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Post by D on Sept 6, 2010 19:28:50 GMT -5
“I don’t seek fun.” She responded to the man and crossed her arms. Amanda wasn’t even sure what fun felt like anymore. Was it fun creating those viruses? Was it fun experimenting on those people? Was it fun killing them? She felt no joy in doing any of those activities. Amanda supposed that she was the type of person who just wanted to push forward and make progress. Doing nothing was a waste of time and it bothered her that she lacked the time to do the things she wanted to do.
She would never tell anyone this, but she secretly envied Wesker. He was dangerous, but he accomplished so much and could do so much more with his time. He had an endless supply of time and his power was unrivaled. Amanda looked away from the old man. What was it that drove her? Was she seeking power? Knowledge? What in the world did she want?
“It has tentacles that large…?” Amanda wasn’t in a mood to be talked to and she didn’t want to listen, but the size of the monster he described was interesting. She also found it interesting that whatever he talked about had an electrical current. For a brief moment, she wondered what had created such a thing and how, but when she turned back to the man her uninterested expression returned. “Ah… that’s an interesting story… Say, I have a question…”
Amanda uncrossed her arms. “Is there a working laboratory on this ship, or anything with supplies that might be used in a laboratory?” She knew that directing a person like her to a lab would be dangerous and that they would probably put her under some sort of surveillance, but she wouldn’t mind it all that much. Amanda wasn’t going to open her suitcase any time soon and they probably lacked the materials she wished to work with.
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Post by B on Sept 18, 2010 23:56:14 GMT -5
"A workin' laboratory? Nup. We gotta a pretty nice one down where we're goin', so I hear. I neva really leave th' ship." He admitted. "Ya still bored? That's coo... Come here." He said and leaned over the edge of the ship. He looked back and noticed she was hesitant. "C'mon. GRIM'd have my hide if I did anythin' bad to ya. I wanna show you somethin'." She finally agreed and leaned over with him. It was hard to notice at first but then it became obvious. Some of the aquatic animals were odd... What looked like a squid came buy, the chilling thing was that it had the body of a shark... With tentacles protruding. "They practically run d'sea now. No mo' seafood. Heheh." He leaned back and she likely did at the same time. "Right then, I betta get to my rounds. You be safe, ya hear? Cus this ship aint as safe as it looks." He walked off, either to do his job or rant to someone else. Two of the guards at the other side were talking. One of them seemed to be ranting. "Calm down. If GRIM says don't touch him then you better listen. He's with that girl and hasn't hurt anyone." "Yet." She seemed to be in her mid twenties. Dirty long brown hair and fiery brown eyes. "Did you see his eyes? They're red, RED. He's a monster and he's going to destroy the ship as soon as we close our eyes." "He's locked in the room, Abby, I don't think he can get out." She let out a laugh that sounded more pissed off than humorous. "Don't be fooled of his small frame. I've seen a school of child zombies take down two full grown men. And if you haven't noticed, things with red eyes don't exactly use doors!" "So what would you do? Go against GRIM? He'll banish you alone without weapons. You'll be eaten alive, it's worse than him shooting you in the head." "No, I say we make it look like an accident. We act compassionate, show the children the deck, the little sweet monster wants to look in the water, and OOPS! He slips from my arms and then he'll be Zeus' lunch!" The guy nudged the girl. "Look, you can do what you want but I don't want to take part, besides, you're talking loud enough for the whole ship to hear you." "But they feel the same just as me... And you know I'm right!" The guy shook his head. "But it's just a child... Look, I said it once and I'll say it again. You're on your own."
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Post by D on Sept 19, 2010 0:55:21 GMT -5
“That’s an interesting creature. It’s unfortunate really…” She commented and then she stopped leaning. The guard walked away and Amanda decided that she would go rest up a bit, knowing that she wouldn’t be getting anything done. It was when she was about to reenter the inside of the ship that she heard the two guards talking. Amanda stopped in her tracks with her hand on a the metal door. For minutes she listened, but she got bored and readied to head down.
Just as she took a step, she heard one of the guard’s comments. Without hesitation, she did what first came to mind. Her hand came up to Abby’s throat and with a thrust of momentum and her own strength, she managed to lift the other woman up. Then quickly, with the help of her other arm and a couple steps from her feet, she brought the woman to the ground hard. All the while, her expression kept the same stone cold seriousness that she often used in the laboratory. With her hands positioned at Abby’s throat and chest, Amanda kept her hold on the downed guard, continuing to apply pressure. “I find that offensive.” Amanda said calmly.
The male guard that was nearest to Abby was shocked by what had happened. What Amanda had done had been done quickly. “What the…what the hell?!” It was until that the other guards came with their guns that the man pulled his own weapon on her. “Hands up!” He yelled and Amanda pushed Abby harder. “What the hell was that for?!” Another guard demanded and from that he received Amanda’s glare from over her shoulder.
“Don’t touch him.” Amanda lightened the pressure as the activity hurt her a bit. “He’s important…Let me put it in terms you might understand. It may be a bitch, but I will kill you.” She let go of Abby and got up from the ground. Unlike people surrendering, she pushed pass the guards and headed back down into the ship, thinking that she was in no way in the wrong. Abby, on the other hand, was still on the floor, winded from the encounter.
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Post by B on Oct 20, 2010 0:28:32 GMT -5
Grim sat in his office, his mind gauging things. By now there had definitely been complaints about Amanda getting hostile. Soon enough he picked up his mask and placed it back over his "unknown" face. He grabbed the weathered revolver and placed it in the holster of his belt. He then grabbed his jacket and placed it around his flak vest. Grabbing two 9mm pistols with 6 clips, he pocketed them in his jacket. He then left his cabin, locking it behind him, and went down to the crew's quarters where Amanda's room was. He knocked on the metal door and waited. When it was answered by Amanda he immediately took out one of the 9mms, he it twirled it in his finger until the gun's dance halted, grip pointing towards Amanda. He did the same with his other hand and a second 9mm was free for her to take. He made sure she took them both and then he reached for gun clips and shoved them into her right pocket. Finally he decided to explain, she wouldn't be able to tell but behind the mask he was eying the infected child curiously. Vincent only sat back and stared just as curiously back. "We have an infestation down below. If you want to join me, come. It'll just be the two of us and I know you had just been through surgery but I think you'll be fine." He said and then turned to start walking towards the area. They went down three small metal stair cases and found a door with a sign on it. "DO NOT ENTER" in red letters. Grim pulled a key from out his pants and unlocked it. "The creature will not be harmed." He said out of the blue then paused. "Excuse me, infected prejudice is going to take longer than two days to get over." He apologized and pushed the door open. The sounds of growls and moans could be heard. It seemed to be a storage room. There were gas cans and crates probably full of useful and deteriorated crap. There were more than a few gas cans, though, they will have to watch their shot. Grim closed the door behind them and locked it. He started walking casually forward, not even worried about grabbing at his gun just yet.
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Post by D on Oct 24, 2010 14:38:05 GMT -5
Between her and the wall was the necklace that she usually wore. Attached to it was the engagement ring he gave her. Normally, a look of guilt and sadness would be on her face, but this time there was nothing. It was as if time had truly numbed the pain and it was as if she didn’t care. Perhaps it was now that she realized that he was truly dead. Amanda stared at the ring, trying to remember his face, the face of the man she had loved with all of her heart. “Alecs…” She still remembered his name, but why was his face such a blur?
“That’s Papa’s name, VinVin..” Emily dropped the pencil she had been drawing with and turned to gently shake Vincent’s shirt. She tried to get his attention, but when she noticed that he was much more interested in something else, she went back to drawing pictures and writing sentences. Even though some of the soldier types came down to teach her soldier things, Emily preferred to draw and write things. Drawing and writing didn’t remind her of death or the undead. She liked drawing flowers, smiling suns, rainbows, and clouds. Anything she felt that was happy would do.
Amanda tried to answer her question. However, before she could, she heard the taps on her room’s door and then she got up. She opened it, saw the captain, and automatically expected a reprimand or a warning of some sort. What he had done wasn’t anything she was expecting, but still, she wasn’t all that surprised when he aimed his 9mm. Classy, was what she thought sarcastically, and when he did the same for the other, she said nothing, and took the gun with no questions asked. She would had considered it an offer if he hadn’t forcibly shoved ammo into her pockets, but Amanda didn’t startle and instead, noted him as a rather forceful individual.
The captain explained and Amanda took that as a hint toward a formal interrogation. If it wasn’t a stern reprimanding then it had to be that, so deciding not to get on his bad side, she followed him to a door. Of course he threw an insult toward her, but she dismissed it and stepped through the door as soon as it opened. “What a convenient place.” Knowing that the man was keen, she knew that he had caught the questioning tone in her voice. After all moving with, what sounded to be, a large amount of undead seemed to put the crew at a higher risk of infection.
However, she chose not to question it any further when she saw the undead. The last she had done a clear out was during simpler times in Africa, but she remembered having more than just one man to help out. From this man, she could feel an overwhelming confidence radiating from him, and there were few people she met who had this kind of confidence. Perhaps they wouldn’t need extra men and besides, she wasn’t as bad as a shot she made it seem. She guessed that the captain had already sensed that..
Ok, it was now time to start.
Amanda gave a low, short whistle. The first zombie turned and charged Amanda, who had taken the lead. With a quick stepped of the right, it rushed passed her but not before receiving a hit to the head with the handgun. As it fell, Amanda turned slightly and fired a round into its skull. Satisfied, she looked up to see the rest of the horde join the fray and Mr. GRIM begin his ‘classy’ display. Normally, she wasn’t one to smile, but in a quick moment before dealing with another undead, Amanda flashed a rather amused grin.
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Post by B on Oct 24, 2010 23:49:33 GMT -5
It seemed as if she wanted to begin the tango with a whistle. She immediately dispatched that one with a gun shot. Immediately, the other infected began groaning louder as the runners dashed towards them and the slow ones kind of fumbled. Louder pitched growls could be heard around them. The new infecteds were timing their moves. One of the runners were aimed for Grim. He just continued walking, his left hand casually reaching to his belt and pulling a standard military combat knife. Arms forward, the zombie attempted to grab him but the commander's arms were longer, grabbing the infected by the throat with his right hand he could feel the zombie attempted to scratch through the armor he had on his arms but to no avail, puffs of feathers did fall from the coat being dug through. He didn't care, he started stabbing the infected's chest repeatedly like something you'd see in a slasher movie. By this point another quick one was close, he merely shoved the corpse of the one he was holding down in front of the other charging one. The charging zombie was too stupid to recognize its fallen comrade and easily tripped over the body. As it scrambled up, Grim leaped on top of it, a single stab to the head and it was gone. It seemed the other few fast ones were focused on Amanda but her aim was sharp. Grim withdrew his knife from the undead skull and began walking casually forward. A loud screech signaled one of the new infected had emerged to play. Grim caught sight of the third quick one that would try to face him, probably had issued getting passed the many slower infected. Either reason Hunk seized this opportunity and ran for it back, leaping over a fallen dolly in the process. When the two were close enough to fight he could hear that signature screech and leap. Perfect timing. Grim spun around the quick infected, juking it into lunging as his agility made the zombie grab air. A thud behind him and Grim turned to see the hunter had been fooled and was ripping apart its own comrade. With a gunslinger's speed, Grim flipped out the revolver shot the hunter in the head with a single shot before twirling it back into its holster. Grim moved quickly over to where Amanda was fending off her lot and grabbed the pistol he gave her from her own pocket and fired three shots, three of the eight slows he wanted to kill fell. Not wanting to "cheat", he shoved the gun back into her pocket, he had time to do this, they both seemed to have dispatched the quick ones so they only seemed to have slow left. Hunk walked with a slightly faster than normal speed to the dolly he had leaped over before. He picked it up and swung it into the nearest zombies face. It went down, the neck had broken. He miscalculated, though, a slow one was creeping up from his left. Once again with blinding speed, he unholstered the revolver and shot that one dead before replacing it to its home. Three more for him it seemed like. Amanda seemed to be racking up a kill count but she seemed much more tense than him. He shook his head and backed up away from the other three infected, moving at the same pace as them. As he did so his eyes scanned around quickly and found that he was coming up to some kind of wooden pole. He pulled the mystery object out and found it to be a casual mop. Most people in his situation would either throw it at the zombie or drop it because it was useless. He broke the stick in half in a way that the end was splintered and sharp. He drove it into the nearest zombie's chest, naturally that action wouldn't kill a slow but he used it as a shield. Everywhere he moved the stick the zombie would side step, keeping back the other two as he planned his next action. He found himself getting closer to the door they entered into from. And next to it was another pole weapon, this one was recognizeable, a pickaxe. Why there would be one on a ship he had no idea. He casually grabbed it as he went passed and then let go of the pole zombie weapon. He kicked the end of the pole and that zombie went falling back. The other two now had free range. A quick swing with the side of the pickaxe (Not the sharp ends) and he crushed the first zombie's skull. His strong arms were able to bring the heavy weapon back up and span around for another even more powerful swing, this time with the pick ends. It shattered the zombie's head. He then shouldered the pickaxe as he walked towards what seemed to be the final zombie in the whole room, Amanda seemed to be observing. Grim noticed the zombie had issues picking himself back up, no issue for Grim he'll just kill it. But then a screech. One would think the observant Amanda would react first to the blue object flying towards Grim but Grim brought the axe down immediately, an impaled hunter and quite a dent in the metal floor. Grim was still as calm as he ever was. He walked up to the crippled zombie and stomped on its neck, finishing that battle. He then looked up at Amanda. He felt he should be impressed that she was still breathing but for some reason she failed to impress him this time.
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Post by D on Oct 25, 2010 1:12:05 GMT -5
Her chest hurt and all she could do was puff out some air. She was getting slower and her body was a little bit more hesitant in some of her movements. As the battle grew longer, she became more confined to one spot and instead focused on shooting what came near. Once or twice did the captain come over and take the pistol from her pocket, but she ignored it and focused on the coming threats. Eventually the zombies were dealt with but when Grim came back and looked at her, she couldn’t help but feel that he was expecting more.
Was he challenging her?
Amanda looked back with him and the mess behind him. She saw that he liked playing with his pray and she wouldn’t lie, she did too, but given the circumstances…No, that strange aura of expecting something else was still coming with him.
Fine then.
She looked back at him and holstered/pocketed the pistol.
This was probably bad for her health.
Still hearing some of the undead elsewhere, she whistled even louder and turned to a crate to pick off a piece of wood. Looking at the wood piece, she took off a few bits and held it in a way to ensure no splinters. It wasn’t a knife, but it would do. The first quick one charged her she did a spin. Using momentum from that spin, she thrust the piece of wood through the eye of the zombie, killed it, and using her other hand she pushed it aside. Amanda, still spinning and moving forward, kicked/tripped another zombie. She left it on the floor and took a quick breather to recover from the chest pain, but a third fast zombie charged her. Noticing a metal protrusion on the wall, she pushed the undead being high and literally left it hanging. She turned, pulled out her pistol, fired, and finished the zombie that she had tripped, before moving on to some of the slower ones.
Amanda killed one slow zombie quickly with a shot to its head, but the other, she chose to go toward a more amusing path. Reloading her pistol, she waited until it was directly next to some heavy crates and with timing she shot out a support. The heavy crates tumbled onto the zombie. Satisfied, Amanda turned and decided that she would kill the other three zombies, but a sudden tug at her shooting hand told her otherwise.
The pistol dropped to the ground, but Amanda sure as hell didn’t. She kept her ground and with her other hand she grabbed hold of the tongue. Amanda looked up, expecting a Licker, but instead, through a cloud of smoke she saw a smoker, or what she would have been had she been infected with the T-virus. Amanda grinned and took a massive step back. With all her strength, she gave the Smoker’s tongue a tug and sent the infected stumbling forward. Not giving it the chance to recover, she gave it another forceful tug and the smoker fell from its perch. She continued to tug and pull, (which looked easy, but was hard for her) until she had one of her feet on its tongue and the other pushing at its head. She rolled its tongue around one of her arms like and electrical cord and looked at the coil.
“Interesting.” Normally, she didn’t get this close to her work, but it was good opportunity to learn a few things. When she was done with the data, she kicked off from the zombie’s head, which in turned ripped its tongue, and dropped the coil. After kicking the coil of tongue to the side, she did a slight turn before she pulled out her extra pistol and shot at the zombie she left hanging. Immediately it stopped squirming on its ‘hook.’ Amanda, however, wasn’t done. With speed that an injured person should use, she turned back and quickly extended her arm toward the smoker. The gun lodged itself into the smoker’s mouth and she fired once. Amanda kicked it back and fired at its head again, knowing that the first shot hadn’t killed it. “Hmm…” She looked over her shoulder to see GRIM finish off the last of the undead. This man loved to do things classily….
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Post by B on Nov 6, 2010 23:21:27 GMT -5
GRIM only glanced at her as she whistled. She was closer to where the horde was and therefore the horde was on her first. He stood in his same position like a statue, only his head moved as he followed her movements, reading them. Why wasn't he helping her? Why should he? If she was useful then he'd need proof. She was definitely well-learned and while he would internally feel confident that his sense of improvisation was better, she was not bad. Just then the desperate groans of the zombies near his side. It was about time they showed. The first two were fast but were still a ways away, coming for him arms out. GRIM glanced to his left where Amanda was fighting. She seemed to have dispatched a slow with a bullet and then he watched as she looked at some crates. By this point his fasts were in combat distance, he dodged one and kicked the other away. He then grabbed the trousers of the one he had dodged (Who had spun around a second ago) and pushed him forward. As Amanda shot at the crates, GRIM's fast collided with Amanda's slow, both of them being crushed instantly by the crates. Having made a slight miscalculation with the one he had kicked, GRIM found himself in a very brief struggle as the quick grabbed him and lunged forward to bite. He was pushed back and with GRIM's revolver play, he spun the gun out of its holster and fired. Another one did, indeed, bite the dust.
A few thumps over him and a third fast leaped from the crates above him with intentions on acting like a hunter. To the zombie's dismay it was not a hunter. As GRIM simply side-stepped out of the way, the wanna-be hunter zombie landed wrong and one of its legs snapped, severing the function of the right leg completely, the bone was easily noticed. GRIM looked up at the top where it jumped off and then back at the fast as it began pulling itself toward him. Not even he could not find that amusing. With a powerful kick to the head he snapped its neck. He turned to see that two slows had already emerged ready to kill him. To his left he saw Amanda kick something, rope? Nope, it was a smoker tongue. He couldn't help but reflect back a split second to school and how the teacher showed you two brains the good one saying "This is your brain" and the other disgusting pile of meat saying "This is your brain on drugs". He couldn't help but replace the brains with a good tongue and THAT tongue. Not even Kiss could beat that. GRIM stepped past his slow zombies, they attempted to grab him but only got air, GRIM didn't even flinch. He was approaching Amanda as she was dealing the last few shots. She was already done and turned back to him. "Pardon me." GRIM murmured as he picked up the coiled tongue from the floor and turned away from her. He let the tongue uncoil and kept hold of one side then started whipping it around him. This tongue was quite durable. Finally he whipped it at a zombie's face but it barely made it stumble. GRIM decided to change his tactic and began coiling the rope around his fist. They were getting closer to the two of them, Amanda seemed to be more with watching GRIM than wanting to dispatch the last two. GRIM brought his fist back and swung. It was unknown whether Amanda watched or even cared if Boxing ever existed but even Muhammed Ali would say "That looks painful". As As the tongue-encrusted hand collided with the zombie's face, it went literally flying back a few feet on its back. It wasn't dead but it seemed to be having issues getting up. Maybe he severed the spinal column. As far as GRIM was concerned, this was the last zombie. He let the tongue uncoil again and as it lunged at him he swung it around its neck and kicked its leg, knocking it to its knees. He quickly knotted the tongue around its neck then took the other side and tied it around a post. The bonds were tight and the zombie acted like a tied dog trying to get Tom Cat in Tom and Jerry. GRIM withdrew his revolver and let the loader slide out. There were three bullets still left in, he knew this, though, he counted each bullet he fired. He let two fall out of the chamber then spun the loader and the gun was set, the location of the bullet was unknown. GRIM then pointed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger. CLICK. He then aimed it at the zombie and pulled it. CLICK. Once again at himself and another at the zombie, both clicks. When he aimed it at him self the fifth time he paused and shook his head. "Naaahh." He raised the gun at the zombie and fired, the bullet going through its head and into the tongue, severing it and letting the zombie fall forward, head a mere few centimeters from GRIM's boots. Without saying a word to Amanda, he pulled out his radio. "Reg, the hold is clear, send in a group to loot it." "H-Huh? Could you repeat that sir? The hold?" "The cargo hold." "The first one?" "The one you sealed." "But only I had a key to that, don't you mean the first one?" GRIM didn't get impatient he just just responded calmly. "Under the rug you left the key. I took it and now the zombies are dead. Get a team down here." "Aye-ey captain...?" GRIM put the radio to his belt and began the process of replacing the two bullets back in their chambers. While he did so GRIM decided to get a ground covered. "You and both kids are able to wander freely around the ship if you wish to do so. Keep the guns and handle your own problems but only if there is a problem." He turned to leave without her but paused and turned to her again. "Oh and..." One would initially think that a complement or a thank you would come out of his mouth but instead it was just business. "Your case will be returned to you upon arrival. I trust you wont make an enemy of us." It was clear that that was a threat and he didn't flinch while saying it. It was being very sincere. With that said he left her to do what she wishes.
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Post by D on Nov 10, 2010 19:19:40 GMT -5
Was he threatening her?
Amanda smirked and chuckled. Threats were reserved for the idiots who weren’t smart with their own conduct and it was an insult that he was ding such. She was fully aware of the situation she was in and needed no reminder. “Of course.” She scraped the bottom of her boots on the floor to get rid of some undead flesh before she walked passed him and exited before him.
Although it wasn’t apparent, each movement she made caused pain in her chest and if she was not careful, sudden spikes of pain would hit her. By now, she was exhausted and she honestly wanted to go back to sleep. Deciding that rest was quite appropriate, she walked back to her room and upon arrival, she was greeted by Emily and Vincint.
Emily, who seemed to be the sweetheart of the wastelands, said hello to her mother and showed her a picture she had drawn. It was a picture of a flower and of her parents. Her mother seemed to think it was very pretty and Emily smiled, but what came next made her smile grow wider. After reaching her hand out, she received her mother’s ring on a chain. “Mommy! Really?” She had always coveted the ring from the first time she had seen it. Not only was it a symbol of her mother’s and father’s love but it was also a symbol of her father. She missed him very much. For a moment, there was a slight hint of sadness in her eyes, but it quickly disappeared as she put the necklace on. “Thank you, mommy! Thank you!”
Amanda had just given her ring to her daughter and she smiled when she saw Emily smile, but her reason for giving away the ring wasn’t to see her child smile. No, it was because she simply didn’t care about it anymore. Out of all the things she connected herself to, Amanda took the longest time to realize that she no longer had any ties to the ring. Perhaps it was because of the shock, but she felt no guilt of not caring. It wasn’t like she was forgetting him, but because of that she wondered more. Was it love? Had she used him?
The lines became hard to distinguish from each other, but it didn’t bother her. It was good that it didn’t bother her.
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Post by B on Dec 24, 2010 3:56:12 GMT -5
"Did you hear?" "You mean about the Commander?" "Yeah!" "I'm so excited!" One woman said to the other, one of them had a heavy Spanish accent while the other seemed to be more French. "I heard he's gorgeous!" "And strong." A large man dropped his tray at the women's table. "What you chica's talkin' about?" He may have spoke a word of Spanish but he certainly wasn't Spanish. Darker tone, shaved black hair, he was definitely from middle America. "A real man." The French one shot and the other chuckled. "One who don't stink." Okay, maybe not the best of insults but her soft voice and baby face was enough to make anyone ignore how incredibly lame it was. The Mexican only smiled. "Natural Cologne."
"Maybe we can rally half the best together to greet him." One of the men smiled. He seemed more excited than a child at Christmas morning. "But would Redwood and..." He lowered his voice. "Dickwad" The young man raised it again to continue. "Will allow it." An older soldier smiled. One thing to note on all the soldiers who are in uniform, is that they carried their national flags sewn on their sleeves. This particular soldier was a Czech. (Czech) "Who gives a shit!?" The first young man who mentioned the idea just stared blankly for a second before a rather plain woman, who carried the same national flag, tugged on his shoulder. "He said something like "Who gives a shit"." She chuckled and he did too. The Czech man laughed. "Yeah! Who gives shit!? We do it!"
"Roger that, Triton. Can't wait to open the door and welcome you home." He broke radio contact then. The Englishman leaned back in his chair. Beside him was an Iraqi soldier, smoking a cigar. (Arabic) "How many do you think?" He had a large beard, one that you'd picture as one of Osama Bin Laden's lackies, but this was not the case. He wasn't a soldier in that period. The Englishman looked over at him with a smile. (Arabic) "48 more." (Arabic) "I say 18." The Englishman nodded and stuck out his hand to shake. (Arabic) "You're on." The Iraqi man handed the Englishman a cigar and the two sat, anxiously awaiting the next transmission.
"B... C..." Before the teacher could continue an African woman bursted through the door. "They're going to be here any moment!" The classroom of about 50 ranging from ages 6-14 all looked back. A few of them let out a flurry of questions, one mentioning Commander and another mentioned GRIM. "Yes." "Daddy's coming home!" A little girl shouted and jumped out of her seat to run for the door but was quickly stopped by the woman carrying the news. "Now, now, honey. You stay here. With hard work you will be rewarded." She ran a hand across the young blond haired girl's face. She nodded. "Yes ma'am." And went back to her seat. Class commenced as normal, whether anyone was listening was a different story, though.
"We will be docking in about 10 minutes, tower. We can see you!" "Roger that, Triton. Can't wait to open the door and welcome you home." "Commander, it's been a long time." The man who held the helm. A middle aged gentleman. His accent sounded German but his English was quite good. "My little girl is waiting for me." Grim only nodded, his mind was elsewhere. It was easy to see the land from here, there was a helicopter hovering over, a rope was being lowered under it. The net it held was carrying many large boxes. It was obvious what they were, supplies airlifted from looted towns and cities. Food, medicine, guns, entertainment, condoms, the like. As they got closer the boat slowed to a stop. "Well this is our stop." The helmsman saluted Grim who did the same and left the bridge.
"Amanda... I think we stopped." Vincent mumbled, he was holding Emily's hand. Though he had gained the freedom from Grim to move about the ship, he had never left the room. "What will they think of me...?" His hand trembled in Emily's. He wasn't afraid of dying, he was afraid that if everybody didn't want him, what if Amanda or Em didn't? He looked at Emily, a tear rolling down his eyes. "You wont... Leave me... Right?..." He turned to Amanda. "Right?" It was then that he noticed it in her hands, hanging off her fingers. She told him to put it on. He grasped it with his left hand and did as she told him and put it over his face and covered his eyes. "Everything's dark." He said and looked at Emily. He calmed quickly. "Emily you look funny." There was a knock. Amanda had exchanged some words with a crewman who told them that they will about to dock and also added that Grim has ordered him to take Amanda and the kids directly to the cafeteria to eat. Supplies on the ship had dwindled the last three days. With her still recovering, he wanted to be sure she didn't pass out. He was treating Amanda different from the others who will have to go through an orientation before they're allowed to walk around freely. Maybe he knows that she will not become part of the army and that it was futile, or maybe he had other plans.
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Post by D on Dec 29, 2010 3:37:48 GMT -5
“We’ve stopped…yeah…” Amanda got up from the bed and stumbled over to the table. She did anything but rest and it had taken its toll on her body. She felt sluggish, but it was nothing a few more steps of activity would cure, or so she hoped. Arriving at the table, she pulled stacks of papers together and looked through them quickly. “Ok…” Making sure all was in order, she picked up her newly cracked glasses, and some darkly tinted goggles.
“Hold on, Vincent, I’ll get to you…” Amanda turned to him briefly before turning back to the table. Using a zippo lighter she had nabbed from one of the crewmates, she set it under the stack of paper and watched it all go up in flames. Once she was sure that it was done, she tossed a fireproof blanket over it and then fanned out the smoke. “Almost done you too.” She pulled the blanket off the table and let the ashes spread about. While coughing, she moved away from the table, unaware that a small piece of charred paper had floated away.
Emily watched in silence. She didn’t understand why her mother was destroying important notes. They were important because she had watched her mother working on them with barely any sleep. It worried her, but she had learned a long time ago that questioning her mother would yield no answers. That was ok though. If she didn’t bother her mother then she believed that her mom would be a little bit happier.
It was then that she heard VinVin say something and also the moment she felt his hand tremble. “Don’t worry what they think… I love you, VinVin.” She gave him a reassuring squeeze and when she saw his tear, she turned and hugged him tightly. However, she could still sense the doubt. “No, I promise! I’ll never leave! Never!” Emily turned to her mother. “Right mom? Right?”
Right mom? Right?
Amanda twitched slight and then knelt down. “I won’t.” She wiped the tears from his eyes and then handed him the goggles. “Baby, put this on.” She watched him pull on the goggles and then looked at Emily. “You two ready?” Amanda grabbed Vincent’s hand and in some foreign tribal like language she told him two words: Have Strength.
A knock on the door and one of the crewmen greeted her as soon as she opened it. He told her about the situation and his orders before handing her what was rightfully her’s. “Thank you, but I asked for all of my belongings. It’s missing a piece.” She unclipped one of the pockets on his utility belts and pulled the handcuffs out. “You will be compensated eventually.” He muttered words of angry and obscenities, but Amanda walked away while cuffing the suitcase to her. Emily and Vincent followed.
They arrived at a nearly empty cafeteria with its nearly delicious food. The few soldiers there took notice of her, but didn’t make a move to bother her, and she was almost appreciative of that. It was funny how this mess hall was of the “nearly’s.”
Without saying much to the children, she followed them into a line to get some food. Emily filled her tray and Amanda smiled, knowing that Em wouldn’t be able to finish all that the child picked up. So Amanda kept that in mind, and got little on her tray, so she could finish what the child wouldn’t eat. Once they were all set they headed back to the table and ate. “I’m glad they haven’t ran out of coffee.”
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Post by B on Dec 29, 2010 4:35:03 GMT -5
Vincent looked up at Amanda an smiled at the familiar tongue. He gave her a nod and followed her down.As long as they were both beside him, he'd have strength. Once they got to the food, Vincent copied Emily and began filling the tray. The woman behind the counter smiled. "Aw, you're both adorable!" She looked over at Vincent and her smile grew slightly, if that was possible. "Honey, why are you wearing those dusty old goggles? Come, show me those pretty eyes." Vincent glanced at Amanda but she had already gone forward in the line. Vincent looked back and gave a smile. "I can't! Momma... Momma said I have an... Infu... Infact.. iiioon?" "An infection? Aw poor little man. After you should see the doctor here, he'd help you." Vincent nodded with a smile that could fool a police officer. "Okay! Thank you!" He decided to keep his tray as is and not partake upon anything else. With that he sat by Emily, like he always had. He looked at his food and cocked his head curiously, pushed his head forward a bit and brought it back. He then repeated the steps before looking at Amanda. "I can't see very well." He admitted quietly. He had a slight smirk, so he found humor in it which was rare. Normally he isn't as quick to catch on to humor unless other people found the subject funny.
Light Voice "Arc?" GRIM's Voice "Yes." Brusk Voice "And you gave it back to her!?" GRIM's Voice "We don't need it." Light Voice "You're not seriously suggesting...?" GRIM's Voice "I need you to trust me Red-" Brusk Voice "It's an outrage!" Calm Voice "Perhaps you should bring the young lady here." Light Voice "I agree..." Brusk Voice "I say snatch it and toss her!" Calm Voice "Commander?" GRIM's Voice "Yes, sir."
A woman walked into the cafeteria. Probably the most interesting character to look at on the base so far. For starters she was bald. The next factor was the lack of gear. A shiny leather black tank top, Black fatigues which were tucked into black boots. Around her waste is a sweatshirt, yes, it is black. Probably her most unique feature was the plethora of tattoos she had on her body. So many figures, so much ink. Running down her arms, up her neck, on her head. Judging from the colors of her slightly-shown belly button, she even had some on her chest and likely back. As she walked, each step was like the authority of the gods. A few of the soldiers whispered to each other. As she walked by she immediately slugged him and he fell out of his chair. "WHAT THE FUCK!?" He shouted, holding his eye. Normally you'd think that a muscular looking man like himself would get up and do something about it but instead he just kinda crawled back a bit. She gave him a wicked looking grin and sat in his spot. After taking a drink of the brown liquid the man was helping himself to, she seemed to look at the other two across the table. "I'm sitting here." She said and they stood up and left with the black eye'd man, leaving their trays there with food on it. "Ah, I love buffets!" She laughed. The woman across the food counter smiled and shook her head. "Buttons, can you stop chasing them off." "They're pussies, Ashley. Besides, fuckers took my favorite spot." "But I thought your favorite spot was by the door." Buttons seemed to shrug. "The fuck do I care? This is my favorite spot now." She said freely, not caring if there was half chewed food in her mouth. Just then a soldier entered the room, Buttons looked at him and he winked. She put up a middle finger, her face was not amused. He let out a slight chuckle and kept walking. He was going for the table where the young woman and two children were sitting. "Pardon." He greeted, his voice sounding slightly Scottish, or Irish, whichever. "I am Sergeant O'malley. I've been ordered to escort you to Commander GRIM now." She seemed to question its urgency. He paused for a second and shook his head. "I don't know lass. I was only sent here to bring you." She seemed to accept this as she told the kids to be safe. As her and O'malley walked by Buttons, the woman couldn't keep her trap shut. "What makes you so fucking special?" O'malley shook his head and she gave him another "fuck you" gesture before going back to eating. "Sorry, she's got a bit a temper, that one." With that said, they walked across a whole, what seemed to be a small airstrip, to large building. GRIM was waiting in the lobby. "Sergeant, I'll take it from here." "Yes, sir" The man saluted and left. The masked GRIM seemed to look at her then his head tilted to her hand where the case was handcuffed to. "I told you it was yours." He said calmly. "You should have kept it with the kids. It will be a mistake bringing it." He stepped into an elevator. "Get in."
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Post by D on Dec 29, 2010 5:06:30 GMT -5
Amanda noticed a big-mouthed woman barge into the cafeteria, but she said nothing on it and continued to eat. She didn’t find any of the woman’s antics comical, but she did admit to herself that the actions were interesting. As the woman raged about, Amanda made a mental note of the woman’s presence and tucked it away within her mind.
It wasn’t soon after the bitch’s (by then Amanda had decided to give her a nickname) arrival that another person of interest came into the cafeteria. This time it was one of the soldiers asking Amanda to meet with GRIM. She looked at him and went with procedure, asking him the urgency of the situation. Of course, she received an answer she already knew so she agreed to follow him, but not before wishing the children safety.
“Where’s mommy going, VinVin?” Emily watched as their mother left with her briefcase in hand. She sipped some water from her cup and then ate a spoonful of nutritious mush. “Ew… But VinVin, I hope it isn’t serious.”
But when Amanda arrived, it seemed all the more urgent and serious. “Yes, you did.” She said, supporting his statement. “Which is why I’m keeping it in my possession.” It was then he told her that she had made a mistake and at that, a light smile appeared on her face. “Children shouldn’t play with this case’s contents.” Amanda stepped into the elevator and it didn’t take long for the elevator doors to open on the correct floor.
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Post by B on Dec 29, 2010 5:32:28 GMT -5
Grim shook his head. "Then you shouldn't hold it out for them." He hit the elevator button and the doors slid closed. On the way up he spoke quickly. "Don't speak unless you're asked a question. Give one or two word answers or else they'll devour you with politics. If that happens you wont be able to leave for hours." He warned her and tapped the case. "The contents of this is none of their business. Make that clear to them." He then looked directly at her. "Redwood has already seen video feeds of the children. They're strays that you've vowed to protect. Any less and they'll nit pick at the children, any more and they'll use the children to use you. That's it." She said something that made GRIM smile underneath. 'She's almost as calm as me'. He thought to himself and the elevator finally made it to the correct floor. Once it opened immediately there was a large table, inside it was a world map, some areas were green, the majority of them were red, and a few were yellow. There were at least 10 people in here. 6 sitting around the table, one at the edge which was easily seen as the boss. Then there were two others standing. They could be guards but they look a little too gruff and weathered to be lowly troopers. "Ah! Amanda Masters! Please, have a seat." He was and old man. Grayed hair, wrinkles face. Black eye glasses. On top of that was a very cliche politician suit. The man on his left was in a green general outfit, one you'd expect to see Fidel Castro wearing. He seemed to be making gestures and whispering loud enough for Amanda to hear. "Now's your chance, Prime Minister! Get her! The case!" The suit seemed to ignore him. The woman on the man's right leaned back a bit. She was an older woman, probably a similar age to the suit in charge. He clothing was military and decorated. Around her neck seemed to be a chain, probably dog tags, they went into her shirt though so the tags couldn't be seen. The others weren't too different, military types wearing high class outfits from whatever country they lived. GRIM walked Amanda to her seat than backed off beside one of the gentlemen standing. "It is great to have an Arc scientist here. I am honored to make your acquaintance. I am Alec Greene, Prime Minister of this faction." The woman seemed to lean forward. "Save the introductions." She said in a light voice. "Right!" The man across from her grunted. "The case! What is it!? Is it a bomb!? So long as you're here that belongs to us!" "Calm down General Ramsey." GRIM said and he seemed to comply for the most part but his face was getting red, forehead getting sweaty. "Well, Miss Masters? The case?" The woman asked, much more politely than her large counterpart.
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Post by D on Dec 29, 2010 5:56:09 GMT -5
Amanda walked into the room and did a quick scan around. They were people of little importance to her and as soon as they introduced themselves, her original thoughts of them remained true. She sat down when she was asked and placed the suitcase in her lap. Not a word came out of her mouth as she believed that introducing herself would be a waste of time and it seemed that another woman agreed. She looked back and eyed the general and the woman. She supposed this duo were like advisors of some sort…
“Its contents…” Amanda began and made a light tapping noise on the metal case. “…should not be an object of your concern.” As expected, the old minister asked her again and the tree woman assisted, but their questions were answered with words leading them to a dead end. Eventually, the retarded one of the three stood up and began to his menancing walk towards her. Not showing a drop of fear, she simply looked up at him, clearly un-amused by him and far from being shaken. GRIM quickly stepped in between the idiot and her and the idiot took a seat.
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