Rebecca Russo (adroit) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2017-02-08 15:03:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | # 2020 [02] february, jordan cornell, kāne van dale, rebecca russo |
Who: Rebecca Russo, Kāne Van Dale, and JJ Cornell
Where: Mansfield dam area
What: Surveying building and residential properties
When: 2/3/20, late morning
When Rebecca had organized an escort she hadn’t expected more than one soldier to accompany her to the Mansfield area, and she certainly hadn’t figured that Colonel Van Dale would take time out of his schedule to see to it himself, since he had more than a fair number of men and women at his disposal. Not that she had been entirely put out when she’d met them at the designated time outside the Capitol building. She was well aware of the fact that the area they were heading into hadn’t been cleared as well as the rest of the city, and she wasn’t handy with a firearm. She had a firearm, of course, but she preferred not to have to use it herself. Once they had made it through the twenty miles of travel, complete with a few more walker sightings than Rebecca was comfortable with, it seemed like it was going to be pretty routine business to survey the business area in Mansfield. She had wanted to start with the larger properties, so she’d indicated that they pull up outside the address listed in her paperwork. “You’re both familiar with the protocol of these, yes?” Rebecca asked, more to calm her own nerves than convey a lack of trust in their skills. Most of the property touring she’d done for Austin had been in much safer areas. “I’ll need to walk through as many of the buildings as we safely can to take pictures and notes.” She held back a shaky breath, tried to calm her nerves more, while she checked her bag for her tablet and camera. JJ knew the serious nature of their expedition out into unsecured land, but that didn’t stop him from devouring every new thing he saw. He’d never had the opportunity to see Austin before the zombies came, but he was excited at the prospect of making the water resources available while also expanding the city. “Yes, ma’am. We’ll be right by your side and ensuring all buildings are safe for you to enter,” JJ said, giving Rebecca a reassuring smile. “I know that the dam is our priority, but were there any other kinds of buildings you’re looking for in particular?” “Storefronts that could be refurbished for new businesses, office spaces,” Rebecca began, “I have another colleague who will also be canvassing the residential.” She trusted that he had already set up his own escort, but she made a note to herself to check in on that once she was back at her office. “But if we have time this afternoon, I wouldn’t mind checking the neighborhoods for myself.” It was a lot to ask of the both of them, but she wanted to cover as much as they could, as efficiently as they could so she could keep the timeline she had promised the mayor. “If there are things either of you need to look over in the area, I’m sure we could fit that in also.” As far as Kāne was concerned, as long as they were out there they should try to get as much done as possible, assuming things remained quiet and safe. If she wanted to scope out the neighborhoods, why not? So long as they were all on board for a slight detour and were keeping an eye on things. “Not sure there's much we need to do at here at the moment,” he offered with a shrug, though he did offer her a slight smile for her suggestion. “Priority is whatever you need. We can always come back easy enough for our own stuff later.” Nodding, Rebecca situated the strap of her bag across her body, hesitating to move towards with the building first. “Okay, if you insist,” she replied, relaxing her shoulders. “We can start on the first level here.” She made a small gesture towards the main door. “It might be a little dark inside, so I hope the both of you brought a flashlight.” They were the Army, so she assumed they had. Although, always be prepared might have been the Boy Scout motto, but she really wasn’t sure. She waited a few more moments, long enough for the two military men to pop the door open, before she followed them into the interior. There was a familiar stagnant air smell that hit Rebecca, but she only coughed a little before she recovered. It was a hazard for surveying spaces like the one they were in. Kāne moved into the space further, looking through any open doorways to neighboring rooms to make sure they were alone. His footsteps were quiet, giving plenty of opportunity to listen for any telltale sounds of undead. For the time being they seemed safe, though he stayed close to one of the doorways to keep an eye out. “Should be fine, just let us check things out first when we go further.” Nodding, Rebecca adjusted the brightness of her tablet and tried to juggle that and her flashlight. Maybe she really should have considered the headlamp suggestion that her assistant had offered as a joke. Because the windows were covered in more grime than she anticipated the interior was darker than she expected it to be. “I won’t be taking a step ahead of either of you,” she assured with a little smile. “Denver won’t be very happy if they have to replace me.” There were plenty who could, but she’d been the one most willing to move to Texas when the offer had been given to her department. “No one is going to need replacing, Ms. Russo,” JJ replied, his voice firm in his belief though genial enough. He didn’t want Rebecca to think there was a serious cause for concern, though she had to know that any time they went into the field there was always a risk. Spotting a limb strewn across the floor, JJ held a hand up, signaling Rebecca to stay back, though as he took a few careful steps closer, he realized that whoever the person had been, they’d been gone for some time now. “Clear,” he reported back, leading them further into the next room. Kāne wasn't far behind JJ, though he kept aware of not being far from Rebecca either, in case something were to sneak in behind them. His gaze swept across the room as they moved in, trained eyes looking for any kind of disturbance or sign of something being out of place in a way that was unexpected. “Let us know if you want to spend more time in any of the rooms, we’re just trying to make sure you get to all of them.” Continuing her balancing act between tablet and flashlight, Rebecca nodded, then realized that the colonel couldn’t hear her head shake. “Certainly,” she confirmed verbally, startling with a small noise when the beam of light from her flashlight crossed over a slumped body in the corner. As if the body on the floor hadn’t been bad enough. Somebody had made sure to dispatch a few walkers, though obviously they had ignored disposing the bodies after the fact. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen a building that had been infested, though, but it never became easier. “Top of the list, remove bodies,” she commented wryly, tapping in a few more pertinent notes about the space. “Our cleaning crew is going to love this one, no doubt.” So far none of the bodies had moved though, so that was a mark in the ‘pro’ column. “As long as the bones are good--” JJ started, though stopped short at his poor choice of words, and Rebecca covered up a small laugh. With an awkward chuckle, he continued, “I mean, as long as the structures are salvageable, the insides can be reworked. Seems like that’s already been done quite a lot to the housing here in Austin.” His own hometown of Washington Island was, well, an island so zombie outbreaks and infestations hadn’t really been an issue. But JJ had been a part of plenty residential area reclaimings. Where there was a will there was a way. “Better to rework than have to start from scratch,” Kāne agreed, using his flashlight to look a bit further down a hallway. And as long as all the bodies they found were dead and staying dead, removal wouldn't be a problem. It wasn't the nicest thought to have, but those were the times they were living in. “That’s our thought.” It was nice to have so many buildings that were still structurally sound, it meant less complications for her department, and although they were prepared to put in the work coordinating new construction, if necessary, she preferred to focus on these kinds of projects instead. The rest of the lower level was an uneventful tour of note taking, with a few pictures snapped for review in the comfort of her own office, and yes, unfortunately, a few more bodies to maneuver around. The staircase to the second level was a solid concrete, one straight flight, with an acrid, closed up smell that gave the trio an idea of when the last time the door had been propped open. Rebecca willingly followed the other two up, her flashlight illuminating the space around her once they reached the top and got the second door open -with some trouble-. There was a wide hallway, and four doors in either direction. Offices, she ventured to guess. “Left first,” she suggested, glancing towards the right just to double check her decision, and in time to see shadows ambling their way out of an open doorway much too close for her comfort. Kāne gave a quiet hum of agreement to her decision to go to the left, then caught the moment out of the corner of his eye and shifted automatically to put himself between Rebecca and whatever was moving their way. His gun was drawn, aimed directly at the group - small but still more than enough to be a problem. None of them seemed to be moving fast, yet, but he also wasn't about to start shooting and potentially drawing more out without at least warning the chaplain with him, and he didn't know if JJ had seen what was happening since they were trying to head the other way. “JJ…” It would have been a rookie mistake to not sweep the entire area of an unfamiliar location, so the walkers were definitely on JJ’s radar. Logically JJ knew their luck was going to run out eventually, he’d just hoped it would be later rather than sooner. Nothing he could do about the timing, though. Reaching down and grasping the handle of the knife on his belt, he kept his eye on the group, while quietly asking, “Engage or secure the civilian?” “Secure.” It was an easy enough decision - there were only the two of them, and engaging would leave Rebecca exposed. There was no telling how many others were lurking in the building, and Kāne wasn't looking to find out when they were already outnumbered. “Are you sure?” Rebecca interrupted, forcing calm into her tone, although most of her instincts said to return to the first level. They were the professionals, she shouldn’t second guess them, but she knew it would take all her concentration to focus on what she needed to accomplish if she knew there were walkers shuffling around with them. Thank god neither seemed to be the type that were much faster than any member of the undead should be. “I mean, if you’re certain, we can go the other way and get those rooms out of the way,” she amended, unsure precisely what either of the men meant by ‘secure the civilian’. This was a new experience for her. “Ma’am,” Kāne started, his voice still low and his focus staying on the shufflers that were moving closer. “We’re not going to corner ourselves up here. We’re going to go back downstairs - quickly and carefully. Let JJ take you and I’ll be right behind.” Oh. Well that felt a little like Colonel Van Dale had read her mind. She was relieved, and more than okay with the plan that had been put out there, though. Rebecca preferred safety over taking any unnecessary risk, like any sane person would. “I’ll just make a note to return to this building once it’s been cleared,” she said in response. A small smile creeped onto her face for a handful of moments, before it vanished again for something more serious. Per the Colonel’s instructions, JJ led them all back downstairs, vigilant to ensure that their path was still clear. Luckily no new shufflers had made their way into the building since they arrived and they exited out onto the street easily enough. With Rebecca in earshot, JJ quirked a smile and said, “Seems like that place has promise. You know, besides the squatters. But they can be taken care of easily enough, ma’am.” “We’ll make sure to send a squad to clear them out,” Kāne added. Much easier to take care of the situation with a group that was prepared to do so, and better equipped than the two of them there with Rebecca. “Along with any others we come across, though hopefully that was a one time thing.” “One can hope,” Rebecca agreed with a small smile. Her nerves had settled back down as soon as she had heard the door close at the top of the stairs, and now that they were back out on the sidewalk it felt like it hadn’t quite happened at all. “I think I got enough information to start preliminary things regarding the property at least.” She directed her smile at JJ, appreciating the way he tried to lighten the mood. “If it’s okay with the both of you, I think there’s a smaller one level two blocks over that I’d like to look at. We can walk or take the vehicle.” “Let’s drive. Best to keep the getaway car as close as possible in case we need it in a pinch,” JJ said, again his tone light in spite of the very serious situation in front of them. Gesturing for the other two to exit, he took up the rear flank, ready to transport to their next destination. |