moonfaerie

Big Empty

Watching as he hooked several weapons onto his suit with quick ease, she was slower and more cautious with her movements. Hesitantly she reached out for some kind of alien gun of her own. For some reason though she'd never seen it before, she had a feeling when the time came she would know how to use it. When he started talking, she glanced over in his direction. The explanation sounded a little far fetched, but judging by the impossible that she'd already seen thus far, she was apt to go along with it. The 3D map pulled up to illuminate their path, she tried to touch the hologram before he turned it off. A look of disappointment and a pout appeared on her face.

Since he seemed to know what he was doing, she followed closely behind him through the dimly lit empty hallways. Holding out her hands, her fingers brushed the metal of the ship. To her surprise, it was cool—even with the emergency lights on. No heat emitted from it; she expected it to be at least a little warm.

Brought to a halt by the sudden appearance to another hologram, quickly lifted a hand to shield her eyes of the nude female. “Oh, jeez.” There were no details to the hologram, a smooth rendering with a humanoid shape, but it still felt inappropriate to look right at her. If she thought that Dallen had unloaded a lot of information on her that she couldn't comprehend, then she wasn't prepared for this expositional spouting hologram named Trinity.

Lowering her hands from shielding her eyes as she brought up more smaller holograms for them to look at, she watched. This time, she got to swat her hand through it, seeing the hologram distort to shape around her hand like a projector image. “Neat,” she mused.

Dallen seem to know what to ask it though the explanation that it gave sparked more questions than answers for her. What were the Dunar? Why did they need an army of people from another planet? Not that she was complaining about that last part. She was eager to see what kind of enhanced abilities she hadn't seen signs that anything was out of the ordinary about her. Even if she couldn't remember anything, she still had a sense of what normalcy was.

“I have a name,” she corrected before proceeding to joke, “It's Test Subject 001.” Hopefully sooner rather than later some bits and pieces about who she had been, mainly her name, would come to her.

Now that it was her turn to answer some questions, the young woman found herself freezing. Looking back and forth between Dallen and the golden hologram, she gave an embarrassed laugh as she asked, “Know a good place to eat around here? I'm starving.” The hologram flickered in response. Trinity's voice came out distorted and incomprehensible before the figure vanished all together. “I think I offended her,” she said.

A loud bang followed by sparks overhead falling from the ceiling caused her to shriek and shirk closer to Dallen for protection. Not too far behind them the loud ear-piercing screams made her blood run cold. Clamping her mouth shut, she looked at Dallen. Whatever the next step to the plan was, they needed to move fast.

Big Empty

Wut is avatur? :p

I AM lazy. So you hush. I posted though so be happy with that!

Big Empty

Distracted by the opening door, she perked up when she saw someone enter. “Hello...?” she called out, desperate for some explanation from anyone that might give it to her. The person ignored her, a guttural sound emitting from his throat in response as he got down on all fours and began crawling in her direction, limbs sticking out like a spider. Whimpering, she tried to scoot back. Her hands slipped on the metal floor where the pool of blood formed near the dead body beside her.

A beam of light hitting the creature's head, she watched as it suddenly exploded. The sight horrified her as she stared on at the carcass and damage. Bits of whoever or whatever it had been went everywhere, some of it on her, and she suddenly felt sick. With nothing in her stomach, bile soon mixed with the blood on the floor as she heaved.

It was tone of urgency in the man's voice that had her struggling to stand, only succeeding when he offered his help in the form of a crutch. With many questions for him, she found herself unable to ask as he helped to usher her out of the room through the door the decaying creature had come through. The flickering light was starting to bother her and she closed her eyes trying to ease the discomfort the flashing caused. Jerked into a side room and forced to face the man, she couldn't see anything through the dark as her eyes struggled to adjust. But the sound of something outside in the hallway was hint enough to know that she needed to be quiet. A bloodcurdling scream resonated through the ship and she gasped while trying to cover her ears to block out the sound. Only when she heard the muffled sound of his voice did she drop her hands.

She wasn't sure where he'd taken her, but it was different than the rest of the ship and looked to be an important room. Pushing the glasses up her nose with a finger, she looked around at the different screens on the wall with fascination. Hearing him speak again, she turned to face him. “You mean I'm not?” she asked. Turning her attention back to surveying the room, she muttered mostly to herself, “I thought I was in hell.”

As he put away the armor he wore, she glanced back over at him with an arched brow as now he looked to be wearing some type of full-body spandex. It was very form-fitting.

Taking the liquid from him, she examined it. Nose furling in disgust, it didn't seem like a good idea to put something that glowed inside of her body. “What is it?” she asked, looking back up at him. He'd already downed a vial for himself. Though she was reluctant to do so without knowing what it was or what it did, she didn't figure she had much choice in the matter. “Cheers,” she said, raising it up in his direction before she threw her head back and downed it. The lack of flavor was disappointing as she'd expected for it to taste like a blue Popsicle.

Everything about her was shrouded in a fog, her name included. Like the name of a song on the tip of her tongue, it was there—she just couldn't pull it out yet. Without any way to introduce herself, she just gave a small nod. Becoming more alert when he mentioned that she had questions, her shoulders visibly sagged again when he mentioned he didn't know much himself. What he had to say was troubling and none of it made her feel any better. “You knew enough to drink the glowy stuff at least,” she said. It had been more than she knew.

Any questions she might have had for him, she didn't think he could answer. Where were they? Why were they there? What were those things? And what was coming after them? The only thing he could tell her was that they were in danger and needed to leave as fast as they possibly could. Not one to dawdle with such information, she found herself bypassing the resting period and going straight to the suiting up. It was better to leave now and rest later.

Dressed in her jeans and dirty white t-shirt from when she was taken, she found a skintight suit of her own that mirrored his to go beneath one of those armored outfits he'd been wearing. Grabbing it off the shelf, she glanced at him. “You mind?” she asked, motioning for him to turn around with her finger before she started to change. Off in the distance she could hear that chilling scream that made her blood run cold. Whatever that thing had been was still looking for them, she guessed. They needed to hurry. She wasted no time in putting the suit on and she quickly snatched some smaller pieces of armor from off the shelf. She didn't think she would be able to carry the weight of the larger pieces like he'd had on.

“Where are we going?” she wondered though at the end of the day she figured she would probably just follow him.

Big Empty

Bam. First post up.

Big Empty

The only movement she could muster at first was in her hands. It took nearly all of her energy to simply twitch her fingers. While her body remained paralyzed, her brain was slowly becoming more active and alert. Eyes closed, she almost didn't want to open them; she wanted to continue sleeping and maybe when she woke up again, the searing pain emitting from the side of her head would have stopped by then. Another twitch of the hand. Her nails scratched the surface of the floor as she curled her fingers inward, another test to check her current capabilities of movement, and finally she opened her eyes.

Half of the world around her was in focus. With a grunt of effort she dragged her arm closer to her face to rearrange the thick rimmed dark glasses she wore over her crystal blue eyes. Everything was more or less clear, a streak of dirt smudging a part of her vision, but the effort to clean her glasses escaped her as she was more concerned about where was and how she had gotten there. The more she tried to think about it, the foggier her mind became. There was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she was missing something, but for the life of her she couldn't remember what.

It was a struggle to sit up, but she eventually managed. There were other people like herself there scattered along the floor. Some were bleeding, others were not. Close to her was a pool of blood. She could see where the person had fallen and clipped their head on the edge of the table, a flap of dry skin still stuck to the corner where they'd hit. The woman gasped, covering her mouth at the sight. She couldn't tell which of them were alive and which of them were not; she felt sick.

As she scanned more of her surroundings, she noticed an abundance of technology that she had never seen before. Red warning lights were flashing with the distorted sound of an alarm that had been going off for too long and was beginning to run out of power. There were metal doors on either side of the room though where they led, she had no idea.

The alarm not doing anything to help her headache, she lifted a hand to the spot on her head that was hurting. Her blonde pony-tail had loosened and tangled, creating a knot that she would need to spend time to brush out later. Pulling her hand away from the spot, she noticed her fingers were slick with blood of her own. Face turning pale as she started to whimper, none of this made any sense. She looked around the room helplessly as she started calling out for help to anyone that might have been around.

The Dead and the Dying

Even though it was part of the deal, Elizabeth didn't actually expect for him to follow through on it. Fuming in the seat beside him and scowling at his comments, she didn't want to do anything that might cause her to stay there any longer than she had to. The man did well enough to entertain himself as she just sat there with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“Ah!” she cried out when he took off her mask, some of her hair getting caught between his fingers and pulling. Eyes narrowed while she glared, Elizabeth elbowed him forcefully in the side. “Stop,” she said which was short hand for stop being such an asshole.

Leaning back in her seat and resting her foot up on the dash, Elizabeth was glad that now at least she had something to look at and she could breath better with that suffocating bad off of her head. All she had to do was endure him for a little while longer and then she'd be home free.

At least that was what she thought. Off in the distance she noticed the flare and mostly just felt sorry for whoever had fired it. There was nothing in her mind that considered going towards it, this experience teaching her that maybe she needed to think twice before jumping in to help someone. In the end, she would just get the brunt of the abuse.

But the man was deviating from the path. Sitting straight up she glanced over at him. When he gave his warning she shook her head. “Oh, no. Hell no.” Motioning in the direction of the flare where it'd gone off, she exclaimed, “Whoever fired that is probably already dead!” The only thing he was doing at that moment was putting them in danger. These people were going to get her killed.

Reaching over, Elizabeth grabbed the wheel with a jerk trying to turn it back around or at least make it go anywhere else. She was half-successful as the vehicle crashed into a tree.

The Dead and the Dying

I'm just a slacker.

The Dead and the Dying

Ever since she'd left the city, sleep had been difficult. Elizabeth often murmured in her sleep, thrashing around as images of what she'd seen haunted her. While it had been an uncomfortable sleep, Dallen's rough awakening didn't do well to lift her spirits any and instead started her day on a negative note. Glaring at him as he left, Elizabeth stayed in her spot on the couch for a good five minutes doing nothing more than staring at the ceiling.

Figuring she better get up and get the hell on out of there, the woman finally stood and stretched. The old man had already packed some stuff for her in the jeep and since she didn't have any belongings of her own, she was more or less ready to go.

The sun was blinding when she walked outside and she shielded her eyes until they finally adjusted to the light. Hearing her name, she caught only what was addressed to her. “Yep. I'm ready,” she replied. Not knowing what the others were up to and, admittedly, not really caring, she didn't ask what she'd missed.

Not knowing these people and not having the best first impression of them, Elizabeth couldn't say she was sad to go. “Well, it's been...something...” she said, that being the only word she could think of to accurately describe her experience with the group. It certainly hadn't been fun. They were a mess and she had a feeling that the longer things went, the worse it would become. The only one she'd felt any connection to was Ethan and even then she felt he was incompetent.

Climbing into the passenger side of the jeep, Elizabeth shut the door without so much as a goodbye to the others. Locking the door and buckling her seat belt, she slumped down in the seat resting her feet on the dash. Waiting for Dallen, she didn't say anything or look at him until they were already out on the road.

“Remind me where we're going again,” she said, having already forgotten. So much had happened within the last few days it was hard to keep anything straight. She'd almost called him Johnny before she remembered that was the name of the other one.

The Dead and the Dying

Finally freed from her binds after Ethan's vouch, Elizabeth ran her hands over the raw skin with a slight wince. It would heal up soon enough. “Asshole,” she muttered beneath her breath, refusing his apology. If anything, she had been the one who needed to be careful about them. Especially seeing the amount of armory they were hauling around.

As the older man of the group addressed her, it was probably the first time any one of these people had said something that she actually liked. While doubt was still evident on her face, Elizabeth gave a nod of agreement. Whatever got her away from here and these people. “Sounds good. Thanks.”

Listening to the exchange between the men, the woman arched a brow as the last word she would use to describe her run in with Ethan was 'lucky'. It might have been lucky for him considering she'd saved his life, but since then all he had managed to do was drag her to be caught by some criminals and then held prisoner by his own people. While they talked about those things, Elizabeth thought back to her time in the city and the chaos. There were so many of those things. A vacant stare at an empty space in the middle of the floor, all she could think about was how that walker—as Ethan called it—had melted her fiance's face off. Face contorting as she thought about the way he'd pulled the skin away, hands covered in blood, to reveal the muscle underneath, she was pulled out of her disturbing thoughts when someone addressed her.

Blinking back to the present as she turned towards the person speaking, it was Johnny. “Grits are fine,” she said. They were a southern staple and something she'd grown up eating often. Even if it was something she hated, Elizabeth had been eating worms, grasshoppers, and other insects she'd been digging up in the dirt. At the moment, she wasn't picky. Grits sounded like a breakfast fit for a king.

More than happy with what was for dinner, Elizabeth got herself a bowl and returned to her spot since that was where she felt the most comfortable. Eating slowly to savor the taste, the first bite was almost too hot as she had to let it linger in her mouth with it open for a minute before she finally swallowed. The others she softly blew to cool while it was still on the spoon.

Preparing to take another bite of her meal, she glanced at the woman out of the corner of her eyes when she asked her plan to survive. There wasn't really a plan, but she hadn't had any issues with what she'd been doing before except when it came to food. A shrug of her shoulder she responded, “Avoid people that will tie me up.” It might not have been much of a strategy, but it was the best thing she had at the moment and right now the only thing that found to be a real issue. Hell, even the bugs she could handle.

Finding it odd to hear that at a time like this she was going to play games, Elizabeth ignored it as her gaze moved to Johnny—the person she would be going against for her bath. Though her food was only half eaten, she sat the bowl in the floor. “We could go at the same time,” Elizabeth suggested to him, flashing Johnny an impish grin as she stood and went over to him. She didn't actually mean it; she was just trying to distract him and catch him off guard so she had a slight advantage. In her previous line of work, a smile and flattery went a long way to getting what she wanted. Back then it had been more money; right now it was simply a bath. “But you, Johnny. I get the feeling you're a gentleman. So ladies first, yes?”

That had been a lie. Already Elizabeth had assumed he was a jerk, but that might have just been her being sour over his suggestion to keep her tied up in the first place. Still, she took off at a fast sprint towards the bathroom. Sliding into the room she shut the door quickly behind her and made sure to lock it. Johnny would just have to wait. And he would just have to wait for a long time.

The Dead and the Dying

“We've all lost our families,” Elizabeth commented quietly to Ethan; he wasn't the only one to have lost someone close to them. Her jaw clinched at the thought, but she refused to let anymore emotion show on her face knowing that once that dam burst, she wouldn't be able to hold it back anymore and she would be useless. Arching a brow at his confession that he thought she'd kill him, if anything she took it as a compliment. Though Elizabeth could kill whatever those things were out there, she hadn't ever killed an actual person—she hadn't needed to. And she hoped to hell things would stay that way.

Hearing a whistle coming from behind Ethan, the woman craned her neck to look behind them. The color drained from her face when she realized that they'd been had and, no matter what they had wanted to do, they were going to be taken to the farmhouse regardless. Eyes narrowing at the men in the bushes, she remained as still and quiet as she could possibly be until someone sprung from behind. Everything going dark around her, she squirmed and fought against her captor. Easily overpowering her with their strength, they loaded them in the back of their convoy.

Even though they both had bags over their heads, Ethan still found it in him to complain about their situation—and it even sounded like he was blaming her for it. Kicking her foot towards the sound, she unfortunately she only hit air rather than her intended target of Ethan's leg. “You shouldn't have dragged us towards them in the first place!” They'd probably heard him rustling through the brush when he was trying to listen in on their conversation.

Feeling the rough terrain as they were taken to the farmhouse, Elizabeth wasn't thrilled to be there—hostage or not. Forced out of the vehicle, she could feel the barrel of a gun pressed against her back to keep her in line. Pushing her forward, she took a couple of blind steps before being pushed again. Her wrists were starting to feel raw as she'd been working at her bindings in an attempt to loosen them.

Hearing him call to the others who were supposedly in the cabin, the woman muttered mostly to herself, “Ain't my people.” She didn't know them and if the others were anything like Ethan then they were probably more of a liability than anything else. Though her means of surviving wasn't perfect, it had worked fine these past couple of days and hopefully over time she'd enhance what little she actually knew so things would get easier.

If these people didn't kill her first.

Elizabeth didn't know what was happening out there, but he could hear the sound of gunfire. Heart pounding rapidly in her chest, she was terrified that a stray bullet would hit her so she didn't dare move and simply hoped one of them wasn't being aimed in her direction. Feeling her captor grab her hair, she let out a cry of pain as her head jerked back. Feeling the gun move from her back, it wasn't soon after that his hold on her relaxed completely and she was able to pull away. Quickly she reached up to pull the bag from her head. Taking seconds for her eyes to adjust to the sudden light, she took in her new surroundings while her brain tried to catch up with what was going on.

The only one she recognized was Ethan, still masked and running to the porch. Despite her reservations about the man, being the only familiar thing she knew she made her way towards him though she stopped herself short and stared at him completely bewildered as not only did he trip, but he somehow managed to know himself out like some kind of cartoon she would catch her daughter watching. The only thing she could do was stand beside the man and stare down at him; she even lightly kicked the bottom of his shoe to see if he was really out.

A new face arrived and knelt at Ethan's side. Not really expecting much, figuring he'd be too busy tending to the unconscious name, she arched a brow when he asked who she was. “I could ask you the same,” she replied. Though it wasn't the man himself that answered; she figured out his name was Johnny as a whole mass of people arrived and one of them addressed him. When a boy reached Ethan, she couldn't help but notice the look he'd given her. “What?” she demanded. If the kid had something to say to her then he could say it.

There were way too many people around for her liking and she continued trying to escape her bindings so she could leave; none of these people were offering to help her out any.

She didn't know what the deal with the woman was, but when she spoke with an authoritative air in her tone, Elizabeth simply scoffed. “Honey, those people already knew about your farm. They didn't need us to lead them anywhere.” It had been the opposite. Which just brought up the question how many other people knew this farm existed and thought it would be a safe place to hole up. Staying there, at least in her opinion, wasn't safe and she was more than happy to leave seeing as she never wanted to be there in the first place.

Her attention turning back to Johnny, Elizabeth stated, “I say you take these off and I take that offer on getting the hell out of here.” Motioning to Ethan's unconscious body with her bound hands, she added, “You can keep that.”

Whether or not it was because they doubted she could be trusted, they were just assholes, or a little of both, Elizabeth still felt like a captive as she was forced to stay until Ethan woke. With an agitated sigh of discontent, she muttered, “Fucking hell.” Hands still bound, her harsh stare bore holes into each of them as she was led inside. Even though she technically had a roof over her head she didn't feel any better as she had on her own in the middle of the woods. At least then she'd had some form of control.

Sitting off in a corner by herself, Elizabeth continued to work at her bindings until her wrists were too sore to keep at it and she finally gave up. Leaning her head against the wall she closed her eyes. Hearing the offer of a bath which sounded like a luxury at this point considering she'd gone three days without one and was covered in a foul combination of dirt, grime, and gore. Opening one of her eyes she asked, “Does that invitation extend to me, too?” doubting that it did since she was still a prisoner to these people.

Rather than the woman addressing her of her questions about who she was, she seemed to talk to Ethan—as if he really knew anything about her. Rolling her eyes, she turned her head away from the ground and went back to being silent. If these people weren't going to try then she saw no reason why she had to.