amberconarizona.theiforum.com

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 5:10 pm Post subject:

[OOC: oops, forgot something]

Eric hands her a pair of earplugs, before they begin shooting.

...

Eric fires right after hers and he reloads quickly as well, fully focused on the competition at hand. Both of them miss. Several times.

Finally, April downs the first one and quickly moves to the middle one while Eric tries to catch up. Eric slows down, taking his time and he downs the first one just as April hits the middle one perfectly well, both of their shots firing and hitting at roughly the same time.

Eric watches through the scope and she hears him whisper, "Damn."

"Group up left," he says audibly, moving onto new targets quickly.

...

April has the lead for a while, winning the first three rounds. Eric catches up quickly and has a decent lead for a time.

Once in a while, they scope the entire area to make sure no groups of machines is sneaking up on them.

After several hours, they both smell like gun powder and oil and the room is likely to have that scent for some time as well. In the end, Eric has too much of a lead, despite a comeback on April's part when her second wind kicks in. The plains are still lit by the late afternoon sun and April sees the promises of a lovely, colorful sunset. There is over two hundred more machines spread on the plains and hills of Cimarron thanks to their handiwork.

Eric sighs and says, "Why do they keep coming? Surely they must know their strategy is weak... Am I missing something?"
_________________
AmberCon Arizona Webpage
FabienBadilla.com
Desert Sky Design

TonyLB · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 494

April rubs at her eyes.

"Maybe they just want to force us to ... ", her voice breaks a little, but she presses on, " ... to do this ... to kill hundreds of children."

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 8:54 pm Post subject:

Eric turns to look at her and looks somewhat saddened. He removes the earplugs and sets them aside. "I'm not completely cold hearted, and I wouldn't and I would consider twice before killing an enemy pup, but I think it is a strange psychological warfare that our enemy is playing." He looks at the plains for a few moments, contemplating the very tangible and real kills. "The folks of this place have been affected in many ways once they found out who it was that inhabited the hulls of these machines. It must have felt like fighting a pointless war... Fighting their own future. Yeah, I could see that."

...

"I'm afraid that winning this round may not hold as much luster as I originally envisioned. But no matter... Let's clean up and have dinner." Many casings hit the ground as he stands up and he sets his rifle next to April, handing her a cleaning kit in a plain cardboard box, while he gets a broom from outside the bedroom. He stretches his neck and begins sweeping the casings.
_________________
AmberCon Arizona Webpage
FabienBadilla.com
Desert Sky Design

TonyLB · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 494

April holds the cardboard box, looking blankly at it for a moment. Then she sets it down on the windowsill.

"Where would I find a shovel?" she asks softly.

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 4:08 pm Post subject:

"Downstairs, there is a storage closet full of tools right outside the kitchen door... What's it for?"
_________________
AmberCon Arizona Webpage
FabienBadilla.com
Desert Sky Design

TonyLB · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 494

April picks up her gloves and pulls them on.

"For that many graves," she says, "I'm not gonna dig with my hands."

She walks out of the room with tears welling in her eyes.

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 5:15 pm Post subject:

"April! Wait!" he calls after her, dropping the broom and catching up with her and holding her. "You can't... We can't... do that yet." He squeezes her, "Don't let it get to you... Think about it, that's what they want, isn't it?"
_________________
AmberCon Arizona Webpage
FabienBadilla.com
Desert Sky Design

TonyLB · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 494

"You think I want to?" she sobs, standing on the stairs, faced away from him. "But somebody has to bury these children. They aren't our enemies, they're the victims. It's not right to leave them there. They deserve better."

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 5:48 pm Post subject:

Eric is quiet for a moment and let's go of her just enough to turn her around so he can face her. He holds her for a time and says, "Let the folks of Cimarron bury them. You must focus on what we can accomplish. That which they cannot... Stop this great enemy of theirs." He sighs, keeping her head nestled against him. "I... I didn't realize it would be this hard on you. I probably shouldn't have made light of all of this."
_________________
AmberCon Arizona Webpage
FabienBadilla.com
Desert Sky Design

TonyLB · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 494

"I'm glad," she says, "that you didn't have to do this alone. I can't imagine what that would have been like."

"I just ..." she falters, "... I don't want to be the person who sweeps in somewhere, kills a ton of people, then leaves the carnage for the folks who live there."

"I know that what we're doing is important," she says, "but the people who live here ... they shouldn't have to bury these children themselves."

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 4:29 am Post subject:

"I know. I know what you mean, but it could be that they should get to bury them. I know you want to help, so let me make this promise: when this is all done, when the enemy has been thwarted, we will come back here and help rebuild this place. We'll help clean things up." He looks down at her, "Is that a deal?"
_________________
AmberCon Arizona Webpage
FabienBadilla.com
Desert Sky Design

TonyLB · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 494

April stands silent, shaking, for a long time. Finally she draws breath to speak.

"We have to," she says. "We have to do something more than just killing the bad guys. This is ..." she pauses again. "I'm not religious," she says quickly, "but I don't know any better way to say this than to say that this is about our souls."

She winces. "This enemy is trying to erase our greatness. They think that by throwing wave after wave of attackers at us they can turn our whole family into killers first and everything else a distant second."

April looks up at Eric, and her eyes are wet but there is fire in them, and when she speaks her voice is like steel: "I will not allow that. We are better than that. I will make us always remember how much better."

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:17 am Post subject:

Eric looks into her eyes and for a long time his eyes reflect hers. Then he kisses her with a passion only matched by her determination, though the kiss is brief and he looks at her again and says with great intensity, "April, be my beacon in the darkness. Be my love and my guide. What we have is priceless and can overcome anything that Amber's enemies throw in our path. I love you, April." He looks more serious than she's ever seen him, his smile left behind.
_________________
AmberCon Arizona Webpage
FabienBadilla.com
Desert Sky Design

TonyLB · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 494

"Whoa," April breathes in surprise. Blood rushes to color her cheeks.

"I love you too," she says, laying her head on his chest.

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 1:11 am Post subject:

He holds her there, close to him and nestled for a long time. Finally, he breaks the silence and says, "We need to get going soon. I'll finish cleaning here while you rest..." He kisses her forehead. "I need to calm down before going back out there. We have some serious work to do, April. And it might not be pretty, but it's necessary. Whatever the enemy thinks it's doing to us, we won't let it work." He keeps holding her, perhaps not quite wanting to let go just yet.
_________________
AmberCon Arizona Webpage
FabienBadilla.com
Desert Sky Design