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Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,800 Views)
Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
A slow smile crept over Emily's face as she was vindicated. The whole point was to see how Winona reacted. What she said made sense but her tone was defensive as hell. Emily had been fooled by the old "I'm not that stupid" defense in the past. It wouldn't be the first time somebody had plead innocence through an appeal to logic, some people were dumb enough to get caught but smart enough to recognize their stupidity after the fact. No matter how ridiculous it seemed to be, nothing was ever more compelling than being the only suspect. That's why she was worried when Saxon's people captured her.

"You were stupid enough to stay here with a group of strangers. Must have been lucky with people so far, if I were in your shoes I would have made tracks first chance I got. And you do have a radio. Doesn't look good. You should answer that, I think we need to talk to your friends." Emily said unholstering her pistol.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"Wait! No! I swear, it's not like that!" Winona backed away from the door, holding her right arm out in front of herself as she did.

"Please answer, Winona. Don't tell me they got you, too." The voice buzzed through the radio., slightly louder than before. "Please tell me you left them during the night like I told you to!"

Winona continued to back toward her desk, making sure to step over Cadence, who was watching the scene with her fangs bared. However, she didn't move from her spot. Not yet, at least.

"L-look, the radio is behind the desk." Winona explained nervously. "If I reach back there, y-you won't shoot me, right? I can explain everything. This is just a huge misunderstanding!"

"Answer me, dammit! At least let me know you're still alive!"
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Strompy
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"I shoot the dog first if you try anything." Emily warned her sparing a glance at the animal.

It was funny how animals could pick up on things sometimes. They could read a situation perfectly without understanding a word. Emily liked that. She briefly got to work alongside K9 units and always admired how well the dogs worked with their partners. She liked dogs, but she meant what she said.

...

"Where is everybody? Has Antonio met with Church yet?" Brandon asked as he swung his legs over the bed.
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Is that so?
Winona glared at Emily. After a moment, she leaned down and disappeared from view. She appeared a moment later with a two-way radio in her hand. She held down the receiver.

"H-hey, Brianna... sorry about that."

"Thank goodness you're okay!" The voice responded. "We couldn't find Laurie this morning and we were worried that group you mentioned might have been behind it!"

Winona slowly eyed the people standing in her doorway -- the only way out of the room she found herself in. She exhaled sharply and visibly gulped.

"Laurie is... gone?" She asked, keeping her eyes trained on Emily and the others. "Are you sure?"

"Nobody knows where she went. But it looked like there was some sort of struggle in her house. Everyone is worried; you need to come back as soon as you can! Your grandpa is worried about you."

"Y-yeah... about that..." Winona slowly approached Emily and held out the radio for her to take.

* * * * *

Willow frowned.

"We..."

For a brief moment, she considered lying to him. Not out of malice, but she was worried that he would get defensive again, and that he might do something rash when he was in no condition to do anything of the sort. However, after thinking about it for more than half a second, the stupidity of the idea dawned on her and she decided against it.

"We don't know where Antonio is. We couldn't find him this morning." She told Brandon. "Emily and Annie are looking into it right now."
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Strompy
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Emily regarded the conversation with a wary optimism. To take all this at face value it seemed the locals were missing somebody too. No way that was a coincidence. That would imply another group at work. Instantly she thought of the New Dawn but it didn't quite fit. New Dawn liked to draw victims in with honey, this looked like stalking and ambush with a little home invasion mixed in. It would make sense if they were on a warpath after them for the men they killed in the escape, but then why target the locals too? And why not storm the place, they probably still had the numbers for it?

But there was another paranoid reasoning she couldn't ignore despite it being extreme. Maybe it was still the locals who did this. Maybe they didn't have the numbers to take this place, maybe they worked out a little pageantry with Winona and a fictional missing Laurie to cobvince them of their innocence and lure the group outside where they were vulnerable. It was extreme and highly unlikely.

"You're missing people. So are we. We should talk." Emily said into the radio.

She would give them the chance to convince her, but she wouldn't risk their safety to do it.

...

Brandon somehow didn't even feel a tinge of panic. He just reached for the Supegrade and stood up. He knew it was going to happen. Not this exact thing but something like it. More violence was coming. He was good at that. They'd need that.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
The radio fell silent in Emily's hand. Only after about ten seconds did a response come through.

"Who are you? Where is Winona?"

The voice on the other end was accusatory. Wary. Scared.

* * * * *

"Whoa, Brandon." Willow stood up and stepped in front of Brandon, gently placing her hands on his chest. "You should be resting. Emily and Annie can handle this. I promise."

* * * * *

Kelsey accepted the supplies and tucked them out of sight. She wasn't any good with them yet, but she was still glad to have them. She hoped they wouldn't need them.

"Thanks." Kelsey replied flatly after Daisy had finished speaking.

Though she couldn't put her finger on it, Kelsey could tell that something was bothering Daisy. She wanted to say that the world had already taken everything. That she had nothing left. But a small part of her knew that it wasn't entirely true. She had Eli. She had friends that were taking care of her. That cared for her. Friends that she had abandoned. Friends that might be dead.

But she couldn't dwell on that. Daisy had helped them by patching them up and trying to keep them positive, and now Daisy needed something uplifting in return. Kelsey remembered that she had once told Brandon that she smiled because it helped everyone else stay positive. Recently, that had been becoming harder and harder for her. But this morning, it felt a little more attainable. Not because of Noah or Eli, but because of Daisy and the kindness of strangers she had never met before.

"I know you're right, but.." Kelsey broke eye contact and looked to the ground. "It's not always easy. I'll hold on to what I have. I promise."

She returned eye contact and gave Daisy the best smile she could manage at that moment.
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Strompy
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"I'm Emily. My group stayed at the hospital last night and now one of our's is gone. Looks like he was attacked. Winona's fine, but she's going to stay here until we have a better idea of what's going on." Emily informed her.

...

Brandon sat back downon the bed. There wasn't any need to stand at that very moment but he knew he was right about them still needing him soon.

"There's gonna be blood." Brandon declared.

Always was.
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There was another silence.

"I'm Brianna." The voice finally returned. "I'd say it was nice to meet you, but you are holding my best friend hostage. And how do we know you aren't the ones behind Laurie's disappearance? You could be lying about your missing friend to get close to us."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Annie didn’t know what to think. Information was coming at her very quickly, and it was hard to separate fact from fiction. Her experience in Elko wasn’t helpful – there, it seemed like they had met some good people, then they imprisoned her and seemed not-so-good, but then they turned it around again.

It was disconcerting that Winona had a radio. It complicated things. Willow was supposed to check for something like that, but the fault was truly on everybody else for not reviewing her work. Willow was hardly some master-spy, and even if she was, she wasn’t in the greatest physical and mental state.

Emmett had taken a few steps forward, putting his bulk between Annie and the others. If violence erupted – if Winona or her dog made a move – he seemed poised to step in.

* * *

Daisy hadn’t smiled in a while. Not genuinely, at least. Maybe sarcastically – in reaction to a bad joke by Boulet, or as a response to someone insisting that she ‘cheer up,’ as if she just needed someone to suggest it and it would happen – but not with any real mirth. Seeing Kelsey make the effort, however, made her do the same.

She gave Kelsey a warm smile in return. She clasped her hands in hers. She said, “Good luck.”

Then she stood up and waved her goodbye.

** *

Eli reached under the seat and pulled the lever, then pushed back to make some more room between him and the wheel. As he did, he looked back at Noah – sitting in the middle of the backseat, his hands cuffed, blindfolded, not gagged but remaining silent nonetheless.

In his mind, he was waiting in line at the gallows. He very well might have been right. But it didn’t seem like he cared.

Eli frowned and turned back around. Kelsey was getting into the passenger seat, and Boulet was waiting by the driver’s side window. Eli rolled it down.

“In case you change your mind about coming back,” Boulet said, and pointed to the glove compartment. “I put a circle on your map. So you’ll know where we are.”

“You’re okay with me knowing that?”

“Are you gonna rob us? Kill us? Kidnap us and cook us up?"

Eli smiled back – he couldn’t help but be amused at the bluntness of the questioning. “No,” he answered.

“Then I have your word,” Boulet said, wearing his own smile.

The older man then tapped on the window-sill for emphasis, and stepped away.

“Now get that son of a bitch, would ya?” Boulet said, as Eli started up the engine. “And bring that girl home safe!” he yelled over it, as Eli began to drive away.

Eli looked from Boulet to the road and nodded. He was going to do both.
Edited by DoctorYerishi, Mar 16 2018, 11:28 AM.
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Strompy
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"I'm not lying about having one of your friends. Why would I lie about having two?" Emily advised Brianna.

Emily was struck by the eeriness of the situation. Just yesterday she was in the same situation Winona was, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time with a third party responsible for all this. Even caught her with a radio too. Saxon's people made up their minds that she was guilty or at least involved, and because they didn't act on her information Donnie was able to hurt Brandon and escape. It was Antonio on the line now, they'd lost so many people, holding onto the ones they still had was worth taking a chance wasn't it?

"Winona isn't in danger. If you're lying about my friend then you're putting on some serious pageantry to sell it. I believe you. I believe Winona. We should be working together." Emily admitted.

She holstered her pistol again and gestured for Emmett to stand down. Emily exhaled as she

"Listen, we could use your help." she said addressing Winona.
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Is that so?
Winona glanced at Emily hesitantly. After a few seconds, she seemed to relax a little.

"May I have the radio?" Winona asked.

She accepted the two-way radio back from Emily.

"I have the radio back." She spoke into it.

Brianna responded, but this time the language was definitely not English. A string of Shoshone words came through the receiver. When Brianna stopped, Winona answered in the same language. For about a minute, the two young woman spoke over the radio while Emily, Emmett, and Annie could do little more than listen in and pick out the occasional name. Eventually, Winona clipped the radio to her belt.

"Sorry. We weren't trying to hide our secret evil plans." Winona made sure to apologize immediately. "Brianna was worried I was being held under duress. But she thinks working together is the best option though, so she's going to speak with Billy about your missing friend and let everyone know that we're friendly. So, uhh... we can head over whenever you guys are ready."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Emmett had faded into the background after Emily’s signal. Annie, meanwhile, was holding her breath as Winona started speaking in another language. When she was finished, however, she had a good feeling. Her intuition told her to take Winona at her word – that she was truly in the same boat as them, and this wasn’t some elaborate con like they encountered in Salt Lake City.

Her feeling could only be so good, however. Antonio was still missing, Emily had still found blood in the snow, and their group was still far from 100 per cent healthy. If recovering Antonio turned into a fight, their chances at prevailing were as low as ever. Fortunately, there was Billy Church and his tribe. They could prove to be capable and true allies. The only way to find out was to meet them.

“We should move quickly,” Annie said. “Every second we waste is another second that Antonio and your friend Laurie are in trouble.”
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Strompy
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"Meeting the man was already the plan, guess it's just more urgent now. Who should go?" Emily asked.

"Everyone. Or nobody. Don't split the group." Brandon said as he limped over.

"Winona's people have a missing person too." Emily explained.

"I know, I was eavesdropping. We should be all in one way or the other." he clarified

"I don't know, you still look pretty bad, man." she pointed out.

"Bad things happen when we split the group. I won't be much good keeping this place safe, so who else do you leave behind for protection? How many people does that leave to go out there completely exposed? We'd be open on two fronts." Brandon elaborated.

Emily sucked her teeth while she thought it over. He had a point. Of course if they did all go to this meeting they'd be tipping their hand. Church's people or this other group, if they did exist, would able to see their strength or lack thereof. It also meant sacrificing their defensive position.

"Well what do you think about going at all?" she asked.

"Gut says no. Head says yes. That's why I wanted Antonio to take charge; they don't seem to disagree for him." he replied.

"In your defence you're feverish, you've got to have some kind of PTSD and you're basically on heroin." Emily said in concilation.

"Thanks." he said half-heartedly.

"What do you guys think? How do we do this?" she asked the others.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Annie frowned at seeing Brandon up and about. He needed more time to recover – but time, once again, was something they didn’t have.

She also frowned at his words. Staying or leaving as a group both had their problems. Either way, she knew the Kelly’s weren’t going to like it, even if that was the least of their problems now.

She looked to Winona. “Is there any chance your tribe would come here?” she asked, not-at-all-hopeful about the answer.
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Is that so?
"Yeah, that would be helpful." Willow agreed with Annie.

She had been following behind Brandon. He was adamant about being up and around, even though she thought he should be resting. But she knew better than to try forcing him to sit still. If the roles were reversed, she was pretty sure she'd be pushing herself for the sake of the group. In fact, she was pretty sure she'd been pushing herself too hard since Flint.

Winona, in the meantime, looked unsure about the suggestion. But eventually, she brought the radio back to her lips.

"Hey, Brie?" She said into the radio. "These guys got a couple of injured. Do you think everyone would be willing to meet at the hospital for a strategy meeting?"

"I don't think Church will let us bring the kids with us and I don't think people are too keen on splitting the group up, especially if people are going missing. To make matters worse, the storm last night stirred up some of the wendigos. We've seen a handful of them shuffling around nearby."

"Where the hell do they come from?" Willow frowned.

Winona met her gaze and gave an exaggerated shrug. Rotters seemed to defy logic in a lot of ways like that, Willow had come to learn that over their time on the road. They had a tendency to find themselves in the most bizarre of locations.

"But... since wendigos are showing up on the streets, he will probably want to clear them out before they organize into a small horde. I could probably convince him to bring everyone to the hospital while we are out. Assuming we can get a guarantee that we won't be gunned down."

Willow furled her brow as Winona and this woman on the other end of the radio, Brie, continued in a language she couldn't understand. Undoubtedly some Native American language that she knew nothing about. Hearing them speak to one another in a foreign tongue was a little jarring and put her on edge. How did she know they weren't plotting something? But it was just as likely that she was being paranoid, and she knew that.

"She thinks she can convince everyone to come down here." Winona finally told everyone.
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