That was the question, wasn't it? How were they holding up? Not too long ago her and Jack were relaying the fact they saw and heard voices of those long since dead and even acted upon impulses contrary to logic. But did she tell Riley and Ash that? Worry them and think they have to keep an eye on them? Then again, maybe Ash and Riley and Nisha experienced the same thing.
"Me and Jack have been together since the explosion. We haven't seen anyone else, so we aren't holding up too great, though it is better now that we actually found people. We did start seeing and hearing dead people, and not the reanimated kind, so that's a bit worrisome. I think that has passed though. But all in all, I wouldn't mind a sit-down or a nice nap."
"Thank you, Riley." said Ash deliberately. He was on task, but didn't want to seem ungrateful. This kind of a thing wasn't a big deal for him, being military. He was accustomed to receiving a task and completing it without so much as an acknowledgement of job well done. Task performed, move on to the next one. Feedback was had only if the job was substandard, and it was safe to assume that one tended to avoid that type of feedback. On the one hand, these people had toiled faithfully for Ash, and before him Leann for a long time now. They might as well all be soldiers. On the other hand, life had handed them a beating of monumental proportions earlier that day. An ounce of politeness wasn't going to hurt anybody.
With the light focused on the relay, Ash was able to clearly fasten the connections to the machine and extend the antenna. He would have felt better if he had a small satellite dish instead, but for the intent of reaching other safehouses, the antenna would suffice. Now that he had this, there was a good possibility he could coordinate with the other survivors and work out a plan for when it got light out. Because one way or another, Ash wasn't done surviving just yet, and he was pretty sure that others weren't, either. They needed a leader, no matter how crazy he might be.
"Thanks again, Riley." he said, a little more confidently now that he knew the walkies were functional and the relay was set up. But before he got to using either, Ash waited to hear reports from his team. Riley and Tiffany gave the house the "all clear" tag, which was just fine by him. Jack and Niesha found a good haul for themselves, adding what was found to their existing supplies. Jobs completed, it was probably a good time for Ash to be a Captain again, or something close to it. The earlier thought of Leann McCormick, Newnan's first commanding officer that was lost to them a while back, prompted Ash to move his hand to the breast pocket of the jacket he now wore. It was a brown flight jacket that belonged to Leann's father from World War II, and in that pocket lay her Lt. Colonel insignias.
Very briefly, Ash had considered adopting her military rank in addition to the command of Newnan, but decided against it. It seemed too presumptuous. It would have fit a pattern, though - Ash was only a Lieutenant when all of this started. He pulled his Captain's Bars off of his own dead C.O. when the apocalypse really started to hit. They needed a Captain and he was the only guy there remotely qualified; moreover there was enough of a government left to formally approve the battlefield promotion. So no, Captain it stayed. Maybe he even earned Lt. Colonel, but he didn't feel that it was his call.
"Alright, fall in." he said aloud to get everyone's attention. "Gather around, let's take a head count... Riley, Tiffany, Niesha, Jack, and myself." There had to be more than five that got out. Ash sighed. "Okay, we're out, alive... We have emergency supplies, walls, and a roof over our heads. It's something. We have functioning radios. That's something else. It's been a long, bad day. Everyone grab an MRE and settle in for the night. Stick to this main room, I want everyone in sight of each other. Now, I'll take first watch. While you all eat, I'm going to see who's checked into the other safehouses. Okay? Let's do it."
As others got settled in, Ashton set himself back to the radio. He was going to deal with the news from Tiffany that they were all seeing deaddead people after a little bit. This took priority. It was a simple task of getting to the right frequency, made slightly more difficult by the fact that it wasn't preset; he had to dial it to the proper frequency manually, at least for the first time. Though long before he got to the correct span on the dial, a barely audible transmission issued from the speakers:
"Hold the goddamned phone..." He couldn't tell if it was man, woman, or child. He didn't know were it was coming from. All Ash knew: Someone else was broadcasting.
Thalia Carmichael
Location: Eden, Grand Gallery turning into cross corridor in front of Mechanical Skills: Stealth, Survival, Pistol
Team Lola seemed to be doing a fine job, operating as a distraction. First in that tank, a place that she called her big metal home over the winter. That tank got the sneak attack crew in there in the first place. Damned fine piece of work. Then of course was the singing. Thalia was fairly certain that it was one of the worst ideas ever, provided they were still entertaining stealth as an option. Tio Caesar would never have gone for it, period. But his was a singular school of thought. Old school, adaptive, chillingly effective; the kind that Thalia herself used, like some sort of Mexican ninja. So the application of music better suited for a binge drinking New Year's Eve party would have never been allowed in her family.
Damn, but it was proving effective. As long as it worked, Thalia didn't care.
Thalia continued in her original direction north, keeping to the wall and aiming to join up with Thana, or at least where she heard the woman's weapon report last. Doing so meant passing by the trio of Edenites that Alexander took out while providing his "cover fire", a thing which gave her a bit of a smirk. But one little detail did catch her eye: Two of the downed men carried 9mm pistols as backup. That was something worth taking note about. She decided to risk the couple of seconds necessary to check the models on those. A sly smile crept over her face as she recognized two Glock-compatible weapons, and she silently thanked her father and uncle for utilizing a standardized 9mm as their company's base sidearm. Many people wanted a .45, but no, most firefights were resolved by shot placement and magazine capacity over the ability to place a huge hole in somebody. Logistics were a lifesaver sometimes.
Keeping her pistol high, Thalia knelt by the bodies and set her machete to the side. With her free hand, she pulled one pistol from an Edenite belt and thumbed the magazine release, then repeated the other with a gun on the floor. She snatched up both, checked the counts, and shoved them both into her back pocket. Thalia recovered her blade and continued, this time cutting left in hopes of meeting up with Thana and getting their little group back together. Though it wouldn't hurt to check that door labeled "Mechanical" first...
Raymond motioned for Matt to follow him into the Sharpsburg safehouse, he found Medic finishing up patching up Sam and gave him a friendly nod. Raymond looked around until he spotted a pair of sleeping bags and sat down on it, he didn't mind laying down in a sleeping bag Amelia had been busting her ass off to get him here. "You certainly do deserve the rest Amelia." Raymond said giving her a soft smile as he set the makeshift walking stick down next to him. Matt did what he was told and handed his weapons over to Guy and walked over and leaned himself up against a nearby wall.
Ray turned his attention over towards Guy and Medic, he didn't really have any wounds except for the small puncture marks when Meg got impaled. He slowly lifted his shirt up to get a better look at them, and then stared at Medic for a moment. "Hey, uhm mind taking a quick look at this?" Raymond asked Medic as he looked over towards Sam as she went to the radio, and asked if there was anyone on the other end, which didn't sound good to him.
A part of Ray wanted to try and see if he could get the radio to work, but he wasn't a radio technician and didn't know how they even worked. "So whats the next plan of action?" Raymond finally asked looking over at Guy, he assumed that Guy knew more on the escape plan and where to go, he wasn't a lead by any means. A part of him still wanted to use the radio and try and make a call to see if Tiffany was still alive and made it out safely.
Riley looked down at Ashton and gave him a slight smile and nodded towards him. [color=B0C4DE"Sure thing."[/color] Riley said softly towards him, her attention turned towards Jack and Niesha as they both came into the main room carrying what supplies that they had found in the safehouse. It was a good and decent supply for them to get along for awhile. Then her attention turned towards Tiffany when she mentioned that they all had been seeing things as well. Riley closed her eyes letting out a soft sigh and nodded she certainly had seen things as well, though not as severe as the others however.
"I've been seeing things as well, by the time we got a good distance away from Newnan though they seemed to stop." Riley wasn't going to say any more than that she didn't want to relive or mention losing Chloe she already did to Ashton. Riley didn't want to talk more about it right now, she just hoped that Amelia had made it out alive that's the only thing that she cared about now. Riley's attention then went towards Ashton when he spoke up, still she kept her flashlight pointed at Ashton and the radio that was set up there. Riley listened to Ashton and gave him a slight nod.
She couldn't agree more that today was a complete and utter shit show in her eyes. "I'll take the second watch after you then Ash since you busted your ass off getting us here." Riley offered, before going over to a nearby couch and quickly snatched up one of the MRE's and started to open it when she heard something going off on the radio which made her lean forward, there was a lot of static but she could barely make out a few words wondering if it was a survivor from Newnan or someone else.
No rolls came up for new characters this round, so hold tight - you are coming in, just not yet.
Niesha sits down and looks around, not sure what to do now but she is beyond tired and as soon as she leans her head back she is out cold and asleep.
Apparently Matt doesn't like the idea of going in weaponless. He quickly excuses himself, picks up his axe, and turns to walk away. Guy quirked a brow slightly but let the man leave. This isn't worth a fight and if it is a set up, they have an upperhand since they can barricade themselves away in the brick building. It would take a tank to get in and who the hell has a tank these days?
Guy ushers everyone inside and keeps an eye out for now. Medic looked over at Ray and nods a bit. "Yeah, come on over," he said and points at the table. Sam is working on the radio and manages to get everything set up, taking the call end over to Guy who is still standing at the door.
"Thanks," he said as he watched Matt walk down the road. He wants to keep an eye on the man as long as he can. "Testing one, two, three. This is Guy. Sharpsburg. Looking for Newnan. Guy, Ray, Amelia, Medic, +1 in Sharpsburg," he says into the radio. "Anyone out there?" he says again. Static comes back and then something else.
"Holy shit, I think we got Froggy!" Guy said excitedly. What Guy didn't know was that everything he was saying was going to Ash crystal clear. Their radio was working fine even if one persons wasn't fully. "Froggy that you? Anyone else out there, over!"
The guard that Manny shot at doesn't scare off. He takes aim and fires a shot. He misses Manny but hits the other Edenite in the shoulder. "God damn it Eric!" the man screams.
"Shut up Lew! What you get for getting used as a meat shield!" Eric yells back. Apparently he doesn't give two shits if Lew dies.
Eden
Location: Eden: West hallway around south and now going north, Greed, Greed Skills: Survival, Pistol, Close Combat Fighting, Knife, Hand To Hand Combat, Rifle, Shotgun, Brawling, Hunting
Lola nodded over towards Beatrice. They probably were. Seemed that the cowboy thought so as well but he was tired of checking each and every corner. As he looked at the windows he spotted several of the Edenites in the hallway in front of the stairs. Motioning towards the window he got Lola's attention and she grinned as she picked up a chair.
"Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the .....
The chair went flying and crashed through the windows, shattering them and sending glass shards an debris towards the three standing in at the base of the stair case. Gavin took the opportunity to rush through the hole left n the wake of the Kiwi doing her personal impression of a wrecking ball. Lola was quick to follow just kept singing as she rushed after Gavin.
"One - nothing wrong with me Two - nothing wrong with me Three - nothing wrong with me Four - nothing wrong with me
One - something's got to give Two - something's got to give Three - something's got to give now"
Gavin let off two quick shots from the shotgun he had taken from an Edenite earlier. Two of the three went down quickly, their blood, guts, and brain matter splattering all over the stairs and the wall. Lola rushed the remaining on and drove her knife into his ear, twisting it hard before kicking him in the gut and sending his lifeless body on top of the others.
"CLEAR!" Gavin yelled as pumped the shot gun and readied it for the next round. Lola kept singing and was starting to giggle as she did.
"Skin against skin blood and bone You're all by yourself but you're not alone You wanted in now you're here Driven by hate consumed by fear
Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor
One - nothing wrong with me Two - nothing wrong with me Three - nothing wrong with me Four - nothing wrong with me
One - something's got to give Two - something's got to give Three - something's got to give now
Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor
Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor
Hey! Go Hey! Go Hey! Go"
Thana wasn't as vocal as she stepped down the hallway and unceremoniously popped off two rounds and took out two more Edenites. Checking rooms as she went, she made sure those room were empty before catching Thalia and Alexander at the other end of the hallway. "Clear," she said before dropping her clip and changing it out. Reaching behind her she pulled out few more clips that were good for 9mm. Her brow raising as she held them out to Thalia and Alexander in case they needed them. She had picked them up off the ones she had killed in the hallway earlier.
This place was hell but at least they were still standing and from the sound of it Gavin and Lola were still kicking. She hadn't heard Beatrices voice but that didn't mean the woman was dead. Just meant she hadn't been heard as of yet by Thana. If Lola and Gavin were still kicking she figured Beatrice was as well. Gavin was the type to play meat shield if he needed to, so she doubted anyone in the other half of their split group was down and out for the count. At least for now. Whether they all would make it out alive was still yet to be seen.
Location:Sharpsburg , Main st.(F11) Skills: Sneaking, Athletics
“Thank you, Ray.” Amelia replied to him, relaxing as much as she can on the couch. While she wanted to get to sleep, she also couldn't quite fall asleep right away. She noticed the lumberjack guy decided to keep heading to his own way which she could respect to a degree. He didn't know them, they were armed and it was obvious that given how injured Ray, Sam and Amelia were something had went down. So she just said a silent prayer in her mind for good luck to him and returned to her focus on Medic and Ray. Ray's wounds were more or less the stabs from when Meg died.
She was finally ready to relax enough as the Radio came to life and they were trying to connect with any other possible survivors out there. Her mind once more went to Riley as the static could be heard. Did Riley make it out? She hoped so. How glad she would be if she could hear the other's voice. If the singer was fine, then the struggle could be worth it after all. The uncertainty of the situation was crushing her, she didn't want to allow herself to give up hope though. She felt that if she gave up hope that she'd see Riley again, it would truly happen. She couldn't allow it.
Then she heard a faint voice through the static and she rose her head a lil to look at the radio. She didn't speak though, she was quiet and listening with both ears and eyes opened wide trying to hear anything from the other side. There was Froggy on the other end, but who else was with him? Was he alone? That wasn't likely, she could only hope that a lot of the others made it out.
Location: First hallway to the north-east --> Sloth --> Terrace north of Gavin and Lola Skills: Pistol, Navigation
The Edenites hadn't attempted to counter-attack the position Alexander had taken up at the corner, which was good for them. Them as in Angel T, Navy T and himself, and bad for the enemy, perhaps even a wasted oppertunity. Before he was reunited with Thana and Thalia, he had been by himself as the two others were off doing their own things. A well-placed suppressing fire would have kept him pinned down long enough to be overrun, but the gunfire only came from further east. The others were putting up quite the show.
Alexander turned to Thana as she once again reported that their flank was clear, and gave an approving smile to her with the magazines she offered. Alexander took two from her hand and pocketed them with his other magazine for his 9mm; he still wasn't done with his Colt. From around the corner he was certain there was an Edenite walking towards their position. Bad idea for him.
Turning the corner with the Colt pointed forward, the Edenite came into clear aim of Alexander and his gun. Before the Edenite could shoot, Alexander had already pulled the trigger twice; the .45's hit the guy right in the gut and chest, the sheer force knocking the poor bastard flat on his ass. He was no longer a threat, and Alexander moved with ease past him and into the room he had just exited.
He wish he hadn't.
If he had kept his stomach from emptying itself when he first entered the building, now he was having trouble holding in a series of emotions. The room was filled with corpses, littered around the room in different positions. Some looked to have been dead for a while, others looked like they had just fallen asleep with a really bad hangover. Except it wasn't alcohol that knocked their lights out, but drugs. Beside various corpses Alexander could see syringes and small pools of blood, and on closer inspection as he took a few more steps into the room, needle marks in the bodies' arms. This was bad. It reminded him of opium dens in the darkest parts of Saigon, or the regular drugged down G.I. in his bed that would never wake up again; some probably didn't, while others were simply unlucky. That's how their machinegunner from L.A. went out; not with a bang, but with a whimper and a needle.
This wasn't just sickening. This was evil.
Alexander slowly turned around and looked at the Edenite still lying on the floor, still alive, barely. He wasn't sure why he wasn't smart about it, but something clicked in his mind. Standing just over the dying Edenite, who looked at the old vet with a look of spite in his eyes, Alexander looked back with blank face. But his eyes, they almost burned. "Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord." Alexander said to the dying man, slowly pointing his Colt at his head. "Forgive me Lord, but this one deserves it."
The bullet went straight through his head, leaving a large hole right above his eyes and blood and bits of brain flew out. Alexander didn't blink, at least not until he was done staring at the man and went back to work. Coming back into the Grand Gallery, he turned to the others and said "Clear.", before making his way out to the terrace. And as it would seem, he wasn't alone there. "Good to see you again. North-western part is clear, and I guess your end is so too?" Alexander said to Lola and Gavin, finally changing over to his 9mm instead of the Cold. It only had four bullets left in the magazine, so better switch now that he had the ammunition to spare.
Location: A cage within Eden Skills: Fast Reflexes, Pistols, Hand to hand, scavenging
Things were going bad to worse. He had either 1 or 3 bullets left, but assuming these people were smart enough to reload his gun he had to hope for three bullets. The blood from his meat shield went all over Manny as the first shot hit. Manny had poor cover using a human being and a few metal bars, but he had more then the other guy. Granted, the other probably had bullets to spare. Manny did not. Manny took aim firing just past his current wall of meat shield into the guard shooting at him. The first shot missed, again, the second shot grazed, taking his opponent off balance, this also meant he had a single shot left. When the guard reacted to the graze he received by Manny's shooting he fired again into the center mass of the hunched over man named Eric, with him leaning over like that he was an easy target, and the bullet cut strait through his stomach and possibly his spine. It wouldn't kill him fast but it should leave him unable to confront Manny. He would do his best to ignore the screams of pain.
When the gun was empty he hit the meat shield man named Lew over the head again with the revolver, and started looking for bullets at keys. He could loot the other guards but sooner would be better, and he was familiar with his revolver at least. Searching the dying meat shield he found a key which he is hoping would open the cage he is in, and a fist full of loose bullets. Counting them out he found 7 more. 3 more then he walked in with, though he wouldn't mind a shotgun right about now. The first thing he did was reload the .357, that way if more came in he would be able to fire again and not be a sitting duck, the next step is to get out and not get shot by the people invading the building which he has heard some of the people inside of it call Eden. He wondered if staying in the cage would do better for him, but again, if more guards came in he would be fucked. If he was out of the cage the attackers may assume he is a guard and shoot him. Was he sure he could tell them apart?
If he didn't meet any resistance opening the door he would try to help some of the others in the cage, he had no intentions on leaving them behind, even if he had to sit in a corner and pick off hostiles as they entered. Seven bullets left, and he had hit only two people with the first six. Not the best track record. So step one, test the keys, if they do not work keep searching the guy, and keep him limp enough that he won't fight back, the next step is to secure the room and be ready for either hostiles from Eden, Hostiles from the outside, or possible friendlies to enter. He wasn't sure how to tell them apart yet but he would have to figure out something because he really didn't think he could just shoot everyone that entered the door. Nor could he live with the thought of killing someone that came to help people like him.
Tiffany listened to Ash and couldn't help but wish he would stop being a leader for a second and just be Ash. However, she knew he wouldn't be able to do that, especially given the fact most of their members are not around. She wasn't about to say no to downtime and she could use the rest. "I'll take third watch then. Should be able to get by with some rest." She knew her and Jack were at their limit.
As she settled in to get ready to sleep, she heard the static, along with the others. She could barely make it out. "Who is that?" Was it one of their own? Was it someone new? Did they need help? And could it wait? She hated thinking that last part, but she just got done walking, running, and driving for God knows how long. She just wanted to rest, even for an hour.
And then she heard someone else, loud and clear. Guy speaking. And his words echoed in her mind. Ray was alive? She fought the urge to tear up and bawl like a baby then and there. She stood up quickly, waiting for Ash to react.
Location: Eden - Greed Skills: Pistol, Hand-to-Hand Combat, Stamina
Beatrice cocked an eyebrow, looking as Lola and Gavin rushed in with a beautifully coordinated and well choreographed attack. Of the Edenites that had been present, those two took them out effortlessly, leaving the Justice native with relatively little to do comparatively. It was bothering her more and more how easy this all was. There had to be a reason behind it and as she headed through the hole that Lola had helped to create, she was becoming increasingly convinced that there'd be a nightmare waiting for them on a higher level.
Of course, she didn't see much of a reason to be bothered that Gavin and Lola were working as an effective unit together. There was no point to that. It would be like getting jealous that someone else had risked their lives - it wasn't any sort of way to survive. But then again, supposedly neither was storming Eden. But they were five to five, as if they were the main characters in a comic book and were protected by the readers' enthusiasm. "How many songs do you know?" Beatrice asked Lola idly, still ready for any surprise Edenites that might come their way.
Jack Hudson
Location: Arnco Mills Safehouse (E10) Skills: N/A
Jack relished in the return of the command structure. With Ash giving out orders, it brought a bit of balance and order to the hectic chaos that his life had quickly become. He didn't even know if he was hungry or not, despite not really eating all day. His mind was just scattered and being told eat now. sleep there. do this. - it was actually helping him. It let him take his hand off the wheel, just slightly. He felt too frazzled to make decisions for himself. It was a miracle that he and Tiffany had managed to get there without them having more mental breakdowns and episodes.
He grabbed himself an MRE, still not even sure if he wanted to eat, before he sat down with the others. "Guess I've got fou'th," he grunted a bit. He would have wanted to volunteer to go earlier, but he really must have been tired, as he was a moment too late. He didn't even know if Niesha should be put into the watch rotation, as she just looked beat and had already passed out. His heart skipped a beat as he heard the static crackling on Ash's radio, along with a voice trying to get through. Could it have been Tatiana?! As thrilled as he was to hear another person out there, his hopes were soaring and if it wasn't Tatiana on the other end, they'd be crushed instantly. He was standing on the edge between happiness and despair. He stared at Ash and the radio, his heart pounding.
"Someone else made it..." he whispered. He then listened as the names were ticked off and as much as he was happy for everyone else, he died a little on the inside. Tatiana's name hadn't been on the list. He looked down at the floor, not saying much of anything.
Though the majority of Ash's attention was focused on the radio, he had enough of himself in the room around him to give a nod or thumbs up as people declared their watch times. It was good to see that what survivors there were hadn't given in to the crushing emotional weight of what had gone down early that day. Their home was destroyed. Numerous people dead. Hell, as far as he knew, this mystery person they could barely hear was the only other person alive for miles around. But they had the five of them. It counted for something. It had better count for something, anyway. He had left Thana and Gavin up to their own devices with a pair of morbidly insane women who were apparently off on a suicide run.
You can't afford to think like that, Captain. They have their mission, you have yours. Take care of your people.
Ash's fear that they were the only ones left was immediately removed when he heard Guy's voice come through the radio loud and clear. But what was puzzling: Froggy? Could he hear the "mystery person" more clearly than Ash? But more the credible news was that there were other confirmed survivors in their Sharpsburg safehouse. In case the group in the house with him didn't quite catch the broadcast, Ash repeated for their sake, "Sharpsburg just checked in - Guy, Ray, Amelia, and Medic are still alive, and I think they picked up someone new." He then spoke onto the radio, "Holloway here, Arnco Mills. Damnit Guy, it's good to hear from a fellow Virginian." He had almost give up on anyone from his old group back home making it. "I've got Riley, Niesha, Tiffany, and Jack with me. Can anybody else check in? Over."
Thalia Carmichael
Location: Eden, Grand Gallery turning into cross corridor in front of Mechanical Skills: Stealth, Survival, Pistol
With a shrug, Thalia grabbed the remaining couple of magazines from Thana. It wasn't like she needed them at this point in time, but if all Alexander needed was two, then no problem. She wasn't a huge fan of wasting ammunition, not in the slightest. But just in case, having an excess of 9x19mm Parabellum rounds was fine by her. She peered down at them, taking note of the count of rounds in each one and testing the firmness of the springs by pressing her thumb down on the top round. Satisfied that they were indeed full and serviceable, she slipped the clips insertion point down into her back pocket.
An abundance of ammo noted, Thalia's eyes darted over in Alexander's direction as his gun reported, surely the sound of another Edenite death. The word "clear" had been used several times recently. While it appeared that no one was directly shooting at them right that second, she couldn't believe that this was done with just yet. Thalia stepped toward the sound of breaking glass from just earlier. As she carefully peered around the wall, she was damned near overjoyed to see the overly colorful vision of Lola. A smile formed under her ashen skull facepaint. She said nothing, but gave a nod in her direction and poked her head back around to her group for a moment. "We got some stairs, and we got the tank crew over here." Stairs... probably meant ambush waiting on them, as it was the only way up that she had seen. "The moment we set foot on those steps, they're going to have the advantage. Any ideas? Or we can just hit it hard." Thalia craned her head from side to side, popping vertebrae in her neck. "I'm game."
Raymond nodded towards Amelia and gave her a friendly smile. "Not a problem at all." He said, as he watched Matt turn and just left them he wondered why he ended up just leaving. A part of him started to think maybe the guy wasn't trustworthy at all, and he was just scoping them out for any supplies for a bigger group to come over and take them out. But they were in a brick building, which did give pretty good protection as long as they weren't by any open windows. Ray then turned his attention towards Medic, he was probably one of the best medics out there and was glad that he survived. Raymond though as much as he wanted to just lay down and have Medic come to him, he simply nodded as he got up and slowly started to make his way over towards the table that Medic had gestured towards.
Raymond had a bit of trouble getting up on his foot, but managed to just fine using the walking stick for support Ray slowly made his way towards the table. That is when he heard some static over the radio, then a very garbled up voice, he heard only two words Victor and South. Maybe Victor had actually survived the whole ordeal after all, which was truly great as well, then he heard Ashton's voice on the other end very loud and clear.
His heart nearly stopped when he heard Ashton and confirmed that some survivors had made it, the name that he really truly did look forward to hearing was Tiffany. He tried to hold back some tears, after everything that they had lost today he didn't lose Tiffany though which was a great feeling. The only thing separating them right now was just their safe houses a few miles apart from each other, Ray hobbled over and sat down on the table. His eyes then wondered over towards Amelia, Riley was among the survivors as well, which was great to hear as well.
Riley looked over her shoulder and gave Tiffany and Jack a nod, the two did look like they were exhausted after all she didn't have to do that much running luckily. They just had a very chaotic drive in the Hordebuster, which she probably would never take a ride in for a very long time after still. She watched Niesha pretty much just crash right then and there, Riley couldn't blame her either she was most likely very tired. As Riley started to take another bite out of her MRE she stopped and leaned forward when she started to hear some static on the other end. She could hear a very garbled voice but she could possibly heard the name Victor, which was great to hear that their lead doctor was actually alive and well.
Then the next thing she could hear was Guy's voice on the other end, and he was with Raymond, Medic Amelia and then someone new, but she was truly happy to hear that Amelia had made it out alive. She set down her MRE and leaned forward closing her eyes and let out a very shaky sigh. Riley truly wasn't sure what would happen if she had heard that Amelia had died, and she didn't even want to think what she'd do without her. Losing Chloe was still very fresh in her mind, Chloe meant a lot to her and seeing Chloe kill herself was very traumatizing for her to witness.
"Thank fucking god.." Riley said as she wiped away a few tears looking over at Tiffany, Ray was alive and she was really happy to know that he made it out alive as well. Though she did feel bad that there wasn't any news of Tatiana, there was still that very garbled voice on the radio maybe Tatiana was with Victor at the other safehouse?
Location: Terrace, near stairs Skills: Suppression Tactics
Whatever plan they had had earlier, if they had had anything closely resembling a plan at all before they attacked Eden, seemed to have worked better than anyone could expect. If Alexander wasn't mistaken, there didn't seem to be any wounded of their two teams, which was a surprise to the old veteran. But it was good, 'cause they didn't have time to regroup and tend to their wounds. Not if they wanted to get in, raid and raze the place, and get out before the Walkers certainly came. With this much noise, it was a miracle that they hadn't flooded Eden already.
For now though, the only hostiles were the Edenites. And unfortunate for Eden, the two teams were grouping up again. Alexander looked over to Thalia as she informed the group about the stairs. And she was right, attacking up a set of stairs was rarely a good idea. Now Alexander was far from an expert in urban combat and that kind of war, after all he'd been in the jungle. But certain general aspects did make sense to him. "While going in hard have worked so far, I'm not sure it's the smart way for those stairs." Alexander said to the others, looking around him for a moment, in case they were missing anyone else. "Down here we got them flanked on two sides. Like you said, Angel, on those stairs they've got the advantage. I suggest giving covering-fire as much as possible. The less they can see down those stairs, the better."
Perhaps he was too cautious with advancing up those stairs? After all, they had swiped the whole ground floor like nothing could stop them. Perhaps going in hard was the best? The Edenites were clearly not know with military tactics and basic support-firing and other fancy Army-words. Then again, their luck was sure to run out eventually if they kept up the reckless advance. Going hard in was cocky, and once you got cocky, you made mistakes. Mistakes got you killed, and Alexander was in no mood to die today.
Location:Sharpsburg , Main st.(F11) Skills: Sneaking, Athletics
The news over the radio struck Amelia as if they were a cannon strike. She was completely frozen, her body not moving an inch as she was trying to process it. They weren't alone indeed others had survived and then when she had heard Ash speaking... she believed she heard him saying Riley was with him. Amelia blinked a few times then blinked some more before she finally smiled widely with joy. Tears started to run down her face.” She survived...!” She cried out in joy at the news. She couldn't stop herself from crying like that. She rubbed those tears off, still laying on the sofa. Those news had both made her day and also were the final nail in what was keeping her moving so far. With the news that Riley was alive all the nervousness about the singer had finally vanished and her body turned as heavy as lead.
She looked at Ray, Tiffany was also alive. She was really happy about him, that he also didn't lose her. Amelia then threw a look at Guy at the radio.” Quickly, ask how they are! Are they all okey? Anyone hurt?” She said in a rare moment of enthusiasm.” Guy, just get more info!” She begged through her happy tears. Finally the good news after all the shitshow they had just went through! Nothing else could have probably made her as happy as she was right now. She heard of friends who survived... people whom she had lived for so long with and liked quite a few of them... and then there was Riley who was currently the center of her attention. She wanted to meet her... lover as soon as possible, but frankly she could easily be content with just knowing that she was alive.
Matt moves off scene and out of sight. Medic shuts the door once everyone is inside and looks over towards Guy who is on the radio. "Oh shit, boss!!! Sweet Jesus it's good to hear your voice. I think we got Froggy on the static end but can't hear anything else. No others checking in. We are hunkered down for the night. What's the plan boss?" he asks before going silent and waiting for an answer or anymore coming in from anyone else.
"staticgarbletwostatichellogarblehearmegarblestatic," came in and then that frequency went dead. Guy sighed as it did but stayed on, the connection still sounded strong between Sharpsburg and Arnco Mills. "Boss? You still there? We are heading for Zebulon in the morning." He went silent again waiting for Ash to answer.
Edenites are still kicking on the second floor but Manny is able to find the key that opens his cage. The man that was shot is still alive but has not fired off another shot as of yet. Looks like he is reloading, slowly, and injured. More in the post below....
Eden
Location: Eden: Terrace near stairs, Top of stairs second floor, Stairs, between first and second floor Skills: Survival, Pistol, Close Combat Fighting, Knife, Hand To Hand Combat, Rifle, Shotgun, Brawling, Hunting
"Shit, I never run out of songs!" Lola laughed and as if to prove her point, broke into another one.
"Oh, baby, baby Oh, baby, baby
Oh, baby, baby, How was I supposed to know That something wasn't right here? Oh, baby, baby, I shouldn't have let you go And now you're out of sight, yeah
Show me how you want it to be Tell me, baby, 'Cause I need to know now, oh, because...
My loneliness Is killing me and I I must confess I still believe, still believe When I'm not with you I lose my mind Give me a sign Hit me, baby, one more time
Oh, baby, baby The reason I breathe is you Boy, you got me blinded Oh, pretty baby, There's nothing that I wouldn't do It's not the way I planned it."
Gavin chuckled a bit as Lola broke out into song again. She was listening to what people were saying but she was having fun and when she had fun, or even wen she didn't she broke out into song. Gavin spotted Thana come in from the other side and let out a breath of relief. He couldn't help but give her a broad goofy shit eating grin when he saw her. Seemed like the whole team that had come this way was still kicking and that was good, especially with as much as they had been up against so far.
Thana didn't pay Gavin any mind when she came around the corner and into view. "Gavin is our best shot," she said idlely. She was right, the man was a marksman, she only had known one person that could out shoot Gavin and that was Zoie. Zoie was dead and the main reason that Thana was there.
"Damn right, I go first, you bring up the rear." Gavin was game to play the front line.
"Show me how you want it to be Tell me, baby, 'Cause I need to know now, oh, because...
My loneliness Is killing me and I I must confess I still believe, still believe When I'm not with you I lose my mind Give me a sign Hit me, baby, one more time
Oh, baby, baby Oh, baby, baby Ah, yeah, yeah
Oh, baby, baby, How was I supposed to know? Oh, pretty baby, I shouldn't have let you go."
Lola was listening but still singing her heart out as she glanced around. They said it was clear on their end, so that was good. Lola knew it was clear on her own side. So that just meant up up and away to go. "Not alone, I will flank you," Thana said in a firm voice. Part of it was that she came here because of her sister and didn't want anyone to die because of her actions, the other part of her just wanted to put some distance between her and Lola's singing.
"Screw that Strawberry, I ain't letting ya take point withs me, you nuts," Gavin spouted off quickly. This only caused Thana's eyes to narrow.
"Listen here, you don't out rank me cowboy, who the hell..." Thana started to snap but before she could get another word out of her mouth the Kiwi decided to take off up the stairs. Looked like she wasn't waiting another minute.
"Cover us," Gavin said, not missing a beat and taking the opportunity to start climbing the stairs behind Lola by several stairs. She had a hell of a start on them. Thana grumbled under her breath and then looked over at the others.
"Guess it's decided then, let's move, watch your 12 and 6," she said before she turned to start towards the stairs.
"I must confess That my loneliness Is killing me now Don't you know I still believe That you will be here And give me a sign? Hit me, baby, one more time
My loneliness Is killing me and I I must confess I still believe, still believe When I'm not with you I lose my mind Give me a sign Hit me, baby, one more time
I must confess That my loneliness Is killing me now Don't you know I still believe That you will be here And give me a sign? Hit me, baby, one more time"
"Alright." Lola turned slowly, looking back at Gavin who was tearing up the stairs right behind her. Her expression went slightly blank as her hand came up. Dropping her weapon in the process. Blood starting pouring from her chest. As her knees began to buckle Gavin reached out and grabbed her, pulling her back down to the landing proper and behind the wall.
"Shit girl, come on, stay with me, stay with me," he said as he knelt and laid her down, putting pressure on her chest but there was nothing to be done about it. Her eyes closed and her body went limp. "No, no, no, God Damn It!" he yelled out as he fell back onto his rear and pushed his curls out of his face, blood staining his forehead and hair as he did. Huffing roughly through his nose he shook his head and pushed away a tear that was threatening to spill out. He had only known her a short amount of time but he liked Lola. She was fun.
Leaning forward he barely looked as he peaked around the corner and got back on his feet. He fired off one, two, step, three, step, four, step, five shots. Each one barreling into Lola's killers body as he rapidly climbed the stairs and spit on the corpse. It was a waste of bullets but it was worth it. Turning he took one in the shoulder as another Edenite fired and he slammed against the partition between the room and the stairs. "Wes gots more!" he yelled down the stairs.
Location: Wraith Skills: Fast Reflexes, Pistols, scavenging, SHotguns
Manny was able to reload faster then his shooter as he wasn't too hurt, and he was still able to keep focused while in a tense situation. Once the .357 was loaded again he fired three times, with almost a solid second between each shot at the Edenite. Shot one took a piece of his arm off, it was rather gross but Manny had seen worse, shot two missed and cut through the door, shot three his the guards chin and proceeded to exit the head through the back of his cranium. Manny had little fear of him turning into a walker after that. Once it was over he used the keys to open his cell and make his way to the door to lock it, though like most interior doors, the lock was cheap and could be forced open by a single determined individual. He would take the gun on the last standing guard, and old pump action shotgun and tried to consider his situation.
First, he reloaded the revolver with the last bullet, he had 4 now. Just like before he arrived, then he checked the shotgun that his guard had, five shells. With the revolver in his waist band and the shotgun in his hands he felt he could hold for a while. He didn't find anymore on the now dead man. It was an older pump action, pretty good in close quarters and had good stopping power. He found a simple corner not far behind the hinged side of the door, figured it would give him the chance to shoot first once it was broken open. It was poor cover though, and his ammo would run out fast in a fire fight. He sat low and took aim, he was sore and had blood on him now. He hoped the fighting would end soon, Manny was malnourished and tired, and hand to hand fighting was not something he was able to do as well as he used to be able to.
He sat only for a few minutes before he decided he didn't like this plan, he had limited cover if people came charging in, and the people in the cage were very exposed. In his current state, he wasn't sure he could move them all before he got too tired to fight or before he was found out. He moved from his position, keeping the gun aimed at the door, and he slowly unlocked it. With one hand opening the door and the other one ready to react if someone was on the other side he decided to peak outside, at least try and see what his situation was. One side he saw another guard, who was standing over what was most likely a railing to a stair well, and in the other direction seemed to be a door. Manny didn't dare venture out far enough to see what was on the other side out of fear of being caught and shot. If the attackers of this compound though decided to move up on the stairs, he might be able to take shot pot shots off at the guard and either kill or distract him. Though at this range, buck shot was going to be very limited. It's effective range is maybe just a few yards before the guard.
Gunshots soon range out, the guard changed positions to return fire on someone, Manny noticed gunshots going all over the place and blood, the fighting was close, and based on where the guard was, he was probably not one of the attackers, so Manny took aim and used the doorway as cover. Even though he was just out of effective range, some of the spread shot should still hit, and at least either get him to panic and move, or maybe even disable him. Manny would fire two shots back to back with the shotgun, pump it to make sure a shell was in the chamber, and fire again if the guard turned on him and tried to fire. Manny would keep firing as the guard would keep aiming, and if they stayed down he would hold fire and stay in his door way, checking over his shoulder to make sure no one came from behind him.
"Zebulon, heard you." responded Ash, his voice still tight and authoritarian. Zebulon was the plan. It was a good plan, all things considered, but a couple of things were nagging at him. First, they had set up caches of supplies in a number of places. Once they pushed out of the area, it would be a lot harder to retrieve them later. Second, Eden was still lurking out there. Assuming that it wasn't a huge suicide mission, and Thana was leading her team to a crushing victory, then they had a ton of supplies in a few different locations that would be left unguarded. Or less guarded, anyway. Enough to make it worth the trip. Ash could make sure his people had food and bullets for a long time yet. Long enough to get someplace with a long growing season and start sowing seeds.
But that wasn't the plan. He told Thana in very simple words that he was going to hit safehouses, then Zebulon, then Mexico Beach. They would end up meeting in one of those places, hell or high water, if they were alive. He meant to honor that promise and give Thana back her dog tags, then take her someplace quiet and make it a lot more noisy.
"No word from the third safehouse yet?" It was a shame. But it held a glimmer of possibility. If anyone were traveling on foot, or detained somehow, waiting until morning would give them time to check into one of the three established safehouses. And since they would have to get around Newnan (or the hole that remained of it) to get to Zebulon, it wouldn't be out of their way at all to check by Moreland on their way out. "We'll swing by there on the way out tomorrow and pick up any supplies or people we can. You guys be careful. We haven't used the fallback point in a long time. Over."
Ash looked around the room. Haggard as he was, he still wanted to move out, get as many as people he could and help with the assault on Eden, or even go raiding their supply outposts. Niesha was already asleep. The rest looked beaten down by the reality of their situation. They were already settling in. Morning. Push hard in the morning. They all needed rest now. Still, his mind was on Thana and Beatrice, even Gavin of all people. The others he didn't know, but they were risking their lives so that his people had a chance. It meant a lot.
Thalia Carmichael
Location: Eden, top of stairs Skills: Stealth, Pistol, Sharp Weapons
Thalia heard the shots. But it more than that, she heard the singing stop. Abruptly, painfully, the logical part of her brain knew what that most likely meant, but she wasn't going to allow herself to believe it until she set her own eyes to it. Not even Gavin's pleading supplication to whomever was listening registered fully with her.
Lola was her best friend in the world. She was larger than life. She was invincible. It didn't matter that everything she did flew in the face of actual survival tactics, she always overcame whatever problems were thrown at her. These thoughts stayed with Thalia as she ascended the stairs, weapons at the ready. This was still killing ground, after all, made evident by continuing gunfire and the Texan's insistence that they had more hostiles upstairs.
She saw Gavin first, bleeding but still kicking, and stepped around him with her 9mm raised. She didn't waste time with words, preferring to greet the person responsible for Gavin's blood seeing open air with two shots; one striking his gut and the other drilling into the top of his head when he doubled over. She mentally took stock of the rounds left in her weapon. Yeah, she was good for now. She was even becoming fond of the Beretta she claimed from Thana's friend's belongings.
That's when Thalia saw her. Lola'a lifeless body sprawled on the floor, covered in her own blood. Her pulse pounded in her ears aa a wave of apologetic sorrow washed over her. Lola was here because she was Thalia's friend, period. She might have been just as happy going with their original plan that took them into Texas and then Mexico, riding the highways and living off of the land. Lola made her own choices. Thalia couldn't help feeling partly responsible anyway. Slowly, carefully, she took one knee beside her fallen friend and replaced the machete in her hand with the knife at Lola's belt. She pressed the tip to the sweet spot on the back of her head near where the spine joins the skull, and with a deft motion ensured that her rest would remain undisturbed. Thalia allowed herself a second of grief; just enough that single lines of tears marred the ashen death design on her face. Somehow, it made her look more intimidating, more driven, now that she was painted with honest emotion.
Movement caught the corner of her eye. Before she knew what was happening, her gun was already raised and firing off two shots, catching a nasty piece of someone coming out of the room to the east. Maybe he was dead, maybe he wasn't, but the son-of-a-bitch wasn't moving and there was a slowly growing red puddle around him. Thalia snatched up her machete and rose from the floor. There would most certainly be others.
Crying time was over for now. This was a new floor full of horrors and people who needed to be put down like the rabid dogs they were. Lola was gone, Gavin was hurt but not dead, and between Thalia and the big Texan, they had to hold the area until the others could filter up. Taking on a tone and expression that was strikingly, startlingly like her Tio Caesar, Thalia called down the stairs, "We need to move. Now."
Raymond simply smiled at Amelia, he knew that she wanted to get some answers but right now they were all just checking in with the other safehouses. He was glad to hear that some had made it to Arnco Mills, Tiffany was alive and that was all that mattered as much as Ray wanted to go and check in on the radio he wasn't sure how they were on batteries or if they ran on something else. He would certainly see Tiffany the next day when they all eventually regroup with everyone else. Raymond turned his attention towards the door as Medic ended up shutting the door.
Ray would have liked to get to know Matt, but it seemed he made his choice and decided to up and leave them, they still had Sam which was a good thing. He liked her and also trusted her enough that they all made it out alive, he leaned back somewhat on the table and lifted up his shirt, awaiting for Medic to check him out on his wounds. They weren't life threatening at least as far as he could tell, infection was probably his bigger concern. "So how bad is it anyway Medic?" Ray asked looking at the three puncture marks on his stomach, when he had fallen on Meg which was an accident which he wished didn't happen. He could hear more static on the other end, but couldn't pick up any words as far as he could tell, before it ended up dying he just hoped that those that were there made it out alive and everything was okay with them over there.
Riley continued to eat her MRE, she was starving but she was really and truthfully glad that there were survivors in Sharpsburg and Amelia was still alive and kicking. She leaned forward as she listened in on the radio conversation between Guy and Ashton, listening in on their plans for tomorrow. She could hear the garbled up static once more, but she couldn't hear whoever was on that end's voice or what they were saying at the moment.
Riley reached for her bottle of water in one of her packs and started to take a drink from it, and decided to take off her boots laying them down on the floor. Riley did want to check in with Amelia as well, and wanted to hear her voice even for a little bit but she wasn't sure if they needed to keep the line open for anyone else to check in. Riley quickly decided to finish up the last of her MRE and then dropped the wrapper onto the floor.
Tiffany ate, but she was eating mainly because she knew she had to. Her thoughts still raced around in her head. Others were alive. Ray was alive! That was cause for celebration in her book, though she knew they were not out of the woods yet. Still, a plan was in place. Hopefully, she would be reunited with Ray soon.
What worried her was not hearing an update about Tatiana. She knew Jack, as quiet as he was about it, must be thinking about it. Was she safe? Was she at another safehouse? Was she part of the scrambled radio message? She hoped so, it would make her feel incredibly guilty to know Ray was alive and Tatiana was not.
She got ready for sleep, knowing she would be on the third watch. She was mentally and physically exhausted. Her mind was more at ease than it ever had been for the past couple of hours.
Location: Eden - Terrace near stairs ---> up the stairs Skills: Pistol, Hand-to-Hand Combat, Stamina
Beatrice didn't take any pleasure in being right. Everything had felt too easy up until this point and she had been convincing herself to expect a more formidable force on the upper level. Lola rushed up the stairs in her typical fashion, singing at the top of her lungs and attracting all of the attention to her. It was a waste of a life. Another person that she felt something of a kinship with had died. Maybe it was the universe telling her that she had strayed too far from the path - that she needed to return to the Justice lifestyle in full. No more friends - no more communities - no more making decisions by emotions.
As Gavin charged up, firing off rounds, Beatrice considered turning around and leaving this all behind. She knew that would have been the smart decision to make. Beatrice ran up the stairs, knowing that she'd find Lola's body on the other side. She had her gun raised and her finger on the trigger, just needing to see a warm body that wasn't one of theirs before she'd pull the trigger. It wasn't the logical decision to make - and she didn't even know if it qualified as the emotional one. Beatrice didn't feel driven by anger or sadness or revenge. It was a different feeling entirely, one she didn't know a name for, as she felt the loss of potential - the loss of what could have been - of mini golf with walker heads and tank rides and...a friend.
Jack Hudson
Location: Arnco Mills Safehouse (E10) Skills: N/A
Jack was hearing the words everyone around him was saying, but he wasn't processing them. It was as if someone had scooped out his brain and put something else inside. He set down his food, having forced himself to finish it - just barely managing to do so. While others may have been wondering if Froggy could have had Tatiana with him or perhaps imagining scenarios where she made it out by herself, Jack couldn't get rid of the gruesome picture his mind had conjured up for him - of Tatiana in their house, alone and out of options, as Death came for her. It was like the weight of the world was crushing him and he was contemplating just letting it. Would he ever get to start a family with Tatiana? Would he have that white picket fence life that he always wanted?
He prepared himself to go to sleep, shutting his eyes and pretending that he was alright. He didn't need other people fussing over him - Tatiana was the one that needed that. He would've given anything to make sure that she was okay - or to even just hear from her one last time. He would have destroyed everything he held dear in the world if Tatiana had asked him to. Every creak and shudder that he heard, every breath and every little disturbance, his mind imagined was the crackling of the radio coming to life.
He knew that Tatiana could survive without him; he just didn't know anymore if he could survive without her.
Location:Eden: Terrace, near stairs - Pillar left of Gavin, second floor. Skills: Pistol, Suppression Tactics
"...No..."
When you got cocky, you make mistakes, and mistakes gets you killed. Alexander could feel the words physically grip the inside of his chest as he too heard Lola's singing stop, his words playing on repeat in-between the nagging feeling of knowing what must have just happened, but not wanting to believe it. Putting suppressive fire up those stairs was out of the picture. They had to go, and fast. Alexander wasn't far behind Thalia as she made her way up the stairs and taking out another Edenite. Hadn't it been for the cowboy shouting down to them and the lack of their Kiwi, this could have gone according to plan.
But nothing ever went according to plan.
Alexander saw her now as well, Lola; Laying on the ground, motionless, unlike the eccentric personality their beloved Kiwi had shown since the first moment he lay eyes on her. He hadn't expected her to be the first one going out. He had bet on himself, even for Lola's lack of sense of safety. But now...she was gone, there was no denying it. And with Thalia crouched over her friend in a moment of grief, he felt an immense sense of both sorrow and sympathy. He had been through this many times before, as surely everyone else had too. He'd seen countless friends, brothers in arms, team mates, all showing every sign of life only to have it taken away a split second later. NVA and Viet Cong, Walkers, raiders, the outcome was always the same. But they had no time for grieving, like Thalia called down stairs to him and the others. There was still a mission to complete. There was always a mission to complete.
The old vet rushed up the last steps of the stairs, making his way up to the second floor as he passed Beatrice, Gavin and Thalia. Turning right, he came out to an open area with a pair of pillars, and could just see what he thought was an Edenite behind one of the pillars. He had to take him out, before more of them ended up like Gavin, or else this was going to be a suicide-mission. Alexander threw his back against the other pillar, before turning around and firing at the Edenite. The Edenite proved a difficult target to hit however, taking cover behind that solid pillar. Thankfully it was not solid enough not to have chips of debris knocked off it, which probably either scared the Edenite or forced him to step away as to avoid getting hit. But he did get hit, as Alexander pulled the trigger of his Beretta again, sending another bullet flying towards the Edenite and hitting him just underneath the eye. One more hostile down, another floor to go.
Alexander pushed his back against the pillar again, looking down towards the stairs, calling back to the Gavin. "You okay, Cowboy? How bad is it?" In any combat situation, the 'military theorists' would have called this operation an overwhelming success with acceptable losses; Probably two dozen charlies taken down with just one K.I.A. and one wounded. But to Alexander, and probably everyone else, this was a tragedy.
