Rome Is Burning

[Emprexx Plush]

((Garrett Wilde Continued from Will Alone))

The streets were empty in this manufactured neighborhood. That was good. Garrett didn't want to deal with anyone else at the moment. He needed some time alone to think, to clarify his plan, to look for holes, to...

To hide.

The thought sunk in his stomach. He couldn't deny it, not anymore than he could bear to look back at the reactor he'd fled from. It loomed silently just outside his field of vision as an omnipresent reminder that for all his planning, for all his talk of survival and bluffing and beating these monsters at their own game, he was worthless when conflict broke out. He wasn't a general. He wasn't a revolutionary. He wasn't even a survivalist.

He was an impotent coward.

Not only that, but he wasn't even that good at being a coward. He didn't even know where he was. He just ran blindly from the reactor, and he didn't have a clue how long he'd been in this neighborhood. He'd wasted so much time, and his position was completely exposed. They could be anywhere, just waiting for the perfect moment to ambush him, to--

They? Is that what I'm down to already? Some vague, faceless other? When did I start thinking like that?

He paused and stared into an empty window, barely catching sight of his reflection. This is how it starts, isn't it? First the panic and self-loathing, then the crippling fear, then anger, then hatred...then suffering.

As foolish as it was, he laughed. Star Wars. I'm surrounded by victims and murderers without a clear line between either party, and I start quoting Star Wars. This really is a new low for me.

The irreverent humor of the moment jarred him out of his spiral. He ducked into the empty house and assumed a meditative pose. He needed to re-evaluate what happened in the office. Except...there really wasn't that much to think about. Despite his stubborn refusal to be anything other than a victim, Tyler had acted rationally. He had no idea who the girl threatening them had been, but rushing her instead of giving in to her demands had been smart. It was safe to assume that she wasn't really playing yet, and even if she was she was shockingly incompetent at it. Her threats, theatrics, and laughable timing all suggested that she trying to survive at best and trying to prove a point at worst. Either way, there wasn't anything he could do about her, or about Tyler.

The entire affair did highlight something important for him, though. He needed to deal with the players. He didn't know how yet, but it had to be done. If they kept killing, his plan would never work, and they could thin the crowd out enough to make it infeasible regardless.

He shuddered as he re-examined that train of thought. The crowd. He was still trying to dehumanize them. That worked from a tactical perspective, but it made him feel very uncomfortable. He needed contact to ground him back in reality. Preferably the sort that wouldn't try to kill him. He had a short list of people he wanted to find. People he felt would be receptive to his cause. People he just wanted to see again before...

Before it's all over.

He sighed and rose to face the inevitable. There seemed to be a forest north of the reactor. He'd start there, taking care to avoid the offices. He had an uneasy feeling that he wouldn't find anything pleasing if he went looking through the wreckage. His hard-won calm couldn't stand the sight of blood, or worse a body, just yet.

No doubt he'd have ample opportunity to see both in the coming hours.

((Garrett Wilde Continued in Wendigo))