things in response. Colt sighed and rolled her neck while rubbing the back of it. She could still not stop thinking about their current situation, but at least this was something right? “Hm. ‘Kay.” She blinked a few times before thinking, “I’m reckonin’ ya’ll never shot a gun. Ya went t’that high school and… I ‘unno, y’like barbeque, I’m no’ good at these ‘ere ice breakers.” she finished before taking her cigarette again and gazing back into the forest, her other hand gripping onto her radio waiting for Ivan to respond.

"No one is good at ice breakers, you only need them once." Catelyn chuckled lightheartedly before thinking about the questions Colt asked. Catelyn gave a sincere half-smirk in reply to all three. "That's not fair, apparently I'm an open book," Catelyn said before kicking some dirt up and parting her hair away from her face she looked down at Colts hand looking at the radio she held. "Are you worried about your friends?" Catelyn asked knowing full well the answer, anyone would be worried about their friends.

Colt gave the woman a look which, if she could, would include a smirk at her good performance at apparently seeing through the woman but her expression changed again as her thick brows furrowed a little as she considered about her answer for the woman’s question. She was right, of course Colt was worried. Internally, she was kicking herself for even leaving the Lodge. She should have just stayed with them. She could have done something rather than just sitting in this goddamn forest. “They ain’t my friends. But yeah. I’m really worried. We got vulnerable people in there.” She hummed mournfully, “Just wish I could do somethin’. Can’t until I hear somethin’ from ‘em.”

"Well, you worry about them, you care. So they are something more than strangers." Catelyn chortled while walking over to a nearby tree attempting to sit down. Catelyn struggled to get onto the ground without flopping onto the forest floor. "Come help me down Colty." Catelyn sighed in a playful tone.

“Hm… I mean,” she did not look back, “They’re still my people.” She added. Despite all the animosity she held for some of the Lodge’s residents, the thought of them being hurt or worse killed caused a shudder through her system. The veteran blinked and looked towards Catelyn as she asked her to help her sit down. Colt winced slightly at seeing the woman struggle, knowing she was responsible. With a sigh, she assisted Catelyn but did not sit down herself. She continued to pace back and forth.

"If your not careful your going to walk a canyon into the forest," Catelyn said with a smile while rubbing her ankle remembering all the times her father would tell her the same thing. "So what kind of trouble are your 'people' facing at the cabin? Zombies? other people?" Catelyn chirped at Colt still pacing back and forth.

“I dunno what that means,” Colt grumbled under her breath before the woman seemed to push further, questioning what was happening. She halted in her pacing long enough to answer, “Well. Hazmats. Soldiers. I dunno what they want but whatever it is, they’ll kill folk for it.” She explained before continuing her pacing. Where was that Russian? The sooner she got that intel, the sooner she could forge a plan for the right time.

Interactions: Nomad_Queen ​

 

[Maj]

Things were getting dicey as the enemy got closer. Hector didn't have an accurate shot on any other soldiers and he didn't want to risk drawing more attention to themselves if it wasn't going to be a confirmed kill. The doctor's focus was entirely focused on the scope of his rifle until he heard a pained yell followed by gunfire very close by. His grey eyes snapped to the right and sure enough, Luca had downed a couple of soldiers. That was the good news.

The bad news was Tre was bleeding from his chest. That was going to be tricky to fix in the given situation. If this was a hospital, Hector had all the confidence that he could save that boy's life. Saving his life, while in his underwear, and getting shot at however? It was going to be something of a challenge.

In nearly the same breath, a splash of red caught his attention and it was the big, red-headed brute of the lodge sprinting down the way like a crimson bull. The spanish doctor cursed under his breath and returned his sight to the girls and their surroundings. He was able to catch Owen flinching from something and a stutter in his otherwise powerful stride.

"The boy, Tre, was hit badly and it looks like Owen just took a shot himself." The doctor relayed over the chaos to Andy.

That at least explained where Luca was. Tre obviously meant a great deal to him, if he had been taken down it would explain why Owen had little to no cover fire as he sprinted across the yard. She recognized the sticky red that had begun to seep through his shirt.

“I can’t get a clear shot from up here,” Andy agreed with the doctor. All the soldiers taking shots at her brother were near the treeline. And while Andy was an excellent shot, her bow wouldn’t reach that far. Still, somehow her lovable oaf of a brother had managed to make it to the girls just as she had planned and soon would be on their way back to the safety of the cabin. But her brother was alone down there, in the belly of the beast with bullets whizzing by his head. Without backup, neither he nor the girls would be able to make it long.

She felt her throat tighten as she watched him hoist the child into his arms. Her eyes darted across the yard as she tried desperately to come up with another plan. It would take time for her or Hector to get down and be able to help and they needed to get to Tre quickly, or his wound would likely rob the young man of his life. Andy was never able to articulate her ideas however, because her eyes settled on the barrel of a gun from across the yard, pointed in their direction.


“Hector get dow-” "They can see u-"

They had noticed it at the same time, and yet too slowly. He opened fire, as she dropped to her stomach, laying against the cold metal of the roof. Andy wasn’t sure how many shots had come their way, the ring of gunfire was everywhere. However, she knew that the soldier had hit his mark. The warmth of her blood filled her jacket as she reached for her right side in pain. There wasn’t time for her to focus on the shot however, as she watched as another bullet hit her brother, forcing him and the child to tumble to the ground.

"Are you hit?" The older man asked with a grunt of effort. Andy shakily pulled herself up to her feet, making sure to stay behind the chimney. She didn’t have to look at her wound to know it was bad, but her brother was in far worse shape and required the doctors attention below.

“No,” Andy lied. “But you are.” She examined his face, it was hard to see past all the blood to see exactly what had happened, but even without medical training she could tell it didn’t look good.

Crimson liquid was pouring through the doctor's fingers as he clutched his face with what passed as a pained expression for Hector. He hissed out a few Spanish curses as he pulled his hand away and only to see it dyed scarlet. Hector had turned his head to grab Andy and pull her down. In that moment, the bullet that would have struck dead center of his skull, instead entered the inside of his left eye and ripped it's way out the side of his head and took a piece of his outer ear with it.

"Bullet wounds to the head are either lethal or they're not. If I'm not dead, I'm fine. We have to get down to the others. We can't be up here anymore." He breathed. Head wounds always bled profusely and this was a particularly bad one.

“Owen went down,” Andy agreed. The unspoken worry that they might already be too late hung silently between them.

The doctor wiped his blood-covered hand on his bare chest and nodded towards the way they came. Small red rivers ran freely down his face and neck, joining the smear he just added. "Let's go."

Andy led the way back to the window. It was more difficult to get in than it was to climb out of and with them both freely bleeding, it wasn’t going to be a fun time. The redhead slipped her bow over her shoulder, using the string to sling it across her frame. It was a bad practice as it stretched out the bow string, but she would need to keep any mobility she could.

Keeping her grip on the side of the roof, the girl slid down till her feet touched the window sill. It was difficult and the stretching in her side caused her to bite her lip to keep from yelping. From there, it was just a matter of contorting her body and keeping her balance until she was able to slide the bottom half of her body into the window. She sat in the sil instead of climbing all the way inside so she could help the doctor down and back to the safety of the lodge.

Once they were both inside, the girl rushed out of the room and down the stairs, toward the sliding back door where she had seen Owen fall. She could hear Beth weeping and it quickened her step. Andy had never been religious, but she prayed that her brother was still alive by the time she got to him.

“Where is he?” Andy asked, panic causing her voice to default to a higher register, but her eyes were already on him. All six feet two inches of her brother limped toward the door. Andy opened it, hot tears pooling in her eyes as relief poured over her that he was still alive. They had made it in time.

BANG.

Owen’s eyes widened before they fluttered shut, his pale skin almost translucent from the loss of blood. Andy watched in horror as he crumpled to the floor, lifeless and still as the blood poured from his wounds, soaking into the wood of the remains of the porch.

Rumble Fish Brax shadowz1995

 

[King Vioogra]

Ivan Zamorozka

As Ivan walked off from the rest of the group, he trudged through the woods quietly, keeping the volume of his steps low as he stopped every few moments to scan his surroundings. Once he was sure he wasn’t already in the hazmats perimeter that they likely had around the lodge, he pushed forward. His clothing was able to mildly blend in with the foliage around him, but only at a glance. If any of the soldiers took an actual look at him, it wouldn’t be too hard to spot him even if he were lying in the dirt. In order to keep his guise of quiet, the Russian tapped through the foliage, watching his feet so he wouldn't accidentally step on a loose twig or fallen leaf. As he neared the lodge, he lowered down into a prone crawl, bringing himself along the ground until he was almost at the treeline that gave a view of the front of the lodge. He took a moment to quietly brush a bush from in front of him before he poked his head through, his eyes widening at the sight. Clouds of smoke bluming from the windows, a few explosions going off here and there, and gunfire erupting from both inside and out. It took a moment for the Russian to take it all in, contemplating whether or not to have Colt come up and provide backup with the others. He decided against it for now, knowing that just coming in shooting blind would just get them all killed. After studying the layout of the present soldiers, Ivan backed of slowly, standing once he was far enough away as he started to turn to head back. He froze when he saw another group of soldiers, at least 20 of them, preparing to rush the lodge. The man ripped the radio that was clipped to his shirt and pressed the talk button, speaking in a hiss-like whisper.“Colt, wait until I get back, then we flank them.” He said as he started backing away until he was far enough off so the soldiers wouldn't see him. Before he got the chance to turn and run, he heard a single rifle shot that sounded higher than the others, as he watched the tall redhead fall onto the porch. His breath stopped short as he saw the man fall. A look of anguish crossed him momentarily before being replaced with rage. He'd already lost too many comrades coming here, and he'd be damned if he was going to lose any more. He trudged back through the forest on his way back to the truck, By the time he arrived back, the rage on his face had been suppressed to one of hatred.He didn't speak to anyone once he was back, simply putting his socks and shoes back on, then his jacket, and finally grabbing his rifle and unscrewing the suppressor from the barrel and tossing it into the bed of the truck. "Colt, we move now."​

 

[Maj]

​

Seeing red had always been a term used for anger, not fear. However as panic fueled Andy’s every move, she realized it was the only color in front of her. Dragging Owen’s body inside had been difficult. He was large, and even with Bethany’s help it was a struggle to get over 200 pounds of dead weight the last few feet through the door. By the time the blonde was closing the door behind them, Andy was covered in crimson. Her pale hands were stained red, blood visible under her fingernails and pooling in each cuticle. The metallic taste of blood clung to her red lips from where she had rubbed her face moments before with trembling hands. Her side still throbbed, and with each breath she took she could feel the inside of her leather jacket filling with her own plasma.

The air smelled of old pennies and iron. It used to be a comforting smell, it reminded her of the rewards that came with a good hunt, or evenings with her uncle. But now as she knelt by Owen’s lifeless form, she found the smell turned her stomach. She had been calling out to Hector from the second he went down, but she knew that the man was likely right on her tail.

“Hector!” She called again, holding her hand to her brothers leg where blood seemed to be pouring out. It squished up between her fingers despite the pressure she was providing. Andy couldn’t really tell where it was coming from anymore, her brother was drenched in the stuff. All she knew was that he needed help that she was unable to provide.

"Move!" The doctor ordered with a vigor that was rare considering his usual demeanor. Hector had seen where the last bullet had hit and he didn't hesitate to rush towards the kitchen and grab the seran wrap from under the sink. The group of youngsters were either crying or panicking and that was a recipe for disaster.

He needed to take charge. Giving them something to do would prevent them from falling into despair and they still had a fight to win. With one arm, the older gentleman hoisted the muscley boy and propped Owen's upper body up against his leg. He stretched the wrap and placed it on the opposite end of Owen's chest. "Andy grab that!" He bellowed. When she complied, he began wrapping the young man's chest in an uncomfortably tight manner. Owen had only just been shot and it was clearly through the left lung. The bleeding came second. Hector needed to make sure his lung didn’t collapse from the hole that was now present. The tissue would recover as long as it had room.

"Someone grab my supplies from upstairs! Now! Andy, you're of no use to me here. Go grab Tre and bring him in! He's injured just as badly!"

“There is no way in hell th-” Andy paused her protest to growl in frustration. He was right of course. She wasn’t a doctor, and they had far too few able bodies for her to stick around for moral support. If Tre was in just of bad of shape as Owen, then he would have to be her priority for now. Without confirming, the woman turned on her heels and headed out the front door to make her way toward the shed that Luca was taking shelter in.

The doc ripped the wrap and started working on Owen's leg next. He just needed to stem the bleeding for some time. At least until the immediate danger of the lung passed. "Belt! Someone give me a belt or a shirt! Something!"

Beth darted upstairs without any other provocation. After everything Owen had done for her and Milly, running to get the supplies necessary to save his life was the least she could do. If Andy was going to be forced away, she would stay by her ex-boyfriends side and help Hector the best she could.

In the meantime, the doctor laid the red-head back down, tilted his neck up and blew two breaths into Owen's lungs. He was unresponsive but his heart was still beating with some enthusiasm. He just needed to keep enough oxygen flowing to the brain. Anything else was secondary. Brain damage could not be allowed to set in. "Owen, I know you can hear me! You just need to focus on breathing. As best as you can!"

"The rest of you that aren't doing anything! Keep those soldiers off of me!" He yelled.

His own disgusting bullet wound was aching something fierce and throbbing so hard that it felt like someone was steadily inflating his brain like a tire. However, there was no time to worry about that. Hector would be fine. Owen and Tre would not.

If Beth remembered correctly, Hector had been staying in Owen’s room. That is where she began her search. It thankfully didn’t take her long to find the bag, even among the wreckage of broken glass and bullet holes. The blonde did a quick sweep of Owen’s closet and was able to find the belt she heard the doctor yell for. With both in tow, she took the stairs two at a time to rush the needed items to the doctor.

“Here,” Beth called, kneeling beside them. “What can I do?” She wasn’t a fighter and she would likely be more danger than help if someone handed her a gun, but she had two able hands and could follow instructions.

"Open the bag and get the gauze. All of it. Pull all of it out and give me a handful." The woman followed instructions and without missing a beat, Hector pushed half the stack of gauze onto the wound and the other half on the exit wound. He then took the belt, wrapped it around the gauze covered wounds and yanked it tight, applying constant pressure with the gauze without needing hands on it.

Hector's eyes -err well...eye- flicked to the shoulder wound and he made the decision to leave it be. It wasn't bleeding enough to be of any real concern in comparison to the rest of his injuries. Speaking of…

The Hispanic leaned down and pressed an ear against the boy's seran wrapped chest and listening carefully confirmed that Owen's condition was worsening. With a growl of frustration, the doctor leaned over and pulled the bag close so he could grab one of the large syringes that he had inside. He quickly undid the plastic wrapping and was about pull the plunger out when Hector's world suddenly flipped upside down. Half of vision was already gone and the rest was going. Nausea en masse was assaulting his equilibrium. He tried to shake it off to no avail.

“Hector?” Beth asked, concerned. The blood that covered the man’s face was enough to show that he was in no condition to be performing the feats he was. But there was no one else around that could save Owen’s life, so they would do what they could with what they had. She put a shaking hand his shoulder, but felt him shrug her off.

He was passing out and he needed to NOT be doing that. Not right now. He fumbled back to the back to look for the vial of epinephrine he had but again, his world was dark and unfocused. He could barely make out shapes, much less writing.

So, the doctor performed a drastic measure that would send the shock he needed to continue. Hector took his well-trimmed finger nails and slammed them into the ruin that was his left eye. Immediately, the world bursted with clarity and agonizing pain. His heart rate skyrocketed along with his ability to focus. The older man didn't even realize the scream he had let out at doing such an action but that didn't matter right now.

He scrambled back to Owen, pulled the plunger of the syringe out and started undoing the seran wrap. It would have to be applied later but the pressure it was applying was doing my harm now than good.

With a practiced hand, Hector pushed the makeshift test tube in between Owen's ribs and into the pleural cavity to release the air and pressure on the lung. A spurt of blood flew out of the open syringe onto Hector's already blood-spattered form.

At first there was nothing but blood dribbling out. Then, there was a light hiss inaudible over the gunfire followed by the sound of success. Owen's mouth gaped open and a desperate gasp allowed some much needed oxygen back into his lungs. Lord above knew how long he may need the chest tube inside of him to prevent the lung from collapsing along with someone breathing into him as needed. He would need X Rays to be sure but for now, the immediate danger was handled. Now, it was just a matter of keeping him alive.

"Every few minutes, give him mouth to mouth. Two breaths and no more. He's incredibly pale right now but if he starts turning blue, yell for me immediately. If he starts spasming or… if anything happens. Anything at all. Call me immediately. He's not out of the woods yet."

As if to accentuate the point, a bullet pounded into the wall next to them. Hector wasted no time in grabbing another stack of gauze and applying it to the Owen's wound and wrapping tight with seran wrap again to keep it as air tight as possible, being mindful of the syringe plunged into his torso.

Bethany had been watching the whole display in wordless horror, but didn’t dispute him. Owen was alive because of him, even if he had a long road to recovery. The blonde nodded at him and moved so that Owen’s now shallowly breathing form closer to her, pulling his blood soaked mop of head into her lap.

“Thank you.” Beth didn’t expect him to respond, and the words weren’t enough gratitude for what she had just witnessed. The Doctor would need medical attention himself soon if he was to stay on his feet. She owed her life to him, Owen and Andrea and all three had paid for their decision to risk their lives for hers. The girl gently pushed a strand of matted hair out of Owen’s pale face, before leaning down to plant a gentle kiss on his forehead.

shadowz1995 Rumble Fish Brax

 

[Brax]

The skin on the bridge of Luca’s nose crumpled as he kneeled at the teen’s side. His face had slightly contorted in a mixture of rage and sadness, teeth clenched as his fingers grasped the fabric of Tre’s shirt and tore it from his torso. Judging by the look of the wound and the lack of blood that came from an exit wound, the Italian was fairly certain the bullet was still in his shoulder. Another check for a pulse confirmed that the boy was still alive. He must have felt so much pain before he fell unconscious. Ironic, considering at this point Tre was living his life much more pure than he was before the apocalypse had started. The boy was just trying to figure out how to keep going…

Was it worth it?

He stood up, looking down at Aderyn momentarily before turning to a wooden table pushed off to the side. His hands found their way around a pocket knife that had been closed. Upon opening it up, those light blue eyes became fixated on the blade. This would be a viable tool to use when it came to the bullet removal, but what was the point? Was he attempting to keep Tre alive for the boy’s own good? Was it for his own mental psyche? He was not far off from true paradise. Not having to deal with this world and its inhabitants. A disease that turns loved ones and friends into flesh-eating brainless forces of nature. The pain that came with losing both of his parents before everything went to shit. No, for Tre, life has been shit since his inception.

“Aderyn.” The Italian mumbled as he turned from the table, with tears falling down both sides of his face. His eyebrows had been raised slightly as he walked back to the teen’s side. He looked over his corpse, the condensation rounding his chin and dropping onto Tre’s torso as he closed the pocket knife and shoved it into his pocket. Following this, the man reached back to grab the rifle off of the ground before looking over to his niece once more. He couldn’t exactly order the girl to walk outside, but this was also a crude reality of life now. Chances were it wouldn’t be the last time Luca had to put someone down. It certainly wasn’t the first.

“Turn around and plug your ears.”

Blind faith had kept Aderyn together so far.

Her throat felt like it was constricting, and she kept swallowing, keeping her breathing steady through some miracle of pacing. The child knew how to shoot a gun, sure, but she had never been in a gunfight. Adrenaline and anxiety mixed together until she wasn’t sure which was which – a powerful force driving her forward. Driving her to take cover shots at the hazmats. Driving her to follow her cousin

This didn’t seem right to her. They had a doctor – maybe not a hospital, but a doctor, and from the way Luca was acting the boy was certainly alive. “Luca-”

Her voice sounded foreign to her own ears. She took a step forward, almost as if to reach out to him, but thought better of it. He had kept her alive so far. He’d kept himself alive so far, which was quite an achievement, considering not only the present but also the past. Instead of reaching her arm out, she redirected it up toward her ear, but did not turn around. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the limp figure of the boy on the floor. “Okay.”

The door to the shed swung open, and Andy almost fell to the ground as a result. It had taken most of her body weight to get the old thing to budge, the wood scraping across the concrete foundation. She was a mess, blood was sprayed across her face from Hector’s wound and the crimson stains ran from her fingertips to her elbow. She was drenched in the stuff from dragging Owen inside only moments before. Her own wounds were indistinguishable from the rest, but the sprint from the lodge to the shed caused her side to throb, the blood seeped from the bullet wound in her gut and soaked into the dark denim of her jeans.

“Luca! We need to-”

Andy paused. It took her several moments to read the room. She knew that Tre had gone down, Hector had told her as much but she hadn’t realized the severity of his injury. The boy was lying as still as her brother was and by the look on Luca’s face and the scene she had interrupted, it would seem that Luca’s hopes for him were not high. Her emerald eyes stared into his tear stained face and she understood. If they were to keep the Italian’s fears from becoming a reality they would need to move fast. With Hector’s own injury, she wasn’t sure how much time they had before even he was useless to them.

“We need to get him to Hector. I’m here to help.” The redhead didn’t wait for permission, instead she moved toward the young man on the floor and waiting for Luca to help her carry him. Luca’s eyes had been fixated on the female. He was unsure if the blood covering her face had belonged to her, but this only served to make the Italian even more angry. His face red, the man hesitated for a moment before placing the strap across his chest and kneeling down to wrap his arms around the teen.

“You lead. I will carry the boy.” Ending his request in a growl, Luca cradled Tre’s unconscious body between both arms. He didn’t believe he had to order Aderyn to follow him, considering it was highly unlikely she wanted to stay in the shed alone. Whether she wanted to admit it during times or peace or peril the girl had been exposed to plenty of death within the past fifteen minutes alone. With haste, Luca exited from the shed immediately after Andy. Judging by her posture and the way that she was moving, it was rather apparent that the girl’s injuries were more abundant than what Luca had initially assumed.

She wasn’t sure if she could even draw her bow if the situation called for it, but she also knew that she would be unable to bear the weight of Tre’s limp body all the way back to the lodge. So she did as she was told, walking with as quick of strides as she could muster back toward the front door of the lodge as to avoid the gunfire. Andy did her best to keep her focus as the ringing in her ears slowly faded to something equivalent to white noise. She recognized the sensation from the time she had donated blood in high school. The woozy feeling that slowly crept its way up to her temples was a clear sign that she didn’t have much fight left in her. If she was lucky, maybe just enough to get Tre to Hector and help him save both his and her brother’s lives. Aderyn moved along behind the pair, handgun out, ready to be aggressive if the situation called for it. She felt vulnerable with Andy looking so torn up, and Luca holding the boy.

The front door was already ajar, swinging from broken hinges. Wind whistled through the bullet holes as Andy shoved it open, holding it so that both Luca and Aderyn could get inside. She took a moment to brace herself against the door to catch her breath. Her glossy, tired eyes were already focused on her brother’s motionless form on the floor, his head cradled in Beth’s lap. In the meanwhile, Luca had placed Tre’s body on the floor. He removed one last cigarette remaining in his pack, tossing it aside as he brought flame to the end. Then, he removed the knife he had taken from the shed, bringing flame to the blade in order to burn off any bad bacteria. It was the quickest form of sterilization he had. With the edge of the knife Luca had no qualms about digging into Tre’s wound, flicking the bullet from within his flesh immediately afterwards. The bleeding was extremely intense.

“Aderyn.” Luca looked down to the girl as he chewed on his cigarette butt, snatching the handgun from out of her grip with his left hand. His face had remained red, but the tears had long stopped falling. He took a drag of his cigarette before removing the shirt from his back, folding it up into a ball and placing it on Tre’s wounds. With his free hand, he grabbed Aderyn’s wrist and placed her hand on the shirt, applying pressure momentarily before letting go. He kneeled down momentarily, placing that same hand on the girl’s head.

For a second, Aderyn’s hand moved to snatch the gun back, and she had an intense desire to smack him. Instead, she fumbled in her pocket for her ammunition, offering it to Luca with her own free hand. “Bring that back to me.” Her gaze was intense, boring into him. Despite their lack of relationship, she had some trust in him not to go off and die, at least not with her most favored possession on his person. Still - not knowing his intentions made her anxious. He nodded to the girl.

“Keep pushing down until Hector tells you otherwise. You stay with him no matter what.” His eyes remained fixated on the girl. He took the clip from her, before leaning over and pushing his forehead against the girl’s own. Then he stood up. Taking a few steps over to Andy, he placed the handgun into his waistline. He placed both hands on her shoulders, physically pushing her down so that she was sitting. The man peered down at her without an expression to spare.

“I’m sorry.” His eyes lingered on hers for a few seconds.

His third and last stop was Hector, to whom Luca looked over to briefly in passing. If he bothered coming back in one piece, he’d be sure to thank both Andy and Hector for their help. Andrea bothering to come and assist him in the first place was a silly way to waste her energy, but it was appreciated nonetheless. Hector was going to be busy trying to keep two men alive. Between the two of them, they had reached their capacity. Luca still had more work to do. The Italian grabbed the strap belonging to his rifle and turned it until his right hand could get a grip. His left digits removed the handgun from the waistband of his pants. There was no way of Luca knowing if he’d walk back into the lodge in one piece, but today was certainly as good a day to die as any.

Maj Meredith

 

[Maj]

​

“Where are you going?” Andy asked, from her new spot on the floor. It took some effort, but she came to feet with a grimace. She didn’t like the look on his face, but she understood it. Her home and her brother were in shambles and she wasn’t doing much better. These soldiers had managed to threaten or destroy almost everything that mattered to her in a matter of minutes, and she was sure Luca felt similarly. The redhead reached out and grabbed his shoulder to make him look at her. Weak eyes locked on his, a worried expression taking over the features of her normally stony face.

“What the hell do you think I’m going to do?” He responded, smoke continued to billow from the end of his cigarette and half-parted lips. In this case, it was Luca’s problem much like it was everyone else’s. The reality was, they had done nothing to start a war with the hazmats but exist at the wrong time. Multiple people had already paid for it. Leaving hazmat soldiers alive was not an option.

“I’ve been living this way for a long time. Nothing has changed for me.”

"Try not to die," Aderyn spoke up, unhelpfully.

Andy was already pulling her bow up and over her shoulder. If he was going out there to be some machismo idiot, she wasn’t going to let him go alone. They had managed to make it out of every hellish life and death situation they had faced so far, but only because neither of them had been by themselves.

“Sit. Down.” Luca ordered Andy, his teeth clenched together as he stared at her.

“No,” The girl said plainly.

“YOU ARE NOT IN A POSITION TO SAY NO TO ME.” Luca roared back, puffing his chest out and turning to face the girl. The redhead rolled her eyes. Why didn’t he get it? She couldn’t let him just go out there alone.

"Luca!" Hector's voice was strained with focus. "I need bodies to defend me while I work on these boys! I can't have one of the only fighters running off right now!"

"Also, you have my gun, Luca. Just putting that out there." The Italian had been looking over at Hector when Aderyn chimed in. Without a response, he turned and walked out the front door.

With a wince Andy started after him, but she didn’t make it far. She stopped just as her hand touched the doorknob. The doctor turned his single eye over to Andy as he moved to Tre's still form. "Andy I need you to g-" his gaze then narrowed before shaking his head and focusing on the young lad underneath him, "Dammit Niña, you're hit and you said nothing. I need you here where you can be useful, not out there!"

Hot tears stung her eyes, but they were right. She was no use to Luca out there, and her brother was actively trying to die in here. The girl turned back with a growl, scrunching her nose in frustration. Andy would have to put her trust that Luca would come back with his life still intact.

“What do you need?” She resigned.

"Water to wash the blood out so I can see his wounds and cloth. Towels, shirts, sweaters, whatever you can find. Then after that sit down so I can treat you. You're no good to anyone passed out or dead and you're on the verge of both." He snapped quickly while beginning to administer the same treatment on Tre that he had on Owen. It hadn't been long but Tre had taken that shot to the chest a few minutes ago and that meant his lung was collapsed more than Owen's, who Hector got to immediately after.

"Give him two breaths every few minutes, little girl." The doctor commanded Aderyn.

The redhead nodded in reply, both water and towels could be easily obtained from her bedroom. Moving was becoming more difficult by the second, but as one of the few people still able to get around, it was her duty to do so. Her bedroom door was still surprisingly intact, somehow all of the bullet holes had managed to avoid it. Wearily, she opened the door and stepped inside.

It still smelled of tear gas of course, although the effects had mostly faded. Alone, in the dim light of her room she found it easier to let her guard down. With the moment she had to spare, Andy grimaced and slowly pulled back the side of her jacket to finally examine her injury. The material seemed to stick to her shirt. Thick blood had caused the damp fabrics to mold together, she whimpered as she slowly pulled them apart.

It was surreal to look at. Andy found herself imagining it was someone else’s side she was inspecting. It made the sheer amount of blood seem less daunting. And there was a lot of it. The lining of her jacket was saturated, the inner pocket almost seemed to drip as she forced the protective layer away. She couldn’t see the actual wound, the fabric that was adhered to her skin and the blood that was saturating it camouflaged the damage. Andy stuck her finger through the seared whole in her jacket that confirmed she had been shot and that the bullet was still somewhere in her flesh.

Suddenly, a large gloved hand came down over her face, holding her mouth tightly against the plasticy material. The pain had totally distracted her from the soldier that had been standing in her room, just on the other side of the door frame. One hand muffled the yells that she tried desperately to get to Hector, the other wrapped itself in her braid, pulling her neck back so she was forced to look at his masked face.

“This will never do Andrea,” The soldier spoke so softly she almost couldn’t hear him through all of his equipment. “You can’t waste your blood like that, we need every drop.”

Collab: shadowz1995 Brax Meredith

 

[Rumble Fish]

“Well, you woke up this morning, Got yourself a gun, Your mama always said you'd be the chosen one…” a brooding croon slipped from the veteran’s throat as the pacing continued after the conversation with Catelyn had fizzled away as conversations do. Colt had removed herself from the rest of the group when Ivan’s call came in. His voice was low, clearly not wanting to be detected. Heat rose from the back of her neck and the rock in her stomach embiggened at the realisation of the extent of the assault on the Lodge. Ivan’s voice indicated urgency but that was the extent of his intel. The veteran growled slightly, and a hand ran down her face. She knew it. There was no way she could simply sit here while things were rapidly declining at the Lodge. A rag-tag group of civilians against an army of hardened soldiers with superior weapons; the winner was obvious. Colt knew that she was the closest they had to a solder right now. With a final swig of her flask, she finished her cigarette. Luca may kill her for this, but she’d rather die for well-placed disobedience than allow the carnage to simply go on. Spinning on her heel, she turned back and marched towards the others, arms swinging with a purpose.
“Jenna, Cletus, Nile, gear yerselves up. Now.” She barked sharply, pointing at them with a stony glare, “Arm yerselves, get anythin’ that could be used as armour. I wan't ya'll standing attention in two minutes!” She added before beginning to do just that, refilling her M4 and handguns. There was a mediocre amount of ammo for them but Colt was confident enough in her shots to conserve. Besides, these less able civilians would need it more than she did. She just hoped they could follow simple instructions. As the Russian’s voice caught her attention, Colt’s eyes darted a little before approaching him as he got his firearm.

“Hol’ on, John Wayne.” She raised a hobo-gloved hand, “Ya got the right idea but, we gotta think ‘ere. How many were there, what kind of guns did they have and where are they at the Lodge?” she did not give him time to get a word in before finishing. She needed this information. Now before she could consider anything else.

The Russian inhaled as he turned back to Colt, realizing they did indeed need a plan. "I'd say maybe 8 or 9 scattered around the lodge. But we need to be more worried about the group in the treeline. At least 20 of them are waiting there."

“Okay.” She hummed as her eyes darkened in thought. The veteran looked to the others before turning her gaze back to Ivan, “We gotta be quick but careful. Everyone gear up!” She called to everyone else, that would give her ample time to come up with a plan. Twenty at the tree line. Stooping, she ran two fingers through the mud before turning to the hood of the truck. She knew where the Lodge was from here. Mumbling, the veteran drew a rough map including the treeline of the Lodge. Twenty dotted around. There were five of them. Four kills each. There was a incline close by. If she got up there with a good rifle she could potentially pick off targets. Being in her army jacket and cap, she was more camouflaged than the others. But Ivan was the better shot with a sniper and she had to be on the ground to instruct them all. Jenna was still inexperienced so she knew she should stay close. But with Ivan above, he could watch their backs. They still had the radios, he could communicate to her where the Hazzies were so she could direct the squad in the right direction. All while thinking, she mumbled and drew on the hood. After a few moments, she turned around to the nurse, Leliana and approached her. While she trusted the nurse’s intuition after she had saved her life from the Thing, she was injured, and she was needed with the two newcomers. She could not risk their lives. They mattered. But at the same time, there were going to be casualties and aside from Ralph and Jenna, Leliana was the most capable to help them.

“Look, doc, I know yer hurt but I’m gonna need ya. There’s gonna be casualties in there, we’re no match for them bastards. I’m gonna get ya in there but I need ya to be careful. I can’t risk anyone getting’ hurt. I’ll explain everythin’ once we’re set up.” She told her, giving the nurse a firm pat on the shoulder more to assure herself than anything but to hopefully let the woman know she meant everything. She turned back to everyone else before pulling a rifle from one of the duffle bags. She cleared her throat, her vocals guttural from the binge-smoking.

“Ivan.” She went to hand the rifle to the Russian, “Take this.” She then turned her attention to the rest, “Everyone. We’re goin’ in. There are twenty Hazmats at the treeline. Ivan, I want you up on that hill that looks over, pick off the Hazzies closest to the Lodge. Jenna, Cletus, Leliana and Nile, we’re on the ground. We’re gonna sneak up and get in position. I’ll give ya’ll a signal once we’re all in place and we’ll ambush ‘em. But we gotta be silent. Once we start shootin’, all hell will break loose.” She walked to the truck where she had drawn her crude map.

“I’ll point ya’ll out where ya need to be. Again, I need ya’ll to be silent. Don’t be seen. Don’t do anything until I say so.” She spoke before looking to Aubrey and Cate and approaching them, taking out her Glock. “Catelyn, I need ya and Aubrey to stay in the truck. Lock it, stay low and stay quiet. Don’t let anythin’ see ya. I will come and get ya when it’s safe. Only use that gun if somethin’ is trying to get in.” the veteran looked to the group. Despite everything that had happened, especially with the men within the group, Colt knew she had to put her trust in them.

“I’m gonna need ya’ll behind me on this. This is critical. We got lives in there.” She then gripped both of her forearms, her hands on her elbows and squeezed, mimicking the action she and Leliana had done back at Moe’s. She knew the nurse was the only one who would know what it meant, but she inhaled deeply to steady her nerves. “Semper Fi.” She finished before turning towards the Lodge and going silent, signalling them to follow her. On the balls of her feet, she started jogging through the trees, her eyes forward and the bounce in her steps barely audible on the damp snow. She took the scruff of her shirt and pulled it over her nose to hide her breath. She had to remind herself of the stakes. They were not in a forest in Colorado but the deserts of Afghanistan. She was running with her comrades at her sides with one goal in mind; killing to protect. The further she sunk into her thoughts, her stance became upright, rigid and almost mechanical, barely blinking as she went on. Back to war.

Interactions: King Vioogra FireMaiden Nomad_Queen Corgi The Mad Queen Hyped_Taco Togy
Mentions: Brax

 

[Rumble Fish]

Colt / Leliana / Jenna / Nile / Cletus / Ivan / Ralph​

Jenna listened in to Colt's words, taking the handgun and examining it in her hands. This was crazy. The safety was still on, a full round in the clip for not a single shot had been fired. "I-I dunno about this." She muttered to herself, looking up at the surrounding group "I mean, taking down dead things left right and centre, sure. That's easy. That's more than easy. Kick to the gut, axe to the skull. Rinse, repeat."

She let out a deep sigh "Fascists or not, I don't know if I can kill them." She clutched the gun tightly, her hand shaking slightly "Best scenario, I freeze up. I'd only slow you down, and if lives are on the line that's not something you can afford." She sternly shook her head "So, yeah. Fuck it, I'm a liability. Call me when the snowmen start revolting." She gave Colt a half-smile, offering her the handgun "I'm useless to you right now."

"Jenna they're gonna have wounded, there's no way in hell at least one person isn't. The more likely possibility is that more than one of them down, and Hector is overwhelmed. Ralph mentioned at one point he wasn't that type of doctor, and they're gonna need help." Leliana spoke before Colt had the chance to answer. "We're the ones who have to take some of that pressure off them, we're the ones who are going to have to go and fix the problems, stitches and bandages for the wounded, bullets for the bad guys. Killing the hazzies is only half of it, you have medical experience that others don't, that we're gonna need if we everyone to make it through whatever shit show we're walking into." She passed Colt, stepping closer to Jenna a hand now resting on the other woman's wrist, forcing an interruption in her giving up the gun.

"But if you want to stay, you're gonna have to keep that. Killing for defence is different than killing for no reason. The hazzies have killed for no reason. You're aware they aren't good and that they are still human. If one of those guys finds out three out here, you may have no choice but to kill, I bet you know where to aim to be merciful. To save your life, to save theirs, to help save everyone's." The look in her eyes was a steely compsure of fear, confidence, and calm, but her words were genuine. "Our friends are counting on us, all of us," She galnced around to the others, "No pressure, yeah?"

Wounded, or worse. A lodge of mostly civilians going up against trained mercenaries, where two of their soldiers were out? She wondered if anyone was still alive. Maybe Brian or Luca could have pulled through, but the likes of Michael and Shiona wouldn't have stood a chance. She expected to come across a blood-soaked lodge, mercenaries having gunned down everybody inside.
She glanced down at Cammy, looking at the anxiety in the dog's eyes and knelt down.

"You stay with the truck." She waved a finger in front of her face "No following." The dog whined slightly and Jenna sighed "Stay." She repeated, her voice more stern this time. Standing to her feet she faced the nurse once more "I thought you said my medical skills weren't worth anything." She chuckled nervously "Alright. I'll keep the gun, just don't expect me to kill anyone with it."

She walked back to the truck and started to go through her rucksack, taking out some of the medical supplies she'd picked up at the pharmacy "Most of my shit is in my car, but I can probably do something with this."

“We. Need. Everyone.” Colt spoke up in a quiet growl as the two women spoke. She had no chance to speak as the two girls seemed to sort it out among themselves. The veteran sighed and turned to Jenna. “It’s fine. I need t’git ya’ll to that Lodge. They’re gonna need both of ya.” She added, “Now come on! Now!” She snapped to everyone, not wanting to waste any more time. They needed to move!

For most of the time the group had spent in the forest waiting to return to the lodge, Cletus had been chilling in the back of the truck with the only concern on his mind being sleep. Not only had he slept like shit since... His wife's tragic passing but now the pain from his stab becoming much worse; he did not only feel pain across his entire chest, but now the redneck began to feel a headache, god, if there ever was a worse timing price for a headache then this was it.

But he heard a word that brought energy back into his tired body "Fascists." Jenna said; some darn fascists were now attacking his precious RV... And the lodge as well. After Colt told the group that they were now gonna return to the lodge, the man grabbed his gun with the most determination he had had this last week and said "Those darn fascists scum ain't about to take my R- I mean our lodge. Lets teach em to not mess with our goddamn American might y'all!... Oh and the brits and Ruskie are helping to I guess." the redneck said before following the rest back to the lodge.

Ivan had already been moving before Colt had the chance to snap. He turned to Leliana, looking over at their second new arrival before speaking up. "If the wounded are coming than they stay in the back. Numbers mean nothing if they can't shoot straight." An unnerving coldness had taken over the Russian as he spoke, looking over the magazines he had left before looking back in the direction of the lodge. There was a thought beating at the back of his mind, praying that Andy wasn't the overly emotional type.

“No shit.” Colt growled, not looking at the Russian. She knew this, everything he had told her about any situation, she had already known. Did he really think she was going to allow them to charge ahead? The plan was to get Leliana (now including Jenna) to the Lodge safely; an escort mission if you will. She did not respond any further on the matter, “Git up on that hill. Do nothin’ till I give ya the signal. Ya’ll know when I do.” She added. If any of them fucked up now, it would not be a Hazmat’s bullet they’d have to dodge.

Letting out another heavy sigh Jenna moved up alongside the others. Every step was taken with caution for a fear of stepping on a cliché' like a branch or even stumbling over something in the snow. As she kept her head facing forwards she was listening out for any danger. A single gunshot, followed by a scream of agony filled her ears. It was just ahead, the owner hidden amongst the trees. Her blue eyes were even more alert now, scanning for possible movement. "Did anyone else hear that?" She whispered

Leliana rolled her eyes slightly at Jenna's comment. That wasn't how she remembered Ed phrasing it, but they didn't have the time to get into it. "Aubrey, Catelyn, we're gonna leave those bags here, I suggest getting some food and water while you can, you're gonna be put to work when we come and get you," Leliana said, before she turned to join the group. "Stay safe guys." And with that, she quickly caught up with Colt and Ivan. "Just an fyi, I can handle myself. You guys don't have to be overly concerned about me." A little concerned would still be good. Who knew what all the hazzies knew or what they were after, maybe it was their very lucky medical staff. Sure she wasn't an official nurse, but it was better than nothing. And Hector would be a top priority target if that was the case. But then again, they had no real way of knowing.

When the gunshot, one of many, rung out, the nurse paused for a second. She glanced to Jenna who had pointed it out. "Yeah, it sounded closer than the others. So, we're either walking up on a hazzies group, or a hostage. Either way it didn't sound good." Thanks to all the other noise, she couldn't really tell who was screaming. A male maybe? Guesswork really. Her attention turned to Colt, "We may need to change direction, slightly to one side or the other in order to see what the hell that was safely. We don't need to alert them to our presence already."

"I agree with blondey. I'm pretty damn sure that gunshot means one of our own's in trouble. We should do this carefully." Nile piped up from a few feet away. He looked back to where he heard the shotand scream. Goddamn I wish I was back in NY, because man, this is so not cool Nile thought.

By the time a cry of pain had rung through the forest, Colt had already halted with a raised hand, signalling the rest to stop. Green eyes darted as she searched for the culprit. Nothing. But it was close. Close enough for her to consider a threat. She turned around as she could hear them muttering among themselves. The veteran turned around and simply hissed through her teeth with a finger to her mouth. After a moment of thought, she turned around, speaking in the lowest possible volume possible for a whisper.

“We’ll go around. Everyone bear right. We can’t blow our cover now. Once I got ya’ll where ya need to be, I’ll go back to check it out. I’ll give ya the signal like I said. I’ll be with ya when I help ‘em. Come on.” She explained before doing just that, changing the general direction, her eyes still pointed towards where the scream came from, to their left. It had to be one of their own. A Hazmat was unlikely to mistreat another Hazmat. And Colt knew that, if it was, their scream would be muffled by their masks. She knew it from experience. She shook that creeping memory out of her mind before continuing, hand still partly raised to stop them if she had to. Who knows who else was in trouble? As much as she wanted to rush in and rescue them, the second they showed themselves they would kill their captive. Again; experience. "Ivan. The hill."

The mercenary had pulled his sidearm away from the other kneecap and was standing over the doctor, his eyes narrowed behind his mask as he watched Fisher groan in pain, clutching his bloodied kneecap. After a few moments of just staring he drove his finger into the bullet hole, causing Ralph to yell once more. "I said I was going to take my time, didn't I?" He asked, mockingly "I'm worried you'll bleed out if I just keep shooting you, so..." He holstered his sidearm and cracked his knuckles, going to town on Ralph as he punched and kicked the doctor over and over again, all the while Fisher tried to use his arms to defend himself but it was of little use. After a minute or two, the assault ceased and the mercenary moved his hands to clutch them around Ralph's throat.

Ivan didn't flinch at the gunshot that echoed through the forest, but recoiled at the agonizing scream, inhaling sharply as he listened for any further action from that direction. He looked over at Colt with a mix of surprise and astonishment as she suggested they leave them there. He started to disagree with her before deciding it'd only work towards their cover being blown. He instead followed her order and went up to the hill, planning to finish this up fast enough to help their captured comrade. The Russian took a deep breath in as he slowly laid down in the grass, setting his now unsuppressed rifle up on the hill. From this angle, he was able to overlook the front of the lodge, a few spots blocked by trees but other than that an almost perfect vantage point.

Colt could see it from Ivan's expression that he did not like what she had said. At this point she simply did not care about what the Russian thought. She knew what she was going to do. Once she had gotten everyone in place, she would return to help. It was better for her to be alone than have all of them get involved. While they dealt with the Hazzies at the Lodge she could help. The veteran turned to the others as Ivan went up the hill as he had been instructed. She brought the others further forward. The closer she got, the sight of a brilliant yellow caused her to pause and raise a hand; telling them to stop. There was the Lodge, the structure could be seen just through the trees.

Silently, Colt turned to the others and made several gestures. She pointed to Nile, and to the rocks where he would have cover. "Lie here. Don't move, don't shoot. Wait." She spoke quietly yet sharply. She kept eye contact with the convict, her fingers drumming slightly against her holstered colt.45. Once he had gotten into position; she'd move on. The sooner she got them sorted, the sooner she could help the captive.

Nile squinted his eyes towards the yellow. Yep, Hazmat suit. Looking to Colt who seemed to be waving her hands arou-and Nile just realized she was gesturing. Nile mouthed the words "Oh" as he quickly tip toed over to the rocks and crouched behind them. "Aye aye Cap'n!" Nile whispered to Colt. Unholstering the very same Glock 17 he'd shot in front of Moe's, he held it by his side, just in case. Peering just a bit over the rocks, he tried to see what was going on.

The next few minutes were spent painstakingly positioning each member of the party around the perimeter of the Lodge. She kept Cletus towards the front, behind some thick trees, large enough for him to swap back and forth and covering a wider radius. “Don’ stay in one place, ya got space to crouch-run back and forth. Try to confuse ‘em. Ivan’s watchin’ all of us so remember that.” She told the redneck firmly.

Now for the two with medical knowledge, Colt knew she had to be careful. The purple-haired streamer had expressed her fear so a more passive measure was taken. As she put her behind a thick log with a dip which hid a space big enough for someone to hide under. Once she was sure it was safe, Colt handed her a firearm. “Look. I know yer no’ a killer. Trust me. I wish I wasn’t. But if one finds ya, ya need to kill them. They aren’t like us. Don’’t think of ‘em as anythin’ other than killers. Stay under this log.” She explained to the vet before retreating to Leliana. She needed the two women especially to be safe, their combined medical know-how would be a great help to the Lodge.

At this point, there was a shake in her voice. An internal battle to keep her rising anxiety and fear stable. She could not panic. Not now. “Ya and Jenna gotta stay back. I’m tellin’ ya what I told her. Stay hidden. Don’t shoot unless yer in danger.” She told the nurse, “I’m goin’ back for that captive. Even if it ain’t ours, I wouldn’t forgive myself.” She told the nurse before, with a final pat on the shoulder began the slow, painstaking scramble back to the source of the noise.

"Colt wait!" Leliana whispered, for a moment getting ready to follow the older woman, but her better senses decided against it. There was no point in both of them going...well, there was. A gunshot followed by a scream, whoever it was was definitely injured, and Colt wouldn't know what to do other than putting pressure on it. She couldn't do anything more anyhow, Leliana has brought the medkit with them, but it was still strapped to her body. Chances were that whoever it was would just be a liability regardless of what they did, a huge target for when they all finally tried to make it inside. In any case, she couldn't stop the vet now. So her attention turned to the lodge. She had a fairly clear view from her spot behind a few large stumps, which wouldn't have hidden anyone else. Sometimes being short had its advantages.

She spotted enough bodies to know that their fight had been going on for a while now, maybe longer than she and the supply run knew about. Something was smouldering, remnants of a fire or explosion maybe? Who knew what all the hazzies had at their disposal. They were governmentally funded. Which lead her to another disturbing thought. Brian. He was a CIA agent and a liaison for those freaks, he could have sold them out. A chance to get back with his buddies, a chance to go home and never look back at all the people he caused the death of. Have they been betrayed by him? He sure as hell knew how to pick the best time goddamnit. Colt, Ivan, and herself being away? Two of the best aims and medical knowledge. Sure, Jenna could count but she hadn't patched anyone up, at least to Leliana's knowledge, Rouge didn't count. So Brian maybe wouldn't know that she was a vet. But that didn't matter, anger had started pooling in the pit of her stomach, sending twitches to her hands. She needed to think of something else, anything else because getting pissed off wouldn't help anything. So Leliana turned her mind on finding a way inside the lodge. One that either they could all use, or that she could use by herself.

Colt had heard the nurse call after her but she could not afford to stop and reply. This person needed help and she could not waste any more time. All she could hope was that they would do as she asked and waited on her. Once she was close, the veteran stopped walking and took to using the trees as cover. The last thing she needed was to be seen before the right moment. The closer she got, the clearer she could see the face of the man held hostage; Dr. Ralph Fisher. Colt paused and went behind the cover of the trees. She could not afford to be seen. Any slight indication from Ralph of her presence would doom them. She wanted to reassure him she was here, but she knew how people reacted to the potential of being saved. A glimmer of hope in his eyes would end them both swiftly. With everyone in place, all she had to do was pick her moment…

Interactions The Mad Queen FireMaiden King Vioogra Togy Hyped_Taco

 

[Brax]

​

The three hazmat soldiers left in sight on property remained in the backyard. Most of their brothers-in-arms had fallen at this point, but the head of the four squads remained in action within the lodge itself. With direct orders to stay back, two men remained out in the middle of the grass with their rifles raised and backs pressed together. Another had been hiding behind a tree, using his scope to search about the tree line. Far out in the distance, a soldier stationed in one of the trees had caught this hazmat suit in his sights. As both men caught each other in view, they lifted a thumb up to indicate that both were doing all right. There were no hostiles to be seen, up until the point that the soldier hiding in the trees watched as a knife flung through the air and stabbed the soldier hiding behind the tree in the back of his head. His body was pressed limp against the bark, hanging from the embedded knife as though he were a painting.

A loud whistle brought the soldier in the trees back to reality. He quickly moved the scope to the source of the sound, his routine rhythm of breathing haphazardly breaking as he desperately searched the grounds around his now-deceased friend. When he finally got a hostile in view, he would be greeted by the site of Luca aiming his gun right back up at him. Unfortunately for the soldier, the Italian was far too fast. He pulled the trigger, the silencer muffling the sound of his gunfire as multiple bullets were released from the nozzle. They lit up the hiding soldier like a Christmas tree, forcing his body to drop from the trees and hit the ground with a hard thud.

Having heard the sound of the body dropping, the two soldiers remaining turned to see the downed soldier. They had no idea that the other soldier left on the grounds had been dealt with already as well. Deciding to split apart, the two soldiers began walking off in different directions. One moved to check around the immediate vicinity of the soldier that had been shot out of the trees. The other began making his rounds toward the other side of the lodge, still in the backyard. Both men’s inclinations were incorrect as to where Luca was hiding. The ex-capo had bought himself far more time than he had originally anticipated. He took this time to remove the knife from the back of the deceased hazmat’s head, which resulted in blood spraying over his hands. Regardless of the stains of blood, the suit would prove to be extremely useful.

One of the hazmat soldiers was kneeling down to the deceased body. The other soldier had begun rounding the lodge, approaching one of the IED’s that Kypher had left in the grass. Once he got within its range, Luca aimed his rifle at the explosive device on the ground and shot it. Exploding in spectacular fashion, an array of body parts - arms, legs, a head, eyes and teeth, were immediately sprayed in various directions as it spelled the end of the third suit. The fourth soldier turned to see he was the only one left. Unfortunately, there was no running away; even if the suit managed to make it out unscathed, chances were that the backup squad would kill him for desertion. So, the soldier shakily approached the burned spot on the ground where his comrade had fallen.

As he looked down at the wreckage, another hazmat soldier walked up beside him. The soldier briefly turned to see who it was standing beside him, nodding immediately afterward before looking back down. He lifted a hand to raise his walkie talkie to his helmet but was interrupted by the soldier next to him parting his lips to speak just at the right time.

“What now?” The soldier asked, looking next to his comrade who shrugged. Pausing while holding the walkie talkie, that same soldier sighed before he pressed down on the communication button. It was at this time that the second hazmat suit lifted his rifle to the soldier’s head and pulled the trigger, his brains alongside fragments of his skull exploding out of the side of the helmet as the bullets broke through.

“Live like swine, die like swine.” Luca responded as he briefly lifted the gas mask of his helmet to spit on the deceased man.

 

[Maj]

GM POST
the following post was co-written by TheTreForce
​

Forced out her own bedroom window, no one was any wiser that Andy was now in the hands of the soldiers. It didn’t seem to matter how much she struggled against him, the soldier’s grip on her hair only tightened. His gloved hand was knotted in her hair, the thick red braid wrapped all the way around twice as he kept her on her tiptoes, unable to gather any real momentum against him. He marched her in the middle of the yard, so that her frantic and struggling form could be seen by all who cared to gaze upon her. He had won, and he wanted all the scumbags who lived here to know that he had. It didn’t matter that they had managed to take down an impressive number of his men. Where one soldier fell, another would soon take his place and Andrea Jordan was now in his grasp with or without their cooperation. He rose the megaphone to his lips once more.

“I told you what would happen if you didn’t cooperate.” His voice boomed over the property of the lodge, echoing off the shot up buildings and corpses that lay face down in the frostbitten grass. At his signal, more soldiers marched out of the treeline. Andy wasn’t sure how many, clearly up into the double digits. They had barely survived the last wave and now they were all beaten down, some fighting for their lives, like Owen who could be bleeding out on the floor of their lodge while they spoke.

She kept fighting, although the bleeding wound in her side made it difficult for her to put up much of a fight. Each time she tried to squirm away she could feel more blood oozing from her, it made her feel faint, but more importantly the pain was intense enough that it kept her from being able to resist at full strength. Her emerald eyes focused on the treeline as the soldiers emerged, one of them holding a familiar face at gunpoint.

Ray.

How had she not realized that he was missing during all the fighting? She supposed it was easy enough, in all the chaos she wasn’t even sure who was still standing anymore. Somehow they had gotten their hands on another hostage, but now none of them were in any condition to save him.

"Please God, help me!" The older man could barely struggle as he had already been beaten to a shaky mess. His knees buckled under him and his body dragged under the two men that carried him. His bleach white hair had patches of crimson that matted the silk to his head. The glasses that usually rested on his gentle face were gone and his left eye was almost swollen entirely shut. Ray's head lifted slightly to see the red headed girl, "I'm sorry, Andy." Tears ran from his eyes and off his face onto the ground.

Could she get to her bow? No. It was slung over her shoulder and she would never be able to pull it over her head without raising alarm to the man holding her captive. If she didn’t do something soon though, Ray would surely be executed. She had saved Milly and Beth as well, if she could just-

But there wasn’t time to finish her thought.

Images of Ray's past with his family flooded into his mind. For a moment, even through all of the pain and crying, he was calmed by the thought of his loved ones. He was in his old kitchen sitting at the table with his wife and son. They were all laughing at something that happened in the board game they were playing. His small family loved doing things together. They never had imagined the day when they wouldn't be able to. But here the old man was, decades of love and pain behind him, once again alone and in agony. His eyes blurred over from the salty tears and he looked up to the girl.

Ray felt the cold steel of a barrel press into his head, "Tell Milly it's going to be alright!" He coughed up a spittle of blood in between cries of anguish, "Tell Shinoa.. to look after my grandson!" A tiny smile broke across his face before collapsing into a weeping fit. He felt a hand grip his hair tightly and pull his head up for Andy to see his face. "Tell everyone I-"

CRACK

Ray's wailing turned into a deafening silence. Smoke seeped from the barrel of the soldier's pistol. The ground was painted red and the hazmat soldiers released the limp body, letting it fall to the ground motionless.

Andy screamed. She didn’t know Ray well, but it was involuntary. The sound bellowed from her gut, anger ripping her vocal chords on the way up. The soldier tightened his grip on her as a result, but it hardly mattered. She had fought so hard to keep everyone alive and she had failed. Ray was dead, slumped in a pool of his own blood in front of her. As the reinforcements marched forward, she couldn’t help but wonder how many of her friends would follow in his footsteps.

BloodLightning27 Rumble Fish TheTreForce

 

[Rumble Fish]

Saving Private Ralph
Ralph / Colt​

With his hands clutched around the soldier's wrists, Fisher fought for his life, fought for breath as the mercenary clutched tighter around the doctor's throat, but he was already tired and beaten. The little strength left in his arms, that of a healer rather than a fighter were of little use as he tried to push the mercenary away. Behind the man's mask, a small grin grew across his face.

"This is for my men." He muttered "Every bullet I've fired, every civilian I've had to put down. None of it was personal. I took no pride, no joy from it. But this..." He leaned his face in closer, staring down into Ralph's brown eyes "I enjoyed it." He whispered, "I want you to know that."

In those moments, there was little time for reflection, but all Fisher could think about was what he was going to miss. His daughter getting into high school, graduation, walking her down the aisle at her wedding. Things he'd thought about doing since his wife had given him the news. He thought about her too, about how he'd miss growing old while watching the world tick by. As his vision got more and more blurred by the moment.

He couldn't breathe. No air escaped or entered his lungs, and his vision started to blur. He saw little more but the yellow of the merc's suit. His arms dropped to the side, for the doctor could fight no more. He heard a chuckle escape the mercenary's mouth as his work was nearly done.

Upon seeing the doctor being strangled, Colt could not hold back any longer. Rage filled the veteran, her frame shaking as she watched. She had done awful things in her time, but never anything like this. As the Hazzie looking out was distracted, not watching the carnage, Colt unsheathed her combat knife and, with a couple of bounding steps, ran behind the lookout. With a quiet snarl, she reached around, plunging the blade into the soldier's neck. Foul blood sprayed onto her blade and face as the man gurgled and choked on his own blood. Colt didn't care at this point. She wanted these "men" dead. As his body crumpled onto the grass, the veteran spun and charged Ralph's attacker. Being seen didn't matter.

Lunging, she tackled the soldier from Ralph, sending them both into the grass. She raised her knife, she did not just want his throat slit. She wanted him to choke slowly.

Ralph felt like he was getting drunk on oxygen as air returned to his lungs, gasping for air. It hurt to breathe, for bruises covered his neck where the mercenary had tried to end his life. As he glanced up, he could make out the shape of someone on top of his would-be executioner.

Colt. The mercenary had been too focused on Ralph to even see her coming. Fisher tried to call out for her to spare the man but even talking was difficult, with the doctor only able to manage a few choked grunts. "C-olt!" He wheezed "There's another one!" The mercenary, although pinned down tried to wrestle the soldier off him.

Colt did not hear Ralph’s wheezed warning and continued to keep the Hazzie down as he struggled. Putting one hand on his throat, she saw his gloved hand raise and grab her by the face, she could feel his thumb trying to push into her bad eye. With a growl, she raised her knife. “N-Nothin’ personal!” She managed to get out in an attempt to bite the hand off of her, “But I’ll enjoy this!” And with that she plunged the knife into the ‘soldier’s’ windpipe. Behind his mask, the screen covered in red obscuring his face as it flooded with blood. A look of furious, almost gleeful malice crossed her face. She wanted to watch him choke. She wanted to see the terror fade from his eyes, faced with the very lives he had just robbed. The struggling ceased and Colt stepped off, the spell wearing off. With a slight shake of the head, she turned to Ralph.

“Doctor,” She knelt next to him, “Christ alive, what the fuck did they do?!” She looked him over, but he was almost gone. Spotting the wound on his knee (no doubt the source of the scream from before) she froze. What could she do? She did not have medical equipment. But… “Hey, mister, can ya hear me? I’m gonna get ya ‘elp, okay? Yer gonna be okay.” She tried to assure the man before grabbing her blood-stained knife, not bothering to wipe it from her face and went into the forest.

“Leliana!” She whisper-shouted to the nurse, “C’mere! Now!” She waved her hand to the woman vigorously, hoping she would get the hint of her urgency. If they were doing this to Ralph, what the fuck were they doing to the rest in that Lodge? They needed to act now or they’d lose him!

"No." He wheezed "Leave me. Others need you m-ore." It was like someone had a hand around his throat every time he tried to speak, his cries to focus on others being mere whispers that barely escaped his lips. Through his still opened eye he watched as Colt left, unable to stand and run after her. Every part of him wanted to but when he tried to move his leg a jolt of pain shot through it and the doctor could do little more than a grunt in pain. It was all Fisher could manage.

Colt could not pay much more attention to Leliana as she knew she could not leave Ralph on his own. Once she beckoned her over, she ran back the downed man. “Mister? Doc, sir, yer okay, Leliana’s comin’ she’s gonna help ya okay?” she spoke firmly, clicking her fingers a few times to keep the man awake. She looked towards where the nurse was, “Look, we got a first-aid kit in the truck, she’ll stay with ya. I… I got to go. This shit has gone FAR ENOUGH!” She growled, pulling her M4 from around her back and crouch-ran towards the Lodge once again, a steely glare in her eye.

As she got closer, a loud bang rang through the air. She just managed to catch a glimpse of a Hazzie shooting one of her own in the head and the body falling into a crumpled heap, lifeless. The veteran froze, her face going cold and her knuckles gripping the firearm. She caught sight of the fallen man as he hit the ground. Ray. Her expression blanked and her breathing grew shallow. They had just slaughtered an old gentleman who, despite their limited contact, Colt had seen to be nothing other than kind and supportive of whoever he spoke to. And they just put him down like a dog- in fact, no! A dog is typically given a dignified death. This was an execution. She had seen so many senseless killings of this like in Afghanistan. Innocent lives cruelly snuffed out and for what? Nothing. Nothing anybody could possibly use to justify this. This had gone too far! She knew the group was in position and ready. It was time. Standing up, firearm raised, she clocked two particular Hazzies near the treeline.

“NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOW!” A bellow erupted from the depths of the veteran’s bronchus at a greater force than ever, rearing from a guttural roar to a piercing shriek as she squeezed the trigger and opened fire, hitting the two hazmats in front of her and did not stop. No doubt the others, or potentially more heard her scream. This ended now! For Ray!

Interactions: The Mad Queen FireMaiden
Nearby: Togy Hyped_Taco King Vioogra Brax Maj

 

[FireMaiden]

​

Location: The Jordan Lodge - Edge of the Property
Interactions: The Mad Queen (Jenna/Ralph) Togy (Nile)
Mentioned: Maj (Andy) Brax (Luca) Rumble Fish (Colt) King Vioogra (Ivan) Hyped_Taco (Celtus)
She wasn't close to him. She didn't think anyone was close to him, but she still felt the urge to scream as Andy had. Nobody she knew had died like that yet, Leliana hadn't had to watch as someone she knew was executed. A hand clamped over her mouth as she ducked down, pressing her back to the stumps concealing her location, chest rising and falling rapidly, eyes squeezing shut. Nononononono! Those hazzies had Andy too, right there, about to certainly face the same fate. Leliana could pop up and take a shot, help her. But give away her position, endanger everyone and make sure that they didn't get inside at all. And whatever one of them had set off, the sound was not doing good things for her head. In the midst of all that, however, she did hear Colt call for her, and Leliana was faced with two choices. Go help Colt, or help Andy. She chose the former, keeping her body close to the ground, hoping that Colt or someone would help Andy. They didn't need more than one person dying today.

When she broke the line of where Colt had disappeared into, her mouth dropped for a moment. Ralph...he looked awful, and honestly, at first glance, afflicted with wounds she could only do much about. But after a few seconds, her face steeled, and she moved next to him. "I'm not gonna lie Ralph, " She said, her voice quiet for the moment. What was she about to tell him? That she could only help slow the process of his death, that she wasn't going to be able to do much until they got back inside, that the actual act of getting him back inside was not something she could do by herself. "This is gonna be rough." A tourniquet, that what she needed first, one to stop or at least help slow the bleeding. She didn't have one in the first aid kit, and even if she did, Leliana would need to still make one. A belt would be the quickest option, maybe not the absolute best, but the quickest.

She didn't know if Ralph had a belt, and due to state he was in, Leliana was going to take her chances with the hassies Colt had taken care of. Leliana turned around to the bloodied yellow suits knowing good and well that this could be a mistake that could cost her and Ralph not their lives if Colt hadn't permanently killed them. Regardless, Ralph would bleed to death if she didn't work quickly. The closest hazmat to her had landed face front, making it easy to strip the suit off and search the clothing underneath. And badda bing badda boom, he had a belt. A cloth belt that would make a perfect makeshift tourniquet, Leliana place it next to the first aid kit now resting beside Ralph, before moving to the next body, unsure of why at the moment, her movement robotic almost. The purpose behind them, but an unknown purpose. He had landed on his back, hands still clutching his throat as if he tried to stop the bleeding, but it's hard to do that through the plastic. This guy was also twice Leliana's size, turning him over wasn't going to be easy, but she needed to see what she could get from him, and the third guy may not be an option. Forcing her hands underneath the body, she grabbed onto loose fabric and plastic, looking for any purchase as she began to lift. She managed to get him up enough to kick him over and unzip the suit.

His belt was off in a few struggled moment since she didn't know how bad it was inside, someone may need one, and there was nothing else on him that she could take. And if they were all wearing the same hazmat suits, why not by wearing the same thing underneath? The second body also had a cloth belt. she was back to Ralph's side in a few seconds. Her attention focused on his injured knee, she quickly determined what was about three inches above the gunshot, and wrapped the belt around the lowest part of his thigh. She got it as tight as she could, checking to make sure she couldn't get a finger between the belt and his skin. Well, his pant leg really. "First Ivan, now you. What is it with you people and knee injuries?" She joked, trying to lighten the mood a little as she opened the first aid kit. She could apply a tourniquet and gauze, but the way her eyesight was still swirling, she couldn't remove a bullet if it was still in there, least of all repair shattered bones. She grabbed a roll of gauze and wrapped it around his knee, above his pant leg because she had no choice before her eyes went in the direction of the others. Their position, thanks to Colt, had been well and truely exposed, they had to move. "Nile, Jenna get your asses over here now!" Leliana barked. Cletus would have to help Colt, Ivan was covering them from a distance, and she sure as shit couldn't carry Ralph.

As soon as she was sure they had heard her, she gave her next instruction, "We have to get in the lodge, Nile you carry him, Ivan will be able to cover us, and Colt is one hell of a distraction."

 

[Togy]

Watching from the treeline, Nile saw Ray's body fall to the ground. He'd just hid behind his rock like told, but then he heard the gunshot and he'd looked over, and goddamn he wish he hadn't. Just watching that dead body fall to the ground, the life leaving their eyes, he knew that was gonna haunt his dreams tonight. What was that guy's name? Tre? Naw, that's the black guy Nile thought, feeling a twang of guilt that he didn't even know the dead man's name. The guy looked like a grandpa too, like the kind of guy who ran a little ma and pa store. Oh god, thinking he was a sweet old grandpa is making it worse.

Then Colt screamed and fired, and Nile's...well, whatever you'd call it was cut short. Two guys just dropped dead from what he could see, and he remembered that he was supposed to be shooting too. Raising his Glock and huddling closer to the rocks, he searched for a target. His eyes locked onto the Hazzies that'd just killed Ray, the ones who held him down while he was shot like cattle. Moving his Glock to point at them, he aimed down the sights. He was better with a rifle, a bolt action one to be exact, but he'd make due.

CRACK!

The first one, the one that held Ray down, had blood shoot out from the back of their neck as a 9mm bullet tore through it. They fell to the ground, clutching at their neck. Nile tried not to look. Readjusting his aim to the second guy, Nile fired.

CRACK!

The bullet impacted their shoulder, making them reel back. They screamed in agony, clutching their new bullet wound. Then they looked around, before their eyes, somehow, settled on a hidden Nile.

"Oh shi-!" Nile yelled as he ducked, machine gun fire raking his rock. Bit of broken rock flew over his head. That guy looked Pissed with a capital P when he got over being shot. Nile had to GTFO, cause Rocks could only stop so many rifle rounds before turning to pebbles.

"Nile, Jenna! Get your asses over here now!" what sounded like that Lily chick yelled, which he barely heard over the gunfire.

"Great! Perfect excuse to run! I did my part! I am fucking out!" Nile yelled as he ran. The Hazzie he'd shot was still firing at the rocks. Must've missed him running away.

Pocketing his Glock as he ran, Nile booked it towards Leliana, making it there to her in no time. He found her and this guy who was pretty banged up. He supposed this was the guy he heard get shot while they were rolling in.

Listening to Leli's orders. Nile picked Ralph up bridal style easily. Not to brag or anything, but construction made Nile JACKED. "Um, isn't the Lodge in the center of the gunfight though?" Nile asked as he tried to get a look at the Lodge from where he stood.

Interactions: FireMaiden (Leli) The Mad Queen (Ralph)
Mentions: Already mentioned Queen (Jenna) Rumble Fish (Colt)

 

[Maj]

​

“Move.” The soldier pushed Andy forward by the back of her head, her braid still wrapped firmly around his hand. It was getting harder to obey commands, and even more difficult to fight back. Her vision was becoming spotted, and then blurry. The green hues of the forest felt more like her sketch pad that was smeared in water colors than it felt like an actual image. The blues of the sky seemed to blend into the shades of green almost seamlessly, she couldn’t tell where the treeline ended and the horizon began. Yelling and gunfire slowly faded, her hearing had been muffled for a while due to all the loud echoes of the guns, but this was different. It felt like she had headphones on, muffling the outside world and filling her ears with static. The redhead found it hard to keep her eyes open and ultimately fell to her knees.

The force of her stumble caused the soldier to lurch forward, but he never let go of her hair. She could feel the strands tugging at her scalp, sending a pins and needles like sensation from her temples to the base of her neck. Her jeans were already damp with blood, but she could feel the icy crust of the earth as her legs collided with it. The frigid dew soaked into her knees and sent a violent shiver down her rapidly cooling spine. Even Andy knew that she was losing too much blood. It would only be a matter of time until she was dead weight. Possibly literally.

“Get up,” the leader commanded, tugging on her braid. Andy tried, but found it difficult to come to her feet. Her head felt like it weighed about a hundred pounds, lulling from side to side in dazed confusion. Even in her half conscious state she could feel him getting frustrated with her as he tried to smuggle her to the treeline and away from the lodge and her companions.

“Get. Up.” He bit out each syllable as he growled and let go of her braid long enough to hoist her up under her armpits. Andy cried out, the motion stretched her side and she could almost feel the bullet burying itself deeper into her muscles. She was back on her feet, walking slowly forward, the pressure of the circular barrel of the man’s rifle against the middle of her back. The twin did her best to follow orders, but her muscles were stiff and she found that her brain didn’t work quickly enough to keep her legs moving. When she fell the second time it was accompanied by a colorful string of swears from the leader.

“If you can’t walk, I will drag you,” the man threatened, but it was no use. Andy couldn’t come to her feet. He hoisted her up a second time, distracted by some sort of chaos coming over his radio. Once she was upright he pushed her forward and he made his way once more toward the treeline. His men would have to fend for themselves, she was the ultimate goal here, and now they had her. Upon looking down at his radio, he failed to notice that Andy’s trembling blood soaked fingers were tightly wound around one of the arrows from her quiver. The fall had been enough of a distraction to grab it without being seen. Before he could bring the barrel back up, the redhead did her best to take a deep breath and then plunged the metal arrow head into the soldiers leg.

“Bitch!” he heard him snarl as his hand instinctively went to his thigh. Andy didn’t wait, she was already running back toward the lodge as quickly as her unsteady legs could take her. She felt like a newborn calf, just a baby deer trying to figure out how to propel itself on wobbly, boney appendages. All she knew was that if he got her to the treeline, she was finished. The girl knew that her efforts to escape were likely useless. There was no one nearby to bail her out and her captor was quickly gaining on her. The pain in her side had all but faded, leaving nothing but the sensation of her heart pounding in her side and the warmth of her blood being leached for her body as she slowly bled out into the lining of her leather jacket. Still, Andrea Jordan would rather bleed to death on the lawn of her property, fighting back against her kidnapper than to die in a lab as their captive.

When his outreached hand grabbed the collar of her jacket, she pulled out of it. First her right arm, and then her left sliding through the leather sleeves and leaving the garment in his hand, exposing the reality of her injuries. The white tank top was burgundy now, saturated. It matched her hands, and the smears on her face, drenched in a deep crimson color. It was darker even than the tangled braid that swung rhythmically as she continued to sprint back toward home.

It was hard to run when the world kept threatening to spin you off of your feet, but Andy did her best. It almost felt as if the lodge kept shifting out of her vision, but it was more likely that she was having a difficult time running in a straight line. Soon the muddy, grassy colors consumed her vision and she felt her body collapse to the earth.

Andy did her best to rise up once more. She pushed up with her hands against the ground, but it was no use. The weight of the soldier’s body was already on top of her. He grabbed both her wrists in one massive gloved hand, holding them above her head. His knee pressed into the back of her thigh, digging her body into the cold ground. She squirmed from side to side, using her body weight to balk and contort her form as she tried to throw him off. Every movement caused her excruciating pain, she could feel it in her chest as it knocked each breath from her lungs as she tried helplessly to catch it.

Beaten, tired, and weak, the dam finally broke as hot, desperate tears fell from her bright green eyes. She could feel the heat of her frustration streaking down her dirty face, leaving tracks from the corners of her eyes down to her chin. His hand wrenched it’s way around her braid once more as he pulled her blood and tear soaked face up to look at him.

“Run again,” the man started, taking his free hand to cup her chin as she tried her best to wiggle away from him. “And I’ll kill you and drag your Italian mobster boyfriend back to the base instead. Capeesh?”

Brax

 

[King Vioogra]

As Ivan got set up on the hill overlooking the lodge, he took a deep breath in and looked down his scope. The breath caught as he saw the older of the lodgers with a gun to his head, and everything froze. He snapped the reticle of his scope to the soldier as fast as he could, barely able to catch a few of Ray’s minor pleas, but it wasn’t fast enough. Before he could steady his aim and pull the trigger, the gentle old man had already fallen. His attention was stolen as a blood curdling screech erupted from Colt before she gunned down the two overlooking the now deceased old man and any others lodgers nearby. A flash of sadness washed over him as he saw the atrocity happening before him. This was why he’d left the service. Senseless killing, bodies upon bodies, hands stained with so much red there wouldn’t be enough water on the planet to wash it off. But here he was, buried back in the dirt with a rifle in his hands and screams of war surrounding him. This wasn’t just survival anymore, it was their own little war where they were outnumbered, outgunned, and likely would eventually be outplayed. They were all going to die here at some point, there was only so much running before some among them would break. With that thought swimming across his mind, he exhaled sharply in a sigh turned growl before taking in a breath and returning Colt’s guttural scream with a roar that tore at the ex-soldier’s throat. Anger washed over him as he kept his position and trained his reticle on the first soldier to turn their head towards Colt to respond to her screams and fire.. It’d been a while since he consciously killed another person, the closest being the molotov he’d thrown way back when they were at the middle school. But this was different, these men were not bound by honor or even morality. All they knew was how to kill, and they enjoyed it. That was enough for him for him to feel no remorse for their deaths as he lined up the bright yellow soldiers before letting off 8 shots total, two for each. Once the eight rounds had finished echoing through the forest, Ivan felt the rush of adrenaline that came with these types of life or death situations. The man let out another roar before standing from his spot on the hill and yelling out in slang-filled Russian.

“Никто из них не уйдет! None of them leave!”

The Russian shouted the same statement twice, his voice echoing through the forest around him, making it harder to figure out exactly where he was. And whether he lived or died in this encounter, not a single one of these motherfuckers were setting foot off these grounds.​

 

[Hyped_Taco]

(A new Michael post, yay!)​

After jumping out of the window and landing right on his buttocks, Michael tried to catch up with some of his companions, yet ended up failing at doing so; ¨God can I not fuck up for once dammit?!¨ he yelled at himself, forgetting that right now they were under a fucking siege by the government. Quickly realizing his mistake, the neckbeard jumped behind the first thing he saw, just moments before some hazzies began firing at his position.

He thought about waiting it out behind this… thing he had just hidden behind; but this was no videogame, and after the hazzies realise that their bullets aint gonna get him, they´ll just reposition themselves and fire from a different spot, which would be a game over for him. The neckbeard tried to think about a way to make it out of this one, and unless a miracle happened then he was left with only one option, which he quite disliked.

The neckbeard positioned his fedora just as he wanted, and with some tears in his eyes began to prepare himself to make a run for it, his current mission was just to get inside the lodge again, hell, maybe there would even be some people inside as well.

The neckbeard had finally gathered the courage to begin his desperate last-ditch and possibly fatal effort to get inside the lodge. He stood up as fast as he could and ran faster than he has ever done before, maybe even faster than he had done with the moose.

The same hazzie from before began to shoot at Michael, barely missing him by am Inch. The neckbeard was almost gonna make it to the door, but then the hazzie finally got him. Michael felt a burning, aggravating sensation along with some blood coming out, but it still did not stop him. After he finally made it inside the lodge he left a loud scream out. The pain was immense; this surely wasn't a good day,specifically cause the área he got shot at… was his ass.

Well, luckily for the neckbeard he had just gotten a million dollar shot Forest Gump style. He slowly walked around the house only to find Héctor operating on a muscled man, the only thing Michael could say was "... You guys look like shit" before he decided to approach a window "Hey so like, I'll keep an eye out for things out here doc" the neckbeard told Héctor before noticing that he had possibly been just injured and possibly lost an eye.

The neckbeard took out his M1911 while positioning himself on one of the broken windows. And saw him, he saw the hazmat that at shot him before, Michael pointed at him and said "Payback bitch". With his gun he fired at the soldier and although he failed in trying to get him in the chest he at least managed to hoy him in the knee. The neckbeard saw the hazmat dropping to the ground, grab his knee and scream "MY LEG!" it seemed that his time as a soldier had come to an abrupt end.

Mentioned: Maj Owen
Interacted: shadowz1995 Hector
Secondary character: A hazmat soldier who got shot in the knee

 

[Brax]

A familiar yell let Luca know that the rest of the lodge’s residents had finally made their way back. The man’s head turned to the sound of the call. As Colt’s voice rang through the air, shots soon followed suit. He was not exactly dressed up like someone who didn’t deserve a bullet, so it was certainly time to make his leave. A small smile crept over Luca’s visage as Ivan spoke his native tongue. Sniper shots were sent from the rooftop, traveling at least ten feet above his own head to find their mark. They seemingly had a new person in tow as well, though that would have to wait for later. He was appreciative of the backup. Luca was more than ready to die on his flag.

He opened the sliding doors leading back into the house. Then, he slowly rounded his way into the kitchen. Andy was not alongside the others as he had left her. That was when the alarms started ringing inside the Italian’s head. He turned one of the chairs that had been close by and smashed the heel of his boot into the leg, breaking it off. Though it was only made of wood, it was dense. Broken shards of wood at one of the ends would certainly prove to be useful. Luca was about as graceful as a pig rolling around in shit.

“I’ll kill you and drag your Italian mobster boyfriend back to the base instead. Capeesh?” Light blue eyes caught the sight of the man after he had finally found the two outside. It was easy to follow the sound of this asshole’s voice. Within his clutches was Andy, tears rolling down her face. Underneath the helmet, Luca’s teeth bit down softly against his bottom lip before a forced southern accent escaped.

“Sir.” The man said as he stepped up, moving to the side of the hazmat soldier and looking down at Andy briefly. “Our squad is being overrun out back.” Luca looked back up to the man at the same time his own helmet had turned to face him. “At least four other rats confirmed. One sniper. They had backup. Go peak around the side, I'll hold the girl.” The leader snarled as he shoved Andy’s face away from him, prompting Luca to grab hold of her as he approached the opposite side of the lodge to see the bloodshed for himself.

Emerald eyes did their best to settle on the face of her new captor. Andy’s vision may have been out of focus and the man’s face was obscured by the plastic mask of the hazmat suit but she would recognize those icy blue eyes anywhere. The girl didn’t bother to ask herself why Luca was in a hazmat suit. All she knew that she had been rescued.

“How the fuck did this happen!?” He yelled as he removed the radio from his pocket. Luca, at this time, had been slowly helping Andy up to her feet. “We had four of our best FUCKING teams here and they all got annihilated!? Where is the backup? They should be here!” He roared as the Italian was pushing Andy toward the front door without leading her. “Of all fucking times headquarters needed to send backup, this wa-”

The sound of glass shattering followed.

Luca’s hand violently shoved the man’s head through the nearest window. Simultaneously, his right hand brought the spiky end of the wooden chair leg down into his calf, stabbing it as deep as he possibly could. He removed the leg of the chair, blood erupting from multiple arteries. The man let out a desperate scream. Then, Luca followed his attack by stabbing the man’s other calf. This time he left the bloody wooden makeshift weapon sticking out of the man’s leg. Half-hanging out the window, the man did his best to push himself away and turn to face Luca.

He was greeted with the butt of Luca’s rifle smashing into the bottom of his helmet, causing the man to flop over onto his face as his helmet careened across the lawn. Without further hesitation, Luca picked the leader’s rifle up off of the ground as the man began whimpering like a child. He tossed it far out of reach. The Italian gave him a second. In the end, this man was going to die due to severed arteries and blood loss regardless. However, the desperate pleas to spare him were greeted with howling laughter, returned from Luca as he removed his helmet.

The laughter turned maniacal as Luca ripped the top of his suit off of his body, revealing nothing underneath. Just his bare torso. Every scar, bullet wound and imperfection it had to offer. He climbed over the contorted figure of the downed hazmat leader, straddling him while his index finger began poking at the man’s cheek. His laughter had died down considerably, but it was apparent that the Italian was enjoying itself.

​

“No, no. We can’t be having that.” He cooed in a hushed tone, his Italian accent rounding the sentence off as he leaned down to whisper into the man’s ear. “We’re going to take this nice and slow.” His poking at the cheek of the soldier had slowed, before Luca violently jammed his index and middle fingers into the eye socket of the man, who let out another scream. The Italian popped his eyeball out from the back with the tip of his fingernail, being sure to rip outward.

To help silence the screams, Luca followed by slamming his elbow into the face of the man. This broke his nose, shoving its bridge toward the right side of his face. It was almost completely underneath his eye. Luca’s ‘shhh’ had continued, only pausing to breathe. He grabbed the optic nerve which still connected the man’s eyeball to his head and ripped it out of his skull. Luca then held the eyeball up to the leader’s other eye so he could watch himself die.

Despite being shoved toward her lodge, Andy hadn’t made it far. She was finally at her limit, in reality she had likely been at it for quite some time. The adrenaline of the battle and the need to fight had kept her going but now that Luca was here she knew that he would take care of the rest. In and out of focus, she watched the display with morbid curiosity, thankful now more than ever that Luca was her ally and not her enemy.

“He’s dangerous.” Andy could hear Owen’s voice in her head as she watched the Italian pop the eye free from the man’s socket. As the blood ran down his face and the pained scream threatened to tear open the soldier’s throat, Andy felt her stomach turn while simultaneously experiencing a sense of righteousness. Her legs crumpled beneath her, unable to hold her weight any longer. After pushing himself off the disheveled soldier, she watched as Luca lifted a pistol to his head and firing multiple times before turning toward her. She could feel the heaviness of her eyelids as her vision faded in and out.

Bloodstained hands reached down to wrap themselves around the small of the girl’s back and underneath her legs. “Is he dead?” Andy’s voice was soft, showing both the weakness of her body and her will to stay alert despite it. The Italian picked her up off the ground with a small grunt, saying absolutely nothing as he slowly escorted her back through the front door. If he was being completely honest with himself, Luca was expecting more casualties. The ones who had gotten hurt were the people who had spent the most time risking their necks in the fight against the soldiers, but for some reason Luca had come out practically unscathed. Andy’s hands matched his in color, stained with blood. One rose to the side of his face, gently cupping it as she tried to focus. Her thumb left a trail of blood in its wake as she softly slid it across his cheek. Her tired eyes blinked slowly as the corner of her mouth turned in a small smirk and then they fluttered shut. Leaving streaks of crimson down his face and neck, her arm fell limp to her side and consciousness left her.

​

Carrying Andy throughout, Luca finally made his way to the kitchen. He found some spare space. Whistling to Aderyn, he watched as the girl made her way over. Luca handed her back that pistol, ordering the girl to apply pressure to the bullet wound before he removed a cigarette from his pack and lit it. He had no medical training, he knew how to treat basic wounds and that was it. The man would have to focus on keeping Andy alive for as long as possible. As he took a drag of his cigarette, Luca’s eyes turned to Owen and then Tre. No one would feel the impact of losing these three as much as him. At least not collectively. Luca briefly was lost in his train of thought before noticing that Warren had approached him.

Interactions: Maj TheTreForce Meredith

 

[FireMaiden]

​

Location: The Jordan Lodge - Edge of the Property
Interactions: The Mad Queen (Jenna/Ralph) Togy (Nile) Maj (Andy) Brax (Luca) Meredith (Aderyn) shadowz1995 (Hector)
Mentioned: Rumble Fish (Colt) King Vioogra (Ivan) Maj (Beth/Owen) Brax (Tre)
"Nile, have you not being paying attention to just how terrifying Colt is?" Leliana asked, drawing her pistol. This wasn't a time for just hitting things with a bat, and they were obviously well past being quiet. "Colt is drawing attention towards herself, Ivan is providing covering fire. And once anyone in the lodge notices we're here, so will they." If they were still able to of course. For a moment, her eyes examined the battlefield, quickly switching between the front yard of the lodge and gathering up the medkit. The nurse was on her feet within seconds. "Let's go," She said sternly, taking a few steps to the treeline, before her blonde hair broke out and was sent running across the lawn. The hazzies attention was still drawn by Colt, Ivan was picking them off, Jenna and Nile would be safe enough without Leliana having to stick to close. Eyes were focusing on the lodge's front door, hoping for the safety of four walls and her comrades beside her, a mop of red hair caught her attention. Andy. Had no one been able to get to her yet? Was everyone seriously that preoccupied? Or we're the injuries maybe worse than what she had thought? "You two keep going!" Leliana called, before she slowed, and turned to make her way to Andy.

She had only taken a few steps when Luca, in a hazmat suit, swooped in a saved the day. Once more her body turned, and feet rushed her to the front door. She had just made it inside, unsure if Jenna, Ralph, and Nile had, when Luca threw the man who had Andy through a window. And based on the sounds he was making, Leliana quickly made it her goal to find Hector. Tre and Owen were both on the floor, unconscious. They had been treated, but Leliana wasn't sure who was worse. Aderyn was beside Tre, Bethany beside Owen, Leliana having come in at a moment where both girls were giving their charge half of CPR. Hector was next to Owen as well, giving his shoulder stitches, but the old man didn't look to good himself. Pale, out of breath, from the side she had approached, she couldn't see the extent of his wound, but she knew something was wrong with his eye. He was close to his limit, anyone with common sense could tell.

"Hector, Ralph got shot, his knee is shattered, but I stopped the bleeding. He's fine for now, what do you need me to help with, what's the situation?" Leliana question. The old doctor paused for a moment, turning his head to look at her. That gave her a full view of the extent to his wound. In a sense at least, his left eye, and that side of face was covered in dark red. He hadn't taken a moment to treat himself yet, he was working with an open wound, and was giving out faster than he could have because of it. Never the less, he turned back to his work on Owen's shoulder, and began to give her a run down. Owen had been shot three times, shoulder, leg, and chest, which explains Bethany's role. Leg has been treated, shoulder in the process, and a tube protruded from his chest. Tre had been shot through the chest as well, his lung collapsed. A tube to relive the pressure and hopefully allow it to reinflate had been inserted in his chest as well, meaning both boys were for the moment, stable. She also chose to ignore the information on Micheal for the moment.

Hector was another story however, but as soon as Leliana was going to make him go and either treat his eye, or let her do it, Luca brought Andy inside. The nurse hadn't even noticed the hazzies screams go silent. "Her niña, I'll be fine." His voice was quiet, almost forced, but there was no point in fighting him on it. Leliana on nodded, and hurried into the kitchen as she pulled a hair tie seeming out of nowhere. Her hair was up in a ponytail in just a matter of seconds, Ralph's blood streaked through her blonde locks. Next thing, she tossed off her jacket, leaving her in just a t-shirt. It was easier to work like that anyway.

Leliana tossed a slight glare, though mostly concerned look to Luca, not approving of his choice to smoke right there next to Andy with an open wound, but she wasn't going to fight him. "You're doing a great job sweetheart," She told Aderyn, "But I really need you to keep an eye on Hector for me. And keep doing whatever he asked you to do, I'll take care of Andy." The medkit once again came off her shoulder and opened. From the now jumbled mess of gauze, tape, and the other things she brought, Leliana pulled out a pair of small scissors. Starting from the bottom of Andy's tank top, Leliana began to cup up the middle, until she could get the cloth off the wound. "Luca, go get the bags all the other medical supplies are stored in, and some towels. What I have here isn't going to be enough to stop the bleeding, or properly treat her." Leliana said, brows furrowed as she grabbed some gauze pads and pressed them to the bullet wound firmly. Almost immediately, she felt Andy's blood soaking through, the palms of her hand red and slick within what seemed to be just a few seconds. However, the man she had asked for help seemed to be preoccupied with another, so her eyes turned to the teen nearby. "Medical bags and towels, Aderyn, you know where this are right?"

 

[The Mad Queen]

Fisher could barely comprehend what was going on, slipping in and out of consciousness as the forest erupted with the sounds of gunfire and screaming. He did get a brief glance at the nurse though, who much like Colt wasn't going to leave him to his wounds. He could have protested, but didn't see much point. The birth of Shiona's child had proven to him just how feisty she was.
That, and Ralph could barely get the words out.
"S-s...top."

It was of little use, for it took the remaining strength he had in his bones and soul just to stay awake. When Nile picked the man up, much to his surprise he found himself slipping once more, He saw June standing before him, her blonde hair brightening up the room like one of Heaven's Angels.
"Sarah's staying at my parents so we have the house all to ourselves." She smiled, resting a hand on his shoulder.
Fisher briefly woke up once more, then slipped. This time he saw Sarah. That girl, his girl had a smile that could brighten up an entire room. He had joked to June that the girl would never need a nightlight, for she illuminated the darkness with her mere presence.

One of his hands clenched tightly as he saw both of them together, sitting in the living room next to him while they watched television. He wasn't focused on what was on screen, he never had been unless it was some documentary. He was watching them, letting Sarah fall asleep right next to him or whispering to June. As his thoughts became more and more focused on his family Fisher felt the same determination that had filled him mere minutes ago when the mercenary had threatened to hurt them.
It seeped into his soul, and in that moment Ralph fought once more.

In his current state there was little doubt he would be of not help to the lodge, let alone the country but if he could hold on he could still be there for his family.

The girl had ducked behind a tree, her handgun drawn while she followed from a distance, glancing around every tree and bush the forest had within for a sign of an escaped lodger, or one of the mercenaries. It wasn't even like the girl could cut somebody down with the thing, no. She just had to convince the enemy that she would.
How would that work? Could she just point a gun in the face of a trained professional and talk them into surrendering? Fat fucking chance, she told herself. Still, just carrying protection made her feel a little bit less anxious. It was next to nothing, but it was still something at least.

A single gunshot erupted through the trees and Jenna dashed through the woods. What if somebody was hurt? Peaking her head out from behind a tree she watched as the lifeless body of a grey haired man slumped into the thin sheet of snow, staining it red. Ray was gone. Just like that the mercenaries had executed an old man with a bullet straight through his brain. Jenna had only talked to him in passing, but she could tell there was a warmness to him, the sort of man that would never even have hurt a fly. He was comforting and warm, had to be somebody's grandfather.

And they just shot him.

It took a moment to actually hit her and her blue eyes welled up as they widened, the girl covering her mouth with one hand to hold back the screams.
How many others had they killed? Them trying to cover up the virus alone had probably killed hundreds at the very least. Doris, Rogue and now Ray were just three names among countless others. Her thoughts once more turned to those she had invited to Aurora to meet her.
Instead of seeing their favourite streamer she had invited them to their own execution. With the internet gone there was no way of her being sure just how many had died because of her.

She looked through the trees, watching as Leliana and Nile dashed through the forest towards the lodge. Nile was carrying something though and Jenna got a glimpse of Ralph. Was he dead? He looked like he'd been through the wringer as it was. Instead of just shooting the man the Fascists had beaten him to a pulp, and had apparently shot him in the knee.
This wasn't just about containment and simply not caring about casualties if they completed the mission. That seemed to be the standard. They enjoyed it. They had enjoyed every minute of it.

She pictured them now, kicking back and laughing as they watched the dead tear flesh off innocent people screaming for help.

Her hand moved away from her mouth and onto the handgun, gripping it in both hands now. Taking deep yet rapid breaths in through her nose she heard a yell and spun around to see Colt going ballistic on the Fascists who had claimed one more life. How many was that now? What about the lodge, had they swept through it too?
If they executed an old man for fun she wouldn't put it past them to kill a baby, let alone children. In fact, given the school massacre there was no doubt they had crossed that line already.

"Fuckers." She hissed, flicking the safety off and moving up behind a tree. With one more breath, the girl opened fire on any nearby mercenaries "Alright, so now it's my turn!" She screamed "Then kill me! Kill me if it'll give you another kick! If it'll give you a hardon you twisted wankstains! You wanna shoot a celebrity!? Take a fucking selfie with my corpse why don't you?! Come over here!"

"Do it!" Her voice grew louder as the girl now screamed at the top of her lungs "Do it! Just do it!"
She wasn't really counting the shots as she fired, but she did manage to pin one with three bullets while just missing another. Of course, it drew attention and the mercenary that she missed quickly moved towards the treeline, his rifle at the ready to put her down.

Mentioned: Rumble Fish (Colt) FireMaiden (Leli), Togy (Nile), Me (Ralph)

 

[Rumble Fish]

​

“Ivan! On our right! Cletus! Cover Leliana and Nile! Get the doctor inside! Don’t let any of ‘em get away!” Colt barked, taking deep breaths between words due to the tearing that her vocal cords had endured with her scream and rained a storm of bullets onto the yellow-coated terrorists. She knew they were heavily padded due to the amount it took to take them down but they had clearly not been prepared for an ambush, even with their few numbers. At this point, Colt knew that she was now once again in a warzone, whether she liked it or not. This was a matter of life and death. Whether she died today or not, she was going to be dragging as many of these bastards as she could with her to hell. If they were going to go out against these Hazmats, they were going out kicking and screaming against the dying of the light. She had caught a glimpse of the Italian mobster looking towards them but she did not take care to see if he had looked in her direction or not. Her sight stayed focus down the gun’s barrel, teeth bared so hard they could have shattered. Seeing them drop to the ground with little more than a red spatter and a scream almost caused a malicious grin to spread as more died.

“Looks like I got my eye back,” She hissed under her breath, “Ya inbred bastards!” She yelled at them as she advanced more forward towards the building. The closer she got, the easier it was to kill them and the easier it would be to defend the Lodge and its residents. Ray could not have been the only fatality. There were going to be more; she could feel it. Seeing Leliana succeed in getting Ralph to safety, Colt’s eyebrows flickered before raising her head again. “Nile! Back out here! We aren’t done until they’ve all paid!” She waved an arm, so her indications were clear. This was their last stand.

It was clear to the soldier on her right, that she was far more trained than the other inhabitants of the lodge. In fact, the idea that a few backwater citizens had been able to fight them back for as long as they had was ridiculous. He recognized the short dark hair that clung to her face, unkempt and wiry. The purple scar that interrupted what could have been a pretty face was forever burned in his memory. After all, there had never been all that many soldiers in Aurora to begin with, so when one was brutally stabbed to death in a parking lot, it tended to be easy to recall.

There was a pretty easy way to confirm who she was. He pulled the rifle into his shoulder, feeling it lock into its familiar location as he tilted his masked head to look down the sight. She hadn’t seen him yet, so he didn’t feel the pressure to act quickly. The other soldiers she brought down were distraction enough for him to clearly line up the shot with her left leg. When his gloved finger squeezed the trigger several shots fired. The familiar noise of the bullets on metal sounded and his lips curved into a knowing smile. It was her alright, the sadistic bitch who had murdered his friend.

Colt’s glare bore down the gun, taking down her latest target who fell to the ground with a doomed yowl of agony. The veteran did not react further than a grunt. Sweat beaded from her forehead and a stream was making its way from the shoulders down her back, the adrenaline pumping through her veins like a rollercoaster with mile high corkscrews accompanied with that oh so nauseating sensation of a dropping stomach right into the kidneys. Ivan may have a good shot but his fire-rate was only so fast. And she had to cover him.

However, amidst the rapid fire, the screams of both doomed and triumphancy and her own raging heart pounding hard in her ear-drums, she still heard it; a distinctive clink of metal. And it was close. Instantly, her mind had been punched back, back to that day in the parking lot. Where she had been shot before; but rather than die, she… With the briefest of moves, her bloodshot, less useable eye darted and her expression froze at the sight of an uncomfortably close Hazmat. Panicked, she reached for her Colt.45, holstered away to fire. Eyes wide, mouth agape with only a deep and gravelled “Fuck!” able to escape. How did he manage to sneak up? Why did he not just shoot her in the ribs or anything but the leg?

His aim quickly shifted to the right leg and without hesitation, the soldier fired again. The bullet tore through her calf easily, and without the balance of her primary leg, the woman fell to the ground. The soldier came toward her quickly, kicking the colt from her hand and out of reach. He looked down at her amused.

“You should have fired instead of hesitated soldier,” The hazmat offered sarcastically. “You didn’t hesitate when you turned my friend to hamburger meat.”

Colt howled as the bullet tore through her other calf and she fell to the ground. As her colt was kicked away, Colt stared up at the Hazmat as he spoke, malice and sarcasm dripping from his teeth. The veteran gasped for air, images flashing in his place of masked men screaming in a forgien language, pinning her, trying to undo her uniform while her comrade lied only feet away, the torture already in progress. She could feel the weight of the man as if he were still on her, pinning her down. She could not move, other than her chest with the rapid breath from the stabbing pain in her only functioning leg and the triggered trauma she had tried to bury. As he mentioned “hamburger meat” everything clicked. With a groaned breath, she bared her teeth, feeling for her Glock… but it was back at the truck.

“I...Sh-shoulda ate it.” She hissed. Friend or not, he was no better than the others. She propped herself up, but she could feel the river of blood dripping from her calf, making the woman snarl profanities at the pain. “The Things liked it at least...” she added. If he thought she was going to show any remorse for killing a man, who came within seconds of murdering innocents, including a child, he was thicker than pig shit.

Just as she finished speaking, the Hazmat had stepped forward, placing a boot hard onto the woman’s chest, his face twisted into a grin at her gasp and the sudden flash in her eyes. His weight increasing, he took his gun and cocked it. He grimaced as Colt struggled under him, “Let’s see how brave or smart you are with a scrambled brain.”

“Ya… only got food puns fur-?” Another stomp on the chest caused the woman to yowl and her body to jump, the pain rushing through her ribs and down her spine. All she could do to stop herself from screaming was to bite on her tongue to the extent where the fact it did not snap in half was a shock. Her eyes darted back and forth, silently begging for somebody to help. She could not cry out, that would not only end her but whoever came to her aid. Once upon a time, she could rely on her fellow soldiers to help or give support, but now? Nothing. The veteran looked back at the Hazmat, her green eyes steely and almost daring him to do it. To make her a martyr.

The Hazmat chuckled at the ‘soldier’s’ submission as he aimed the gun’s nozzle towards her face. One shot to the forehead would give him the satisfaction of seeing his friend’s murderer slip painfully into a doomed coma with nothing but those memories accompanying her to the grave.This will be easy. Nobody will notice, not with all this carnage. Nobody would know until they found this waste dragging itself only to receive another shot to the head. “You have a lot of bravado. For a cripple.”

Something about those words. Those final words, sparked something within the veteran. She would not let that be the last thing she heard on this earth. While one leg was out of commission, the other, well could not be. With a yowl, Colt suddenly reeled her fake limb around in a swing, striking the Hazmat hard on the side of the head, causing him to yell as a shrill CLANG from the metal rang through the trees. As he jumped back, Colt used that chance to kick him again, knocking him off of her completely. Breathing harshly through her teeth, Colt did the only thing she could think of at this moment. With a shriek, she pulled off the prosthetic, raised it as high as she could, and with as much force as she could muster, struck the Hazmat on the head. Beneath the helmet, there was a sickening crunch. Blinded by fury, shaking and seething, she struck him again. And again. And again. Much like his friend with the knife, the strikes kept coming with the same force and hatred as the last.

*Snap!*

Colt froze, the haze lifting and her mind becoming clear. In front of her was the bloodied mass where the Hazmat’s head had once been. The skull had caved and brain-matter scattered across the grass, the head and dirt sticky with blood as it flowed from what once was a man’s head. Her gaze then turned to what was left in her hand. The foot of the prostetic, blood and bone covered remained in her grip, while the rest lay rest in the grass, just next to the twitching corpse of the once intact Hazmat. A clean break.

A rush of pain in her right calf brought Colt right back. All the way back to that day. The tank, her comrades, Sasha… Unable to keep up on her shot limb and aching ribs and lungs, the vet dropped to the grass, hand on heart in a desperate attempt to regulate both her thoughts and her breathing, now a mightier task with the injuries and heavy memories reignited by the battle. As she rolled onto her stomach, a final glance at the remains of the man’s skull caused the acid to reflux and, propped up by her hands, Colt lurched and vomited into the bush, everything from the granola bars to the moonshine were flushed out into that brush. The veteran could barely keep a breath during the whole thing, leaving her to gasp for lifegiving air once it was finally over. Spitting into the grass, she looked at the ruined bush and, much to her relief, there was no sign of blood. Her ribs ached and every move released a sharp pain but nothing internal had been damaged, but her leg was her biggest concern. It was still bleeding. Not knowing what else to do, Colt scrambled to pull off her t-shirt and wrap it around the bleeding wound as tight as possible. Pressure, that was all she could do.

“At least,” she coughed and spat up more vomit as she growled at the dead Hazmat, “I’m alive!” She finished before pulling herself back towards her position. She had to keep fighting. Pulling herself onto the rock, she aimed the M4 once again and tried to continue. Her breathing was laboured and pounding in her ears caused a headache to race and everything to become blurry. Sweat trickled down her face as she fought those instincts to retreat and hide. She could not do that. If she was going to go out. She was going out with a bang. If she could stop more death with her own, she would die happy.

Mentions: The Mad Queen Togy King Vioogra Hyped_Taco Brax
Interactions: Maj

 

[The Mad Queen]

Seeing a rifle trained on her position Jenna dived for cover as two bullets whizzed over her head, taking chunks out of the tree. At least one of the yellow-clad Fascists had listened to her and she was now drawing him away from the lodge. She knew the moment she stood up she was dead, but just crawling off into the woods would be too slow.
Her saving grace came when she spotted a rock and, after counting to three she tossed it into the woods. Counting to ten she stood to her feet and dashed through the woods, looking back over her shoulder to spot the hazmat.
But he spotted her, and once more Jenna found herself diving for cover as she tried to get behind a tree. The bullet tore through her hair this time, missing her left cheek by mere centimetres.
"Step out! I know you're there!"
"Yeah you'd like that wouldn't you, you murdering prick! Would shooting me make you ha..."

The girl was cut off as a sudden pain rushed through her. It felt like her left arm had burst into flames and so Jenna looked down to see that a bullet had found it's way into just above her left elbow. The many layers of clothes she was wearing had helped a little, but it wasn't like it would have ever stopped a bullet. Yelling in pain, she fell onto her side while clutching the wound.
Lying on her belly, she returned fire, striking the mercenary in the shoulder and causing him to miss his next shot. One, no doubt was aimed for Jenna's head. She rolled to the right, watching as the mercenary returned fire while moving for cover behind a tree himself. A shot went through her left shoulder and once more the girl yelled in pain.

She fired once more, almost hitting him in the knee but just grazing the mercenary instead. He had barely reacted to the shot to the shoulder outside of a slight grunt but the kneeshot found him yelling in pain and then turning his rifle at Jenna, blindly firing out of anger towards the streamer.
It at least worked in her favour, for she was able to dive behind the tree and although a few bullets came close she kept her arms and legs tightly locked, leaving very little to target.

His rage may have been the only thing that kept her alive, and it wasn't long before the bullets stopped firing. With her head half-buried in the snow Jenna looked up. Was he holding fire, or moving position to find her? Poking her head out to look was just asking for a bullet, so instead she stuck part of her right leg out. Nothing.

Poking her head out next she watched as the mercenary was putting another clip into his rifle. Seeing her chance she dashed out from behind the tree and fired. Only to hear her own gun click.
"Bollocks." Not sure on what to do, she tossed the gun towards the mercenary and dashed towards him, yelling all the way. He spotted her instantly, and instead reached for his sidearm but Jenna's handgun struck him in the head, buying her at least a few seconds and allowing her to get close, tackling him.

Arms around his waist she thrusted his back into a tree, striking the back of his head against it. It didn't last long as the mercenary quickly threw her off. She almost fell to the ground but steadied herself. She'd been in fights before, and balance was key to not getting knocked on your arse. However, he was quick and managed to load the clip into his rifle.
Before he could pull the trigger Jenna was on top of him once more, her hands around the gun. The strap of it was still over the mercenary, his hands gripped tightly around the trigger.

Forcing the gun upwards the trigger went off, firing into the branches of the trees and causing some leftover snow to fall to the ground. Jenna tried to kick the man in his grazed knee but he was a professional, easily able to see the attack coming and so drew back. She almost lost her balance more more as he pulled the gun back but Jenna held on, the clip emptying as it continued to fire into the trees above.
After both heard the gun click, Jenna quickly let go, causing him to stumble forwards and straight into her fist. Striking him in the face did little more can hurt her knuckles due to the mask but it bought her time.

She reached for his sidearm next but he saw that coming too, grabbing her wrist and twisting it. A jolt of pain shot through her and Jenna followed it up by headbutting the mercenary. She felt blood leak from her nose but once more she'd bought herself time.
Not a lot it seemed as he just followed this up with a punch to her throat. Having the air knocked out of her, Jenna stumbled back but quickly regained her composure.

There was no way she was going to die here, she told herself right as she drew her axe. He had his sidearm drawn but right before a shot could ring out, ending the streamer the axe impacted against his wrist. A yell of pain escaped from under his mask as Jenna struck him again, showing bone now. With his focus on his hand, now hanging half-off of his wrist she grabbed the rifle and pulled.
"You're going to die for that!" He screamed, clutching his wrist
"You were going to kill me anyway!"

The strap was still locked around him, so for as much as Jenna could pull at the gun there was no way to wrestle it from him outright. Instead, she brought the axe down on the strap and severed it with a powerful swing. She followed this up by striking him in the face with the butt of the gun. He stumbled back but Jenna had been too focused.
She'd made a mistake.
With his remaining hand, he reached for his sidearm but right before he could put a bullet through her skull, Jenna lunged forwards, axe at the ready and plunged it directly into his neck.

It was one move, made on instinct but that was all it took. He fell, his yellow suit and neck coated in blood while he clutched as his wound with his remaining hand. Jenna knelt down, trying to cover it.
"Oh Christ!" She cried "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

If he had anything to say, any final curses or pleas they were choked out "Hold on. Please hold on."

She couldn't move him, and this was outside of what she knew. All Jenna could do was hold his hand as he choked his last few breaths. She'd put down animals, felt life slip away before but there was something different about this. It wasn't mercy, this was something else.
There was little time for reflection as the mercenary quickly shot up, growing as it clutched Jenna's hand and tried to pull it towards his mouth. The mask protected her, buying the girl time to plunge the axe through the skull.

Given the mask, it took two swings but she didn't stop there, bringing it down again and again and again until his face was little more than mush.
"I'm sorry." She muttered, leaning against a tree, running now bloodstained hands through her hair "I'm sorry."

 

[BloodLightning27]

Brian Rousseau and Shinoa Bradford​

After the Lodge was tear-gassed, numerous things transpired. It got extremely chaotic to say the least. During the process, both Brian and Shinoa were separated from the rest of the group, having ended up running into the woods. The Hazmats were really going out their way to get everyone. Did they know that he was with them? While attempting to make his way back, Brian ran into Shinoa and baby Valerie. By this time, Brian no longer had his rifle, having dropped it on the patio after the lodge got teargassed. It all happened so fast, but he was glad that he ran into someone from the lodge instead of one of the Hazmats. He breathed a sigh of relief. "God, it all happened so fast back there. How did you end up all the way out here?" He asked.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing." Shinoa replied, holding Valerie close.

Thankfully for the both of them, Valerie was peacefully sleeping, all cozy and bundled up. Brian frowned when he noticed that Shinoa was still in her robe and pajamas. Since she needed it more then him, he decided to give her his blazer to help keep her warm in this weather. Besides, he could use the cool breeze. Briefly, he took off his Wrist Blade so that he could unbutton and raise his sleeves, even adjust his shoulder holster that housed his side-arm, the only other gun he had left. Having only two magazines left, he had to make every shot count, like he had with the rifle. Shinoa happily accepted the blazer, though it did feel kinda weird since it was tailored specifically for Brian. "Here, it'll keep you warm. You'll need it more then I will. I'm sure the little one will appreciate it too."

Shinoa nodded in agreement as she cradled Valerie close. "What about you?"

"I'll be fine. I've been in worse." He answered nonchalantly.

Finally, the two started walking back towards the lodge. It had gotten awfully quiet. The gunfire, the shouting, it all just stopped... This left the duo troubled. Hiding behind trees, they began making their way back. It would seem that the Hazmats had the upper hand and they had the old man hostage. Shinoa tried not to cry or anything as she remained hidden in the trees, keeping Valerie close, while Brian crept closer. The old man was badly beaten. But it would seem that most of the lodge dwellers had made it back into the lodge itself. As he scanned the area, it was littered with shell-casings, broken glass and corpses of fallen Hazmat Soldiers. While in separate locations, Brian and Shinoa watched in horror and disbelief as Ray was shot dead. She turned away and held her daughter close, tears welling in her eyes and she began to weep silently...

Brian on the other hand, felt a tear rolled down his cheek. To see someone stoop so low, to do something so inhumane, he felt his spirit get crushed. He began rethinking on his career. All the things that he has done, the people he killed. He sighed quietly, not wanting to attract any attention. Sure, he didn't know Ray, but he was an old man, what harm could he have done? The Hazmats have reached the point of no return. Rather then rethinking on that escape, Brian had a better plan: Kill them. Every last one of them! The Hazmats weren't going to be leaving Aurora alive. The story would be told. It was all going to be exposed. Every major news network was going to get a piece of it. America was going to get the truth. The WORLD was going to get the truth. He wasn't going to get a noble ending. He was no hero. The world is no place for a trained killer like him...But if he was going to die, it was going to be for a good reason. As he clenched his fists, he crept even closer.

But before he could do anything, gunfire and shouting rang out again and the situation once more fell into chaos. Brian continued to scan the area before drawing his handgun. In the distance, he saw one hazmat get shot. But closest to him, he saw that Andy was pinned down by a Hazmat. If he didn't act immediately, she would surely die. They had already lost Ray. With rage manifesting within him, Brian stared at the Hazmat that had Andy pinned down. Before he could do anything though, Luca came to her aid and he heard Colt shouting. With the Hazmats distracted, Brian smiled and drew his handgun...



"You guys want a war...okay." He said coldly, still smiling.

Taking a deep breath, he rushed in guns blazing. Some of the Hazmat Soldiers turned to him. While a few of them were still attempting to raise their weapons, Brian fired the first five shots. Two of them were headshots and he saw blood splatter within the suits. The other three were simple body shots, but he could hear the unmistakable sound of the suits being punctured. Now that he was within close range, one of the Hazmats tried to grab him, but Brian responded by ducking and elbowing him in the groin. With his attacker being stunned, he continued to open fire with his handgun on a few more. No headshots this time, but he scraped one in the arm before hitting another three times in the chest, but the rest were stray bullets that hit the nearby trees. His gun locked empty and a bullet scraped his neck. As long as he wasn't shot in the face, he didn't really care. Another grazed his arm, but he refused to give up. Without a chance to reload, he readied his write blade and attacked the Hazmat closest to him, going for the heart since he wasn't able to stab him in the throat or face due to the Hazmat Helmet. Another one tried to secure him with a choke-hold, but Brian stomped on his foot and punched the helmet as hard as he possibly could. He then felt a sharp pain in his leg and looked down to see a combat knife stuck into it. Now he was grappling with two Hazmats. A third came and readied his rifle and aimed directly at Brian's head. "Say good night, pretty boy..."

"FUCK YOU!" Brian shouted as he narrowly dodged a point-blank bullet.

It then ended up grazing the side of his neck. "Lucky you didn't shoot my face, asshole!" He yelled before stabbing one Hazmat again and then elbowing another in the face, prompting him to let go of his knife. Brian took advantage of this and yanked it out of his leg. "MOTHERFUCKER!"

Really, that hurt like a bitch... With the knife in one hand and his wrist blade in the other, Brian lunged at the one with the Rifle, tackling him to the ground and plunging the knife straight into the heart at least three or four times before going for the Rifle and turning to shoot the remaining two Hazmats that were trying to kill him. Again while they were not kill shots, he wounded both of them enough. Throwing the Assault Rifle away, he grabbed his handgun and reloaded. Second to last mag... Before he could continue limping away, Shinoa emerged from the trees, cradling her baby. "Hey, you're...you're hurt. Take it easy."

"I'll be fine..." He spat out blood onto the snow before nearly falling over, though Shinoa caught him and gave him time to regain his balance, before reluctantly accepting her support to stand and he placed his arm around her and she grabbed his wrist to secure it, granted it was difficult since she had a sleeping infant in her other arm.

Together, Shinoa helped an exhausted and injured Brian walk towards the lodge, hoping that the Hazmats were finished...

 

[Togy]

“Nile! Back out here! We aren’t done until they’ve all paid!”

Nile groaned. He was really looking forward to just sitting back in the Lodge the rest of the battle, but seems like Billie-Joe had other plans in mind. That crazy bitch would probably flay him alive if he didn't help, so he decided he'd rather take his chances with the Hazzies.

Running out of the lodge, he quickly skirted where him, Lily, and Jimony had run through. Spotting the Hazzie that Luca had killed, he saw their assault rifle just lying on the ground. Quickly picking it up, he switched it to Semi-automatic and held it at the ready. It'd probably be the same as a single-fire rifle like this. Probably. Maybe. Shit if he knows really.

Quickly making it back to his patch of rocks from before with only a few stray bullets having nearly killed him, he ducked down and looked around. Only for a burst of rifle rounds to impact his rock. Looking over the rocks, he saw the same Hazzie he'd shot in the shoulder before aiming right at the rocks. Quickly ducking his head as another volley of lead came his way, Nile screamed "For Christ's sake! Stop shooting my goddamn rock! Just give up you yellow onesie asshole!". Another round of bullets.

"Oh my god, why has nobody killed that guy yet?" Nile muttered as he crawled away from the rocks, the idiot cutthroat still firing at it.

Courtney sounds like a good person to hole up with if you get past the death threats Nile thought as he crawled towards Cassandra's position. He'd have chosen to stick with Rasputin, but he had no idea where that guy was.

When Nile finally reached Cadence, he said "Hey Captain Hook, Mind if I stay he-What the hell happened to your leg? The fleshy one I mean". Nile stared at the bulletwound in her leg, which he found pretty freaking gross. Least it wasn't two bullet wounds Like that other guy.

At this point, Colt had already accepted that she was not going to get out of this. She had to back down. With a groan, she pulled herself behind cover, rolling onto her back. Her chest heaved with every painful breath and the throbbing agony in her wound only made her mind stay back in Afghan rather than here.

As Nile's voice rang through, questioning about her leg, Colt fought the overwhelming urge to strike him with the broken prosthetic lying next to her. The veteran snarled with clenched eyes at the pain before she could answer.

"Boy, do you... fucking have eyes?!" She growled with strained breaths. One glance at her t-shirt wrapped around her calf, which would have no business being there other to apply pressure would explain it all. Everything was becoming blurry as her adrenaline that had once been pumping had begun to crash and burn, "Fuckin' Hazmat..."

"Boy? Dude, I'm 32" Nile muttered as he crouched down and looked over the wound. Well, looks like she was screwed. Really nothing he could do for her, he should just be on his merry way in case other Hazzies came to finish the job.

But for some inexplicable reason, he didn't, and he instead found himself scooping her up. "Well Cabell, looks like I gotta get your ass back to Liliana ASAP" Nile said as he lifted her off the ground, not caring for her reaction.

Colt yowled in pain at being lifted but did not have the physical or emotional strength to argue. If she stayed there, the veteran would have been a sitting duck to any bastard who would love the opportunities that would accompany someone who could not escape. Her head flopped back, her tired eyes looking towards the canopy of the forest. The clouds were light and grey. Looked like it may snow. Everything became fuzzy and sound muffled.

"Good... good..."

"I expect a thank you after this. A big one" Nile said as he began to jog through the forest with Colt. Grunting at the effort of holding up Colt, Nile looked down at her. "You know, I'd think with you missing a leg and all, that you'd be pretty light. But the amount of effort I'm putting into holding you says otherwise" Nile said, deciding to default to his favorite hobby to get his mind off things. AKA, making fun of people.

Wishing his lucky stars that no Hazzie was aiming down their sights at him while he was defenseless, Nile made his way through the woods. In no time, with no less than three near deaths due to stray bullets, he'd made it to the lodge. Managing to open the door with his elbow, he quickly made his way inside and carried Colt to Layla. "Hey, your friend might lose another leg" Nile said simply as he laid Colt down.

Colt could barely keep a thought in her head or absorb what was being said by the ex-convict. No doubt it was some bullshit jokes about her missing limb. Despite her weakened state, she still flailed a hand in an attempt to protest. She just wanted to sleep. Everything felt so heavy. She did not even acknowledge being set down, or who she was with.

Interactions: Rumble Fish (Colt) FireMaiden (Leli)
Mentions: King Vioogra (Ivan) The Mad Queen (Jenna)

 

[The Mad Queen]

She couldn't even look at the corpse, the mercenary's body lay lifeless, his face smashed in and in a pool of blood. Her head turned away and her back against a tree, Jenna stared deeply into the forest. The truck wasn't too far from here. She could make it, taking the girls and Cammy and simply driving out. She'd picked up enough meds to do the three of them and she could treat the remaining injuries of Colt shooting someone, right?

Food? They could pick up more on the road. If the hazmats were focused on the lodge then maybe there was a position, a road just out of town that was a man down as a result of the large operation.
There had to be a chance.
The lodgers were dead, running straight into a meat grinder controlled by psychopaths.

Sure, keep calling him a psychopath. Anything to help yourself sleep better at night.

She refused to look at the body, grunting in pain as she pushed herself to her feet. Reaching down, she pocketed her own handgun and walked through the woods. She tried to turn away from the body, but her gaze was drawn towards it. If they were going to stand a chance at escaping Aurora they'd need firepower. With her head turned away from it's caved in face she tried to tie the strap of the rifle back together.
A jolt of pain shot through her left arm, from the shoulder all the way down to her elbow. It was a fire she couldn't put out, but she clenched her teeth and bared the pain. The sound of gunfire may have silenced her yells, but she wasn't about to take any chances.

Leaning down she instead used her teeth to secure the strap and remembered that the damn thing was empty. Cursing under her breath the girl slowly turned towards it. He had to be carrying spare clips, he just had to.

Two in total for the rifle, and one for his sidearm. She took great care not to stare at it's face when looting the body. Taking the sidearm in her right hand Jenna stood to her feet and started to walk deeper into the woods once more.
"Sorry Colt." She muttered to herself "But I'll make sure those bastards pay."

With Brian and Fisher dead it would be a lot more difficult, but she would fight regardless. Clutching her shoulder she moved deeper still, only to stop in her tracks as she came to a clearing. The truck was closer now, just a minute or two further in the woods but Jenna found herself stopping in her tracks.
What are you doing? You have an out for God's sake! Everybody's dead already. Or they will be soon enough.
Glancing towards the lodge she sighed heavily, but quickly spun around as she heard something move behind some bushes.

It was only Cammy, her tail wagging as the German Shepard stared over at Jenna.
"I thought I told you to stay with the truck."
She tilted her head to the side in response
"Fine."
You can't save them. You can't save anyone. Mum's right, she's always been right. You're bloody useless. Pathetic. A pathetic man is all you are. All you'll ever be.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Jenna spat, kicking some snow to the side and running her hands down her face, coating it slightly in the merc's blood. Yelling into her hands she turned on her heels and started to head back to the lodge. She broke into a run, the orchestra of war growing louder as the girl drew ever closer. Bolting for the treeline just before the lodge she took cover, ducking behind a rock. Cammy followed along, staring up at Jenna and waiting for a command.

If she couldn't save them, she could at least gather proper evidence to expose the mercs. She'd only learned to shoot a real gun a few days ago, not to mention the fact she was hopelessly outnumbered so she'd have to rely on a different kind of weapon.
Reaching for her smartphone Jenna moved her thumb to switch the thing on. A few videos and snapshots uploaded across the internet, backed by her testimony and that of the girls back in the truck might not have been as rock solid as Brian or Ralph but a few videos of the dead, of the town and as they made their escape might just do the trick.

Right before she switched her phone on she noticed Nile darting out of the lodge and for the first time since meeting the idiot she was actually glad to see him. He wasn't running for cover though, no instead she watched as the man picked up an injured Colt and carried her back into the lodge.
Almost on instinct she pocketed her phone and reached for the sidearm, laying down covering fire while the two made their way through the door. She used the rock to steady her aim, given the state of her left arm.

Then she watched Brian and Shiona make their way towards the building too, with the new mother still clutching her child. There wasn't a scratch on either of them, but Brian looked hurt. There was no way that ex-CIA bastard would have gone down without a fight.
Maybe they could do this. Maybe they'd only lose Ray.

There was only one way to find out.
"Alright. We're gonna run for the lodge. Stay with me, and if I go down just go in through the door. Got it." She whispered to the dog, staring deeply into her eyes.

Laying down some more fire towards the executioners Jenna made a break for the lodge. One shot almost struck her, but it was stopped as it struck the rifle over her back instead. Without it it would have been a clean shot just below her neck. In any other circumstances it would have filled the girl with relief, but she heard a yelp coming from by her side.

A patch of fur on Cammy's back was caked in blood, the dog's eyes fearful and pained. Locking eyes with the dog, Jenna grabbed her by the collar and dragged both of them inside, diving for cover as the sound of gunfire followed after them.

Interactions: Rumble Fish (Colt), Togy (Nile), FireMaiden (Leli)
Mentioned: BloodLightning27 (Brian/Shiona)

 

[Brax]

The door of the lodge swung open and Warren stepped in. Every huff of his breath could be felt and his hand still gripped the pistol like a vice. The lodge smelled of death and traces of smoke. People were moving around frantically, most of them looking like they'd seen better days. Somehow the hulk of a man was unscathed. He had been spending most of the past several minutes looking after Shinoa and taking cover from the barrage on their fortress. The Italian caught his eye and the man approached, "I saw one of your guys get executed out there.. Those fucks just keep coming." Warren paused before his eyes widened in realization, "Where's Tre? I lost the kid when all the shit was going down." His voice had a sense of urgency and worry, prodding Luca for an answer.

Luca’s brows furrowed when Warren had mentioned that someone at the lodge had been executed outside. Then he asked about Tre, which had prompted the Italian to stand up to his feet. With only a few inches between the two, Luca was forced to look up at his face. Warren was six inches taller, and had almost a hundred pounds on him if not more. Despite this, Luca didn’t face the man with fear. A moment of silence between the two was shared with a drag of his cigarette. The capo took the filter between his index and middle fingers before extending his hand out to Warren so he could take it. Bad news was always taken slightly better when Nicotine was involved. At least for Luca. He turned around and walked to the other side of the kitchen. Tre was on the ground, still unconscious. Luca looked at Warren once more before crouching slightly to check his pulse. The dread-headed teen was stabilized after Luca had brought him into the lodge but was still not out of the woods. Hector still needed to operate on him.

“Two bullet wounds, from what I saw. One was underneath a bulletproof vest he ripped off of a hazmat soldier. It was tied up, so Tre knew well enough to put pressure on it before he kept going. My guess is it shot clean through because he’s not dead yet. The second one hit him above the collarbone. I fished the bullet out close to ten minutes ago. This kid’s been shot over a dozen times, he’s not easy enough to do off by combat. Lord knows, me and his father found out the hard way. Regardless, Hector will get to work on him once Owen is cleared. We only have one surgeon and Owen started being worked on before Tre went down.”

Warren approached Luca as he knelt down, taking a knee alongside him. Tre looked worse than Warren had ever seen him on their little adventures. The little runt could take some hits and have no problem trucking on. These wounds were bad enough to down a grown man though. "Dammit kid.." Warren scanned his body for any other wounds, only finding the two that Luca pointed out and the shallow rise and fall of Tre's chest. His breaths were weak but the man knew the kid was fighting inside. "Little shit always runs off.. Here I am trying to protect these people I don't even know and I let the one I'm supposed to protect run off and get shot up. The thing is I pretty much told him this would happen before we came here.. fuck!" The man got up and slammed his fist into the side of the kitchen countertop in his rage, generating a dent in the wood. He looked over to Luca and took a drag from the cigarette, "He needs to be looked at now!"

Standing to his feet, Luca withdrew another cigarette from his pack. He walked over to the fridge and opened it up, revealing some scarce pickings. This included a lack of beer. Closing the door Luca quickly looked over to Hector. He studied the man, who had been battered and bruised. How long could he go before he himself needed medical attention? Surely he was the best suited for taking care of both Owen and Tre. There were other injuries that were piling up and needed tending to. Chances were that, given his resume, Warren knew a thing or two about dealing with firearm-related injuries. It was Luca’s time to bring order to the chaos.

“Warren, we don’t have the space or time to make a commotion. It’s not going to help Tre, nor Hector’s focus. Go into my room and grab a bottle of alcohol out of my dresser. It’s yours - consider it payment because we have a lot of work to do here. Come back and tend to the old man.” Luca continued, pausing only to take a drag of his newly-lit cigarette. “Hector, finish up with Owen and then move on to Tre. We will help tend to your injuries after that. Leliana will help Andrea out as best she can. Both myself and Warren will deal with George Clooney, Jenna, Colt, the cokehead and captain lardass. Let’s get moving, we have a lot of work to do and people to save. There are still others fighting outside.”

A bit of booze was what Warren needed right now. Inside, he was thankful for the offer from the Italian, but remained in his enraged state as he stormed up the stairs. The bottle was right where Luca had said it would be. He popped it open and took a heavy swig of it, exhaling in a sort of grunt before bringing it to his lips again. An examination of the label presented itself as some sort of whiskey that Warren surprisingly hadn't seen before. This would be the numbing agent he craved, although he tended to get angrier when drinking too much.

His footsteps could be heard across the house thumping down the staircase as he made his way out to Luca where Ralph lay. He popped open the bottle when he walked up beside Luca and took another drink. This was fucked. Tre's life now rested in the doctor's hands which comforted Warren a little, but he should be in there as well instead of helping this geezer. "I'm assuming this is the poor bastard that I'm supposed to assist."

The doc had just finished placing the last stitch into Owen before nodding to Luca's orders. "That was... the plan... anyway..." The hispanic got out between labored breaths. He didn't even bother to stand up and walk over, as he knew he would immediately pass out if he tried. So Hector grabbed his supplies, dragging himself and the bag over to where Tre was.

He lifted his now single-eyed gaze to Luca's and merely shook his head. "The boy will live…. but right now, I can't do…. much more than stitch the upper wound.... The other one still has the bullet inside... I can only monitor him... until… we have an opportunity to properly... treat him." Hector took that opportunity to wipe some of the blood off of his hands on to Luca's pants before getting to work on Tre's injuries.

The bridge of Luca’s nose twitched slightly as the man wiped his blood-stained hands across his legs, but Hector’s word was still law in this case. Luca knew that he was hurt and needed help just as much as the two people he had been forced to help save. Unfortunately, Hector could not be granted excuse from his duties even in the case of his own life. The Italian nodded to the man before lifting his sleeves up, running the water in the sink and washing his hands. Once that was finished, he removed the knife from his pocket and opened it up, sure to gather both hydrogen peroxide, gauze and bandaging tape. Then he made his way over to Jenna and kneeled beside her.

"Left shoulder..." He continued observing the girl, careful not to touch her. "... Elbow. Are these the only places you were hit?"

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