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Post by witch on Oct 23, 2012 12:40:05 GMT -5
((Just a random neutral tunnel. I'll spice things up soon, can't spoil everything <3))
Lazy cigarette smoke curled through the air illuminated by the poor lights that flickered dimly overhead. The air was already thick with the smell of decaying things and the taint of ammonia but now the cherry glowed bright red before cooling as a thick ring of smoke whispered through her lips. Watching the trendless of smoke slowly dissipate she lay her hand on her knee. A thin hand, pale as sun scorched earth plucked the blunt from her own fingers and took a breath of it.
“How did you get this?” the young woman asked slowly, her dark eyes peering up curiously.
Rolling her shoulders in a shrug, she offered no explanation for that and instead she reach back, taking the mass of hair and running her fingers through it, working through knots. Once satisfied, she used the rubber band around her wrist to tie it together, letting it fall over her shoulder. Rolling her neck, satisfying pops released the tension there before she worked on her hands and back. Getting to her feet she performed a few stretches before snagging back her smoke.
Taking a deep breath of it, she coughed slightly before grinding what was left into the dirt. Her eyes surveyed the woman for a moment before she spoke, “I’ll need that back.”
The woman looked, at first, surprised and then embarrassed. Slowly she shrugged off the long coat from her shoulders and handed it over to Ruslana. Pulling her arms through it, she turned away from her, her eyes drifting off to a dark corner of the wall as she leaned her back against the wall. Slowly, she pulled a small stick from her pocket; it was heavily chewed on with bite marks all along the length, and stuck this in her mouth.
Silence stretched between them before she reached down and grabbed her bag from the ground with a scrape of metal. Slinging it on her shoulder she turned away from her. Before she took a few steps out of the hovel thin arms wrapped around her waist, pushing the bag nearly off of her shoulder.
“I wish you wouldn’t go,” the voice was small, near tears.
Taking one of her hands in her own she kissed her fingers slowly but loosened her grip and stepped away. Shadow engulfed her as she made her way along the abandoned tunnel.
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Post by rag43 on Oct 23, 2012 13:12:09 GMT -5
Olec sat there in the darkness of the tunnel checking his backpack for his selfrolled "cigaretts". as soon as he found them he put them into his trenchcoat.
He heard steps coming towards him. Nosalis maybe? No. Those steps where made by boots. He stood up, took out his Skorpion and aimed into the black shadows.
"Hello?", he said...
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Novak
Nosalis
That Crazy Serbian
Posts: 73
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Post by Novak on Oct 23, 2012 13:19:16 GMT -5
A distant voice echoed through the tunnel, it sounded like a greeting "hello" or was is something else? "hell now" or "hell cow" regardless. Mutants don't make such sounds and after a prolonged journey alone Novak found himself low on provisions, if it were the humans making the sound he could ask them if they wanted to trade for food, water and medicine. If they were hostile they would die and Novak would get things for free.
He jumped down on the rails and walked forward, a light made two terrifying silhouettes on the platform but beyond it he could see nobody.
Cautiously he kept moving forward until the shapes of humans emerged.
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Post by witch on Oct 23, 2012 13:43:28 GMT -5
There just was never enough light down in the tunnels. Grey appeared to be the dominate color and so everyone just blended in with shadow. So when the soft call of greeting reached her ears she turned immediately towards the noise. Apparently, it was only off to the left of her and possibly a few feet to a few yards. It was hard to tell what with the echoing and such.
Pulling free her own weapon she stifled the click as she cocked it. Tugging her hood up over her head, she hid her bright blonde hair. Hugging herself to the wall, she avoided making any loud noises though even the little noises echoed. Perhaps she could pass herself off as a rat today?
Yes, she was a rat today. She imagined herself as a skinny one; albino yet, having lived to adult hood, had mastered the art of hiding. Pushing her back up against the wall, she imagined her claws digging into the concrete, skittering about in an attempt to shy away from the perpetrators in her domain.
Yet she wasn’t alone, surely she could hear another coming from behind and she froze in terror. Was this how she was going to die? Alone, as a rat, in the stink of the tunnels? No, for unlike the rat, she had a weapon and she was fully prepared to use it, even if it resulted in her own demise. Going down with guns blazing ran through her mind as she waited for this someone else to answer. There was no use giving her position away, especially given that she had no idea who they were or if they would simply kill her on sight.
Her mind flashed briefly to the girl she left alone but she was hidden and safe in her tiny room. Surely they had not seen her and she crossed her fingers in hope that she would stay hidden. Shifting the stick to the other side of her mouth with her tongue, she gazed back and forth.
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Post by rag43 on Oct 23, 2012 13:58:15 GMT -5
Living inside the shadows trained Olecs ears well. He heard that the steps stopped, but there were others coming heavier ones. two people in the tunnel...
"Friendly passenger here!", he shouted not too loud. "No need to shoot!"
He didn't like it to reveal his location that easily, but he had a good feeling this time. Mostly his sharpened instinct wouldn't trick him. Carefully he started moving towards the steps hardening the grip around his Skorpion...
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Novak
Nosalis
That Crazy Serbian
Posts: 73
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Post by Novak on Oct 23, 2012 14:01:34 GMT -5
Due to his black armor he blended in well enough, the greys were in many areas as night where light did not exist. So Novak raised his arm, rifle overhead to point out his location as he clambered up on the platform and moved towards the sounds.
His other hand of course was close to his holster and the pistol that came with it, just in case it was an ambush.
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Post by witch on Oct 23, 2012 14:16:45 GMT -5
Perhaps trusting others might have been a good thing but thus far, it had only caused trouble as far as she could see. So instead of answering with her own call that she wasn’t going to just shoot him because, well, she might just do that. No it wasn’t nice, it was more like shooting noobs for no reason other than to simply shoot someone. Well, it wasn’t wise to underestimate them regardless so she lifted the muzzle of her gun closer to her face, not pointing it at herself mind you, and wiping her thumb along the barrel, judging if it would be a clean shot or not.
What was he a passenger of, anyway? She snarked at the possibilities of what exactly he could be riding but staid otherwise silent, she could sit here all day if that’s what it took for them to either stumble upon her or for them to leave her alone. Social skills were certainly not one of her strong points.
Dropping the barrel down to her side she shifted her gaze back towards the newest to the party. He was still a bit farther away but he hadn’t spoken either. Although, she could make out one arm raised as he passed under a dim light. Was he trying to look like he wasn’t going to kill them all? Perhaps, she still didn’t trust them one bit regardless.
Settling her back more comfortably against the wall and her shoulder against the crack she had nestled herself into, she chewed on the stick silently.
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Post by rag43 on Oct 23, 2012 14:32:13 GMT -5
Olec stopped and aimed at the ground before him as he saw the silhuetto of a human with one arm liftet up.
"Thank god that one is friendly...", he thought gripping his silenced Makarov with his third hand. He didn't forget the third one of the party that must be lurking here somewhere...
"Hey there stranger?" Olec sounded calm and friendly but his brain showed him one scenario after another. "Here in buisness?"
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Novak
Nosalis
That Crazy Serbian
Posts: 73
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Post by Novak on Oct 23, 2012 14:59:38 GMT -5
The man in front of Novak spoke "Hey there stranger?" followed by a brief pause "Here in buisness?" Novak merely nodded, lowering his arm and tucking it over his shoulder. He grabbed a military grade medicine pack, Novak opened it and showed that it was empty. Then from his pouch he took out several military grade bullets.
The trade had started.
Empty boxes with crumbs of bread and dried meat. To show that he had no food left, 14 bullets for a week supply.
A pair of cantines, one smelled like vodka while the other was without scent. Novak laid 12 bullets on the ground for a two week supply.
And the beforehand shown medicine, 14 for a full supply of needles.
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Post by rag43 on Oct 23, 2012 15:29:27 GMT -5
As the man showed Olec his poor supplies Olec was ashamed. He didn't have enough supplies to share with someone due to the fact that he's a loner. Good thing he had some spare needles, just for the worst case. He would trade them. But first...
"You can come out now, it's all cool!", Olec said knowing the other one he heard was still around observing them. He tightened the grip around his Makarov hoping he wouldn't need it.
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Post by witch on Oct 23, 2012 17:22:57 GMT -5
Trading, now trading she could do. After a few more moments of hesitation she stepped free from her little hovel and climbed up the edge of the platform that they were on. She tilted her head upwards once in greeting as she tugged back her hood. The stick in her mouth shifted around slightly as she gazed at them before her gaze floated away, taking in the darkness as if more interesting things lay there.
In this fashion, she flipped her weapon onto her back with a clang of metal on metal before she tugged free her own pack. Setting it on the ground, she let it be clearly seen that even without the gun, she still had her hatchet nearby if the need arose. Although she was a loner herself, she made a habit of building up enough things to trade on a regular basis. This meant that she typically had an excess of one thing or another.
This time, the silent one was in luck, for she had recently traded scrap metal for a bit of food. Her pack wasn’t as tidy as the others though. A skinned animal hide served as her water pouch and her food was in a large metal case that was practically spilling over, it had been quite a bit of metal and had been a challenge to drag it all that way.
On the other hand, she was running short on bullets from that same run. This gave her a reason to sit but first she needed to practice her own little tradition for these sorts of things. Pulling free a button on her jacket she fished inside it with two fingers and retrieved a cigarette that was a bit worse for wear but otherwise, smoke-able.
“Here,” she directed her gaze at Olec as she lit the end, took a puff, and held out something she enjoyed calling her peace pipe. Indians used to smoke pipes right before trading and she enjoyed the thought of it. After all, what was better than smoking a hand-rolled cigarette to calm the nerves after their tension filled meeting.
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Novak
Nosalis
That Crazy Serbian
Posts: 73
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Post by Novak on Oct 24, 2012 10:12:14 GMT -5
The man looked over at the shadows and yelled out "You can come out now, it's all cool!" and from the darkness a women moved into view, she greeted the two trading men with a upwards nod before taking off her hood and tucking away her weapon. Novak noticed that she carried a blunt objects, looked like an axe.
She sat down between the men saying “Here,” and taking out a cigarette, she lit it and filled the area around her with smoke. What was she doing?
The man laid down his wares.
The classical orange medicine box was opened, several spare needles were laid on a small rug Novak provided, he put the bullets next to it and collected the first aid storing it into his own Medkit. The stranger grabbed the bullets and put it among his own gear.
Next came the items the women brought along.
A metal box bursting with food was laid before the hungry Novak, she opened it and separated a some food for Novak, who packed it and gave her the rounds.
Now all that remained was getting some liquids, preferable water and vodka.
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Post by rag43 on Oct 24, 2012 11:27:35 GMT -5
Olec took the pipe thankfully and took a deep puff, then he handed it over to the armored guy.
"A handsome gesture of you, Lady.", he said smiling. He didn't smile very often these days. "I'm Olec. Olec Adrenowic. Nice to meet you two."
His third hand, covered by his trenchcoat, slowly put back his Makarov into its holster. He took out one of his joints and lighted it.
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Post by witch on Oct 25, 2012 14:05:14 GMT -5
It was a good trade, at least it lightened the load of her pack and made this man very happy. She retrieved her cigarette and took a drag. Moving on to inspect the bullets she made sure that they weighed the right amount to actually have gunpowder in them. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Novak, as he desperately needed the food, it was more along the lines that she’d been cheated before and wasn’t about to make a repeat of that.
The first one talked strangely, she concluded to herself silently before she picked up the thin line of conversation that he was trying to strike up. This took a few moments of awkward silence between them but she eventually got to it, “Ruslana.”
She didn’t offer her last name, found no real need for any way. Besides, she hadn’t met another Ruslana running around here and felt safe to assume that she must be the only one left. Perhaps that was a bit of her ego talking, though, but she wasn’t going to dwell on that as she turned her eyes back to her own belongings, organizing it as best she could before placing it back in her pack.
Out of courtesy, she began to count in her mind to ten in the old “one alligator, two alligator” way that her father had taught her. This ensured that she would leave at a more appropriate time.
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Novak
Nosalis
That Crazy Serbian
Posts: 73
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Post by Novak on Oct 25, 2012 14:34:39 GMT -5
After waiting for some time it seemed none of the gathered could provide a supply of fluids to quench his thirst. Regardless, he was a bit lost on his way from station to station. The logical thing to do is to follow the rail but that is not advisable if you don't know what's ahead, how was he to ask them? These... Strangers, how to find a friendly station?
Well you had to start somewhere, so he pointed to himself and tried to mumble something that sounded like his name, "Novak, I am Novak." Not a half bad sentence, he relished in an accomplished phrase.
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