The night had been rather uneventful for Ezra and Church, the darker boy having bid farewell to the others. He hadn’t bothered to take Ezra back up to his room, instead getting the boy into bed with him. He had wrapped one arm around Ezra, pulling the blankets up with the other. Though it had taken some time, the young black man had finally figured out that Ezra slept much better if he was accompanied.

As such, the pair slept well through the night, Church in his usual dreamless sleep. Ezra stayed curled to his side, his own sleep just as barren, one hand snaking up to his mouth to pop a thumb into it. It was a childish gesture, but it was one that was ingrained into his skull. His cheek nuzzled into Church’s bare chest, the boy’s arm still tight around the older leader.

When the morning actually came, Church rolled first one way, then the other as he began to wake, distressing Ezra. He’d almost rolled atop him, the boy flailing in his sleep. When his small fist had smacked the other on the nose, it had woken him, making him pull away. He slid a pillow into Ezra’s arms then, moving away to get some breakfast started for himself. He knew it was useless to try and make any for Ezra. The boy never ate breakfast, so making any food would just be a waste.

His food was finished only ten minutes later, sitting down at his table bare-chested and sleepy-eyed. He poked at it slowly, eating quietly and yawning from time to time between bites and swallows of his water. He was merely waiting for Trys and Jonah to arrive now. Jonah could stay in his room until Ezra woke, though he hoped the boy didn’t say anything about Ezra’s panties. Though he didn’t show them off, he had worked his pants down a bit in his sleep because it was hot in the night, so they were visible.

The sound of Crow's ragged voice over the radio broke Meg's thoughts. Her mouth rose at the corner, a half smile, "Hell no I didn't leave your rifle! That's one of the reasons I take this beast out anyways!" She set the radio back on its deck, and placed her feet correctly on the pedals as she saw her exit coming up. The clearing was approximately 24 feet wide, allowing the vehicle to creep onshore smoothly, as long as Meg avoided the rocks that speckled around.

As she felt the vehicle jolt from scraping the rising land, she flipped the button and hummed along with the sound of its change from jet powered to 4X4. She reached up to reposition her visor as the sun changed its position on her, when a bright colored dot started blinking on the perimeter graph. She looked up in the direction it was approaching and slammed her hand on the blue safety button under the dash. Meg didn't get a chance to see what the animal was before her vehicle rocked to the left slightly, sounding a loud THUD.

"What the hell?!" Meg yelled as she flung open her door, and jumped down into nothing but muck, watching it splatter all the way up her pants. "Oh great, just fu-.." She cut herself off as she saw the girl lying under her front bumper. Her heart skipped a beat. Of all the creatures, and sometimes people, she was responsible for killing, never had she ever been guilty of vehicular manslaughter. How was she going to explain this one to her superior officers?!

Meg looked down at the male partner, "What the hell happened? Is she okay? Is she conscious, anything broken that you can see? Where's the nearest medical fort, if there even is one!?" Meg assumed the man was responsible for the girl, so she waited for his decision on how to handle the situation before radioing out for help. She knew of certain groups in the surrounding area that only wanted to be carried away if found dead because of ADV. She ran back to the door and grabbed her Safety Case from behind the seat; it contained several pain relieving shots, antibiotics, bandages, and sterile pads with utensils. She set the case down by his squatted post, "Here... use any of this you want."

Meg's heart was pounding, she swore she could see her shirt rising and falling with the beat. How fast must this girl have been running in order for the scanner to not pick her up sooner? Maybe the trees along the bank had interfered with the reception? It had never been a problem before. What if this man wasn't her caretaker at all, but instead her captor? What if he was only responsible for pushing her into the vehicle? Meg's hand went directly to her hip, her gun was still in the seat. She backed up slowly and grabbed her gun, maybe one, but not two women would die by this man's hand today.

Trys and Jonah - East Gang - Obsidian Knights - Church's apartment

It was no longer dark by the time they'd reached Church's apartment. The sun was well on it's way to rising and uncovering another hot day. Upon arriving, Church had opened the door for them and they'd escorted Jonah into the room where Ezra was sleeping. Jonah was still tired and sat himself down in a chair, trying not to yawn. He was trying so hard to keep himself awake and show Church and Trys that he could look after Ezra and do a good job of it.

"Well, we best get going, hadn't we?" Trys announced. His gaze then shifted to Jonah. "Be good, okay?" He told the boy.

Jonah nodded and smiled. "I'll look after him. I promise."

Trys smiled and ruffled the boys dirty blonde hair before leaving the apartment, Church following behind. Jonah's eyes followed the pair until the door closed and they could be seen no more. His eyes travelled back to Ezra and Jonah nodded to himself. He'd look after Ezra.

Curling himself up on the chair, Jonah watched Ezra like a hawk watching it's prey. Any slight movement the man made, Jonah sat upright, ready to move to his side and attend to what he wanted. Ezra didn't seem to wake up though and so, as time went on, Jonah fell asleep in the chair.

---

Trys and Church - No Man's Land

It had been an early morning for the pair, and though it wasn't close to midday, the sun was still shining brightly in the sky and it was still a hot day. Trys was silent for the most of it, unsure of what to say really. Part of him thought about bringing up Ezra as a topic, but he decided against it. After walking for a while, something in the distance caught Trys' attention. It looked like a small group of people were forming down at the river bank, around a HumV.

"Should we go take a look?" He asked Church.

After waiting for Church to answer, he decided to go check it out whatever the answer was anyway and slowly made his way towards them. He could see a woman and then a guy knelt down by a girl. Looking at the woman, he saw her grab a gun.

---

Damien looked up at Meg, trying not to panic himself. "She's okay I think. She's alive..."

He took the box of medical supplies that Meg gave him and attempted to fix her head injury. It was at that point, out of the corner of his eye, that he saw Meg picking up a gun.

"Hey... What the hell?! What's the gun for?" He shouted.

Sighing, he looked from Meg to Addie, wondering why the woman had brought a gun on him now. He thought about bringing out his own gun, but that wouldn't help the situation. It wasn't until he looked around that he noticed people heading their way. Did she call for these people or were they just in the area?

"Look, I'm not going to hurt anyone..." Damien tried to explain.

Toby cursed as Meg jumped out and popped up, rifle ready. He one handed it and passed it to Terra, keeping his finger on the trigger and the weapon trained on the man. "Here, point it at HIM and look as intimidating as you can. Try not to kill ME. Or Meg." He mumbled as he released the weapon into her hands. He drew his chainblade and his side arm, and held the chainblade down and across his body, ready for a single backhanded swing to bisect a target, the stance his mother had taught him. His left hand had the pistol at the ready, mostly for intimidation, though at sword fight range it wouldn't matter too much.

"Hey, stand down for a tic and we'll see who intends to hurt who, got it? If she," Toby nodded to Meg, "has no problems, then odds are, no one intends to have any problems today and we can all go about our merry way. Other wise, I swear to Steel I will cut you into so much confetti that I can have my own 'dead son of a whore-and-a-guy-who-happened-to-have-a-nickel' day celebration, got me?"

Toby's eyes flashed with contained anger, and the blue one seemed to get wider than the green.

Meg was really starting to get annoyed now. Toby was overstepping his bounds a bit with the gun snatching, so with a huff, Meg turned around and this time grabbed her P.W, and slid the top back, ready and loaded. Meg trusted the man aiding the girl meant no harm, so she found her place between him and Toby, lifting her gun in the direction of the arriving crowd.

Meg didn't do well with groups of Rogues. The name suited these people well, wild and unorganized. Her vehicle was entirely too valuable for it to become surrounded by the Forty Theives. She looked down at the man and girl, both hands wrapped firmly around the stem of her pistol. "Load her up in the backseat, this place isn't safe enough for a revival." Meg felt oddly protective and curious to see the girl brought back to full health. She was the one responsible for hitting the girl after all.

She watched the man gently cradle the girls body in his arms, and arrange themselves in the back part of the HumV. She stood next to Toby, "So... what are you two doing here again?" Meg looked passed the crowd, and saw the figure of their space agent, Tessa. "Shall we talk on the way, or will you be needing my assistance like I suspect you will?"

Fifty feet from an increasingly dangerous situation, Capitol Wasteland

*There were several more people that had showed up in the time it took Tessa to reach the vehicle. Using the magnification on her helmet display, it was very clear that several people from the Thanatos were here, and some from either the Knights or simply Rogues. Tessa saw the large amount of guns that had been drawn and prepared to ready her laser rifle when she saw that nothing was a high enough caliber to harm her before she could respond. Mud and muck covered the ground near the area, and the Paladin strode over to the small group as he power armour sloshed through the ick.*

“Hail wastelanders! I am Paladin Teletha Firaxis of the Brotherhood of Steel. Is there anything I can assist in…”

*Tessa trailed off as she fully realized who she was meeting up with:*

“Miss Terra! Good to see you and company out here, but this is a bit far from Thanatos territory; what brings you and your colleagues out here? May I be of assistance?”

Crow looked at the thing he was talking into and, threw it. " I hate that women..." He turned and walked back inside trying to find a place to sit. Crow never actually had a room within HQ like everyone else. He more or less roamed freely about his territory. " Mmm, what's this? " Crow turned into the 'kitchen' and looked around. " I smell food, but I don't see food.." It looked like a fruitless venture into the 'kitchen' until he saw something out the corner of his eye. " A jar of..peanuts? " He slowly slinked over to the counter and picked up the jar quickly spinning the top off. He eat one of the peanuts and whispered " My nut.."

He had been sitting in the 'kitchen' for what seemed to be ever slowly eating the jar of peanuts before he realized that, he was bored. " Hmm.." He placed the empty jar on the table and stood up walking to the door frame and leaning on it. He pulled his pack of cigarettes from his jacket and dug for a match. " Damn, only a few left. " He sighed and pulled one out to. He placed it between his lips and lit it quickly, breathing in deeply and letting a cloud of smoke escape his lips. He kicked the ground and watched dust fly. " Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Without you brother, there'd be no us. " He walked from the 'kitchen' and into a large room that use to be the living room, but was converted into a meeting room. Crow looked up at a large painted picture of a man. Tall, leans, black hair, blue eyes, a scare over his left eye. " Brother, I don't know if I'm leading them correctly. When you led us we prospered greatly. I can only hope that you are looking down on me, leading me in the right direction. " Crow sat down in a chair and just continued to stare at the picture.

Terra looked up feebly, clutching the rifle clumsily, not quite knowing what to say. The entire situation had taken her by surprise, Meg was here now and so were two other people she did not recognize. Upon looking at Tessa in her exoskeleton suite, Terra felt the weight of the helmet in her bag. She isn't an enemy. she thought, but she could still feel Toby tensing up beside her, it wasn't a secret that Toby didn't like the Brotherhood of Steel. Terra quickly re gathered her thoughts, reminding herself on why she was really here, her mind had a tendency to wander. Terra cleared her throat and tried to sound like she had back at the lab, confident and friendly and in this case, apologetic.

"I... We apologize for what Crow did, he is a... Well let's just say he get's carried away." Terra averted her gaze to her feet, she wasn't comfortable talking about Crow like this but even she knew it to be true that he had a quite eccentric personality.

"We really want to cooperate with you and your 'people', medical supplies are crucial back at Thantos district. With what we got now we hardly have a chance of finding the cure, but we might just be able to distinguish with certainty if this is a virus or a bacteria we are dealing with if we could just get the right utilities." Terra stopped herself before she lost herself in the chatter, she just now noticed that she was still clutching the rifle with her right hand, using her left hand to emphasize on her ever word.

"What’s furthermore is that I can promise you results, I have gathered only the best of the best, with people like Toby on my team."

Terra looked at Toby, adding with a whisper.

"That is, if you want to."

Trys, Damien and Adelaide - No Man's Land

Damien looked at Meg and then at the others. He himself had a gun on him, but drawing it would make things ten times worse. He knew that. And the last thing he wanted was to end up dead when he was only trying to help the girl. Sighing, he knew that the girl unconscious in front of him needed his help for now, and once Toby had backed off a little, he allowed himself to carefully load Adelaide into the car.

"If you want to know what happened..." He'd turned to Meg at this time. "I scared her, accidently. I found her in an abandoned apartment alone, and when I tried to help her, she passed out of me, and so I brought her down to the river to try and bring her around. When she came around, she ran scared, right into your vehicle."

Damien didn't know if it was worth explaining, he doubted it. And it was probably going to lead to more trouble, but the thing was, when the girl awoke, she'd probably tell them that she didn't know him anyway.

Trys finally got to the group with Church and looked around at them all. He recognised the West Gang, Thanatos, though not the person in the suit at this point nor did he recognise the guy that lifted the girl into the HumV.

"What's going on?" He asked, knowing that people had most likely seen him or at least Church around to know that they weren't rogues, and were from the East Gang, Obsidian Knights.

Toby had tensed and almost spun to rip his chainblade through the Paladin as she approached, but held himself back. He DID give in to the urge to rev it menacingly, however. He looked out at the whole group to see the ever increasing crowd. His pistol never lowered, though he did sigh when he saw Terra fumbling his rifle.

But when Terra mentioned that he could finally, FINALLY be on the science team, he stopped revving the chainblade, and smiled. His eyes seemed to shrink to normal, and a smile crossed his face. He stood down from his combat stance, more relaxed and at ease again. He nodded so slightly, and met her gaze for a moment. This was finally good news, and this trip may actually have been worth it.

When he saw the Obsidian Knights, he almost sighed in relief. It had been a toss up for him when he had left the Wasteland as to whether to join the Knights or the Instinct, and had actually met the two that were there, though he didn't recall their name, or their ranks within the group. He did know, however, that they were friendly. Or as friendly as anyone could be in the Wasteland, anyway.

Capitol Wasteland

"I am pleased to hear that you are willing to cooperate with me Terra, I only want to help the people of the Wastes. It is unfortunate that your leader does not share our beliefs."

*Tessa held out her hand to offer Terra in alliance. She glanced at Toby, her glance unseen behind her helmet. He was still rather hostile, but seemed to lack Crow's insanity and ignorance: besides, if Terra trusted him, then Tessa would too. As the two girls finished agreeing on their friendship, Tessa turned her attentions to the other happenings around her...*

"So...what exactly is going on here? And if you don't mind me asking, why is that unconscious girl being loaded into a military vehicle?"

By the time Trys and Jonah had reached his home, Church had dressed fully, wearing even his trench coat and the trademark fedora. He also carried his Bible under one arm, the huge thing looking to weigh quite a bit, yet he seemed to handle it well. He opened the door for them quite readily, looking over to Ezra. Church’s bed, unlike most people’s, wasn’t in the bedroom of the apartment. His bed rested in the front room where a couch should be, a few large, paper screens blocking it mostly from view.

As he lay in bed, Ezra tossed and turned a few times, whimpering just once as his dreams changed. They always came back when he was abandoned to sleep alone. He curled around one of Church’s pillows, wiggling his rump, which was partially bared now. The blankets had further slipped down his waist, revealing just the lip of his lacy panties.

It wasn’t the door shutting that woke Ezra up. When he finally awoke after Jonah had passed out in the chair, it was the insistent call of his bladder that roused him. He smiled at the boy in the chair, quietly ruffling his hair after getting out of bed and wiggling down to his skivvies, pants tossed on the bed. He headed into the bathroom to relieve himself, washing his hands and coming out a few moments later. He then gently scooped the boy up, laying him down in bed, then crawling over him and laying in the middle of it, rubbing one eye blearily. He cuddled Jonah to his chest like a living teddy, pressing a gentle kiss on his cheek before nodding off again himself.

Church followed Trys as obediently as he followed Ezra, quiet and rather docile despite his imposing and sometimes frightening appearance. Oftentimes during the so far silent journey, he would raise a hand to his fedora and tip it up again. Due to not having a huge selection and assistants to find the right size for his head, he’d had to settle for a hat that was bigger than what he needed. When the other spoke, however, he blinked, looking up and then shrugging. That was his way of saying “I’m game.”

Standing behind Trys like a silent guardian, he trailed his right hand into the Bible he held over his stomach as the other young man hid his actions from view. His large mitt-like hand closed over the grip of the huge revolver inside, though keeping his finger out of the trigger guard for now. He let Trys do all the talking, chocolate eyes watching everyone and everything before him with an almost impassive nature. It wasn’t by losing his cool that he’d lived so long. At times, he had even heard some ask if he was just a statue.

Trys, Addie and Damien - No Man's Land

Trys looked at the man loading the girl into the back of the HumV curiously and suspiciously as he stood there. He wasn't sure what to make of the whole situation really. Making sure Church was still behind him, he accessed the situation. He recognised people, but couldn't put names to faces still. Sighing, he looked over at Damien.

"What happened to her?" He asked again, as no one answered his question before.

Damien sighed and started to explain the story again before finally finishing with, "...and then she ran off and collided with the HumV..."

Trys frowned a little, but wanted to know why they were loading her into the HumV, just like Tessa had asked as he arrived. Thing was, Damien didn't understand why they wanted her in the back of the HumV either, he'd just done as he was told been as Toby looked as if he wanted to kill him while Terra nervously pointed a gun in his direction.

"Do we know of anyone that's a doctor where we can at least take her? Or someone with medical skills, even a lab where she can rest and come around?" Damien asked.

It was at this point that the girl in the back seat groaned, appearing to be starting to come around from her earlier knock.

"Wh--" She started, moving her hand to her head slowly. Her whole body felt pain as she moved her arm and it caused her to let out another groan. She still hadn't opened her eyes, though when she did, the car door wasn't shut, and the sun shone in. It was then that Adelaide noticed everyone. Freezing, she looked at the man nearest to her, and after a few dodgy memories, she remembered him from the early hours of the morning.

The colour drained from her face though as she realised just how many people were around from the voices, and from her angle she could also see the weapons. The sickness in her stomach got stronger as she thought about what was going on, taking everything the wrong way and assuming that the man she'd met in the apartment, knew these people and wanted her for some reason - a bad reason.

"We have a Lab where we can take her, make sure she's not sick, that none of the scrapes she has is infected, the standard panels; not to mention that arm looks like it's sprained. But our capabilities would be...augmented with the Brotherhood Tech." Toby said the last part as though straining to do so. He holstered his sidearm and placed the chain blade at his hip, latching it in place. He took his rifle back from Terra, she almost looked scared of it, and slung it over his shoulder.

Toby walked up to the group at the Humvee, and saw Adelaide looking pale, scared and like she wanted to be anywhere, ANYWHERE but here. "But maybe we should ask her." He looked at Adelaide and held out his hand. "HI, I'm Toby, from the Thanatos Instinct. You were injured a little earlier and if you'd like, we can take you back to our base, give you a checkup and look at that --"

Toby stopped as the unmistakable sound of a rifle shot echoed in the air, along with the "PAFF!" that indicated a bullet digging it's way into the dirt from a missed shot.

"GET TO COVER! ROGUE ATTACK!" From the Northern most banks of the River, a raiding party of some forty-odd rogues had emerged from the brush and ruins emerged, all well armed with automatic or semi-automatic rifles. They'd have to be, to attack a better-armed-and-equipped force. The odd assemblage of people here all had better maintained, better caliber and all around better weapons, and Tessa alone could probably take a good dozen of them blindfolded. The Rogues had numbers, and enough of them to make this a fight and then some.

Toby shoved Adelaide with his left hand to the floor of the Humvee, and pulled the rifle from his back. He fired shots off at the incoming attackers as he moved, approaching Terra. He pushed her down as well, against the Humvee. He hoped that the thicker armor and wheel wells would protect the two, as one was injured and didn't quite look up to fighting in the first place and....well, he'd seen Terra with his rifle. Toby in turn kept low and moved to the rear of the Humvee and used it as cover, firing back at whoever form the line of raiders seemed to be in a rush to meet them.

"Come on you--" The rest of Toby's words were far too polite for mixed company, but he didn't care too much at the moment. He fired back, emptying the rifle's chamber and leaning behind cover to refill it, cursing the whole while. His eyes were wide, and his blue eye seemed brighter, be it from the light, or contrast from the kicked-up dust clinging to his sweat-glazed face.

In the middle of a "interesting" situation, Capitol Wasteland

*Tessa was going to suggest that the group move the girl to the Citadel, she could have gotten her some aid and at the very least properly stabilized before moving to the Thanatos' territory. She could also grab the supplies and equipment that Tessa had wanted to give Terra and her team. However, the suggestion was never made, as a low-caliber round ricocheted off of her helmet, startling the Paladin. She watched as the people around her took cover for a moment before snapping out of her stupor and whipping out her rifle, taking a few quick shots as the gunfire increased and more bullets bounced harmlessly off her armour. It was a common Brotherhood tactic to soak up a bit of enemy firepower before taking cover, as it usually scared off the attackers. These people seemed very determined however, and Tessa dashed to the cover of a cracked jersey barrier before taking a few more well-placed shots...*

"BS!" Erik cursed under his breath, flipped the top card from a small stack and took the stack. Allen, beaming from his small victory, laughed slightly and waited as Erik rearranged his new mass of cards. "You're getting better at this, Allen." Erik said with a small smile. "Yeah, and soon, I'm going to be better than you!" At this, Erik laughed out loud and shook his head. "Yeah, alright Allen. Whatever you say. Two tens." Erik put down the two tens and stared Allen straight in the eyes. A small smile cracking his lips once more, Allen put down one card. "One Jack." Erik put a card down this time. "One Queen." The game progressed, each young man only taking their eyes off of the other's to see which cards they were putting down. It was a simple enough game, but you had to practice to be good. And not just practice playing the game, either. You couldn't show any emotion, not with real players. You couldn't even shift your eyes a bit, or else you'd be caught. And so the game dragged on for thirty minutes before a victor was declared. "Psh. Whatever, Erik. I'll get you next time!" The older boy laughed. "Yeah, yeah, Allen. And pigs'll fly tomorrow." "Hey! You and I both know that they had flying pigs in Kentucky!" "They just had small wings, that's all. Not enough to fly with." "Yeah...well...they'll fly someday!" "But not tomorrow." Both boys stood from their sitting position on a sheltered part of the Great Road and looked out onto the expanse of road still left for them. They were close to D.C., but still had a couple hours of good, hard walking. "C'mon, let's go before we run into a Bruhlam." Erik motioned to his brother, who stood and stretched, grabbing his things and setting off.

Despite the obvious commotion around him, Church kept still and silent behind Trys, for it wasn’t in his nature to speak up unless something was obviously wrong. It was one reason why he had spoken up about Ezra, for he hated to see the other man in the predicament he was in. The smaller yet older male was too proud to admit his own shortcomings to his gang, not wanting to appear weak. Church knew better, though…he’d grown up with Ezra, had been taken under his wing until he’d turned into what amounted to a living wall.

Chocolate eyes traced over Toby as he pulled a rifle away from a girl, having not paid enough attention to gather her name if it had even been said. His fingers stroked over the grip of the pistol in the Bible almost lovingly, facial expression as impassive as a marble statue. His eyes then travelled from the girl and the male with his rifle over to the Paladin. Now that Paladin…that was someone Church would be interested in getting to know. That armor was pure genius, a true beauty in his eyes.

He was jerked out of his thoughts, however, by the sound of a missed shot and the yell of “GET TO COVER,” as he didn’t need to hear the rest. His eyes had already spotted the movement, Church automatically placing a hand on Trys’s back, as he would have done Ezra. He quietly pushed forward out of habit, a protector at heart, Bible still in hand. He then snatched free the massive revolver from inside, flipping out the chamber for just a moment, then spinning it just before clicking it back into place.

“I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I aim with my eye.”

The words came quietly, almost a mantra, the huge cannon of a handgun rising as he moved towards cover near the Humvee. He didn’t need to fully take cover, aside from his head, for he had a bodysuit on beneath the cassock and pants he wore, as well as the trenchcoat. He did flick the fedora back a bit, back to the vehicle for a moment. As soon as the last word left his lips, he spun from cover for just a moment, Bible thumping to the ground beside the wheel.

The barking explosion of a single shot from the large gun in his hand rattled the teeth in his skull, his hand jerking back just a bit with the recoil. The plume of fire from the front was large, as well, glad it wasn’t night or that would have really fucked royally with his night vision. As he spun back into cover, he was smirking slightly. He hadn’t watched long, but he did know that the single shot had vacated the skull of one of the rogues. It wasn’t a lack of skill on their part that made it so easy for him…when it came to handguns, Church was like a savant, mastering them like a gamer would master their chess movements.

“I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I shoot with my mind.”

Again, as the words left his mouth, Church moved with that huge gun, this time merely leaning out from cover. Another explosion sounded, the young man’s eyes catching the scarlet explosion of bone and blood from the hole appearing in the throat of one of the attackers. Had it not been for his prodigious skill, he would not have hit so accurately. As it was, however, his shots hit home as if they were made for those wounds instead of causing them. As he moved to lean back into cover, a bullet caught his left shoulder, making him wince at the impact, spinning him slightly to that side, but lucky him the armor held…it’d be a nasty bruise later, though. He inhaled slowly, letting it out as a grunt, deep voice rumbling from him again.

“I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father. I kill with my heart.”

The huge young man flickered out of cover fully after kneeling to scoop up the Bible, a rattle from inside sounding of loose shells. He held the Bible under his left arm, the right extending to aim at the advancing group, head turned to face them. His fedora flew off with the swiftness of his run, trench coat flaying open, showing off his baggy cassock. He said his first curse when his hat flew off, his scarf that rested around his neck flapping, showing just how much that hat meant to him if he cursed for that and not a shot to the shoulder.

He fired off the last three shots in the chamber, each shell finding its mark, though the last was a bit too low to actually pierce the brain of his target…instead, he turned the poor fool’s face into a crater. He wasn’t dead yet, but he’d wish he was until he expired. He grunted from twin impacts to his side, then cries out in true surprise and a bit of pain as he felt his left leg buckle, sending him sliding on his stomach. Luckily he was close enough to Tessa’s barrier to slide behind it, pulling himself to rest against the barrier and looking down to survey the damage.

“Ahh, damn…”

As he gazed at his leg for a moment, he winced, bleeding from a hit to the thigh three inches above the knee. It had taken him in the thinner armor along the inside leg as the leg had swung forward, bleeding heavily at the moment. He panted slightly, grinding his teeth, one dark hand sliding into his Bible. He flicked open his revolver, the chamber swinging out, dumping the empty casings inside as he slide the quickloader’s shells home. He spun the chamber, then snapped it back in place, turning his head to once look to Tessa with her rifle. He’d always wanted a close look at a Paladin, but now was not the time to let it dominate him as he leaned out to take another potshot, muttering quiet words.

“That’s goin’ to leave a mark, ain’t it?”

*Tessa fired out from her barricade and sent several bright red laser beams into the ranks of her attackers. She didn't bother to wait and see what happened to them, or even if she had killed any. She unhooked one of the grenades she had and tossed in out into the Rogues, watching the carnage this time, and observing four of the attackers gib into gore and bone. She took a few more shots, ripping the arm off of one of the Rogues. She stopped for a moment and noticed that a wastelander had taken cover with her and was fighting of the attackers with a large pistol. He was a surprisingly good shot, the large caliber pistol easily felling his targets. The man was injured; her HUD diagnosed it as a gunshot wound. Tessa let another shot loose from her rifle and spoke to the man, her helmet boosting her voice's volume over the gunfire, the intercom sound all the more terrifying in the middle of battle:*

"Hey! What do you think we should do? Are you with the others?"

Terra instinctively grabbed onto her bag and lowered her head, terrified of being shot; she hugged the bag feeling something heavy and metallic inside it. Terra opened the bag slowly, hands shaking, inside it laid a piece of cloth covering a couple of instruments and empty bottles; she ruffled through it and found the helmet that Tessa had given her when she was back at the lab. It might not work properly seeing as it was old, but at the very least it was bulletproof, and she could fix it up once this was all over.

A loud bang was heard from above and Terra instantly grabbed her head, giving a little shriek, it was the big guy from the West gang, in his hands was something that looked like a giant pistol, it was fitting as he was pretty large himself. She wasn't good with names but she did know that he was pretty important. Terra crawled away from him, scared of being trampled in all the chaos, her hand met Adelaide’s, she gave her an awkward grin and with a shaky voice Terra whispered to her, hardly audible from all the bangs.

"H-hey there, y-ou doin' alright?"

A loud scream came from the other side where the rouges were. Why the hell are they here? The big guy let out a grunt, he was injured, she glanced over at him, feeling so useless, not being able to fight or do anything of value to the people here. Then, like a flash of a lightening, she remembered. God damn it Terra, you're a freaking scientist, you have medical supplies! She slapped the palm of her hand to her forehead, only to be met by a metallic clunk as the hand collided with the helmet. "OW!"

Terra was shaking, but this time not with fear or pain, but with a sense of being able to do something, she was probably the only one here with advanced medical training. She saw Tessa a couple of feet away from her, and next to her was the big guy; he was shot in the leg. Now is the time to act. Terra ignored the cheesyness that followed the pride and coolness, the helmet working as a charisma booster, she felt indestructible. Adelaide seemed not to be quite in the mood for talking so Terra told her that she'd be right back and crawled over to the big guy with great haste, feeling confident and able. She screamed loudly so that he would hear her, she wasn’t sure if he could because of the pain.

"Hey there big fella' are you OK? I can't remove the bullet here but I can make the pain go away, there might be some minor side effects such as... Well, you'll find out. Do you trust me?"

Terra removed the wrapped up cloth from the bag and unfolded it, revealing a needle and some minor medical supplies, she took a violet liquid from her belt and looked up at the big guy, waiting for a response.

In The Middle of Been Attacked By Rogues in 'No Man's Land'

Adelaide wasn't going to answer Tobi. She felt to sick and scared as she looked at the people around her. Terrified, even as he spoke and held out his hand, she didn't take it but in fact jumped a mile, almost hitting the roof of the car as she heard a bullet. She knew the sound and what it had come from. As she heard another, a scream left her mouth.

The choas of everyone moving suddenly came into play and Addie didn't know what to do with herself. The guy that had previously been talking to her, had pushed her down, which hurt due to been bruised from the HumV incident. Then there was a girl next to her, trying to talk with her but Addie just wasn't in the mood for talking, too scared out of her mind to make intelligent conversation.

She didn't know who anyone was or thier names. All she knew was that gunfire was breaking out because she was with these people. Part of her knew her next move was stupid, but she still did it anyway. As soon as Terra moved to Church, Addie managed to get herself up and pulled herself out of the HumV. Despite been hurt, she was too scared to care. The HumV had given her protection, but Addie just wanted to get out of there and away from the fighting.

---

Damien had grabbed Meg and pulled her around the front of the HumV for some sort of protection as he pulled out his own gun from his jacket pocket. He would have started firing straight away but his logic was that if they ran out of ammo before all were killed, at least they'd have his guns. He had one secretly carried behind him, tucked half into his trousers, under his shirt to hide it. He looked over at Meg.

"Save what you have in that gun for a minute. We might need it if the others run out." He told her, looking around and trying to figure something out.

---

Trys felt Church push him lightly forward at the gunshots and knew it was out of protection. He also ended up in front of the HumV, using it as some sort of protection and was shortly joined by Meg and Damien, though he didn't know the guys name and he wasn't sure of the girls name either. Church was firing his own weapon, which surprised Trys as he didn't expect the man to be hiding a gun on him. It was then though that Trys checked his own weapon.

He heard Damien tell Meg to save the bullets just in case, and Trys thought that the man had a good point. It seemed that there were enough people firing for now. Tobi, Church and Tessa. He couldn't see the girl and assumed that she was in the HumV along with the other girl that had looked terrified holding a gun.

Damien looked at Trys and nodded slightly, the two men not knowing what to say out loud, but at the same time sharing a silent understanding that most people that were watching them, probably couldn't understand. The gunshots were still going strong and Damien decided to stick his head out and risk looking out to see what was going on. That's when he saw her.

Adelaide.

She was now out of the HumV and running towards the buildings not to far from them. The poor kid was petrified, but was about to get shot also for not been under any cover and for been a visible target. He could already see two Rogues aiming for the kid.

"Kid! No, wait!" He called.

He had no choice. He had to go after her. Checking the bullets in his gun, he pushed himself out of cover and started chasing the girl. Aiming his gun, he pointed at the Rogues but didn't hit either of them. Really, he needed to be still to actually get a decent hit. Running and shooting never worked for him.

"Kid! Wait!" He called again.

At that point, he realised that her running was actually probably a good thing, if the Rogues like him, couldn't shoot a moving target, but he wasn't all that sure. They were probably more experienced and could due to the fact that they were in a group. At his words though, Addie had surprisingly come to a stop, turning to look at him. It all seemed slow motion for a minute as he started to come to a stop. The pace suddenly seemed to quicken though as Damien heard a couple of gunshots. Before he knew Addie had fallen.

Quickly running over to her, he pulled her over and behind some cover of a few rocks. The girl was out again, which was probably the best thing for her now. She was too scared and fragile for this sort of situation. It was too much for her. The cover wasn't much, but it was the best he could do to check her over. She had two wounds. One to the right shoulder and one to her left leg. Damien looked up from the cover, hoping to be heard over the gun fire.

"I need some help here!" He yelled.