Futuristic The Sun's Rest

[xxDragonEater95xx]

Ashley gathered her things together, having seen Eli's face after he came back down worried her a bit. If he had that kind of look on his face then she was sure that they were screwed, but she decided to try to remain calm. She slowly gathered her things and once she had, she made her way up the ladder and back into the night air. It felt good to be back on the surface regardless of the fact that there was all sorts of danger to wary of up top, but it was a lot better than possibly dying a slow death in a hole or being trapped in there, which is what appeared to be the case before Pops saved them. Once up and about she saw Raven going from car to car checking things and she moved over to Pops to see what was going on. "So what's the game plan? I hope you don't think that one of these things is gonna work and that we're gonna just drive out of this hell hole to Universal," she smirked, "Although I wonder if Miami beach still looks as good even when the world's gone to hell." she chuckled a bit. "Anything I can do to help?"

 

[Kazanna]

Eli shook his head at Ashley with a chuckle, "No no, nothin so grand, just putting up a bit of an insurance policy for this hole if we ever come back. Second time I've been here..." He motioned to the suburban, "We're gonna push that one over here at a bit if an angle, wedge it against this other one, make em look like they ran into each other back in the day." He sighed and moved over to the front of the suburban. He put his hands on the hood and nodded to Raven, "Make sure it's in neutral lass, take the break off when it is." He would wait until he heard the telltale clicks before pushing. If Ashley had sense to, she's stand beside him and push as well.

 

[xxDragonEater95xx]

"I see, not a bad plan Pops." she took her place beside him, hunkered down, and awaited push orders. "Although, I'd much rather prefer the whole trip to Disney over this. Think about, we wouldn't have to wait in line for anything." she was talking nonsense now just to keep her mind off of the ugly truth that was the reality for which they were living.

 

[Yang]

Raven nodded and quickly put the car in neutral. She lifted her foot off the brakes and said "ready."

 

[Kazanna]

Eli laughed as he heaved against the suburban, it was a heavier vehicle, but with two pushing, it made things easier. Within a few moments the task he'd set out to do was done, the man hole was safe and unable to be effectively blocked from the outside. Eli sat down against the wheel well of the suburban heavily and sighed, "Next thing... Disney huh..." He grinned shaking his head, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you girl, but been there, done that." He laughed slightly, recalling the place. "It's actually a human bastion."

 

[Yang]

Raven looked over curiously. "A human what?"

 

[Kazanna]

Eli glanced at her, raising a brow, "A bastion girl, a safe place, governed by the good ways, there's law and order, good people, lots of food and water too. They asked me to stay but..." He shook his head, "Im an old wolf, who's yet to lose his fangs, if ye get my meaning. Woke up one too many nights there with me knife in me hand, expecting to use it..." He sighed and looked at the ground for a long moment, "Ah well. Suppose that's how it goes."

 

[Yang]

Raven looked at him, sadness etching her face. "I've done that." She whispered quietly.

 

[Kazanna]

Eli looked at Raven again, and offered her an arm, "Aye Lass. I know, it's an easy one to read at my age. Ye have the looks of it in how ye move, and interact." He knew just as like it was with him, for her, it would be like that forever, the instinct that brought one closer to the beast. He glanced at Ashley in the mean time, for just a moment, the young lady had displayed slightly more human characteristics. This was one he could see surviving, even finding her place in a bastion, fitting in and settling down. But he couldn't be sure one way or the other. He glanced at Edward after a moment as well, he was a bit more human too, showing his humanity more then Eli even knew how to. "Well my friends, What do ye reckon we ought to do next eh?"

 

[xxDragonEater95xx]

Ashley stood up and stretched a bit, the suburban was a little heavier than she thought, but then again it was a vehicle. "That's actually pretty funny," she said thinking about what he had just told her, "Seems like a paradise compared to being out here." she thought about it for the moment. It would be nice to not have to worry about the possibility of dying or not knowing what's going to happen as each minute passes by, but then again it almost felt like all the fun and excitement in life would be gone. She was afraid of scary movies and anxious when watching Thrillers, but without any of that she felt that she would've lived a mundane life and seeing as though she was a fighter at heart she didn't think she could live day in and day out without there being any conflict whatsoever. As she thought about that she wondered if that made her a masochist...or was it a sadist? She couldn't recall the difference because they both had issues either way. "Well, Pops, I could really go for a drink! Where's this bar at? I'm thinking a bottle of whiskey for you, a bottle of wine for Edward," she looks to Raven, "Something fruity for her and Vodka for me." she smiled. She felt the best way to get through this way with comedy and a smile, Pops and Raven were clearly the more experience in the group with her being next and then Edward, so the least she could do was try to curb any tension or try to keep some level of upbeat spirit. There was potential danger around every corner and these 2 seemed to be super-adaptive to this environment, she had survived this far off of what she would call pure luck so far, but now with this group she reckoned that she had a great chance. So for the time being she would try to illicit as many smiles and laughs as she could.

 

[Kazanna]

Eli shook his head and laughed lightly, "It's not far really, but..." He sighed, settling back into his dark, killing attitude, "There's somethin Occupying the building above the liquor store." He took up his axe over his shoulder, "Come on, I'll show ye all to the building I scouted it from." He had his gear, as well as the spare packs he had set up, so he took a slower pace. The building in question was only two blocks away. It was a five story building with a breeze way that lead to another building. The second building was the one that overlooked the liquor store. Eli would lead them to the first before laying out his plans.

 

[xxDragonEater95xx]

Ashley followed alongside Eli, dragging Edward along with her. "Well last I check, I won the honorable title of Bait for this cat and mouse game," Ashley had come to terms with what she had to do for the greater good of the group, "so you let me know what I gotta do to get the ugly...and I pray it's one...the ugly to come out, and just be sure to end the thing...then free drinks! Gotta have a drink after a life and death experience, you know." She looked around at the buildings that were around them and she couldn't help but bring up movies in her head like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Thanks Brain, that's exactly what I needed right now she thought to herself as she followed alongside Pops.

 

[Yang]

Raven's eyes shot up. Something fruity?! How old do you think I am, 13?!


Rolling her eyes, she realized that she would probably pick out something like that anyways.


She listened quietly and followed alongside Ed, guarding the rear of their little group.

 

[xxDragonEater95xx]

Ashley, tugging at Edward as they moved along, continued alongside Pop's, and looked over at Raven. "So you must be a pretty good survivalist to have gone on as long as you have alone," she said as she gave her a smile. She hadn't really interacted with Raven since they had met up, so she figured this was as good a time as any to get some quality time in, since they weren't currently running for their lives at the moment. "I bet you have a story or two that would keep us up at night, especially if you were tailing this daredevil around." she smiled at Raven as she thumb-pointed over her shoulder at Pops.

 

[phenixrider]

*Guys. I'm sorry. A lot of bad things have happened. My grandma died and my girl left me. If you all want to continue I'm all for it.

 

[phenixrider]

Ed held hard on a baseball bat he found. He looked around, hoping for the best yet expecting the worst. Edward approached Eli and strode beside him. "Things are a little quiet." Ed looked at the man, his new idol. Edward has seen more than his fair share of shit in his life and it takes a lot to earn his respect. Yet this man earned it in a day. Ed smiled at the elder next to him.

 

[Yang]

(Guess who's back...)


Raven looked over at Ashley, a little surprised that someone wanted to talk to her.


She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Mostly just walking around and running for my life."

 

[Kazanna]

With hardly a glance Eli nodded slightly to Edward and replied, "Aye, but it's better then noisy my friend." He led them down the street until they neared the building he'd planned on. Then he turned down the alley bordering it and stopped at the fire escape. When last he had been here, Eli had torn the ladder off and hidden it, so now, he moved to the nearby dumpster and pulled the long metal ladder out from behind it, then placed it against the fire escape, holding it firmly, "Go on up, I'll be right behind." He said with a nod to the others.

 

[phenixrider]

Ed motioned for the girls to go first. He was old fashioned. "See you girls up there."

 

[Yang]

Raven nodded and silently climbed up the ladder, secretly grateful for Ed's interruption in their conversation.


She did have a lot of stories, that was true. But most of them were when Alia was hanging around. Just thinking of her name made Raven pause on the ladder for a second, collecting her wits again.


Raven minutely shook her head, and continued climbing, and swung up onto the fire escape. She moved to the edge of the platform, and watched out for crawlers.

 

[Kazanna]

Eli would wait until all of them were up, then he would climb up the first ladder and lift it up behind him, setting it on the first landing. He would take a moment to work up the fire escape as quietly as he could before he made his way to the top of the building. Eli moved to the center of the building and set his bag down, then carefully worked his way over to the far edge, crouching the whole way and shifting into a crawl. Opening one of the cargo pockets on his pants, he pulls out a small night vision ocular lens and aims it at the liquor stores front door. It was like he had expected, the downstairs was still untouched, the upstairs was occupied. He could hardly make out the figures within, even with the lens.


"Gettin old..." He muttered, his voice hardly a whisper.


He stared at the building for a long moment before he slid back away from the edge of the building. He had counted at least seven figures inside the upstairs, and that was figures near the window. He moved to his bag, and opened it up. He pulled a bundle out of it, and as well as his flashlight. Eli took a moment to unroll the bundle, displaying a carefully packed collection of parts. He sat down and started to carefully piece the equipment together.

 

[phenixrider]

Now that both of the girls had climed, Edward began to ascend. He was always deathly afraid of hights, so climbing this building was...scary to say the least. He slowly climbed, rung by rung. "Eli! Catch me if I fall, okay?" Ed looked down and began to shake violently.

 

[xxDragonEater95xx]

Ashley crouched next to Raven, taking in the surroundings and looking back down the ladder at Ed, who seemed to be having a rough time. "Hey, just look up at me and focus on getting up here, no sense in looking in a direction that your not going. Just keep coming up this way." Ashley said, trying to give him some support, as she could see that heights may not have been a strong point with him.

 

[Kazanna]

Prior to moving up the ladder himself, Eli watched Edward shy away from it and sighed, muttering, "Quiet down ya silly git." He started moving up the ladder swiftly, knocking the man over his shoulder, tossing Edwards legs behind his shoulder, placing the younger mans face near his, he placed his large hand over his mouth muttering, "Were close enough they can hear, Choke down your fear, my friend. It ain't the heights ya got ta be afraid of anymore... Twoud be a merciful death compared to others I've witnessed." He would slowly remove his hand from the mans mouth and finish ascending the ladder to the escape itself before setting him down on the first landing. He'd remark "Besides, Ye can't die very easily from a ten foot drop." He would reach down, haul up the ladder and then direct Edward to the stairs, "Up ye get." He'd move ahead of the man and then make his way to the ledge.


(Resume from my post above.)


Eli took careful steps to place the part's he was dealing with together, tapping securing pins into place, he quietly muttered to himself, "Locking pin... joining brace... quad bar... bayonette..." It took him less then five minutes to construct his new tool. It was a gargantuan crossbow, cannibalized from multiple bows and various other weapons and tools. He pulled it's crank back once with his strengthend arms and the resounding twang from the bow's body would be startling to any of the group that heard it. He set the weapon down on the scroll of cloth he'd kept the parts in then opened his bag again, drawing out a round case that was roughly a foot and a half in length. He popped it open and spilled it's contents out, then began putting them together, they were arrows that had interlocking joints, designed to be stowed easily. Eli sniffed the air as he worked, checking for new smells, he listened to their surroundings carefully, as his eyes were occupied, it took him another two minutes to put all fifty arrows together and place them back in their canister, the flighted ends sticking out the top. He pulled a second case out, this one had a ring on it that he slid over the first, he tapped it's edge and it split open, revealing no less then another fifty shorter bolts.


Setting the bolts, and arrows aside beside his crossbow, he drew out another bundle and unrolled it, he took a moment to construct a bladed shortbow, it's haft was firmly set with a driving pile blade. The cruel weapon was clearly something he had used in the past. He folded it down careful and placed it on his belt, it had built in clips to hitch on and remain there until drawn. Eli stood, his face grim, and drew the bow, testing it's mechanism. The weapon unfolded and sprang back to it's full length instantly with little more then a flick, He spun the weapon in his palm before folding it back down and placing it on the cloth he had set it up on.


Taking a moment, Eli sat down and opened his large bag up again, drawing out a smaller case. It was three feet wide and a foot and half long, measuring roughly a half a foot deep, he set it down, unzipped it, and within was a series of other cannibalized weapons and tools. Force Recon night vision goggles which he placed on his head, a pair of odd gloves covered in small metallic bars with a power pack, which he put on and strapped the power pack to his hip, running the wire for it down the inside of his clothing. In the bottom of the case was a several articles of clothing.


Eli glanced to his allies and shrugged, "I'm not ashamed of what I did before the sun went out, But this is the part where you all sit up here and watch me go to do what I do best..." He pulled his usual clothing off bit by bit, dropping his large bag on the ground he let his long coat drop beside it. Tugging off his shirt he picked up the first article of clothing from the case, and slid it on carefully. The clothing clung to his muscled frame like a second skin, but was half an inch thick. Eli took off his boots and unfastened his belt, then slid his pants off, leaving him in just his boxers. He took a moment to slide the pants of the outfit he was donning on and then zipped the two together at the waist, fastening the zipper in place with a snap. Eli slid on accompanying footwear and then slid his boots back on as well as his other outerwear. Lastly, he picked up the mask he was to wear, it unfolded into a framed helmet with a re-breather and built in night vision goggles. He set the goggles he had taken out of the case before on the blanket beside the crossbow.


Eli took a moment to slide the mask on, flick on the normal vision, and turn on the breather. The mask let out a vicious hiss and Eli rolled his shoulders in his equipment. It had been a long time since he had worn this gear, but his body was already adapted to it. He slid the glove's on, and threw his coat over his shoulders, pulling the hood up. Eli replaced his kukiri on his hip, tying the cord off to his belt. He took the short bow and clipped it onto his waistband, taking the arrow case and detaching the crossbow bolts from it. He fixed the crossbow bolt case to the base of the crossbow, placing the feed belt into it he held the weapon up and considered each of his allies.


Eli's voice rang through from the breather almost mechanically, "Anyone know how to use a crossbow?" The mask let out a hiss ominously as Eli awaited a response.

Spoiler

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[Yang]

Raven watched him do his thing, and paced around quietly as he did.


"Anybody know how to use a crossbow?"


Raven looked up, wondering if anybody besides her could. She raised a hand. "It's been a while, but yes, I can."