The War (DergTheDergon x Myla)

[DergTheDergon]

What was once a bustling metropolis is now a living hell. Gunfire rings out at almost all hours, the scents of smoke and death are ever-present, and screams of soldiers and civilians alike are heard very frequently. This unfortunate city has become a battleground for the world war, like as many others. The most devastating war in human history has broken out, and this once-pristine city is quickly being reduced to rubble.


Among the carnage, a special forces unit stalks through a ruined building, looking for signs of the enemy. Among the soldiers is Sasha, a lean, 25 year old woman of asain descent. Taking cover behind a half-collapsed wall, Sasha loks through the scope of her smg. A sniper bullet rings out from somewhere unseen, whizzing past her head... right in to the skull of her Squad leader. She could do nothing but watch in horror for a second, before she was snapped out of it by enemy automatic fire. She was able to gun down of the the enemies before she's shot in the leg by assualt rifle fire from her left flank. She yelps in pain, and hears her comrades'scream as they die all around her. A rush of adrenaline kicks in and the next few seconds are a blur... she is able to kill or gravely injure the remaining enemy squad members, before sinking with her back against the wall, clutching her right side which was also hit. She falls unconscious due to bleeding.


@Myla

 

[Myla]

A lone shabby structure stood on the dirt alone covered in ashes and blood from the both allies and enemies. The structure looked to be part of an old house, with the top covered in fire residue and broken glass scattered around the area. The inside was pretty bare since it pretty match much only contained a worn down couch with rips across it; a small hand-radio with a backpack containing Dexter's things on the floor near the couch; in basement, a full-size bed that creaked every time you laid down on it; a small bathroom; and a crock pot settled on top of a wooden table with two plastic chairs next to it. Otherwise, there was nothing else, it seems like all the other furniture was destroyed from the war.


This was where Dexter lived. Dexter was a pretty tall man that had a few scars across his back and chest from having to fight his way through the streets to stay alive. His original home was taken over by the enemies, so he had to find another one. With no friends or family left, he was practically alone. He spent days sleeping on the streets hidden before he wonder across this place. There's been a few close calls where the enemies almost caught him there, but he hid in the well-hidden basement til he was sure the soldiers left.


Dexter could hear all the bullets swishing through the air and soldiers screaming in pain every time a bullet pierced them. He stayed in the basement for a few hours until the gunfire could not be heard anymore. Once the gunfire ceased, he comes out the basement cautiously and looks out the window. The battle in that area was done, but he knew he still had to be cautious since the war was still definitely going on. He walks out the building looking for any live bodies. As he walked through he nudge some of the people with his battered converses, but so far, not one soul was alive. Well, that was until his found the lean women against the wall bleeding out from her leg unconscious. Dexter could automatically tell she was from a special force unit because of the uniform. He puts two fingers against her neck feeling the light pulse thump against his fingers lightly and sees that she's still breathing and whispers to himself, "Thank God." He picks her up and starts sprinting back towards the building.


Once he gets to the building, Dexter goes into the basement and lays her down on the creaking bed. He gets one of his shirts crumbled away on the floor and rips it into two parts. He ties one part of it around her leg to stop the bleeding for now. He goes back upstairs getting water, something to clean the wound, something to take the bullet out, and something to close the wound. As he does this, he thinks to himself, Thank god for those few medical classes I was able to take before the war started, but I need to hurry, she's bleeding out.


@DergTheDergon

 

[DergTheDergon]

Sasha's eyes slowly opened, looking around in confusing. What... did I... survive? Where am i?" She looked down and saw a piece of cloth over her leg. Someone... saved me... but who? Who'd be reckless enough to pull someone out of an active warzone? She looked around, and didn't see her submachine gun. It must have been left behind. Thankfully, she still had her pistol and 3 full magazines, and her combat knife.She looked to be in some sort of basement, which she supposed would be one of the safest places around here. As she steadily regained consciousness, the pain in her leg became more prominent. it was obvious trying to stand was a bad idea. She started to hear a door open, and then footsteps... someone was coming. Sasha's right hand instinctively moved to the grip of her pistol as she started to see a figure move down the stairs. She weakly calls out to the man. "Where... where am i? How did you find me?"

 

[Myla]

As Dexter walks down the steps with the stuff in his hands, he presses his lips together when he sees the pistol, "You're in my make shift home. I found you earlier unconscious by the building, bleeding to death when I went to see if there was any survivors." He approaches her slowly and pushes her gun away slowly meaning no harm, "Put the gun away, if I wanted you dead, then I would've left you there to die." As he talks, Dexter kneels next to her and starts taking the cloth off the wound.


He looks at her wound as he frowns, "I'm going to have to clean and somehow manage take the bullet out, but I'm not going to lie, it's going to hurt." He begins to wipe the blood off her leg, but doesn't touch the wound quite yet."We can't stay here for long, but I do know another safe house we could go to." A ghost of a smile appears on his face, "I guess you could say it's another one of my make-shift houses." However, it left as quickly as it came. Dexter looks back up at her again, "We'll head out tomorrow. We can't today you already lost too much blood and we are going to need to find a car around here because it's going to be difficult for you to get on that leg again, but don't worry about that, I will take of that issue."

 

[DergTheDergon]

Sasha slowly moved her hand off of the gun, letting it slide back into its holster. There was no way in hell this man could mean ill will... he seemed to understand full well that he was risking his life by carrying an unconscious soldier through a warzone. Most enemy soldiers would have no qualms with gunning him down for that. Sasha inhales sharply as the man begins to take the cloth off the wound, and she sees it in gruesome detail, making it seem to hurt even more. When he warms her about the wound, she sighs. "Alright, just get it over with." The words were said almost confidently, as she has been though this sort of pain many times before. it certainly wouldn't be pleasant, but it was necessary. She nodded in understanding when he explained they'd be heading out tomorrow. "Alright... we do need to keep moving if we want to survive this, that's for sure. I... I guess I should warn you though..." She looks down, not exactly wanted to say what she was going to say but feeling it's necessary. "I'm a high priority target, because of my uniform. You're risking your life by helping me... thank you, by the way."

 

[Myla]

Dexter looks at her uniform, "I have some clothes you could change into, but they're going to a bit big since they're mine. You could keep your uniform, but with a different outfit on, then we have less chances of getting attacked. The more we blend in with the homeless, the better. They don't pay much attention to the homeless. Warning: I'm gonna start cleaning the wound and take the bullet out. Please, don't hit or shoot me." Dexter starts cleaning the wound out and sees the bullet isn't too far in, "Here goes nothing." He starts trying to take the bullet out, wiping the blood off her leg a few times. He focuses on the bullet and after a few minutes he finally takes it out.

 

[DergTheDergon]

Sasha nodded as the man explained his plan of blending in with the homeless. "sounds like a plan.. a better one than continuing to wear this old thing, at least." She then nodded again, shutting her eyes tightly and dropping her hands to her sides as he gave a second warning. She winced in pain, taking sharp intakes of breath every time he got close to getting a hold of the bullet, and a sharp gasp when he finally got it out, resting her head against the wall and breathing heavily. Finally calming down, though still obviously in pain, her eyes watering a bit, she opened her eyes and looked to the man. "If we're going to be sticking together, we should probably know each other's names at least. mine's Sasha.Got any booze by the way? I'd really appreciate a drink right now."

 

[Myla]

Dexter looks up at Sasha and feels the stab of guilt seeing her in pain, but still introduces himself and answers her question, "Sorry about that and I'm Dexter. I do have booze, but don't get yourself drunk. I won't appreciate it." He looks at the wound, "I'm still not finish. Imma need to close the wound and and wrap it, but I'll grab you some booze before we do." He gets up wiping the blood on off his hands on the rag. Over the years Dexter has gotten used to the glory sight of blood, broken bones, body parts twisted at odd angles, amputated body parts, dead bodies, and so forth. It was kinda hard not to get use to seeing this if you lived in the exact middle of a battle ground. Seeing her blood wasn't much to him nor did it affect him, but kinda killed him is seeing her in pain. He may not know her, but he never liked seeing others in pain. But he does know that in this world, pain is requirement and a curse everyone had to carry whether it be mentally, emotionally or physically. No one is exempted from it and that includes the both of them. He walks upstairs and goes the scrabby, but somehow still use-able bathroom. Dexter washed the blood off his hands and goes back out into the kitchen grabbing the bottle of boose. Afterwards, he goes back downstairs handing her the boose bottle, "I hope this will work for now."

 

[DergTheDergon]

Sasha shook her head slightly at dexter's words, smiling just a little at his comment about getting drunk. "No need to apologize. If that bullet stayed there I'd probably be dead within days. And don't worry about that, I know my limits and I'm not stupid enough to go past them in such a dire situation..." She lowered her head suddenly, looking down with a saddened expression on her face. "Unlike corporal Tallow... that idiot got piss-drunk last night and now he's dead..." She sighed heavily, then watched as he went upstairs, trying her best to stay awake and not pass out from the pain. Thankfully grabbing the bottle, she looked at it and nodded in approval. She recognized the brand. She screwed the cap off and a took a sizeable swig, but just one, putting the bottle carefully on the ground afterwards. It was quite clear she was no stranger to drinking. "Yep, that'll do for now... god, I needed that..." She sighed again, then looked up towards Dexter. "Alright, let's get this over with." Closing up the wound will hurt quite a bit, but her pain was already numbed a bit due to the alcohol. Besides, she'd had to go through this kind of thing many times, and although she certainly didn't enjoy it, she could grin and bear it well enough. it was necessary for survival anyway.

 

[Myla]

Dexter shakes his head sitting in front of Sasha again, "I could understand why he would drink the night before." Dexter wipes her leg once more and then starts stitching, "The way I see is that the man is going out to war the day the next day and every time you guys head out, it's a suicide mission. You can't look back , but you can't look forward too much. You look back, you see the loved ones you left behind and the memories you once cherished. You look forward too much and you become even more fearful of what your future holds." Dexter shrugs focusing on the wound adding in more stitches as gently as he could, "Sometimes, for others being piss-drunk is all they could do to live in the moment and not look back or foward." Dexter pauses for a moment, "Well, at least, that's how my father explained to me once..." He finishes stitching her leg and starts bandaging the wound. Once he finishes, Dexter looks up at her and says, "Finished."

 

[DergTheDergon]

Sasha listens to Dexter's words carefully, a thoughtful lok on her face interrupted every now again by wincing in pain. ""Yeah, I suppose that makes sense... it's pretty hard to think too much when your drunk out of your- ouch! O-out of your mind." She paused for a bit to regain her bearings, then continued. "The way i see it, being forced to fight in this damned war, you've got three things to protect every second of every day: your own life, your comrade's lives, and the ideals you're fighting for... that just becomes more difficult if you intoxicate your brains out, y'know? I've found that if I focus on protecting those things, keep my mind on what I've got to do to protect them, it's not that hard not to look back or forward." At about this time, Dexter looked up and told her it was finished. She looked down at her wound and gave an impressed nod. "Good work, it'll heal up in a couple days now, thanks to that... you would've made a good medic if you joined the army."

 

[Myla]

Dexter shrugs, "Well, it's different for everyone I guess. Everyone handles their situations in a different way." He shakes his head," I mean, just look at me for example. I go from place to place carrying an old, worn-down, god-awful, black bag. I never stick to one place and nor do I ever stick around long enough to make friends. Everything I need I carry in one bag and I eat just about anything to just get by. And how do I handle my situation?" He snorts after he pauses for a second, "I listen to an antique radio each night hoping to listen for at least a little bit of good news from the static, crackling, voice that comes through each day night." Dexter shakes his head, "But that's besides the point. What I just mean is that everyone handles it in a different way, some different than others." He looks at her wound, "And by the way, no..." He sucks in a breath of air and let's it out slowly, "I wouldn't have made a good medic in the Army. I can't even shoot a god damn gun correctly, if I wanted to. I wouldn't have been able to fight back. The only fighting style I know is hand-to-hand combat and to be honest, that won't do much when one is up against a sniper." Dexter frowns, "Besides, I wouldn't have been able to tell which team is which and whose flag is whose. I'm color blind. It wouldn't have worked out well in the battle field." He becomes silent, but then stands up from his position tensely and awkwardly scratching at the back of his neck, "I'll.. go get you some clean clothes..." He starts going up the stairs, "I'll be back."

 

[DergTheDergon]

Sasha listened as Dexter spoke, nodding in understanding, an empathetic look in her eyes. The way he had to live because of soldiers like her seemed miserable... "Yeah, yeah i guess so.." There was a brief silence before he spoke up again. Sasha sighed, a bit guilty that her intended compliment just seemed to upset him. Oh, i see... well, regardless of all that you still saved my ass." She smiled ever so slightly, but it didn't seem to do much good. She nodded as he exited the room, then leaned farther back against the wall, sighing.


"What the hell am I going to do now?" She found herself muttering those words under her breath, looking around the dank, desolate basement she found herself in. Her squad was gone... she'd radio for reinforcements, but it'd have to be authorized by her dead commander. "Goddamn this pointless war..." It's funny she found herself saying that now, as when she'd been sent out she had that sense of pride most soldiers do that she was doing the right thing for her country... it just didn't seem worth the bloodshed it had caused already, with no end in sight.


She supposed the only option she had now was sticking with Dexter. she did owe him her life after all, and with thier skills combined they'd both have a better chance of surviving. She did wonder why he was foolhardy enough to carry an unconscious high-priority target through a warzone... maybe he had a similar sympathy for the suffering that she did... he did seem to have that sort of vibe to him. Sasha had no idea what she was going to do in the long term... guess she'd just have to figure that out later, if they even survive in the short term. her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down into the basement once again.

 

[Myla]

Dexter pulls out a clean cotton shirt out of his bag and a pair of grey sweat pants. He knew that it would be big on her, but it didn't matter as long as the clothes were clean and that it was something different than her uniform. As he takes the clothes, he thinks to himself, Why on earth would I tell her I'm colorblind.. I barely know her. He runs his hand through his hair, Oh well.. It's too late to go back, what's done is done. Dexter stands up going back down to the basement, "Here's some clothes, they may be big, but it's what we are working with for now." He sheepishly smiles a little, "Sorry."


He looks at her, "If you want you could rest up a bit and while you're sleeping I'll go see if I could find a car and hot-wire it, so we could get out of here. The house we are going to is about a hour or two away on car, and you can't be on that leg so it's kinda required to find a car. Once I find a car and we're ready to leave, we aren't taking the road or highway, it's too dangerous. Instead, there's a beaten down path I remember by heart that we are taking there."

 

[DergTheDergon]

Sasha shrugged as Dexter handed her the clothes. "No need to apologize. At this point I'll wear anything that won't get me shot on sight." She nodded, sighing a little. "I'd rather not authorize stealing some poor sop's car, but if it's just sitting on the street somewhere they're probably dead anyway." She looked down and frowned a bit, then looked back up at the man. "Sounds like our only clear escape from this area ,and god do I need a nap. I'm pretty sure I don't have to tell you to be careful, but there's a chance a scout or something might've spotted you when you pulled me out of there... just try and make sure they don't see you."

 

[Myla]

Dexter shrugs, "I hate to point this out, but if I don't steal a 'poor chap's car, then we won't be the one surviving." He sighs, "It's either us or them and I'm sure as hell didn't save you just we could die here." He mumbles to himself jokingly, "Not to mention, I kinda lIke living." Becoming serious again, Dexter listens to her instructions and nods, "Don't worry about me, I'll be careful. Always have been and always will be." He thinks to himself, but afterwards voices his thoughts iut loud, "Also, if a scout spotted us, we would've been dead by now. In other words, I don't think we have been spotted yet, but I'll still be careful. Dnot worry about that."

 

[DergTheDergon]

Sasha sighs, "You do have a point there. Never Mind, protecting civilians is part of my job so forgive me if I seem a bit too generous. Though with this leg, I won't be able to protect anything." Looking down at her wounds and shaking her head a bit, she then looked back up and warned Dexter to be careful out there. Nodding at his response, she gave a slight smile at his apparent mental sharpness. "Yeah, you're probably right about not being seen, now that I think about it. Still, with the amount of enemy troops out there, that's a damn miracle. And seeing how well off you seem to be living in a warzone and all, guess I should've guessed you were the cautious methodical type." She leaned up against the wall a bit more, letting out a yawn, obviously very exhausted from this whole ordeal. "Anyway, if you plan on going while I'm asleep, you'd better get ready to go... I can barely keep my eyes open."

 

[Myla]

Dexter frowns when she mentions the generous part, "Sorry if I insult you, I didn't mean to and about that leg, don't worry about it. You'll be up, walking around in no time." He smiles a bit, "Either way, you could still protect, you have your gun on you." He looks at her, "Once you get use to living in a war-zone, you could tell when the battle is over and if the troops left." Dexter chuckles when she calls him the methodical type, "I guess you could say that I am." He listens to her and nods when she tells him that she's going to sleep, "Alright, I'll be back soon." He starts going up the stairs and calls out to Sasha, "Sweet dreams, Sasha."


Dexter grabs his back hoodie putting it on and looks out the window before he leaves. Seeing that there isn't a person out there, he quickly moves to get out of there. He walks around cautiously going from building shadow to shadow, just in case some one was out there. As he does, Dexter looks around, in search of a car. He was in luck when he stumbles upon a dark grey car and thinks to himself smiling, Score! Now, just to start it up. Even though the car was dark grey, it looks like it hasn't been moved in years. It has sand covering the outside, the hood's paint was peeling off and if you look at the inside of the car, there were a few holes on the seats, but that didn't bother him.


He pulls on the handle, but sees that it's locked. He looks around for something to throw at the window to break it and unlock the car, but there was nothing. Sighing, he slams his hand against the window a few times, eventually busting the glass. Dexter cringes at the loud sound, but luckily, there was no one around to hear it. He shakes his hand feeling where the glass left tiny cuts on his hand, but he knows need to be on the move so, he doesn't focus on that. Unlocking the door, he moves onto the wires under the steering wheel. At first, he struggles to figure out which wire is which since he can't tell colors apart, but luckily for him the wire had numbers and letters labeling them. He never knew why his father made him remember these labels \a few years back when they were working on the family car until two years ago, when he had to hot wire a car to survive. Dexter get the car on and sits in the front seat, putting the car into gear and speeds back to the house.

 

[DergTheDergon]

Sasha nods towards Dexter as he leaves. "Alright, good luck out there," she mumbles sleepily. once she hears the door shut after he climbs the stairs up out of the basement, she lets out a sigh. Damn... today was the most awful, horrific day I've had since I was deployed.... and that's saying something, she thought. But... it isn't all bad. I'm alive, and Dexter is the kindest guy I think I've ever met, even if he is a little blunt. I wonder if we can hold out much longer here, though.... I guess I'll just have to see.


Just barely willing herself to not fall asleep at least until she can get out of her uniform and into those more comfortable-looking clothes first, she begins stripping down. She starts by taking off all the heavy gear strapped to her uniform, then her jacket, then sliding off the trousers as best she could with her injuries. Part of her wanted to take her bulletproof vest off as well, as it felt rather uncomfortable and rather constricting around her chest area, but it was probably best that she leave that on just in case. Slipping on pants and pulling the shirt down over her head, Sasha laid down on her side and passed out within a minute.


A few hours later, she awoke to sounds from the outside. Something loud, like machinery... a vehicle, perhaps. She had a minor panic attack about the unfamiliarity of this place before she remembered that Dexter had found her earlier today. It sounded like he had come back with transportation, as promised. She laid there for a while, still working through the haze of both sleep and the slight hangover she now had.

 

[Myla]

Parking the car outside the building, he turns off the car with his makeshift key which basically was disconnecting two wires, but for now he's gonna call it the make shift key. He heads inside building and goes into the bathroom washing his hands off before he goes down stairs to see if Sasha is awake. Drying his hands off on the rag, he could see the small scratches left on his hands from the glass he broke earlier. He shrugs since to him it was no biggie, they would be gone in a few days either way. He makes his way downstairs.


Dexter sees that Sasha is awake and apologizes, "Sorry, if I woke you up with the car, but it's good thing you're awake. We have to get going soon, I think we are overstaying our welcome here. We can't stay in one place for too long or else we might be seen." He looks at her wound before noticing the change of outfit, "How are you feeling? And its's a bit odd to see you out of uniform." He smiles a bit, "No offense."

 

[DergTheDergon]

Sasha yawned and sat up against the wall as she saw Dexter coming down the stairs, relieved that he seemed to have successfully done what he went out to do, and seemed uninjured. "N-no need to apologize," she mumbled in a rather sleepy tone, straightening her hair with one hand after realizing how messy and disheveled it was now, after laying on it. She looked up at him, then back at her wound. it wasn't bleeding anymore, and hurt a bit less now.


"I'm feeling a bit better. Pretty sure I'll be able to walk short distances on my own now, but not much more than that. And it feels pretty strange not wearing it, honestly.... though it sure is more comfortable. Military uniforms have always been much more about function than form. None taken, by the way." She smiled back a him slightly, before sitting up. 'We should be moving soon, though. How long do you think it'll take to get to this place you have in mind? We may need to try and find some food and water, depending on the distance." She sat up straight now, cross-legged, back straightened, looking up and him for an answer.

 

[Myla]

Dexter nods, "I could carry you up the stairs and into the car, but before I bring you towards the car I will sit you at the couch so, I could have a moment pick the few things I have. I definitely wouldn't leaving in the car waiting since you never know just who may pop up to the party uninvited." He looks at her being a bit amused, "The thing I always found funny about military uniform is that one of their function is to blend in, but they don't really blend in that much unless you in a bush. Also, to answer your question, it will take maybe a hour or two depending on how comfortable you with speeding excessively."

 

[DergTheDergon]

Sasha nods, somewhat bashfully due to how comfortable Dexter was talking about carrying her, but she shook it off, and replied almost as if she wasn't just caught of guard.


"That would be much appreciated... I honestly feel like I'm being a burden to you, having to be helped with just getting around. I honestly wish this damn leg would heal faster so I wouldn't slow you down so damn much." She shook her head a bit, then looked up to him. "But, I guess we'll both have to deal with it for now." She laughed a little about the uniform comment, and the one after that about speeding. "Heh... I guess you're right, never thought about it that way.. and trust me, spend enough time in jeeps during skirmishes and you get used to fast moving vehicles. I'm sure I'll be fine. Whenever you're ready, i guess we should get moving."

 

[Myla]

He shakes head, "You're aren't a burden, burden for me is leaving you out there to die. I don't have the heart to do so. Plus, it's good to have company every now and then. Being on the run does tend to get lonely. Besides, if you consider that a burden towards me, you will realize soon my burden towards you is when I can't tell the red light from the green light." He chuckles, "I use to always give my old friends a heart attack when they first find out I'm color blind and I ask them what color the light is at the very last second." He smiles at the speed comment, "That's a good thing. I love speeding." He looks around the room and picks up a few clothes he left in the room and her uniform, "By the way, tell me when you're really to be moved to the couch."

 

[DergTheDergon]

Sasha nodded gratefully, a slight smile on her face as he insisted she was not a burden.He even made her laugh a little with the traffic light comment. "Ha! Well, as long as I keep track of the lights and tell you when to go, it probably won't be an issue. There might not even be any traffic lights on the road we'll be taking anyway, from what you've told me. And I'm not gonna lie, i like speeding too." She chuckled slightly, then relaxed and began to look more serious, her tone matching. "Anyway, i think I'm coherent enough now to get going. Go ahead and get me to the couch. And uh... sory again for you having to carry me around."