|
Post by Opal on Feb 18, 2013 17:09:46 GMT -5
With a frown Opal gripped her crossbow steadily before her. The darkness was her element, she thrived in its stillness, but something wasn’t right. A bead of cold sweat ran down between her shoulder blades. Her eyes flicked left and right, up and down searching for the source of her discomfort, but she couldn’t see anything lurking in the shadows. Her steps became lighter and more guarded as they went, it was absolutely too quiet. Not even the rats could be heard scurrying through the walls.
Be calm, she told herself, as an ominous and eerily familiar weight pressed down over her shoulders. Opal’s breathing became ragged and all but tore out from her lungs as she began to struggle putting one foot in front of the other. Her limbs felt heavy and cumbersome, the crossbow began to shake as she tried to hold herself steady. There was no reason for this! Her mind screamed in desperation.
They turned a corner and suddenly everything seemed too crashed down upon her. As Natalya asked her if she heard anything, Opal’s knees gave out and she fell to the ground. On all fours she began to shake uncontrollably and then, like Natalya, she heard it.
Very quiet at first, nothing more than a low hum, much like the annoying electrical hum from a fluorescent light bulb. But it steadily grew in tempo and the symphony of phantom voices ripped into her.
Opal fought back a scream and her head lowered protectively between her elbows. It felt as if her mind had just exploded into a million directions all at once and every piece cried out in agony and fear. She grew up with the stories and even talked to a few men who were said to have experienced it first hand and she had always considered herself lucky that she had avoided hear it, Them, she corrected. But even so, it was not uncommon to hear echoes and feel a heavy presence when you were deep in the tunnels. The ‘Singing Pipes’ or so it was called, and always in hushed voices.
“We… we have to get out!” Opal groaned out as she realized what was happening. Desperately she tried to pull her thoughts together, it was vital to keep her wits about her or neither of them were ever going to get out of this tunnel. Ever.
Managing to lift a tear streaked face Opal blinked furiously to clear her vision. Forms seemed to shift in and out of her peripheral vision and she shook her head in an attempt to clear it. Looking over at her companion she saw Natalya in a panic and reaching for her holstered weapon. “Shit.” Opal whispered if she managed to start shooting, things would go from bad to worse.
“Nat… Natal… Natalya!” Her whispers gained volume as she called out her companion’s name. “Snap out of it!” Looking for her own weapons she noticed that she had miraculously held on to her crossbow. Gripping it like a lifeline she grit her teeth against the wailing onslaught. Oh God, so much pain so much sadness, Opal began to sob despite her best efforts.
She began to crawl, slowly and with great effort. Opal had no idea how long it took to reach Natalya, minutes? Hours? Time didn’t seem to matter but finally she reached out and touched the other woman’s gasping hand. “It’s the dead!” She wheezed. “Don’t let them have you!” Grasping the others hand she pulled, the effort caused her to scream in pain as she lunged forward.
And then suddenly it stopped. The shock of it had Opal collapsing in stunned silence. Dropping Natalya’s hand she curled up into a ball and cried. Covering her face with her hands she brought herself under control. Everything hurt, she felt like she had run a marathon while being pelted with rocks. But even that had nothing on the roaring headache she now had. Sitting up she almost vomited.
“Hey… are you ok?” She asked softly as she found her flashlight and turned it on. In the light she saw that her hands had blood on them from her nose and ears. “I’ve never… I don’t…” Opal gasped unable to complete her thoughts.
|
|
|
Post by Lawnmower Joe on Feb 19, 2013 5:48:06 GMT -5
Natalya blinked and let her hand drop limply from her holster. Her head was throbbing and something wet and warm had run over her lips and onto her chin. The terrible sounds that had besieged her were gone, vanished as quickly as they came, without a trace. Gingerly she brushed a hand across her lips and saw blood on it.
"What...what happened?", she said tremulously. She felt exactly the way she had felt after her first battle. The fear so strong it had drained all strength from her, leaving her shaking and crying like a sickly child. As she straightened her stomach lurched and made her retch.
And the tunnel was still the same. Deathly quiet save for the sound of water running down walls. The moss still glowed eerily on the walls and ceiling, beads of moisture still shone like tiny gems in the light of Natalya's torch.
With difficulty she stood, her legs shaking as she did so. Her eyes searched for her rifle and found it discarded on the floor. As she picked it up, images flashed before her eyes, things she thought she had buried long ago. Corpses in mountain villages, riddled with bullets, eyes staring emptily at a grey sky. Streets torn by war, buildings gutted by fire and scarred by bombing. Trenches full of mud snaking through streets, squares and gardens. Bodies left to rot, their sickening stench mingling with the smell of burning.
Stiffening, she went back to Opal whose hands were wet with blood.
"Come on, let's leave this accursed place", said Natalya in a strangely dull voice. Her head still hurt and she still felt shaky, but all she wanted now was to leave and reach the end of this tunnel as soon as possible.
"Death gives no respite", she added, and turned to the darkness ahead. For moment she thought she could see the faces of the dead hovering in the darkness before her, their empty eyes staring right through her. Staring, staring, staring.
|
|
|
Post by Opal on Feb 20, 2013 17:52:50 GMT -5
With a soft groan of protest she stood. Hands still shaking she pulled out a rag from her pack and did her best to wipe the blood from her hands and face. Opals thoughts still ran wild and rampant and so she didn’t answer Natalya at first, instead she lapsed into a thoughtful silence. If only the other woman knew how lucky it was that they still lived, but Opal wasn’t going to tell her that.
Testing her legs she began walking forward and adjusted the straps of her pack into a more comfortable position on her shoulders. “Here,” she finally managed and handed the rag over, “You don’t want to smell like blood… clean yourself up the best you can and get rid of the rag.” Things could turn out really bad soon if they didn’t hurry. Picking up the pace she hurried down the tunnel, her own torch turned off to give her vision the freedom it needed.
It wasn’t until they were some distance from the ‘attack’ did Opal speak again. “I guess you are a little confused to say the least about what happened back there.” She paused and pulled out a flask. Opening it the sharp scent of harsh alcohol stung the air. Taking a deep pull she forced down the burning liquid and passed it to Natalya. Nothing like it to settle the nerves, she thought resignedly to herself.
“What happened is something we call ‘The Singing Pipes’. I’m not one for superstition but… it is said that the spirits of the dead dwell down in the depths of the Metro. And their voices can be heard in the pipes. A lot of people… don’t live through an attack like we did. I’ve lightly felt Their presence before but never like that. I still wouldn’t know if it is the dead but one begins to question.” Inching around a corner she sighed. “I hope that because of that incident we don’t attract anything more solid, so to speak.”
Seeing the way was clear she pushed forward. This particular stretch tunnel was almost over, she mused. The Metro hadn’t thrown anything that had killed her yet, and she intended to keep it that way.
|
|
|
Post by Lawnmower Joe on Mar 14, 2013 15:19:24 GMT -5
Natalya blinked and the dead faces were gone. Only the black, humid tunnel remained. Her head still throbbed and her ears were ringing. The silence now seemed more threatening than peaceful, and the pale light from the strange plants on the walls and floor had a deathly quality to it. At one point, Natalya tripped on something concealed in a patch of luminescent moss. On closer inspection, it turned out to be a human skull covered in glowing moss.
But being immerged in this dangerous environment was having an effect on Natalya's psyche. Thoughts, memories and instincts that had been dulled or forgotten by her years spent in the government shelter were coming back. She even started pulling her knife out and putting it out beyond corners to see what lay beyond. She'd always kept the blade clean enough to reflect things, and she'd often used the small weapon to see round corners in Grozny.
"When I was in Chechnya"', said Natalya, her voice echoeing faintly off the walls, "I was in charge of patrolling a valley up in the mountains. The Chechens had several bases there from which they launched raids on our supply lines. One day we came to this little village. Nothing special, just a few concrete houses, a square with goats in it, old men sitting on a bench..."
She paused and listened. Nothing troubled the silence.
"It was getting dark, so we stopped in the village for the night. We slept in a barn in a field and posted sentries. After I did my round, I went to get some sleep...but I was woken up a few hours later when someone grabbed me by the collar. I woke up and saw a knife heading straight for my throat. I didn't scream, I just blocked it and grabbed the throat of the guy attacking me...I didn't even notice how small that throat seemed. I throttled the life out of the guy.
"When he croaked, I tossed him aside and had a better look at him. It was a kid, a fucking child. Ten years old or something, I don't know. He was dressed in filthy rags and looked half-starved...well, it turned out several other kids were with him and they'd slit the throat of one of my men. I didn't know what to do, so I just had them locked up in a shed nearby and put someone there to keep an eye on them.
"But one of the kids escaped and tried to kill the sentry watching them. I didn't know what to do with them until some Spetsnaz arrived in the village. They'd just returned from an assault up in the mountains and they were pretty battered. Their CO took one look at the kids and told me to line them up against a wall and shoot them. 'No!', I said, 'we can't kill them, they're children!'
"But he just looked at me and told me to do it. These things didn't matter in war, he told me. So he and his men dragged all these kids out and put them in a field. He took his pistol out and blew the brains of one of them right out of his skull. Just like that. He didn't even flinch. Then he told me to finish the job..."
Natalya stopped and inhaled sharply, almost as if she were in pain.
"And you know what? I did it! I squeezed the trigger and killed every single one of those children. I shot them all in the back. When this was done I felt so sick that I fell to my knees and puked. The Spetsnaz just laughed..."
Natalya shook her head and looked down at her rifle.
"I did it with this very gun. I don't know why I'm telling you this..."
Suddenly she stopped. Ahead of them was a partially collapsed tunnel, and amidst the rubble were hundreds of spent bullet casings. A machine-gun lay on top of a mound of rubble, rusting away, and a few rotting crates were scattered around.
"Looks like a battle took place here", said Natalya, kicking an empty canteen. A rat squeaked and scuttled off, startled.
"Where to now?"
|
|
|
Post by Opal on Mar 31, 2013 20:38:15 GMT -5
The CO in her story might not have flinched as he killed a desperate child in cold blood, but Opal did. Closing her eyes in sadness she sighed. She knew full well the cruelty that people were capable of, and as a fellow human being she wasn’t proud of it. But it was also war. She knew some good people who were required to do horrible things that would give them nightmares for years to come. You lived with it or you didn’t. “Its fine,” Opal said as she peered around a sharp corner, “People usually end up telling me their life stories. There must be something special about me that cause complete strangers to open up. I chalk it up to being awesome.” Laughing softly at herself she shrugged. “I really don’t mind in all seriousness. Besides…” she paused and looked down at the floor and the bones and other debris of some long gone battle that lay silent at her feet. “I’ve been front and center in war. Maybe not the kind of war you are used too, but it has been bad enough that what you tell me won’t surprise and shock. “We’ll be entering some tunnels in the next bend or so that are more frequently traveled. You can smell the air is becoming less stale as we get closer. We’ll have to keep our wits about us and watch the people we pass while trying to avoid attention.” She added after a moment with an absent shrug of her shoulder. They walked in silence, each lost to their own thoughts. Gradually the tunnels changed, became lighter and the air easier to breath, it smelled less like death. Human remains were replaced by other signs of humanity, namely the trash and other waste left behind by their passing. With the events of the past few hours this would come as a relief to some, but to Opal it made her edgy. When the tunnels began to lighten up enough to force her to don her glasses once again she called for a stop. Sitting down on a rusted bench, Opal drank from her canteen and dug around in her pack for the food rations she had placed there. Handing over Natayla’s share, Opal smiled and winked. “We’ll take a break here for a bit before we wander on.” Opal opened her opened her mouth as if to say something more but closed it instead. She wasn’t exactly sure how to go about saying what was on her mind. It wasn’t something she liked to talk or even think about. “Fuck it.” She said after a moment. Rubbing a hand over her face she sighed. “A few years back my sister and I worked the surface. Scavenging parts and weapons for anyone with enough coin to make it worth it for us, but mostly it was for Red Line stations as that was where we were raised.” Opal couldn’t help but sneer a little when she talked of her home stations; she felt nothing but disgust for them. “It was mostly in rebellion against my father. We did this for a few years and got a bit of a rep and I got cocky. “Anya tried to talk me out of it, but I took the job anyway. It was risky and I knew it but I ignored the obvious danger. We were to join a group of other men and women who knew their way around a weapon or two, if you know what I mean, and clear out a nest of howlers who were supposedly camped right on top of an old weapons cache. “It was going well, we outnumbered the mutants 3 to 1 and we were on the verge of clearing them out but then a fucking Demon showed up. The noise of the battle must have drawn it.” Opal looked down at her hands which had fisted up tightly as she spoke and struggled to relax her curled up fingers, with a shuddering breath she continued. “A few moments is all it took. The fucking monster tore us to pieces… there was so much blood and I’ll remember the screams for the rest of my life. I had seen massacres before but it is different when you drag what is left of your sister for cover and praying to god that her corpse will shield you until it was over and gone. In the end I couldn’t burry her, or the others and I couldn’t bear to go back to my old life and face the remnants of the family I hated. So… as far as everyone knew I died right along Anya in the snow. I made it look like I had been dragged off to some hole by scavengers.” Looking up at Natalya she gave a small sad smile. “But all is well now.” She said as she stood up and adjusted the straps on her pack. “If we continue at this pace we should reach where we need to be by tomorrow morning.”
(OOC: So I figure you can respond and time skip a bit to push the plot along. Unless you have got better idea's of course )
|
|
|
Post by Lawnmower Joe on Apr 3, 2013 15:59:20 GMT -5
Natalya listened to Opal's tale in silence, and what a grim tale it was. Despite this, she still felt some kind of comfort at being with someone like Opal. Back in the old days, she had had to keep her suffering to herself. Nobody was able to understand the horrors she'd seen in Chechnya, and she was not allowed to show any kind of weakness regarding her military service.
Eventually they reached another flight of steps, this time leading upwards. The two women made their way upwards, the atmosphere lightening noticeably as they progressed. When they emerged, they found themselves standing in a large, partially collapsed tunnel filled with rotting detritus and adorned by small, green glowing mushrooms. A few rats were rooting through the rubbish for food, but they scampered when Natalya and Opal appeared.
"This is man-made garbage", said Natalya with a chuckle. The piles of detritus were made of broken and abandoned equipment as well as spoiled food, things that a human settlement would dispose of. Without another glance for the dumping ground, Natalya and Opal made their way out of the tunnel and into another cleaner and better lit one. A hand-painted arrow along with the name "Smolenskaya" became visible in the light of Natalya's torch, and soon the two women came across fellow travellers. Most of them were traders lugging heavy backpacks filled with goods. All were hoping to sell their wares in Polis. A hand-cranked cart loaded with crates and bags went past Natalya and Opal, the occupants whistling and waving at them.
Finally they reached the end of the tunnel, and were confronted with a century old bane of humanity: a queue. Natalya and Opal fell in behind the various traders and travellers attempting to enter Smolenskaya.
"Staying or passing through?", asked the guard when Natalya and Opal reached the checkpoint.
|
|
|
Post by Opal on Apr 26, 2013 13:26:56 GMT -5
Keeping close to the tunnel walls, Opal adjusted her goggles and watched the other travelers closely. She didn’t think they had too much to worry about this close to Polis and the Hansa Line but she still watched everyone. Looking for signs that they in turn were being watched, and mostly all she saw were traders. Occasionally she lifted a hand in greeting at the odd trader or merchant that she knew from past jobs while silently cursing her reputation in the area.
She also kept her eye on the patrols and other armed groups heading for one of the surface exits or other unknown destinations. Opal wished them good luck and moved on.
Huffing out a sigh of frustration the duo got into line for passage into the next station. The line was slow as questions were asked and I.D’s where checked. It wasn’t long before they were front and center.
“Just passing through.” Opal answered smoothly and showed her Hansa I.D. “Got some business in Polis. People to see, things to trade. You know how it is. Girls gotta make a living somehow.” The man looked her up and down for a moment before grunting in agreement and waving them along. Opal winked at him as they moved by and disappeared into the crowd.
Minutes later they found themselves in Smolenskaya and Opal suddenly moved to the side, pulling Natalya with her as she led her down a trash strewn passage. Turning a corner she finally stopped and glanced behind to make sure they weren’t being followed. “Call me paranoid,” she began with a humorless laugh, “But I really don’t want to be followed. There is a dive bar down here with night lodging that we can stay at for some rest for now. As far as anyone else thinks we are heading off as we speak to Polis for trade. At least I hope they bought it if indeed ‘they’ exist at all.” This time her laugh as genuine and she smiled as she turned and moved on.
Opal eventually stopped in what looked like a barren pathway but when she removed a metal panel from one of the walls they were suddenly blasted with the sound of drunken revelry. “I apologize now for anything that might be said or done. Just… follow my lead.” Squaring her shoulders she slipped her arm around Natalya’s waist and smiled promiscuously at the barkeep.
“My good man!” Opal said brightly as they made it to the bar and she brought Natalya closer. “I need a room for my friend and I to rest up for a few hours. Single bed room is all we need.” She leaned toward her companion suggestively, and if the man could see her eyes behind the goggles he would see them light up with amusement and mischief. As if in a dumbfounded trance he named his price and handed him their room key. Opal blew him a kiss and grinned at the room at large who gave a small lusty cheer as they disappeared down the hall.
“I’d say I was sorry about that but I’m not. That was hilarious, and we never would have gotten the room so cheap otherwise.” Snickering to herself she took off her goggles and dropped her pack unceremoniously to the floor. Offering the bed to Natalya, Opal settled herself on the floor and looked forward to a few hours of good sleep.
|
|
|
Post by Lawnmower Joe on May 16, 2013 4:50:11 GMT -5
Natalya showed the guards her old passport. The small booklet, with its symbols and information linked to a dead country, raised a few eyebrows but did not attract much attention. One of the guards, an ageing man built like a bear and who wore a dirty blue beret on his shaved scalp, nodded at Natalya and asked where she had obtained her own beret.
"104 Parachute Regiment", she said. With that, the man's serious face split into a warm smile.
"Ah! VDV! I haven't seen a fellow para in months! I'm Sergeant Rinkov, 99th Parachute Regiment."
"Captain Orumov", said Natalya, smiling. She had not expected to see another para down here in the Metro and meeting one made her feel slightly better. "Where did you serve?"
"Afghan", said Rinkov after saluting her, "another war, another time, back when our country was still alive and great...with all due respect, Captain, you seem a bit young to have fought under the banner of the Soviet Union."
"You'd be right", said Natalya, "I was in Chechnya. All this makes you wonder why the fuck we even fought those wars..."
The two former paratroopers chatted a while about their military service, their memories invariably tainted by the terrible burden of the nuclear war that had obliterated all they held dear. Natalya felt both sad and happy when they finally parted ways.
Opal quickly found them a room to stay in. Natalya could only smile at the methods the young woman used. The mutant was undoubtedly very resourceful, a useful attribute in this subterranean world.
Natalya reluctantly took the bed while Opal lay down on the floor, but the young woman seemed to fall asleep with relative ease. Natalya, on the other hand, felt that sleep was still hours away. She lay stiffly in bed, with her thoughts and Opal's soft breathing for only companions. After a couple of hours spent hopelessly awake, Natalya drifted into an uncomfortable slumber.
|
|
|
Post by Opal on May 21, 2013 17:53:55 GMT -5
It was a gift really. Being able to fall asleep almost anywhere and anyplace, but alas, it also had its drawbacks. Rotted out wooden floor boards wasn’t exactly the best place to curl up and Opal was cursing it as she pulled a sliver out of her shoulder.
Several hours had passed by the time she woke up with groan of stiff muscles as she tried to stretch out. Reaching her arms above her head she muffled a cry as a sudden shot of pain went through her shoulder. Slivers, she hated slivers! Gritting her teeth she fixed her gaze on the damn thing and carefully she pulled it free and then violently chucking it across the room. Feeling better as she rubbed the small wound and glanced around the dim room.
Natalya was still sleeping, though she tossed and turned restlessly. Quietly she stood and moved towards the lamp and ignited the small flame and illuminating the room.
Squinting in even this small light Opal turned and secured her glasses over her face before lifting her pack and placing it on a rickety chair. She had a small bag of dried pork and some smoked mushrooms she had made herself and had a small meal with herself in the silence.
Chewing the tough meat she considered their next move. The nearest Revolutionary base was a good bit to the south and the safest way would be to get into Polis first and go from there.
Quickly she changed her tank to one that wasn’t blood stained, although the neck was torn down into a deep V that showed off most of her breasts. With a shrug she tied on her multitude of colorful sashes and scarves she used around her waist. Donning her jacket she finally went over to her companion and lightly shook her shoulder.
“Up and arise Sleeping Beauty!” Opal said brightly as the other woman cracked open her eyes. “Take a few minutes to wake up and there is some food left out on that small table. But be quick as we want to be in Polis today and we’ve got a long way ahead of us yet!”
Rubbing her hands together with excitement she turned away and whistled a happy tune as she settled in to wait for her friend and fiddled with one of her throwing knives.
|
|
|
Post by Lawnmower Joe on May 23, 2013 9:16:39 GMT -5
Natalya groaned and swore as she woke up. As Opal sat in her own corner, fiddling with her knives, Natalya cleaned her vest up a little, although there wasn't much she could do in the way of cleanliness. Finally the pair headed out into the station, wasting no time in going to the tunnel leading to Polis.
When they got there, however, they saw a large crowd of people gathered there. She glanced uncertainly at Opal before standing up on her toes to look over the crowd. She saw armed guards drawing concrete blocks across the mouth of the tunnel.
"They're blocking off the tunnel!" she told Opal. Before she could add any more, a gruff, commanding voice spoke up through a megaphone:
"Citizens of Smolenskaya! The road to Polis is now closed to all unauthorised personnel due to the recent outbreak of war with the Reich. All citizens return to your homes and clear the tracks for our troops. Visitors and travellers will be given blankets and mattresses..."
"Shit!", said Natalya, "how are we going to get to Avtozavodskaya now?"
"I know another way", said a familiar male voice behind her. Natalya turned around and saw the former paratrooper she'd talked to the day before. "Come with me and I will show you."
Without a word, the two women followed the soldier through the jostling crowds. Eventually, they entered a storage room on the side of the station. In there, the soldier pushed a heavy wooden crate out of the way, revealing a rusted service door.
"There's an old tunnel linking this station to Venice. We use it from time to time to trade with Venice, so it's relatively safe. Part of it is flooded, but there's a ferry. Be sure to send the ferry back to us when you've reached Venice."
"Thank you, comrade", said Natalya.
"No problem, my friend", said the soldier with a smile, "I always want to help fellow paras...now go, before someone sees us."
Natalya nodded and headed into the tunnel. The soldier closed the door behind them, followed by the sound of the crate being pushed back into place. Natalya looked down the tunnel and saw that it was well lit, a relief after the tunnel she and Opal had used to travel to Smolenskaya.
"We'd better get going", she said, looking at Opal.
Meanwhile, on the surface...
A long, throaty croak echoed through the swamps. Nadya's grip tightened around her SKS rifle and she looked around her, inhuman eyes piercing the gloom. She waited for a minute before setting off again, the straps of the heavy pack on her shoulders digging into her skin.
"Christ...", she muttered as she traversed some reeds. She could see a red rag tied to a pole up ahead, signalling a safe path through the treacherous swamp. As she reached the pole, she slipped and dipped her leg into the water.
"FUCK!", she swore, scrambling back to her feet and making a run for it. The "safe path" made her stumble and trip even more with its treacherous mud and holes filled with scummy water. When the snake-eyed woman emerged on the other side, she was soaked and caked with mud and green gunk.
"Fucking swamp", she muttered, "fucking rangers, fucking mutants, fucking ammunition..."
The heavy ammo belts that hung around her neck were cold against her skin, a grotesque and heavy necklace with each bead representing one death. She readjusted them, hoping to gain some comfort but only managing to make herself feel even more uncomfortable.
Something made the reeds rustle nearby and Nadya froze. Thankfully, all she saw was a shrimp leap into the water with a barely audible splash.
"Good thing you bastards aren't hungry tonight...", she muttered, "and there's the ferry!"
Feeling distinctly elated, Nadya approached the ferry and pressed the button to activate it. The petrol-powered winch engine coughed to life, scaring off several small shrimp-like creatures nearby. Nadya winced at the terrible noise the engine made, and prepared to face any incoming mutants. Thankfully none came, and when the ferry arrived she hopped on board.
As the ferry left the muddy shores and ploughed through the reed-choked waters of the swamp, Nadya sat down and rested.
|
|
|
Post by Opal on Jun 7, 2013 17:04:20 GMT -5
The trip through the tunnels to Venice was long, wet, and surprisingly uneventful. As far as cross-tunnels went it was fairly well maintained and well lit enough to keep Opal with her goggles on. But that didn’t stop her from keeping her crossbow loaded and gripped before her and looking wearily around corners and piles of debris. Occasionally you could hear the call of some creature echoing through the vents but nothing came at them. It got to the point that during the ferry ride, Opal silently dared the so called ‘shrimp’ that gathered in the canal to attack, but they didn’t.
The shrimp in her opinion were more annoying than dangerous, not to mention tasty, but still it would have added a little excitement to the trip. When they sent the ferry back she could only shake her head and laugh at herself and considered that there was something seriously wrong with her. Oh she knew it before and most often she celebrated the fact but still… she was just a wee bit twisted inside.
Looking around she peered into the darkness around them. A short while back it had gotten dark enough so that she could take off her goggles and now the small landing was poorly lit and gave her eyes what they needed to function.
Voices echoed signifying that Venice was close but at first she couldn’t see anyone. Opal had almost expected a small welcome party to greet the new-comers. I mean they had made a lot of racket with the engine of the ferry. Someone has got to be around.
Motion at the corner of her eye had her looking up. Instantly on guard she motioned Natalya to take cover and pointed in the direction of the movement. Taking a closer look her tension smoothed out when she realized the figure was human and then she recognized him.
“Alexei!” She cried out happily. “It’s alright I know this guy.” Opal said to Natalya as she lowered her weapons and smiled. “You cute Son-Of-A-Bitch! You knew it was me, why didn’t you say anything?! Aaaah never mind, get your ass down here. You know I’ll shimmy my way up there if you don’t!”
Opal had planned on looking him up the moment she learned the destination of the tunnel but didn’t expect him to be the first person they saw. But one thing was for sure, she wasn’t going to be bored anymore.
|
|
|
Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jun 7, 2013 17:33:51 GMT -5
Boring was the word that most accurately described Alexei's work. The tunnel he guarded was only a few metres away from Venice and saw a good deal of traffic, but apart from keeping track of boats there was nothing else to do. Occasionally some angry shrimps would show up, but a couple of shots from his duplet would send them scurrying back whence they came.
Today was a particularly wet day to boot. The water was overflowing onto Alexei's little platform, forcing him to take refuge on a pile of old crates. As he sat on his uncomfortable perch, he heard the familiar noise of the Arbat ferry chugging towards his position. Now that was odd...no Arbat trading missions had been announced lately. Grabbing his harpoon gun, Alexei turned to face the newcomers.
“Alexei!”, cried a familiar female voice. The young man winced and dropped down from his crates and onto the flooded platform. It couldn't be...
“You cute Son-Of-A-Bitch! You knew it was me, why didn’t you say anything?! Aaaah never mind, get your ass down here. You know I’ll shimmy my way up there if you don’t!”
Damn. It was her all right. Alexei briefly considered staying hidden behind his crates, but discarded the idea when he remembered how "bold" Opal was. He sighed heavily and stepped out from behind his pile of crates, rubber boots splashing quietly in the water.
"Hello Opal", he said simply, cracking a faint and awkward smile. His eyes shifted from Opal to the person next to her, an older woman by the looks of it and well-armed to boot. "How come you're using Arbat's ferry?", he asked.
Using a ferry in a tunnel...Venice in the Metro...this truly is not the world I used to know, thought Natalya as the ferry chugged towards a small platform sticking out of the edge of the tunnel they'd entered. Opal called out a man's name, and after a few minutes and more calls, a male silhouette emerged from behind some crates on the platform. The young man was clad in an odd assortment of overalls that reminded Natalya of the stuff fishermen used to wear before the war.
"Hello Opal", he said, greeting Natalya's companion, "how come you're using Arbat's ferry?"
"I'll let you do the talking", said Natalya to her companion. Finally the ferry reached the platform, its square prow hitting the concrete structure with a faint thud. Now that they were closer, Natalya could see the young man more clearly. Something about his lean face and thin build immediately reminded her of her sister. In fact, the resemblance was almost disturbing.
Some odd coincidence thought the former paratrooper.
|
|
|
Post by Opal on Jun 9, 2013 19:09:16 GMT -5
Opals smile widened almost ear to ear when Alexei came into view. He smiled in his habitually shy manner and seemed to want to keep a small distance. Poor guy, Opal thought, all he’ll accomplish with that is challenge me. Her smile took on a mischievous tilt. “I’ll tell ya what we are doing here in a second. First off I gotta get this out of my system.”
She moved before he could react to counter her advance and grabbing either side of his face she pulled him into a solid kiss. Opal all but purred as she held the younger man close and nipped at his bottom lip before finally pulling away. Leaning back she was about to launch into a highly exaggerated version of the last few days when she suddenly froze.
Narrowing her eyes she looked intently at his face. The shape of his eyes, mouth, cheek-bones were seriously familiar. Taking a quick glance behind her she looked Natalya up and down before looking back at Alexei. “Would you look at that…” She said softly almost as if to herself. It was another moment before she stepped fully away and seemed to put it all behind her, whatever it was. But her mind was buzzing with the new possibilities forming. Things where getting more and more interesting by the minute.
Sliding her arm companionably over his shoulders she walked him over to Natalya. “Aaah Alexei I missed you, when can I convince you to run away with me eh?” She laughed and shook her head. “Natalya this is Alexei and a friend of mine. And this is Natalya, she is another recently acquainted friend. You two aaaah… have a lot in common.” Opal stepped away as she introduced the two and studied them side by side. Yep, there could be no mistakes or coincidences this strong.
Once they were acquainted the trio moved to slightly higher ground as Opal did a quick run through of the last few days and what they hoped to accomplish. Of course she left out a few details, namely her fears about the road ahead, as that would do more harm than good.
“So I guess now that we are here do you know if there are any Revs currently trading in Venice? It would cut a lot from our travel time.” Opal asked after she was done and silently began to plan how to get Alexei signed on. He didn’t know it yet but he was going with them, she would make sure of it.
|
|
|
Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jun 10, 2013 7:21:29 GMT -5
Alexei felt his cheeks burn as Opal pressed her lips against his. His mind reeled with shock and embarrassment. When she finally withdrew, the young man stood utterly frozen for a while, his face as expressionless as a wall.
"I...", he finally managed to articulate, the words slipping out like grapes in molass, "don't...don't ever do that again. Please?"
Who am I kidding? She'll do it again, he thought morosely. Despite his embarrassment at Opal's promiscuous behaviour, a part of him still felt the powerful attraction she exerted over him. He quietly ignored that and turned his attention to Opal's mysterious companion. He suddenly noticed that she was unusually tall for a woman, and her demeanour seemed stiff and militaristic. She also carried her gun with an ease and confidence that suggested she knew perfectly well how to use it.
Opal broke the young man away from his observations: “Aaah Alexei I missed you, when can I convince you to run away with me eh?”
"Never", replied Alexei smugly, "I'm quite all right living in Venice."
“Natalya this is Alexei", said Opal, seemingly ignoring the young man's answer (typical). "And this is Natalya, she is another recently acquainted friend. You two aaaah… have a lot in common.”
"What?", said Alexei, confused, before shrugging the remark away. Opal was prone to making weird remarks. After all she was a very strange person.
"Well", said Alexei after Opal asked about Trotskyite activity in Venice, "not that I know of...I did see some Red Liners come through the other day. They had a commissar with them. Small woman with dark hair, but pretty scary...I suppose you're not really interested in Red Liners anyway. I'll take you to Venice so you can ask around."
With that, Alexei gestured towards a crude metal and plastic punt tied to the platform.
"Wait...you're saying you have Commies in your Metro?", said Natalya suddenly. Alexei didn't quite understand the question. After all, the Red Line's existence was common knowledge.
"Yeah, why? They've got the whole Red Line for themselves."
"Wow...", said Natalya, slowly shaking her head, "I wonder if any of them even remember what the Soviet Union was like? Anyway, do take us to Venice."
Alexei shrugged again and stepped onto the punt. The flat-bottomed boat swayed a little beneath his weight, but the young man's balance was completely unaffected. Hesitantly, Natalya stepped on board. Feeling rather unsteady she decided to sit down cross-legged, with her AK placed across her thighs.
"I'd never been on a boat before we took that ferry", she admitted.
|
|
|
Post by Opal on Jun 24, 2013 14:49:43 GMT -5
"Wait...you're saying you have Commies in your Metro?" Opal quickly covered an involuntary wince at her companion’s words and glanced at Alexei. She couldn’t read his thoughts but it didn’t seem like he was going to dwell on the ‘odd’ comment and so her shoulders relaxed, but only by a fraction. Despite appearances she hadn’t been fully relaxed in days. It wouldn’t help Natalya’s position if she knew Opal expected a mutant attack around one corner and Commies or Nazi’s around the other.
With a careless shrug to keep up appearances, Opal stepped up onto the small boat last and settled herself in the rear. Ankles crossed in front of her she stretched out as much as she could and all but made herself at home. Closing her eyes she moved with the slight rocking and a small smile graced her lips. “Well,” she began towards Natalya, “You’re about to become quite acquainted with boats in general if we spend any amount of time in Venice. Nearly everything I know about them and swimming I learned from our shy little Alexei here. It’s one of the few things you can get him to talk at length about! It’s lucky for him that I have strong affection for him, or I might have just ignored him.”
She couldn’t help but add a smirk to her voice and gave a small laugh. Teasing him was, unfortunately for Alexei, one of her favorite pass times. It was right up there with drunken shenanigans, a successful mutant kill, and glimpses of sunlight. Just one of those little things that make the world go ‘round, you know? Opal knew she embarrassed the kid and that made him all the more attractive. She avoided analyzing the emotions involved too deeply though, it never paid to get too attached to people in her line of work. You only ended up heart broken.
The trip from the landing to Venice wasn’t very long at all but it allowed for Opal to tune out for a few moments as she leaned her head back and left the other two to their own conversation. The soft rocking of the boat and the smell of water and rotting wood brought memories to light and she let them come.
She knew she was drowning, she knew she was dying. And that knowledge only made the dull sense of mind numbing terror begin to spread through her like a poison. Opal tried to fight the damning feeling of weightlessness but she couldn’t move, her tired limbs couldn’t seem to function anymore and wouldn’t respond to her frantic urgings. The darkness was closing in around her as she drifted helplessly along.
Cold. It seemed the only thing she could clearly register. The horrible cold. And soon, Opal didn’t even have that anymore as she fell unconscious and gradually began to sink.
It was never clear to her how far she had been swept downstream or how long she had been caught in that pile of floating debris or even how she had fallen in with her wounds in the first place. It was a miracle really that she survived but the first thing Opal remembered was the sudden feeling of her lungs bursting with fire as the water was finally expelled from them.
“Steady.” A male voice said. At least she guessed it was male as at first the sound was so distorted and seemingly echoed down a long metal corridor. Opal felt the gentle pressure of hands on her shoulder and felt more than saw a presence leaned over her. She tried to respond but it came out as a strangled moan. The hands tightened over her shoulders when she tried to move, “No, don’t move yet but try to open your eyes. Nod slightly if you can understand me.”
Opal nodded and hissed in pain as she cracked open her eyes. They felt like someone had taken a sander to them, they felt so dry and gritty. Blinking furiously she began to see dim shapes outlined in the gloom. Focusing on the man leaned over her she found enough strength to smile. The man turned out to be a kid that couldn’t be out of his teens yet but attractive in a shy and quiet kind of way. But to her at the moment he was all but god-like.
“Hey cutie.” She managed in a voice she wouldn’t have recognized as her own. And though the effort cost her she continued. “I… think I need to learn how to swim. I’m Nadezhda.”
“Alexei.” Was the simple response. Opal grunted in acknowledgment and slowly ran an experimenting hand down her face and body and stopped short. Her top was ripped to shreds and was nothing more than a few ragged strips of blood stained cloth that covered nothing.
“Oh… how awkward CPR must have been for you.” Focusing on his face she saw him flush in embarrassment and she smiled. “Well as far as first impressions go…” Opal fell unconscious in mid-sentence.
The boat bumping against the pier brought her back to the present. Blinking a few times she glanced around as she stood and got off the boat. Hopefully they could find the help they needed in Venice.
|
|