zpansven
Free Runner
Karen Howard
Posts: 144
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Post by zpansven on Feb 7, 2008 3:10:10 GMT -5
(a thread for anyone to jump in on -- Brett's a shy type, so there's little interaction with many of the Cosway residents and unfortunately, his past comes back to bite him in the ass)
Brett was an oddball, more a visitor who'd stay anywhere from overnight to a month at times; the scientist with the premature grey at the temples and laugh that sounded like a rabid hyena always seemed to stay on the move and kept a handheld radio on hand at all times. He wasn't very tall nor short and with the brunette hair could be considered average in appearance if it wasn't for the exotic bright green eyes he had and the fact he seemed to never have a beard despite never being seen shaving.
He was always very careful not to come to them with an injury that bled to keep from leading and stray shamblers to them and he always tried to drop off some little thing he found that might be useful, even going so far as to help the resident techies work on handyman duties when he was in their 'burb.
He was always careful around the baby, seeming to treat the child with a reverent awe, seeming to hold the belief that the child was made from the finest crystal and could be hurt at the slightest shift in air pressure; some of the things he brought to them would be things he found for the baby, from baby bottles, to a mobile, to a rather well taken care crib mattress he had picked up from the Giddings Mall area.
It almost was as though he was trying hard to get them to like him, and was very eager to please; he was secretive though and seemed to know things about the zombies and the whole state of undeath that few should even though he admitted to only being a lowly computer tech within NecroTech. Of course, the fact he seemed to understand the undead had been rather freaky and he tried to not let anything that could be unnerving about himself slip, as though he was afraid they would reject him for it.
Of course, one day he came back to them with freshly bandaged wounds he wouldn't let anyone touch and a sort of wariness that came from being hunted. When the power flickered, he jumped; when his radio hissed with static, he jumped; an odd thumping noise from anywhere in the Cosway, he jumped.
All the clues seemed to point to one thing...
Brett was a wanted man...
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Post by Sarah the Bullet on Feb 11, 2008 17:15:08 GMT -5
Sarah walked down the hall for the first floor, not paying no mind- until she missed the first step to the ground floor.
"Yagh!" she yelled as she stumbled down the stairs a bit- luckily (for her, anyway) someone was halfway on the stairway.
After the dust settled, Sarah looked at the guy she ran into, "Uh, sorry um, Brett right?"
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zpansven
Free Runner
Karen Howard
Posts: 144
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Post by zpansven on Feb 12, 2008 16:00:13 GMT -5
The man stared at her, his eerie green eyes seeming to bore into her; despite the hour, there was no stubble on his jaw. "Yes. Are you alright?"
There was nothing sexual in the way he examined her with his eyes, seemingly more concerned that she had stumbled and when he straightened up, leaning against the wall, she could smell a now familiar coppery stench; blood. The oddball guest of the Cosway had broken what seemed to be an unconscious rule for himself and had come back with fresh wounds.
"Where are you hurt?" she asked, inspecting the man leaning against the wall, with how bundled up he was, she couldn't tell where he had bandaged his wounds, though how she leaned supporting his ribs and favoring his right shoulder was a clue....
"I didn't bleed on you, did I?" the prematurely-grey scientist asked as she reached for him.
The question was startling enough for her to pause mid-gesture; there he was with wounds and more worried he's transfered blood onto her. Then again, he was a bit weird and rather secretive at times, even for all the help he's given them fixing things and bringing back baby stuff...
"I'm fine, bandaged up, just need to rest. Now...did I bleed on you?" The stare she was on the receiving end of was intense, far intenser then any he'd ever given out and in the back of her mind she could recall hearing from Red that he didn't like bleeding on people...
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Post by Sarah the Bullet on Feb 13, 2008 1:58:26 GMT -5
"Uh, not that I know of?!?"
(Is he asking me or someone else?)
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zpansven
Free Runner
Karen Howard
Posts: 144
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Post by zpansven on Feb 13, 2008 17:17:28 GMT -5
(he's asking Sarah -- he has a thing about not bleeding on people, for fear of spreading contagious disease)
He straightened, the corners of his mouth going white with pain as he took a careful step closer to her, inspecting her in the dim light of the hallway. The scientist seemed satisfied, giving a brusque nod. "You seem clean. Wouldn't want blood scent on you if you're heading outside -- I saw some shamblers in the outskirts of the 'burb."
The scientist took a shaky step towards the stairs his words were slightly slurred. "Ya need me, 'm in 'my room, 'kay?"
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Post by Sarah the Bullet on Feb 13, 2008 18:19:32 GMT -5
"Hey! You'r injured! I'm gonna get my medical supplies real quick!"
She dashed for the back stairs, making sure not to trip again, and headed for her room.
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zpansven
Free Runner
Karen Howard
Posts: 144
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Post by zpansven on Feb 13, 2008 19:52:45 GMT -5
The scientist paused as she ran off before sighing, his head bowing and forehead resting on the cold wall. "...dammit...can't keep 'em safe..." the prematurely grey Necrotech employee mumbled to himself, "...if they keep....exposin' themselves...ta danger..."
With a pained grunt, he pushed himself up, ignoring the twinging pain of his shoulder from the bullet wound there -- clean, all the way through, he made certain -- and the sharp pain lancing through his cracked ribs. Carefully he navigated the stairs, seeking to crash on the bed of the room on the third floor he'd claimed as his. All he needed was rest, rest and peace...
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Post by Sarah the Bullet on Feb 14, 2008 1:02:27 GMT -5
Something Sarah wouldn't do until he wasn't so bloody and bleeding.
"Hey, it's me again," Sarah said as she entered. "I'm gonna deal with to\hose wounds of yours, k?
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zpansven
Free Runner
Karen Howard
Posts: 144
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Post by zpansven on Feb 14, 2008 2:39:39 GMT -5
(one of the biggest reasons Brett doesn't want to have anyone else change his bandages is hidden in a clue in the post -- can you decipher it? XD)
The scientist groaned from where he was sprawled face down on the dusty coverlet, for a moment lost in the musty smell and enjoying the peace of inactivity. His head lifted and turned to regard her with a bleary eye, his smooth cheek resting on the coverlet of his much-missed bed offered by the Cosway. He spoke with a voice that was somewhat hoarse and his words were slurred as he rambled a protest: "Sarah...thats' yer name, right? It's not serious dun trouble yerself, dun want ta bleed on ya; already patched myself up and I'll change my bandages after I get some sleep... 'M just really tired -- been running nonstop to get here, not really restin'... Just need to sleep...maybe eat somethin' when I come to... Got some stuff in my pack downstairs..."
"Running? On injuries?"
He could hear the blend of bewilderment and anger at the stupidity of his actions in her voice; for a moment he recalled before his assignment in Malton, before he even knew about zombies, when there was always someone to pester him, worry about him... His mind spanned back to the moment when she took another step towards his bed. "Yea... ran into some guys who'd ratha shoot breathers over shamblers... Gave 'em a wild goose chase 'round most of Eastern part of the city, even into no man's land in order to lose 'em where I fell off a bridge and busted a rib... got shot in the shoulder a few days after tha' -- stupid jumpy rookies -- clean through, its good 'til mornin'...."
A weary sigh escaped him, his eyes closing. "Ye dun wanna touch me when I pass out. I dun control what I do then...not...very nice...then...." The scientist's slurred words of caution trailed off into shallow, even breathing as exhaustion, coupled with what had to be blood loss, claimed him.
Concerned, she cautiously approached the bed and a single eye flew open; the bright green eye that regarded her seemed to have something wrong with it, but in the dim light of the scientist's room, she couldn't be sure. His breathing remained even and steady, as though still sleeping and she took an experimental step back, finding the scientist tracking her movement until she retreated back to the door; the eye closed again and she found herself wondering...
Who...what the hell was this guy?
He dragged Red back to the Cosway once, then hung around and helped out with repair work if needed and brought baby things from all over the city when he dropped in on them. The guy was rather young, yet seemed to be going grey already, never seemed to have to shave at all, and had an uncanny knowledge about the shamblers for having a low position -- that he would admit to -- in Necrotech...and if the rumor was true, he seemed to understand their grunts and groans...
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Post by Sarah the Bullet on Feb 15, 2008 3:52:22 GMT -5
((An experiment? Interesting...))
"Whaaaaatever..." she said, and started thinking. She could go back in and try to treat his injuries (which she doubted were just gun wounds) and get yelled at later, or she could let it blow over.
Curiosity seems to like teasing me... she thought as she causiously went to do the former. Anyone who went out of thier way to help other Coswayee's was a boon in her book, especialy as her bad attitude streak had seem to (mostly) pass.
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zpansven
Free Runner
Karen Howard
Posts: 144
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Post by zpansven on Feb 17, 2008 15:03:50 GMT -5
(close, that's part of it, though ) Brett never really dreamed, not since before being infected; it was more like shutting down for the night and like the marine wildlife that slept with only have their brain shut down, so did he. It had saved his life a few times and had alienated him from many groups he had thought of joining; of course the fact he killed breathers in his time in Malton put him as a non-eligible prospect for many other groups... of course, in this city, the amount of people who killed in self-dense from breathers as well as shamblers was getting higher and higher as people descended further into madness. So when he sensed the hand reaching for him, he reacted reflexively, lashing out with his good hand to snag the wrist of the outstretched hand and yanked while forcing himself up onto his knees, he came back to consciousness from the abrupt pain that lanced through his ribs to stare down at the woman half on.half off his bed, her wrist being held in a painful grip. "....dammit..." he wheezed out the curse as he released her as though she had scalded him with boiling water and rocked back into a crouch onto the musty coverlet of his bed. "Woman, when I tell ya somethin', I ain't doing it to hear myself talk..." "Those injuries of yours are getting treated whether you like it or not!" He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose; he never wanted to tell anyone this, but apparently...he had no choice now... "Woman...Sarah.... you don't want to do that. Trust me. I'm...not like the other infected in this city. My blood is different and the infection, when I got it...made it worse for me. Its why I don't want to bleed on anyone, why I tend to utterly destroy the remains of any zombie that takes a chunk out of me..."
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Post by Sarah the Bullet on Feb 18, 2008 0:15:34 GMT -5
"Whoopie doo. I'm no stranger to wierd mutations in the virus, you know." She put on one of the few pairs of sterile gloves she kept for odd cases and new experiments.
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zpansven
Free Runner
Karen Howard
Posts: 144
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Post by zpansven on Feb 18, 2008 4:05:41 GMT -5
(Brett's full secret is out!)
A deep sigh escaped the scientist as the prematurely greying head drooped. "Malton's not the first place to have zombies. Its the second; the first was caused by a rival cooperation of NecroTech's, in a small town in America. The entire thing was covered up, but I was exposed to that virus and an experimental cure - I wasn't contagious, just...changed, and it was assumed when I was sent here I might be immune to the one here... No such luck; just made things worse when it was introduced into my blood stream."
With resignation, the scientist's head lifted and Sarah was pierced by that odd green-eyed stare. "Fine, woman, you're getting your way, but nothing we discussed or what you find out about me gets discussed without my permission -- patient-client confidentiality, alright?"
"I think that another mutation wouldn't be too big a deal..." she began and trailed off at the nadgative motion of the scientist's head.
"Its not just that... you see... It's not very safe to travel alone in Malton, especially in certain suburbs. If they think you're...well..." Brett seemed to fumble with the words before sighing in frustration and blurting it out. "I'm a girl."
"Wait-what?!" The resident gave the scientist a 'yer-shittin-me-right?!' look and did a thorougher visual inspection of the injured scientist, though the dim light obscured facial features and the many bulky layers of clothing he -- she? -- wore smothered out the body type.
Carefully sitting up on the edge of the bed, Brett leveled the Cosway resident a level stare and stated the obvious. "Malton's not safe."
"Duh."
"I have people after me -- my cover's shot to hell and I know too much. They only know me as a guy though, so I go around in various 'burbs as well, what you see...then go incognito as a chick in different 'burbs, keep my hair covered, my eyes too, so it's harder to recognize me." Brett sighed, shrugging his -- her? -- good shoulder.
Brett watched as Sarah sat on the bed beside her and studied the bloodstained coat she wore. "Cover? As in you're a cop of sorts?"
"Yeah, something like that..." the prematurely grey woman sighed and undid the zipper of the worn coat she wore.
Sarah carefully helped the newly revealed woman from her coat and as the layers were carefully peeled away, the Cosway resident found out that their occasional guest who tended to laugh like a rabid hyena was a female; her build was tomboyish and lean, making it easy with the right clothes and the applications of many layers of clothing and a proper attitude to pass as a guy; throw in her rough voice...and the illusion was complete.
Half healed bruises and lacerations peppered the lean, powerful arms and brawny shoulders of the scientist, and tightly wrapped, visible even with the tank top, was her ribs and one shoulder. The bloodstained cloth strips the scientist had used as bandages were soaked with blood that was a couple shades darker then normal human blood and it would be fascinating to get it under the microscope, to see what new mutation had occurred within their guest...
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Post by Sarah the Bullet on Feb 19, 2008 3:49:33 GMT -5
Sarah, however, wouldn't be that rude to take samples now. Maybe with consent, as she had her own research at the moment, but she had a more pressing matter. She gathered several of her wrappings and fasteners and got to work, removing the old dressings and replacing them with new gause, keeping it in place with a spare Ace bandage. Most of what he- I mean, she, had said was now swirling through her mind as she did her work silently.
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zpansven
Free Runner
Karen Howard
Posts: 144
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Post by zpansven on Feb 21, 2008 3:25:17 GMT -5
Brett was silent as the Cosway resident worked on her wounds; the female deepcover agent was biting her tongue; stupid of her to reveal so much, but with the taint her blood carried... *She looked from the corner of her eye towards the boarded up window of her chosen room, wondering if the agent sent to retrieve her was out there, looking. It'd been over a year and a half since she managed to get the message out via the arranged flare signal, but she'd been on the move so much...
Who would have been sent after her? Brett's mind wandered, thinking to her previous assignment: Sandstorm extracted her and her research the first time, that disastrous mission resulting in the infection and turning of her entire family who had been in the employ of the company she'd been investigating. Somehow she doubted Tsunami would send Sandstom or even all of Bravo Team after her; they were far too valuable where they were to risk pulling them out of their assignments and they were probably under surveillance as it was.
Perhaps Lazarus? He was well versed in the killing of zombies as well as, due to the genetic tampering he underwent, pretty d*mn indestructible and should be immune to this strain of virus... But that indestructible factor made him a very high-demand operative as well, so a long term assignment like this, he probably wouldn't be selected. A pity, he was fun to harass....
Then who? Very few of those she knew could handle this city and many of the Unit would probably be under scrutiny... a mercenary then, but who...?
Someone hard to kill and potential immune....hardened to the horrors this city could offer, with a single-mindness to the mission...
....no. He wouldn't, couldn't send that kid...
Tsunami couldn't be as heartless to send that kid, even with the horrors the young merc had gone through already...
....he couldn't have sent....
"Myers," the scientist mumbled the name under her breath; the bastard child of the infamous mass-murderer, they bore a twisted family history of masks, cursed Marks, and murder. Brett and Myers got along pretty well, both very good at deception and highly prized for their deepcover work on various long-term assignments, both able to pass as male or female given the right circumstances; Myers was so good at it, Brett herself wasn't even certain of the merc's gender, though she suspected the merc to be a female as well due to the lack of a noticeable bulge at the crotch of the semi-tight jeans the merc favored.
Half a suburb away, a white-masked mercenary sneezed and with a muffled curse, was forced to dodge for cover as gunfire rained overhead.
Brett was snapped out of her musing as Sarah finished her work on rebandaging the prematurely-grey scientist's injuries. The deepcover agent sighed softly and carefully straightened, testing the bandaged shoulder and nodded her approval. "Thanks. You didn't have to...but thanks; it'd have been a bitch to do again on my own."
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