[IC Thread] The World of Ash

[ValidEmotions]

Staying it was then. Laviendor preferred that option anyways though, he also would have preferred them finding some sort of shelter from the cold. Oh well, beggars couldn't be choosers. Finding a spot to rest her beside one of the abandoned vehicles, the man set Alice back down gently, setting her in a seated position so he faced her. There were various ways at reviving someone to consciousness. You could stab an arm or leg, smother their mouth and nose until they struggled to breath, and then there were the more calmer and less startling methods. Trickling water over her head would be a preferred type of method but, with how cold it was to begin with, it might have no effect for a long while.

 

So, what was he going to do? Slap her until she was awake? That wasn't really in his nature. But, they couldn't stay here for very long; too much exposure with no way of telling if anyone was approaching. Oh! He figured out something that could work. Who didn't dislike the feeling of water in their ears? Reaching around for his bag, he began to undo the ties when someone else placed a water canister into his field of vision. "You can use this."

 

Levi smiled in gratitude but shook his head, declining the offer and grabbing his own container free. "Save yours. I'll use mine." Jasmine backed away again and he angled Alice's head to the side a bit. Brushing her hair behind her ear, he popped open the cover and slowly trickled a little of the water into her ear canal. It wasn't much, and it probably wouldn't have any effect right off the bat. However, he straightened Alice's head again so the water couldn't damage her ear too easily, giving it the chance to simply drain out on its own. She probably wasn't going to appreciate this very much.

 

Beside him, Gorf seemed to keep his shoulders hunched, head somewhat low and gaze frequently sweeping their surroundings. Tension in people made him tense in turn.

 

[[i favor writing for Levi. Can you tell? |D Jasmine will get her own posts again at some point.]]

[Limitless]

Jovah's word in decision for staying where they were carried a weight her and Jasmine's combined didn't seem to match. Red supposed this was fair, to an extent, as he was the one who put the group together and was leading them in the first place. Leaving Jasmine and Laviendor to tend to Alice, Red followed Jovah's lead and took position behind one of the rusted cars, scanning the direction from which they'd come. She wasn't sure how effective the idea of pouring water in the other girl's ear would be, but seeing as she herself had no other ideas, she said nothing about it.

 

Every so often her eyes flickered to her companions. It had always fascinated her how people could come together to work for a common goal even when they were as different as the members of this group were from each other. Part of her still felt bad for letting herself talk to Jovah the way she had earlier, and she calmly resolved to find a way to make it up to him, to show him he could trust her more than he likely did. The smell of smoke still curled through the air, the only thing that cut through the darkness, and where the feeling of isolation had earlier made her feel detached, now it made her skin crawl somewhat. She watched Jasmine and Laviendor, not seeing them check for any type of dart as Jovah suggested they do. She had no doubt that they weren't alone, but something in her gut told her the group hadn't been attacked. Her blue eyes swept over the area again, looking for shadows that seemed even somewhat out of place.

 

Suddenly she wondered if Alice was asleep. She remembered hearing about a man in one of the villages she'd passed through who would just fall asleep in the middle of whatever he was doing. Red looked over Alice again, curious if it happened to her often. Part of her doubted it, as it seemed Alice had travelled a long way, and such a condition would make that not only extremely difficult but likely more dangerous than long journeys like that were anyways. And, as far as she knew, narcolepsy was a thing that just had to pass - this would leave them sitting ducks unless the group decided to move on and just take their chances.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Alice's body shuddered as Levi poured the (inevitably cold) water in her ear, but it was more akin to a body spasm than a sign of pending consciousness. The wind picked up from the West, carrying the scent of salt and water with it. Inside Alice's mind, all was black. She didn't dream or experience visions, she simply ceased to be while her brain worked furiously to re-rout signals and establish control again. A more philosophical woman might have likened it to a little death, but Alice simply took it as it came. It was just as much part of her life as eating or breathing. Meanwhile her body remained limp like a ragdoll, intermittently jerking as if some outside force shook it. Her fingers showed the most activity, opening and closing as if trying to grasp at something - or maybe it was simply the activity of a rebooting brain trying to move the extremities of the body. Her breathing came in steadily for the most part, though if it briefly hitched whenever her body shook. The more her brain tried to re-establish connections, the more frequent the shaking became.

 

The bullet causing the short-out might kill her some day - if the cold, predators or raiders didn't first. It would either move into a part of her brain that Alice simply couldn't do without, or she might die during the increasingly worse seizures as her mind stuggled to regain consciousness. Alice had never stopped to think about it though. It never occurred to her that, in this hostile world, she might die of a medical condition. After all, the world was dark and full of peril and Alice's life, travelling from place to place, was hardly the safest one. She knew she would die someday, quite probably young, but that neither gave her pause nor food for thought. Life lasted while it lasted and fretting about it didn't change anything.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Mistress of Whispers

[Arctic]

Jovah observed as Alice was set against one of the more intact vehicles, what was once a pickup truck of some kind. Once assured both Laviendor and Jasmine were tending to the potentially wounded woman, Jovah turned back towards the direction they had been heading. He halfway raised his rifle, some loose masking tape trailing in the wind as a particularly volatile gust blew into his face. He advanced to the fallen telephone pole impeding their way – it would be easy enough to step over or go under, not even an obstacle really, but that's what he was concerned of. His boots crunched on the snow as he scanned his rifle from left to right. The strap jingled quietly against the synthetic furniture of the gun. Once he was assured the only human presence was behind him (in the form of his companions), he weaved around a car and knelt down next to one of the wider gaps – the median of the road, with a good four feet of clearance from left to right, since the cars had been more separated. He rested a hand on the metal and peered underneath, eyes scanning over the snow directly underneath the object. He didn't see anything, nor any sign of someone using snow to cover something up. A bear trap or a tripwire of some kind would be perfect for something like this.

 

He gently dug into the snow with the tips of his fingers, fanning it aside as Alice was tended to behind him and out of sight. Eventually, he began scooping snow out of the way, poking at the ground beneath with the stock of his rifle. After a couple minutes, and assured that there were no traps laid underneath the pole, he stood and cautiously returned to the group, leaning against a car. He brought his left arm up and touched his thumb to his left shoulder, creating a 'V', and mounted the rifle in the crook of his arm, aiming northwards down the road while Red no doubt looked south. After a couple minutes had passed, he looked over his shoulder at Laviendor. He opened his mouth to speak, but almost on cue an intense gust of wind forced him to duck his head and silence himself. Suddenly, the smell and all unpleasant sensations of acrid smoke were upon them, intense and overbearing. Jovah immediately lowered his rifle and brought his arm up to cover his mouth, coughing into it and turning to face east, eyes stinging from the fumes that were blowing directly against the group now.

 

The wind had shifted with that gust. It was coming from directly west now, from the coastline. The smoke mingled with the salt and stink of the ocean, though it also masked it, barely allowing those familiar scents to be detected. Whatever was burning was upwind of them.

 

(( Sort of a continuation of the picking up of the wind mentioned in Whispers' post.

 

Just a note - in case it isn't clear, the amount of smoke blowing their direction is enough to cause breathing difficulties and stinging eyes. If anyone in the group had smelled burning oil before, they'd be able to diagnose this as that, if not something similar.))

Edited April 20, 2014 by Arctic

[ValidEmotions]

Playing the wait game was hardly ever enjoyable for Jasmine, especially when it was out in the cold. Though she was generally a patient person, being in silence that sometimes rested heavily in the air usually tested her patience. But what could the bard do? Like a tiny, slightly awkward sentinel, she stood near Alice and Laviendor, crossbow propped on the rusted vehicle; she was mostly following Jovah and Red's watchful lead. A glance downward and to the side showed her Alice's present state - a series of spasms and twitches.

 

She would have sighed if a strong gust of wind had not surged, throwing the burning stench of smoke into her face. Instinctively, she shut her eyes and pressed her scarf firmly against her mouth and nose. Like Jovah, she coughed into the worn fabric as her lungs made their protest and her offended eyes incited her tear ducts to swell with waterdroplets. For awhile, she didn't dare to open her eyes again or lower her hand from her scarf. The wind carried something that wasn't a familiar scent to her but it nevertheless called up a sense of memory that she should recognize the smell yet she couldn't place why.

 

Rubbing at her irritated eyes, she briefly looked to the others to see how they faired. Jovah seemed to be recovered just as well as she but it was hard to be certain as his back was mostly towards her. But his eyes appeared open and his focus downwind. Red seemed okay as well, keeping a position opposite of Jovah's. Laviendor only seemed partially affected, his visor protecting his eyes from being stung as he coughed downward towards his chest and into a gloved fist. The red-haired man appeared to shake off his coughing quickly enough, though a tense look crossed his face as if he were biting back another fit.

 

Jasmine looked over at the man's canine friend, wanting to laugh and frown simultaneously as she watched Gorf sneeze repeatedly and rub his face against the snow. However, she kept quiet and straightened out her crossbow. As she did, the bard took note that Laviendor briefly checked Alice's neck and ankles, presumably for any darts like Jovah suggested. While caution was always warranted, she didn't exactly see how the other woman could have been shot by a dart with all of the clothes she wore. Unless the bard was missing something and it were possible for said dart to have fallen off before anyone else saw it.

 

Now she looked alarmed as Laviendor seemed to smother Alice, a hand placed to cover the woman's mouth and nose while he held the back of her head with the other. "What are you doing?" she hissed, voice controlled enough to not be a panicked shout though maybe able to carry to the others of their group.

 

"Relax...." Jasmine wouldn't know but Laviendor simply waited to see if Alice's body would respond as it should when deprived of oxygen intake. The woman's twitching had him vaguely interested and a spark of curiosity about her brain function had reared at the back of his thoughts. If he hadn't looked so focused and come off more as ill-intended, the bard wouldn't have been hesitating so long about whether or not she should push him away from Alice.

 

[[i think I confused myself at the end of this post .-. But, yay |D I finally got a dominantly Jasmine-pov post in.

 

Anyways, if Levi knew that Alice was having seizures, he wouldn't be blocking her airways as I do not know how that would affect someone who isn't simply unconscious. So, consider this an experiment on both mine and Levi's account. As for Red, Limitless, let me know if I got anything wrong about how she would be affected by the surge of wind and smoke.]]

Edited April 29, 2014 by Narvix

[Mistress of Whispers]

Alice was floating, drifting in space. High above her, lights shone with the white-hot of searing pain. That didn't matter though - the pain was in the stars, not in her. She was floating. Slowly, snow began to fall down. It was beautiful and deep-white with a purity not seen since the bombs rained down. The snow lifted her up on wings of softness and cold. Still it fell, covering her feet and numbing them under the weight. Still, she didn't mind, for the numbness didn't hurt. The snow crept up, covering legs, arms and torso in heavy lead. Finally it reached her face, drowning sight and sound under a blanket of cold and oblivion. The snow sank into her mouth, nose and throat, cutting off breath. Still it did not hurt, but a distant part of her mind began to protest. She didn't mind being drowned in snow, but .... She felt as if she should somehow resist ....

 

In the World of Ash, Alice's body began to trash as Levi cut off her oxygen. She didn't wake. Nor did she make any attempt, even instinctively, to fight him off or uncover her face. Only the erratic and increasingly violent movements signalled that the wanderer's body protested the lack of air. She continued to trash and Levi's fingers tangled in her brown curls. As some of the locks were pushed apart, the edge of a circular, puckered mass of scar tissue briefly became visible above the woman's right temple.

 

 

((I have no idea if this is medically correct, as even Google couldn't tell me what happens when you try to suffocate someone who's having a seizure. I guess it doesn't happen that often . How much time has passed, do you think? Ten minutes or so? It feels kinda awkward ticking off some imaginary clock to see when she wakes up :S))

Edited May 1, 2014 by Mistress of Whispers

[CaptainInsaneway]

~*Purged*~

Edited August 23, 2015 by CaptainInsaneway

[Limitless]

Red gagged slightly as the smoke washed over the group, wrinkling her nose and readjusting her scarf quickly. Pausing, somewhat ignoring her stinging eyes, she squinted out over the road, then swore softly and rubbed them gently, bringing slight relief. The smell was overwhelming and vaguely familiar, much to her disgust. Red couldn't call to mind exactly where she'd smelled it before, and tried to put it out of her mind as much as possible. Keeping her eyes somewhat squinted, she watched the road again.

 

A human figure emerged from the swirling darkness, pausing to spread its arms. Red shifted forward, gun trained on the approaching walker. "Hey," she said, loud enough for just her group to hear. "Company inbound, alone and seemingly peaceful." It was enough that they would be aware of the fact that they weren't alone anymore, she decided, so that they could check the areas Red couldn't see and make sure there was just one person approaching. She gave a fleeting thought to hoping Alice was doing better before tensing as the figure spoke.

 

"The Lord be with you," came the voice, cutting through the wind. Red barely wrinkled her nose in a slight, cynical snarl. As if such a statement would put her off guard or make her any less likely to shoot if needed. Thinking for a moment, she stood behind the shorter part of the car, legs somewhat spread for stability against the wind, rifle held in front of her, half raised. "Greetings to you as well," she returned, shifting a bit so she seemed less imposing and a little more open, doing her best to convey confidence along with her defensive, ready-to-spring stance.

[Arctic]

It took some time for Jovah to recover. His coughing fit lasted for only a few seconds, but the stinging eyes would stick around so long as he was in the path of the wind. He turned his back to it, and felt momentary relief. His eyes still stung, but a slight squint made it go away. Smoke had never sat well for him, and since fire was such a necessity, it'd always come around to bite him in the backside. If a building didn't have sufficient ventilation, the buildup of smoke tended to make him feel borderline asthmatic; even the slightest taste of it made him feel like he couldn't breathe. He'd chosen the cold before in such a situation. In the one or two times he'd managed to afford going to a doctor (or perhaps couldn't afford not to), he made mention of the aversion. They told him the same thing. It was a phobia, not a condition - essentially, the medical way of saying "suck it up". In any case, he needed to breathe, so he took a few moments to do so, carrying his rifle in his left hand as his right rested on his chest. He turned his head, still squinting, to check on the group - they experienced some discomfort, but none of them seemed to have caught the brunt of the gust as he had. Good. Alice was still outcold. Not good. He turned his eyes over to Red as he gently pulled one of his undershirts up to cover his mouth and nose.

 

And then she raised her rifle. Instinctively, Jovah shifted his rifle into his hands. Ambush? He turned back to face down the road, sweeping his rifle back and forth over the snow-buried asphalt. "Hey," came Red's voice, alerting the group. "Company inbound, alone and seemingly peaceful."

 

Sufficiently convinced no one was ahead of them, he moved around the car (and winced as the wind caught his eyes again) and turned back to face Red's direction. Once more, he shouldered his rifle and half-raised it, moving up alongside Red, a car separating the two of them. The stranger had given her greeting as he was moving, and the wind did a wonderful job of eating up the words - he hadn't heard her say anything. He heard Red's response; "Greetings to you as well." He momentarily looked between the figure in the fog and the rifle-wielding woman beside him. He cleared his throat.

 

"Who are you?" He called out, keeping his rifle only half-raised. Essentially, the universal sign for 'I'm not going to shoot you, but I'm not above doing so'. His voice came out just a tad scratchier than he would have liked, on account of the smoke.

[ValidEmotions]

As Alice began to struggle with her airways blocked, Levi frowned deeply and removed his hand from her face. The fingertips of his other hand, however, lingered against the skin at the back of her head. Was that a scar he noticed? Faintly leaning her forward to obtain a better view, he examined what appeared to be the healed remains of a bullet wound. Or, at least, a wound inflicted by something relatively small and circular. Perhaps this was the injury she briefly mentioned earlier?

 

Well, no real time for speculations. Alice wasn't simply unconscious; something else was wrong and in a more serious manner than simple fainting. But Laviendor couldn't solve this puzzle just yet. In the corner of his eye, he saw Jasmine tense and train her crossbow. This, of course, caused him to turn his attention in the direction the bard faced, a hand falling to the pistol at his hip. He couldn't hear what the approaching stranger said but he heard Red's assessment of the individual. Provoked by the sense that the newcomer was possibly not intending harm, he moved his hand to his knife sheathe.

 

And then he noted the newcomer's attire.

 

"Who are you? The white-clad man spoke up, his voice sounding a bit rougher than before; it could have been from Levi straining to hear him over the wind. The man was certainly one to show his blunt opinions but then, Levi figured a lot of people did so when it came to distrust and other negative things. Heaven forbid should anyone show their more positive and vulnerable thoughts. Laviendor almost chuckled at the idea he had only been accustomed to since he began traveling. But he was digressing....

 

"Sister, why have you travelled this way?" Did he have extensive knowledge about nuns and their covenants? Not necessarily. He followed a bit of religion and had been in a covenant-centered town for a short time; that's how he recognized this woman's general clothing. However, he hadn't learned of any from a covenant traveling outside of their towns. This made him speculate the possibility of her home being raided or unlivable.

 

With Alice situated so the vehicle kept her sitting again, Levi stood completely and let his fingers drum lightly against his knife sheathe in idle thought. Behind him, Jasmine's caution wavered as she took in the new woman's open-armed stance.

 

[[Couldn't exactly say, Whispers. Perhaps ten to fifteen minutes? It's always hard to tell just how much time passes during interactions between characters controlled by different people |D]]

[CaptainInsaneway]

~*purged*~

Edited August 23, 2015 by CaptainInsaneway

[Limitless]

Red quirked a brow. A religious sister? She hadn't met one of those in a very long time. Chewing at the edge of her lip, Red quietly wondered if it was some kind of trap. She'd heard of a band of wanderers who sent a seemingly innocent and inoffensive stranger ahead to gain the trust of the people before they struck. A religious figure was the perfect bait - who would dare attack someone who professed and so openly showed that they were unarmed, and a woman of God besides that? Not many in the wasteland enjoyed feeling like they were on the wrong side of the Lord, if there were truly any that felt they were on a better side.

 

She listened to all Mary-Martha had to say before looking once again to Jovah. "What do you think?" she asked, tilting her head at the newcomer. "Do we take our chances and see if she can help Alice, or do we send her on her way?" She set her head straight again, eyes flickering between the Sister and Jovah while she waited for an answer, holding her own rifle the way he held his. "Either way," she continued, bringing up her earlier line of thought. "We might end up having an ambus to fend off if she isn't actually alone."

[Arctic]

(( Phew! Sorry for how quiet I've been. My birthday was on the 20th and things got sort of crazy after that. My schedule's once again settling into something manageable. ))

 

The weight of the rifle pressed back into the pit of Jovah's arm as he looked on into the fog. The figure of the woman, still halfway shrouded in the shadow of the blowing snow, was visible only to a certain extent. The minor details of the individual continued to escape him, something which he blamed his watering eyes for over the smoky air. He was distinctly aware of the distance thumping of the Blood Pack's drums as he stood silent. It was after a few long moments that he cleared his throat and adjusted his rifle, the strap clanking against the synthetic furniture. He felt the whipping of his coat against his legs, and despite his best efforts, the smoke stung at his nostrils and eyes.

 

The redheaded woman beside him asked what they should do. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and opened it again, then sighed roughly and took a step forward, keeping his rifle steady. He looked to his left, then to his right, then to the missionary before him, still quite a distance away.

 

"If you are a holy woman," he called out, "You would do well to prove your faith. Perhaps..." He furrowed his brow, racking his brain for a moment or two. "Proverbs; the fifth verse of the nineteenth chapter, if you will."

 

Jovah was by no means a Bible aficionado. His faith was present, if not waning, but certain parts of the scripture stuck in his head. Perhaps it was a foolish way to test the woman's trustworthiness, but he didn't particularly have a choice; he could leave their wounded behind, or risk getting them all killed on blind faith. There was threat of this woman being of another faith, however rare that might be, and in such a circumstance they might do better to carry Alice until they found shelter. If they were to run, they might be able to make it to the city, even with the threat of the ambush. There was enough cover amongst the ruined cars, and the fog would do well to hide them, or at the very least make aiming a much more arduous task. They were, by this point, not far from the city's borders. Less than a few kilometers, Jovah reckoned.

 

The border zone of San Francisco, known as the Outskirts, was a strange place. In most cities of San Francisco's size, things were gradual. Even after the nuclear blasts and centuries of wear and tear, countless suburbs still stood around every inland and most coastal megacities (barring the Eastern Seaboard, which was one huge cluster of development). They slowly turned from houses, to apartments, to skyscrapers, to megastructures the further in you went. San Francisco had the strange privilege of jumping straight from undeveloped land to apartments and skyscrapers (of course, if you went to San Jose and other similar cities, the urban sprawl was as you would expect). This was brought about by the condition of being sandwiched against a game preserve, a harbor, and a small outcropping of mountains. When approaching from the preserve, individuals would find themselves hitting a wall of toppled construction, cranes, half-finished multi-storied buildings, and an unfinished metal skeleton made for the purpose of terracing the mountainous terrain for suitable construction. The harbor's many half-finished artificial islands had been washed away or covered with ice over the years, and while Jovah had heard that the mountains across the Golden Gate were too treacherous to build upon, there lied some fairly developed suburbs on the other side, San Rafael included. He'd never been there, but he had been to Richmond, just across the bay. The bridge between the two San Franciscan subcities was incredibly dangerous.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Pulled down by ice and snow, Alice began to struggle. She refused to lie down and die as she began clawing her way upwards through the cold. Light flickered in the distance and rose to meet it. The sensation was like trying to walk through cotton, but Alice was nothing if not determined. She had walked from coast to coast one step at a time and that was all she needed to do now: walk one step at a time.

 

A moaning sound rose from Alice's lips and her eyelids were fluttering as she slowly began to come round. Scent was the first sense to return to her and she smelled herbs, wood and dog - Levi.

[CaptainInsaneway]

~*purged*~

Edited August 23, 2015 by CaptainInsaneway

[ValidEmotions]

"True, you wouldn't make a good assassin but, you do understand where the hesitation comes from," Levi remarked. Comparing his - literal - dropping in on the other four against Mary-Martha's open approach, he smiled at the similarity in responses. And, yes, he was guilty of it himself though he did attempt to shake off the distrust when appropriate. The man didn't know many scriptures by heart but, the few he did recall had been ones told to him rather than read.

 

When the sister had questioned about the white-clad man's choice of test, Laviendor found the coincidence amusing. "You'll have to pardon my pressing, Sister. You say you do not intend to ambush us. I trust your words. However, that doesn't guarantee no one has followed you with the intent to ambush you or anyone who puts their guard down around you." His words and tone were mater-of-fact, easy and light but still implying that threats never went away simply because of a change in scenery.

 

As the group had gotten closer to San Francisco, he had slowly grown more on edge. His experiences with Blood Pack were few and far between but that didn't mean he would overestimate his skills and abilities. Especially when he had a larger blind spot than most. As such, his "happy-go-lucky" demeanor tended to smooth out and be replaced with a more serious and "no-nonsense" tone the further into dangerous territory he went. Sure, Blood Pack had a sort of "honor system" where as long as you followed their rules and orders, you would be left unscathed. Except, Levi only seemed easy-going; he didn't take well to bullies or tyrants who used fear and pain to get what they wanted.

 

Would the white-clad man be upset with Levi if he humored Mary-Martha's curiosity about where the group was heading? Perhaps not. After last night's sudden events, many would be traveling to find out what happened. It was only a slight wonder that their little parade didn't cross paths with another band of curious scavengers. Pointing his gun for emphasis, Levi replied, "We're traveling into San Francisco. Well, they were and I chose to tag along because I had no other plans to act on."

 

This whole while, Gorf was pacing in circles, mostly close to his caretaker. His ears twitched frequently, separating sounds from the wind as best he could and ignoring any human sounds that didn't indicate a threat or a command from his caretaker.

~

 

The stirring had caught her attention before the Sister had finished her sentence. Crouching down, Jasmine placed her crossbow on the snow-covered ground and gently tilted Alice's head forward a bit. At roughly the same time, she noticed that Laviendor was shifting his rifle into his hands; he would certainly do better in keeping an ambush at bay than she would. Even with the aid of two other armed individuals.

 

"Alice? Can you hear me?" she tried softly. Beside her, Levi was reaching for his bag and slipping it off his shoulders to search through its contents. A moment later, he was handing the bard a small pouch.

 

She took the item, confused until he explained. "It holds potent herbs. Mostly for cooking and not intended to awaken the unconscious but, she's probably coming to her senses enough for the smell to shock her nose." He smiled at her briefly and then returned his attention towards the Sister. The woman introduced herself as Mary, right? Mary-Martha? Did she prefer the two first names or was she content with being called either of the pair?

 

Jasmine shook her head, focusing on the pouch in her hands momentarily before opening it. The wind and ashy snow were likely to make detecting the scent of the herbs difficult so it was probably best to hold the pouch directly beneath Alice's nose instead of wafting it. Folding the edges of the pouch down until the herbs were as close as possible without losing any to the wind, the bard held it a couple of centimeters beneath the other woman's nose. She hoped this would work but she didn't have any reason to doubt Levi's judgement. Then again, she didn't have any reason to trust his judgement either. No one had any reason to trust the others but, to some extent, they all did.

 

Maybe it was the situation, where they were all placing their lives partially into the hands of the others around them. Alice had fainted for whatever reason and the group could have gone on without her. They could have left her to perish in the cold and snow. Yet, they hadn't. Alice might have known that she could faint at anytime but still chose to travel with others. Jasmine, however, wouldn't leave someone's side if they were in need of help; she couldn't say the same for the others though.

 

Perhaps the world wasn't as dark as it seemed, wasn't completely filled with a race consumed by self-interest, depression, and cruelty. Maybe others would call it naivety to put blind trust and faith in people you didn't know, in people you hadn't met before and only learned of their name some minutes ago. But people did, like it was some kind of natural instinct to have trust and faith in complete strangers so long as they looked like you. Was it because people couldn't trust themselves or because they didn't want to be alone?

 

She didn't know the answers and she didn't think she'd ever learn them. Everyone was different, no matter how hard they tried to be like someone else. So situations and answers to the same questions were always different. Jasmine lowered the pouch and carefully closed it again before putting it back into Levi's bag.

[Arctic]

(( Limitless went ahead and told me to post first, so ah suppose ah will. ))

 

The wind dulled somewhat and changed direction, blowing against the group from the south now; Jovah was thankful for this, as the stinging smoke from the west was no longer washing over everyone nor hindering visibility and tainting everything with acrid stench. Of course, it was directly in his eyes now, but nothing's perfect, aye? He stood solemnly with his rifle for a few moments, smirking somewhat under the t-shirt pulled up over his mouth. He looked over his shoulder at Levi as he spoke, lowering his rifle somewhat and nodding, turning his attention back to the priestess. He caught movement in his eye as Jasmine knelt near Alice (with the aid of Levi soon after), seemingly having caught some sign of life. That was good. His attention did not fully divert from the missionary except to scan what he could see around her for any indication someone had followed her. As of yet, there was nothing.

 

"As he said, we're traveling to San Francisco," Jovah spoke back, "and we've an injured girl with us. She seems to be coming back to us, but have you any medical talent, it would be enough to earn my trust were you to take a look at her." He rest one hand on the top of his rifle, the other loosely wrapped around the pistol grip, finger off trigger. "You may approach if you like," he paused, taking a couple steps back, "and, of course, it was intentional – I don't know the Good Book by heart, but I thought that line was apt, no?" He coughed into his sleeve as he turned, returning to the collapsed phone pole and loosely trying to lift it before giving up; it wasn't moving, but it was worth a try. They simply had to go under or around it. He turned and walked back to the group, crouching near and tugging the t-shirt down and back underneath his coat. "Is she awake?" He asked softly, looking to her.

 

Distantly, a barking dog could be heard rising over the wind and the dull, heavy thump that was the Blood Pack's drums. Likely a mongrel warning off another in the outskirts of the city the group was a mere minutes away from.

Edited July 15, 2014 by Arctic

[Mistress of Whispers]

Alice slowly began to feel her limbs again as dreams faded and reality returned. She tried to remain silent lest she attract predators - in her befuddled state, she didn't know WHY that was important, but it was - but moaned as sensation returned to her head. She felt like she'd been hit with a tree.

 

Instinctively ignoring any helping hands, she clumsily rolled over and struggled to hand and feet. There, that was good. Her head was out of the snow. Now if the world would just stopped spinning, she could try to get up.

 

Having lain on her back, Alice's wolf pelt cloak was encrusted with snow. Still, the thick fur had protected her clothes and she was dry, if terribly cold. She was faintly aware of Jasmine and Jovah nearby and tried to tell them she was alright, but her tongue was swollen in her mouth. She tasted blood. Had she bitten her tongue? She didn't remember. In fact, she didn't remember anything other than walking and then nothing. Had she had another falling spell, or were they ambushed?

 

She took another shot at communicating, but the sound came out as Grrrrrrrhh.

[Limitless]

Red smothered a grin at the exchange between Jovah and the newcomer, and when Mary-Martha pointed out the change in Alice's condition, the redhead blinked, not taking her eyes off the religious woman as Jovah turned to go about his own business. Red stood still for a few more moments, examining the newcomer silently, before taking a step towards her, adjusting her scarf so that, if nothing else, Mary-Martha could see her friendly smile. She continued towards her slowly, doing her best to keep her body open and relaxed, staff down at her side and held in what she hoped was a non-threatening manner.

 

She paused a few steps away from the other woman, not sure what to say to her. Gesturing to the woman's belt, Red offered, "I like your beads. It's been quite a while since I saw someone carry rosary beads in as open a place as you do."

[CaptainInsaneway]

~*Purged*~

Edited August 24, 2015 by CaptainInsaneway

[ValidEmotions]

"Sometimes the faithful are corrupt," Jasmine remarked, her words slightly mumbled as she hovered beside Alice to keep her from falling again. Glancing over at Red and Mary-Martha, she examined the religious woman again now that she was closer. "Religious or not, everyone has faith in something. Faith is not restricted to simply one face of the cube. And, faithful or not, everyone has fear. Everyone has their doubts, their worries, their desperation."

 

Alice and the bard were about the same size. Even if her coat wouldn't fit brilliantly, it would work enough. Jasmine rested a hand on Alice's shoulder. "Let's remove your coat really quick. It'll make things easier." Mary-Martha was speaking to Alice then, asking questions about her present state. Hopefully, Alice wouldn't fight to keep her snow-laden coat and make things simple for everyone involved. Carefully, she picked Alice's coat off from her back and set it aside for the moment.

 

Before she could shoulder her own coat off to place on the other woman's body, Levi was handing over his trench coat first. "I can withstand the cold better than you can, I'm sure. It'll only be for a little bit so don't worry," Jasmine blinked in surprise, looking up at him but his gaze was already back on the land around their group. Leaving her own coat on, she gave Levi's to Alice. It was heavy to hold and, thinking about that weight, likely to warm the woman faster than her coat might have.

 

The bard grabbed Alice's coat again, beginning to shake it out to remove as much of the snow as she could. Levi's coat made it unnecessary to put the outer furs back on but, as soon as Alice was warm again, she would need them in order to return Levi's. That being said, it wouldn't do any good for the furs to grow frozen from the snow.

 

"She's awake but not fully capable," Jasmine replied to Jovah's question, looking up at the man leading their group. She heard Gorf whine, sitting in the snow near Levi and staring towards the city. The bard had heard the barking from the near distance and it seemed the canine was reacting to the sound. She watched as Levi faintly bent down to touch his hand upon the dog's head, effectively quieting the canine.

[Arctic]

Jovah's gloved hand found its way to the door of the rusted truck they had settled near, and it opened without issue – indeed, a lot of the more complex parts inside the door were absent altogether, having worn away or been plucked by scavengers long ago. The seats were still inside, but didn't present an appetizing view. Each of the two in the cab looked more like lumpy tumors of cotton tightly wrapped in scraggly, worn, faded leather. Nevertheless, Jovah took a seat on one, lifting a leg up and pushing against the door to keep it open, putting just a bit of a barrier between the unforgiving wind and the wounded girl as jackets were exchanged. He coughed into his sleeve slightly, turning his head and looking through the empty air where the windshield had once been, eyes trained down the road, scanning the fog for any sign of movement.

 

He was vaguely aware of the conversation taking place amongst the group; rosary beads, a jacket (more specifically, Levi being without one; that posed an issue – they would want to find warmth sooner or later). More on his mind was the fire. West of them was the coastline, and the smoke smelled of burning fuel – old world fuel. He supposed it was possible for an old boat encased in the coastal ice to have caught aflame, maybe from a stray piece of debris from whatever had burned in the sky the night before, but it was equally likely that the sea itself was on fire. In old books, there was talk of structures built to harvest oil encased in the silt at the bottom of oceans – drilling rigs, or something of the sort. He had no idea if there were any off-shore. Nobody ever really talked about the ocean. Perhaps the blizzard had finally caused one to rupture. Perhaps the ocean itself was burning some far way off. It was an interesting thought, and he wasn't entirely sure if it was possible. Water extinguished fire, but liquids of all sorts had weights of all sorts; the lighter ones often settled on top. But if the oil was at the bottom of the ocean in its natural state, would it not sink to the bottom? Was it not there because it simply weighed more than water?

 

Idle thoughts. He tended to drift away now and again. Raising a hand up to rub some ashes away from his eyes, he rolled his head around, his stiff and frozen neck cracking ever so slightly as the bones within adjusted.

 

"Hey," he spoke up, turning his attention over to the group, foot still propping the door ajar. "We need to get a move on soon. Rumor's gonna be spreading by now. Lots of people going up on One and Two-Eighty. If we want to avoid a fight, gotta get a move on, hit Two-Eighty and follow it up to South Daly and figger out what we're gonna do about getting past the Wall. We're not more than an hour away." He sniffed. "Also got to find out what's going on with her," he said more softly, motioning to Alice.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Alice instinctively tried to ward off the hands taking her belongings, but her limbs were too weak and rubbery to affect anything. It took her a moment to realize the hands were Jasmine's and actually trying to help, so she relented and accepted the new coat without protest. She began scrambling up, pride refusing to let her lie down any longer, even though she swayed precariously from side to side.

 

Why was everyone blurry?

 

She was faintly aware of a new presence in the group, but ignored it for now - she assumed the others had assessed it as a non-threat.

 

"We need to get a move on soon.

 

Yes. The disembodied voice was right. They couldn't stay here. Determined not be a drain on the group, she gingerly set one foot in front of the other and set off in whichever direction she was currently facing.

[Limitless]

Red stood back, nodding in response and smiling at Mary-Martha as she replied. Conversation could wait until Alice was well enough for them to keep moving. She watched Jovah, then moved back closer to where she was before to keep watch on their tail as he watched the front. Though she wanted to believe that nobody had followed the newcomer, Red knew better than to ignore any facet of the many threats the group could face out near the city. Remarks were exchanged between Jasmine and Levi, something about whose coat was warmer and a decision was reached.

 

She hoped now that Alice was recovering they could find out more about what it was, how often it happened, and what they could do, if anything, that would help her recover faster if or when it happened again. Jasmine's remark about some of the faithful being corrupt made her wonder about the woman's faith. So many were religious in the wastes, having nothing else to cling to or believe in, but Red had never been one of them.

 

She adjusted her coat and hat, letting out a huff at how much of her bright hair had escaped its prison. Red swatted some pieces of ash out of the strands, twisting her hair and pressing the small bun against her head as she pulled a small band off her wrist and wrapped it around, figuring that'd help it stay better. Every so often she cast a glance over her shoulder, checking on the group for updates on how Alice was doing.

[ValidEmotions]

Alice had struggled to her feet and seemed ready to start moving again. Except, Jasmine noted the other woman’s swaying and hovered close by to catch or steady her as needed. Jovah was calling for them to start moving again, laying out which way they were going to head for. And Alice was stumbling the wrong way. Gently grabbing hold of the woman’s arm, the bard tugged a bit in an attempt to steer her in the right direction.

 

Nearby, Levi shifted his rifle between hands, inhaling deeply. The frigid air stung his airways, a taste of fuel mixed into the stench of smoke. The man fixed the furred bandana that covered most of his hair, shifting it so as to make sure it remained in place despite the changing wind. Reaching down, he grabbed his bag and shouldered it, glancing at the others. ”I’m ready when you are, Cap,” he stated, a brief grin shot in the white-clad man’s direction. He still didn’t know the man’s name. Oh well. ”Ah, my manners. Where were they?” Directing his gaze towards Mary-Martha, he gave her an apologetic glance. ”Call me, Levi. Short for Laviendor. Or, if you like, feel free to address me as Patch or Stickler. Others have.”

 

Ignoring Levi’s introduction to the religious woman, Jasmine kept a gentle hold on Alice’s arm. ”Finding out what happened to Alice might have to wait until we’re already moving again. She doesn’t seem fully restored yet…,” she remarked, wondering if Alice was actually ready to walk at the moment or if she was even aware of the situation. It sort of seemed like she was but, then again, it also seemed like so was more automatically responding to things without really understanding what they were. Like reflexes.

 

But, they did need to start walking.

 

And Alice was on her feet, moving.

 

It seemed better to start up again sooner than later and, after everyone was set, they started walking. Levi took to watching the left side of their group, Gorf keeping pace at his right side. Jasmine speculated that the canine made up for the man’s blind side, likely to alert him should something hostile approach. The bard remained with Alice, still holding her arm as she guided the woman until she could operate well enough on her own.

 

[[Hope I'm not stepping on any toes but starting to move the group :c]]