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Post by Winters on Feb 27, 2011 3:01:22 GMT -5
As each of the creatures lunged toward him, Arc slashed with his hunting knife, and kicked them away. They almost seemed to hover with their wings, not achieving full flight, but enough to get into the air. The battle between the dozen of them had been exausting, and Arc felt himself frenzy in a matter of minutes. Once he was in this state, the was no stopping him, no matter how many of them surrounded him.
Arc continued to fend of the insects, until he made his away further into the hallway. One of them perched themselves onto his shoulder, and flung him to the ground while he was occupied with another. This raged him into tackleing it to the ground and jamming his knife into it several times, then just jumping onto another, and another, like some kind of wild animal, until each of them had been dead. The few that remained backed off, realizing that they were dealing with a creature itself, and werent fighting over a meal. Once they had backed off, Arc breathed heavily, just waiting for them to get out of his sight before moving on with Anna, who was more than likely outside of the building by now waiting for him.
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Post by NotAvailable on Feb 27, 2011 12:33:58 GMT -5
After Anna had made it to the attic, she'd came across a ventilation shaft that lead outside, she'd kicked the screen out and pulled herself out and climbing out and off the building since it was only two and a half stories high, it wasn't that big of a deal. She'd been standing outside of the lodge and looking at her watch. It was 10 a.m. already and this stop at the lodge was a waste of time completely.
As she waited for Arc to catch up, she'd seen the face of someone staring out at her from the attic vent. When she'd blinked, she was gone.
Shivering, Anna turned to face something else to keep her eyes averted from the scene skyward. The sun was hidden behind silver skies and the temperature felt like it had dropped drastically since they'd been in the lodge.
She was positive it was probably gonna snow sometime soon. As she thought about it there was a massive roar emitting throughout the thicket of trees. It had to be nothing more than a mountain lion, possibly. They were near the mountains, it was only plausible.
"f**kin' infected mountain lions. Thought I evaded that s*** when I snuck through the zoo area..."Anna muttered as she kept her hands tightly on the handle of her weapon.
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Post by Winters on Feb 27, 2011 19:23:03 GMT -5
By the time the insects had all went away, Arc sheathed his knife, and ran for the open window. Looking out, he seen Anna standing outside with her gun out, and knew it wasnt good news that she heard. It wasnt an ideal landing in the first place, but any supplies they could gather would be better then nothing. Arc had a fear that if they went straight for Stoneville in the helicopter, and landed, it would attract unwanted attention to the camp. If they landed far enough away, and then just arrived on foot or even a small vehicle, it would be a smoother transition into a safezone.
Leaping from the window, he grabbed onto the siding, and slid down until he landed with a light thud, pulling out his .357 Desert Eagle. Walking up behind Anna, not really sure if she knew that he was there or not, Arc spoke out. "What do ya see? We need to keep moving, just about two hours from here theres a house, well find some transport there. These woods are littered with all sorts of wildlife, im sure you know that already. Whatever you heard could even just be a living animal, which in that case, wouldnt stand a chance. Even if it was infected, doesnt change much if you aim for the head. Just be fearless, follow your instincts, and watch yourself..."
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Post by NotAvailable on Feb 27, 2011 23:41:52 GMT -5
Anna nodded a little before batting a hand at Arc when he'd spoke from behind her. It wasn't that she was afraid of any wild life or an infected wild life, it was just the fact that mountain lions run fast and are powerful.It'd be hell to shoot in the head. Apparently Arc had completely forgotten about the giant infected bear from a few months ago.
"Well, let's get going then. Hopefully we're not walking right into another misadventure with psycho rapists hiding out in the spooky house in the woods. I'd be pretty ****ed off if I get hit in the face one more f**king time," she told him, stepping aside.
"Lead the way."
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Post by Winters on Mar 1, 2011 3:20:19 GMT -5
The last time Arc had encountered anything wild out here in the Arklay Forest was the bear, but he couldnt remember exactly where he was and what he was doing. Since the accident, some parts of his memory had kicked out. Arc was different now, if they ran into the bear that did road these parts, he could handle it no problem. Some of the men in the first club earlier were more scary, but they all went down easy. The only difference between being in the city and out here in the woods is that out here he didnt need to worry about exposing himself to anybody.
The thought of other people out here made him a little antsy, but there normally wasnt. If any had been within a mile range, Arc would pick up on it before Anna even got a bad feeling, and her bad feelings were usually bad. "There should be a path nor far from here, we can follow that on foot to the cabin- wait!" Holding up his arm, Arc waited, and breathed slowly. Seeing the tracks on the ground, fresh paw tracks, looked to be a cougar, or maybe a larger dog. "Somethings nearby, keep your gun ready."
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Post by NotAvailable on Mar 6, 2011 23:52:35 GMT -5
Anna had nearly been smacked in the gut when Arc had thrown his arm out like that, pulling back a little, he informed her of some danger lurking nearby. Possibly an animal, which is still a pain in the ass dead or alive. They're stronger and agile. Far more agile than a human being, that is. Either way, she'd nodded and holstered her sidearm. Reaching for the strap around her chest and shoulder, she'd unslung her shotgun from behind and kept a nice grip on it.
Sidearms were okay for anything or anyone else, but for an animal that could easily get all in your face, a shotgun was more appropriate. That said, Anna was sure to keep her eyes peeled for anything furry.
"Alright, we need to get going then. It's only a matter of time before anything sniffs us out. We've got that mansion to check out, let's get going," she told him, moving forward and a little ahead of Arc.
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Post by Winters on Mar 7, 2011 8:07:18 GMT -5
Scouting the woods whiling moving along the trail alongside Anna, knife facing down, Arc was ready to swing it the second he even sensed there was something coming toward him. Looks like they were still going for that lab, dead set with it. Once the two were up onto the main trail, they could branch off into the direction he knew it was located. In a matter of minutes though, another sound came from the distance, and Arc knew it was a mountain lion for sure now.
When the loud noise came from behind him, Arc swung his knife around, stabbing the wild cat in the side and taking him to the ground. In that same instant, another jumped out from the treeline, but was blasted back from Annas shotgun. Twisting the animals neck, it cracked, and Arc jumped back up to his feet with his knife ready. But theyre feet were ready quicker than anything else. "Run!"
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Post by NotAvailable on Mar 7, 2011 19:49:47 GMT -5
Anna didn't have to be told twice. She was already ahead of him, booking it in the opposite direction of the mansion. All that mattered right now, was their lives and she quite frankly enjoyed living. Of course she was fit, but she was still 38 years old, she was already panting and out of breath, but she continued to charge toward a forest clearing where there'd been knocked down trees and what looked like claw marks.
"f**kin' eh!" she said through breaths as she leapt over a fallen tree and looked back to ensure Arc was behind her. He was and he already passed her up by now with his superior speed.
"Sure, leave me the bait!" she said with a twang of humor before tripping on some branches and falling face first into the mud whereas the mountain lion, uninfected, somehow, had pounced right over her. If she ahdn't tripped, she'd be a goner.
Divine intervention... she told herself.
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Post by Winters on Mar 7, 2011 23:23:14 GMT -5
The moment Anna had gone down, thats when Arc stopped and turned around with knife raised. The Mountain Lion had jumped over his fallen friend, and now came flying with its claws outstretched toward him. Arc swung his knife upwards, cutting a slash into the creature, but it sank its claws into his arm. This drove him in to another animalistic state, and he ripped back at the cat with anger in his loud yelling. He wasnt saying anything, it was just a verbal warning to the beasts, and they froze in place for a few seconds, allowing Anna to get back to her feet and keep running.
But within a few seconds, they once again ran for Arc, both jumping at him. He readied himself, and the knife, for another claw to his arm, but the shotgun cracked off twice. Both of the infected were down, and Arc sniffed the gunpowder from the shotgun shells before jumped on top of one and cutting into his stomach. In seconds, the beasts entrails were strewn about, and Arc than quickly moved onto the second, making sure to mark the spot as a sign for the others to just back away. No more had come after that, five more minutes of straight running showed signs they got away safely. Arc was calming down over that time, but as Anna stopped to catch herself, he drove another few pills into him before talking. "Rest, we'll get our bearings down before going further. They wont be back anytime soon..."
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Post by NotAvailable on Mar 8, 2011 14:31:58 GMT -5
Anna had seated herself on one of the old trees and sighed, running a hand through her hair before looking up at Arc to see his eyes were still burning red. She also took into account the giant gap between them, letting her know that he was still raging out.
"Hey, you should be more worried about yourself, man. Just relax, calm down...here, take one of there instead of those pills," she said, reaching into her jacket pocket to pull out a prescription bottle. She looked at the label and handed them to him.
"Don't get dependant on those pain killers, it'll kill ya...You only took three, this shouldn't hurt," she told him as she gave him one single pill. It was enough to relax him and keep himself in check for awhile.
When he'd taken it into his own hand, Anna popped one, crunching it between her teeth in the process before swallowing.
"Alright, so I guess tha mansion idea was a bust...I think further down this direction is gonna take us into Stoneville, which shouldn't be that long of a walk. It's somewhere about noon right now, so we can make it there by foot sometime before sunset if we pick up the pace," she explained, checking her watch.
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Post by Winters on Mar 8, 2011 20:57:16 GMT -5
Staring at Anna with his red eyes, Arc took the pill that was given to him. It wasnt one of those that had markings on it, he didnt know exactly what it was, but if she figured one was just enough than it mustve been something strong enough to work alongside the three painkillers he did take. He had been taking less and less of them as time went on, trying to control the effects they had on him, to combat the changes. It was working pretty well, but he started to get reliant on them, maybe that was changing his body even more than anything. They would both see in five minutes time whether it worked or not, but ripping away the curiousity from him, Arc wouldnt ask what the pills she had were. It wasnt important.
After listening to her speak about the mansion idea being a bust, Arc was a little happy, it meant they could get Anna to Stoneville quicker than their original plan. Once they were at the camp, things would settle down. He wanted to settle down, try to blend in. Not worry about killing every fifteen minutes. Anna was right, it was better for him to calm down, and being at the camp in Stoneville would be a great start. "Right, Stoneville, than. Yeah, your right, this direction will take use to the highway, than its just another twenty minutes or so out of town. Weve already came so far alone the side of the mountain, shouldnt be any longer than that."
Even with his red eyes and anger inside of him, Arc still spoke out clearly. That was something he could control for the most part. The sun had been going down now, dark patches of shadows covered the forest path. Arc jumped up, grabbing a branch above him, and swinging himself up onto it with his upper body strength. "So whenever your ready, let me know." He than began climbing higher and higher into the great pine, until he was out of sight.
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Post by NotAvailable on Mar 8, 2011 22:11:27 GMT -5
Anna watched Arc climb his way up into the tree and cocked her head before he completely disappeared from view. Before long, she'd called up to him, "Don't go too high! There's a possibility those pills will make you a little tired!" she said before sighing and looking around. It seemed safe enough and quiet enough to take a load off for a bit.
She did so, putting her things down up against the fallen tree trunk and laying down, resting her head on her duffel bag. She'd wrapped her leather jacket tighter around her and pulled her hood over her head to block out a little sunlight. If anything were to jump out, she could still hear it.
Right now, she was just tired. She may have had a nice six hour sleep but she'd been suffering from six days without it before she'd met up with Arc. She was still very much sleep deprived and it showed in her eyes. They were a medium shade of grey and purple beneather her lower lids and around. Her skin was pasty. Her face was sunken from weight loss since she hadn't really eaten a good meal in like, a month.
Her normal, youthful, body felt like it was 90 years old and counting. It may not have looked it, but it definitely felt it.
She'd closed her eyes slightly and breathed deeply before exhaling. Things had gone fuzzy and dark and before long, her head tilted downward and she was lightly snoring.
What are you doing?! Wake up!
It's safe....Arc's up there...on the lookout...
Yeah and he's also bats*** insane, get your ass up!
In a minute...
Anna, wake up!
Just a small nap....A tiny...little...nap...zzzz....
Suddenly, Anna was shaken awake and standing above her was some strange man that looked down at her.
"Hey, lady, wake up," he told her.
As soon as he'd seen her eyes opened from beneath her hood, he felt something hard and cold pressing against his chest over his heart. Looking down he'd cringed and noticed it was a gun.
"Look, I didn't mean to scare you, yound lady, I was just, passing through..." he tried, putting his hands up defensively.
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Post by Winters on Mar 8, 2011 22:53:31 GMT -5
Reaching the top of the tree, Arc perched, just staring out along the forest. This wasnt tallest tree around, but it was tall enough to see Stoneville about a mile or two away. The whole mountain scene had been littered with animals, both living and dead, and a lot of them could be sensed. If they needed to go hunting, this was the way to do it, a personal GPS system for locating live game. Anna had been sleeping down below the tree, seemed like it had been for at least a half an hour now. All Arc did was just sit and wait, making sure none of the animals got gotten close. They were a good distance from the sight, and didnt even sense her, which was the way things needed to be.
It wasnt until Arc heard the voice coming from below, a mans voice, that he started sensing the human presence. Quickly jumping down, silently hanging from a branch halfway down, Arc watched the man below. He was hanging on with one hand, and his knife in the other, making sure that if the strange did anything stupid, Arc could jump in. But Anna had her gun pointed at him, she got this.
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Post by NotAvailable on Mar 8, 2011 23:01:40 GMT -5
Anna gotten to her feet and grasped the man's arm, twisting it behind his back with one hand and keeping the nose of the gun up against his back with the other. It was standard police procedure she'd learned way back in her RPD times. She'd patted him down but he seemed weaponless besides the large metal rod he had in his belt loop.
She lowered her gun and gently pushed him further upfront and asked him to turn around. Doing so, he sighed. He had to be somewhere in his 50's.
"So what are you doing here in the woods? Sneaking up on people..."she asked.
"I was looking for my grand daughter...she got spooked by some noises and ran away...I heard her crying and screaming but I can't find her. I know she's alive, we have an old cabin back down that way. She knows where it's at...I saw you and I thought may you'd seen her or..." he trailed off, obviously concerned.
Anna felt for the old man and noticed Arc approaching from behind him.
"He's alright, he lost his granddaughter in the woods though," she told him.
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Post by Winters on Mar 9, 2011 1:40:23 GMT -5
Arc had fell backwards, flipping a little backwards as he landed on the ground a few feet away. He looked at the older man, not exactly sure what they should do. To him, it seemed like a trap of some sort, but maybe that was just him being paranoid. Maybe the guy was actually looking for his granddaughter, they wouldnt know for unless they help him out. It was a choice that swayed back and fourth in his head. Sad to think that a kind ever came where Arc needed to even think about what they should do. He wouldnt leave the man to die, if he wasnt faking it, he would help him. "Sir, calm down, we can help you..." Without even waiting for the man to respond, Arc stepped a littler closer to him, in a very intimidating fashion. "If you want our help, you calm down. If you dont, then leave. Where was he last? Tell me what happened."
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