Linear Functional Analysis

[AnimeNerd]

Maud didn't really move when Rachana placed a hand on her. Maybe her chest shifted as she took in a breath, but that was about it.

Even when Heath's hand went to the pocket she believed held one of the guns, she didn't flinch.

She wouldn't be the first Sparrow to get shot, if he really did it. And at this distance, he probably go for something big and vital, to make sure she died. Maybe she'd suffer a little bit, but not for very long.

Maud wouldn't cower before death, if this was the moment it decided to take her.

But Fate decided against violence this time. The gun went back into his pocket. A mask fell into place. No answer from Heath, but Rachana requested for the topic to be dropped.

Maud knew to drop a topic when needed. She avoided talking about the Sparrow family tree with her mother enough to know when to stop.

She supposed the answer was obvious, anyway. No need to force it out of him.

Her gaze shifted to the corpse of Gunslinger Girl. The foot she brought forward didn't have much weight put on it, not wanting to risk slipping, in case her eyes deceived her.

A hand went into a pocket. Out came a wallet. And with one small hand motion...

"Harper."

She looked up at Rachana.

"Her name is Harper Gray."

[almostinhuman]

Harper.

Rachana now had a name for the girl. Certainly better than having to call her 'the girl I killed' or something.

"Right..."

She shut her eyes tight, swallowing back a lump that'd formed in her throat. When she was done here, when her plan began in earnest, she supposed now she had someone she could do it in the name of. Maybe it'd almost make up for it.

"I'm gonna... go get a tarp for her, or something."

She carefully stepped off the slippery ground and headed back inside the workshop.

[NoLife42069]

Maud dropped the subject and moved near him even though he almost pulled a gun on her, and Jane's name is actually Harper. Rachana went into the workshop to go grab a tarp, though he truly doubted a machine shop would have a tarp.

But the more pressing matter was that he was being not only a jackass but also irrational. And while Heath was sure he could use his incomplete degree to determine the exact reasons he was acting this way.

Rachana had basically said it earlier

"I'm sure he's just stressed or whatever. Folks get a little loopy when shit hits the fan."

But now Heath was met with a crossroads. Never before in his life had he been in a situation where he so strongly felt that he was making a visual novel choice. Where it felt like picking one of the two would change the entire course of the rest of his life, and in a way it does. Either A. stick to what he's doing, being ruthless, callous, and everything he hates. Even though continuing like this would increase his chance of survival, is that worth the still high likelihood of dying as something he hates? Or B. Be himself even if it means he's most likely going to die.

Perhaps a few years ago he would have picked A. but he had already chosen to be less of an isolationist back when he was 21.

"...I know that I'm acting like an asshole, and being callous. And that even when I pretend to be all of that to survive. At the end of the day, I'm still a relatively nice person who doesn't want to hurt anybody." Heath then let out a groan of pain as he lowered himself to the ground. "I'm sorry neither of you deserves that. And I'm sorry that I almost pulled a gun on both of you, I panicked a little and it was already in my hand before I even fully registered it." Heath placed his hands on his face as he continued. " And Rachana I mean it don't blame yourself for Harper's death. It's not your fault and even if it was the fact that you feel like shit because of it a automatically makes you better than the person who looted her body. Also, I know that it's kind of a horrible thing to do but we do have to deal with her supplies. It's a matter of survival and the cocksuckers that put us here only gave us each enough food for a week." Heath laid with his back to the lubed-up road and hands over his eyes for a bit before adding. "Also also if you could slide me my weapon I'll give you 65% of Harper's ammo and a water bottle." Now that Heath was no longer trying to hide his weakness, he was willing to put all his cards on the table if it meant he could have some allies for the next two weeks.

[AnimeNerd]

A tarp for Harper was a good idea. It might be the best they could do, unfortunately. They didn't exactly have much in the way of a shovel, and even if they did, there was no telling how much snow they'd have to go through to dig a proper grave. It was not ideal, but they'd work with what they had. They can look around more for a blanket, if they needed to, but it might be best to leave that as a later option. Hard to say how cold the nights here would be, but Maud was certain they would all need whatever they could get their hands on.

So she only gave Rachana a soft nod, a small "Okay." before her attention turned to the wallet again. It might be the best they could do for a gravestone, sadly. Unless Heath was willing to risk damaging his machete to scratch her name into the next rock they found, the mark for Harper Gray's final resting place would be made of plastic.

Maud was drawn from her thoughts as Heath spoke again, and she listened. She would always listen to someone who wanted to talk, even if she didn't understand everything said. Everyone's words deserved to be heard, after all.

She nodded along to his apology-the moment had come and gone, and he hadn't taken the shot. There wasn't much to forgive, as far as she was concerned.

He tried to help Rachana feel better once more, and she nodded again, tempted to speak, but unsure how to enhance the words said and feelings invoked, so she stayed silent.

And as he went to lay down upon the ground, speaking of the supplies they had and how they needed to be rational about things, Maud finally chose to give her feet a rest, sitting on the snow, legs bent but not folded up against herself. Her eyes went to the skies as Heath offered the nicest bargain one might find in a deadly situation like theirs.

"If it makes you feel better, you can both split mine whenever I'm gone."

The words flowed out of her mouth casually. As though she spoke of leaving a friend's house rather than dying.

"I don't expect to last that long, if I'm being honest. Or at least long enough to leave here."

[almostinhuman]

A machete skittered out the door and across the ground, landing near Heath.

"I'm holding you to that, by the way," Rachana called from within the shop. "So start divvying it up."

She offered no response to any of the rest of what they had to say to her. She certainly hoped she wasn't gonna need to take Maud up on that offer.

"With what I've got planned, I'm gonna need all the ammo I can get."

[NoLife42069]

Heath sighed moved his hands and looked at Maud. "I know that I probably shouldn't say this given the situation. You know only one can live and all that." Heath pulled himself into a sitting position. He looked directly at Maud and said "Don't give up on yourself like that. Look the situation is dire, anyone's chance of survival is slim at best. I'm talking about like a 4.6% chance of surviving this and even if the number of people decreases it basically stays the same. But even with all of that you still shouldn't just accept death. Now I don't want to preach to you but like." Heath waved his hands in the air while trying to find the right words. "We all have a chance no matter how small or what weapon we get! Like this girl I met who had flares and a mo-" Heath was cut off by the skittering of his machete and Rachana's voice. Heath sighed as he returned his weapon to its sheath "yeah yeah, you will have your ammo. Oh by the way we should check who got the murder weapon."

Heath placed a hand on Maud's shoulder, then moved to Harper's bag. Some MREs, First aid kit, flashlight, etc. Then he found the ammo and began to look through it. "Damn, they gave her quite a bit of ammo." He split it up 65/35 and slide over the 65% and one of harper's water bottles. "And what do you have planned? If it has anything to do with a little monster hunting then count me in!" Heath then looked to Maud. "The same goes for me if you find my body, you're free to anything I have. Now since you're alive what do you want from the dead?" He said with a swing of his arm over the bag.

[AnimeNerd]

Maud only hummed at the attempt for a pep talk. Kind words of encouragement were nice, but about as helpful as thoughts and prayers at a funeral. They didn't really *do* anything. The most inspiring speech could be made right in front of her, and it would not change the fact that, at best, only one of the people there to hear it would still be alive next month.

Her eyes didn't leave the clouds as Heath continued speaking, even once he'd veered off-topic. Not even when the hand was on her shoulder, she didn't provide much reaction, assuming it was to keep the other man stable on unstable ground.

For one of the few times in her life, the smile on Maud's lips tasted bitter.

"Appreciate the words, but...I've accepted my death for a long time, really."

Her legs bent more, knees hugged by arms, but not against her chest.

"Sparrows don't exactly live too long. Not the ones in my family, anyway."

She finally turned to face Heath again. For the moment, the upward curve of her lips was natural again.

"That's why I'll help however I can in trying to kill those beasts. Make sure my death means something, in the end."

She had always thought herself Goldilocks. Going into buildings she shouldn't enter. Doing questionable things once she was in the building. She truly did think it would bite her one day. Didn't seem like it would be the case, however.

Woodsman seemed like a better title. Or maybe Woodcutter was better, all things considered. Wasn't there a version where it was just a Hunter? Whatever the case, that seemed the best option at this point.

[almostinhuman]

In the midst of their conversation, Rachana emerged, arms burdened by a huge assortment of items.

"Let's cut the talk about dying..."

She bent down and let the load she carried gently drop to the ground, outside the slick mess she'd created. Some of it seemed to be bottles of chemicals from the machine shop, labels peeling and all in Cyrillic. A handful of miscellaneous tools were among them also, as well as the promised tarp.

"I'd rather we had a chat about killing. Namely that fucking thing."

Rachana took the tarp and began unfolding it. It seemed to have stiffened in its many years of abandonment, but it would simply have to do.

"But before we get even that far, I'd appreciate help laying this over Harper. It's the least I can do for her."

[NoLife42069]

Heath let out a hollow laugh without humor. "Yeah...I want my death to mean something as well..." Heath got an almost overwhelming desire to smoke. Sadly before he could even put anything into action Rachana returned. "I would agree with you but these are also important. Besides I don't see any of us with a finished will and I'm willing to bet that they won't be time to write one."

Then Rachana dropped a bunch of chemicals and tools. Yet Heath's mind was still on dying. "Hey...Do you think any of us will be buried? I mean like they told us that the cover story is that all but one died in a plane crash. So how the hell are they going to deal with our bodies?" Heath looked down at Harper paused for a second then continued. "I mean look at her! There's a pretty obvious gunshot wound! So what the hell is going to happen to us!?" Heath felt his heart push against his chest as he looked back to the girls. "...You know an idea popped into my mind about what if we carve out a message into a corpse... You know like don't trust Janus or something like that...But I realize now that in the act of doing that, I would basically be dooming one of us to never be sent to a grave. Or at the very least be mutilated to remove it." Heath looked down for a beat, reached into his pocket, and pulled out his pack of cigarettes, he tapped one out brought it to his lips, and lit it with his lighter. Heath turned his head to the side, took a long drag then blew it out. Turn back and said "If we want to kill one of them then my first recommendation is to wait until a few days in. Since we are given more information about them every day I say we give it till let's say day three before we put any of our plans in motion."

With that Heath grabbed Harper's legs and lifted them. "You lay it flat on the ground and I'll put her on top. Then we roll her up like a cocoon. Sound good?" His body language no longer dripped with self-hatred but was now a more general sadness. Oh and can't forget the pain because by god did Heath want to forget it.

[AnimeNerd]

Maud couldn't help the slight flinch at Rachana's first comment. Not of fear, but embarrassment, like she'd been overheard speaking of a crush. That was how people reacted for that sort of thing, right? She didn't actually know. She never had crushes when she was younger, and everyone at the college must have some problem or other she found unconsciously terrible, because no one there seemed right either. Closest was Elizabeth, and the idea of bringing the friendship into something more made her stomach feel weird.

Perhaps it was not exactly a good thing, her mind getting sidetracked on the questions of how romance worked. Especially when the others were still speaking.

Maud zoned back in as Heath speculated on what would happen with their corpses and what they could do about it. It was a fine thing to think about, and it would be nice able to send some sort of message to the families of those deceased so they could have a chance to learn more, but taking everything about their situation into account, and considering Rachana's own feelings about the topic, it might be best point to reality before speculation.

"Honestly? Not expecting Mum and Grandma getting more than an urn with ashes, if that much."

Maud shifted, unbending her legs as she stood again.

"If they're willing to feed our professors to one of their monsters just to make an example of them, I think we can rule out anything being 'too low' or anything like that."

She put a hand on her back, the other still holding the clarinet, as she leaned back slightly, earning a small, satisfying crack.

"But I do think we should put a pause on this for now. Focus on the task at hand and all, yeah?"

Her steps were still cautious as she walked toward Rachana, wary of the slick in their surroundings.

"Sorry for bringing it up, by the way. Better about that usually, but the situation's pretty bleak, so..."

A shrug, before she placed the clarinet on the ground, bell end first so that it stood by itself, before looking back at Rachana.

"Want any help with that?"

[almostinhuman]

The tarp unfolded awkwardly in her hands, its end dropping to the ground. She fanned it out to let Maud grab the other end.

"Yeah, just... gotta be careful putting it on her."

The two of them laid it out over Harper, laying it as flat as it could reasonably get. Rachana moved a couple nearby rocks to lay over the corners in the hopes it'd keep the tarp from blowing away in the wind. It saddened her a bit, thinking this was the best Harper would likely get. But fretting over that would do neither her nor anyone else any good. She could save wallowing that guilt when she was standing over the charred carcass of the Chimera.

"If I can suggest something for you two? Keep busy. If you sit around contemplating your navels you're gonna be totally paralyzed."

Without another look at Heath or Maud, she scooped up the myriad items on the floor; her bag, the bottles, the ammo, her weapon, the second of Harper's guns. She set about moving things around to get as much of it into her bag as possible.

"And speaking of busy... what I've got planned needs fire. A lot of fire. And some corrosive shit for good measure. Dunno that you actually really wanna be there, but I wouldn't mind Harper's matches. They should be in her bag."

[NoLife42069]

"Or we could do that..." Heath's plan was completely disregarded. Yet he couldn't find it in himself to be angry or annoyed which was odd saying as that was one of his pet peeves. Heath continued to smoke as Rachana told them what Heath guessed was her philosophy. "I get your point, but spending time thinking about these things can also be important. Especially when you don't really have a plan..." Heath sighed before adding "Like me."

Then Rachana started throwing the stuff she grabbed in her bag. "Huh, didn't peg you for an arsonist. Also how in the HELL do you know how to make a flamethrower?" Heath grabbed Harper's bag and grabbed the matches. "I'll have you know that I would love to see char-grilled and melting Chimera." Then Heath tossed her the matches. "Which makes me think how do you think the fucker tastes?... That and anything else you want from the late Harper? The same goes for you Maud anything left over I'm keeping."

'The gun.' Heath had almost forgotten to check the pistol. He grabbed it out of his pocket and examined it. And what do you know on its barrel was a red splatter. "Huh. Guess I grabbed the murder weapon... Shit now I got to reload it." Heath then began the process of reloading the weapon that was older than him.

[AnimeNerd]

Maud does as told, still watching her step and making sure things were as nice as they could be for Harper. Again, it wasn't much, but if it was going to be the best they could do, they would have to live with it.

As Rachana grabbed rocks to keep the tarp in place, Maud grabbed two herself. A bit small, but pretty wide. Had a good amount of weight to it. The other bigger, maybe a bit much, but necessary. Perfect for what she needed.

She crouched again, this time near the front end of Harper. It didn't take long to fix things up. Big rock behind the wallet, keeping one end from falling back and becoming completely flat. Smaller rock sitting inside the wallet, stopping it from closing completely.

Blue eyes made of plastic and ink stared into brown eyes made of flesh and meat.

Maud hoped Harper could understand the sad excuse for a gravestone, though she'd understand otherwise.

Rachana gave advice, and the only thing Maud could think to do was nod as she got back to her feet. She grabbed the clarinet again. The cold metal bit into her palm a little bit, but she ignored it just fine. There were worse things.

Heath gave his opinions on their easier conversation, then spoke of his other thoughts about the situation at hand. She couldn't blame the former, death was a heavy topic, even for her. And it was a topic one could not avoid forever.

Still. At some point, a hint needed to be taken.

"I'll pass, but I'll tell you what," She said, a sympathetic small smile on her lips. "Once we fry the beastie, we can talk more about it more. I've thought about death a lot, myself. Might be nice to actually talk about it with someone, for once."

She hadn't had a conversation about it that satisfied her in years. Getting to speak of it without worrying over fights and horribly differing opinions...sounded pleasant.

"Until then, though, how about we keep our eyes on the prize and do some good before then, yeah?"

[almostinhuman]

A hint was not quite being taken by either of them. But Rachana supposed they might have the right of it. Sticking together was probably going to increase her odds of success versus going it alone. Maud in particular seemed dependable, and the two of them together could probably manage some of Heath's eccentricities.

"Well... okay. I suppose we're a trio."

Rachana packed Harper's matches near her own, carefully separated from the bottles of industrial chemicals they'd soon be paired with. She hadn't quite checked what any of them were just yet, she'd just grabbed a bunch of different ones and hoped some were what she was looking for. She zipped the bag shut and slung it over her shoulder, wobbling a little under its new weight.

"Anyway, I'm done here."

Her eyes lingered on the obscured form of Harper for just a second too long. Then her attention snapped back to Maud, a resolute light in her eyes.

"Let's find shelter. Better than that old place behind me. Then we can get to planning."

((Rachana Kumar continued elsewhere))

[NoLife42069]

"Yeah, eyes on the prize." Heath carefully got up and slowly shuffled over to his suitcase and pack. "Yep, a trio. May our name's go down in history as the ones who char-grilled the same thing that ate our teachers." Heath tried to put a little enthusiasm in his words but what came out was said in a flat dry tone.

Heath set about putting his stuff from off the ground back into his suitcase. "Yeah so am I..." Heath then began to put the rest of Harper's things in his pack.

"Agreed where I come from I got used to the cold, but exposure is a serious threat. I propose somewhere with beds... and tables! If I eat without a table I go into a sad wander." Heath smiled and laughed a bit at his reference while knowing damn well no one else got it.

Once his things were back in order and secure he walked over to Maud and after a couple of seconds of, hesitation he gave her a quick hug. "We got this. We're monster hunters now." Heath took a step back, grabbed his things, and look at Maud one more time "And don't worry if by some stroke of luck, I make it... I won't let you or anyone else be forgotten. You'd do the same for me to right?" Heath said with a somber smile. "Now let's get out of the cold and away from Harper. We don't want to ruin her sleep now do we?"

Heath took another drag as he hobbled away from the machine shop.

(Heath Redfield continued in The Woodcutter)