Rescue the Captain [Active, Semi-Closed]

[pantsaretight]

Name(s): Mal, Spin, Brisco, a little NPC girl [Ask before joining]
Location: The remains of the building from This thread
Time: Midday
Warnings: Nothing yet
Content: Mal gets rescued.

Comments

[eba05]

Spin didn't know how much time there was to try and get people together

[talkstohishorse]

Brisco had added an extra route of his own to his patrol schedule. He knew going out alone was risky, but he also knew how often help was needed, and in the land of Brisco's mind, valor almost always beat out caution, though he tried to keep the two overlapped as much as possible. So he'd planned himself out a smaller area to walk than the usual one he shared with Daniel and set out in the middle of the day, keeping an eye out for trouble

[reaverkiller]

River had woken gasping, a scream caught in her throat. She hadn't caught her breath before her feet hit the floor and she was running outside. She'd known immediately she had to find the Captain

[pantsaretight]

Mal was far too out of it to notice the faint signs that help had, at long last, arrived. The uniform darkness he'd existed in for days now had stripped away his sense of time.

Luckily, Sally was more alert. For all her hunger, fear, and exhaustion, the little girl clung to hope that someone would find them, full of a child's certainty in the innate justice of the Universe. It seemed this time the Universe had come through.

Grabbing a small hammer, she made her way to the metal door, and began banging on it with all her might, shouting at the top of her lungs. "Hello! We need help! The man here's hurt! Please help!"

[eba05]

Spin jumped at the other man's approach; he had been so busy listening, trying to find that faint tune again, that he hadn't even realized the guy's approach. "Gh--ah--" He spun to give the man a look, catching his breath, before taking a slightly relieved sigh. "Hey--yeah, I... I think there's someone in here, somewhere, if you could help..."

As he looked back, Spin was able to get a look out the door, seeing a young woman sprinting for the building. His brow furrowed before his eyes widened. People didn't run like that for no reason; was she looking for someone here, too?

The answer then came thudding from somewhere below, a paired with the faintest of voices, words indistinguishable at this distance, but Spin didn't need to hear them. He hardly gave the other man a glance before darting over the rubble to find what remained of the stairs down.

[talkstohishorse]

Shoot, Brisco did startle him. Oh well, at least he wasn't hostile. He would have responded, but he heard the banging and the voice too, just barely enough, and rushed off after suit-guy. He'd been facing the wrong direction to see the girl running behind them, but his mind was occupied on the impending rescue.

The stairs were nearly completely blocked by the wreckage, which was too be expected considering the state of the place. His first inclination was to try and move the rubble out of the way, but after moving just a few large chunks of the stuff, it was already seeming thoroughly futile. He backed up the stairs and immediately noticed a potential shortcut - a huge gaping hole in the floor, with a dead crab at the bottom. He knelt next to it and looked down, assessing whether to attempt to climb down.

"Hey, what about an alternate route?" he called out.

[reaverkiller]

River didn't verbally acknowledge either of the two men as she arrived, just quietly stopping next to Brisco as she peered down the hole he was referring to. She looked at the crab at the bottom of the hole, then directly at Spin, then Brisco, and then back at the hole.

"Worth a try."

[pantsaretight]

Mal groaned as he felt tiny hands shaking him, his cough leaving flecks of blood in his hand and sending pain through his body. He blinked blearily to clear his eyes, and gave the tiny girl a harsh glare. Any chewing out he had been about to deliver, however, was preempted by Sally's next few words.

"There's someone up there."

Shaking his groggy head, Mal groaned and tried to move his lips to a smile. "Are there? Well, I'll be. Guess we better get their attention."

He lifted the hammer next to him to bang on the wall, only pausing to turn back to Sally. "Good job little miss. I'm not regretting makin' you a part of my crew."

[eba05]

Spin took a look down the hole, briefly assessed how to go about climbing down, and gave a curt nod. "Spelunking it is," he replied.

He didn't feel like waiting for the other two if someone was in trouble, and by the sound of that banging, that was exactly the condition down there. If he lowered himself down carefully, it would only be maybe a five foot drop to the ground. He could handle it. Spin gave the crab corpses a wary eye. He hoped so, at least.

It wasn't the dancer's most elegant performance, but with careful movements and a few splinters, Spin got himself down onto the debris-covered ground. From down here, it was clearer where the noise was coming from--behind a door, rubble and rotted wood blocking its path. "Got it!" he called up. "Down here!" The Agent began clearing what he could out of the way. "We gotcha! Help's coming, don't worry!"

[talkstohishorse]

Brisco hadn't noticed the girl coming and was surprised when she spoke. He hadn't even heard her come in. It was unnerving to say the least. Meanwhile, the banging suddenly grew louder and the rhythm had changed slightly.

"I'm with you guys there," Brisco said and flung himself down the hole in the floor with absolutely no grace at all, landing with a loud thud and a jangle of spurs that he couldn't quite bring himself to take off his boots.

"Sounds like we might have more than one person in there," Brisco told Spin once he was in the basement. Then he got to work, helping to move all the rubble away from the door. There sure was a lot of it, but less than there was on the stairs. Piece after piece of wood and unidentified construction materials were moved out of the way as fast as the men could move them.

"We're almost there!" he tried to encourage the trapped people beyond the door.

[reaverkiller]

River waited for the two men to proceed her before carefully but gracefully climbing down into the hole. She wasn't as strong as they were, so she left most of the heavy lifting to them, grabbing the smaller pieces of rubble and tossing them off to the side, making the way to the larger pieces easier. Once part of the door was revealed, she paused for a moment and knocked lightly.

"Captain? We're progressing steadily. It will only be another minute." Even as she spoke, more debris fell away from the door.

[pantsaretight]

Mal could hear the voices now, but in his addled state only recognized one of them.

Still, despite his situation, the one he did know managed to bring a tight little smile to his face.

"Guess you're still bringing me luck, ain't ya Albatross?" He managed to shout back. Judging from her expression, Sally didn't get Mal's referenced, but he assured the disgruntled little girl, "I'll explain later."

"Anyway, take yer time folks, wouldn't want my dying to inconvenience you. Though if you do need further motivation, I'm buying the drinks after this one."

[eba05]

So the woman knew who was back there? Were Spin a more cynical person he might have gotten suspicious about how exactly she knew that much, but instead his focus was on getting the door clear as fast as possible. The mention of 'dying' from the other side served to redouble his efforts.

Between the three of them, the rubble was slowly cleared over the course of several stretching minutes, but eventually there was enough space for Spin and the other man to start prying at the door.

"Almost there..." he grunted, half to the people inside, half to himself. "We're just... coming..." The door gave an unwilling creak as it began to loose from its frame.

[talkstohishorse]

"I'd say it's a safe bet you'd be way more of an inconvenience if we left you alone," Brisco answered the man behind a door, still moving the last of the debris out of the way of the door. He reached over and grabbed another section of it to help pry it off.

"I may be forced to hold you to those drinks, though," Brisco grumbled with strain, trying to keep whoever was trapped back there engaged so that hopefully he wouldn't pass out. Although, he probably meant it a little bit too. Brisco kept on yanking with all his might against the door until it finally gave under their combined efforts and he went stumbling backward a few feet from the momentum.

[reaverkiller]

River immediately peeked her head in, absorbing the sight of her beat-up captain and the little girl with him. They both looked awful, but Mal most of all. He'd been bitten, and she still wasn't clear on exactly what that meant, besides the fact that they'd need to find a healer, and healers were scarce. That was a bridge that would have to be crossed very soon, but not just yet.

"Does that mean I can have a drink too?" She gave him a cheeky grin. She didn't really want a drink at all, but it seemed best to keep the mood light.

She pushed the door wider, leaving room for everyone to enter or leave as they were able.

Sorry this took so long ;_;

[pantsaretight]

Mal blinked in the blinding light as the two men forced the door open, weakly holding up a hand to shield his eyes. Once the spots started to fade and his eyes adjusted to the light, Mal realized there was a familiar face staring back at him.

Grinning tiredly, he nodded the the teenage girl. "Sure, if by drink you mean something without any alcohol. I don't want to have to explain to Zoe and Kaylee why you're suddenly acting even funnier than usual."

Of course, with those words his pain addled mind latched onto the question, what would River be like drunk?

Trying to focus, and stay awake, Mal said, "There's a little girl in here with me, she's gonna come out first, then you can all worry about my sorry hide." He had yet to see the two men with River, though the fellow who had accepted his offer of drinks sounded like Mal's kind of man.

"You pick your poison, and I will provide," he promised.

Sally, meanwhile, made her way towards the girl in the doorway, looking at the captain with worry.