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Post by Commander Xillian on May 13, 2011 12:21:57 GMT -5
It was cold.
The surface always was, though. That much was certain. Charcoal shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. The shoddy sack she carried with her fell off of her should, and with a mental sigh, she shoved the strap back into place. She pressed on, not entire certain where she was headed, just knowing that she couldn't stop, she couldn't go back. So she pressed forward, the ruined city all around her, as she absentmindedly watched the ruins, looking for life of any kind.
She was so distracted, that she didn't notice the Howlers approaching until the shieking call was let. They had found her, and she would not be able to out-run them. Dropping her bag, she prepared for a fight.
The first two came at her quickly, but were driven off by her ability to stimulate fear. She checked her corners, in time to jump away from a third one that had flanked her. Focusing on the creature, she fried it's mind before it could attack for the kill. Hopping over the body, she returned to her previous possition near her bag, grabbed it with one hands, and began to back away. The pack circled cautiously, after the show of force she had just made. She was caught by surprise when one of the creatures knocked into her back, and bit her should.
Charcoal screamed, a psychic wave that nearly boiled the unlucky creature on her back, and unfortunately got the attention of every nearby creature on the surface.
Humans included.
She tossed the dead howler off of her, and rose again, in time to dodge the final Howler. She kicked the thing, and sent out a psychic whip-crack, stunning it. Using it's immobility, she put it to sleep, forcing it into unconsciousness. Grabbing her bag and putting it on her shoulder, she ran as fast as she could.
She had to keep moving. She had to.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on May 15, 2011 9:00:21 GMT -5
Nadya did not go to the Dead City as much as she used to, but the fact was that the necessity still remained. She had nothing to offer to station-dwellers save for her guide skills, and thus had to bolster what she had to offer by salvaging stuff from the surface, mostly pre-war technology and materiel. Guns, steel and motors were quite valuable back in the Metro and those were what Nadya looked for the most.
it was windy up top again. A cold, biting wind blew through the Dead City's blasted streets. A far away howl signalled the presence of some Howlers somewhere nearby. Thankfully, the wind would discourage the Howlers from hunting in too wide an area, but Nadya did not let herself relax.
Rifle in hand she climbed over the twisted, corroded wreck of an old Lada. She remembered those cars from before the war. hell, her first car had been a Lada, one with a tendency to break down every so often. After all, it had been on the roads for almost two decades before she bought it. She wondered what her old apartment looked like now. Was it still preserved? Or had it been destroyed?
"Ah, Nadya. Don't start thinking about the past. Stay focused", she said to herself. Her voice was muffled by her old Soviet gas mask. She stopped briefly and shook her head. She was talking to herself again. She was doing that more and more often, and wasn't talking to oneself a sign of madness?
"As the Greeks used to say, only Gods and madmen can live without society", she remarked wryly. A feline snarl suddenly echoed in the air above her. A Demon. The snake-eyed woman dashed towards the nearest house and dove into the doorway. From there, she observed the Demon. It was a massive flying creature, an abomination of nature and a vicious predator. When on the surface, one always had to keep an eye on the sky.
The predator quickly flew past where Nadya was hiding though. It hadn't seen her, and was probably too preoccupied with staying airborne in the howling wind to care about a single malnourished human crawling along on the ground. Nadya looked at her old watch and its cracked dial. It was 3 am. Dawn was two hours away. She had to hurry.
Emerging from the doorway, she went back into the street and wound her way through the abandoned cars. A few metres on she came across a large crack in the ground, the bottom of which was filled with sludgy water. Nadya looked for the old plank bridge she knew lay nearby. The water in those fissures tended to be very radioactive so wading in it was best avoided.
She crossed the small bridge and continued her journey, rifle in hand. As she went round a corner, she suddenly came upon a very strange scene indeed: Howlers attacking a tall, dark figure. As she watched, she suddenly realised that the dark figure was not human, and she shivered.
"Dark One", she murmured, her eyes widening. Her grip tightened on her Simonov, and she backed into a large hole in the wall of a nearby yard. There she hid and waited for the Howlers and the Dark One to go away. Hadn't the rangers nuked the Botanical Gardens and the Dark One's colony there? They were supposed to be gone, extinct, and there she was hiding from one of them.
She stayed very quiet, but one of the Howlers apparently caught her scent as she saw one of the horrible, shaggy beasts leap onto the wall above her and growl down at her. It leaped down, and Nadya rushed out of its way before it could pin her to the ground. The creature snarled and leaped at Nadya again, only this time she was ready to meet him. She fired twice, and the creature fell, its blood staining the snow beneath it.
The shot had probably attracted the attention of the other mutants now, so Nadya decided to make a run for it. She dashed out of the hole in the wall and through the street, hoping she'd be able to shake off the Howlers.
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Post by Commander Xillian on May 15, 2011 23:23:57 GMT -5
Charcoal ran from the last few Howlers, noticing the Demon in time to shield herself from it's senses. The beast dove, slaying one of the Howlers, before charging at another. Taking advantage of this confusion, Charcoal ducked into an abandoned hotel. Panting, she ventured a look out the door, and was able to spot a human about to be jumped by a Howler in one of the buildings. Thinking fast, Charcoal acted.
Reaching out, she focused on the creature, and with a sharp exhale, csused it to feel like it's rump was on fire. Screaching, the Howler bolted upwards, slamming it's head into the ceiling, knocking it out. However, Charcoal could not stay where she was. It was unsafe here, and the Howlers were still coming. She had only one option, with this entire district turning into a feeding frenzy:
She had to follow the Human underground, and hope that whoever it was was the only one at the airlock, rather than a whole city.
Charcoal sprinted out, shielding herself under a psychic field, making those near her see nothing.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on May 22, 2011 7:09:31 GMT -5
Leninsky Prospect and its station were the closest to where Nadya was, so that was where she was headed. She dashed through the streets, glancing up at the skies every now and then to see if there were any Demons up there. As she reached the Prospect, memories came back to her despite the fact she was running for her life. She stopped briefly and gazed at the Prospect through the cloudy lenses of her old gas mask.
The Prospect was entirely deserted, with only a few abandoned cars and some snow and ice here and there. The dead and frozen body of an unlucky stalker lay next to one of the cars, his guts torn open by a mighty and terrifying claw. Nadya remembered coming here in the old days, the days before the nuclear war. She had even worked here briefly as a secretary in one of the nearby buildings, a rather unrewarding job, not to mention that at the time her boss had tried to get sexual favours from her.
Another world, another time. She shook her head and sprinted across the Prospect, heading straight for the small, square building that marked the station's entrance. As she ran, she heard a terrible roar from up above. A Demon! She sprinted as fast as she could, gasping for breath, her feet slipping on the surface of the old avenue. As she reached the station, the creature swooped down to take her, and she threw herself forward. She hit the ground hard and fell down the old stairs. At the bottom of the short flight, she ran into the station's deserted lobby and turned around. The Demon came down after her and tried to squeeze into the lobby, snarling and slashing with its claws.
Nadya raised her Simonov rifle and fired twice. One bullet went right through the eye of the beast, while the other merely grazed its thick skull. The creature roared furiously before retreating and taking to the air again. Nadya sighed heavily and shakily, pressing her back against the grimy old wall of the station's lobby. Images whirled in her mind: people walking past, old ticket distributors clattering away with change and internal machinery at work, the PA announcement telling passengers about this and that...
She closed her eyes and re-opened them. The lobby was empty and dead. The ticket distributors were also dead. Everything was dead, a relic of a bygone age. With another deep breath, Nadya made her way towards the escalators. She hopped over the rusted and frozen old turnstiles and walked carefully down the partially broken escalator on the right. Her booted feet slipped and stumbled several times as she made her way down the crappy old thing, and when she reached the closed blast door, she had acquired a small limp after twisting her ankle.
"Now where is the damn thing...", she said to herself as she shone her torch onto the darkened walls next to the blast door. Finally she found it: an old red button encased in an old glass and metal case, frozen to the wall by a small sheet of ice. With the butt of her rifle she smashed the ice before flipping the cover open. She pressed the button, hoping the opening mechanism still worked. To her relief, the blast door gave a mighty metallic groan before slowly swinging inwards on its automated hinges. Beyond there was only darkness and silence. Nadya rushed in and began to search for the closing button.
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Post by Commander Xillian on Jun 11, 2011 15:35:54 GMT -5
Charcoal sprinted after the Human, clutching her bag close to her chest. The snow slipped beneath her feet, and Charcoal dove into a snowbank. With a grunt, she tried to untangle herself from the gray slush, but flopped a few times, unable to gain traction on the ice.
Taking a few moments to get her bearings, Charcoal could hear the tell-tale signs of a blast-door opening. Hurrying as best she could through an open door, Charcoal blundered through the debris and refuse that littered the station. Apparently, she was making a huge racket, as the sounds of the door closing replied to a sudden howl from behind her.
Charcoal clutched her bag tight and ran, not even bothering to think about jumping, and slid under the turnstile, the Howler slamming into it with a crunch.
Sprinting down the steps, Charcoals footing gave way and she went belly-first through the closing door as it closed the last foot. She curled her feet in just in time, before it could be squashed by the heavy metal door. She slid into the shadows as banging on the other side begged for a head-check. She pulled her knees in close, hugging her little bag.
She scanned the room, and felt her heart-rate spike. She couldn't see the sky, she was totally closed in. The ruins of life were all about the platform, and her heart grew heavy with anxiety. She could feel the spirits of this place, and the air was thick with energy. She squeezed shut her eyes, rocking back and forth to keep from panicking.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jun 11, 2011 16:35:05 GMT -5
Finally Nadya found the button, covered in dust so thick and grey it made the red casing surrounding it blend in with the wall. She flicked the small case open and pressed the button, causing the same loud grinding of gears as when she'd opened the door. She had no idea what kept the door's automated systems active. Some kind of back-up power? In many other stations like this one, you simply could not enter as the doors' systems had stopped working long ago, sealing them in place forever. These doors were so strong that it would take a dangerous amount of explosives to blast them open.
As the door closed and the pale light from the surface dimmed and finally vanished, Nadya allowed herself to rest. Her sense of hearing and her sense of smell had both been sharpened by years spent going through pitch black tunnels where even her inhuman eyesight could not pierce the thick, almost palpable obscurity. Where most people would panic in a sudden sense of claustrophobia and fear of the dark, Nadya would stay calm and let the sounds and the "feel" of the metro come to her. Soon enough she could hear the scuttling and squeaking of rats somewhere off to her left, the soft noise of surface water running down a wall. The station was very quiet, so Nadya's sharp ears caught something that made her reach for her old rifle: the sound of breathing.
"Who goes there?", she said before noisily loading a clip into her SKS. She waited for a response, for the ominous sound of footsteps drawing nearer, but nothing came. She listened a little longer, and noticed that the breathing had ceased. Ah well. Maybe it was the wind or some strange phenomenon. Reaching for her small torch, she turned the dynamo, charging its battery up enough to light up the station with a pale, wavering light. The light would not give much comfort to a normal man or woman, and would not be enough to light their way most of the time, but this weak source of light was all Nadya needed since her eyes did the rest of the work. The station seemed to light up, and columns became visible.
Silently, she set off towards the rails but instead of heading North, towards civilisation, she headed South, towards Akademicheskaya. The entire line here was uninhabited except for the occasional outcast, metro-dwelling mutant or homeless man or woman seeking shelter. Nadya continued along the quay, her booted feet resonating slightly on the old and narrow metal platform that continued into the tunnel before ending in a small staircase. The woman advanced through the darkness with speed and confidence not seen in other people, mostly because she could see very well where most were blind and was also pretty much at home in the heavy, black silence that enveloped her. She'd been a loner for years, struggling to survive by herself, and she had survived. Her footsteps were also very silent, almost as if her soles had adjusted to the surface she was walking on in order to make absolutely no noise. If something was following her or coming towards her, she would hear it or smell it and would tone her light down in order to become almost invisible in the obscurity.
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Post by Commander Xillian on Jun 11, 2011 17:22:30 GMT -5
Shivering in the dark, alone, Charcoal did her best to squeeze into the smallest place she could, trying to avoid detection. When she heard the human begin walking away, the sound so faint Charcoal was sure she would lose it, she rose. Her footpads quited her movements, as she looked around. She didn't bother with her eyes, choosing instead to feel out with her abilities.
Taking a second to steady herself, she calmed down enough to think rationally.
It's okay, Charcoal. You're safe, she thought to herself and you're not at risk. What is our next step? Looking around, the Dark One took stock of her surroundings. An abandoned station, hungry creatures right outside, and no idea what to do next. With a mental sigh, Charcoal had only one option open to her.
She could either follow the human, or try the door, either way, death was probable. he best option being following the human until the Dark One could find a safe place to stop and try settling in to her new home.
Charcoal kept a mental vision of the human in her mind, and creeped along from behind, trying to avoid detection. In the darkness, Charcoal let her mind wander, while just barely keeping focus on the human. She began to think back, back on her life in the Gardens.
She didn't spend much time there, but it was always a home, and always was peaceful. She didn't realize until now how much she missed it, and how much she missed her family.
There was a cool feeling on Charcoal's face, and she wiped a tear away before it could splash on the ground. She had to choke back crying, so as not to alert the person ahead of her that she was being followed.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jun 11, 2011 18:02:16 GMT -5
Nadya kept on walking. She was heading for a small "hide-out" she had in Profsoyuznaya. It was well hidden in a small side room that wasn't visible from the tracks or the platform, not to mention it was protected by several traps. It was quiet and safe, and it even had a small metal stove there. As she got closer to Akademicheskaya, Nadya's mind began to drift back to the days before the war. She was young then, studying hard to get a diploma in journalism. She also had a few friends back then, men and women. She also owned a small, temperamental Lada, and a small apartment...all gone now.
She remembered the summers spent in the park, or when she went back to her Siberian home town of Novosibirsk. For a very brief moment she almost felt the warmth of the sun on her pale skin, the soft fragrance of spring and the happy chatter of people walking past. And then it was gone, as suddenly as it had come. She shrugged slightly, feeling tired after her frantic run on the surface. As the lone woman was about to start walking again, she heard something that made her freeze: the soft padding of feet somewhere behind her.
She turned her light down, plunging herself into almost total obscurity. Nadya listened, but heard nothing. She then spun around, put her torch on full power and shone the pale white beam at the tunnel behind her. It was completely empty.
"Fuck", she whispered. She felt tense, and reached for her rifle, its comforting wooden bulk weighing down her hands. Nadya then resumed her journey, walking as silently as before and keeping an ear out for any suspicious sounds. At first, nothing was audible, but that comforting illusion was shattered when she again heard the soft padding behind her. Again she whirled around and shone her light at whatever was following her, and again she saw nothing. She felt a chill run down her spine like a trickle of freezing water. Mutants, anomalies and cut-throats were one thing, but the darker aspects of the Metro were still terrifying.
She took a deep breath and resumed her march. Her hair rose when she heard the damn foots-steps again, and she burst into a brisk trot. Even though her own boots were making noise now, she could still hear the footsteps behind her, this time faster, keeping up with her, maybe trying to catch up with her. Nadya abruptly stopped, turned around and opened fire on the empty tunnel behind her, the detonations of her rifle deafening in the tight space. Then she broke into a run, or rather a desperate sprint aimed at evading whatever was following her. Soon she saw the outline of the end of the tunnel, Akademicheskaya. As she left the tunnel and entered the open space of the old, darkened station, she suddenly received a violent, jarring blow to her back that sent her sprawling. She dropped her rifle, sending it skittering over the tracks, even loosing off a bullet that flew into the old ceiling. Painfully, Nadya tried to get back to her feet, but someone's boot brought her head back down to the concrete floor, pressing the side of her face down into the dirty surface.
"Well look what we have here...", said a scratchy voice accompanied by the sound of male laughter. The weak light of an old torch was shone directly into Nadya's face. "A lady!"
"-Women shouldn't hang out in this part of the metro", said another voice.
A rough set of hands went through her pockets, rucksack and belt pouches. Her revolver was taken out of its holster and tossed aside as well as her machete. Nadya cursed herself for acting so quickly and foolishly. She would have heard or smelled them, and would have been able to deal with them appropriately had she not started running like a frightened infant. A hand grabbed a handful of her dark red hair and pulled her up onto her knees before throwing her onto her back.
"-Damn, she's ancient", said one of the men whom she could now see clearly, "and she's a mutant. Look at those eyes." They were all scruffy and haggard. Bandits or vagabonds who scavenged stuff from unexplored stations and preyed on the lone, unwary traveller. She'd killed many of those in her life, but now she was in a nasty position.
"-She's old, but ya wouldn't spit on a nice steak that just ran into you of its own accord now, would ya?"
As one of the men pressed Nadya down onto the ground and began to grope her, she realised that they would give her what all such men would give a woman they'd captured: rape. She struggled and shouted, cursing them. She spat in the man's face and received a jarring slap for her troubles.
"-I like it when they bite and scratch", growled the man as he tried to rip her telogreika open. Her eyes widened and she grew stiff. He was much stronger than she was and had her pinned, what more could she do?
She was done for.
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Post by Commander Xillian on Jun 11, 2011 19:28:49 GMT -5
Charcoal padded along after the woman, tried to be as stealthy as possible. She was jarred from her introspection by a bright light, and just managed to eliminate herself from the humans vision in time to not be spotted. Trying to be a bit more cautious, Charcoal kept up the illusion, and followed less closely.
A few seconds passed again before Charcoal had the light in her face a second time. SHe artfully kept the illusion in place, and began to following again. She was unprepared, however, when the woman spun around. She read the aggression on the humans mind, and the Dark One managed to hide behind a piece of concrete in just the knick of time. Gunshots rang throughout the tunnel, deafening to the Dark One. As her ears rung, Charcoal stumbled out of her hiding spot. She fumbled along until she heard some laughter from up ahead. Walking closer, she peeked out of the darkness.
Ahead, in a dimly lit room, were four men. One of them was over the woman that had let Charcoal into the underground. She was no expert on human interactions, but this seemed a little strange. She gently pushed her way into the first mans mind, trying to understand what he was doing to the lady.
The mental images Charcoal got were enough to send her physically reeling. She would have gasped, but she sadly lacked the mouth for that. The effect was the same, however, and with determination, Charcoal resolved on a course of action.
She would not allow this poor woman to suffer that fate. ____
"Whoah!" yelled one of the Brigands, jumping back "Jesus man, get this thing off of me!"
"The hell are you talking about?" asked another one, eying his comrade wearily.
"The pigs!" he screamed, panickin "The fucking pigs! Get them off me! Geddemoffamee!" The man fell to the floor, screaming and thrashing. One of his friends was about to go over and slap him out of it, when he stopped, as if hearing something. He turned, a hunted look on his face in the direction that Nadya had come from.
"No.." he mouthed, his voice trembling "It can't be. No. No! NO! Get away from me! I killed you!" He backed away slowly, before jolting, as if he had bumbed into someone. His rantings became incoherent as another man began to go mad, running away from whatever Specter was haunting him, bolting the way Nadya had come. Finally, the freaked out one atop of Nadya made a choking sound, before flying over her head. He tried to rise and pull his gun out, but he simply fell to the ground, frothing at the mouth.
Nadya saw a small, frail black hand rest gently on her shoulder, and a strange, alien foot lan near her arm.
"Shhhh" said a voice in Nadya's head They will... Not harm.... Any more."
The only true sound was the retort of a pistol, blasting its owners brains upon the wall.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jun 11, 2011 20:17:37 GMT -5
Shhhh...they will...not harm...any more...
A voice yet not a real voice. Nadya scrambled to her feet, pushing the hand away and tripping slightly on one of the rails. All the bandits seemed to have gone insane, one of them had even shot himself in the head (his limp, dead form and the splatter of gore and blood on the side of the platform was there to prove that). Her head was reeling, and her eyes darted around to see what the hell was happening.
Her eyes then caught sight of the...thing standing close to her. It was human in shape, but was dark-skinned. Its face was not human either. Its appearance reminded her of the aliens she'd seen a few times in various sci-fi movies and TV shows before the war.
Dark One.
"Get away!", she said, stumbling backwards. The Dark One was standing between her and her weapons, so Nadya was effectively defenceless. Terror made her heart pound like a kettle drum, and sweat began to bead on her forehead. She'd heard of the Dark Ones. Terrible, terrifying creatures capable of turning invisible and making people go insane through the power of thought. Nadya tried to run in the opposite direction, but her legs were paralysed, and she found herself utterly incapable of escaping.
And then she decided to try something insane: reasoning with the creature. After all, some people had claimed that the Dark Ones were intelligent beings. Maybe just maybe she could reason with the one in front of her. She raised her hands in a placating gesture, palms flat out and facing the Dark One.
"Please...", said Nadya, her voice hoarse. "I did you no harm, Dark One. I am just trying to survive here, and I never harmed any of your kind...so please...let me go..."
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Post by Commander Xillian on Jun 11, 2011 22:59:05 GMT -5
Charcoal may have been niave, but she wasn't stupid. Recoiling, she raised her hands slightly.
Never meant to hurt... replied the Dark One, Protect. Help. As you helped me. thinking of some way to gain the humans trust, Charcoal looked around, before finding a canteen on the belt of one of the Highwaymen. Unbuckling it, Charcoal moved slowly to the human, and extended it gingerly I saw what they would do... Cruel men.. Deserving men... Would not let them hurt another.
The Dark One retreated slightly, stumbling over the guns. Flailing her arms, Charcoal managed to regain her ballance, before looking over at Nadya with an embarased.look on her face, were such a thing possible.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jun 12, 2011 10:00:06 GMT -5
Nadya slowly lowered her hand. Whatever the Dark One was trying to do, it definitely didn't seem intent on killing her. Again she heard the creature's voice in her mind, whispering reassurances. When the Dark One took one of the bandits' cantinas and handed it to her, Nadya's eyes widened in surprise. Making a gift to gain her trust...she wasn't quite sure what to make of this, but she eventually decided to accept the gift.
"Thank you, Dark One", she said, her suspicion lessening somewhat. Her eyes darted to where her own rifle, pistol and machete lay. Nadya then asked a basic, but surprising question:
"Do you have a name? I'm Nadya Orumov", she said before cautiously extending a hand in greeting.
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Post by Commander Xillian on Jun 12, 2011 10:16:13 GMT -5
Charcoal took a tense step closer, fidgeting a little. I am known as...Charcoal. she replied My friends always said.. I spent more time with brushes and... well, charcoal... I may as well be one of them. Shrugging, Charcoal added It stuck.
The Dark One sat down across from Nadya, being careful not to appear threatening Did they injure you at all, Nadya Orumov? Charcoal seemed genuinely concerned, given that the woman's legs didn't seem to cooperate, and in a world as this, that was a death sentence.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jun 12, 2011 10:36:32 GMT -5
Now that Nadya's paralysing terror was gone, her legs began to obey her once more.
"Charcoal...nice name. Fitting...", said Nadya before slowly going around the Dark One and reaching for the equipment she'd dropped. "I didn't know Dark Ones were artists."
The fact that Charcoal had told her that was interesting from an anthropological standpoint. Art was a clear sign of humanity and sentience.
"I'm not injured except for a few bruises", added Nadya as she picked up her SKS and other weapons. Once she was done picking the guns up, she began to examine the dead bandits, going through their meagre belongings. It was clear that these men were the lowest kind of scum, quite unlike the thugs her friend Balalaika knew. They had almost nothing of value, and their weapons were all in a terrible state. However, metro-dwellers did not turn their noses up at shitty guns. They could be repaired or dismantled, their metal melted down to make other things or their parts recycled to repair or make other weapons. The Baumanskayans would definitely buy those from her.
Packing all the weapons into her rucksack quickly proved to be troublesome. Uncertainly, she turned towards Charcoal.
"Would you mind carrying a few of these?", she said, indicating two worn Fort shotguns and a metro-made pistol. "I'm going to the next station, Profsoyuznaya. I have a hide-out of sorts there."
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Post by Commander Xillian on Jun 12, 2011 18:28:37 GMT -5
Charcoal smiled, well, as best she could anyway. She rose as well, and under Nadya's direction, the Dark One grabbed a pistol and put it into her bag, unbuttoning it to gain access. She reclosed it and grabbed both of the bulky, heavy, ugly things, cradling them in her long, lanky arms. Looking up at Nadya, Charcoal nodded I will carry these for you, but I cannot enter civilization with you... I must remain in the shadows. she said I fear my appearance would do more harm than good.
The two set off down the tunnel, Nadya at least slightly more comforted now that she knew where the padding of feet was coming from, even if they were much closer.
So started Charcoal, the tell-tale signs of small-talk bubbling out Where are you from? Have you lived down here all your life?
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