Here's a secret: you didn't expect that to actually work. You were bluffing - stalling for time as much as possible, trying to get a bead on the boy before making any sort of move - and you absolutely had - and currently have - very little confidence in your own ability to aim and actually hit something.
But it did work, and here you are, with extra supplies and a developing situation. You exhale deeply, flinch at the word bitch echoing through the rainforest cover, wincing at the meaning of it. You allow yourself to regret for a fraction of a second, just long enough to allow the gravity of your predicament to sag your knees and close your eyes.
It's while you're doing that that the boy chooses to address you. While you're having your own private moment of crisis. You hum, stalling for time, eyes still closed as the rustling sound of the pack fill your ears.
"Do you think you've earned them?" you ask, your voice caught mid-step between a tease and chastisement. A trick your mother taught you. One of many, it would seem, that she passed down.
Opening your eyes, you allow yourself a good look at the boy as you thumb the safety on your pistol and stuff it into your sweater pocket. You roll your shoulders, tug the CORE IS DOWN cap over your eyebrows again, grimace at the wetness that pastes across the rim of it. Had you known you'd be abducted, you would've packed a spare. Grey caps didn't hold sweat well, and for some reason, that was important.
"I've already got to carry another," you say, "so you can hang on to that. Thank god she didn't shoot anyone, huh? That would've sucked."
Suburbia Overture
Day 1, Open
Moderator: SOTF International Staff
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The Honeless Beard
- Posts: 893
- Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2018 4:47 am
- Location: Got it? Good, now get inside.
- Team Affiliation: Emmy's Selkies
“Haha.”
Beat.
“Yeah.”
Caleb always preferred to talk over text. Typing out a message gave him more time to deliberate on what he was going to say. There was no stuttering or awkward pauses. But hey, maybe he should cut himself some slack. He wasn’t usually preoccupied with whether or not the other person was trying to kill him.
It didn’t seem like the other girl was for the time being, which was…good. Caleb rolled his neck, grimacing as the strap of his bag dug into his shoulder.
“So, uh,” He started, pointing with his chin. “Did you kill someone for that bag? Or did you just rob them?”
Beat.
“Yeah.”
Caleb always preferred to talk over text. Typing out a message gave him more time to deliberate on what he was going to say. There was no stuttering or awkward pauses. But hey, maybe he should cut himself some slack. He wasn’t usually preoccupied with whether or not the other person was trying to kill him.
It didn’t seem like the other girl was for the time being, which was…good. Caleb rolled his neck, grimacing as the strap of his bag dug into his shoulder.
“So, uh,” He started, pointing with his chin. “Did you kill someone for that bag? Or did you just rob them?”
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The Honeless Beard
- Posts: 893
- Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2018 4:47 am
- Location: Got it? Good, now get inside.
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"Oh, just robbed them," you respond, "I'm not a monster. I'm just trying to figure out how best to navigate all of... this."
You wave your hand uselessly through the air, gesturing at all of... this. You're mildly disturbed at how fast you went from holding someone at gunpoint to talking, but adrenaline was a hell of a drug and you need to push past the contact high to get through the come-down.
"Look," you continue, "that was close. I underestimated her and if that happens again, it'll-"
You don't finish your sentence, instead jerking your head to the foliage, where the girl disappeared into. You lift your white cap off of your head, wipe a wet hand through sweat-soaked hair, replace the cap with a firm tug. Your eyes skate back to his after a time, your expression imploring.
"I'm going forward with the assumption that most encounters after this are going to be a lot more violent. You didn't fuck up and you didn't fuck me up, so I could use a hand with navigation. If you wanted to help."
You wave your hand uselessly through the air, gesturing at all of... this. You're mildly disturbed at how fast you went from holding someone at gunpoint to talking, but adrenaline was a hell of a drug and you need to push past the contact high to get through the come-down.
"Look," you continue, "that was close. I underestimated her and if that happens again, it'll-"
You don't finish your sentence, instead jerking your head to the foliage, where the girl disappeared into. You lift your white cap off of your head, wipe a wet hand through sweat-soaked hair, replace the cap with a firm tug. Your eyes skate back to his after a time, your expression imploring.
"I'm going forward with the assumption that most encounters after this are going to be a lot more violent. You didn't fuck up and you didn't fuck me up, so I could use a hand with navigation. If you wanted to help."
Caleb wasn’t sure if her response made him relieved or worried. He felt a little better about being slow on the uptake, though that meant the both of them. There had to be someone out there who was quicker on the draw.
At least he wouldn’t have to face them alone.
He fished the other girl’s map out of the bag—both of which were his now, actually—and squinted up at the sky. While he’d barely set foot out of the Wellington region, at least Caleb knew what direction the sun rose in.
“Why don’t we head…south?”
((Caleb Policarpio continued in la guerra de los santos))
At least he wouldn’t have to face them alone.
He fished the other girl’s map out of the bag—both of which were his now, actually—and squinted up at the sky. While he’d barely set foot out of the Wellington region, at least Caleb knew what direction the sun rose in.
“Why don’t we head…south?”
((Caleb Policarpio continued in la guerra de los santos))
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The Honeless Beard
- Posts: 893
- Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2018 4:47 am
- Location: Got it? Good, now get inside.
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"Take the lead, big fella," you say, and follow suit.
((You walk for a time, and things are peaceful, and you don't introduce yourself and neither does he.))
((You walk for a time, and things are peaceful, and you don't introduce yourself and neither does he.))
((Clara Micallef continued from Fool Me Once...))
Well, to nobody's surprise, the spot was empty. No supplies left behind, and most importantly, no body either. That basically confirmed it - the two of them had been working together. How the pair had been able to coordinate such a performance during the short time they had been here was a puzzle with an answer that, while interesting, was probably not worth spending time thinking about. What was more important was figuring out which way they had gone.
Clara sighed as she scanned around the area, her vision straining in hopes of getting any sort of clue to assist her with what she was now thinking of calling The Noble Quest to Get My Stuff Back. It was, of course, a working title, but it was more interesting than having no name for the goal at all. Besides, if a better title came to mind, she could always revise it (assuming that she lived long enough for that to matter). If nothing else it was at least a distraction from focusing on the grim reality of her situation, in which her chances of survival were frankly not at all encouraging.
Her pondering was interrupted by the sight of moving figures in the distance, or at least what could plausibly be mistaken for such. She took a deep breath before setting off in that direction, keeping a hand on the gun in her waistband as she stepped carefully, making sure to maintain as big a distance as possible. It was only a matter of time until they got distracted by going for their third target, and she'd be ready for them then, so long as she could avoid being seen in the mean time.
((Clara Micallef continued elsewhere))
Well, to nobody's surprise, the spot was empty. No supplies left behind, and most importantly, no body either. That basically confirmed it - the two of them had been working together. How the pair had been able to coordinate such a performance during the short time they had been here was a puzzle with an answer that, while interesting, was probably not worth spending time thinking about. What was more important was figuring out which way they had gone.
Clara sighed as she scanned around the area, her vision straining in hopes of getting any sort of clue to assist her with what she was now thinking of calling The Noble Quest to Get My Stuff Back. It was, of course, a working title, but it was more interesting than having no name for the goal at all. Besides, if a better title came to mind, she could always revise it (assuming that she lived long enough for that to matter). If nothing else it was at least a distraction from focusing on the grim reality of her situation, in which her chances of survival were frankly not at all encouraging.
Her pondering was interrupted by the sight of moving figures in the distance, or at least what could plausibly be mistaken for such. She took a deep breath before setting off in that direction, keeping a hand on the gun in her waistband as she stepped carefully, making sure to maintain as big a distance as possible. It was only a matter of time until they got distracted by going for their third target, and she'd be ready for them then, so long as she could avoid being seen in the mean time.
((Clara Micallef continued elsewhere))