wildracer (wildracer) wrote in thefield, @ 2009-06-03 09:48:00 |
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Entry tags: | alex, angelica, bazzer, cross, group, helena, jasper, kenneth, thorne, z - 1st tribe - day 22 |
At Sunset
Who: Jasper, the npc babies, Kenneth, and then open to everyone!
Where: The lake
What: Badness
Rating: Oh, let's say somewhere between PG and R for profanity
Jasper had made a severe error. One she hadn't made in, oh, years and she was definitely regretting it now because this could very possibly cost three people their lives - her's included. But she wasn't used to being weighed down by two children and a bunch of things left at the prime camp; she was used to running for herself, with the things she was used to running with. But right now she was going much slower than she'd thought she'd been, there was a large tract of land that didn't have any trees, just open field, and on the other end of said tract of land was the lake. It was also sunset. Jasper could hear the laughers in the distance, but she knew how fast those could run and if she made it to the lake it would be by the skin of her teeth, and there were still the shallows that the laughers would undoubtedly be able to get through before it became too deep for them.
Both kids were in her arms. Even burdened with the extra weight, she could run faster then them. "Ashwin. Listen. Can you swim?" Ash nodded, frightened. She knew that sound. She'd watched her adults be slaughtered by those sounds. But she could swim; she'd been swimming before she'd been able to run - it was often, on this world, the only way to cross a river. "Okay, when we get to the lake you take Corbin and you start swimming. You swim, and you don't look back and get to the damn island, you hear me? I'll be right behind you, but I can't swim with both of you in my arms. You just take Corbin, run into the water, and don't stop swimming until you get to the island."
Ash nodded again, and Jasper didn't have a choice but to trust her. She was tired, so very tired, but she'd do this and then she'd sleep for a week. The lake came into view in the natural 'road' in the grain that she bet anything the wagons had followed it, too, though she couldn't see the tracks any more. "Undo the cord that I was using to hold the spears Clay left behind on my back but make sure none escape, okay? Hold the cord together. You and Corbin can use them to help you float." The laughing came again, and it was so much more frightening louder that it spurred Jasper on and she bolted down the narrow corridor of grain and grass. Ashwin plucked at the cord, and then held on tight.
The water's edge was right there and Jasper skidded to a halt in the mud and muck, nearly falling, and she practically dropped the kids, looking behind her. Oh. Oh fuck. Oh fuck me. There was a laugher right there, behind her, grinning that insane grin and getting ready for a final charge. Jasper grabbed one of the spears. "Get to the water, Ash! Haul your ass!"
The girl was already running for the water, dragging the spear bundle behind her, and carrying Corbin, splashing through the shallows. Jasper turned to look behind her and barely had time to brace herself before the laugher was right there. It was by sheer goddamn luck that she was holding the rough spear right, but the impact of the furry, carrion-smelling body sent her sprawling onto her back - she didn't have a spear now; it was lodged deep in the laugher's throat. It tried to make its characteristic sound, but it only made a shocked-sounding burble that sprayed sticky red blood.
Kenneth had looked at the rocks above the spring after Helena had told him that's where they'd orginally slept and immediately decided it was a great look out point. Yes, the laughers couldn't swim, but there were other dangers in this place and he was certain they hadn't found but a small percentage. He'd taken his pack up there and found it to be quite a servicable location. No reason why he couldn't build a small lean to and have a place where he was sheltered, but could keep an eye out during the slowly lengthening nights.
As dusk fell, he moved up to his vantage point and sat quietly, gaze moving over the landscape. His attention focused mostly on the west, since that was where he expected trouble, but also because...well Scout was still out there. If anyone could survive out there, it was her. Kenneth had even made sure to leave her a note and sketchy directions, even though he was fairly sure she could track the carts easily enough.
He ground kernals of sweet grind between his teeth, hunger still gnawing at his belly. There was more food now and with the grazers the possibility of milk and cheese and a steady supply of meat, which was good, but he'd eaten less than usual to make sure there was enough to go around. Kenneth would be paying the price for that later or if it went on too long, but for now, he could manage.
When he first saw something moving through the fields, he'd thought perhaps it was his imagination, but looking through the scope on his gun, it was definitely a person. His eyes went to the sun that was just dipping below the horizon, the hooting of laughers faint as if carried on the wind. "Fuck," he swore softly before bursting into action.
Shouldering his weapon, he all but skidded down the rocks, snatched up a bundle of braided grass that served as cord and sprinted for the beach. He could hear commotion in the camp as he raced past, but couldn't take the time to explain. On the beach, he looked out over the water..fuck, it was Jasper, but in the water..."Jesus Christ." He stripped his boots off quickly and left them on the beach before plunging into the water and heading as fast as he could toward the two small children that were struggling for the deeper water.
Jasper had her hands planted on the laugher, fighting to keep it from getting a killing grip on her throat or one of her very precious limbs. One was on its nose, pushing with everything she had left in her, and the other hand was on the spear in its throat, desperately slamming the wood back and forth. It was slick and sticky at the same time because of the blood. And she really, really needed the goddamn thing to just die already. There were other laughers rapidly closing the distance, she could hear them.
The laugher managed to shake off the hand on its nose and snapped at Jasper's face, dragging its teeth from her hairline, a breath of a fraction of an inch to the left of her left eye, and all the way down to her chin. But with two hands free, she managed to get better leverage on the spear and yanked it sideways, splitting open the throat and causing a rush of blood. It shuddered, heaved, and fell over twitching.
She started scrambling for the water. Water equalled safety now, of unrivalled proportions.
Kenneth pushed himself as hard as possible, plowing through the water as fast as he could move. He reached the children and looked quickly before reaching for the boy who didn't seem to be swimming as well and was weighing the girl down. "Get on my back, like a piggy back ride okay?" He looked at the girl, "I'm Kenneth, a friend of Sco...Jasper's. We need to get you to the other side." Quickly, he pulled the kids into the deeper water then turned to look at the shore just in time to see Jasper get to her feet, blood dripping down her face. It was impossible to tell if any of it was her's.
Corbin latched onto Kenneth's back like a limpet, which was perfect and let Kenneth use his arms freely. The boy was too small to really choke him, despite the tight grip. He wrapped the cording around both of thm quickly, tying Corbin in place.
"SCOUT!" He called out, letting the sluggish current tug him and the two children as he tried to find Jasper in the rapidly growing darkness.
"THE KI-AUGH!" She howled when something, a clamping pressure that exploded into real, honest-to-god pain, took hold of her leg and jerked her backwards, making her land on her belly. She dug her fingers into the sucking mud and sand, trying to crawl to the water in spite of the thing, the laugher, trying to pull her backwards. Apparently it wasn't so dead after all. "GET THE KIDS!"
Kenneth shook his head and swore. "Hold on," he ordered sharply as he pulled his side arm out of its holster and let the water drain out of the barrel. Firing a weapon while treading water was not the easiest fucking task ever and in a situation less dire, he wouldn't have even tried, but the laugher was large and Jasper was flat on the ground. "DUCK!" Using one arm to tread, he steadied the weapon then shot. He'd been aiming at the shoulder, but instead caught the laugher in the side. It was enough though as it released Jasper to bite at the bullet.
"Get in the fucking water! I've got the kids." Ashwin was staring wide eyed at the gun, which Kenneth put away long enough to loop the end of the cord around her waist. "Okay...stay with me." He had to get the kids across before he could help Jasper, but on the far shore, he already heard people and more splashing.
She couldn't see. It was dark, and there was blood streaming down her face. She couldn't get up to run. All she could really do was crawl as quick as she could into the water and start swimming in the direction she thought the island was.