Valerie Mathis's Story

Melodic sounds of classic rock emitted from the stereo of the moderately large jeep heading the convoy down a desolated city street. The strums of guitar and solemn voice of its singer echoing against the tall monolithic buildings covered in foliage and age old grime. They where empty husks now. Steven Generich tapped the steering wheel lightly as he hummed under his breath along with the old song. His headset device displayed the wavelengths as they played and Steven watched them dance across the buildings ahead as the music played. The name of the artist was lost to time now as Steven had found the old data disk in the desk of some dead codger's home, took a bit of cleaning and the fuss of a somewhat irritated Cybernetics engineer to get it to work. He'd been pestering the group with the music for about an hour now, letting the rare sounds of music fill the dead city.

They where riding up to the subway station at the edge of town to meet their scouts, whom Steven had sent ahead to make sure the area was clear to settle for the week. The entire Northern Italian city had been a dead zone due to radiation and a recent in-habitation of a cluster of Sentries and a massive flock of drones but Steven had decided since the radiation had gone down it was time to see if the place was ripe to settle for a few days. As luck would have it the Sentries seemed to have left the city to wander north and out of their way and the flock was downtown and pretty easy to avoid. He would have the scouts keep their eyes on the skies to make sure they don't wander to the south end, where they where set to stay.

They arrived at their site, a massively overgrown subway station. It was difficult to even spot the front doors. Steven pulled to a stop in front of the stairs leading up to it. He glanced down at the tank indicator. Less than 1/4 gallon left. "Check your tanks we go out for fuel and food tomorrow. Tonight we unpack and rest." With that he stepped out of his jeep and looked up at the hulking building before him.



He lead the group inside and immediately began to take survey of what they had. There was a pond in the center of the building. "I want this water checked, look for a source look for where it leads, see if its safe to drink or use for bathing. Tents can be set up along the sides, the middle will be for the cook and his truck, see if we can get it through that gap over there." He gestured to a portion of the wall where it had collapsed.....I'm worried about that hole in the ceiling. Drones could come flooding through that there if they spot us. I want the entrance ways to the tunnels blocked off with some of this rubble. Don't want any sort of tunnel grubber coming up and slitting our throats at night."

Conner drove around to the side of the building with the collapsed wall. The debris looked easy enough to drive over, but he figured it would be better to use it to help seal up the tunnels. He got out of the truck and started moving the rubble to the side until he could help the others with sealing up the tunnels. He got back in and pulled the mirrors in and the truck went through the hole with without much trouble. He parked in the middle where the captain told him to go and checked the gas gauge, riding on vapors. He could probably only get a few more miles out of that, hopefully Duchess could get some sort of rig made to convert his compost into a useable fuel. He pulled up the parking brake and went to the back. He started to unhook the bungee cords and Velcro straps that held all the supplies and food in place while the truck was moving. He opened the fridge to take inventory of what he had, it wasn’t much. About ten pounds of elk meat, three pounds of venison, about a gallon of mixed fruit juice, six pounds of ground beef, and about half a gallon of fresh cow’s milk with about three days before it spoiled, and a small tub of fresh butter. He smiled remembering the day they found that cow grazing in that meadow, if they weren’t so hard to take care of it would have been great to have kept it alive. He moved on to the pantry. A few pounds of jerky from the various animals, about five wild onions, some wild mushrooms, a bunch of potatoes, more spices than he could name, some dried tea, dried fruits and eight bulbs of garlic. He started forming the night’s menu in his head as he went out to help the others block up the tunnels. He kept his mind on his work as he went about grabbing the debris from earlier and started filling in the nearest tunnel entrance.

As the light of the day started to fade, he was almost done with the tunnel he was working on, it just needed a few more bricks. He grabbed a cinder block and filled in the last of the gaps. He looked around and saw that the others were nearly done with the ones they were filling too and the fire pit was already roaring. He grabbed some kindling and got a fire started in the stove in the truck. He got a simple venison and elk stew going in a big pot. It was the most efficient use of what food was there. He’d have to go out hunting soon or at the very least foraging. His mind drifted as he simmered the stew, working his culinary magic to get the gamey meat to be so tender you barely had to chew. He remembered making this sort of thing with his dad and it brought a tear to his eye. He brushed it away and called out to everyone else. “Food’s ready, get it or starve!”

Valerie eased down on her brakes and came to a full stop beside "Next Best Thing", the tank was half full when she looked down at it. She would fill up after everyone who was lower had finished up, til then it was time to unpack and take the best bath a girl can have in front of other people. Kicking the little stand down she got off her motorcycle and leaned it down against it, she was still iffy on it but the thing was looking good. When she had started stretching her arms up and over her head the Quartermaster pointed at her and a few others to follow. She did so reluctantly, smelling the food that the cook had already started to prepare, pulling her gun out of its box on the back of her bike. She assembled it at she caught up with the other three.

"What are your thoughts on this position? Do you think we will encounter enemies ahead" Azazel, the thing she still wasn't very sure she trusted, had asked when they had walked a bit. It made her clutch her gun tighter while she continued to soak in every detail of the place as they pasted. Her goggles kept flicking through the different types of vision as she swept her gaze through the places, feeling a little unsteady of the new place. She hadnt gotten to look around yet really, but at the same time she kinda was in the mood the cut something open. Riding always made her itch to do something stupid, or at least move around a lot.

Double post, not sure how that happened xD Sorry. Ignore this.

The sound of motion, the grinding of stones and movement of rubble would travel down the worn and damaged staircases into the subway tunnels below echoing against the crumbling concrete, reverberating like it would on the tiles of the bathroom wall. The sounds of movement and voices would reach the ears of two men...if they could still be called that. The first of the two was an older man and had a bit of a hunched back and a tuft of vibrant orange hair sprouting from his head like some kind of greasy tangle weed. The second was taller, more human looking and had more muscle tone to his body, both wore tattered clothing and light armor fashioned by leather and bits of reforged Sentry metal. Both had ocular implants installed by a sadistic looking Cybermechanic that took place of their eyes. The skin seemed to be growing back over the implants messily, tearing at the edges and looking badly scarred. The mech itself was meticulously done. Night and heat vision. The looked at each other and seemed to communicate with the slightest of gestures, neither of them making a sound. The little man glanced back towards the camp and scurried away, dropping whatever scraps he was carrying on the ground, no doubt to warn whomever else lived down there.

The remaining man made his way towards the camp. He moved with the skill of a man who always kept his ear to the ground in thoes echoey tunnels. Not a sound was made yet he breezed through with practiced navigation. His ocular implants glowed a deep turqoise giving him full vision of the tunnels ahead. He stopped just before breaching the light that shone down the stairs and crouched in wait in the shadows, pulling a plasma pistol from his waist just in case. His goal however was to keep hidden completely and observe. He could just barely see the tires of the cook's truck and noted how the intruders seemed to be blocking off the access to their tunnels. His jaw tightened. These people had to go.

"Historically, even temporary settlements were always built near sources of water," Stylus replied to the robot's inquiry, "The interior of an ancient building would not be a common place to find a river. While the unexpected nature of its location ensures not many people would know about it, there could be those who do know about it. Those would be people who would want to keep this place a... secret." The idea she rambled on about only just fully dawned on Stylus. She deep-down hoped that there weren't any bandits or anything else that were in hiding. Considering the Captain's blaring music that the doctor drowned out with her own music in the cabin of her own vehicle, anyone who was originally living here might have heard the music and have had time to prepare an ambush or a trap.

Stylus' non-cybernetic arm pulled her sidearm from the holster. Better safe than sorry, she reminded herself. She did not have any enhanced vision, though she does keep some headgear with some well-kept lenses back in her truck.

She would have to rely on the sensors of the robot and the enhanced vision of whoever was with this team, or at least their armour. Already she didn't like this place.

As Trigger led her group down the decrepit tunnel following the stream she became more and more suspicious. There was a reason she had brought the medic, the sniper, and the robot with her and right now it looked like she was going to need the sniper's eyes. "Camper, I need you up front here with me, Stylus you're in the middle and Azazel you bring up the rear. I don't trust this place one bit. Keep your eyes open and your voices down." She and Camper most likely had the best eyes of the group so if anything tried to come at them from the front or the sides they'd see it. She would have liked to have Azazel right behind them, just in case, but that would leave the medic at the back and she wasn't exactly the best shot. So they had the trigger finger and the best shooter up front, the doctor in the middle in case shit went wrong and the drone at the back, to protect them if anyone tried to come at them from behind.

Trigger didn't look around, she simply assumed her orders had been followed. She was more concerned with what was up ahead, the stream had been getting progressively wider and the faint sound of rushing water could be heard from up ahead. Trig turned a corner and in the distance she could clearly make out a light at the end of the tunnel. It was a small exit, worn away by the water over time but it was definitely there. Whatever was on the other side of the wall was where their water flowed from. As they got closer she made a mental note to get the robot to check the water's pH balance if it didn't look too kosher. But Trigger never got the chance to ask, or even to make it to the source of the water because suddenly, she heard a noise. It was very quiet and she almost thought it was her imagination but when it didn't go away she knew it had to be real. Something was coming down the tunnel after them.

Valerie snapped out of her small freak out as she heard her nickname being called out and told to get to the front. They were heading for a tunnel so it was understandable on why Trigger would want her in front. Turning the vision in her goggles into night vision she walked towards the front, readying her beautiful baby to the front. While they made their way through the tunnel, following the bit of river that was there, she noticed that there were several entrances to what mustve been other tunnels. I wonder where they go and what made them, or who. Her instinct to look in them and see if anything was in there, anything valuable or useful at all, pulled on her a bit. Not her fault really, her family had told her to always look, but she wouldn't look until later when she was alone.

When she turned her head back to look in front of her she noticed something move over where the exit seemed to be. She got her gun ready, already aiming for the thing at the exit, when she announced quietly to the others "We seem to have company, who wants to go tell the others?" Whatever was at the end of the tunnel it wasn't any of their people, it barely had the shape to look human at all. Lowering herself down to the ground near the left side of the tunnel she slid in a bullet, as quietly as she possibly could, and waited for orders.

The Captain turned to Marcus and nodded as he explained the situation in detail. "Excellent, thank you". Once Marcus wandered off to help with blocking off the tunnels he first went to help pitch a few of the tents and set up a fire pit a little ways from the pond. The fire pit wasn't strickly necessary and in some cases they skipped it for fear of signalling drones or scavengers but due to the history of the place and the result of several scouting trips to this area he was unusually relaxed about the security of this area. Tonight they would set up a fire and have a much needed night of de-stress and relaxation. He strode over to Slice's food truck as he examined the report Marcus had given him earlier Slice was just finishing up with the stew. He leaned against the lip in the counter and watched idly as Conner did his thing. He said nothing as he noticed when Conner wiped a tear from his eye.

"Stew, huh? We must be really getting low on food." He murmured aloud.

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The movement they would notice would start out as slight, with night vision they could clearly see what was in front of them but too far out and the little light their devices could capture would be lost to a sheet of solid color be it dark green or dark blue depending on the device. These people these....things made an effort to stay in their dark zones. The fact that it was a narrow tunnel was an advantage on the group as the sides where covered by crumbling wall on either side but the further they went in the more faint noises and scrapes where heard from the back and the front. They where being surrounded.

The first clear sighting of these people would come from behind as Trigger had predicted. A lone figure, too far out to be seen by night vision but clear as day in infrared. A thin but muscular figure with two dark circles where it's eyes should be peered down the tunnel brazenly in full view of the android. This particular figure did not rush them but he followed, slowly brandishing a long crass looking blade forged from what looked like metal torn from a subway car. In less than a minute he would be joined by two others carrying rifles of some kind trained on them but not fired.

It would be just as they reached the exit, the next stop along the subway line that all hell would break loose. Five of them would come barreling down the stairs in a sudden charge firing off plasma pistols into the tunnel and knocking loose bits of concrete in the process. Three of them rushed the medic and the android, one attempting to cling to it's back and tear loose its armored plating with a knife. The other two fired at the sniper and the quartermaster, trying to back them further into the tunnels. It was an attempt at separating the group not only from the camp but from each other.

Marcus sat on a large rock by the fire, a steaming bowl of stew clutched in his hands. He dunked his spoon into the bowl and brought it up to eye level. It was mostly a meat stew, elk and venison if Marcus' nose was to be believed. The spoon traveled to his mouth, and the taste of the stew filled his mouth with a comforting warmth. Marcus had spent the last three days eating MRE's, the stew was a delicious and welcome break. "This is some damn good grub, Slice." Marcus followed the statement with a salute with the spoon, and promptly proceeded to devour the bowl's contents.

Marcus sat by the fire, the parts to his rifle neatly spread out around him. He had cleaned, oiled, and inspected all of the parts, going over each one until every part was satisfactory. He assembled the rifle, quickly and methodically reassembling the weapon. Once the rifle was once more whole, Marcus loaded five rounds into the gun and flicked on the safety. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and began to walk around the camp. Trigger, Stylus, Azazel, and Camper were all down in the tunnels, searching for the river's source, leaving The Cap, Duchess, Slice, and himself topside. Girl Scout was still out, she'd reach the camp sometime tomorrow. It was a very uneasy situation, having the group as split up as it was. The scout group in the tunnels worried Marcus the most. Four members of the group were down in unknown territory, following a stream that went who-knows-where.

Almost as if on cue, Marcus began to hear gunfire coming from the subway tunnels. Marcus immediately took off, having reached a dead sprint by the time he hit the stairs.

Double Post, Ignore

Beyond the steps of the scouting team, there was nothing but silence. It wasn't long until they came across the larger subway room. The steps of some other presence filled her ears, which made Stylus flinch. The first shots, however, produced a different reaction.

“AH!” Stylus yelped as she instinctively moved closer to the more heavily armoured Azazel. She knew that the android appeared capable of taking a few hits. Her proximity with the android meant she would easily spot the first one leap towards Azazel with the intent to peel the armour away. Not really focusing on anything else, Stylus reared her left arm up for a straight punch to intercept the first close-range attacker. With a flash of green, the plasma incisor flared up. The arm and the blade were raised and poised to run the attacker through at the upper chest and neck area

At the same time, she tugged on her pistol, only to realise that she forgot to unhook the clasp. Regardless of whether the first attacker got impaled by the bright green cutter or not, the only thought on the doctor’s mind was Shit shit shit!

It was the waiting that had an odd effect on Katy , even if it really wasn't that long , but once you sit behind a rifle for a half hour and your heart starts racing as you anticipate your target things get a little drawn out. She could feel the vehicle draw closer to her and sure enough the van that had been following them peeked over the first hill... 1000 yards out.
She inhaled deeply and tried to keep her heart from racing as best she could. Her mouth felt dry, she could feel each heartbeat in her whole body as she doubled checked the wind age for the shot. Everything was still good.

800 yards and closing...

She exhaled deeply biting her lip as she watched the cross hair gently bounce with her heart beat. She shifted a hair so the cross hairs would rest where the car would pass. The Van passed over the last hill and was now coming straight at her, still a hundred yards further than she was zeroed. She rested her finger on the trigger as she watched as the Van trudged along. There was 2...no 3 people in the Van. A man and a woman at least if she had to guess, the Van's windshield was foggy.

Slowly Katy took up the slack on the two stage trigger, she could feel the metal holding the firing pin back hanging on the trigger.
Time both seemed to slow down and speed up in the moment in a bizarre focused swirl. The trigger broke clean and the rifle recoiled back into her shoulders, she could feel the force leave through the back of her feet as the recoil raced through her body.

The Van's windshield spider webbed and turned a dark color, but the car kept going.
Katy, shifted and took aim again, firing a second round through the passengers seat. Again the rifle recoiled as the windshield busted, not a moment later the van swerved and started spinning out of control, rolling four times... five as it stopped landing on it's wheels, smoke leaked from the hood of the now totaled vehicle. A Figured opened the side door and fell out.... crawling behind the Van to take cover. The dust kicked up from the van's tumble obscured Katy's vision.
She waited a moment... then another. A half hour passed before Katy picked up the two 50 caliber casings and crawled from her spiderhole to her bike. She replaced the .50 caliber rifle on her side cart and covered it up again with it's protective cloth and tossed the brass into the floorboards before driving down to the van.
She stopped maybe 50 yards from the Vehicle before she walked the rest.

She readied her battle rifle and started to flank the vehicle. Rifle shouldered she skirted around the side looking for the slightest bit of movement. Her heart pounded in her chest, she felt alive. The danger, the adrenaline. This was what she lived for.

A foot came into view, a smaller foot... Katy leaned a little and she felt a bile build up in the pit of her stomach.
It was a kid... Rush gone she lowered her rifle, they weren't going to pose a threat... the pool of blood suggested they had bled out.

Katy pulled up to the back of the van, avoiding the body on the outside of the Van. She opened the back of the van.
There were some personal belongings and some supplies but it was all jumbled and tossed around. The two bodies in the front of the car...or rather half bodies were missing parts which were mixed amongst the supplies.

The smell was gonna get to her before long if she didn't hurry. She grabbed what little food they had and packed it away.
They had a decent amount of water and other things such as medical supplies, Heck she even found a cast iron cooking set.
She packed it all away in her side cart before she went about siphoning the gas from the Van. She got 8 gallons of fuel and added i to the fuel barrel attached to the back of the side cart.

Crawling through the back of the van she searched the glove compartment and the two mangled bodies upfront. She found a map, two handguns and a few magazines. All and all it was a decent amount of gear.

She finished up and started her way back to the group, they'd need the fuel more than she did. It wasn't long down the road before her mind drifted back to the little shoe... She justified that they shouldn't have been trying to follow her family.
Her heart sank a little when she thought of that word. Odd how amped up she had been before...What was the difference between those lives and that of anyone else? It wasn't the killing that had bothered her least, not the adults...
She centered her self with the rumble of the motorcycle's engine and the passing country side. Empty for the moment she relaxed into auto pilot so to speak. Empty was a good thing.... She'd be home shortly... She might talk to the captain about what she had done later, or maybe the other person that would understand what she was feeling right now. On second thought the robot would be good to talk to...

Right after seeing the thing down at the exit of the tunnel, the robot was attacked behind her. All hell broke loose as she and Trigger were fired at while Stylus took care of the thing behind them. Out of instinct she dropped to her stomach, quickly taking aim, her goggles adjusting to get a closer look and becoming heat vision. As she took a deep breath time seemed to slow down for a second while straightening her shot before letting loose a bullet. Not wasting time to see if she hit, although she knows that she at least got the thing in the chest area, Valerie moved to target the one shooting at Trigger. Doing the same as before she shot at the other one, feeling the cold water soak through her shirt.

Having been in her own world for a moment while shooting she became surprised by the noises that seemed to suddenly come out from behind her. Instinctively trying to hide and keep from anything living being behind her, Valerie rolled herself into one of the side entrances she had noticed before this. With a unknown variable in her calculation her lower end didnt hit anything solid and instead went through the ground, making her fall through a hole. Being to surprised to yell out she fell and landed on her ass, a good inch or two of water surrounding her. When Valerie looked up at where she had been she could sort of see the ledge, a good story above her. She didnt notice anyone behind her until she felt something on her back when she went to check her weapon's condition.

She knew they were being followed, she could tell from the vaguest of shadows in her periphery and the occasional scuffling sound around them that they were slowly being surrounded by these, things. But she also knew that they were tenacious, and they could fight their way out of almost any situation. They could certainly handle a bunch of greasy sewer monkeys, couldn't they? Trigger felt the attack an instance before it came. It was nothing more than the slightest change in air pressure but it was enough to set off the alarms in her head and give her just enough time to draw her guns before they charged. The minimal light coming from the exit up ahead wasn't much but it was enough for her to see them. To her they appeared as shadowy figures, like moving darkness but it was enough for her to aim and shoot.

As they moved so did her pistols, one followed the three attacking Stylus and Azazel and another was trained on the two charging her and Camper. Camper managed to shoot both of the two that were firing at them and Trigger could definitely make out the spray of blood in the darkness. It was all she needed, she began barking orders of their comm channel while shooting both of the assailants in the same spot Camper had hit, over and over and over again. Azazel had made a good point, the medic needed the most protection, if she went down then they all would, eventually. "Everyone stay close, we don't know how many of these freaks there are down here and we need to get back to the rest of the group! Circle formation around Stylus, now!" The words had barely left her mouth when she felt Camper drop from beside her, she didn't move away she simply disappeared. "What the hell just happened?" was the first thing running through her mind but she didn't have time to focus on Camper, the two attacking her had fallen and were now just black blobs on the floor. She shifted her attention to Azazel and Stylus, doing her best to differentiate between friend and foe as she fired. She wasn't too worried about hitting the robot, he could be fixed up in an hour at most but people took time to heal, time they didn't have.

Trigger cot as close as she could to Stylus, still firing at the remaining two attackers. She had definitely hit both of them at least once but her tactic of shooting one spot repeatedly wasn't working this time. They were all moving too much for her to clearly tell which black mass was to be shot and which wasn't. On one occasion she even heard one of her shots ricochet off of something metallic and she prayed it was only a metal beam and not Azazel. In the turmoil she tried contacting Camper to see what had happened to her. "Camper, are you there? What the hell happened to you, you just vanished! Hello? Hello?!"

"Slice, I need you and Duchess to stay up here and keep watch of the camp we can't all be diving under the tunnels and leaving our camp wide open for attack. Nomad, you're on me. You watch my back, got that?" Captain jumped into command mode the second he heard the gunshots. He took up his gun, leaning against one of the tents he helped pitch a few minutes earlier. The Beowulf, a .50 destroyer of flesh and killer of vehicles, it should be enough to cut down a few tunnel rats. He jogged off towards the tunnels, expecting Marcus to be right on his tail as he cocked and loaded his gun and taking the safety off. "Azazel should have this under control but I'm not taking chances. We shoot to kill and get our people out of there."

He took the stairs quickly, eye on the sights, checking the corners before making his way down the tunnel along the side. The three figures that had been blocking their way back had shifted to attack mode rifles shooting short bursts of bullets down the way, suppressive fire on Azazel, who seemed to have completely decimated the rat who tried to disable him. The others met their death bloody with shots to the chest torso and throat from the combined shots by Trigger and Camper. Captain had a real hard time seeing down there and his torch was back in the back of his jeep. He cursed under his breath, not wanting to fire blindly towards where he knew his own group had been headed. He squinted into the darkness and suddenly a sharp pain pierced the back of his scull. Bright blue lines appeared outlining his vision as he saw it separating the few shadows he could make out and identifying them by shape and size. He could see Azazel, roughly and with the aid from the flash of guns and plasma he could make out the attackers raining fire on the group. Captain took a breath and squeezed the trigger for several short bursts. A few shots hit the concrete leaving giant holes and sending tiny clouds of concrete dust into the air and busting open pipes full of water and dead electric lines. He hit them however one square in the back with three shots and the other, the swordsman in the back of the head. The third one he clipped just barely, taking out his entire ear. He squeezed the trigger firing off rogue rounds that ricoched along the tunnel. "Are you lot ok? Anyone hurt?" The captain called down the tunnel, lowering his weapon.

The one tunnel rat with his ear blown off screamed and writhed on the tracks holding the side of his head. His large round blue eye implants waving back and forth as blood dribbled down his neck and between his filthy fingers. "Where the hell is Camper?" The Captain demanded.


Meanwhile down in the lower tunnel a small troupe of tunnel dwellers approached the sniper carefully from behind. She would have just briefly seen several pairs of bright blue lights before getting a rifle butt to the head. Camper would be carried, her weapons and devices confiscated off her person and her wrists tied together with leather strips. She was being held in the old maintenance offices just a few stations down track where the gentle trickle of water becomes a wide flowing river flowing around the dead remains of a derailed subway train. It was a makeshift cell and she was restrained against piping that came out of the wall and ran up the wall to the ceiling. The door to the cell was heavy and metal with blue lettering sprayed across it. There was one other figure in there with her. A red head like the rest but his eyes where not altered, they where a pale gray as was his skin, lacking pigment, almost papery. There where shadows under his eyes and his teeth seemed rotted to hell. He was human alright, but the look in his eyes looked anything but. He would be the one asking questions and making demands.

Stylus finally managed to get the pistol out after she deactivated the plasma cutter and dropped the dead attacker. At that point, the order to form up around the doctor was made.

”Oh thank goodness,” she thought as she kept her arm raised to hopefully block any shots that came directly for her. After flipping the safety off, she was finally ready to fight. By that time, however, reinforcements had arrived and finished off the three that were attacking Azazel at range. Most every contact was taken out.

"Are you lot ok? Anyone hurt?" The Captain called to them.

Stylus glanced down at her body to notice a stray shot had punched into her left leg. The doctor was surprised she didn't notice it until just now. The bullet did not leave an exit wound, but Stylus could definitely feel it had been stopped by the much tougher alloyed bone replacement. With her cybernetic arm, she bent down and carefully pulled it out, wincing as she did so. “Left leg’s hit, but I’ll live,” Stylus reported as she focused her weight on her right leg, “I’ll need better lighting to patch this up, though.”

"Where the hell is Camper?" the Captain demanded. That young sniper… That was a good question. What did happen to her? Stylus was completely focused on trying not to get badly wounded that she never saw where the sniper went. Camper couldn’t have gotten far, even if she was captured.

Stylus approached one of the dead riflemen. With her cybernetic arm, she picked up the rifle and started using it as a makeshift crutch- at least until she got back to camp where the lighting was better. The rifle seemed to be a POS that the doctor couldn't use anyway.

Marcus caught up to The Captain just as the hot shells from his rifle hit the floor. Marcus had been quick, but the Captain was quicker, as usual. Marcus kept his pistol drawn and began scanning the tunnels as the Captain spoke to the others. The tunnel was dark, but Marcus' eyes began to adjust as he took in his surroundings. They were in a large tunnel, with a track running down the middle. There were several passages to the sides, leading off to different tunnels and stations. "Where the hell is Camper?" Marcus spun around, quickly looking for her, or at least a sign of her. Camper had disappeared, and had left no evidence of her departure.

Marcus walked over to The Cap, holstering his pistol. "Captain, my best guess is that Camper went down one of these side passages. Most likely unwillingly, Valerie was not one for desertion. But captive or not, Camper is now lost in an unknown network of tunnels." Marcus took one more look around, his eyes attempting to notice any small details. "You know, Cap... I could go look for her. Help you get the others back to camp, grabbing my pack, and coming back to these tunnels to find her. I could move quickly on my own, try and catch up with her, wherever she is." Marcus looked down for a moment, then back up towards the Captain."Or... I could wait until Girl Scout catches back up with the group. Gives us time to plan... and it's less risky." Marcus looked as if the words left a bitter taste in his mouth, the idea of leaving someone behind very unappealing. "Your call, Cap."

A Pagan In The House of Hades...

Jason laid there, on his stomach, motionless. His weapon slung on his back, his heart pounding in his chest. He had been looking for supplies for quiet some time now, on the surface but he knew better. He found some things but not what he needed. Jason needed fuel. He had arrived here a few days back in hopes of finding diesel fuel for that monster of vehicle that he so endearingly called Erika. Without that, he was stuck here, and to get it he knew he would have to get out of his comfort zone. He had observed a small group the day before and he followed them to the tunnels but ceased his pursuit at the entrance to avoid a panic attack. He suspected that they had fuel and he was not going to trade for it, he didn't have anything to trade. He couldn't go in there... He couldn't go in there...but he had to. And there he was, barely making it.

He swallowed the spit in his mouth, whipped the sweat of his head and ventured onward. And onward...And Onward. His heart accelerated, his breathe became shallow, his mouth dry. I'm not lost...I'm not lost....please God for once help me... He told himself in his head. He was on the verge of breaking and then he begun to spot the signs of people. Trash...clothes...and other such items. He followed this trail stopping at times to calm himself and other times to scavenge some items he considered interesting. And then...gunshots...and not too far by the sounds of it. He was startled half to death, stopped dead in is tracks and dropped to the ground. He nervously looked over his shoulder then removed the sweat off his brow. Maybe I should head back.... He played with this thought for a little bit but then he had an unusually bold idea.

Jason unslunged the carbine and adjusted the collapsible stock, loaded it and chambered a round. He could use this "Fuck.", he cursed allowed. "Here we go again.". Hoping that the conflict up ahead would silence his movement, he hastened his pace and rushed forward, his rifle at the high ready. It wasn't too far up that he found the remains of a small camp. There wasn't anyone there but their belongings had been there. Jason looked through them quickly and without shame. Times were tough and who could hate a thief who stole in order to survive? "Where is it...Cmon... Cmon...Shit..".

The survivors down here had some food and water, which he took , batteries, also claimed, and some other items he didn't find too interesting but they did not have anything even close to fuel. Jason had taken a gamble, ventured into these dark and uncharted tunnels for fuel and he had come up empty handed. "Just stay calm...you can get out...your not trapped...your not alone...your not alone...", He told himself. "Don't cower in fear...your gonna be fine...".

It took some a little bit to collect himself but he got up got his rifle and searched around a bit more. This 2nd search paid off, Jason found something he had overlooked. With the flashlight from his rifle, he read what appeared to be a map of the tunnels. Jason actually felt a little bit of hope in him. He set down his Rucksack in a corner and grabbed what appeared to be a very filthy blanket. He covered himself and the map to dim the light in case anyone was coming back and he attempted to chart an escape. There was one marked on the map and his current location was also marked already by the tunnels were like interlocking webs. "Nothings ever easy anymore.", he muttered to himself and collected his things, placing the map in his pocket and continued to walk in the direction he believed would take him to the exit. He still recalled that there was a firefight somewhere in these tunnels and so he kept his rifle ready, hoping he wouldn't have to but ready to take a life should he need to.