Urban Dead: But At My Back I'll Always Hear...

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:38 pm

He slid back with desperate speed, the machete slicing along his stomach on a painful, but not deep cut. His hand brought the pistol butt along the side of her head painfully, the impact jarring his hand sufficiently that it fired a random shot past her. There was another scream from behind her... somebody hit? Terror? Who knew?

Caz · Post by **Caz** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:46 pm

As she flew sideways with the momentum of the hit to her jaw, she used the motion to her advantage, catching herself with the lower arm of her left hand while her right hand brought the pistol around her torso, firing a quick three-round burst point blank at him. She rubbed her jaw, hand returning bloody from a tear in her lip.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:48 pm

He whirled, two hasty shots missing, the third taking him in the side. He made his decision about the better part of valor, bolting for the door without a look backward, blood spurting from his wound.

Caz · Post by **Caz** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:59 pm

"Go on then!" she howled after him, covered in the blood from his gunshot wound, staggering to her feet. "Fucking rot!"

And then she realized the entire room was staring at her: wild-eyed, blood-soaked, like Carrie White on prom night.

She didn't give a fuck, and was immediately back at Colin's side.

"I'm here now..." She said, her voice a surprising opposite to the feral shrieking of only a few moments before.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:00 pm

Colin's eyes were closed, his pallor ashen. She gradually became cognizant of a whimpering sound behind her, the downed bodyguard. Nobody moved, nobody spoke.

Caz · Post by **Caz** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:08 pm

"Colin?" she whispered, brushing his bangs from his eyes. "Colin, be okay..."

Not a question, a command.

And she felt it: the faintest of breath upon her palm. He was alive; she knew he would be. Kid took after her, after all.

"Somebody get me a blanket..."

The silence was pitiful.

"I said could somebody get me a fucking blanket for this boy!" she shouted.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:10 pm

They responded to the new authority with alacrity. She'd beaten the last leader, sent him fleeing into the night.

This feral band was hers now, and would be until she fell or was overcome by another.

Caz · Post by **Caz** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 8:48 am

With a kind of solemn tenderness that few ever saw and many would never see again, she carefully lifted the body's shuddering body and wrapped him in the thin blanket. She took utmost care in trying to keep him comfortable, all the while whispering in his ear that he was going to be okay, that it was fine to just let go for a minute if the pain got to bad, that she'd hold on for him if he couldn't at the moment.

"Tell me if you get cold," she whispered, stroking his cheek with her thumb. "I'm here."

As she stood, cradling the boy to her chest as she looked around the room.

"Any and all of you who're gonna give any trouble can follow that fucking coward out the door," she said, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "There's nothing I want from you other than loyalty."

She scanned the faces, the words of Emma Lazarus in her ears: huddled masses, the poor misbegottens.

"If you give me that loyalty, I'll give you a roof over your head, food in your stomachs, and people to watch your back. We have to take care of each other, and I'm willing to do that for you if you'll lend your ears and eyes to me."

Heading toward the door: "If you want to, follow me. I have to..." She spoke in an almost terrified whisper, "I have to get this boy a doctor."

--

And what a sight she must have made to Petro and Mike as she made her way toward the fortress, head bowed over the teen as though in eerie procession. And from the slowly darkening city, the figures slowly emerged from the inky debris behind her, equally silent: the modern-day refugees.

Not caring enough to try and remove the stains and remnants of Jaycee's blood from her hair, face, clothing, she paid the fact that she looked frightful absolutely no attention.

And before either of them could manage a word, she simply said, "It's done."

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 8:56 am

Mike raised an eyebrow and hefted the boy from her arms. "Jesus." He said, looking at his wounds. "I'm going to need Ace's help."

Caz · Post by **Caz** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:03 am

She was reluctant to let Colin go, but at that moment she had to relinquish him to the fact that she trusted Mike. He'd fixed her, he could at least try to help Colin. Before he could pull back, Sherry grabbed Mike's hand and stared into his eyes, begging him wordlessly.

"Please... Do what you can,"

And, utterly shellshocked, she simply stood there, unable to process anything.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:06 am

Petro looked at the crowd and Sherry. "Alright, let's get you lot in and fed. C'mon people, move it."

As the Blackcaps filed by, he grabbed her shoulder and gave her a look of empathy.

He could tell at a glance that it wasn't likely that even Ace would be able to do much with this one. And he'd known from the start how much she cared about the kid.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:20 am

Mike yelled for some room, a clear table. And where the hell was Ace?

They dropped the boy onto a family-sized table in a long-abandoned Diner, ripping his shirt open. Ace came running up, a first-aid kit clutched in his arms. He dropped it on the table and ripped the lid off as Mike cut the boy's shirt off with his knife.

"Shit. He's been shot in the gut. Burns around the entry wound, no exit. We need to stop him bleeding."

Ace held the kid down while Mike swabbed the wound with alcohol, and fished bits of shirt out with a tweezer. They were running low on proper medical equipment, and were improvising everything at this stage. Mike staunched the bleeding and then turned it over to Ace.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:44 am

"Get me the tools we scavenged around, the kit can't handle this, get me another 2 kits for the morphine!"

Ace got down to work, trying to find and extract the bullet then sew the kid up and blood infusion, but it was looking more hopeless by the second as the bullet stubbornly stayed hidden inside the body though peices of the shirt were extracted....

Caz · Post by **Caz** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:51 am

She felt the blood rushing to her head before it actually happened, knowing that she was--for lack of a better term--losing it, but at that point it was a lost cause to bother mentioning.

"This has all gotten so far out of hand," she said quietly, eyelashes fluttering once, twice, before her knees gave out.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:54 am

Petro moved to catch her quickly.

Great. He found another table in the diner to lay her down on, checking her for wounds as well. With the regular medical staff tied up, he'd have to do.

Caz · Post by **Caz** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:59 am

Other than a rather ragged-looking split in her lip thanks to that cocksucker's pistol-whipping the side of her head, she was unharmed. Which wasn't too surprising--time and again, Sherry proved to be the least damage-condusive of all of them, perhaps due to her size and speed.

"I'm okay," she said numbly, sitting up and holding her head in her hands. "Should've shot him the moment he fucking showed his face... But I had to be noble..."

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:01 am

He grabbed her wrist. "You did the best you could," he said firmly.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:02 am

Mike tapped Colin's wrist, looking for a vein. He found one and shot the kid full of morphine.

Caz · Post by **Caz** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:11 am

"I always do," she agreed, leaning against him, trying to breathe evenly. "But I think for a moment there I looked like a fucking nutter... acted like one, too... God, I felt so slimy, like I was lowering myself to his level just by talking with him..."

The post-combat rush; she was babbling.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:12 am

He didn't answer her directly, he just put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

Been there, done that.

Caz · Post by **Caz** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:19 am

She looked to him earnestly, oddball eyes heavy-lidded with exhaustion and emotional stress.

"He is to me... what I am to you."

In a flat, even voice. Detached. Because if she couldn't detach herself, she knew she'd go absolutely crazy. She'd have ripped Jaycee limb from limb had he not run.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:22 am

He nodded. "I knew."

With that, he pulled in her to hold her. It could happen to her too, and that wasn't something he cared to contemplate. Especially because this was going to get ugly. He could tell from the expressions on Ace and Mike's faces that there was little chance of this having a happy ending.

Caz · Post by **Caz** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:26 am

God, his heartbeat was so even... she felt unsteady in his presence at that moment, as though she were just waiting for the right moment to topple.

In the background, she could vaguely hear Ace and Mike discussing what to do regarding Colin's injuries, but she shut it out, afraid of what she might hear. Sure, denial was an old defense mechanism and proven to be worthless... but this wasn't quite denial; she was well aware of the facts... she just didn't want to have to face the music yet.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:28 am

He stroked her hair, not offering false platitudes or meaningless words of comfort. She wouldn't abide them any more than he would. Instead, he simply offered his presence.

No one should face this alone.

Caz · Post by **Caz** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:35 am

"He ran..." she said softly, "the goddamned coward ran. I plugged him good, right through the side... chances are got a lung as well. If he doesn't die miserably out there, I'm going to rip his limbs off if he ever shows his face around here again."

She proceeded to relate what had happened at the postal office as best she could remember, ending after the dark-haired loony ran off.

There was no question in her mind that she'd done the right thing to the absolute best of her ability... but that didn't stop the exhaustion, nor did it stop the anxiety over the boy's current state.

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Urban Dead: But At My Back I'll Always Hear...

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