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Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,795 Views)
Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Emily found herself wishing Brandon were there, even if not all his ideas panned out well he usually had something to suggest, one of the perks of an eccentric upbringing she guessed. She was unfortunately drawing a big fat blank on what to do next. She knew what she would be doing if this were a police matter, but none of that applied to a world without any law and order. There were just too many places to look and not enough eyes and definitely not enough guns to search them all, even if they did find them what then? They had more guns and two hostages in their favor. On top of all that the enemy knew exactly where to find them.

"Bait." she said as soon as the thought occurred.

"They know we're here. They've just snatched two people so they've got to be feeling good, why not try for a third? We use some theatrics, send out a wounded dove and when they move on them we either catch them with their pants down or track them back home." she offered.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“If we go that way, whoever’s bait is putting themselves in a very dangerous situation,” he said. “We found blood outside the hospital, remember?”

He choked back a sigh. He knew he wasn’t helping, presenting problems with no solutions. He closed and opened his eyes, trying and failing to come up with an alternative.

“But no matter what we do, it’s probably a long shot that we see them before they see us,” he said. “Whether they’re at the casino or the church or the mining building or wherever else – I don’t see how we take them by surprise if we’re poking around in the dark like that. Getting them to come to us is probably our best bet if we want the upper hand. Emily, I think you’re right.”

Annie seemed reticent about the concept. “What about the blood outside the hospital?”

Hank shrugged, and felt terrible doing it. “We won’t let it get that far,” he said, though was fully aware how unlikely it was it would be under their control.
Edited by DoctorYerishi, Jun 23 2018, 07:48 PM.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"I'm okay being the bait if that's what it takes to get this done. They want to take people alive obviously, so they'd probably want them in one piece too if they can manage it. That's the least challenging aspect of this idea. How do we disguise this so they don't immediately recognize a trap? That's where the theatrics comes into it, and that I don't know what to do with. Do we stage a fight or something, with our bait running off wounded, do we make it look like we're being kicked out, or...?" Emily trailed off uncertainly.

While bringing the enemy to them was the most surefire approach to make contact, she hadn't exactly thought of how they might implement this charade.

"Exile the sick. Send me out." Brandon said as he approached the group.

Emily wasn't even aware he was nearby, he had a light step even with his limp and she assumed he was inside resting like he should be. Of course he wasn't though.

"I don't think so." Emily said, looking to Annie for her doctor's orders on the matter.

"Don't just dismiss it, really think about it. We make it look like we're just refugees and that I'm being kicked out as a precaution. They'll be able to see I'm injured straight away, can't ask for an easier target than that. You send somebody healthy out there and they'll see right through it. Kicking out the sick and injured is an asshole move but it's brutally logical, that makes it a solid con, they won't suspect we're faking it for their benefit." Brandon pleaded his case wearily.

He looked like he was about to keel over, he was right about not being able to fake that. He looked like a stiff wind might knock him over.

"Why would they want you if you're injured this badly?" Emily asked.

"They might be interested enough to move on me at least, for intel if nothing else, our numbers, our weapons, our health." he said.

"And if they decide to kill you right after?" Emily pointed out.

"They might kill me on sight, they might kill any of us, we don't actually know what they want, remember? I've been in the cross-hairs before, I know the risks this isn't new it's just different. We need Antonio back, we need him." Brandon said with conviction.
Edited by Strompy, Jun 23 2018, 02:43 PM.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Hank went ahead and let that sigh out when Brandon appeared, limping and handless and one-eyed, and offering himself up as the bait. Hank felt a stab of guilt. He knew Brandon wasn’t in the best condition for a job like that, but he also knew that he wasn’t about to volunteer himself. It seemed wrong, but if not Brandon…

“Brandon, it was only yesterday I was giving you a transfusion,” Annie said. “It’s mostly Emily’s blood you have left to lose.”

From the corner of his eye, Hank saw Connor blanch at the reminder.

“I don’t know,” Hank said. “We supposedly exile one sick guy? In the middle of a crisis? Is that really so believable?”
Edited by DoctorYerishi, Jun 29 2018, 08:17 AM.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"A group of natives being touchy about sick white people has got a lot of historical justification. I was bitten. To be honest it's not a completely unreasonable precaution, and a crisis can bring out the worst in people." Brandon elaborated.
Edited by Strompy, Jun 24 2018, 12:26 AM.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Church's brow furled at Brandon's last statement.

"Wait a second. You were bitten? Why did nobody mention this before?"

He turned to Nancy and spat a few words in Shoshone. Nancy frowned and gave him an indistinguishable reply. The two of them had a brief and slightly heated back and forth with one another.

"I'm fine with this plan." The tribe's elder said afterward.

"Church!" Nancy retorted sharply, but a glare from him silenced her before she could say anything more.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“The bite was over 24 hours ago,” Annie said, with some defiance in her voice – clearly, she didn’t take to the brief display of hostility. “And to be fair, we thought you might have noticed the missing hand.”

Hank sighed yet again, and tried to take Church’s outburst less personally. It was a volatile time, and the tribe leader had proven to be on the tense side. He didn’t want to aggravate him unnecessarily.

“We discovered – well, they did, actually, it was before my time – that you can stop the infection from spreading if you act quickly enough and sever the limb,” Hank explained. “Brandon was treated in time. He’s not at risk of turning.”

“Not unless he dies of other causes,” Annie added. “Which is very possible, if we go through with this reckless plan. And, please, Emmett, not you too…”

It was then that Hank realized Emmett was approaching – he stepped so softly for a man of his size, it was hard to get over. A moment later, and he had come to a stop to address Annie.

“I saw Brandon leave and followed him,” Emmett said. “Willow’s sleeping and the Kelly’s are locked up in their residence. They’re safe. What plan?”

Instead of arguing, Annie rolled her eyes. “Brandon wants to use himself as bait,” she said. “Church wants to let him.”

Emmett reacted to the news with a stern, concerned look. His deep brown eyes settled on Brandon, studying him for several long moments. His expression didn’t change, but whatever he saw in Brandon’s return gaze eventually made him nod.

“If they show themselves, are we taking them right away, or tracking them back to their base?” he asked the group. “I vote take them.”
Edited by DoctorYerishi, Jul 6 2018, 09:48 AM.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"If we fight then we'd have to make sure we take them alive so they can tell us where our people are. It'd be a more even fight if we did it out in the open but making sure we don't kill them complicates it. Then we have to actually get them to talk. The best bet to find ours is to track them, but then we'd be on their turf, and if they've got military gear that means scopes, binoculars, night-vision, and there's a decent chance we'll have to deal with landmines, traps and alarms too if they're seriously dug in. Seems about fifty-fifty." Emily reasoned.

"It's not really our show though, we're guests and we're not bringing the most manpower to this either. How do you want to do this, chief?" Emily addressed Church.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"Well."

Church exhaled more loudly than usual. The stress of the situation was wearing him thin. Thinner than usual even, and he was sure that this was written on his face.

"At the very least, we likely have numbers in our advantage. If these people were more confident in their total manpower then they would have made a bigger splash by now. Their covert actions prove this. Travis, did you see any landmines or anything like that at the crash?"

"No, boss." The hunter replied curtly without looking up. "Scopes, guns, silencers? Yes. Landmines? No."

Church rubbed his chin and lost himself in thought. Even with less people, their choices remained the same. Either attempt to hunt them and risk falling into a trap; or lure them out into the open with a trap of their own. Using someone as bait was a huge gamble, and Church would never have even considered the possibility. However, this outsider was offering himself as bait free of charge. As he saw it, best case scenario would see them getting a lead on the their stalkers. Worst case scenario was that an outsider who had already been bitten and possibly infected would no longer be their problem. It seemed like a win-win situation for him and his people.

"I'm still fine with this plan. If they don't take the bait, we lose nothing but time. While time is valuable... I don't have any better ideas right now. If this works and they take the bait, we can take them out; but we leave at least one alive for questioning so we can find our people. The problem I see is that we need to make that guy -- Brandon, was it -- look like an appealing target. They can't know that we are monitoring and watching him for this to even have a chance of working."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“That’s true,” Hank said. “Can we pull that off?”

“They won’t know I’m there,” Emmett said.

He made it sound like a promise, and Hank believed him. But he knew Emmett wasn’t going alone – even if he wanted to, he wasn’t in the proper condition. He didn’t need to wait for Annie to chime in to know that. So he looked back to Church.

“Like Brandon said, you have the numbers, plus you know the town. You tell us – can we do this?”
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"My sister is missing too. Getting her back safely is the most important thing to me. You'll have my support, but I..."

Church hesitated briefly.

"I am a community organizer and leader, not a military strategist. I don't know how to navigate my way around a gunfight or a pack of murderers. My people will help you, but problems like this are still... new... to me."
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"You pick it up quickly." Brandon assured him.

Or you die.

"To make a convincing con we need to use some theatrics and misdirection. We need some of your people to escort Brandon off the tribe land, armed, but not necessarily at gunpoint. Think you can manage a stick shift one handed?" Emily said, directing the question to Brandon.

"So long as I'm not driving like an idiot I think I'll manage." he answered.

"Leave Brandon with a car and a weapon, we do all this out in the open so that if we're being watched right now, and we might be, they see it. Should hold their attention for a spell. That's where your man Travis comes in. Think you could show us how to get out of here without drawing attention to ourselves?" Emily asked.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Travis looked up from his work and hovered his gaze over Emily for a few moments.

"Shouldn't be a problem." He reached over to a large yellow towel that laid on the ground nearby and began drying his hands with it. "I know this land like the back of my hand. It's different than it used to be. Less animals. Less people. Still the same land. Which means if you want to get somewhere without being seen, I can't promise that. The surrounding land is flat as week old soda; if these guys are as halfway decent as they seem, then there won't be a lot of areas we can use to hide."

For the first time since they had arrived, the hunter rose to his feet. He was a lanky man that stood an inch or two above Billy Church when upright, though still a few inches shorter than the giant Emmett.

"Except for old Eagle Road." He pointed toward the back of the reservation, just beyond the houses they had offered. "Heads away from Battle Mountain, but it isn't visible from the front gate. We could use it to slip out and loop around back into the town from another angle. Odds are they know about that road, but Brandon leaving through the front gate might draw their attention away from us just long enough."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Might draw their attention?” Annie repeated the words unhappily.

“We're low on options,” Hank said. “And doing nothing…”

“Is not an option,” Annie finished the sentence for him. She bit her lip momentarily. “I know. I… I don’t mean to be difficult.”

Hank didn’t blame her. The plan – such as it was, so far – was definitely risky. In Elko, when Annie and Emily were imprisoned, they had met Saxon and his people already, and could be reasonably sure that the captives were safe. This time, they had no idea who they were dealing with and no idea if Antonio was even still alive to be saved. They could be leading themselves into a conflict where they had nothing to gain, and everything to lose.

And yet, it was like Brandon said. They needed Antonio.

“So I guess we need to pick a spot, right?” Hank pushed the planning along. “Somewhere to leave Brandon. And those of us taking Eagle Road need to get there first, unseen, and stake it out. Could be tricky if we’re leaving at the same time. Brandon’s escorts will have to take their sweet time. Make a show of it, like Emily said.”

He looked to Travis – the guy that professed to know the land like the back of his hand.

“Where should this go down?” he asked.
Edited by DoctorYerishi, Jul 3 2018, 07:23 PM.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"Might is the best we can do." Travis countered with a shrug. "It's possible they ambush us and take us out before we get there. It's also possible we set this entire trap up, they don't take the bait, and we are back at square one. I hate jumping into things blind, but that is the situation we are in."

The hunter exhaled and dropped his shoulders. He glanced sideways at his wife, who returned his look with a melancholy gaze of her own.

"As for where we set this up... it should be somewhere with plenty of available shelter. Ideally somewhere that both parties are familiar with and where your friend could conceivably survive for a time. That means it should be obvious. We use the hospital."
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