|
Post by sanelunatic on Aug 15, 2011 18:16:26 GMT -5
Wade unsheathed one of his swords, stepping up to Eamonn, tensing his shoudlers. Eamonn looked at him, taking a drag on a cigarette and grinning.
‘You want something, Wilson?’ He asked mockingly.
‘You fucked Sammy.’ He said between gritted teeth.
Eamonn took a deep breath, and sighed happily. ‘Yeah, yeah I did. And you know what? It was damn good.’
Eamonn didn’t see the fist swing until it had hit his jaw and he stumbled back, clutching his face, his body shaking with laughter. ‘Calm down, Wilson. We all knew in the end who she wanted.’
Wade strode forward, his sword glinting in the moonlight. He raised it but suddenly Sammy was there, standing in front of Eamonn, he chin raised defiantly and her eyes peircing into him.
‘Leave him alone, Wade, it’s not his fault.’ She snapped. ‘Go back to your slut.’
Somewhere behind them Niamh shouted, ‘bitch!’
Wade gaped at her. ‘Sam, he hit you! He fucking burnt your arm with a cigarette.’
Sammy’s gaze faltered slightly but she didn’t move and behind her Eamonn smirked, resting his hand on her shoulder. He winked at Wade, grinning from ear to ear. Furious, Wade turned and stalked away, shoving his sword away as he did.
‘Eamonn!’ Zero shouted. ‘Open this fucking door for me.’ He was holding Loreli in his arms, her head resting against his shoulder. Eamonn moved around Sammy and strode across to Zero, which left the two girls standing beside the fence.
Niamh smirked at the smaller girl. ‘Looks like I won.’ She snapped.
Sammy stared blankly back at her. ‘At what? The competition of how many lives you can ruin in a single day? Yeah, congratulations.'
|
|
|
Post by kittypatter on Aug 15, 2011 18:52:12 GMT -5
A few hours later, Loreli stirred in the bed and seconds within waking, rolled onto her side, wrapping the thin pillow around her head. Everything hurt and she could hear everything, everyone chattering so loudly. Peering out from under the pillow, she saw Bradley asleep in one of the chairs, his head tilted to the side, mouth slightly open. He looked so peaceful, he always did. Smiling slightly, Loreli removed the cushion and forced herself into a sitting position. Each movement stung, one of her arms covered in blisters tingled painfully and she cried out loudly.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Eamonn’s arm snaked around Sammy but she shrugged him off roughly, glowering at Niamh when the woman walked off after Wade, blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders. Suddenly the world had sucked her into a black hole, and she was stuck, with nothing and no one left. What Wade had said had scared her slightly; he had been right about Eamonn, but then he himself hadn’t been a complete gentleman to her. With a sigh, she looked around cautiously. Bradley was breathing lightly in the theatre as he slept and a small, pitying smile fell across her lips.
‘Poor guy.’
‘They’re bringing it on themselves. They signed up for this, and yet they think they can just walk out when they want?’ Eamonn laughed, shaking his head bitterly. ‘We’re all stuck here, we don’t have any choice-.’
‘No.’ Sammy hit against his chest, eyes narrowed. ‘No, we had a choice and you took it away from us! You brought us back here, Eamonn, you ruined everything for us!’
His face screwed up, not believing what he was hearing. ‘Five minutes ago you were fucking me! And now you’re blaming me for the end of the world?’ grabbing hold of her wrist, he pulled her close but she fought him off. ‘You can’t just fuck me when your little boyfriend hurts your feelings, because then you might as well never leave my bed.’ Lip curling into a snarl, he pushed her against the wall. ‘No one wants you, apart from me. Do you understand that? No one here cares for you. That stupid cunt defiantly doesn’t, so stop fighting it. Because I can hurt you a lot more than he ever could, if you start to fuck with me, you get that?’
|
|
|
Post by sanelunatic on Aug 15, 2011 19:26:44 GMT -5
‘Bradley?’ She whispered pathetically, her voice hoarse.
He was awake in a second, his hands grabbing hers and holding onto her as if she would drift away as soon as he let go. Dark bags hung down under his eyes and his face seemed to be pulled into a permanent frown. He was pale, his cheeks sunken slightly. If he looked like hell, Loreli wondered what she look like. For some reason she imagined herself with mental, frizzy air, wasn’t that what happened when you got electrified. Or maybe she had been watching too many films.
‘Are you okay?’ He murmured.
‘What happened?’ She croaked, clinging to his hand.
He shifted uncomfortably. ‘You were electrocuted. Wade turned on the fence-,’
‘No, no, after. I feel strange.’
His face dropped and ran his free hand over it, looking at her with concern filled eyes. ‘Stryker performed the operation on you while you were unconscious. He made your powers active.’
Tears pricked Loreli’s eyes. She didn’t want this, not all, she didn’t care about powers or mutants, or who was fucking who and who made the death threats. This meant it was all true, her parents had betrayed her, she had been lied to all her life. It would explain the heightened voices in her head, because there was no one else in the theatre. There were empty chairs, but no one there, they must be in the kitchen.
She touched her head. ‘How do I - how do I turn the voices off?’ The question sounded stupid to her ears.
‘Just don’t concentrate on them and they’ll fade.’ Bradley answered, watching her sadly.
She pulled away from him, glad for the silence, and flopped back down onto the pillow. What happened now?
|
|
|
Post by kittypatter on Aug 16, 2011 9:50:01 GMT -5
Bradley had been found by Stryker after he’d left Xavier’s. He could have stayed there, of course, at the mansion, helping do whatever they did there, ‘saving the world’ and teaching other mutants that it was okay to be different. But it felt wrong, and strange, to tell someone so diverse and scared, that being what they were was okay and acceptable. Because although it was fine to smash plates with lasers and freeze over table tops at that school, in the real world they’d be shunned and supressed and hated. Bradley had decided to go somewhere he knew he would be safe – of sorts – and not questioned. No one judged people at the fair, spare a few ‘freaks’ and ‘losers’ when someone failed to uncover the tricks before them. The fairground had been his solace and his home for a few years, and that was where, after Stryker had found him, hounded down by an angry mob of drunken yobs, Bradley had retreated back to. It was his haven, his sanctuary.
The week had passed fast, the lack of conversation surprisingly accepted by the people there. Stryker liked the quiet, it gave him time to think, to plan, to work.
Sometimes, when they were in the lounge, Loreli curled up to his chest, Bradley would have to repeat himself. Blocking out the voices used a lot of concentration and effort, and she had started to ignore his comforting tones, too. It hurt a little. Rubbing her arm soothingly, Bradley smiled into her hair as she rested her head against the crook in his neck. Her hand rested on his thigh gently and turning her face a fraction, Loreli placed a kiss on his jaw. Everything was so calm and still - they had the room to themselves. 'I love you, Christopher Bradley.' she murmured.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Stryker didn’t know exactly when he had started to hate mutants, but the sickeningly strong detestation had seemed to manifest inside of him like a disease, when his only son had become one of them. He wasn’t a murderer or a psychopath, a maniac or a selfish man – he was helping people, who didn’t understand that they needed it. Staring at his son, frozen, his mismatched eyes gazing blindly ahead of him, Stryker ran his hand over the ice. The cold hurt his fingers but he didn’t pull back straight away. Weapon X was going to right the world, finally. He just needed a few more powers, a few more child mutants. It was easier when they were younger, they didn’t understand; they were less attached to their illness.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The bed was soft, the sheets fresh and welcoming beneath them. Bradley hovered over Loreli, pushed up on his elbows. They were just watching one another, their eye contact never breaking. Reaching out a hand, Loreli stroked his baby face, smoothing the hair on the back of his neck. It felt like they were cementing their relationship, in this strange new bed. Where they slept back in the caravan had been small and cramped, but they had loved it. Though, with this bed and its metal bedstead, it felt different, more exciting and real. Instead of sharing the sofa bed, where they lay in a tangled mess, they could stretch out, shoulder to shoulder, and still have room.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Down the corridor, Logan lay on the blue bedspread, giving a grunt as Niamh nuzzled his chest a little harder than he’d had expected. She had about the same upper body strength as he did, and it was daunting. Normally, he could pick up a woman and treat her as though she was his beautiful doll. But Niamh was having none of that. Lacing her legs with his, she sighed into his shirt, half asleep. He had been the one to find her, and brought her back as though she was some kind of protégée. What had he been thinking? Before his very eyes, Logan had watched the young woman beat the shit out of two broad-shouldered, drunken men and saunter off into the night. Intrigued, he had followed her, told her he knew exactly what she was, and that he thought they should talk. Now, in her first fortnight here, she had shattered a relationship and tried to kill one of the girls. She was tired, wasted and a hormonal mess, and Logan was left to comfort the pieces.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sammy was strewn on her side on the messy bed; her hair flopped over the one side, legs stretching out behind her. She stared over her shoulder at Eamonn who was watching her from the door. His eyes hungrily flickered from her legs to her bust, taking in everything the flimsy vest didn’t cover. His eyes were full of things he could do to her right now. She was trapped, spending most of her time in the bed or arms of a man who didn’t care for her, but had threatened and beaten her down into believing that no one else did either. And when he touched her, so roughly, lips kissing so harshly, sometimes Sammy found herself truly believing that. Wade hadn’t tried to reconcile anything – he didn’t even look at her anymore.
Stryker’s voice came onto the intercoms and all of them eventually crawled out of their beds, changed and headed for his office. Loreli was smothering Bradley in kisses as they made their way down the corridors, from the warm to the cold, metallic and bleak. Stopping, they waited for the others, and she pushed him up against the wall, cupping his face. Since they’d been here, all they had done was sleep and talk, but five minutes ago they’d just stopped fucking for the third time in a row. Loreli caught his lips, smiling and pulling away a fraction as Sammy and Eamonn joined them, Wade a little way behind, swaggering nonchalantly. They hadn't all been together in a long time, only passing in hallways and in the kitchen. The food had been restocked, pathetically, probably what Zero had done - no one ever really knew what he did and where he went, but he had more free movement than the rest of them did.
Tugging on her dogtag, Niamh bounced down the hallway, elbowing past Sammy to get to the head of the queue as though they were waiting for something exciting. 'Morning, fellow people.'
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
There had been a murder at the fairground once. A man had tried to kill his girlfriend, and she’d turned around and shot him straight through the chest. Loreli had heard his thoughts – patchy and slow – but it wasn’t hard to understand what his intentions where. ‘Stupid bitch, thinks she can just whore around behind my back? I’m good to her! And she thinks I don’t know – I’ll show her what I can do!’ Loreli hadn’t been with Bradley yet, she’d been wandering around the fair, a stuffed toy clutched to her chest that she’d won by shooting three targets with a static water pistol.
And there she’d seen him, Bradley, sat on his little wooden stall, head resting on his arms, bored. A dazed smile graced his face, cheeky and childish and it drew her towards him.
‘Three tries for a buck-‘
‘You look like a guy that wouldn’t judge me, right?’ she asked, and he straightened up, confused. ‘If I tell you something, will you promise not to laugh at me?’
Bradley smiled at the woman before him, she was pretty. Skinny jeans, boots and a leather jacket. Her brown hair was pulled up into a scruffy ponytail, wide almond eyes never flickering away from him. She was looking at his jacket – orange and stripped – but her face didn’t register anything. ‘Go on.’ He sounded as if he was humouring her, but inside his heart was hammering, worried. Had she seen Victor around? Was this going to be it at last?
‘I think that guys going to kill his girlfriend.’ Loreli pointed across the grass to a thuggish looking man, walking slowly behind a short red-headed girl. The girl was skipping ahead, smiling, but the guys eyes were narrowed, burning into her back. ‘Don’t ask me how I know, please. I just know what he’s going to do. Can you help me?’ in the beat as Loreli and Bradley registered one another, measuring the trust and belief they could find in one another’s eyes, a gunshot and a scream had filled the air. Spinning around, Loreli expected to see the girl spread-eagled on the muddy ground, but the man lay there, blood seeping from his chest, hands flailing by his side. The red-head gave a gasp and raised a shaky hand to her mouth before falling onto her knees.
Her boyfriend had grabbed her shoulder roughly and spun her around to face him. Knowing something was wrong – he had been acting cold towards her all evening, and the affair had been going on too long now, he’d have to be truly dumb not to have realised – she’d grabbed one of the water pistols from its stand. But it had been a real handgun, something the owner of the stall kept for safety, for such nights as this. Maybe she had hoped to blind him with the water? It had been a reflex. But no one laughed at the hilarity of the stunt, because a man was laying dead - dying - on the ground before them, and there wasn't anything they could do.
|
|
|
Post by sanelunatic on Aug 16, 2011 12:03:15 GMT -5
‘Samantha, you haven’t touched your broccoli!’ Mrs Fields frowned at her daughter from across the polished oak table. Her own plate was clean as a whistle - but that was simply because the woman ‘didn’t do supper.’ Samantha found the whole thing tedious. Why lay out a place setting if no one is going to eat there? ‘I don’t like broccoli.’ The teenager snapped. At the top of the table a man peered over the book he was reading. It was a book about physics and chemistry and he seemed pretty into it. ‘Don’t use that tone with your mother, young lady.’ He said with what sounded like an attempt at authority. He returned to his book. Samantha rolled her eyes. Wondering vaguely why she let herself be forced into these daily gatherings. She was sixteen years old, she could do whatever she liked. Get a job, have sex, smoke a cigaratte or drive a car. ‘Whatever,’ she replied. ‘Can I go now?’ Mrs Field’s perfectly made up face wrinkled and she glared at her daughter. What were the odds that she would be born with the most antisocial child in the world. As soon as she had found at she was having a girl she had revelled in the thoughts of taking the child to beauty pageants, dressing her up every day in frilly dresses and covering her in makeup. Having days out shopping and gossiping at night about boys, giggling together. But the girl before her had put her foot down on the pageants and makeup as soon as she was old enough to talk. She would rather have been outside, playing in the dirt. She played with the boys in the neighbourhood, ignoring the other little girls, and this had been her mother’s one last hope. But the boys didn’t have any interest in Samantha, they saw her as one of them, she even had a boy’s name. Sammy.‘Yes,’ Mrs Fields finally said. ‘Go to your room.’ As she watched her daughter leave she realised she had absolutely no love for the girl - and she was pretty sure the feelings were mutual. Up in her room, Sammy kicked the door shut, glaring at her reflection in the mirror. She looked at her pet rabbit, Henry, locked in his state of the art cage. He still looked depressed. She scowled and grabbed a bag from the wardrobe, throwing some clothes into it, and then she left. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The man was dead at her feet, a small trail of smoke drifted up from his blackened body. Sammy stumbled back, hitting the wall. Her hands were shaking and her body was wracking with thick sobs as she sat there wailing. No one heard her, even if they would they wouldn’t come down the alley, not in this part of town. If you wanted to survive, you stayed out of the shadows. Images flashed through her mind. She had been down here chasing a cat - she wanted to catch it and take it home to her empty flat, the flat she had earned herself. The man must have followed her, he had seen her dancing at the club, where she worked, and had wanted a bit of her to himself. He only had to touch her and for her to scream, and then her body lit up, as if someone had covered her in gasoline and put a match to her. It hadn’t hurt her, but it had hurt him, and now he was dead. The fire had disappeared as soon as it had started and this was where she was left. Footsteps approached her and her head spun as she stood, shifting further into the alley. ‘Sammy?’ A man said. How did he know her name? Was he a friend of her mother’s? Oh no. ‘Sammy, don’t be scared, I want to help you.’ He came into view and he smiled, reaching a hand out to her. He was wearing some sort of high ranking army uniform, the medals on his breast pocket winking at her as they glinted. ‘Come with me, no one will hurt you.’ She took his hand.
|
|
|
Post by kittypatter on Aug 16, 2011 12:30:11 GMT -5
Wade and Niamh stood next to each other, but made quite sure their shoulders didn’t touch. Something wasn’t right, with everyone. An awkwardness, a coldness as they looked at one another, afraid of what to say, or saying the wrong thing. They had all hurt one another in some way, physically or mentally. And standing outside that door, they felt like they were going to their deaths. Victor was inside the office, as usual, and Niamh was heard muttering something under her breath about it. ‘Does he live in here? That’s a bit creepy.’ The man straightened up instantly but she held his gaze for a second until he reared his teeth, daring her to speak again. All of them fit, strangely, in the office, and looked down at Stryker expectedly.
Each of them wore their own black t-shirt or vest, khaki army pants, black boots and dog tags. They looked like an army, standing in a row, if only Wade wasn’t slouching against one of the bookshelves, and if Niamh wasn’t playing with her hair and chewing gum.
Logan came in last, standing in the corner besides his brother, but the two didn’t register one another. ‘I’m taking you out on your first mission.’ Niamh raised her hands in the air and gave a mock cheer, as though a teacher had just proposed a school trip. ‘I’m trusting you all to behave and do exactly as I tell you. We’re going to Illinois.’ Bradley flinched, and Loreli glanced up at him, worriedly. That was where they had been before Eamonn had unkindly dragged them to this hell hole. ‘To find a man called Dr Jordan Flemming. He believes he has the blueprints and tools to create a mutant holding facility and a cure for your powers.’ He looked at all of them before him, anger and confusion obvious upon their faces.
'That's mad.' Bradley muttered, shaking his head. Stryker simply lifted his shoulders and dropped them againn, his hands laced on the desk before him.
'We head out in one hour. Be ready.'
|
|
|
Post by sanelunatic on Aug 16, 2011 13:27:31 GMT -5
‘Sir,’ Zero said and Sammy jumped. Where had he come from? ‘I don’ t think-,’
‘Got that right.’ Wade interrupted, earning a laugh from Niamh.
Zero ignored him. ‘They shouldn’t all come - after all, some would just get in the way. It would be much easier to keep track of the,’ he paused and glanced a Loreli, ‘less stable ones if only a few went.’
Stryker nodded slowly. ‘Yes, I agree. Zero, I want you to lead this group. Loreli, you need some experience so you and Bradley can go, although any trouble and Zero has orders to shoot you in the leg.’ He smiled as the woman paled. ‘Wade, you’re in, but don’t be an idiot-,’
‘I’m going back to bed then.’ Sammy yawned and beside her, Eamonn threw his arm around her shoulder. He knew he wasn’t going, Stryker had told him earlier, and if Wade was going, that meant she wasn’t.
‘No, Sammy, you’re going too.’ Stryker said loudly.
‘In case the brains need some back up.’ Niamh sneered.
Sammy went for her, only to be pulled back by Eamonn. ‘Fuck you.’ She spat. She turned to Stryker. ‘I’m not going anywhere with him.’ She stated, jerking her chin at Wade.
‘Tough.’ Stryker snapped. ‘Everyone get out.’
Sammy trailed out last and she was surprised to find Bradley falling in step beside her. She eyes him quizzically, trailing her fingertips along the wall. ‘What do you want?’
‘Drop the act, Sammy, I know you’re a nice person deep down.’ He said, one side of his lips lifting in a smile.
‘You sound like a school teacher.’ She answered in a bored tone.
He laughed softly, his eyes watching Loreli as she walked down the corridor beside Niamh, head down. ‘Just, be nice to Loreli, okay? She’s just getting used to her powers and this mission shit is all new to her.’ He said, trying desperately not to sound like a schoolteacher now.
‘She’s your girlfriend.’ Sammy pointed out.
‘Yeah, but everyone’s gotta have friends.’
‘I don’t have any friends.’
Bradley resisted the urge to rub his forehead with his hand. ‘Please?’
‘Fine, whatever, I’ll be nice to the mind freak.’
‘Sammy.’
The girl ignored him. ‘Hey, Loreli! Do you wanna’, ‘she paused, struggling for something say, ‘do you wanna go get some, uh, dogtags? Everyone else has ‘em.'
|
|
|
Post by kittypatter on Aug 16, 2011 14:23:33 GMT -5
Wade wasn’t sure what had attracted him to Sammy when she first arrived, feisty, cold shouldered and rough. She hadn’t wanted to make friends with anyone there, not trusting them, or understanding what had happened. From the start she had been something good to look at, alright. Slender, with an ass he loved to watch walk away. And that was what he was seeing right now, the same body he used to grab and curl up with at night, was walking away from him, but not in a good way. Sammy was tense and angry, and the hatred she gave off for him kept him back like a force field.
The five of them walked off towards the helicopter landing zone, hair blowing behind them as the propellers beat the air fast. Bradley would be flying, so Loreli had decided not to sit beside him. Instead, she sat next to Sammy. They had both searched for some dog tags and found them down in the basement in a scruffy box. It had been almost fun, a bonding experience, as they went down and investigated through all the rubbish they never knew was down here. Loreli had joked that there might be a stack of porn magazines, but the only interesting thing they found was a massive machine gun Sammy had said Fred must have used. Fred being the only one strong enough to physically lift it.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr Jordan Flemming had worked hard for his top floor apartment, and as he did up the three locks and two bolts on the front of the door, he turned to inspect the lounge as though it was his kingdom. Everything joined freely, all open planned, a large L shaped room. Rubbing the head of his black greyhound as it came and ran to his legs, he forced a nervous smile, heading towards the leather sofa. Outside in the street, someone had been calling his name as he tried to rush back to the safety of his penthouse. Everyone wanted to ask him questions about his work, or to interrogate his claim to sanity. No one believed him, and the ones that did, everyone deemed them mentally unstable too. Hand shaking, he poured himself a whiskey and sat back gently. He just wouldn’t go out again today, that was all. It’d be a better day tomorrow.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Loreli had a headache again, and she moaned as the plane dipped and she slid against Sammy. Wade was opposite the two of them, sharpening his sword and lifting his gaze to Sammy every other second. He wasn’t sure if he was mad or upset, and kept biting back words and harsh retorts that would make the matter worse. ‘Okay, you can take us down now, Bradley.’ Stryker inspected his team and gave a low sigh. It looked like the latter of them were getting airsick. ‘When we’re on the ground, you do as I say, you understand? You’re under my command, and I don’t take anything back about letting open fire be used.’ He flashed a glance at Wade who put his hands out to show he’d behave. Yeah, as if.
|
|
|
Post by sanelunatic on Aug 16, 2011 15:14:40 GMT -5
Loreli shuddered as the jet lurched down towards the ground and leant forwards, her arms resting on her knees, the new dog tags swung down in front of her. ‘Psyche’, the first platinum square read and the one behind that had been stamped with the same number that was on her arm. Sammy had shown her how to do it, with the special machine that was down in the hospital part of the building. It had been pretty easy to think of the name, and despite herself, Loreli was quite proud of them. Sammy had also found her’s in the box, they weren’t as new as Loreli’s, less shiny and more smudged, but she had managed to polish them. Sammy’s said, ‘Incendia.’ She had been told by Stryker it meant fire in Latin and she seemed pretty proud of it. Although at first all the boy’s had just called her Sparky to screw with her. The plane touched down on tarmac, the wheels screeching as Bradley put on the brakes. Loreli groaned, making Sammy giggle. ‘It’s not funny.’ She moaned. The back doors of the jet hissed open and the ramp hit the ground gently. Wade jumped up, sliding his sword into the holder on his back, and running down the ramp with an eagerness Loreli could only wish to have. She stood slowly, holding her stomach as it churned. It felt like a whole army of butterflies were in there, and it wasn’t a good feeling, no, these were man-eating butterflies. She followed Sammy down the ramp and resisted the urge to kiss the ground - there was no way she getting back on that damn jet until Bradley took flying lessons. Across from her, she watched Zero load his guns. She wondered what his power was, he had actually never spoken to her, but from what the other’s said he was a mysterious, cocky, selfish, cunt. He looked up and caught her eye, smirking as he pulled back the slide on the handgun he was holding. Wade had two semi-automatic pistols shoved in holders in his belt, the swords on his back crossed and both blades sharpened to a point that if you ran your finger along them gently, it would be sliced off in a second. Bradley had his gun, the Glock, in his hand, an AK47 also strapped to his back. It was strange seeing him like this, his face hard and serious, his eyes cold, he looked like a killer. Sammy was fiddling with a shotgun, slowly sliding the shells into the barrel. She caught Loreli looking and grinned. ‘It’s a Remington.’ The older girl nodded as if she knew what she was talking about. In reality, she had no idea. She was surrounded by trained killers who’s daily life used to be just this, and all she had to protect herself was her mind. She didn’t care how fascinating it happened to be - she wanted a gun. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Logan placed his book down carefully, wondering what he was going to do now. He glanced across at Niamh. She was lying on the sofa, one arm over her eyes and the other by her side. She had been fuming earlier about how they got to go and she didn’t. He had tried to explain that it was because she was knew but she had countered that with Loreli’s situation and he had given up. He liked her spark. She always had something to say about everything, she made not going on a mission interesting. He wondered briefly if she was pining Wade. He doubted it, they didn’t seem to have any real love for each other, although Niamh did follow him about like a lost puppy. Just like Sammy had when she had first arrived. What was it about the idiot?
|
|
|
Post by kittypatter on Aug 16, 2011 15:49:48 GMT -5
‘Please, what if I need to protect myself?’ Loreli was on Bradley’s heels, begging him to let her have a gun. She didn’t want to just walk around and let the others watch out for her – what if she needed to defend herself? Stopping, Bradley turned to her, his face tough, but she returned the look with a challenging glare. ‘I’m not a little girl,-.’
‘No, but you are my girlfriend, and you aren’t trained.’
Wade walked ahead of them all, striding ahead quickly whenever Stryker got level with him. He was like a horse in a race, edging his nose just that little but further forward than the others. Not many people were around, so they seemed to go unnoticed. But from one of the top windows, Sammy was sure she had seen a glare as something reflected off of the glass. Was somebody watching them? Glancing sideways at Loreli, she raised her eyebrows as if to ask if anything seemed slightly odd, but the girl simply smiled and turned back to face the front.
‘Zero, go in the building first and check its clear-.’
‘It’s a block of flats.’ Sammy stated blankly. ‘It’s going to be full of people.’
‘See if anyone is in there that shouldn’t be. We don’t know if he has any unknown security measures. We checked before, but Victor said he’s got word that someone’s after him. Zero, clear it out.’
The man nodded, obeying to the Colonel’s rules, and moved into the building, hands steady by his side. They waited outside with bated breath, Loreli hoping from foot to foot awkwardly; it was getting nippy, the wind picking up. ‘It wasn’t cold before. Don’t you think it’s strange?’
‘Be quiet, Loreli.’ Stryker sighed, rubbing his temple and staring at the empty foyer, the sliding doors still open, although no one was there. What was happening? And then it all happened so fast. Zero came running out of the building, yelling, and a cloud of flames, ash and brick shot after him in a wave, almost enveloping him as he jumped and dived behind a van. Bradley passed the Glock to Loreli and pulled the AK47 off his back, clicking off the safety. Sammy rolled away, choking on the dust that carried out on the wind, Wade hunching over her like a human sheild. It wasn't until the dust had settled, and everything had gone quiet, that he realised what he had done. His arms were around her middle, his gun tucked beneath the two of them, ready to fire at any moment.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
With money, came expensive gadgets, and the flat screen that hung on the front room wall showed Jordan everything he wanted to see; the foyer, the car park, the landing outside of his room and the elevator. He could sit and watch it for ages, his hands twitching, and palms sweaty. Once he had been so powerful and sure of everything, but that had been before everyone had become so power mad and he had come so close to discovering the secret to destroying powers forever. A pretty blonde woman had come outside his room, moving across to the door next to his. She was married with a little girl, and he envied how easy her life must have been. But Jordan would swap everything for science. It was easier to understand than human emotion. But all things, in the end, came down to physics.
That had been when he’d seen Zero entering the building, the cameras angled to show the guns strapped to his back. He didn’t care what make they were, or if he was even going to use them, all he knew was that they were dangerous and they were for him. Clicking off the camera and standing, suddenly gasping for breath, Jordan glanced around, watching his dog stretch out behind the sofa. What was he going to do? The fire escape! Checking the door was locked – why wouldn’t it be? He had locked it straight after coming up stairs – he opened a panel dug deep into the wall and flicked some switches. He’d wired the building out when he’d brought the top apartment, paying the people who owned it to keep quiet and let him do as he wished. People would do anything for a bit of money. An alarm started to bleep by the stairwell and a small explosive clicked almost seconds after, shattering the stairs, the landing above and in an almost domino effect, the bricks had slipped down against the foyer, rocking the unsteady flooring.
|
|
|
Post by sanelunatic on Aug 16, 2011 16:24:24 GMT -5
‘He’s blown the stairs!’ Zero shouted across the Stryker. Loreli’s eyes darted around frantically. This was it. She was about to be in the middle of a full blown fight and all she could do was chuck the gun from one hand to another, scared that if she did something or pressed the wrong button it would go off in her hands. Of course she knew how to use the thing, just pull the trigger right? She decided she would only use it if she was in a life or death situation, she wouldn’t just panic and fire at every damn thing like they did in films. The girls always died first in films, well not this time. ‘Wade, get off me,’ Sammy snapped, shoving the man away and scrambling to her feet. ‘I don’t need you to protect me every damn time something happens. I’m not a doll.’ He glared at her, cursing himself inwardly. What had happened to ignoring her? The gun twitched in his hand and for a second he thought he might shoot her. ‘Sorry, did you want me to let you die? That’s what Eamonn would have done, isn’t it?’ He retorted. ‘Or maybe I’ll protect you because I’m half man half Irish idiot.’ She growled back, swinging her shotgun up so it rested on her shoulder. ‘Both of you shut the fuck up for one second.’ Bradley said angrily and they blinked at him, falling silent for once at his unexpected outburst. He was always tetchy on missions but Sammy realised it had probably worsened because of Loreli being here. He leant down and grabbed the woman’s arm, hauling her to her feet, relieved to see she was okay, if not a bit shaken. Stryker looked them over, nodding and running his hand over his chin. ‘Loreli, are you okay?’ She flushed, furious he was singling her out. ‘I’m fine.’ She said between gritted teeth. ‘But I don’t think that man will be if he falls of the side of the building.’ She smirked, pointing up at the small figure of someone climbing down a fire escape. ‘It’s Spiderman!’ Wade cried. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Jordan rushed around his apartment, throwing things into a backpack. Hands shaking nervously, he picked up a gun her only used for emergencies and tucked it into his belt before taking it out and checking the safety was on. He watched the cameras, pleased the explosion had stopped them, but these guys looked like professionals and a meagre thing like that wouldn’t stall them for long. He all but ran to the fire exit installed out the back of his kitchen. It was a small, rusty looking platform that lead down onto stairs, which winded down one side of the building. They didn’t look particularly safe. They had never been used before - after all, this was the safest building in the area. He glanced back at his dog. ‘Sorry, Heathcliff.’ He sighed. His dog was the closest thing to a friend. ‘If I live, I’ll come back for you.’ It whined and padded up to him, claws clicking on the tiled floor of the kitchen. He scratched it’s ears for a second before turning and slamming the fire exit door open. Without a look back, he began descending the stairs as fast as possible. The door had been left open though, and Heathcliff, not understanding what was going on, streaked out and followed him.
|
|
|
Post by kittypatter on Aug 16, 2011 16:52:08 GMT -5
Sammy saw it first, then Wade’s eyes caught it and he started laughing manically. A dog was working its way down the fire escape, its long legs shaking with each step, nose trying to squeeze past Jordan’s legs. ‘Is that our dude?’ Wade asked, looking towards Stryker who was wiping dust from his shirt, scowling. Why did they have to go and make so much mess behind them? They were supposed to go in and out, and leave with what they came for. ‘If he falls, do we have to take the blame? Because, technically, he climbed out there himself. Unless he’s going to jump. Do you think he’s gonna?’
‘Are you alright?’ Bradley asked, reaching out for Loreli, but she raised the gun in his face, hand suddenly steady.
‘You leave me alone, OK! Stop telling me what to do! I can handle myself.’ Swinging around, she pointed the gun at the fire escape, but Wade walked in the way and pushed the Glock down by her side.
‘Easy, pussycat.’ He muttered, walking closer towards the fire escape. ‘Someone’s gonna call the fire brigade, we should probably get a move on.’ Pulling a semi-automatic from its holder, he clicked the catch and pointed it out before him, watching the metal glint in the sun. Shooting a round of bullets at the stairwell, Wade gave a grunt as Sammy shoved his side, knocking him off balance. ‘Woah! What was that-.’
‘There’s a dog up there!’
‘So! There are also blue prints up there, and a man that wants to wipe us off this earth. Which one do you care about most, huh?’ his voice was low, face so close to hers she found her eyes flickering down to his lips.
|
|
|
Post by sanelunatic on Aug 16, 2011 17:18:36 GMT -5
Sammy opened her mouth, her eyes flickering from his eyes to his lips. Wade’s gaze didn’t soften but he closed the gap between them, taking her waist and yanking her closer so she was pressed up against his hips. He took her lips fully with his own and she moaned into his mouth, the shotgun dropping from her shoulder and hanging limply from her fingers. Wade smirked against her lips, he had missed this, it had felt like years not being with her. Her lips were softer than Niamh’s and she tasted oddly better, she felt right. Suddenly someone grabbed his shoulder and he was yanked away from her, he stumbled back, righting himself.
‘What the fuck you doing, Wilson?’ Zero snarled, shoving him away. He turned and glared at Sammy. ‘This isn’t a fuckin’ day trip.’
‘He’s going to get away!’ Loreli cried shrilly, flailing her arms and the gun around. Bradley looked at her worriedly and she stared at them all with wild eyes. ‘What? Are you just gonna’ hang around all day?’
Wade blinked. ‘What’s happened to her?’
‘Loreli, we don’t just go around shooting people,’ Stryker said, ‘calm down.’
‘No!’ She cried. ‘You call yourself killers? I’ll fucking show you a killer.’
They gaped at her as she turned and started to run towards the stairs, firing mad shots at the man as he neared the bottom. The bullets were way off target but one ricocheted and hit him in the back of his knee. He screamed and slipped, falling the remaining steps and landing with a thud at the bottom. She didn’t stop firing though and a not moving target was much easier to locate. Zero took off at once, gun in hand, sprinting towards her. He dived and crashed into her side, sending them both sliding along the concrete of the carpark. One side of Loreli’s arm grazed along the tarmac, spots of blood covering her arm. She screamed, thrashing underneath Zero, landing a fist into his ribs. He grunted and grabbed her wrists, straddling her legs so she couldn’t move. She slammed one of her knees into his back and he gritted his teeth, releasing one of her wrists to press his gun against the side of her head. She stilled instantly.
‘Leave her alone!’ Bradley shouted, swinging his gun round so it was pointing at the pair.
Stryker ignored his disobedient thugs and strode over to where Jordan lay groaning on the grass. The dog was sat beside him, licking his face. ‘Wade! Come here.’ Stryker called. Wade obeyed and Sammy followed, shoving the thoughts of the kiss away and steadying her shotgun.
|
|
|
Post by kittypatter on Aug 16, 2011 17:48:42 GMT -5
‘Don’t shoot me. You daren’t! You’re hurting me.’ Loreli gave a hiss, her arm really stung and she just wanted to hold it, to still the bleeding, but Zero was reluctant to let her go. ‘Get the hell off me!’
‘What did you think you were doing? You could have ruined everything! You almost killed him-.’
‘Since when did anyone here care about anybody but themselves?’
Zero pulled the gun away and glanced towards Bradley, his lips forced into a sneer. Bradley stared back resolutely, the AK47 pointed at the man before him. ‘You get off of her, right now.’ As soon as Zero stood back up, straightening his suit, Loreli pulled her knees up towards her and cradled her injured arm. Her head had hit the tarmac hurt and she felt sick. ‘Loreli, what are you doing?’
‘Stay away from me.’ She murmured, voice dark, scaring Bradley who had never known her to use that tone with him. Ever. ‘Everyone lies to me, don’t they? How do I know what’s real anymore? My parents lied to me! They filled my head with fake memories to push out the disease!’ Loreli tapped the side of her head roughly, messing up her hair. She looked wild. ‘And that guy up there, he wants to get rid of me too! I wanted to finish him. I don’t need a gun to do that, though. Stryker gave me back what’s mine, I can crush him like a bug!’ turning and hunching on all fours, she wiped the grit from her knees and stood up. Her head was spinning, legs wobbling.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jordan lay on the floor, twitching nervously. His knee hurt, his fucking knee hurt so much, and his dog was licking his face. Fuck off. Rocking on his back, he grabbed hold of his knee but wasn’t sure what to do with it. Should he bend it or leave it alone? Why couldn’t the pain just stop? A shadow cast over him and Wade looked down, offering a goofy smirk. Curling up within himself, Jordan tried to disappear. A spot of rain landed on his face and streaked down his chin like a tear. It was starting to rain.
‘What do you want? I’ll give you anything – please, don’t shoot my again! Oh, God, it hurts so bad!’ His voice was high, petrified. Heathcliff, by his side, moved away and headed towards Sammy. The girl reached out a hand to stroke him, but the animal lowered its head, growling.
|
|
|
Post by sanelunatic on Aug 16, 2011 18:11:56 GMT -5
Sammy scowled at the dog. ‘I saved your life!’ She pointed out indignantly. It’s upper lip curled back and it took another step forward. Sammy’s eyes widened. ‘Uh, nice doggy, good doggy. How about I shoot that man over there,’ she pointed at Zero, ‘then you’ll have lot’s of nice bones.’ The dog didn’t seem to be listening though and it lunged. Sammy shrieked and turned, sprinting in the opposite direction. Behind her, she could hear Wade laughing. ‘Shut up, you idiot! It’s gonna give me rabies!’ ‘Get those legs going, c’mon, put your back into it!’ Wade snorted between laughs. Sammy seethed. The dog was easily gaining on her, its legs pounded the ground and it’s back stretched out in a full gallop. She turned, mid-run, pulling back the pump back on the shotgun and pulled the trigger. She groaned as her feet slid out from underneath her and she landed hard on her back. She winced, expecting the dog to be on her, tearing at her throat. But it wasn’t, and she sat up, sighing relief as she saw it’s body lying dead on the ground in front of her, blood seeping from a wound in it’s chest. Without it’s teeth showing and a killer look in it’s eyes, it actually looked kind of cute and Sammy’s face dropped. She had killed a dog. She loved dogs! ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Busy laughing at Sammy, Wade didn’t noticed as Loreli stumbled over to Jordan, a murderous look in her eyes. There was no way she was going to let this dick ruin her life, no way in hell. She pushed Stryker out of the way and he frowned, saying her name, but it didn’t register in her mind. There were two many voices in there already, too much noise that she couldn’t concentrate. She could feel something building up in her chest and she needed to let it go, she couldn’t take it anymore. The man groaned before her, trying to crawl backwards, dragging his leg. Loreli wasn’t exactly sure how this was going to work but as soon as she thought of it, it happened. Jordan’s eyes went wide and he suddenly choked, his hand left his leg and he clutched his head. A high bloodcurdling scream rose from his lips and he slammed down against the grass, rolling onto his side. He seemed to be having a fit and Loreli backed away a step, her eyes wide. She didn’t want this, she didn’t want to hurt him, what was happening? People were still shouting, trying to grab her, but something was keeping them back. And then suddenly something orange flew into her, sending her crashing to the wall. Jordan kept screaming and Loreli cried out as she was picked up by her collar and slammed against a wall. A fist hit her square on the jaw and her head snapped sideways, her focus slipping. The screams stopped and were replaced by groans and Loreli opened her eyes just in time to see Sammy hit her again.
|
|