The Sunset Club

[gavehislife]

CHARACTERS: gavehislife, femshep and surviveandlive open to anyone else on the Northern Shore or around the North Gate.
DATE: Sunset, Day 13
RATING: (PG-13 for language and blood) Thread hopping both welcome and encouraged.
SUMMARY: It's sunset of Day 13, and the influx of new comers is underway. Between the setting sun, the rocky shores, intimidating gates, nasty little welcome

Comments

god i hope i don't butcher this

[femshep]

Somehow, it wasn't the water that woke her. Possibly because while she was lying half-submerged when the waves rolled in, it was her lower half, and her armor was (for a while, anyway) effectively waterproof. Either way, she could've ignored the water. But even unconscious, Shepard was hard-wired to know when she wasn't alone, and as she opened her eyes to the setting sun, she knew that this was one such time.

As such, her first move was a hasty roll into a crouch and the draw of her pistol as she pinpointed the man. It was probably unnecessary, seeing as he was headed in almost the entirely opposite direction, but that was something she'd long since learned not to risk. Especially in her current situation, with no knowledge of the world besides that it reminded her very much of Virmire. 'The setting sun' was just an expression, of course--the odds were almost a million to one that this was actually the sun, as opposed to one of the millions of other stars in Citadel space alone.

Either way, she wasn't going to have any answers crouching here. She stood up the rest of the way now, gun still at ready and expression wary, and she cleared her throat to let him know she was there.

[gavehislife]

Stephen heard the telltale draw of a pistol and the crunch of feet on rocks well before Shepard cleared her throat. Why was it, lately, that people had such a strong desire to pull a gun on him. He paused on his route to the walls ahead of him, turning to get a look at the person currently targeting him, his hand resting on the 38 cal. at his side. The stranger had an advantage over him for now, gun drawn and ready well before he would normally have reacted. Personally he still wasn't sure he could be shot. Was it possible to die twice?

"Is there a problem?" He makes no sudden movements. Treating this situation nearly exactly as he would have treated a sabre tooth. Steady, calm, calculated. He raised one hand up, in both a placating gesture and a greeting. Every muscle in his body was wound and ready if the need to spring into action became a pressing matter. All he wanted to do was get inside those walls before the sun set and see if he could find some dry clothing, or a phone. Or both. He hadn't yet bothered looking for the smart phone on his person. He had thrown his own phone into the sea before going to get Helen.

[femshep]

On the one hand, he was armed. That alone was enough to keep her gun at ready on any other day. But on the other hand, this stranger seemed to be doing his best to wave the metaphorical white flag. And there was something about the dimming light and the damp crawl of her skin inside of the armor that usually felt almost like skin itself that made Shepard just want to get this stand-off thing over with and figure out what the hell was going on.

So instead of pointing out that waking up alone and planetside, location unknown, damn well is a problem, she let her pistol drop just slightly to show that she was cautious but not honestly out for blood.

"That depends." On how much he could tell her about her current situation. But honestly, underneath his steady calm, he seemed... about as new to this as she was. "But I bet you don't know much more than I do. Am I wrong?"

[gavehislife]

Stephen shook his head, dropping his hand slowly but taking the other off his gun. He was sure this woman could have killed him by now if that was her intention and the last thing he needed was to make enemies in his first few moments wherever this place was. She was very likely as lost as he was if that comment had any basis to it.

"I just woke up here. Now, there is a wall over there, and if not civilization, then the remains of one are on the other side." His eyes never leave that gun as he keeps his own hands far enough from his own to seem unthreateningly, but not so far that he put himself at complete vulnerability. He kept his voice as calm and level as he might have attempted to relax one of the creatures he dealt with so frequently. He was usually a man of much fewer words.

"I don't know about you, but I would prefer not to be out in the open when that sun goes down on unfamiliar territory, and four eyes are better than one when watching your own back isn't quite that easy. You do not have to come with me, but I would prefer it if I could forgo the fighting so soon."

[femshep]

Shepard eyed him for a minute then exhaled in a dry laugh, sliding her pistol back into its holster.

"To the wall, then."

Definitely done standing around, she was now making a steady pace for the wall in question. As she passed him, she continued, glancing at him halfway over her shoulder. "I'm not going to shoot you. Keep looking at me like I'm homicidal and you'll probably get your neck ripped out by something that is." It was a peace offering, in a way. The best Shepard could offer to a stranger, at least.

[gavehislife]

Stephen shrugged his shoulders casually, letting her take the lead for now. He understand the need for caution enough not to take things personally. Right now his main concerns were figuring out where the hell they were and getting out of his soaked clothes. Whatever or whoever left them stranded here at least had the decency to leave them armed.

"Right behind you."

[femshep]

And that's all that had to be said. Sure, Shepard had questions for him, but they could wait until the two of them were safely behind the walls. If the walls even were there for safety--they had yet to confirm or deny that. Either way, her attention was on their surroundings and the quickly-approaching dark.

But this makes twice now that she was pretty sure she saw something moving off to their left, and she was starting to think it wasn't just a trick of the dying light.

"You seeing that?" She glanced back to the stranger, then nodded in the direction in question. It didn't slow her down, however, since it did seem pretty important to get to the walls before night fell.

[gavehislife]

"Been trying not to." There was a shake of his head as the movement showed again just out of sight, but much closer than he would have liked.

"Don't think we're quite alone here." He didn't like the idea of facing an unknown opponent out in the open. If the walls didn't mean safety, they at least meant something he could put his back to.

[femshep]

At his confirmation, one hand drifted to her rifle, but she didn't draw it quite yet. Instead, she stole a glance at the sky, then shook her head.

"I hate running from a fight, but if we're going to make it by night we don't have time for this."

[gavehislife]

"We'll have better luck defending ourselves if it comes to it, with something to put our backs to." His pace sped up, keeping his head forward even as he checked their peripherals for signs of whatever was following them.

"Not that far. If we have to, we can make a sprint for it. I don't much care for the idea of finding out what else is out here when the light is gone." Not to mention he had nothing on him to get a light or fire started.

"Keep ignoring it for now. We can deal with it later."

[femshep]

Shepard didn't answer, but she did pick up the pace to a somewhat brisker walk. Not quite running yet, but that would probably come. She drew her pistol now though, just in case. The occasional glance was still stolen at whoever or whatever it is in the distance, and it seemed to be getting closer.

"Just wish I could tell what it is."

[gavehislife]

Much to his displeasure, Shepard got her wish a few steps later when the ghastly looking pale gray-white spirit wavered in front of them. He grimaced at the sight of it, his pistol drawn and aimed in record time as he took a step backward. Holding his gun firmly, he refused to look away. It reminded him of a rotting corpse. What the hell kind of monster was this? Before the thought could even enter his mind, Stephen was shoving the word ghost away. He had to believe this was something else because ghosts couldn't be killed as far as he knew, and this was no friendly looking customer.

"Take a good look, then." He hadn't fired yet. So far all it had done was follow them. Hard to tell if this was anything but angry though as it shook it's arms at them.

[femshep]

This slowed Shepard for a second, her pistol locked for a killshot. But something told her no amount of bullets would have any effect, and a warning creak from the gates up ahead told her they really didn't have time to search for another way to get rid of it.

And the ghosty wasn't moving. So that was how it had to be? She exhaled obstinately, dropped her shoulder just slightly, and rushed the ghoul. Her gun-arm lifted to cover her face briefly as she charged through their translucent assailant, drawing a silent but sharp breath at the sudden chill. But she was through, and she assumed that he was too, because there was nothing subtle about the way the gates were slowly sliding closed.

Shepard was full-on sprinting now, and she wasn't slow by any means, but if either of them made it through it was going to be a close call.

[gavehislife]

Stephen didn't hesitate to follow, right on Shepard's heels the remainder of the stretch to the gate. When push came to shove, running away was a better option than sticking around to see what happens on unfamiliar territory. As far as he knew, they were on the territory of whatever that thing was, and that left them at an obvious disadvantage. And when it came right down to it, it really was push to shove. He hoped Shepard had the sense to take the speedier path as he slid under the gate. They had had more time than he expected but even that was not much. As soon as he hit the other side, Stephen rolled onto his stomach, facing the closing gate, gun drawn and safety off. He had been expecting their spectral pursuer but there was nothing there. Just empty space.

[femshep]

Yep, Shepard definitely took the speedy path. In fact, since he was on her heels the whole time, she made it to the gate even before he did and wasted no time in executing a hasty barrel-roll to make it inside. She was relieved that he was close behind--she wasn't responsible for his arrival, but she didn't want leaving him locked outside on her shoulders either.

And then her eyes were searching the outside, searching for their lovely rotting ghoul roadblock, but there was no sign of it. Shepard glanced to her temporary ally (she hadn't even gotten his name yet, she realized) and could tell that he couldn't see anything, either.

"Looks like we're in the clear," she eventually offered, backing away from the gate a step and turning to face the inside of the structure to which they'd so frantically fled, her pistol still in her hand. "Now let's see what we've got ourselves into."

[gavehislife]

Stephen pulled himself to his feet, brushing the dirt off his damp clothes, his grip on the pistol in his hands never truly relaxing. They had made it to the gates. Whether that was an improvement or not was left to be seen.

"For now, at least." He joined her in looking around the compound, his back against the wall of the gate, taking a moment to let his heart rate settle back down. What had that thing been?