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Post by Red Dawson on Dec 12, 2007 14:56:57 GMT -5
The word caught his attention, although it took a moment to register, and he slowly turned his head towards the source of the sound. It was definitely Red, albeit with more of a beard than Cass had ever recalled him having. Injury from attack was not the cause of his broken gait and, upon this closer examination, the blood on his clothing and skin had dried up long ago. It appeared more that he was a victim of neglect and, based on the lifestyle he led at the Cosway, probably self-inflicted. He was thinner than she could recall, and paler despite his fair complexion - the only color to his skin being a faint tint of blue, especially on his chapped lips. Judging by the glassiness of his eyes, she could have easily jumped to the conclusion that he was a dead man walking but after a moment they seemed to gain some focus.
He had paused in his motion, taking the time to look at the woman's face to see if there was any recognition. The visage looked familiar, perhaps a person that would irregularly visit the Cosway but, at the moment, the name escaped him. If anything, Red concluded that she was either someone that he had associated with outside the hotel or a wayward resident that probably had no idea what had befallen the homestead - which explained why he wasn't already suffering from a bullet hole in the chest. The wind picked up briefly, giving him a faint reminder on how cold it was out here on the roof, and he recalled that he was very close to where he wanted to be. He turned and began to walk towards the plank once more.
"C-come on...," he managed out past the chatter of teeth he had held clenched against the winter, "you'll c-catch your death out here..." The irony of the situation was completely lost on Red as he again pulled up a foot and pushed it forward, determined to keep his body moving despite the cold and fatigue. The woman, who seemed more familiar even now, needed to get inside and he knew that the Cosway had always welcomed strangers... or long lost residents. That is of course if it hadn't been burnt to the ground. But he was sure that he had saw it, just a couple blocks down. Even if he had just imagined it, and the building was ransacked or worse, he'd at least would have some answer to all this and temporary shelter before he would head off towards the wall surrounding Malton.
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Post by kinrrataiyath on Dec 12, 2007 15:42:12 GMT -5
Cass could scarcely believe her eyes. The man before her looked more dead than alive, and yet he was warning her not to tarry in the cold. The situation was almost laughable, but Cass was more concerned with how long it would be before he collapsed for good. In all her long years of seeing dire situations of a varying degree she had never seen someone like this.
Back when she was still in basic, she'd heard stories of soldiers who had been sent away to the front in the dead of winter. Some survived, some froze to death still propped up in their positions like grotesque statues of ever vigilent sentinels. Others still struggled to live even when they knew the cold would take them. Red reminded her most of the stories of those soldiers, still fighting despite knowing the end was near.
"sh*t," she cursed under her breath for lack of a better word to describe the situation. The gun was quickly holstered as she stepped onto the plank directly behind him, as if staying close would allow her to help if he lost his footing.
She felt helpless in a situation like this. Cass was more accustomed to shooting things to solve her problems, but there was nothing in this situation that could be shot. Well... technically there was but she wasn't about to shoot Red for no good reason. All she could do now was hope he made it as far as the Cosway and offer support if he needed it.
"It's not far now," she muttered more to assure herself than the walking corpse ahead of her. "People are gonna be d*mn glad to see you back alive."
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Post by theokor on Dec 12, 2007 15:52:51 GMT -5
Chuckling at the babbling Theo stuck his tongue out at Casey, his spirit instantly lifting with a reason to laugh. "Yeah good to see you too squirt" he said to the child before addressing Kay again, grinning now while he scratched his unshaven chin "from what I could see its pretty quiet, most of the shamblers are frozen and the people hiding in the warm. Although I haven’t been far, spent most of my day just laying around up there, with no one out there its nice and quiet, gives a person plenty of time to think of things."
Looking around the hotel Theo shook his head a little, his grin falling into a warmer smile "any idea what were going to do? For Christmas I mean, it must be getting to around that time of year judging by the snow and how cold it’s getting. It would be Casey's first right? Should pull out all the stops, decorate this place up all pretty with a huuuge tree with lots of lights and stuff!" Theo got more excited as he talked, waving his arms about to emphasize just how big the tree should be "and we could get Agate to throw some food together, think he would be any good at cake? I would do it of course but I would probably give us all food poisoning" laughing again he suddenly realised he had started babbling and fell silent, smiling shyly he buried his hands in his pockets "that is if you think its a good idea."
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Post by Sarah the Bullet on Dec 12, 2007 16:06:16 GMT -5
"Nice to meet you," Kin greeted the new woman with a smile. No surprise that some unfamiliar faces had moved in during her away time. Sarah's track record for judging people had never been all that good, but there was no sense in damning a person before they did anything wrong. Besides, this Sandy person seemed friendly enough. Once the bag was fully unpacked, Kin neatly folded it up and put it to the side. Soon it'd be refilled with her medical supplies and a few emeregency items for her next attempt on the Needs. Though she hadn't had a single success yet, the routine of trying, failing, returning to recover then trying again had become second nature to her. Everything in her life was now arranged around those forays out into the cruel, increasingly cold world. This stop at the Cosway was just another rest station along the way. "I'm not sure where Agate's keeping his food stuffs these days," she said to Sarah as she began to organize the piles. One hand casually swept an errant lock of her long, blonde hair behind her ear. "Do you think you could find out and add these cans to the lot? I've got a few more upstairs too." "I'll track him down." Sarah got up and headed upstairs. "Sandy? Can you take the stuff to the kitchen?" "Ok!" she called back, then started picking up the provisions. --- Sarah headed up the stairs, looking around for Agate, until she hears voices near Kay's room. Thinking Agate's whereabouts may be known to them, Sarah soon semi-intrudes on Theo, Casey and Kay. "Hey, have you seen Agate around? Kin's looking for him."
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Post by Red Dawson on Dec 12, 2007 17:23:40 GMT -5
And so began the last leg of the journey back to the Cosway - a rather slow shuffling than a proper return. It didn't take long for Red to forget about the woman following him; he knew he had to keep focused on moving. The days were getting shorter, the pale grey sky was already growing darker by the moment, and he had gone too far now to stop even if his body continued to tell him to pause. He crossed his arms as he noticed once more the chill that penetrated his overall numbness and kept his head down against the occasional railings of the wind. The slow pace he kept was ideal for the slick board and finally his feet were both planted on the roof of the Bailey.
It was right there. He wasn't going crazy. The building still stood and apparently, from the faint glimmer of light caught in a couple of the windows, occupied. The thought of finding out exactly what happened prior to his fall kept him pushing his feet forward across the slush on the roof but his pace slowed with each step until he came to a halt just before the next plankway to the Cosway. The reason that drove him so far was the same one that held his course now. Did he really want to know what happened? Did he really want to be reminded of how he took part in whatever tragedy befell the place? Perhaps nothing had happened and he was delusional like most were when they came to. But what if he was not mistaken - could he deal with the reality of it all?
He had to know and commanded his foot to take another step but for all his mental effort, he found his body ignoring his orders. To any who were watching, Red was just standing there, motionless like a statue, the only movement being his visible breath faint against the momentary stillness in the air. A second later he wavered until he locked his legs, bringing him upright once more. He was so numb, so much dead flesh - he never truly recalled what it was like 'not living' but he was pretty sure that it must have felt like this. Perhaps he just needed a moment. He had pushed so hard. A moment would do. His eyelids dipped some; his eyes could use a moment as well...
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Post by kinrrataiyath on Dec 12, 2007 17:45:35 GMT -5
Cass could see the man beginning to waver, ready to topple right off the roof like a car crash moving at five miles per hour. The entire trip this far had been agonizingly slow and several times she'd considered just grabbing ahold of his arms and hauling him the rest of the way. She didn't for two reasons; it would be demeaning to all the effort he'd put in so far and she didn't want to lug his dead (yet decidedly light) weight all the way into the Cosway. Now that they stood at the very last plankway, within sight of their goal, she concluded that she had no choice. She wasn't about to stop here for the night after all.
"Hey," she called to him in a brisk tone, hoping to wake him out of his near doze. "Com'on, Red. You want some help getting the rest of the way?" Her eyes followed the back of his head as she stepped within inches of his back. One leg locked close to his while her hands came up to hover just by his shoulders in case he should fall. If she had any hope of catching him he'd have to fall backwards. Explaining why Red was zombified right on the doorstep of the Cosway was not the kind of entrance she wanted to make for the rest of the crew.
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Post by Red Dawson on Dec 12, 2007 18:19:12 GMT -5
His eyelids slowly lifted. He had thought that he had heard his name but it seemed miles away. Apparently it had gotten darker than he recalled just moments ago... or was it moments ago? He slowly turned his head to one side, followed by his waist as he tried to discern where the voice was. He caught a glimpse of the woman he had met a while back, still out here foolishly in the cold - but it was only a glimpse as his body, not used to or ready for such a shift, decided to fail him. Thankfully, turned as he was, he didn't fall forward but more to the side; his chest colliding into Cass's arm like a sack of wet laundry. Soon his knees were nonexistent and gravity finally tried to claim the one who had been resisting for such a long time.
Red was going to tell the woman to get inside but that thought was totally lost when the world around him had swiveled and turned like those rides at the carnival that were notorious for making one sick. If he had been more lucid - and had eaten - he'd probably would have emptied his stomach on the rooftop, but even the view he had on the world right now was dull and numb. He thought he might have fallen and gave it a thought to push himself up but found his arms and legs unresponsive at best. Besides, it felt so much better this way - rest was best lying down than standing up. He was next to something warm so he could rest for a few moments longer. Just enough rest to get moving once more. His eyes closed with little hesitation.
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Post by kinrrataiyath on Dec 13, 2007 15:56:36 GMT -5
Cass would have been ready for a backwards fall. She might have even caught him and kept them both upright. However, she was not prepared for any other sort of directional collapse and, despite all her boasting, she was still a little twig of a woman trying to hold up a much taller and suddenly unconscious man.
Red impacted with Cass' arm, causing her to immediately tense up in hopes of holding him. The hope was short lived, as was her own upright stance. With a surprised oath she toppled under his weight and landed with a soft thud in the snow. Her weapons jarred into her back, darkening old bruises and grinding into new ones. Something felt twisted out of line. Cass grit her teeth and hissed out a short breath as the blinding pain tore up and down her backside and Red's dead weight pressed in on her ribs.
"Goddamit, Red," she huffed after the initial pain subsided. "You are gonna owe me big for this." And there was no way she was going to let him forget it.
Her thin fingers closed around his shoulders and one knee wriggled up until she felt it brace against his thigh. With one mighty heave she rolled him onto his side, away from her poor, abused ribs and sucked in a lungful of air. She didn't dare let go of him while she recovered from the fall for fear of losing him over the edge. How perfectly ironic it would be for him to somehow slip in his stupor and topple to the ground below. Once again she would have to face the dislikeable task of telling the others why there was a zombified Red on their doorstep, which she really didn't want to do. Today had been irritating enough already.
Once she had gained back what little strength she could, the soldier woman stood up and grabbed hold of her cargo. She crossed his arms over his chest and gripped his wrists, effectively chicken winging him for easier dragability. If all she had to worry about were his legs dragging on the ground then she was confident that there was less of a chance for him to drop off the plank on the way over. Thank God it was a wide one.
So prepared, Cass began the ardurous task of lugging her unconscious companion over to the Cosway's rooftop. Twice she had to pause to readjust her grip or ensure that neither of them were about to tip over. Touching solid ground again had never felt so good. Cass made it all the way over to the door and into the top alcove of the stairwell before she encountered another problem. One look down those cement steps told her that she could no longer do this alone.
"HEY!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs, hearing the barking echo revibrate all the way down to the bottom level. She really hoped someone had left one of the stairwell doors open. "Hey, I need some help up here!"
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Post by Marmalade Boy on Dec 13, 2007 17:20:55 GMT -5
It had been a few months or so since both John and Rio had left the Cosway without so much of a leaving note, expect the fact that John had been shrunk down to age four and Rio had developed a high sense of motherly protection. Whether this was the effects of the city finally getting to her brain or the fact that she loved John, and even more so as a child, no one could tell. Whatever the case, zombie activity had heated up a little after the shrinking and Rio, fearing the worst, took John and a few things of theirs and moved up North to where it was apparently safe. Now though, things had calmed down some and Rio finally decided that it was safe enough to see how the others were coping, much to John's gratitude of being able to make a decision for once. So, after a week of moving, they had finally made it into the Cosway, and back to their old rooms.
John stood there, where his old sofa/bed had been (presumably moved for barricading and looked up to Rio, who was quickly demolishing her way through a hard and tasteless military protein bar. Things had changed a lot for John, gone were his NSD gear, him having left both his gear and his old life behind. The rest of the NSD figured that John's brain had finally rotted, and terminated his contract. Of course, John could go and tell them the truth but he was far too embarrassed. Now, John was little more than something Rio lugged around in her pack and treated like a retarded child (or so he thought) wearing, not the grey and greens of the NSD, but a pair of fitting child-size jeans underneath jogging bottoms, two shirts, a sleeveless navy blue padded jacket, a pair of matching mittens and a pair of tiny fitting trainers on his feet. Of course, he tried in vain to draw attention to his headgear, as it was a close-fitting pink woolen hat. Rio had said that it was the last one in the mothercare store she had raided, but secretly had got it him to spite him for the things he had done to the others. Now, with a chubby child's face and pink hat covering his short hair, he got many people thinking he was a girl, which he hated more than anything.
"I can't believe that they hadn't gutted this place" Rio said, finishing her meal bar, "I mean, this stuff could have gone to use rather than rusting away on these walls"
She looked up to the tools and other machinery hanging by hooks on the walls. Most of them were useless unless you wanted to re-barrel a gun, create casted parts or make various explosives, but then again John hadn't used most of them, so he wasn't surprised. He did though, notice that the useful tools had been taken, and was sulking because of this, choosing not to reply to Rio's comment,
"Well, come on, we'd better go down and explain to the others what went off" She said, patting John on the back in an effort to get him moving, "Come on!"
With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, John got moving out of his door, his Mauser clanking against his backpack. Like his clothes, his Mauser was too big for him in his current form. Not wanting to loose it for the world, John had cut down the grip a little, fixed his stock and attached a forward grip and a sling. So, instead of a pistol, the Mauser now fit John like a Rifle. Maybe it was his age, but John felt as strong as he was before when holding the rifle, although to be honest he wasn't as accurate or deadly as he was with it before. Not even close,
"What are you going to tell them anyway?" John asked, looking up to Rio with glaring eyes, "That we left because your little precious could have been hurt? What will they say? Oh nevermind Rio, treating one person like a kid and going over the top is fine, oh, and thanks for leaving us to die!"
Rio ignored this, or just didn't accept it, reaching down to smother John in a cuddle,
"No silly, I'm sure the others will understand, and anyway we're back now!" Said Rio, as John grumbled something, "What was that?"
"Nothing!"
Said John, thinking what he was mumbling in his head and smiling...
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After some stairs walking, the pair stopped outside of the Lobby, Rio poking John towards the door,
"Oww! Quit it!" John shouted, "Aren't you coming in with me too?"
"Nope, I'm going to see if I can find my room again, and if Agate or Kat or Fara or somebody is upstairs, you just go explain it to the other people in the Lobby whilst I do that! Don't worry, I'll be back soon!"
"But what if they're in the Lobby?" John whined, "Then what?"
Rio giggled and gave John's hair a ruffling,
"Then you'll have done my job for me! Now be on your best manners!"
Rio reached forwards and kissed John's forehead, making him squirm, before heading back towards the stairs. John thought about the situation befalling him, and decided on doing things his way, not Rio's. With a long and casual stride, he headed towards the door which had always been broken, the catch making the door swing like a saloon door. Pretending like he was a famous cowboy or something, John heading through it, holding out his hand weakly and splatted straight into the door. With a yelp of pain, John looked up to door catch to see someone had fixed it. Muttering some more, John opened the door properly and heading through, rubbing his hand and looking to see some people in the Lobby he hadn't been well aquinted with before. forgetting his entrance, John said,
"Hey!"
With the style of a king addressing peasants...
((XD What can I say? He's even more of an a*shole little!))
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Post by Kat on Dec 13, 2007 18:36:34 GMT -5
"Christmas!" Kay exclaimed, and after a moment's consideration she decided she was cheered by the prospect of the approaching holiday. Though that was as much due to the enthusiasm that Theokor was showing as anything else. It was, well, sweet. "Theo," she said warmly, bouncing Casey as they all walked in the direction of the lobby, "I think it's a great idea."
Christmas. Yeah, pulling out all the stops sounded positively magical. "Bet we can top last year's," she remarked, thinking back to the year before. She still had the ducky that Red had carved for her.
That, of course, brought her down a little. There were so many people missing or gone, and it wouldn't be the same.
Sarah's appearence, quick as a flash in the girl's usual style of popping up at random, derailed that train of thought. "He's off foraging," she told the girl. "He's been out for a couple of days..." I'm not worried, I swear, "so he should be back soon. Uh, in a couple of days, at least. Kin's back? Any news?" She'd heard the mousy scientist had been trying to recover her lost data, and Kay had a vested interest in said data. It had been months since Kin had tentatively said she might be able to help Agate's failing health. Kay held onto the hope that that might prove true.
The redhead paused, wrinkled her brow, tilting her head in the direction of the nearest stairwell. "Hey, did either of you just hear something?"
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Post by Sarah the Bullet on Dec 13, 2007 21:43:58 GMT -5
"Didn't- ask..." Sarah said, being inurupted by the sound of a voice somewhere. "Yeah, I heard..." Silently pulling the thin switchblade, s headed twords the sound of the voice.
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Post by kinrrataiyath on Dec 14, 2007 2:25:06 GMT -5
Kin had been content to sit alone after Sarah and her new friend had gone off on their various tasks. She still had a few items to sort and the peace of being able to do so in the lobby was comforting. She had even begun to hum something under her breath when her pleasent little solitude was interrupted rudely by a loud exclamation. The scientist started, dropping a bunsen burner she had filtched out of a run down high school. It hit the ground with a sound clang and rolled a few inches away. By then, though, Kin had already changed her focus to the strange voice.
"Hi," she said warmly to the little boy in the pink hat. Or was it a girl? She couldn't recall any children around here other than that strange boy who had dropped in a few months ago. Evne then she hadn't had a chance to really get to know him. Yet any child was a welcome sight in Kin's eyes, and far less frightening than any full grown stranger she'd met so far. Pushing her disobedient hair behind one ear again, she offered him a sunny, disarming smile and waited to see what had brought him down here. Maybe he was looking for a lost parent.
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"Oh for f*ck's sake," Cass cursed under her breath. She'd waited a whole minute for a response. A whole minute of just holding the heavy lug at the top of the stairs while her arms threatened to dislocate and her spine reminded her that it was in pain. She debated for all of five seconds on what to do, then propped Red up against the railing to keep him from falling over. The door was firmly shut (she checked it twice to be sure) and the stairwell was sturdy enough that it wasn't about to crumble under him the second she took her eyes off his inert form. Still, all the reassurance in the world wasn't enough to keep her throwing a concerned look over her shoulder as she began to head down the stairs.
"Don't go anywhere," she cautioned the comatose man. Turning forward again, she took the steps two at a time until she came to the first unlocked doorway. The shout was already leaving her lips before she fully opened the fifth floor's heavy metal door. "Hey! You guys deaf or something?"
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Post by Kat on Dec 14, 2007 3:05:59 GMT -5
The shout, so close, and the fact that the familiar quality of the voice made Kay jolt in surprise, jarred Casey from her alert contentment and the child began to whine, and then cry the cry of an infant startled.
"Christ, Cass? Is that you?" Kay had turned to face the gunshow and half-consciously bounced Casey in her sling. First things first, she'd make sure this was indeed Cass. Jesus, was it coincidence that she'd just been thinking about absent residents? "You are about the last person I'd been expecting to see -- that was you made that shout, right? What's wrong up there?" Kayta frowned, falling back a moment to soothe her daughter, unable to do much else until Casey stopped her wailing. If the sound reached zombie ears, it was like a bloody beacon. 'Brat buffet here! Come eat your fill!' It was why the mother and daughter spent so much time in the reinforced, insulated basement room these days.
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Post by Marmalade Boy on Dec 14, 2007 3:11:43 GMT -5
John wandered up to an uncomfortable wooden chair and sat upon it, swinging his legs in the free space underneath whilst nursing his wrist that was starting to sting even more,
"Umm, hey" He replied to Kin nervously, with an already damaged ego he was a lot more nervous, "How things here? Umm, everyone all okay?"
Hopefully she would say yes, and then the guilt he had wracked up about leaving the Cosway (Not under his own choice mind!) would go away. However, he knew that the reply would be bad news, he was surprised that people were still here in the Cosway, expecting them to be all tucked up in remote safehouses with other like-minded people...
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Meanwhile, Rio climbed the stairs and met up with the shouting Kat and one of the other survivors she hadn't known well before by surprise. Hiding this surprise under a big smile she began voicing her hello,
"Hello Kat! Umm..." She clicked her fingers whilst she tried to remember the other man's name, "Theo! Is everything alright? Why are you shouting?"
She quickly looked around to see if there was anything dangerous, finding people with guns, and took a step back. Then she noticed the little babe in Kat's arms and couldn't resist a wide smile and a giggle, even if meters away people were ready to shoot her babies were cute, and Rio adored cute! Her mind the quickly went off on a tangent, thinking about what had happened if John had shrunk down to Casey's age, then what would have happened? Thinking about it, she predicted John demanding to be changed, fed and to be treated like an adult whilst be little higher than a 12 inch ruler. She found back a shudder and once again hid it with a her attention brought to the apparent gunfight in front of her...
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Post by Sarah the Bullet on Dec 14, 2007 3:49:26 GMT -5
"Ah, Cass." I thought I reconised that haughty attitude, she thought the rest to herself, flippin the blade close. "What's up?"
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Sandy had just come back from putting stuff away, noticing the new arrival only partialy. "Hey new kid. Where's the other stuff at again, Kin?"
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