Realistic or Modern The Dead Hills - IC

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

"Zelda, shut it. Y'know whats silly? Mopin' around under a bleedin' desk! You gave in, so what? It's a lesson you're learnin' slowly. Alright? We can try again, but for now, we don't need to get up in arms about it. There's always a tomorrow." He reassured to the best of his capabilities. Archie, furthermore, grasped her chin to force Zelda's head upward as she slurred the name of her husband. "Mark ain't here, Lilypad. Mark ain't here, it's me. And you know what I'm sayin'? Fuck it." He grabbed the bottle from beneath the desk and poured the open-cap wine into his mouth. Arch gave a little cough, smacking his lips together with a questioning cock of his brow. "This is some fancy stuff you got, lady. Never been a fan but I can get into it."

McKeegan's hand softened its hold on her chin to stroke across her jaw, attempting to lure the fighter he knew out of her morose, anxiety-ridden shell. "You can't just give up on me for doin' somethin' as silly as drinkin'. I ain't yer da, I can't tell you off for it. Yer a free woman, Zed. Aye? And you're the only person who can tell yourself what to do." The Scotsman nuzzled his ticklish bearded features into her cheek with a quiet laugh. "You're an utter numpty, forget the big bad doc who makes people feel the side of a thimble, huh? I might as well sign you up for Sesame Street at this rate."

He bundled her tighter into his lap as she seemed to slacken with her defeat. "Tell me about Mark then, if it'll help. Let's have a mother's meetin' out of this, because this bastard is clearly on yer mind right now, and he's not a good influence." Arch gently pushed her hair back, the back of his knuckles grazing the Doctor's forehead. "What is it about this geezer that's got you all riled up? I'm tellin' you, whatever it is, I can put those worries down quicker than you can say Bobs yer Uncle. Ain't nothing wrong with you, you're just goin' through a tough time and that's like gettin' an illness. You need to learn how to manage it, before you get worse."

Rumble Fish Peacemaker .45

 

[Rumble Fish]

“No…” Zelda protested weakly as Archie forced her to look at him. He was talking to her in a manner she was not expecting. She glanced away from him as he said she could just start again tomorrow. The woman sighed heavily, still looking away. She only looked back at him when he took the wine from her and took a long drink from it. She was surprised by this gesture but… she couldn’t stop him.

As he spoke again, she did not answer as she took another bottle and opened it, taking a long drink out of it. He said she was the only one who could tell herself what to do. She looked at the floor, “…I cant.” She sighed, “I… I don’t want to be sober. I never do. All it does is hurt.” She glanced away, “I don’t want to remember anything.”

Zelda was brought out of her thoughts when Archie spoke again, now telling her to tell him about Mark. She winced violently and tried to protest, but… well… it was hopeless. With a deep sigh, she took a very long drink from the bottle before speaking.

“Okay.” she started, her words much more slurred at this point, “Well… I’m not gonna get out of this so I might as well…”

“Basically… I guess everything started when mum died. And after that, I…” she was already faltering, not wanting to continue but she knew Archie would want her too, “Well, I was supposed to have a baby but she was stillborn. After that, I just… just couldn’t cope.” She did not want to say much else about that. He could see for himself how it went. She went quiet for a while before finally continuing.

“…Thing is… Mark was Japanese and lived there until he was twenty, which was when we met. Over there, getting help like… therapy and shit is looked down on. I wanted to go to rehab, I wanted to take therapy I really did!” She clenched her fists as she became more aggravated, “But he wouldn’t let me! He didn’t want me to do it! And his parents… his fucking parents hated my guts. I’m… I’m pretty sure they wanted him to dump me for another woman.”

She went quiet again, shaking slightly as she looked at him. She did not want to continue. But he would make her. Taking another swig of wine, she finally continued.

“Before we came to West Virginia… probably… three days before… we went to a house party. Some guy Mark worked with.” She sipped again, becoming more anxious, “Well… he had made me promise I wouldn’t drink. I mean… I already had been that day but whatever. Anyway, I-I didn’t drink anything, I just had cola, I really tried! But at one point I went upstairs to go to the toilet and…” she had to pause. She did not want to say what she was about to say. Tears started rolling down her face.

“I looked into the master bedroom and… Mark was… with another woman and…” The woman simply could not continue, she just drank the rest of the bottle. She did not want to remember this anymore. She did not want to be aware of anything. Sure, when inebriated she felt sick and disoriented she could not keep a thought in her head, "Well... I did not know what to do so... I went mad. I don't remember anything until I woke up back at our house." She remembered miserably. Despite everything, she could still remember.

(Flashback)
Zelda winced as she felt the pillow hit her chest, knocking her back. She had just recovered from a severe bout of vomiting and felt like death. The glare from her husband made her just want to drop dead on the spot.

"Mark, I-"

"Don't! Don't you dare!" The man barked as he pointed his finger at her like a pistol, "You are a fucking embarrassment! I won't be able to show my face around the office again after this!"

"I'm so sorry-"

"SORRY!? That's all you have to say!? I'm done defending you! I've been telling you over and over again to get your shit together and what do you do?! NOTHING!"

"...I've been trying-"

"TRYING!? If you had actually tried, this wouldn't be a problem anymore! I'm done!"

Zelda looked up at these words. Was... was he going to leave?!

"No, please-!"

"I've had it." The man growled as he reached for his jacket. In a panic, Zelda shot up, albeit clumsily and almost falling over.

"No, Mark please!" She begged, tears flooding down her face like a waterfall. Despite what he had just done, she couldn't stand the thought of him leaving! She loved him so much that it hurt and the fact that she had caused this made it worse.

"Please... at least... at least until we're back from West Virginia." She mumbled, feeling totally isolated, "...For Jason?"

This caused the man to stop. After a moment he growled and put his jacket back.

"Fine... for Jason, not you!" He snapped as he slammed the door, leaving Zelda alone in the hall. With a deep sigh, she took the pillow and started to go down the stairs to the living room.

"Mum?" Jason's sweet voice caught her attention. The tween stood at the top of the stairs, his hair disheveled, "what's wrong?" He asked, his tone dripping with worry. Zelda wiped her eyes and tried to hide it.

"Nothing, hon. Dad and I are just... well... it's nothing to worry about, I promise. Go back to sleep."

Jason seemed unconvinced, making Zelda sigh.

"Go back to bed, I'll tuck you in." She smiled at him.

"...okay." The young boy mumbled as he went back to his room, leaving Zelda once again alone. The woman sighed deeply and continued down stairs. Maybe... maybe if this holiday went well, everything would be alright...
(Flashback ends)

When Zelda finished talking, she just sat there, in Archie's grip, completely limp. Telling him everything that she had been hiding for such a long time was too much. She just looked at him with a defeated expression.

"I know what you're gonna say. But... if I had just been a better person... he wouldn't have done it. I made that happen." With that, she took a bottle and downed the whole thing in one go. "...so yeah... that's it. Pathetic isn't it." idalie

 

[Peacemaker .45]

Milly walked away and both Jennifer and Dutch conversed. The topic at hand was supplies that he needed after running low, but the ammunition one caught Jennifer’s attention the most. Basic commodities replaced money since the dead rose. Good, clean water, medicine, guns, ammunition, fuel all were needed to survive. With the downfall of civilization, currency was of no value or use. The aforementioned supplies became the new currency. If food was low, and you came across someone, trading supplies was currency. Ammunition was one that Jennifer always stockpiled. A gun was of no use without any ammunition. Because of this, and her affinity to firearms, Jennifer often took time to search extra hard for ammunition when out. She collected a sizeable amount of various ammunition types, some for firearms she didn’t even have in her possession. In her time searching for ammunition, she came across some unique ones. Besides the normal ammunition types, such as ball, soft points, full metal jacket, hollow points, jacketed hollow points, she came across more heavy hitting ammunition. In her possession, she had things like armor piercing ammunition, armor piercing incendiary, and even some explosive ammunition, and even 40mm grenades for grenade launchers like the M203. With Dutch’s military experience, she figured he might find this interesting. And being that she wanted to get to know him, she figured she would bring it up as a topic of conversation.

“We have enough food, medicine, ammunition; whatever you need. But, I don’t know if you’re interested,” Jennifer began. “But I’ve got some more rare ammo I’ve scavenged on my way around the states since this whole thing started. I have all the normal types you see. But I have AP and API rounds for .308 and .50 BMG rifles, if you have any. I’d be willing to share some of those rounds, b-“

Jennifer stopped in the middle of her sentence, as she felt something hit her foot. She looked down and saw a stuffed animal bear. Brushing the hair out of her eyes and placing behind her ear, she tilted her head. It took her a moment to register what it was, or whose it was.

Milly.

When she realized, she grabbed it and ran back to where Milly had walked off to. Milly would never leave her stuffie unless something was wrong. Knowing this made Jennifer react in an almost state of panic. She had no idea what state Milly was in. Running through the trees, she finally found Milly up against a tree, in obvious pain.

“Milly,” she exclaimed, dropping to a knee to observe her injury. “Are you okay? What happened?”

While looking at the injury, she breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t anything fatal or major, but it was something that cause Milly pain. Jennifer wrapped her arms around Milly, in both an attempt to calm her down and relieve her own anxiety from the possibility that Milly could have been seriously hurt.

“You’ll be okay,” Jennifer said with a laugh indicative of a release of stress as she let go of her hug of Milly, and looked her in the eyes. “Here, let me help you up. We’ll get you inside so Zel-“

Crack!

The familiar sound of a bullet wizzing by her caused Jennifer to get behind the tree Milly was sitting against. She grabbed Milly and tried to move her as far behind the tree as she could.

“Dutch get to cover! There’s a shooter out there,” she yelled to him, before turning her attention to Milly. “Milly, we need to get out of here and into the Mountaintop. We’re sitting ducks out here!”

Jennifer forced the teddy bear into Milly’s arms and grabbed Milly. “We’re running in, now. We have to get in.” Jennifer lifted up Milly as much as she could, or at least as much as her muscles would allow. “I’m getting you inside. Just hang on, okay?”

Before she ran, Jennifer faced Dutch. “Hey, I’m making a run for the gate inside. If you want to live, get your ass over here and inside now! I’m running in 3.”

Jennifer counted up to three. Once she hit three, she booked it to the gate. She had no time to turn around and see if Dutch ran. Running as fast as she could holding Milly, she heard rounds fly near her and impact the surroundings. Her heart was racing as a round sent parts of a tree splintered and showered her face as she ran by. Once she finally reached the door, she ran in and began to shout to alert the others of an attack.

“We’re under attack! We’re under attack,” she shouted as she ran in and others were frantic as they too seemed aware of the attack.

Jennifer had to find Zelda and Archie. Archie would need to protect Milly. Jennifer had to do her part and try and defend the Mountaintop before the attackers could get in and harm Milly. Of all the things going through her mind, Jennifer was motivated to make sure that Milly lived. She couldn’t let Milly get even a scratch. She, and her friends, needed to protect her. Jennifer ran to the only place she thought both Archie and Zelda would be.

Barging her way through the medical building’s door, she began to analyze every room to find her two friends. Each room yielded no result of finding them. It was taking time, and she didn’t have time to spare. As she ran down the hall, she came upon Zelda’s office to find the two in there, looking like they were in the middle of something serious. It didn’t matter what they were doing. Now was the time for survival. Jennifer set Milly down in the room.

“Mountaintop is under attack,” she struggled to say between her breaths, trying to catch it. “There’s no time to talk. Get Milly somewhere safe now. I have to go help defend. There might be a lot. We need every able bodied person available.” Jennifer looked at them all for a minute, before pointing to Milly, rapidly shifting her eyes back and forth from Zelda to Archie.

“Keep her safe,” she said as she turned around and ran out the door to go grab her weapons. She knew now was the time for a battle. Now was the time to be a survivor.

idalie Rumble Fish

 

[Rumble Fish]

Dutch Malloy​

Dutch watched as Jennifer turned away to help out Milly, who Dutch had seen fall over. She seemed quite vulnerable, more vulnerable than other people he had seen. Clearly she needed help from Jennifer. He simply leaned against the tree and watched. It seemed that the pair had a very sisterly relationship. And it was a side of Jennifer he hadn't seen. Even with all of her problems, she was a caring person.

But as Dutch observed, he heard a grunt from Domino as he turned to look at her. The horse had stopped grazing and was now standing fully upright, ears erect, eyes white and nostrils flared. She was clearly just about flee.

“...Jennifer, I think there is-”

Crack!

Dutch instinctually ducked at the sound of the gunshot. Domino took off at a gallop up the hill, and he saw Jennifer and Milly doing the same thing, with Jennifer shouting to him to be careful and she was running on three. On the word, Dutch took off at a run after them, holding his AK47 in his grip. He ran backwards in an attempt to see the shooter, only for him to be fired at. Growling, he fired several shots at the attacker before running after the two girls.

“I've got you covered! Go! GO!” He shouted at them.

Milly McDonald​

Milly was completely overwhelmed by what was happening. One minute she was being hugged by someone she considered her best friend after having a pleasant experience meeting Domino, knowing that Archie was recovering and was well. But now the world was filled with gunshots and people panicking and running in fear.

"Jenny- what's going on?" she cried, desperately struggling to understand what was happening, but the woman was giving her very little information. Once they were inside the medical building, she tried to pull away from the woman, desperate to get away from the situation.

As they came into Zelda’s office, where Archie and Zelda were, Milly tried to reach back to Jennifer, not wanting her to go but she was already gone, shouting for help. Not knowing what to do, Milly curled up in the corner of the room. Norris, who had been sleeping in the other room, seemed aware of what was going on as she ran into the room, squawking at Milly and jumping into her lap, glaring at anyone that came close, like a mother hen protecting her chicks. All Milly could do was sit there and worry. Was… was this it?

Zelda Williams​

Zelda hardly had any time to recover from her talk with Archie when Jennifer burst in like a bat out of hell. Stumbling to her feet, she looked at the younger girl.

“Jennifer, what is?” She started but was stopped by her explanation of an attack before rubbing off. Zelda was in no state (physically or emotionally) to fight but… what choice did she have?

“Fuuuuck…” she growled as she staggered to a cupboard, digging through it for her gun.

“Zelda?” Milly’s voice asked behind her.

“Not now.” She growled.

“What is going on?”

“I said not now!” Zelda growled sharply, pulling her M18 rifle.

“But-it-”

“NOT! NOW! MILLY!” Zelda snarled, swinging her gun around, “JUST SHUT UP FOR ONCE!”

The impact of what she had just done hit the doctor like a train. She looked down at Milly, who’s pale face had somehow become even whiter and she shrank into the corner, looking much smaller than she ever did before. Suddenly, Zelda remembered what Milly had said about her own mother, and her last interaction with her. She was drunk. Angry. And she had screamed at, hurt and scared her before abandoning her. And now…

“Milly… I'm-”

“imsorry…” the younger girl whimpered before turning away from her and facing the wall, clearly distressed. Zelda felt like crying. Despite what Archie had said… she hadn't changed at all. She was still a toxic presence despite any claims otherwise. She made things worse. People were better off without her. She looked back to Archie before shutting her eyes for a moment.

“...I'll get the others.” She grunted sharply before running (and slightly falling) through the hall, banging her fist on every door she passed.

“Code silver! We have a Code Silver! Everybody out!” She yelled, getting a fairly quick response from the other medics as the emerged from their rooms, holding their weapons. Giving them a nod, Zelda took off towards the main door to the building. She could hear the other medics running behind her.

She ran outside, reaching Jennifer. She had no intention of protecting herself. But at least she could at least try to do some good before…

“Don't think I was gonna let you have all the fun.” She cocked her gun, “I might as well go out in style.”
idalie Peacemaker .45

 

[Peacemaker .45]

People were running around in the Mountaintop. Some were fleeing to safety, while others were arming up and taking defensive positions. Gunfire was being exchanged between Mountaintop fighters and the enemy. The walls around the Mountaintop were thick enough to withstand small arms fire for a significant duration of time. But they weren’t invincible. Anything powerful, such as a .50 BMG beinf continuously fired, or anything more powerful than that, could severely damage the walls, so much so that they could open up and anything outside that wall would have a spot to run in.

Jennifer hurried to her truck to go grab her weapons, and anything else that could be of use. The gate to the vehicle bay was open, as members of the militia were gathering a couple armored vehicles, like the HMMWV, if the situation arose where they could fight outside of the walls. As Jennifer ran to her truck, she swung the door open. Some of her weapons were laying there. A plate carrier and armored helmet were sitting on the back seat. She quickly grabbed both and put them on. Next, she studied the weapons in front of her. She had many, but she had to choose. Jennifer grabbed her P226, and as many magazines as she could. She loaded all of them with whatever ammo she could find. Once done, she bolstered her weapon. Next, she had to decide on her rifle she would carry. Searching quickly, she decided to grab one gun that had always been reliable for her, one she had before the death rose, and that she used to survive ever since. Putting her hand forward, she grabbed her FNH Scar-17S. Knowing that she could provide longer range assistance, she grabbed her Desert Tech SRS. And, she she did with the handgun, she grabbed every magazine she could find for both rifles, and loaded them up with ammo. Additionally, she stuffed loose ammo for all weapons in spare pouches or pockets, in case she needed it. With all she needed now in her hands or in her body, she ran out back to the the front wall, where the majority of the fighting was.

Arriving outside to the primary wall where fighting was, she was taken aback by the almost silent air she was in. There wasn’t any gunfire. It was quiet, apart from the soldiers calling out to one another. Standing there for a second, Jennifer was confused as to why it was so quiet. Had the battle ended? As she stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on, a voice spoke to her. She turned her head to see Zelda, armed and ready to fight.

“Zelda, what are you doing,” Jennifer said with a mix of surprise and slight annoyance. We need you to be taking care of anyone wounded. You’re too valuable to the well being of this community to die out here!”

Just as she finished her sentence, Jennifer heard shouting from the soldiers. “Grenade,” they shouted. “Get down!”

An explosion rocked the air. Jennifer jumped at the sound of the explosion. Her heart began to race and beat wild, as she saw several smaller objects flying into the courtyard of the Mountaintop.

“Fuck,” Jennifer yelled as a grenade cane within close proximity to her and Zelda.

“Get down,” Jennifer yelled, grabbing Zelda and pushing her and herself down behind a small wall that acted as some sort of cover from the ensuing explosion.

The concussion of the explosion made Jennifer dazed for a moment. She was trying to regain her composure. Her ears were ringing, her heart was beating incredibly hard. Her sight was impaired.

“Fuck,” she said quietly, breathing sharply. “Zelda, are you okay?”

Just as she finished asking the question, gunfire erupted. Gunshot after gunshot range out. Fire was being exchanged between the two sides. Jennifer knew she needed to get up and help, now.

“Zelda,” she began as she tried catching her breath, “we need you for wounded. Please, I’m asking you not to fight. You’re too valuable if people get wounded.”

Jennifer was pleading with the woman. She was too important to lose, whether Zelda believed this to be true or not. They couldn’t risk being even one hand short in the case of a medical emergency.

The gunfire stepped up threefold, and it was sounding like there were no pauses in the gunfire. It seems there were little to no shots hitting their targets from either side. Jennifer knew she needed to get into the battle as she heard the amount of shots increase.

“Zelda, please don’t do anything stupid. I’m begging you of this,” Jennifer said as she gave the woman a pleading look. “I have to go join the battle,” she said after a moment of silence between the two.

Just as she finished saying what she did, a soldier from the Mountaintop was hit. A fellow soldier went to try and get him out of the line of fire. As he did, he was shot in the head, his body dropping with an audible thud on the guard tower. Panic began to ensue the soldiers. Yelling and panic began to cut through the gunfire. They were down two fighters now. This moment, Jennifer knew she needed to jump in. But she had to be able to fire from a position where she could be of assistance, and not get shot herself. This meant she needed to use her SRS from an elevated position. Thinking quickly, she took off for the houseinf building, and quickly ascended the stairs. Making her way to the highest floor, she opened a door to a random room that gave her enough visibility of one section of the battle. This was only a temporary spot, however, as dense clusters of trees covered parts of her view. There was just enough of a clearing at certain angle, however, to see enough of the section outside of the walls.

Opening the window, Jennifer put her SCAR next to the window, and she deployed the bipod for her SRS, and got into a stabile shooting position. Looking through the optic, she searched for enemies. One popped out from behind a tree. Jennifer lined up the crosshairs and pulled the trigger. The rifle went off, but the shot hit to the right and slightly high, revealing that her optic was not sighted in properly. This, she deduced, was from when she fell to the ground, grabbing Zelda, to get cover from the grenade, as the rifle was slung over her back. There was no time to adjust the scope; she just had to keep a mental note of where the round was hitting in correspondence with where the crosshairs was.

The enemy she fired on moved behind the tree. He knew he was shot at, but not where from. This still gave Jennifer an advantage. She waited for the gun to pop out again. After what felt like an eternity, he peaked out just enough to shot his head. Using the mental note she made, Jennifer pulled the trigger. The impact of the bullet made a cloud of blood and parts of the head splatter. He was dead. Jennifer continued to do so, as she began racking up kills. But, a round impacted close to her. A sharpshooter has found her. She needed to change positions. Crawling as low to the ground as she could, hoping the wall would be enough concealment until she got out of the room. It did seem to do so, and she was able to slip out, though her Scar was left behind.

Finding another room, she set up shop, without opening the window yet, to try and and see if she could find the shooter. But she saw a large increase of enemies in the view she had. She began to pull the trigger and kill as many as she could. But, this allowed the enemy to get an idea where she was. Bullets started to riddle the wall. Jennifer hit the floor, her hands covering her head, as bullets impacted the walls, and they went all around her. Miraculously, she wasn’t hit, though there were at least twenty rounds that shot there. The disappearance of her from their view might have meant that the enemy perceived her as dead. She again crawled out of the room to find a new spot. She did the same as last time, not opening the window and just firing through it with what she could see. She picked off enemy after enemy, at least 5 in total. But they were growing aware of her again. As she looked through the optic, she could see a enemy aim what appeared to be a rocket launcher at her general area, along with two men firing in her area, the rounds striking the walls around her.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” she yelled, running out of the room, diving to the floor in the hallway.

A suddenly violent and loud explosion rocked the building. The noise of the explosion drowned out everything. The wall between her and the outside of the building crumbled, and shrapnel flew all around her. She felt objects hitting her, cutting her skin, a stinging sensation overcoming many parts of her body. Jennifer slowly lifted her head to see the light of outside, as the sound of rubble echoed inside as the building began to settle. The wall in front of her was gone. Once again, she was dazed. She took a second to recover. As she was, more explosions cut through the air, accompanied by gunfire. The battle was intensifying. But she didn’t know if there were wounded inside. She had to get a search going if possible.

Jennifer knew, for her safety, she had to run out of this building, as well as get people to search for anyone inside the building that might be injured. Getting up, with blood running down her arms and legs, she descended down the stairs, stopping to grab her rifle she left minutes earlier. As the light of day hit her as she exited the building, the sounds of the battle only grew louder. She looked for anyone in the vicinity to get a search inside going. She saw a group of people huddled behind cover nearby, and ran over to them.

“There might be people inside that building,” she said to them, breathing sharply and putting her hand on the top of a small wall they crouched behind, their panic and distress present. “I need y’all to go search for them. We can’t let them die.”

“Are you crazy? What if they strike the building again and we get hurt or killed? There isn’t any way in hell im going anywhere near that building now, especially after they blew it up,” replied a man, dumbfounded at the order made my Jennifer.

“Fuck,” Jennifer muttered after a moment of thinking. “You’re right. But as soon as this battle is over, we need you, and everyone else to step up to the plate to help everyone.”

Another explosion cut through the air like a knife. It came from the far corner of the Mountaintop, as shouts and screams filled the air, nothing said beinf audible to her. Realizing the situation was intensifying, Jennifer ran towards a small dense pocket of trees, enough to provide concealment from enemy eyes. She stopped and sat behind them, taking a moment to catch her breath, a wheezing sound coming from her with each breath she took. She was feeling pain throughout her body, though the causes and severity of such pain she wasn’t sure. She needed a second’s rest, and a moment to evaluate herself for any serious injuries.

Blood covered a portion of her body. The ballistic helmet and plate carrier were able to reduce any shrapnel from hitting her there, but the other parts, such as he hands and arms, weren’t so lucky. Many cuts were present, some larger than others, with bits of debris present in the wounds. She was in pain, thought not the worse she’s ever experienced. The battle was still raging on, however. She had to get back into it. But first, she had to catch her breath before she goes to fight on some more.

idalie Rumble Fish

 

[Rumble Fish]

Zelda
Zelda looked at Jennifer as the younger woman reacted in surprise at her appearance. She opened her mouth to answer her when she then said that she was needed to deal with casualties.
“I got the others working on them, I’m helping you!” she answered bluntly, only to be told several more times to go away and help the wounded. Zelda gritted her teeth, struggling to keep control of her emotions. She had poured her heart out to Archie, something she was rapidly regretting and already battling her own demons, this attack could not have happened at a worse time!

As Jennifer told her to “not do anything stupid” the woman’s frown deepened.
“What the fuck is that supposed to-?!” She couldn’t even finish that sentence as she felt her fury reach a crucendo. At this point, Zelda was holding back the urge to throw herself onto a thrown grenade. She then heard a shout from the man, Dutch.

“WE GOT AN EXPECTANT! ZELDA! GOFO!” This was the breaking point for the woman. With a snarl of fury, she threw her gun into the arms of the nearest fighter.
“FINE! BUT IF YOU LOSE A LEG DON’T FUCKING BLAME ME!” She snapped before running to the man Dutch was standing over. Without a word, she began to drag the wounded man into the medical building, cursing like a sailor the whole time. Dutch wisely didn’t follow her, instead, he seemed more occupied by commanding a small band of men who seemed to take an interest in him. Zelda began to tend to the man’s wounds as the fighting rang on around her. The other medics were already at work helping the other wounded. All she could do was just focus. It was clear that this was all she was expected to do.

“Zelda-” The woman snarled at Dutch before he could continue saying whatever he was intending, a non-verbal warning that another word out of his mouth would result in the loss of his head. Dutch jumped, “Nev-nevermind!” he turned back to the men who he now seemed to be unofficially leading during all this mess.

Dutch
“Jesus… touchy.” He rolled his shoulders as he turned to them, “August, Josh- hat up onto the hills, stay covered until you’re at the redwoods! Sam, Max and Simon- come by, nut to butt through the bushes, smoke ‘em out and rush in, get outta there before it clears! Joseph, Winston- you’re with me!” Grabbing his AK47, he kept low as he moved through the woods, keeping his gun up and ready for any surprise attacks.


Above his head, he heard a frightening whistling.
“Heads down, grenade!” He shouted at the pair, who copied his motion of avoiding the explosive as it shook the earth with its detonation. After the dust settled, the trio continued through the trees. As they came to a log, Dutch gestured for them to stay low as he checked over it.
"Now!" he hissed at them, as all three men peeked over the top of the log, firing their weapons. Dutch bit his bottom lip as he shot. He was back in Syria. It was no different. As he fired, he caught sight of smoke, meaning the other trio were successful. Dutch growled and kept firing. He had only just met these men, but he would protect them with his life.

After what felt like forever, Max and Simon came into view.
"Nice work, boys... Where's Sam!?" Dutch asked, panic rising in his tone.
"We lost him!" Simon shouted over the gunfire, "A single shot in the eye!"

Dutch felt guilt, anger and a sense of retribution rise in his chest. "BASTARDS!" He yelled as he rose again to shoot at the intruders, with more force. More fury. He was going to avenge Sam, and anyone else unfairly killed in this meaningless attack.
idalie Peacemaker .45​

 

[Rui]

RIN:
‘Our father...’
More gunfire,
‘Who art in heaven...’
Grenades? Were those grenades?
‘Hallowed be thy name...’
Yes, those were grenades. Close, too.
‘Thy kingdom come...’
I’m gonna die here.
‘Thy will be done...’
Is someone coming? I think I hear footsteps.
‘...on Earth as it is in Heaven.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rin’s knuckles were white, her breathing shallow and rapid, her roasary beads indenting her sweating hands, clenched tightly. She was shaking, sweating profusely, her small body pressed tightly into the back of a car. Men and women alike ran around her, darting to and fro as they fired away at their enemies. A new burst of gunfire saw the mirror of the vehicle shatter, a shard of glass slicing a gash into her forehead. The blood, warm and sticky, mixed with the sweat, trickling down her brow, merely missing her eye. She was shaking even harder now, looking skyward for help, for something, anything.
She’d seen a hole in the wall, running from the forested regions, dodging the dead and soldiers best she could, and ducked into the battle. She figured this dispute would be over quickly, she could ask kindly for something to eat, and if they’d seen Mother, and be on her way. Instead, her was here, perspiring behind a car, being fired upon in a battle where neither side was her own. Another burst of gunfire rang out, closer now, and she covered her ears. A body fell beside her, and she muffled a scream into her hands. He’d been shot through the eye, the socket a bloodied mess, the back of his head blown out like a gruesome bowl of strawberry jam. Tim leaned over and wretched onto the ground, nothing but bile escaping her chapped lips, as she hadn’t eaten in days. She began to cry, tears, blood, and sweat, blurring her vision, blurring the battle, the solider, the smell of death, fear, and smoke that enveloped her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She hadn’t cried this way since school, when the girls would pick on her in the locker rooms after gym.
‘You’re too modest,’ they’d tease, tugging at her buttoned up top, her pantyhose, her longer skirt. ‘Because you don’t have anything to show. You’re a skinny little runt. Go back to your whore mother.’ They’d ripped her hose, cut her skirt, torn the buttons from her shirt, and she had to call her mother to come get her, as she was too ashamed to leave the room this way.
Mother had comforted her then, told her the girls were foolish and she needn’t worry her sweet mind about them, for God favored the virtuous, and they weren’t that.

Mother wasn’t here for her now, and so she cried.

A new bought of gunfire increased her sobs, and she trembled and wept like a leaf in a hurricane. The district ‘click’ of metal on the ground, however, pulled her from her breakdown, and back into the present. A dark green object had rolled to a stop perhaps a foot away from her at best, and she scooted hesitantly over to get a better look at it.

Oh, it’s a grenade.
There isn’t a pin in it.

Rin’s eyes grew wide as she had an epiphany.
She scrambled up, stumbling and falling over herself to get away. She had to get as far as she could from the grenade, she’d heard they only had seconds before they’d go off, maybe thirty? She’d wasted probably a good 20 just staring at it. God, she had to get far enough away before the explos-

Her ears were ringing horribly. She lay flat on her back, her whole body radiated pain, and yet, she looked upwards, observing the sky as it spun. Colors melted into each other; the blood running down her forehead, the white of the clouds, blue of the sky, gold of the sun, black of the vultures that soared overhead. They blended and mixed, like the watercolor paints she used to use as a child. So beautiful, so peaceful...
The explosion had tossed her like a rag doll, and gravity had dropped her with equal care, and despite the concussion she now must’ve suffered, the pain of her fall was catching up quickly, and becoming overwhelming.
She croaked our something unintelligible, intended as a cry for help. Her vision was becoming a vignette, the borders darkening until her vision tunneled, then left her completely as she became unconscious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our father
Who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done

On Earth as is it in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom,

The power,

And the glory,

Forever

And

Ever

Amen.​

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

He listened silently, giving Zelda prompts by the flicker of his eyes on occasion when she faltered in her tale. He offered her as much empathy that his heart could, yet from the more he heard the angrier he was on her behalf. It was a senseless thing, to take from a woman her trust. More senseless to ignore her cry for help due to some cultural hindrance that he seemed to suffer. It drew a distaste for her husband, or what had once been. She had loved him and perhaps he had loved her once upon a time, still, McKeegan couldn't shake the sense of disgruntlement. Zelda went limp in the cradle of his arms, spouting her mantra of self-hatred whilst the Scotsman shook his head vehemently. "Nae! Nae ye cannae say somethin' like that. Ye can't. Because your hubby is a piece of shit, huh? He shouldn't of cheated, he shouldn't of told ye to get over it, he shouldn't have been a fuckin' arse about the whole thing. Aye? None of that is yer fault, not in a million years lass. All of this -- it's one of them messes people find themselves in. An' it starts when yer own fuckin' husband won't support youse as a woman with a real problem." He lectured, sincerely glaring at the unhappy surgeon.

Their shared moment, that intimacy of information which lingered between them, didn't last long. Jennifer was the first to come barrelling into the room bringing a frightened albeit confused Milly with her, speaking of an attack. Zelda sprung up from him into action, rifling through the cupboards whilst the younger girl asked, a tone which became somewhat desperate to understand. Zelda shut it down with an unsurprising shout, driving Milly away toward a corner of the room. Archie barely had time to comprehend everything himself whilst Zelda threw herself out the door, gun in hand. "ZELDA!" He bellowed, scrambling up to his feet and putting a hand against his forehead with a groan. He was concerned, as close friend would be, understanding the doctor to be in the worst of places mentally. Enough that he wasn't sure if he'd ever see her alive again. Nonetheless, the matter at hand had altered and his priorities would need to shift.

Milly. He couldn't leave her where she was, considering the world was blowing up outside. Tremors ran through the building, disturbing dust with the explosions from grenades landing and making their mark with craters. Outside would be no better, but -- there was one thing on his mind and that was to secure survivors, get them away from the Mountaintop's main fighting grounds, and do his part to help the mess. Staying idle was no semblance of a plan, and no way in hell was he about to abandon the girl he'd practically adopted by that point. She was as much his child as anyone else's and he'd fight them for the title. Archie had nothing left but the things he'd managed to pick up on the way. The handful of people securing his sanity and friends worth staying alive for.

McKeegan kneeled next to the small figure of Milly, pushing Norris off her lap and onto the floor with the pecks of protest being nothing but a dull sense of surrealism. He cuddled her first, dragging her into a haphazard hug with a kiss lingering on her forehead. "We need tae get out of here, and we need tae dae it quickly. Ye hear me?" He questioned, pulling away to hold her small face between both large palms of his. McKeegan didn't wait for a reply, bundling her up against his chest, hoisting her like a child onto his hip and standing from his knee with a slight grunt of exertion. Scooping up the teddy and tucking it between them, he glanced once more at the chicken and heavily exhaled. "Don't look at anythin' lass. I mean it. Keep yer head down, eyes on me. Norris'll be fine, we'll come back for him. I promise." Archie put his chin on Milly's crown of dark hair and turned about. "Hold on tight," He warned again, moving out the office and into the hallway. Through the med centre, outside into the fray.

It was a sight which took him back to the first massacre he'd seen in this hellish landscape, a group of survivors hacked apart by bandits. He crawled out of that by the skin of his teeth and now the universe seemed to toy with him. Blood was spilling, bodies twitching. Bones exposed, lumps of greying brain matter being squashed under his large, hobnail boots. Everything was copper, slick to the touch. Red. Nightmares resurfaced in his wake, but his eyes were blank this time. Civilian's bodies were left and right, mingled with guards and those who had done their damnest to protect something worth it. A crumbling future, falling through their fingers the whole while. Noting the blast of another explosive he altered his posture and paused in place, spying a young girl sprawled and unconscious, covered in gashes. He noted she was still breathing and looked back and forth for the medic team. He and Milly had to keep moving, but this -- he couldn't ignore. Grasping the blonde by the wrist, he ducked down with a wince, dragging her forcefully over his shoulder. Uncomfortable but the woman wasn't awake to feel it. Thankfully, neither was too heavy and the Scotsman had far too much adrenaline to debate it.

Forwards. Away from the commotion. Away from the bullets. It was the only thing left to do.

Rumble Fish Peacemaker .45 Rui

 

[Peacemaker .45]

Drops of sweet rolled down the girl’s face, mixing with the dirt and blood. They had continued down her face, dropping off once they had reached an edge. Small clouds of dust, dirt and concrete appeared in the landscape around Jennifer. The bullets were impacting all around her, indicating that there might have been a breach in the defenses. Still breathing heavily, Jennifer got up slowly, and peaked around the trees. The people assaulting the place seemed to have breached a hole in the wall. It wasn’t large enough for them to easily walk through, but enough for them to get through. Jennifer recognized the clothing. It was indicative of Helios. Suddenly, this attack made more sense. But the question is how did they find the Mountaintop? It was so hidden from the rest of the surrounding area. Perhaps there was a mole? But she couldn’t worry about that now. There was a battle going on. Though she was still trying to catch her breath, she got up, and hugged the tree she was behind closely, and looked for any gaps in the trees that she could fire from.



With her rifle in her hand, she looked for an opening to shoot from. But the dense pocket of trees did not allow for such a thing. The deep, bellowing sound of a vehicle started to come closer and closer. Looking behind her, an M1 Abrams tank, in all its glory, was rolling to the location. The giant beast moved on its tracks towards the area of the wall breach. Soon enough, the unmistakable sound of a .50 caliber machine gun began to drown out all other sounds. As the weapon fired, the sound of brass and chain links bounced off of the tank’s armor, making the unmistakable metallic rings as the hot, empty brass vibrated off of the armor.



All other noise was drowned out. All Jennifer could hear was the .50. Believing this was a moment to change her position without fear of being shot, Jennifer forced herself on her legs, and ran to a nearby area where she could take cover and fight off enemies that were stupid enough to go up against the tank.



Jumping to her feet, Jennifer began to ran. Her bones were numb, her muscles were tired. Her body wanted her to quit, but her mind told her to live. The cries and panic of the fellow citizens of the Mountaintop were beginning to reach her ears over the gunfire. As Jennifer was running, a grenade landed near her, and a blonde was nearby. The blonde looked at the grenade, trying to figure out what it was.



“Move,” Jennifer yelled to the girl, as she jumped and fell behind cover, her rifle bouncing on the ground, covering her head with her hands. The explosion sounded, and the bits of dirt and debris began to fall around her as if it were a rainstorm.



Once the raining debris stopped, Jennifer got up and searched for her rifle. It lay no more than two feet from her, suggesting that it rolled and tumbled. This could be an issue with the optic on it. It might not be sighted in. But that, ultimately, was something she could correct easily. Picking it up, it was evident that it was scratched up heavily from the fall. But, nonetheless, it was still a functional weapon. At the same time as picking the weapon up, the noise of gunfire ceased momentarily, and was replaced by mixed yelling. Jennifer’s wars were still ringing from the explosion, as whatever hearing protection she had it fell off. The concussion from it made her ears ring, and she was trying to regain her composure.

As she was getting up in a daze, she remembered she saw a girl right before the grenade exploded. Her awareness was coming back more quickly now, as she was able to get herself, going to find the girl. As she looked around, she saw her on the ground, with Archie holding Milly. He grabbed the girl and brought her over his shoulder. A second after this, the sound of more gunfire-and explosions-rocked a different area of the Mountaintop. Archie was by himself, defenseless and had two people he was trying to get to a safe place. He was an easy target. If Helios were to fire upon him, that could be three lives lost. Jennifer couldn’t lose who was family to her these days again.

“Archie,” she yelled as she ran over to him. “You’re too easy of a target, and I’ll be damned if I lose you or Milly.” The girl began to walk with him, and quickly took the magazine out of her weapon, check to see how many rounds were in, and pushed the magazine back into the mag well, locking in place with a firm click. She then checked the chamber, the bolt slamming back into battery with the unmistakable noise it made.

“I’ll cover you, just tell me where we’re heading.” As Jennifer finished the sentence, a barrage of automatic weapon fire erupted at the front of the Mountaintop. The battle was getting worse, and they were getting flanked from two side. The Mountaintop needed every able body fighter on the frontlines. But Jennifer could risk losing her family. She had to keep Archie and Milly, as well the girl, safe. They needed to get somewhere safe first. She couldn’t risk losing them. She had to defend them at all costs.

idalie Rumble Fish Rui

 

[Rumble Fish]

Milly McDonald​

Milly hardly reacted to being picked up by Archie, only letting out a few whimpers of protest as she reached out to grab Norris as Archie lifted her up. The hen seemed angry at being left behind as she attempted to hop after them but couldn’t due to only having one leg. Milly could not bear the thought of leaving the hen behind. The silkie chicken had been a close companion to her for months now.

Everything felt so chaotic but so still as Archie ran outside, through the explosions she could barely hear him telling her not to look. But she couldn’t not look. The sickening stench of explosives and blood made her feel sick and caused her to heave. The toxic mix of deafening bangs, flashes of gun muzzles and explosions and the sound of people screaming in terror and agony was too much for the sensitive girl to cope with. She glanced out of the corner of her good eye, seeing something that practically sent the youngster into a terror-induced frenzy. There was a man being seen to by another soldier with his whole lower jaw missing, blood waterfalling from the wound down the front of his shirt, his top teeth being the only things visible, his eyes bulged out of his head, his windpipe was exposed and his chest heaved as he seemed trapped in the terrifying cycle of having no mouth but he had to scream. At the moment Milly looked up, his eyes met hers as he let out a strangled howl of a scream tainted with terror and agony.

Milly screamed and thrashed in Archie’s grip in a vain attempt to escape from his arms. She could not cope with it anymore! She had to escape! Milly was only able to fight for a few minutes before having to give up. She clung to Archie with a vice like grip as she pushed her face into his chest, unable to stop whimpering. The image of the doomed man kept flashing in her mind every time she blinked. Why could it not stop?! She did not even notice the added addition of the new girl or Jennifer as they went along. She could not even escape into her thoughts.

“I want my mummy…” she whimpered as tears rolled down her pale cheeks, "I want my mummy..." At this point, she seemed to shut down completely. All she did was repeat that same phrase over and over in a mantra of distress. How could people just attack each other like that for no reason? It just did not make any sense…

Zelda Williams ​

“Come on… Come on! WAKE UP DAMMIT!” Zelda was rhythmically pressing on a man’s chest in a desperate attempt to revive him. Around her were more injured people who she had managed to help. Forced to give up on the man, the woman snarled and punched the ground so hard she hurt her knuckles. She looked around her, seeing the fighting was slowly edging towards where they had made up their makeshift medical centre.

“Start moving towards the forest, use the trees for cover!” She waved her arm at the other medics, who began ushering the injured into the woods without protest. Watching them go, Zelda got up, holding her M18, looking back to the medical centre.
“Williams, come on!” She heard Sebastian shout. Zelda turned to look at him. Zelda glanced at him with a frown. There were more people hurt, and they had nothing left to help them with. She had to go back to the building
“We need more supplies. I’m going back for them.” She replied bluntly which, much to her shock, made Sebastian lunge forward and put a hand on her skinny shoulder.
“What- No!” He protested, “Williams, you’re the lead medic! We can’t go without you!”
“I thought Emma was the lead medic. I'm just some drunk who can't help anybody... right?” She retorted bluntly.
“No…” Sebastian’s expression turned to one of shame, “You are. You always were. I mean… where is Emma? The other medics need you.”
Zelda did not answer, she just looked at the medical centre, “Go and tend to them. I’ll get the supplies. It’s that or they die.” She added.
“The building’s under siege! You’ll get yourself killed.” The man grumbled.
“…It’s that or we lose at least half our people.” She grumbled as she started making her way towards the building, blocking out all of the noise and destruction. But it was going just as fiercely in her mind as it was out here.

She did not have a chance to react to what Archie had said, and it was going around in her mind in circles. That and with the fact she had inadvertently shouted at Milly. She wished she hadn’t. She wished she had done more to stop Mark from cheating like that. She wished she was more than just a weight on Archie’s mind. At least this way, if she was going to be shot to pieces it would be because of an act of heroism rather than because she fell drunk down a ditch or shot herself. As her mind swam, she heard a noise behind her that made her turn around, to see Sebastian behind her.
“What are you doing here?” she growled at him, but the man simply raised his gun.
“Making sure you’re not gonna do something stupid.” He answered bluntly. Zelda frowned, did Jennifer do this? Without another word, she continued on.

Zelda did not run until she got into the medical centre. Sebastian had been right, it had been ransacked. But she hoped her room had not been hit too bad. Entering it, she began throwing everything she could into a rucksack, her heart pounding against her chest. While she rummaged, she picked up her flask (which was full) and noticed the photo of her and her family in Canada, still on the desk. With a shaky sigh, she picked it up and put it in the bag. She wished she could have stared at it but this was not the time. She poked her head out of the window.
"Find everything?" she hissed.
"Got what I could- we need to go!" Sebastian suddenly shouted with urgency. Before she could ask what was going on, the building shook and the woman was thrown off of her feet as debris flew into the room.

A ringing in her ears, Zelda tried to get up. She felt that the side of her head was bleeding badly and she was dazed. With a growl, she got up, throwing the rucksack out of the window to Sebastian.
"Go!" she snapped. The man did not argue as he took off into the woods where the other doctors had taken the injured.
Grabbing her gun, Zelda was about to follow him out of the window when she heard a noise she did not expect to hear in a war zone. Terrified squawking. She turned around to see the small and fluffy black hurricane that was Norris fly into the room, flapping her wings rapidly and squawking like no tomorrow. Her black feathers were coated in blood and she seemed very disoriented. Zelda's eyes widened as she was faced with a dilemma. She hated chickens. Hated them! But Norris was Milly's best friend. The younger girl would not forgive her if she just left the chicken...

"You lucky fucker..." she grumbled as, despite her disgust, she grabbed the hen and hopped out of the window. Her feet were shaky and she had double vision from her head wound. Zelda kept a tight hold of her gun as she made her way through the woods, towards where the hurt fighters were hopefully. She hoped Archie, Jennifer and Milly were okay. She had not seen them at all. They were probably doing just fine without her. If anything, if she was there, they would have just died.

But as she got closer, Zelda noticed something that caused the woman to freeze in her tracks. People who were closing in on the group of patients and medics with their guns raised. They could not have been part of the Mountaintop. Before she could react, they raised their weapons and began firing into the woods. Further away, she could hear the screaming from the people being shot. They were trying to kill people who were wounded!? Cowards!

Flying into a fit of rage and before she could control herself, Zelda dropped Norris, raised her M18 and despite her bad condition ran towards the group, opening fire with no mercy.

"OVER HERE YOU BASTARDS!!!"
idalie Peacemaker .45 Rui

 

[Rui]

RIN:
She remembered her dad in those moments.

The moments between light and dark.

Consciousness and unconsciousness.

Heaven and hell.

At the moment she could figure out which was which.

But behind her closed eyelids, she remembered her dad.
___________________________________________
She’d met him once, by accident.
She was shopping, getting groceries for her and Mother. He was in the cereal isle.
She reached for a box of Rasin Bran, and bumped the arm of an older man, reaching for the same box. She turned to apologize, and saw the saddest look on his face. She couldn’t understand it, until she realized she was looking into her own eyes.
‘With all the innocence of the angels’
She had never felt more anger than she did then.

She knew there wasn’t innocence in those eyes. They were the eyes of a man who left her, who left her mother. They were the eyes of a monster.

She snatched the box from his hand, shoved it in her basket, and didn’t look back.
She said extra prayers in repentance that night. The look on his face, so lost, so helpless, it haunted her.

That was God’s way, she had to repent for her sins, her behavior, he punished her.
In time, he would forgive.

‘Guess the prayers weren’t enough.
___________________________________________
Back in reality, she was uncomfortably coming-to on the shoulder of a giant man. She could hear a very young girl crying out, gunfire, screams, a Scottish accent? The man carrying her, clearly, she could feel the vibrations of his great booming voice from his shoulder.

She didn’t know where she was being carried, but she didn’t oppose. She couldn’t, really, she was immobile, weak, disoriented. She felt helpless, and with that came fear.

She felt fear when she was lost on the hill near japan-town once and couldn’t figure out which streetcar to take home. She had to call her mother to come pick her up.

She felt fear when she’d watch a horror movie, and magically think the creatures she saw on screen would appear under her bed, or in her closet.

Funny, now they appeared on the street in broad daylight.

She had felt fear many times, but not like this. This was the fear that turned your blood to ice, stopped your heart, and had you remembering stupid things like meeting your father, or the last meal you ate, or the last conversation you had with Mother, the last TV show you watched before the world went to hell and a hand basket.

More like hell and a hand grenade.

Rin was fearful.
Yet somehow, something said she would survive.
She assumed this was God.
​

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

Jennifer called to him during the rapid, repetitive gunfire. Reverberating in his ears as he half stumbled, half marched his way to sanctuary. He barely turned his head to look at the woman, "WHERE'D YA THINK?" Came his sharp response. Archie gritted his teeth, Milly writhing to get away from him causing his arm to tighten about her waist, all to end in a cry for her mother. The big Scotsman continued to keep his head down, glancing again to Jen, strained albeit more cooperative this turn. "The fuckin' bunker, beneath the housin'," He growled, voice grating now as he adjusted his hold on the blonde girl. He kept his head down, body wrapped around Milly and cautious of their new addition.

Trudging on, with Jennifer tagging his mind was half occupied by the thought of Zelda. It wasn't the time to be, yet his mind would drift there uninvited. He was unable to help himself, even then as they headed to the shelter which awaited. His pace increased yet again, a jog now, feet resounding, crossing the mountaintop.

When they reached the housing, he used his heavy boots to kick through the doors and duck down into the cellar. Half fumbling with the door due to his current state, but in they went and there they ended up. Archie, moving toward a spare bed beneath the rumble of explosives, put Rin down as gently as he could manage. Momentarily brushing her hair back until he was left with Milly. The Scotsman barely looked up from himself, hand distractedly stroking the side of Milly's head. "You should tell Zeld to start heading down here if you can find the stupid woman."

"I'll look after people here but I ain't got nothin' but an axe." He eyed Jen quietly, "Wheres your fuckin' da, durin' all of this anyway? Huh?" McKeegan aggressively questioned, taking a questionable tone, before raking a hand over his beard and pinching the bridge of his nose tightly. Still the big man remained, cradling the smaller, brown-haired teen he thought of as his own. She didn't deserve to have seen what she did. Nor did Archie expect anything good to come of it.

Peacemaker .45 Rumble Fish Rui

 

[Peacemaker .45]

With Archie relaying to Jennifer where he was headed, they began their descent towards the cave underneath her father’s home. The cave had been a bunker of sorts. It had walls and a large door that could be closed, blocking off some access to the cave underneath Mack’s house. Though, there were still places where harm could be inflicted upon people inside. It wasn’t a secure area that could be impenetrable, and a safe haven for individuals in the event of an emergency. But, nonetheless, it provided more safety than anywhere else in the Mountaintop.

People had already fled to the caves, and by the time they reached the makeshift bunker in the caves, people were hiding an anxious. One girl was having an anxiety attack. She was shaking vigorously, whining almost as if she were in pain. A male next to her tried to calm her down. Though, it seemed as if it wasn’t working.

Archie, carrying Milly and the blonde girl, and Jennifer has reached one of the more secure parts of the cave. It was at this point that Archie’s frustration was coming out, directing it at Jennifer, though she was unsure if it was unintentional or not. Archie had made it clear he needed a weapon. An axe was not sufficient in the situation. Jennifer looked to the side for a moment, before bowing her head momentarily and closing her eyes.

“Take this,” she said to Archie, reaching for her sidearm. She pulled the handgun out of its holster, and handed it to Archie. She grabbed additional magazines for him. “This is all I’ve got to give you right now.”

Jennifer was about to turn around and try to find Zelda, as Archie had suggested. But as she was about to leave, he shot her a look. He questioned her about the whereabouts of her father. It seemed that his anger and frustration was making Jennifer the target in this very moment. Jennifer tried to remain calm. There didn’t need to be any fighting in this moment.

“I don’t know,” she said rather quietly. It hadn’t occurred to Jennifer to question the whereabouts of her father. She was too busy engaging in a battle to concern herself with him. But the question was valid, and it was important. His community was getting attacked, and he was nowhere to be found. Something wasn’t right.

“I’m going to go get Zelda,” Jennifer began as she once more checked her gun and ammunition before she headed out. “I’ll get her and bring her back here. I’ll concern myself with my father after that. But for now, I don’t know where he is.”

With a deep breath, the girl prepared herself to enter the war zone once more. She started to jog out of the cave, and towards where she thought that Zelda would be. Once outside of the bunker, Jennifer ran towards the medical building. Gunfire was still heard from all around her. It was hard for her to pinpoint exactly locations, as it seemed like everywhere around her was gunfire. While she was running towards the medical building, Zelda suddenly appeared. She was running towards a group of people, which seemed to be a mix of Mountaintop residents and the ones who had attacked. Zelda was holding the trigger down on her weapon. The sound of the automatic gunfire seemed to drown out the rest, and time slowed down. Jennifer could see everyround being fired, who it was hitting, and the results of such event. Bodies fell to the ground, mixing with the others already on the ground. Jennifer ran as fast as she could towards Zelda. She raised her weapon and began to fire on the Helios members as well. Time finally went back to normal speed for Jennifer.

“Zelda,” she shouted to her as she ran up and put a hand on her shoulder. “I need you to get into the bunker. Archie wants you there. We need you there.”

Jennifer hadn’t taken the time to look at the spot where they were both shooting at. But upon finishing her last sentence, she turned her head and looked over the scene. Everyone was dead. Blood was poking around the bodies, turning the dirt red. No one was alive in that small group of people. She cursed inside, trying not to let it out at that moment. This was the last thing she wanted to see to residents of the Mountaintop. They were being slaughtered. Again. And their leader was nowhere to be found. A battle was raging, and he was missing.

“Zelda, we need to go. You need to get down into the caves. Archie and Milly need you there. Please, they need you down there,” pleaded Jennifer to Zelda.

 

[Rumble Fish]

Milly McDonald
Milly was too distressed to contribute to the conversation Archie and Jennifer were having. She had not heard Archie use that tone in such a long time and it scared her, even when it was not directed towards her. She kept her face pressed into his chest, desperately trying to block out everything that was happening. The vision of the jawless man haunted her terribly, making her scared to open her eyes with the fear that he could be there. But he wasn’t. They were in the bunker while the fighting raged on above. Despite her fear, Milly looked at the unconcious girl who Archie had gently sat down.

Moving out of his grip slightly, she crouched next to the girl, looking over her worryingly. The dark space made it hard for her to see. She looked at Archie with worry as she gave the girl a gentle shake, only being able to let out a few whimpers as a quiet beg for the girl to wake up. She looked hurt and vulnerable. After what she had seen, she did not want anything to happen to the girl. Looking back to Archie, she intended to ask him the question of “Will she be okay?” but when she tried to say it… nothing happened.

Alarmed, Milly put her hand on her throat trying to talk. Again, all she could get out was a few squeaks. What happened? Why couldn’t she talk? Unable to think of anything else she could do, she went back to Archie, wrapping her arms around him. Why couldn’t it just stop? Keeping her eyes closed, she tried to escape into her memories.

Zelda Williams
Zelda gritted her teeth as she continued to fire at the shooters, who had now turned their gunfire onto her. She hid behind a tree as she reloaded. Putting the back of her head against the trunk, she desperately tried to regain her bearings. The wound on her head was pounding and her vision was still blurry, but she had to defend the wounded people. She could not leave them. She HAD to save them! She could not let this happen again!

As she emerged from her cover, she was surprised when she was joined by a second shooter. She did not turn around to face the person until the people were dead. When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she spun around and raised her weapon, only to lower it when she saw that it was Jennifer. The younger girl told her that she had to get to the bunker with Archie and Milly. The woman froze. No… no she couldn’t go to the bunker. Archie was probably angry with her for shouting at Milly, she had heard the way he bellowed her name when she ran out. She couldnt face that. Not right now!

“No! I have to tend to those people who got hurt! That's why I was shooting at them, I went for supplies and they were…” she looked to where the wounded people and the medics had been. To her horror… they were all dead.

“No…” She left Jennifer and ran to the bodies, desperately looking for any signs of life. All her patients she had just managed to save and promised to keep alive… Sebastian and the other medics, all holding weapons… men, women and some children… dead. She had failed them… she had failed again! Her mind flashed back to that dreadful day, the day she lost Mark and her beloved son. It was frightening. If she had only gotten there a few seconds before, she could have saved them! It was all happening again!

“No.” She looked at Jennifer with a haunted expression before standing up, still holding her M18, “No… No! NO! NO! NO! NONONO!” With the final “no” she threw the weapon like a shot put, as far as she could before falling to her knees, shaking all over. She just could not believe that this had happened AGAIN! She just had one job, to keep people alive and she could not even do that! She’d let Jennifer down, and Archie and Mack. What was the point of going on?! Unable to control her thoughts, she got up and grabbed the M18, looking at it intensely. Turning it around so that the muzzle was facing her, Zelda was about pull the trigger when she heard Jennifer speak again. She froze -her finger still on the trigger- as the girl spoke, pleading for her to go to Archie and Milly.

She did not want to. Not after this. What would they think? She looked out into the woods. At this point, she just wanted to run into them and away from it all. She didn’t deserve to be with them. But… she remembered what happened to Archie when he had gone out alone. Zelda knew that if they found out she did that, it would be much worse.

“Okay… Okay…” she mumbled as she dropped the gun and turned to walk to the bunker, still with the same blank expression. Going inside, she did not look at Archie or Milly as she sat further away from them, wrapping her head wound with a bandage. She did not want to look at them or be with them.

Milly, who saw the doctor’s thousand yard stare, blinked as she made a quiet squeaking sound, getting her attention. She pointed to the unconscious girl. Zelda looked at her for a few minutes. Blankly. After a silence, she finally shuffled over to look the girl over.

There were some cuts, gashes and she seemed partially awake. Zelda got to work, putting a wet cloth on the girl’s forehead and looking her over. While she worked, she heard Milly move closer, making her look up. She couldn’t stop herself from shaking as she looked at the younger girl. She looked frightened, understandably. With a deep sigh, a few tears leaked from the doctor’s eyes, overwhelmed with guilt and despair.

“I’m sorry…” she said in a quiet tone, in complete earnest, “...For everything.” she then glanced down again to work on the girl.

Milly’s eyes widened a little at the doctor’s apology. She looked back to Archie for a moment before turning back to Zelda, whos head was still drooped. Unable to speak, Milly gently put her hand under Zelda’s chin and raised her head to look at her. Despite everything that was going through her mind, she gave her a kind smile; a silent gesture of forgiveness. She had never blamed Zelda for her outburst and she wanted her to know that. This gesture caused more tears to flow from the doctor’s eyes. She dropped her head again.

“I tried… I really did… I couldnt get to them… I… I tried…” she said, repeating the same words for several minutes. It was all she could think about. She looked around the bunker, desperately wishing she could have brought them in here to safety, “I’m sorry Jason.” she mumbled. He had always seen her as some kind of hero, being able to save anyone under any circumstances. What a joke... She took the cap, which had been Archie's cap that he had given her and put it gently on the floor. At this moment, she did not feel like she deserved to wear it. Especially in front of him. With a sigh, the woman took the flask out of her pocket and took a very, very... very long drink out of it.

idalie Rui Peacemaker .45 ​

 

[Rui]

RIN:

The girl’s eyes fluttered open as she was gently shaken by a small pair of hands. Everything was shifting, shaking like the beads in a kalidescope lense, swirling until they came into focus and made sense to her weary mind.

A man, large, red haired, muscular.
A girl, maybe in her teens at best, small, cute, hugging the big guy.
A tough looking brunette, taller than herself, also muscular.
Doctor? Medic? Nurse?
Some kind of healthcare...person...
Looking quite forlorn.

Rin paused, her parched lips parting before she croaked out her first words since coming into their company.

“Am I dead?”

To Rin, this was an entirely serious question.
No one knew what heaven or hell was or looked like. Maybe this was it...or somewhere like that anyway.
She slowly sat up, rubbing her sore head. It had been rather traumatized today.
The clotted, stiff blood in her hair told her she was alive, and injured. The wet forehead, and cleaned gash on her brow told her she’d been cared for.

“Who..who are you?”

Rin blinked slowly, rubbing her eyes a bit to clear away the aftermath of her tears.
She wasn’t as frightened as before, however that being said, she was still terrified.

Unfamiliar environment, unfamiliar people, blood, pain: bad.
She tried to concentrate as the room began to spin again, resisting to urge to keel back over.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
-Isaiah 43:2
These are the waters,
These are the rivers,
This is the fire, I suppose.
idalie Peacemaker .45 Rumble Fish ​

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

He accepted the gun, not putting it in his belt but beside him on the cobbled bench, in the bunker they sat. His hand cupping Milly's head to his chest, as if they were still running through the storm of bullets outside. The poor girl seemed shell-shocked, and Archie couldn't help but blame himself. He should've done more. Always there were those lingering thoughts and at least the lumberjack recognised them as dangerous thoughts to have. So much so, that he sat there in silence himself, one palm resting on the handle of the pistol. A grunted 'thank you' was all Jennifer received before she dashed off, again to find the doctor. He snapped at her, and still, he knew that she was risking her life. Something no one could take lightly. Perhaps an apology was in order -- when the time was right.

However, when Zelda reached them, her mind had been as shot as Milly's. He could've screamed. Hollered at the heavens, cried a million things. Still the silence, as ominous and domineering as it had ever been, amplified by death and war -- it blanketed, suffocated, stole away warmth. Company. Even with the bustle of people, Milly clutching him, he felt far removed. Everything they'd worked for. Tireless nights, aching bones, the grating of stiff muscle after working in the fields.

He looked away from the doctor, the husk of what she was and let Milly slip from him to comfort the older woman, who worked to patch up the blonde-haired woman they'd scooped up with them. McKeegan rose to his height, broad shoulders creating a dark silhouette as he stepped closer to the hospital bed, careful not to disturb the moment which transcended between surgeon and teen. His old trucker cap was sat on the floor, Zed taking a long draught from her flask. Stooping to pick it up, Arch rubbed the material between his fingers with a nasal sigh. Embroidered on the piece of attire was the logo of his old employers; pine trees, a lorry, and the name 'Falling Creek Log & Lumber Co.'

Before Zelda could finish her drink Archie crouched, took hold of the flask from her, withdrawing it and throwing her hands off before screwing the lid shut. He set the flask down, tenderly touching the top of her head and stroking back the hair until putting the hat back on her head. His fingertips gently hovered over the side of her jaw, "There's work to be done." Came the soft, Scottish burr. Rumbling in his chest, as thunder rumbles and rolls across the hills, carried by the summer storms.

He moved again to his feet, looming as he gazed down at the young patient. Irises of stern brown crested his cheekbones before his voice could be heard again. "You ain't dead yet, lass. The names Archie, Milly's the small one, and the Doc is called Zelda. Ain't no place for someone like you to be sneakin' around."

Peacemaker .45 Rui Rumble Fish

 

[Peacemaker .45]

Jennifer could do nothing as Zelda began to mourn the dead. While she wasn’t saying it out loud, Jennifer knew that inside, Zelda was blaming herself for the deaths of those people. In this moment, the sounds of the battle had drowned out. All she could hear were the cries of Zelda.

“Zelda,” Jennifer said softly as she walked up to Zelda, putting her hand on her shoulder, “we need to go. It’s still not safe. The battle is still going on. Get to caves. I’ll meet you there. I have to go find my dad.”

As her hand began to slide off if Zelda’s shoulder, Jennifer turned and ran towards the only place she could imagine her father was in this mess; his house. It seemed that he was hiding during this battle, something Jennifer viewed as cowardice. Had she been leading this group, she would be out there on the frontlines fighting, or helping secure civilians so that they wouldn’t end up in the crossfire. Instead, her father was seemingly nowhere to be found. And this angered his daughter.

As the door swung open in the house, Jennifer started to shout his name. Her voice echoed throughout the house, bouncing off of the walls as if the house were empty. The battle outside had been nearly drowned out as the door shut behind her.

“Dad,” Jennifer shouted, “where the hell are you? Dad!”

Searching every room, every closet, every nook and cranny, Jennifer was unable to find her father. She had no idea where he was. She wondered if he had left the Mountaintop. As this thought was in her mind, bullets struck the walls in front of her. Jennifer quickly ducked and slid into cover, flipping the safety off of her rifle before she shot up from behind the cover and aimed it at the windows. She didn’t see anyone in the vicinity, leading her to believe they were just stray rounds from the battle.

At this moment, the sound of a radio chatter from a nearby radio went off. It was her father’s voice.

“What’s the situation outside,” her father asked. Jennifer went to pick up the radio, but another voice answered.

“Stalemate. They might be regrouping,” the person responded to her father.

“Are they going to threaten the operation,” her father asked.

“Operation,” questioned Jennifer, “what operation?”

“I think so, yeah,” said the guy on the radio after a brief pause.

“How many people we got in the bunker,” her father asked again.

“I’d reckon at least 20 people.”

“Okay,” her father said, “get Simon to help me gather some for remaining experimentation. Kill anyone who sees, but quietly. Create a goddamned distraction if you need to. We’re too close to delivering them what they need from our end.”

“What the fuck?” Jennifer stood in complete shock and confusion. “What the hell does he mean?” Jennifer tried to understand what she heard, but then she remembered. “Shit, Milly, Zelda, and Archie are down there. Fuck!”

Jennifer took off and ran out the door, and began to run down the path to get to the bunker. As she was running, the battle outside the Mountaintop seemed to intensify again. But she could worry about that right now. Her concern was her family. She couldn’t let them die at the hands of her father, whatever he was going to do.

As she rounded the corner of the path, she saw Mountaintop militia members firing into the bunker. While Jennifer didn’t want to, she knew she had one choice. Raising her gun, she aimed it at one of the two men. Squeezing the trigger, she felt it break, the recoil of the gun being fired pushing into her shoulder time seemed to slow down. But Jennifer did not. She quickly put down one of the two men, and shot the other before they could respond. With the two men dead, she ran into the bunker. She saw people running for cover, screaming ensuing. People were scared. They didn’t know that their own were attacking them.

Entering the bunker, Jennifer located her family. But when she did, she saw several people, armed Mountaintop members, appearing from behind a hidden door, throwing some sort of grenade.

“Get down,” Jennifer yelled, falling to the ground and covering her head.

A disorientating number of explosions rocked the interior, following by another one, a quieter one. Jennifer was dazed, though her ear protection seemed to minimize the harmful effects of whatever they threw. As she began to get up, she saw smoke filling the back of the bunker. The men weren’t seen, but Jennifer still raised her rifle, waiting for a moment to fire when they appeared. The rest of the room was dazed, people were on the floor, crying, screaming. They were exhibiting the effects of a flash grenade.

Still behind cover, Jennifer waited for figures to appear. Not far behind a group of people, one did. A man, in full armor, appeared, reaching for a woman and her daughter. The daughter saw the man, and screamed. Jennifer fired three shots to the head. The armored man dropped. One was down, two more were left. Another man appeared towards the middle, attempting to grab a young man who had an injured leg. She again fired on him. The suppressor made her gun’s report hard to be heard amongst the already chaotic interior of the bunker.

Two down, one left.

Jennifer continued to wait. She looked all around for the last guy. Archie, Zelda, and Milly all seemed to still be trying to recover from the flash grenade. But as she looked at them, a man emerged from the smoke, running with his arms out...

Running towards Milly.

“No,” Jennifer shouted.

One shot went off, followed by another, and then some more. Her shots hit the target, but the armor didn’t stop him. He stumbled, and Jennifer went to take another shot, but the magazine had run dry, and she needed to reloaded.

“Archie,” Jennifer shouted while she reloaded faster than she ever had in her life, trying to alert him of the man trying to grab Milly. The man started to reach for a handgun.

But this would fail, as Jennifer put in a new magazine, hit the bolt release, and fired a round into the skull of the man. The side of his head exploded into a bloody mess, chunks of bone and brain matter flying against the grew smoke background as his body dropped to the floor and didn’t move again.

“Milly,” Jennifer said as she ran over to the girl and wrapped her arms around her. “Are you okay? Please tell me you are okay.”

Jennifer had to hold back tears as she held Milly. The girl was too precious to be hurt. Jennifer had to make sure she was okay. After a moment holding her, Jennifer turned to everyone else.

“Is everyone okay,” she asked the group. She took a moment to regain her composure before she continued. “Look, I don’t have time to explain, but my dad’s up to something, something bad. And you were almost part of it. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but we don’t have just the attackers to worry about. The Mountaintop is a bigger threat, and my dad is the head of it. We need to do something about this. I need to do something about it. He just tried to fuck with my family. He’s going to give me some fucking answers.”


idalie Rumble Fish Rui

 

[Rumble Fish]

Milly McDonald
Milly kept a tight grip on Archie, desperately trying to escape into her thoughts. But the memories of her home were now fuzzy and corrupted with frightening thoughts. She could only remember that day they had to flee the bungalow, the last time she had ever seen it. It hurt so much to think about it; making tears roll down her pale cheeks. She opened her eyes a little as she heard Archie and the younger girl speaking. She looked at the younger girl and gave her a gentle smile.

She knew nothing about the second girl, other then she was probably scared. She stimmed with her hands for a moment, trying to think of something to do to help the girl. She was still unsure as to why she could not speak but she wanted to do something. She reached into her pocket and took out the bluebird carving that Archie had made her. She gently bobbed it in the air, making quiet whistling sounds between her front teeth, trying to mimic the tweeting of a bird. She did not know what else to do. She still kept a tight hold of her teddy. She just wished it would all stop.

She was about to go back to Archie and cuddle him, when the sound of Jennifer shouting "GET DOWN!" rang through the bunker, accompanied with a sudden and blinding flash and smoke. People were screaming and trying to get away. Milly could only let out a gasp of fear and shock as she tried to get her bearings. She could barely see what was happening. There was a terrible ringing in her ears and everything was going blurry. She could not see Archie, she had to find Archie! Her heart was going a million miles per hour so much so she could hear it in her ears. There were shots ringing all around her, gunshots.

Milly suddenly felt a harsh grip on her wrist and a hard tug. She turned to be face to face with a huge man, coated in armour with a covered face. Unable to scream, she desperately tried to free herself from the man's grip. Her struggling caused the man to react by smacking her on the head. Milly wanted to cry out but she couldn't. He was still tugging at her, trying to pull her out of the bunker. The thought of being torn away from Archie and Jennifer, the only people who kept her safe, and to God knows where with God knows who was too much for the younger girl to bear. As the close sound of gunshots fired, Milly felt everything go black...

Zelda Williams
Zelda only stared at the Scotsman as he gently put the cap back on her head, as well as taking her flask away from her. She put it in her back pocket. She continued to work on the girl Archie had brought in, before looking to other people in the bunker who were injured. She just could not escape the thought of her responsibility for the dead patients and medics. Her mind kept going back. If she had just stayed with them instead of going for supplies... when Archie was not looking, she took another sip from her flask before continuing.

The shout from Jennifer caused Zelda to instinctually jump onto the injured girl, shielding her from the blast. She felt pain along her back as she turned to see the armoured men coming in.

"Fuck!" She grabbed some of the injured people, "Get them to the back!" she yelled at a couple of other people who complied, despite their panic. What was going on?! She saw how the men were trying to grab several people, including some injured people. In the commotion, she saw Jennifer come in; shooting all three intruders. Once they were dead, and things had started to settle, Zelda noticed Milly lying on the ground; out cold.

"Oh Jesus-" she was at the younger girl's side in an instant. She had harsh grab marks on her pale wrists. Angry and purple bruises from the intensity of which she had been grabbed by one of the soldiers and a mark on her face from where she got hit. She picked the younger girl up and placed her gently on one of the beds, one next to Archie as she looked her over. She did not seem hurt aside from the bruising, but she had clearly passed out from fear. She could tell as when she looked down to Milly's baby blue joggers, she could see a darker patch between her legs; there was no need for her to think about what it could be. To give the younger girl some dignity, she covered her up to her chest with a cover.

Zelda picked up Milly's teddy bear and handed it to Archie, she knew Milly would want it once she was awake. "You might want to wash the blood off it. It'd just scare her." she said before turning to Jennifer as she started explaining that Mack was up to something. Something sinister.

"Wait... Part of what? What the fuck were they going to do to us? I mean... what would have happened if they took Milly?" she asked the woman, her voice dripping with concern. She looked back at Milly, her brow furrowing with worry. She turned back to the girl Archie had brought. Not sure what else to do, she gave her a bottle of water. She glanced at Jennifer again. She had been loyal to Mack... but where was he during all of this? She had to take Jennifer's words at face value. At this point; Jennifer was who she was going to look to from now on.
idalie Rui Peacemaker .45 ​

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

Nobody inside the bunker could've predicted the sudden burst of activity nor attack from the masked assailants. But the explosions didn't quite manage to take the big man off his feet, instead caused him to stumble for a second in disorientation. It had been only seconds before that Milly stood playing mindless games to divert her own attention when the brunt hit. Gunshots resounded with a succession of sharp cracks, like a slaver's whip on flesh. Archie held his head in a hand, room spinning before he noticed Milly missing. Then the trickle of panic, saturating his understanding of the situation. He saw her caught and subsequently released when the head of her possible kidnapper exploded outward in shards of skull and grey-ish matter.

Then there was none. Just Jennifer holding the smaller brunette as the smoke cleared. If McKeegan gritted his teeth any further, they'd all be shards of enamel by that point. He'd of preferred that pain to have let Milly out his sight. He'd of preferred anything to have let it happen. For once was enough, twice would be his damnation. His eyes were still unfocused, the pupil's pulsating at the sudden change in light from the grenades although Zelda moved the now-unconscious youngster nearby for him to keep an eye on. Given the ratty old teddy she always carried, drying with blood from Zed. Her words weren't registered.

He'd been silent. But those irises of a hard brown rose to glare. "So I was right then, from the whole start of this bullshite." McKeegan hissed, grabbing one of the metal wheely trays used by the surgeons to launch it into the nearby wall with a secondary, sudden clatter. "AIN'T SOMETHIN' FUCKIN' NEW IS IT? And you were with him since we stumbled down the fuckin' rabbit hole, to the place that is Mountaintop." He gratingly growled, "His right-hand woman, ain't that somethin' right? I should've taken Milly and left the moment his old one went insane. THIS PLACE IS THE SAME AS EVERY OTHER SHIT HOLE TRYIN' TO BE A SAFE WEE JERICHO." Archie's knuckles were white taut with the fists they made, kicking the fallen trolly.

"I worked for this place, I worked for Milly. I worked for David. I worked until I struggled to get up in the mornin's and fall asleep at night." He rose a finger, pointing it inches from Jennifers face. "So if you don't fuckin' kill that man, I'll do it myself. And I'll tear him apart. I ain't got mercy for people like yer da. I ain't got mercy for mercy's sake. I should've trusted my gut and never fuckin' come here. 'Cause you can save our 'family' as much as you like, but at the end of the day, if it means Milly is safer -- I'm leavin' with her in tow."

Peacemaker .45 Rumble Fish Rui

 

[Rui]

RIN:

Suddenly, the exhaustion that weighed down her limbs was relieved, her muscles tense like rubber bands, then snap.

The moment chaos erupted, Rin was gone.
Well not gone, exactly, she had dropped and rolled like 007 under the bed she was placed upon, and held herself to the boards beneath it, suspended in the bed frame. The scuffle lasted only a few minutes, but under there, hyperventilating herself into a panic, it felt like years.

Finally, things calmed down. Until the Scotsman opened his mouth. Rin slowly crawled back out from under the bed, her hands shaking from the exertion of holding herself in such a position for so long.
She eyed the large ginger lumberjack, the brunette, and the nurse woman, then turned a kind eye to the smallest of their company; Milly.

While they spoke, Rin watched the unconscious girl, chuging the water bottle that the nurse woman had given her. God, she had been thirsty. Clean, drinkable water was scarce. The materials and knowhow on cleaning questionable water was something she all around lacked.

Finding a spare bottle of Zephryhills of Fiji was a blessing from God indeed.

She’d been drinking water from green bean cans for far too long.

As they squabbled, yelling back and forth at each other, she considered her position in all of this.

She had snuck in, true, but they seemed to overlook that fact, for now. They seemed well stocked and armed, but also prone to outside violence and war within themselves. They had a child, so they seemed not to be a purposeful warrior colony that sought to overtake others; a pro and con together.

In all, she was confused.
What exactly was this place, and how had it survived as long as it had?

She finished the water bottle, and placed it between her knees as she sat on the edge of the bed.

There was nothing else to say.
Draw attention to herself and risk removal or death? No thank you. So, she waited for them to tire themselves out arguing before speaking up.

idalie Peacemaker .45 Rumble Fish ​

 

[Peacemaker .45]

Even though the chaotic scene of the short fight ended, the chaos continued. Milly was all but unconscious, Zelda was trying to figure out what happened, and what could of happened, and Archie getting in Jennifer’s face, angrier than ever. He seemed to be blaming her for some of the events that happened, and that she better kill her father.

Her father.

How could Jennifer kill her own father? She was in a world of confusion and anger. But even in all of this, this was her father, someone who she thought for years was dead, only to find out that he was alive. His place in her life was one that has different phases. Some many good, many bad. The bad all dates back to the death of her brother. It was all downhill from there. But he straightened up eventually. He became a good man, a good father. Even when the world went dark, he was still a beacon of light. But then he was presumed dead when the Disciples attacked their old community. She drifted alone for awhile, before joining the small group with people like Holliday, Tammy, and Austin. Things went south with them, and then she found herself in her current group. And her father, she discovered, was alive.

But he was different.

Cold, heartless, distant. These words could be used to describe her father when they met again. He had his moments where streaks of his old self showed. But they didn’t stay. His changes were odd to Jennifer. He just started to detach himself from her. He was cold, heartless, and distant. But why? Jennifer wondered this herself. But she couldn’t figure out why. And now with what she had seen, she knew he was behind something bad. This angered her, but she felt denial at the same time. This was her father. She didn’t want to believe that he had tried to kill her family. She needed to get answers. Archie’s anger wasn’t helping her own conflicting feelings either. He wanted her to kill him. He wanted her to kill her father.

Her father.

“Enough,” Jennifer shouted at Archie, taking a step back to create space between the two. She nearly pointed her rifle at him when he had got up in her face. She controlled herself enough to stop her from making this situation worse than it was.

“That’s my goddamn father,” Jennifer stated clearly and sternly to him. “I don’t know what going on. Maybe there is a misunderstanding, maybe I just heard things wrong. He’s up to something, but I don’t know what. I’m going to talk to him, and I’m going to find out what the fuck is going on.”

Jennifer took one step forward, decreasing some of the distance between her and Archie. “If you damn well interfere with me trying to get answers from my Goddamn father, I’ll put a bullet in both of your legs so you can’t do shit. So back off and let me deal with him. You focus on keeping Milly and Zelda safe. My father is my concern, and I will deal with him by whatever means necessary. This is my only warning.”

Jennifer continued to look him in the eyes, taking a brief moment to pause. “Don’t let it come to this, Archie.”

Jennifer said nothing more than that. She turned around almost immediately after, and began to walk to the door the men emerged from. The door was metal, had no window, and had a door mechanism akin to one you would see on a safe. Luckily for Jennifer, it seemed the men had been sloppy in their exit from the room behind, as the door was left slightly cracked open. Jennifer wasted no time opening the door, and closing it behind her, but leaving it cracked as she had found it. The door lead into a small corridor duh out of the rock, one lined with extension cords that fed flood lights, illuminating the earth and rock around her. Ominous sounds faintly echoed in the small cave, with the addition of a firefight outside. But Jennifer couldn’t focus on that. Now was about her father. The answers, whatever they might be, lie ahead. Rifle in hand, Jennifer began to walk forward.

Unbeknownst to her, she was about to experience the darkest moment in her life.

Rui idalie Rumble Fish

 

[Peacemaker .45]

Flood light illuminated the dark rock walls in front of Jennifer. Vibrations from the battle up top made some of the lights rattle, with the noice bouncing off the walls of the cave. Ahead of Jennifer, the cave took a sharp 90 degree turn to the right. The girl approached the bend with caution, not knowing what could be on the other side. She was unaware of whether or not this place had some sort of trap system that she didn’t want to run into. Once Jennifer had reached the bend, she hugged the wall and peered around it, making sure not to expose much of herself as she looked. Ahead of her, she saw no sign of any traps. But what she saw was a door. It had no windows, so she couldn’t see what was past it. Everything seemed to be quiet the moment she looked.

The sudden noise of what sounded like a electric motor winding up began to grow louder and louder by every second. It became so loud that Jennifer felt as if her eardrums were about to rupture. But as soon as the sound reached its peak intensity, a subsequent boom of sorts shook the ground. Bits of rock and dust broke free in the area around Jennifer, occasionally hitting her on their way down as gravity pulled them towards the ground. Jennifer’s ears were ringing for a couple of moments, as the sound-even with ear protection on-was loud enough to disorientate her. There was no time to sit around, however. She needed to confront her father. And she needed to do it now.

Rounding the corner, Jennifer began to walk towards the door. As she began to extend her hand out to grab the doorknob, the electrical motor sound once again began to increase. As the sound got louder, the brunette dropped to a knee, covering her ears, even though the ear protection was on. It did little to nothing to negate the effects of the noise. But this time, she didn’t take a moment to recover. Against her own pain, she forced the door open, only to be met by a blinding light. All Jennifer could do was cover her eyes and look away until the light’s luminosity lowered. In a matter of seconds, it dropped and the surroundings came into view.

As her eyes began to open, Jennifer was dumbfounded at what she had seen around her. The room was filled with tile surrounding it. Lights lined the entire place. There were TV’s and monitors of many different types, including what seemed to be computers as well. As Jennifer began to turn her head to look around, she was met by what looked like lab equipment for a pharmaceutical or biological engineering company, coupled with surgical tables. To the left side of her, she caught the glimpse of prison cells with occupants inside of them. But before she was able to get a look, she saw a figure appear to her right out of the corner of her eye. Rising in front of a gigantic capsule looking machine was her father, his back turned to her.

“What the hell is this place,” Jennifer said loud and clear so her father could hear her. Mack turned around and looked at Jennifer. He was wearing a welder’s mask. Flipping the mask’s eye protection assembly up, he looked at her for a brief moment before he took the mask off, staring at Jennifer.

“Sweethea-,” Mack began before Jennifer spoke over him.

“What the hell is going on? We have Helios attacking the Mountaintop, and everyone is looking for you. I overhear on a radio that you are doing some experiment and sending it to ‘them,’ and that to take people and kill whoever sees. I stop your men from taking people, included one who was in my group, and I stumble into here to find this place. What the fuck is going on?”

Mack looked down for a moment, lifting his left hand that had some sort of device in it. He wiggled that hand for a second before returning his gaze back to his daughter. “This our key to surviving,” he replied, using his body language for expression. “This is how we survive it all. They wi-“

“Dad, give me a straight fucking answer. No skirting around anymore, no more riddles. Give me an answer,” Jennifer once again interjected. “What the hell is this place?”

Mack lowered his head, nodding it as if he knew he had been beaten at a game and he was fairly conceding to it. “It’s a laboratory. It has direct access to Them. What they can offer us assures is survival! No more running around, hoping we don’t catch a bullet, or end up like the rest. They have power, They have the means to survive and thrive without any worry of the undead!”

“Who the hell are ‘they,’ dad,” Jennifer questioned her father, her posture still tense, her rifle still in her hands.

“I cannot say who they are unless you were to join Them.”

Frustrated, Jennifer lowered her head and chuckled with her frustration with her father’s vagueness. “Okay, baby steps here. What is this place?”

“A laboratory. Work here is done on subjects to manipulate the cause of the undead, and their genetics. It’s a satellite site to test various things. Genome sequencing of the pathogen, modification to the structure and function of subatomic and molecular structures. We find ways to harness the power of the pathogen. We ca shape it in ways to benefit us, keep us alive. We can create weaknesses in it, Mae it stronger. Those freaks you see out there are not just all by accident. Some were engineered that way by Them. They are trying to make breakthroughs to keep humanity alive. We do research and experimentation here, and send the subjects and whatever results from research directly to them. We are helping to survive this apocalypse.”

Jennifer was trying to process what she heard. He kept bringing up a “Them,” one he refused to even say the name of. But all of this seemed outlandish. In the world they lived in, how could there be these things he speaks of? Furthermore, what were the biological and genetical engineering he spoke of? The amount of questions outweighed the answers. But Jennifer needed to get a picture of everything first before she went into details. The question was, however, where did she begin to ask questions?

“I’m trying to process this all, so please forgive me for asking redundant questions,” Jennifer started. “So let me get this straight. This place is where you do experimentation on the pathogen that caused the plague, modifying it to make freaks, and you are doing it for some mysterious organization, which I’m assuming is this ‘boogeyman’ that people talk about?”

“Yes,” Mack replied.

“Then why try to grab those people and kill whoever saw what you had those men did?”

“What do you think the Mountaintop is,” Mack questioned his daughter.

“A stronghold for the survival of people,” she answered.

“That’s what it looks like,” Mack started. “But that’s not what the Mountaintop really is. This is a satellite research station of the Theirs. We do research here, experimentation. To do that, we need test subjects.”

Jennifer cocked her head“What the hell does that mean? Who are the “‘test subjects?’”

Mack was silent for a moment, hesitant to answer the question. “The people here.”

Disbelief grew on Jennifer’s face. “The people here are just guinea pigs for experiments? That’s all the place ever was? A place to lure people in with the promise of survival, only for them to be the test subjects of this group’s experimentation?”

“Yes,” Mack replied, somewhat reluctantly.

“What the hell is wrong with you, dad? Luring people in to be test subjects? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Jennifer, darling, you don’t understand. This is how we live. This is how we survive. Living out there is a death wish. They can protect us, They can keep us safe. They can help rebuild society from the ashes it is now.”

“By abducting innocent people for twisted experimentation?”

“It’s not like that.” Mack paused for a moment in slight frustration. “Jennifer, look, I know I kept you in the dark for so long about this, but now is our chance to leave this place, to survive with Them. The Mountaintop can’t survive this attack. It will fall. But They won’t succumb to these attackers. We don’t have much time left. I’m going to ask you to come with me to Them. We will be safe there.”

“Why the hell would I go with you to them,” Jennifer snarled back.

“My daughter, don’t you get it? We can be safe! No more dead ones to worry about, hostile people or groups... it’s a sanctuary for us, where we can live safe as a family again. I’ve been waiting for this moment to happen since you first got here. We can be a family again. All you have to say is yes, and we step into this machine, and it teleports us to them.”

“Teleportation,” Jennifer said with a laugh of disbelief. “Are you really thinking I’m that dumb?”

“But it’s true,” Mack immediately responded. “They have technology beyond our comprehension. This machine brings us right to them.”

“Even if it were true, why would I go there?”

Mack closed his eyes, shallowing loudly, followed by a sigh. “Because you have no choice now,” Mack said, his voice weak.

“What does that mean,” Jennifer asked.

“Anyone who knows of Them has two possible outcomes. Either they are accepted in, or they must die. I appealed directly to Them, and They approved you to flee there. You must go there.”

“I’m not going there,” Jennifer replied, shaking her head. “I don’t want anything to do with this group of people doing twisted things. I have a group of my own with Archie, Milly, and Zelda. I won’t leave them behind.”

“You have no choice,” Mack stated back, his voice wavering. “You know too much. You must go.”

“Like hell I am.”

“So what? Stay here and ride out the destruction of the Mountaintop? Die in the process? And if you live, you run around in fear of the undead or people getting to you? You will be safe, be free if you come with me. All you have to do is say yes, and I’ll take you there with me where we can live. Please, just say yes.”

“I’m sorry, dad,” Jennifer began, “but I can’t go with you. I can’t do that.”

Mack gazed at his daughter, looking almost like he were about to have an emotional breakdown. It took a moment before he began to speak. “I’m s-“

Mack fell to his knee, clutching his head and letting out a painful yelp. Jennifer ran to his side, placing her rifle on a table. She put her hands on his shoulders.

“Dad,” she said loudly. “Dad?! Are you okay? Dad!”

Mack began to loosen up. He wasn’t as tense as he was seconds prior. His breathing went back to normal, letting out a sigh in the process.

“You should have said yes,” he muttered.

“What,” responded his daughter.

Out of blue, Mack pushed Jennifer hard. She flew back, hitting a table, causing what was on the table to fall onto her.

“Dad,” Jennifer said disoriented slightly. “What the hell are you doing!?”

Jennifer stood up, momentarily losing sight of her father. When she stood up, she saw her father walking to her, his right arm backwards as if ready to strike her, a hammer in his hand. Watching the hammer suddenly start to move forward, Jennifer spun around, the hammer striking the table.

“What the hell are you doing,” Jennifer asked once again. She took her knife out and armed herself.

“You were supposed to say yes,” he shouted, once again swinging the hammer at Jennifer, narrowly missing her as she jumped back a step.

“I’m not going to be part of some fucked up group of people,” Jennifer yelled back, walking backwards to keep a distance from her father.

“You had no choice,” he shouted back, “you left me no choice!” Mack once again swung the hammer.

The hammer sank into a wall, which left Mack vulnerable for a moment. Jennifer took this to her advantage, running with her shoulder down, head up, ready to try to tackle her father. As she collided with her father, they hit table that moved. This further removed any balance that either of them had. They both fell to the floor, but the hammer stayed in Mack’s hand, ripping out of the wall as they fell. Both of them recovered from the fall quickly. Once again, Mack tried to sink the hammer into his daughter, though failing as she evaded it again, getting up on her feet. Jennifer looked towards where her rifle was. It was across the room. She could get to it. But her father would be able to intercept her as she did.

“Dad,” Jennifer started, her voice becoming weak, her eyes developing tears. “Why are you trying to kill me? I’m your daughter!”

“You were sup-,” Mack dropped to a knee is pain once again, clutching his head. He screamed in pain, breathing heavily. “I c-can’t c-“ his sentence was cut off once more by screams of agony. They suddenly ceased when he reverted back to the way he was miners earlier, trying to kill his daughter.

“Dad,” Jennifer said with the tears starting to exit her tear ducts and run down her face. “Please stop... I’m your daughter, dad. I love you. You’re my father. You’re family. Please, just stop.” She continued walking slowly backwards.

Mack began to pick up speed as he ran at her. When he was halfway towards her, a sudden explosion rocked the small room. The giant contraction that her father claimed was a teleportation device exploded. A cloud of fire and debris filled the room, but Jennifer and Mack being thrown by the explosion. Jennifer slid across the floor when she landed, stopping at a wall. Jennifer slowly opened her eyes, as the room was knocked with more explosions, all smaller than the one that sent her flying. All Jennifer could see was a room that was lit by the fires, present, reducing the room to an orange glow, mixed with embers floating around in the free and open air. On top of Jennifer was some debris. As she tried to get, her father suddenly appeared. He swung his arm with the hammer, striking Jennifer’s left arm. She recoiled in pain, clutching her arm. When she saw her father get ready to swing again, she quickly rolled as fast as she could away from him. The debris moved off of her, sliding off like they were on a mudslide. The hammer hit the debris. Thinking quickly, Jennifer found a pipe that had been thrown off of its place by the explosion. With a swing, Jennifer hit her father in the head as he turned around. The hit knocked him on the ground, but didn’t knock him out. The hammer flew away from him at this point, and he too was reduced to using the objects scattered on the ground around him as a weapon, grabbing a small pole that had a twisted and sharp, twisted, mangled end.

“Dad,” Jennifer began, tasting her own blood in her mouth, “just put this down and stop. I’m your daughter. Please, just stop.”

“No,” Mack said weakly. “You said no. You must die then. You know too much. You decided your own hate.”

“No, no, no, no, no,” Jennifer shouted as Mack pointed the sharp and mangled part of his weapon and rang at her.

As he ran, Jennifer found herself in a corner. She had to think and act quickly. As he neared, Jennifer dropped to the floor, her father hitting the wall. When he impacted the wall, Jennifer went to swing at him. But he acted quickly, kicking her weapon away as his foot made contact with it. But in doing so, he lost his balance and fell. The two were on the ground, trying to recover from the actions their opponent made. Mack recovered faster, and positioned himself on top of Jennifer. Jennifer tried to wiggle her way out, but all efforts were ineffective. And when Mack put his hands on her throat, he began to choke her. His hands were grabbing and squeezing her throat, like her were trying to break her windpipe as fast as possible. Looking into her father’s eyes, Jennifer didn’t see the father. Instead, she saw the devil.

Jennifer continued to struggle to break free. Her hands moved around her surroundings to try and find something-anything-she could use as a weapon. Debris was scattered all around her, and she needed to find one that was adequate for her own survival. Searching around, Jennifer felt what seemed to be a brick, or at least part of one. Grabbing it, she swung it at her father’s head. The object hit her father with extreme force, knocking him off of her. Jennifer began to cough and gasp for air as soon as he was off of her. She was enraged at this moment as well, anger and emotional pain swelling inside of her. The two emotions mixed and danced together, the rage consuming her actions and the emotional pain expressing itself on her face and in her mind. With her father down, she got on top of him, and looked him in the eyes. She still saw the demon in him. He reached up weakly to try and grab her throat. But the blow to his head was too weak. But Jennifer’s rage was not done with him.

“You son of a bitch,” she yelled, crying hysterically, punching him hard on the side of his face. “I’m your daughter! I’m your God damn daughter!”

Jennifer continued to take more blows at his head. Each blow moved his head to one side. The remaining life in him was trying to get her off and defend himself. But the damage was already done. He was not strong enough to fight back.

“Why the fuck were you trying to kill me,” Jennifer continued to scream and cry, punching him over and over in the face, her other hand on the brick. “I’m your fucking daughter! Why? Why!? WHY!?!?”

Each time she uttered “why,” her blows to his head were even harder. But when her rage and emotions grew to a boiling point, she took the brick in her hand, rose her arm up all the way, her opposite hand joining on the brick, and forced it down into her father’s head. Over and over, crying hysterically, trying to say words that came out to not be audible, she continually forced the brick down. Her father’s skull ruptured after repeated hits weakening it. The skull caved in and sent bits of matter flying everywhere. But Jennifer was so enraged that she didn’t stop. Instead, she kept hitting what was left of his skull faster and faster until she finally realized what she did.

Jennifer looked down at her father, her arms bent 180 degrees. She started to back off of her father as she realized what she did. She started to shake profusely, backing herself up on her hands and knees, body facing up, until she collided with a wall. She started to whimper as she realized what she did, her breathing rate increasing tremendously. She screamed out as she realized what she did to her father.

“No, no, no, no, no, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO,” she yelled behind her sobbing over and over again.

Jennifer sat against the wall. Her hair and eyebrows were slightly singed from the explosion and fireball it sent out. Her clothes were singed as well, torn and ripped in many areas. They were stained black from slight burning. Her hands and arms, and her own face were blood red from all of the carnage she did. She bleed her own blood in many areas. She was shacking and withering away in a corner, trying to calm down from the unspeakable act she just committed. She could do nothing more than sob, louder and louder, harder and harder, curled up in a ball in the corner of the room, lit by fires and scattered with debris. She was sobbing so much she nearly passed herself out. It was at that moment she gained some sort of composure. She couldn’t cry anymore. She had no tears left to cry. This whole event seemed what like an eternity to her. But the longer she stared at, the reality set in. And she had to leave. Her friends outside depended on her. She couldn’t stay. She had to go. Jennifer got up, shaky and lightheaded, and looked around. She saw her rifle against the debris on the opposite side of the room, and walked and picked it up. As she walked to the door, she passed what remained of her father. She stopped and looked at him for a moment, before dropping down on a knee in prayer.

“Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal on that fearful day, When the heavens and the earth shall be moved, When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. I am made to tremble, and I fear, till the judgment be upon us, and the coming wrath, When the heavens and the earth shall be moved. That day, day of wrath, calamity and misery, day of great and exceeding bitterness, When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord: and let light perpetual shine upon them.”

Jennifer paused for a moment and put her hand on her father’s shoulder. It too was soaked with blood from the carnage. “I’m sorry, dad,” she said weakly. But she didn’t cry. She had already cried enough. She couldn’t cry anymore.

Rising up on both feet, Jennifer walked out the door, and walked back to the small bunker and to her group, her family. She avoided looking at them directly. She walked and stood next to them, not looking at them.

“We have to go,” she said quietly. “We can’t stay. We must go. The Mountaintop is doomed. We have to escape. Gather your things. Meet me at the vehicle bay. We’re going. Zelda, get every immunosuppressant you can. Don’t leave anything useful behind. Understood?”

Jennifer didn’t want to talk. But she had to. And she had to get them out of here, as she knew this place was doomed to fall. She said nothing about what happened, and continued to not look at them. She just couldn’t. But she knew they needed to leave, and they needed to as soon as an opening appeared. The Mountaintop was doomed. They had to abandon ship if they wanted to live another day. And Jennifer wanted to leave this place after what she did. She wanted to leave this nightmare behind.

She wanted, and needed, to leave. The Mountaintop was falling. There was nothing left for them.

idalie Rumble Fish Rui

 

[Rumble Fish]

Zelda Williams​

Zelda remained silent, near Milly as Archie and Jennifer argued. The woman did not know what she could do about the situation. She stayed with Milly, dabbing her forehead with a wet cloth. The younger girl's eyes were twitching, as if she was having a bad dream. Zelda sighed gently and looked at Rin, giving her some water as she saw Jennifer leave. She turned to Archie, who seemed angry and disturbed at what was going on and rightly so. She could not think of anything she could say to assure the man. Knowing that things were probably going to get worse, she began packing things together.

As she packed, she looked at the Scottish man. "...Should have figured this was going to happen." she sighed. Her head was still swimming. Her grief over the lost people as well as frustration. She had saved Mack from death; yet this was his doing. Hindsight was such a cruel thing. Normally, in a situation like this she would turn to her flask, or something of that nature. She had even taken it out of her pocket but did not take a drink from it. She just held it. It did not even cross her mind to drink any of it; there was too much going on to even consider it. She was too busy worrying.

What now? The Mountaintop was gone. Finished. This was not the first time Zelda had seen things collapse. Despite her best efforts, memories from the initial days of the apocolypse came to mind. The world fell apart, her family had been taken away and it was eating away at people's minds. The guests and staff in the hotel rallied together as a group. Except for her, that is. She could not clearly remember as, during the whole thing, she opted to lock herself inside the cellar, where the alcohol was kept and attempting to drown away the trauma, hoping it was all a bad dream and it would be over. She knew the whole system had collapsed, the undead got in and those idiots got themselves killed. She remembered taking as much booze as possible and just... leaving. And she ended up a wandering stupour for God knows how long until she got to the Mountaintop. She had hoped it could change... but... apparently not.

Archie had said he was going to leave with Milly. She had to think about what she was going to do. She couldn't go with them. Why should she? All she would do was make bad things happen. That is all she did; make things worse. If she went with them, sooner or later, something bad would happen and she would be responsible. She caused Jason and Mark to die, she caused Mack to do all of this, and she caused the death of those patients and medics... the only thing she could imagine happening was something happening to Archie, Milly or Jennifer... and she would have been the cause. It was inevitable.

Zelda was launched out of her depressive thoughts with Jennifer bursting back into the bunker. The younger woman looked frightened, angry and... like she had just done something terrible. The woman jumped up, ignoring the wound on the side of her head, and went to her. Before she could say anything, the woman firmly instructed that they had to leave. Zelda tried to get a word in, only for Jennifer to tell her to get all the medicine she could. Biting her lip, she watched Jennifer closely. Something had happened... but she could not ask. Not now at least.

"Okay..." she muttered as she started getting everything together. She put all the medicine and antibiotics into her large bag. The booze she had nicked from her office being in a smaller bag inside that would hopefully be un-noticed. Grabbing the bag, she looked at Jennifer "How are we getting out? We're still surrounded."

Dutch Malloy​

Dutch had lost track of time. He had seen Jennifer and her small band retreat into a bunker and had attempted to join them but kept being pulled back into the fight. He was back in Syria, he lost track of where he was or what he was doing. Shoot, protect, survive. That was the only thing running through his mind. This place was going to shit and the fighting was growing more violent. The ex-soldier knew that if he did not leave now, he would be dead soon. And where was Domino? The mare had fled when the fighting started. But she was a smart beast. She could take care of herself.

He was back at the creek where he, Jennifer and Milly had been before the fighting began. It was such a short time ago... they were talking, laughing... he had promised Jennifer she could ride Domino. Where did it all go? The man sighed methodically as he grabbed his bags. But as he did, a thought came into his mind he had not considered. Without Domino, how was he going to carry all of this? He would only be able to carry it for a short time before growing too exhausted. He needed his horse, or at least some wheels until he found her.

As he trudged through the camp's grounds (his gun raised at all times), he came across something that made him stop in his tracks. A M1 Abrams. Perfect! If there was anything he was going to need in order to escape, it was this! With a swift look around, he got to work. He almost felt like a little boy in a toy shop. He had driven one of these babies while on the front; never thought he would have this opportunity again. As he revved it up, he realised he had another dilemma. He could not just leave Jennifer and her group... he had to go back to them. He would not have forgiven himself if he didn't...

Coming up to the bunker, he saw the door was open. Popping out of the top door, he cupped his hands to his mouth, "Oi!" he yelled, "Get in! NOW!" At his words, the unfortunately familiar face of Zelda appeared at the door, armed with her M18.

"Dutch-?! What in the fu-?!"

"Ask later, doc- GET IN!" He yelled, his voice practically breaking. The woman growled to herself before ducking back inside to get everything.

"He's got a fucking tank out there." she grumbled with the most fed-up expression she could muster, handing Jennifer the medicine filled bag "Go, it'll just get worse here." The sooner they got this over with, the sooner she could leave and get out of their lives. It'd be a favour.

idalie Peacemaker .45 Rui

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN

I had not thought death had undone so many.
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.
Flowed up the hill and down King William Street,
There I saw one I knew, and stopped him, crying: “Stetson!
“That corpse you planted last year in your garden,
“Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year?"
“Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed?"
-- T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland.
​

"ENOUGH? WHEN WILL IT BE ENOUGH?" Archie raged in return, Jennifer stepping up and turning her gun on him. The Scotsman narrowed his eyes. "Ain't it sad I've already seen this from ye? Ain't it fuckin' miserable I know what the end of yer fuckin' rifle looks like?" His words took a harsher, quieter tone. Nevertheless, the looming labourer continued to back off slightly kneading his fist into the open palm of his opposite hand. "But you fuckin' threaten to hurt me again and I'll hurt you, Jennifer." His eyes were burning; the dark chestnut gloom of the irises set ablaze with a wish for violence and a risky thirst for revenge. It was before she left that he stretched his neck and loosened the taut muscle. "I don't take warnings from the likes of you anymore, lass."

Time seemed to pause for a moment or two until both he and Barnett separated. He stared at Zelda, however, when she spoke up. "We all knew it was comin', our timer just happened to run out today." Arch dragged a hand over his rough features, brushing the bristles of his whiskers as the lumberjack rubbed at his cheek. "Everythin' I have is back at me and Milly's accommodation. Just got an axe, a knife, and a second-hand gun." He hissed through his teeth with a raspy whistle, "At least it ain't happened like the last time."

Vividly, the Scotsman recalled when his last settlement had fallen. It was around that time he'd taken a mother and her daughter under his wing, once the mother had perished due to infection and fever, it was him and a girl of age eight. He didn't remember much beyond letting go of her hand once and the scream. a little pink shoe. It sat neatly on the tarmac of a cracked road, the next thing he couldn't bear to dream up was her pale face and frilly socks. Her dress was steeped red, the girl was twitching, crying, her neck exposed beyond tendon and meat. Pulsating with the arterial spray, juddering. Everyone knew this image, someone cared about, loved, being consumed inch by inch. The undead took no prisoners and gave no lives, not from where they hid beneath rusting cars with misty gazes. He buried that little girl, hopeful enough it'd grow roses someday.

Milly was his redemption. His daughter in some respect, but she represented salvation and sanity. A second chance. A reason to retain his compassion, his kindness, a gentle youth that could flourish if only he protected it enough. It was precious.

Arch wrapped Milly in the sheet she'd been covered with, pulling her in close against to his chest, still unconscious. He was aware of her accident, perhaps more sorry about the fact they wouldn't be able to pick up any clothes of hers on the way out. Leaning in, he kissed her forehead albeit turned to Jen's return as she emerged in a questionable state of emotion. The question being why there wasn't enough of it. He knew what'd happened the moment he glimpsed her expression and for that, he relaxed. What was done, had been done. The end to a chapter.

Dutch reemerged with the tank, Zelda calling for the rest of them to get in. However, he turned to Rin. "If you're plannin' on comin' before this place collapses, you better hop to it. Or you're gonnae be left behind." Arch twisted to Jennifer, still holding the small brunette. "You too, hand me the keys for the truck. I'll go get it, bring it round the back and meet you there. Dutch'll need you around."

Peacemaker .45 Rumble Fish Rui

 

[Rui]

RIN:
Rin was startled from her thoughts by the lumberjack Scotsman giving her an ultimatum.
“Uhh...tank!” She squeaked, and competed off to follow the others.
A new man, a southern-seeming fellow driving a...well a big-ass tank, followed by Jennifer and Zelda.

Rin’s short legs carried her quickly, and she climbed on board with fearful determination.

She was the new one,
The small one,
The forgettable one.
She wouldn’t be the one left behind.
She was going to live no matter what,
And she was going to find her mother.
She looked at the country boy, and smiled softly.
“Hi...I’m Katherine.”
She hadn’t said her name yet, and figured putting a name to a face might make her more memorable, less likely to get voted off the island...if they made it there in one piece, and not...undead.
“And...you are?”
Rumble Fish Peacemaker .45 idalie
​