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Post by D on Jan 11, 2011 20:50:42 GMT -5
“Helicopters…” Amanda repeated Redwood’s words and looked toward the sound. She stared for a bit, but as soon as she recognized the ARC Europe symbol, she frowned. “Move.” She raised her voice a bit and one of Redwood’s men started boat toward the main ship. From the boat, there was nothing she could do except worry about the helicopters, and for once, she was just as unamused as the others. “That damned branch…” She muttered under her breath.
When the helicopters chased after the docking boat she was on, it was clear to her who they were after. Anyone around her would be able to tell the clear dislike she had for this branch. Thankfully, the boat was quick to reach the ship and with the help of some of Redwood’s men, she was able to get Vincent and Emily on board. Having been relieved of Vincent, Emily held her brother to the best of her ability, given that she wasn’t very strong or big. Amanda, on the other, could no longer contain her detest for them.
While she knew that the chance of her handgun bullets killing any of them was low, she took out the gun and unloaded the clip at their direction. Not only was it relieve her of her anger but also to tell them that she didn’t need or wish for their help. She hadn’t even tried contacting them, and she knew that the prime minister wouldn’t have. It was when she finished firing the gun that she turned to Redwood. Did she alert them? No, it couldn’t have been. She didn’t seem like the woman to sacrifice lives, or atleast not on purpose…Just who…
The remaining helicopters retreated and the chaos ended. As they left, her anger and hatred seemed to momentarily disappear. She began to laugh at them. They were pathetic and desperate. They wanted something and they had failed to capture her. They failed, failed, failed. Amanda continued to laugh, but the longer she laughed, the more unamused she seemed. This time her brilliant mind wasn’t able to give a clear reason to why, but as her laughter dwindled down, she remembered her children.
“Mommy…Vincent is really hot…” Emily still looked afraid, but it was probably shock from the sight of the injured. “Are they all going to be ok?” Her mother walked over, took Vincent from her, and grabbed her hand. She didn’t hear what her mom had said, but it reminded her of the day they lost dad. “…Ok.” She said quietly. “Mommy, this is why I don’t like guns or anything like that….People go to sleep…forever.” She felt her mother’s squeeze around her hand tighten.
Amanda wasn’t sure where to go at first, but as soon as she got walking, she ended up going to the same room she had used before. There she sat Vincent down and tucked him in. Emily, wanting to forget what had just happened, crawled in next to Vincent and hugged him tightly. Amanda would have said something, but she knew that Emily probably wouldn’t move even if she tried. Instead, she sighed and sat at a chair. This wouldn’t have worried her as much, but she was losing time.
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Post by B on Jan 11, 2011 23:55:52 GMT -5
They got the wounded soldier on the table. A high caliber round that hit him, luckily it was a far shot and the bullet lost a lot of velocity. He was groaning and crying. "I don't want to die..." Redwood put a hand on his cheek. "Don't worry, you aren't." She said softly and ripped off his shirt. She grabbed medical supplies and started working the wound with unsuspected skill. The soldier who had helped them bring his wounded comrade in cocked an eyebrow at her. "I didn't know politicians knew anything but how to yell." Redwood laughed. "I was a medic and a doctor before I got dragged into leading." The soldier smiled at the thought of her actually doing something useful. Naturally he liked her or else he wouldn't have followed her but it was hard to believe that a politician actually had a true skill. Then again, what she did on the mounted 50 caliber was something. Redwood stuck the wounded soldier with tranquilizer and minutes later he had calmed. She finally finished. There was no bullet, it had gone through him and his shoulder was more than mangled but at least he'll live. Whether he'll be getting out of bed for a month is the question. Redwood washed her hands then left them, walking up to the upper deck. She noticed Amanda was having a smoke. Redwood paused and thought things through and decided that it had to be now. She walked over to the other woman and leaned over the railing to look at the water. "Amanda..." She thought of how to say it. Unfortunately there was no way to show how truly sorry she was without bending over and breaking down but that wasn't how she was. She sighed. "I owe you an apology." She still didn't look at the other woman. "I can't begin to imagine how life is for you. People wanting you because of what you can do. So many people wanting to use you." She shook her head. "I was no different. The last month I stopped by so many times... Each time wanting to convince you to help me. I thought of everything to try and convince you... Some things I will never forgive myself for thinking." She looked up at the woman with sad eyes. "Over the last years I've forgotten entirely who I was, blinded by my hatred towards Albert Wesker. I've used people... Sacrificed people whose lives were not mine to sacrifice..." She turned away. She felt the pain deep in her heart but she continued. "I look at your boy... And I realized that he's not a monster. Me... The Prime Minister... Ramsey. We're the monsters." She looked at her hands. That soldier down below. It was her doing that got him shot. If she were more discreet maybe no one would have died. "I've seen the way you look at people. You don't trust anyone... Is that why you prefer the company of the children? Because you know that they would never betray you?" She didn't wait for an answer. "I would say I can't blame you for not trusting people... I wont blame you for not being able to forgive me, but please. You must listen." Redwood turned around and whether it was welcomed or not, she put her hand on Amanda's shoulder. "Not everyone is like me... Not everyone wants to use you. There are many out there who would give their lives for you, not because of what you can accomplish but because of who you are to them." It began sprinkling. The air was beyond cold, freezing, but for people like Redwood and Amanda, it wasn't intolerable. "You're not gone... The children are proof of that. Open your heart Amanda Masters... Do what it tells you... Not what other people tell you. Not what your head tells you, but what your heart yearns. Know friend from foe... Know who your allies are and above all else know that you do have allies." Redwood let her arm drop from Amanda's shoulder. "You control your life now. When we disembark you're free to do whatever you wish." Redwood began walking away but stopped. "I'm sorry I ever let my corruption try to use you." She left Amanda on the deck. She'll use the advice given to her however she wants to. When she entered the crews quarters Redwood stopped, withdrew the dog tags from under clothes and held it tight to her heart. "Never again..." She promised. "Never again."
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Post by D on Jan 13, 2011 1:10:44 GMT -5
As soon as the kids fell asleep, Amanda exited the room. There weren’t many soldiers on board and because of that fact it was a lot trickier to get her hands on a box of cancer sticks and a lighter. However, Amanda did get what she wanted and she moved to the deck. It was cold and it wasn’t something she minded, but she knew that she couldn’t stay out for too long, so she quickly lit a stick. Amanda placed it between her lips and inhaled. She hadn’t smoked in ages and she knew it was bad for her, but it felt so good. She blew out the smoke.
Another inhale and exhale and another until she heard a voice behind her. It was a soft voice that she recognized. It was an apology, and as cold as she acted, she was confused by it. Was she saying that people cared? She mentally laughed. No one ever really cared for. Even when the world was whole and normal, she had nothing. Before she would cry about all that she lacked, but as her tears dried, she realized that tears wouldn’t change anything….
Not a thing at all.
She did a deeper inhale and felt the anger building up with in her. Her hate began to rise to the surface. Redwood’s words were bothering her. It was as if she were partly lecturing her. Amanda wanted to move away, but Redwood suddenly grabbed her shoulder. She heard the woman talk about a heart and Amanda let out a small chuckle.
Did she mean the virus-infested heart that was slowly deteriorating? The one that was beating and pushing her faulty blood through her body?
It wasn’t too cold, but she was beginning to shake. It seemed that Redwood noticed this and she let go. The old woman said something else before leaving and as soon as the woman left, Amanda crushed the cigarette on the edge of the ship. She then took it and flung it over board with as much strength she could muster. At the moment, she felt hatred toward people, but below that feeling were so many more. She was confused and didn’t understand them, but without knowing, she let out a small, genuine smile.
Not wanting to move from that spot, she leaned against the railing and looked out into the sea. Her trembling stopped and a look of worry replaced her smile. She was worried about what she would do with her days. Every time she used an anti-virus, she couldn’t help but worry about the damage. Was she afraid? Amanda looked away from the water. She didn’t want to feel that.
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Post by B on Jan 15, 2011 1:17:11 GMT -5
A soldier lit up a cigarette on the deck. First one he's had in a few days, he was getting quite anxious. He had brought the pack from home before the turmoil happened. He let out a content smile as the fumes left his lungs and went out in the cold air. "Where the fuck are they!?" The soldier turned and looked over to the sound. The door opened to reveal the bald Buttons. "YOU!" The soldier looked back but only saw ocean, he turned back to Buttons. "Me?" She walked up and snatched the cigarette straight from his lips and put it in hers. He blinked a bit in a "what-just-happened?" expression and then caught the cloud of cigarette smoke. She then patted his pockets and withdrew the pack and to her convenience the lighter was right by. "What are you doing?" "You stole my cigarettes you fucker." She growled lightly. He shook his head. "No that's-" She immediately bent down grabbed his leg and tossed him overboard. A splash then a few soldiers panicking to get a life line out to him. It wouldn't take them more than 10 minutes to get him back on board. Wet, cold, and confused. Buttons exhaled another breath of fumes, she held the expression like she just had great sex. "That's much fucking better." She told herself and began to walk back into the boat. A conversation of a soldier asking her to smoke outside and not to smoke inside could be heard. A few insults shot from Buttons later and then silence. Looks like she got her way again. People were too afraid to stand up to her.
---
"I'm getting something... Something BIG." The man piloting of the ship mumbled and pointed at a blippy sonar, there definitely was a large cloud. "Is it a submarine?" "In these times? Absolutely not. My bets are on Zeus." GRIM shook his head. "It doesn't exist. Besides, it's not heading in our direction." Right after he said a bright light appeared from the ocean, a current of electricity easily seen swept through the water and hit the boat. Luckily the people on board got no more than a bad case of static. The radar buzzed out for a second before coming back on. A large wave appeared in the ocean and then went away. "It's gone... " GRIM shook his head. "Zeus?" "Mhm..."
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Post by D on Feb 21, 2011 4:12:56 GMT -5
Right now was one of those times she wanted to be deep in her thoughts, but this was life and she didn’t get what she wanted. A loud yell and a splash later, Amanda looked up in time to make sense of what had happened. The scene caused a smirk to form on her features. Oh? Was Buttons angry? Amanda didn’t remember whom she had swiped the cancerous sticks from and had figured that they were from a nameless, unimportant soldier, but clearly, she had been wrong.
“Addicted?” She asked a passerby and she noticed the fear in their eyes. They were afraid of Buttons. “Ah.” Having received her answer, she shoved her hands into her pockets and walked away.
Considering that nothing changed on the ship, she quickly found the medical wing. Upon arrival, she noticed the medical team and injured soldiers. Amanda eyed them and they awkwardly stared back, but when she knew that they wouldn’t stop her, she continued her way in. It wasn’t until she got to a table in the corner that she said anything.
She cleared her throat and looked up at them. “I am commandeering this table and a few medical supplies.” Amanda paused and looked around. Would she need anything else? There were the dividers used as walls to separate patients, but upon second thought she decided against it. She didn’t care if they knew of her condition and even if they did see her experimenting on herself, they would probably be too stupid to understand. “Any objections? No. Good.” She sat at the table and took a few supplies. It was time to start.
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Post by B on Feb 21, 2011 23:41:57 GMT -5
Two days later...
Things were calm aboard the boat for the most part. Soldiers came and went from inside to outside either acting like they were patrolling and doing something useful or being bored out of their minds. Redwood walked around the boat, equally as board, occasionally taking the time to check on the wounded soldiers and see Amanda working on herself. Redwood decided not to pry this time. Grim never really left the bridge, standing tall like some kind of captain from the Caribbean. Vincent was still as useless as ever, in his small moments of consciousness he used it to get Emily to lay with him so he wouldn't be so scared. Amanda had taken his shirt off, his skin had red lines all in it, as if his skin was being stretched near breaking point.
Back to the bridge... The navyman piloting the large craft pointed out the landmass in the distance. "Slow it down." GRIM ordered and the man nodded and pulled the lever back and watched the speedometer. "Huh..." "What?" "Our speed isn't decreasing." GRIM looked at the speedometer then looked out to the far distance, fog was covering most but the small plot of land could barely be seen. "Engine, come in." ... "Engine. Report." ... "How long do we have?" "About... 3 minutes to avoid completely being beached and making the ship useless." Grim turned around and began walking towards the bridge's exit while issuing orders. "Get our backup engineers, and a few veterans down to the engine room. Intercom everyone to brace for an impact."
It didn't take long for the sirens to commence. The intercom blared that engineers and veterans are to meet down in the engine room. The echoing voice continued telling everyone else to strap in and brace for an impact. GRIM was in full sprint, bulldozing through people if they got in his way. Redwood was no different she pushed passed people even throwing one young man into the wall next to them, he had coffee too, poor kid. By the time they assembled there were only... four people in front of the engine room? are the others slow or just forgot where they fit? GRIM, Redwood, a known Engineer, and a soldier. GRIM attempted to open the door but it wouldn't budge. It wasn't locked there was something blocking it. He kicked it, then kicked it again and, with the soldiers help they both kicked it one last time and were able to force it open. All the while the timer was counting down. Inside was a scene. 8 dead people, they were shot but the whole boat ride was quiet, it must've been with a silencer. Obviously they have an undesirable, but they had to ignore it for this moment. The soldier stood guard as the engineer explained that the four cranks needed to be turned in a specific order meaning that each crank needed to be manned by someone, but if the stowaway should return it'd be problematic for everyone without a guard. Amazingly, someone stepped through the door at the perfect moment. "What are you doing here!?" Redwood shouted at Amanda as she struggled with one of the cranks. "Grab that crank!" The engineer shouted to her pointed at the unmanned one behind her. "When I say pull just keep pulling until I say stop!" It was loud, the engines were screaming but the engineer shouted anyways. The crank thing was surprisingly difficult but the engines began to slow then the engineer told them to keep doing it to put the engines in reverse. Soon enough there was a crash that knocked everyone who wasn't strapped in off their feet, even GRIM but the crash wasn't any more than that. Redwood panted as she slowly stood up. "I'm getting... Too old for this..." "Isn't that the old black guy's line?" GRIM mumbled as pushed one of the dead engineer's bodies off of him and picked himself up, too. The soldier, being black and coincidentally old chuckled. "I'm old but this aint shit."
While that went on Emily was quick to snap to action when the intercom began giving orders. Vincent attempted to pick himself up off the bed but eventually Emily had to help him, as she brought him off the bed he couldn't help himself and he threw up. It was black with a hint of orange. "s...Sorry em...y" She got him to the couch which had buckles in case an impact was inevitable. Once they were both strapped in Vincent kind of slumped forward weakly. One of the privates opened the door to their room and noticed the kids were strapped in. Satisfied by their safety the soldier left to get himself situated when the ram came the kids barely budged unlike anyone who wasn't strapped. The intercom sounded off a few minutes after. "Everyone it appears the problem is over. The boat isn't horribly beached and we should expect to get it in working order within a week."
Where did they dock? An unknown area in Virginia. Naturally they were beached but not horribly like the pilot said. Other than a few private homes that were likely owned by very rich people, there didn't seem to be any city or town nearby. Why dock here?
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Post by D on Feb 26, 2011 23:29:03 GMT -5
In the time of two days, Amanda had made little progress. She still couldn’t figure how to reverse her condition and although she seemed calm, she was beyond frustrated. At the time when things went awry, Amanda had finished bandaging her arms. “We should be slowing to a stop, correct?” She had asked a medical officer. “After all the ETA was thirty minutes…” The officer shrugged and her eyes narrowed slightly. “At the knots we were going, we should have been the-“
The intercom blared.
Amanda smiled. Finally, there was something to get her mind off of things. Without thinking any more on it, she began at a walk toward the engine room. When the sirens and the intercom continued, she moved into a sprint and pushed people aside. Because of her weakened state, she got there later than the others, but it seemed that she had arrived on time.
Redwood had immediately taken noticed of her and started at a scream, but Amanda only looked up and gave a slight tilt of her head. She grabbed a crank and began to pull. Grunts escaped her as her muscles in her arms began to strain, but it seemed that her toiling was for nothing. The crash still happened. Like the others, she was knocked off of her feet, but she quickly recovered and stood up.
“Brilliant…” She muttered and then she brought up her arms to inspect them. They ached, but none of her wounds had reopened. That was good. Very good. It would be terrible to accidently cause an infection…
While her mother helped in the engine room, Emily stayed with Vincent. “VinVin! I can help!” She ran over quickly and brought him from the bed, but as she brought him up, he threw up all over her shirt. It was a putrid smelling type of barf, but she only smiled at him and told him, “it’s fine. Let us just buckle in.” If throwing up made him feel slightly better, she thought, then it was ok to have been thrown up on.
Once she got him to the couch, she strapped him in, and soon after came the impact.
Emily jerked toward a bit, but as soon as it was over, she unbuckled herself. “VinVin… Maybe you were sea sick…” She looked down at her shit and laughed. “Very Seasick. Maybe…maybe we can get you onto the shore. Let’s go..ok?”
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Post by B on Mar 24, 2011 22:51:20 GMT -5
Vincent only nodded slightly and closed his eyes. His hand was shaking. "I still have... Sea sickness..." He admitted. Whatever that was and what did throwing up have to do with the ocean?
---
Finally the troops disembarked. Two of them could be seen in scuba gear, ready to check out any damages that may have been caused below the ship as a result of the collision. Buttons sat at the edge of one of the small ships as it was being lowered down. One of the soldiers lowering had it in his mind to let it down faster then suddenly halt so she fell off. But due to the violent history of Buttons, he decided that that may not be the best idea. So another soldier did it for him. A larger man, black with a big stupid grin. "OH SHIET!" You could hear her scream, then suddenly a splash. The soldier who was initially operating the control booked it so that when she looked up she wouldn't see him. She did indeed look up and saw the smug bastard leaning over the side of the ship. "Oh... You... Mother fugger!." She immediately began swimming for the shore. Unable to wrap her mind around what possessed him to do that to HER of all people. A grin appeared on her face. Finally someone who could share the load of balls with her.
Meanwhile GRIM and Redwood started towards another ship that was being lowered down. They didn't seem to say much to each other. Redwood noticed the blood stain on GRIM's coat. He only shrugged. "Dead guys... Whatcha gonna do?" He asked rhetorically. Finally they reached the large cabin. Maybe not the most defensible position but definitely pleasing to the eye. It also smelt really nice inside. "Come on in, make yourselves at home." She told the troops and they were more than happy to do so. Four bedrooms on the second floor, a whole armory and a large front room that also had a nice fully supplied kitchen. Redwood went immediately to the room that was quite literally designated hers. Etched into the door was the name "Redwood". On the other hand, GRIM was checking the cabinets for some kind of liquor. Finally, he found it. Grabbing the 1990 vintage bottle he looked at the other soldiers then snuck off with it.
Three soldiers entered the room where the kids were, one of them was the medical officer who was carrying a bed along with his comrade. The third walked up to Emily. It was the same soldier who checked on them when the intercom was blasting. "Howdy sweet heart. Ready to go with your mum to the cabin?" The other two gently put Vincent on the bed. Vincent only eyed them curiously through his goggles. He's grown accustomed to wearing them now. Emily made sure to keep it over his face when he was too weak to remember. "Don't worry, champ. You'll be off the boat in no time." The medical officer said and gave him a wink. They then began to lift him out and to a boat. Likely the soldier who was holding Emily's hand to the deck ran into Amanda and let her take the girl.
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Post by D on Mar 26, 2011 2:13:04 GMT -5
“It’s ok, VinVin. I’m sure you’ll get better.” Emily smiled. “Things always get better.”
Amanda took her coat and pulled it. To cover her arms, she tugged her sleeves down and put on some gloves. As she did this, she noticed a slight tremble in her right hand. “I suppose I’ll have to lay off for a while…” She muttered and frowned. Admitting that she had to stop bothered her very much, but she knew that she couldn’t do much else if the trembling persisted.
With that troubling thought in her mind, she exited the room she was in and looked out to the sea. Just what the hell was she going to do? It seemed that she couldn’t do much research around here and…Amanda looked in her coat pocket…and…she didn’t have many smokes left. At least she still had a gun to toy with and…there wasn’t much else, was there?
“Damn…” She placed a cancer stick between her lips and walked toward the door. As she walked, she heard footsteps, so she quickened her pace to the door. Amanda poked her head out and looked, only to see no one. She narrowed her eyes and looked once more before heading off to catch a ride on the smaller boats.
“Hello, Mr. Guy!” Emily smiled and waved to the soldier. “Mommy? Yes, please!” The soldier grabbed her hand and led her around until they found her mom. Her mother looked down and gave a small smile, but the smile was quickly replaced with a questioning look. Emily knew what that meant. “VinVin is seasick still.” She heard her mother sigh and then they headed down. As soon as they entered the cabin, Emily changed her shirt and was left to do her own thing because her mother quickly disappeared again.
She was restless, extremely restless, so to cure it for a while, she decided to go exploring. The area seemed to be a green zone and surprisingly there was little sign of infection. Because of the lack of danger around, Amanda wandered off from the cabin by quite a bit. She wasn’t sure of how far she went or really what direction she had taken, but she knew she could easily find her way back.
As she walked, she noticed putrid smells in the air and so she approached the source, eager for some action. However, at its source, she found a camp of at least 20 people dead. From the smell, she could tell that they had been dead for a while and upon closer inspection, she saw that their fatal wounds were self-inflicted.
Wondering what had caused their suicides, she searched around the campground. At first, her search produced nothing, but when she accidently knocked over a radio, a possibility quickly arose. The radio hit the ground and turned on. It began to play an eerie message. “This is the last of the Main Anti-biohazard Research Corps Headquarters. A-All camps… A-All survivors… The North American cure has been lost. I repeat the North American cure has been lost. The zone surrounding the N.A. ARC H.Q. is now classified as a red zone. The…The base…”
Emily walked around a bit before finding herself outside and near a few soldiers. Two men were shooting rounds off and a woman was watching them with an amused smile. To the child, the woman didn’t seem all that busy, so she approached the woman. She then reached up and gave a slight tug before asking, “Will you play with me?”
Amanda picked up the radio device and looked at the bodies. “So this could be it…” She tossed the looping message player up and down. “You people are pathetic…The whole lot of you….Pathetic and lacking in intelligence…” She turned the radio off. “What a stupid reason to die for.” And after that, she walked back toward the cabin.
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Post by B on Mar 26, 2011 2:34:45 GMT -5
A little bit of time passed. A few key figures were missing from the cabin. One being Amanda and the other being GRIM. Redwood gave an annoyed sigh. She folded the map and put it back into her pocket. She noticed the soldiers were deciding on which DVD to watch out of a pretty nice library. The whole cabin was running off an underground generator. One of the soldiers asked her how she was doing. She smiled and decided to reply. "Been better, been worse. Have you seen Amanda?" Of course they knew who Amanda was, the person who got all the attention. He shrugged saying that she had left the cabin a while ago. Redwood nodded and left the whole cabin. She could see supplies being moved onto the shore. Some of the soldiers were still working on the damages to the ship. Buttons could be seen at the top of ship, it looks like her face was locked with a guy. Awkward. The little girl Emily seemed to be badgering one of the female soldiers to play. Poor girl, the only other child is incapacitated. Some others seemed to be firing off rounds. Practicing maybe? Probably not the best idea to draw whatever undead were nearby here but she wasn't going to stop them. At least it'll give them something real to shoot. "Ma'am!" He was out of breath, the red cross on his helmet easily indicated that he was the medic. "The... Boy..." Redwood gave a quizzical look. "Is he getting worse?" "I.. Don't know. He's gone... We put the bed.. down for a second. And we look back and he just wasn't there." "Go get some of the men inside to help you find him. I'll go find Amanda." She seemed calm. Maybe the kid was just simply tired of laying around. Redwood never liked the sitting around part of any sickness. Kids just have energy no matter how weak they may seem. That or he's looking for Amanda, too. Whatever it was, Redwood could only hope he's found.
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He was cute, green eyes. Long brown hair. Nice ass... But... Those thoughts are futile. He smile waned a bit as she watched the man fire off a few more rounds into the wooden target. Her helmet was in the dirt by her foot. Her dark brown hair reaching a little longer than shoulder length. Not regulation but hey, who's gonna stop her? A zombie grabbing her by her hair was the least of her worries. Tug-tug. She jumped slightly and her brown eyes looked down to see the little girl. She laughed slightly and knelt down. "Hi there. You want to play? But we haven't been introduced yet." She paused to look back up to her crush. He seemed to glance at her but unfortunately this wasn't a movie. No cute smile that said he was interested in her. Oh well. She turned back to the child. "I'm Tara, and you are?" She gave the little girl a smile. She wasn't the best with kids so she wouldn't know how to entertain the child, but just the simple fact that little girl had asked and had one of the most adorable attitudes made it impossible for her to say no. Tara, Tara... What are you doing?
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Post by D on Mar 27, 2011 14:37:44 GMT -5
Amanda didn’t get too far from the campsite when she decided to sit down. She could still smell the decaying flesh, but it wasn’t all that strong anymore. She still had the radio with its recorded message, but she wasn’t sure why she had taken it. “People are…” She blew some hair from her face and gave a small chuckle. She hated people. After the radio was tossed aside, she lowered the rest of herself to the ground and simply lay there. This could only happen in a green zone, but even then, she knew that there would be a few stragglers.
It was rather amusing to her that she was resting at that spot. Amanda always had one part of her near death, but she always tried to keep far enough away making sure it didn’t affect her. It was probably strange, but she found that being around the dead was a whole lot more comforting than being with the living.
“I’m Emily!” She smiled at Tara and then looked away. “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to bother you…” Emily looked back at Tara and then at the man shooting his rifle. “How come you’re shooting guns? Wouldn’t the monsters hear?” A look of concern touched her expressions and she looked around. “Is this a safe zone?”
As she closed her eyes, Amanda heard a few footsteps approaching her. They were lively and unlike the undead, so she didn’t worry too much, but she kept her hand over the grip of her pistol. When the footsteps stop, she drew her gun and pointed it toward were the noise had been, but then she opened an eye and discovered that it was Redwood. Amanda took a glance behind the older woman and then reholstered her weapon. “Hello.” She then closed her eye again and then settled back into her relaxing position.
Emily looked back up at Tara. “Scientist like to research and stuffs, but that’s boring…Do soldiers do anything funner, Ms. Tara?” Once upon a time there were enough children to play pretend family, but some of them disappeared or grew up. Then she was left with Vincent and they played pretend sometimes, but then he got sick. Now that she was alone, she found herself in the presence of older people again. Before it had been the ARC scientists, but now, scarier people surrounded her. They all had large guns and would shoot all the time. A lot of the men and women here frightened her, so she summoned up all of her courage to talk to the friendliest looking lady. Luckily, the lady seemed nice…
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Post by B on Mar 28, 2011 3:10:04 GMT -5
Tara smiled at the first question. Yeah, she supposed it was a bad idea to have target practice so early but they had to keep their accuracy high. "Yup, monsters can hear it. But if they shoot more they are better at it and monsters wont be able to get close. As for this being a safe zone?... I um... Don't-" She paused herself. She didn't know for sure, it seemed safe but places have "seemed safe" and not been safe. But this is a child she's talking to. ".. Yup it's pretty safe... But there still may be a few out there so don't go running off alone, okay?" She smiled then the child asked her another question. Scientists and research? Oh yeah... Wasn't her mother a scientist or something? A doctor? What do soldiers do for fun? She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again...
---Flashback---
Beer bottles littered the table, eight heavily armed troopers were sitting around it. A few of them drunk. "And that's when she said to get off... Fucking zombie ruined the whole night." Tara and the others laughed. "Really? I thought it was because she was getting bored." Another soldier keyed off. "Is that right? Okay, Time for some fucking beer pong, bitch."
---End---
"Um... Ya know what... Lets not do soldier stuff." One of her eyebrows lowered and her eyes went up as she thought. "Hmm..." Suddenly she remembered her own childhood. Her father with an expensive fishing rod with his daughter to his right and son to his left. The boy looked as if he'd rather be at the house playing the new video game, little Tara? She was enjoying every second of this trip. "I know... Lets go check the house for something. Come on." She was about to start walking but the little girl grabbed her hand. Tara felt a little awkward but allowed it. They entered the house and passed some of the soldiers. A few of them had smiles on their faces at the scene. Tara gave them mildly threatening glances and that only made their smiles grow. Finally they got to where the shed seemed to be. Redwood certainly kept prepared and sure enough there were three fishing rods, some imitation lure, and a box of other fishing things like hooks. "Lets go, we need to go out just a little. The boat might've scared a lot of the fishies earlier." They didn't go too far, they could see the cabin. There was a nice small cliff here which led to some mildly deep waters. Tara let out an explanation similar to her fathers and casted the line. in the water all that could be seen was the red floatee. Tara quickly reeled it back in and knelt down. "Give me your hands." She put Emily's hands to certain areas then kept her own hands on it. They both pulled it back and flung it. Not a bad cast for the two of them. "Okay, now we just hold on until we feel a tug, when we feel a tug we reel it in and we get a fishy!" It only took about three minutes when Tara felt a tug. "Ooh! Nice spot. Okay, I'll get this one then you can get the next." She reeled it in with a bit of difficulty. When she did she brought the line up and looked at what she caught. It was definitely caught on the line but it wasn't any fish she remembered. At least not a whole one. An obvious gash with its small bones sticking out. Tara had succeeded in catching a zombie fish. When she realized this, she let out a shriek and the pole flew farther into the water than both the times she casted the line. Her hand was over her heart and she could feel the child hide behind her. Tara let out a giggle which grew a bit, the child behind her started laughing and soon it was like watching a hilarious scene from a movie. "Ooh... Wow! Fishing has never been like this! My dad would put that on his wall and it would flap around like this stupid singing fish he had." Their laughs dwindled a bit and soon enough Emily asked why she wasn't so scary. "So.. scary?" What did she mean by that? So scary. She gave Emily a blank stare for a second and then finally realized. Little girl, lots of soldiers. Of course! She had a fear of the guns, that's why she asked the question earlier, maybe trying to get her to stop them cus it was scaring her. "Emily.." Tara reached into her holster and pulled out her .45 placing it on the rock and leaving it between them. "Does this scare you?" She told her that guns are only scary when people use them. Tara cocked an eyebrow. "Why? You shouldn't be scared when people use them." The little girl said it can hurt monsters but people too. Tara once again did her signature thinking expression, looking up as if reading files in her brain. Her father had a saying, he was part of the gun club and in the army for many years. "But you shouldn't be afraid. Only be afraid of who has it. My daddy once told me 'a gun can be evil when in evil hands but can save lives when in good hands'." The little girl said that that was why soldiers are scary. Then she made a cute imitation. Tara laughed immediately. God this little girl was cute. Much more bright and bubbly than most of them at the compound. "I get it now. You are afraid of soldiers cus they look scary and have guns, right? Don't be too quick to be scared of them. They may look strong but they're really scared. They have to look like that or else they'll run away." Tara continued to think of how to word this. "Um... When we get scared we want to force ourselves to be stronger. So we look really mean to scare the monsters. Well... Not me. I just showed you how I am. I get scared and I scream and throw things... Far." She laughed. Oh well, she was sure Redwood wouldn't get angry over the lost fishing rod. "Look, most of the soldiers you see are very good. They use their guns to shoot monsters and bad bad people so they cant hurt you. Those guns are in good hands. Their bullets can never hurt a good person, okay?"
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KSHRRR "Jake?SHSHS ARCkshshh Definitely here kshssh two survivors theishshhhhksh Vanessa and Ku.. Kushshshhh shhhshsshhhhsh kind of APCshssh children withshshsh. Putshshhh ... ... ... ... Hey sweet heart. shhhshsh long now. shhhshh Okay I have toshshhh. ... ... ... ... ..." "Hi." Redwood looked at the device that is surprisingly working even after Amanda threw it. She saw that much. "We have a situation." Redwood looked over at Amanda. "The boy's missing, GRIM's missing, and not to forget we found dead crew in the engine room. I don't know if it's related but we should start looking." That wasn't the reason she wanted to find Amanda in the first place but the situation does take priority. "I'll help you if you want."
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Post by D on Mar 28, 2011 19:33:51 GMT -5
“Oh. Ok.” Emily didn’t think that attracting the monsters’ attentions was a good thing, but she knew better than to argue. Then Tara explained that the zone was a safe zone, but again, Emily disagreed. The little girl knew that ‘safe’ zones or green zones were the safest of all three zones, but it didn’t mean that there wasn’t any danger. Instead of learning about the colors of a stop light and when to cross the street, Amanda taught Emily the colors of the zones and when not to enter one.
There was silence between the two until Tara decided not to do soldier related things and of course, Emily wanted to ask a question but the older lady quickly moved on. Afraid of being left behind, Emily grabbed Tara’s hand and followed a little bit behind the woman. Quickly they got the necessary tools for whatever they would be doing and then they left for a cliff.
Emily sat next to Tara and listened attentively. Occasionally, the little girl nodded and let out an, “Oh, really” but she wasn’t being disrespectful. This fishing thing was something new and interesting, and it was clear that the child was having fun. When it came to showing Emily how to cast the line, the child couldn’t keep her smile in. “Did I do it? Did we do it right?” There was a tug and Emily could feel herself getting excited.
When Tara reeled in the fish and brought it up, Emily immediately recognized it as one of the undead. “Oh…Mommy had one of-“ A shriek came from Tara and Emily quickly hid behind her, afraid that something bigger had come out, but when Tara started to laugh, Emily knew that nothing was wrong. She found herself laughing with the woman.
She was having fun, but the fun she was having contradicted her views of the soldiers. It was weird. Emily’s laughter dwindled down and she made a puzzled look. “Ms. Tara…” She began and then she looked at her. “How come you’re no so scary?” Emily watched the woman take her gun and place it on a rock. She shook her head when Tara asked about the gun. “Guns are only scary when people use them.”
Then Tara continued to press the matter and Emily, even though she felt that continuing to ‘speak against an adult’ was wrong, she tried to explain her point. “Guns hurt monsters and people too.” She crossed her arms in an attempt to look serious, but the attempt quickly ended as what Tara said after made her shake her head. “But! But that’s why they’re scary!”
The little girl unfolded her arms and then pretended to hold a gun. She put on her best intimidating face on, which wasn’t all that frightening, and began to shoot her imaginary weapon. “Bam! Bam! You’re dead!” After her little imitation, she heard Tara speak more. “Oh..Ok.” There was an awkward silence and then the little girl hugged Tara. When she released, she gave Tara a big smile. “So if guns aren’t evil… then at school…I was bad at school…”
Amanda turned to the radio and raised a brow. She thought she had turned it off. Strange. She listened to it and heard a few interesting words, but she said nothing of it and turned away. “There is always a situation, is there not? Wait, Vincent?” Amanda got off from the ground quickly. “Vincent wouldn’t hurt anyone. He was with Emily the whole time sick…How do you lose sight of a sick child?” She actually felt anger toward Redwood, but then she felt a little bit of it toward herself. Letting her guard down was unlike her and having let it down at such a moment was absolutely foolish.
She placed a hand on her head and sighed. “Damnit.” Amanda gave another sigh. “Yes, yes, help me.” The words that came out her mouth were distasteful and she hated how they sounded. Amanda looked at Redwood and saw that she wasn’t convinced. “Must I say it again? Help me…” She paused and took a glance at Redwood again. The other woman seemed confused still. “…” Amanda sighed once more. “Please.”
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Post by B on Mar 29, 2011 2:39:34 GMT -5
It was awkward when the little girl embraced her. Did she say something funny? Tara questionably accepted the embrace. A slight silence, a breeze. How strange this was. It felt pleasant but... She just couldn't explain the odd feeling. When Emily let go she gave Tara a big smile then said about how bad she was at school. Tara tapped the ground and sat criss cross as she grabbed the pistol from the rock. "Guns can be good and bad. Some people can use them and some people can't, that's why you need soldiers like me." She smiled. "Maybe you just didn't give yourself a chance to respect it. Wanna try?" The little girl seemed a bit hesitant but willing. "First thing before you use one you need to make sure it's safe so you don't accidentally hurt anyone." She began by removing the full clip and then expelling the chambered round. As she began to take the gun apart and make sure each part was working properly, she took the time to ask Emily about her school incident. The little girl went on about how she had to take one apart and then she broke it on purpose and got in trouble. Tara laughed. "You're very brave. You can't talk a zombie to death, though." The gun seemed functional, now it was time to put it back together. "So, you took apart the gun? I'm surprised they let you even try. How did you learn to do it?" The little girl went on about how her daddy taught her. How her daddy taught her... Yes... Tara's dad taught her a lot about firearms as well. She was a daddy's girl. Her brother was the momma's boy. Tara smiled as she listened to the little girl continue with her story. Finally it was done. "Okay! Come here." She kept on her knees and let the girl in front of her. "Okay... Grip it like thi- no-no. If you keep your hand that high you'll burn yourself. Riiight there." She looked kind of nervous. Tara smiled. "Hey, don't worry. There's no people in the water and as long as I'm here you wont get hurt. I'll help you with the recoil the first shot to get a feel but then you're on your own." Tara placed her hands over the girl's, surprisingly gentle. Tara kept reminding herself that she was with a child right now. "When you're ready... Squeeze as hard as you can. Don't aim for nothing just fire to fire." A few seconds passed and BWAP! The little girl looked startled. Her hand moving towards her ears. Tara sighed. "Did that hurt your ears? I'm sorry. I know. It hurt my ears the first time, too. My dad let me shoot into a stump of a tree. I was so scared I couldn't shoot another shot. If you want to stop we can-" The little girl was quick to say no. "Okay. It's your turn now. Grip as strong as you can and remember it's gonna push back when you shoot."
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Redwood gave an odd expression at Amanda. Such words weren't believed to be in her vocabulary but sure enough she was saying them. She wanted help? Well of course, that's why Redwood came out there. Redwood nodded. "Okay. Lets get moving then. He couldn't have gone far if he fell out of sight. There's nothing but rocks and sand. If you keep moving along the coast line you should see the land begin to elevate." They were already in a jog towards the cabin. "There's a few caves there where the neighbors built a sort of man-cave. If he's not there try the next cabin. I'll check the cabin and the ship." Once they reached the cabin they broke off. Redwood entered the cabin and asked the guys if they've seen a little boy. They all didn't, naturally. Redwood began looking for places a child can hide but she wasn't finding anything. She quickly left the cabin and asked the guys outside. One guy mentioned that the little girl went off with a soldier named Tara Banks. Amanda will probably run into them without a problem. Redwood continued for one of the boats. There was a driver in one seeming to finish unloading supplies. "Have you seen a-" "Nope, haven't seen him. The medical officer is looking around, too. You think he's on the ship?" "Yes, take me. Have you seen GRIM?" The soldier nodded with a grin. "Yeah, I took the Captain back to the ship last supply run. Hop aboard." She did and off they went. A good 5-10 minute ride towards the ship. Redwood couldn't help but feel GRIM was part of this. He was a good supporter but he was also a shady character who took strange interest in Amanda. Maybe he had other plans. Given Redwood's history, she has a right to be suspicious of her comrades.
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Post by D on Mar 29, 2011 22:32:26 GMT -5
So soldiers used guns and people like Tara used guns too?
Emily tilted her head a bit as she wondered about that. In the little girl’s head she tried to connect the word soldier to Tara again, but she still found that they were two different things. Then Tara asked if she wanted to try and Emily gave a hesitant look. Was she trying to make her into a soldier or like Tara? Emily didn’t want to be like a soldier and if she was going to turn into Tara, then she only likes how Tara was nice. Emily didn’t exactly think that the mounds of weight on her chest were worth it.
But then Tara made a motion toward the gun and Emily understood. Emily slowly approached and sat near Tara. She watched attentively as the woman took the gun apart. It was quiet for a while until Tara asked what happened and of course, like any other little kid, she told all of the story. “They gave us a gun…like that one but different and then the teacher was talking and then while he was talking I took it apart like how you’re doing it…and then the teacher went over and then was smiling but had a scary voice and then was saying ‘Why did you go ahead’ and then…I uhmm…and then I look up at the teacher and then I broke the gun on purpose when the teacher told me to put the gun back together and I got in trouble and then I had to sit in time out.” She inhaled a big breath of air and then exhaled out from the speech.
Tara began to put the gun back together and Emily gave a slight smile as Tara continued the conversation. “My Daddy taught me! I learned how to do it fast ‘cause of Daddy, but Daddy’s gone now….” Her smile didn’t wane and instead grew larger. “Daddy said he was a superhero and that he protected mommy all the time from monsters. I asked Daddy if he used guns and he said no ‘cause he uses flamey arms or something. When Daddy died, I was sad, but Mommy said that Daddy is watching over me so I’m happy again. Yeah!” She paused. “I like Daddy more than Mommy’s other friend though. He’s weird…”
Emily moved closer to the woman after she called her over and with the gun now in her hands, she had forgotten about the story she was telling. Guns were a serious business to the little girl so she couldn’t help that she was nervous. Eventually, however, Emily fired her first shot and the loud sound startled her. The little girl let go of the gun, closed her eyes and covered her ears. It was loud and frightening, but the little girl figured that maybe if she did it a few more times it would be less scary. At least, she hoped it worked that way.
Unlike before,, Emily was allowed to try it on her home. At first, she could feel herself trembling, but as she tightened her grasp around the gun’s grip, her trembling slowly came to a halt. Seconds after grabbing the gun, she squeezed as hard as she could and she heard the gun shot. The sound made her wince a bit, but she returned back to normal when she saw the water jump up from where the bullet had entered. “Whoa!” Emily walked over to the edge a bit to look at the ripples. She thought they were pretty.
They ran for the cabin and eventually, Amanda broke away from Redwood. The first place she decided to check was the man-cave. As she headed toward the man-cave’s direction, she found herself trying to get there as quick as she can. She wanted to find him and make sure he was safe. What she was feeling right now was a feeling she another feeling that she would hate to admit to others even if it was obvious.
It was when the entrance of the cave of man was a few feet away that Amanda drew her weapon and slowly approached it. She wasn’t sure what was in the cave so she gathered that it was better to be safe. When she finally got in, she found Vincent on his knees. “Vincent?” A wave of relief washed over her and she attempted to approach him, but he held out his hand and told her to stay back. “Vincent, I can help you. I am a scientist, remember?” He asked her to leave. “No, the last I left, nothing went right.”
The boy didn’t agree with her. He continued to tell her to leave, but Amanda wouldn’t have it. “I trust you, Vincent, but I can’t just leave you alone.” Still, he continued to try to get her to leave. “You’re being difficult.” Amanda attempted to approach again and as she got near she heard a dripping noise. “Won’t be the last?” She didn’t know what to do, but she wanted to embrace the boy. “Vincent…What do you-“ Amanda saw his blood cover hand and she immediately frowned. “What happened? Vincent, I can hel-“ The boy raised his voice against her and continued to yell at her. Even though she didn’t want to leave, she found herself walking toward the exit.
Once she was out, she closed the door behind her and for the first time in a long time did she express a look of defeat. She felt that it was a pathetic kind of look, but she allowed herself the moment to express it. After all, no one was looking. Amanda lingered around the area of the cave for a moment and when she finally collected herself, she looked for another place to go. Somewhere that would let her think.
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