[IC] War Never Changes

[Always]

Alyssa didn't answer the question at first. She knew why he didn't remember her or even recognize her by then, unless he was the wrong person. She knew that it was a chance and she didn't want to accuse him in front of the others. Slowly she turned her head over to Quinn glaring him. Spitting the word out like poison she spat out, "Do you really want me to fucking say it here? In front of." She cut off her sentence as she glared her eyes towards Charlotte.

[Gelatinous Cube]

The thought nagged at him, and he was sickeningly sure that it was her. He kept his face impassive, his voice calm. He was inviting a potentially volatile solution to jeopardize their relative safety.
Still, it needed to be addressed, and they had both gone too far to stop now.
"There's nobody else here, Alyssa. Better get it out in the open now."
He felt bile rise in his throat. If it was her...god above. The things Quinn had done. Unforgivable things. He forced himself to remain calm, but his heart was pounding uncontrollably.
You're not one of them anymore. You're not. You're not. You're not.

[Always]

Alyssa glared him as she noticed that Charlotte was sleeping. She huffed and stepped forward and (attempted) kicked him as hard as she could. " Don't act like you don't fucking know why already!" She said keeping her voice down as her temper rose. She didn't want to say it out loud, it was too much. She backed away and reached in her pocket and held her knife firmly in her hand as she stared at him. " You fucking ass-whole do the others know huh? Or were you trying to keep it a secret?" She said a little loader forcing her tears back as she thought to herself, 'Cryings for the weak.'

[Gelatinous Cube]

"Nobody else here knew me before today. There was nothing to keep secret."
She knew who he was, that was certain now. His face still only tugged at his memories, but he was sure of her too. He felt a sick feeling deep in the pit of his stomach at the thought of Charlotte and Jake finding out. They seemed like good people, they had treated him well enough. Quinn had been running from his past for three whole years, do everything he could to atone for sins he could never absolved. His best efforts would fall short in the end, this he knew. Still, he tried and strived to be better. If he could reclaim a single shred of the man he was before all this, maybe...just maybe it was enough to die with.
"That isn't who I am anymore. They left me with this to remind me everyday," Quinn said, pointing a finger at his face and moving closer into the light for her to see.

[jaybreezy]

Jake heard Quinn and Alyssa from outside. He raised an eyebrow and looked back at the house. He was about to go inside until he saw the glint of something in a tree. "What the hell..." He said quietly to himself. He'd seen "The Archangel" have the same gleam from her rifle from earlier. He smiled, believing it was her. Jake took a quick look at the house, believing the talking was just banter exchanged between everyone. Jake let it go and decided to check out who he thought would be "The Archangel". He then ran toward the tree the girl was in, not knowing he was in for a surprise.

[SaikaAnge]

As Celty laid against her branch she realized the guy noticed her and was heading over. She quickly made she her gun was loaded and ready just in case. She stayed low and watched him come over. Keeping her scope on him, and adjusted a little.
Once her was below her, she sat up and kept the gun aimed at him. Luckily she was a good shot, she only had two bullets left in her mag and one in the chamber. Celty tried to blend in with the tree the best she could, but wasn't completely successful since he had seen her. He came from inside the house, where people are now talking. There's more. If I shoot, I'm dead. She evaluated the situation for a moment and chose diplomacy may very well be her best option.
"If you don't shoot, I'll come down." she called to the guy, getting his attention and exposing her position in the tree. Let's just hope he has no ammo.

[jaybreezy]

Jake was surprised, almost falling from being startled. He backed up and grabbed his rifle. "Come on down then. Slowly. Lie down and put your hands on your head." Jake ordered. His police training showed, his gun trained on her. He knew he was low on ammo. He wasn't going to shoot, even if he had to. If anything he'd try and knock her out. "No sudden movements and stay still." He added. He almost read her Miranda Rights.

[SaikaAnge]

Celty shouldered her rifle and her bag. Slowly she picked her way down the tree and finally hopped down, yanking her rope from the tree causing it to land behind her. She turned and grabbed it, quickly putting it into her backpack. Celty turned back to the guy and set the bag in front of her and set her rifle against it.

"Cop, huh?" She asked. His warnings and talk seriously reminded of the cop that lived down the street from her family. "Look, I'm not here to hurt you guys. That was kinda my bed." She nodded her head at the tree then put her hands on her head and got down on her knees. "You surprised me, sorry." she added.
Watching the guy and his gun. If he tried to shoot she would roll and kick dust up into his eyes. Any tactics she learned in the service that would help her, were running through her mind now. She had thought out at least four outcomes, and most ended with gunfire.

[jaybreezy]

Jake lowered his gun, but didn't let his guard down. He walked over to her and looked at her. "Alright, get up," he said. "So what are you doing out here?" He asked, finally putting his gun away. He was giving her a chance.

[Always]

Alyssa rolled her eyes as he had said they didn't need to know. She was going to object when he said the last part of his sentence, completely tickicking her off. She quickly moved her arm out of her pocket, and flipped her knife open. She attempted to grab his shirt collor and slam him against to the wall. (If she successfully did this) she would hold her knife to his neck the blade pointing the blade at his neck.
She held it there for a few seconds, her arm shaking slightly as she held the knife at him. She managed to force back most of her tears. She bit back at her lip for a second before she managed the voice to speak out load. "Once one, always one." She said. " You deserve to die like the others. " The bitterness and hatred in her voice was something that could not be mistakened.

[SaikaAnge]

Celty stood up slowly, keeping her hands on her head. "I was trying to sleep. But the people in the house are keeping me up. And you walking around had me on edge." She smiled slightly with a bit of sarcasm. "I'm going to grab my bag, not my gun." Celty said just before bending over and grabbing the bag off the ground and tossing it over her shoulder. She let her gun softly hit the ground and put her hands out about shoulder height where he could see them. "No threat."

[Gelatinous Cube]

Quinn didn't resist and let himself impact the wall with a dull thud that sent an aching pain shooting through between his shoulder blades. He felt the cold metal of Alyssa's knife pressed against his jugular. She was perfectly justified, and she had every right to slit his throat right then and there. But Quinn was a survivor, and in situations like this instinct, cold and thoughtless took over.

"Once one, always one."

"Tell them then," Quinn snarled, "Tell them what I am. I've killed, I've tortured, I've raped. I don't remember your face because it's just one out of a thousand."
He grasped at her wrist that held the blade, but he did not move it, "You're goddamn right I deserve to die. But I'm not dying until I'm the last one left."

[jaybreezy]

Meanwhile, Jake looked at Celty as she grabbed her bag. He put his gun around him and showed his hands. "I'm friendly. Just making sure you're not here to kill us all." Jake said, confirming the presence of others inside the house. He then pointed to her rifle. "Nothing funny with that gun though. I hope you don't plan on using it." He chuckled before motioning his hand toward the house. "Come inside and meet everyone."

[Always]

"Why, so you can get out of it the easy way?" She sarcasticly mumbled. Alyssa kept her hand on the knife as she pressed it up against his kneck deeper. "Don't touch me." She warned, but didn't move her hand away from him knowing it would leave her a somewhat open target. She didn't want to risk it but she wanted to know what he was thinking. She gritted her teeth as he said one in a thousand. If it was over a thousand she should have no problem killing him, yet her hand still remained shaky. She ignored it as she threatened him,"Well looks like you can't control that." She stated.

[SaikaAnge]

Celty shook her head, "No funny stuff. I'm only gonna put it on my back. Don't wanna leave such a purdy gun out here." she chuckled a little and slowly picked it up then shouldered it. She didn't want to use her gun, she was too tired to want to pull the trigger. "How many of you are there. I only heard two voices, not including yours." Celty asked a bit weary, hoping she wasn't being lured into a trap. She walked beside him holding her bag strap with one hand and the but of her rifle with the other so it wouldn't swing and hit her in the leg as she walked.
"Do you mind telling me your name? I'll be happy to oblige after, officer." She gave him a slight smile. Nowadays, even cops were bad guys, but she didn't get that feeling with this one. He seemed nice enough and friendly enough. Celty tired to make casual chit chat with him so she wouldn't feel so on edge about the house and others.

[jaybreezy]

Jake chuckled a bit as she picked her gun up. "Officer? Haven't been addressed like that in years." He said, confirming his previous law enforcement involvement. "There's 4 of us, including myself. We're not hostile. I promise." Promise was something forgotten a lot time ago. Promises were bound to be broken in this world. He was eager to have Celty meet everyone. "I'm Jake. And you?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head. He was walking towards the front door of the house, ready to open it when Celty revealed her name.

[SaikaAnge]

"Im Celty. Weird name, I know." she smiled and held out her hand for him to shake. She was eager to meet everyone but nervous and a bit on edge. Friendly people were a rare occurance nowadays, but she hopedthere was some truth in his promise. "What brings you guys here?" she asked curiously. Maybe she could get a feel for the group before she met them.

[Shoe Thief]

Hunter Monroe

After hunter's third attempt to try get a vehicle working he decided to walk. As walking has much less fire and much less "OH SHIT!" moments. Well, maybe not less oh shit moments. But less involving your own mistakes. Though the car was supposed to make things easy. With out a lot of supplies he wasn't losing much though. Plus it gave him more chances to find supplies. With a rifle in hand, and no idea where to go he kept walking.

After searching home after home Hunter came out pretty close to empty handed. Seemed as if the Blood Army has been active here. Setting up shop in a house that looked like half of it was ready to collapse Hunter found a nice soft spot to rest. Only to be woken up by someone going through his things. And by things his bag of odds and ends. Hunter got up just fast enough to tackle the man off his gear. Hunter was in no way a big person, but he was fast, and he had the gun now.

Once on top of his looter Hunter was able to reach for his shotgun and press it against his now prisoner's chest. A second person came into the room. I twas dark but Hunter could see a gun, he couldn't see what kind but definitely a gun. Being low int he dark Hunter had a chance to fire first. The twelve gauge at near point blank sending the second person back through the doorway with a scream and crash. Before the first guy could react Hunter pumped his gun and pointed it at his opponent's head. "Don't fucking move or you're next!" He didn't move. Him and his prisoner waited until morning, where Hunter soon saw the Uniform.

Both Hunter and the Blood Army soldier sat across from each other in the room. Close enough that Hunter's gun could kill him with ease, but far enough that no matter what the Blood Army soldier did, he couldn't react before getting shot. "You have to do something. I mean you shot my partner, and now you have my rifle unloaded on the bed. I can tell from your eyes you are not the kind of person to just execute someone. But I can also tell you fear what will happen if you let me go. So, what's it gonna b--" Hunter fired the shotgun sending the sitting man right into the wall, then letting him fall to the ground. Hunter tried to stay emotionless. But that wasn't something he was good at. He knew that the Blood Army were bad people. But they were still people. And he just shot another one...

Hunter used the parts of the Soldier's rifle to repair his own. That was something he didn't enjoy about the M4. It needed a lot of maintenance. And no one was making parts anymore. The rifle from the other one was destroyed when he fired the shotgun at him. There wasn't a useful part he could take that he didn't already have. But they had bullets which he was low on. Not much else. Chances are that means there are more nearby or they have a base set up. So he left.

It didn't take too many hours to find another surprise of the day. People.... That were not blood Army. Decently armed though, and more of them then him. But they were inside. He could try to say hi? Or he could try and steal the car? Or he could use the car to rob them? Or just plain rob them? Then he thought about the men he shot last night... The feeling of guilt for killing them. he was far enough away at this moment to avoid being seen. So he had a little time to decide. Then he did. "Fuck it..." And he moved forward with the shotgun in one hand, and his pride in the other.

Hunter walked his way to the front door trying to seem as non threatening as possible. Despite the twelve gauge shotgun in his hand. That was in case these people decided to shoot him. Which then he may resort to plan A. He shivered at the thought. He was barely able to handle himself as it was. He took a deep breath. It had been a bit since the two outside had entered. He just hoped they wouldn't kill him. Then he casually knocked on the door.

[jaybreezy]

Jake chuckled from discovering Celty's name. "Weird? NO. Just unique." He said as he put a hand on the door knob. He then turned back to Celty. "Well. We all met downtown, drove up here after a run in with the Blood Army, building exploded, found more Blood Army, and now we're here for the night." Jake said with a smirk. It was a very stressful day and his smirk was partly fake.

Jake then heard someone in the distance. "Eyes up." He whispered to Celty as he heard the footsteps get louder and the figure more visible. Jake raised his gun quickly, aiming at the shadow. It was hard to see faces in the dark, so Jake went into police mode. "Get down on the ground! Now!" He shouted, not wanting to risk getting shot. At first he thought it was Blood Army, but he knew that only one soldier was out of the norm. Jake slowly walked toward the figure, ready to get aggressive if necessary.

[SaikaAnge]

Celty smiled at Jake and nodded as he told her how they met. "Sounds enough." she responded as she scratched the back of her head. "Stressful day, huh? I can't say I had one of those today. Its just been tedious. My car broke down a day ago I think now so I've been walking since. Camping in trees one finding a safe place to stay. Which are hard to find nowadays." Celty shook her head at the thought.

When she heard the sound and saw Jake pull his gun, she swung around and shouldered her own. She knelt for accuracy and stayed on the porch. A bullet from her gun in close range would basically removed a section of the person's body. "Hands where we can see them!" she added after Jake, keeping her gun trained on the figure."looks like our day just got a bit more exciting." she joked to Jake, even with the tense situation.