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Post by NotAvailable on Feb 24, 2011 5:58:13 GMT -5
Anna listened to Arc and looked up at him before slowly bringing her gaze down to her feet. She had alot on her plate as well. Her mind was in a fragile state and had began to chip away into a breaking point. Things were getting tougher and it was testing her will and patience. Should she keep travelling onward with Arc or should she part ways and try to find some sort of reason to exist?
Wanting to sway from those sort of thoughts, she'd looked onward at the sunrisen horizon that overcasted Arklay Mountains way off in the distance. The orange skies lit up her frail face making her squint a little and sigh.
"Like I have anything better to do with my time," she responded, keeping her eyes pasted on the scenery. Normally she would have been cracking some sort of joke or saying something completely condescending but right now, she just plain didn't feel like it.
"If we go to Arklay, then after we find anything you might be looking for, I think I'm going to head out of Raccoon completely again. Maybe search for a place to settle down at. I don't think I want to keep moving on anymore, ya know?" she began, knitting her eyebrows together and finally looking back at her friend.
Her exhausted eyes had been dull and shadowed with tiresome weariness that she shouldn't have been suffering given she was youthful looking for her age. It just came to show that things weren't working out for Anna and that she was well aware and finally breaking into reality.
"Alright, so we leave for Arklay. One last adventure before I hang up my holsters..."
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Post by Winters on Feb 24, 2011 21:09:30 GMT -5
"If you want to just leave Raccoon City now, im not going to try and stop you, Anna. I can take the chopper if needed, fly you wherever you want to go..." But Arc could tell, that wasnt the point. When Anna spoke out that she was set on having one last adventure, thats when he knew that here time was going to an end. People had to move on, before the outbreak, after it, or during out. Everybody has to move on. But unless your dead, theres never a whole lot to move on to. "One last adventure? Well have to make it count, than, wont we? Yeah, well make it count, I know we will."
Arc would have wanted to see what he could gather around town first before going anywhere, but if they were seen by the wrong people, it would be game over. There was only an hour left until the chopper was leaving without them, so it might be a good idea to meet up with the pilot before hand, maybe go over a few things with him. But the time now was to get everything ready for the drop of, the mountain were a pretty cold place as of now, and it would be nice he Arc could find a jacket of some kind. Something without holes in it would do just fine. Anna had got her hands on one already, a nice leather one. Arc was thinking something more suited for himself, a nice camoflauged atire.
"We should get going now, were all packed up. The pilot is waiting on the rooftop of that apartment building a few blocks away. You cant see anything from the ground, though. But trust me, its up there." Arc checked himself one last time, feeling for his knife and handgun under his hoody, and then slung the assault rifle under as well, keeping it out of sight for the time being. "I want you to lead, im gonna stick back a little, keep my hood up, stay out of sight as best I can. Its me theyre after, not you. So whenever you ready, lead the way."
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Post by NotAvailable on Feb 24, 2011 22:21:45 GMT -5
Anna stood up and stretched a little, twisting her waist left to right and rolling her shoulders around to get rid of the soreness she'd been experiencing. Before long she'd pulled out one last cigarette and lit it before blowing out a puff of smoke and squinting a bit to adjust her eyes to the blaring sun that had risen in the sky. It wasn't night time anymore which meant it'd be easier to be spotted now. She figured making their way through detours around buildings would be safer until they were far from this specific checkpoint area.
"Alright, let's do this," she said wandering out of the darkness of the alleyways. She'd looked arounf carefully before hopping the fences and jumping down onto her feet with a clatter. When Arc jumped down behind her, following suit with hands tucked into his hoodie pockets, she'd been awfully quiet trying to figure out what she was going to be walking into in Arklay.
Somewhere down the road thre'd been a rusty old pickup truck moving through the streets, passing some select undead.A young man had been on the driver's side, a box of his belongings in the passenger side. He'd just driven in from Stoneville where he'd met up with an old friend and his kid. His mom was here and he knew it. He'd searched all of town except this side.
Anna could hear a rumbling of a motor from down the street. Stopping in her tracks, she'd put a hand out infront of Arc and grasped for her shotgun. Last time there was a pick up truck in her immediate space it was those redneck bastards.
James slammed his breaks on when he'd nearly hit two people in the road. One with a black hoodie and the other...the other! He'd quickly opened his door and stuck his body half way out.
"MOM!" he yelled.
Anna's eyes widened when she'd recognized the face and voice. Her features went from tired and confued to simply suprised and a hint of happiness. It was true, happiness was a rush that went through her. She even realized the dumpy old truck was her father's.
"Jimmy!" she called out, running off to her son when she was near enough she pulled him into a tight embrace. Arc, confused had followed suit, stopping little ways infront of them.
Anna pulled away from her son and smiled, looking him over to ensure he wasn't hurt. He was a tall guy, must have been probably 6'3'' at the most.
"Jimmy, I thought you were dead!" she exclaimed.
"I could say the same for you, eh? Who's this?" he asked, looking over at Arc, suspiciously.
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Post by Winters on Feb 25, 2011 0:18:47 GMT -5
As the truck was coming toward them, Arc had backed away from the road, making sure to keep himself away, in case it was trouble. But when the younger male had came out of the truck, Anna was acting as if she wad reuniting with an old friend. Listening to the two speak, sharing a moment together, Arc pieced together that it was her son. Oblivious to the fact that she even had a son, he pulled himself out of the darkness now, and moved closer to them. After the two exchanged some words, he asked about Arc, and then figured it was only best he spoke out, even if it wasnt with something a truthful as Anna would like to think. "Just a stranger sharing a seat in the next chopper out of here, ill leave you two alone. Miss Holden, theres still forty five minutes left until liftoff, please, take your time... I um, hope youll still be catching the flight, but if not, I wish you the best of luck, and it was nice meeting you."
With that, Arc had pulled off a small grin, and then walked away from the two, heading toward the apartment building across the street. He hoped that Anna would understand his situation with not wanting to get to know people if he could help it, and that maybe it was best if she told her son instead of him. It only seemed appropriate, at least to him, anyways. Arc entered the building, and checked the place for anybody, it was clear. The stairs to the top had been a few minutes, but once he was on the roof, things looked a little more sketchy. The pilot had been occupied with speaking on the radio, but two more soldiers were off facing the rooftop, hold sniper rifles. It was good vantage point, Arc could agree, but this would be a problem if any of them did ask a question. For the time being, he would wait in the stairwell, waiting for Anna to make her decision.
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Post by NotAvailable on Feb 25, 2011 0:38:00 GMT -5
Anna had raised a brow at Arc's bulls*** and raised it even farther when he'd called, Miss.Holden. Before long, her son had watched him stray away an ueasy feeling overwelming him as he placed a hand on his mom's shoulder, looking down at her, concerned.
"Are you alright mom? On that matter, since when were you Ms.Holden? There somthing you not telling me about you and Rich?" he asked.
"No, nothing, that I know of or wish for...wait, you know he's alive?"
"Well yeah, he's back in Stoneville, I think. With the others."
Anna was even more suprised. "The others?" she asked, wondering just who the hell Richard was with and how did Jimmy know? Who were the other people he spoke of? Before she could ask, her son interrupted her again.
"Katherine, John, the kids. Richard...Aryn...uh..Grandma and Grandpa...your siblings, their kids. Everyone else is safe. They started a chekpoint with this Jake fella and his friends somewhere in Stoneville. Richard told me about Lucy and that you started acting weird and made him and Aryn leave," Jimmy explained.
Anna's heart nearly lept in her throat when she'd heard this news. Her family had survived? They were alive and well, it was to beexpected for John and Katherine, they were in RaccoonCity in 1998 too and survived, it was only natural. Her parents though, her brother and sister. Alive.
Still, there was something she had to do before she'd run off to join their sides. That's when it came to her. Aryn, he said Aryn.
"Aryn is dead...I..I wasn't watching her..she'd gotten bitten..." Anna said, shaking her head.
"No she's not. Look, I saw you left your meds at home. I brought them with me just incase. Come on, Richard's waiting, infact he already made it clear that if I didn't bring you home, he'd come out here to get you himself," he explained, grasping onto her arm.
"Alright, alright, but first I owe someone something. I'll rejoin you when I'm through with it," she told her son.
Jimmy looked at his mother, eyes narrowing at the apartment building where that hooded guy went. "Mom, is he holding something over your head? Are you telling me the truth, are you alright?" he asked.
Anna batted her hand. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. But that guy is my friend and he did help me out of a big mess and I owe it to him to help him out of his. Go on ahead of me...we'll talk about Aryn and Richard later...I'll come back to Stoneville soon, I promise," she told him, pulling her son into another embrace.
Jimmy frowned and reached into his coat pocket, taking out the pills and handing them to his mother.
"Alright...you better come back cause if you don't, I'll be here and so will Rich. You know he's not gonna be happy with you if he knows you're staying behind to help some shady guy with whatever it is that you're helping him with," he told her.
Anna nodded and smirked, putting the pills away.
"I know he will...heh heh, boy do I know he will...alright, get going. I'll see you in a day or two," she told him, patting his shoulder.
Jimmy took one last look at his tired mother and smiled warily before getting back into the pick up. He watched her go into the building the hooded guy went into before sighing and pulling away.
Inside the apartment building, Anna had looked at the pills in her hand as she walked toward the stairwell. She hadn't been taking them in a little over a month. Could that have been why she was feeling the way she had been feeling? Jimmy said Aryn was there, the little girl that died because of her...so then she wasn't dead? Wasn't bitten? Why did she remember her being killed?
Approaching Arc, she stood before him and put the pills away.
"Alright, I'm gonna head into Arklay with you. When we're done, think your pilot will give me a lift back to Stoneville? There's...people there waiting for me," she said with a comforted smile.
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Post by Winters on Feb 25, 2011 1:10:58 GMT -5
As the footsteps drew closer from the bottom of the stairwell, Arc placed his hand on his knife, making sure it was Anna and not anybody he didnt want to see. As he saw her arrive and speal, Arc looked at her, and then opened up the door to the rooftop, ignoring her. Stepping out into the sunlight, Arc removed his hood from his face, and then stepped over to the pilot. "Start it up, were all ready..." The pilot nodded, and quick stepped into the chopper, flipping some switched to get the engines running. Turned around, Arc spoke out to Anna, still ignoring her from before. "Get inside, dont look around too much, theyre here, watching."
Opening up the passenger door for Anna, Arc threw her bag into the back, and then stepped down, closing the door behind him. Anna had been looking at him through the window, wondering what the hell he was doing. At this point, he wasnt even sure what he was doing anymore, but it felt right. Walking to the side of the building away from the chopper, Arc pulled out his knife when the blades started to pick up speed, creating a sound barrier. As the soldier turned around, the knife ran into his chest, and he was pushed from the edge of the building. Moving to the opposite side, he did the same when the other soldier pulled the gun on him. After sheathing his knife back, Arc heard the helicopter lift off the ground. Everything would be perfect now, just the way he had planned it...
~~
"Your not just gonna leave again, are you?" The voice yelled out, chopper blades ringing off through the treeline. "Youll be fine, you have to get back to your family. The pilot knows where to take you, dont worry. Theres something I have to finish here." Arc responded, closing over the door. Things were better this way, it was always better when he was alone. As the chopper lifted off the ground, he looked up, watching the woman, a photographer, aiming her camera down. Taking a photo before getting out of range, the last thing he seen was the light flash, even through the rays of sunlight. In the end, it was saving another life, reuniting somebody back to their family. Arc couldnt go back with them all, he had work to do, here with the BSAA. Its just the way things are.
~~
The helicopter flew away from the building, at least four hundred feet above the ground, making it way over the city. The pilot focused on what he was paid to do, piloting the woman out of the city. He had been a little surprised that the man wasnt coming with them, but hey, as long as he was getting paid, he had a job to finish. The girl asked questions, speaking to him, asking why Arc wasnt coming with them. But he just ignored her, and slipped the throttle into hover while the chopper made its way north out of the city.
It was then that, he felt a bang on the door, and when it was ripped open, an Arc extend into the aircraft, pulling the man out. Anna had yelled out a little, quickly grabbing the throttle, but not sure exactly what she was doing, nor what happened. The arm reached up once again, gripping the seat, and Arc pulled himself up into the pilots seat, slamming the door shut. Breathing heavily, he flipped the thottle back into manual, and now that they were away from the city, he sent the chopper toward the mountains at a lower altitude. Looking over to see Anna still shocked, Arc spoke out. "Didnt think I would just leave you like that, did you? I had to wait until the chopper was stabalized, or we wouldve lost control before I could get in safely."
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Post by NotAvailable on Feb 26, 2011 10:14:25 GMT -5
Anna, shaken up, narrowed her eyes and her lips curled into a frown at the sudden scare he'd put her through with the helicopter. Not the ripping of the door but the leaving her pilotless momentarily while the helicopter began to life up. Didn't help that she absolutely hated heights such as helicopter rides or ferris wheels.
When he spoke, she squinted and narrowed her eyes further. She could tell Arc knew what her response was before a slight amused chuckle had escaped from him. Anna, however, was still not as amused.
"Alright, so I'm assuming you know what you're doing here. Let's try not to crash and burn somewhere. Just because I'm morbidly depressed doesn't mean I'm ready to die," she informed him. This time as dark as that joke was, she finally managed a short chuckle herself.
Moving along the city limits and cutting into the edge of the Arklay Forest, Anna couldn't help but feel her stomach churn. The bobbing of the chopper in the current altitude they were carried through had been unsettling and terrifying, to say the least.
She'd looked down at the long drop down and shuttered.
"Christ...that is one doozy of a drop..." she muttered. Before long, she'd seen the old lodge below. Pointing, she'd gestured to Arc.
"Hey, there's the lodge, we should land there first. Scavenge for some more food and water." Anna suggested.
[Anna and Arc have left Von's General Store and arrived at the Big Bear Hunting Lodge]
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