[hr][h1][color=dimgray]Sam Clarke[/color][/h1]

[@He Who Walks Behind] 
[@Mr Allen J] [hr] 


Sam nodded quietly to Nightingale and got up from his seat. He still had about half of a beer left, but there was a battle to be fought. He looked down at his communicator and saw the message. Meta fight at the boardwalk. From the sounds of it, it wasn't too serious, but Sam could never be sure. Shrugging, he slapped a twenty on the counter and left the bar. By a happy coincidence, Sam's parking permit had yet to be accepted, and so he had parallel parked along the street. His car was a black 2013 Chevy Silverado. With police lights under the hood and a big ol' ram bar on the front, the car practically screamed "cop". 

Sam, Condor, and Nightingale got in the car. Condor, who had drank the least of the three, drove while Sam sat shotgun and Nightingale sat in the back. Sam sighed and put his aviators on as Condor pulled out of the space. When a few asshole drives tried to cut him off, he flashed the lights and blared the car's siren. That got them to move right out of the way. Nightingale began to change into different clothes. Sam couldn't help but take a peek or two. 

"Hopefully this is just a bunch of stupid teenagers," Sam said. "I beat the tar out of enough people yesterday." 


[hr][h1][color=darkslategray]PLAGUE[/color][/h1][hr] 


In the middle of a street in the northeastern area of Knightdale Rows, a manhole cover popped off and quietly slid to the side. One by one, the Fiends crawled out into the street, Roark carrying the injured Talia. Plague was the last to come up, and as he stood in the sunlight he looked around to get his bearings. Luckily, there were no people around to see him and no cars to drive past. This was the Ghost Town, an abandoned area of Knightdale Rows where no one was permitted to go. At least temporarily, this would be a safe haven for Plague and his men. 

They made their way to a nearby office building and, seeing that the elevator wasn't functional, took the stairs to the fourth floor. They entered a large office space with rows of cubicles all around. It smelled of mold and rats. Cobwebs stretched between corners of the cubicles, and the windows were covered in a thin layer of grime. Everything was coated in a layer of dust. Plague found a table in an adjoining copy room and tossed all of the paper onto the floor. He and Daniel dragged it into the open, and Roark laid the wounded Talia on it. Byon, meanwhile, searched the floor. He returned a minute or so later. 

"Floor is empty, sir," he said. "No one but us." 

"Good," Plague replied. "Keep patrolling the area. We don't want anyone walking in on us. We may be staying here a while." Byon nodded and sped off. Daniel pulled up a few rolling office chairs. Talia took her shirt off so Plague could examine the wound. Her entire right side was bruised badly, and her radius was fractured. From what he could tell, she didn't have any broken ribs. If worst came to worst, he'd get someone to take her to the hospital. She wasn't a known member of the Fiends, so she'd get ample care. 

Daniel and Roark, meanwhile, looked around the room for supplies. They searched tables, turned desks inside out, and broke into closets. They found little. Any food had been ravaged by rats and mice, and the water was filthy. On one of the walls, Roark found a first-aid kit containing a bottle of Advil, and Daniel found some cleaning supplies that he could turn into a bomb on the next floor up. It became obvious that the only way they could stay here would be for them to make it into Knightdale and buy supplies. 

Plague used some ace bandages in the first aid kit to make a sling for Talia's arm (it wasn't a total fracture) and she took some Advil to deal with the pain. She would be down for the count for some time though, Plague feared. 

"I have an idea," Plague said. "I think I'll be setting up a permanent base in this area. The Fiends do not have enough of a presence on Isabella Isle. This way, we may be able to eventually spy on NEST. It will be an excellent strategic advantage should we figure out a way to move between the area and the outside unseen. In the meanwhile, search the building. See if there's any supplies we can use, and see if there's a way into the sewers from here. Kill anyone who you find." Daniel and Roark nodded. Byon joined them as they walked down the steps towards the bottom of the building. Plague walked towards the windows and surveyed the land below him. This wouldn't be a bad place to setup his new digs. This way, Khan would finally see how capable and useful he could be when not in the shadows.