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Post by Evening in Missoula on Apr 21, 2010 16:20:26 GMT -5
Rebecca sat down cross-legged on the floor, listening to his story intently with bright eyes, paying close attention. She always payed attention when people talked, or at least it looked like she was. She'd stare with those big green eyes of hers until she was certain they were finished speaking, nodding occasionally. This was another trait that often made people uncomfortable, that she didn't shy away from eye contact. Her posture perked up a little bit when he mentioned-or at least sounded like he had began to mention- the Umbrella corporation. She didn't interrupt, though, and waited patiently for him to finish speaking before starting on her own history.
"You act like I'm 12. I might look young, but I'm 19, almost 20 years old, St. Louis." People always mistook her age for younger, she was used to it. It was one of the problems with being so small. But hey, at least she could fit into small cramped spaces, that was sure useful, eh? "Umbrella is what you were going to say, right?" She asked, tilting her head a bit to play with one of the shorter pieces of hair. "My parents were research scientists for Umbrella, I didn't see them much, they lived somewhere else for work. They stuck me here in Raccoon City to live with my Aunt and Uncle, he was a cop, a detective for homicide actually.. My parents came to visit occasionally, when they got time away from work. The first outbreak happened when I was 4 or 5. I don't know if I really understood what was going on, but I understood better than most of the kids. My Uncle got us out of there quick, kept us safe until everything settled down. He'd already taught me at least the basics of gun use." She rested her head in her hand, still aiming the flashlight so he could see. She stayed like this for a bit, thinking about what she was going to say next, allowing for the silence to thicken the air. She then cleared her throat and began to trace swirling patterns on the floor with her index finger.
"Um.. I graduated early, even with the time lost from the outbreak, and went on to college. I'm a Biology/Virology major. Wanted to be like my parents I guess, y'know, without the uh... assisting in the creation of the most lethal pathogen since Ebola Zaire. I was home on vacation from school when all this craziness happened. Talk about bad timing, huh? Anyway, my Uncle tried to to the whole evac thing with me and my Aunt but it didn't really turn out all that well. There's a 12 car pileup on one of the roads leading onto the Highway and one of those hunks of twisted metal has my Aunt and Uncle in it." She pushes her hair back and gestures to the bruises and cuts on her body, primarily the left side. "I got off lucky. These guns are his."
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Post by Winters on Apr 22, 2010 2:37:09 GMT -5
Louis was a little gutted when she spoke, the girl had a pretty rough last few weeks, seemingly. But he was sure Rebecca could handle herself, regardless of age, that part didn't get to him. Maybe it was just the fact of having company around, someone of similar age to the girl whom he hurt not even four days prior to they're encounter at the mall. Those girls were in Raccoon City again, searching for Louis' one longtime pal Joey. Wonder what that crazy goofball was up to these days, probably getting himself and his friends killed, he hoped. There was always anger between them, and always will be. Differences will never, ever settle up, they will always be complete opposites.
But thinking about Rebecca and her story, Louis saw the bruises on her body. If she was lucky, she would've been killed. You cant say anybody is lucky for surviving this long, it really changes a person. The lucky part was her being helped at such a young age back in 1998, nobody was ever their for him. But then again, anybody who lived through the fourteen years that past would lose everything they've ever known about their old life. Even Louis has no idea what happened to his parents, he never thinks about it. The only thing he thinks about is the next thing that walks in front of his gun, and how quickly it takes to strike him to the ground. However, he had some common sense, and it wouldn't be right to speak his mind right now. "Sounds like you got off easy, if ya ask me. So you have any other plans? Or your just fine with running around this city, trying to make it on borrowed time?
Louis new it would happen again, but it would be much worse then last time. Maybe they called off the strike on Raccoon City this time around, seeing as the infection was spread faster then before, they wouldn't have anything to gain by nuking this place. Seeing the monitor flicker 'error' on the screen for the thousandth time angered him, Louis threw it onto the ground, smashing it into the solid tiles. "Im going to find the source myself, if your coming along, better keep up because im not waiting for you." Louis opened up the door, and stepped into the hallway. There was too much on his mind, too much thinking only killed people, it wasn't fixing the problem.
As he marched down the hallway with the SMG aimed forward, Louis marked the six infected, taking off pot shots at each of them once he got close enough. But the last one grabbed him, trying to pry his arm down. Grabbing its jaw with his free hand, Louis slammed the infected head into the wall, hearing a bone chilling crack as blood slid down to the floor along with the corpse. Kicking open the door at the end of the hallway, he could see a large box like structure that was sparking from its right side. "Bingo..." he whispered to himself. Hearing footsteps, Louis bolted his gun back toward the hallway, shining the dim light along the wall until he saw Rebecca standing there, looking at the dead bodies. It was this moment that he realized that he had blood covering nearly his whole right abdominal, once his vest opened up.
Blood loss was obvious, his wound from leaving the Arklay Forest had opened up. He knew it wasn't infected, but she didn't, that was what got his attention. Blood soaked his shirt, throw the dirty white bandage, leaking onto the floor. Lowering the weapon, he put it back in his jacket, and reached for a medical spray on the other side. But Louis found that he was all out, it had been replaced by another box of 9mm bullets. He wasn't sure how Rebecca would react to this, but he really did need medical attention, and she was the only one with a first aid kit. Louis was too stubborn to ask for help, but knew that it was the only thing standing between him keeping himself in check, and passing out from blood loss. Laying down against the wall to save his energy, Louis looked up at Rebecca once again, beating himself up on the inside, screaming "I told you so!" in his conscience.
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Post by Evening in Missoula on Apr 23, 2010 0:16:34 GMT -5
"Easy? Yeah... I guess you could say that." For a few seconds she stared off, unable to shake the images of her Aunt sitting limp in the car seat, head lolling to one side as her neck had snapped in the crash. Nor could she forget seeing her Uncle, cold and pale, a large chunk of metal slicing through him and pinning him to the seat. It so easily could have been her. If her seat belt hadn't held so well, if she'd decided to take the front seat instead of her aunt, she would have had so much worse than a few cuts. "I want to get out of the city, but I really don't have any place to go."
Rebecca was about to say more when the monitor smashed on the floor near her. She jumps half a foot in the air before getting to her feet quickly to about splinters of glass. Looking up at him, she could understand frustration, but that was scary. As he left, she squatted down and sifted through the remains of the monitor with little interest, giving him a little space to cool off a bit and allowing herself a little time to think things over. Where was she going? For the past few weeks she'd just been wandering around the city and trying to keep herself alive. Helping the city get power was the first productive thing she'd done so far... A few gunshots knocked her out of her stupor.
With an inhale and a sigh she got up and followed quietly. Stopping to stare at a body on the ground. He was probably a plant worker, stuck here. Knitting her brows together, she wondered if he had a family. She let her mind wander slightly. Maybe he had a house in the suburbs... A white one with a red door and a picket fence. He had a wife who would ask him how his day was... and two kids, a boy and a girl, they'd hop on his lap the second they saw him, laughing and just so happy to see him again. Maybe he had a dog that would faithfully greet him at the door, wagging his tail and handing him the paper... he can't have any of that now. None of us can. Rebecca frowned, no one could have normalcy after this. But maybe she could be part of the solution, helping the survivors in this city get at least one thing they needed, and that was power.
Finally she snapped herself out of her own head to look over at Louis. "Hey, any lu-" She started, then her eyes widened when she saw the mess of blood covering him. Had he been bit? No, not in the time she'd been tagging along, he couldn't have, she would have noticed. But she'd only known the man for a few hours at the most, who knows what happened before that. "Crap, what happened?" She hissed, concernedly, as she rummaged through her bag. Regardless of infection, he needed that bleeding to be stopped. Anyways, he didn't look like he was about to turn. She pulled the case out and ran over to him, crouching down. With a frown, she pulled on a pair of latex gloves she'd packed specially in the case, in fact she'd packed tons of them. She didn't like touching blood directly, knowing just exactly what could be lurking in it.
"You're in great shape here." She said sarcastically, taking out some bandages and medical spray. "But just to be safe, let me help you out." She helped him get out of the clothes that were covering the wound and looked at it for a second, trying to remember stuff she'd been taught by her Uncle and by others she knew about first aid. She winced a bit, that was a lot of blood... With a deep breath she got to work cleaning the wound and then trying to stop the bleeding. She set a bunch of gauze against it and the wrapped it up tightly. That should stop the bleeding for a good long while. Taking off the gloves, she tossed them aside and repacked the kit.
"You'd better not be infected." She said sternly before following it shortly with, "So how did you manage that...?"
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Post by Winters on Apr 23, 2010 1:19:48 GMT -5
Of all the things he did know about killing others, opening them up from the outside in, and basically just ripping them apart, Louis had never seen somebody do the opposite and help him go back together again. Rebecca obvious had more experience with medical training then he did, it showed by her skillful hands working around the wound. This would very well be a test for her, maybe she wasnt so useless after all. It helped to have a partner to help you out in a tight spot like this, Louis never worked with anybody before. Not without leaving abandoning them within twenty four hours of meeting them. Sitting back patiently, he watched as Rebecca began to clean the wound up, he could get a good look at the tear in his upper arm.
"I won, thats what happened... If I didnt, I wouldnt have that arm..." Perhaps he could be more descriptive, even though he wasnt good with explaining himself to anybody, Rebecca deserved the answer with her amazingly good deed in helping him on the spot. "...Well, a BOW attacked. I happen to be in the wrong place as the right time, so figured id lend a hand. It was something ive never seen before, took nearly three people to not kill it off, but only scare it away. Havent run into it since, but. Got me pretty good, huh? And no, its not infected... I promise..." I promise? Wasnt going soft, was I? It could very well be, but he knew that it wasnt from the T-Virus, he would be fine. "Just do whatever you have to do, but if I were you, id stitch that up. Would do it myself, but it would look a lot prettier if did it, since you have both hands free. Ill walk ya through it, if you need help..."
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Post by Evening in Missoula on Apr 23, 2010 1:49:49 GMT -5
Rebecca stared at him while he explained, not breaking eye contact as she normally did when others spoke to her and repacking her first aid kit blindly but seeming to know well enough where everything went to put it back together without looking. She only broke the eye contact to look at his arm for a moment. Listening to him, she scrunched her nose a little bit. A B.O.W? Bio-Organic Weapon. She'd heard stories but never encountered one herself.
With a shrug of her shoulders she looked at him. "Not infected? Promise? ..Good, then I shouldn't have to worry about your blood too much. Well, aside from how much you've lost." She looked down at her wrist, proud to note that not even a drop had gone anywhere but the latex gloves she'd discarded. In her work with studying viruses, it was a useful skill to be able to avoid contact with blood that could be infected. It only takes a single drop of blood coming in contact with a new host for massive infection to start. The entire city was a hot zone, it was a miracle she'd survived this long and she intended to be careful.
"It would be a good idea to stitch up that wound, and I can do it, but I don't have the supplies needed. You should be able to manage for a bit, that wrap should slow the bleeding, but to really take care of the wound we need to get to a hospital... or like, a crafts shop or something." She replaced the kit in her bag and stood up. "All that's in my kit is like, gauze and stuff. Real basic. I packed it for a hike I was supposed to be going on. Needless to say that plan got nipped in the bud." She walked over to the large box that was sparking, squatting down and trying to figure it out. After a long silence she spoke up again. "Tell me what needs to be done here and I'll do it. We need to get out of here and get that fixed before the wrap stops holding and you bleed out."
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Post by Winters on Apr 23, 2010 3:00:02 GMT -5
Louis was really starting to hate himself, depending on other people this was making him feel weak and angry. He could very well do it on his own, it was just a better choice to let her help. For once, he was bonding with a survivor, actually holding a conversation. She worked well, fitting up the wound as best as possible. It looked very professional, despite her not even being a doctor. Maybe she started a degree, who really knew, didn't much matter. Rebecca was right, however, it would be alright with being stitched up for now. This wasn't the flaw, the flaw was he could have to keep his wound from stretching, or opening up again. Maneuvering would be much harder, but its not like he had much of a choice, right? For the first time in a decade, he spoke a word he hadn't pictured himself saying ever again.
"Thanks..." And boy, did it take a lot of effort to come out. Standing back up to his feet, Louis looked over at the box, and knew that it would be nearly impossible to repair unless the electricity was completely out first. Ironic, to fix the electricity, they had to cut it off. But that was just the wonders of working, you have to take a step backward to get ahead, sometimes. Seeing another terminal, it had glowing regulators on the front. This showed the power on the gages, and where it was flowing. "Alright, lets just skip this step, open up that panel, and slice a wire off completely. Feel for one thats warm, avoid cutting one thats cold. Don't think I have to explain why..."
Louis then looked at the other terminal, that one would be a but harder, and would require his own eyes, and her hands. "After that, come over here, and ill walk you through the rewiring process on this terminal. I still have some old junk in my jacket pocket, if you wanna fish through and find some tools." Now he was trusting this girl with going through his own jacket? It lay against the wall, the SMG sticking out from the pocket. Inside, she would find the tools on the right, and on the left, some private papers and documents. Louis hoped that Rebecca would have enough common sense not to get too mischievous.
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Post by Evening in Missoula on Apr 23, 2010 3:59:49 GMT -5
Rebecca smiled at him. "No problem, St. Louis. Let's just focus on getting the power on so we can focus on that wound." Nodding, she listened to his instructions before moving over to the box and following them. She opened it up and felt the wires carefully. Cold... cold... cold... cold... cold... cold... cold... warm! Pulling out her knife, she took hold of the warm wire and snipped it cautiously. Another puzzle, they did her mind good. "Okay, I think I got it."
Rebecca nodded again and turned, walking back over to him and his jacket with confident strides. Opening the jacket up, she started to dig around. Initially, accidentally, she mixed up her left and right, confused to find papers in the coat pocket instead of tools. She pulled them out and glanced at them for a second before realizing this was the wrong pocket and putting them back quickly. Then she stuck her hand into the right pocket and felt around until she had her hands wrapped around the tools. Pulling them out, she looked over at him.
"Alright, what now?"
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Post by Winters on Apr 23, 2010 17:46:24 GMT -5
"Mmmm... Now we just need to-" Before Louis could finish the sentence, the door to the room they were in had finally broken in. It wasnt the metal door, it was coming from the other side. But regardless, the infected were pouring in now, he had to get them out and the door welded shut. Going for his SMG on the ground, Louis opened fired at the crowd in small burts, and then yelled to Rebecca to stay away from them. "Dont get too close, use your shotgun!" He didnt think that the smaller girl would be able to use it effectively enough, but there was some things in life you just had to do, not do well. It would bruise like mad crazy, but clear a gap in the enemy enough for him to get a better shot with his SMG.
After a pump, the shell had knocked all but two down the ground. Louis fired two rounds, both hitting the two infected in the head at close range. As the others crawled toward Rebecca, and tried but failed at standing up, Louis had to get them out for the count. Using his SMG with one hand, on his good arm, he held it toward one of the zombies on the ground, and fired a round into its head at point blank. "Dont let them get up..." Holding his heel into another infecteds back, Louis pinned it down, raring for another headshot. He watched Rebecca to do the same with her handgun, covering her face as blood flung up onto her cloths. She seemed a little emotional over coming in contact with the red, but he knew it was only if it got into a wound that it would infect. Once all the infected were down, he tossed the SMG back into his jacket, and then moved over to the doorway, closing over the door.
"Lets hurry this up. Now that the powers off, you need to rewire the mainframe. Looks to me like theres a tear down the whole thing, but one a few of the wires are broken. In my tool bag, electrical tape, its the only thing you have to work with. Not like I carry around extra wires with me, so well have to keep it simple. Find a wire, trace it, reattach it, make sure its good and secure. Ill stand here and connect the wire you cut, to test if it works or not after you connect your ends." Perhaps he was getting stupid, letting Rebecca do all of this on her own. It wasnt that he didnt trust her, it was the fact that he felt like he couldnt do it himself. Putting trust in other people was stupid to him, it always was, and always will be. But sometimes, he could do it. With Rebecca, it was one of the smartest things hed done in a long time.
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Post by Evening in Missoula on Apr 25, 2010 2:11:57 GMT -5
Rebecca eagerly waited for her instructions, nearly falling over when the infected broke down the door. "Crap!" She fumbled for her gun, seeing as she was still holding tools. "I know to stay away from them, I made it this far haven't I?" She finally got a hold of it and shot one in the leg, toppling it. Becca was about to go for another when he told her to take out her shotgun. With a sigh she complied. She haaated the shotgun, it was too big for her. But at the same time, it was a logical choice over the handgun to attack more than one at a time. She aimed best she could with the big gun and fired, the recoil sending her staggering back and nearly knocking her off her feet.
They started crawling and Rebecca followed Louis's example to take them out, flinching heavily and keeping her face away from the blood. Oh she knew it wouldn't infect unless it got into her somehow, this virus was spread via mucus membranes. But her saliva was a mucus membrane and it if got into her mouth it would start multiplying. And she could not have that, no siree.
Once the drama of the situation was over, she shook herself off, gathered herself and then went over to follow his instructions with the broken wires. Just taping them up, simple enough. A fairly easy puzzle. Before long they had it up and running.
"Alright, that should hold. I say we get you somewhere where I can stitch that up now, alright?"
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Post by Winters on Apr 26, 2010 0:36:27 GMT -5
"Y-yeah, alright..." Louis stumbled his words, feeling dizzy and light headed. But he moved along on his own, not showing it too much that he should actually have a little more assistance in walking. Picking up his jacket, he slipped it over himself, and put only his good arm through the sleeve. This gave his other one the needed oxygen to heal properly, but Rebecca was right, it needed to be stitched. Louis wasnt going to get used to having somebody around, learning to survivor on your own was the most important thing of all tasks. However, he could grossingly admit to himself that having somebody around, even if it was a younger girl, made him feel comfourtable.
Keeping the lead, Louis used the wall to hold himself up at some points, in case he fell over from lack of balance. He certainly was stubburn, but it hasnt gotten him killed all this years. It wasnt until he hit the stairs that he knew in his own head that going on solo wasnt an option. Finally leaning up against the wall, Louis slid down, sitting on the floor, and looking up at Rebecca. "I need to rest, I dont... I dont feel so good, prin-" Louis didnt use the word, she wasnt a princess, she was more than that in his eyes now. Rebecca proved to be a survivalist, over the last few hours, it became clear that she didnt need him. If anything, Louis was only slowing her down, a change of pace for sure. "Feel free to go on without me, I guess I did what I came to do."
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Post by Evening in Missoula on Apr 26, 2010 1:15:43 GMT -5
She watched him struggle onwards with a frown. As much as he tried to hide it, it wad extremely obvious that he was in a lot of pain, and with good reason, too. Those wounds were severe. Rebecca wanted very badly to help him, but if she'd learned anything in the last few hours, it was that he was stubborn. With a sigh, she continued to watch him struggle onwards. What a dumdum... She sighed again.
As they neared the stairs she saw him collapse.
"I need to rest, I dont... I dont feel so good, prin-... Feel free to go on without me, I guess I did what I came to do."
With a loud, over-exaggerated sigh she rolled her eyes. Crouching down, she looked him straight in the eyes, staring for a moment before reaching out and flicking his forehead like an owner scolding a misbehaving puppy. "Quit being a butthead, Louis." And that's all she said. She pulled his good arm up around her shoulders and helped him to his feet, then proceeded to slowly help him up she stairs. Although she may not have been strong, she could be a crutch if needed.
Despite anything he might've said to her during the time she helped him walk, Rebecca didn't respond. As far as she was concerned, until he was dead or decided to leave, it was her duty to help him and keep him safe. Aside from that, he was another person, someone to talk to and keep her from spending too much time in her own head. Something to keep her sane in this mess. Because if she stopped to think about the things her head desperately wanted to bring up, it could ruin her.
She helped him back to the car, staying silent and keeping her eyes ahead. She propped him on the car as she opened the door, then proceeded to help him inside. Then she rounded over to the driver's side and got in. "To the hospital, then."
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Post by Winters on Apr 26, 2010 1:34:52 GMT -5
The man closed his eyes once he was knocked in the forehead, what the hell was s*** trying to prove by doing that? It got his attention, and Louis understood. Maybe it felt a little stupid of him, but he willingly offered for Rebecca to get out on her own. However, she wanted to stay behind, and help him, unlike anybody else whom he encountered. Anybody else would have just left him, and probably wouldve been carrying on with their own problems. But not her, she was different. Though he showed no facial expression, there would have been a large grin on Louis' face during the struggle onto his feet. Rebecca helped him out of the building and into the car, why would she really care about him enough to put herself in danger by carrying his burdon?
The question left unanswered, perhaps it was for the better. The only thing that mattered was that she made the choice, and as much as he wouldve been fine being left on his own, Louis was grateful for her sacrifice. "Your alright, kid. You know that? Your in charge from now on, prin-" But again, the word almost slipped out of his mouth. An urk in his arm had had him uncomfourtable from the pain. Looks like they were going to the hospital, she knew where the place was? Regardless, Louis had closed his eyes, nearly falling asleep. He just needed to recover. Besides, Rebecca was in charge now, and he put all of his faith in her. "...Soldier..."
[Rebecca and Louis are not at the Raccoon City Hospital]
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