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Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,822 Views)
DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli noticed Kelsey’s sudden change in demeanour. For a second there, in the afterglow of a confirmed coyote kill, she was actually excited. Eli was too dumbfounded to notice immediately, but recognized how remarkable it was now that the moment had past. It had probably been her first moment of joy since everything that happened that last day in Salt Lake City.

The girl was back to being somber now, though. The dead body – even though it was just a coyote – was likely the cause. Eli suppressed a sigh, then looked back at the carcass himself.

“I’ll, uh, get the knife,” he offered.

The chef’s knife, the one he looted from the house they stayed at, the one Kelsey tried to sneak away from in the middle of the night. It probably wasn’t the best tool for the job, but it was all they had. Maybe Brandon’s teachings were so good that Kelsey could make due.

Eli started to walk away and stopped. He tapped Kelsey on the shoulder.

“Hey,” he said. “Good job.”
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Kelsey looked back at Eli.

"Thanks."

Using the knife Eli had given her, she stabbed it into the stomach of the coyote and went to work. She reminded herself that skinning a coyote was just like skinning a rabbit.

Except bigger.

And stinkier.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
They were being chased. Hunted. Every step they took was heavy and slow, they were running up an impossibly steep climb. The shouts of those behind them grew louder and louder. They couldn't stop, couldn't fight and every step forward for them was a three steps for their pursuers. Brandon gripped Willow's hand as she panted and coughed trying to keep up. With his other hand he pushed Connor forward. Somehow he knew they just had to wait for Eli, once Eli came they'd be safe.

Willow collapsed. A bullet from a gun he didn't even hear hit her and robbed her of any fight she had left. Connor ran on ahead of him as he stooped to pick her back up again but she was too heavy in his arms. He looked behind him at Connor as he at least reached the top of the hill and disappeared from sight. He looked around for anyone else but there was nobody, no friends and no pursuers. He was alone.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Brandon stirred from his brief sleep in an anxious state. In his half sleep the sound that roused him was forgotten and all he could recall was a feeling of dread. He was aware of Willow asleep under his arm. With a childlike desperation for safety he held onto her and began nodding back into sleep.

"Brandon." Emily said faintly.

He turned his head.

"Brandon." came the message again, more urgent.

"Can you hear me?" she asked.

She was speaking through the radio. He reached for it groggily to reply. The radio! The memory of its significance came back to him quickly and he was instantly awake.

"Yes! Yes." he spoke back urgently.

"Speak quietly. I got made. One of their people got ganked and they think it was me. They'vs got me and Annie locked in a closet at the moment." Emily explained in whispers.

"We're going to figure something out, don't worry. If you can't speak give me a beep, if you're able to speak again after that give me another beep. Don't let them find the radio." he instructed her.

"And don't worry." he repeated.

Willow was awake and looking to him for an explaination for the comotion.

"Bad shit's happening. Get the others." he said as he pushed himself back to his feet and picked up his rifle.

He made his way to the front of the building and looked out the window. If they'd taken Emily and Annie they might try making a move on them there. The streets were empty and still though. Nothing yet.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Willow had a ton of questions about everything going on. What had happened? Were Emily and Annie okay? Were they going to attack Saxon's group or try a diplomatic approach? What was going to happen to them? Were they going to lose more people tonight?

Her mind instantly swarmed with every worst case scenario imaginable. It was enough to cripple the young woman. But if there was anything the past few weeks on the road had taught her, it was how to deal with these sorts of events. It was to stop thinking and just act. Even though the pills helped her with that, the principles remained the same. Keeping that in mind, she quickly found herself back in the room where everyone had been eating. Antonio and some of the others were still there.

"Annie and Emily are in prison!" She shouted without really thinking it over.

"What!?" Antonio's eyes widened. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know!" Willow retorted. "Something about... about somebody getting kill and them thinking Emily was responsible."

"¡Demonio!" The former priest spat, already getting back to his feet. "What a terrible time for a misunderstanding. We need to go and explain to them that-"

"Don't tell me, tell Brandon." Willow cut him off. "He wants us to meet him near the front."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“Let’s go,” Emmett rumbled.

He suppressed a groan as he rose to his feet, his muscles still sore from his recent inactivity. He didn’t know how useful he would be in a conflict right now – or maybe he did, and just didn’t want to admit it – but the news that Emily and Annie were in trouble meant there was no way he was just going to sit around.

“Mom’s in prison!?” Connor exclaimed from the corner of the room.

Emmett looked over to the kid, saw him put down the Sports Illustrated magazine he had found in one of the office lobbies, and had been reading since his mother left for dinner. He wore an expression not of fear, but of anger. Emmett understood how he felt.

“No – no, not again,” the kid said, striding across the room as fast as his shorter legs could take him. “We gotta go, we gotta get her back.”

Emmett groaned some more as he followed. Towards the front, like Willow instructed.
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Strompy
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Brandon rubbed his eye as he considered the situation. Saxon and his people thought Emily murdered one of theirs. If he were in their shoes he'd kill her. This wasn't a situation they could leave to sort itself out. They didn't have the numbers to go at the casino head on, even if they matched them one for one they would have the advantage of a fortified position and the high ground. Maybe they could burn them out of their... That put children at risk for starters and more importantly it could end up killing the people they were trying to save. That idea would have to be an absolute last resort.

As the others joined him he felt he owed them a full explanation for why this was happening.

"Annie and Emily are being held by Saxon's people. Emily was meeting somebody over there and I asked her to found out whatever she could about those people and the layout of the casino. She got found out and now they think she murdered one of them. I guess they concerned Annie knew something about it." he said as he adjusted his eye patch.

He looked to Connor first among them and retrieved the radio he'd just used to speak with Emily.

"Your mom managed to get that radio inside. She should be free to talk so long as you whisper." Brandon informed him holding the radio out for him.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Emmett frowned as he listened to Brandon’s recounting of the situation. Since it was clear they had some thinking and talking to do, he found a seat and watched as Connor marched forward and grabbed the radio. The kid still looked mad and worried, with his worry only tempering his anger.

“Mom!?” he said into the radio, not doing such a great job of being quiet. “Mom, are you there?”

I’m here, honey,” Annie’s voice replied in a static-y whisper. “I’m okay. We’re going to figure this out.

Connor didn’t seem very reassured. “I know,” he said anyway. “We’re not going to let them get away with this.”

Honey, you need to stay calm,” his mother replied. “You all do. Don’t do anything rash.

Connor frowned and raised the radio to his mouth again. “What’s that mean?”

It means reckless – it means you have to be careful,” Annie whispered.

Emmett’s eyes darted around the room when he sensed movement. He realized that Hank had arrived, and was listening to the conversation from across the lobby, his arms folded. His sister Riley accompanied him.

“We will,” Connor said.

Good,” Annie replied. “That’s good. Do you all have a plan?

Connor shook his head, a pointless-but-automatic gesture. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’ll give the radio back to Brandon.” Then he lowered his voice and tilted his head away from the rest of the room. “I love you.”

I love you too,” Annie whispered back.

Emmett – and all others – turned to their elected leader once Connor handed back the radio.
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Strompy
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Brandon had his back to the others. He looked back as he accepted the radio from Connor and could see the others looking to him out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to look back out the window. He held his hands in front of himself and wrung them anxiously. They found themselves in this situation again. He'd know how to proceed if it weren't for the thought this was his own fault. He'd asked Emily to spy on Saxon's people and now she'd been caught, and Annie too. Saxon's people weren't aggressors like the New Dawn, it made his anger totally useless.

"We can't take them in a fight. They're too well defended, there are no good angles on that place and we don't have supplies to keep them under siege in there. Emily got in with help from the inside, they're on guard now too so sneaking in isn't an option. These people don't seem off like the New Dawn did, I really think they're just ordinary people, doesn't mean Emily isn't in trouble at least." Brandon thought out loud.

"I'm going to talk to them. Emily only got caught because I asked her to spy for us. I'm going to make my apologies and try to reason with them." he continued into the radio.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
There was a pause before the radio crackled again.

Okay,” Annie’s voice responded. “I think you’re right. I think that’s the best we can do.

There was a scoff from the corner of the room. Emmett blinked and looked over, finding Riley to be the culprit.

“You sure you don’t just want to start shooting at them?” she asked. “And maybe make sure one of us in the line of fire first?”
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Strompy
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Brandon had been thinking much the same as what Riley said. He didn't need the reminder even if deserved her anger. The guilt over what happened was still fresh, he wondered if would ever stop, and part of him hoped it wouldn't. He didn't want to face her or Hank, or the kids, even so he turned around and did just that. They deserved that respect.

"I haven't forgotten Andy. I'm never going to forget him."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“For all the good that does him now,” Riley said, in a tone as icy as her glare.

Emmett frowned. A part of him wanted to defend Brandon, tell Riley he did the best he could. But he was unconscious at the time, and only had second-hand knowledge of what went down at that stalled train. Besides, Riley’s loss was still fresh. He knew what it felt like to lose a family member, how easy it was to succumb to anger and hold on to blame. He couldn’t judge her.

“Riley...” Hank said.

The way he said her name sounded tired and like a half-hearted chastisement. He didn’t continue. He didn’t have to, anyway. Riley shook her head, turned around, and strode off. Hank watched her go with a sigh, but didn’t follow.

“Sorry…” he offered to the rest of the room. “For the interruption.”
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Willow frowned and shifted uncomfortably at the interruption. Tensions were high for everyone now. She was angry, and had every right to be. But she hoped that Riley wouldn't do anything that would put their two groups at odds with one another. Since nobody else was saying anything, she opened her mouth to start, but was cut off by Antonio.

"It's alright." He said softly. "We understand how she feels. None of us blame her for it."
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Strompy
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Brandon nodded his agreement with Antonio and returned his attention to the street. He didn't know what he could say to help his case with the Kellys. There wasn't anything he could say really. Only time could do that, and keeping his promise to Andy.

As for what he could say to Saxon he was just as lost. He knew Emily didn't do what they suspected she'd done. He told her himself that if she were caught she was to surrender rather than fight, and cold blooded murder didn't seem like something she would do. She could kill of course, but never without a good reason. She was different to him in that regard. The most he could think of was to just apolgize for the breech and appeal to him as one leader to another

He was building up the nerve to head out when he saw something down the street. A brief reddish glow from one of the cars, not even a second long. So brief he could have just imagined it, but his instinct told him that wasn't so. He'd suspected they were watching them since they first arrived here. The streets were still lined with cars, in the flat and mostly open terrain around them is was practically the only discreet location they could watch them from. Brandon backed away from the window.

"We're being watched. There's a dark red SUV down the street. I think they're in there." he informed the others.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“Understood,” Emmett said.

He stood up from his seat in order to take a quick look for himself, and grunted from the exertion. He took Brandon’s place at the window just for a moment. He quickly glimpsed the SUV, but couldn’t tell if anyone was inside in the darkness. He trusted Brandon’s word, though.

“Why don’t you talk to them?” Connor asked. “Maybe they can give you a ride to the casino. Or maybe you can make them give you a ride.”
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Antonio peered out the window toward the SUV. He exhaled sharply.

"We have no reason to think they don't have radios. That means Saxon has probably already informed them of what has happened and they'll be on high alert with us now." The former priest furled his brow. "If we make them give us a ride, it might only make us look more suspicious than we already do."

Willow frowned and slumped into a nearby seat, wincing at the sudden impact. Antonio seemed to be the key example of the old saying 'a tiger cannot change its stripes' right now. Even when two of their own had lives in the balance, he still wanted to try and negotiate his way through the problem. While Saxon was likely someone that could be negotiated with, Willow had been at this so long that she wasn't willing to let herself believe it would be that easy. It never could be. Not anymore.

"We should keep the option on the table." She suggested warily. "They don't seem like the 'shoot first and ask questions later' type, but I'm not exactly willing to put that theory to the test."

"Well I am." Antonio countered.

"You know that willingness to be the first one out there and negotiate is going to get you killed one day, right?" She warned.

Willow knew it sounded harsh, but it was true. When they first met Saxon's group, he volunteered to be the first one to go. He willingly put himself in the line of fire on the hope that it was not a trap to lure them in. While she had come to expect that from him to some degree, she was still annoyed at his complete willingness to do so.

"Then so be it." Antonio answered solemnly. "When my time comes, it shall be a blessing to be taken away from all this destruction."
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