turnsheet_bureau:5:foxes_vultures_and_mice [Contagion]

This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong.
======Foxes, Vultures, and Mice======

[CW: Extreme violence, disturbing imagery concerning animals]

You round the corner to the infirmary and see Dr Kathleen Chambers sternly talking at Chris. “Chris, the infection must have hit your brain already if you're making accusations like that.”

You begin to pull away, thinking you’ll return later, when it's quiet, but curiosity about where this conversation goes gets the better of you. You hesitate long enough to be spotted. She shoots you a look, saying, 'Back me up here,’ as you notice she is losing the argument against a half-dead Chris. 

“You're not so different from the contagion. Silent, unseen as you take control?” says Chris. How could **she** possibly lead the Bastion? You notice the grip on the plank she’s holding get tighter and tighter. 

“At least death can save me from what I'm going to become. Can you say the same?” she spits back.\\


Your vision grows dimmer as a shadow is cast in the round, enveloping your mind. You try to push through the growing darkness, but the haze is thick like tar and clings to you, solidifying on your hands, turning them to stone; you look upwards to where the sky should be but there is no light, only festering shadow. \\
\\
If only for having no other choice, you continue to claw your way through, your limbs freezing, rigid like a self-suspending puppet. The walls gradually erode to your will, until they finally shatter like glass; dark fragments glowing gold and amber as sunbeams pierce your vision. \\
\\
Everything clatters to the ground in a loud, gunshot-like sound; both Kathleen and Chris are on the ground. Kathleen is still as a rock, either unconscious or dead. Chris, on the other hand, splutters, gasping from pain as a pool of blood envelops him. You stand between them, in a place you never remember moving to.\\
\\
What happened? \\
\\
Why did this happen? \\
\\
Why did you do this?  \\
\\
Did you do this? \\
\\
The gun in your hand shakes as you stare at the bodies. Dammit. It was supposed to be Guneir--it was supposed to be quiet--you were supposed to gain favour from Kathleen--what happened? You don’t have time to plan or regret. Leaving Kathleen in the infirmary unconscious, you take Chris and run, faint heartbeat and shallow breaths growing thinner as you make your escape, blood soaking through the shirt on your back. \\
\\
You tumble through the forest, looking behind you like some monster is giving chase. You pass through trees with wire snares dangling, squirrels and crows suspended in states from death to pleading for death. Some retain hope of freedom; they seem so small, so light, so inconsequential.  \\
\\
Your rush continues until you spot people in a part of the horizon where people should not exist, a very familiar, dense part of woodland. \\

You lay down the body, slumped on a tree, so that you don’t announce your presence to the intruders; for several minutes, you stalk your prey, silently gaining on them inch by inch. This patch of woodland is yours. Visitors are invite-only. \\
\\ 
Two bodies stood above a hole, necks craning down, one with a rifle, another with an anxious look: Raindrop and Nio. \\



Like lightning, your garrotte wire flashes silver, Nio’s neck within its cold grasp. You whisper into their ear, "I think that's all your business here." Raindrop hasn't noticed--her attention is somewhere far away, locked onto something in the distance. Nio, though, nods, tiny movements to avoid the sharp slice of your garrotte. "...Me and Raindrop, we'll leave."

You sigh. "But you'll come back, wont' you? You'll try to take her from me. I thought you //understood//, Nio. I thought I could //trust you//." And you did trust her. But she's brought Raindrop--a weapon--to your Darling's home. How could you be so wrong?

You shout in pain when Nio's heel digs into your shin. Finally, Raindrop notices. Raindrop, a ‘person’ so diametrically opposed to you that the world would end before you saw eye to eye; you see the purple of your iris reflected in her pupil--you see your drawn face reflected in the metal of her gun.

This, of course, is why you chose the position you did. Your head is lined up perfectly behind Nio. Raindrop can't shoot you without shooting them, too. And she wouldn't do that. "What's wrong, Raindrop?" You smile, "Something in your way?" You expect a shake in Raindrop's arm, a loosening of her grip, as she realises that its //Nio's// eyes her gun's sights are lined up with. Instead, you see a strengthening, a movement of the trigger finger that you recognise all too well.

"Don't!" Nio sobs. "Don't! Please!" The words they speak are as heavy as the drop in your stomach the day you learned that your Darling's sickness would not go away, that the world had turned its back on her. The wire constricts further, turning Nio’s mist-filled head a sickening shade of purple, wordlessly promising: ‘I’ll do it.’ One lone silver thread entwining the fates of all 4 people; you look at Raindrop, all 3 people, you feel Nio squirm slightly, all 3 people for now.  \\

Raindrop narrows her eyes, snaps her head away, back to that spot in the trees. Her gun arm follows, then the //click// of the trigger, then the terrible sound of bullet in flesh.

'What are you //hiding,// Devo?' Raindrop insists, once she's heard the body--//your Darling's body//--hit the ground.
\\

Every fibre of your being vibrates in two modes: one which boils the blood in your veins, the fountain of your devotion, the one that has kept your darling safe and happy; and the other, a slowly growing well of rage, desperate to punish these creatures for that bullet. The former wins, and you shout, sprinting towards the noise of her body hitting the ground. A second bullet follows you, and you hit the ground, avoiding its deadly teeth by inches. You continue to move towards her, grasping at dirt and grass, pulling yourself towards her, where she lays, injured, bloody, and--\\ 
\\
Alive. She's alive. The bullet missed anything vital; her arm is bloody and torn and her cries of pain are melodic and low, but she is //alive//.

Raindrop and Nio's retreating steps leave bloodstained flowers are crushed underfoot. You heave a sigh of relief as they disappear out of earshot, but still firmly in mind. It's you and Her now, Devo. Just you and Her.\\
\\
A deluge of thoughts washes over you:
    * You’ll have to stand sentry till it’s safe.
    * Do you have everything to safely move her?
    * Where could you go so she’s never threatened again?
    * Raindrop and Nio think they've killed you both, but that will only last so long.
    * You don’t have to leave; you can just eliminate the threat. 
    * The Bastion **needs** you. You’re the only real medic.
\\ 
For now, all you can do is think, eyes wide awake.  \\

As you grip onto consciousness, you swear you hear her voice say “Devo," in a hush no louder than a mouse. It's enough to keep you awake, praying you might hear it one more time. 
\\



{[]}{{tag>writeup5 gm_izzy complete}}