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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 21, 2012 7:18:27 GMT -5
Anna had been flipping through her phone quickly been making her way to the BSAA camp a block or two over, trying to keep herself dry from the rain, unfortunately, that wasn't something that was gonna happen. Tugging her hood over her head, she'd tried to continue her conversation, which was now breaking up.
"Rich...Rich can you hear me...? Goddammit...I said I was gonna be late, I've got some s*** to finish up at that camp and---hey, hello?" she tried, when finally the call dropped.
"Ah f**k me..." the redhead growled when suddenly she'd merged with someone whom emerged from the neighborhood bakery. The collision caused her hoodie to slide back from her head and her cellphone went slipping through her hands, luckily, she quickly caught it with hands.
"Sh*t lady!" she barked, shoving the phone in her inner jacket pocket. Looking up at the blonde, she'd noticed she was equally as drenched as she and just lost one of her breads in the gutter.
"I take it you're headed the same way I am?' the woman suddenly asked, obviously irritated. Anna wasn't sure if she was irritated with her or with the bread situation. Reaching down to pick up the muddy loaf, she'd quirked a brow.
"If you mean the camp, yeah, maybe...sorry about the bread. Looks like it's just one of them days, eh?" she said, looking away at the cars driving passed them.
She'd taken a side step under what little coverage the bakery door had to offer.
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Post by Caliber on Aug 21, 2012 7:29:19 GMT -5
"No big deal, that loaf was mine. I really only needed to return with this one. It's for a friend," Phoenix said, following the redhead's lead by stepping under the small canopy over the front of the bakery, keeping them dry for as long as they stood there.
"B.S.A.A., huh?" Phoenix questioned, rhetorically, referring to the woman's clothing. "Looks like we share an employer."
Phoenix awkwardly shoved the loaf of bread beneath her trench coat, then began buttoning it up, so that nothing else fell out. She carefully kept the bread in place with her arm, making sure not to drop it.
"They call me Phoenix. I'm a private contractor. The B.S.A.A. hires me when they don't feel like getting their hands dirty."
Phoenix reached out to shake hands.
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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 21, 2012 7:39:08 GMT -5
Anna shook her hand and chuckled, retracting and pushing her hands into her pockets to keep warm. "Well, I'm Anna McGraw, Special Operations Agent. They send me in to be the eyes and ears of the B.S.A.A. Atleast, that's what the job description is. Most of the time, I'm doing paper work or being sent off to kill something ten times my size....never anything inbetween," she responded with a twang of humor.
She looked down at her watch to see it was already touching late noon. She was supposed to be on site an hour ago. Rushing to go talk to Aryn's principal with Rich had taken up some of her time.
"I guess we're both walking huh? Miserable f*ckin' weather this is," she said, raking a hand through her hair to push her fringes out of her face.
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Post by Caliber on Aug 21, 2012 7:49:32 GMT -5
"Heh," Phoenix chuckled as Anna paraphrased her job description. "Trying to kill something ten times my size is the fun part of the job. But the paperwork? That sh*t's a death sentence, no idea how youguys deal with it. The responsibilities that come with it are the main reason I'm not interested in becoming an agent. I think I've had enough being ordered around for a lifetime, given my previous employers."
The cold was beginning to get to Phoenix again, but she was enjoying the friendly conversation.
"I take it you know the feeling. You look like you've seen a lot more action than the usual guys around the station."
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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 21, 2012 7:54:44 GMT -5
Anna shared a laugh with the blonde woman and shook her head. She hit the nail right on the head, oh boy did she. The agent nodded slowly, crossing her arms over her chest a little. "I guess you could say that. Police Officer for four years. CIA for five. I've had my fair share of paperwork and monsters. Only reason I'm doing this is for the security. I've got a family I need to protect," she explained.
She'd taken another glance at her watch and frowned, tapping her foot a little. "What about you? You look like you've seen some hell too. Private Contractor usually comes with the military territory. You're body language is pretty disciplined," she said, observing the woman's posture.
Glancing at her watch again, she'd sighed. She was gonna get torn a new one if she was any later.
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Post by Caliber on Aug 21, 2012 8:10:51 GMT -5
"CIA, huh?" Phoenix replied. "Never an easy road."
Anna returned the question. Phoenix chuckled as Anna commented on her disciplined body language.
"Was it me stumbling into somebody on the streets, or me dropping my sidearm in a mud puddle that gave it away?" she laughed.
Phoenix decided to address the question seriously.
"No family for me. No sad story to accompany that fact, either. No sadder than anybody else's, at least," she explained. "US Army. I was a Green Beret for awhile, then with Delta Force for a few years, up until the outbreak," Phoenix told her. "Don't ask," she added, to avoid the inevitable question of how a woman was allowed into the Special Forces. "Ten years of special forces shows you more than you'd ever want to see in a lifetime, but it's not as though any of us can just up and quit. With the world gone to sh*t, you've gotta work when you can."
Phoenix could tell the woman was anxious, as was she.
"We should probably get back to camp. I get the feeling we both have people waiting on us... but I guess that's kinda true with everybody these days."
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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 21, 2012 8:26:40 GMT -5
Anna listened to Phoenix's summarized story. U.S. Delta as a young woman in her day, very hard to do, almost impossible. Nice. She wasn't going to question her, it was something to be proud of, she wasn't a spirit crusher. Eventually she'd went over her long military history before mentioning they should get to the outpost soon. She'd happily obliged.
"Good idea, the Lieutenant can be a cranky old f*ck," she said, smirking at the disapproving face of Lieutenant Isaac Chase.
After a good half hour walk through the rain, it began to become a mere drizzle overhead. It was getting dark out and the outpost was within reach. The upper management had borrowed an old military base to set up camp. With the threatening infection dwindling around the U.S., alot of these outposts had popped up about everywhere. Luckily, Virginia was completely safe but with the President here, the B.S.A.A. had set up shop to ensure the extra security.
Anna and Phoenix both arrived soaked in rain, some of the other agents and officers had been crowding around in clear ponchos, dryer than they were.
"Damn, why didn't I think of that?" Anna murmurred.
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Post by Caliber on Aug 21, 2012 8:53:56 GMT -5
As the two women approached the B.S.A.A. outpost, Phoenix could see the light from the campfires out front. Most of the outpost didn't have heating, so people would sit around one of the many campfires on the compound when it got cold. To keep dry, plastic canopies were set above the firepits and sitting areas.
"Finally," Phoenix said to Anna as they reached the gates.
Daylight was fading quickly as the sun continued to set. The rain didn't show any sign of letting up, and the night sky was completely shrouded by dark clouds.
Phoenix and Anna walked into camp, passing by several guards. There were sentries by the fences and snipers in the towers. The place was fairly secure. They reached the center of camp, which was mostly covered by dozens of plastic canopies, overlapping eachother, allowing dry pathways between buildings. The barracks were on the far side of camp, a small building functioning as a mess hall was close by (though it didn't have enough room to seat more than fifteen people, so most people either ate by the fires or in the barracks), and the main building was at the center.
Now that they were under cover, Phoenix unbuttoned her trench coat and removed the dry loaf of bread from inside.
"Safe and sound," she said.
Looking around, Phoenix could see Cel's APC across the camp, backed up to one of the undercover areas beside a camp fire. The APC's door was open, forming a ramp to the ground. Several plastic chairs were set up around it, most of which were currently unoccupied. Phoenix could see Cel dealing with customers-- two men.
"You met Celeste yet? She's the arms dealer. Stops by once a month," Phoenix told Anna. "I gotta go see her. You wanna come after you check in? Some more ammo couldn't hurt, if you've got the cash."
Phoenix knew that most B.S.A.A. agents carried money on them, in case of emergencies. Currency still had value in some of the more civilized places.
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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 21, 2012 9:02:34 GMT -5
Anna had shrugged her jacket off of her shoulders, slapping the wet article of clothing over her shoulder. "Sure, just give me a sec, I need to go sign in, talk to my superiors and I'll be back out. Go on ahead without me, I'll catch up," she told Phoenix, wandering off to registration. She'd trudged along through the crowd of personnel, her shoulder holster and badge completely exposed to her peers.
"Hey, McGraw!" a man called from his fold up table. Looking over, she'd seen her old friend grinning at her. He was a tall, muscular man with nice hair and short tempered personality.
"Tits! What's up?" she asked, returning the friendly smile. The man cringed at the name and tossed her a can of soda. "Don't open that yet." he suddenly said, chuckling.
"Bastard. Hey, I'll talk to you in a bit, I gotta go see the Lieu," she told him, pointing a thumb behind her. He nodded and batted a hand at her, taking a long drink of his beverage.
"Whatever, Red. I brought an extra sub if you're hungry," he told her. Anna nodded a thanks and wandered off.
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Post by Mikey on Aug 21, 2012 9:32:02 GMT -5
Richard stepped out onto the stoop of the building he was sleeping in at the moment. It was a converted office building, and Richard had claimed a nice spot on the floor in the corner. He was offered an actual room, but he didn’t need one. He had a pack and what he was wearing, and that was good enough. There were people who needed the room more than he did.
What he did need, however, was the cigarette that was clamped between his lips. And his Zippo wasn’t working. Dammit… He was sure it had gotten wet somewhere. He couldn’t even see the sparks as the wheel struck against the flint.
Cursing out loud in Russian, he slipped it back into his pocket and started to look for a book of matches he was sure he had somewhere…
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Post by Caliber on Aug 21, 2012 9:57:22 GMT -5
Phoenix waited outside for Anna to get back. She had a few minutes to kill anyway, since Cel was still dealing with customers. Shortly after Anna walked inside, a man stepped out. He was attempting to light a cigarette, but his lighter didn't appear to be working. Phoenix was in a friendly mood, and decided to lend him hers. She wasn't a smoker, but a lighter comes in hand far to often to not carry one.
Reaching into her coat pocket, Phoenix pulled out a silver Zippo. She flicked it open and held it toward the man's cigarette.
"Need a flame?"
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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 21, 2012 10:17:33 GMT -5
Anna had swiped her card into the system and grabbed a small bulk of papers one of the men there had given her. More paperwork to fill out, great. Sighing, she flipped through them, careful not to rip the staples off as she did so. Moving through the office, she hadn't noticed the older gentlemen walking upto her, arms folded across her chest.
"Glad you decided to come to work, McGraw,"
Anna looked up from her papers to see the Lieutenant staring her down with cold eyes. He was in professional mode now. Usually he was relaxed, laid back, sitting on her couch with her boyfriend and watching the gameshow. Almost like another father. Today, he was just a Lieutenant d*ck.
"It's fashionable, ya know."
The man sighed and went to sit down behind a desk, shuffling through his things. "The meeting has been postponed for the time being, the Captain's wife went into labor this morning and the SOU Firewater was in an accident this afternoon."
Anna winced. "Ouch, any casualties?" she asked, raising a brow. Chase had been looking over his books as he responded.
"Just a few sore bodies and a sprained limb here and there. They were traveling to the White House for a confirmation when a news truck that was tailing them somehow crashed into their van..." he sighed.
Anna smirked. "Booker still trying to pry into the B.S.A.A.'s affair huh? One day, someone's gonna punch that guy out for his disingenuous assertions."
Chase chuckled a little.
"That would only be a mere inconvenience for him....anyway, you and the others are off the hook today, but we're going to need some overnighters. Interested?" he asked.
"I dunno, what's the pay?" she asked, sourly.
"Not bad."
"I'll see what happens. I'm gonna head to lunch now, Lieutenant, I haven't eaten yet and I got some friends waiting for me," she explained.
Chase nodded a little, going to his own paperwork.
"Right right, you're dismissed," he said.
Anna nodded and turned to leave the small temp office.
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Post by Mikey on Aug 22, 2012 4:26:50 GMT -5
Richard hadn't seen the woman walk up, still wrist deep in his messanger bag. He looked up and couldn't help the small grin that spread across his lips as he leaned forward. The tip of the cigarette touched the flame, he inhaled, and turned his head to avoid blowing the smoke into the woman's face.
"Thank you." He said in his thickly accented voice, letting his bag drop to his side and plucking the smoke from between his lips.
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Post by Caliber on Aug 22, 2012 4:50:46 GMT -5
The man brought the tip of his cigarette over Phoenix's Zippo, lighting it. He inhaled, pulled the cigarette from between his lips, then blew smoke into the air. The man thanked Phoenix.
"Mmhm," Phoenix hummed, closing the lighter and sliding it into her pocket, then crossing her arms.
Peering across camp, she could see that Cel had finished up with her customers, and was now standing idly. Cel looked toward Phoenix, and the two women made eye contact. Phoenix raised her hand in acknowledgement, implying that she'd be over soon.
Looking the accented man over, Phoenix determined the man might be interested in joining Anna and her over at Cel's APC.
"You look like the kinda guy who appreciates a good weapon. You been to the arms dealer yet? While I'm already drawing in business, couldn't hurt to usher one more person over," she told him. "Name's Phoenix."
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Post by NotAvailable on Aug 22, 2012 5:16:47 GMT -5
"So that's why you were hanging out with me," came Anna's voice as she'd walked up to Phoenix and one of the S.T.A.R.S. agents conversation. "Business as usual."
The agent took a bite out of the sub she'd gotten from Terry earlier, it was tuna, which wasn't a good conversation food but she had mint mentos on her and she didn't care anyway.
"I don't have much on me as of right now. My son just went to college, my daughter is sick, the other one just went back to school and the ol' man is between jobs at the moment, so cash is tight now-a-days."
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