IC The Waiting Game

[Toiletprincess]

She nodded and made her way down the stairs that no one seemed to remember were there spiraled downwards into the lower room. She left, making her way quietly along the roofs to a small house, slowly lowering herself in through the window. She scouted the house quickly, checking for supplies (none) and getting rid of any lingering pusermites. After that was over, she stood crouched beside the broken window, pulling out her large blade and listening. She was in her element. No others around her, able to concentrate without being disturbed by looking after other people.

~Flashback~
​

She snuck across the roof, her long brown tied in a braid that went down her back. She hitched up her backpack, a large kitchen knife in her slightly trembling hand. "Come on, quietly," she whispered, making a gesture to follow. She stood, half crouched near a shattered window, it's torn curtains billowing in the gentle wind. She looked out the window cautiously, noting the couple of pusermites nearby.
"Riley," a voice said, making her turn around.
"What?" she asked, glancing back out the window, "we need to concentrate."
"Riley," the voice, a girls voice, demanded to be heard.
She looked back, walking slowly towards her friend, "What's wrong?"
"I can't fight these things, Riley," the girl said, her body shaking, "I'm scared."
"There's no need to be scared Cat, we'll get through this okay?" Riley said, taking the girls hand in her own, "I'll protect you."
She looked behind her friend at someone else, a boy, and smiled, "We'll protect you."
"Riley," Cat said, voice trembling, "Riley watch out!" A gurgling growl came from the window as a pusermite flailed as it climbed in through the broken frame. Riley spun only just in time for the pusermite to bowl into her, knocking her off her feet.
​

~Back to Normal~​

The blue-eyed girl almost begun to tear up, but shook her head and placed a stoney look back on her face. That was in the past, a long, long time ago. She sighed, passing a hand over her weary face briefly. Why am I even here? Why am I helping these people? Do I want that to happen again? She mentally slapped herself and gained back her concentration, glancing out the window. No. I'm here for a few supplies and that's all, once that's over - I'll leave. ​

​

 

[Enderfive]

Fredrik looked bored. His new companion had the look of a scientist, but he didn't seem very talkative . . . or perhaps he did. Fredrik wasn't sure. There was definitely something off about him. He was . . . weird. That was the best description Fredrik could give.

"So, what's your name," he asked his partner. "You look like a scientist."

((S_swimmer))

 

[S_swimmer]

Blake turned around, raising his eyebrows. "I suppose I haven't given my name to you yet. My name is Blake. I am a scientist, although I can't fathom how you'd guess." He gestures to his lab coat, lips slightly curled up in a smile. It still pained him to do so, but he had to make his partner feel safe. "Fredrik, correct? Sorry for the quick introductions, but I don't think we have much time."

(( Fredrik ))

#72

"Like I said, we should've just-" Stephanie slammed her hand into Edward's mouth, pinning him against the wall of a house. She put a finger up to her mouth.

Ben tried his best to stifle a giggle. "Oooh, he's in for it now."

"Edward, honey," she said, voice dripping with blood, "I think it would be a wise decision for you to shut the fuck up." #72 still couldn't place his finger on their relationship. The way they acted towards each other was terrifying, and he couldn't imagine Stephanie putting up with the drunk for one minute. However, they still sometimes referred to each other as "babe" or "honey." #72 asked them in private once if they used to date, but they refused to speak anything about it.

A low, monotonous growl came from inside the room, but was cut abruptly by #72's knife. As he walked out, Roy pointed ahead from the roof and said, "We're almost there. Look." Sure enough, the radio tower's looming black frame poked out above the cover of the houses.

"Wonderful," #72 said in a hushed tone. "Let's start moving." As the others began to walk, he hopped onto the roof and grabbed Roy's shirt. "Are you sure about this, Roy?" he asked. "You're the youngest in the whole gang - you're only 17. You don't know what we could encounter there."

Roy shook his head. "No, I'm prepared. I know what's coming. I can't stay protected by everyone forever, and it's about time I start helping, too. It's like... a rite of passage, I guess."

Alphonse's shoes hit the roof with a muffled thud. "Are you two ready?"

#72 hid his smile behind his collar. "Very well. Let's go, then."

He, Roy, Edward, Stephanie, Ben and Alphonse set out to the radio tower with not the slightest idea of what would happen once they got there.

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

Ash was crouching down out of site, eyes closed, trying to pick up any new vibrations (typically caused by a vehicle, or a lot of things running) around her, and of course, she was listening. She relayed the plan to herself, "They get here. They go in. They take. They come out. They die."
Then, she heard their footsteps, they weren't far off. "Here they come." She thought, a smirk playing on her lips.
Her eyes flickered open, she watched them move to the door and silently step in. There were about six of them. "A couple of them look like they may be a bit difficult to fight...but most of them look quite easy to take out." She spotted a younger looking one, "Geez, he looks young..." They left one outside to keep watch. He didn't look like too much of a problem, an average looking fighter.
Ash slowly got up, throwing knife in hand. She turned to to Kaes and quietly said, "So we begin." And was stone faced once again.

((Naoh Toiletprincess S_swimmer Enderfive Timdood3))

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

Ash analyzes the situation, and decides, "It'd probably be best to wait a moment and throw my knife into his temple...It'd be both silent and painless...that is, if I do it correctly. Then one of us can move him away from the door. This'll work." She tells Kaes her plan, and leaves before he can protest. She stealthily moves across the street, figures out the approximate distance he is away, and silently counts to 30. "That should be long enough."
She waits till she has a good shot. Then, she inhales as she brings her arm back till it is just behind her ear, and exhales as she brings it forward with enough speed that it'll make it to her target. It turns over in the air, 1...2...3...4 times when it enters his skull with a soft thunk. Then, he drops to the ground with a vacant expression in his eyes. The only sound is a light wind blowing.

((sorreh guys, seemed like the only logical way to kill him...the others are coming up the tower to Naoh )

 

[Timdood3]

As soon as Ash takes out one of the thorns, Kaes comes out to take the body. He picks up the body easily and carries it into an alley, holding the bleeding wound to his side to keep a blood trail from forming. However, there was nothing he could do about the pool that had fitness before he got there.

With the body taken care of, Kaes looked to Ash for their next move.

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

She looks back at Kaes, and says, "I guess we just wait?" She looks towards the other houses, looking for the others, and then remembers to thank Kaes. "Oh. Thanks for moving him, Kaes, you did a good job." and smiles a smile that makes her look warmer and younger than she typically appears.
((fun fact: Ash has the great gastby smile...if you don't know what I'm talking about, look up "great Gatsby smile quote"))

 

[S_swimmer]

After the guard was disposed of, Blake whispered to Fredrik. "Time to come out." Silently and stealthily, he creeped across No Man's Land and threw his body towards the wall, landing lightly and silently. He creeped towards the door and crouched down so as to not be seen from the window. The waiting game had begun.

 

[Naoh]

Chris heard footsteps downstairs, and let a knife slide down his jacket sleeve, still concealed by his hand. Here we go I suppose. 5 grown men, armed to the teeth entered the room. "Helloooo there!' Chris saluted. "And who might you gentlemen be?" He noticed the woman in the back and tipped an imaginary hat. "Pardon me, gentlemen and woman!" The woman rolled her eyes and cursed under her breath. The tallest man whispered back to his cohorts. "He's just a kid. Let's just take the stuff and leave, I really don't feel like killing a kid." The woman sneered. "You're pretty soft for a member of the Unseen. Whatever, let's just get outta here."

The tall man stepped forward again. "Alright kid, give us what you have and we won't kill you." Chris giggled. "I'm really sorry to tell you this, but some others came and took everything I had already! Sorry it was all for nothing!" Chris smirked. Everything is going according to plan. I just need to get them outside.

(( S_swimmer ))

 

[S_swimmer]

#72; Chris

Edward started rampaging through the sheet of garbage littering the floor like a charging boar. "But you seem to have a hell of a lot of stuff, kid."

Alphonse grabbed Edward's collar and whispered to him. "Stop that, you're getting trash all over us."

#72 leaned down and said to the kid, "Listen. Please just give us what you have so things don't get out of hand. I don't know how long I can restrain these people if they start getting angry."

"..." Chris thought for a moment. He needed to get these people outside for the plan to work. He had to come up with some way to get them there. "...!" Chris smirked. "Alright, you win. I put all my supplies outside in the garage. They're all yours. Just please don't hurt me!"

"Garage?" #72 rested his chin in his hand, thinking. The young boy's smirk offset him greatly, but he still appeared to be alone. However, despite that, every alarm in his hand was blaring. He turned towards the door. "Roy! Can you hear me? Is there a garage out there?" He waited for a while, but there was no response. "Roy? Roy!" After a long, deafening silence, his voice came out in a whisper. "... Roy?"
Yelling, Edward stumbled toward the door. "Dumb fuckin' kid can't hear anything. Let's just go and look."

Eyes widening, the pieces put themselves together in #72's head. He stretched out his hand. "Wait! DON'T!!"

For what felt like a year, Edward turned the handle and opened the door. And then hell broke loose.

A rush of wind. #72 whipped his hands back instinctively, feeling a cool piece of metal in between his fingers as a blade is stopped inches from his neck. He gasped.

Quick as lightning, Chris' knife flashes from behind his hand. The neck. A quick slash and onto the next. Chris leaped into the air and made a jab at the tall man. Almost as if he had expected it, the man grasps Chris' arm, preventing him from completing the stroke.

Reacting quickly, Chris slides a second knife down his left arm and stabs the man in the hip.

"Akh-!" Taking no time to waste the opportunity, #72 twisted into the blade, wincing, and drove his fist into the boy's stomach. Immediately, he backstepped and, holding his wound, threw his body at the window, rolling out onto the pavement. He saw Roy's body next to him and stifled a surge of bile. I should probably take him to his father, he thought. Throwing the ragdoll over his shoulder, he bolted around a corner and out of sight. Thus, he began his painful return to the Walmart.

 

[CaffeinatedKitty]

She sits huddled in a corner, her cello case splayed open beside her and her rifle in her lap.
She isn't sure how long she's been here.
The window next her is broken- it was broken when she got here- and that means she can't let herself sleep.
She's out of food and her last water bottle is near-empty, but she has enough ammunition packed into the case to last a while longer.
A hard wooden baseball bat lies on the floor behind her, a silent reassurance of backup.
There's a commotion nearby, and she shifts to look out the window.
(there.)
Lifting the rifle to her shoulder, she clicks the safety off and takes careful aim.
A Pusermite collapses in the street.
The others don't notice the quiet gunshot amid the chaos.
She picks off a few more before they settle down. The less there are to notice her, the more of a chance she has to live.
Stringy dark hair falls into her eyes as she climbs to her feet, clicking the safety back on before softly resting the gun in her cello case. Next to it is a shoulder bag full of empty water bottles; she doesn't pick it up yet.
(maybe there's still food in the kitchen...even if there isn't, the water's okay...)
She might have to run for it if the sink's too loud.
And she plans on leaving this place anyway.
Careful to remain silent, she fastens the Velcro over the barrel and pulls clothes over it to hide it- if she ends up with other people, it's her secret weapon.
Cautiously shutting the lid of the case and snapping the clasps shut, she pulls it upright by the strap and hefts it onto her back. It's unwieldy but that single problem is greatly outweighed by the positives.
She grabs the shoulder bag and the baseball bat, slipping over to the door and listening for any noise.
The house is silent around her as she steps out of the room, ducking to make sure she doesn't bang her case into the top of the doorway.
Hugging the wall, one hand tight around the railing, the other firm on the bat, she makes her way to the bottom of the stairwell. She peeks out to make sure she's alone, and with that much confirmed, darts into the kitchen. The cabinets hang open, full of naught but darkness. Glancing around once again, she uncaps the first bottle and turns on the faucet.
When it's full, she turns off the water to twist the cap back on and uncap another.
Finally, every bottle is full and her nerves are pulled tighter than an instrument's strings, but luck is on her side for once.
The water weighing reassuringly heavy on her shoulder, she takes another minute to swipe a serrated knife from the drawer of utensils. It doesn't take long to find, and you can never be too prepared.
It's silent but for the moans of the Pusermites on the street outside. Intending to take a roundabout route to avoid them, she opens the back door--but there's one waiting for her outside and it lunges forward, startling her into stumbling back.
(oh god it's him)
Reflexively, she jabs at its eyes and gets in a lucky shot; it lets out a howl as she wrenches it to the ground and raises the bat.
It doesn't last long.
Spattered with blood and cringing, she yanks the knife from what remains of it's head and sprints out the door. That was sure to have attracted attention.
"Goddamn zombies."
Her voice is hoarse from lack of both speech and water.
She glances over her shoulder. They're advancing on her, too fast to outrun.
(climb!)
She veers to the side, abruptly shoving the knife into the shoulder bag, and pulls herself up into a tree. The first reaches her not a moment after and she bashes at its head with the bat--it takes a second hit to send it crumpling to the ground.
Over and over.
(stun, crush, repeat)
She's pale and shaking by the time they're all dead.
She hasn't been this much of a mess since-
(no. don't think about it.)
Grimacing, she drops from the branch. The case on her back is even more banged up now, but she's fine, other than the odd scratch from running through the trees.
(thank god)
Swallowing hard, she slips quietly out of the woods and over to the backs of the houses. She scales a fire escape as quickly as she can and still stay silent; when she reaches the roof, she stays low. She's in sight of the radio station now. Perhaps there are people there? Being alone became far too monotonous. And she was more than capable of protecting herself.
She slips across the rooftops, as low as possible. It's hard, but anything to keep herself safe.
When she reaches the last rooftop before the radio station, she sees them. There's a group of people near the wall, and-

someone dashes out of the door, momentarily freezing before he scoops up someone- a body?- and runs in the opposite direction.
Carefully- there don't seem to be any Pusermites around- she slips down the side of the building, praying she won't fall. Sticking close to the wall, she sidles over to the corner.
(I can still leave and they'll never know I was here)
She hesitates, unsure of how they'll react.
Eventually she just hangs back across the street, eying them and wondering if she should just go ahead and talk.
Half-hiding in the shadows, she stares silently and waits.
(what do I do...?)
(they're fighting...)
(no need to put myself in danger)
...
((Across the street from Blake and Fredrik I believe))

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

Ash sees the door fly open and immediately jumps into the fight. Moving as swiftly as possible, she targets a girl about her size. The girl pulls out a gun and aims it at Ash. Ash's adrenaline increases as she aims a hard kick at her hand, knocking the gun to the ground. The girl continues to fight with strategically aimed punches. "Haha she's not bad. This should be quite fun."
Ash swipes at her with her Bowie, each time getting blocked by her opponent. Catching Ash by surprise, the girl grazes her jaw with a punch, but she quickly recovers from the blow. "She's better than I anticipated...but I can still use her own moves against her." Eventually, taking advantage of the girls constant blocks, she catches her off guard and slices her Ulnar (a main artery in the forearm), rendering her left arm useless. Then, using the girls surprise against her, Ash then knees her in the stomach and as she doubles over she stabs her in the back of the neck. And though saddened by another kill, Ash refuses to show it, and moves on.
"Two non-Persermites in one day...Geez. `Bout to make that number go up..." She thinks as she scoops up the silenced gun and points it at the other intruders.
((not sure what the others are doing...I will attempt annihilate them once I know further details.))

 

[Toiletprincess]

Riley crouched in the window and watched as a knife flies into the young boy, killing him. Was that really necessary.. he can't be any older than 17. She sighed and moved from her crouched position, watching as Blake ran beside the door to wait for the right moment. Time to move. She leaned out of the windowsill and swung herself onto the roof, deciding that running down the stairs would be both time consuming and noisy. She slid down the side of the building and crept to the other side of Blake just in time to watch the door fly open. She waited for a few moments before slipping silently into the midst of the chaos. She observed quietly as the girl, Ash, struggled against the opposing female and Chris stabbed a man in the hip who ran off soon after. Alright. She eyed the rest of the battle, looking for anyone who was off to the side before jumping in. Over there. A man (Ben) stood with his back to her with a gun raised, searching for someone to aim it at. "Hey asshole!" Riley called from behind him, swiftly pulling her large blade from her belt. He spun, holding the gun up to her face as she grinned at him. Unlike that Ash girl, I don't fuck around. She smiled and tilted her head at the man, staring him down. "So are you going to do something with that or.. Ah," she mocked, watching him as he put more pressure on the trigger, "I see." She quickly drew her blade up through his arm, cutting it clean off just below the elbow. The gun fired, skimming just past her shoulder and embedding itself in the wall. His arm made a sickening thunk on the ground and she sighed at him. "Well," she said, pouting at him, "That was stupid of you. He screamed in pain and gripped his stump arm, watching as the blood ran through his fingers at an unstoppable pace. Riley spun, kicking his feet from under him and allowing him to fall on his face on the ground, still holding his arm. A look of terror crossed his face as he watched her smile turn into a scowl as she thrust her machete into the back of his head and twisted it with a crack. Dead. She looked up at the rest of the commotion, blood spattered on her clothing and face. She ran the back of her hand along her face, smudging anything that was there onto her hand and cheeks. "Okay," she muttered to herself, wiping her blade on the clothing of the dead man to clean it, "whose taking the last two?"

((BRUTALITY.))

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

Ash looks over the situation, and sees a large guy (Alphonse) fighting Fredrik. That's my first target. With sweaty palms she aims the gun at his head, waiting for a shot where she won't hit The Viking. Ok...now. Ash fires the gun and the bullet goes in through one side of his head, blood and brain tissue accompany it out the other side.
Ash takes a shaky breath. Only one more. She promises herself, knowing her words are lies. She turns to her last target (Edward), and decides to let him live for the time being. She plants a knife in both of his feet, easily un-arms him, wraps her arm around his neck and holds her gun to his head. She turns to the others, stone faced, and says, "Ok guys...what do we need to know?"

((S_swimmer, Toiletprincess, Naoh, Timdood3, Enderfive))

 

[Timdood3]

Kaes entered entered to find blood everywhere and bodies dismembered beyond recognition. Ash speaks as he arrives, "Ok guys....What do we need to know?"

Kaes makes his presence known with an answer. "Well one thing you should all know, and something our captive friend here will be happy to hear, is that one of them escaped. Took the kid's body and ran off with it. ((I WAS STANDING RIGHT THERE WHEN HE DID IT BUT I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT.....By which I mean he jumped out the window and collected the body an ran off all in one post...While I was standing RIGHT THERE....I would've liked to bury my axe in his head but I guess it's too late for that....)) Also I'd like to know why you guys had to be so brutal. I mean, that guy doesn't have a hand or a head..."

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

"One of them escaped...well, shit. That puts a bit of a kink in our plan."
Ash looks down, biting her lip in thought. She looks up at Blake, "What do you suggest we do?"

 

[CaffeinatedKitty]

Silent, really rather worried about trying to interact with them now, she edges back.
(brutal...and against other people. do I really want to associate with them?)
At least one of them seems as if he doesn't appreciate the others' work.
She starts to turn to leave them-
(they're nuts)
-but she's too close to the wall and turns the wrong way and the case on her back hits the brick with a loud crack.
(SHIT)
She whips around, a deer in the headlights.
(I'm dead.)

 

[Timdood3]

Suddenly, a sound comes from the back of the room. It's a person. Knowing how the others will react, Kaes imposes himself between them and the new arrival, throwing his arms out, axe still in hand. "Before any of you try harm this one, we try talking." Turning his head slightly, he addressed the girl, "So who are you, how long have you been there, et cetera."

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

"Whoa, I'm not going to harm her! The only reason they (gestures to the corpses) are dead, is because they were hostile." Ash says to Kaes. She turns to the girl. "She looks pretty startled...I should probably do something to make her feel more safe..." "None of them are going to harm you." She says, glancing back at the others, with a firm expression, to make it clear not to do her any harm. "My name is Ash." She continues with a reassuring smile. "Go ahead and answer Kaes' questions, and then we'll explain all of this"

 

[Toiletprincess]

Riley rolls her eyes at Kaes disapproving glance at the bodies. "We were protecting ourselves, what's the problem!" She spun around as a brick cracked at the back of the room and watched with a raised eyebrow as Kaes threw his arms up to stop them. The girl groaned, throwing her hands up in defeat, "God, you guys, we were brutal in fighting but we're not horrible people jesus christ calm your fucking tits." She looked to the girl who looked absolutely mortified, being the center of attention, "What do you think we're going to do, jump her? She obviously fucking came in during the fight and isn't immediately labelled as part of them. Any fucking moron could tell that."
"Assholes.." she muttered to herself, wrinkling her nose at the two and moving to the other side of the room to lean against the wall.

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

Ash couldn't help but smile at Riley's profane, yet absolutely true words. "I couldn't agree more with Riley. Kaes, if we are going to survive, we are going to have to kill. Yes, it's not something I would love to do on a day to day basis, but we are going to have to to protect ourselves and those around us." She paused before continuing, "And on a side note, what do you want me to do with him, Blake?"

((S_swimmer, Timdood3, Toiletprincess))

 

[Naoh]

Chris poked his grinning face out from the doorway and surveyed the battle. "Looks like it went well!" His eyes wandered over to the new-comer. "Helloo!" Chris cartwheeled out of the doorway into a handstand. "Who's this?" he laughed.

 

[Timdood3]

"It's not killing I have the problem with. It's unnecessary dismemberment and brutality. You didn't even try to leave his skull intact. You could just as easily slit his throat."

 

[S_swimmer]

"Him?" Blake walks over to the man, who has tears drying on his cheeks and new ones falling over them. Unrelentingly, he grips his hair and pulls his face up, taking a long look at his face, observing. "I'll handle this one. So, what's your name?"

"E-e-eee-Edw-ward," he spat out, voice quavering uncontrollably.

"Edward. Nice to meet you. So? How many of you were at the Walmart?" Edward stayed silent, biting his lip, trying to hold on to the last remnants of his honor. Still holding his hair, Blake slammed the side of his head into the floor and brought it back up again. "Answers. I want to know how many people are left in there and what they're carrying."

"1-18! There's 18 people in there w-with 4 guns and a l-l-lot of k-knives. There, I answered your question, so please don't ki–"

Content with the information, Blake ends the discussion permanently.

 

[CaffeinatedKitty]

(I can still get out of this...)
"Eeehh..."
(I get the feeling it's just because of him they're somewhat calm...)
"Lo siento..." She steps back. "No hablo mucho Inglés?"
She knows full well what they're saying, but after seeing that... And how this new guy- both of them, there's another with a grin that kind of freaks her out- is nigh indifferent to the carnage. Hostile or not...
"Dejaré ahora."
The last isn't a question; one of the men chose that moment to threaten the hostage into answering and murders him in cold blood.
The tip of the bat dragging on the ground for a moment, she turns- not as clumsily this time- and darts around the corner.
"My god," She whispers to herself, accent lingering for a moment, as she searches for a way back up to the roof. "These are the other survivors? Did everyone become a-a savage or something?"
She doesn't consciously include herself, but...
had to kill him before he could kill her
bashed his head in in a panic
A tear slides down her nose. She brushes it away.
"Not the time for this." She mutters, scolding herself, and just keeps walking. "I just have to go."
...
(("I'm sorry..." "I don't speak much English?" "I'll leave now."))