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Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,925 Views)
Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Being outside didn't help much. Brandon was literally wearing the stench. Emily regarded him with a little skepticism regardless of everyone's testimonies that it would work.

"So this really works?" she asked.

Brandon nodded patiently.

"I can show you right now." he said pointing to a rotter that had stumbled its way within eyesight.

With complete confidence he walked out obto the road directly towards the rotter. He paused as he got close to it. It looked directly at him and he knew a moment of concern as it regarded him. But then it moved on, right past him. He turned back to look at Emily and raised his arms triumphantly. The rotter finally caught sight of her and began trudging towards her. Brandon whistled quietly to get its attention and as it turned to face him he swung with both hands lopping its head off.

"Huh. Fair enough. We ready to go in here?" Emily asked as she leaned back in the door.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“Weird, wild stuff,” Jimmy remarked.

He had gotten outside just in time to see the show. As the rotter’s head rolled across the ground, he had to wonder how come he never thought of this – and why nobody else at Flint had either. Probably because it’s crazy and disgusting.

I’m ready,” Eli said suddenly.

Jimmy cringed as Eli moved past him, now caked in deadhead gore.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"Okay everyone who isn't covered in crap waits with the wheels. We'll radio you once we've cleared the parking lot and the store. Could take a while so if you want to take nap go right ahead, I know some of you didn't sleep very well." Brandon said as he began stuffing bits of napkin up his nose to keep the smell out.

They painted a very strange picture, the three of them. Eye catching to say the least and yet completely invisible to rotters. Brandon felt as if they were about to go deep sea diving or on a space walk. He was about to walk right into a whole mess of rotters with only his kukri and a smelly coat for protection. Despite knowing it worked he still shot Emily a half-joking nervous look.

"Ground control to Major Tom..." he sang quietly in a sort of amused apprehension.

Now that he thought about it, that song didn't end well for Major Tom. He'd knowingly walked intoan ambush just the day before and felt better about it than this. Rotters worried him in a way people never could. He could deal with rotters just fine, he'd come to terms with this danger but even so unlike people rotters never stopped. People could feel pain. Fear. You could fight people in so many ways, you could reason and bargain with them too. Rotters were like bad weather, you can bear them or avoid them but ultimately you could never stop them. Now just three men were about to face a number that could be easily ten times greater than themselves. He was a little worried.

Jen had done well. The parking lot was empty save for around ten rotters all spread out. Brandon gestured that he would move to the left and take out the furthest rotters. He took out two and looked back to see Antonio bisect the head of his third rotter and Eli rush his fourth and the final one standing. Brandon made the long walk back across the lot to regroup.

"Alright. Once we get inside we close the door behind us and look for any ither entrances, then close them. Seal it up and then exterminate." Brandon lay out for them.

They crossed through the shattered front doors and Antonio helped Brandon move a stack of shopping carts across the entrance. The light from outside penetrated a reasonable distance inside. From this position it looked pitch black after the edge if tgat lught though. Once they were inside they would be able to see just fine in the ambient light, but the contrast from where they stood made it impossible to judge how many rotters may be waiting inside.

He nodded to the others and split off to search to the left. He found that a side door was open with the remains of some unfortunate soul stopping it from closing. Brandon freed the obstruction andclosed the door, giving it a good tug to make sure it was closed properly. From what he'd seen his guess had been right. This store was mostly gardening supplies and equipment plus auto. What came as a welcome surprise though was the pharmacy. He made his way back to the entrance to regroup once again.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Willow lay on her belly in the back seat of the van; which was not the most comfortable thing in the world by any stretch, but it was softer than the ground and warmer than outside. Since Brandon had said clearing the Walmart might take a while, Willow intended to get as much shut eye as she could. The past few nights had been particularly rough. She felt like no matter how much she closed her eyes, she just couldn't sleep well. She could feel the lack of sleep catching up to her now. And yet despite that, when she closed her eyes now, she still didn't really fall asleep. But maybe if she was lucky, she could get enough rest to function until nightfall.

"-- was wrong with General Grevious?" She heard Jen ask from outside the van. "I thought he was one of the better parts of the movie."

"Oh, he was definitely a cool enemy, but since they were so reliant on technology to actually get him on screen, there was a lot of disparity between his appearance and everyone's reactions. Like when Obi Wan challenged Grevious to that fight in the droid factory, which was a weird enough decision on its own, and Grevious pulls out all the lightsabers to accept his challenge, Obi Wan looks like he is smiling or confused. It was supposed to be a terrifying display of power, but when filming it, Ewan McGregor probably didn't even know what he was supposed to be looking at because the only thing that wasn't CGI in that scene was him. That's a pretty big problem when you're too reliant on green screens and don't have a director that can help compensate for that. And hell, he was just one example of that. The entire prequel series is just full of them --"

God, Jen was still chatting up Nolan. And they were still talking about Star Wars. Not that there was anything wrong with either of those things, she just kind of wished they were having that conversation somewhere else. Since she didn't have a pillow she could stick her head under, she simply closed her eyes and tried to block out the sound of their conversation mentally.

* * * * *

Antonio gripped the hilt of his sword tightly as he carefully made his way through the Walmart. He didn't necessarily agree with splitting the three of them up to look around. It opened the possibility of trouble up even further. Then again, with their disguises, they probably would not run into a lot of problems. Antonio found a few fallen -- rotters as his group had so adamantly called them -- and was easily able to take care of them without them even realizing he was there. Despite the disgusting preparation, it was a nice little trick.

But this was a Walmart Supercenter and it quickly lived up to the name. The store was huge. But it was also a mess. Some of their less desirable merchandise was scattered across the floor and had been trampled in the chaos as people rushed to pick up valuables like food and water. The grocery section of the store, unsurprisingly, had been picked clean. And there were more than a few corpses, both living and dead, that had come from it. Though after Antonio had made his way through, they were just dead. Or redeemed as he personally liked to think of it. They wouldn't be restocking on much food here. On the other hand, the clothing section of the store had been comparatively undisturbed. Antonio wasn't sure he would find one in this store, but it wouldn't have been much of a Supercenter if they didn't have one. And he was glad, because he wanted to get out of this old cassock. The thing was more rank than he was at this point.

Following Brandon's orders, he found an emergency exit in the back of the store. It had been pushed and propped open by someone. The alarm, if it had been active at the time, had long since stopped ringing. Antonio simply pulled the door closed. All of the other exits he found after that weren't open at all. Though he did find a few more 'rotters' during his search, but he was able to take care of them pretty easily. Overall, there were not as many in here as he had though there would be.

With his section of the store cleared out, Antonio wiped the blood off his sword and made his way back to the front of the store to rejoin with the others.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
SHUNK!

Grim-faced, Eli planted his knife into the back of a rotter’s skull. It had been wandering between the aisles on the right-side of the door and had never even seen him coming. When it went limp, Eli held the handle of the ka-bar tight and pushed down on the rotter’s head with his other palm.

Ahead, he saw another rotter cross the aisle without taking heed of him. He thought about pursuing, but Brandon’s plan seemed practical enough – even though it necessitated splitting up, something he had only recently finished arguing with Jimmy about it.

Eli moved to an open fire exit, which swung slightly back and forth in the cool breeze. He closed it slowly and carefully, not wanting to give up the game.

Then he headed back for the front.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Now that they'd closed the store up they could put the little evil of splitting up behind them. It was time to get to the potentially dangerous task of eliminating the remaining rotters, and that was something he was taking no chances with, invisible or not. Rather than hunt them down Brandon saw an opportunity to bring the rotters to them.

Near one of the registers was a rack fulk of greeting cards. One of them seemed to be one of those irritating musical ones. He opened it and sure enough it began playing an irksome birthday jingle. He bent it so that it would stay open before tossing it away. He motioned for the others to follow him and walked a small distance away to wait for the rotters to converge. The awful sound of the card carried within the echoey store and was soon blissfully drowned out by the alerted moans of everyone rotter in there. He didn't think he'd ever be happy to hear that noise.

After a few minutes a confused mob of rotters formed over the card. The ones at the centre hemmed in by the ones on the outside that weren't aware the sound they heard didn't lead to food. Brandon readied his kukri as he judged there weren't anymore coming. There was somewhere between twenty and thirty of them. He began to advance when something bright and yellow caught his eye.

They were standing at the entrance of the gardening tools aisle. The shelves were lined with shovels, spades, forks, edgers, axes, pruners. One item stood out to Brandon. It didn't look like a tool at all. Tag said it was a ditch blade. It looked like some medieval weapon. A huge carbon steel blade on a long yellow fibreglass handle. He set his kukri down and picked up the "tool" with a contemplative expression. It reminded him a little of Jimmy's spear. The three of them fanned out a little behind the mob and began exterminating as Brandon took a big swing neatly severing a portion of a rotter's head with the sheer force behind the blade. He couldn't hold back a little satisfied smile it his newest find.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Antonio didn't comment on Brandon's new choice of weapon. He was a little too busy decapitating the fallen that had taken an interest in the music-playing card. Though it was a bit of an unconventional weapon.

Of course, Antonio didn't have much room to talk about using strange weapons. He was using a sword, which would have been completely normal a couple hundred years ago. You know, a dagger or something would have been fine for him. But a sword? He felt like something out of a kids cartoon. A priest who fights the forces of evil wielding what looked to him like some sort of cutlass. It was a broad saber-esque weapon with a hand guard on it -- like something he might have seen in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Now those kids have me thinking in terms of movies.

SHLURK!

At least the blade was sturdy; it held up pretty well as it sliced through these fallen like butter. Whoever had been using it had taken pretty good care of it, though. The fact that it was still sharp enough to cut through these things was proof of that. Though based off their appearance, it wouldn't have taken much to cut through them.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
When Eli saw the pool of rotters gathering around the card and its annoying jingle, he wished suddenly that he’d kept that grenade he found at Old Fort Erie. This would have been a good time for it.

Then Brandon got to swinging a tree-cutting tool he’d swiped from nearby, and Antonio got to swinging his sword. It wasn’t as effective as a grenade, but it was still something to behold. He felt almost ineffective as he strafed around and knocked over the stragglers from the group before bending over and finishing them off one by one.

“So…” he grunted as he elbowed a rotter in the face with his arm, which was comfortably shielded by the riot gear pads. “Much… for… stealth!”

SHUNK!

He drove his ka-bar through another skull, then pulled it out again immediately after. The feeling was so familiar now.

Fighting rotters in general had gotten familiar – maybe too familiar. He reminded himself that his armour didn’t make him invincible and that all it took was one false step to end up with a lost limb if he was lucky, and dead if he wasn’t.

He reminded himself he was always fighting for his life, every time he took a rotter down.

* * *

Jimmy leaned his spear against his truck, then leaned himself against his truck. He stared at the parking lot that Eli, Brandon and their priestly friend had trekked through. He allowed himself a rare moment of contemplation.

He thought about Eli’s fierce determination since he had caught up with them, and the way it was evident in his gait on his face. Then he thought about Kelsey’s recap on the drive from Chicago to Lincoln, and the various events that probably shaped that determination.

He wondered if he should have offered condolences for Julie or Randall. He had never really met either, personally, but he’d gathered they meant a lot to Eli. It occurred to him that he hadn’t yet said sorry about Glenda either, someone he had met and even kind of admired. He just didn’t like to bring that stuff up. The mood was always dark enough these days; he didn’t like contributing to that.

Especially not around Eli. Amigo’s got enough darkness. More than enough. He was angsty and serious back in Flint, but now…

Jimmy shrugged and cracked his knuckles. Contemplation time was over.

“Think they’re having fun in there?” he asked anybody that might be listening.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"Totally." Kelsey was the one that answered Jimmy first.

Her attitude had been lifted gradually since her father died. A few days ago, she was a mess. But being back with everyone after being separated and having her brother back gave her a little hope to grasp onto. She was able to push the fresh pain to the back of her mind and almost forget that it existed. As long as she didn't have to talk about it, she could almost act naturally. Of course, she was also kind of bored with the Star Wars conversation Jen and her brother were talking about -- she didn't even know what they were talking about anymore. Something about special effects. The movies were still good no matter what they said and she wasn't going to be swayed by their blatant lies.

"I had to wear the rotter guts too one time. The smell sucks, but they can barely see you. They are probably shooting fish in a barrel in there. But with sharp things instead of guns. And dead people instead of fish. And a Walmart instead of a barrel." Kelsey paused for a moment. "I guess they aren't very similar. That was a bad a... analo... no... arachnophone? Anagram? That was a bad anagram."
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
They had killed a good number of rotters before any even realized they were under attack. Eventually all the action got some of their attention and they were looking at a no-win fight. Brandon backed up, tapping Antonio with the handle of his ditch blade signaling him to follow. The idea was simply to keep them all together rather than run around the store chasing down spread out wandering targets.

"Keep them together. Let's fall back through this aisle and circle around, come at them from behind again, kill a few more before they realize we're there, then fall back and repeat until they're all dead. We can keep them trapped in that aisle chasing ghosts. So long as we back off every time they realize we're there we can disappear and then pick them off safely." he explained, breathing heavily as he backed away.

His first instinct had been to stalk through the store and eliminate them one at a time but aside from taking a long time (which didn't bother him so much) it left a greater possibility that a rotter or two might ellude them and he didn't want to run the risk of okaying the others to come in only to put them in danger.

Besides, this was an opportunity to see just how effective the stench coat method was and how much they could get away with before rotters cotton on. Even with Antonio and Brandon swinging away there was a considerable lag before they got made. It seemed if they remained out of sight and kept noise to a minimum they could kill an entire mob without ever raising an eyebrow. What made them this time was that some of the rotters had been facing them and their big swings and sounds of exertion were human enough to gain rotter attention. That meant they still recognized human activity even if they couldn't smell them. They somehow must be able to recognize other rotters by more than just smell, it was also the way they moved and sounded that disarmed them.

Brandon had to marvel at how sophisticated this... disease was. He was no scientist but he didn't think this was a fluke of nature because there would have been some kind of evolution to this and a disease that makes you crave human flesh but recognizes other infected would have gotten some attention in the news. It raised a concerning question. If it hadn't evolved in the outsideworld, had somebody intentionally made it? Was this actually God's work or were the conspiracy nuts right about the government, pharmaceutical companies, lizards or whoever? Did people do this?

In his distracted state Brandon got himself tripped up on a rake and stumbled backward a few feet before regaining his balance. Red faced he steadied himself and turned to follow the others down the aisle, the mob of rotters following at a fairly safe distance.

"You guys go ahead and circle around. I'll keep their attention on me while you take them down from behind." he yelled to them and turned on the spot to cleave a rotter's head in two.

He continued backing up, this time checking behind him as he went, only picking off any rotter that broke out too far ahead of the group. Once he started to run out of aisle he'd disappear and let the mob realize Antonio and Eli were there and then it would be their turn to kite them while he came back and attacked once the rotter's backs were all turned. There was maybe twenty left now at most. A small part of Brandon was even having a little fun with this. Maybe Jimmy was rubbing off on him.

Ugh. he thought disdainfully.

...

"Analogy." Emily chimed in.

She was lying on the hood of Jimmy's truck warming herself in the sunlight.

"And that's actually a perfect one, those things would never see them coming, well smell them coming. Walking around with creeps being totally oblivious to you? God imagine all the stuff you could get your hands on. Not having to worry about how you're going to get in or out. Not having to set up distractions to make an opening never even having to raise your weapon? I really wish I had have known about this a couple weeks ago. I would be set up right now." she said, swinging her legs over the side of the hood and sitting up.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“Yeah, until you slip up and they do notice,” Jimmy responded.

“Plus it’s super gross,” Connor chipped in from nearby. It wasn’t the first or second time he said it.

“That’s well established, Connor, buddy,” Jimmy said. “But yeah, that too. Personally, I’ll stick to spilling brains the old fashioned way. All the fun, none of the mess. Well – less of the mess.”

* * *

Eli called upon the stealth he had honed over the last month, as well as the stealth his old job as a thief required. He’d done plenty of jobs on the prowl, where he had to be careful not to draw any unnecessary attention, and where he’d had to stay strategically out of view of cameras. This was similar, except the consequences for slipping up were more deadly.

SHIK!

He added another kill to his long list, then gently lowered the body to the ground so its fall didn’t alert any of the shambling rotters ahead of it.

SHANK!

As soon as he could, he struck again. Between him and Antonio, they were slowly whittling them down.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Kelsey wasn't worried about Brandon in the Walmart. Even as they looked across the parking lot toward the giant store, she knew that he was fine. Brandon was tough and the rotters couldn't see him. And he had Eli and Antonio in there with him. They were fine. They had been warned that it might take a while to clear the place out. They had to make it safe for everyone else. And it was a big store.

"Somebody called Eli on his radio while we were sneaking and the rotters figured it out."

Kelsey explained this more to Emily than anyone else; she looked up at her as she did.

"It turns out they still notice you. The smell thing only works if you don't draw attention to yourself. Rotters are kinda complicated when you think about it. They figure you out with more than just smell. They also know when they hear or see something different, too."

* * * * *

The aisle was a little narrow, so Antonio let Eli take the lead. Like it or not, Antonio was only in average shape. He had lost a good chunk of his strength during the years he had been a priest for the Catholic Church. That is not to say that he was weak, but it is to say that Eli was younger and in better shape than Antonio was. And Antonio acknowledged that simple fact. Whenever Eli left an opening, however small, Antonio had a chance to slide forward and thrust his sword or take a swipe at the skull of one of the fallen and take it out of the fight.

Eventually, Brandon did run out of aisle and slipped from sight. Antonio and Eli had managed to take down a little over half their number by then without the entirety of the mob noticing. Only when Brandon disappeared from sight and could no longer be seen or smell did they start to realize that Eli and Antonio were behind them. Antonio let out a pretty quick whistle just to make sure they got their attention.

"Watch out for the bodies behind us." Antonio warned Eli as he started walking backwards, away from the mob that was now setting their sights on them.

Now it was Brandon's turn to hit them from behind. He thought about suggesting having Eli loop around and help Brandon on the other side, but if they got cut off by rotters at the end of the aisle, they could find themselves surrounded. He wanted Eli nearby in case that happened.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"Well then, I guess the golden rule still applies; don't slip up." Emily said.

She placed her hat down next to her and undid the neat little ponytail she kept her hair in. They weren't in any danger, sometimes she had to remind herself that she didn't always need to wear it like that. Part of her wished she'd gutted up and gone in with the others, it sounded like a novel experience at least. Sitting behind a radar gun for hours on end taught her more than a little patience though so waiting wasn't a big issue for her though. She reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a pack of grape flavor gum and put a piece in her mouth. She offered the others a piece.

"So you seem to lack the kind of severity most have going on. There a trick to that?" she asked Jimmy.

...

Brandon placed the ditch blade carefully on thr ground and reached out for a more effective weapon given the tight quarters. A mattock with an axe head. This aisle was perfect for rotter killing. They were spoiled for choice regarding the tools of the trade.

He placed his hand on the shoulder of the rear most rotter and half jumped into the air as he brought the axe head down on its head. It did the job easily but presented a problem as he had to wriggle it free again once he lowered the rotter to the ground. He spun it around and performed the same action on the next rotter. The other end worked a little too well. He drove the pick in all the way to the handle and it refused to budge. Rather than waste time with it Brandon simply picked another tool off the shelf.

In this fashion Brandon went through a pickaxe, a hoe and bush hook before he found a machete which came free with significantly less effort than the others. Antonio and Eli took out a couple as they backed up. They were running out of aisle again but now they were also running out of rotters with only two left. Antonio and Eli deftly put an end to them and Brandon let the machete full to the ground as he reclaimed his kukri. He spared a glance back at the carnage. The aisle was choked with bodies some still with gardening equipment stuck in their heads.

"Breather and then we'll do a full sweep. Make sure none are hiding." Brandon said, panting slightly as he leaned against the shelf.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Jimmy accepted Emily’s offering with a smile. She seemed like a good sort – less uptight and angst-ridden than the majority of their little group, which was surprising considering her uniform. They had talked a little on the day’s ride from Chicago to Lincoln, but it was mostly recaps and explanations, not a lot of chitchat.

“Nothing that Bobby McFerrin hasn’t already told you,” he said. “The only trick is learning to accept it.”

* * *

Eli took Brandon up on that breather. At first, he tried to rest his hands on his knees, but they slipped on the gore decorating his apron. He frowned and eventually mirrored Brandon by leaning on a shelf. From that spot, he looked at the hallway of discarded tools, and the pile-up of already-dead bodies Brandon had racked up with them. It hadn’t been an easy job, but it had been an effective one.

He looked over to Antonio next. He gave him a nod of respect. With Brandon, he had learned to expect this kind of capability. With the priest, it was a bit more surprising.

“You’re, uh, pretty light on your feet, padre,” he said. “I’m impressed.”
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Kelsey took a piece of gum from Emily and wordlessly listened to Jimmy's answer as she unwrapped it and placed it in her mouth.

"Who's Bobby McFerrin?"

* * * * *

Antonio nodded in response, but couldn't bring himself to smile at the compliment from Eli. Like the other two, he was a little worn out from that quick burst of activity. Even more so than the other two he guessed, but they were all a little tired so it was hard to tell.

"I may not look it now, but I used to brawl a lot when I was younger. I was pretty good in a fight."

Antonio paused to inhale deeply and then slowly exhale. He almost placed a hand on his stomach but quickly stopped himself when he remembered what he was wearing.

"I wish I was as in shape now as I was then. I have a much better use for those skills now."
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