The Fugitive

[Quilboarian]

Several hours have passed since you murdered the investigator who was about to arrest your friend Emily, after discovering her forged passport. Though you and Emily escaped being arrested by him, your crime did not go unnoticed. Throughout the town of Coldton, sirens blare and helicopters buzz about in the dark sky. A manhunt is underway for you both; your identities are known and you've been declared as murderers.


You're only out of sight for now. Both of you are out of breath from running, and you've found temporary cover by hiding behind one of the large, brick apartment buildings of this block. Nothing's around, save for a few dumpsters, and the nearby chainlink fence which separates the block from a slope leading down to a canal.

 

[Z0rr0w]

"I really didn't mean for things to end up like this," I say to Emily as I lean up against the back wall of the apartment. And here I thought that, for once, I'd be able to sleep peacefully for a night. No rest for the wicked. I took a look around the general area, eventually setting my eyes upon the fence.


"There," I say, pointing to the fence, "come on, we need to get going, they'll find us if we stay out here." With that, I get up and walk over to the fence as I attempt to climb up and drop down on the other side of it.

 

[Quilboarian]

[in OOC Chat, I have your inventory.]


Emily leans next to you, nodding as she catches her breath as well. "It's all good," she says, between breaths. "Things are just deciding to go wrong- it's not your fault." Following along, Emily climbs over the fence and lands next to you on the other side. The water of the canal is clouded with slimy, puke-green algae and dotted by pieces of garbage. Thankfully, a large plank has been already set up as a walkway from one side to another.


On the other side of the canal, another fence (no barbed wire) is present, in front of what appears to be some kind of industrial yard. If you were to go down the canal and follow it, you'd see that passage is blocked by a metal grate on one end. In the other direction, it leads around a corner.

 

[Z0rr0w]

[danke]


"No sense in straying off the path," I mutter. Taking my chances in an industrial yard is my best option. Of course, there could always be less-than-likable people hiding out there. Drawing my revolver, I beckoned for Emily to follow me as I navigated across the plank and headed into the industrial yard up ahead.

 

[Quilboarian]

Emily tenses up a bit as you draw your revolver, and she looks around. You both make your way across the plank, then head up the concrete slope to the fence on the other side of the canal, both getting a closer look at the industrial yard. Visible behind the industrial site, there are a few taller apartment buildings which are seen. It seems that if you were to exit through the parking lot, it would lead out to another street.


It appears that nobody is present in the area, and the entrances to the building have been closed.

 

[Z0rr0w]

I briefly contemplate breaking into one of the buildings and hiding out until the search dies down. Knowing my luck, Emily and I would probably get caught before they stopped searching. I decided getting out of Coldton as soon as possible would be the best option for us.


"No time to rest, we need to keep going until we're out of this place," I say to Emily as I head out of the parking lot and into the street, keeping my gun at the ready as I do.

 

[Quilboarian]

You and Emily go to make your way out to the street, but you both stop upon seeing the lighting of a police cruiser as you're about go around the corner. Its sirens are off, but it keeps its red and blue lights flashing. Eventually, you hear it make a turn, and the lights become no longer visible as it drives away to some other location.

 

[Z0rr0w]

I wait for a few seconds, just in case, then peek around the corner to make sure that the cruiser has truly left the area. Upon confirming this, I bring my attention to Emily.


"Looks clear, come on," I say as I turn the corner and move at a steady but quick pace, trying to find a way out of the city.

 

[Quilboarian]

"Yeah, yeah- I'm comin'," she tells you as she quickly falls in behind you. Thankfully, the street seems devoid of human life, due to this part of town being placed under lockdown. Though, citizens' eyes could easily fall upon you both from the windows of the apartment buildings and old stores.


You know the town well enough to know that if you go straight forwards and follow the street, you can turn to the left upon reaching a small playground, and then follow the road to an exit across the train tracks and into the woods. Though, the last time you were in that area, there was a small National Guard checkpoint that needed to be passed through in order to use the road to exit town.

 

[Z0rr0w]

"There's going to be a checkpoint up ahead," I tell Emily as I start following the street with the intent of heading towards that guard checkpoint.


"They probably know who we are by now. Hopefully, we can sneak by them. Of course, if that fails, we've got plan B," I say, holding up my gun and continuing on my way.

 

[Quilboarian]

Emily nods, gulping from nervousness. You both follow the aforementioned route, and soon the checkpoint is in sight. The boom barriers have been opened, considering no train is coming, and they're not stopping cars for the checkpoint searches either, apprently. Across the tracks, you see the small checkpoint office to your right (picture left).


Nobody seems to even be outside at the moment, but there are lights on inside the checkpoint building. In sight, there is a sign which reads "LEVEL CROSSING/CHECKPOINT AHEAD".

*You're back there on the street. Further down the road, it leads to the woods.

 

[Z0rr0w]

"Nobody's here, we need to be quick so nobody can spot us," I say as I take Emily's hand and start sprinting with her past the checkpoint, not stopping until I make it into the woods and away from the checkpoint.

 

[Quilboarian]

You and Emily rush past the checkpoint, passing the boom barriers and the outpost building. Though, behind you, a national guard stumbles outside of the outpost building, apparently having spotted you. He's barely wearing any of his on-duty clothing. No helmet. T-shirt. Though, he is carrying a semiautomatic pistol. With a "Holy fucking shit, it's them!" he starts popping at you, and a round smacks the asphalt nearby.

 

[Z0rr0w]

"Fuck!" I curse as I let go of Emily's hand and point my gun at the man. This was the last thing I needed, and those gunshots would probably attract more guards I don't want to deal with right now. I hope it won't get any worse than this.


"Keep running!" I shout to Emily as I fire three shots at the guard, all aimed at his helmet-less head.

 

[Quilboarian]

Emily jumps in fright from the shots fired by the soldier- and starts to make a run for it as you empty three chambers of your revolver at him. You fail to hit the soldier in the head, but regardless, your repeated shooting at him causes him to go for cover and cease the attack. Another national guardsman wearing a patrol cap and green fatigues rushes out of the building, toting a rifle with wooden furniture. The two soldiers nearly run into each other, and afterwards, they start yelling at each other.


"Shit- it's them, they're there!"


"I told you they'd-"


"Gah, get down!"





They dash off in an attempt to re-enter the outpost building, since it's the only real source of cover.

 

[Z0rr0w]

I fired off another short, this time aimed at the building, with intent of just scaring the men who've gone in there. Immediately afterwards, I turn and started running after Emily, hoping to follow her into the woods and find a place to hide out for awhile.

 

[Quilboarian]

Firing another shot, you hear glass break and continued shouting as they disappear into the building. It may be safe to say that they're pinned down for a moment. Emily moves off the road and heads into the trees, looking over her shoulder to make sure you've followed. Another gunshot rings out and cuts into a nearby tree, but you're lucky enough to avoid any harmful splinters.


You both run down a small slope as you go deeper into the forest, leaving the road above. Emily slows down a bit, beginning to pant. "Oh man, oh jeeze...Are you okay?"

 

[Z0rr0w]

"Y-yeah," I stammer as I stop to catch my breath. There's a chance those guys will be able to track us down here. Had to be some way to throw them off, no sense in risking them following us. After a few quick moments of thinking, I grab Emily's hand.


"Hold still," I say, as I take out my switchblade and attempt to cut a few pieces of her shirt sleeve off. I could put make a short trail with these back on the road to lead those guards in another direction.

 

[Quilboarian]

"Um. What're you doing?" Emily asks you, clearly bemused. She holds still, though, and you cut off a few bits of her shirt. Thankfully, Emily is not wearing green clothing at the moment, so the strips of fabric should stand out among the leaves of the trees, should you decide to create the fake trail by putting the strips there.

 

[Z0rr0w]

"Masking our trail," I say to Emily, "wait here."


With my few strips of fabric, I head up to the road and quickly lay them down, making a short trail leading away from the slope. Afterwards, I quickly head back down the slope and lie down on my belly, signalling for Emily to do the same. With that, I wait to see if the men fall for the trick I've set up.

 

[Quilboarian]

After you've created the false trail, you both lie down in wait for the soldiers to show up and investigate. However, several minutes pass and nobody shows up. "What're we doing...? Let's keep moving," Emily tells you, shifting uncomfortably.

 

[Z0rr0w]

Guess they didn't want to follow us.


"Just wanted to see if they were interested in following us," I whisper, "let's get going,"


I slowly get up and brush myself off, before beckoning for Emily to follow me as I start heading deeper into the woods.

 

[Quilboarian]

You head deeper into the woods with your companion, while the national guards presumably remain behind to call for backup or something. You keep running for some time, heading deeper and deeper into the forest. Eventually, you and Emily come across a small clearing in the woods, wher Emily gheos over to lean against a tree and pant heavily. "Can we rest here?" she asks you.

 

[Z0rr0w]

"Just for awhile," I say, looking around the clearing nervously, before sitting down with my back against a tree and dropping my gun onto my lap.


"Do you have any idea where we are?" I ask Emily as I start to catch my breath. With a few deep breaths taken in, I pick my gun back up off my lap and start reloading it.

 

[Quilboarian]

You swing open the cylinder of your revolver and slide in four new shells after emptying the spent chambers. Emily looks over at you as she catches her breath. "Just...the woods," she shrugs. "It might be better out here for now, since it should be harder for them to find us. But...I'm no survival expert," she says. "I don't know if we'd last out in the forest."