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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 15, 2011 6:12:37 GMT -5
Anna listened to Arc and Jack's conversation, walking passed him toward the control panels of the radio. She'd made sure to make a passing glare at her friend as she'd walked over the bodies of the dead survivors. As she started fiddling with the panels, she couldn't help but think about Jack's attitude toward the survivors. He was so young but somehow seemed very judgemental.
It bothered her how he thought. How he had reacted toward the others' deaths. Without glancing at the two, she'd managed to get the radio on, a light hiss of white noise signaling her that it was ready to be tunes.
"I think the color spectrum of alliances in the world as it is now is slowly becoming grey and black. There is no white," she explained, plainly. She'd tried to get onto the Jacksonville Branch's frequency but everytime she'd tried, the static got louder and almost unbearable.
"Dammit, the radio's shot to hell. I'mma try the Vegas Branch, what's the frequency to that one, Arc?"
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Post by Winters on Aug 15, 2011 15:16:57 GMT -5
The silence in the room after was nausiating, and frankly, Arc felt a little more ashamed about how he handled the situation. They needed a radio tower for a good reason, and they needed it sooner than these survivors would want to cooperate. It wasnt selfish, did didnt do it for himself. He did it for the people that he care about, or rather the people that Anna cared about it. The kid, too, he wasnt like the other survivors. Any another normal child would be terrified to even look at the bloody mess, but he wasnt even phased by the amount of blood he was walking through. Do you know the mess it makes when you knock over a quart of milk? Well, there are six quarts of blood in the human body, and there are, give or take, five bodies ripped open on the floor. "These radio towers wont pick up anything close to the United States. The only thing your going to pick up is that downed chopper a couple of miles away, and other radio towers. Thats how they relay messages across such a long distance without the use a telephones..."
Quickly feeling like this whole thing was just a complete waste of time, Arc finally leaned against the wall, now perfectly calm and collected. The redness in his eyes went away, and he had a more clear thought of what to do. "141.12"He spoke to Anna. Airspace was a different thing altogether, radio frequencies didnt have any disturbance over long distances. Arcs guy would be here in a matter of hours, and take them back in an even shorter time knowing they needed to move fast. Doctor Halbred was always reliable, and its been long past his checkup date.
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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 21, 2011 8:41:17 GMT -5
When Arc had mentioned the station was incapable of catching American stations, she'd hung her head and clenched her teeth. What the hell was the point of coming here then? The survivors got killed, either way, so there really was no purpose now. She couldn't contact anyone in the U.S. Without contact, she couldn't vocally reach Trinity or the B.S.A.A.
She'd felt her blood boil and her fists tremble before lifting up the right one and slmming it into the control panel with a loud thud. After a moment of recollection, she'd grabbed at the bridge of her nose again, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. Gettting p*ssed off wasn't going to make to fix things...not yet, anyway.
She'd turned back around to see Jack and Arc looking at her then at eachother. "Nothing else we can do here. Let's get to the nearest border. We need to get back to the U.S. It's been well over a month that I've been M.I.A. I'm probably assumed dead already after the accident in Russia. Arc, please, we need to get home."
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Post by Winters on Aug 21, 2011 16:12:47 GMT -5
Seeing Anna lose her temper, and than speak out about how they were screwed, Arc knew that this wasnt all a complete waste of time. Sure, it didnt get them anywhere closer to their own goal, but they found this kid, any no matter what happened now, they had to make sure he made it through all of this. It was pretty strange how Jack never got infected, even though he was always on his own. It wasnt like any kids his age to survive this long, not trying to think so coldly. Especially with the wounds on his body, the bloodstains on his clothing were from inflictions done to him, not other people, the rips and tears proved that. Maybe this was why he was alive. Arc thought about it for a moment, but then gestured for Anna and the kid to leave. They didnt really have much of a choice now.
When Anna took the kid outside, Arc peered out into the woods surrounding the radio tower. There had to be something that he could do, someone he could contact from here. Thinking about any air vehicles that might already be in transit, only one came to mind, and that was Doctor Halbred. It wasnt too far off, especially if he was shuttling between countries in his own chopper. It was worth a shot. Tapping into the radio, he tuned into the frequency, and then broadcasted the signal in a voice that he didnt get to use very often. "This is Agent Griffin of the BSAA, come in Halbred, are you there?" A few moment passed, and he tried again. "Griffin to Halbred, please respond!"
The last part was spoken out loud into the radio, loud enough for Anna and Jack to hear and run back up to the top of the tower. He wasnt just about to give up, not after coming all the way out here, that wasnt his style. After about twenty seconds, a voice came through on the other end of the radio, and Arc had already began punching in his GPS coordinates. "This is Halbred, what is your location? Over." Once he had heard the voice, Arc grinned, looking over at Anna and speaking into the radio once again. "Griffin to Halbred, Pos 292468 X 1938746 Y. Requesting immediately assistance, over." It looked like their luck hadnt run out just yet.
"Get back to the highway by approximately 1500 hours, just sit tight, im on my way, over." It was good to hear Halbreds voice again, the man always seemed to drop everything and come to their aid whenever it was needed. Out of the whole ten years hes known the guy, he was always reliable. Arc quickly set down the radio, and for once in a long time, he had a smile on his face. But before Anna could react to the good news, Arc heard heard a vehicle pull up into the dirt road aside the radio tower.
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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 22, 2011 9:11:21 GMT -5
Anna had smiled at Jack and grasped his shoulder slightly, gesturing for him to walk out with her while Arc hung back. As they'd left the tower, she'd looked back, expecting Arc to follow, but he hadn't. She could only assume he was still searching for an active frequency. She hadn't given up either but she was wasting time standing in a broken down station with a broken radio.
"It wasn't an exact waste of time, we found you, eh?" she told the young boy, ruffling his hair, affectionately. When ti came to kids, she had a massive soft spot.
Upon hearing Arc's voice coming from the tower, she and Jack rushed back in to find him communicating with someone over the radio. It was his old friend, Hal. She'd only met him once or twice during their time together but she knew how loyal, dependable, he was. She'd smiled widely when he said he'd pick them up from the highway.
The agent then placed her hand on his shoulder, still smiling and readying herself for celebration when the light screech of breaks could be heard outside. An engine and breaks meant a vehicle, glancing back at Jack, she'd grasped at her beretta and inholstered it before switching glances toward the door.
"Anyone you expecting, by chance, kiddo?"
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Post by Winters on Aug 22, 2011 15:04:32 GMT -5
"No, we didnt have a vehicle, we came from the woods..." The younger boy spoke out, looking at the jeep parked outside the radio tower. To him, it looked like maybe the military. If it wasnt, then it was most likely other survivors just looking to use the radio much like them, which could be a good thing so long as they were willing to work together. Jack looked at the man, and seen his eyes begin to glow red. It scared him still, knowing that things could turn bad in a matter of seconds with him around. As Arc moved passed both Anna and Jack, the boy ran toward him, and gabbed onto his arm. "Please, dont kill them! We only keep bad guys!"
Arc knew that if he was given a chance, he would slaughter them in a matter of seconds without even asking questions. It was better to be safe then sorry, kill or be killed. He didnt trust anybody but the people who werent strong enough to kill him or the people he cared about. Whether or not these people in the jeep were hostile or not, Arc wanted to just kill them and save them some time. But the kid, Jack, he stopped him, and the dark passenger inside of Arc listened to him. "Alright, fine. Anna, this ones on you... But the moment I smell blood, you take Jack and run, got it?"
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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 23, 2011 2:11:00 GMT -5
Anna watched the scene between Jack and Arc unfold. She'd was somewhat suprised to fine Jack so concerned for Arc, seemingly attatched. It was wasy to tell he'd been through alot but this made her accusations about him even more depressing. Arc eventually informed Anna to take care of things in her own way but if he starts to rage out, she and Jack would leave. She'd nodded, grimly and awaited on the side of the door frame, gesturing for Jack to take cover elsewhere.
The jeep had hauled a total of four men. All of them varied in muscle, guns and makeshift armor platings. It was almost like the psychos back in the states. Called themselves, "Raiders". Either way, they were loud, obnoxious and shambled on over to the tower, pulling out cases of beer from the back. It was easy to assume they were dunk or high.
The agent glanced over at Arc and nodded her head at the entrance.
"They're no good. Do what you have to do," she told him in a whisper. She'd then looked to Jack and the back door with flickering letters, reading, "EXIT".
"Trust me, kid, they're nothing but crazy, murdering, rapists. I know through experience.." she told him.
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Post by Winters on Aug 23, 2011 4:52:30 GMT -5
As much as Jack didnt like it, he didnt have much more of a choice in the matter. Anna had stayed with him up in the tower, while Arc went out onto the balcony. As Jack seem him do this, he saw a glimpse of him jump, and knew that he couldnt have been human now. The boy didnt get scared though, he still kept his gun out, but stayed close to Anna in case. It wasnt like he was weak or anything, certainly proved to himself that he could take care of things on his own, but when it was four against one it hardly seemed fair. Jack was about to learn from Arc that the only thing unfair would be pitting anything against the superhuman.
~~
Suddenly, the jeeps radio had turned on, blaring a Metallica CD through the speakers. The four men had dropped the beer and aimed their guns at the vehicle, not really sure how or why it turned on on its own. One had an AK47, while another had a desert eagle, but the other two housed steel baseball bats. As quickly as they put the attention toward the jeep, the one holding the magnum had been impaled through the back, and all seven shots from the handgun went off before he was thrown toward the man holding the assault rifle. When the shots went off, the others ducked behind the jeep out of fire, but when they seen it was just the two of them left, they finally grew violent.
Arc kept the AK bullets raining toward them, keeping them into cover as long as possible, while he moved closer and closer. As soon the magazine ended, the two raiders sprung out with their melee weapons ready, but didnt find anybody in sight. Than when they had turned the other way, Arc was standing in front of them, eyes glowing red through the darkness. One of the men swung the bat, but it was caught, and bent out of shape with a quick jerk, and then tossed aside. Before the second man could attack, his buddy was lifted from the ground by one leg, and then slammed into the side of the tower.
His leg was still in Arcs hand, and while the man was shocked from the effortless task, he was struck to the ground. The blood driven Arcian had began to beat the man using his friends limb, until his stopped breathing. Tossing it to the ground, Arc looked up into the radio tower, sensing that Jack had been watching the entire time. But the monster didnt go back into the tower, he took off into a sprint down the dirt road, just wanting to get far away from Anna and the kid, at least until he calmed down.
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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 23, 2011 5:39:05 GMT -5
Anna quickly grasped onto Jack's arm slightly firm and slightly gentle. It was a physical way of showing urgency that he'd look away as Arc took care of the Raiders down below. She'd kept her own eyes shiwlded from the massacre, knowing it'd do nothing good for her fragile psyche the way it was now.
"Don't look." she told him, assertively. When the music, screams and gunshots went on, she'd began to pull the boy down the tower stairs, muttering the lyrics to a song to keep her mind occupied from the blood curdling screams. Whether or not they were bad people, the sounds were nauseating. You never get used to killing a person.
"---So clever, whatever, I'm done with these endeavors. Alone, I walk the winding way... it's over, no longer, I feel it growing stronger... I live to die another day.... Until I fade away, why give up? Why give in? It's not enough...never is... But I will go on until the end... Dum dum...duh dum... she muttered half heartedly until finally the noises outside had came to utter silence.
She'd grimaced and looked down at the teen. He didn't seem frightened but concerned, confused, maybe.
"Arc is gonna be alright. He's strong, ya know."
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Post by Winters on Aug 23, 2011 17:06:31 GMT -5
Jack listened to Anna, shileding his eyes from the outside. The screams had been getting to terrify him, but he knew that everything would be fine. He didn really know how he knew this, but it was something that he could feel down in his stomach. When they got outside, the monster, Arc, had went away. Jack was very confused, he didnt know why he would just leave them here, but then realized that it mustve been for a good reason. After seeing the carnage on the ground, Jack covered his mouth a little as one of the men had twitched, his leg deattached at the waist. "Strong? What is he? Will he hurt us?"
It was Arc safety that Jack was worried about, it was the demon inside of him. The man seemed to be a monster, regardless of how nice his talked to him, he could easily kill anybody that got in his way. Using his maybe silly imagination, Jack thought that maybe he ran away so he wouldnt turn on them. Somebody who is infected would do that, its better if they just go away. Then he didnt have to shoot them before or after they turned, things worked out on their own. "Is he going to be like this forever...?"
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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 24, 2011 9:54:46 GMT -5
Moving passed the twisted bodies of carnage, the agent tried to keep Jack's eyes averted by gently nudging his face in another direction. He'd been asking just what Arc was and from the sounds of it, he was scared. Frowning, the redhead lead him in the direction of the highway. That was more than likely where Arc went on ahead of them. More than likey for their safety from himself.
"Arc is, I guess, an advanced human, you can say. It's a long story but he wont' be this way forever, I'll make sure of that, personally," she told the boy as they shuffled through high grass.
There'd been a stretch of silence, Jack had been looking down with a look of remorse. His dirty face and freyed clothing had caught Anna's attention. Just how long had he been on his own? She'd sighed hesitantly and brought her eyes back up toward their destination. She could see the road from where they stood.
"Arc is a good guy. He won't let anything happen to us. I trust him," she began. "He's taking me home to my family. If you'd like, you can come with me, we can keep you safe," she told the teen in hopes he'd accept.
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Post by Winters on Aug 25, 2011 1:28:58 GMT -5
After getting out onto the main highway, Arc opened up the car door to the police cruiser, and locked himself inside the back. He knew there was no way of him getting out without the help of Anna, and there was no way she would do that unless he was calm. He couldnt break the window because he needed to just relax, and not draw too much more energy through him.
Arc thought about Halbreds chopped coming, landing right in front of the cruiser. Everything would be fine when he came, the medication was stored away too. He could finally take his shot that the German gave him, keep himself calm for awhile. It was strange enough that the enemy had been the German scientist, he was the one who made him this way at least. Keeping Arc alive was all part of his plan, the medical he was given helped him do that, of course, but even better when it helped keep the people around him safe when he was high from it. Just laying back in the seat for him, controlling his breathing, is all he was focused on doing.
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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 25, 2011 12:23:36 GMT -5
Eventually the agent and the teen had came across the highway only a yard and a half away from the cruiser. She'd put her hand out to the boy and gestured for him to stay back as she'd walked over to the windows, glancing inside. She could see him lying in the back seat. She also took notice that the doors were locked, purposely. She'd smiled faintly and tapped at the window, looking down at him.
"You alright in there?" she asked, knowing it wasn't a bright idea to open up until she was positive he was alright. She had the keys.
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Post by Winters on Aug 25, 2011 14:47:07 GMT -5
After he felt himself calm down, Arc lay down on the seat, now breathing because it was hot in the back of he car. This was the first time he had been in this position, in a police cruiser, only he wasnt being dragged back to the station for questioning, and he didnt have handcuffs on him. The freedom to search the backseat intrigued him, and soon Arc found himself digging around under the seats and in the middle compartment on the floor. The small lid was locked, but a nice lock with his fingers pryed it open, and sure enough there was a service pistol inside. The Beretta was pretty basic, but it had fifteen shots, and thats all he cared about. Fifteen more bullets to end the lives of fifteen more undead or the living.
Upon hearing the knock on the window, and the faint sound of Annas voice, his eyes shot over. Arc gave a sharp nod before knocking back on the other side with the Beretta, letting her know that it was fine to let him out. As the door opened, he made his way around to the truck, and opened it up. Inside was a pump action shotgun, only held a few shells, but it was just a little more firepower to make working their way out of a situation that much easier. Nothing else in the car interested him, and they had a good hour or so before Halbred arrived, so maybe they should do a little more scavenging. Heading back to the checkpoint empty handed seemed like a bad idea, anything more they could get would be a plus. "Still got time before our bird shows up, lets have a look down the highway a bit more. Gas station shouldnt be too far north, I can smell the oil..."
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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 26, 2011 15:23:39 GMT -5
Anna nodded, flicking a hand at Jack, a signal for him to follow. She'd began moving on down the highway beside Arc, adjusting her harness around her arms. The buckle had broke back in the hospital so she was forced to jury rig it to keep it tight, although it would loosen and slip down her shoulder from time to time.
She'd fiddled with it for a minute or two as the trio walked passed a few crows that fluttered away from the railing. Apparently they weren't infected if they'd fled. Unless there was something bigger and dangerous nearby. Judging by the peace and lack of undead, that seemed pretty certain. Of course, she could just be paranoid and ther could be nothing more than wild life roaming around. Uninfected wildlife....hopefully.
"Arc, whatever happened to the people you left with a month or two ago? Did Miss.Doctor b*tch your ear off?" she joked, recalling Amelia's annoyed persona. She chuckled afterward.
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