12-07-2018, 02:45 AM
After all the screams and shouts and shots the quiet was loud. Which was about right. Adrenaline pouring through your veins, every thought and feeling and sensation combined with everything else going on, amplified even...well, it wasn't like Jacinda didn't know she was an adrenaline junky.
It was that thing she'd told Regus that time they'd met. The one true thing she'd culled from all her years with Regan. Life was struggle. Survival. Weren't no pansy ass entitled pricks gonna get a participation trophy from mother nature.
Live or die. Live or kill. The long and the short of it.
And she wasn't dead yet. One day, sure. And she wasn't sure she wanted it in a bed breathing through a tube. No. Second thought. Definitely didn't want that. What was the saying? Surrender when you're dead.
So the quiet was loud. Ten was nearby watching. Jacinda wondered where'd she'd got off to. The other girl was scrambling out of the tunnels. No sounds of any more harpies.
That left one.
The girl had not stopped fighting.
It was dark and Jacinda couldn't make out any faces or expressions. Not that she cared. Permission was not a thing a grown ass woman asked for. Or needed.
She couldn't deny the twinges of pain and she climbed up into the tunnel. Her staves were free and it was dark, though she made out a flashing in the distance so tiny she thought it might be her imagination.
At the ready, she made her way down, one careful step at a time. Not imagination after all. It got a bit brighter. Two flashings, not in sync.
The nearest to her was a discarded sneaker. Despite herself she smiled. Dumb kids. It wasn't a cruel thought. The girl had put up a brave fight. She stuffed down her heartbeat and kept going.
Just as she was approaching, a light went on. Blinding. Something on the ground struggling weakly. A drone. She rolled her eyes.
But that was not what drew her attention. She saw a small body. The girl, face down. In the shadowed distance she saw a large saggy harpy all gross with her boobs on the ground, somehow entwined in rebar, blood everywhere. Dead.
That was good.
Still alert she crouched and felt for a pulse from the girl. Weak. But enough. Gingerly she rolled her over and concentrated on positioning arms and legs and then, with a breath- yeah, her back was not gonna like this right now- she pulled her over in a fireman's carry.
And she was right. Dead weight was dead weight. And off balance strained what should not be strained. But she got her and once her weight was draped like a fur across both shoulders it was cake to stand and start walking back.
She emerged from the tunnel and the let her eyes adjust. "Yeah, so maybe one of you could stop standing there checkin me out and help me get her down without me straining anymore of my back?"
It was that thing she'd told Regus that time they'd met. The one true thing she'd culled from all her years with Regan. Life was struggle. Survival. Weren't no pansy ass entitled pricks gonna get a participation trophy from mother nature.
Live or die. Live or kill. The long and the short of it.
And she wasn't dead yet. One day, sure. And she wasn't sure she wanted it in a bed breathing through a tube. No. Second thought. Definitely didn't want that. What was the saying? Surrender when you're dead.
So the quiet was loud. Ten was nearby watching. Jacinda wondered where'd she'd got off to. The other girl was scrambling out of the tunnels. No sounds of any more harpies.
That left one.
The girl had not stopped fighting.
It was dark and Jacinda couldn't make out any faces or expressions. Not that she cared. Permission was not a thing a grown ass woman asked for. Or needed.
She couldn't deny the twinges of pain and she climbed up into the tunnel. Her staves were free and it was dark, though she made out a flashing in the distance so tiny she thought it might be her imagination.
At the ready, she made her way down, one careful step at a time. Not imagination after all. It got a bit brighter. Two flashings, not in sync.
The nearest to her was a discarded sneaker. Despite herself she smiled. Dumb kids. It wasn't a cruel thought. The girl had put up a brave fight. She stuffed down her heartbeat and kept going.
Just as she was approaching, a light went on. Blinding. Something on the ground struggling weakly. A drone. She rolled her eyes.
But that was not what drew her attention. She saw a small body. The girl, face down. In the shadowed distance she saw a large saggy harpy all gross with her boobs on the ground, somehow entwined in rebar, blood everywhere. Dead.
That was good.
Still alert she crouched and felt for a pulse from the girl. Weak. But enough. Gingerly she rolled her over and concentrated on positioning arms and legs and then, with a breath- yeah, her back was not gonna like this right now- she pulled her over in a fireman's carry.
And she was right. Dead weight was dead weight. And off balance strained what should not be strained. But she got her and once her weight was draped like a fur across both shoulders it was cake to stand and start walking back.
She emerged from the tunnel and the let her eyes adjust. "Yeah, so maybe one of you could stop standing there checkin me out and help me get her down without me straining anymore of my back?"