NationStates Jolt Archive

Miri grinned as several lockers were primed for the uptake. "So, this is the duty, huh?" She began sniggering under her breath as she deftly slid long fettucini noodles into locker slits, saying such things as "Understand this and take your folly!" or "This is wrath, I say, this is divine retribution!" Eventually, however, when she was out of pasta - _No, these have become more than noodles! Weapons of mass destruction, biological agents, the seeds of the fall and temporary additional annoyance of those people within this school who have earned the ire of the less amused!_ - she smiled at the mental image of the possibly excessively terrible mess that would soon to occur.

As she surveyed the lines of lockers that had been struck, she smiled and spun around one and a half full turns with a finger pointed straight in the air, ending her spin directly facing Elly and Natti. "Victorious are we, champions of justice! Today, we have struck a blow that many would see as-- well, okay, many would see us as being evil bitches, but the many that are relevant to our interests, they! They would see this as a moment of glory, of victory, and... and... well, crap, I'm out of ideas." She shrugged.

Hearing Natti's suggestion of odd spraying materials, she grinned. Widely. "You know, in my room, there is a cardboard box at the bottom of my closet that is quite literally filled with maybe a hundred bottles of that silly string stuff. Aerosol thing that shoots a stream of God-knows-what that goes a loooong way when you shoot it. How does that work for you?"

" Sarah some date and nice guy he turn out to be now" said Fall while looking at he

"i'll be back" Kat say be heading back to her table

"so now your with out a date,while i never had one to start with,some prom this turning out for both of us" Fall say while change his stance from standing at attention to at ease

"So, it's like that, ya?" said the orange-haired figure in the driver's seat.

"Yeah, I suppose," Marcus answered.

"Well; how're the girls?"

"Interesting, I guess you could say," the fourteen-year old answered.

"How 'bout the boys?" the driver winked.

"I'm soo not having this conversation with you, Brother."

"Ehehe," Adelai Stugenov, Marcus' older brother, chuckled. He leaned out of the window, "Embarrassed about your brother?"

"N-no, it's not that," Marcus said defensively. "I mean...I'm not even that much into 'guy' talk, so..."

"Look, I know why you called," Adelai said, growing serious. "You really sure? This night might just be interesting...and besides, we Stugenov's don't run, eh?"

"I-I guess I could take one more shot..." Marcus replied.

"There ya go...and if it's still a drag, I got my Yak standing by, da?"

"Da," Marcus said. The brother's gave their farewells as the Maserati finally drove off. Marcus looked back towards the building and begrudgenly walked back.

"Sure is some prom," Sarah said, idly leaning back onto her chair. She looked about the dancers. They were very lively, and some were having pretty body-hugging PDA sessions that should've had PromSec flags a long time ago. Sarah had been very interested in the identities of the famed CINC-Prom and 2IC-Prom, who were omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent all across this place. The very little she figured was that CINC-Prom was a guy, and 2IC was a girl.

Eden barely managed to open her mouth to respond before Dylan was making an excuse to get away from her. She looked around briefly to see if Charles was close by, but he was still over the other side of the room. At least Dylan was not running away from her because of her boyfriend, which oddly did not make her feel very happy.

She turned back to see Dylan walk over to Scarlett, who had been screaming her lungs out over some guy touching her bum. It was almost embarrassing for someone not to be able to warn a guy off. Then again, Scarlett had always been an attention seeker. Eden always thought it was a shame that she did not share more of her twin’s traits, even if she did find Elly even more annoying.

It looks like dancing is off, she thought, as she lowered a glass into the bowl and scooped a portion of punch into it. Knowing what proms were like, she raised the drink to her lips and took a very small sip, checking it for alcohol. It was hard to judge how many people had added their share of alcohol to the mix, or just what had been added.

She looked back to where Dylan was now being questioned by one of the security girl’s about his conduct with Scarlett. She almost felt sorry for him, or would have if he had not ran away before giving her the chance to at least reply. Still, the poor boy had to get laid somehow and saving Scarlett was probably his best option.

“If ‘bitch’ is the worst I’m called, I can live with it,” Natti smirked, feeling oddly pleased with herself over this little bit of rebellion. “Power to the people, all that.”

The mention of silly string however, lit her face with an absolutely evil grin, and she steepled her hands thoughtfully, giving each one of the other girls sidelong glances in a most conspiratorial manner.

“Silly string, you say? How … fortuitous. One begins to wonder just how much … mischief we might get into tonight.”

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Fall," Sarah said, smiling as she got up from her chair. "I think I'll take a walk and have a go at solo dancing. Or not." She shrugged. "Hope you have fun even without a date...I helped organize the event list of this prom, and I wanted it lively, so yeah." Sarah walked away now, in the general direction of the dance floor - at which point she came across James Yorkfield, apparently walking away from two others.

"Oh, hello, James," she said idly.

"Hello, Sarah," the tall man said. "You look good tonight. Oh, and I'm sorry for Enzo."

"Ah, forget it, he'd have been an asshole anyway, the gall of him..." Very big, guttural emphasis on gall. "Who was that?"

"Ah. Dylan Bernardo. You know him, all the stories."

Sarah frowned. "Got no one else to talk to. Maybe I'll see if he's all that."

"He's not a bad, immoral guy, he just drags trouble along with him, and I can't abide that, for obvious reasons." James Yorkfield didn't actually specifically dislike Dylan Bernardo; he just didn't like the brokenness that followed behind him. "Just watch your back. He tries to get in everyone's pants. Some say, even in guys' pants."

"Ugh. Thanks, James." Sarah walked over there, then, hoping to get something more out of this not-so-happy night. Hey, Dylan was hot. Charming, to a certain extent. Many girls have probably fallen into the trap laid by these two attributes of hotness and charm, but Sarah was smart enough not to.

Marcus had resigned himself to staying in the corner, idly watching the spectacle. It was as expected, but he wasn't about to give into Adelai's teasing just yet. Despite his insistance to the contrary; he was a Stugenov, and had inherited the stubborn streak infamous in that royal bloodline. He smirked to himself; it would have been infinitely more interesting had a Tikhomirov also showed itself.

Elly giggled softly, and returned Natti's evil no-good grin. "So... shall we get changed first? I imagine we'll have to flee from security at some point... and damned if I can barely walk in these things, let alone run!" she laughed, complaining for the umpteenth time about her heels.

Scarlett had insisted on them when they were dress shopping, despite Elly reminding her they were already taller then most of the kids their age, and she'd never worn heels. "You have to start sometime!" she was told. The thought of escaping from their clutches held a lot of appeal for the young woman...


--

Scarlett, who still had her arm around Dylan's smirked triumphantly as James left them alone. "Mmm, good... So, I suppose you'd like another dance, Dylan? Another chance to grope my poor backside?"

He was cut off when she noticed Sarah, one of the people who'd been organizing this event, eying Bernado. Scarlett called over to her, waving and inviting her to come and join them...

Miri's eyes positively sparkled. "I believe that changing is definitely one of the better ideas. Honestly, even though I absolutely love this print..." She sighed. "It's really impractical. I should wear it in the hallways, though, during school hours..." Miri adjusted her excessively large headbow. "Though... I'd really like to keep this on. I don't know why I don't wear it more often... It actually doesn't get in the way of anything and makes me easier to identify from long distances..." She shrugged.

"So, do you want me to head back to my room and meet up at Elly's with a giant box of sprayable material, or what?"

Sarah could be described as someone fit for a low-end modeling job, and indeed she had a few shots on some local magazine:

On Carina Beach (http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z157/Flatterland/SarahPrototype6.jpg)
On her home's lawn in Hibernia (http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z157/Flatterland/SarahPrototype3.jpg)
At the Soderbergh Hotel (http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z157/Flatterland/SarahPrototype5.jpg)

She did it for the money, since no one could deny that the job paid well. But Sarah didn't like being associated with this modeling business, because she felt that the general stereotype of models was dumb-blonde, although she was generally considered to be brunette. Sadly for her, people knew all about this sideline of hers, and so even among her friends there were her mock fans who'd purchase every magazine and circular in which she had a photoshoot, and then mockingly squeal over her as soon as they got back to school. She had no end of this.

Well, at least none of this teasing nonsense ever made it into the planning committees, and so she was able to work at ease. However, now she wondered if Dylan Bernardo would know about this crap, and would summarily try to take her to bed, which would have been a less-than-optimal scenario. She had only slept with two guys before, both of whom were long-lasting boyfriends, and as she said, she was not the type to sleep around. Hell, solidarity for the win.

As she approached, she saw Scarlett wave at her (while not knowing Scarlett, actually), and she thought, why not? She moved closer at last, and came up to the two of them.

"Hello. I'm Sarah," she said to Scarlett.

Natti took a moment to consider her outfit, then shrugged noncommittally. “Whatever works. You really wanna take things that far, neh? Could be ah … hrm. Well if we dress dark – not a problem for me,” she continued with a wry smile. “Would rather not get caught, all things considered, but hey – running is probably a good thing to be able to do, yes. You want to keep your bow, that’s up to you, Miri, just know it might mark you out at a distance. Got any dark scarves or bandanas for your face, that might be good. Pull-down hats if you have ‘em, hide the hair. I mean, if we’re gonna be serious about this, might as well pull it off the best we can.”

She’d never been involved in pranking, or graffiti, or minor breaking and entering, or anything of the sort, no. Of course not. Never.

“Let’s do it. Meet back um … yeah, at Elly’s. We can go from there. Lets just make it quick, ‘kay?”

Seemed everyone was in, so she started off at a jog, saving the run for when she was properly outside.

Marcus had long since abandoned any interest in the dance and was idling the time away on his iPhone. He briefly noticed Natti jogging out of the gym, shrugging his shoulders and turning back to his iPhone. He looked at the time display and wondered what would be a fashionable time to leave.

"Perfect!" Elly said, the broad grin on her face betraying how eager she was to begin. "Go quickly! You remember my place is on the third floor, right? Okay, see you guys in a few..." she giggled, waved, and hurried off for her dorm...

--

"Sarah!" Scarlett purred, smiling pleasently at the girl as she approached. She tightened her grip on Dylan's arm, not giving him a chance to slip away. "How's your evening going? Wonderful party, by the way... I heard you were on the organizing comittee. Oh..." she stopped, frowning slightly, "I'm Scarlett. We have PE together, but we've never really talked before. And, ah..." she grimaced, looking at Sarah's livid bruise from her earlier altercation, "I hope that dosn't turn into a real shiner... that'd be terrible!"

"Yes, I heard what happened with that awful sodomite." Dylan said, smiling at Sarah, unfamiliarly. "It is my hope that he did not injure you too badly. If you would like, I have a topical cream that works very well on bruises. We got it for when we trip and fall during a game, and it would be a crime to mar your face with such a blemish."

"No, thank you, the bruise is fine," she said. "And hello, Scarlett. Yes, I was on the organizing committee; no, I was not responsible for those damned awful drapes on the ceiling." She laughed, a bit, then turned to Dylan. "Are you two together tonight?"

Miri laughed raucously as she unlocked the door to her room. Quickly picking up a baseball bat and flashlight and scanning the premises to make sure that nobody had invaded her home, she slammed the door shut relatively loudly and turned on all the lights, like a normal person. _Okay. So. <3 frills, but they gotta go. I mean... +50 points for the hilarity factor of sneaking around in sweet lolita... but -1000000000 points for the, well... the practicality._ She sighed and kicked off her shoes, then slowly removed her socks, and...

...You know what, I'm not narrating this scene. There's... there's...

[EXCUSE ME, ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT WHEN I'M CHANGING THERE'S AS MUCH TO LOOK AT AS IF YOU WERE LOOKING AT SOME TREES?]

No. God, do you want me to describe your body to an audience?

[................well... no, not... really. Good point.]

See? Even I make sense every once in a while.

[. . .]

Uhh...

[DON'T. WATCH. ME.]

oh right shit sorry like there's anything to look at anyways

[TEN MINUTES LATER ...You can keep narrating now.]

Anyways. Miri was now fully dressed in her choice of normal wear, though modified for night operations; a grey dress shirt on top of a black long-sleeve T-shirt under, with a dark blue vest on top. On her waist was a pair of dark grey jeans with a light blue skirt on top. _Well, gotta keep everything the same as usual. At least I have a way bigger range of movement now!_ She slipped on her sneakers and picked up a largeish backpack, slipped as many cans of silly string into it as possible, shrugged, picked up the box of the damn things, grabbed a few bottles of some juice substance, and walked out of the room, towards Elly's dorm.

It wasn’t difficult to get ready. A pair of black leggings, decent socks, her combat boots, and a simple black zip-up hoodie over a tank top. Granted, the hoodie had some text on it, but at a distance, she didn’t think it’d make much difference. The print had amused her when she’d first seen it, reading ‘If You’re So Goth, Where Were You When We Sacked Rome?’ – so of course, she’d bought it.

Binding up her long hair in a braid to keep it out of her eyes, she grabbed a soft black scarf for good measure, tying it up across her face under her braid, then pulling it back down around her neck loosely – all the better for quick pull-and-dash disguise if needed.

She pondered grabbing anything else, but all things considered, the silly string did sound kind of fun, it was basically non-damaging, just messy, and anything else would be out of place anyways, so judging things to be in order, she locked up and jogged back to Elly’s to meet up with the other two, possibilities churning around in her head as she went.

Elly spent the entire walk up to her dorm thinking about what she should assemble for her stealth outfit. Finally inside, she decides on some dark, loose jeans and a black hoodie over a dark green t-shirt. It wasn't very cold out, even at night, but she still wrapped a thin scarf around her neck before tying back her hair. Lastly, a pair of tight-fitting leather gloves; never know when they might come in handy! She paced back and forth, waiting for the other girls to arrive, so their mischief spree could begin...

---

Scarlett smirked as she squeezed Dylan's arm. "No, we didn't come here together..." she told Sarah, glancing up at the tall soccer captain, "But it seems fate is quite intent on sticking us together. Have you found anyone interesting to dance with yet?"

"Gah, absolutely not," Sarah said gloomily. "Well, there was Marcus Stugenov earlier, but that was just one dance. Compared to the rest of the people around here, my prom experience is turning out comparatively mundane. Just one fistfight, and it didn't even escalate." She made a mockingly downcast face.

Getting back to El's, Natti looked over their materials, grinned impishly at the other girls, and cocked one eyebrow up.

"So ladies, back to the gym, shall we?"

Dylan looked at Scarlett happily, and smiled at Sarah. "I'm afraid that I appear to have been claimed for the evening, madameoiselle, but a lady as beautiful as you should never have to be alone on an evening like this. Perhaps one of my team-mates might join you?"

"Ah, haha. I'm not looking for a mate tonight, not anymore," Scarlett said. "But it does get pretty boring."

"what the fuck" Fall said as he looked at the floor to see what fell on him

"oh shit" he said as he took a step back in time to be missed by the falling light as it hit the floor

"great someone did not do their job" he added as a number of poeple looked over after hearing the smash

After a second sip of the punch, Eden decided it was safe enough to finish the whole glass without being overly affected by the alcohol in it. She took another sample then lowered the glass, cupping it lightly in her hands. As she swallowed, she let her gaze move to the people nearby. She was surprised to find a young man, younger than any of the others around, gazing down at his iphone. She could not help thinking that security must have been a little slack letting him get into the gym.

She took a few steps towards him and looked at him, a puzzled look on her face. “You are a little young to be attending this party. Did you gatecrash or are you the date of your older sister or something?” Weirder things happened at proms than a younger sibling acting as a date.

Before he could answer, there was a loud crash. She turned and looked at the spectacle, not surprised to find the strange kid in the middle of it. Some people always seemed to attract bad things. She shook her head, rolled her eyes and returned her attention back to the boy with the iphone.

Elly let the other two in, and then took quick stock of what they had. She had found a can of whipped cream in their little fridge. She'd also grabbed their box of eggs, and few rolls of toilet paper. They shared out all the goodies evenly, loading up a couple of backpacks with military precision.

"So, ladies... where first?"

---

Scarlett smirked at Sarah, "Well, yes, being all on your own is pretty boring. Perhaps you'd like to dance? I'm sure dipstick here won't mind at all..." she released Dylan's arm, finally, and instead grabbed Sarah's.

"Would you like to lead, or shall I?"

“My God, Elly – are you trying to start a war or something?” Natti said, laughing in spite of herself. “Who do you plan on creaming with those? Silly string is one thing, that stuff is looking for a fight. I can just see it now!”

She started off in the direction of the gym and party in general, after helping load some of the string in a pack she’d grabbed on the way out. No sense in overburdening anyone with too much.

“I swear, I had no idea what I’d started when I first suggested we dish up a little trouble.”

She was still shaking her head, and grinning as they neared their destination.

Miri merely decided to whistle at the loadout of materials that Elly had gathered. “Hey, these eggs are... well, I could use them for fried noodles if I were ever bored. I'll take TP, though!” She stuffed a few rolls of TP into the side pockets of her backpack and grinned. “Feel free to take as much of this crap as you want! It's not like I'm going to use it for anything else. Actually, I was planning on assaulting next year's Homecoming with it... but hey, this is more fun.” Miri poked and adjusted the hairbow on her head, before pulling two massive cans of silly strings out of the box – blue and purple, obviously – holding them in her hands, and sneaking off towards the gym.

Elly fell in line behind the other girls. Despite her impressive array of prank-causing weaponry... she really had no idea what to do next. So, she followed their leads.

"Just remember to run if security sees you..." she warned them, pulling her scarf up across her face. "Heh, should I get my swords, too, so I look like a proper ninja?"

"what the fuck" Fall said as he looked at the floor to see what fell on him

"oh shit" he said as he took a step back in time to be missed by the falling light as it hit the floor

"great someone did not do their job" he added as a number of poeple looked over after hearing the smash
"Be careful, mate," Marcus said. He'd been passing by and noticed the incident. He started to walk away when he turned and said, "You seem to be a nice guy, so here's some advice; I think some girls plan on playing some pranks during this [I]dance]/I]...so watch yourself, ok?" With that, Marcus turned to walk off.

"thanks kid" Fall answer while kicking the light and turning to Kat who just run over

'shit Fall"she said to him while looking at the mess

"near miss Kat so you pass on the advice to your boyfriend" Fall said as he turn to walk away

"you all most got killed and you more into if i told my boyfriend what you told me to tell" Kat say shaking her head as she follows

"Kat i've been close to beening killed before" Fall answer as they walk

Sarah raised an eyebrow at Scarlett, watching her smirk, then a smug look formed on her face. "Why don't you lead, Scarlett? I think I've had enough dancing with men tonight."

Letting out a sigh, Eden began to wonder if she had turned invisible. First Dylan and now some strange kid, at least she could excuse him for probably not enjoying the idea of being confronted about gate crashing the party. Or maybe he was just embarrassed about admitting to being at the prom with his loser sister.

She returned her attention to the punch she had in her hand, once more raising it to her lips and taking another sip. She looked around the room and decided to find some people to talk to that she knew would not ignore her.

Letting out a sigh, Eden began to wonder if she had turned invisible. First Dylan and now some strange kid, at least she could excuse him for probably not enjoying the idea of being confronted about gate crashing the party. Or maybe he was just embarrassed about admitting to being at the prom with his loser sister.

She returned her attention to the punch she had in her hand, once more raising it to her lips and taking another sip. She looked around the room and decided to find some people to talk to that she knew would not ignore her.
ooc: apologies if this is unwanted...

ic:

Marcus was also wandering idly, and as he looked back at the hapless boy who'd almost been sushi, he didn't notice the girl in front of him. He bumped into her, spilling her punch. Looking down, MArcus noticed much of it had landed on his arm and jacket. He looked at the girl apologetically.

"I-I'm sorry, I wasn't looking," he stammered, "Are you all right, miss?"

Eden suddenly wondered if she really was invisible. Two ignores and someone almost covering her with punch. She was pleased that she had only half filled the glass and have managed to drink most of it. Looking down at her dress, she was relieved to notice that she had managed to come out of the collision almost dry.

“I think it could have been a lot worse,” she remarked as she put the glass down on the table, making sure she had no further mishaps with it. “I think we’ll survive.” Semi-smiled at the clumsy young man, she wiped a couple of drops of the punch from her arm.

She drew her attention from her own arm and looked at his. “I think you got the brunt of the spillage.” But as it was his fault, she really did not feel any need to apologise. He did bump into her, after all. If this had not been a social gathering and she was in a slightly less happy mood, she probably would have made him feel even worse about the incident, as it was, she graciously accepted his apology.

Fall walked over to the talbe and looked at the punch bowl and sniffed the air

"that punch really been spiked that it's no longer punch" he said as he turn to look at Marcus

"my turn to give you some advice kid don't drink it if you don't want to get drunk" Fall said then looked at the girl and then back at Marcus

"that a mess" Fall added as he took out a clean rag he had in a pocket while picking up a can of drink

Eden suddenly wondered if she really was invisible. Two ignores and someone almost covering her with punch. She was pleased that she had only half filled the glass and have managed to drink most of it. Looking down at her dress, she was relieved to notice that she had managed to come out of the collision almost dry.

“I think it could have been a lot worse,” she remarked as she put the glass down on the table, making sure she had no further mishaps with it. “I think we’ll survive.” Semi-smiled at the clumsy young man, she wiped a couple of drops of the punch from her arm.

She drew her attention from her own arm and looked at his. “I think you got the brunt of the spillage.” But as it was his fault, she really did not feel any need to apologise. He did bump into her, after all. If this had not been a social gathering and she was in a slightly less happy mood, she probably would have made him feel even worse about the incident, as it was, she graciously accepted his apology.
Marcus accepted Fall's assistance as he turned to reply to the girl.

"I'm just glad I didn't get any on your dress; that's a wonderful way to ruin a girls' evening," he replied. He lifted up his soggy arm, drying off his hand as best he could. "I'm Marcus, Marcus Stugenov," he introduced himself, smiling as he extended his hand, continuing to dab at his jacket with the other.

Accepting Marcus’ hand, Eden smiled. “I’m Eden Knight,” she replied, half recognising the young man’s name, though unsure where from. She liked to keep on top of all the goings on in the school, at least when it might be useful. “It’s nice to meet you, Marcus Stugenov. I think I would have preferred a less dramatic introduction.” Her eyes flicked to his wet sleeve. “Not too much damage, I hope.”

She turned briefly to the other young man, who she was sure she had seen lingering against a wall earlier in the evening. It was nice to see that he had finally found something more interesting to do. “And you are?” She asked, deciding it would be rude not to include both in the conversation.

Accepting Marcus’ hand, Eden smiled. “I’m Eden Knight,” she replied, half recognising the young man’s name, though unsure where from. She liked to keep on top of all the goings on in the school, at least when it might be useful. “It’s nice to meet you, Marcus Stugenov. I think I would have preferred a less dramatic introduction.” Her eyes flicked to his wet sleeve. “Not too much damage, I hope.”

She turned briefly to the other young man, who she was sure she had seen lingering against a wall earlier in the evening. It was nice to see that he had finally found something more interesting to do. “And you are?” She asked, deciding it would be rude not to include both in the conversation.
"At least it is a memorable introduction," Marcus smiled kindly. He shakes his arm playfully, "Yes, I think I'll survive," he chuckled. Her next question also piqued his interest. "Right. I was about to ask," Marcus handed back the rag, "I have to know the name of the man who helped me."

The PromSec-assigned room was mostly dark, its occupants' faces lit by the dim glow of OLED monitors everywhere and an intermittent slew of some little green lights that indicated network hub activity. It was also mostly quiet, since each person was assigned a console, and he or she had his or her own pair of headphones for the job.

At around 10 pm, however, that silence was broken. A bespectacled girl was staring at her monitor, which had been split into four panels and displayed the feeds from some HD surveillance cameras. During this interval of staring, she perceived an anomaly in motion on the dorm room cameras - it wasn't illegal to go out at this time, but the dark colors of the persons implicated in the anomaly reeked of up-to-no-goodness in nature. She zoomed in. And then saw the can.

"Jack." She broke the silence, motioning to her tablemate.

"Jill," he responded. "What is it?"

"Do you see what I see?"

"Huh?"

"Eyes on dorm cams."

"Okay, let's see. Two, three... so what? It's not illegal to be out."

"Don't forget why we were told to monitor the dorm cams for PromSec," she snapped. The reason was not, contrary to belief, the recording of sexual behavior, but rather the possibility that prank material may be stored in the dorms, outside of the lockers that were checked prior to the event.

"You're thinking this is a crasher job?"

"No, this is probably a prank session. Call CINC-Prom and elements of PromSec. Tell them we may have pineapples being set up." This was a reference to the infamous "pineapple" prank of six years ago, when Bradley Remington planted pineapples and tiny, mostly harmless blasting charges in the faculty lounge, which were triggered by a cellphone.

"Got it." Jack picked up a phone. "Horn, this is PromSec surveillance. We have possible pineapples inbound. Inform CINC and PromSec assets already inside the gym. We'll keep you posted."

---

James Yorkfield's headset rang. "Answer," he said to no one in particular, and the set did it for him.

"CINC-Prom, inbound pineapple flag."

"Where?"

"Already inside. Surveillance is checking them out, but we have blind spots in the lockers and bathrooms. We're certain they know that; we've identified a suspect among the group, and she's from around here."

"Prank of the prom night? Traditional," he scoffed. "And it's tradition that PromSec tries to pick them out before it happens. CINC-Prom out."

Yorkfield looked to Penryn, who'd heard everything. "We don't know where they are. Tell Nerd and Geek to send out scouts throughout the gym. Dark clothes, traveling in a pack, look for these and tell them to inform me immediately."

"Yes, sir."

"Fall and keep the rag,i can find more" Fall said as he broke the can pull tab as he talked

"dam'it,now i have to open it another way" Fall added as he more to the table an used the corner of it open the can

Scarlett grinned as she took Sarah's hand, and lead her to the dance floor. They were playing more formal music after the bands had finished, and so she held the other girl firmly as she lead with practiced ease.

"So, Sarah..." she said, smiling as she tried to keep the mood light, her tone as joking as possible, "What're ya doing later tonight?"

---

Elly smirked, then spotted a camera, "Shit, ladies... I forgot how bugged this place is. We should probably split up before we head into the gym, then meet up on the inside... sound good?"

Sarah grinned back as they danced together, and then raised an eyebrow really, really high in an initial response to Scarlett's question.

"Well, ahem. I live really nearby. So if Lorenzo hadn't been an ass today, I'd have had him walk me home, and then I'd have asked if we could make out inside the house." She giggled - a rarity. "But that's out of the question. I guess I'll just..." She sighed exaggeratedly and heavily. "...stay home, play a few games...I don't know."

"Well, that's probably better off that you're without that creep. He's in my physics class... always thought there was something weird about him," she shrugged, and smiled up at the taller woman, "Besides, it means you get to spend more of your night with me."

This made her laugh, of course. That she had a rather inflated ego was fairly well known, but she clearly didn't mind making fun of it when it suited her. And while this girl needed some cheering up, she found herself liking her more and more as a friend...

"Aha," Sarah said, poking Scarlett on her forehead. "Sounds like fun, an observing Dylweed notwithstanding." She held Scarlett closer to her as they danced, now hugging, sort of.

"I've managed to lose him twice already... think I can manage a third," she smiles, giving Dylan a little wave before slowly sliding backwards across the dance floor, blending into the crowd. "How's that?"

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Eden replied to Fall. She looked down at the can in his hand, noticing him struggle to open it. “You do not seem to be having much luck this evening.” First there had been the near miss with the light and now the pull ring coming off his drink. She felt a little comfort in the fact that she was not the only one having a less than perfect evening.

She suddenly took a little step away from Fall, as he manoeuvred himself to open the can on the edge of the table. One brush with drink was enough for the cheerleader, there was no way she was about to tempt Fate and stand near Fall as he opened the can against the table.

“Do you think that was wise?” She asked Marcus, as she edged a little further away. “Surely another can would have been easier.” She frowned at the thought of what could happen to her dress if the drink inside had been shaken in the process of opening it. “Personally, I don’t know why he didn’t just have some punch. There really isn’t that much alcohol in it, they keep watering it down every time someone adds something to it.”

"this evering is not as shit as the day i got my scar and this can is the only cola left that why ,i don't getting another" Falll answer opening the can with out any mess

"an why on earth you asking him if it wise when i'am the one opening it and talking like i'am on the other side of the room,when we only just feets away from one another?" Fall added as he turn to Marcus

"Marcus saw you had a run in with the same guy as i did"

Eden looked at Fall a little oddly. “My reason for asking Marcus was more due to not wanting you to get distracted.” She shook her head, wondering why people always had to ask such obvious questions. “And I know you are not over the other side of the room. Do I look stupid? It’s quite obvious you are standing nearby, otherwise we would not be talking, would we?”

Of course, the other reason she was addressing Marcus was to keep him in the conversation. It was polite to make sure that everyone was included and no one got left out. Eden always thought it was a shame that more people were not as considerate. The sudden change in the conversation to compare notes on having a run in with Dylan was certainly one way to make sure she was excluded from having anything to say on the subject.

She wondered if she should walk away and let the two of them compare scars or whether she should stay around and hope that Marcus had more manners than Fall and actually include her in the conversation, especially when he had been speaking to her first.

Eden looked at Fall a little oddly. “My reason for asking Marcus was more due to not wanting you to get distracted.” She shook her head, wondering why people always had to ask such obvious questions. “And I know you are not over the other side of the room. Do I look stupid? It’s quite obvious you are standing nearby, otherwise we would not be talking, would we?”

Of course, the other reason she was addressing Marcus was to keep him in the conversation. It was polite to make sure that everyone was included and no one got left out. Eden always thought it was a shame that more people were not as considerate. The sudden change in the conversation to compare notes on having a run in with Dylan was certainly one way to make sure she was excluded from having anything to say on the subject.

She wondered if she should walk away and let the two of them compare scars or whether she should stay around and hope that Marcus had more manners than Fall and actually include her in the conversation, especially when he had been speaking to her first.
"Come now, this is a party; we've seen quite enough conflict for one night," Marcus told them both. He turned to Eden, "Fall means well, I believe. My people have met his on several occassions, they're more often than not reliable and good friends to have," he assured her. He stepped between Fall and Eden. "If it sprays, I'm already wet and then you won't get your lovely dress ruined, Miss Eden," Marcus comprimised.

"the way i find people around here Eden best ask questions then find out too late ,any how why is it you are by yourself" Fall said took out his phone to look at the time

"feel longer" Fall added as he put it away

Eden looked at Marcus and smiled. “I know how to behave at parties. I just don’t like people confronting me over something that can be considered as nothing less than perfectly reasonable behaviour,” she responded, her voice level and calm. “I merely asked for your opinion on his behaviour and there was no reason for him to talk to me as if I had not a single brain cell in my head.”

She looked then at Fall. “Asking questions is all well and good, but you would make a lot more friends if you were less defensive. I’m not here to pick a fight with you.” She rolled her eyes as he got his phone out and checked the time. The boy really did not have any manners.

“And I’m not on my own, I’m talking to you two,” she smiled pleasantly, trying to show no hard feelings. “If you mean why I’m not with Charles, I stepped away for some punch and almost ended up wearing it.” She laugh lightly, as she playfully frowned at Marcus. “I’m just pleased I missed out on the coke as well.”

Eden looked at Marcus and smiled. “I know how to behave at parties. I just don’t like people confronting me over something that can be considered as nothing less than perfectly reasonable behaviour,” she responded, her voice level and calm. “I merely asked for your opinion on his behaviour and there was no reason for him to talk to me as if I had not a single brain cell in my head.”

She looked then at Fall. “Asking questions is all well and good, but you would make a lot more friends if you were less defensive. I’m not here to pick a fight with you.” She rolled her eyes as he got his phone out and checked the time. The boy really did not have any manners.

“And I’m not on my own, I’m talking to you two,” she smiled pleasantly, trying to show no hard feelings. “If you mean why I’m not with Charles, I stepped away for some punch and almost ended up wearing it.” She laugh lightly, as she playfully frowned at Marcus. “I’m just pleased I missed out on the coke as well.”
"Well, then, it has certainly been my pleasure to have had such an unfortunate set of events this evening, lest I miss out on the opportunity of meeting you," Marcus smiled at her playful frown. His youthful eyes caught hers. "I certainly hope my hapless misfortune won't tempt you to leave my company," he chuckled at his own self-effacing attitude.

“You happen to be standing near the refreshments so I have no reason to leave just yet,” Eden said, light-heartedly and with her dazzling smile. Just so he knew that she was joking about her reasons. “And no, I will not hold your mishaps against you. To be honest, I’m not sure anyone is having an accident free evening.” At this remark, she looked over at Fall, who seemed to be having more than his fair share of problems. “Still, things can only get better, can’t they?”

"Yes, things are certainly darkest before dawn," Marcus agreed. He looked around, "I'm not from here, but is this how these dances usually go? It seems much more...colorful than what I'm used to."

" or as we say back home ethan p'luin l' olathurl isto gaer zhah natha d'issan which translate ethan after the darkest night there is a dawn" Fall said then turn and looked at Eden

"Eden i was a ass to you sorry,i i have not dropped my guard after the run in"he said to her

Eden nodded to Marcus, as she answered his question. “Well, Perimeter Defense is certainly very colourful and I don’t think I’ve ever been to a party with this many incidents.” She flicked her eyes between both young men as she spoke. “Fortunately, I’ve managed to remain out of most of them. I guess I’ve been luckier than most.”

She let her gaze settle on Fall. “No hard feelings,” she said with a smile, that indicated she meant what she said. “People tend to get wound up easy at parties, especially when they are as entertaining as this one. You just need to calm yourself down and enjoy yourself. No point dwelling on what has gone on before.” She waved her arm to indicate the other people lingering around. “Not everyone is here to make your life miserable.”

Eden nodded to Marcus, as she answered his question. “Well, Perimeter Defense is certainly very colourful and I don’t think I’ve ever been to a party with this many incidents.” She flicked her eyes between both young men as she spoke. “Fortunately, I’ve managed to remain out of most of them. I guess I’ve been luckier than most.”

She let her gaze settle on Fall. “No hard feelings,” she said with a smile, that indicated she meant what she said. “People tend to get wound up easy at parties, especially when they are as entertaining as this one. You just need to calm yourself down and enjoy yourself. No point dwelling on what has gone on before.” She waved her arm to indicate the other people lingering around. “Not everyone is here to make your life miserable.”
"Right." Marcus nodded to her statements. He picked up a cup of punch, "To us; may each future venture be more fortunate than the last."

"yes No hard feelings Eden "answered Fall as he looked at her as she talk then turn to look at Marcus who was now talking and making a toast

"we have a toast back home which we give some of our drink to the fallen by tipping it into a plant or ground if we are outside' Fall said as he lifted his can

Eden picked up her almost empty glass and raised it. “Let us hope that nothing goes wrong from here.” She took the last sip of her punch, then returned the glass to the table. “Fall, I do not think we should tip anything on the floor, knowing our luck this evening, one of us will end up on our backsides. And I would rather it was not me.” She smiled, as the thought. “Still, with any luck we will not have any fallen comrades after this party. I know it’s been a bit rough, but bruises heal quick enough.”

She looked down at the table, a little further down towards the food. “Has anyone tried the food?” She wrinkled her nose slightly. “It doesn’t look overly appealing, does it?”

Eden picked up her almost empty glass and raised it. “Let us hope that nothing goes wrong from here.” She took the last sip of her punch, then returned the glass to the table. “Fall, I do not think we should tip anything on the floor, knowing our luck this evening, one of us will end up on our backsides. And I would rather it was not me.” She smiled, as the thought. “Still, with any luck we will not have any fallen comrades after this party. I know it’s been a bit rough, but bruises heal quick enough.”

She looked down at the table, a little further down towards the food. “Has anyone tried the food?” She wrinkled her nose slightly. “It doesn’t look overly appealing, does it?”
"Hm, no it doesn't," MArcus said, securing a plate and serving a plate, "But sometimes...eating really bad food can be fun to, you know?"

"i had a big dinner before caming here so i haven't had any food Eden so i have been near the table" answer Fall as he looked at it

"think it's Japanese cuisine along some other i don't know off" Fall added picking some fish ,rice wrapped in seaweed and placing it into his mouth

Eden took a plate and grimaced as she looked again at the items on offer. “I think you might be right, Marcus, eating bad things can be fun.” She selected one of the items from the plate and held it up to look closely at it. “What’s the worst that can happen? Food poisoning? Death?” She laughed lightly, as she watched Fall try a piece of food.

She waited a moment, as if checking to see if he suffered from eating it, then popped a piece into her mouth and chewed slowly. After she swallowed, she gave a sigh of relief. “Not too bad, after all. I think we will survive.”

Eden took a plate and grimaced as she looked again at the items on offer. “I think you might be right, Marcus, eating bad things can be fun.” She selected one of the items from the plate and held it up to look closely at it. “What’s the worst that can happen? Food poisoning? Death?” She laughed lightly, as she watched Fall try a piece of food.

She waited a moment, as if checking to see if he suffered from eating it, then popped a piece into her mouth and chewed slowly. After she swallowed, she gave a sigh of relief. “Not too bad, after all. I think we will survive.”
Marcus tried after her, shrugging as he chewed and swallowed.

"Yes, not too bad," he agreed. "Not something I'd eat regularly, but an exotic thing every now and then is all right." He smiled at Eden, "No stomach pains or signs of poisoning?" he joked.

"Death " Fall said as he looked at Eden before looking at the floor

"that something i know too well and came close to have happen to me" Fall say as slowly made face contact with both of them with a down look on his face

"sorry" he say while he closed his eyes listen

"Death " Fall said as he looked at Eden before looking at the floor

"that something i know too well and came close to have happen to me" Fall say as slowly made face contact with both of them with a down look on his face

"sorry" he say while he closed his eyes listen
Marcus, a fourteen, was vastly ignorant of the world around him. Despite his elder siblings serving in the military, the boy still didn't understand most of the world.

"What happened?" he asked naively.

“Definitely no sign of either...yet,” Eden replied with a laugh in her voice. “And like you, I don’t think I want too much more. A couple of bites might be okay and will fill a little hole.” She looked at the other dishes laid out and picked something from a couple of them, placing them on her own plate. “I think this will do for now. I really do not want to make myself too full for the rest of the evening.”

She turned her attention away from the food and stared at Fall, quite surprised by his revelation. “You almost died? How did that happen?” Her voice was full of concern and interest, as she’d never met someone who had almost died before, well not of her age anyway.

Marcus picked a few more things, and joined at Eden's side as they faced Fall, waiting for him to elaborate.

"a mission behind lines during a war,that turned bad to the luck of a enemy soldier spotting us entering somewhere,that what happen" answer Fall still with his eyes shut as he recalls that the day

"same mission i got my scar and all most died in hand to hand with a enemy soldier bigger and older then my late seventeen years" Fall said as open in his eyes to look at right into Eden's eye's

"best not ask any more questions, due to two things, one it's classified and two i saw things that you best not know"said Fall before placing his hand on the scar rubbing it

Eden stared at Fall and then blinked in surprise. “You were in a war?” She asked, a little stunned at his explanation. “You are only just graduating.” Her voice rose a little questioningly. “How old do you have to be to join the military where you come from?” She could not get the disbelief out of her voice. If he was old enough to fight in a war, why was he now in school? And if he was good enough to go to war, why was his country letting him out to go to a school when he could be at home in some kind of military school.

Eden stared at Fall and then blinked in surprise. “You were in a war?” She asked, a little stunned at his explanation. “You are only just graduating.” Her voice rose a little questioningly. “How old do you have to be to join the military where you come from?” She could not get the disbelief out of her voice. If he was old enough to fight in a war, why was he now in school? And if he was good enough to go to war, why was his country letting him out to go to a school when he could be at home in some kind of military school.
"Well, I do know in my country, a sixteen-year old can enlist with special permission," Marcus offered. "That's what my brother Adelai did to join the Aerospace Academy."

when Marcus finished Fall now answer her questions

'seventeen is the compulsory military service age for all which mean we don't have year 12 ,you can all so end up at boot camp at sixteen if you broken any laws that in any other nations you end in jail for" Fall answer her as turn to back to face her as he talked

"and yes i was in a war that happen last year, but let not go into the full story of the war Eden, as well war never change from the first one that every happen ,just the technology used to fight them changes" Fall said then gives her a smile

"Eden let talk of you,what a dose a beautiful girl like you do when not busy doing school thing"

Marcus nodded through his explanation, and smiled as Fall asked Eden his question. It was funny because he was about to ask the same thing.

Eden still looked a little confused during the explanation, a slight furrow etched across her brow the evidence. “Before we talk about me,” she said, despite her favourite topic being herself. “If you enrolled in war at seventeen, why are you at school now? Surely you should still be in the military or something, not graduating from this school. I’m still a little confused as to why you would be here and not back in your own country, doing the whole fighting thing.”

She shrugged the thoughts away. There were some very strange countries around. Back home, anyone who had been in the military would not be graduating from a school that was not in Tartarus, unless there was some special connection between the countries involved.

“As to me, I do all the usual stuff,” she smiled as she spoke. “Cheerleading; shopping; hanging with friends; spending time with Charles.” She laughed. “I can’t say I’ve done any wars or anything. Never been a member of the military. Just an ordinary teenager, I guess. Well, ordinary in the way of most countries anyway.”

"Eden i'am still in the military,it is them who sent me here to learn new things ,so we intergrade new ideas into what we know"answer Fall now looking back at her

"a fact some nations military been paying for school courses for their soldier to learn in area of their job for sometime now" Fall added

“As to me, I do all the usual stuff,” she smiled as she spoke. “Cheerleading; shopping; hanging with friends; spending time with Charles.” She laughed. “I can’t say I’ve done any wars or anything. Never been a member of the military. Just an ordinary teenager, I guess. Well, ordinary in the way of most countries anyway.”

"cheerleading that a odd sport i ever seen,mind you as a male what you wear ..mm i'll stop it right there" Fall say before kicking himself

"any how imperial males are ordinary teenagers till we go to boot then ,we just soldier for the rest of our lifes,any thing you like to know what i do when not on duty?"

Despite finding the whole thing very strange, Eden decided to leave it at that and go along with the change of subject. She was not stupid, so she knew what most of the males thought of cheerleaders, or at least what they thought of the girls in their uniforms, so she did not even raise an eyelid at Fall’s remark.

“What do military teenagers do in their free time?” She asked, expecting a list that included training, dressing up in military gear and shooting things. Eden tended to put people into stereotypical roles. She smiled at Marcus. “And what about you? Are you military too? And what do you do in your free time?” She decided not to ask him for his take on cheerleading.

"watch movies, hunt wild boar, night clubbing,and swim,an having no girlfriend spend time with the boys staying out late with thme when not working"answer Fall while not looking at her after bring up cheerleaders in their uniforms

"shouldn't said that,what a fool " he mutters to himself as he thought on what he said before look ing up over at Marcus

Despite finding the whole thing very strange, Eden decided to leave it at that and go along with the change of subject. She was not stupid, so she knew what most of the males thought of cheerleaders, or at least what they thought of the girls in their uniforms, so she did not even raise an eyelid at Fall’s remark.

“What do military teenagers do in their free time?” She asked, expecting a list that included training, dressing up in military gear and shooting things. Eden tended to put people into stereotypical roles. She smiled at Marcus. “And what about you? Are you military too? And what do you do in your free time?” She decided not to ask him for his take on cheerleading.

"watch movies, hunt wild boar, night clubbing,and swim,an having no girlfriend spend time with the boys staying out late with thme when not working"answer Fall while not looking at her after bring up cheerleaders in their uniforms

"shouldn't said that,what a fool " he mutters to himself as he thought on what he said before look ing up over at Marcus

"Oh, no...I'm only fourteen," Marcus smiled. "Besides, my brothers and older sister already served, so I feel my family already contributed. I like to read; mostly old literature. And I'm captain of the fencing and kendo clubs back home," he replied. Marcus chuckled, "My school actually doesn't have cheerleaders, so you're the first one I've ever met."

"we don't have cheerleaders back home,an reading a good thing " Fall said then saw what Marcus had

"huh that a sword? and i think we should sit then keep standing here" he say as he pointed to a free table

“So you have never seen a cheerleader before,” Eden said to Fall, with more than a little surprise in her voice. “Do you mean in the flesh or ever? Not on television or anything?” She was actually impressed that she was the first cheerleader someone had seen, made her feel kind of special. “I hope I don’t disappoint,” she added with a smile, knowing full well that there was no way she could.

“It’s good to see that your nation does not send people into the military at fourteen,” she responded to Marcus’ announcement that he had not been in the forces. She was still surprised that Fall had been, but hoped that she was managing to hide it pretty well. “Kendo and fencing huh?” She looked back at Fall. “And boar hunting? And you thought I did a strange sport.” She laughed lightly, not making any move to walk over to the table, as she was more than happy where she was.

“So you have never seen a cheerleader before,” Eden said to Fall, with more than a little surprise in her voice. “Do you mean in the flesh or ever? Not on television or anything?” She was actually impressed that she was the first cheerleader someone had seen, made her feel kind of special. “I hope I don’t disappoint,” she added with a smile, knowing full well that there was no way she could.

“It’s good to see that your nation does not send people into the military at fourteen,” she responded to Marcus’ announcement that he had not been in the forces. She was still surprised that Fall had been, but hoped that she was managing to hide it pretty well. “Kendo and fencing huh?” She looked back at Fall. “And boar hunting? And you thought I did a strange sport.” She laughed lightly, not making any move to walk over to the table, as she was more than happy where she was.
"Yeah, it's a sword," Marcus answered Fall, "I actually brought a dulled fleuret with me," he continued. "Fencing is an excellent sport; it teaches grace and concentration...I've heard cheerleading is competitive, have you competed?" he asked.

"I've managed to lose him twice already... think I can manage a third," she smiles, giving Dylan a little wave before slowly sliding backwards across the dance floor, blending into the crowd. "How's that?"

"Much better." She laughed. "What the hell is he like, anyway? I've heard all the stories, and the warnings, but I've never really seen him in the flesh." She shrugged.

Scarlett chuckles softly, "Ah, Dylan's secretly a sweetheart... he just has an ego the size of a truck. So, in typical male fashion, he's out to make as many conquests as he can...." she paused, and blushed a bit. "I haven't slept with him or anything, if that's what you mean!"

"God, disgusting!" Sarah laughed out. "I mean, the looks and all are respectable, sure...but that ego and the number of times his ingot must have gone through the steel press? Blech. I'd rather sleep with another girl."

Scarlett giggled, and nodded at Sarah's assessment of Dylan. "Heh, yeah, me too!" she laughed, giving Sarah a playful squeeze on the lower back.

"never saw a cheerleader till i go here,and television only used to watch movies clearly ones that have no cheerleaders in them, news of our nation ,old cartoons like tom and jerry,reconnaissance footage and other work things" Fall say then looked at her

"disappoint well i haven't walked away so that be a yes to haven't disappoint an we hunt boar as food not for sport" said Fall as he turn to Marcus

"right dulled good" Fall said as he thinks i bet one can find ways to kill or draw blood with it and best not tell them i wearing a knife and gun that not firing bean bag ammo

Miri leaped through hallways, flying through the air, spraying silly string on every possible adhesive surface; doors, windows, walls, trashcans, statues. No need to bother with gloves, really; with the fact that everyone was as noticeable as they were, identification via fingerprint was the least of her troubles.

"TAKE THIS, CONFORMITY" She reeled her arm backwards and promptly was greeted by pulling a muscle, dropping the paper toilet roll she was carrying. "OH GOD OW THE PAIN" Forcing her arm back into the upright and locked position, she picked up the toilet paper roll, held on to the flap, and dropkicked the roll as far as she could over a building. As it sailed through the air, a pristine ribbon of white, she grinned. _Best memory of my life so far? Possibly. Man, being international is fun._

Before…

Natti let out a low whistle, smacking her forehead. “Oooooh, damn … think they’re watching very close?”

She pondered for another moment, then grinned wickedly. “Think we can sneak our way around some of these, maybe ah … block ‘em a bit with the silly string and all for areas we need movement in? Or should we do what you’re suggesting, just split up, head in, and wreak merry hell for shits and giggles, then make a break for it, ditch the stuff, and … well, dunno from there, but something?”

And with that, she pulled up her scarf over her face and pulled her hoodie up so that only her eyes were seen, and those only from the shadows.

The assault had begun. The deadly trio ran the halls, spraying string EVERYWHERE. They drew crude pictures, threw eggs at locker vents, and draped tp all over everything they could. The cameras were a primary target, each getting a good sized glob of silly string on the lens, letting the security blokes track them through blacked out cameras....

"WHOOO! THIS IS GREAT!" Elly yelled happily as they ran while committing their mischief, not daring to stop long enough to get themselves caught!

After

Natti was a bit more controlled in her movements, refraining from using anything but the silly string, and even that, in moderation – given how the other two girls were going seriously batshit insane with it all. She couldn’t help but laugh. It did feel rather good to just be messing around, not conforming to the norm, and besides, pranking was a tradition. It had to be done. So it might as well be them doing it.

What she really wanted to do was to kamikaze the dance area itself, but with how things had already begun, the chances of sneaking in were approaching nil.

So … with a huge can in each hand and her backpack on and open for easy retrieval of more should she need it, she made a break for the closest door leading into the dance, burst through with a yell of “BANZAAAAAAAAIIIIII!” and let loose with both barrels, so to speak.

"Eek!" Sarah said jokingly, and squeezed Scarlett back - a little lower. "Whoopsie," she said sheepishly.

****

"Jill, eyes on Cam 54."

"I don't see nothing."

"That's the problem. There's nothing there, it's all fucking black."

"Point to a timestamp three minutes ago, and fast-forward- holy shit." The display showed a gradually darkening camera - due to someone spraying Silly String all over it. "Shit. Shit. We got hostile pranksters in Bellarmine Hall. Get me on the Horn."

****

"Where is it?" CINC-Prom Yorkfield asked over his headset.

"Bellarmine Hall. Our eyes were blacked out in the area. They carried cans; must've been spraypaint or Silly String."

"Those are expensive; if those are damaged, we're going to be paying for those out of our pockets. Move in, now, and give them a taste of their own medicine. Use the NSS String. CINC-Prom out."

****

Silly String aerosol comprises a resin and a Freon fluorocarbon propellant. The resin is mildly irritating to the skin, and is deeply cooled by the propellant, but nowhere near dangerous or even bothering in any way.

NSS String, however, is different. Developed by students at the Department of Chemistry, Not-So-Silly String is a prank deterrent that features higher densities and concentrations of everything in its weaker, Sillier counterpart. The polymer resin string that pops out of NSS aerosols has an effect on the skin like pepper spray, and at close range, is cold enough to cause frostbite.

NSS canisters were now being equipped by six PromSec assets as they headed towards the location of Natti, Elly and Miri, and their allies in this evil br-

"Shit!" blared a radio on one of them. "Outbreak, outbreak, move to intercept at west entrance!"

Two more NSS String-equipped personnel moved from the far corner towards Natti, looking very determined to stop her.

Dylan watched Sarah and Scarlett, intrigued, yet also vaguely unsettled. Women didn't really do this, unprompted, did they? And was Scarlett really oriented in that direction? He kept quiet, though he did move closer to Scarlett in an almost proprietary relationship, watching Sarah closely.

Eden laughed lightly at Marcus’ question. “Compete? Are you kidding? If we lost, someone would pull a gun and shoot the opposition.” She hoped the young man took that in the manner it was intended. “I just like to take part for the cheering on of our school teams and being loved by everyone.” She smiled sweetly, making it hard to tell if she was being serious or not.

She then turned to Fall. “I hope you have been supporting the local teams while you have been here, and not just to eye up the cheerleaders. I know what you military types are like.” She once again laughed, showing that she was teasing.

Before she could go any further, her attention was drawn to a commotion at the edge of the gym. It appeared someone had decided to pull the first major prank of the evening by entering the room with silly string at the ready. Eden knew with the amount of security on tonight, things were likely to get entertaining very quickly.

"only seen you cheerleaders at school as there no cheerleaders at baseball games" answer Fall while rolling his eyes at commotion

"an that only when i'am passing you while you are training on my way to my jeep" Fall added as he think on what he was about to say next

"it look like a show is about to start think we should find nice safe spot to watch it from?"

Eden laughed lightly at Marcus’ question. “Compete? Are you kidding? If we lost, someone would pull a gun and shoot the opposition.” She hoped the young man took that in the manner it was intended. “I just like to take part for the cheering on of our school teams and being loved by everyone.” She smiled sweetly, making it hard to tell if she was being serious or not.

She then turned to Fall. “I hope you have been supporting the local teams while you have been here, and not just to eye up the cheerleaders. I know what you military types are like.” She once again laughed, showing that she was teasing.

Before she could go any further, her attention was drawn to a commotion at the edge of the gym. It appeared someone had decided to pull the first major prank of the evening by entering the room with silly string at the ready. Eden knew with the amount of security on tonight, things were likely to get entertaining very quickly.

"Hrm...no cheerleaders ever came to my kendo or fencing competitions," Marcus thought, smiling at the way she added in that last bit. "Would be nice to be cheered on my pretty girls," he added as an afterthought.

"Be careful..." Marcus' eyes narrowed at the sight of the commotion. He sighed, thinking inwardly And she criticized me for being immature? "Kulterney..." he said aloud.

“Kulterney?” Eden repeated, unsure what that meant. Her gaze was drawn away from the ruckus towards Marcus, a questioning look on her face. “What does that mean?” She gathered it probably was not something very nice, especially as it appeared to be aimed at the new arrival, who was spraying and about to be taken down.

She turned back to the scene playing out at the edge of the gym. “And I think we have a good view from here, while staying safely out of the way.” She responded to Fall, looking forward to seeing what her friends did to stop the invasion before it really got started.

"you do know we still close to the drink table right may be some more steps back from it,just in case and Marcus do think to be wise to have cheerleaders kendo or fencing " Jim said as he spots a girl looking at him who gives him a smile before turning to watch the show

"i know her seen her at training with the rest of you cheerleaders" Jim said while watching the happenings

Silly string went sailing out everywhere over the heads of the party-goers as Natti swung her arms around, then dashed through the crowd, letting more out as she went. Thinking that one good blast was enough, when the cans were empty, she dropped them and focused more on an exit strategy, knowing damn well that her time was limited, though having no idea as to what methods might be employed.

Using the crowd to her best advantage, she ducked, and ran, and darted and switched directions, eventually making a quick sprint for a set of doors, hoping to get out from there, and then run where she could – all on the fly.

“Kulterney?” Eden repeated, unsure what that meant. Her gaze was drawn away from the ruckus towards Marcus, a questioning look on her face. “What does that mean?” She gathered it probably was not something very nice, especially as it appeared to be aimed at the new arrival, who was spraying and about to be taken down.

She turned back to the scene playing out at the edge of the gym. “And I think we have a good view from here, while staying safely out of the way.” She responded to Fall, looking forward to seeing what her friends did to stop the invasion before it really got started.

"you do know we still close to the drink table right may be some more steps back from it,just in case and Marcus do think to be wise to have cheerleaders kendo or fencing " Jim said as he spots a girl looking at him who gives him a smile before turning to watch the show

"i know her seen her at training with the rest of you cheerleaders" Jim said while watching the happenings

"It means 'uncultured,' but..." Marcus explained, "In Russian it's meant as a much meaner offense. I'm probably being a bit mean about it." His body was tense, however, ready to defend himself or his friends if needed. He also had an urge to do something to stop Natti's escape, but he merely waited.

She was running through the crowd, the perpetrator of the Silly String discharges, and that made NSS release impossible without hurting a lot of innocent promgoers.

"Students!" one of the security girls shouted at the crowd. "Yam Suph!" This was the Hebrew term for the Red Sea, and just as that sea did in Exodus, so did the crowd part in a neat fashion. This was one of the commonly-practiced safety and order drills to which everyone has to react quickly, and so it rapidly put a clearer path between PromSec and Natti. They began charging for the fleeing girl, and started spraying their own irritating string at her.

“Spoiling the prom for everyone is pretty worthy of an insult,” Eden remarked, as she locked away the word for future use. There was nothing like using a word that people hearing it would have to ask what it meant, it gave that kind of cultured feeling to speech. “I really thought everyone who attended these parties would be grown up enough to know how to behave, but there always has to be someone that lets the school down.”

As she finished speaking, she popped another sample of food from her plate into her mouth, chewing slowly as she watched the girl dash out of the room followed by the prom’s security. The pursuer was most definitely an athlete, fast and reliable, able to deal with the situation.

“I hope this doesn’t distract too long from the fun. Although silly string is not really that much of a problem, the cleaning up can be a bit of a pain,” she continued, her mouth once again empty. “Still, what better punishment than being put on cleaning duty once caught?”

She kept her eyes on the scene ahead, wondering if this was a single attack, or whether the girl had friend waiting in ambush, ready to aid their fellow rebel in her escape.

"being put on cleaning duty as punishment a waste of time it don't do anything,hell you can keep putting someone on it many times and they still play up " Fall answer while leaning on the wall

"an that girl ,i've seen her with that nutter who was spinning before and has the hadit of yelling out"

Eden smiled and looked at Fall with a raised eyebrow. “And what punishment would you suggest for spraying everyone with silly string?” She asked, a light humour sounding in her voice. “I hope you are not suggesting we have them shot.” She laughed, her voice ringing out with fun. “I really did not have you down as the brutal kind.”

Her face relaxed, leaving a pleasant smile on her face. “The antics may be a little immature but I’m sure it was not intended with anything touching on malice. And that string is not the nicest stuff to have to pick up.” Her gaze once more returned to the retreating backs. “I think cleaning up the gym will take a couple of hours and that seems more than adequate for this little misdemeanour. If the Prof is watching I’m sure he’ll add them to his ever increasing list.”

Getting hit with the NSS was anything but fun, and even though she was covered with the thick hoodie and all, the bitter cold was enough to make her seize up in pain.

Suddenly, this wasn’t seeming like such a great idea after all.

She had no idea where the others were, but hoped after her experience that they’d used a bit more discretion and bugged out instead of heading right into the lion’s den, so to speak. She was busted, as she knew she would be going right in to the dance, but damned if she hadn’t hoped the consequences would have been less immediate.

Natti hit the doors at a run, smacked into them hard, and stumbled through them shivering and trying desperately to shake the stuff off, to little effect.

"Eden a firing squad only for cases like Rape and other things that fall into that area of crime" Fall answer as he waved back to girl who smilied at him before

"odd" he said as he wonder why she was making time to look ,smile and wave at him

"any how i think two day long walk with a heavy pack and minimum food and water which they must make to last,would do as a punishment"

“Spoiling the prom for everyone is pretty worthy of an insult,” Eden remarked, as she locked away the word for future use. There was nothing like using a word that people hearing it would have to ask what it meant, it gave that kind of cultured feeling to speech. “I really thought everyone who attended these parties would be grown up enough to know how to behave, but there always has to be someone that lets the school down.”

As she finished speaking, she popped another sample of food from her plate into her mouth, chewing slowly as she watched the girl dash out of the room followed by the prom’s security. The pursuer was most definitely an athlete, fast and reliable, able to deal with the situation.

“I hope this doesn’t distract too long from the fun. Although silly string is not really that much of a problem, the cleaning up can be a bit of a pain,” she continued, her mouth once again empty. “Still, what better punishment than being put on cleaning duty once caught?”

She kept her eyes on the scene ahead, wondering if this was a single attack, or whether the girl had friend waiting in ambush, ready to aid their fellow rebel in her escape.
"And to think people assume I'm immature," Marcus muttered, more to himself than to the conversation. He saw one get shot with the silly string, knowing it was radically different than what they were armed with. In fact, this particular figure looked vaguely familiar...As the person charged out the doors, he let a hint of amazement slip through.

"At least that one's a brave fool," he chuckled.

The arrival of pranksters means only two things to Dudley:

First, his choice of sticking near the corner of the room was a wise one because once he stands atop a sturdy chair, he can record everything.

Second, it gives him something interesting to photograph and take video of, swapping between the still camera and his camcorder with practiced ease.

He has no real opinion as to the morality or value of the prank, no thoughts of ruining it for everyone: although he'd understand the argument, you can only ruing something that people are enjoying, and to him this is just another assignment where he takes pictures of other people. Despite his demure attitude he is someone, and his lack of enjoyment means that not everyone is loving the prom, and hence, any disruption by definition doesn't ruin it for everybody. He enjoys taking pictures, not the event in general, although sometimes he feels like he should be enjoying it and hence is doing something wrong. This, however, gives him something to do and so somewhere in the back of his mind he thinks that it should happen more often.

In any case, the expected militaristic response expectedly responds militaristically, and that's always good footage.

"If you'll excuse me," Marcus told Fall and Eden, walking promptly out of the dance hall. He'd seen enough tomfoolery that night, and wasn't in the mood for more. He found a nice secluded spot outside and stood, watching the slow movement of the stars above.

Elly decided that she rather admired Natti's courage. She was fine with running around the halls and vanadizing the school, but she was too chicken to follow the brace Dominioner into the gym. She watched her, and tried her best to gauge which exit she'd make a break for, and headed that way on the outside... she hoped she'd be able to get the door open and provide some cover fire for her friend's escape!

---

Scarlett was none-too-impressed with this prank, as a large blob of the accursed silly-string landed in her perfectly done hair. She cursed loudly, hoping that it wasn't her sister that just ran by... because Elly would get off lightly with security compared to her wrath when she came home!

"Aaah! My hair!" she wailed, letting Sarah go as she started cursing quite creatively in her native tongue...

And then the lights went out.

Power outages were generally rare in Perimeter Defense - as rare as they were anywhere else, really, but the stability of local power sources and the transmission lines was such that occurrences were singularly worrisome. It didn't appear to be restricted to the lighting wiring too, if ever, as the music stopped, charging cellular phones lit up to signify disconnection from power, and the emergency lights flickered on. But even with these lights, it was still really, really dark.

There had been a unified ruckus/scream of minor terror as darkness sliced through the previous light like a knife, but this quickly turned into curious and wary murmuring. Was this a prelude to the prank of the generation? Could it be related to the news broadcast earlier that specifically denied border movements along Hibernia? Was it just a "normal" brownout that wasn't quite normal?

"No signal," a girl said as she tapped her phone. "Cellular sites are down in the area?"

"Cell sites have a maximum LOS range of 40 kilometers without interference from each other," someone said. "That's a lot of cellsites to be down at once..."

"Maybe the pranksters bought chaff, or 2100MHz jammers."

"That shit's illegal. Ain't happenin' here. Pranksters do got brains."

James Yorkfield got up to the stage carrying a megaphone. "Everyone, please calm down. This is CINC-Prom - yes, it's James Yorkfield. PromSec is currently investigating the source of the problem. Return to your seats, don't move around too much, and we'll be setting up an emergency cell site in a few minutes. Thank you for your time."

There was no end to the murmuring, despite general stability of the promgoers. Everyone was pretty much fine.

ooc: do not reply until the invader does!

2145 Hibernia Standard Time
14 February
Near the Hibernia Border

They called it a ‘low observability flight profile’.

What it really meant was hanging on for dear life while the computer flew the plane at one and a half times the speed of sound ten meters off the ground.

As a career pilot and combat ace, Colonel Claire Wood hated not being in control, but human reaction times were simply too slow for what was going on this close to the ground. Even still, five percent of planes on a given approach smashed into things and blinked out, tearing a life from the sky as if it never were.

If nothing else, it exemplified the problem with terrain hugging at multi-Mach speeds – the birds did not hear you to get out of the way. Fortunately, the Talon’s computers were more or less capable of handling the approach to Hibernia. The highly maneuverable multirole attack jet had its wings swept forward enough to be extraordinarily unstable, which meant that it reacted sufficiently to even the smallest inputs.

“We are ten minutes from the border,” the Colonel murmured into her microphone. “Switch to attack formation and begin radio silence.”

Fortunately for her pilots, a series of radio clicks came back to her, rather than affirmations in their native Finnish. Being the first strike in a war was always nerve wracking, and having to punish anyone when they returned to base would be quite possibly counter productive.

As the Colonel watched on her radar screen, the craft around her began to tighten up their groupings, falling into pairs, and then groups of four aircraft, which further formed up into three sections, deadly spikes pointed straight into the heart of their enemy.

The miles began to roll up quickly, and the moment of reckoning began to creep ever closer.

Three minutes later, radar began to pick up the first indicators of what was truly happening. The boxy, heavy profiles of Lkh.17C cargo aircraft were rumbling up into the wakes of the speeding fighters, taking off from much closer to the border. Claire knew that if the transports were taking off, there would be no call back.

She also knew that the timing was such that heavy bomber aircraft would be taking off from a field to the north, armed with cruise missiles to create plenty of havoc. One squadron would be participating in the assault, while the other committed to deep strikes into Perimeter Defense. In the Gulf, the battlegroup that had been on maneuvers for the last three weeks would have turned to head home some hours before and would be committing even now to its final course change, straight for the second largest port on the gulf coast.

Fifteen minutes from target.

2145 Hibernia Standard Time
14 February
Lkh.17C Transport

Private First Class Matthew David Ryan ventured a glance up the length of the plane, smiling wanly at his fire team leader sitting beside him. The Lance Corporal chuckled softly. “It’ll be fine, Doc,” the black-faced, heavily camouflaged soldier said. Now, Matt was not a medic, and especially was not any type of actual medical professional, but he was graced with ‘Doc’ as a nickname because of the unfortunate combination of his initials. When your name tag bore your first two initials and your last name on your first day of boot, well, those kinds of things tended to stick with you. That was the problem in a nation which spoke Common and Finnish – there were two languages to make up jokes and insults in.

The young man sighed, and ran his eyes over the line of lightweight armored vehicles sitting down the middle of the cargo bay on shock pallets. Unlike some lucky platoons, Ryan’s actually was being granted the privilege of jumping to protect and hold the vehicles until full crew were brought in by the smaller VTOL transports. If everything went to plan, they would have two gunships in support, though.

But when did everything ever go to plan?

Matthew closed his eyes and began to pray. Angelic Michael, hear my call, as through the sky I now will fall. Satan you once cast from here. Aid me now to conquer my fear. My static line have hooked to hold. And then my chute It to make unfold. Suspension lines untangled be and opened up my canopy. From other jumpers float me clear…

2200 Hibernia Standard Time
14 February
Approaching Hibernia

Colonel Wood clicked her radio three times, and received a sequence of fast double clicks back. That meant that everyone was beginning to track in on their targets. Which meant it was time.

“Weasels,” she snapped into her microphone, “Go!” As she said the last word, the leading four planes in each group snapped up, screaming to full power. Her radar fuzzed heavily as the directional jamming began to slam into the batteries of missiles and guns arrayed before them. A short moment passed, and the golden streaks of rocket engines blazed to life by the bluer flame of jet engines, leaping forward to take out the radars that defended the city. “Tiger Group,” came the next order, strong and sure, “Jack In the Box!”

With that, computer control over the aircraft died with the lightest touch at the control stick, and the planes spun on their long axes before shooting straight up into the air. Global positioning and dead reckoning trackers aligned on their targets, and laser illuminators blazed to life. The computing power that had kept the planes from slamming into the ground was now dedicated to holding the lasers on target, as, at three kilometers in altitude, the aircraft when through disturbing gyrations again, bringing their internal batteries to bear on the gleaming lights of the city, already outlined by fires were the constantly active fire control radars used to be.

Now oriented on target, the three squadrons of attack aircraft cycled through their rotary magazines, bay doors sliding open, and missiles began to fall from the sky, lighting the night like a horrid storm.

The first wave of missiles struck, perhaps most damagingly, the various transformer stations located both in and near the city, plunging it into darkness. Additionally, the locations of known armories were pounded, destroying the very weapons which the population could have defended their city with. Other, assorted high value strategic locations were hit with the larger, heavier long range missiles, and on their heels came the screaming of the air as jet engines tore through it at much higher than the speed of sound.

Secondary targets were varied and of differing values, and were engaged at closer range, to allow them to observe potential targets of opportunity. The planes, given their speed and flight profile, were low on fuel, and were only permitted two passes over the city. Two groups of four aircraft swept by over the suburbs, cannons blazing as they streaked over single family homes, and then dropping behind them, like very sick birds, fuel-air explosives. As horrific as it was, the death toll from those attacks probably remained calculable.

One entire squadron, a third of the attack, had a specific set of goals in mind for its bombs and missiles, though. With lethal and sadistic precision, they began destroying fire stations. Similarly, for its close in attacks, a second squadron went after police stations. Chaos would reign in the streets, and the authority needed to quell it would be deliciously absent.

The last, and leading squadron was broken up to help cause as much damage as possible. While two sections of it were blowing up neighborhoods, a third section slashed in on seemingly random vectors high over head, letting loose cluster bombs that would scatter all over the city, randomly dropping from the sky and bringing death. Gun blazing, four more of the attackers wove through the central business district, armor piercing ammunition tearing great gashes open in glass and steel skyscrapers, more or less empty at this hour. Then the sonic wake of their passage finished the job, shattering most of the glass into a lethal cascade for anyone unfortunate enough to be wandering the streets tens of stories below. That section was on its way to the airport, and missiles tore into the terminal buildings, still relatively full despite the late hour, smashing planes on the ground, but leaving the runways untouched. They would be needed for landing the soon to be arriving transports full of troops.

The last of the sections roared in over the three square miles that made up Sandy Bridges University. The problem with universities in general, and Perimeter Defense in particular is that they tend to have a large number of relatively fit, young people close together that know each other very well. Additionally, the buildings tend to be old and stone, and therefore resistant to small arms fire. The people living in them tend to be loosely organized by internal affiliations, and tend towards the smart and creative end of the spectrum. Even in places where no everyone owns a personal, military grade firearm, they would be a nightmare to control in street fighting. Scarily enough, in Perimeter Defense, most of them do have such weapons.

That was why Colonel Wood had saved that particular strike for herself and her section. The junior member roared across the campus without much warning, unleashing the most powerful payload carried by the four aircraft, but the smallest in number of shots. The gravity bombs arced downward, spewing finely graded explosive powder into the air for a spilt second before they ignited, turning the air itself into a raging pit of hell. Over the area known as the Mall, where they were dropped, no doubt full of college students at this hour on a Saturday, they went into horrific affect, the pressure wave knocking people over for hundreds of meters, and shattering windows at least as far away. The other three planes screamed in, riding their engine noise at just below the speed of sound to unleash more specific hell. The first waves of smaller missiles tore into the largest dorm buildings, including the one that housed the students of the university associated high school. Five miles to the other side of campus, the aircraft finally hauled back around and laid their courses on the targets they had spotted the first time through.

Colonel Wood calmly squeezed her gun trigger, and the armor piercing rounds shattered the previously well lit roof of the high school gymnasium before plunging earthward to turn the students they struck into finely graded pink mist. The effect of the follow up missile was even more terrifying, though, and no doubt those inside the gym, a mere moment before dancing, thought their lives were over.

And for many, they probably were. The missile struck the front corner of the roof, and fire flashed down the façade of the building, instantly killing the guards and people still trying to crash the party who were knocked down by the moments earlier blast over the Mall. The rest of the explosion ripped into the structure that supported the roof, tearing it free of the building and shredding it into dozens of large pieces and hundreds of smaller ones. Some, carried on the energy of the explosion, flew away, but most of the steel and concrete came tumbling down into the densely packed crowd of students, burning and sharp edged.

Even as the debris was falling to do its lethal work, the strike commander’s last missile tore into the school itself, instantly setting it ablaze on the far side from the gym, rending a large chunk unusable, even if the fire was stopped before it spread to do too much damage.

The last missiles shattered more of the campus, any truly large, covered building with lots of rooms where people might gather and hide.

Less than ten minutes after the first missiles had ripped apart the protective radar around the city, the fighters were already bugging out back towards their bases, and Colonel Wood sent one more signal, this to the other units on her side. “Arclight approved.”

2213 Hibernia Standard Time

Charles struggled to open his eyes after the… What the hell happened? There was heat and pain and his brain was throbbing. An athlete knew that was impossible – there were no sensation nerves in the skull… Finally he cracked his eyes, then immediately jerked them closed as something red stung his right eye. He attempted to move his right arm and grimaced as it failed to dislodge whatever was pinning it to the hardwood floor, so his left arm came up and swiped at his eye. Finally, he could see…

He could see the sky. That was hardly correct, there was a roof on the gym, he should not be able to see the sky… Why can I see the sky?

What happened?

It finally started to come back. The lights had gone out as he had turned away from one of his track and field teammates, holding a thin plastic cup of punch to take to Eden, whom he thought he had seen just as the music died and the illumination failed. That was when the screams had begun, and only a few minutes had passed as he tried to fight his way through panicking teenagers before the world had ended.

Apparently, though, the world was not ended, though as Charles tilted his head up with a groan as his neck protested, this did look like a pretty good approximation of Hell. The smell was terrible, acidic, like sizzling meat as he attempted to breathe deeply, only to discover a heavy weight across his chest. Forcing himself to calm down and assess the situation, Charles began to take in the surroundings in more detail.

The gym itself was totaled. The wooden bleachers and even the floor were on fire in places. The paper decorations were fully engulfed in the inferno. Chunks of the ceiling, burning, dotted the landscape. But Charles had more immediate problems, he discovered, attempting to sit up. The weight across his chest was a body. Well, a torso and a leg, anyway. The analytical portion of his mind, refusing to let any feeling in at the moment, told him it must be security due to the remains of a battle dress uniform with school markings on it. Probably one of the students on the roof.

Perhaps fortunately for Charles, it was clearly the remains of a cheerleader, rather than a football player, and he was able to tug her off of him with his free left hand, grimacing again as his right arm shifted with the motion. Rolling up onto his side, he dispassionately examined the remains of partygoer that was trapping his right hand, and carefully did not observe the heavy I-beam from the roof that had removed the young man’s head above the lower portion of his nose. With a snarl of effort and a short bark of pain, he extracted his right arm with the help of his left hand. The source of the pain was immediately obvious. The plastic cup had shattered and a sliver of it was driven through his hand. Clenching his jaw against the pain, Charles gripped the blood slickened plastic and gave a hard tug.

His fingers slipped off and a muted cry slipped from his lips, frustration and pain in equal measure. Angrily, he wiped the blood that dripped from a head wound he had yet to notice from his eye once more with his left hand, then with a growl, ripped a strip of still white tuxedo shirt off the dead boy laying beside him. He began to wrap it around his hand a few times, and finally stood up in frustration at being unable to manage one handed…

It was not until this point, some three minutes after he had woken up that he noticed he was missing something. Or more specifically, someone.

“Eden?!” he called into the gym, trying to orient himself on where he had last seen her. “Eden! Where are you?”

Marcus picked himself up, his ears ringing. He'd felt a large concussion from the blast and been thrown several feet, landing in the street and skidding into the grass beyond. His jacket had taken the brunt of the damage, though underneath he had road-burn and several abrasions. Using his torn clothing, Marcus quickly made bandages and dressed his wounds. From his head, a trickle of blood ran from just over his eye and down his right cheek.

"Bolzhe moi..." he murmured, looking at the destroyed roof of the gymnasium. Then he heard someone screaming Eden's name. He snapped and alerted; he'd last seen her in the gym. He limped forward, noticing his knee was scraped and bloody.

"Oy!" he called out to the voice. At this point, it was best to team up as much as possible.

"if you can walk Marcus it's time to get out of this fucked up mess and out of the nation" Fall say while holding his gun in hand

"really who ever attacking are nothing but dumb ass es as whats the big threat about school " Fall added

"if you can walk Marcus it's time to get out of this fucked up mess and out of the nation" Fall say while holding his gun in hand

"really who ever attacking are nothing but dumb ass es as whats the big threat about school " Fall added
ooc: are you outside too? O_o

ic:

Marcus nodded, looking around.

"Who was that shouting just now? We should regroup..."

ooc: are you outside too? O_o

ic:

Marcus nodded, looking around.

"Who was that shouting just now? We should regroup..."

ooc Gehenna Tartarus never answer my post and i never got to answer your post, i going with he left all so

ic

"kid if you haven't picked up there shouting all around here of people,and who should we regroup with ,you want to be with Dylan and his wackos who i wouldn't trust my back with or about that girl who just yells out and spins alot?" Fall say while looking around

"Fall" Yelled Kat running over to him with her friends

"what going on"she asked

"war Kat"answer Fall

When Fall mentioned war, Marcus reached to his ankle, drawing a P229 from a holster.

"Father thought I should come prepared," he muttered, "Crazy bastard was right..." Marcus chuckled, "We should see if there's survivors," he mentioned, beginning to head into the gym.

"hold it Marcus you don't go running in there head frist you have to be careful,the whole thing could easy came crashing down around trapping you while you are helpping " Fall answer then turn to Kat

"Kat you and the girls get what ever first aid kits and fire extinguishers you can find and be careful,attack like this sometime have troops being dropped as a follow up to the bombings"

A slight Whoosh as the missiles completed their attack run was the only notice Hawk recieved that an attack was under way. For him, that was enough, bone deep training kicked in long before he could have reacted consciously and he was halfway to the floor with Stephanie Underneath him. At that point his brain kicked in with Huh? before the combination of the floor and the Hammerblow of multiple missile strikes explained the situation to him with somewhat more than necessary panache. Aw fuck, Was his last thought before the roof litterally fell in on him.

All ASD millitary fabrics contains a light kevlar layercapable of protecting the wearer from small arms fire at medium to long ranges. Fortunetly for Hawk, it also acts as a rather effective shield against shrappnel. If it hadn't been prom night, Hawk would have had his back torn to shreds by shrapnel but as it was he only took a couple of light wounds to his hands and the back of his head. The shockwave, though, was totally unblocked by the the smartfiber and it hammered both Hawk and Stephanie into unconsciousness.

Lewis shook himself and looked around as he came out of it.

"Oh come on!" He said out loud as he looked a the utter Chaos that the attack had caused. It was clear that the destruction in the gym had been nearly complete. Dead, wounded and dying students practically carpeted the floor of the gym and as Hawk stood he noticed that partically no one else was on their feet yet. One person Charles? seemed to be calling out but Hawk was still somewhat deaf.

"Hey," he said outloud to the standing survivors. "I can help, If you can stand and walk get over here." Done with crowd control, for the moment he looked down at the girl he'd known for just a few hours. She actually seemed fine.
which would make sense He thought to himself as various small cuts started making their presence known . He watched as she came round. "Hey," He said to the disoriented Steph. "Look I need you to run to my room, Now, and bring back the five metal brief cases in there ok? They are under the bed and all three have electronic locks on them. You got that?"

"huh? yah briefcases right." Replied Steph. "on it ."

She stared around the room clearly in shock.

"NOW." Said Hawk Loud but gently.

"Sorry, Right!" she said snapping out of it and heading for the dorm, visible through the hole that had been blasted in the wall, at a run.

"Alright" said Hawk turning to the scene in front of him "This is truely gonna suck."

He pulled off what was left of his suit jacket leaving him in his ASD Raiders "dress" uniform and tried to figgure out exactly where to start.

Eden was once more a little surprised to find herself on her own. She did not seem to be having her usual luck with people. Normally people were fighting to get to her, but this evening she seemed to be battling to keep people near here. For the briefest moment she had the experience of the unpopular kids at school. She shrugged the situation off, putting it down to the fact that most of her friends were in fact in charge of keeping the gym safe for those partying and she knew that tomorrow, everything would be back to normal.

She placed her plate on the table, having had enough of the food on offer and looked once more around the gym. Her gaze fell briefly on Charles, who was busy chatting to his friends and teammates. A smile played on her lips as she thought how hot he was looking tonight. There was something about a fit man in a tuxedo that just did it for her. For the briefest moment, she was wishing the partying was at an end and she could help him out of his outfit.

As she undressed him with her eyes, she suddenly found herself plunged into darkness. Around her the room became silent and noisy all at the same time. The music ground to a halt and the singing stopped, but in its place a loud nothing, followed by the grinding of chairs and tables as people struggled around in the darkness. Voices began to rise in annoyance and frustration, as people began to scream to the party poopers who had caused this disruption.

Having been to several parties where people found it funny to send everyone into a blind panic, Eden stood her ground, knowing that trying to find her way through the throng of other students would be almost impossible. So, she stood silently listening to the cries and shouts of the other prom goers.

Peace was brought to the room as James took to the stage, or at least that’s where she presumed he was. His words seemed to instil a little calm and once again she heard the sound of chair feet scrapping along the floor and the gentler conversation of people discussing what was going on.

Although she had not realised her heart was racing, Eden felt herself feel calmer and she knew that in a few minutes the security team would get to the bottom of the situation and have the lights back on. Once the music she would grab Charles and get down to some serious catching up with him.

A smile came to her lips and she was glad that it was dark inside the gym, otherwise she was sure people would be able to read her mind. That’s when she heard the first boom, that for a moment sounded like a loud echo of her heart. Her amusement grew briefly, before her mind began working on what had caused the sound. Her thoughts turned to the raider who had caused the interruption before the lights went out and for the first time, Eden felt sure that she knew what was going on. The girl had not been on her own and it appeared that her friends had pulled the plug on the electrics to help her get away and the boom had been the sound of the door slamming shut as she disappeared through it.

That was Eden’s last thought before the gym erupted around her.

* * *

In the stories that Eden had read, Hell was described as a place filled with cries of anguish, the smell of burning and the orange glow of flickering flame. And for a moment, as her senses came back to her, she fancied that she had fallen into some kind of nightmare based on those novels. The crack that her eyes had opened, disappeared for a moment as she blinked them shut. She swallowed with some difficulty, her mouth dry and tasting disgusting.

I knew that food would give me nightmares, she thought as she struggled to open her eyes again.

Managing little more than a crack again, she looked up into the sky. It was blacker than she remembered it, and the stars had all vanished. She squinted her eyes, trying to pick out one or two of them above her, until she realised that you could not see the sky from Hell. She closed her eyes again, suddenly feeling very sick.

Every great explorer of Hell got off their backside. Are you going to lie here all day? She giggled at the thought, before her breath caught in her throat causing her to cough, a burning pain flooding through her lungs.

It was then she realised she was not asleep as she had first thought, and this was not a dream of Hell she was having. No, this was not a dream. She could feel the heat around her, could see the flickering orangey red that could only be flames and she could smell the thick smoke that was hanging around the air. And she could smell cooked pork.

Dinner?

She rolled herself up onto her side, her head spinning with her movements. Fighting back the nausea, she turned her gaze to the area around herself. The gym had turned into a living nightmare. The roof was now on the floor and bits of it was scattered around and on her.

Her head throbbed and began to spin, so she lowered it and rested it on her arm. Her body felt restricted in its position, so she rolled over onto her stomach, feeling the skirt of her dress catch on something by her feet. She reached down and grabbed the fabric, pulling it hard, but it would not budge. Her fingers tightened around the material as she gave another tug. The ripping sound seemed loud to her ears, despite the other noises around the gym.

The momentum of her hand, no longer fighting the resistance seemed to fly out of control, rushing towards the floor. She was grateful that as it landed it pounded against something soft. Her fingers clenched, feeling something squishy. She turned her head to look at what had saved her from pain and instantly wished she had not. It was then she realised that ‘dinner’ was not what she expected.

As she looked at the charred remains of a part of one of the other prom guests, Eden finally regretted trying the food, as she emptied her stomach on the gym floor.

Panic finally set in and her heart began to pound in her chest, blocking out all other sounds. She could feel tears begin to run down her cheeks as she got first to her knees and then struggled up to her feet.

Standing was even worse that lying on the floor, as Eden finally came face to face with the full extent of the destruction. Her hand moved to her mouth, as she once more fought the urge to vomit.

It has to be a dream... It has to be a dream...

But it was no dream.

It was then that she heard a scream, loud and clear. It filled the room, filled her ears, drew her attention. It took a moment for her to realise that she was the one screaming. And then, when she thought she could not take any more, she finally felt the pain rushing through her body. Her head, chest, arms, legs...everything hurt. She swayed, barely managing to stay on her feet as she felt herself growing faint. Her gaze focused on her hands, which she could see were shaking.

She reached up to her head and ran her fingers lightly from the crown down the sides. Tracing lightly she checked for cuts. Finding nothing but little scrapes, she continued downwards covering her neck, chest and down to her waist. Her back was next and then she checked her legs, feeling nothing there but bruises and cuts, and the sharp sting of burns.

I’m good, she noted to herself, as she let out an awkward sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, it did nothing but make her cough even more, which caused her lungs to burn as she sucked in a large breath of hot smoke. She knew she had to get out before she inhaled too much smoke or worse.

It was then that the feeling of complete loneliness flooded through her. So wrapped up in thoughts of her body and injuries, she had completely managed to forget about everything else. Once more the tears began to flow down her cheeks, this time not for herself but for the people around her. And then it hit her that she was not supposed to be alone. She had been with Charles and now she had no idea where he was.

Her mind rewound to before the darkness had enveloped the gym. He had been talking to friends and she could see him in her mind’s eye. Her head turned into the direction that she thought he had been in. And then, she could hear him calling her name and he was smiling at her. She felt herself smile for a moment, before a frown slowly etched her brow. A sinking feeling spread throughout her being as the image in her head changed, and he was represented by the charred piece of flesh she had stumbled on earlier.

“Charles!” She screamed, before wincing as another pain flashed across her chest. She crouched, barely able to stand while her body reminded her of the pain she was suffering, as if every little cut and bruise decided to make itself known.


[ooc: Before anyone decides to rush in and save Eden, please can you run it passed me first, as I do not want her rescued without my permission.]

Nothing had been going according to plan... first, there was that creepy guy, and her continued run-ins with Dylan, and now that her hair had been runied, Scarlett was sure that things couldn't get any worse. She grabbed Sarah and rather roughly tugged her along back to a nearby table, not immediately accepting a no from her as she dragged her dance partner along. She'd had a small folding brush in her purse, and was nearly to the table when the lights went out.

"NOW how am I going to clean this?" she growled, not caring who heard. She was pissed, and was making sure everyone knew it.

It couldn't get any worse... untill the volcano erupted in the middle of the gym.

She didn't have anything else to compare it to. She wasn't a solider, she'd never even seen a war movie. She had seen a volcano erupt violently, and from fairly close, so it was the only thing she'd ever experienced that could remotely compare to the chaos at hand.

Of course, a volcano hadn't erupted, but it might as well have. The ringing in her ears was quite similar, and the heat and ash and smoke brought those memories back in a quick rush, which was promptly followed by something hitting her in the back and everything going numb.

When she started blinking again, there was nothing but pain. Pain and ringing. There was definetly ringing now. Her senses slowly came back one by one. She felt heat, still, and started to smell... something. She knew that it couldn't be good. Her voice came back, though she could only groan at first. The pain was coming from her legs, which she realized belatedly ment that they were still attached, and her spine was intact, though her arms refused to move.

Unable to see anything at first, when her eyes did slowly start to respond, she could finally see why she was alive; she'd be thrown under one of the banquet tables. It hadn't survived the barrage intact, but it did create a pocket large enough for her to shelter in, along with whatever the soft thing she was lying on. Her initial panic died down slightly, so her voice returned and she started to call out for help...

"Hello... Sarah... anyone?" Scarlett croaked, coughing heavily as she tasted the ash on her lips. She kept at it, each cry making her cough more as she tried to voice it louder...

---

Elly was probably one of the luckiest people on campus at that moment. The adjoining halls and sections of building attached to the gym had fared better, only taking strafing bullets and indirect damage, while the heavy attacks had focused on specific target buildings. The doorway, made of reinforced steel, had kept anything from falling on her directly, and most of the partygoers were farther inside, in what was now the pile of wreckage that used to be called a gym, which left her alone...

The young druchii had curled up in a ball in the corner of the doorway when the bombs went off, and hadn't moved since. The smells from the fires assailed her first, and when she realized what they were, she did the only thing she could think of. She broke down, and started crying. Her sister was in there, and it certainly didn't look like anyone would be coming out...

The lights go out.

Dudley flicks on the light amplification function of his video camera as a matter of course.

Something happens.

Dudley finds himself wondering what hurts more: his teeth, his ears, his eye, or his leg. He tastes iron. He sees through the fuzz bits of plaster and embers feels through the fuzz sharp and cold and heat and hears through the fuzz cries but not enough. He sees his camera less clearly than he should, lying above him, and realizes that it's not above him. It's beside him. He is lying on his stomach and his eye hurts and his teeth hurt and his ears hurt and his leg hurts. He reaches out and takes the camera and doesn't recognize that rather nasty scratch on it. It's about three centimeters long and maybe a millimeter or two deep, enough to expose raw aluminum or magnesium or whatever metal his camera is made of bugger me if I can recall it now through the usual matte black protective paint. He brings the camera closer and peers closer at the scratch. It's more like a gouge, but it's on a part of the body. No optics there, really. He sees that the makeshift crash cage he's built around the camera has a dent in it now. Not important, that's what it's there for.

He idly wraps the carrying strap over his shoulder and rolls onto his back. He sees dark but clouds trying to be light until they fade, flickering with the effort. He rubs his eyes; the right one stings more. It's not his eye, it's the socket of his eye. He pokes gingerly and tastes more iron. His lips feel fat. He has been hit in the eye. Dudley has been hit in the eye that he had in his viewfinder. He must have fallen and the camera hit the ground and his eye hit the camera and so it hurts. Good to have that explained. Must have been quite the faceplant for his lips to feel fat. The iron is blood.

Dudley chuckles dumbly to himself, cracking a stupid grin before running a finger inside his lips. Nothing loose. He raises the finger to his eyes, it is red but not red like the sky is trying to be. The red reflects yellow at the tip of his finger. Not too bad.

He sits up, and the world has ended. It's not quite how he thought it'd be like. It doesn't feel like it. It looks like it. There is fire. There are bodies. There are people he recognizes. There are bits of people. He recognizes some of the bits, but he can't recognize the person because they're out of context. Some of them he's never actually seen before. Spilling out of that torso over there is a liver and some intestine which connect the torso of the person he can't recognize out of context to their sprawling legs under the table. It's as if that poor bit of intestine is trying to hold the body together but it can't pull hard enough. It's taut, like a violin string. Cat gut.

People gut.

People gut, he thinks. He raises his camera and looks at the primary lens. It's fine. He pulls out his silk square and brushes away the dust, careful to use the clean side. He puts the viewfinder back to his eye; it's still working and has been running. He centers the view on the people guts and pans left as far as he can turn. Tables smashed asunder. Girders. People crying. Some staggering. Some looking at themselves and not recognizing what they've become and then that look freezing on their faces. He pans right. Fire and smoke barely obscuring the tops of the walls with their girders that reach towards the sky like the branches of an ancient gnarled tree or the fingers of corpses in the water.

Dudley stands up.

Dudley falls down. His right leg wins the "what hurts most" argument. He looks down at it. It is a sort of dark brown, and his black dress slacks have been torn nearly free around the mid thigh. He follows the line of slick cloth. It is connected to the steel L-beam of the table he was standing next to. It has been snapped in half by the much larger and heavier I-beam girder that fell from the ceiling onto the table. The snapped table beam is clean and sharp with a thirty degree angle. Geometrical. It has a slight twist to it, maybe it's not so clean. The tip is covered in brown fluid that turns red around the edges and reflects yellow fire. That would be blood.

He looks back down at his leg. His leg is oozing blood. He is bleeding, but not as badly as he could be. Dudley watches the oozing pulse with his heart. Something in his head is screaming. His ears are ringing, but that isn't it. Something in his head is screaming, and he can't quite follow it. Something to remember. Something to follow. Something that makes sense but isn't quite coming.

With a few jerks of his arms Dudley finishes the ripping of his trousers. He has a long ring of fabric around his leg. He looks at the blood ooze, and the hollow cylinder of useless fabric. One should be applied to the other. Something about pressure. Dudley kneads with his hands, rolling up his trouser leg until it becomes something between a bandage and a tourniquet. It covers the oozing slash.

He looks around. Something is screaming in his head. He looks at where he put down his camera; it taped him dealing with his wounds. Was that intentional? He looks around. The small stepladder he was standing on has been smashed to pieces. One of the pieces is curved and has a rubber foot. He picks it up. It is something like a sharp hook on one end, bent over double from when it was crushed. It has another sharp tube of metal sticking out near the foot, but it's loose. Dudley holds the hook just so and shakes it so the tube of metal slides out. He thinks he hears it clatter on the wood, but he can't tell.

Something is screaming in his head. His ears are ringing, and his right leg still hurts a lot. He raises onto his left knee, trying to keep his right leg as straight as possible. He puts the rubber foot of the stepladder on the ground and lifts himself up with his right arm. He is bent double like an old man. He puts his right foot down. It hurts, but it's a manageable complaint.

He looks around.

There are people crying and screaming. He can see them. See their mouths and their lips move, those that are moving. See the tongues work, those that are working. He can't hear them very well. His ears are ringing. Something is screaming inside his head without sound and it's too loud. Hands grasping for help, for comfort, for anything. Hands sticking out of rubble. Hands that simply are. Hands that aren't whole anymore. Blood.

Dudley is an old man, walking on three legs. He raises his still camera, and takes some photographs. He isn't sure why. He sees pain but isn't sure he recognizes it. It's a macabre tableaux. His vocabulary is returning, at least.

He looks around. Outside the doors there is fire. In the sky there is fire. On the ground there is fire, but not so much. There are doors leading towards the dorms and the schools. There is not so much fire between him and them. His eyes trace a path between the flames. It's a hedge maze, but hotter.

Something is screaming inside his head.

He starts to hobble towards the doors to the dorms.

Sarah Allendale woke up in the groggiest state imaginable, having been "gently" concussed by some falling debris. Everything was blurry all around her; orange and red blobs of goo were interspersed with barely-moving black ones. As she struggled to her feet, the world swung and moved around as though she'd taken a bottle of pure ethanol, and quite appropriately she had what felt like cluster headache on her face.

Soon, though, her vision cleaned up, and then she watched the orange and red blobs of goo become tongues of fire licking scattered detritus, and the black goo were ash and charred...something. As her dizziness disappeared, she looked around violently, seeing everything in flames, the roof having crashed down...

"Oh my God," she said quietly under her breath, before coughing and gagging as the acrid smell of death finally came upon her in one disgusting wave. As she doubled over, she saw a face. A blank face. Staring straight at her. She screamed and fell backwards - and onto another body. Her eyes wide, body reeling, she realized that all around her, blackened, charred "somethings" were corpses, living just minutes ago - or hours, depending on how long she had been unconscious.

"Hello... Sarah... anyone?" a plaintive voice cried.

"Scarlett!" she cried out, coughing.

***

Among the various coughs and individual cries in the gym, another scream integrated itself into the chorus: "LAUREN!" yelled CINC-Prom James Yorkfield. But he wasn't calling for 2IC-Prom; he was just screaming her name in despair, as he found her mangled body beneath a pile of fallen beams. Tears were shed, and then anger filled his mind. He looked to his megaphone; the bell was twisted and bent, but tapping the trigger, it still worked.

"E...everyone. Get to the armory and...pick up some weapons and explosives."

***

The last thing Lucy Kentsfield remembered was being on the catwalk when the lights went out. The next thing remembered was being on the catwalk, on the ground. She was lying down, and she felt a little woozy. An observer would see her quite pale.

"Can't move my legs," she observed, until she looked down and realized that she had no legs. "Oh," she said to herself. Blood spurted on varied intervals from the stumps, and she tried to crawl away, but she was pinned by something heavy. She coughed up some blood, and turned to look around. People were around. Some were alive, but most were dead, really. And soon her vision began to darken.

"Ah...not good," she said to herself, before the last thing she ever did was frown to herself, and then she faded away.

2210 Hibernia Standard Time
14 February
Near the Perimeter Defense Border

Colonel Jackson Sparks relaxed his grip ever so slightly on his control stick as the echoing voice of Colonel Wood sounded in his ear. Arclight approved. Once more, they were at war with their ancient and implacable foe, Perimeter Defense. Sparks commanded the 47th Strategic Bombardment Wing, and his heavy bombers were, this night, weighted down with a series of cruise missiles as they flew behind a protective curtain of their own anti-aircraft defenses. “Timberwolves,” he commanded calmly, “confirm your targets, then fire at will.”

In no way stealthy, the bulky heavy bombers angled towards their individual targets, the bay doors that Sparks’ grandfather had opened grinding to the ready. “I have confirmed GPS lock on for all twenty targets, Skipper.”

Sparks smiled. “Let fly, then,” he ordered, tightening his grip back up on the stick, ready to fight the bucking that was sure to come. And come it did. Never designed for such a task, the huge aircraft rattled as the cruise missiles slipped free of the wings, left, then right, then left again, and so on, dropping perhaps twenty or thirty feet before their own engines boosted them to the enormous velocity that would carry them to a self-immolating doom. The whine of the huge motors in the bomb bay filled the cockpit, despite the heavy helmets, spinning the rotary bay to release still more missiles. It took perhaps ten minutes to launch all twenty for fear of having the missiles hit each other, or do something else that would seriously impact the survivability of their launching aircraft.

Missile after missile tore into the night, fading dots of yellow and blue that soon were indistinguishable from the stars, and then gone forever. Despite their altitude, the heavy bombers were much to far away from their targets for human eyes to ever pick out the flash of detonations.

On the other end of their runs, though, human eyes would only be able to stare in horror at the flames advancing across the night. While it had only taken ten minutes for the 47th to launch seven hundred and twenty cruise missiles, given the dispersion of their targets, it would take nearly thirty for all of them to be hit. Each splash of flame signified at least one loss of life, given the targets – road bridges, rail bridges, canal locks. A few missiles were focused on communication towers – microwave and radio dish supporting steel frameworks reaching into the night sky blinking out their solitary red gleam, or repeater stations in the countryside. But in all honesty, only half the missiles targeted such things, designed to physically isolate the city of Hibernia from the rest of the country, while the rest soared in to do deadlier work.

A significant number of the cruise missiles were focused on military objectives, and their flight profiles brought them in as such. Much as the Talons squadrons had earlier in the night, they flew nape-of-the-earth profiles before cutting up hard for their final attack runs. The closest bases to Hibernia were brutally pounded with anti-vehicle cluster munitions as well as having significant structures being blown apart. Military airfields were targeted in the most expeditious manner possible – a missile into the control center, a missile into the back up control center, and a pair of missiles into the fuel tanks, staggered to hopefully deal with any armoring they might have. In the case of underground tanks, the fuel pumps were targeted instead, as it was reasoned that few attempts by the missiles to penetrate the ground would be successful. Lastly, in specially designed cases, missiles laid down streams of a flammable concrete dissolver along the runways, followed by cluster munitions. No one wanted the jets that had gotten off the ground to have anywhere to go when they were empty.

But all that still left more cruise missiles, and as the transport aircraft bearing the invading forces began their final approach to Hibernia, those missiles found their targets. Deep in the heart of the city lay tall buildings, stories already stripped off glass by the supersonic approach of the original attackers, and those were the targets of these missiles. Low to the ground the missiles slammed in, carefully plotted approach profiles designed to eliminate the supports on a single side of a given building, causing it to tumble down, wiping out whole blocks with a single skyscraper brought down. Not selected for any intrinsic value, these monsters were merely chosen for size and accessibility, an uncaring profile that held no regard for the lives inside them, only the destruction that collapsing them as dominos might cause.

2212 Hibernia Standard Time
14 February
Over Hibernia

Blackout. The parajumper reached up calmly and pulled his nightvision goggles down over his face, relaxing as the first wave of adrenaline hit his system, and then it came…

Matthew Ryan’s stomach gave an angry growl as he heard the grind of mechanical operations, and then the hiss of screaming air and the drone of jet engines flying slow enough that the jump did not instantly kill the jumpers. “Everyone check clear!” came the cry from the front of the aircraft, and his stomach gave another lurch as he prepared for what to come. When the hand touched his shoulder, his training kicked in, and the fear that had him about to throw up his dinner from hours before vanished behind a façade of calm. A quick glance confirmed he was not snared on the cargo pallets in any way and he reached out and touched the next man in line. A long moment passed as Ryan’s breathing settled out, and then the cry of “Clear!” came from far end by the doors.

Even having been on practice jumps before with heavy equipment, Matthew was still shocked at the intensity of the sounds as the drogue ‘chute snapped out and with a roar, tore the LAVs from the cargo hold, one after the other. He moved mechanically to the commands after that, keeping his balance as the transport pulled an extremely tight turn to put the jumpers back on the hardware. Get Ready. Stand Up. Hook Up. Check Static Line. Check Equipment. Sound Off. Stand In Door. Go. Go. Go. Go.

Matthew jumped. He was at the very first surprised at how low they were to the ground, and then drew his first real breath as he finally earned his wings when he made it through this. Glaring at the flat, black and green earth below, lit by what were clearly flames, he tried to orient himself off the briefing photographs, but they had looked nothing like the horror that was below. The fronts of what were in theory small shopping stores were blown in, and they spat furious flames into the night. The flattened trees were burning and there were bodies everywhere, burning, charred... even the grass was on fire in places. In the midst of this sat the hungry looking, lean, predatory forms of the airborne’s light assault vehicles. One appeared to have unfortunately ended up on its side, but the others appeared intact and functional.

A shape moved on the ground, without gear and without an obvious weapon, and his rifle came up. The slightest pressure, a triplet of dull pops, and the son of Martha Andrea Ryan took his first life just before his knees flexed to hit the ground. It would not be the last this night.

All around him, soldiers began to hit the ground and opened fire on anyone obviously moving around near the Mall, especially near the larger, now bombed and burning structure with the tanks parked out front. From their lack of night-vision goggles, helmets, and empty parachute packs, it was perfectly clear those people were on the other side of this war.

Somehow, despite the damage the structure they had apparently been guarding, one of the tanks appeared to have no damage what so ever. The steadily approaching thrum of propeller blades beating the air could be heard, bringing with it the awesome firepower of a battalion of airborne troops and their escorting attack helicopters. As Matthew moved to join up with his squad, he kept his eyes peeled for tricks, knowing that the people of Perimeter Defense to would stoop to new depths to hurt him and his friends without a second thought.

“Ryan here, Corporal,” he announced softly in Finnish, knowing there were few in Perimeter Defense who understood that language.

“Good, Ryan,” his commander replied in the same volume and tongue. “Now that we’re all here, Sarge ordered us to sweep these buildings over here to make sure that there’s plenty of room and safety for the ‘22s to set down.” When no one moved immediately, he raised his voice some and barked, “Move out!”

Having practice this extensively, Matthew dropped to one knee besides his fire team partner, bringing up his rifle to cover the first building as members of the squad approached it.

"hold it Marcus you don't go running in there head frist you have to be careful,the whole thing could easy came crashing down around trapping you while you are helpping " Fall answer then turn to Kat

"Kat you and the girls get what ever first aid kits and fire extinguishers you can find and be careful,attack like this sometime have troops being dropped as a follow up to the bombings"
Marcus shrugged. He could make out several shifting shadows through the light given off by flames throughout the shattered gym.

"Well, then what's the plan? If it's gonna come down, shouldn't we do something about it?" He looked from his acquiantance back into the rubble, wanting to desperately help somehow.

the ASDSS Al'tor (location: Geosynchronous Orbit above PD)
The Satellite Traveled slowly through space as massively high powered cameras and detection equipment Scanned the nations near Perimeter Defense as well as the nation itself. Aboard the Satellite something, an anomaly, Triggered the satellites on board computer and very specific subroutines focused the cameras and detection equipment on a very specific portion of of a nation to the east of PD.

ASD Command (location: under mount Brock)
A private was dozing at his post while around him feeds of information we're being crunched. It was two in the morning ASD standard time and the threat board had been clear when he'd switched over at midnight. For about half an hour, the private had been entirely alert watching every piece of flagged data that came in but half an hour of minor spats between royal houses in Tjakinistan and military training exercises far from any border had dulled any interest he'd had and an hour more of absolutely nothing sent him into a stupor. In fact, he probably would have missed the priority bulletin if not for the fact that he was having a nightmare about his ex-Girlfriend and some type of fire breathing dragon. He woke up with a gasp and shook himself. Looking up at the feed he noted something a little odd in a flagged sat. image and glanced at it, then stared as his mouth opened slowly. He began tapping furiously on the keyboard in front of him. On screen, the image expanded and more images, apparently of airports and navel bases came up. The last image on the screen was a graph of known military frequencies and it was entirely flat lined.
"oh shit" He said out loud as he reached for the direct line to Navel Command.
"Sargent? This is private Evan Valesque, serial number 06785546213386." He said calmly into the phone. "I need to speak to command. Yes, yes I realize what time it is. Sir, its about PD. Yessir will do sir." A pause of nearly a minute. "Admiral Hawk sir? This is Private Valesque at ASDCOM I'm declaring invasion imminent in Perimeter Defense. No sir, my next call will be to them but sir according to intel. reports a member of your family is currently located in PD. Yes sir, Lewis sir. Aye sir. Thank you sir."

Soon multiple high-level military and Foreign service experts we're being woken up and the ASD Military chain of command began gearing up in the form of multiple officers appearing in command centers with Cups of coffee/tea and in one case alcohol (Very senior officers are not to be trifled with. If he says its oj then its oj) with generally extremely grumpy sentiments. As the chain of command lit up so did most of the ASD special Operations units but mobilization stalled around 0500 hours when it ran head first into a rather sleepy Jarek Mace.

ASD Command, three hours later
Prime Minister Jarek Mace of the ASD walked into the Spacious Command room at the center of ASDCOM surounded by three members of his security force.

"Just what in the hell is going on here Hawk?" Asked The normally mild minored PM.

"Sir!" Replied Hawk. " There is defiantly an invasion of PD Occuring right now. The opposing forces are WARSHOT armed and have gone to complete radio silence. Strong evidence suggests that their Paratrooper and Navel forces have also gone to a high state of readiness and that some may have already moved into PD."

"Ok," Said Mace "I assume we've set up travel advisories and that were getting our people out?"

"Yes sir," Replied Hawk. "Our embassy personal are evacing anyone and everyone they can but in the limited time available that means the capital and nowhere else. Further, we lost contact with our embassy minutes ago and we don't have any realtime assets in place over PD at the moment."
"Fine." Stated Mace. "So why, exactly, are we gearing up for what looks to be a full on invasion ourselves."

"Sir" Said Hawk. "We have OPSPLANs working up for targeted evac of our people by special forces in front of the incoming invasion but we'd--"

"No" Said mace.

"Bur sir th--" Began hawk

"No" Interjected Mace. " We cannot interfere in this matter. both of the players are independent nations and, more importantly, both are nuclear powers. We will not get involved without a specific request from PD and we will go through proper foriegn service channels on this one."

"But Sir my--" Tried Hawk again actually looking a little desperate now.

"Hawk," Said Mace gently. " Simply because your brother's son is currently in the path of an invasion is no justification for potential acts of war against two separate nations."

"Sir." Replied Hawk Darkly. "You better get on those diplomatic channels then Sir."

Perimeter Defense
A weird buzzing noise was faintly audible what would have been the halway of the dorm. Following the noise one, if there was anyone there, would have found that it was coming from a locked metal box burried under multiple feet of rubble. If that same person had been a particularly talented lock pick and lucky enough to avoid a couple of the nastier traps on top of being able to extract the box from the rubble, that person would have found that the noise was coming from Hawks cellphone. A message would have been seen to the effect of, "get out! Get out now!". Unfortunately the message had not arrived in time. Hawk, and all the other survivors we're well and truly in it now.

The doors were swinging closed and she was hurriedly shrugging off her hoodie when the lights go out, plunging her into darkness. The shrieks and murmurs of the crowd behind her were anything but comforting, though the fact that her pursuit was likely over for the moment was a relief.

As she stretched her arms up to pull the hoodie up and over her head there was the noise and the blast. The door which hadn’t finished shutting hit her in the backside, and sent her sprawling awkwardly onto the floor.

Her first thought was that something had gone horribly wrong with the pranking, but she couldn’t figure out what. As she finished pulling the hoodie off, and struggled to her feet, she could see light, but not the right kind. All reds and yellows and flickering and smoky, which just wasn’t right. And the smells.

And the sounds.

As she turned to look back through the now partially blocked doorway, her eyes widened in horror. She didn’t have the benefit of being stunned or seriously hurt to dull the images bombarding her senses. She saw it in all its stark reality, no matter where her eyes settled.

Bodies strewn everywhere, in positions never intended. Parts she knew ought to be recognizable but didn’t register right. People she knew she should recognize, but didn’t look quite real, more like dolls some careless child had thrown around the room and crushed and torn and …

It didn’t seem real, and for the life of her, she didn’t know what to do. Somewhere in the back of her mind, sharp burning sensations registered in various places along the back of her body, but those didn’t seem to matter at the moment.

A handful of shadowy shapes were moving here and there, some more than others. The moans of those not fortunate enough to meet a swift demise echoed oddly through the ruined gym, filtering through the sounds of more explosions outside, shaking the ground.

Words couldn’t form even in her mind as she stared in shock, overwhelmed by what had happened. And then, sobbing in the hallway behind her broke through the haze, and a few thoughts clicked.

Where were Elly and Miri? They had been behind her at one point. Hopefully they hadn’t followed her into the gym … she had no idea. Woodenly, she turned around and walked towards the sounds.

“E-El? Miri? Who’s there?” Her voice sounded wrong, out of place, the last coming out hoarsely. Seeing the girl curled up in a nearby doorway, she dropped to her knees next to her and placed a shaking hand on her shoulder, having no idea what to say.

'The smoke is the worst part...' Scarlett thought to herself, coughing heavily. Something felt wet on her lips, and she slowly pulled her hand up, revealing that it was blood from her split lip. She coughed some more, and spat out more blood as she started to crawl.

"Who... who's there?" she called back, hearing someone call her name. It was distant, indistinct, as if yelled from the other end of a long metal pipe. Summoning what, to her, felt like herculean strength, she shoved the remnants of the table over.

And immedietly wished she hadn't.

The smells assaulted her anew, and they were twice as revolting now that she knew where they'd come from. This shocking realization made her gag, retch, and empty her dinner onto a small patch of somehow pristine gym floor.

Oddly, she felt good after vomiting. She knew she had to get out of here, to run, find out what happened to her sister, and then hide. This was too terrible to be an accident. The ideas came quickly, and her head swam as she pulled herself up onto her knees. The hem of her skirt was torn and singed, and as she reached back, she belatedly noticed the fragments of splintered wood in her calves, and how her right ankle was throbbing painfully. She couldn't focus on it, though, as she tried to inspect it. Her vision was blured, and slightly red-tinged.

"Must be the smoke. Can't see clearly..." she said quietly, as if nothing was the matter, before breaking into more coughing. Wiping her eyes at least made the red go away, but only made her notice the gash in her forehead and scalp.

"More blood... what the... Sarah?" she blinked, hearing that distant voice again, "Is that you?"

---

Ellenith didn't know where she was anymore. This had to be a dream... a nightmare. Nobody, nobody did this to a school. It was unthinkable. She'd never seen anything this terrible, and all she could think about was that this must be the end of the world.

Then a hand reached out, and gently touched her. Someone was alive. Someone was alive! She turned, and without looking, she hugged the person. She didn't care who it was. Still sobbing, she held on tight.

"Oh gods... they're all dead... all dead... pieces... broken pieces... all dead..."

Marcus shrugged. He could make out several shifting shadows through the light given off by flames throughout the shattered gym.

"Well, then what's the plan? If it's gonna come down, shouldn't we do something about it?" He looked from his acquiantance back into the rubble, wanting to desperately help somehow.

"start we need some kind of tools to help make our way into there ,we all so need bigger guns so the armory is one of our goals ,while we help those we can" answer Fall as he find the flask from Hawk

"right now i hoping we have time to do that but i got the feeling there unwelcame guest here areadly so itg going to get hard" Fall add

Dylan's last thought, as he stormed away from Scarlett and Sarah, was that not even the elves appeared to be free of the sin of homosexuality. And he liked Scarlett, too. Also, Sarah had seemed pleasant, and not just in terms of her body. His religious psychosis powered him through the silly string, even as a dozen members of his team gave up their dignity to keep any from touching his hair.

It just went to show that you never could tell. Still, Amy (that was her name!) was waiting, and it was rude to keep a lady waiting... and wrong to keep one waiting without another lady available. He circled by the punch bowl, refilled his glass, and arrived at Amy's side with a smile. "Shall we dance, ma belle? Forgive me my continued absences."

Even before she had gotten a chance to answer, the explosion rocked the gymnasium. And Dylan was knocked out by a piece of falling debris, falling hard against the floor.


The first thing he noticed was the warm, wet feeling in his crotch, and his first thought was that it was an unusually early time in the night for that. He tried to lift his hand, and was confused by the burning sensation that greeted his efforts. His eyes were filled with dazzling colors and lights, but he couldn't put it together yet, even as he tugged his broken hand out from under the stone that fell on top of it and slowly staggered to his feet, or tried to. Quickly he ran into opposition, not just from the remains of the table, but also from the pulped body of the girl he had been talking to, whose vital fluids were currently staining his expensive clothes. 'Guess I won't be getting that blowjob after all,' is his sole thought as he pushes the corpse aside and manages to find his feet. Or one of them, at least.

He tried to stand, and fell against a chunk of fallen masonry. He looked down at his right foot, and even through his fuzzy vision he could see it was facing completely the wrong way. He licked his lips and put his hand on the table's remains, ignoring the pain that shot through him and wondering what the coppery taste on his tongue was, not knowing that his good looks were now spoiled by a large scrape across his cheek, the blood trickling down his face in a rivulet.

Not knowing what had happened, and not knowing what was going on; not sure who he even was, Dylan began to laugh, high-pitched and shrieking in its madness, his eyes as wild from the outside as the world looked from inside.

"start we need some kind of tools to help make our way into there ,we all so need bigger guns so the armory is one of our goals ,while we help those we can" answer Fall as he find the flask from Hawk

"right now i hoping we have time to do that but i got the feeling there unwelcame guest here areadly so itg going to get hard" Fall add
"Lead the way...cuz I sure don't know any military stuff," Marcus replied. He looked off into the distance, hearing small popping sounds. "Gunshots...and I think they're getting closer..." he held his pistol at the ready.

Moving through the flames, Charles found himself glad the that roof was, in fact, missing. If it had not been, he would have likely choked about half way to the voice he recognized so clearly, though without that particular tone.

A tone he realized he never wanted to hear again.

Despite the pain, despite everything that cried out for him to turn back, he gritted his teeth and moved towards the voice. Eden’s voice. Pain, fear, loneliness, echoing above the crackle of the flame, and then, above staccato, deeper throated barks that four years in Perimeter Defense had taught him to recognize.

Gunfire. Automatic weapons. Battle rifles. After four years of handling weapons he would have had to be in the military to even get near at home, he could clearly identify the signature three round burst of what for some reason was known as the 7.62x51 NATO.

Citizens here would not have gotten guns out, not unless there was a reason. And, unless he had been out of it longer than he thought… they would not have had time.

Which meant… he had paid attention in history, honest. Eden sitting next to him had not distracted him at all. Ever. Of course not. But he knew there was a traditional enemy that Perimeter Defense had short wars with once a decade or so. And that it had been a while.

Great, just my luck. Another two months and Eden and I would’ve been back in Tartarus.

Distracted, he tripped. Hands out, he tried to catch himself, and then screamed as he felt his right hand hit the ground, jamming the plastic shard in further. His vision tunneled down, and he fought it back. “I have to find Eden. Get up, Charles. Get up.” His gaze shifted to his right hand before he moved though, and then he lost it.

Everything he had eaten in the past two years came right back up. The pain had not done it – he ran track and field and swam. He was no stranger to pain, having hurt himself in just about all the myriad of ways that it was possible to do so while involved in those sports. It was the fact that his right hand, the one with pain shooting through it, was buried in someone’s burned out stomach.

His hand was through them, inside them, and while their outside had been burned to a crisp, he could still feel the insides, wet, slimy, juicy, all over his fingers and hand and seeping into his injury…

Yanking his hand free, Charles looked up and saw madness. Dylan’s empty eyes were looking back at him as the boy laughed. Swallowing the bile that threatened to rise up again as he saw the ambassador’s son’s foot, he shook his head to clear it, immediately realizing that it was the wrong move as pain screamed through him, almost debilitatingly.

But the pain brought focus, purpose back. He could still hear Eden distantly calling for him. “Dylan!” he yelled, trying to break through the boy’s laughter. “Dylan!” Three limbed, he crawled across the floor to him, cradling his right hand to his chest. “Dylan, I need your help,” he said as he knelt, reaching out to shake the boy’s shoulder. “I need you to help me save Eden.” Maybe the offer to play the hero for the girl would get his attention, maybe it would not, but either way, no matter how much Charles disliked someone, he would not leave them to die in Hell.

A moment passed, and Charles struggled to loop Dylan’s arm across his shoulders, and then, holding tight to support the weight that Dylan could not, stand up. “Come on, let’s get Eden,” he said.

It only took a few more moments to close the distance to the stage, where he had heard Eden’s voice, as he heard James’ announcement. He spotted the boy with the megaphone just before he spotted Eden, but his first thoughts were still of his girl. “Eden,” he cried out, relieved to see her on her feet. It meant he would not have to come back for Dylan.

Despite Dylan’s almost intimately close presence, Charles carefully put his other arm around Eden and kissed her forehead. “Shit,” he said mildly, not even sure why, but it felt appropriate the moment he said it, and he took a deep breath, ignoring the lug of a soccer player hanging across his shoulders. “We need to get out of here,” he continued. “James!” he called to the figure up on the stage, pulling Eden closer to him as he did so, “we need to find everyone who’s still alive and get them out. Forget the guns right now!”

People would need help. That was the most important thing. They had to get some basic medical supplies, maybe from the school nurse’s office, and get to university student health, or maybe even the university hospital. Then they could get out, away from here, away from the fighting.

If they could. Assuming it was still there. Assuming there was anywhere to go. Oddly enough, it was the first time Charles considered that there might have been more explosions. Odder still, it rang in the back of his mind that he might have considered that sooner, given the increasing volume of what he was sure was gunfire outside. Someone must have survived and been armed.

The voice was getting louder - she must've been close now. "Scarlett!" Sarah called out to the room. "It's Sarah, I'm right here!" She looked around wildly. "Where are you?"

Gunfire began to blossom visually and aurally in the distance. All weapons were either in lockers or the armory; few people carried anything substantial by their sides.

Clearing the burning debris, James Yorkfield yelled into his headset. "PromSec, switch to live ammo!" It was clear that whoever was coming had the intent to kill. "Frag-12 and slugs!"

Someone had called to him. "Waterstone!" he called back. "Have you seen the outside? It's all hellfires out there, and whoever did this is on their way! The armory is safe, but more importantly, we need to fight back now. There's first aid in the armory and some supplies." He looked around at some of the more badly wounded, before he dropped the comm and made his way through to the gym lockers.

The doors! he thought. Power's out. He made a stopover by the janitor's closet and hoisted out a generator on a cart, dragging it as he made his way to the armory's steel doors, which would therefore have been unpowered.

2218 Hibernia Standard Time
14 February
The Mall, Outside the Gymnasium

In the command tent, the radio crackled to life, and the Captain commanding the company of paratroopers already on the Mall bent closer to listen to the slightly static distorted Finnish coming through it. “We have movement outside the big armory structure. I think they’re moving towards the tanks.”

His brow creased in thought. There was no armory adjacent to the drop zone. Mostly shops, and the university high school. “What building are you near, Sergeant?” he answered, keying the microphone.

“The large square one, looks like it was hit by a missile.”

The creased brow turned into a frown. He knew the attack plan, but the aircraft had been ordered to strike targets of opportunity. There was nothing near the Mall except the gymnasium of the school that fit that description. But tanks? That was strange even for Perimeter Defense. “Intercept with extreme prejudice, Sergeant. We can’t let even students into those tanks here, especially not with one of our LAVs knocked out.”

“One appears damaged, sir. Private Jenkins says he can drive a tank, though. Should we attempt to capture the other one? They appear unmanned. Lotta dead uniforms, though.”

There was a reason he was an officer. But he had not become a Captain by ignoring his sergeants when he was a lieutenant. “Do it. Take no chances. Take it out if you can’t capture.”

Apparently forgetting the microphone was on, the sergeants orders came through loud and clear. “Advance by leapfrog to the tank.”

“I got movement!” came a different voice, followed by the volley of gunshots, engaging the skulking forms moving around outside the gym building. Another sound, like a voice, but the Captain could not make it out.

“What was that, Sergeant?” he questioned, calmly.

“Voice from inside the armory. Sounded distorted, PA system or something. Ordering people to get their weapons from the armory.”

The Captain frowned. It was unlikely, but Perimeter Defense did train their students in combat. Perhaps that was a firing range instead of a gymnasium. Either way… “I’m rerouting your second squad, and the first section your way. Get in that building. Take no prisoners, but absolutely don’t let them get armed. We need this area subdued before the rest of the Battalion arrives.”

“Aye aye, sir. Out.”

Dudley is now in the hallway. Where is he going? Why? Something screams in his head as he hobbles forward with his makeshift cane. His hands and feet feel tingly. He's not exactly sure why.

Get out. He has to get out. That's what the screaming is saying. He turns it over in his head. Something has happened and he has to get out. Makes as much sense as anything else. He looks around for a door. There are some people actually moving now, but they're blurred, like ghosts. Everyone's so excited. Somewhere in his brain it registers that they're probably trying to get out too. An instinct not at all natural makes him raise his camera and take some pictures. This'll be history someday.

There are popping noises. Somehow, Dudley's not surprised by this. It's only to be expected, and over everything else how should he be concerned with pooping?

[PROM NIGHT, BAD SHIT JUST HAPPENED]


The first sign for Miri that anything had gone amiss were the deep bass tones marking the detonation of fuel-air explosives, coupled with the rattling of buildings. Miri blanched; growing up in earthquake-prone Aralonia had led her to initially believe that a quake was in the initial stages of growth. [i]_Wait, that ca- Rumbling caused by aircraft, followed by more shaking and more explosions quickly cut that thought, as Miri searched for something safe to hide under or in. _This cannot be goo- Her thoughts were cut short again as bullets impacted and penetrated the ceiling, landing in the lockers to her right, sending spall everywhere. As she hid her face to hide it from flying debris, several nearby explosions shook her hallway hard, blasting the door out, knocking it to the floor on a trajectory that took it a hair's-distance away from Miri's arm. Said explosion forced Miri backwards away from the door due to pressure escaping the gym, right into the unlucky path of a boatload of falling plaster, as well as allowing her head to slam into a locker. "MOTHERFUCKING BITCH ASS DAMN," she would have screamed, if she had the lung capacity to at the moment; some heavy object (possibly the blunt end of a locker side) impacted her chest after being flung through the air, knocking the wind out of her. She wheezed, inhaling dust, and promptly coughed out, hard. Her incessant coughing continued through her disjointed thoughts.

_What the hell just happened?_

_Was it an explosion? Terrorism? Military action?_

_Natural disaster? Where is everybody?_

_Mom, Dad, are you okay?_

Her strained breathing continued.

_Everything's so weirdly coloured..._

_Do I smell fires?_

_Is anybody close?_

_Burning bread?_

_Where is everybody? My... friends..._

_Where is everybody?_

_Where is everybody?_

"Where is everybody?!" Finally forcing out an expulsion of air, she breathed heavily, covering her mouth with her jacket. She looked into the gymnasium, doors blown clear off; she could see anything that wasn't being obscured by falling particles, lit by moonlight. Her eyes slid wide open and her breathing got more intense; her vision swam in and out of proper existence.

_Marie... Marie..._

The world around her began to spin, slowly but surely.

_You can't fall yet. There's still a long way to go._

_...This video game style voicing is a totally lame ripoff._

_But you see, without it, you can't get up, can you, Marie?_

_...There has got to be a better way, come on._

She closed her eyes and sighed.

_You're right, though. Everyone's getting hurt._

She opened her eyes and stood up, brushing dirt off her clothes. Gunshots rang out as she looked around. She heard the voice of Elly, sobbing quietly nearby. Miri walked over and put an arm on Elly's shoulder, eventually turning it into a half hug. "We've been given a chance to survive. Let's make the best of it, shall we?" More gunshots punctuated her sentences. "We need to move, anyways. Fight back and do... something." She sighed. "Let's just rest up a bit, now..." She slumped alongside Elly and Natti, and sighed again. "There's a lot of work to do."

She looked up for a second as she saw Dudley stumble towards them. "Hey, you. Got any ideas for anything? It's good to see another familiar face..."

The Gym
With Steph essentially out of the way, sent on a fools errand towards a building that was probably already gone, of whatever was to come Lewis looked around the gym.
Shit He thought. I'm rediculously undertrained for this. Shoot? sure. manuver? hell yah. find cover? no problem. But lead? and lead in these conditions? I'm in no way qualified for this.

He looked around, hoping for someone in control and had regained just enough hearing to grasp the general idea that he should be picking up weapons in the armoury.

Ok fine. Thought Hawk i guess I can gear up then try to help out. From the situation it seems like medevac's gonna be a while in comming. Anyone who doesn't survive until I can get back in five with a medkit won't survive anyway.

He moved through the gym and into the locker room. At the far end of the room some guy was apparently working on a piece of equipment attached to a door.

Generator? Thought Lewis whatever, maybe he can get me access to my backup gear. My bet is the primary stuffs all essentially gone.

"hey man!" He practically yelled comming close to the . . .mechanic?
Aw hell he thought looks like my hearings still iffy as he noticed the tinny tone to his own voice and relaized he must have been yelling.

Quieting down some he continued, "anyway I can help speed this up? I get the feeling we're gonna need those weapons real soon."

Steph
She walked, mostly dazed, down corridors filled with rubble and people. Practically everyone was dead and she noticed every single one of them in a sort of trance like pain. She was well and truely into full on shock moving soely on autopilot as her mind screamed against the nightmarish scene all around. Soon, though, she ran up against a wall both figguratively and litterally. The wall, consisted of a massive pile of rubble where the entrance to the dorm used to be.
what do i do? what do I do? what . . . She could almost physically feel control slipping away from her as she could go no farther. She simply stood in front of the wall for a second or two staring and trying to figgure out exactly what she was gonna do. ok. keep it simple. Go back, find hawk, go from there. within minutes she was using that as a mantra.
"Go back, find hawk, go from there."
"Go back, find hawk, go from there."
"Go back, find hawk, go from there."
She chanted below her breath as she moved numbly back towards the gym. As she walked she stumbled into a guy carrying a camera.
"the hell?" She asked, breaking mantra for a second "Dudley?"
He looked, frankly, like shit.
then she noticed the other girls as well, but that nearly took her out of her trance state cause in noticing them she also noticed that there were multiple bodys and bodyparts strewn across the floor and walls. Attempting to hold back both the urge to scream and the urge to vomit she focused on simply breathing through her mouth as she waited for a response.

"Lead the way...cuz I sure don't know any military stuff," Marcus replied. He looked off into the distance, hearing small popping sounds. "Gunshots...and I think they're getting closer..." he held his pistol at the ready.

"Marcus i'll make it clear it not going to be easy making our way through the Rear of the gym as it was when we left by the rear doors" Fall say while leading the Marcus in prone running form towards what was left of the rear of the gym

"now take it easy when moving things, check it not holding something up" Fall added when they were at the Rear doorway of the gym as they now enter the burning building

Natti hugged right back, stroking Elly’s hair softly for a moment, looking up with some relief as Mirri joined them. They were calling for people to go get guns, but that didn’t seem right for some reason. People were hurt. Lots of people were hurt. And dead, but she didn’t want to think too hard about that.

It wasn’t how things were supposed to be – that thought kept running through her head louder than anything else. These things did not happen. Not to her. Not to people she knew. Death was something to write bad poetry about and watch all faked out in movies and joked about over coffee and cigarettes. Not experienced. Not witnessed. Not forced into the middle of.

Dudley. Dudley? Is that him?

She looked over to check, and what she saw again, didn’t seem to make sense. He looked like hell. He looked hurt. He didn’t look quite ‘right’ all that aside. The only thing that looked normal about him was he was taking pictures. But that just increased the sense of wrongness about the whole situation.

“Shh, Mirri. El, you going to be ok? Are either of you hurt?”

That seemed right. People were hurt. She hurt. Not horribly, but points along her lower back and legs stung along with a warm wetness. Nothing worth getting freaked over, right? There was worse. There was lots worse, and people needed help. People needed help from other people who could help. Right. That’s what she should be doing. Helping.

Dudley looked hurt. She should be helping.

“We gotta help,” she said simply, struggling to her feet, feeling oddly numb. “Dudley … Duds, you need some help?”

Others were moving in the gym, she could see. And there had been the voices shouting orders and such. It couldn’t be everyone. Not everyone. Not yet. Maybe with some luck, it wouldn’t have to be everyone.

"Marcus i'll make it clear it not going to be easy making our way through the Rear of the gym as it was when we left by the rear doors" Fall say while leading the Marcus in prone running form towards what was left of the rear of the gym

"now take it easy when moving things, check it not holding something up" Fall added when they were at the Rear doorway of the gym as they now enter the burning building
"I understand, comrade," Marcus said. A sudden thought occurred to him, and he reached into his jacket. He pulled out his iPhone, the screen black and cracked. "Vehrdamnt..." Throwing it away, he checked the masonry he was next to. Assured that it was intact, he tentatively stepped in.

"It's safe, I think," he told Fall, moving slowly into the gym. He searched; it was hard to find anything in the darkness...

"Marcus stop or you will step on someone" Fall said as he moved pass him and kneeled down next to a boy who was in alot of pain and bleeding to death

"nothing we can do for him Marcus ,beside me ending the pain and suffering he going through" Fall said in Russian as he pushed his greatcoat aside to show his combat knife on his bet before taking it off

"i you don't want to watch look away" Fall added then wait to for a answer

"Marcus stop or you will step on someone" Fall said as he moved pass him and kneeled down next to a boy who was in alot of pain and bleeding to death

"nothing we can do for him Marcus ,beside me ending the pain and suffering he going through" Fall said in Russian as he pushed his greatcoat aside to show his combat knife on his bet before taking it off

"i you don't want to watch look away" Fall added then wait to for a answer
"Don't," Marcus said, bracing his hand to stop Fall's. "I won't let you do that..."

"Don't," Marcus said, bracing his hand to stop Fall's. "I won't let you do that..."

"kid time that you grow up,or end up dead when you get in the middle of the shooting that going to happen" Fall say while turning to look at him

"you move him you kill him,you take that part of the roof that in him you kill him" Fall say as he turn to look back towards the door after hearing someone yell No followed by a gun shot


"make your mind up fast on what you are doing as i don't think they taking prisoners " Fall added

"kid time that you grow up,or end up dead when you get in the middle of the shooting that going to happen" Fall say while turning to look at him

"you move him you kill him,you take that part of the roof that in him you kill him" Fall say as he turn to look back towards the door after hearing someone yell No followed by a gun shot


"make your mind up fast on what you are doing as i don't think they taking prisoners " Fall added
"I don't care, you won't kill him," Marcus said forcefully, raising his pistol in the direction of the gunshot.

"I don't care, you won't kill him," Marcus said forcefully, raising his pistol in the direction of the gunshot.

"who the hell are those son of the bitches out there" Fall said as the boy head rolled over

"kid get moving we really need to get to that armory and any one else that standing and can fight or none of us are going to be alive by nights end"Fall say as he go up and start moving deeper into the gym not waiting for Marcus to answer him

"who the hell are those son of the bitchies out there" Fall said as the boy head rolled over

"kid get moving we really need to get to that armory and any one else that standing and can fight or none of us are going to be alive by nights end"Fall say as he go up and start moving deeping into the gym not waiting for Marcus to answer him
"Right," Marcus answered, moving carefully further inside. He watched his step, but also looked back, listening for more gunshots or signs of approaching danger.

Elly finally looked up, her crying slowing. Her eyes were red, her soot-covered face stained with her tears, and tiny crimson spots. Her nose was bleeding, too, but she didn't seem to care. She wiped her face with the back of her sleeve, her wide eyes meeting Natti's.

"Thank... thank the gods..." she stammered, and glanced around to see Miri and a limping Dudley. "We... we have to get Scarlett... we have to find her and get out of here!"

Wincing in a little bit of pain, she pushed herself up to her feet. She was a bit unsteady, but found her balance quickly enough. "Gotta find her... gotta get out..." she mumbled, holding on to Natti's arm as she turned to start searching the gym.

---

Scarlett wobbled as she looked around, and saw people moving around. She couldn't make anyone out clearly, but she saw a group of people against the far wall, and dimly remembered that there were doors there. She started to slowly limp her way over there, when she bumbled right into another survivor.

"Gaah... Who's that..." she blinked, not immediately recognizing her. "Hey... Sarah, right? Yeah... come on... let's get out of here. I... I think the dance is over..."

For a moment, despite the Hell going on around her, Eden could see none of it as she found herself wrapped in Charles’ embrace. The kiss that he pressed to her forehead relieved her of the fear that she was on her own. Her body still shook, but she was beginning to feel more like the old Eden. She was not sure she wanted to leave the safety his body brought her, but she knew that staying there was not going to do any of them any good.

She took a careful step back, hoping that she did not stand on anything unpleasant and took a moment to look at Charles and his baggage, which she finally recognised as Dylan, far different from the confident cad she had been speaking to earlier in the evening.

“What’s happening?” She finally managed, fear echoing in her voice. “What hit us?” Her gaze wondered from her boyfriend’s face to the wreckage around her, causing her to have to fight the rising nausea that the scene caused. So much death. But worse was the sounds that reached her ears, the sound of pain and dying.

“We’re going to die!” She almost screamed, as she looked back at Charles. “We’re going die,” she repeated, her voice was soft now, almost impossible to hear over the sounds around her. “I can’t die. I have so much to do. Papa promised me a car when I got home.” She stopped, almost as if she a sudden resolve had come over her at the thought of being robbed of the gift. “We’ve got to get out of here!”

Finally she had the courage to look properly at Charles, and instantly spotted the blood and scratches that covered him. “You’re hurt,” she announced, as she traced her fingers lightly over his face.

Despite wanting to make him better, she knew here was not the place to do so. The fires were close and hot, and the air was thick with smoke and the stench of burning flesh. They had to get out and then she could deal with the blood that was seeping from Charles’ wounds.

She pushed the thought to the back of her head for later and was about to move, when she finally noticed the condition of the other injured party. “Dylan?” The expression on his face almost scared her. He looked like the living dead. He was alive and yet no one appeared to be inside the body.

“Dylan!” She shouted at him, trying to break through the wall that seemed to be keeping the life out of the soccer star. “Dylan!” There was nothing left for her to do. She had seen it in movies and she had nothing to lose in trying. She cast a glance at the swim and track star propping him up then she raised her hand and slapped the dazed boy across the cheek, as once more she called out his name.

"Que has happened В этом месте?" Dylan said after a moment, as his eyes regained some semblance of human thought and emotion. He swayed momentarily, but managed to regain his position against Charles. "Mademoiselle Eden, você вред?" In addition to the linguistic breakdown, his voice was stuttering, as if he found it difficult even to connect his thoughts to the mouth in the fashion he was, though he was utterly unaware. "Я помню взрыв, and..." He touched his cheek with his good hand. "Blood! Je saigne!"

"Scarlett!" Sarah cried out as she saw the dazed girl. "Oh, God, you're all right." She took her by the hand. "Come on, we've got to get the hell out of here. This place could go any minute. We should get to the armory."

“No time, Bernado. We have to get out of here,” Charles said, slightly frustrated, tightening his grip on the heavier boy. His eyes glanced around the room, and the fire-lit darkness of the room gleamed heavily on the grey of his eyes, echoing a haunting melody of the suffering they could hear throughout the room. His voice lost its confident tenor and he gulped visibly, and it was hardly clear if the tears from his eyes were from the smoke, the pain, the blood dripping into his eyes, or just what exactly. “We can’t do anything more in here except die with everyone else.”

Maybe we should. We shouldn’t’ve lived through this. What Hell is it that we survived? What did we do to deserve that?

He closed his eyes briefly, but that could hardly shut out what he knew around him, the sights were just as clear – the melting, burning flesh, the broken, shattered bodies, the blood and guts and brains spilled like a glass of juice after an all night party… And even shutting his eyes could not make him ignore the smells and the sounds, the sickening stench of roasting pork he knew was the deaths of his classmates, the whimpers and cries that weakened as oxygen and strength were stolen away…

Grey hardened into gunmetal as his eyes opened once more, and Charles curled the fingers of his right hand loosely around Eden’s wrist, to keep from pressing the splinter of plastic into either of them, all the while knowing she would be able to tell, to feel the sticky warmth of the blood, the slight scratch of the broken cup. “Can you lead us out of here?” he asked her, knowing he would have difficulty both carrying the soccer player’s weight and steering them through the disaster that continued to unfold around them.

Eden felt slightly frustrated that her efforts at bringing Dylan back to normal had in fact resulted in his talking gibberish, at least to her ears. She could understand about half of what he said. Letting out a sigh, she was relieved that he now appeared to actually exist behind his eyes, unlike before. They would have to work on him once they were in better conditions, now was not the time to fix people.

Startled out of her thoughts at Charles’ words, Eden jumped as she felt his hand touch her wrist. Her heart sank as she felt his blood dripping on her skin and the odd scratching sensation that seemed to be part of his hand. She once more pushed that to the back of her mind, listing it as another thing to look at once they had managed to get out of the gym.

“I think so,” she answered, trying hard to sound confident in her abilities. She knew her way around the gym, and could traverse it with her eyes closed. Normally the floor was clear of rubble and bodies, but she knew the layout. If she only had to concentrate on finding the clearest route for the three of them, she was sure she could do that without too much trouble. “Are you sure you can manage, Dylan?”

As she waited for his answer, she began on the journey that would take them to through the gym towards the part of the gym that seemed least affected by the explosion and one that did not take them outside to the awful sounds that seemed to be creeping in through the broken walls.

Right. Scarlett. Elly needed to find her sister. But what if … No, shouldn’t think that. Should she? Others were moving around. Dudley had made it this far on his own, and it was clear he was in bad shape. She could have made it too. Maybe Elly should stay with Dudley. She was pretty shook up, and if they found something bad …Where had she been? Over by the punch? Natti seemed to remember hearing her shriek about her hair as she’d thundered past what seemed like an eternity earlier.

“Mirri, could you look after Elly here, and see if you can get Dudley out? I’ll go look for Scarlett. I’m not hurt bad, and we need to help him too. You should get out the back, and I’ll meet you there. Is that ok with you guys?”

Her voice didn’t sound brave. It didn’t even sound convincing, she knew. She wasn’t even sure if it was the right thing to do or not, but it seemed better than to have Elly have to deal with the worst possible right then. And Dudley would be moving slow by the looks of it, and they had to get out one way or another, and they couldn’t leave him behind …

"Huh? Look after Dudley and Elly?" Miri looked between the two of her sudden charges, assaying the situation. _Dudley looks... alright, that's probably a broken leg. That looks miserable. Ouch. Logic dictates that we should try and straighten it out with... something. Of course, logic tends to dictate that prom night doesn't get... exploded, so logic can go lick my brother's foot. So, where to? The armory? That's probably the only safe place left. And what about Elly? So glad that we at least managed to change into something more proper for damage reasoning, whose idea was that again? Oh, damnit, it doesn't matter anymore. Scarlett. Right. That leaves one missing. So, what then? Let's do this on the fly._

"Out the back, to the armory. All the way downstairs. Okay; Elly, I'm going to need your help carrying Dudley--" Miri blanched for a second. _Ooh. Carrying._ She pulled her gloves out of her pockets and put them on as she continued, "Uh, where was I? Need your help carrying Dudley down the stairs and such and such so that we can possibly give him a hand. Maybe we can find him a wheelchair?" Miri turned to Dudley. "I honestly apologise if that sounds absolutely demeaning, but in the interest of mobility, well... yeah." She scratched her head. "Well, Elly, Dudley? Let's go?"

Elly shook herself a bit, and sniffled as she pulled herself up to her feet. Natti was going to go look for Scarlett. The analytical portion of her brain thought that was probably a good idea, since she might not like what she found... but the emotional part promptly kicked the other half and told her that if Scarlett was dead, she had to see it herself. It wouldn't be real, otherwise.

But before she could argue with the girl, she was gone, into the slowly growing inferno, and there was nothing she could do.

Miri caught her attention, though. She slowly looked around, taking in the situation. Yes... Dudley was hurt, and pretty bad, too. She stumbled over along with Miri, not saying anything, as they went to give him a hand.

"There's... there's an elevator, down the hall. I... I think that it goes to the basement..."

---

Scarlett embraced Sarah around the shoulder as they supported each other, and headed in the direction the other mobile students were fleeing. Her ankle and legs hurt like hell, but she was mostly able to walk on her own.

Someone, she wasn't sure who thanks to the smoke and their dark clothing, came out of the gloom pretty much right towards her. As she slowly focused, she could tell it was a girl, who seemed to be searching the dead.

"Hey... you..." she called, not sure if the pale girl was in shock, or if it was who she thought it might be, "Have you seen my sister? Same height as me, pointy ears? I need to find Elly..."

Dylan nodded. "Oc, I могу." He smiled at her a bit vaguely, his eyes fading for a moment before his consciousness returned again. "We should feuille." He leaned against Charles for a moment, plainly no happier about it than the other boy was.

It was grim going. She knew it would be, but again, tried to block out as much as she could while still looking for Scarlett, and any other survivors that could be assisted, or pointed in the right direction. She knew James was over somewhere working on things, she could see at least three others working their way through the gym. That was something.

Most, she couldn’t do anything about. And a good lot of those she wished she’d never seen. She felt an odd numbness take over the further in she went, more like an automaton following basic programming than human. Those few she came across that she could help, she tried to, pointing the way out for them while she continued on.

So many dead. So many …

And then a voice called out, and mentioned Elly. Natti peered through the smoke and made her way towards it, two figures coming into focus – one of them, the target of her search.

“Mia dolce Jesu,” she said shakily, pointing as she spoke towards where she’d just come. “Elly - through the doors, there. She’s ok. Worried about you. Need to get out. Need help? There’s others, going too.”

Charles sighed heavily in relief as Eden got them to the doors of the gym without any significant trouble. Dropping his grip on her wrist, he nodded for her to go ahead and leave through the doors that the overpressure had no doubt ripped open into the main school.

A ghost of a smile crossed his lips as he watched the flames reveal movement in that hallway. Not everyone was dead, it appeared. They were hardly the only survivors. Some company in Hell, then. I wonder what they think of the décor? He paused, seeming to bend under Dylan’s weight until one of the other male survivors, in the remains of cheap rental tuxedo, came and retrieved the soccer player. Retrieving something from under the other student’s jacket, he shook his head at the other boy’s questioning look, knowing instinctively that Eden had hardly moved beyond the door, despite not looking at her.

Soot streaks on his face created unnatural shadows as he stood in the doorway, watching the dark shapes move about the gym, slowly funneling towards the rear doors where the fire was the least intense. Even still, he could feel the heat of it on his skin, burning away who he had been, reflecting on the slow darkening of his eyes. ‘

Most of the people moving out of the carnage he did not recognize, and even the ones he did it took him a longer moment. Blood soaked and dirty was the best description he could come up with, even for the best looking ones. Most had obvious, though not serious, injuries.

Blood dripped down his face, adding its crimson to the black and orange that creased his visage, hardening at each passing moment that no one else emerged from the fire-lit darkness. He could hear the combat growing closer on the far side the gym, the gun shots clearly audible as such to most everyone, and more frequent.

When a minute had passed, the fires suddenly expanded inside the room, growing brighter, as if they had found a new source of fuel, and they likely had. Bodies would burn when dried out sufficiently…

Charles turned to face the students in the lobby-cum-hallway that stood outside the gym, and took in their bedraggled stated, even ignoring their injuries. They could clearly see what he had lifted from Dylan now, for in his left hand was Dylan’s lethal looking custom pistol. They were mostly in shock, or quiet, listening to the far away violence, when he spoke, raising his voice to the tone he took with his teams, learned from his coaches and instructors to command attention and compliance. Even still, he took a further step and moved out of the doorway, gently grasping Eden’s wrist once more, the flames turning him into naught but a black silhouette, but for where they reflected from the obvious weapon he held.

“We have to get out of here. There is obvious fighting behind us, so we’ll need to leave through the school.” He took a breath, steadying his thoughts. “University police will attempt to hold the hospital,” he had no way of knowing that, but it made sense, and he could not let them hear any doubt, “and we have significant injuries among us. If that it not an option, we should attempt to return to our families.” In Perimeter Defense, family units were taught to some extent to fight together in the militias, and their divided injuries would not overwhelm any one individual location. For the foreign students, it meant getting to a consulate and the Hell out of this disaster. “To do this, we’ll need to treat whatever we can to regain mobility, get equipped appropriately for a night of urban combat, and then armed up to defend ourselves against these motherfuckers,” his calmness slipped, “who have killed so many of our friends.”

Waterstone’s gunmetal gaze found itself examining the survivors, wondering what their realistic chances of getting out of this alive were. Better than they would have been at home. The Combat Readiness Program in place of basic physical education meant they all had some training to fall back on, if they could relax enough to let it kick in. “Ladies,” he said, chapped, bloody lips curving into a smile, “I’m afraid you’ll need lose the dresses.” It occurred to him a moment later what he had said, so he clarified, “Sweats or BDUs from the gym lockers. You’ll need to be able to move. Everyone also needs boots at least.”

With his borrowed gun in hand, he pointed unconsciously to the most healthy looking males. “You, you, you, and you, get down to the armory and help James. Load the elevator with at least,” he did a quick head count, “thirty guns. Mix them up. Not everyone can handle the larger ones. Body armor, knives, filled camelbaks, food, ammo. Send med kits up first.”

He stared into the crowd, wondering what it would take. “Now,” he said, then sagged against the doorframe, exhausted by his sudden moment of taking charge. Perhaps it was the blood loss, or shock, or even the throbbing pain.

Charles knew which explanation he preferred. Even still, he knew better than to drop the gun.

Not good …

He’d made perfect sense, or seemed to, but Charles’ stamina looked to be fading fast. And no wonder, the way he was bleeding.

Natti didn’t think so much as just act, untying the scarf from her neck, and walking over to Charles, helping him to a sitting position against the support of the doorframe.

She wiped some of the blood away gently to try and get a better look at the cut running along the right side of his head, then folded the soft scarf, and applied pressure there, guiding his uninjured hand up to help hold it in place, and laying the gun carefully at his side.

“Bleeding,” she said simply. “Eden, can you come keep some pressure on this? Need a kit …”

Casting around, she looked for someone, anyone coming up with the supplies Charles had asked for, knowing that anything further was going to need something more than non-sterile cloth, and not just for him. Dudley looked horrible from what little she’d seen. Dylan was bleeding and limping as well. Charles’ hand was … well, it couldn’t be good all bunched up with whatever it was around it. And they weren’t the only ones.

People needed help. And she needed to be doing something. Because not doing anything made her think all the harder about things she really didn’t want to think about just then, and even though the injuries were a stark reminder, they were better than the alternative of burning flesh and scattered organs and crushed skulls and …

“Need a med kit!” she said loudly, setting herself on the task of helping, and even more firmly trying to shut down all those other thoughts, in spite of the sounds and smells.

Charles sighed heavily in relief as Eden got them to the doors of the gym without any significant trouble. Dropping his grip on her wrist, he nodded for her to go ahead and leave through the doors that the overpressure had no doubt ripped open into the main school.

A ghost of a smile crossed his lips as he watched the flames reveal movement in that hallway. Not everyone was dead, it appeared. They were hardly the only survivors. Some company in Hell, then. I wonder what they think of the décor? He paused, seeming to bend under Dylan’s weight until one of the other male survivors, in the remains of cheap rental tuxedo, came and retrieved the soccer player. Retrieving something from under the other student’s jacket, he shook his head at the other boy’s questioning look, knowing instinctively that Eden had hardly moved beyond the door, despite not looking at her.

Soot streaks on his face created unnatural shadows as he stood in the doorway, watching the dark shapes move about the gym, slowly funneling towards the rear doors where the fire was the least intense. Even still, he could feel the heat of it on his skin, burning away who he had been, reflecting on the slow darkening of his eyes. ‘

Most of the people moving out of the carnage he did not recognize, and even the ones he did it took him a longer moment. Blood soaked and dirty was the best description he could come up with, even for the best looking ones. Most had obvious, though not serious, injuries.

Blood dripped down his face, adding its crimson to the black and orange that creased his visage, hardening at each passing moment that no one else emerged from the fire-lit darkness. He could hear the combat growing closer on the far side the gym, the gun shots clearly audible as such to most everyone, and more frequent.

When a minute had passed, the fires suddenly expanded inside the room, growing brighter, as if they had found a new source of fuel, and they likely had. Bodies would burn when dried out sufficiently…

Charles turned to face the students in the lobby-cum-hallway that stood outside the gym, and took in their bedraggled stated, even ignoring their injuries. They could clearly see what he had lifted from Dylan now, for in his left hand was Dylan’s lethal looking custom pistol. They were mostly in shock, or quiet, listening to the far away violence, when he spoke, raising his voice to the tone he took with his teams, learned from his coaches and instructors to command attention and compliance. Even still, he took a further step and moved out of the doorway, gently grasping Eden’s wrist once more, the flames turning him into naught but a black silhouette, but for where they reflected from the obvious weapon he held.

“We have to get out of here. There is obvious fighting behind us, so we’ll need to leave through the school.” He took a breath, steadying his thoughts. “University police will attempt to hold the hospital,” he had no way of knowing that, but it made sense, and he could not let them hear any doubt, “and we have significant injuries among us. If that it not an option, we should attempt to return to our families.” In Perimeter Defense, family units were taught to some extent to fight together in the militias, and their divided injuries would not overwhelm any one individual location. For the foreign students, it meant getting to a consulate and the Hell out of this disaster. “To do this, we’ll need to treat whatever we can to regain mobility, get equipped appropriately for a night of urban combat, and then armed up to defend ourselves against these motherfuckers,” his calmness slipped, “who have killed so many of our friends.”

Waterstone’s gunmetal gaze found itself examining the survivors, wondering what their realistic chances of getting out of this alive were. Better than they would have been at home. The Combat Readiness Program in place of basic physical education meant they all had some training to fall back on, if they could relax enough to let it kick in. “Ladies,” he said, chapped, bloody lips curving into a smile, “I’m afraid you’ll need lose the dresses.” It occurred to him a moment later what he had said, so he clarified, “Sweats or BDUs from the gym lockers. You’ll need to be able to move. Everyone also needs boots at least.”

With his borrowed gun in hand, he pointed unconsciously to the most healthy looking males. “You, you, you, and you, get down to the armory and help James. Load the elevator with at least,” he did a quick head count, “thirty guns. Mix them up. Not everyone can handle the larger ones. Body armor, knives, filled camelbaks, food, ammo. Send med kits up first.”

He stared into the crowd, wondering what it would take. “Now,” he said, then sagged against the doorframe, exhausted by his sudden moment of taking charge. Perhaps it was the blood loss, or shock, or even the throbbing pain.

Charles knew which explanation he preferred. Even still, he knew better than to drop the gun.
Marcus wasn't sure how he'd gotten mixed into the group, but he nodded at the suggestion to load up weapons and hurried off. He found a hip holster for his pistol and some clips to go with it, picking up a FAMAS G2 for his own use before picking up several other rifles. He selected a pair of G2's like his own and a more classic M4, heading to the elevator. Putting the guns near it, he rushed over to pick up more supplies.

"Bolzhe moi..." he muttered to himself, lifting several medkits.

So much excitement and motion and yet so ghostly. It's like he's the only thing that's real, and everything else is a ghost... or maybe it's the other way around. Something's screaming in his head, getting a bit hoarse by now, and in the disassociation between his perception and his higher mental functions it's all getting lost in the translation. At least there's people he recognizes, now, or at least macabre Halloween moulage versions of them. There's crying and hasty speech and some blood.

Moulage.

Dudley turns it around in his head.

The phrase "need your help carrying Dudley" filters through the cotton somehow.

Why would he need help walking? His leg just hurts is all, and it's probably best to stay off it. He looks down. The oozing's stopped. Stitches would've been preferable, but in the absence of that staying off it will do. He tries speaking. It's like his mouth is filled with cotton soaked with Novocaine. He's surprised how soundless he sounds, and tries harder the second time. "I don't need to be carried. It's just a cut."

That's not really true. "A bad cut. Stitches."

Not a moulage wound. He runs that word through his brain, again, and the shouting becomes triumphant. He's dealt with those before, as a scout and as a cadet; the idea is to prevent going into shock or panic when seeing such things. Prevent going into shock or panic.

Dudley stares with disturbing intensity, eyes tightening a bit as if it's a photograph he's inspecting for hidden clues or tiny flaws, at Elly's cuts and blood. Prevent going into shock or panic. Am I panicking? A pause to check... no. No, no I am not panicking. Am I in shock?

Shock. Psychological shock. Dudley compares the everything so soft and yet gently scratchy feel to what usually passes for reality in his head. Comfortably numb, really. Emphasis on the comfortable. It's odd, but he's managing. "I'm in shock," he states the obvious. Did the wounds put him into shock? He thinks hard. No, they didn't. He's been in shock all the time. "Okay."

Dudley nods to himself and thinks through a sea of thick porridge with nothing but a rowboat. "I am in psych shock and my leg has a deep muscle cut in it. It's not life-threatening but it hurts a lot and needs stitches before it should take weight." His voice is very quiet but steady, with an unusual force behind it as his conscious mind realizes the dirty trick that's been played on it. "I know the situation is bad but I do not feel it to be so. I know there's lots of fire and lots of dead. Tell me, slowly, what's going on."

He hears more pops in the background. He recognizes the pops more from their pattern than from their sound. Dudley concentrates. "Okay, there is shooting. Forget telling me. Tell me, slowly, what the plan is."

As Dudley starts tearing down the wall his mind has thrown up to protect itself, he starts realizing that he feels very cold now away from the fire, his hands are numb from hyperventilation, his heart is attempting to power a blue whale, and his gastrointestinal tract is committing wholesale rebellion, which only makes it a good thing that he ate lightly all day. He realizes that his brain is in an entirely different place because otherwise it would be panicking, and he starts to feel the anxiety creeping in. It's a warm drought that unfreezes his skull. His penchant for metaphor is returning.

The situation is out of control, he thinks. He doesn't like it. But there's still something we can do. That'll have to do well enough.

He starts to feel his body panicking, shaking quite a bit. He ponders leaving enough of the wall up to keep his brain clear, then muses that it doesn't really work that way. Probably.

Dudley quietly feels a momentary remorse and decides that he felt better being comfortably numb.

Hawk looked up as a group of relatively healthy (very relative) looking males enterred the Arms locker. Sweet he thought to himself as he watched the group fan out and begin to grab qequippment, medical supplies and other acessories. Looks like someone up there finally got organized. That was faster than I thought.

Hawk had been in the middle of Gearing up and had just finished doning combat armor. As the Groupd moved arround grabbing weapons and equipment, Hawk finnished gearing up. He holstered a Meu(soc) pistol in a leg holster and then grabbed his HK 417, that he had storred in the arms locked, and slung it across his shoulder opposite the Pack that was holding food, ammo, a camelback and some other sundries. As he slung the rifle, he noticed that the group was leaving and hurried to catch up grabbing a pair of med kits and and what turned out to be 3 FN P90 sets.

"well hell," He said to the student moving next to him towards the elevator. "Is someone actually organizing up there?."

Hawk looked up as a group of relatively healthy (very relative) looking males enterred the Arms locker. Sweet he thought to himself as he watched the group fan out and begin to grab qequippment, medical supplies and other acessories. Looks like someone up there finally got organized. That was faster than I thought.

Hawk had been in the middle of Gearing up and had just finished doning combat armor. As the Groupd moved arround grabbing weapons and equipment, Hawk finnished gearing up. He holstered a Meu(soc) pistol in a leg holster and then grabbed his HK 417, that he had storred in the arms locked, and slung it across his shoulder opposite the Pack that was holding food, ammo, a camelback and some other sundries. As he slung the rifle, he noticed that the group was leaving and hurried to catch up grabbing a pair of med kits and and what turned out to be 3 FN P90 sets.

"well hell," He said to the student moving next to him towards the elevator. "Is someone actually organizing up there?."
"I think his name's Charles," Marcus answered, lugging a pair of medkits to the elevator. "I'm not really sure what to do, so I'm basically just following along," he chuckled weakly. The bandage over his eye slipped, revealing a bit of the cut on his brow. He shuffled to adjust it before hurrying along again. "Do you have an idea of who's attacking and why?"

Relief hit Eden as she led Charles and Dylan out of the gym and into the corridor. Despite the traces of Hell that had beat them there, the faces of living, breathing people made everything seem more real. She had walked out of the inferno and now was looking at the milling people as they tried to gain some semblance of what was happening.

Her own mind wandered for a moment, as she waiting for Charles to follow her through the door. Her hand limped at her side when he had let go of her, and yet she could still feel the safety of his fingers on her skin. The heat of his blood where it had dripped on her was bringing her and odd sort of comfort.

The change in air caused her to cough, raking her chest, but she did not have time to think of that now. She could deal with herself once Charles and Dylan were patched up. Both appeared to be in a bad way.

Charles’ voice brought her out of her thoughts and she moved to his side as he slumped against the door. But she was beaten to aiding him by Natti, of all people. As the Goth began working on his head, Eden followed her instructions, putting the desired pressure on his wound.

“Hey! You!” She screamed at a student as he passed carrying some medical supplies, the effort causing her to wince slightly. “Are you deaf? Natti needs a med kit here.” Cheerleading had given her a clear voice and made it easy for her to give orders, without worrying about upsetting people. Her social standing also worked well in her ability to get her own way. “And Dylan will need something too. Over there!” She pointed then rolled her eyes and tutted at the slowness of the response.

Then she looked at Natti and smiled at her, probably for the first time ever. Eden was a little lost for things to say to one of the weird kids. Still, Natti might be weird, but she seemed to know what to do in a medical crisis, which was more than Eden could say for herself. Patching up members of the squad was one thing, but full scale injuries were not her forte. Her thoughts of being a doctor had been quashed the day her brother broke his arm falling out of a tree, and she had almost lost her breakfast as she stared at the bone that stuck out through the skin.

“Charles, you are going to be fine,” she said, not totally convinced as she looked at him. “I’m going to help the girls get out of their dresses and into something more suitable. “Unless either of you need me for something else?” Her eyes flicked between both Charles and Natti as she asked the question.

"I think his name's Charles," Marcus answered, lugging a pair of medkits to the elevator. "I'm not really sure what to do, so I'm basically just following along," he chuckled weakly. The bandage over his eye slipped, revealing a bit of the cut on his brow. He shuffled to adjust it before hurrying along again. "Do you have an idea of who's attacking and why?"

"Hehehe" Hawk replied darkly. " I wish. This was a complete shock, and not a particularily happy one either. The thing thats really bugging me is that I didn't get any kind of a heads-up. My nations usually better than this at getting intel on large troop movements."

As the two of them reached the elevator along with the the rest of the group hawk tossed one of the med kits and the p90 kits into the elevator. Turning towards marcus he glanced at the bandage over the guy's eye. Hawk got into the elevator alongside the other students fighters now I guess he thought.

"Hey," he said. "do you want me to take a look at that cut? I've got some basic med training."

Relief hit Eden as she led Charles and Dylan out of the gym and into the corridor. Despite the traces of Hell that had beat them there, the faces of living, breathing people made everything seem more real. She had walked out of the inferno and now was looking at the milling people as they tried to gain some semblance of what was happening.

Her own mind wandered for a moment, as she waiting for Charles to follow her through the door. Her hand limped at her side when he had let go of her, and yet she could still feel the safety of his fingers on her skin. The heat of his blood where it had dripped on her was bringing her and odd sort of comfort.

The change in air caused her to cough, raking her chest, but she did not have time to think of that now. She could deal with herself once Charles and Dylan were patched up. Both appeared to be in a bad way.

Charles’ voice brought her out of her thoughts and she moved to his side as he slumped against the door. But she was beaten to aiding him by Natti, of all people. As the Goth began working on his head, Eden followed her instructions, putting the desired pressure on his wound.

“Hey! You!” She screamed at a student as he passed carrying some medical supplies, the effort causing her to wince slightly. “Are you deaf? Natti needs a med kit here.” Cheerleading had given her a clear voice and made it easy for her to give orders, without worrying about upsetting people. Her social standing also worked well in her ability to get her own way. “And Dylan will need something too. Over there!” She pointed then rolled her eyes and tutted at the slowness of the response.

Then she looked at Natti and smiled at her, probably for the first time ever. Eden was a little lost for things to say to one of the weird kids. Still, Natti might be weird, but she seemed to know what to do in a medical crisis, which was more than Eden could say for herself. Patching up members of the squad was one thing, but full scale injuries were not her forte. Her thoughts of being a doctor had been quashed the day her brother broke his arm falling out of a tree, and she had almost lost her breakfast as she stared at the bone that stuck out through the skin.

“Charles, you are going to be fine,” she said, not totally convinced as she looked at him. “I’m going to help the girls get out of their dresses and into something more suitable. “Unless either of you need me for something else?” Her eyes flicked between both Charles and Natti as she asked the question.
Marcus rushed over, dropping a medkit by the two.

"D-do you need another?" he asked, looking back to where the supplies were. "I think someone said something about camelbacks, but I'm not sure," he looked down at Natti and Charles, swallowing. His brother's had told them of some gruesome war injuries, but he'd thankfully never seen anything like that...until tonight, that is.

"Hehehe" Hawk replied darkly. " I wish. This was a complete shock, and not a particularily happy one either. The thing thats really bugging me is that I didn't get any kind of a heads-up. My nations usually better than this at getting intel on large troop movements."

As the two of them reached the elevator along with the the rest of the group hawk tossed one of the med kits and the p90 kits into the elevator. Turning towards marcus he glanced at the bandage over the guy's eye. Hawk got into the elevator alongside the other students fighters now I guess he thought.

"Hey," he said. "do you want me to take a look at that cut? I've got some basic med training."
ooc: suppose i said this before my last post

ic:

"Thanks," Marcus said, stopping for a bit to let Hawk look at it. "I'm Marcus, by the way..."

Fall now by himself due to Marcus and himself losing one another was making his way to the gym hallway door when he trips over

" Vith me it her" Fall said after getting up to see in the madness of the on going hell ,it was the cheerleader who had been waving and smiling at him before

"mm" the girl said as she try to get up

"you stay still" Fall said as he kneel next to look her over to find beside been number of cuts her and the there,they worst wound that she was losing blood to was a steel rod sticking out of her leg

"look i've got to carry you out of here " Fall said as he picked her up and carried her on his back as he made his way to the hallway as she passed out

ooc: sorry about that
ic:
"Hey, marcus" Replied hawk. "I'm Lewis, Lewis Hawk."
He removed the bandage and looked at the cut. Realizing it wasn't overly serious he applied a basic antiseptic thien put on a pair of butterfly bandages to prevent the cut from bleeding any further. He finished just as the elevator doors opened onto the gruesome floor of the gym once again. "There yah go-" he began then stopped as marcus moved to help the downed students. Following behind with a second medkit Hawk watched as Marcus knelt next to a male casuality. Movement caught his attention and he turned to see Fall carrying a female casuality who was clearly in bad shape.

"aw shit," He said, "Fall do you need a hand?"

"aw shit," He said, "Fall do you need a hand?"


"shit Hawk hell yes i need a medikit and you to hold her down" Fall answer while he laid the girl down on the floor using a bad that was laying to out her head onto

"shit she losing blood from the rod in her leg" Fall said as he hold onto the wound

"shit Hawk hell yes i need a medikit and you to hold her down" Fall answer while he laid the girl down on the floor using a bad that was laying to out her head onto

"shit she losing blood from the rod in her leg" Fall said as he hold onto the wound

Hawk dropped the medkit next to Fall and pulled a tourniquet out of it then knelt next to him. "I can tourniquet the leg if you can insert and IV and hang some plasma, less you know her blood type that is, and we can go from there. that work for you fall?" he asked

Hawk dropped the medkit next to Fall and pulled a tourniquet out of it then knelt next to him. "I can tourniquet the leg if you can insert and IV and hang some plasma, less you know her blood type that is, and we can go from there. that work for you fall?" he asked

"rod not in her leg deep like 4 to 5 cms but it done damge which where she must be losing blood from,fuck" answer Fall he looked up at Hawk

"just do it there fuck we can do ,only a er can fix that ,the cut we can fix" he add

"ok" Said Hawk. While he put the tourniquet onto the leg. Finishing that he turned to Fall. "alright, you get working on those cuts."

"ok" Said Hawk. While he put the tourniquet onto the leg. Finishing that he turned to Fall. "alright, you get working on those cuts."
"H-how can I help?" Marcus offered. He shifted on his feet. He looked over; Natti also needed help, but he didn't know if Eden had control of that, or if they needed him more here.

"ok" Said Hawk. While he put the tourniquet onto the leg. Finishing that he turned to Fall. "alright, you get working on those cuts."

"my mother teach me all the first aid i know when she was home and not busy bring a doctor,which most of the time" Fall said as started to work on the cuts as the girl moan in pain making fall stop to look and the wound that lay around them

"we'll run out of pain meds before the night end" Fall said as he rocked abit before pulling himself together

"hey keep a eye on Marcus for me Hawk,i'll be off my feet soon" Fall said as he put his hand inside his greatcoat

“Grazie…grazie…” Natti didn’t look up, muttering as she opened the kit anxiously, taking quick stock of its contents. PD was nothing if not thorough. “Charles, Dylan, Dudley, go from there, don’t think about it, just do it …”

“Dylan, Dudley, sit please – someone help ‘em. Thanks, Eden. When you get back let us know if you need anything too.”

She washed her hands with some of the water, then put on some gloves from the kit. She was sure she didn't sound as confident as she ought to, but there was nothing for it as she tried to answer Dudley as she worked.

“Dudley, we’re going to patch people up, and get out of here. That’s the plan.”

Water and some gauze were used to clean Charles' head a bit, then iodine was applied, and dabbed at to disinfect.

“Will be right there, just sit down if you can, and rest a moment.”

The cut looked icky, but it wasn’t deep. The cyanoacrylate binder from the kit was applied in the interest of time, allowed to dry a bit, then a bandage was applied over the top in case of leaks, and to help keep it clean.

She continued to talk quietly to herself then in her native tongue, the Italian phrases blurring together now and then due to how rapidly she was speaking. She next reached for his hand, and gently unwraps it, wincing as she looks at the shard of plastic that pierced it.

“Gotta get it out. Got some morphine in the kit. You ok with that, Charles?”

Dudley wobbles a bit on his makeshift cane as adrenaline makes his muscles oversensitive to the relatively limited control input they're receiving from his central nervous system. He hears Natti's politely-worded command, and examines it from every side until he's interrupted by her explanation, which he's grateful for since he asked for it. It's very tactical. Makes sense, especially considering how he doesn't know the greater situation anyway other than 'shots fired' and 'school exploded' which he knows he shouldn't delve too deeply into right now, somehow.

But sitting down... sitting down... no, the thought of that makes the screaming in his head start up again, and now it's not so muffled. "I'm more comfortable standing up," he says with determined meekness.

"Fair enough," replied Hawk as he turned to Marcus. "Honestly Marcus i'm really not too sure how much we can do with the stuff we have and it seems like there are plenty of people here with enough basic medical training to put on a bandage properly. How good are you with that G2 marcus 'cause if your decent then I'd suggest you and me go check out what the situation is exactly outside. The worst possible thing that could happen at this point would be the invaders to come on in here without any warning."
As he spoke, Hawk stood up and unslung the HK417. Flicking off the safety, he moved for the breech leading to the outdoors.

"only if we had M18A1s or other gear to set up traps or something to give us warings that they entering the building" Fall said as he finished up the girls wounds before resting with his back to the wall

"you didn't seen anything in the armory Hawk, that is usefu in that way?" he asked taking out the flask Hawk had given him

"only if we had M18A1s or other gear to set up traps or something to give us warings that they entering the building" Fall said as he finished up the girls wounds before resting with his back to the wall

"you didn't seen anything in the armory Hawk, that is usefu in that way?" he asked taking out the flask Hawk had given him

"Not that I saw." replied Hawk over his shoulder as he continued to head for the breech. Trying to get his game face on and still hopping Marcus would be joining him. "you should probably arm up though Fal."

“Whatever’s best,” Natti replies to Dudley, looking over at him, her brows furrowed, eyes looking a bit haunted all in all. “Hang in there, alright? Its gonna be okay.”

Already she was reaching for the multi-tool she knew she was going to need to get that shard out of Charles’ hand.

“Dylan – what hurts worst?”

Dylan didn't respond for a couple of minutes, still staring off into space. Then he turned to Natti and smiled blankly, his eyes strangely vacant. "Ah, mon friend, my wrist les blessures et fait si моя лодыжка. Что - нибудь это hurt much." Perhaps fortunately, he pointed to his limply hanging wrist and then down to his twisted ankle. Then his attention faded once more as he leaned against whatever he had been placed against.

“Okay, so he is not gonna be any help,” she murmurs, looking over at him curiously, and nodding as he gestures to his injured limbs. Obviously, not all he’d gone and hurt, given the speech and drifting, but some things could be fixed, and others … well, she had no idea what to do about that sort of thing.

Natti lets out a long, shuddering breath.

“Right. You,” she says, pointing to a pair of the students who don’t look like they’re doing all they can, while being relatively uninjured, having dropped off their retrieved loads.

“Dylan. He needs this ankle brace.” Here she uses the hand that isn’t gently holding Charles’ injured one to retrieve said brace from the kit, and toss it to one of the boys.

“Get to it. Not too tight, not too lose, capisce? And his wrist – needs wrapping. Same idea.” And she tosses a roll of elastic bandage to the other of the pair.

“Pronto. And be careful.”

Unfortunately, her voice doesn’t carry quite the authority of the words used, being a bit on the quavery side, and her expression falls quite short of your usual ‘kick ass and take names get ‘er done’ stereotype. She looks almost pleading as she speaks, which for any who knew her is completely out of place, and is more pale than usual – which was really saying something.

Amazingly enough, Charles had no visible reaction to Natti taking the gun from his hand and leaning him more upright against the wall. When she began to wash his face off, he gave himself a moment to relax and there was the slightest softening of his eyes as he glanced towards Eden. “I’m fine, Eden,” he said softly, tenderly, as his eyelids slammed shut into a grimace at Natti’s less than professional skill, belying his words.

He sighed, trying to push away the pain. “Go get ready, Eden. We have to get out of here.” He hissed again at the burning feeling of the adhesive binding his skin back together. “I’ll get you home,” he whispered, a promise no one knew if he would be able to keep. He forced a grin onto his face, and given the pain, the half washed appearance, and the blood still covering his skin, it was a rather macabre expression of death, particularly with the lack of warmth that normally filled his eyes for the cheerleader. “Get me a real gun while you’re gone,” he joked, “not this shiny piece of shit.”

After she moved away to gather up the other girls, Natti’s voice drew his attention from following his lover with his eyes. It took him a minute to process her question after listening to her rattling off fairly detailed instructions to the other students. “Morphine? No. I’ve got to stay awake. Just take it out.” Probably a stupid move, as it was going to hurt, but he was not doing it for bravado. Eden had moved away, and impressing Natti, or anyone else, was so far down his list of priorities at the moment that it could hardly be considered to matter.

But, as had been drilled into them over and over, their mind was the most important weapon on the battlefield, and Charles knew that is where these survivors of Hell would be before the night was through – fighting through the Abyss.

Good thing he was from Tartarus.

Miri stopped with Dudley and promptly took a step back. "Ahaha... sorry." She grinned and shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. Must be a bit demeaning, though I guess that doesn't matter...Anyways!" After taking a listen to Charles' speech of sorts, her mind began moving into total action.

_Weapons and armor, huh? Totally called it. This was definitely no accident- though I guess that's a bit obvious now?_ Miri mentally put a finger on her forehead. _How often does this happen here? Would there be any response against the aggressors from Tarina?_ She continued musing to herself as she ran to the elevator. "Weapons! Finally." She brushed past Marcus and Hawk and suddenly stopped at the threshold of the elevator. _Oh GOD. If this thing's cable snaps and I'm down there..._ Taking a glance to the side, however, she noted a staircase. _Well, that works, I guess. No need to worry... What the hell am I doing? Focus, Marie, focus! Anyways._ "Let's see what they got over here?" She glanced at the collection of guns stuffed in the elevator; mostly bullpups, it seemed, not really to her liking. "No. No. No. What is it with these things?" She sighed and kicked a few weapons around before coming to something interesting. "Elly might like this." She picked up a P90 and a few magazines and examined the two of them. "Huh. This is actually kinda nice." She shrugged. "Hey!"

Miri ran over to Elly, depositing the gun and its paraphernalia next to her. "Here's something you might like. I'm going to go downstairs myself and see if I can bring you guys anything you might need, on foot." She shrugged to herself. "Why use the elevator for small stuff? I dunno. I'll be back!" Waving a quick "see you later," she ran down the two flights of stairs into the basement.

Of course, one may note that Miri is attempting at best to cheerfully ignore as much of what's going on around her as possible. This isn't unintentional stupidity on her part; this is her method of coping. _What I can't see can't hurt me. Well, okay, it will, but... I'll deal with this later. Survival first. Gross imagery later. We need to do something._ She reached a landing to the first level basement, skipped 3 steps via a jump, and kept going down. _What to do? Think, Marie, think. Pick up guns. Fight our way somewhere. Fighting retreat. Okay, that makes sense. Where to? Minimise contact. Keep our heads down and out of sight._

She barged into the downstairs armory, full of weapons and other useful material. "Let's see. My gun, ammo, body armor, and med kits. Wheelchair? That's getting stupid, but... Only if there's room." She hit the elevator call button and started finding stuff that would be considered useful. "Body armor, more ammo, mags, medkits. Ding!" She turned around as the elevator door opened and started tossing material into the elevator, leaving it there until someone up top called for it. "Perfect! That's their stuff. Now for my stuff." She searched for a nice Kevlar body armor in her own size, to make sure that it had proper coverage, and scanned the room. "Let's see. Where's my gun?" She searched the room, occasionally coming across various random useful things-- "Oh, wow, a machete?" Offering the best O___o face she could muster, she found a place to mount it on her person, and kept moving. "Hmm... magnified red-dot scope. Alright, now I just need a gun-- perfect." In a corner rack was an HK416, shorter barrel variant, just asking to be picked up and loved. "Heeeere we go! Alright, now we're good to go on this." She grinned and attached the scope and hefted it, making sure it was not too much of a burden to handle. "Works for me. Now, ammo." That wasn't hard to find; she picked up five magazines and slipped them into various pockets on her body armor. "Do I want a pistol? Eh, if I lose my gun I'll just... find another, I guess." She turned around and stared at the armory. "I guess I better help hefting stuff back and forth." Miri searched the room again, this time for a duffel bag, and gently dumped a large pile of battle rations into it.

"Anything else I need down here? I guess I can start ferrying these myself..." She shrugged, hefted her rifle over one shoulder, picked up the duffel bag in two hands, and started marching up the stairs. _I like stairs. They let me think. Anyways, let's see. Out of sight, minimise contact. Where to? That's the thing, isn't it? We have no idea where to go. Where would the standing army most likely enter the town? Does the enemy know where that is? We need information. Who has communications devices?_ She arrived at the B1 landing, and looked at the locker room doors. _I still want a wheelchair._ She shrugged and continued marching. _So, communications. Wait, cell phones are probably dead. We need emit/receive devices. Mostly receive. Maybe they can X-Gerat our communications, I dunno. That's beside the point. We need information. Satellite phones? I'll have to ask around for that._ She arrived back up and outside, and slammed the bag of rations on the ground, breathing a bit. "That was a good workout!" She smiled to nobody in particular, and promptly raised her voice a bit to be heard. "Hey, guys! Chow's up, pick up something to eat before we move!"

"Fair enough," replied Hawk as he turned to Marcus. "Honestly Marcus i'm really not too sure how much we can do with the stuff we have and it seems like there are plenty of people here with enough basic medical training to put on a bandage properly. How good are you with that G2 marcus 'cause if your decent then I'd suggest you and me go check out what the situation is exactly outside. The worst possible thing that could happen at this point would be the invaders to come on in here without any warning."
As he spoke, Hawk stood up and unslung the HK417. Flicking off the safety, he moved for the breech leading to the outdoors.
My older siblings were all in the Defense Forces," Marcus answered, "And they taught me how to fire a rifle. I prefer bullpup rifles, though; mostly for functionality and aesthetic design," he explained.

Fall had took his time going down to armory where he spent short amount of time looking and gearing up,but now he was Dressed (http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l272/comandos9/FalMARS.jpg)an going over the gasmask and helmet he all so had on

"checks out" he said as he pulled the strip before picking up the FN FAL to mount the bayonet he find with it

time to go Fill thinks as he picks up a bagpack packed with his gear and more ammo ,as well as a should bag full of M67 grenades, along with four AT4 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M136_AT4)

ooc what fall carrying then to whats in the photo which has a red dot reflex sight
http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/attachments/fn-hi-power-inglis/4992d1155641100-fn-fal-tell-me-about-em-good-deal-img_2251.jpg

Dylan didn't raise much protest as his nurses bound his ankle, calmly succumbing to their probing and pushing with not a sound and barely a grimace. Eventually, they managed to brace his ankle, though his wrist proved more difficult, as he seemed unable and unwilling to make any effort to hold his arm steady. Eventually, one of the nurses grabbed it and held it up while the other bound it. "You'll be okay, Dylan. Just don't do anything too stupid."

"Merci." The soccer captain said, his head rolling back against the wall.

"No, don't close your eyes." The other student slapped him gently. "Come on, wake up. We need to keep him active, Natti." The boy, who really didn't like Dylan or Natti that much, grinned. "Maybe you should flash him." It wasn't really meant to be an insult, more a way of being lighthearted. Dylan, though, barely reacted, his eyes rolling back into his head for a moment, to be slapped once more.

Eden looked at Charles and smiled, feeling oddly comforted by his words, even though she was doubtful they would get out of the building. She got up onto her feet and instantly wished she had not. Her chest once more made itself known, causing her to suddenly feel sick. Taking a couple of slow, steady breaths she overcame the feeling and stepped away from where Natti tended to Charles. A slight feeling of guilt passed over her as she realised she was not being as much help as some.

“I’ll get you the best one I can find,” she announced, before turning and calling out to some of the girl’s she recognised to get changed. Of all the nights for this to happen, it has to be when she was wearing the most impractical thing possible, along with most of the other young ladies present.

As she was about to follow them out of the hall, her attention was caught by the remark from the guy patching up Dylan, and she could see what he meant. Dylan really looked like he was on a different planet. Although the idea seemed pleasant enough, the reality was not. If they were to stand any chance of getting out alive, they all had to be able to look after themselves and the soccer star could not even look after his verbs.

She looked at Charles and smiled, before walking over to Dylan. “If you can stand, you might be able to finally find a good use for all your undressing of women.” Her voice held a note of humour and desperate need. “I’m going to need your help getting out of this,” she finished, as she pointed to her dress. Normally, he would have been the last person her would have asked, but she needed to keep him awake. Walking and being useful would help with that. “If you think you can handle the task.”

"Oui." Was Dylan's response, as he was helped to his feet. The boy holding him up gave him another slap for good measure, then sent him hobbling over to Eden. The boy's attention was wavering once more, but he seemed unlikely for the time being to return to his fugue.

"Are you sure about this, Eden?" The boy, who she might vaguely remember from her science class (but probably not) asked.

Eden looked first at Dylan, frowned then nodded her head. “Oh, I think we are perfectly safe.” She gave the boy, who she could not put a name to but kind of recognised his face a smile. “No one else has the time to look after him enough to make sure he stays with us. And I’m sure he can accomplish the task with his eyes closed.” She waited for Dylan to catch up and hooked her arm though this and winced slightly at the action. “If you hear screams, send someone to save us.”

As she walked them down the stairs, moving as fast as the pain would let her, she suddenly felt the urge to laugh and cry at the same time. Her mind began trying to sort all the facts and no matter how hard she tried not her, she could not get rid of the feeling that she had just stepped into the middle of a war film, and a very gruesome one at that. And if there was one type of movie she detested it was war movies.

She pushed open the door to the locker room and looked around inside. The room, unlike so much of the school she had seen lately appeared almost the same as normal. There were more people than usual, but she could almost imagine herself getting ready to cheer on a game.

“If any of you are shy, you’d better move behind the lockers,” she announced, as she escorted Dylan into the girl’s sanctuary, making sure to warn any semi-dressed girl of the presence of a man in the vicinity. Though she was sure she could probably count a few of those present who had nothing to hide from Dylan.

Suddenly a thought came into her mind, brought on by her surroundings. There were so many faces that popped into her mind. There were so many people that would normally be speaking to her as she stood in that very spot, who were not present right now. Her thoughts filled with those she had seen in the gym.

She let go of Dylan then she moved to her locker and pulled it open. The motion caused pain to shoot through her chest. “I’ll need you to help me with the zip,” she said, trying to stop the hurting by focusing on something else. “I can’t reach it.” Not that she would have tried, even if she could.

Fall stood looking around and saw alot of poeple doing then when they could be building barricades

"what the hell are you lot standing doing nothing ,start building barricades so you have something you can kneel behind and fire from" Fall say in a loud clear voice for all to hear

"while i'am at it my gut say the wounded be in a safer area down in the armoury then up here when hell gets here" he added while shouldering his gun as he went back to the girl who had left before

"thanks " he said to one of people who was taking care of the wound

shit was too zoned out to ask someone to watch her,dam it fucking dumb ass i'am for that than the stars someone was thinking and saw her Fall thinks as he sat down next her while mentally beating himself up for what he did

Dylan reached out and fumbled with Eden's zipper for a moment, then he gently put his hand on her shoulder and tugged the metal down. "Ah." He said, nodding. "Your skin is very beautiful." It's a memorized phrase, probably, and not a sign that his language skills are returning. Certainly, his hands fall limply to his side once the job is done and he resumes staring into space, not even noticing the girls undressing around him.

Natti nodded at Charles’ response, and began cleaning the areas a bit as she had previously. She took a slow breath before gently positioning his hand and readying the multi-tool, examining it a bit more closely. She couldn’t see any problem with pulling it out the way it had seemed to go in, hoping it would do less damage that way. Regardless, it looked like it was going to hurt.

“Got no time,” she replied to the joke about the flashing, not looking over at whoever had spoken. It didn’t occur to her to be offended, nor to react with her usual smartass responses. Somewhere along the course of evening’s events, her cutting wit had abandoned her.

Steadying herself, and her hands, she gently grasped the plastic shard with the tool, holding his had with her other hand, and with a quick motion pulled it out, then placed a gauze pack over the open wound.

“You two really care about each other,” she commented, hoping to distract a bit while she worked.

Next came the biofoam – something that would set up and stop the bleeding faster than messing around with stitches would, and most likely keep the wound more antiseptic given there were soon to be on the move. She applied it to each side, mopping up any blood with the gauze.

“This stuff has to set up, just takes a few minutes,” she explained, in case he’d either forgotten or was inexperienced with the stuff, and out of a need to keep herself completely occupied with what she was doing. She discarded the bloodied gauze and the gloves out of remembrance, turning the gloves inside out with the bio-waste inside them, then reaching for a fresh set of gloves. “Eden will be back soon.” Awkwardly, she patted Charles on the shoulder, and got to her feet.

There wasn’t much more she could do there, Dylan was being looked after, so she went next to Dudley. “Nice cameras,” she said, trying to be conversational. “Got some artwork that could use documenting sometime, if you’re up for it.”

She worked while she talked, grimacing as she looked at his leg, cleaning what she could, and pondering just what could be done without making things worse. The first thought that came to mind was cleaning it up, and seeing if that biofoam could be used to help keep him more mobile. The problem was, he’d gotten a lot of the bleeding stopped, it looked like a fairly nasty gash, and removing what he’d bound himself up with would start all that up again. She doubted more blood loss would help, seeing how he was already acting a bit … odder than usual.

Dudley feels the smog lift from behind his eyes and inside his ears and finally everything seems real, just in time for Natti to pull out a chunk of plastic from where it was firmly embedded and to see the blood spurt before she can clamp down on it. Very real, that. Everything strikes home like a hammer making a firing pin smack into primer and start the conflagration that leads to high-velocity lead poisoning:

The school is on fire, everyone is wounded, and he is going to die.

This is not a comfortable conclusion to come to at the same time that sweat and fear and shaking and labored breathing that Dudley knows half-comes from himself are pressing through his sensorium to lick his brain in fiery tongues of memory. His hands and feet start to tingle and his vision starts to tunnel. He feels extremely sick even on an empty stomach. He shakes so hard the cane falls from his hand and he staggers up against the wall.

That's right, he's going to die. Without really much warning or reason. The situation is out of control.

He knows he's panicking, but after a moment of flailing inside his own head he gives up and stops trying to control his breathing as he slides down the wall and turns into it, becoming human wainscotting. Dry heaving. Well, some bitter bile first, but then just endless dry heaving as there's nothing else to repulse.

In all, he figures dying really wouldn't be so bad right now compared to the current alternative.

Sarah held Scarlett and put the elf's arm across her shoulder as she assisted her to the armory. "Haven't seen your sister, Scarlett," Sarah said, "but I'm sure she's...okay." She looked around. No one was okay. Not even the unwounded. They'd be seeing this pile for years to come.

"Pretty bad mess, eh, Scarlett?" Sarah said, laughing lightly. "Whoever did this will have to pay the student council in dividends after we get back at them..." Attempts at humor rarely worked in this kind of situation, especially when the subject of your attempt was dazed, injured, bleeding, and not having a lot of fun at prom night. "Come on, there's some medical stuff down the armory..."

They got down there, and saw that the place was already bustling with activity, people running around getting weapons and first aid, and if her eyes weren't still so blurry as to deceive her, then Sarah had just seen a guy carrying four antitank launchers. Oh, that's Fall.

She turned to the girl she was supporting and put her near a wall. "If you can't walk properly yet, just stay here. I'll get some weapons. When you can, go get some too. We'll treat those wounds in a bit..."

Sarah left Scarlett and went over to a rack. Where is that thing... she thought to herself, until she finally found it sitting in a corner among the various rifles. Sarah got the G36K from the rack, and dropped it onto a bench, along with five magazines. She also grabbed an SRAW from another rack and dropped onto the bench.

She had a nice dress on and a pair of very expensive shoes, but these would be no good on the battlefield. So they came off, and were replaced with some armor and a good ol' BDU.

Miri milled around for a very short amount of time, searching for something to do. _First aid. Not my cup of tea. Ironic remark. I spilled tea on someone while I was using them as a practice dummy for first aid. No. Definitely not. Anyways. Things to do. Radios? Communication devices. Talk to each other in case we get spread out, and talk to someone to figure out what's going on._ "When we start moving, make sure you pick up something to eat. I'll be back inna sec." She turned on her heel and proceeded to go down the stairs again. _Communication. Someone somewhere probably knows that this place is dead. So what do I do? We need to be able to contact someone outside and find out where to go._ She stopped at the girl's locker room, whose doors were now opened. "...Wheelchair." Miri grinned and walked straight into the locker room, searching for one of those holy wheeled thrones. "Let's see... Now, where is it?" In her search, of course, she was somehow able to ignore the other people in the room in various states of undress. Mostly because she was more occupied... hang on, let's see-- _WHOA. THIS WOULD BE TOTALLY AWESOME IF EVERYONE WASN'T DYING UPSTAIRS. I MEAN, YEAH. TOTALLY. Mental sarcasm?_[i] She mentally pointed a finger at her forehead while several boxes and bags were pushed aside during her search. [i]_Whatever works, whatever works._

Finally, she arrived at it. A folded menacing metal contraption, looking absolutely useless in its current configuration. "Yet filled with so, so much potential." She smiled and unfolded it, and promptly ran as fast as she could while pushing it through the locker room and not impacting any other students. _No, we're not students anymore. This is our final exam._ She slowed down for a second as she lost herself in thought, but shook her head. _More escaping, less feeling bad._ She arrived at the elevator door and slammed on the call button again, leaning against a nearby wall. _Anyways. What else do we need? How much noise does this wheelchair make? We need a way of talking to each other. Radios. Helmets. Helmet-mounted radios? Do they make those? It doesn't matter._ The elevator arrived, and Miri pushed the wheelchair into it, pushing aside other materials that had accumulated inside. "There's that problem. Now for more stuff!"

Miri began moving back down the stairs into the armory, where she immediately began her search for various other possibly useful items. _Let's see. Radios. We need to be able to talk to each other. How many do we-- WHAT THE, BACK UP_ As she stopped at the armory, she saw Sarah undressing into her BDU. Of course, this was not how she usually saw Sarah, which resulted in her stopping in her tracks. _...PEOPLE. DYING. RADIOS. NEED. HOW MANY. HOW MANY DO WE NEED. FOCUS, MARIE. SITUATION. DEATH. DESTRUCTION. BAD. FOCUS. WRONG METHOD OF NOT FOCUS. I NEED COFFEE._ "I... desperately... need some goddamn coffee." She sighed and closed her eyes. "Hi, Scarlett, Sarah. Don't mind me; I'm just looking for various items down here." She waved and regained her composure while keeping her eyes far away from Sarah.

_Okay. How many radios we need? I don't care, I'm tossing a box of them into the elevator._ She dumped several headsets and radios into a duffel bag and slid them next to the elevator, then turned around again to look at the armory. _Helmets._ Hitting the elevator call button, she walked over to a row of headgear and started looking down them. _You know, does it even matter anymore?_ She sighed as the elevator arrived, laughed for a moment at the random wheelchair still in there, and started tossing helmets into it from across the room. "Sorry about this; it's the best way, I think. Gotta keep looking!" _Toss, toss toss. What else do we need? There should be enough junk in it right now for everybody. Guns? Oh, fine._ She loaded various arms into the elevator; three G36s, to be exact, as time was running low. _I wish I could carry any more... but that should be good for now. THAT'S GOOD._ She smiled grimly at her work and sighed. She decided to turn to Sarah and Scarlett and offered a few empty words to the interesting people in the room. "If you guys need anything else after you've gone back upstairs, just ask me. I'll run and grab it for you. I wonder if there's anything for me to do up there? Anyways..." She waved and started trundling back up, full of thoughts. _Will we get out of here? We need to get out of here. We need a plan. Who was talking earlier? Maybe he has an actual plan._

My older siblings were all in the Defense Forces," Marcus answered, "And they taught me how to fire a rifle. I prefer bullpup rifles, though; mostly for functionality and aesthetic design," he explained.

"Great." Said Hawk, leaving the gym. He turned back and faced Marcus. "I hate to say it but I could really use a hand on this one. The people inside will have a much better chance if they get some sort of warning as to whats happening where and if both of us go out then at least one of the two of us should be able to give them enough of a heads up to respond properly. On the other hand this is . . .dangerous. We could both die doing this bro so if you don't want to join me I'll fully understand." He stood on the other side of the threshold between the gym and the outdoors, waiting for Marcus' response.

"Great." Said Hawk, leaving the gym. He turned back and faced Marcus. "I hate to say it but I could really use a hand on this one. The people inside will have a much better chance if they get some sort of warning as to whats happening where and if both of us go out then at least one of the two of us should be able to give them enough of a heads up to respond properly. On the other hand this is . . .dangerous. We could both die doing this bro so if you don't want to join me I'll fully understand." He stood on the other side of the threshold between the gym and the outdoors, waiting for Marcus' response.
Marcus checked his rifle, making sure there was a round in the chamber and checking the red-dot sight on it. He listened intently to Hawk's warning, and thought before speaking.

"Let's Do our duty today and repent tomorrow," Marcus grinned cynically, walking forward to follow after him.

Sarah and Natti had reunited the twins when they'd left the burning hell of the gym behind. As they'd hugged, and softly spoke to each other in their native tongue, a terrible weight seemed to be lifted from Ellenith's shoulders. She was still terrified on on the verge of collapsing, but just seeing that her sister was alive had restored a lot of her faith in herself. Scarlett assured Elly that she was alright, aside from a sore ankle, lots of cuts and some splinters in her calf. Her sister was quite surprised that she had managed to get off so lightly, but then she had always been the lucky one.

Elly helped Sarah, and the three of them went down to the armoury. Elly had changed into something practical already for pranking, so pulling on a kevlar vest and strapping on a helmet was all she needed. Scarlett, on the other hand, was still in her little red dress. Since their escort didn't seem to mind stripping down and changing on the fly, Elly decided that her sister needed to get changed too. She found a pair of grey sweatpants, some boots, socks, and a tank top, and helped her woozy sister get changed. She rolled the pants up to the knees, though, leaving her bleeding calves exposed for the moment.

Miri arrived then, and Elly smiled weakly at the girl as she turned away from her barely-clothed sister. She didn't really know what to say to Miri, but just seeing her alive calmed her nerves and gave her hope. "Hey... when you get a sec, can you give me a hand?" she asked, her voice weak and wavering, "I want to get Scarlett's legs cleaned up before we go..."

Marcus checked his rifle, making sure there was a round in the chamber and checking the red-dot sight on it. He listened intently to Hawk's warning, and thought before speaking.

"Let's Do our duty today and repent tomorrow," Marcus grinned cynically, walking forward to follow after him.

Hawk Returned the grin then, as Marcus drew even with him, Stalked into the night. As he moved out he moved, instinctivly into a two man formation used by ASD Raiders for exactly this purpose.

He'd left Nightvision equipment in the armory but the scope on his 417 was nightvision equipped and the light levels, (what with the fires, city, other lights and random flickers) were not great for nightvision anyway. His camelback was full of Water and there were some basic supllies in the Pack that Hawk thought he probably wouldn't need to use. Damn He thought. get your head in the game. You really don't need to worry about supply when your in a dmn combat zone. He shook himself and continued on into the semi darkness outside the gym.

Hawk Returned the grin then, as Marcus drew even with him, Stalked into the night. As he moved out he moved, instinctivly into a two man formation used by ASD Raiders for exactly this purpose.

He'd left Nightvision equipment in the armory but the scope on his 417 was nightvision equipped and the light levels, (what with the fires, city, other lights and random flickers) were not great for nightvision anyway. His camelback was full of Water and there were some basic supllies in the Pack that Hawk thought he probably wouldn't need to use. Damn He thought. get your head in the game. You really don't need to worry about supply when your in a dmn combat zone. He shook himself and continued on into the semi darkness outside the gym.
MArcus moved out, staying close to Hawk and immitating his movements. He'd gone airsofting and paintballing before, so his brother's had taught him about movement and such, but it was much more different when carrying a real weapon. He scanned the outlay before him, looking for any signs of threats. He took a glance at Hawk, wondering if he were as apprehensive as Marcus felt.

ooc: i forgot to mention, but...marcus is wearing an abu...thought i should let y'all know...

Dudley slowly goes down, and Natti starts swearing profusely to herself in several languages, more out of panic than anything.

He was fine a second ago – no, not fine, just not reacting much – and then it all went to hell. Think, dammit, think! Puking, odd reactions, going from quiet to falling apart … shock. Shock, right? The hell do I do about shock? Think! Head up … no, down. Head down. Lower. Lower than … oh yeah, legs. But his leg is all fucked up as is, shouldn’t be yanking him around. But his leg needs treated, and he’s not gonna be any help … Right, move him back away from the mess, put something softer under his head. Just not thick. Yeah. Warm. Supposed to keep them warm, right?

“Somebody gimme a jacket or something!” she yelled out quickly, looking around for someone, anyone to help, and shortly being rewarded when one of the guys who was changing tossed her his suit coat.

She slides Dudley gently away from what little he vomited, pulls a ruined shirt someone had dropped in haste nearby under his head, and lays the jacket over him.

What else? Dammit! I know there’s other things I need to check … tight. Nothing’s s’posed to be tight. Check his collar. Get the damn camera straps outta the way. Okay. Can do that.

She tries the best she can to do what she thinks needs to be done that way, her hands shaking, a litany of curses and alternating encouragements falling quietly from her lips.

“Come on, Duds. Come on. Gotta keep it together, man.”

Natti grabs some bottled water and dampens some more gauze, dabbing at his face, trying to clean him up a bit, and perhaps break through a little. There isn’t a lot of time, she knows this. No idea how much time, but the faster they get out, the better. Has to be. Can’t stay, got to move.

Leg. His leg is fucked. Gotta see about the leg. And get them elevated a bit if I can. With what? Bag – there’s bags of stuff here. That’ll work. We’ll be taking them with us anyway, just use one for a minute …

Grabbing one and sliding it over, she props his legs up as gently as she can, using the bag lengthways to support from calf to ankle, not daring to turn him over for fear of him choking.

And then she looks at his injured leg, and bites her lower lip in frustration. Back to her original problem of how best to deal.

Got to keep it from bleeding out as much as I can. Right. Blood loss, bad. Already probably too much. So we clamp down on both sides, right? Tourniquet. That’s the bunny. Got stuff for that in the kids. Tourniquet, take off what he’s got on, clean it, foam it, let it set up, wrap it. That should do. I hope. I think? Mannagia, got to do something!

“Sorry Duds, gotta work here. Gonna be fine. Its alright. Just a cut, no big. Just gonna patch you up. No worries.”

Grimacing, she starts to apply the tourniquets, hoping to hell he really is going to be ok.

Dudley is in no state and has no desire to actively get in anyone's way or make anyone's life difficult. The rapid, uncontrollable shaking more than does it for him without any input on his part. "There are worse off," he mumbles, voice a thin tremolo from the shaking, "it's just a cut."

A very deep cut, but better than it could be. Really. Not like anything's sticking out of him or he's coated in blood. No, that's not going to kill him. Everything else is. Whatever has ended the world will kill him and everyone else. Well, him, at least. He forces his eyes open enough to take a look at the scene. Everyone else seems to be handling things well enough. "Worry about the others and get them moving, I'll be fine." It's not much of a lie, even for him, and he's not a very good liar at all.

Perhaps oddly, but Natti’s words about Eden’s swift return were not a particular comfort to Charles. They merely reminded him of what exactly was riding on his ability to remember their combat training, and it was not a reassuring thought. He gave himself a minute, then surged awkwardly to his feet, unable to fully support his weight on his hand, which felt immensely between with the intruding plastic removed.

Once upright, Dylan’s gun in his jacket pocket, without blood dripping in his eye and without the weight of a soccer player around his neck, Charles discovered that standing, and then walking, was only slightly painful. No more than after a serious workout after too long a break.

Every step got easier, the pain either pushed away or fading, and any warmth that had entered his gaze faded, a fire deprived of oxygen. Gunmetal searched the room, taking in the sight of the other injured students, broken, bleeding, and more or less silent on the floor, and with each weight added to his burden, Charles back grew straighter unconsciously. There was work to be done.

By the time the team captain reached the stairs, he was moving almost easily again, forgetting the pain… Which turned out to be a stupid move, because the pain had not forgotten him. Unable to take the stairs down at his normal speed, Charles nearly tripped when he tried, biting his lip to stifle a groan when he slammed into the wall halfway down the first flight to remain upright.

Convinced that a little caution was still needed, Charles made his way to the locker room, and then with a moment of fumbling in his pockets, found the key to the team room in his jacket. Given the tuxedo trousers lacked pockets, it was hardly a surprise. Another long moment had him inside his locker, twisting the dial left handed instead of right. Painkillers, mild, over the counter ones, came first. A double dose, but his liver could handle it. Shoes toed off, trousers left in a pile with what remained of his emptied jacket and his bloodstained dress shirt. The gold and onyx cufflinks from his parents were the only things he kept of the outfit.

Flame retardant battle dress, painkillers in the pocket, slipped on over his gym t-shirt and his black silk boxers, covered by gym shorts, and he took a single glance back at the pile of white and black on the floor. A long sigh, and he could feel his eyes softening, the focus beginning to waver. Not if we’re getting out of here. Break down later, he sternly ordered himself. He left the door open for anyone who needed it.

Another flight of stairs, and he was at the armory. A nodded acknowledgement to the guys diligently piling gear up, but they lacked their boots. “Get your boots on. We’ve got to go,” he said, taking stock of the weapons piled into the elevator. Pretty much everything was there, though it looked to still be short a few sets of gear. He knew what he wanted, and strode into the armory, knowing exactly where to go. Body armor strapped on over his clothing was followed by a helmet with a tactical radio clipped over his ear. He saw no point in the balaclava he had seen Hawk wearing earlier, and so ignored the accessory as he mixed and matched gloves to find ones that slid over the dressing on his wounded hand. A bag full of ammunition and spare magazines was next, though he was certain the right types were already present in the pile. Two sidearms and two rifles later, he was ushering people out. “We’ve got to go,” he repeated. “Sometime this month,” was the snarled encouragement when they were not moving fast enough for his liking. He added one last item to the elevator and then got it in motion. The generator would not last much longer - the elevator was too big an energy hog.

He only let them go one floor up. Camelbaks needed to be filled, and quickly. The sinks and showers of the locker rooms would be best for that. And any girls who were ready could help, if they were still down there, on the first level beneath the gym.

2230 Hibernia Standard Time
14 February
The Mall, Outside the Gymnasium

You see, there was a problem with sneaking out of a burning building into the night. A big problem.

While thanks to the fires started by the bombing, there was little need for using their night vision equipment, the platoon of troopers surrounding the gym could see the silhouettes of anyone leaving the building with perfect clarity. Now, a platoon was not a particularly large grouping of soldiers for a structure that size, but frankly, how many could it be holding after the missile strike?

'Not many' was the conclusion of the Lieutenant commanding the platoon. His best men – designated marksmen and his highest scoring riflemen were covering the obvious egress points from the building, backed up by their squads’ automatic weapons. Additionally, Private Jenkins of the First Squad had cranked the old but reliable captured second line main battle tank to life. Without crew, admittedly, it could not be used to its fullest extent, but it was mobile, its spotlight was active, sweeping back and forth against the walls, and a man was sitting on the turret, ready with the coaxial machine gun, which was heavier than any of the firearms the paratroopers had dropped in with.

Orders were distributed, and so, when the persons, obviously armed, began to move out of the building, they were tracked for a moment, and then the firing began. The riflemen opened up, careful bursts of three rounds hoping to pick off the targets, but more properly attempting to pin them in place for the second it would take for the designated marksmen to draw their oh so careful breath, exhale, and squeeze.

Single shots. At the center of mass. Shooting for the head was too easy to miss.

Perhaps unfortunately for whoever was inside, their presence being confirmed came at the worst possible moment. The heavy attack-light transport H-24s had arrived overhead after a long, speedy flight from the border, racing ahead of even the ‘22s which contained the rest of the paratrooper battalion.

“We have confirmed presence inside the burning building on the southeast corner of the Mall,” that Lieutenant said calmly, talking to the pilot of the first helicopter. “They are clearly armed with military grade weapons.”

One of the H-24s slid into a hover alongside the building, drifting along it. “Tell me where they came from,” came the reply over the radio.

“Go right. Ten meters, two more, one more,” each instruction controlled the spotlight the attack ‘chopper was running along the burning wall, guiding them towards the point where the shadows had come from. “There.”

“Got it,” the pilot replied, and gently squeezed down the trigger. Thirty millimeter cannon fire exploded into the cement and concrete and steel, tearing it apart for about three seconds. “Let me know if there’s any more trouble and I’ll put a missile in it.”

The cargo bay of the H-24 was loaded with extended fuel tanks and more rounds for the cannon, but not extra missiles, as paratroopers could handle reloading the large machine guns, but it took some special skills to handle the missiles themselves. Besides, those missiles might become more precious than their weight in gold before the night was through.

Fire mission accomplished, the helo roared back into motion, sweeping across the broken expanse that had been a prom, and curling back over the field as the ‘22s began to come in to land. As soon as a second platoon was available to backstop, the Captain was going to send a recon squad in to find out exactly what was going on.

Natti, of course, ignores the protest and continues working diligently, and as quickly as possible without getting sloppy.

It really does look awful, and she can feel her stomach rebelling at the sight. Taking deep breaths, she fights through it as she cleans the area as best she can, then applies the foam.

“Just gotta set, Duds. Gonna set up, then we wrap it, and get the tourniquets off, and get you up and—“

The gunfire sounds closer than she’d like. Even over all the other noise, she’s certain its closer than before, and it sends a cold chill right through her. Already she’s getting out the elastic bandages to wrap Dudley’s leg as soon as the foam seems to be set … and then a hail of gunfire perforating the walls above, sending cement shards and debris flying everywhere.

With a scream, she instinctively covers the boy’s head and upper body with her own, cursing fluently again under her breath.

As the wall across and up from him explodes in cones of dust and ejecta in parodies of volcanoes and thundercracks, something in the animal that was once Dudley completely breaks loose and spalls around, knocking everything else loose. Throwing Natti off of him with strength he didn't--and still doesn't--know he has, he leaps to his feet ignorant of the pain strafing up his leg and hip and side and stumbles as his left calf isn't what it used to be. Completely heedless to this, the human animal wearing the torn and broken facade of civilization puts its feet under itself somehow and clatters down the hallway faster than anyone constantly bumbling against the wall has any right to towards the doors leading outside.

Leading away.

Leading anywhere that isn't here.

She doesn’t even have time to register past the fact she’s suddenly flat on her back and shielding her face from the dust and debris before he’s up and going. Her mouth hurts, and she realizes she’s cut her lip on her teeth from getting heaved off rather violently, and she struggles to all fours, spitting to get the taste out of her mouth.

That son of a … helluva thanks!

“Fine! Just go! Get your ass shot off, you stupid fucking …” Unable to continue, she simply ends in a frustrated, angry shriek.

She spits again, lapsing back into her own language, scowling furiously through the tears that seem to have come from nowhere.

They’re too close. Too close, and they had fired into where they were at. It was time to go – past time. She didn’t want to end up like the others she’d tried not to see. She didn’t want to die. She sure as hell didn’t want to play hero.

Natti gathers up what she can, mainly medical supplies, emptying out her backpack of the pranking materials to stuff it full as reasonable, and shrugs it on, then yells down the stairs.

“We’ve got to get the hell out of here, now!”

[EXIT] reads the sign, the mild tritium radioisotopes still glowing dutifully despite the power outages. It's appropriate.

That which was once Dudley hears no imprecations that mean anything. It's just all noise. Only the Word matters, and the body slams into the metal under the Word, and the metal gives in with a sideways swing, and the ground comes up and the legs get back under and the Word is granted.

But outside in the world of [EXIT] there is still fire and smoke and noise and anger and so there is nothing left but to keep running. Away.

"i hate god dam guships " Fall say as he rolled over from his sitting spot next to the cheerleader to shield her with his body from the the flying chunks of concrete caming from the wall above them being hit by the 30 mm ammunition

"some prom" Fall said to her while looking down into her eyes as she looked back into his as she bite into her lips

once the firing had stop,Fall moved off her and took the scene in and heard someone yell
got to get the hell out of here, now

"that gunship most likely supporting ground troops alreadly on school grounds, so anyone have a plan of where we need to head for" Fall said so that everyone could hear him

Sarah held up the SRAW for a moment, and remembered how much she hated weapons like this, but of course there was the need to be prepared, so she took two SRAW missiles and dumped them on the bench.

"Okay, okay, let's get this," Sarah said frantically, getting her old dress and using it to wipe a little blood off of Scarlett's legs. Blood stains very, very well and would take no small amount of scrubbing to remove, but if she didn't survive today, well, that dress wouldn't be very useful.

"You must be Elly," Sarah said. "You look a lot like your sister," she continued to comment.

Miri put her foot down as Elly asked her a question. "Wha? Oh, of course! I'm so sorry about not seeing that. Really, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She blinked, shook her head, and smiled. "Okay, so what do you need me to do?" Miri unzipped one of the larger first aid kits. "Let's see... Hydrogen peroxide or iodine solution? Ah, here we go, iodine. Now let's get that..." Miri ripped open a minpack of cleanser and started cleaning out Scarlett's legs of infection. "Damn it... We probably have enough gauze or something that can cover this, right? I hate having to deal with this, but... at least it looks pretty minor." She tore further into the bag, searching for some more useful stuff. "Masking tape? What the hell? Oh, here we go!" She fished out a gauze pad and some self-adhesive wrap. "Okay... Let's see.... around here, right? This reminds me of when I fell often as a kid. Mom would have to carry me indoors while I bawled my lungs out and paniced..." She closed her eyes and smiled, before opening them and nodding. "Right. Sorry. Application."

Applying gauze is easy. Place and hold for a bit, then wrap some 3M Coban Latex-Free around it, so that it stays in place. Put as much gauze on as possible and the Coban will provide pressure. "Oh, damnit, we've got enough rolls." So she uses the whole thing. No real reason not to overkill. "Alright, you should be up and good on tha- WHAT THE HELL" Punctuation in the form of automatic cannon fire is probably the most effective punctuation at all. Even from downstairs, the sound of impacting weapons fire and shrieks from upstairs is easy to recognise. "What the hell happened...?" The sound of "GET OUT NOW" rings down the stairs, as Miri looks up. "How ready are you guys? I'm going to check up to see what's happening upstairs." She hugs Scarlett's leg quickly, just to touch another human, stands up, and hugs Elly, too. "I'll be back. I promise." Miri taps the brim of her hair, puts on a helmet, and simply runs up to B1, poking her head in the locker rooms, slamming an open palm on the doors.

"Come on, people! Are we all ready, or what?" Adrenaline fights off the wear of the night and temporarily wins, allowing Miri to run two steps at a time up the stairs, up to Natti. "Natti!" Miri took the opportunity to hug her, too. "I'm ready to go whenever you need it..." She gulped and loaded a magazine into her rifle and flicked the safety off.

Amazingly enough Hawk noticed the, of all dmn things, TANK parked near the single egress at the back of the burning gym. oh come on a tank? Hawk thought to himself. At least its one of ours and if these guys are paratroopers maybe they can't use it well . . .or something? He looked out carefully around the entrance being damn sure not to silhouette himself against the lights in the background.
"Aw hell Marcus," He called quietly as he took cover near the exit. "I can't make out what’s out there other than the tank. We can't do anything about that but we can at least take out some of their shooters. I'll draw fire, then you pick off their marksmen when they open up and reveal themselves ok?"

Hawk waited ten seconds for Marcus to get into position then took one deep breath and deliberately silhouetted himself in the doorway for half a second before diving to the left into a small crater filled with rubble left by a stray rocket strike. One lucky enemy got a shot off as he moved and Hawk flinched as the bullet spalled off of his combat armor.
"Damnit OW!" Hawk said out loud as he hit the ground but the armor had held and now he'd be out of the sightlines of the enemies who we're firing back into the gym. He opened his pack, and yanked out a ghille blanket covering himself fully. The ghille blanket and my prone position should pretty much cover it. thought Hawk. and their rifle fire should be making them great targets
He moved up slightly in the crater to open fire at the enemies when he heard the telltale Whirring noise of a chopper very very nearby.

"Oh come the-" He yelled as he curled into a tight ball under the Ghille blanket and with that the enemy chopper opened fire. 30 mil. rounds crashed into the doorway and the surrounding concerte. Armor wouldn't do anything against a direct hit and Hawk could only hope that he didn't pick up one of the shells that would splatter him halfway across the side of the building. Fortunately, for him, most of the fire seemed to be targeted into the gym rather than into the area outside the door and hawk managed to avoid taking any of the murderous fire. As the helicopter sound trailed away slightly hawk uncurled very, very slowly. Not hearng any more fire he pocked the muzzle of his HK 417 out of the cover and found one of the enemies who'd opened fire on him as he left the gym. My turn He thought grinning to himself as he took careful aim.

Miri was an excellent help with the bandages, and once Elly had removed everything she could, they had her sister bandaged up and ready to move in no time. Scooping up their rifles and packs and putting them on a table, the twins rifle though the available supplies as fast as they can.

"We'll be right behind you, Miri," Elly calls, popping the small earbud mic in. She checks her P90 as she runs through the checklist of stuff they should bring. Her studious nature kicks in, and she remembers the Emergency Preparedness classes that she had, at the time thought to be silly and useless, as if they happened yesterday. Scarlett does much the same with her firearm, as she put together her XM8 they way she liked it. She's mostly come back to her senses, though the splitting headache is both a blessing and a burden.

"Okay... guns, mags, smaller guns with mags..." Elly lists off supplies, and they each buckled a USP-Tactical into hip holsters a the mention of sidearms, while tossing ammo into pockets and pouches on their packs, belts and vests. "Water, ration bars, compass, flashlights... Scarlett, what are you..."

The blond sister looked up at the mention of her name, though didn't say anything as she was filling a bandolier with grenades. She's showed Elly that she'd found the attachment for her rifle that used those, and then grinned in a rather unsettling manner.

"Right..." Elly shook her head, "Short range radios, flares, helmets," she paused to strap hers up tight, "Gas masks, emergency med kit, now what?"

Elly looked none too pleased as her sister was emptying some of the contents of a steel box into her bag quickly. She recognized the canisters.

"Tear gas," Scarlett simply stated. "Might come in handy, make 'em keep their heads down for a couple of minutes..." she shrugged again, then closed up her pack. Figuring they had everything, they both pulled their packs on and buckled them up. Lastly, they buckled their swords to their hip. Neither would dare leave those behind.

"Right... we're both getting out of here, alright?" Scarlett said with a firmness she didn't know she possessed, trying to reassure her sister who was very nearly shaking at the thought of what they had to do now.

Nodding and gulping, the normally timid elf fell into line behind Scarlett, and the two of them ran up the stairs after Miri and the others...

2231 Hibernia Standard Time
14 February
Outside the Gymnasium

Corporal Andrews almost blinked in surprise when the doors opened again, disgorging another body into the night. Having adjusted his position once firing on the first two bodies to come out of the building, by deftly tucking his rifle against his chest and rolling over two times to his left, he had just sighted back in. The person was moving fast, running all out, though clearly injured, and clearly male. The bang of the door opening forcefully was clearly audible.

“Grossman, Kimble,” he muttered into his radio. “On the door, with me.” Out of the corner of his eye he could see the slight shift of movement from the riflemen to either side of him, and tilted his head to get the angle for his scope, lining up on the bobbing head, matching its rhythm. If Perimeter Defense was willing to mine their own cities with nuclear weapons to prevent their capture, the choice of strapping a bomb to someone and sending them running at the enemy was no doubt simple and easy. Which mean that under no circumstances could the runner be allowed to reach the platoon.

One breath in, and then released. Andrews’ finger tightened on the trigger of his AWC G2A+ as the next breath filled his lungs, and then the squeeze came with the exhale. The rifle bucked against his shoulder with deceptive gentleness, and flashes from nearby signified that both of his men had engaged as well…

His finger stayed tight as the weapon cycled, aim point dropping to the chest, just in case another round was needed as the door began to swing back shut, but Dudley died.

Hawk's distraction and the shots aimed at Dudlely gave Marcus all the time he needed. He tried to remember what his brothers had told him about firing his rifle, the right breathing technique, to squeeze the trigger...but it was much different in real life instead of clay targets or without paintballs.

"Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children..." Marcus muttered silently to himself, squeezing off a set of rounds at the first burst of fire he'd seen.

ooc: before anyone complains...yes, i'm watching SPR

It was strange that hearing, however briefly, Dylan’s usual patter made Eden feel as if everything had returned to normal. She knew it was not, but for the tiniest moment she actually felt as if she was safely waiting for the beginning a game. It did not last long as she turned her head to look at the once more quiet Dylan, who seemed to have gone back into himself. She let out a sigh of defeat and turned her attention to more important and urgent things.

She slipped her straps from her shoulders and quickly slipped out of her dress. The air in the locker room caused her to shiver. Reaching into her locker, she grabbed her shorts then her black BDU trousers that were pushed to the back and pulled them on. Her face wrinkled with the motion of moving, but she would not allow herself to be put off by that.

The trousers were followed with a t-shirt and then a long sleeve black BDU shirt that completed the set. She had never been more grateful for having black, which was unusual for her as she usually liked to stand out in a crowd. Now was not the time for that. Now was the time to stay hidden and not be seen. She had specifically arranged for black rather than the camouflage, as she really did not like the pattern.

“Grab what you can and get to the armoury,” she called out to the others in the room. “Make sure you take something warm, but only take what you need. We’ll be carrying enough stuff already, so leave your make up.”

She pulled on a pair of socks and her boots, then picked up her dress and shoes and stuffed them into her locker. It was strange how habits were so hard to break, even in the worst of situations. Finally she pulled out the jacket before closing the locker door.

Catching her breath, she reached out for Dylan’s wrist and pulled him to get his attention. “Come on, we need to get back to the others and grab some stuff. We don’t want to get left behind.” She looked over her shoulder at the others finishing their dressing. “Come on! We’ve got to move!”

She rushed back out of the locker room, closing followed by Dylan, who she was still holding on to, almost as if she was afraid that he would remain rooted in place if she let go of him. The hall way was much more alive than when they went through it earlier. People were standing at the elevator, passing out equipment and weapons, so she decided not to take Dylan down to the lower level, as they could grab everything they needed there.

Pulling Dylan towards the elevator, Eden looked at the group of people who seemed to be carrying clothing. “Hey, can one of you get Dylan some boots and anything else he’ll need?” Letting go of the soccer player’s wrist, she turned to face him. “Stay here and get dressed when those guys bring you something to put on. Once you’ve done that, come and grab some supplies.” She hoped he managed to carry out the orders as well as he did in the locker room.

Eden walked over to the supplies and helped herself to the necessary, taking advice from those around her until she had weapons and ammunition. Her knowledge of firearms was probably not as good as it could have been, but she could fire straight, which was always useful. She collected some other items of supplies, again listening to those around her who had been survival knowledge.

Finally getting everything she needed, she moved away from the elevator so as not to block the route for other people and began dressing herself in her armour and packing up her things. She was grateful that she had paid attention in class; otherwise it would have been even more of a nightmare than it already was. Her hands shook as she battled her way into her body armour, once more fighting the urge to cry, though she was not sure whether it was due to pain or fear.

She looked around for Dylan, feeling kind of responsible for him, even though she did not know why. She relaxed when she saw the gear being brought to him by one of the other students. Her eyes then scanned the hall for Charles, because she felt much more confident when he was around. She knew he had to be here somewhere, probably getting ready after Natti had finished dressing his wounds.

People were beginning to gather, all dress and carrying their supplies and weapons. It looked like anything that was about to happen was going to go down soon. She checked her stuff and waited for the word to move out.

"Wow, this armor is heavier than I thought," Sarah said to herself as the encumbrance began to catch up with the rest of her senses. Maybe, Sarah, you should go get yourself some water and food. Oh yes, because for all you know half the city is in flames and you'll be out for more than a few days. I wonder how Wolfie is doing... She therefore got a sling bag and dropped in six special MRE's, each supposedly prepared by a decent, rated chef somewhere and each supposedly capable of lasting a semi-active person two meals - but these listed characteristics were typically proven wrong.

“Hey, can one of you get Dylan some boots and anything else he’ll need?” As much as Sarah disliked the guy, he looked pretty out of it. Conscience? Pity? Meh. She brought him a pair of boots from one of the lockers, along with another ballistics vest and a handgun.

"Hey. You need anything else?"

Natti was completely unaware of the tragedy happening beyond the doors Dudley just ran out of. All she knows is the gunfire is not only closer, its being returned by someone out there just outside. Time is up, and she has to go.

It occurs to her that blocking the doors might slow down pursuit, but she isn’t sure who might be out there helping. If they even are helping. And Dudley … no, she couldn’t block the exit like that. There were other ways out of the school. Lots of ways. Lots of halls to run down, even places to hide if it got to that, but out seemed the best place to be – and as far away from any flying bullets or missiles or fires as possible. She wasn’t even sure where to go once she did get out.

Consulates? She couldn’t remember right now who had what. Hospitals? Likely overloaded. Where she was at was supposed to be safe, but it wasn’t. It didn’t make any sense what was going on. But if whoever was out there was bombing schools and shooting at students, nowhere usual was going to be safe, that much she instinctively knew.

Which meant gear.

The med supplies she had. Water, she got in a camelback and pulled on over her shoulders. She didn’t feel the need to change given what she was wearing, but people were making a big deal about putting protective bits on, so she grabbed a vest and helmet, and tossed some food supplies in her pack as well.

Helluva lot more heavy than she’d hoped, but she’d likely need it before they were done with all this.

A gun? Bullets? Are you serious – me?

It was all a blur at this point, not really seeing who was doing what, or telling her what, or shoving what into her hands. Ammo was clipped on where it could be, or stowed on top of the pack. Her jacket was retrieved, and the by now neutralized NSS was shaken off so she could wear it under the flak jacket. Backpack was pulled on over the top of everything, and the helmet worn.

Raven would laugh her ass off if she saw me now, came a random thought, though she went cold right through as she wrapped her hands around the weapon, and was forced to face the reality that she might have to actually use it. Her lip was still puffy and tender from getting hit there, and there were places along her legs and lower back that felt itchy or still slightly burning – points of pain that were manageable, but irritating.

She didn’t really want to look.

“I’m going this way,” she said to whoever was around her, pointing away from the gunfire outside, peering through the increasingly smoke-filled hallway.

If anyone had a different idea that made sense, she was ready to listen – otherwise, whoever wanted could head in that direction as well.

Through his sights, Hawk watched as the soldier he had targeted opened fire. Hearing the rounds slam into something meaty he cursed slightly but this one was his. Half a second later three rounds streaked downrange at the target two headed for the chest and one for the head.
Well there's goes my con cealment thought hawk very briefly as his battle rifle tracked sideways and a second three round burst headed towards another ennemie. The small depression in the gound he was in and the rubble would provide some cover from ennemy fire but not much and aw fuck. here it comes. thought Hawk as the ennemies innevitable fire came down on his position. Well shit he thought. now I'm really fucking pinned.

"MARCUS!" he called out abover the noise of the ennemy 7.62mm rounds sparking areound him and off of the cover that was holding for now.
"Get the Hell out of there and go Warn the others! tell em to hol--"
Hawk stopped as a round creased the top of his helmet knocking it right off his head.
"Get out Now! Hold up in the Armory!" he yelled reseating the helmet and reaching into his pack for all the demo he had.

Marcus listened, nodding to himself. He fired off a small burst before dashing back inside.

"Hawk's in trouble!" he said urgently to the first person he came across. "There's an enemy unit outside; he said for us to hold up at the Armory," he relayed the message.

At the level of the locker rooms, Charles emerged into the midst of the equipment distribution and nodded as he handed out filled camelbaks, saving one he was not wearing to hand to Eden as he kissed her forehead again. “Ready?” he asked, looking her up and down. His eyes flared that she even managed to make the unisex, baggy battle dress uniform look decent, and he shoved down the memory of them sneaking off earlier in the evening for some alone time.

I’ll have to buy her another dress like that one… FOCUS, Charles. He patted her shoulder as he slung the water carrier around, then belated ran his gaze across Dylan, standing nearby. The soccer player seemed to be able to follow orders, but thinking independently was beyond him, apparently, at the moment. His eyes hardened again. Dylan might be annoying, but anyone, anything, that could turn the gregarious star striker and playboy into a mindless zombie deserved whatever was coming to them. With his good hand, Charles lifted the heavy bag he had prepped for the boy and handed it to him, along with the borrowed pistol. “Carry this,” he said, bending to Dylan’s ear so no one would overhear. “Watch Eden’s back for me.”

The long rifle he had selected for himself was the last thing out of the elevator. “Everyone up the stairs. Let’s go.” Charles made sure the few stragglers were moving, placed a gentle hand on Eden’s back to move her along, and followed after them all.

Even with his resolve to get them all out, Charles had to pause on reaching the gym lobby again. The new damage, the new blood, was a bit of a shock, and bile rose in his throat despite the lack of anything in his stomach. Who does this to a school?

Natti’s comments on leaving brought a ghost of a smile to his lips, and he nodded. “Ladies first,” was his utterly dry comment, watching her nearly bouncing with agitation. The increase in audible gunfire from outside was nearly overwhelming, and had he had the time, he would have been able to deduce what had happened…

But they were out of time.

When Marcus came careening back through the doorway, chased by demons for all intents and purposes, his mind had to catch up to his ears. Why were they even outside? What were they thinking? Were they thinking? They’re going to get us all killed.

But what came from his mouth was much more subtle, relaxed. “Marcus,” yes, he knew the kid’s name, “we can’t stay here. The building’s on fire. We’ll never get out. Follow Natti.” He raised his voice calmly. “Everyone follow Natti. Library fire door,” he called out. Natti should know where that was. Goths liked to read, right? She should know the library…

Closest exit door to the hospital. I wonder if the hospital’s even still there.

As he waited to move, again, last to leave, he wondered if there was anything they could do for Hawk that would not get them all killed… Or if the boy’s only chance would be to make it back inside on his own before they left.

Either way, he probably had about thirty seconds to decide.

It was only then that Charles realized he had never stopped touching Eden.

2232 Hibernia Standard Time
14 February
Outside the Gymnasium

Andrews bit back a curse as bullet spranged off his helmet, leaving his ears ringing. The sudden presence of incoming fire meant they had not, in fact, gotten all of the first group when they emerged from the building. A sharp, pained grunt, abruptly cut off, to his left, told the tale of what was happening even more clearly. One of his men was dead.

Rifle down, he slid to his knees and reached around on his equipment harness. The reassuring weight and shape of a fragmentation grenade filled his gloved hand, and a sharp jerk had it free and primed… “Frag up!” he called in his native Finnish, warning his teammates to not charge, to look away if they were using night vision equipment, to look away so as to not blind themselves on the flash. As the fire continued, he let it fly.

The small shape was too hard to track as it flew through the air, and Corporal Andrews lost sight of it, but the shooter would no doubt notice the distinctive sound of the metal ringing against the front of the concrete he was covering behind. Andrews was about a foot and a half short on his throw.

2232 Hibernia Standard Time
14 February
Elsewhere on the Mall

The Captain smiled as the first group of new troopers came charging down the ramps from the back of the hovering ‘22s. A full platoon, plus crews for his RC10s. Wind of their passage beat at his face, but the smile was clear as the new men began to form up. The aircraft moved swiftly away, clearing the area for more incoming, once freed of their burdens. The lack of rifle held at the ready made the commanding officer of this piece of the invasion obvious, and his sharp eyes picked out the blackened faces of two Lieutenants and their leading sergeants moving up to him. “Get the RC10s moving. We’ve got you a captured tank down by the school to replace the one that fell on its side.” That Lieutenant’s eyes widened, but he nodded, his hand twitching, clearly suppressing the urge to salute his commander, whose eyes were already swinging to the last officer in their small gathering. “Take your platoon and begin the assault on the hospital. The backup generator and the radiation sources will interfere with our mission here the most, plus the medical supplies will be helpful. Try not to break it too much. Another platoon will join you as soon as I have a free one.” His gaze took in both junior officers. “Go.”

They vanished into the night, beckoning to their men. The maps of the campus had been extensively studied prior to the assault, so hopefully no one would get lost. Even as the paratroopers moved away, the noise of the second wave of landing ‘22s was drowned out by the roar of an attack helicopter moving back across the field. Finally, he had a platoon to backstop at the school. Five more minutes and it would not matter what the people in that building were doing.

And well, there was always the option of overzealous firepower if things got too bad. Close Air Support is the only true way of knowing that There is a God.

“Everyone follow Natti.”

The words rang clear over the rest somehow, though she did manage to grasp ‘library fire door’ thankfully, in spite of her shock.

She looked wide-eyed at Charles for a moment, her lips moving in a clear ‘what the fuck are you thinking’ motion before she blinks, shakes her head slightly, gives a nervous nod, and darts in that direction.

The loud sounds of aircraft rumbled through the building, drowning out the sounds of flames and those few horrifying moans of the not quite dead back in the gym.

“Down the hall. Past the cafeteria, right into the main, that’s it …” She muttered under her breath as she jogged through the hallways – familiar places that no longer seemed safe and friendly.

Sounds of gunfire fade as she put distance between them and herself, her booted feet echoing hollow through the empty hallways amidst random debris and the crunch of shattered glass.

“Left at the end of that hall, hit the library … ‘bout halfway down, yeah. Door should be … yeah. Just across the way should be the fire door.

The Dominion girl had to keep reminding herself to slow down. To stop and check to make sure the others were coming. Her desire to get out was tempered with not wanting to be left by herself with things going as crazy as they had. Selfish? Certainly. But when survival was what one was aiming for, one tended to consider rather strongly self preservation as a key motivator.

She wasn’t comfortable holding the gun, but at the same time, she gripped it tightly – like a lifeline she didn’t want to touch, but desperately needed.

Just through the halls here. Not too far. Keep going. Keep going.

"what the fuck was Hawk thinking told him to keep a eye on Marcus not get the boy killed" Fall said as he helps the girl up onto his back after giving her something for the pain

"let follow no matter this lot haven't got a clue how well planed this all this is" Fall said to the girl as he carried toward the hall,as he follow other heading that way

"Bolzhe moi," Marcus said as he sprinted off in pursuit of Natti. He caught up to her after a while as the rest fell in behind her.

"But, what about Hawk?" he asked desperately. "He's still facing off those guys by himself..."

Follow Natti?

Check.

Library fire door?

Check.

Get the bloody hell out of here?

Double check.

Both twins, goggles fixed in place, nodded at Charles as they passed him. Neither of them were certainly going to take any kind of charge of the situation, and were rather glad that he had survived to restore a bit of order to this hellish debacle. Elly gave him a gentle pat on the arm as they went past, both girls falling into the middle of the slowly jogging group.

Both girls had lost track of their companions Miri and Sarah, though that probably ment they were just a bit behind them. Spotting Natti up in the lead, Elly hurried to catch up.

"Natti... wait up!"

Scarlett tapped her comm, making sure it was set properly, and told others with similar bits of gear what freq they were using. She tried to help a shorter boy set his as they ran along, but both of them had a hard time getting it right. It wasn't untill Scarlett realized that both of their hands were trembling nervously that she calmed enough to get it right.

'It's just nerves. Calm down. Breath deep. You can do this. You had better do this! I don't want to die here.' she thought to herself, muttering short prayers to every one of her gods she could think of who could help them...

_Follow Natti. That seems like a good course of action. Hopefully she's still got logic. Did anyone grab any sort of communication device with the main government while they were down there? Oh shit._ She found the proper radio frequency after playing with her set for a second. "Did anyone bring any sort of satellite communicator or something? So that we can contact humanitarian aid or standing army or something." She blinked and sighed. _Fire door? Okay. Just gotta stay here behind everyone else. With everyone else. Alongside everyone else. Gotta make sure everyone's okay, make sure nothing worse happens... Where is everybody?_ She tapped her radio on again. "Hey, guys... what happened to Dudley?"

“He gave away the fact we’re here and armed,” snapped Natti without looking over to see who was talking, continuing towards the exit. The library was in sight now, and that just made her want to run faster, but she held it in check, shrugging a bit under the weight she was carrying, trying to make it sit better. She heard Elly and Miri, and there was some relief in that.

“Either he’ll come, or he won’t. You can always go get him. I think Dudley is out there with him – he ran out that way when I was finishing patching him up.”

She felt a twinge of guilt all the same, honestly having no idea what was going on out there other than things she didn’t want to think too hard about. She was no hero. She didn’t want to lead anyone anywhere. She just wanted to get out, and get somewhere safe, and from there, get home.

"he most likely dead and Hawk a dam fool for giving us away" Fall say to the girl on his back as he stop to let the her down

"just wait here i'am just taking a Minute to lay a Booby trap behind us" Fall added as he took one grenade from the bag and walked back down the hall to lay the trap

Eden strapped on the Camelbak that Charles had given her, following his brief kiss, and looked at Natti, who was up leading the group up ahead. She smiled as she felt Charles’ hand on her back and looked over at Dylan, who was now loaded up and dressed in a more suitable way. He still had on his prom outfit but now he had his protective clothing and some boots. The poor boy still looked completely out of it, but there was nothing she could do about that now, they would have to deal with him once they got to safety.

“Come on, Dylan, let’s go,” she said as finally, as she began to move after the others. “Make sure you keep up.” The last thing she wanted was for him to get left behind during her watch.

Finishing giving her orders to the soccer star, she fell quiet, just as Charles addressed Marcus, who seemed was yelling about someone being outside. At first she did not comprehend what he was saying and then his words sank in. She was not stupid and knew that there was trouble outside, but the fact that it was right outside the door filled her with foreboding.

Fortunately, Charles’ reply about leaving made her feel a little more comfortable. What were they supposed to do about saving someone who had been stupid enough to go outside unprepared for what was out there? They were not soldiers, after all, at least she was not. And from the looks of it, Fall was not about to go running off to save Hawk and he was trained. What hope did she have?

Eden watched Marcus, obviously disappointed with the reply, move off. At least he was running in the right direction, so that was good and at a pace too. He obviously wanted to get to the front of the group, which did not seem like a bad idea to her either.

Without another word, they began to move again. Dylan was just in front of her and Charles was taking up the rear. As much as she trusted him to get her out of the gym, she wished that he did not feel the need to remain at the back, waiting for everyone else. She really did not know what she would do, or what any of them would do for that matter, if he got himself killed playing the hero.

Now was not the time to think of that. She would discuss that with him once they reached their goal, which seemed easy enough. The library was in easy distance of the gym and she knew that she could handle the trip at a good jogging pace, even with the extra weight. This was one of the times she was grateful that she was fit. The movement gave her a little pain, but she could live with it for now, and once they stopped, she would grab some painkillers to help.

Up ahead, she was surprised to see Marcus up with Natti, and he seemed to be speaking to her in a desperate way. As his pleading had not worked on Charles, he had decided to speak to the leader of the group. And if the Goth had any sense, she would keep running, getting as much space as possible between them and the soldiers outside the door.

“He gave away the fact we’re here and armed,” snapped Natti without looking over to see who was talking, continuing towards the exit. The library was in sight now, and that just made her want to run faster, but she held it in check, shrugging a bit under the weight she was carrying, trying to make it sit better. She heard Elly and Miri, and there was some relief in that.

“Either he’ll come, or he won’t. You can always go get him. I think Dudley is out there with him – he ran out that way when I was finishing patching him up.”

She felt a twinge of guilt all the same, honestly having no idea what was going on out there other than things she didn’t want to think too hard about. She was no hero. She didn’t want to lead anyone anywhere. She just wanted to get out, and get somewhere safe, and from there, get home.

"Wow...that's kinda cold..." Marcus said as he continued to run. "And...Dudley is dead, I think..."

The words stopped Natti dead in her tracks, and she turned to look at Marcus, her composure crumbling.

“He … how? What happened? He can’t be. He was just …”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she shook her head, trying to deny the images that sprang to mind, and the guilt that surged up from not having had the courage to go after Camera Boy.

“No ... no, no, nonono … How do you know? Did you see him? Did you help? Did you stop him?”

It wasn't fair to ask most of what she had, but then nothing about the night had been 'fair'. She looked desperate to be assured that what he said wasn’t true. Her words came out in a rush, her accent becoming more pronounced as she went along, occasionally slipping into her native Italian.

“Can’t. I can’t go back there! Mi dispiace, non posso … I’m scared! Got to get out! Non morire prematuramente! I just want to go home!”

With tears streaming down her cheeks, not wanting to explain further, or talk any more, or think about any of this past just getting out and anywhere else but here, she dashed into the library, burst through the doors, and stumbled towards the fire door off towards the back corner, heedless of any chaos she might leave in her wake.

I should have stopped him! Its my fault he’s gone! He never did anything to deserve that! I should have stopped him!

The words stopped Natti dead in her tracks, and she turned to look at Marcus, her composure crumbling.

“He … how? What happened? He can’t be. He was just …”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she shook her head, trying to deny the images that sprang to mind, and the guilt that surged up from not having had the courage to go after Camera Boy.

“No ... no, no, nonono … How do you know? Did you see him? Did you help? Did you stop him?”

It wasn't fair to ask most of what she had, but then nothing about the night had been 'fair'. She looked desperate to be assured that what he said wasn’t true. Her words came out in a rush, her accent becoming more pronounced as she went along, occasionally slipping into her native Italian.

“Can’t. I can’t go back there! Mi dispiace, non posso … I’m scared! Got to get out! Non morire prematuramente! I just want to go home!”

With tears streaming down her cheeks, not wanting to explain further, or talk any more, or think about any of this past just getting out and anywhere else but here, she dashed into the library, burst through the doors, and stumbled towards the fire door off towards the back corner, heedless of any chaos she might leave in her wake.

I should have stopped him! Its my fault he’s gone! He never did anything to deserve that! I should have stopped him!
"Hey, wait!" Marcus called out to her. He chased down Natti, vaulting over spilled books and shelves left behind her. Grabbing her arm, Marcus tried to stop her for a bit. He knew they had to keep moving, but she was starting to freak out; and that served them nothing.

"Look, don't blame yourself..." he didn't really know what to say. "H-he was coming out the door when..." Marcus didn't know how much she could take. "I..." his voice trailed.

Dylan had no idea what was going on. People were shouting, he had been let into a room where all the cheerleaders and beautiful ladies of the school were undressing, and now he was being tugged along by the other students, and he was carrying things. Still, the only clear thing in his mind was that Amy had been sitting with him, and now Amy was dead. Her brains and blood and guts all over his outfit... Maybe he should have taken her up on that suggestion to go outside, instead of angling for something better... If he had, they could have gotten to the embassy, maybe she'd still be alive.

But the boy wasn't quite at the point where thinking that could inspire anything other than his current precipitate backdown. He had been told to follow, and follow he did, keeping up as much as he could on his damaged leg.

Miri began to slow down, from her jog to a sort of power walk, to a leisurely stroll, to just sliding one foot in front of the other. Traces of any sense of duty were disappearing from her face, being replaced with a cold, emptiness.

"W-what? Wait, what?" Her voice died out as she said the last word as it expelled itself from her mouth, nearly dying before it even touched the microphone. She blinked and came to a halt, as her mind began to come to terms with what had apparently transpired.

It wasn't so much the fact that she was able to spend only a bit of time with Dudley that hit her the most. It was the sense of finality, the matter-of-fact sense of hearing it that caused her to stop and just... think, react, react.

_This means Ryan's dead too. This means that... I'm alone. I'm alone, alone, without anybody near me right now._ She took a step forward and fell to her side, leaning against a wall, breathing heavily.

_You know, Miri, you always were alone. Did you know that?_

_Really? There... but what about-_

_No, they weren't there. They were never really their. You saw it with your own eyes._

_I..._

_You remember, don't you? All those times you could have joined them, you didn't. So you got left alone._

_But... they wouldn't let me._

_Force your way in. Look up and look at what's in front of you._ Miri tilted her head up a bit and blinked.

_So... I guess this means that the only friends left I have here are the ones running ahead of me. Right?_ She opened her eyes and looked ahead at the receding backs of Elly, Natti, Sarah, and all the other survivors. _No, they're not survivors... not yet, at least. Dudley, I'm so sorry, I really am... Ryan, I never even got to say goodbye properly. I hope that you and Michelle are okay now, wherever there might be. But... I'm sorry too that I'm just standing here._ She took in a breath and started walking forward again, with a little more strength coming with each step. "Let's go..." She slapped herself on the side of the head. "I swear... if any more of these bastards get in our way..." She closed her eyes hard and opened them, breathing a bit more difficult than before. "God damn it..."

Natti jerked her arm away from Marcus, instinctively gripping her weapon tightly, though not so far gone as to point it at him. Her eyes looked haunted from everything she’d seen, and the internal torment she was putting herself through over Dudley’s death. She spoke haltingly, trying desperately not to cry, but suffering the jerky breathing spasms one gets when emotions are running high.

“Don’t touch me. Just don’t touch me. We’re leaving. We’re getting out of here, now. And if you want to go back and get Hawk, you go right ahead and go – just don’t go outside! But we’re going as far as we can, as fast as we can, and going to try and get as many of us out as we can. Too much death. Too many gone bad ways. Now we gotta go the right way. Nothing we can do here – we’re just a bunch of kids!”

She looked behind then, peering at those following behind. Her stomach sank at realizing she was in the lead still, not seeing Charles yet. Natti turned back to Marcus, and spoke in a soft, quivering voice.

“We’ve got to get out.”

And with that, she reached for the door, holding her weapon tightly in the other hand, tip pointed up but ready to bring it to the ready, shaking though she was.

Natti jerked her arm away from Marcus, instinctively gripping her weapon tightly, though not so far gone as to point it at him. Her eyes looked haunted from everything she’d seen, and the internal torment she was putting herself through over Dudley’s death. She spoke haltingly, trying desperately not to cry, but suffering the jerky breathing spasms one gets when emotions are running high.

“Don’t touch me. Just don’t touch me. We’re leaving. We’re getting out of here, now. And if you want to go back and get Hawk, you go right ahead and go – just don’t go outside! But we’re going as far as we can, as fast as we can, and going to try and get as many of us out as we can. Too much death. Too many gone bad ways. Now we gotta go the right way. Nothing we can do here – we’re just a bunch of kids!”

She looked behind then, peering at those following behind. Her stomach sank at realizing she was in the lead still, not seeing Charles yet. Natti turned back to Marcus, and spoke in a soft, quivering voice.

“We’ve got to get out.”

And with that, she reached for the door, holding her weapon tightly in the other hand, tip pointed up but ready to bring it to the ready, shaking though she was.
"S-sorry..." Marcus whispered back once she was through. He also glanced at the others before turning back for her. He shifted in his boots before sighing heavily. "Okay...you all get out, you're right," he conceded. He lifted his rifle steadily, "I'm going to get Hawk."

With that, Marcus began to retrace their path, trying to decide how exactly to do that. Going outside was a death sentence, so how could he get over to him under concealment? If I'm a man I must be brave, And I must face that deadly killer, Or lie a coward, a craven coward...

"Natti..." Elly called to the girl, across the library in front of her. She realized, however, that her voice was barely more then a whisper. Her throat hurt. There was only minimal damage to the library, but still several stacks of books had toppled, and loose paper lay scattered around on the floor near the desks.

"Natti..." she called again, her voice louder as she crossed the room, but still filled with apprehension. She wasn't sure if there were any of their enemies nearby, or if yelling might be a good or bad idea. She didn't know if the other girl had a mic set or not, and it didn't even occur to her to try.

"Natti!" she finally yelled, as she saw her storm away from the slight form of Marcus and towards the far exit. She ran up, trying to get to her before she kept going.

"We... we need to get deeper in the city, right?" she asked nervously, holding out her compass. "Do... do you remember which way that is?"

Catching the look in her eye, she stopped. Lifting the goggles off of her face, she sighed. "Are you okay? Let's just wait a sec, till everyone catches up, okay?"

---

The jogging proved to be harder for Scarlett then she'd thought. With all the extra weight, her legs were throbbing painfully with each step. She'd run a marathon or two before, and had thought before they'd set off that it wouldn't be this bad, but she had no idea. Her vision swam in and out of focus, and she panted hard as she worked hard to keep up. Of course, the thought of dropping anything didn't even occur to her... he mind clung to the idea that this stuff was key to her survival.

As she ran, she stumbled slightly, and almost ran into some blurry obstruction that she was pretty sure wasn't there a minute before. At the last minute, she realized it was a person, another survivor. Twisting to avoid a hard collision, she promptly fell hard on her side.

She blinked. The world came back into focus. 'Did I just black out?' she thought, spitting as she tasted fresh blood in her mouth.

"Hey, you..." she called, suddenly realizing that it was Elly's strange friend, the one in pink, who's name refused to surface in her battered brain, "You're Elly's friend... give me a hand?"

Marcus noticed Natti's friend walk by, and grimly realized how alone he'd be in his quest. He knew that going the direct way was suicide, but he had no idea what else to do. Perhaps there was some system connecting the two buildings below ground, Marcus thought, though he had no clue whether or not that was true, and he'd simply waste time searching. Getting on his belly, Marcus crawled the rest of the way to the entrance, trying to be as concealed as possible as he snuck a peek outside. He scanned the area, wondering what else to do...

ooc: i know this is horrible of me, but did someone make an 'official' map? did it show the outside?

Outside the gym
Hawk had been holding it together fairly well, staying under cover, as the bullets flew but a grenade would have been a bit much under any circumstances. As it was, he'd been through a bombing, multiple minor injuries and GETTING SHOT (armor or no) and was in a kinda fragile state. To add to the issue He'd peaked over the edge of his meager cover as the fire abated and had only just caught site of the grenade and ducked under about one second before the grenade would have taken off his head. As it was he survived but his last modicum of reason, the one that had been keeping him under cover, died in a flame of fury and fear. With the last fragments of the grenade still pinging off the cover Hawk was lunging to his feet and sprinted for the door.

Outside the gym
Hawk had been holding it together fairly well, staying under cover, as the bullets flew but a grenade would have been a bit much under any circumstances. As it was, he'd been through a bombing, multiple minor injuries and GETTING SHOT (armor or no) and was in a kinda fragile state. To add to the issue He'd peaked over the edge of his meager cover as the fire abated and had only just caught site of the grenade and ducked under about one second before the grenade would have taken off his head. As it was he survived but his last modicum of reason, the one that had been keeping him under cover, died in a flame of fury and fear. With the last fragments of the grenade still pinging off the cover Hawk was lunging to his feet and sprinted for the door.
Marcus heard the blast and ducked as he approached the doorway, diving for cover. He looked up and wondered if he was too late. A figure was silhouetted in the doorframe, sprinting towards it. Instinctively, Marcus leveled his rifle, only to be confronted by Hawk.

"It's about time..." Marcus greeted him, "You comin'?"

Miri looked around behind her at someone who looked ridiculously like Elly, except doubled over on the ground. "Oh, wh-- did I do that? I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..." Miri immediately stood up and offered a hand to Scarlett, pulling her to her feet and allowing the taller girl to lean on herself if she needed it. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry about being in the way there..." The blast of a grenade outside punctured the night, making Miri stumble a bit, pushing into Scarlett. "Shit--!" She righted the two of them and shook her head. "I'm Miri... You're Elly's sister... Ssss something? Ah... we have to keep moving..."

“Good luck,” Natti said quietly as Marcus turned to go back for Hawk. It wasn’t that she didn’t care, it wasn’t that she thought it was bad for him to go help. It was simply beyond her to do and she knew it.

She nodded to Elly as she caught up, thinking that waiting for the others wasn’t such a bad thing since they were already stopped, and they were sure to be there soon given how much everyone seemed to want to get out for the most part.

“I … I think so. But do we really want to get into town? We’ve got to talk to Charles and see what he thinks. Me, I just want to get as far away from whoever is blowing everything up as we can. Out away from campus (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v213/Nathicana/NationStates/CentralCampusMap.gif), maybe up to the hills – at least get away, and see if we can get a look at what in hell is going on.”




ooc: Link to what Ainu has been going off of for ref - campus basics.

Charles blinked in surprise as Marcus came hustling back down the hallway and then dropped flat to open the outer doors. Surprised? Yes. Maybe the boy found in Hawk a friend, or a mentor, but whatever it was, it was going to get them…

Hawk slammed back through the doors, and Charles let out a heavy sigh. “Alright, you two,” he growled, covering for his nervousness. “Library, let’s go.” He immediately began following after the others, deftly avoiding the traps Fall was laying in the hallway, as well, the crouching soldier was difficult to miss, and basic trap laying had been covered among fifty or sixty other topics in four years of combat preparedness training. “That’s good, Fall.” Under pressure, it appeared that the names of people came back to him.

Or perhaps it was merely the oddities that stood out. Fall, Marcus, Hawk, they were all strange enough to stand out, be noticed. Perhaps never acknowledge until a situation like this, but definitely noticed. “There’s enough other doors that if they want the school, they can have it.” Never really liked this old place anyway. So sterile, so military, no real sense of history. Not like home. There's no place like home.

But Fall was a soldier, and Charles was not his commander, and frankly, neither of his comments had been an order. He left it up to Fall whether or not to follow the others. Bringing up the rear of the students limping to the library, he caught the tail end of Natti’s words. “We should try for the university hospital. We’re all hurt, and we can’t stay here.”

Moving up next to Eden, he gently brushed a gloved hand against her back, knowing she would barely feel the pressure through the heavy layers of equipment. “The hills are a definite option, but fleeing into the countryside probably won’t get us anywhere fast.” Left unsaid that if this was a proper invasion, fleeing into the country would probably help them find nothing but army groups and absolutely no resources. Raising his voice to make sure everyone heard him, he addressed the whole group. “How many of us are exchange students?” He raised his own hand, letting the heavy sniper rifle hang for a moment, looking around expectantly.

As the explosion sounded down the hallway, Eden felt her heart begin to race even faster. Fear suddenly swept over her as she envisioned the end of the boy who Marcus was making a fuss about earlier. The thought of the bad guys taking down another of their dwindling number made the cheerleader feel sick. Why was this happening? her head kept repeating as she continued jogging down the hallway, following the group.

Charles’ words lifted her slightly as she heard him not mention only Marcus but also Hawk, who had somehow managed to not die in the explosion as she had imagined. She marked up points for the survivors, over the attackers. Of course, they were so far behind the one point really did not make that much difference, except for the tiny bit of hope that lingered in her head. There was a chance...wasn’t there?

Distracted again, Eden turned and spared a look at Fall and Jennifer, the member of the cheerleading squad, who had taken an interest in soldier boy, as Charles called out. It gave Eden a moment of relief as she spotted the familiar face, unfortunately it lasted only a moment, as suddenly other faces haunted her memories, faces she had not seen since the hall. The thoughts were quickly pushed to the back of her mind. She would worry about them when they were safe.

Finally catching up with the others, the young woman took a moment to catch her breath and instantly wished she had started with a smaller breath. She had never felt as unfit as she did at that moment. She knew she was carrying more weight than she would normally. If they got to the hospital in one piece, she would take a moment to get herself sorted out.

Her thoughts were replaced with the sound of Charles’ voice as he once more took charge of the situation. She smiled, as she looked at him, wishing not for the first time, that they were miles away. If only they had decided to spend the evening somewhere else...anywhere but Perimeter Defense.

Eden frowned at the idea of heading into the countryside, all she really wanted to do was get to the airport and be on the next plane out of the country, but she knew that if this was as big as it appeared, the school was not the only casualty of the attack. The airport was probably in the worse state than they were.

She put her hand slowly up in the air, feeling her chest twinge as the weight of her supplies shifted slightly. Not knowing why Charles had this sudden urge to find out where everyone was from, she shook her head and watched to see if the others were listening too.

Natti raises a shaking hand, her other firmly on the gun she’s been given even as she glances between the door and Charles.

“I’ve no idea what it looks like out there,” she manages. “Haven’t looked out the door yet. Not sure what to expect. Do remember where the hospital is though, if you’re sure we should go there.”

She doesn’t sound convinced, but its clear other than ‘get out and far away’, she doesn’t have any better ideas, and is more than content to stay with the group than bolt out there by herself into god only knows what.

"Well, that was fun," MArcus said to both Hawk and Charles, ignoring the latter's obvious displeasure. He fell in behind and stayed close.

Marcus raised his hand as well, wondering what the significance was of asking. "It's not like they'll listen to pleas of immunity, will they?" he wondered aloud.

Hawk had nearly bounced right off of Marcus as he cleared the doorway. Thankfully Marcus had held fire but it took Hawk a couple of seconds to figure out what had happened. As he walked down the halway he was still trying to figure out exactly why bullet fire had temporarily ceased. He was slowly comming out of the trance and heared "Well that was fun." As Marcus finished talking Hawk came to completely.

"Some how I doubt it" Hawk Grinned slightly. "The ones outside didn't seem to interested in talking."

He stopped Grinning , remebering Dudley's fate.

"damn." He muttered. "Whats the Plan?"

"don't think the quiet going to last " Fall said as he carried the girl as they came up from the hallway after Fall warn Hawk and Marcus about his traps as they passed him while setting them up

"so you listen an watched out for the traps Hawk" Fall added as he lets the girl down once they had stop near Hawk and Marcus

"so the city all fucked up an we don't know where PD troops are so "Fall said as the girl took the canteen off Falls belt as he talks