"Jesus fuck!" Marion cried ass the glass shattered, instinctively ducking down and putting her hands on the back of her neck, ensuring her back took the brunt of the glass. Luckily she didn't end up too cut up.
She heard Kassandra ask if she was okay, and she immediately clung to her. "I'm fine, now let's get out of here, fast!"
Exploring
Phase 1 (0-12 Hours)
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MurderWeasel
- Posts: 3442
- Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 9:56 am
- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
Mina was furthest from the window, and so was able to step backwards and to the side and avoid the bulk of the shower of debris; what glass did bounce off her had slowed enough in velocity by the time it reached her that she wasn't injured by it. She also managed to dodge the mangled remnants of the nightstand, though it almost caught her on the rebound, knocking the EpiPen spinning away as it settled in the dirt. The ruined furniture became yet another garbage obstacle in the narrow corridor. The other two girls swore, checked themselves over, fussed and made haste. Mina stood.
"I'm fine," she said, voice more level than it really had any right to be. She was under pressure again, and once again found that analytical frame of mind in easy reach. She hadn't paid much attention to the buildings around them. That had been an error. The window that had blown out into the alley was set in another hovel of a house, more dirty stucco with bits flaking off, indistinct from anything else in this alley. There could be similar surprises lurking all around them. The window looked nearly straight at them, but it was dark enough that Mina could make out nothing inside. She could make an educated guess, though.
First surmise: they were not under further assault from the mystery shooter. The MO was all wrong. Three girls standing still in an alley kicking their heels as they discussed whether or not to leave meant at least one free kill if you had a gun. The nightstand, by contrast, had been a remarkably inefficient attack. In fact, second surmise: Mina thought that it likely was no attack at all. What she saw was frustration and fear and a need to vent, the same impulse that had led her to hurl her improvised lock pick to the ground and try to crush it under her boot.
At the same time, this was The Program, and she was gambling with all their lives if she was wrong. It could be some different attacker, someone without much reasoning capacity but with all the brawn in the world to make up for it, armed with a huge cleaver or a spear and just about to come charging out to make his mark on the scoreboard. These girls had stuck by Mina, had taken her into their confidence. What she would risk happening to herself, she wasn't quite ready to bet against with their lives as stake.
"Kassandra," Mina hissed, "take Marion and go. Wet market. I'll guard our rear and buy us a couple seconds. If I fall behind, I'll meet you there later. Go."
That said, she unzipped her bag once more, fishing her hook back out in what was a more fumbling process than she'd anticipated. She moved closer to the windowframe, getting between it and the other two girls, facing it the whole time. She gestured at them with her free hand, shooing them along. The message was clear: run.
"I'm fine," she said, voice more level than it really had any right to be. She was under pressure again, and once again found that analytical frame of mind in easy reach. She hadn't paid much attention to the buildings around them. That had been an error. The window that had blown out into the alley was set in another hovel of a house, more dirty stucco with bits flaking off, indistinct from anything else in this alley. There could be similar surprises lurking all around them. The window looked nearly straight at them, but it was dark enough that Mina could make out nothing inside. She could make an educated guess, though.
First surmise: they were not under further assault from the mystery shooter. The MO was all wrong. Three girls standing still in an alley kicking their heels as they discussed whether or not to leave meant at least one free kill if you had a gun. The nightstand, by contrast, had been a remarkably inefficient attack. In fact, second surmise: Mina thought that it likely was no attack at all. What she saw was frustration and fear and a need to vent, the same impulse that had led her to hurl her improvised lock pick to the ground and try to crush it under her boot.
At the same time, this was The Program, and she was gambling with all their lives if she was wrong. It could be some different attacker, someone without much reasoning capacity but with all the brawn in the world to make up for it, armed with a huge cleaver or a spear and just about to come charging out to make his mark on the scoreboard. These girls had stuck by Mina, had taken her into their confidence. What she would risk happening to herself, she wasn't quite ready to bet against with their lives as stake.
"Kassandra," Mina hissed, "take Marion and go. Wet market. I'll guard our rear and buy us a couple seconds. If I fall behind, I'll meet you there later. Go."
That said, she unzipped her bag once more, fishing her hook back out in what was a more fumbling process than she'd anticipated. She moved closer to the windowframe, getting between it and the other two girls, facing it the whole time. She gestured at them with her free hand, shooing them along. The message was clear: run.
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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
From inside the house, some more crashing could be heard - wood creaking, a door slamming, porcelain shattering. Nothing more flew out of the window other than muted curses beneath the destruction.
Kassandra didn't need to be told to run. However, it was nice to have a set destination in mind. Mina's description didn't give her a whole lot of faith in the wet markets in terms of salvage, but she was in no position to be picky over hiding spots. The alley was done, one hundred percent. They had been shot at, and now someone chucked a piece of furniture through a window at them. NO way was she sticking around to see what else was going to unfold.
She was admittedly uncomfortable with Mina staying behind. The girl sounded confident in her plans, but at the same time, she was facing down an unknown capacity who was strong enough to throw nightstands around. Kassandra wanted to live, there was no doubt about that, but she had never considered the idea of someone else dying for her. And when that idea entered her head, she didn't like it.
But she had to keep her priorities, and since the start, her main priority was keeping herself and Marion alive. With an understanding nod to Mina, Kass clasped her arm tightly around Marion and charged out of the alley, leaving behind only hopes that Mina would find her own way out of this mess.
(Kassandra Vaitaki continued elsewhere...)
She was admittedly uncomfortable with Mina staying behind. The girl sounded confident in her plans, but at the same time, she was facing down an unknown capacity who was strong enough to throw nightstands around. Kassandra wanted to live, there was no doubt about that, but she had never considered the idea of someone else dying for her. And when that idea entered her head, she didn't like it.
But she had to keep her priorities, and since the start, her main priority was keeping herself and Marion alive. With an understanding nod to Mina, Kass clasped her arm tightly around Marion and charged out of the alley, leaving behind only hopes that Mina would find her own way out of this mess.
(Kassandra Vaitaki continued elsewhere...)
Marion fled with Kassandra, Kass's arm clasped tight around her.
(Marion Williams continued elsewhere...)
(Marion Williams continued elsewhere...)
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MurderWeasel
- Posts: 3442
- Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 9:56 am
- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
Kassandra and Marion took off, and for just a second Mina considered chasing after them, doing nothing but holding a rear guard position like she'd claimed she was planning to do. She'd found people that she clicked well enough with, people that had trusted and tolerated her and that she had in turn found trustworthy and tolerable. There was a path she could see stretching out before her, one where she stuck with Marion and Kassandra as long as she could, playing the third wheel to their awkward lover shtick until someone died, then comforting the survivor (unless she herself was the hapless corpse). They'd have an alright time, probably, and it would be safer and more comfortable than most other options. Mina knew that laying low could get you far, knew that it was a decent way to avoid pain and suffering, and maybe a relatively painless death was the most anyone could ask for in The Program.
At the same time, that intrigue gnawed. It was, after all, what had convinced her to send her allies off without particular intent to follow. They'd be safe at the wet market, as far as Mina knew. They'd be alright if they met KeKe; KeKe was not hostile and was a decent person and wasn't amazingly armed in any event. They could get together, perhaps find that they had a lot in common, these three girls who Mina liked but had abandoned, on what amounted roughly to a whim. Or, no, not quite a whim. Taking that stability, the stability of KeKe's normalcy or of the couple's accepting dynamic, still smacked of its own kind of suicide. Mina was going to die, yes, but she didn't want to. She could accept it, plan for it, without welcoming it.
She'd made her decision, picked her path. Mina stepped closer still to the shattered window, letting the hook drop to a far more neutral position at her side. The relaxed state she'd forced herself into earlier now returned naturally, the tension easing out of her. She no longer focused on breathing slowly; her breaths naturally came easily, in their own time. This would, she thought, be simpler on her own too. There were a number of opportunities available to her as an individual that did not apply in the company of the other two.
"Hey," Mina called, not quite willing to stick her head through the window but standing close to it, squinting into the dimness beyond. Her eyes were yet again not adjusted. She couldn't make out much. "Who's in there? You okay?"
At the same time, that intrigue gnawed. It was, after all, what had convinced her to send her allies off without particular intent to follow. They'd be safe at the wet market, as far as Mina knew. They'd be alright if they met KeKe; KeKe was not hostile and was a decent person and wasn't amazingly armed in any event. They could get together, perhaps find that they had a lot in common, these three girls who Mina liked but had abandoned, on what amounted roughly to a whim. Or, no, not quite a whim. Taking that stability, the stability of KeKe's normalcy or of the couple's accepting dynamic, still smacked of its own kind of suicide. Mina was going to die, yes, but she didn't want to. She could accept it, plan for it, without welcoming it.
She'd made her decision, picked her path. Mina stepped closer still to the shattered window, letting the hook drop to a far more neutral position at her side. The relaxed state she'd forced herself into earlier now returned naturally, the tension easing out of her. She no longer focused on breathing slowly; her breaths naturally came easily, in their own time. This would, she thought, be simpler on her own too. There were a number of opportunities available to her as an individual that did not apply in the company of the other two.
"Hey," Mina called, not quite willing to stick her head through the window but standing close to it, squinting into the dimness beyond. Her eyes were yet again not adjusted. She couldn't make out much. "Who's in there? You okay?"
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MurderWeasel
- Posts: 3442
- Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 9:56 am
- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
The new-found silence stretched. What now? Mina couldn't even be sure anyone was still inside. She couldn't be sure of much of anything. The world had turned deathly quiet and she couldn't even say exactly when. Glass and dirt and garbage lay all around. If she was shot here, her corpse would be more of the same. The earlier you died, the more of a decomposed mess you'd become before anyone bothered to scrape you off ground.
She considered going inside, forcing the issue. Then she thought back to the gunshot before, the way everything could've ended right there. A compromise: she stuck her head into the window just a bit. She could make out nothing distinct. A dresser, a shelf, a mess of things scattered across the floor. Was the occupant hiding? Carrying on their rampage in some other part of the house?
It didn't concern her. This was a mistake, another stupid, self-destructive mistake. Unlike having abandoned the others, this was one Mina could stop making at any time. So she did.
Her hurried footsteps and too-ragged breathing were still the only sounds she could make out.
((Mina Mashall continued in Contact With The Enemy))
She considered going inside, forcing the issue. Then she thought back to the gunshot before, the way everything could've ended right there. A compromise: she stuck her head into the window just a bit. She could make out nothing distinct. A dresser, a shelf, a mess of things scattered across the floor. Was the occupant hiding? Carrying on their rampage in some other part of the house?
It didn't concern her. This was a mistake, another stupid, self-destructive mistake. Unlike having abandoned the others, this was one Mina could stop making at any time. So she did.
Her hurried footsteps and too-ragged breathing were still the only sounds she could make out.
((Mina Mashall continued in Contact With The Enemy))