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Post by B on Dec 6, 2010 4:20:44 GMT -5
I reluctantly agreed to play lookout. Was he going to hurt the man? Was he that desperate to free a dead woman? No, not Riley. Then again, do I know him at all? My hands fiddled with each other nervously. How long was this going to take? If he takes too long then people will beg- "I got it easily." I heard him say, jumping slightly as I turned to see him. "Riley..." "Wasn't hard at all." I only sighed. He was lucky we were in this place or else I'd have been yelling at him at this point. I shook my head and followed him down and then waited for him to unlock the woman but instead he turned and asked me too. My eyebrow raised defiantly and I only glared at him. He chuckled and said he was kidding. "You better be." I watched him go over and unlock him. As the handcuffs came off the woman grabbed he wrist which was quite red. "Ahh! That's much better. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is to be handcuffed for three hours straight!?" People of course noticed that she was let loose but instead of growing violent they grew scared and a few of them left the room. I myself wanted to leave the room but Riley wasn't budging. Why does he have to do this? "Alright, Riley." The woman said as she walked by. "Lets get out of here. It'd be a waste of your time staying here, besides I wont give you anything with these people listening." She was continuing towards the door where the medic was standing, watching her nervously. As she got close to him she stopped and looked him over. "Hmm..." She leaned in close and removed the man's only pistol from his holster. He didn't get violent either, they were afraid of her. Maybe she really did cause some damage during the attempt at capturing her. Either way, she was armed now, the medic wasn't going to try a damn thing. "If you'd please." The woman asked. She really gave me the creeps. I nudged Riley and when he looked over I made it sure he saw the concern on my face. By the time we looked back the barricade boards were taken out and they were now allowed to leave. Once outside the woman continued walking. The snow had picked up again. "Okay, lets start with the obvious." She started. The obvious? What does she mean? Information? "A cure!... Yes there is a cure, no we don't know how to make it. I've been escorting the people who are trying to..." She paused and looked at us. "Look, lets continue this in a building somewhere. If we run into the members of that gang then we're going to have trouble. I don't feel like kicking someone's ass right now." With that we quickly found a small convenient store, it was completely cleared out... Quite literally completely. "About the cure. The only lead we have are a small herb that grows in one area of the United States. Under a city called Raccoon City. A crater now. As for a safe place, that's the safest place I've ever seen. A practically uninhabited hole. There are people who will take you in, some of them may not seem the best to be around... And they probably aren't but most would accept you." I nudged Riley again, he completely ignored me again. He's starting to make me mad. She's filling his mind with lies. Probably a trap. The woman continued. "The final piece of information I promised you revolves around that city again. It didn't become a crater for just nothing. Before all this happened it happened once before in that city. The company that supposedly made the virus let it escape and the only way to get rid of it was..." She paused and let her hands go out making an odd explosion noise. With that she stood up and stretched. "Well... Mr. Riley, Lady Untrusting." I rolled my eyes. "I have a gang to catch." As she said that she had pulled out the handgun she robbed and chambered a bullet. "Good luck." Before she could leave Riley leaned over me and was quick to stop her. Asking for her name. She turned. "My name? Meryl." With that said she winked and the woman left into the snow. The wind was really picking up outside, sounds like a snowstorm was coming in. Maybe it's not the best idea for the woman but at least she was gone. When I felt it was safe to speak my mind I quickly punched Riley in the arm. "What were you thinking!?" I hit him two more times. "God Riley! You could have just let a murderer loose! It's clear she's lying! UGH!" I stood up and stomped my foot. "Why do you have to be so stupid! She's insane!" I walked passed him, continuing to rant on. "Next time you pull a retarded stunt like that and I'll leave! I'll leave all by myself! Leave you there! With her! I will!" I growled. I was so mad I was shaking. How could he be so stupid!? So... "SELFISH!" I growled. "Now I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight!"
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Post by D on Dec 6, 2010 15:05:05 GMT -5
“What’s your name?” Riley asked and surprisingly she turned and told him her name. He then caught her wink and if he said he wasn’t a little pleased by it, he would be lying. Meryl, the woman that he had just freed was beautiful and there was an interesting edge to her, but that wasn’t why he had helped her. He knew that his quest for knowledge had been selfish, but at least now he knew. Now, he could have a little bit more hope even if there was a possibility of it being false.
Thanks to the breed of humanity that this world created, his happiness was quickly interrupted when Sheryll punched him in the arm. For a teenage girl, he thought, she had a good punch and it actually hurts. “Ow…” He reached up and rubbed his arm, but then she yelled and punched him twice in the other arm. Her words stung as much as her punches. “Go ahead and yell. Just who in this world hasn’t been connected to murder? I killed men to survive and killed a man to save your life.” His voice was calm and he tried to be reasonable with her, knowing that she was still a teenage girl.
“Call me stupid because I will admit that I’ve done stupid things and you might as well call me insane too because I honestly don’t think that you can still be sane in this world, but go ahead. Get mad at me. It’s ok to be angry.” Sometimes, he felt that people needed to be angry once in a while. Sometimes it left a person with a refreshing feeling. Maybe Sheryll needed some of that refreshment. “Ok, I’m selfish.” He got up from the floor and walked over to her.
She was kind of like a little sister in the way she reacted and he wanted to hug her, but that would be seen as strange because they weren’t related and he didn’t want to be indecent. Instead of hugging, he reached over and patted her on her head. “Since you’re angry, go to sleep and dream of ways you want to kill me. See if that makes you happy. “ He would have made it a joke and chuckled, but he tried to keep himself serious. “You’ll need the sleep so you’ll have the energy. I’ll work on barricading this small convenient store and guard.”
Riley walked away from her and walked over to a wall. He began to dismantle parts of the store and then he took out a hammer. Reusing nails, he hammered them back to shape and barricaded entrances. The practice he got from barricading other places during their travels together gave him enough experience to work efficiently and quickly. In a matter of some hours, with the help of experience, his own strength, and the snowstorm, he was able to put up barricades. Things were a mess but he felt that the barricades were pretty strong.
When he felt all was done, he stood on the counter and opened up the roof. Snow began to sprinkle in and Riley pulled his hood on and put the cloth over his mask. He climbed up and took a look, but even with his goggles on, the visibility was terrible. If that was the case, he thought, then he felt that the ‘gang’ wouldn’t attack. Still, he kept alert and as he closed the rooftop door, he sat at the counter with his rifle ready. This was going to be a long night and he knew it.
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Post by B on Dec 6, 2010 23:26:45 GMT -5
I rolled my eyes. Here he goes being passive again. Ugh I hate that! Can't he get a little annoyed and- "Stop agreeing with me!" I slapped his hand away and took a few steps away with my back turned to him. He spoke that I should go to sleep and dream of ways to kill him. More like beat you with a bat for a half hour, you're nearly invincible anyways, you tard. I rolled my eyes again and took out a blanket from my bag and laid it neatly on the linoleum floor. I then laid down and listened as he started pounding away at the door. I sighed and attempted to sleep but I couldn't. Eventually I sat up and looked over and saw him standing up top a counter, playing look out. "Riley?" I called to him, folding my arms to combat the wind that came from the roof. He didn't move maybe the storm outside was too loud. I walked up and tapped his leg. "Riley!" He looked down and then left the roof, putting the top over. I chuckled, he looked like someone flopped a gigantic snowball on his head. "Too bad I'm not thirsty. Your face makes perfect ice cubes." I joked, but my chuckle was short lived as pops could be heard over the storm. "What's that?" I asked, the only thing I could relate it to was popcorn, but that definitely wasn't popcorn. Riley went back up and popped his head out again. It was clear what was happening. The gang was moving in...
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Post by D on Dec 7, 2010 0:19:44 GMT -5
He didn’t need to answer her question. All of the sudden there was an explosion, the familiar sound of gunfire and shots of wooden shrapnel flew towards them. Some nails did too, but luckily they missed. In the heat of the moment, Riley had thrown his body in front of Sheryl and protected her from the onslaught of splinters and other point objects. He came out of it without injury and was quick to notice that they were no longer alone.
Six gangmates with automatics surrounded them and aimed their guns at the duo. “Yous-a have a gun. Drop it, capeesh? We just wanna take ev’rything,” It sounded to Riley as if the man wanted him to surrender, and so he did, not wanting to take the risk of becoming swiss cheese. “Hey guys, you’re not going to hurt us right?” Riley asked and the leader ignored him and ordered for the capture of Sheryl. “Aye, take the take the girl…” One man grabbed hold of Sheryl. Riley could hear her screaming and struggling, so he turned to assist her. However, his turn had happened during one of the gang mate’s attempt at knocking him out with a pistol.
Instead the pistol collided with his goggle and shattered the part of it that mattered. Riley grabbed the barrel of the gun pushed it aside, causing the gangmember to shoot to the ground. He then, with surprising strength, pushed Sheryll over the cashier counter, which would cause her to fall to the other side for cover. The kid didn’t need to see what was going to happen. No, this wasn’t the Riley she knew at all.
“Shoot tha’ fucka!” He grabbed the pistol man’s arm and pulled him in front quickly, making him the target of the gang’s bullets, and as soon as he felt that the man was wasted, he pulled out his own handgun. Riley fired at the next one near him and turned to the leader who was nearest to the blown entrance. He charged the man and the two of them blew out of the already broken barricade/window.
It was like a blizzard outside and visibility was low. Unfortunately for the leader with the strange accent, he met his end early for Riley had blown a whole in his head, but fortunately for the other three, his problematic gun had jammed. Even though it was useless as a gun, he still held it firmly, knowing that the other three had followed him out. “Diesel!” He heard one of them call out and using the sound of the caller’s voice, Riley appeared behind the caller. “Diesel!” Riley placed his hand on the caller’s soldier. “Oh…Hello…” Again, Riley had a menacing tone to him and that was the last the caller heard. Riley pistol whipped the man and knocked him out, but he didn’t lower him. Instead he dragged the body and posted it against the wall. It was as if the caller was standing and never moved to look for his leader.
Caller would suffer in the cold and would know nothing about it. By the time he woke up, or if he ever woke up, he would be nearly or completely frozen to death. Although it seemed strange to receive such a punishment for destroying mere goggles, Rile thought it was quite fitting. The man deserved to die like this.
The other two gang members returned back to the inside of the convenience store, obviously not fond of the snow and cold. They had briefly forgotten about the woman and looking for their leader, but it didn’t matter all that much. After all, one of the other members was looking for Diesel. However, in that moment of forgetfulness, a bullet had found itself penetrating one of the men’s backs and entering his body. Of course such a shot produced a kill or at least an extremely painful injury, but the one unscathed, quickly turned her attention toward Sheryl. “You little bitch, I will cut you!” The gang lady yelled as she rushed to the counter. The lady jumped on top of it and drew a knife. It was only a knife, but from the way the gang lady held herself it was obvious that she had much experience in carving her foes…much experience.
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Post by B on Dec 7, 2010 1:12:15 GMT -5
Everything happened so quick. I could feel Riley covering me from the debris. When he let go I saw the men and only woman. They demanded we surrender, saying they only want to steal everything. Riley seemed to surrender so I did as well. When they saw me... Their leader was quick to demand they take me. When they grabbed me I screamed out obscenities and kicked one of the men in the crotch. Before he could pull a gun on me, Riley attacked. Before I knew it was on the ground behind the counter. There were gunshots. "Riley!!!" I shouted, please... Riley, don't be you! Why are you so stupid! Why would you do that! I looked over the counter only to catch a glimpse of Riley's fury. Before long their attention was on him. I can't sit here and pee my pants like some school girl. I need to help him. I looked forward to see a pistol laying on the floor. Must be the meatshield's. I crept my way to it and when I felt it I looked over the counter and aimed. I took a breath and held it as I timed my shot. They had their back to me, their guns raised, what if Riley was over there. I let my finger push in the trigger and just kept firing away. I saw the man fall and the gun went click, the clip was dry. I gasped when I noticed the woman had set her sights on me. She leaped up on the counter. Oh god... I was going to die...
---
I pushed the driver out of the car. With the gunshots and storm they hadn't heard my own gunshot. I smiled at the grizzly man laying in the snow. Too bad for him, he shouldn't have been so confident in himself. I slid into the driver's seat and the first thing I did was check the fuel indicator, it had been filled very recently. It's almost as if they wanted me to steal it! "Amateurs." I muttered as I calmly adjusted the rear view mirror. Everybody was too far ahead assaulting the buildings to notice I had commandeered their jeep. As I set the stick into reverse I hesitated. Why? I glanced over to the familiar convenience store, it was difficult to make out from here because of the storm but it was definitely there. What good is it saving them? I need to go, I'm wasting time... I started moving the car back and I had spun the car around which was easy to do with the snow slowing the car every five seconds, it wasn't ice just snow. As I drove away I couldn't help but think about that Riley character. He had every reason not to trust me but he did, why? I think I owe him more than just information. That said, it was easy to stop the car...
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"You little bitch, I will cut you!" The lady had a tattoo on her cheek, it seemed to just be a few black lines. As she readied herself to leap off onto Sheryll, the conveyor belt she was standing on started moving and the lady very slowly began to inch away from where Sheryll was. "The fuck!?" The woman swung her head around and noticed at the end of the belt was that bitch they had picked up a few hours ago. "I knew you'd be trouble!" She growled, still allowing herself to move on the belt. Meryl smiled. "I'm sorry ma'am, 10 items or less. Please use a different isle." "Really funny bitch!" The barbarian woman leaped off the counter to try and pounce Meryl but Meryl had casually walked off to the side and the woman missed. Meryl backed up a bit more and withdrew a similar knife to the woman. In addition she used her other hand to withdraw something from her pocket. They were sunglasses. She put them on her face. "If you don't lower your voice I'm afraid you're going to have to leave this establishment." "Shut the fuck up now. Lets just fight so I can end you!" Meryl shrugged and the woman lunged, starting with a thrust of the knife, it was easy for Meryl who grabbed the hand holding the knife and using her other hand armed with the knife and slashed at the woman's hand, cutting her arteries. The crazy barbarian lady shouted and dropped her knife but swung with her good hand to hit Meryl in the face. It connected and the sunglasses went flying off Meryl's face. Meryl and the woman backed up. "Hey!" Meryl growled. "Those sunglasses have a history!" The other woman screamed something that was unintelligible as she charged again. Meryl shook her head and rushed forward as well. Their strength matched as neither of them managed to knock the other down but Meryl had the upper hand. Shink! Shink! Shink!! Meryl's right arm repeatedly in then out getting more and more blood on her arm. She was stabbing her until the woman fell limp to the ground. Meryl looked down before wiping her lip with her non-bloodied hand. "Not a bad left hook." With that said she walked over to retrieve her sunglasses while cleaning off her knife. "Right then." Assuming Riley entered back into the convenience store. Meryl had walked over to the back door where she entered. "Get your stuff." She said and turned to them, Sheryll seemed to still be petrified in place from the events. "Tick tock, Riley."
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Post by D on Dec 7, 2010 22:34:20 GMT -5
“Why shouldn’t I, man? You think I give a shit about fighting?” Lawrence patted Riley on the back, mocking Riley’s normal comradeship. “How’s it feel not being the top dog anymore, ya little pus-“ Riley punched Lawrence in the face and knocked him out. Lawrence’s friends looked in shock, surprised, as Riley was normally the peacemaker. Without saying a word, he dragged Lawrence into halls to display his unconscious body as proof of his victory. He was showing off? No, Riley was humiliating Lawrence.
“Yo man, Riley what you going to do?” A boy asked behind him and Riley used all the strength he had to raise Lawrence up by his armor. He then hung Lawrence on the statue by attaching the football armor to it. It was a difficult feat, but Riley had done it. He had always done it. Riley had done all of them because he was so tired of bullshit and he just wanted the bullshit to leave him alone.
Leave him alone.
Left him alone.
Riley left him alone. He had second thoughts about whether or not he wanted to bring the unconscious caller back inside, but when he walked passed the body, he coldly ignored it. Upon entering the convenience store, he noticed that the only light came from the lamp. Good, he thought. The light was known to play tricks on the eyes if casted a certain way, so he hoped that the hole in his face wasn’t noticeable. It would be better that way. He clung to the shadows to hide the hole and also to hide how much killing those people didn’t bother him. Well it did a little, but he felt that it was deserved.
He still couldn’t see Sheryll, but he definitely noticed Meryl and her handiwork. Behind his mask, he smiled a bit, knowing that he was wise for not doing anything more but a single remark, but the smile faded as he approached the counter. He knocked over the lamp ‘accidently,’ and broke it, but of course, not before retrieving his things and looting from the dead. “Tick Tock Riley.” He heard and without saying a word, he pulled Sheryll up from the ground. It wasn’t forceful and more of an attempt to get her to move, however, it was anything but gentle. Normally, he would have been gentle, but there were things that were more urgent.
He walked passed Meryl, dragging Sheryll out, if she hadn’t moved on her own. As he walked passed Meryl, it was evident that Riley was much more serious than he was in their earlier encounter. He didn’t have any jokes and wasn’t passive or uplifting. He was neither the same Riley that Sheryll had come to know, if she could even say that she knew him at all. Everything that he wasn’t was extremely obvious, but the truth behind things was far from apparent.
The man was angry.
He avoided conflict and because of that he avoided people. He hated what people could do and he hated getting too close. He hated high school and hated the military. He hated the people he met and he hated himself. He hated how he looked and how he ran, but wait, he was being childish. He didn’t hate everything. He was lying. Yeah, he was a liar. Riley was a liar.
His face didn’t bother him at all and people didn’t bother him. He was happy to be alive and he felt almost blessed. If someone would asked him what he was thankful for, he would give them a story book answer and say, ‘I’m thankful for all that’s ever happened to me.’ All his experiences made him feel almost invincible, but wait, that was stupid and impossible. Nothing was invincible.
However, even that was a lie, or was it. What was he really angry at? In a sense he was angry at himself, but still not himself. Perhaps, it was the complexity of a mind he thought to be as simple as his life history. He wasn’t smart, but he knew what he wanted. Riley wanted to feel in control again and that’s what made him so angry. He had a lack of control over his own life, feelings, and thoughts. Just what happened to the golden boy? Now the man longed for simpler times…
But all of this was irrelevant to the story. Nitpicking a man’s mind and insecurities was something uncalled for it invaded privacy and it wasn’t for a good enough reason. Supposing that was true, Riley made sure not to linger too much in Meryl’s personal space and not to bother Sheryl all that much. After loading into the vehicle, he kept to the window and turned away from the women. When they stopped, he would cover the hole in his face…Hopfully, neither of them asked of it.
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Post by B on Dec 8, 2010 1:32:06 GMT -5
When the fight between the two women were over I stared at the woman from before with my mouth opened. Either she was an angel or a demon. Why save us? There has to be a motive. I could hear the gunshots going on outside the store, maybe the old geezer did get quite the gang together, they're holding pretty well. I shook my head. This is not what I wanted to see... We shouldn't be killing each other... A tear ran down my cheek. Why was this happening now? There's enough food in the world, there is... Why can't we share? Before I could dread on it any longer Riley had come by and dragged me up it took me a second but I started following. He picked up his pace, still holding my arm, it was tight... Riley... What's wrong? "Riley!" I growled. "Riley you're hurting me!" I hit his arm and he let go. He continued forward, I couldn't see his face. The woman beckoned me forth and I walked passed her. She wouldn't kill me... Not after she saved me, right? Riley got in the front. I got into the back. The woman went around and took the helm. "Seat belts." She demanded. I did. I couldn't stop thinking about the horrors I've seen. The day Riley saved me from those tribals... They were crazy but... But things could have gone differently. Same here... "Damn you've been through a lot of shit." I heard the woman say, looking at Riley, I could just see the golden locks of the back of his head. "You too." I heard him respond. "Shut up!" I growled. "Pardon?" I heard that woman... Meryl... yeah... Say. "You didn't have to kill her! Riley! You didn't have to try and save me! They were just going to rob us, then they would have went away, we could have found new supplies!" The woman glanced in the mirror at me, not so smug looking. "We can't keep killing each other!" I shouted again. Riley might've tried to say something but that Meryl was quicker. "It isn't easy but it's better this way. They wouldn't have robbed you and went away they would have kill-" "What do you know!?" "Look, those gunshots you heard while we were leaving. They weren't the sounds of a battle they were the shots of execution. They take what they want and make it to where NOBODY else can take it from them. They'll just keep on killing. They're just as diseased as the walking dead." Of course I wasn't listening to her. She was just a demon who wouldn't stop killing. I wanted to argue some more but I was so tired... and I was crying... Riley... Please don't turn around... God Sheryll... Why are you breaking down now?
--- Later ---
I had eventually calmed and was quiet, Riley wouldn't turn around... He was probably embarrassed by my outburst. I'm so stupid. I could hear the woman talking... "Raccoon City... It started with my father..." She spoke about what she believed she remembered, of her fathers friends and their desperate escape. She continued with the rash of incidents. "Texas... I was only a little girl, then... I don't really remember anything but I was told by my benefactor what had happened... It started with-" She continued droning on and on about the incident which doomed all mankind, this time she was detailed, she must've been told many accounts of it. She mentioned the person soully responsible, her own brother. "What... Happened to your brother?" I asked, I didn't know that I was really interested but here I was responding. The woman looked through the mirror back to me, she wasn't smiling. "Cockroaches don't die." She mumbled then her eyes went back to the road. I looked out to the road, a road sign said that Raccoon City was 12 more miles.
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Post by D on Dec 9, 2010 0:59:30 GMT -5
He heard Meryl and looked at her with a grin behind his mask. “You too.” Riley knew she had noticed, but unlike others, Meryl said nothing of it and didn’t seem all that different from their initial encounter. He felt good now that a wave of relief had washed over him, but Sheryl’s voice reminded him of something else to worry about. She began to yell at both Meryl and him. He was about to say something but Meryl was quick to answer and he knew she was right. He only hoped that Sheryll understood.
As soon as the sobs quieted and Sheryll seemed calm again, he heard Meryl start up with her story of the outbreaks. It was interesting and surprising, but Riley simply nodded at certain points and muttered a quiet, “ah…” He just wasn’t the type of man to overreact to things. Maybe once or twice in a while, but they were rare and far from each other.
For the most part the rest of the ride was silent. It didn’t take long at all for the group to arrive at the crater. When Meryl told them to get out, Riley stepped out of the vehicle and so did the other two women. Meryl seemed to go around the back of the auto, but Riley ignored her and turned his attention toward the tower. It looked secure and well safe. Atleast…it was safe from anything on the ground, but he knew that tall things were meant to be knocked down.
It was a little bit later that Meryl called Sheryll and him over. She said something about giving her blood to a woman named Amanda. He would have asked for the reason of doing so and why she couldn’t do it herself if he hadn’t felt it to be unnecessary. Doing so wouldn’t cause harm to him and he realized that bringing the sample to people connected to Meryl would be a sort of tool. The tool wouldn’t help significantly, but it would help enough…Of course, this took some thinking on his end, but after a while, he agreed to it.
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Post by B on Dec 17, 2010 16:53:56 GMT -5
Finally we had arrived. The road was completely void of cars and they just continued on it until we hit the dead end that lead into the crater. The woman stopped the car and we exited. As I left my seat and looked out to the crater I couldn't help but just stand there and gaze, my mouth wide. I couldn't see in the distance because it was night, but just the edge of the hole where I was standing was enough to make me gasp. Maybe this really was a city? I then looked up, it was still snowing. No storm, but the snow continued. I eventually turned to look at Riley and saw him walking out behind the car. I walked over and Meryl had given him... Her blood? That's gross. I winced and shook my head. Eventually she left us, telling us to give it to a woman named Amanda.
An hour later...
The snow had stopped and the sun was just peeking over. Me and Riley got our first real look of the crater. I had a hard time believing it. "So many people... Here?" I stopped to look at a destroyed building, there were a few jewels in the dirt. It was probably a jewelry shop, the stones were strong enough to withstand the heat or something. "I bet nobody saw it coming. I bet a lady was standing in this shop." I looked over at Riley. I wasn't sad, it anything I was happy be able to picture civilization out of rubble. "She standing here, talking to her coworker about the big date she had tonight. Then she'd put on a smile because a man was nervously looking at the jewels. 'He's going to propose, I know it" The lady would whisper and walk over to help him." I knelt down and picked up a jewel from the rubble. Gold was melted around it. I brought it up and showed it to Riley. "This could have been the ring, you know. The ring he was holding, picturing the smile on his beloved's face." My smile waned. I still wasn't sad, I was used to what happens next. But... I never really saw things like this before. What was with this city? "And then the screams. Our lover boy drops the ring, turns around and runs out to see what was going on. People were running, others were limping, others were biting." I started walking on destroyed concrete which was probably part of the side walk. "I bet somebody was killed right here. But our man didn't stop. Oh no, he kept running with heroic speed. Like a super hero." I chuckled and continued walking. We passed a half melted sign. At this point the sun was completely out and I could see the facility standing tall over everything else but I didn't comment about it, not yet. "This is where our story ends. Our man tries to run across the street when a freaked out lady, his lover no less, is zooming across the street to find HIM. The connect. She realizes what she did and left the car to see him laying in the street. She ignores the chaos around her." I knelt down with a smile on my face. "But he isn't upset. He smiles... Smiles because he got to see her again. Smiles because he knows she's alive and has a chance. But..." I looked up at Riley. "Do we have a chance, Riley?" Okay, perhaps this isn't like me, but if you had been in my head for the years before Riley, my biggest entertainment was making stories in my head. Romantic stories, but never had I made one so grim as this. "Will the world end up like this heap of rubble?"
Another hour later...
Damn this walk was looong! The view still amazed me, though. Despite whatever Riley had said earlier I was still popping images of people in my mind doing normal people things then suddenly their life turning for the worst. It was entertaining, sad, but entertaining. Besides I can gloat that I have it worse than them... No maybe not... I didn't really lose anything. I just dropped everything and ran. I paused. Wait... what is that? they're so colorful. "Riley. I think I see some flowers." I pointed towards them and ran over. As I got closer I noticed they were flowers. That was the original color of the plants. "Green, red, and blue. I've never seen a blue plant before." I rubbed a hand across the leaf. They were abundant in this area and this area alone. Maybe this was where a botany shop or greenhouse once stood. "They're beautiful." I looked up at him and smiled. They had a strange fragrance about them. It wasn't good but wasn't bad, it smelt like old spices. For a moment there, I wondered how they tasted but I wasn't going to try it. I didn't know what they were. I plucked off a blue leaf, then a green leaf, then a red leaf. All as mementos, and shoved them into my pocket. As I stood up and turned around I froze. Riley's eye went alert. I heard growling. But there wasn't any grays, there wasn't anything! I slowly turned to the direction of the noise only to see a black line whipping through the air. Whatever it was it struck me in the face. I was knocked immediately to the floor, the dozens of plants breaking my fall. A large black figure leaped on a hollow building. Do the the destroyed infrastructure it collapsed, but the creature was able to leap to the street. There it stood, green, reptilian. LARGE. Sure I've seen other things than grays but THIS definitely takes the cake. I slowly picked myself up and shakily reached for my pistol. "Riley... I'm scared..." I whispered to him. The beast was sniffing rapidly. Either seeing if we'd make a good meal or looking for something. Either way, the monster lowered itself. It was going to pounce. There we stood, me and Riley with raised guns and the beast in attack position... It was a regular western standoff.
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Post by D on Dec 20, 2010 0:28:30 GMT -5
“Don’t ask me…” Riley shook his head. “You probably have a big chance…” At what, he didn’t specify, but he believed that she was strong enough to survive and he also believed that she could live in what could possibly come after survival…the reconstruction, he supposed. That thought was one of the many things going on in his head, so even he wasn’t quite sure what this chance he referred to was. It was probably due to the shock of killing again.
For an hour, they didn’t say much to each other, but it didn’t bother him because the girl seemed to be amusing herself on her own. In the time, that she spent imagining, Riley kept his mind calm and alert, still worried of an attack. Although he wasn’t holding any of his weapons, he made sure to position his arms and hands at the ready as he walked. It wasn’t until they stopped at the plants that he relaxed a bit.
“They are.” He smiled and kneeled down. They reminded him of his sister. Before the mess, she had been a botanist and she loved plants dearly. Every special holiday that was spent at home meant that a new plant would be given to each and every guest at the party whenever she was invited. The warm thoughts of her made him miss her, but he rather not bring back the dead. The dead should stay dead.
Riley stood up and brought himself away from the flowers. He didn’t have any painful memories of his sister and nothing terrible had happened between them, but the thought of missing her made him feel uncomfortable. Of the things he didn’t want to show Sheryll, he didn’t want to show her things or anything that would lead her to ask about things that made him uncomfortable.
He stood up at the perfect time and immediately caught the sound of growling. Riley did a quick scan of the area, but as quick has he had responded to look, something had knocked Sheryll over. He didn’t have time to turn back to her, but when he saw what had attacked her, his feelings matched that of the girl, he was afraid.
Big…Really Big…What is that thing, he thought.
In the time that he used to create that thought, he had his trusty rifle at the ready and aimed at the large, angry looking thing with…female parts? Ok, Riley wasn’t a pervert, but that lizard, reptilian monster looked human and for lack of a nicer word, it was disgusting and distracting. However, that minor distraction wasted enough time as the monster closed the gap between him and it. The monster swung at him and Riley dodged, and fired a burst of bullets at it. In response of that, it screamed at him and charged again. Riley kept his ground because that was what he was trained to do, but he wanted to run because he had never faced anything like this before.
Luckily, some of the idiocy within his training never rubbed off on him and he dodged again, but because of his lack of knowledge on the terrain, he tripped over some rubble and fell. The monster’s swiped missed his head by a long shot, but the massive swing turned it the other way and put Sheryll within its sights. Without wasting another moment, it dashed towards Sheryll with an obvious anger. If it was capable of communication with the humans, it would be screaming for its children.
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Post by B on Dec 21, 2010 1:32:08 GMT -5
I, I can't move... My legs are locked up... My fingers can't pull the trigger. I could see Riley fighting it. I winced when I saw the beast swiped but, wait, he tripped. It missed. A screech, a loud longing screech brought me at attention. She was charging me. I let fly a bullet but the creature leaped to dodge as well as pounce me.. Wait... What!? She DODGED!? "Ah!" I did the only thing my body would let me do. Fall to the floor in a defensive position. The creature overshot me and fell by my head. She didn't stop her assault though. The moment I raised my head to see the thump I saw her tail raise. I rolled to dodge and her tail only hit concrete. When I was able I pulled myself up quickly. Luckily Riley had regained his composure and was distracting her. By the time I turned Riley was looking around, on top of a building. I raised my head before doing the same with my gun. "Where is she!?" I shouted at him, my eyes still on the same rooftop. I saw something move at the corner of my eye. When I turned back, the creature grabbed a rather intimidating piece of concrete and chucked it. Wait! Now this is just bull. "Riley!" I shouted to him, firing off a few cover shots. It seemed only to annoy the beast as she quickly dodged and went out of sight behind some more broken up buildings. "She's... smart? She understands. She plans... What are we dealing with, Riley!?"
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Post by D on Dec 21, 2010 2:51:49 GMT -5
Riley got up from the ground quickly and began to distract the thing. “Hey, ugly! Over here!” He yelled, but instead of attacking, the thing climbed to a building. It was fast and hard to catch. “I don’t know!” He said back to Sheryl and she shot at it. Thankfully, Sheryll’s yells alerted him of the concrete chunk and he dodged it, but Riley’s anxiety was getting worse. “I don’t know what it is! I just don’t know!”
The same Riley from the day he received his wound was attempting to rise up again. That Riley was afraid and wanted to run away. He wasn’t ready to fight and would rather cower. He wanted to live another day but wouldn’t know what to do with that other day. Now that he thought about it, that Riley was no different from the Riley that currently stood in his spot.
For some time, the beast would attack them with projectiles and the battle stayed a boring but dangerous one. Eventually, one of Riley’s shots bothered the beast so much that it retreated, and they were left alone again. Riley sat down and leaned against a metal stick coming out of the ground. “Ah…” It began, but after a few more awkward moments, he began to laugh. He laughed until tears fell down his eye.
He was still alive. Someone like him was still alive.
A coward. An idiot. Someone who wasn’t normal.
Why did he have the fortune, or the misfortune, of survival?
Riley settled down and decided that his laughter was a laugh of relief. “Oh god…I can’t believe it.” He wiped the tears, and looked up at Sheryl. “Are you alright?” He paused and shook his head. “Sorry, I just thought it was really good that we survived…” Riley’s clutch on his rifle loosened. “…Sometimes you just have to laugh.”
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Post by B on Jan 15, 2011 2:40:30 GMT -5
When the thing finally retreated I stood there real still, it had to have been a silence for about 10 minutes. Finally I let myself fall to the concrete road below me. Riley began to laugh, I looked up at him. At first I thought it was a joyous laugh but then it just sort of continued, he was laughing so hard I could see tears in his eyes. "Riley?" I asked, a bit confused. he turned to me and asked if I was okay then said that he thought it was really good that we survived. Good? Who says good? And sometimes we have just to laugh? "Okay, you're starting to scare me." I admitted, and picked myself up from the ground. "We're starting to get close to the tower... Can you compose yourself long enough to continue?" I gave a slight chuckle. Okay I found no humor in what just happened and definitely didn't find humor in the fact that I'm alive. Did he eat one of the plants or something? I shook my head and walked passed him. I smiled slightly. What an odd change for Riley. I've never seen him laugh so hard. Maybe he was going crazy... Or maybe I am.
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