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Post by Artemis "Spirit" Jacobs on Oct 24, 2009 7:56:47 GMT -5
With a final, desperate effort, Spirit managed to yank her jacket out of the dying man's clutches- doing her best to ignore the man's moans of "no, please, don't leave me", Spirit turned and followed Bullet out the door. She hadn't heard the footsteps; as she broke out into the hall, however, there were distinctive noises coming from where they had just been. Following the new runner, Spirit launched herself up a few conveniently-stacked crates, managed to get a hold on the pipe, and hoisted herself up.
"Vents," she gasped at Bullet- her eyes were wide, and she was nearly trembling with shock. That man...she had never seen anyone like that....
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Post by Andrew "Bullet" Stewart on Oct 24, 2009 8:31:34 GMT -5
Seeing the look on Spirits face, I comforted her as quickly as possible to escape from the unknown noise which had came closer, and closer. "Spirit?" I said watching the female almost quivering on the edge of the vent opening. "Spirit, it's going to be alright but..." I put flatly "We have to get out of here before we end up like HIM!" I said to the shocked female.
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Post by Artemis "Spirit" Jacobs on Oct 24, 2009 15:23:41 GMT -5
Spirit shook her head several times, not looking at the boy. "I'm fine," she growled, infuriated at her own weakness she had shown. "Get going, I'm fine." And she hoisted herself into the vent after him.
This is stupid, the young woman thought as she pulled herself, hands and knees, down the constricting tunnel. No matter how quiet they attempted to be, the vent around them would shudder and echo loudly whenever their legs or feet came in contact. Spirit always hated vents and, for her, they were the absolute last resort- she didn't even know what they were running from....
There were voices behind them now; someone cried 'Jesus Christ' and there was the sudden, deafening explosion of gunfire. Trying not to imagine the sickly man falling, riddled full of bullets, and feeling a flare of hate toward the Blues, Spirit reached up and seized Bullet by the ankle.
"Wait!" she hissed. "Stay quiet." It would be all too easy for a jumpy Blue to look up and, hearing them banging along, open fire at the vent above his head. Why is he down here...?
There was a second voice now, from down below them. "By gods," a man had whispered- Spirit pictured him bending over the man's body, a hand over his nose. "This is more devastating than I thought."
There was a moment of uncertain silence, then the quick scratch of a match being lit, and Spirit smelled a cigar. "Do your best at hiding the body without getting your attire soiled, McFane," the second man said loftily. "I've seen all I needed to." And descending footsteps announced his departure. Using this noise as a cover, Spirit prodded Bullet's leg, urging him to move quietly forward.
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Post by Andrew "Bullet" Stewart on Oct 24, 2009 18:07:47 GMT -5
As the smell of smoke and ash started to fill the vents, i looked back at spirit and whispered. "Look! A way out." I said pointing at the vent opening ahead of us. We got out and I looked around and found a red door and rammed it open, but...on the other side. Blues. "Damn, SPIRIT RUN!" I said to her as she looked sternly at me.
I ran passed Spirit and followed the halls to the end and found another door, but this one was already opened, and not by us. I walked through to the other side and found I was next to tracks where the trains would run. Soon after a flickering light passed us from right to left and in the light i saw human figures; the train.
Looking for a way out I saw a red ladder, leading up towards a small opening in the wall. I quickly leapt across the tracks towards the ladder, listening to the bitter and ominous silence before me. As soon as i stepped onto the other side, I heard the train whizz right pass me, my beating heart getting faster and faster.
"Spirit quickly, up here!" I said looking back, making sure she wasn't dead herself.
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Post by Artemis "Spirit" Jacobs on Oct 24, 2009 22:55:04 GMT -5
This kid is crazy, Spirit heard herself think, hardly believing that she had followed him across a live train track. He had scurried up a ladder in front of her, and the young woman stared up it.
"Spirit, quickly, up here!" he shouted and, slightly resentful at taking orders, Spirit hesitantly climbed, emerging from a manhole in a darkened alley of the streets.
The runner glanced around, pausing a minute to catch her breath; the streets were darkened, quiet. "Rest for a minute," she advised Bullet, letting her feet hang down the manhole and leaning back. "I don't think anyone in their right mind would follow the path we just took."
She was quiet for a little bit, staring up at the city's starless skies. The dying man's image had been burned into her memory; resisting a fierce tremor, Spirit stubbornly shook her head and focused on her companion.
"You have the makings of a great runner," she said, rising. "If...that's the life you want to lead. Not to say that every day will be like this one," she laughed humorlessly, "but brushes with Blues are all too common."
She lapsed into a disturbed silence. "That man down there...I've never seen that," she said quietly. "He didn't look like he'd been stabbed, or, or shot...but he was bleeding from everywhere. I think he was sick," Spirit rubbed her arm, recalling how the man had grabbed her and idly wondering if she, too, could be infected.
"I'm getting to the bottom of this. Bullet, you heard those men. Whoever was with them sounded like a city official; I think this may have something to do with the mayor. If you hear anything, be sure to let me know." Runners would never say "I owe you my life". Spirit felt slightly inclined, however, to keep a watch over the boy. Not, perhaps, prepared to accept him into her ranks...but maybe one day.
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Post by Andrew "Bullet" Stewart on Oct 24, 2009 23:10:33 GMT -5
"Well, if that's your way of inviting me into the Reds...then, I accept" I said grinning at the prospect of my new life. "Spirit, I know we'll definitely get to the bottom of this...I'm, as you already know, kinda' stubborn, so you can think of a plus for a change than what just happened..." I said to Spirit wondering if she understood anything out of my mouth, because I don't think I did.
"By the way, Spirit, do you have a place where i can crash?" I asked hoping for a positive reply.
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Post by Artemis "Spirit" Jacobs on Oct 24, 2009 23:31:49 GMT -5
Spirit blinked- that hadn't been what she had meant at all.
"What-? No, you misunderstood," she said, flushing slightly. "Look, Bullet, I like you. Really, you're a good kid...." how do I say this kindly?
Spirit sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. "Listen, there are strict procedures that come with joining the Reds. We don't take just anyone, and, I mean, not that I don't trust you, just..." she looked up at him exasperatingly.
"I- I don't know you," she admitted. Damn her trust issues, but Spirit had convinced herself that, by surrounding herself with only the people she had thoroughly investigated, she had stayed both out of prison and the morgue. "I will be in touch. I'll be watching you, you're definitely being seriously considered," she promised. "But one encounter...not enough."
She shook her head sadly, lowering her hand. Looking up into his eager grin, however, she felt a stab of guilt. Glancing away, she rubbed her arm absently.
"But...yeah. I have a place you can stay tonight," she said quietly. "Its not the Ritz, but, it's got a bed and a roof." She beckoned for him to follow, still avoiding his eyes.
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Post by Andrew "Bullet" Stewart on Oct 24, 2009 23:39:27 GMT -5
"I can see where you're coming from. I probably would of refused to" i said smiling. She told me about a place where I could stay and started walking, I followed her.
Whilst we were walking, I decided to talk to Spirit, who had looked like she was filled with guilt. "So, Spirit. What got you into..." I said before i looked around to make sure no one saw or heard us. "Being a runner?" I asked Spirit hoping to get her mind off things.
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Post by Artemis "Spirit" Jacobs on Oct 24, 2009 23:55:16 GMT -5
Spirit grinned faintly. "I was stupid," she admitted. "Hated my parents for divorcing; ran away. Always been a bit too proud to go crawling back, you know?"
They were ascending a flight of steps that would bring them to the back of the storage docks, a dizzying labyrinth of warehouses. "Now I'm too deep- Blues know my face, and there are too many Greens that would like me dead. I'd be hardly doing them a favor in returning. That'd be putting their necks on the line for them, too, and that's hardly fair, right?" She turned and smiled at him, attempting to conceal her weariness. It had just hit her, but she was tired.
"It's right in here," Spirit said, turning down an alley of warehouses. A small, white one at the end with a red 'X' over the door stood quietly unnoticed among giants. Jiggling the handle a special way, Spirit pressed open the door and flicked the light, stepping inside.
"The former Red leader brought me here when he found me injured on the street," she explained. She immediately grinned at the memory. "I had been clipped by a car. Despite that stupidity, though, he took care of me, letting me stay here until I felt better. It's far enough from our base that you won't be able to find it, and I wish you luck in tracking me back to it." She laughed briefly, before turning on him a sharp gaze that indicated it would be incredibly unwise to try.
"You're on your own for food, but there's a bed- the sheets should be clean enough, they were washed since last I was here," Spirit was saying now, opening up a rusted metal cabinet and taking out several folded blankets. "There is a lock on the door, if you feel you need it...I only ask that you don't live out of here for more than a few days. We can't go collecting homeless kids, I'm sure you understand."
She paused at the door, framed against the faint moonlight, waiting to see if he wanted to say anything before she left.
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Post by Andrew "Bullet" Stewart on Oct 25, 2009 0:04:19 GMT -5
"Spirit, all I can say is...thanks, thanks for the help.." I said as Spirit was at the open door.
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Post by Artemis "Spirit" Jacobs on Oct 25, 2009 0:07:20 GMT -5
Spirit hesitated, nodded once, and shut the door, turning to face the night. Hiking up her hood to shade her eyes and drawing up the zipper, she turned and sprinted down the aisle between the warehouses, trying to keep the dying man from haunting her waking thoughts.
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Post by Andrew "Bullet" Stewart on Oct 25, 2009 0:25:33 GMT -5
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