freedomliveson

Promises left on the sand(megatrash/freedom)

"I can understand that! I tore something up in my heel a couple of years ago and couldn't run for almost six months. I was sucking wind. Hard. It took me a while to get back into enough shape to get through Mid-Town, let alone crossing the border south to Jersey." He then quickly added:
"Not that you were trailing too badly out there. For not running in a while, you sure kept pace with me rather well." Justin mumbled a curse when the battery operated bulbs mounted on the ceiling fizzled for a moment before resuming their jobs. How long had it been since they had replaced these things? As he walked over to investigate the faltering equipment, he heard her address him as "Lead Scout", a chuckle coming out of him in reaction as he turned around, brushing some water off of his forehead before answering the question:
"I personally want to sleep. I think you would want to as well. I don't think you were out for more than an hour before those guys got the jump on us." He grimaced as he felt his shirt cling to his body, lifting it off of his frame before it suctioned right back on.
"Excuse me, but I'm going to have take this thing off." He walked back to his cot, wrestling the shirt off just as she made an interesting request. Justin looked down at his torso, noting the thin scars that traced across his upper abdominal wall before she made a request, one that he was more than happy to gratify.
"That's fair. After all, you're coming from a whole other world down in Baltimore." He sat down on the floor up against the cot he had staked for himself so that his wet cargo shorts didn't make his bedding wet for the night(that sucked).
"Where to start? Uh...well, Omega was started by a bunch of older people who had survived the Wipeout through some miracle. They wanted to give hope to people that didn't have any, so they advocated for a system that took people in, put them to work and gave them a purpose. That's when the Bibles started coming out in full force. The older ones had some religious conviction, but when they stumbled onto some Bibles at an abandoned church...they really took to it, you know? Spread a culture of acceptance for all beliefs so just as long as you believe in SOMETHING and work your tail off, you have a place to call home. It's as nice as you can make a place. Got purifiers, clean dirt to plant food in, houses that are actually kinda nice. Uptown was apparently a wealthy part of New York, so scavenging materials was more of a breeze than a chore." He chuckled.
"One of my friends had a gold plated knife hilt cause he just found it rusting away somewhere. Cleaned it off, looked brand new. Of course, the knucklehead showed it off too much and got it stolen by raiders, but whatever." He rubbed the back of his neck as he commented:
"Anyway, point is this: we're a good settlement with good people. The religion thing kinda spooks loners off, but if you can get past it, it's a great place to be." Justin looked to Cameron, noting the look of exhaust on her face. It didn't detract from the simple prettiness of it.

Pretty?

Well, she was. It wasn't like he was going to hit on her, but yeah, she was attractive.

Pushing his inner dialogue aside, he asked:
"So Baltimore? I hear that it's pretty nice, but never met anybody from down there before. "

Promises left on the sand(megatrash/freedom)

I teach regular and college level seniors(so, they get high school and college credit). Great kids, sucky administration xD

Ok, gotcha. We can worry about that later, then. Don't want to throw too much in and have to wrangle it all together at the last minute...not that I have personal experience doing that...xD

Promises left on the sand(megatrash/freedom)

I am a teacher! It's rewarding, but man it can be tiring xD

Aw, no worries. I'll get you a reply in a bit, but before that...

Justin is going to mention urban legends. Zombies, irradiated creatures, that kind of stuff. Do you want to eventually include that kind of stuff or no? I don't mind either way.

Promises left on the sand(megatrash/freedom)

As they wound their way through the tattered remains, Justin made sure to keep a steady enough pace where he wouldn't lose Cameron in the soaked ruins, stopping a few times in order for her to catch up. The gun he had apprehended from his attackers was firmly clutched in his right hand, leaving his left hand free to brush away vines and debris from their path. He had thankfully taken one of the headlamps from the assailants, using it to navigate past pitfalls and sunken buildings that acted as traps for the unsuspecting traveler. Every so often, Justin thought he could hear the light trailing of footsteps flanking them from either side through the patter of the rain, but focusing on ghosts wouldn't help. They needed to keep moving forward.

After nearly running into a few rusted cars and banging into the occasional stop sign that still stood, the rain let up, allowing Justin to have a somewhat clearer view of what was in front of him. Currently, they stood at an intersection with a skyscraper jutting up to the heavens just opposite of their current position. He shined the headlamp up a bit, sighing in relief to see a banner above the alcove that served as the main entrance, the flag a crimson red with a blue orb in the middle dotted with green.
"Come on." They crossed the street and under the alcove, which held a rather intact revolving door.
"Hold on, have to disarm this." He walked to the doorway and tapped the glass on the front of the door to make it spin a couple of degrees. A slight splatter could be heard on the other side of the entrance, Justin nodding to himself as he motioned for Cameron to follow.

Going through the door, he shined the headlamp on the marbled floor, displaying a black, thick liquid.
"Oil trap. Someone breaks in, oil gets all over em and the person in the safehouse comes out with a molotov to set them on fire. A bit much, but in this part of town, one can't be too careful. Thankfully, no one is using the place, so we won't have to explain ourselves." He led her past the oil spell and through a doorway on the right across from a rotting desk. Inside were a few cots stuffed up against the north wall, shelves tucked up against the western wall with a number of sealed rations marked with dates of creation and other random supplies like duct tape, makeshift glue and matches. Upon walking in, Justin shut the door behind them, sealing it with a wooden beam attached to a metal hinge next to the doorway. Walking to a cot, he dropped his pack before looking to Cameron.
"You holding up ok?"

Promises left on the sand(megatrash/freedom)

More than likely will get you a post tomorrow. Been grading papers all day and my brain is getting to the point where it won't function xD

Having loads of fun with this, by the way.

Promises left on the sand(megatrash/freedom)

Haha! I hate it when that happens, especially when you're trying to come up with a reply and you're about a paragraph short from a full post...

Not speaking from experience AT ALL
xD

Promises left on the sand(megatrash/freedom)

Justin managed to wrangle himself free from his attacker's grasp as the figure went down to the ground hard, sharp gasps for life occurring over a few brief moments before it went down. He raised a brow in surprise at the source of his assistance.
"Well, aren't you the constrictor?" As he turned around to face the first attacker, he heard Cameron ask a question that he could only chuckle at.
"Yep. For this part of town, yep, yep and...yep!" With a swift, downward thrust Justin jabbed the blade into the first figure's leg, a howl of pain bouncing off the sturdy walls. The scout grabbed the hardhat off the figure's head and situated the light to find the wide-eyed stare of a young man, probably not even twenty yet. His hands were shaking visibly, his weapon of choice on the ground a few feet away due to Justin's surprise attack. He was trying to worm his way to the gun, but his legs had received too much damage to do anything other than squirm. Justin took a knee next to his former assailant, shining the light in his eyes, noting the deep red that surrounded his irises.
"Sick."
"Hey...hey...don't...don't just stand there, man! You gotta get me back, gotta get me feelin all better again!" Spittle flew from his lips, his pupils growing wider by the second.
"Only way you're ever going to feel better is if you exit this life now." Justin grabbed the gun nearby, examining it for a moment.
"Before I send you on your way, I need to know where you got these."
"Dunno, duno...duno..."
"HEY!" Justin jammed the barrel of the gun into his leg, another shriek of agony shooting through the room.
"Where?! Where did you get these?!"
"Gave em to me...just...boss just..gave em to me.."
"Where's your boss?"
"Down the...do..." His eyes rolled into the back of his head, prompting Justin to rise and place a bullet in the young man's head, the echo of the shot jarring the other attacker awake. Justin spun and, using the headlamp to aim, fired another shot at the other's head. With a solid thunk, he collapsed to the ground. As quickly as he could, Justin searched the bodies, finding two clips of pistol ammunition and a glass bottle filled with a greenish-blue powder.
"I knew it." He strode to his pack, placing the bottle inside before looking to Cameron.
"These guys belonged to a faction of Raiders we've been hunting for months. They take in loners and the downtrodden, get them hooked on a blend of pain-killing drugs and send them out as scavengers. Those swine are too lazy to do their own dirty work, so they exploit the innocent. These boys? Didn't have a chance. They're better off dead. Trust me." He motioned to the gun still in the hand of the attacker Cameron had choked out.
"Grab it. If you don't know how to use it, just hold it in your hands. It deters trouble pretty quickly." He slipped his pack on.
"We need to move. The gunshots gave away our position, so you stick close. If we can get far enough uptown, there's a safehouse we can hunker down in."

Promises left on the sand(megatrash/freedom)

Oh, no worries on that front at all!

Promises left on the sand(megatrash/freedom)

"Of course. Can't get too comfortable, though. Once the storm blows through, we have to get moving. We're about a day away from Omega in one of the more unstable areas of the city. I want to get back home as soon as we can." He stood up, brushing some dirt off the back of his shorts before realizing that Cameron had managed to get past the Wildcard/Raider battle he had scavenged. Was she that covert in her approach or did she just get lucky? It was a boon from whatever gods she worshiped that she managed to get past that exchange AND avoid some of the more unstable groups south of the city was amazing. Or maybe she wasn't telling him what she had encountered. That was fair. They had just met and strangers weren't normally trustworthy and the ones that were usually got killed. And speaking of getting killed...

"I'm going to keep watch. Used to staying up and making sure my traveling buddies don't die in their sleep. Kind of important, wouldn't you say?" A half smile momentarily graced his facial features before walking behind a half fallen row of filing cabinets, some of them still standing in defiance of their run-down state. He crouched, able to see what was going on outside without being too visible. The rain didn't look like it would be letting up anytime soon, which means they might have to spend the night here. Not exactly what he wanted to do, but at least they had shelter.
"Well, a goodnight to you. Like I said, I'll get you up when we're ready to go. And I give you my word I won't go through the box. Feel like I needed to say that."

____

Maybe it wasn't...

Justin's brow furrowed in concentration, attempting to see through the near total darkness that had engulfed the streets. It had been a couple of hours and the storm had indeed passed through, creating a dampness that reeked of rusting metal and rotting wood. Things had been quiet, but something had glinted in the barely illuminated streets that caught his attention. The glint had been getting closer or at least...that's what it looked like. He couldn't gauge distance that well in the darkness, so maybe it wasn't coming closer-

A bang on the door leading to the alley jolted Justin out of his focused state, the scout quickly withdrawing his knife and moved next to the door, which banged again, heavier. At least this way he could hopefully surprise a potential attacker with an attack from the back. A third bang, this time causing the door to fly open, beams of white light darting across the floor as two figures emerged into the building, their silhouettes betraying themselves as slightly built individuals with hardhats on their heads, headlamps illuminating the objects that were thrust in front of them...

Pistols? They had guns?

Oh no.

Justin quickly came from behind and slashed at one below the knees, blood spattering onto the ground as the figure collapsed, the other turning to point his gun at Justin, who rammed his shoulder into the other's gut. The other slammed the butt of his pistol into his back repeatedly.

Promises left on the sand(megatrash/freedom)

It's up to you. I don't need one for my own benefit...kinda looking forward to seeing Cameron evolve as a character through the thread :)

Also, I'm going to get you a post here in the next half hour or so. Work got pretty busy.