Arms and Pens

[NothingToDeclare]

Hunger does strange things to people, Willow realised as she rooted through some unfortunate man's pockets in the hope of finding a wallet or maybe a few coins, it didn't matter really. She was hungry and desperate. Well obviously, otherwise she wouldn't be going through rotting bodies in the hope of finding something useful.

To be honest with herself, Willow didn't really know why she was here. Maybe it was some instinct that when you're hungry you go to the supermarket. Seems like many other scavengers had already had this thought.

Willow's fingers closed around something cold and metallic, a knife blade? No, a pen. Willow pulled it out of his trouser pocket and held it between her thumb and forefinger, slowly rotating until some letters appeared.

Helix/Ind

Hmmm. The name seemed familiar. Oh yes. The place that created the 'perfect' people. Willow shook her head slightly, silly scientists. She always thought that they'd create something they couldn't control. On the plus side, she supposed, at least it wasn't a virus, though some people were immune to certain viruses. She wondered if she would be immune to the virus. Probably not. "What about the side effects, what would they be?"she thought,"Probably something painful, like growing tumours on your vital organs and then they explode after seven days. Or maybe your extremities would rotten then fall off."

Willow gave herself a mental shake and stopped rotating the pen, she was still crouching by the body of the man. She sighed, beginning to move his jacket so she could replace the pen. The jacket jangled and a name tag slipped out of the lining.

Professor Jacov Pretrenko, Helix Industry, Sector 3A.

Well she had to hand it to them, these scientists did seem very organised. Much too clever for their own good, but very organised. Willow wished she had the sense to organise things, it didn't sound like much fun though.
Willow replaced the name tag and pen and stood up, not bothering to brush off her jeans any more, and moved onto the next body, may she'd have more luck with this one.

Three more bodies later and Willow wasn't hungry any more, quite the opposite, she felt like throwing up. Twice she had put her hands in their pockets to withdraw them quickly, shaking off the maggots that still clung to her fingers.

Willow glanced at the shelves around her, they were all empty - even the cheap low-quality food had gone. Wait! Over there! Willow stumbled over to the shelf, she thought she'd seen a joint of meat. Instead it was a severed arm, grey and rotting where it had been hacked off at the elbow, buzzing with flies and maggots. Her stomach lurched and she clamped a hand over her mouth before throwing up into an empty bargain bin. Willow gasped and shuddered, wiping the saliva and vomit mix off her chin before turning away to go and sit on the floor.

[ticking]

Sorry being told to go to bed but wanted to post before I did. Sorry if I have bad spelling or grammar

Elisa stumbled into the supermarket, barely paying any attention to the bodies of corpses lying around the store. She was-sadly-getting used to them so much they barely fazed her now. Maybe it was the action of having shot something that had changed her perspective, maybe she was losing her humanity or maybe she was just nuts. Either way Elisa just ignored death as though it was the common cold, knowing it was waiting around the corner but not really caring really much anymore.

As Elisa started to browse the empty and filthy aisles the sound of something or someone moving around caught her ear. Reaching for the weapon behind her, Elisa began to creep cautiously and curiously to the source of the noise. Was it perhaps an animal, that she could kill, skin and eat? Or better yet a perfect? A dark and evil emotion curled inside the young girl. Ever since that accident she had felt sick. Not only with what she had done but also with what she had done afterwards.

She knew now she should have just shot him dead in the face. He was a perfect and had threatened her life by being one. Elisa was sicker with herself for helping the damned creature after she had shot it than anything else. If anything why hadn’t she just shot it again while it was down? It would have been a lot easier. She damned her human emotions and feelings for life and thrust it aside as she had cried herself to sleep the night before. She had saved the very thing that had killed her mother. She was no better than the murder. In fact, she might as well as killed her mother for what she had done.
Another sound snapped her back into reality. She had to focus. Focus and be ready to strike.

This time she would be able to do what needed to be done.

This time she wouldn't be stupid.

This time it would die.

[Morrow]

Tick tick tick.

With each passing second, the watch let out a faint sound, causing its wearer to stare down at it with furry. He had always hated the thing, and yet here it was, clutched around his wrist like a leech where it would remain. Time really was the least of his concerns, why had it mattered for so long? Time had only ever lead to stress, meeting for boring people to do boring things that they would later worry about. It was ridiculous.

As Jace silently entered the market, he looked around, watching as a girl scoured the area, gun prepared to fire. He covered his watch, muffling the sound until it could no longer be heard, and just observing her, he remained silent as he did so, glancing around the horrid area with a look of interest. Whatever she had heard did not come from him, bit far off in the distance. It amused him as to how frustrated the girl looked and for a moment he tried to create a story as to why.

He gazed over the pair of sunglasses, tipping his fedora up to get a better view of the brightly lit place. Despite how much he thought, he could not come up with a thing to say, and frankly, hadn’t really wanted to disrupt the girl.

The girl was obviously agitated, and the likelihood of her pulling the trigger on him was second to none if she found him first. With a deep breath he lifted his hand from the watch, the sound of time beginning once more. Jace did not reach for a weapon, if it was necessary he would be quick to draw, but it was best not to cause any more problems for the stranger. He knew more than anything the dangers of someone with enough adrenaline in their system.

‘Hello,’ Jace acted very mellow, in hopes to calm the girl. ‘If you’re looking for food you’re not going to find it here. I would try the fast food place down the road a few, less people go there.’ He flashed her a small smile but soon disappeared, his eyes widening and reaching into his pocket to grab an unopened granola bar. ‘You can have this if you’d like.’

[ticking]

Elisa snapped around so fast if she had sound, it would have been similar to that of a firecracker. How had she missed someone else appearing on the scene? She was supposed to be ready for this type of thing. This was why she had been so focused! Her stupid hunger had made her weak and so had her curiosity. She glanced at the new comer with malice, like it was their fault she had been lost in her own world.

“I don’t accept rations from random strangers.” She snapped, eyeing the man up and down. He wasn’t a bad looking guy, (god had all the ugly normal humans apart from her died or something?) his low cut shit and leather jacket were of the kind that barely anyone could pull off without looking stupid. He however was that one small 1% that could. A pair of sunglasses covered his eyes but Elisa could tell by the quirks of his lips that he seemed faintly amused.

Elisa’s eyes narrowed, was he covering his eyes to hide he was an Oculi? “Take the glasses off.” She growled. All the pleasantry she had given to others over the last few days was gone. Elisa felt like and looked like a savage animal. It would only take that one little push and she would snap over the edge.

“Unless you have something to hide that is.” A bitter smirk uncurled upon her lips. She didn’t know whether or not she liked this new feeling slowly building inside of her but it helped in situations like this.

There was something unnerving about the smile he was giving her. It reminded her of those boys that would watch her pass in halls of her old private school. The one where she had been forced to where a skirt and a too tight fitting blouse.

Elisa pointed the gun at the 'Oculi' as she spoke, not lowering it even as he continued to smile. If anything it made the gun stay there. She wasn’t going to be tricked again, she wouldn’t fall for another one of their damned tricks. If he was what she thought he was he would be dead in the next 10 seconds. And if he was human….well…she would just have to see about that wouldn’t she?

[NothingToDeclare]

(Sorry! I've been seriously busy! Not a great excuse but I'm REALLY sorry!)

Willow gagged and retched again as she scrambled away from some body part that was resting on a lower shelf. her empty stomach contorted and heaved, but no vomit. Willow sighed weakly, not sure if that was a good thing, but grateful she hadn't thrown up again.

Suddenly as if out of nowhere she heard two voices. One sounded feminine and harsh the other masculine and amused. Willow realised she must have zoned out somehow and scrambled up, making the aisles and shelves spin slowly.

"Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!" she whimpered quietly as she spotted the bodies of the voices. Her eyes widened as she spotted the gun that the girl was holding confidently, jabbing it towards the man. He looked so cool and collected! Too collected, her brain registered clumsily. Maybe she should arm herself? With what? Willow grabbed a battered can of beans. Oh look, food! she realised as she held it out in, what she hoped, was a threatening manner.

"W-Who are you? Wha-What do you want?!" Willow squeaked, flicking her eyes nervously between the two strangers. Willow raised the can of beans, "W-what do you want?" she repeated, her arm trembling and making the can make a slushing kind of noise as the contents were stirred up. Willow swallowed nervously, she was finished if either of them attacked her.

[Morrow]

In a world like this, Jace had become used to the suspicions surrounding him; it hadn’t been the first time one had asked him to remove the glasses, and he did so. With a brisk motion he pulled the shades from his face, sliding them into his jacket pocket as he revealed his deep blue eyes, and the pale pink scar that had been somewhat hidden behind them. The granola bar was pushed back into its original place, and his other hand rested on his hip, close to the hand gun he had tucked there. He took the time to glance at his obnoxious watch before looking back up at his new acquaintance.

‘I understand the need to be cautious, I really do, but unless you’re an Oculi yourself I had rather wished for today to be a relaxing one.’ He gestured to the gun, ‘I really do dislike those things being pointed at me…’

Letting out a light sigh, Jace’s eyes flashed with a hint of anger as they did often. He knew the reaction he would receive; it would be no surprise to him if she chose to squeeze that trigger if his eyes let off even the faintest of glows. At lightning speed both hands retrieved a weapon; one being a pistol while the other held a polished machete, something Jace had gotten good at using, told by the small stains that still resided on its handle.

Suddenly, another’s voice could be heard, and glancing over, he could see the short girl cowering behind the cupboards. She seemed to be clutching a…..Can of beans? Letting out a light chuckle he turned the gun back to the blonde girl, she was far more of a threat. He smiled at this new girl signaling her to come out from the area.

Taking a few steps forward he let out another laugh ‘If you intended to throw that at me you might wanna rethink it. I’m not too dangerous.’ He continuously glanced toward the blondie. Jace once again pulled out the granola bar, placing it on the ground and sliding it towards the short female who continued to hide.

[ticking]

Elisa watched the pair cautiously, not letting one eye roam too far from the other. If the weeks events had been lighter Elisa could have seen herself laughing at the girl holding a can of beans like it could protect her. However, her eyes were dark and grim. There was no laughter nor childish amusement to be found in them.

The way he pulled his glasses off, so cleanly, with no hesitation, scared her. Was he really what he looked like or was he just trying to act confident to throw her off? It was hard to tell. She stared at the deep blue eyes as they were distracted and the faint pink scar from his cheekbone up over his ear. She couldn’t help but wonder where such a wound had been contracted from.

Straightening up slightly-not lowering her gun- Elisa inspected the man. He was pleasantly amused by the other girl and that confused her greatly. Even in these times someone was able to smile like that? How and why? What was there to smile about in this day and age?

“If you really understood what it meant to be cautious you wouldn’t be that surprised that I have a weapon.” She said, watching him slide the granola bar to the other girl, “And doesn’t that sound a bit contradictory? You don’t like having a gun pointed at you but you’re ‘a’ ok to point yours at another.” Elisa cocked an eyebrow at him, “What should I call you Mr. Hypocrite? Unless, you wish a nickname such as that to be your adorned title.”

[Morrow]

This girl was smart, but that was of no surprise to Jace, she didn’t look the type to so easily trust and for that he respected her. The thing that did bother him was the way she seemed to look at him, in confusion and slight distaste. Of course she would, but it didn’t help his nerves one bit. His body tensed up and he for once realized the presence of the small scar that ran across his face; it almost made him self-conscience.

Jace avoided the feeling and focused mainly on turning to the girl whom spoke. “Pointing a gun comes with the job, having one pointed at me is just considered a nuisance.” He lifted his arm, wiping the grime from his face onto the cold leather jacket sleeve. “Besides, in this case it’s far more defensive than threatening, if I had wanted you dead I would’ve pulled the trigger when you hadn’t even noticed my existence.”

“As for my ‘title’ I guess you can call me Jace, despite how tempting the name Mr. Hypocrite is.” Once again he laughed. “And what about you two? Goldilocks and Shorty, hm?”

Sliding the machete back into its holster he lifted his hat to push a strand of hair from his face. Despite the threat Jace really did not think there was need for a second weapon, the gun could do its job if necessary but neither seemed to be Oculi. He didn’t think Goldilocks had the guts to kill him now at least, with another presence here it was now unlikely.

Jace let out a raspy cough behind his arm, tapping his foot onto the cold tiled floor. In the time that he had been working, this was the first time he had ever been in the market. Its smell was horrid and never compelled him to look through the area until today.

[NothingToDeclare]

(Sorry! I did it again didn't I?)

Willow was tempted by the granola bar, no point denying it, but she wasn't going to pick it up, she didn't want to go closer to the filthy floor. Instead she stared at it, just stared, zoning out of the following conversation.

"And what about you two? Goldilocks and Shorty, hm?" Willow looked up at the guy, frowning slightly. "Shorty?" she asked, confused, taking in the tensed hunch of his shoulders and scar on his face. Such a pretty face... Gack! bad timing to be getting distracted by a guy.

"Am I short?" she asked dreamily, zoning out as she spoke, letting her eyes go unfocused as her stomach let out a very audible growl. Willow then remembered the can of beans she was holding. "Oh look..." she murmured as she looked at the beans. Definitely past their use by date. Her stomach growled. "Suppose I'd better open them then..." she knew she probably sounded crazy, but she wasn't used to company, no matter how suspicious and hostile, so didn't realise that talking to oneself wasn't really a good idea.

Willow turned to face the shelving unit and looked thoughtful as she raised the can of beans. CRACK. She'd brought them down hard on the edge and had split the side, leaving a dent in the edge of the shelf. "Oh good." she sounded pleased with herself as she began to pull apart the can to reach the beans inside.

[ticking]

It's alright. Sorry for this awful post

Elisa put her hands in akimbo and stared down at Jace, “Are you colour blind or something?” she asked eyebrows raised. “Last time I checked my hair was ginger not blonde.” It was the best comeback she could come up with but for the moment, it felt like a good one.
Elisa had been called many things in her life but goldilocks was a new one. Heck, her hair wasn’t even long enough to braid let alone the right colour! It was an interesting choice though, a name she would preferred to be called by instead of the many others other people had decided to adorn on her.

When the other girl piped up Elisa felt her interest being taken from Jace to her. She still was unsure about this one. She watched as the girl seemed to go into a dream like state and glanced at the beans with a mixture of a smile and grimace. Stranger still, Elisa noted, was how the girl decided to open to can of beans. It made a harsh smashing sound as it connected with the bench and Elisa looked at the girl with faint dumbfound.

Her own stomach began to rumbled as she watched the girl begin to eat and Elisa tried to push the feeling away but it had been days since her last meal. Giving Jace a glare that in her mind meant, do anything funny and I’ll break you, Elisa steadily walked over to the girl and knelt down to her level. “Hey…care to share?” she mumbled, her stomach letting out a large groan as she did.

[NothingToDeclare]

Willow cocked her head, like a little bird as she knelt on the floor, holding the can of beans. "You must be very hungry if you're asking for food off of me!" Willow commented after 'Goldilocks' knelt next to her, but kindly held out the can. "Eat up." she said softly.

As Willow held out the can she glanced at the man. He seemed rather, well for lack of a better word, scary. Taller than she was by at least a foot and armed. Oh and those shades were pretty intimidating too. Willow wondered where he got them, seemed pretty expensive. Like that rucksack. Willow frowned slightly as she looked at the bag. "I wonder what's in there..." she mumbled to herself, forgetting that 'Goldilocks' was kneeling next to her.

"Don't your knees hurt?" Willow asked as she shifted into sitting Indian style, pressing the flats of her feet together so the other girl wouldn't see how dirty they were, and to keep them a little bit warmer.Maybe she should steal some shoes at some point, would probably stop her from picking up little bits of glass and stone.

[ticking]

Elisa thanked the girl quietly and stuck a few fingers into the can to revive a half a hand of beans. She had never really been much of a bean person but the moment the little things touched her lips Elisa couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. They still tasted as awful as she remembered, not to mention they were extremely expired but the beans sure beat some of the other things she had been eating over the last couple of days.

She heard the other girl mutter something but didn’t catch what was spoken. Elisa opened her mouth to question the girl and only then did she realize she knew nothing; not even the name of the girl she was kneeling beside taking food from. A flush of shame swept over her face. How would her father react if he ever heard of such impoliteness? Not well if she remembered correctly, he always had been a simple and strict man. Always say your ps and qs and never swear in front of anyone. Sure Elisa had broken the latter rule a couple of times over the last few months but she felt that her father would understand. He was in the military after all and was probably worse off than herself at the moment.

The other girl spoke up again and this time Elisa leaned in ever so slightly to make sure, she caught it. Something about her knees hurting.“My knees?” she questioned, having licked her fingers so clean she was surprised she couldn’t see her reflection in them, “No, I guess you can say I have thick skin. Where there’s no thought there’s no feeling as my dad liked to say,” Elisa chuckled awkwardly, “My name is Elisa.” She continued, “Unlike the buffoon who likes to give others titles I prefer to ask others what name they were given at birth.” She tried her best to give the other girl a cherry smile but her jaw was still throbbing and it came out more like a grimace.