past the point of no return [solo]
Jul. 23rd, 2011 10:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starchilde_lost[July 28, 2011]
She's lost count of the days since the subs, those bathysphere-things, shut down and trapped everyone down here. Aside from the increasingly fragile feeling of the walls around, above and below her, she thought she was doing pretty good. She's kept moving, managed to find food, and been... around the other groups trapped below. She's also aware that there's something massive going on, but unless or until people start screaming for help, she has other things on her mind.
Namely, the splicer she's been following.
She ran out of power the day before and there's an ache in her head and in her bones that tell her that maybe, just maybe that had been a good thing. But Rachel's gotten good at ignoring that voice lately, it's the same one that told her she should have gone back up before the subs locked down, or that she should have stayed with the group where it's safer, or that she should just accept she's out and start looking for other weapons. Which wasn't to say she isn't armed, there's a shotgun strapped to her back that begs to differ, but it just isn't what she wants. Destruction of a different kind, of a powered kind and once she finds more ADAM she can get it.
But back to the splicer. She's seen him around and based on his crazy ramblings, she knows he's aware of some ADAM stashed somewhere. At least, that's what she thinks he said, from a distance it was hard to tell since half of what he says is gibberish anyways, but he's her only lead this morning. So Rachel waits in the shadows, watching him skulk around a dimly-lit hall and mutter until his and her attention is caught by the sing-song voice of a little girl coming from a nearby vent. Of course, the girls travel the vents, he must have known there's a crossing here. Crap.
She starts moving almost as soon as little hands appear at the vent's opening, but she's not quite fast enough and the splicer dives, reaching for the girl's wrist. The girl's scream echoes off the metal and glass walls and Rachel's in action before she can think, pulling the shotgun over her shoulder, knowing that if she doesn't get the splicer away... something else will.
"Hey! Let her go!" Rachel aims the shotgun and fires a shot over the splicer's shoulder, the echo reverberating in her ears and the kick hitting her shoulder with a familiar thud. She hates guns usually, but she wouldn't be her brother's sister if she wasn't proficient and down here, it's come in handy more than once.
"Mine! Rapture's for winners and I earned this!" He gives the girl a jerk, pulling her out of the vent and Rachel almost misses the rise of his other arm, holding tight to a pistol. But she dives just as the crack and whistle of a bullet flies over her head, tucking into a roll, and re-aiming as the splicer pulls off another shot.
Ignoring the sudden pain in her arm, she aims again, this time squeezing the trigger without warning. The splicer screams while his chest explodes in a red haze, letting go of the girl to hold his gun in a two-fisted grip. But Rachel's faster and her next shot hits him between the eyes, dropping him dead on the ground as the little girl runs back into the vent, her eyes glowing in the darkness. Rachel moves forward, warily, watching the splicer for any signs of life.
And listening like her life depends on it. She's seen the things that follow the girls around and she's seen what they do to anyone that harms them. Rachel's not anxious to be a part of that misunderstanding and so with fast fingers and a firm check on her gag reflex, she loots the body, tucking the gun in her bag along with the splicer's ammunition and few coins the thing was carrying. She checks the bloody hole in her shirt (just a graze, thank god), and she starts to wipe some of the blood away when she finally hears the clanking in the distance. Heading off in the opposite direction, Rachel stops when she notices the little girl coming back out of the vent. What the hell? Why isn't she still hiding?
"He's an angel now, it's time to tuck him in." As Rachel watches, confused and backing up a few steps, the girl pulls out a wicked looking contraption and starts to sing as she plunges it into the dead body. "Angel belly, my belly, who belly, your belly."
She's heard of this, but never seen it and as Rachel watches, the syringe fills with exactly what she's been looking for all day. Her entire body freezes, transfixed on the sight and she can almost feel the power inside herself again. ADAM. And it's right there. Taking a hesitant step closer, Rachel holds out her hand. "Hey. I'm Rachel. Don't suppose you'd share some of that with me, would you?"
Pulling the needle, the girl looks at Rachel quizzically as she starts to back away towards the vent. "Mr. Bubbles is coming, he's going to take me back for dream-time because I did really good, see?"
"I see you did really good." Oh, how Rachel could see it. "But I just need a little and you have so much." Not to mention the fact that the kid would probably run over a dozen or more bodies on her way back to wherever dream-time was held. Rachel tries to keep her expression kind, but if she's going to survive until they can get back to the surface, she needs that ADAM, and dammit, she wants it. Trapped here, no powers, toyed with by whatever fate was running the joint, she's earned that little bit of freedom. "Just give me the ADAM. I'm sure a good girl like you can get plenty more."
The girl holds the instrument closer, looking back towards the direction Rachel had come with worry on her face as Rachel listens to the hastening footsteps. With long legs, she quickly moves in-between the girl and the vent and tries to reassure the kid even as she reaches for the strange-looking device. "I'm not going to hurt you, honest, I just need this-"
And before the girl can run, Rachel grabs the device, instigating a tug-of-war with the surprisingly fierce grip of the girl who starts screaming, "That's mine, you get away! Mr. B! Mr. B!" In answer there's a roar and Rachel can see the shadow of the huge protector in the hall behind her, running now to protect his... little girl.
Panicking and without thinking, Rachel raises a booted foot and kicks out at the girl, breaking her grip on the device and propelling Rachel backwards when she overbalances. Scrambling to her feet, Rachel watches the lumbering diving suit come around the corner and fixate on her, even as the little girl points and yells, "Make the baddie go away!"
Rachel starts to run, losing her footing only once when the giant thing pounds the ground with that giant drill. She barely has time to think on how glad she is they don't pound on the glass before she's pulling away, gripping the instrument tightly as she takes off, the thing bellowing in the distance as the little girl clambers up on the thing's back for a ride home.
Rachel doesn't know how long she runs, only that she's breathing heavily and her legs are aching when she stops, ducking into a nearby empty shop of some kind and sinking to the floor in exhaustion. Setting the ADAM-filled device on the ground she looks at it, hands trembling as it all sinks in. "Make the baddie go away!" The baddie. Rachel. Who in her desperation, and fear, and... utter stupidity and selfishness just essentially beat down a little kid so she can have some power again. She could justify it all she wants, but it is what it is and she wonders if she'd do it again. Or when.
Reaching into her bag for the empty hypo she was carrying, she tells herself it's just because it's here. Why waste it? But this is the last time, the only time she'll do something like that. Ever. Well, finding the stuff... free range is one thing, but what she'd just done? Never again. She's not the baddie.
Is she?
She's lost count of the days since the subs, those bathysphere-things, shut down and trapped everyone down here. Aside from the increasingly fragile feeling of the walls around, above and below her, she thought she was doing pretty good. She's kept moving, managed to find food, and been... around the other groups trapped below. She's also aware that there's something massive going on, but unless or until people start screaming for help, she has other things on her mind.
Namely, the splicer she's been following.
She ran out of power the day before and there's an ache in her head and in her bones that tell her that maybe, just maybe that had been a good thing. But Rachel's gotten good at ignoring that voice lately, it's the same one that told her she should have gone back up before the subs locked down, or that she should have stayed with the group where it's safer, or that she should just accept she's out and start looking for other weapons. Which wasn't to say she isn't armed, there's a shotgun strapped to her back that begs to differ, but it just isn't what she wants. Destruction of a different kind, of a powered kind and once she finds more ADAM she can get it.
But back to the splicer. She's seen him around and based on his crazy ramblings, she knows he's aware of some ADAM stashed somewhere. At least, that's what she thinks he said, from a distance it was hard to tell since half of what he says is gibberish anyways, but he's her only lead this morning. So Rachel waits in the shadows, watching him skulk around a dimly-lit hall and mutter until his and her attention is caught by the sing-song voice of a little girl coming from a nearby vent. Of course, the girls travel the vents, he must have known there's a crossing here. Crap.
She starts moving almost as soon as little hands appear at the vent's opening, but she's not quite fast enough and the splicer dives, reaching for the girl's wrist. The girl's scream echoes off the metal and glass walls and Rachel's in action before she can think, pulling the shotgun over her shoulder, knowing that if she doesn't get the splicer away... something else will.
"Hey! Let her go!" Rachel aims the shotgun and fires a shot over the splicer's shoulder, the echo reverberating in her ears and the kick hitting her shoulder with a familiar thud. She hates guns usually, but she wouldn't be her brother's sister if she wasn't proficient and down here, it's come in handy more than once.
"Mine! Rapture's for winners and I earned this!" He gives the girl a jerk, pulling her out of the vent and Rachel almost misses the rise of his other arm, holding tight to a pistol. But she dives just as the crack and whistle of a bullet flies over her head, tucking into a roll, and re-aiming as the splicer pulls off another shot.
Ignoring the sudden pain in her arm, she aims again, this time squeezing the trigger without warning. The splicer screams while his chest explodes in a red haze, letting go of the girl to hold his gun in a two-fisted grip. But Rachel's faster and her next shot hits him between the eyes, dropping him dead on the ground as the little girl runs back into the vent, her eyes glowing in the darkness. Rachel moves forward, warily, watching the splicer for any signs of life.
And listening like her life depends on it. She's seen the things that follow the girls around and she's seen what they do to anyone that harms them. Rachel's not anxious to be a part of that misunderstanding and so with fast fingers and a firm check on her gag reflex, she loots the body, tucking the gun in her bag along with the splicer's ammunition and few coins the thing was carrying. She checks the bloody hole in her shirt (just a graze, thank god), and she starts to wipe some of the blood away when she finally hears the clanking in the distance. Heading off in the opposite direction, Rachel stops when she notices the little girl coming back out of the vent. What the hell? Why isn't she still hiding?
"He's an angel now, it's time to tuck him in." As Rachel watches, confused and backing up a few steps, the girl pulls out a wicked looking contraption and starts to sing as she plunges it into the dead body. "Angel belly, my belly, who belly, your belly."
She's heard of this, but never seen it and as Rachel watches, the syringe fills with exactly what she's been looking for all day. Her entire body freezes, transfixed on the sight and she can almost feel the power inside herself again. ADAM. And it's right there. Taking a hesitant step closer, Rachel holds out her hand. "Hey. I'm Rachel. Don't suppose you'd share some of that with me, would you?"
Pulling the needle, the girl looks at Rachel quizzically as she starts to back away towards the vent. "Mr. Bubbles is coming, he's going to take me back for dream-time because I did really good, see?"
"I see you did really good." Oh, how Rachel could see it. "But I just need a little and you have so much." Not to mention the fact that the kid would probably run over a dozen or more bodies on her way back to wherever dream-time was held. Rachel tries to keep her expression kind, but if she's going to survive until they can get back to the surface, she needs that ADAM, and dammit, she wants it. Trapped here, no powers, toyed with by whatever fate was running the joint, she's earned that little bit of freedom. "Just give me the ADAM. I'm sure a good girl like you can get plenty more."
The girl holds the instrument closer, looking back towards the direction Rachel had come with worry on her face as Rachel listens to the hastening footsteps. With long legs, she quickly moves in-between the girl and the vent and tries to reassure the kid even as she reaches for the strange-looking device. "I'm not going to hurt you, honest, I just need this-"
And before the girl can run, Rachel grabs the device, instigating a tug-of-war with the surprisingly fierce grip of the girl who starts screaming, "That's mine, you get away! Mr. B! Mr. B!" In answer there's a roar and Rachel can see the shadow of the huge protector in the hall behind her, running now to protect his... little girl.
Panicking and without thinking, Rachel raises a booted foot and kicks out at the girl, breaking her grip on the device and propelling Rachel backwards when she overbalances. Scrambling to her feet, Rachel watches the lumbering diving suit come around the corner and fixate on her, even as the little girl points and yells, "Make the baddie go away!"
Rachel starts to run, losing her footing only once when the giant thing pounds the ground with that giant drill. She barely has time to think on how glad she is they don't pound on the glass before she's pulling away, gripping the instrument tightly as she takes off, the thing bellowing in the distance as the little girl clambers up on the thing's back for a ride home.
Rachel doesn't know how long she runs, only that she's breathing heavily and her legs are aching when she stops, ducking into a nearby empty shop of some kind and sinking to the floor in exhaustion. Setting the ADAM-filled device on the ground she looks at it, hands trembling as it all sinks in. "Make the baddie go away!" The baddie. Rachel. Who in her desperation, and fear, and... utter stupidity and selfishness just essentially beat down a little kid so she can have some power again. She could justify it all she wants, but it is what it is and she wonders if she'd do it again. Or when.
Reaching into her bag for the empty hypo she was carrying, she tells herself it's just because it's here. Why waste it? But this is the last time, the only time she'll do something like that. Ever. Well, finding the stuff... free range is one thing, but what she'd just done? Never again. She's not the baddie.
Is she?
