|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:28 pm
Angelina crossed her arms and looked defensively at Em. "Excuse my vocabulary but that's what I meant. Did it crash because of a malfunction or because it was shot out of the sky? Or did it even get to the sky?"
Feeling her anger rise, aggitated obviously by the situation she just threw up her hands and turned harshly on her heels, re-taking Ambrose's hand and following him into the jungle.
She mumbled something to herself, but Ambrose could probably make it out "youth diplomat" mumbled out in a sing-song bitter manner.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:39 pm
Emelyn followed along behind the couple and Amaya, feeling a thick bile rise in her throat. She truly believed that Ambrose was sorry- though it didn't come as much of a comfort to her, she didn't have the desire to yell at him like she did before, screaming at him that he'd used her. ...But as much as she silently forgave Ambrose in that moment, she built up as much resentment towards the woman he'd left her for.
...He left me... for this? She thought, holding back tears and furious curse words at the same time as they made their way back to the scene of the horror- would it seem as horrible to her as this did? ...Why would Ambrose want such a spiteful creature? She'd not done anything to hurt Angelina, and yet, here she was, taunting her, whispering, leaping into Ambrose's arms and being defensive.
Emelyn didn't let herself realize that Angelina might have cause to be uncomfortable with her. She may think "I've done nothing to her", but really... hadn't she been the 'other woman'? ...There was so much to reconcile Em to this situation... but so little of it that was happening.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:49 pm
Ambrose winced at the mocking tone in Angelina's words. This was doing anything but helping things.
"Please.... we're in this together... all of us...." He looked pleadingly towards Angelina. Things were hard enough already - the bitterness of both of the ladies towards eachother... he wished that he could do something to see them both smile.. both of them happy. He cared more than he could say for Angelina... but he had also come to really value his connection with Emelyn that had been roughly severed on that fateful night... after that bitter argument. He had entertained the ideal that maybe things could be okay again - that maybe if they met they could all be friends.... but that little fantasy world seemed to be crashing down around his ears at the snide comments and bitter looks. He could only imagine what they were actually thinking - not that he wanted to.
But what could he say to make things better? To reassure Angelina that Emelyn wasn't a 'threat'... and not rub it in Emelyn's face even more that he was with Angelina again? He let out a growling sigh of frustration. 'Why can't we all just get along' flashed through his mind, and the ineffectiveness that stating that thought aloud would likely bring.
"We're not enemies here.... or at the very least, I want very much for us not to be." He finally stated.
Fortunately the edge of the jungle wasn't much further as the black tarmac slowly became visable through the trees.
Ambrose hung back. "I... don't particularly care to see it again - and I'm willing to bet that Amaya feels the same. I still can't get the smell out of my nose from the first time. "
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:52 pm
Amaya stopped once Ambrose had, still hanging a few paces behind him. She didn't want to see it again either... Keeping her green eyes focused on the ground, she remained silent.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:57 pm
Angelina didn't acknowledge Ambroses condiscending belittling to her feelings. She was -not- in a good mood, and while most of it was displaced frustration with her whole life at the moment, her being bitter at Emelyn seemed like the least of their problems.
She just gave a cold stare back to Ambrose and just waited for someone to start walking. She didn't know where the hell she was.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:09 pm
Em simply nodded at Ambrose, and gave a sympathetic look to Amaya. "Going it alone then," she said, more to herself than anyone else. "Alright. Be back in a minute." ...Hopefully, she thought, and she stepped out of the jungle onto the square of tarmac. Immediately, her senses were accosted by a horrible sight.
From the dense surrounding jungle, the air had smelled and tasted of ocean salt, the sounds were twittering birds and the feeling of being pressed in at all sides by foliage. Here, in the square, her hedgehog olfactory system could practically taste the charred flesh on the air. ...It wasn't Emelyn's first time around the dead- but certainly the first time she'd been able to experience it in this sort of gut-wrenching, powerful animal senses. Even breathing through her mouth didn't do her much good, and she just swallowed it down and made her way to what could vaguely be called... a helicopter.
It was charred- almost beyond recognition, though there wasn't any indication that it wasn't the same, familiar helicopter that had always been there. She had no reason to think it was a different one. But those thoughts were all to stall time, and she forced her boot-clad feet to walk directly up to the open side.
The inside was completely ruined. There was nothing usable left, and certainly nothing recognizable. Even those charred bodies... they could be anyone, so destroyed were they from the flames. Emelyn had regretted the possibility that she'd have to crawl over them to see the innards of the machine- looking for the source of its destruction- but now she saw, almost gladly, that there was no way a further inspection could help her bare eye. The inside had been completely demolished.
The outside... wasn't much help either. It didn't look so completely wrecked as the inner 'coffin'- but there were parts all over the helipad. No one side looked as if it had smashed to the ground, but she couldn't be sure- pieces of the metal had come flying off at all angles.
She took a deep breath, then regretted that she had once she walked back to the jungle edge. She didn't know who she should focus her words to, so she just turned away from Amaya, fearing she'd upset her further.
"The inside is completely blown to bits- there was obviously a fire. The outside doesn't look... quite as demolished, but I looked for a crash point and I really can't tell. What it looks like now is that it was blown up from the inside... maybe when it was still on the ground, or just taking off, or landing. To be honest though?" She looked at Angelina, "it could have crashed. I wish I were more help. But there's no impact mark. Just a lot of destruction."
((This all gained from what was said about the helicopter through IoDM posts and Ambrose posts. ^___^ tried not to manipulate anything.))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:35 pm
Ambrose waited within the treeline, but the smell was already accosting his nose again. he hadn't even noticed as his sense of smell had slowly been returning until the smelled of charred flesh and rubber and twisted metal hit him again as he approached the wreckage, letting Emelyn do her thing.
He felt hated - both by Angelina and Emelyn - for something that wasn't really his fault. It was such a unique situation, and it pained him to see things falling apart when they were finally getting better.... at least from his limited scope of being with Angelina. However, it was obvious that at least from Emelyn's side, things were NOT getting better.
But could they? If they banded together in this hour of need could they be a functioning group, or would the bickering and resentment pull them apart?
And most importantly .... could they both forgive him? Ambrose gave a small smile to Amaya, running his padded hand over her mop of hair. At least she wasn't involved in this twisted relationship. She was there - a little sister... someone he could help without the awkwardnesses.
But Ambrose said nothing to Angelina in response. Let her be mad... maybe it would help, he thought self-depreciatingly.
Ambrose didn't look up again until Emelyn's words called out to him with the status. It wasn't very informative, but it was a confirmation that the damage was as bad as he had surmised. Certainly nothing usable from the wreckage. Perhaps there had been a bomb on board from the description? But who...? And regardless, he had heard the explosion from the air... it had to have exploded, and then crashed, not just crashed.
"I wonder who did it... and why.." He mused quietly.
He shook his head. "Let's try to get to the labs. See if we can find anyone who knows what the hell is going on - if this is some sort of twisted punishment... a test... or a real emergency."
He stood up again, and circumventing the helipad, made his way towards the narrow dirt road that would lead to the labs.
((Technically breaking - will meet up at a scheduled time tomorrow - but posts may filter in if whoever is next wishes to reply))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:41 pm
She gave a tiny smile up at Ambrose as her ruffled her hair, though it fell right off once Emelyn came back and let them know.
The lizard-girl gulped at this new information, mouth looking as though it was sealed shut. Blown up from the inside? Oh god... what if it was someone from the island that had tried to escape?
Keeping quiet, she followed the group towards the labs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 4:28 pm
Ambrose was in no mood to stay by the crash site any longer than necessary, and as soon as he was sure that the trio of ladies was following, skirted the helipad to the dirt path, emerging from the jungle blinking into the late afternoon light.
Things were much easier going on the packed dirt than fanangling his way through briars and thick foliage of the jungle.... though for him at least, not as hard as it had once been. But with three people, the going had been slow considering how little actual distance they had covered.
He kept quiet during the walk. He had considered some small talk, but wiht how tense things were, it would only fall flat. He did keep a furry hand in Angelina's, and would often glance back to make sure that Amaya and Emelyn were indeed still back there.
After about ten or fifteen minutes of uncomfortable silence, the tall metal gates with the ironically suiting Feral Labs logo with a wolf head loomed over them. twenty-foot chain link fence stretched from either side, forming a double barrier between the jungle and the clearcut land of the complex.
Just like outside the village, the complex was dead quiet. No electric hums, no sign of lights or movement. A jeep was the only vehicle that sat in the dirt parking lot beyond the gate.
Ambrose looked up at the monolithic, closed gate and the fence, with a large warning sign indicating a nasty electric charge that would be delivered if it's touched.
"Welcome to Jurassic Park" Ambrose murmured under his breath as he took in the obstacle.
An intercom box was on a post outside of the gate, and Ambrose punched the call button... The only noise it made was the tak of his claws on the plastic as the button was pushed in. No buzz, no pickup, no nothing.
((New posting order: Ambrose - Angelina - Emelyn - Amaya))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 4:32 pm
Angie never realized how much like Jurassic Park this place now feeled, and a creepy feeling crept into her stomach as she thought about it. She looked up into the sky, praying there would be any thunderstorms until they figured out what was going on.
She looked over the scenery, being quiet and silently brooding to herself.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 4:37 pm
"Lockdown," Em said, mostly to herself, though she was standing closest to Amaya. There was not a self-hating bone in her body that would have ever possessed her to stand even a fraction of an inch closer to the hand-holding couple. She ignored it... realizing all the while that it still made her a little sick to her stomach.
"If there's no electricity in the intercom, maybe we could scale the fence," Em said tenatively, narrowing her eyes in the sun and staring cautiously at the monstrosity of a gate. "Well, we could try, anyway..." she said softer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 4:42 pm
She had hoped to never seen that horrible building again. With a shudder she walked up to the gate and looked at it, then over to the fence. The electricity was off even up to the labs? Large, clawed feet clicked on the pavement as she stood in front of the fence and held her ear up to it. No buzz, no nothing.
They had never been this hi-tech, but she had seen electric fences before to keep cattle and horses inside and coyotes out. "I can't believe even the fence is off..." She said, mostly to herself. Though the second Emelyn had mentioned 'scale the fence' Amaya was on it.
Every long finger and toe would puncture through a hole in the fence as she climbed it rather easily and quickly. Her tail would sway back and forth with her movements and in no time she was sitting at the top and jumping down on the other side. "Well... that was easy." She blinked and looked back to the others on the other side of the fence.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 4:48 pm
Ambrose hesitated at the pronouncement that the fence was likely off. He approached it warily, sniffing. Well, he didn't smell any of the ozone that tended to come from charged objects.
Before he could test it or say something, however, Amaya was on it.
"Amaya!" He called out instinctively, fur on end, half expecting to see fried lizard girl come bouncing off the fence. However, he was relieved to see her continue to climb up. "You should have tested it first!" He reprimanded. "You could have electrocuted yourself!" He exasperated, but shook his head. "... But nice work!" He added with a half-smie.
At least she was alright. And Ambrose placed a hand on the fence himself. It was cool to the touch, no jolt of electricity. Letting go of Angelina's hand for the first time since reuniting with her, he slowly started to climb - much less adapted for the work than Amaya, but agile enough to not be met with too much problem. Especially not wearing shoes.
Pausing about 3/4 up the fence, he looked down at the other two. "Either of you need assistance?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 4:56 pm
Angelina pulled Ambrose's shirt down and chewed on her bottom lip. Praising the heavens she was wearing underwear, Angelina started up after Ambrose.
Being small and limber, helped, but the fact that she was only in socks made the wires cut into the bottoms of her feet uncomfortably. Regardless, she gave a smile and nod to Ambrose as he looked back. "No, I'm fine."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 5:01 pm
Emelyn was the last one standing at the bottom of the gate, looking up at the absolutely absurd sight. On the other side of the wire was a half lizard girl, and climbing up to join her was a guy with a tail and the half-naked usurper, who was being stubborn again, Em noted- not accepting help- although now she had some idea that maybe Angelina just had an independent personality, and hadn't been being rude earlier. But that was almost a positive thought about her. And Em didn't want to entertain any of those. Not now.
"No thank you," she said simply, and not very loudly at all- why strain her voice? Ambrose could hear her just fine. And if she screamed, she might startle Angelina and she'd fall. .......... No, she thought. I really shouldn't.
As the others scaled, Em reached down and yanked at the laces of her behemoths, untying them at no fast pace. Then she slipped them off, revealing her sockless hedgehog-esque feet, complete with paw pads, a light downing of fur, and claw-like toenails. Socks didn't fit her anymore, so she never bothered to wear them. But she wasn't quite willing to give up her beloved behemoths, and she tied the laces together, then strung them around her neck and scaled the fence with the others.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
