Rev. Andre Washington III (holy_ghost) wrote in downfallrpg, @ 2010-03-24 12:45:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2015-08-30, andre, andre and tayne, tayne |
Who: Andre and Tayne
Where: The mean streets of Detroit
When: Mid-day
If anyone was left around to look inside the abandoned shop, they would've seen quite a sight. Boxes and spoiling food being thrown about, apparently by themselves, occasionally a grunt or muttered word here and there as an item would appear to float for a moment, then vanish. It was all a part of Andre's strategy, however. Ever since leaving his hiding spot in the church, he had been using his God-given gift for survival. He could become invisible, quite a blessing considering that the man was rather large and difficult to hide otherwise. It did tire him out a bit, but it was necessary if he wanted to make it another day. He had to. The Lord had commanded him to.
The problem was, everything seemed to be picked over already. Anything ready-to-eat had either been taken or was starting to go bad. Andre winced as he leaned up against a shelf unit for a moment to rest. One of his pistols was at the ready, and he remained alert even as he took a few minutes to rest his leg. He reckoned it had been nearly 2 days since he'd taken his prosthesis off, and it was really getting sore. It wasn't intended for such long term use, but Andre knew that in the end, the Lord would provide relief. "'Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,'" he mumbled under his breath, the familiar words from Matthew giving him a bit of comfort. It was all he had for now. But God would provide. He had been sent out to gather the remaining believers and prepare for His coming, and the Lord would not leave him to die before His calling was completed.
Andre hadn't counted on his own weight working against him, however. As he leaned on the shelf, several bottles of Italian dressing, already left precariously on edge by a previous scavenger, slid just far enough to topple over onto the floor with a loud shattering noise. "Aw, no," Andre said, straightening up immediately. The last thing he needed was to alert something to his presence. His old Corps instincts kicked in, and he moved as quickly as he could to cover behind the shelf, cocked and locked, alert for anything that might come out of the shadows.
The sounds coming from the small food shop-- not the size of the grocery store Tayne had left behind an hour ago, but it sold more than just chips and snacks-- caught Tayne's attention pretty much immediately as he passed it. How could he miss the sounds of boxes and jars hitting the floor like that? How could he miss the fresh scent of human male that led straight inside?
So of course he came to investigate. If this was one of the fuckers who had sicced monsters on him and his, and strung up that poor girl in the grocery store, he'd be tearing someone's throat out. If it was just another lost survivor, well, at least he could point them in the right direction.
Tayne pushed open the door, the glass of which had long since been smashed, whether by monsters or by looters. The common-place sound of the little tinkling bell made him actually wince. It sounded so out of place and strange in the world-after-monsters. The shop itself smelled horrible, and he brought a hand up to his nose with a frown until his poor, over-active sense of smell could adjust.
Andre watched from his hiding place as the young man walked in. He seemed reasonably human- more than anything he'd run into over the past couple of days, at least. He didn't look like too much of a threat either. Sure, he could probably outrun Andre, but if Andre actually got his hands on him, the fight would be over quick. Of course, looks could be deceiving. Andre could turn invisible, after all. Lord only knew if this youngster had been given any gifts- or who they were from.
Standing up from his hiding space and trying not to grunt too much as his knee protested, Andre kept his pistol trained on the newcomer. Too bad I couldn't do this back in Iraq, he thought. Might still have both my legs. Still invisible, he spoke in a deep rumble, easily audible even at a low volume. At least he'd have a psychological advantage for a moment while they tried to figure out where the voice was coming from. "I don't want to shoot you son, so don't give me a reason. Who are you?"
Tayne stopped short at the sound of a voice. He could pinpoint the direction, and the source of the smell, but he didn't look that direction immediately, just looked around. Never give away a potential advantage you might have, after all. "Name's Tayne Peregrine, friend," he said, his tone both careful and carefully amiable, holding up his hands. It probably didn't look quite as non-threatening as it could, given the handle of his axe, slung over his back, was within reach with his hands raised. But it was meant as a peaceable gesture. Maybe his lack of a shirt and his motorcycle saddlebags slung over one shoulder would make him look less like he could jump into action at any moment.
"Just lookin' around," he added. "Lookin' for supplies. Heard noises in here, figured I'd come inves-- invis-- uh, come see what was goin' on." Being unable to speak properly probably didn't hurt his cause to look harmless. Ugh.
Andre ducked behind his cover long enough to become visible again. Definitely didn't want to give away that ace in the hole just yet if he didn't have to. He then stepped out, lowering the gun a little but not totally, to get a better look at Tayne. Once he got a clearer view, he couldn't help but break into a bit of a smile. "Well, well. 'Bout time I ran into another normal person 'round here." He wasn't entirely sure when he'd seen or even spoken to another human last. "Andre Washington. And you might wanna get down. Those demons really been ticked off the past couple days."
'Demons'? That was a new word for them. Tayne supposed it suited, though, and he slowly lowered his hands. "I'm not too worried about 'em. They fall with an axe to the face same as any other animal would. Where you hidin' out, man? You got a secure place?" His tone was earnest, rather than avaricious, because he quite simply and probably obviously didn't want anybody out on their own, if they seemed decent. He wasn't sure yet if Andre seemed decent, but he didn't seem awful. The guy looked like he knew his way around a weapon, at least, and might be useful-- and he didn't smell like he was on any drugs or drunk, either, which was kind of a nice relief.
Andre finally lowered his own gun as well, although he kept it ready at his side instead of trained on Tayne. The kid at least seemed to have the right idea about how to deal with those things, and the fact that he seemed more concerned about Andre's well-being than robbing him. "Wherever I can, the past couple days," he said, still on high alert. "Before that I was holed up in my church. Potter's House, other side of town. 'Till I ran out of supplies, anyways. Plus them things was gettin' a little too rambunctious for my liking." He leaned against a counter, making sure it was a bit sturdier than the last time. "How 'bout you? You find anyone else yet?" That'd be quite a joke, Lord. Ebony and Ivory up against the hounds of Hell.
A church-goer. Tayne had mixed feelings about that: his whole family had been church-going, and while Tayne definitely had his belief in God, he also knew what most church-goers thought about people like him; it was the main reason he stayed closeted his whole life. But he did relax a little and smile faintly, since at least he didn't think the guy was going to be a random looter and murderer. "Actually, yeah. There's about twenty of us holed up in the same place, trying the whole 'safety in numbers' thing." He didn't quite say where that place was yet, but he would, as long as the reaction to the news didn't result in greed or suspicion.
It was as if the skies had opened up and the angels began to sing when Andre heard the news. Twenty people? Truly this was the sign he had been looking for when he left his church. "Well, praise the Lord," he said, barely able to control his volume in his excitement. "Brother, that's wonderful. You got no idea how happy you made me just now." His smile grew wider as he imagined finding that many people alive and together. "You got room for one more? I know I might not look like much, but I know which end of a gun not to point at yourself, know what I'm sayin'?" Admittedly, if he'd wanted to, he could've just turned invisible and followed the young man back and snuck in. But it was better to at least ask permission first.
That seemed like a fairly positive reaction, and it didn't seem like he was being deceived. Tayne relaxed the rest of the way and grinned. "We got room, yeah. We're in a hotel, 'bout an hour's walk back that way." He jerked a thumb the way he'd come. "I'm makin' my way back, slow-like, kind of trying to get the area mapped out a bit with stuff that's still useful on my way. If you don't mind goin' slow, you can come along." A second set of eyes and a gun could be useful on the trip, and he had a feeling this guy would be more useful than a liability. He had confidence, and somebody who didn't know what he was doing wouldn't have that.
He supposed he could be crazy, but Tayne was an optimistic person, so he was going with useful. "I can give you directions if you'd rather, though," he added.
"Slow's about the only way I go these days," Andre said with a chuckle, pointing towards his foot. "Got a bum wheel. But my eyes ain't too far gone yet, and my trigger finger's good as ever." He pulled a second gun from behind his back, where it'd been tucked into his waistband. "Both of 'em, actually. And it never hurts to have a wingman, right?" He smiled again before turning around. "Let me just grab my bag real quick, okay?" He hummed one of his favorite hymns as he ran back towards where he'd left his things. He realized he was talking a lot, but it had been a while since there'd been anyone besides himself and God worth talking to. He had to get himself back into form if he was gonna start spreading the Good News. He returned quickly, the barrel of the shotgun in his pack just barely poking out the top. "Ready when you are."
It never hurt to have a wingman, even one with a limp, as long as it was a wingman you could trust. Tayne hoped he could trust this guy, but he already kind of liked him, so he was gonna bank on that. He'd just keep his eyes, ears, and nose open for signs of trouble.
While Andre went to grab his things, Tayne gave the place a look around. There wasn't much left, but he caught the scent of some packaged snacks on a lower shelf and paused to grab them. It wasn't much, but crackers could hold them over, at least. He even added the remaining bottles of salad dressing to his packs, just in case, and the last couple boxes of ziplock bags. Nobody ever seemed to think to grab the ziplock bags, but Tayne thought they could be used for all sorts of things.
As Andre made it back-- god God, than man came heavily armed!-- Tayne nodded. "Let's get outa here, then." He pulled the door back open with another sound of the bell, and dumped some of his load into the doubled-up grocery bags he'd left outside with the heavier parts of his scavenging-- the flour and the dried milk and the sugar. Baking goods, if they managed to use them.
Andre had learned years ago that you could never have too many weapons in a situation like this. And Tayne hadn't even seen the hunting knife strapped to his right calf yet. He was impressed with Tayne's haul, however. "Man, looks like you been doin' pretty good. I just been gettin' a little bit here and there, but dang. You the only one out gatherin'?" He figured Tayne wasn't, but it was entirely possible that most of the survivors were too injured or whatever to do much. If that was the case, there was a good chance they were in need of healing of the spiritual kind as well. "Want me to grab somethin'?"
"I've been out here over an hour now," Tayne shrugged, quite willingly offering Andre the heavy bag of flour, "and I raided the last things left in the grocery down the street a ways. Nobody took these since they're so heavy, I guess, and nobody knows how to use 'em right." He had everything on hand now, though, to make bread-- and probably a few dozen loaves of it. That was important. "But when you've got twenty people, you can use shit other people might not." Since he wasn't sure how many people were out gathering-- hopefully not that many; it was dangerous!-- he left that question alone and just hefted the rest of his haul and started down the street.
Andre easily hefted the bag of flour onto his shoulder. It lost him the use of one of his arms for holding a gun, but he still had the other and it wasn't like he couldn't drop it if he needed to. "Smart thinkin'," he said, wincing a little at the youngster's profanity. Now was not the time for rebuke, however; he knew that in a crisis, even the most steadfast could slip. He'd learned that in Iraq. "Besides, the good Lord made do with five loaves of bread and two fish, so this will definitely do some good."
His eyes scanned the streets as they walked, keeping an eye out for anything particularly nasty that might come charging after them. "So you guys hear anything from outside of town yet?" he asked, trying to ignore the throbbing from his left leg. "Power and everything went out back at the church on day one, so I haven't gotten radio or nothin' since this all went down." He highly doubted that any news would be good at this point.
"I actually came from out of town," Tayne answered. He missed the wince, his senses trained on areas further away from Andre, and he could have written it off as a wince at how heavy the flour was anyway. He did notice the reference to Jesus, though, and he was mildly amused by it. This was a real preacher-guy, or something, wasn't he?
"It was just as bad out there," he continued, testing the air unobtrusively as he walked, checking for scents of monsters, people... or food. "Two days' drivin' to get here, and there was ruin everywhere I went. Dead people and monsters, hardly a survivor anywhere... first livin' people I met were when I got here, into the city. Far's I know, nobody's had radio or cell coverage, I know I haven't. Everything's dead air. If we could find a HAM radio, might-could make contact with people that way, see if anyone else's still alive, but there's no wide-broadcast going on." He'd checked the whole band, AM and FM, on the drive here, and again driving the truck back to the hotel. Nothing.
Andre grunted in agreement. A Ham radio would definitely be nice, although what they could do with it besides just confirm that other people had survived was beyond him. If there were other people who'd made it, they were probably in just as dire straits. "Man, I ain't been this tired since I was in the Marines," Andre said, more to just keep the conversation going than anything else. "Bed sure will feel nice after all-"
Just on the periphery, Andre thought he saw a shadow moving down a side street. A large shadow. He stopped and turned a little to check again. "You see that?" he asked Tayne, motioning down the street with a nod.
Tayne had been in the process of stopping, himself, when Andre spoke. The scent had just reached him-- thank god they were downwind from it rather than the other way around-- and he slowly set down his bags and motorcycle saddlebags. He eyed the alleyway, trying to guess whether they could avoid it, and guessing their chances to be slim.
"Go'dammit," he growled under his breath. "I was hopin' I could get home without havin' to kill anythin' today." Which was only half-true. He'd been hoping to run into the sickos who had strung up that girl, but not any monsters. "Hey, if things get hairy, man, and I, uh, suddenly turn into a tiger? Don't worry 'bout it, I won't hurt you." But he was going to try not to, pulling out his axe slowly from its sling across his back.
Andre set down his own backpack and the sack of flour as they looked down the alleyway. Muttering a quiet prayer, he put the pistols in his waistband and took the shotgun out and made sure it was loaded. He almost dropped it, though, when Tayne mentioned turning into a tiger. "Turn into a tiger?" he asked, looking up. Looked like he wasn't the only one with a gift from God. He wondered if everyone had gotten something like that. "Well, if we're sharin' secrets, I better let you in on mine, too." Standing up with the shotgun in his hand, he willed himself invisible, right in front of the young man.
Well. Tayne blinked at the suddenly-vanished man. It only took him a moment to regather his wits; the monster-scent and the sound of its breathing as it snuffled around in a dumpster helped. "That's useful," he said in a low voice. At least he could still smell him, and hear his breathing in the quiet. He beckoned Andre after him, edging towards the alleyway, backing up a little to keep one of the many dead cars between them and the monster.
"You shoot to distract it, and I'll go in with the axe?" he suggested quietly. The monster might well know they were there, but it might not know they were going to attack. And being attacked from a distance wasn't something most animals expected. He imagined monsters were no different, and nothing he'd seen so far had proved him wrong.
"It's kept me alive, so yeah, you could say it's useful." Andre looked down at his hands. It was still a bit of a mind-blower to him, really. He could still see himself and the shotgun perfectly clear, like nothing had happened at all, but knew that no one else could. If he hadn't happened to catch sight of his reflection- or lack thereof- in a mirror, he might never have known about his gift.
He would've preferred going for a quick kill shot, himself, but a shotgun or even the pistol was no sniper rifle, and while he was quite good with a gun, he couldn't guarantee doing the job with one blow at this range. "That sounds like a plan. I'll distract it by shooting on the other side of it- that dumpster I think, and you run up while it's lookin' the other way and bury that axe in it. That work for ya?" It'd been a while since he'd worked on a strategy like that, so he knew he was a little rusty, but it sounded good to him at least. "I might better get a little closer though, minimize the spread."
And since Andre was invisible, he was entirely safe, himself. Tayne had to wonder if the bullets became visible as soon as they left the gun, or if they stayed invisible until they hit, or... what. He simply nodded. "I'll wait by the wall, and when you start shooting, I'll jump in." He grinned a bit, in the general direction he could smell the guy. "Just don't shoot me," he added, obviously joking, before creeping up to the wall, axe in both hands, to wait. Working in tandem made this kind of thing a lot safer, he knew that already; this was something he could never have done on his own.
"Don't worry," he said, smiling even if Tayne couldn't see it. "You take that side- the left one," he corrected himself, since the young man had no idea where he was pointing. "It looks clearer. I'll get the right." This should be a fairly easy kill, if everything went right. The problem was, there was so much that could go wrong, particularly if anything else heard the shot.
Andre made his way as fast as he could to his side of the alley, watching Tayne ready himself. Bringing the shotgun up, he sighted a particularly colorful piece of graffiti on the dumpster. He then grimaced as he realized it wasn't graffiti, but human remnants. "Lord, keep my aim true, and give that boy the strength to send this demon back to hell where he belongs," he prayed in a whisper. He braced himself, sighted one more time, then fired.
The beast jerked its head up the instant before the gunshot went off, whether hearing Andre's prayer or finally picking up a scent. It was too late then, though, and the bullet clanged into the dumpster, ricocheting off onto the wall. It bellowed, swinging down from the dumpster and lumbering towards their end of the alleyway. It looked something like a very short, shaggy elephant, only it had two trunks and shovel-like tusks; a long, sweeping tail; and rather large claws. Tayne had a feeling that even though it was unwieldy, its sheer size and solidity had kept it alive this long.
He was almost sorry to have to kill it, but he stepped forward as the beast rolled past him, out into the street, anyway. He swung his axe for all he was worth, at the dip right behind where its skull attached to the base of its neck. The axe bit in and the monster bellowed again, more in pain than anger this time, hitting its knees.
Andre watched as the beast went down. It looked like Tayne had gotten a clean kill, but he had to be sure. Running as fast as his leg and his frame would allow, he approached the mammoth beast, turning visible again just as he got there, so that if he needed to, he would still have the advantage. There wasn't much need, though. Even as he approached he could see that the thing was fading fast. "Looks like you got 'im," he said, hearing the death moans of the thing. "Want me to finish the job? It's goin' fast, but it's still sufferin'."
"Yeah... your bullet'll get through that hide and skull better than my axe," Tayne agreed, looking down at the thing and, this time, feeling a little sorry for it. Not entirely, of course; a fairly large part of him-- quite possibly the tiger part-- exulted in the kill, in the satisfaction in a well-executed plan to destroy an enemy, in the instinctive certainty that he would eat tonight. But there was another part of him that just felt bad. The monster hadn't attacked them, but they killed it, anyway.
It was even too big to take back, not without butchering it and only taking parts of it. And doing that without his motorcycle or truck here to make the trip home that much faster, it'd make him a massive target.
Maybe it was time to go home, get the bike, and come back to deal with this. He didn't want all this meat going to waste, and pretty soon he'd need something to feed baby raptors.
Andre nodded and cocked the shotgun again before putting it against the creature's skull. "This... probably won't be pretty," he told the young man. Not to mention it'd make a heck of a mess. He hoped the hotel still had some way to do laundry.
He paused for a moment as he looked at the suffering creature. The last time he'd been this close when doing the deed, it had been his wife, still pleading with her eyes, one of the last vestiges of humanity left in her as she changed. I'm still sorry this had to happen, baby, he thought. Then, he steeled his jaw, and with a cold look in his eyes, he pulled the trigger, ending the beast's miserable existence, blood and other matter spraying all over the alley.
"We'd better get out of here quick," he said to Tayne. "I ain't seen nothin' else around yet, but I bet we got their attention at least."
Tayne kept far enough back that he didn't wind up getting splattered too badly. "We probably oughta get back to the hotel, now. Get cleaned up." Andre was covered in blood, and Tayne had some spray from the axe strike. He wiped it from his face, the smell cloying and metallic. And it kind of made him hungry.
Ugh.
"The sooner the better, probably," he added, shuddering a little and returning to the poor beast to wipe his axe clean. "I can finish mapping things out after a shower and a change of clothes...." Or tomorrow. Or something. Maybe tomorrow it wouldn't look so much like rain.
"Good idea," Andre said, futilely attempting to wipe some of the mess off of himself. "Between the racket and now our scent, I bet we'd make pretty mighty tempting morsels right about now." He found a clean spot on his shirt and managed to wipe his ring finger and wedding band off. For some reason that even he didn't understand, this was very important to do so before they went any further.
"Let's go," he said, pointing towards their bags, thankful that they hadn't been taken by someone while they were busy. He only wished he'd thought to pack at least one more pair of clean clothes with him. The idea of running around a hotel with a bunch of strangers in nothing but his Fruit of the Looms didn't exactly appeal to him much.