Wraith ; a post-apocalyptic RP.

[KoNaStAr]

[Celes]: As Locke walked away, Stryker stood watching her go; the woman stood near the stairs for a moment before she decided to make her ascent. Right about now he didn't care what the old guy they had left behind had meant; all he cared about was going back out there. He couldn't leave now..could he? If he took the Charger without asking Locke, then…well, he could bet she'd be ticked. But still…he couldn't just sit here and do nothing, not when he was so worried that he felt like he was going to be sick. When they had been busy running from wraiths, Stryker had been slightly better; then, he had had something to take his mind off of things. But now, when the group was idle, he had nothing to do but think. He thought of talking to Kagemusha a bit about….something, to occupy himself, but the older man was going off on his own as well, perhaps to follow after Locke? Stryker wasn't sure, but at this point he really didn't care. He began to fidget with the Charger's side-view mirror, then, gingerly, with the door handle. He found himself tugging on it and then stepping into the driver's seat. He adjusted the seat so that he could fit comfortably, and then looked to the ignition. The keys were still there. Apparently Locke trusted the lot of them to a certain extent. Stryker turned the engine on and closed the vehicle's door; no going back now. Perhaps no one would have heard that over the sound of the blaring music. Stryker put the car in gear and pulled over to the driver side of the humvee.

"HEY. I'M GOIN' OUT FOR A CRUISE. I'LL BE BACK SOON. SEE YA." he spoke loudly enough to be heard over the music, and then, before he stuck around to see whether or not King had heard him, Stryker took off toward the ramp, moving quickly for fear of being discovered. He knew that he was taking a risk; if he ran into the townsfolk or wraiths he would be in trouble, and perhaps this time he may not lose them so easily. But he had to find out what had become of his family- his mother, anyway. Once he was out on the street he slowed down some, drifting when he could, to keep the engine noise down. He was only about 15 minutes from home; however fast he wanted to get there, he couldn't throw caution to the wind and go tearing down the road. With one last glance to the parking garage, Stryker turned the corner and moved out of sight; Locke watched him from her perch atop the wall of the seventh floor. She ignored Kagemusha, who had just gone up the stairs- apparently he hadn't noticed her. Locke didn't know whether to be angry or worried; after some debate, she decided she was both, but probably more of the latter. Locke pushed herself off of the wall and landed next to Black Jack, who was lying down on the floor, one head asleep, the other lethargically keeping guard. When she landed next to him, the dog woke up completely and stood, trying to look as though he had never fallen asleep. Locke grinned and began to walk away, though she was at a loss for where to go. Why hadn't Stryker come to ask her if she would at least go with him? Had he been afraid she would say no? With him gone, she was stuck with the other two; one she didn't like very much and the other she was still unsure of. When she needed to take refuge somewhere, she went to her car; but the Charger wasn't here. Locke stuck her hands in her pockets, kicking the wall moodily.

"Goo' luck, Stryke…" Sighing, Locke wondered now what she should do. She should stay here, she supposed; however, it was at that time that she realized she could hear King's music coming from the lower level. She could hear it all along, but it had been like white noise while she had been looking over the area; she had been too wrapped up in herself to worry about anything else. Now, though, she was alarmed; if she could hear it, then…well, others could as well. Locke quickly made her way down to the fifth floor- apparently unaware that Kagemusha was close behind- and moved toward the driver's side of the hummer. She kicked the door of the truck to awaken King if he had- or seemed to have- fallen asleep. When she spoke, her tone expressed her anger, which was written clearly in her features. "Are thee stark ravin' mad?! Tha' are some /fine/ solider, blarin' yon music an' lettin' everyone an' everythin' knaw our whereabouts! Plum blinkin' daft!" Apparently remembering Stryker wasn't around, Locke instead backed a few feet away from the window.

 

[KoNaStAr]

[Kagemusha]: A slight vibration behind his head caused him to jerk awake(though he was barely half-asleep in the first place), his hand automatically clenching the D. eagle by his side as he sat up. Though relieved to see it was only Locke, perhaps his relief was premature, because she didn't look happy. Though he could see her mouth moving, he didn't quite hear anything she was saying, and decided it best to turn the radio off for now. As Locke stepped backwards, King opened the door of the now-silent vehicle, sliding to the edge of the seat and planting his boots on the pavement below. " Is something wrong? " King said, in a state of mild confusion. Locke appeared to be ready to give him an answer, when(thankfully >_>) Kagemusha came into view, walking torwards the truck from the other side of the garage. In his right hand looked to be a large black box.

Kagemusha finally made it over to the two, giving both of them a glance and a nod, as if to let them know he wasn't ignoring them, just didn't feel much like talking. He dropped the large safe down on the hood of the humvee, and immediately King walked over, standing to Kage's left; Locke made her way to stand in the front of the vehicle. Before anyone could even ask, King answered "It's a safe. Where'd you find this?" Once again, opting to remain silent, Kagemusha simply pointed at the ceiling, implying he had found it on one of the higher floors. King seemed to be inspecting the keypad, checking for any hidden notation that could lead them to the combo for the safe, though so far he apparently had found nothing. It only just occurred to Kage that Stryker wasn't here, though neither King nor Locke seemed to be questioning that; apparently, somebody cared to keep -them- informed. Kagemusha tried not to let himself think like that, but damn if it didn't seem that way. Groaning, he turned and walked to the wall of the floor, a short distance in front of the truck, and leaned up against it. All of a sudden he felt tired again, and wondered what King would say if he went and fell asleep inside of the humvee, but the thought quickly left his mind when King spoke.

" Got it. Everybody stand back... " he said as he began cracking the safe open, though nobody listened. /Pfft, you'd have been sorry if the thing was loaded with C4./

As the lock depressurized and the top reached a position of being completely open, King began reaching in, pulling out everything his hands came in touch with. So far he had scattered a few stacks of bills across the hood, along with some official looking documents, something that resembled a credit card, and pictures of somebody's children, along with, apparently, a few of the parent's belongings. When the safe was empty, King picked it up and turned it upside down over the hood of the humvee, though nothing else short of smaller pieces of dust and trash fell out. Locke asked if there was anything useful, and King replied that he wasn't yet sure, and once again, the buzz of flourescent lighting became the loudest sound in the environment.

Kagemusha remained leaning against the edge of the wall, and King took the safe to sit it down in the back of the humvee. Locke was glancing at the assorted items laying on the hood, and soon King returned to join her. It sounded like, from what the two were saying, the ' credit card ' was actually a keycard for a certain security mechanism. Besides that, all that appeared to be of use was the money inside, which totaled to around 3,500 dollars. He heard King say it was better than nothing before he sighed, picking up the documents and the keycard. The soldier left the money there for Locke to do whatever with, as he had no need for it, and Kagemusha apparently didn't want anything out of what he found, also apparently stationary for the time being. King opted not to start a conversation with him, instead walking back to the front of the vehicle, where Locke was. Somewhat worried this was a lost cause, he decided to edge himself easily into it, and turned to speak to her.

" So...your accent, it's really different from most you hear these days. You're pretty young, though...Do you know where your parents were from? " he asked, not knowing the true matter of the subject he was bringing up.

 

[KoNaStAr]

[Celes]: "Somethin' wrong?! Why yeh..!" Locke was thoroughly agitated and more worried now that they would be discovered, but she kept her mouth shut; honestly, she was glad he hadn't heard what she had said before, else she may have got more than just a simple question from him. She shook her head slowly before turning to follow King's gaze, looking at the box that Kagemusha carried with him. 'Now what could that be?' she wondered, and didn't have long to do so. She moved to where he had set the thing down and looked at it, noting the keypad in its front; she inspected the paint where the safe had been settled, seeing no scratches. The Charger was a bit more delicate; she would have been angry had it been /her/ car. Locke would have expected Stryker to have spoken long before King had, but she ruefully reminded herself he wasn't there; he had only been gone for a few moments but something could have happened. Maybe the mob found him, or maybe the wraiths- or maybe ..maybe he was okay. Locke sighed, instead focusing on the safe; Kagemusha was oddly silent- not that he talked too much, but he seemed unwilling to say anything. He also seemed moody, particularly when he groaned and walked off-which lead Locke to wonder exactly why. He had seemed perfectly fine the last time she had seen him, and had only been sulky before when they had first met King. Was it the military man's presence that had him irritable, or was he simply temperamental? Locke didn't know enough about him to be sure.

Just then, King spoke, but Locke was too interested in seeing what was in the safe to heed his advice, so she stayed where she was, watching intently as he opened it. Nothing that came out of it interested her very much, until she saw the money that King pulled out of the safe. She took the money and began to count it, the impulsive action probably making her look greedy; she could be considered such, perhaps, but it was to be expected. It wasn't often one found cash just lying around; she'd take what she could get, and it was better than stealing. She was perfectly willing to share, she supposed, though neither of the two expressed interest. Why couldn't they be in a normal city, where they could actually use this money? Maybe then she wouldn't be tired and hungry; maybe then she wouldn't have to worry about wraiths. But still …the only reason she wasn't always looking over her shoulder here was because the wraiths and the other strange humans ran this city; she didn't know whether FNRI could track her or not. Maybe they had planted a chip in her. Maybe they had programmed her to automatically go back to them when she entered an active dome city. She hardly remembered exactly what kind of brain surgery had been performed on that operating table, but she had been in there more than once. Locke, ceasing to count the money for now, instead put it back on the truck's hood- since she really had nowhere else to put it, considering her car was gone- and considered what to do now. She was too worried and nervous to rest, tired as she was. Preparing to move away from the humvee, which she had only came near to yell at King in the first place- Locke was stopped when he approached and began to speak to her. Which was…surprising, in the least.

"Ah.." She really couldn't think of anything to say to that at first, and gave it a bit of thought before she answered. The question did not bring up any sentimental feelings; only slight anger, though not toward King. "Ah didn' knaw them. The scientist, who, ah, 'raised' me, was the one wi' the accent, an' Ah nivvor asked him where 'e came from." She had been a bit vague, although she knew he was probably wondering 'Scientist? She was raised by a scientist?' At least, she would be, if she had been in his position. She didn't really know how to explain it; did she tell him that she was no better than the mob they had met? That she was no better than the wraiths? Locke supposed she had to say it sometime; hopefully neither he or Kagemusha would attempt anything rash- such as, say, killing her to make themselves feel safer. One of her partners- an early one, back when she had been a little more open about exactly who she was- had become extremely paranoid around her, ultimately trying to do away with her in the end. She didn't want a repeat of /that/. But she had already set herself up; if she didn't say it outright the two of them would draw their own conclusions. "Truth is, Ah'm ne betta than those ..flesheaters oot there, or that mob we saw." There. She'd said it. Locke had been staring down at the ground as she spoke, and now she looked up expectantly at King; what was she expecting? She wasn't sure.

Locke turned away from King, however, when she heard Black Jack begin to snarl; he was looking out across the floor, bristling and beginning to bark. She had little time to investigate before she felt something pierce through the flesh on her right leg, pinning her pant leg to the skin. Locke cried out initially, but grit her teeth and suffered in silence as she fell to the ground, confused and hurt; looking to see where she was hurt and disbelieving the blade that she saw lodged in the side of her leg, between the tendon and the bone. It was buried in the flesh at an angle, entering at the side, the tip buried in a good few inches; she couldn't draw her leg in or even push it out; the sharp edge of the blade had nicked the tendon, which tensed even when she moved her leg slightly, thus causing her more pain. The wound bled, but not any ridiculous amount, at least not yet. She couldn't bring herself to pull out the knife, however, and instead dragged herself backward, looking around frantically for the assailant- though when she looked up, not one, but many shapes emerged from the shadows, silent as shadows as they moved. Black Jack did not move, instead standing in front of Locke, though the attackers came from all sides. [ you decide how many k ] Only one spoke.

"You've got a traitor in your midst, we were doing you both a favor. Old Zeke told you to get out of town, and you didn't listen. So now.. we're gonna kill ya." The speaker chuckled as he moved with the others.

And zat is vhen ze shoosting started

[ I think the last part sounds kind of lame. >> If you want you can have her use her whip at some point, though I imagine she's more concerned with the whole 'wtf I might never /drive/ again' thing. ]

 

[KoNaStAr]

[Kagemusha]: King found it strange when Locke mentioned something about a scientist raising her, and his mind automatically went to the experiments done at FNRI; he quickly pushed the thought from his head, sure she meant something else. She didn't seem like one of the tests, atleast, not that much; lack of passion or emotion was to be expected in anybody, these days. It wasn't reliable judgement. Locke, however, fit no other symptoms of genetic alteration that King could think of. Then again, there were things he hadn't been told, and she could very well be one of them. It wouldn't make much of a difference, because if she was going to kill him, she definitely would have by now. That kick in the door could've been a bullet to the head that woke him up, and laid him back down to sleep. King wasn't sure what to say when Locke looked up, and for his sake, he didn't have much of a chance to say anything at all. Locke turned to walk off, and King almost gave it no thought until he saw her continue in that direction. His eyes landed on the same thing she was looking at, and he took only a step in that direction before Locke collapsed. An ambush was something King had been on the receiving end of many times, and so far, every time he managed to give his " surprise attackers " a nice surprise of his own. Automatically his reflexes kicked in, and he scrambled to the drivers door of the truck, reaching in to grab his Desert Eagle. There was no need to check; 1 in the chamber, 9 in the clip. Normally a D. Eagle clip, when purchased, came standard with a 7 round clip, and military issue was an 8 round clip. King had gone to an old friend named Enrique, who was an avid arms dealer in the black market, and purchased a special 9 round clip. Illegal as hell, and just as effective. Any true marksman expected a maximum of 9 bullets; at the most, 8 in the clip, 1 in the chamber. When they poked their head out to return fire was the moment they got the surprise, and were fed a bullet for their last supper. The trick hadn't failed him yet, but somehow, he didn't see it working in a non-militaristic combat situation. No, he'd have to run and gun like shit on this one; would the Steyr be a better option? He'd have to open the hatch of the humvee, and if someone was close enough to put a projectile into Locke, he was also possibly in their sights. At a loss of what to do, King simply decided to try to get to where Locke and Black Jack were; hell, he was a soldier, he couldn't leave her there to be killed.

Kagemusha didn't pay much attention to anything to two talked about, mainly because in his state of being moody, his mind had drifted to a memory a little more sore than others. He tried to get the image of Miwa out of his mind, but it was like she haunted him. Maybe if he had been there, maybe if he had been ready, or known about the situation, he could've gotten her out. Situations that could not be fully comprehended and spotted before they actually occurred were foreign to Kagemusha. Never being all that book-smart, he could read a bad deal in the blink of an eye and get out of nearly any tight spot you could put him in, but he failed that time. The talk of safety bunkers had been plentiful in the liberal media, but no information ever leaked, atleast from an official source, when Doomsday was truly upon them. Tabloids had a field day, as did any newspaper or magazine or television program in the country, and the economy had nearly recovered completely in the USA. In smaller, third world countries, it had atleast become more stable, and financing became available for even more relief groups. It was ironic, had they all decided not to blow each others brains out, and had just considered what it was they were doing, the world might have had a shot. War nearly fixed every problem in the world, right before it took the world away. It was all so disgusting, and Kagemusha felt no different from the same people who had brought this fate upon the world. If only he had known, had some way to know they were coming.

(Flashback, just for a note. Remember when I used to do this all the time for my flashbacks?)

It was a friday, late night, around 10:30; Tokyo was buzzing with life, though some prefectures in the historical districts still remained peaceful. The flourescent glow of neon lights protruded from the blinds in Kagemusha's window, and onto his bedsheets. A one-room apartment in the Hinata prefecture, with a low cost of living and a decent land-lord. It was all he really needed, for now. The young Kagemusha was full of hopes, aspirations and dreams, and most of them included Miwa. It was pretty ironic, really, that she was the last person he ever saw before the apocalypse. They had chosen to dine at a small beef fry, largely thanks to Kagemusha's lack of money at the time, and spent post-dinner sitting atop Miwa's apartment building. She still lived with her mother, and since her father had only recently passed away, she would probably have to stay and help her mom out for a while. Kage didn't mind, he could wait; hell, he had his whole life ahead of him. Their life would eventually be, and they could fall in love and live together. That was all he ever wanted, his only ideal in life. Training in martial arts had kept his focus for most of his young life, as had training with the sword. Consequentially, he never truly had to-the-book education, and honestly had no idea what he was to do to get by in life. None of that mattered when he was with Miwa, and that's how he knew she was the only woman he'd ever love. When she went to go inside her room, they exchanged a quick kiss goodnight, hand in hand. When Kagemusha went to walk away, however, their hands, as if of their own will, didn't actually separate. That one moment lingered, and slowly, his hand left hers. Miwa disappeared into her room, and Kagemusha, sure he would see her tomorrow, gave no second thoughts to the feeling. Love did that to a person, he guessed.

When he had relived the night for the last time in his mind, he turned to look at his clock on the nightstand. His mind registered that it was 10:48, but his ocular focus automatically went to the picture of Miwa. Though he felt somewhat stupid saying it, he said goodnight before he shut his eyes. Then, the door busted in. It wouldn't have mattered if Kagemusha would've had Gouki in his hand or in the top of the closet(which is where it was <_<), because the two men that moved on him were massive in size. There was a sharp prick in his neck, followed by an intense sensation of pressure in his veins, and then, all he saw was darkness. The black bag put over his head was pulled taut at the elastic cords around the neck, to ensure he didn't slip out, and his hands and feet were bound. The last thing he felt against his head was the sweaty, thick blubber of the gigantic man throwing him over his shoulder and hauling him away.

[continued in next post]

 

[KoNaStAr]

(Back to current now. Might extend this story a little bit more some time, but no time soon.)

Kagemusha's surroundings changed entirely in the blink of an eye. Before, Locke was walking over to where that dog, Jack Black, was perched in the middle of the floor, growling at something. /Wait a minute.../ The flutter of an eyelid proved the chaos theory indeed true, as Locke, almost out of nowhere, fell to the ground. The american was now scrambling over to that monstrosity of a vehicle, probably sweating at the collar to get one of his guns. Kagemusha, in any other situation, probably would've given a thought like " What a coward..hiding behind that firearm " the time of day, but instead, Gouki was drawn and he found himself running in the same direction as King. When he felt the slight change of wind to his right, however, he stopped short; something was in the shadows. He immediately blocked out all the other sounds, focusing only on what was around him. A large part of martial arts was learning to focus the entirety of one's energy in any one location in the body, and Kagemusha was listenin' like hell. When the man spoke of traitors, King's suspicions were confirmed, but he had no time to consider anything even in relation to the subject. This man in front of them was one of 6, and was carrying what looked to be a 1980 variant of the AK-47. The clip count was around 40 legal, 60 military, but King had heard of conversion kits that allowed dual chamber clips, allowing for anywhere from 80 to 120 rounds. For King, that was 120 reasons to shoot this man before he shot them, and " vhen ze shoosting started ", King was the one who did so.

Immediately the man holding the AK fell to the ground; King was no amateur, especially with the D. Eagle being his firearm of choice. One swift round to the cerebral cortex(sp?) through the right side of the face, and he wouldn't even have enough reaction time to squeeze the trigger for 1 round's worth, let alone aim the weapon at anything besides the ground. Unsure of other firearms that could be held by the men, King quickly glanced around and saw one of them fidgeting with his ankle. /Probably a puppy pistol./ thought King as he splattered the man's brains on the pavement with one quick round from the DE. Something blunt struck him in the back and he began to fall, tucking inwards, however, allowing him to fall into a roll and regain a shooting stance facing whatever had hit him. It was the last shot fired, and the end of the battle(or so he thought <_<), as he sent the man with the large club to his knees before he could land another blow.

(And now from Kage's perspective >_> and the 4 guys he killed! WOOT)

The booming sound of the terribly powerful pistol(god damn I love desert eagles >_>) caused Kagemusha to once again charge over, though his destination was quickly deterred when the blade of a sword grazed his side. Kagemusha immediately registered it as a tanto; in the katana family, there was the biggest, the Katana, the medium sized Wazikashi, and the smallest of the brothers, the Tanto. Much like the Masamune and Murasame, the swords had a rather interesting story behind the people they were named for, though that's something that would have to be explained later. Not so much of a spin as a very graceful turn, Gouki came upwards as if on cue to block the next slash of the tanto. The man whom he was fighting was now visible to him, and looked to be nothing more than another mobber. Normally, alone, members of a mob had absolutely no strength, and could be defeated easily. This one, however, had a bit of training with the tanto. It's a shame he hadn't taken the time to learn a bit more. As Kagemusha expected, the next assault as a direct jab at the stomach, to which Kagemusha countered by simply rotating and shifting his center of gravity slightly to the left, grasping the man's arm as the sword pressed directly up against Kage's suit, though cutting not a single fabric. The man probably knew it was over at that exact moment, when he felt the " kung fu grip " of Kagemusha's left hand around his wrist. Once again, applying all of his strength to his hand, with a good bit of effort(back in the day it would've been a piece of cake. >_>) snapped the feeble arm like a twig. The man cried out in pain but was quickly silenced as Gouki penetrated his right lung, no longer allowing him the luxury of breathing, much less screaming. Almost as if bouncing back to him, Kagemusha retracted Gouki, accidentally angling it so that it tore the man's chest open(accidents happen >_>) when it was ripped out. The next attacker came at him with a bat; the swing was wild and unplanned, and just as predictable. As he ducked he turned somewhat, allowing a full range of motion for his arm to shove Gouki into the mans stomach as the bat flew by overhead. He shrieked as if he had been stabbed in the stomach(oh..wait. right >_>) and fell to his knees, though Kagemusha didn't have time to retrieve Gouki before he was assaulted once again. The end of a Bo(note:the long wooden fighting pole used in ancient china and shit >_>) struck him across the head; judging from the force of the blow, the attacker had been attempting to simply knock him off balance, which was a pretty ignorant decision. The wood made a slight cracking sound as it smacked into the back of Kage's head, and immediately he grasped the middle of the weapon, using the resistance of both the grip of the attacker and the back of his head as leverage to snap the weapon in half. As he stood, his right knee extended hard, and his left leg came up to kick the man, who was now seemingly attempting to jab him with the broken end of the stick. A highly audible crack was emitted as the foot slammed into the side of the man's head(yay for Kage being tall >_>), cracking his neck, which would lead to either death, or worse, paralysis(I typed paralyzation but then thought better of it >_>). Though Kagemusha had no idea, the last remaining man was on the opposite side of the playing field. Raising what looked to be a firearm(it was a 12 guage, sawed off) and taking aim at King, he probably thought he was being smooth by staying hidden until all seemed to be over. King was still alert, but had already shot the last of the visible attackers, and must not have noticed the last gunner. It was a good thing Kagemusha did, and in time to send one of his neato explosive shuriken right inbetween the eyes of the man, scraping the top of the shotgun barrel as it did. King raised his own weapon once he heard the man's head explode, though nothing else came out at them. For atleast five minutes, every single one of them sat still, waiting for anyone else who had been with the mob. The one to finally break the silence was King.

" I...think we got 'em all. " he exhaled, a sigh of relief. " Everybody agree that was some fuckin' crazy shit? I don't think those were the same assholes from earlier...but they're definitely fuckbuddies. " said King as he lowered his gun, walking now to Locke, who had retreated to the space between the front of the hummer and the wall, to take a look at her wound. Kagemusha had yet to sheathe Gouki, and was still walking to the bodies, one by one, standing over them. Most likely the others had no idea what he was doing, but Kage was doing one of the worst things he had to do. As a samurai, Kagemusha had to cleanse his hands of the blood on them, and though that blood never truly disappeared, repentance was the only thing that truly kept him sane. As he said the last prayer for the last man, who lay on the floor with a bullet in his brain, a tear fell from his eye; something that hadn't happened in a while. Death was perhaps the most intricate enigma Kagemusha faced, and he chose not to delve into it at the moment. His eyes required no wiping, because no more tears were to follow. One was a miracle, any more was literally impossible. Sure nobody had seen at that distance, he turned and walked to the humvee, joining the other two.

 

[KoNaStAr]

[Celes]:[ ..So ….mine definitely isn't gonna be as long as yours, and I just can't bring myself to control your character, because that's been, like, a mortal sin since, like, the first day I started RPing, and I just can't do it, so sry >> ]

Locke was virtually useless in her current state; when the fighting first started, she paid it little attention, instead sitting where she was and trying not to think about the knife she had sticking out of her leg. It was a little difficult to do, especially when it kept reminding her of its already all-too-obvious presence. It was right around the time when King began firing that loud, obnoxious weapon that she was jerked out of her trance, and began to look around frantically for attackers; none seemed interested in her at this point, fortunately. She wondered if the one who had spoken was the one who had thrown the knife, but she couldn't tell which one he might be now, especially since several of the men were already dead. "Count the bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drums," she mumbled rapidly to herself, wondering exactly where she had heard that line and why she chose to think of it now as she watched Kagemusha stab one of the attackers in the stomach; she hadn't /wanted/ to look, but in that instant she couldn't seem to look away. Shaking her head as if to clear it of the gruesome imagine, Locke grimaced and reluctantly began to drag herself back toward the humvee, the sight of the violence taking place around her a strong enough motive for her to get moving, despite her wound. It was a slow and careful process, and by the time Locke collapsed against the wall, exhausted, the fight was over, and there was nothing to be heard over the loud buzz of the silence. She made a conscious effort to keep herself quiet, as she was aware enough to know that the other two were listening for signs of another assault.

While they did that, Locke, who was not at all concerned about another attack, instead examined the part of the blade that was still visible; her leg was held more or less in the same position it had been since she had fallen, as she couldn't even begin to think of how it would feel if she tried to straighten or bend it more. The knife had to come out, that much was certain, and even now Locke slowly reached forward to grasp the handle; she never did make it that far, stopping just short of the black handle. She could imagine pulling it out; the imagined feeling was so real that she nearly screamed, but Locke kept telling herself that she was used to pain. Back at the lab, she was used to the experiments that were performed on her, and more often than not she would hurt and ache in various places on various days; still, though. Nothing like this, nothing even /close/. The worst she had received was a few nicks and bruises on her travels once she'd left the laboratory, and the headaches had been the worst to date. At least until a few moments ago. Locke sighed, doubting at the moment that she even had the strength needed to pull the blade out quickly. Unable to see the actual wound, she instead examined her pant leg, displeased to see that much of the side was stained red. Ah, well. At least it didn't seem as though they'd hit an artery. But when if she cut it when she pulled the knife out? What if she sliced into the tendon more? Locke groaned, thoroughly frustrated by the situation. She barely heard what King said when he broke the silence, not paying much attention to anything at the moment, completely self-absorbed. It was when King came closer that Locke became defensive, and her pained expression changed to one of halfhearted agitation.

"Ach, haddaway wi'- wi' yeh! Ah'll f-fix it mesel'!" She didn't want him near her; she would have done the same had it been Kagemusha or even Stryker- if the bastard was here. He was getting too close for comfort, and Locke. Didn't. Like. That. If he came closer, her first instinct would have been to kick him- though needless to say, that was just about out of the question at this point; oh well. She still had one good leg. He was once again offering his assistance, something which confused her. They had known one another all of five minutes- and not exactly on friendly terms, at that- so why should he seem to care? Apparently Locke was unable to believe that it was simply in the man's nature. Well, she wasn't helpless, she could take care of herself- it was her own fault she had been caught off guard, and she was suffering the consequences. Besides, what if he did more damage than good- such as hitting the artery, as she had feared doing herself? She was sick of pain and medical procedures, and the prospect of another one made her nearly livid. Locke glanced briefly toward Kagemusha- eyes still darting between the samurai and King, as though she expected the latter to try something- and noticed the slash across his side, and the spray of blood against his white suit that obviously wasn't his. After what she had seen, she couldn't help but think of him as a killer; but then again, it had been necessary, hadn't it? Still, Locke disliked that sort of thing; she'd grown up with death all around her in some form or another, and seemed not to be able to get away from it. The old man's feat made her even more wary of him.

"Why …don' yeh goo an' 'elp Kage, 'e's 'urt a'well," she said, still in that same defiant tone, eyeing King irritably.

 

[KoNaStAr]

[Kagemusha]: And so ended the life of the white suit.

Kagemusha glanced down at his side, trying his best to crane his neck enough to see the entire length of the wound, but as usual, that cramping feeling came on, and he had to simply let it go. Quite agitated, he threw his hat to the ground, Gouki quickly joining it there. The coat of the suit followed, and then the vest, until all that remained was the plain white t-shirt underneath. The side of the tshirt was soaked in blood, though the wound wasn't even that deep, and a lot of it had seeped downwards, blood trailing down the pants leg, as well. It was a shame, really, all that blood on such a nice looking suit, but like all good things, it had to come to an end. For a moment, he nearly considered stripping the t-shirt and pants as well; that would've been no problem in his 20s, but his body wasn't what it used to be, regardless of years of training. What used to be a perfectly smooth abdomen with chizeled(is that how you spell that LMAO >_>) muscular tone was no longer as much an image of beauty as a palette of scars. Though most of the wounds were minor injuries from the pocketknives of drunkards in local taverns, the collection included one gunshot wound in the left arm(because you can't dodge every bullet m i rite?), a stab wound inflicted by a 7" long combat knife, and a large(think cd-diameter or somethin') burn on his back, given to him by the hands of two crime syndicate bosses who thought they could hustle him for information. Needless to say, he wasn't in any rush to reveal any of those things to his current company.

King was somewhat startled at Locke's reaction to his approaching, and however much he thought it would be best to back off, he also knew that blade had to come out of her leg, and soon. There was a good chance she could simply tear it out without nicking anything else in the process, and her chances of success were probably just as high as King's. Removing bullets, sewing and treating wounds, preventing loss of blood, that was all a piece of cake, but it was a rare occasion that you removed knives or blades from the body, atleast on King's battlefield. When Locke presented the option of helping Kagemusha, a quick glance over at him lead the admiral to believe he wouldn't need any, so King opted to simply back off for a moment. Locke was looking at him like she wanted nothing more than to kick him in the valuables, and after a quick look around at the bodies piled in the middle of the floor, Kagemusha probably didn't feel like chatting it up either. /Well, hey, they don't want my help. Bet the dead guys won't complain/ he thought to himself as he turned away from Locke, on his way to do the next best thing to helping his company. Moving swiftly to the rear hatch of the humvee to open it, King retrieved a rather large blanket, made out of a rough, almost plastic fiber material. It was a common thing in the army, and though it wasn't ominous, most didn't care for the sight of it. For a second he wondered if either of the two others knew what it was used for, but decided against advising them; they seemed to need no help with anything -else-.

It took a few moments for Kagemusha to realize what King was doing, but when he finally did focus his attention to the middle of the floor, it was one of the most puzzling things he'd ever seen. What in the hell was the american doing now? Cleaning up the bodies of the people who had tried to kill him? This wasn't war, this wasn't a battlefield, what was this cook doing? Kagemusha decided that was exactly what he'd ask him.

" What in the hell are you doing? Stop wasting your time! "

King didn't stop to respond, only continued gathering the bodies. So far, 4 of 7 laid sprawled out on top of each other in a pile, on top of the blanket spread in the middle of the floor, and he couldn't just screw the other 3 over. Kagemusha continued to ask King what the point in his actions were, but it all went in one ear, and out the other. By the time he was dragging the very last body to the top of the pile, he noticed the shadow looming over him, and judging by the size, it was Kagemusha. Slowly, King stood to his feet and turned to face the man, literally. There was probably a good 5 inches inbetween their faces, and though Kagemusha seemed to be completely unarmed, his appearance was still all-too threatening. After a moment of silence, as if he waited for King to say something, almost daring him to get pushy, Kagemusha spoke.

Ka" I'll ask you one more time...what in the hell are you doing?! "

Ki" What's it look like? I'm cleaning these up. "

Ka" ....what do you think this is, war? This isn't your precious military battlefield! "

Ki" And that means the lives of those people meant nothing? They don't deserve my best efforts at a respectful death? "

Ka" That's amusing, soldier. You think they would've done the same for you? "

Ki" No, and to be honest, -samurai-, I don't much give a fuck. "

Any other day, any other person, Kagemusha perhaps would've initiated combat at words of such disrespect. It wasn't that he feared King, or even saw him as equal in terms of strength and ability, but all of a sudden he lacked the passion to even continue harassing the man. It was probably just the aggravation(aggrivation?) of post-combat; killing a man didn't exactly send you into a state of euphoria. Well, if it did, you were pretty fucked up in the head. Kage simply backed off, and turned to walk over to where Gouki was. King had tied the blanket in a shabby(but sturdy) knot, joining the corners to do so. At first, he was unsure of what to do now that he had the bodies inside of the blanket, so he simply began dragging it off into the opposite end of the garage. What a shame, the final resting place of these people would be a dark corner of a parking garage in a dump of a city. Kagemusha was considering leaving this group of people entirely, but tried his hardest to simply cool off, and think about things. Part of the agitation was from the battle, but something else was down there, prodding him on the inside, constantly nagging at the little bit of happiness he sometimes found. These days, it was hard to even feel content, much less happy. /A walk, that's what I need. I'll just walk back up top again./ he thought to himself as he went to pick up Gouki to take along with him. That was when he heard the distant roar, the engine of a car that sounded like it was entering the parking garage, and was on it's way up.

 

[KoNaStAr]

[Celes]: […So I was gonna have her pull it out, but then I thought 'Well /I/ wouldn't be able to do it', so ..she's not.]

Relieved when King heeded her warning, Locke allowed herself to relax and crawl back inside herself, scarcely paying attention to what was going on, making no progress and simply sitting where she was, thinking about how much she'd rather be somewhere else. She scarcely paid any attention to what was going on around her, looking up only when Kagemusha spoke. Locke turned to see what King was doing, wondering why he was covering the bodies [which she was grateful for] instead of tending to Kagemusha's wound. One glance at the samurai left Locke with the impression that she wouldn't go near him either; as of late- even before he'd slaughtered the attackers- he had seemed agitated, angry; it implied that there was no time to /get/ angry, only time to /be/ angry. Locke couldn't quite understand why he became so irate when King began to move the bodies out of sight- whether he understood the military man's motives or not, why not leave King to do what he was going to do? Locke feared a conflict between the two of them, but was powerless to intervene, confined as she was to her current spot. Fortunately, the standoff eventually amounted to nothing, and Locke sighed in relief. She really didn't think King would last long, and she would rather not see any more bloodshed. As he neared, she looked away and pretended to be about to remove the knife from her leg, actually thinking of testing it but ultimately deciding not to. That was when she noticed Kagemusha become tense, and she tuned into what was going on around her, hearing the Charger's engine not a second later. With a dim chuckle, she spoke to Kagemusha.

"Dinna fash yersel', hinny," she said to him, a weak smile crossing her features, remaining there for the time being. "It's just 'im- well, Ah mean, it- them- It's li'e a good friend, tha knaws, but one can never seem to ..to talk to it? Talk. To..my car." Confused, Locke moved her hands away from her own wound and placed her palms against her temples, squeezing her eyes shut for a few seconds before scrutinizing Kagemusha's own wound with narrowed eyes, looking almost as though she were nearsighted despite how close he was; she was no longer smiling, mixed expressions of concern and hurt written across her face. "Oh!" she said, an expression of amazement. "Wha' happened tae thee?" She seemed astonished and horrified by all the blood she saw on him, but then things became coherent again all of a sudden, and Locke shook her head violently and briefly, only making it hurt worse but clearing her thoughts. "Ne, Ah remember noo- ye goin' teh be alreet?" she asked, reminding herself vaguely that he hadn't seemed to pay her any mind- not now and not much before, either- then reminding herself a little more strongly that her motive for asking about him was not necessarily for him to reciprocate, it was just to be nice. Perhaps simply talking to him would lighten his mood a bit.

She despised seeing people angry for any great length of time; it was…pointless. No, that wasn't right; it wasn't pointless, he had every right to be angry, whatever his reasons were. At least, she doubted anyone here would try to tell him otherwise. But, there was /something/- she just couldn't figure it out right at the moment. Besides, as he was, he reminded her of Dr. Kasanawa, who had been a distinctly aggressive and violent individual- and that name made her think of tobacco. She hated the smell of tobacco. Where had she been? Oh, right. Locke looked away from the samurai, not too proud in her current state to allow a whimper to pass through her lips as the cold blade reminded her again that it was there. It needed to /go/, but she couldn't pull it out. Locke decided that it would be in her best interest to swallow her pride and fears completely, since things would be a lot better for everyone if she did. Forget the cardkey- they needed to leave this place. It was eternally dark here; she missed the sun. For now, though, to tackle the matter at hand…

"..Ah- Ah can' do it alone, Ah see that noo. Alreet, Ah didna mean to snap at thee, King, Ah'm sorry. Ah won' fight ye, just make it stop. Th' pain, Ah mean."

Locke only looked away from King as she saw the flash of headlights behind the humvee, watching with a neutral expression as Stryker pulled the Charger up behind the humvee, turning off the engine and jumping out with a decidedly sheepish expression across his features, though he seemed to be more than a little happy; at least until he took in the scene around her; he did not see the bodies, but he saw the blood. There was too much of it to belong to anyone here; something had happened in his absence, and he hadn't been here to help. Whoops. "…Talk about bad timing," he said, and it was the only thing he said, marking Locke's hurt leg with a look of alarm; just what had happened? When Locke saw him, she said nothing, only relieved that he was okay and hadn't brought any trouble along with him. She was in no mood to be angry, too tired and too hurt at the moment; her last snap at King seemed to have done it for her.

["Dinna fash yersel', hinny," = "Don't trouble/upset/worry yourself, friend,".]

 

[KoNaStAr]

[Kagemusha]: " It's no problem, I can't really blame you with that stuck in your leg. Just let me get my stuff, and I'll fix you right up.

King was happy, for some reason, to see Stryker return in the Charger, most likely because he was the friendliest of the 3, so far. Kagemusha apparently had a problem with him being in the army, which didn't bother King much, only caused questions to arise in his mind. The samurai was a strange one, and seemed to have no sole guidance at all, as if he just flowed along with the current, never really there. What had happened to this guy? He quickly shook the thought, shrugging it off as simply grumpiness, preparing to attend to Locke's wound. Though he doubted he could completely get rid of the pain, he could atleast treat it and disinfect. After retrieving a syringe with high grade antibiotic/disinfectant combo-solution, a bandage, hemostats and some guaze, King headed to Locke's side where he knelt down, laying his supplies beside him, and reassuring her that he wouldn't fuck up. Nothin' tricky, nothing he hadn't done before, it was like riding a bicycle; surely, he hadn't forgotten this shit. Countless memories of nights laying in the trenches usually weren't something that escaped your mind, but the apocalypse hadn't exactly left people thinking straight anyway.

When Locke spoke, Kagemusha found himself taken off guard, and wasn't quite sure what to say. Had she just asked if he was alright? Surely, she had been talking to somebody else. No, it was directed at him, but now what in the hell was she babbling about? This was unlike her, leading Kagemusha to the conclusion that not only the loss of blood had left her light-headed, but the extent to which the situation was fucked up had to be messing with her, as well. Sighing, he quickly thought of a decent response; he wasn't quite in the mood, and if she hadn't been bleeding out her leg, he might've had a smartass comment up his sleeve, but that factor in his mind kicked in. His mentality (metaphorically speaking) had his balls in a vice grip,(and like Johnny Cash right now) it wouldn't back down. Suddenly, his attitude made him feel almost childish, but his sense of pride wouldn't let him simply turn around and apologize. The mere thought was foolish. No, Kagemusha would simply reply to the best of his ability, then proceed with being quiet. The guy never talked, but to him it seemed like he never had any time to think. /What a fucked up world.../ though he did have time to squeeze that one in before a deafening high-pitched shriek(Ryuukouhi: Like a banshee, man.) came from the one he was about to answer.

The hemostats had the area of the wound opened enough for King to work, gauze stuck on all sides to absorb the blood that would spill over. First things first, he had to inject the antibiotics(never know what shuriken are tainted with) and disinfectant, doing so as gently as possible while moving quickly at the same time. Locke seemed to be okay so far(well, okay as someone can be in her situation), so he decided it time to move on to the grand finale. Tossing the syringe to his side, he gently(but firmly) applied pressure with his left hand a few inches above her kneecap, and then carefully grasped the end of the shuriken inbetween his index, middle finger and thumb of his right hand. It was key to keep a steady hand, as any wiggling or trying to slide it out at an odd angle could lead to a potentially worse situation; he wasn't nervous, and he had just been engaged in combat, but the sweat still began to bead on his forehead. Once he knew he had the right angle, he quickly(not swiftly or hastily, just quickly) removed the blade, tossing it to the side and grabbing the bandage as quickly as he could. Perhaps he should've put the bandage on her mouth, instead; atleast it would've saved him his ear drum. Though the noise pierced his concentration(and his ear drum, dont forget that) somewhat, he still managed to apply the bandage, removing the hemostats with his left hand as he fastened it on.

" That should do perfectly fine, but you may want to tighten it every now and again, and putting pressure on it won't hurt. You probably won't be able to walk very well for a while, and it's most likely best if you just sit there and rest for a bit. " said the soldier(and medic ftw) before he gathered the supplies laid out before him, returning them to his humvee.

 

[KoNaStAr]

[Celes]: Locke waited for a reply from the old samurai, but nothing came, though she had expected /something/. She shrugged it off, but it still wasn't a nice feeling; was that how others felt around her when she was moody? Locke sighed and turned to look over at King, who proved to be a very forgiving individual. She was glad he was still willing to help her. Stryker, on the other hand, was less concerned about others in the room at the moment, looking from one person to the next, glad that they seemed not to take much notice of him; if they ignored him completely, that meant that they weren't going to strangle him for leaving, right? Right? Honestly, he was surprised that Locke didn't have anything nasty to say to him- while it was true she wasn't /always/ mean, if there was one thing she was touchy about, it was her car. He'd just taken it without permission and she had not one word to say to him about that- sure, she had a knife sticking out of her leg- but she could still talk aright. Maybe she had hit her head too, or maybe it was just the blood loss or something- whatever it was, though, he was glad that she wasn't cursing his name right about now. Stryker, deeming it safe, moved away from the Charger and walked toward Locke and King, the latter of who was tending to the former's wound.

After examining it briefly from where he was, Stryker moved to Locke's side opposite King and sat down heavily, still acting humble and quiet. He was concerned about Locke, but he didn't show it directly, not asking her about her wound but instead remaining silent; altogether very odd for him, but Locke sensed that he was no longer in a bad mood. She could also tell that he was concerned, but she didn't say anything about that. Instead…

"Glad yeh're back wi' us. Where did ye goo…?" She was curious, but she was also trying to keep her mind off of what King was doing. She didn't even look, instead keeping her eyes closed.

"I, uh…hadta check on somethin', that's all."

"Must 'ave been very important for thee t' oop an' leave us li'e that.." Although it wasn't a surprised when King pulled out the knife, Locke couldn't help from screaming, though the sound was cut off almost as quickly as it came. After the initial shock, she relaxed again, her features turning impassive once more, though she was thoroughly annoyed with herself for crying out. The agitation stopped there, however, and she struggled to let it go.

"Ow," said Stryker once silence ensued, "So yeah, I... Uhm. Well, I had family here, y'see, and I just wanted to make sure…y'know. They weren't …dead and stuff. They /so/ aren't."

"Tha's good, bu'..how d'yeh knaw for sure…?"

"Uh. My ma' left me a note."

"Oh..Ah see." Locke might have found it funny any other time, but she wasn't really in a happy mood at the moment.

It was right around that time when King finally finished what he was doing; the process had seemed to take forever to Locke, and she was infinitely relieved when he moved away, daring to take a look at what he had done. It looked a lot better than she had expected, but then again, she hadn't known what to expect in the first place. "Thank yeh, marra. I owe ye…" She meant it, too, though she didn't foresee a situation where /he/ would ever need /her/ help. Locke attempted to move the injured leg but was met with strong opposition, so she decided to follow King's advice. Stryker patted her on the shoulder and then stood up, grinning. Now that the crisis was over with, he could act a bit more freely. "Weell, I stopped a few other places while I was out. I just couldn't help myself- opportunity was, like, knocking. But let's not go into the details- I got cash, and lots of it. Well …maybe 10 G or so, someone was hoarding. And I found some ethanol too, not much, just one tank full. Uhhm..King, I found a trailer; it could tow the Charger if we're all going to the same place and wanna ride in the humvee. Oh! And I found .."food". And BOOZE. VODKA, even. The Vodka was with the money, but the food was on the first level of this garage. Guess we musta missed it, eh?"

Stryker pushed himself onto his feet and walked quickly toward the Charger, opening the trunk and taking out a box; inside were the rations- Stryker had seen them before, and he'd tasted them before. Well, it wouldn't be the best thing in the world, but at least they wouldn't e hungry anymore. Locke, who remained stoic, was less than pleased with the meal, but she would take what she could get at this point. No sleep, no food, and blood loss on top of existing fatigue could really wear a person down. Stryker brought two boxes over- one containing the rations and the other bottles of vodka. He didn't immediately went for the food, but not to eat it, not yet; instead, he quickly emptied the contents of the box onto the floor; there were cans and packages of all sorts, though most looked alike. He spread it out so the others could take what they wanted, himself grabbing a bottle of vodka and opening it; 'Pity,' he thought to himself, 'I wasn't able to find some cigarettes.' He picked up a few of the cans and packages and moved over to Locke, sitting down next to her and handing her a few of them. He supposed she should not have to move unnecessarily. Locke opened one package and began to examine the contents thoroughly before finally nibbling on …whatever it was rations were made of. Stryker didn't touch his for a moment, instead constantly taking drinks from the bottle of vodka and grinning to himself.

"We need tae just get oot 'o here, it's too dangerous t' goo look for supplies. We've enough money, we can ..we can buy what we need, aye? Le's just leave…"

 

[KoNaStAr]

[Kagemusha]: Kagemusha sighed as he looked down at the once-completely white suit, now covered in blood and rugged as it laid there, dead to the world. Slowly he knelt down, taking the straps inside of the coat which held the shuriken in place, and throwing them over his right shoulder. Before he stood up he reached over and took Gouki from the ground in his right hand, attatching it by the chain to his pants(though the chain is long its some leet mechanism that lets it just hang there on his pants fuck you he'll cut you up dood >_>) when he finally got to his feet. He supposed King would have a spare pair of pants, though the man was a great bit shorter than Kagemusha, plus that sickening green camoflauge color was more than enough to make a bloodied pair of cut white pants seem welcoming. /I'll just buy some new threads at the next town, I guess../ he thought to himself as he turned to make his way back to the humvee. Stryker was over at the Charger with the drivers door open, and King was at the back of the humvee, doubled over and fiddling with the bumper; Locke was still sitting in the same spot, gnawing at some of the food that had come from the rations. Although the food didn't seem all that wholesome, or very tasty, it seemed to be the only thing available at the moment, so Kagemusha felt a little less reluctant when he made his way to the middle of the floor where the rations were scattered. Slowly he bent down and scanned the parcels in front of him, looking for something seemingly decent in terms of both taste and how much it would fill him up. His final choice was a pinkish colored meat in a blue can, with large yellow lettering, though two of the letters had been scratched away, and the two that remained were rough looking. Now the label simply remained as ' S P _ _ '. Kagemusha cracked open the can and diverted his nostrils elsewhere(SAMURAI CAN FUCKIN DO THAT >_>) to evade the smell coming from the package, and tore a small piece off to begin munching on. Just as he was about to ask when they were to leave, an engine roared, somewhere behind the humvee.

King motioned him forwards slowly, Stryker easing the Charger up to the back of the trailer which was now attached to the humvee, accelerating carefully up the two elevated slats extended in front of the car. Considering he had already started drinking, King thought he had done a fine job of keeping the vehicle aligned, a fine job worthy of celebrating. King closed up the gate of the trailer as Stryker exited the vehicle, and the two met at the back of the humvee to share a few sips from the bottle of vodka before heading back to where the other two were. Stryker went to Locke, not only to notify here they were leaving, but to help her up, and into the back seat of the humvee. He then led Black Jack back to the Charger where he rolled down the windows -just- a little bit and let the dog chill in there(I still think this shit is wrong >_>). King informed Kagemusha they were to leave, at which point he promptly entered the back seat, joining Locke. Stryker and King gathered the rest of the rations and tossed them into the back of the hummer(cause I love my food to smell like gunpowder >_>) before getting into the front seats of the humvee. After double checking that everybody was indeed inside, and that they were ready to go, King brought the engine out of idle and drove off, careful not to damage the car on the trailer behind him. Once they were out of the parking garage and on the main highway thing that circled the city, he picked up the speed and began driving (in any direction, either way they get to the exit scathe free god fucking damnit >_>). It was just getting late night, and a lot of the street lights were still functional, keeping the darkness of the dome around them at bay. King glanced over at Stryker, enjoying more of the vodka, then decided it was a perfect moment for some Cash. Hastily he turned the radio on, though keeping the volume at a VERY reasonable level(cause he might die by Locke or Kage otherwise.), turning momentarily to look at Stryker.

" Mind if I taste that? I won't get us killed, I promise. " though Kagemusha felt a little edgy about allowing the man to drink while he drove them around, Stryker didn't seem to have any problems handing him the vodka, and in favor of simply keeping the peace, Kage decided to place a little bit of faith in King(because he's just that fucking tired), and slowly let himself drift off to sleep, the sweet sound of Johnny Cash like a motherfuckin' lullaby >_>

That's all for now, folks. Stay tuned. You've got a few years to catch up on the rest anyway ^_^