 |
| Anybody can be a monster |
Act 2, Chapter 2: Vigilant, Part 1
It was a cold night in the town of Ravenglass, especially for spring. Gabriel was shivering some, even in his large dark brown coat he was still feeling the chill on his skin. He had a job to do, so he took a couple of deep breaths before reaching into a large duffel bag. “C'mon... C'mon...” He muttered to himself, sticking elbow deep into it before grabbing the two things he wanted by lacing them between his fingers. Pulling out a pair of binoculars and a small transceiver, he slipped it over his eyes with one hand, blinking a couple of times as he scanned the streets.
He scanned the cracked, pothole ridden roads and the knocked over street lamps, along with ruins of old cars that were scrapped for parts and left on cinder blocks instead of tires. He finally found what he was looking for, two men in dark blue coats and steel masks, blades strapped on their backs slowly walking out of the back alleyways, walking together as he observed them. His heart beating so hard that he had a very hard time keeping the binoculars steady enough to track them. He calmly spoke with each step, nowhere near loud enough for the two people 100 or so feet away from him to hear him. “One... Two... Three...” He counted, before turning to press the button on his receiver. “This channel secure, L?” He asked, the wind blowing at his hooded jacket, covering some of his face.
“Of course it is.” A male voice, slightly deeper than Gabriel's voice responded. “The channel we communicate on rotates every minute between over 270 different frequencies in a random order, It's actually pretty cool.” He added, clearly enjoying talking about some of the tech a little too much, a female voice, slightly fuzzy from being farther off than the two of them cut in. “Don't be a fool over trivial matters, L.” She reprimanded L quickly, before switching the subject, her voice was low and stern for a woman's, but it projected a very business like personality.
“G, do you have any information on our mark?” She asked Gabriel, Gabriel checked his binoculars one more time before responding. “This is my third scouting point, M. They're all moving to a central point near the edge of the city's slums.” He elaborated, making sure he spoke slowly and clearly enough for her to hear him though the fuzz. “That's about 5 miles off from my current location, my only guess as to why they would set up shop in the slums is because it's been long abaondoned. ” M deduced, sounding like she was pondering. “And I'm about 3 miles off.” L added, since he was finished gawking over how awesome walkie-talkies are.
“I don't actually know how far off I am. I don't think we'd be able to hit the place at the same time.” Gabriel admitted, he knew where the water treatment plant was but he never really bothered cross referencing maps or anything trivial like that. “We could meet at one place, discuss a plan and attack at the same time.” M thought aloud, she had quite an accent on her, it was more typical of people in western Rosewall, it reminded Gabriel of Robin's voice, since they lived in a similar area.
It was a cold night in the town of Ravenglass, especially for spring. Gabriel was shivering some, even in his large dark brown coat he was still feeling the chill on his skin. He had a job to do, so he took a couple of deep breaths before reaching into a large duffel bag. “C'mon... C'mon...” He muttered to himself, sticking elbow deep into it before grabbing the two things he wanted by lacing them between his fingers. Pulling out a pair of binoculars and a small transceiver, he slipped it over his eyes with one hand, blinking a couple of times as he scanned the streets.
He scanned the cracked, pothole ridden roads and the knocked over street lamps, along with ruins of old cars that were scrapped for parts and left on cinder blocks instead of tires. He finally found what he was looking for, two men in dark blue coats and steel masks, blades strapped on their backs slowly walking out of the back alleyways, walking together as he observed them. His heart beating so hard that he had a very hard time keeping the binoculars steady enough to track them. He calmly spoke with each step, nowhere near loud enough for the two people 100 or so feet away from him to hear him. “One... Two... Three...” He counted, before turning to press the button on his receiver. “This channel secure, L?” He asked, the wind blowing at his hooded jacket, covering some of his face.
“Of course it is.” A male voice, slightly deeper than Gabriel's voice responded. “The channel we communicate on rotates every minute between over 270 different frequencies in a random order, It's actually pretty cool.” He added, clearly enjoying talking about some of the tech a little too much, a female voice, slightly fuzzy from being farther off than the two of them cut in. “Don't be a fool over trivial matters, L.” She reprimanded L quickly, before switching the subject, her voice was low and stern for a woman's, but it projected a very business like personality.
“G, do you have any information on our mark?” She asked Gabriel, Gabriel checked his binoculars one more time before responding. “This is my third scouting point, M. They're all moving to a central point near the edge of the city's slums.” He elaborated, making sure he spoke slowly and clearly enough for her to hear him though the fuzz. “That's about 5 miles off from my current location, my only guess as to why they would set up shop in the slums is because it's been long abaondoned. ” M deduced, sounding like she was pondering. “And I'm about 3 miles off.” L added, since he was finished gawking over how awesome walkie-talkies are.
“I don't actually know how far off I am. I don't think we'd be able to hit the place at the same time.” Gabriel admitted, he knew where the water treatment plant was but he never really bothered cross referencing maps or anything trivial like that. “We could meet at one place, discuss a plan and attack at the same time.” M thought aloud, she had quite an accent on her, it was more typical of people in western Rosewall, it reminded Gabriel of Robin's voice, since they lived in a similar area.
“I know a good place, there is an old
grocery store just before the slums I checked like a week ago and
they have a bunch of canned stuff we can eat!” L said with
excitement, M sighing quietly as Gabriel slowly put away his
Binoculars, closing the bag and hiking it back onto his shoulder.
“Good luck getting there while we're still in the dark of night.
Silent Fall's goons have been all over Ravenglass recently, it makes
navigating a bloody pain.” M complained aloud, Gabriel sighed and
slowly stepped over to pop open the door that lead to the staircase
to head back down the building he climbed up, hand still on his
receiver to speak. “Do you think we could tail them to wherever
they're hiding from the store?” Gabriel asked, waiting for a
response. “It's a good reconnaissance point, there are a lot of
Silent Fall goons here, they'd need quite a big base of operations,
and since it's the slums we can narrow it down.” M responded
calmly, before changing the subject as Gabriel stopped, leaning on a
railing.
“We'll meet at that grocery store
near the slum border,” M ordered with a demanding voice, Gabriel
slowly beginning to climb down the stairs and get to the bottom of
the abandoned apartment complex, he popped the door open just enough
to look out of it and check for anyone nearby, but it seemed clear.
“I want radio silence for the next 30 minutes, after those 30
minutes I will be issuing a status report. Find a safe place to have
a conversation within that time as you make your way, understood?”
She asked for confirmation, there was a brief pause as Gabriel slowly
pushed the door open. “Got it.” L replied, Gabriel hitting the
talk button one more time before attempting to put it back in his
bag.
“Well... What direction is the slums again?” Gabriel asked with an awkward chuckle, two audible sighs coming from both people on the other side of the radio line. “It's southwest of your current location, it's along the shore since it's a WATER TREATMENT PLANT! Go Southwest!” L bemoaned to Gabriel, Gabriel sighed himself and put away the radio into his back hastily, hiking his bag up over his shoulder.
He calmly stepped out onto the main road, walking past a couple of the buildings with no feeling of immediate threat, but just for safety's sake, he quietly dipped into an alleyway, the ground still riddled with puddles from the rain earlier today, even if the sky had cleared hours before. It was oddly peaceful in the silence, even if the silence is because of something pretty grim in nature. The city wasn't a big one, it covered a fairly big area but it was sparse unless you were downtown. His parents lived there for a couple of years and it was nice to leave the big city of Riverside to come back home and recharge here.
It was full of stores where all the people walking in knew the shopkeepers and the shopkeepers could call the customers by name, it was more of a family than a town at times especially during the holidays. You would often get your neighbors involved in birthday parties and even if you didn't have family, this place was just a good place to settle down. Gabriel wanted to come here with a girl one day to marry her and settle down since it was a pretty relaxed town, if they ever wanted their lives to be busy, he would be able to pick when it was busy instead of having that come to him.
At least, that was what he hoped. About 6 months ago, the city was attacked by a massive roaming pack of Riftfallen, they tend to congregate together into bigger and bigger groups if they go unchecked. The entire town was hit by a wave of them, thousands died or fled to the coast to hope to halt the attack. By the time Spectrum arrived, the damage was done, and it was more collecting the bodies than actually helping anyone. One of the biggest flaws of Spectrum was the fact they were more reactive than proactive, and if you were not in Rosewall or any other major operating cities, you had to sit on your thumbs to wait until they helped.
They had a police force, but due to the laws put in place by Rosewall's attempt to reduce violence after the fiefdoms collapsed post invasion by Astra, they weren't equipped to take down anything outside of a typical criminal, not a giant monster, and definitely not a pack of them. Monsters attacked Gabriel's sister, Karen while she was in her middle school. She died, and her parents called so he could attend her funeral. Not visiting her in the hospital, not giving her support, not saving her... Her funeral. Gabriel was heartbroken, he left home in one of his attempts to find his calling and be part of something bigger than himself, and his sister dies without even hearing a phone call from him.
The funeral was depressing, but what was even worse was the condition of the town, it was falling apart. People were abandoning it instead of rebuilding it because they realized that if they can't save themselves, or be saved, that being here was a death sentence.
His parents were one of the many people who migrated away from the city for greener pastures, they somewhat lost Gabriel's respect from that. He understood that maybe this wasn't the safest place to live, but he felt like it shouldn't be thrown aside like a lost cause and turning it into a ghost town. Some people stayed in hopes to rebuild and Gabriel, who was soul searching at the time volunteered to help with the rebuilding. But once again, because life is a pain in the ass, Silent Fall began to station here.
They scuttle about like vultures waiting for the husks of towns or companies to cry its shrill death rattle before coming in to pick up the pieces and bolster their own cause. They prey on the weak, not intending to harm them, but to use their vulnerability and bitterness to coerce them into joining their cause. It's a bit gross, especially if you manage to keep up on the radios and televisions on how they pretty much straight murder and rob from people.
It turned out that his house was in disrepair, he was forced to pack up and wander the city to see if he could find a place to live while he helps keep everything together. This is where he met Spera, A small group of people led by a young woman named Mia Thompson, Her and her group live in an abandoned hotel to sell stolen goods to passerby's to make enough money to both build up the hotel as a place to live, but to supply the people who decide to support Spera by stealing weapons from Silent Fall's encampments.
This was one of those runs, but this one was different, this was the first one Gabriel was involved in it, and he felt very nervous, even if he continued to just quietly walk through the alleyways with no opposition. He would look up to occasionally check the position of the moon to see if he was traveling the right way, since he didn't stash a compass on himself for this situation. He realized to actually go southwest, he would have to duck out of the alleyway. He calmly approached around the roadway to see if there were any members of Silent Fall patrolling the area.
There were about 2 people standing by a makeshift campfire, probably using some kerosene and cloth to make some warmth to stave off the bite of being in such a cold area in the middle of the night. He quietly began to step onto the sidewalk as it was the only other pathway, he guessed he would just have to stay quiet and out of line of sight to be able to slip past them. He quietly began to crouch down, leaning against a couple of the ruins of cars to maybe make himself more inconspicuous. He occasionally peaked back up to check if they were sitting still, when suddenly his receiver went off in his backpack. “It's been 30 minutes, where are you?” It rang out in the open air of the night, making it seam louder than it was.
Gabriel panicked, struggling to get his backpack off and pull the receiver out to turn it off, he was still pretty new to this and he wasn't sure of all the procedures Spera would have him do. The two Silent Fall members grabbed their blades, turning their head to his direction. “What was that?” One of them asked, sporting a full beard underneath his mask. The one who was clean shaven turned to the bearded one and shrugged his shoulders. “No clue, let's find out.” He replied, both of them getting up and slowly walking over to investigate. “G, please respond.” Mia spoke a second time to try and get him to report. Gabriel lost his mind, dropping the receiver onto the ground before picking it up and turning it off, putting it in his pocket and getting ready to run as a pair of hands grabbed onto his shoulders to yank him into standing up, a sword held at his throat.
“Ain't it a little past curfew, kiddo?” He said in a mocking tone to Gabriel, Gabriel began to struggle, but that just made the bearded man squeeze a little tighter. “What are you doing out here?” The other man asked, the moonlight reflecting from his brushed steel mask. Gabriel growled a bit before glaring at them. “None of your damn business.” He muttered out, the man not holding him punching him square in the stomach in response.
Gabriel groaned, bending forward as far as they let him until they wrenched on him. “I think it's our business now, kid.” He replied with a threat, Gabriel suddenly kicking one man square in the chest while simultaneously smashing his head into the chin of the bearded man. Using the shock to slip to the ground, his shoulders planting on the pavement. He quickly rolled and got back on his feet, the two men already about to give chase. Gabriel spun on his feet and broke out into a sprint, covering the ground with the two in tow. They ran at roughly the same speed, Gabriel dipping into another alleyway down the road. There was a dumpster along with some rusty pipes, boxes and various other trash. He grabbed a pipe and rolled behind the garbage can to wait. They both ran past, Gabriel shouting as he charged at them.
He clocked one with the pipe as hard as he could, sending him to the floor with a small amount of blood coming from a wound in the back of his head. This was the downside to using Pulse armor, you can only block something you know is going to hit you. The other man was not caught by surprise, so the trick could only work once. He swung at Gabriel with his blade, Gabriel hopping over it and tucking into a roll to grab the blade of the knocked out man. The man dashed using pulse with sudden speed, slicing Gabriel on the shoulder deep enough for him to wince in pain.
He slung the blade in his other arm, slashing at the man's chest, but it just got pushed away by his Pulse. He sighed some, grabbing the blade with both hands as the man lunged at him again, catching his blade with Gabriel's to a stalemate. The man had a couple inches and a couple dozen pounds to Gabriel, meaning he knew he would probably lose in a test of strength. Gabriel spun the blade in a circle, making a ringing sound as the blades swung together until the bearded man pushed off hard enough for Gabriel to step back to regain his footing.
He swung at the ground, Gabriel leaping back and dodging it with a handspring, before quickly using the momentum to leap in and quickly slash 3 times at his chest. They all bounced off, but blocking with pulse whittled down stamina, and the bearded Silent Fall member was starting to breath heavier and move more sluggishly. While he was tired as well, he at least had the advantage of being more athletic. He smashed his fist into Gabriel, while he blocked it as well, he still had to reel back from the momentum, the big man smashing his leg so hard against his sternum that he fell onto his back.
“Time's up!” The guy shouted, lifting his sword over his head in an attempt to smash it back down and kill Gabriel in one hit. Gabriel quickly lurched onto his shoulders, smashing his calf into the blade to knock it to the side, the sword cutting the same arm he got his shoulder injury with a quite nasty looking gash. He groaned in pain, the man pulling his blade and kicking him in the side and making him roll along the ground, shouting in pain.
He stood back up and rubbed his arm, giving a cough as the man charged at him once again, he quickly parried the strike and ducked behind him, smashing shoulder first into him and sending him careening onto his face. He quickly dove overtop of him, ripping off his mask and smashing his elbow into the back of his head over and over again until he was knocked out. He sighed and began to pant, standing back up and stumbling over to his bag to open it back up.
“Well... What direction is the slums again?” Gabriel asked with an awkward chuckle, two audible sighs coming from both people on the other side of the radio line. “It's southwest of your current location, it's along the shore since it's a WATER TREATMENT PLANT! Go Southwest!” L bemoaned to Gabriel, Gabriel sighed himself and put away the radio into his back hastily, hiking his bag up over his shoulder.
He calmly stepped out onto the main road, walking past a couple of the buildings with no feeling of immediate threat, but just for safety's sake, he quietly dipped into an alleyway, the ground still riddled with puddles from the rain earlier today, even if the sky had cleared hours before. It was oddly peaceful in the silence, even if the silence is because of something pretty grim in nature. The city wasn't a big one, it covered a fairly big area but it was sparse unless you were downtown. His parents lived there for a couple of years and it was nice to leave the big city of Riverside to come back home and recharge here.
It was full of stores where all the people walking in knew the shopkeepers and the shopkeepers could call the customers by name, it was more of a family than a town at times especially during the holidays. You would often get your neighbors involved in birthday parties and even if you didn't have family, this place was just a good place to settle down. Gabriel wanted to come here with a girl one day to marry her and settle down since it was a pretty relaxed town, if they ever wanted their lives to be busy, he would be able to pick when it was busy instead of having that come to him.
At least, that was what he hoped. About 6 months ago, the city was attacked by a massive roaming pack of Riftfallen, they tend to congregate together into bigger and bigger groups if they go unchecked. The entire town was hit by a wave of them, thousands died or fled to the coast to hope to halt the attack. By the time Spectrum arrived, the damage was done, and it was more collecting the bodies than actually helping anyone. One of the biggest flaws of Spectrum was the fact they were more reactive than proactive, and if you were not in Rosewall or any other major operating cities, you had to sit on your thumbs to wait until they helped.
They had a police force, but due to the laws put in place by Rosewall's attempt to reduce violence after the fiefdoms collapsed post invasion by Astra, they weren't equipped to take down anything outside of a typical criminal, not a giant monster, and definitely not a pack of them. Monsters attacked Gabriel's sister, Karen while she was in her middle school. She died, and her parents called so he could attend her funeral. Not visiting her in the hospital, not giving her support, not saving her... Her funeral. Gabriel was heartbroken, he left home in one of his attempts to find his calling and be part of something bigger than himself, and his sister dies without even hearing a phone call from him.
The funeral was depressing, but what was even worse was the condition of the town, it was falling apart. People were abandoning it instead of rebuilding it because they realized that if they can't save themselves, or be saved, that being here was a death sentence.
His parents were one of the many people who migrated away from the city for greener pastures, they somewhat lost Gabriel's respect from that. He understood that maybe this wasn't the safest place to live, but he felt like it shouldn't be thrown aside like a lost cause and turning it into a ghost town. Some people stayed in hopes to rebuild and Gabriel, who was soul searching at the time volunteered to help with the rebuilding. But once again, because life is a pain in the ass, Silent Fall began to station here.
They scuttle about like vultures waiting for the husks of towns or companies to cry its shrill death rattle before coming in to pick up the pieces and bolster their own cause. They prey on the weak, not intending to harm them, but to use their vulnerability and bitterness to coerce them into joining their cause. It's a bit gross, especially if you manage to keep up on the radios and televisions on how they pretty much straight murder and rob from people.
It turned out that his house was in disrepair, he was forced to pack up and wander the city to see if he could find a place to live while he helps keep everything together. This is where he met Spera, A small group of people led by a young woman named Mia Thompson, Her and her group live in an abandoned hotel to sell stolen goods to passerby's to make enough money to both build up the hotel as a place to live, but to supply the people who decide to support Spera by stealing weapons from Silent Fall's encampments.
This was one of those runs, but this one was different, this was the first one Gabriel was involved in it, and he felt very nervous, even if he continued to just quietly walk through the alleyways with no opposition. He would look up to occasionally check the position of the moon to see if he was traveling the right way, since he didn't stash a compass on himself for this situation. He realized to actually go southwest, he would have to duck out of the alleyway. He calmly approached around the roadway to see if there were any members of Silent Fall patrolling the area.
There were about 2 people standing by a makeshift campfire, probably using some kerosene and cloth to make some warmth to stave off the bite of being in such a cold area in the middle of the night. He quietly began to step onto the sidewalk as it was the only other pathway, he guessed he would just have to stay quiet and out of line of sight to be able to slip past them. He quietly began to crouch down, leaning against a couple of the ruins of cars to maybe make himself more inconspicuous. He occasionally peaked back up to check if they were sitting still, when suddenly his receiver went off in his backpack. “It's been 30 minutes, where are you?” It rang out in the open air of the night, making it seam louder than it was.
Gabriel panicked, struggling to get his backpack off and pull the receiver out to turn it off, he was still pretty new to this and he wasn't sure of all the procedures Spera would have him do. The two Silent Fall members grabbed their blades, turning their head to his direction. “What was that?” One of them asked, sporting a full beard underneath his mask. The one who was clean shaven turned to the bearded one and shrugged his shoulders. “No clue, let's find out.” He replied, both of them getting up and slowly walking over to investigate. “G, please respond.” Mia spoke a second time to try and get him to report. Gabriel lost his mind, dropping the receiver onto the ground before picking it up and turning it off, putting it in his pocket and getting ready to run as a pair of hands grabbed onto his shoulders to yank him into standing up, a sword held at his throat.
“Ain't it a little past curfew, kiddo?” He said in a mocking tone to Gabriel, Gabriel began to struggle, but that just made the bearded man squeeze a little tighter. “What are you doing out here?” The other man asked, the moonlight reflecting from his brushed steel mask. Gabriel growled a bit before glaring at them. “None of your damn business.” He muttered out, the man not holding him punching him square in the stomach in response.
Gabriel groaned, bending forward as far as they let him until they wrenched on him. “I think it's our business now, kid.” He replied with a threat, Gabriel suddenly kicking one man square in the chest while simultaneously smashing his head into the chin of the bearded man. Using the shock to slip to the ground, his shoulders planting on the pavement. He quickly rolled and got back on his feet, the two men already about to give chase. Gabriel spun on his feet and broke out into a sprint, covering the ground with the two in tow. They ran at roughly the same speed, Gabriel dipping into another alleyway down the road. There was a dumpster along with some rusty pipes, boxes and various other trash. He grabbed a pipe and rolled behind the garbage can to wait. They both ran past, Gabriel shouting as he charged at them.
He clocked one with the pipe as hard as he could, sending him to the floor with a small amount of blood coming from a wound in the back of his head. This was the downside to using Pulse armor, you can only block something you know is going to hit you. The other man was not caught by surprise, so the trick could only work once. He swung at Gabriel with his blade, Gabriel hopping over it and tucking into a roll to grab the blade of the knocked out man. The man dashed using pulse with sudden speed, slicing Gabriel on the shoulder deep enough for him to wince in pain.
He slung the blade in his other arm, slashing at the man's chest, but it just got pushed away by his Pulse. He sighed some, grabbing the blade with both hands as the man lunged at him again, catching his blade with Gabriel's to a stalemate. The man had a couple inches and a couple dozen pounds to Gabriel, meaning he knew he would probably lose in a test of strength. Gabriel spun the blade in a circle, making a ringing sound as the blades swung together until the bearded man pushed off hard enough for Gabriel to step back to regain his footing.
He swung at the ground, Gabriel leaping back and dodging it with a handspring, before quickly using the momentum to leap in and quickly slash 3 times at his chest. They all bounced off, but blocking with pulse whittled down stamina, and the bearded Silent Fall member was starting to breath heavier and move more sluggishly. While he was tired as well, he at least had the advantage of being more athletic. He smashed his fist into Gabriel, while he blocked it as well, he still had to reel back from the momentum, the big man smashing his leg so hard against his sternum that he fell onto his back.
“Time's up!” The guy shouted, lifting his sword over his head in an attempt to smash it back down and kill Gabriel in one hit. Gabriel quickly lurched onto his shoulders, smashing his calf into the blade to knock it to the side, the sword cutting the same arm he got his shoulder injury with a quite nasty looking gash. He groaned in pain, the man pulling his blade and kicking him in the side and making him roll along the ground, shouting in pain.
He stood back up and rubbed his arm, giving a cough as the man charged at him once again, he quickly parried the strike and ducked behind him, smashing shoulder first into him and sending him careening onto his face. He quickly dove overtop of him, ripping off his mask and smashing his elbow into the back of his head over and over again until he was knocked out. He sighed and began to pant, standing back up and stumbling over to his bag to open it back up.
He pulled out some bandages along with
his receiver. He grabbed the sleeve of his now torn, bloodstained
coat and slowly began to roll it back. The gash on his arm was pretty
nasty, but nothing extremely hindering. He grabbed his bandage in one
hand and spun it along his arm, a red stain quickly forming as he
tied it and cut it with his teeth before putting it in his bag. He
walked between the two unconscious men and turned his radio back on.
“I'm here guys, sorry about that... not turning off the radio made
them catch me.” Gabriel stated, his breath still heavy as he slowly
tried to recover.
“And how did you deal with them?” Mia asked, Gabriel grabbed his bag and hiked it back onto his shoulder as he leaned against the wall of the alleyway, when he was done with the conversation, he was intending to walk down it since conveniently it was going the same way he was preparing to go. “Both of them are out cold,” Gabriel started, the bag on his shoulders feeling much heavier. He decided to keep one of the blades, even though he didn't have a sheathe for it just yet.
“What is the status on you, M?” L asked, Mia pausing some from annoyance her response for Gabriel got cut off. “Well, I haven't caught on the attention of anything so far, I had a close call but it's been a pretty quiet night.” Mia responded quickly, waiting for L to ask any other questions before he cut in with his own status report. “I'm just outside of the store, actually.” L mentioned, Gabriel shaking his head some, before going down to check if both men were still knocked out. The aching in his shoulder wound was being stung by the cold night wind, but it was slowly fading as the bleeding stopped itself.
“Well good for you, I guess.” Mia said, not really too interested in that fact since only one of three people were at their destination before their actual destination, she cleared her throat some to address Gabriel directly. “G, Dispose of the two men you've come across and proceed to our objective.” Mia stated sternly, Gabriel feeling some confusion at the statement, blade still in his other hand. “Wait... Dispose?” He wondered aloud, Mia quickly confirming the statement. “Yes, kill them and move the bodies somewhere that's hard to notice.” She commanded, Gabriel's hair stood up on the back of his neck as he heard that, his confidence broken as he had to ask her why.
“Kill them? Why kill them? I dealt with the problem... As soon as they're up, I'll be a ghost.” Gabriel tried to justify, pacing the ground a bit as Mia grew somewhat incensed. “No, dispose of them Gabriel.” She spoke again with a stern order, her somewhat deep sounding accent coming through her anger. “Spera is a secret operation, as soon as Silent Fall know of our existence they will effectively take steps against us, halting our progress in rebuilding this damned town.” She ranted some, Gabriel frowning a bit as he looked at the two men. “If you let them live, they will report in with your interference and we may face retaliation.” She said, Gabriel furrowing his brow and looking at the floor, not saying anything.
“It's not like I revel in murder, Gabriel. I'm just making sure we're erring on the side of caution.” She said, hoping to convince him. He sighed and spoke quietly into the radio, not really having the energy to shout. “It feels wrong, it makes me think we're not any better than these people are.” Gabriel said, sitting down on the concrete and eyeing the short sword he put in his lap. There was another short pause before the radio made a static sound to indicate someone has pressed the button once again.
“When the rules we always use to dictate how the world works break down, when we truly have no one else to rely on... Humanity becomes a war.” Mia began to essentially start a tract, whenever she got passionate about something she would do these kinds of grandiose speeches hoping to justify her point by pretending to be an authority. “It's not anymore about your fellow man, this might contradict what you've learned in school that humanity is a social creature. When things go to shit, we will throw anyone else under the bus to get what we need.” She continued, Gabriel glaring at the radio some more as she continued.
“These men oppose us, these men oppress us, these men want to see everything we've built so far in the ruins of tragedy and they want to pull out their dicks and piss on our graves to just spite us. It's us or them, we adapt or we die, Gabriel. I've chosen us, these men have thrown away their humanity to prove an absolutely ignorant point by using violence to promote equality. ” She added, Gabriel standing up and tucking the blade gently under one of his arms.
“And how did you deal with them?” Mia asked, Gabriel grabbed his bag and hiked it back onto his shoulder as he leaned against the wall of the alleyway, when he was done with the conversation, he was intending to walk down it since conveniently it was going the same way he was preparing to go. “Both of them are out cold,” Gabriel started, the bag on his shoulders feeling much heavier. He decided to keep one of the blades, even though he didn't have a sheathe for it just yet.
“What is the status on you, M?” L asked, Mia pausing some from annoyance her response for Gabriel got cut off. “Well, I haven't caught on the attention of anything so far, I had a close call but it's been a pretty quiet night.” Mia responded quickly, waiting for L to ask any other questions before he cut in with his own status report. “I'm just outside of the store, actually.” L mentioned, Gabriel shaking his head some, before going down to check if both men were still knocked out. The aching in his shoulder wound was being stung by the cold night wind, but it was slowly fading as the bleeding stopped itself.
“Well good for you, I guess.” Mia said, not really too interested in that fact since only one of three people were at their destination before their actual destination, she cleared her throat some to address Gabriel directly. “G, Dispose of the two men you've come across and proceed to our objective.” Mia stated sternly, Gabriel feeling some confusion at the statement, blade still in his other hand. “Wait... Dispose?” He wondered aloud, Mia quickly confirming the statement. “Yes, kill them and move the bodies somewhere that's hard to notice.” She commanded, Gabriel's hair stood up on the back of his neck as he heard that, his confidence broken as he had to ask her why.
“Kill them? Why kill them? I dealt with the problem... As soon as they're up, I'll be a ghost.” Gabriel tried to justify, pacing the ground a bit as Mia grew somewhat incensed. “No, dispose of them Gabriel.” She spoke again with a stern order, her somewhat deep sounding accent coming through her anger. “Spera is a secret operation, as soon as Silent Fall know of our existence they will effectively take steps against us, halting our progress in rebuilding this damned town.” She ranted some, Gabriel frowning a bit as he looked at the two men. “If you let them live, they will report in with your interference and we may face retaliation.” She said, Gabriel furrowing his brow and looking at the floor, not saying anything.
“It's not like I revel in murder, Gabriel. I'm just making sure we're erring on the side of caution.” She said, hoping to convince him. He sighed and spoke quietly into the radio, not really having the energy to shout. “It feels wrong, it makes me think we're not any better than these people are.” Gabriel said, sitting down on the concrete and eyeing the short sword he put in his lap. There was another short pause before the radio made a static sound to indicate someone has pressed the button once again.
“When the rules we always use to dictate how the world works break down, when we truly have no one else to rely on... Humanity becomes a war.” Mia began to essentially start a tract, whenever she got passionate about something she would do these kinds of grandiose speeches hoping to justify her point by pretending to be an authority. “It's not anymore about your fellow man, this might contradict what you've learned in school that humanity is a social creature. When things go to shit, we will throw anyone else under the bus to get what we need.” She continued, Gabriel glaring at the radio some more as she continued.
“These men oppose us, these men oppress us, these men want to see everything we've built so far in the ruins of tragedy and they want to pull out their dicks and piss on our graves to just spite us. It's us or them, we adapt or we die, Gabriel. I've chosen us, these men have thrown away their humanity to prove an absolutely ignorant point by using violence to promote equality. ” She added, Gabriel standing up and tucking the blade gently under one of his arms.
“They've made their decision, they've
chosen to become our enemies. And out in the streets of chaos, where
rules are discarded and humanity goes back to it's brutal roots of
man vs man to prove who is worthy of survival... Our enemies need to
die so we may live. Kill them, Gabriel; or damn us all.” She
finished and immediately shut her radio off, Gabriel slightly wiping
a tear he felt forming in his eye. He paused, grabbing his blade and
crouching down to hold it at the throat of the one without the beard.
He felt his hands shake, he never really intentionally took a life
before. The most he's ever done was squash a spider who got into his
car... But those animals don't really think or show much emotion.
This was a person, he had a family, friends, and a goal in his life. He went down the wrong path, but everyone has a reason for it. Does he really have to harm someone to keep himself safe? But... If they get up, they will oust him and eventually Spera and all the remaining survivors of the town might get destroyed. Gabriel paused once again, taking a deep breath as he tried to fulfill the order... But he couldn't. He realized then and there that he wasn't the kind of person who could kill someone for his own gain... Some people might be able to, but he wasn't one of them. Yes, he might be a bad man, and yes he did attempt to attack Gabriel with a malefic intent, but Gabriel just didn't know if that means he should die.
He might be considered weak, or stupid, or using his heart over his head... But this respect for another life capable of feeling felt like it was the only string he could hold onto after his family left his life and his many failures afterward. Yet... Keeping him alive means this will cause more bloodshed. Keeping these two people alive could potentially cause another one hundred deaths. Women, children, elders, his friends, Lucas's little sister, Violet. All wiped out in a massive pointless act of revenge just because Gabriel couldn't muster the courage to do one morally reprehensible act.
It's for the best, it's the best chance they have for survival... But Gabriel realized then and there that he wasn't a killing man. He shouted, grabbing his stolen sword and threw it as hard as he could, bouncing off a wall and sliding along the concrete. “God damn it!” He screamed, looking at the ground to see the two bodies, before stomping away from them in his intended goal. “Yeah, it's kind of a shitty policy, G, but we all have to listen to it.” Lucas said, still thinking Gabriel is still in the middle of making a decision.
“Did you do it?” Mia asked Gabriel, hoping the pause was enough time to listen to orders. “....Yeah, I did.” Gabriel lied, he wanted to help Spera every way he can, but not if he has to become a monster. “Proceed as planned.” Mia stated, before turning off her receiver. Gabriel turned off his, sliding it back into the bag on his shoulder and he sighed quietly. He began to walk off to the store they promised to meet at as he thought quietly to himself.“Even if they do attack... I'll stop them my damn self,” He quietly muttered, rubbing his injured arm as he broke out into a run, not seeing anyone near by and trying to cover some more distance.
“Come what may.”
This was a person, he had a family, friends, and a goal in his life. He went down the wrong path, but everyone has a reason for it. Does he really have to harm someone to keep himself safe? But... If they get up, they will oust him and eventually Spera and all the remaining survivors of the town might get destroyed. Gabriel paused once again, taking a deep breath as he tried to fulfill the order... But he couldn't. He realized then and there that he wasn't the kind of person who could kill someone for his own gain... Some people might be able to, but he wasn't one of them. Yes, he might be a bad man, and yes he did attempt to attack Gabriel with a malefic intent, but Gabriel just didn't know if that means he should die.
He might be considered weak, or stupid, or using his heart over his head... But this respect for another life capable of feeling felt like it was the only string he could hold onto after his family left his life and his many failures afterward. Yet... Keeping him alive means this will cause more bloodshed. Keeping these two people alive could potentially cause another one hundred deaths. Women, children, elders, his friends, Lucas's little sister, Violet. All wiped out in a massive pointless act of revenge just because Gabriel couldn't muster the courage to do one morally reprehensible act.
It's for the best, it's the best chance they have for survival... But Gabriel realized then and there that he wasn't a killing man. He shouted, grabbing his stolen sword and threw it as hard as he could, bouncing off a wall and sliding along the concrete. “God damn it!” He screamed, looking at the ground to see the two bodies, before stomping away from them in his intended goal. “Yeah, it's kind of a shitty policy, G, but we all have to listen to it.” Lucas said, still thinking Gabriel is still in the middle of making a decision.
“Did you do it?” Mia asked Gabriel, hoping the pause was enough time to listen to orders. “....Yeah, I did.” Gabriel lied, he wanted to help Spera every way he can, but not if he has to become a monster. “Proceed as planned.” Mia stated, before turning off her receiver. Gabriel turned off his, sliding it back into the bag on his shoulder and he sighed quietly. He began to walk off to the store they promised to meet at as he thought quietly to himself.“Even if they do attack... I'll stop them my damn self,” He quietly muttered, rubbing his injured arm as he broke out into a run, not seeing anyone near by and trying to cover some more distance.
“Come what may.”
No comments:
Post a Comment