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 Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 12:55 am
Their tiny resistance had grown, and was undoubtedly the most powerful in Barren Pines. Also the one least utilized.
If the other pockets of Barren Pines students were teams, the one that lived in the second gym shed was probably Team Restrained. Hero had laid down the rules of the land at the start. Serenade was not to go out unless accompanied by herself or Miss Thorne, more preferably herself, and more preferably not as Sailor Chronos. Hero Barrett had the gun. She was still fruitlessly trawling for bullets.
Then along came Elke, who turned out to be Sailor Virgo.
Then along came Giselle, who turned out to be Sailor Libra.
God knew how Andeon's head had come along. She was still reasoning out solutions for that, and all of them involved a bucket of boiling oil. No. Andeon Boskovic had been terrible enough with his body and human. A monstrous head? She was starting to get a pressure headache.
But Hero Barrett was someone who rose to the occasion; she argued the toss with Elke and Giselle ceaselessly now, though Giselle raised her perfect blonde eyebrows in the stance of who died and made YOU king? Serenade was always sneaking out, as though some kind of terrible longing took her, and knew now how to plead and open up her eyes in a wide, sad way like an unhappy kitten. Hero did not plea bargain with anyone who chose to look like a kitten over the course of the agreement. Nonetheless, she found her damn way out anyway, and left Hero alone and cursing when she came back to a room that solely had Miss Thorne in it.
Aurelia could only do so much.
It was another one of those days where it was just herself and Aurelia; she'd found a box of ammo (though it also contained staples), which considering Hero's aim was probably no good for anyone. Hero refused to believe this. She sorted painstakingly through the box for bullets that matched her pistol. She'd never done this before.
Senshi.
What the Hell was she going to do?
"I saw somebody setting up fortifications last night," she said, a little rambling -- they really had all been in the gym room too long -- "I've no idea what for. It's getting more and more difficult to sneak out. I suggest we curtail our activities to night only. What do you think, Miss Thorne?"
Translation: please agree with what I'm saying, Miss Thorne.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 1:21 am
The petite chestnut haired girl was sitting on a pile of cobalt blue exercise mats that really had seen better days; threadbare was an understatement, but they were mercifully free of blood or fire damage. Aurelia had used up her personal antiseptic wipe to clean off the surface, forgiving herself only because she swore that if someone was in need of medical attention at least the only dirt and grime would come from Aurelia herself. Which was a rather good outcome, as Aurelia had not left the gym since the first day of Armageddon Lockdown and still looked pristine, if a bit rumpled.
"Whyever for? Zombies can outlast a siege far better than us frail humans. Seems rather pointless, but I guess we all have our ways of dealing with crisis. Miss Barrett I really wish yours did not involve a firearm."
This was Miss Thorne criticizing. They had been in the gym for a very, very long time, and Aurelia's way of dealing with crisis was to figure out schedules-- but what sort of schedule could one come up with when both Elke and Serenade were constantly ducking out, forcing Miss Barrett to follow them. They obviously didn't understand the import of a well laid plan. Hero did, but her shadowed eyes betrayed the fact that she was barely holding things together. This was hell.
"Whatever you say, Miss Barrett," Aurelia said wearily, the back of her skull hitting the painted concrete blocks of the gym walls with a dull thump, "but Miss Chronos and Miss Virgo, and even Miss Libra now, seem to work on their own schedule. I haven't managed to figure out how to prevent them from doing what they will, and really, they are far better equipped to deal with the zombie scourge than we are. We'll need batteries if we are to venture out at night, the flashlights died yesterday."
Aurelia was exhausted. She hadn't slept, not really, just napped every once in awhile when Miss Barrett forced her to. Who could sleep when your entire world had been turned upside down? Who could sleep when the Senshi were constantly driving Miss Barrett out of the safety of the gym, well, the relative safety, and out in to the cold where there were awful lumbering former classmates? Aurelia had about had it with their antics, none of them even seemed bothered by the fact that Miss Barrett could possibly be harmed. They were Senshi, they worked on a different scale then a human like Miss Barrett, though Aurelia knew that Miss Barrett saw things differently. They could fix the zombies, turn them to Senshi, but what if Miss Barrett wasn't? They had had enough chances to change her to one, and Miss Barrett had obviously placed herself in to multiple dangerous situations in the past couple of days, and yet, she was still just like Aurelia herself. Human, and so very, very fragile.
So Aurelia stayed awake, worrying, every time that Hero left in a rush, gun already half cocked, feeling her heart plummet for the nine thousandth time, hoping that she'd return.
"We're also low on rations," was all that Aurelia offered in regards to the "Hero is not invincible" subject.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 2:00 am
'Rations' mainly consisted of pop-tarts. They had gotten quite a few boxes of pop-tarts. Hero had bitched about this manfully inside her head, putting them forward as 'energy food' for the other girls (and she refused to feed the Andeonhead; if he was getting food, it was surreptitiously given from the other girls). They were still inundated with water. Perishables went off. The other students were scavenging, too.
"We'll just do portion control," she said, a little dismissively. She'd noticed the shadows beneath Aurelia's eyes even as Aurelia had noticed hers; saying anything would have made Miss Thorne embarrassed, humiliated even. So she did not. Aurelia in turn had not noted her bitterness at having Hero out with senshi; mainly because that would have humiliated Miss Barrett even more. Hero did not take humiliation well.
Five people and one head in one space was not the best, but they were coping.
"We have no room to get a mass defense up," she said, though it was more like Hero was mumbling to herself. "We've got too much to lose."
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 4:06 pm
Aurelia was also not the largest fan of Andeonhead, though he did at least seem to be full of outrageous stories and rumours, which kept their minds off the thundering at the gym doors as their former classmates tried to gain entry. Their locking system was a discarded shovel; the handle was a shoddy piece of amalgamated wood, not much better than plywood, and there would be a point where it would stop holding the doors closed.
Everything is inevitable, but Aurelia had rather hoped that their deaths would have either come swiftly or not come at all. If only there was a way out of this blasted place, but Aurelia understood that if they were stuck here, they were stuck here. There would be no way that Miss Barrett, with her copious skills, could have bypassed an exit if there was one to be found. While it was comforting to have complete faith in a person, at the same time when they found themselves faltering it made believing in yourself all the more harder. Aurelia felt completely and totally useless- even perhaps a drain on the others.
Sighing, Aurelia knelt beside Miss Barrett, shuddering as her bare knees hit the cold gym floor. If anything, Miss Barrett was not a complainer. And neither was Aurelia, which was why it was a tad odd that she put her hand on the side of the wooden box that held the bullets.
"I don't see a way out, do you? I had taken the liberty of looking at the Barren Pines blueprints a few months ago, for a class project, and there's only one way in and out. Not even anywhere in the school that is oddly proportioned, nothing to belay the fact that there might be a secret exit of some sort," Aurelia was not meeting Miss Barrett's eyes. This was also odd, Aurelia was quite forward in regards to Miss Barrett, "We are already rationing what little food we have left, and the Senshi are our best chance, I know but... its not like they're protecting us, you know? We're here, and human right now, but for how long Hero? I'd rather my fate be in my own hands thank you very much."
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 7:12 pm
Hero. Aurelia had called her Hero. She looked away; it was a little too personal, too naked to address. Things were fairly bad if she was being called her Christian name. She instead focused on the bullets, the metal cool in her fingers, warming up if she rolled them around in her palm. There were enough to reload. She did it painstakingly, like somebody who had obviously Googled how-to and found a wikipedia article, step by agonised step. Hero Barrett did not want to screw this up. Hero never screwed anything up.
Jude Lawson would have laughed.
Possibly known how to shoot, too. That would have annoyed her. Something in her told her that Jude Lawson probably had excellent aim, flawless aim. It would have grated terribly, and she would have been glad of it. "Apparently fate's been left to other people," she said shortly. "I have faith in Serenade. In Chronos, that is. I have faith in Giselle and Elke, as I have faith in their -- senshi forms."
She still carried the word as though it were a dead rat. "Look. They are probably the last, best hope for Barren Pines. If Serenade can rehabilitate the zombies, I will do all I can to keep her alive, even if I appear to be a mere human."
Aurelia could hear the little bit of bitterness in her voice. Humanity wasn't sitting well on Hero.
"It's not our responsibility any more to try to take down a horde of zombies, Miss Thorne -- oh, goddamn 'Miss Thorne' to hell. Aurelia, last a little longer. That's all I ask of you."
This was embarrassing. She said after a moment: "Get some rest."
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 7:37 pm
Calling her Hero had been an honest mistake. It had always been "Miss Barrett" to her, "Miss Thorne" in return; it had never been discussed, they had just never bothered addressing each other in any other way. It was formal, it was a bit standoffish, slightly offensive to the general population, but that was rather normal for the two of them. Aurelia blamed the slip on her lack of sleep and the general hell of the situation, though Miss Barrett didn't seem offended-- she offered 'Aurelia' in return. That was also odd. Aurelia took a moment to ponder this, watching Miss Barrett run through her daily check on the ammo with half lidded eyes.
It was hard not to just follow Miss Barrett's instructions; Aurelia had spent the better part of... however long they had been alive or whatever it was that they were, deferring to Miss Barrett's will. It wasn't really that Aurelia was weak willed, it was more that she recognized that Miss Barrett was a rather strong cup of coffee-- and deferring to her was better than constant fights. Because they could fight, though their spats were short and sparse and usually involved thinly veiled insults towards the others parental figure. Well-bred "Yo Momma" jokes, as it was.
"Forgive me if I don't have the highest regard towards a group of frilly dressed girls running around willy-nilly through the populace," Aurelia's voice was a little shaky-- she didn't often disagree with Miss Barrett, "I haven't seen them do anything for our former peers; I've heard of the success with Giselle, with Elke. But that is rather selfish, is it not? You've said it before, Serenade has not a clue what she's doing, just tears out of here as though hell is at her heels, Giselle and Elke following and you, blast it all, picking up the rear! And then you come back looking shaken, or with another Senshi or with Andeon's head, whatever are those girls thinking, and always ALWAYS with less bullets than when you left. I feel like a simpering housewife from the 40s, staying behind to look after the children, but there is NOTHING for me to look after except for some pop tarts. I am being very selfish, and i am aware that I have had little sleep and I'm sure my synapses are not firing correctly, but I can offer nothing to them, not even to you right now, and I think I'll go take a walk."
Aurelia's move to a standing position was a little shaky, a little unsure, but her lips were set in a grim line.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 7:49 pm
"Like hell you'll go and take a walk." Hero had shot to her feet, and there was the famous temper again -- Hero Barrett's temper was not the talk of the town, but only because she battened it (barely) under control. Aurelia had seen it. Aurelia was usually calm through it, while Hero committed what could only be termed 'property damage'. "Don't you dare defy me now. Listen to me, Aurelia Thorne. You will stay here. You will get some rest. If you walk out that door -- if you walk out of that door..."
The threat hung in the air. The tension was now thick and ugly, and she was staring wild-eyed at the prim-mouthed, curly-haired girl who was usually her best friend in all the world. Hero's hands were clenched in fists; one of the fists held an irregular bullet, which she addressed as "s**t," and flung it against the wall as hard as she could. "I will bar that door if I have to," she said. "Don't cross me. Bringing up the rear? Bringing up the rear? I'm the only one of them with any sense for caution, and that's including Petrova! Elke Arma would walk off a building if you laid a candy trap! Serenade Soriano thinks she can solve the world with hugs!"
But -- "And they are, yes, they are our only hope, goddamn you, they can do things we can't, things I -- things I can't -- so yes I will protect them with my life."
Yes, she was getting irrational now. Her cheeks were flaming hot. "Close your mouth. I know what you're going to say. You're going to say I'm running on my own self-importance. Thorne, you are NOT DOING THIS TO ME -- "
It was at this unfortunate moment that Serenade did the 'permission knock'. Both girls stared at each other, and then Hero went to unlatch the shovel.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:03 pm
Serenade had frozen, her fist hovering inches away from the door; she could hear Hero shouting, albeit not quite clearly to make out what exactly they had been talking about. She could have sworn that she heard her name, and considered drawing back and waiting. She didn't want to interrupt a private conversation, although it sounded bad, and she couldn't let it continue any longer. Hero and Aurelia were best friends, weren't they? It was probably just the stress and tension descending on them that they were acting this way. The girl steeled herself to be as calm as possible and then knocked.
Serenade Soriano entered the room, trying to smile at both Hero and Aurelia (though it was a very awkward smile). "I'm sorry." She said. For some reason, she felt like them fighting was all her fault; she honestly didn't mean to sneak out and cause them so much worry. Lately, she had been taken to talking with Andeon, Elke and Giselle in the safety of the second gym, though she knew that she would have to reason with Hero that she needed to go out and find other senshi. Not alone, of course. She knew that.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:19 pm
"Defy you? Cross you? Good lord, Hero, I'm not a caged rabbit, and I'm not going to have you order me around because you finally have a pistol."
Serenade's knock distracted Aurelia momentarily but she was seething beneath her calm exterior. She wasn't yelling; Aurelia Thorne rarely raised her voice, and she wasn't going to give Hero the benefit of seeing her lose her cool. Not when she was treating her like she was.
"Good evening, Serenade," Aurelia said tersely, her teeth bared in an attempt at a smile. If this had been any other moment, Aurelia would have just let things go-- both girls were stressed past their breaking points, and Aurelia liked to laud herself for being the bigger person in these situations. But she was having a very, very hard time being the bigger person at the moment-- and, aggrievously , Aurelia continued their "conversation".
"I am going to do this to you Miss Barrett," Aurelia's tone dripped acid, "because no one else has the gall to say anything to you. You are running around half cocked with a pistol and while I trust my life with you more than I do with the Senshi, excuse me Serenade, you are still acting as though you can do things and you can't and neither can I. They should protect US with THEIR lives, but you're Hero Barrett, they'd never question you risking everything for them! They think you're invincible! YOU think you're invincible! What will I do when you die?"
Beat.
"We're all going to die! I might as well go face it now, I can't face them coming back without you."
Poor Serenade. This was not entirely the sort of fight you want to have an audience to. Or BE an audience to.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:21 pm
"WE ARE NOT CONTINUING THIS CONVERSATION RIGHT NOW, THORNE."
Hero and Aurelia were best friends, but when Serenade walked in the room it was more 'two people she had just stopped from killing each other'. Aurelia looked snooty and remote, and Hero looked as though she were on the very verge of losing control of her temper. Her cheeks were red. That smile was so awkward.
The first human member of the team gave a smile through what looked to be a little like clenched teeth. Hero always felt the need to smile back at Serenade, a little bit like a dog who had learned a trick. Smile. Grit-teeth smile. "Miss Soriano," she said, falling back in the familiar miss mode of speaking. Overwhelming whipped politeness. "You're back."
Chronos.
Oh, God, it was the voice again.
"Did you find anything?"
I know. I'm sorry. I really am. This is awkward. I wasn't going to do it this early -- but I'm worried about what's going to happen.
Hero was prattling on a little, obviously still trying to disguise her temper, eyes never darting towards the curly-haired girl: "I'm going to cut our food rations. Poptarts are, thankfully, more breakable than not. They come in packets of two already. It'll be easy enough to make them into quarters..."
It's Aurelia.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:35 pm
Serenade stared at Aurelia and they might have noticed that she was opening her mouth as to retort; she had awakened two senshi and she still wasn't very confident of her own skills despite what they might think, but promptly closed it. Aurelia was right after all, though Serenade had been befuddled as to why Hero was protecting them, more specifically her, she attributed it to Jude asking Hero to do so. She didn't want Hero to die anymore than Aurelia did.
Then, the voice came and her heart beat a little faster at what it was saying. "Aurelia?" She squeaked out, eyes on the brunette. Her? Aurelia Thorne was... one of her senshi? Serenade Soriano looked confused. They had been locked up here for so long, and now they learned that one of the senshi they had been looking for had been here with them all this while?
This was confusing.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:44 pm
Yes. I'm sorry, I really am. You don't have to touch her starseed -- just touch her.
If it was confusing Serenade, it was confusing the other two just as much. Hero finally, relucantly let her eyes dart over to Aurelia, though she flicked them back just as quickly. Tried to see what Serenade was seeing; couldn't. Maybe she was just squealing at how furious Aurelia had been. This was the Occam's razor answer, so Hero just began: "Don't worry about it -- "
I know this is overwhelming.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:48 pm
Serenade's eyes were wide with confusion, even though she very well knew what the voice had meant by speaking Aurelia's name by now. Why now, why not earlier? There were so many questions she wanted to ask this voice, but instead, she stepped forward, reached over and touched Aurelia's arm gingerly.
This was very overwhelming indeed.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:51 pm
Aurelia's arms were crossed so hard that she looked like she was trying to crush her own ribcage-- maybe she was, she had been trying to "take a walk" when there were the undead rummaging around outside-- she was still furious, still had scathing words on her tongue that she wanted to fling at Hero, wanted to hurt her because maybe, just MAYBE she'd stop acting as if she could fix all the ills in the world.
The way Serenade was staring at her was a kind of disconcerting look that Aurelia had never seen on her face before- Serenade was sort of lost in space but Aurelia still had the feeling she was staring at her. At the mention of her name, Aurelia's arms unclenched briefly, and she sighed heavily.
"I'm sorry Miss Soriano, that was uncalled for. Miss Barrett..." Aurelia, about to apologize, turned back to Serenade-- she was still staring at her.
"Miss Soriano, is something the matter?"
And then she touched her arm.
"Oh hell no..."
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:55 pm
Hero was simply staring. A white spark came off where Serenade touched Aurelia: confirmation, something, anything. All of a sudden Serenade rippled out of existence and into Chronos, complete with the puffed skirt and the vine-riddled bodice, and she was still touching Aurelia: the white sparks were growing even as Aurelia looked more and more horrified about the entire thing.
All right. Nearly there! You can take it from here.
"WHAT?"
Hero Adelaide Barrett was not happy.
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