Paranoia ;;DJ;;

[Nelly]

[[Accidental double post, my apologies... can't delete it for some odd reason.]]

[Nelly]

Her heart sank when she was told there were so many soldiers out on patrol. Oh, God.

Ellie followed behind him quickly as he lead her back through the old building in search of another exit. Her head whirled as they entered a new room, bare except for a table shoved into the corner. Her thoughts hazed her conscience with questions that were starting to boil over. How hard was this really gonna be? How far would Erol go to get her back?

Would he ever give up?

Ellie knew the answer to that: No. No, Erol wouldn't give up. Why? Because he was set on making an ass of himself, her tired mind finished for her.

Only when she accidentally bumped into the old table and nearly fall over did she realize how wrapped up in her thoughts she'd been. Noel quickly steadied herself, looking around sheepishly. Then, irritated with herself, she closed her eyes and cleared her head, rubbing her temples with two fingers. After a couple seconds, her eyes opened again and she tiptoed over to where Zrion was peering out the door. She waited quietly beside him until he faced her and told her it was safe, and once again to be sneaky.

Boy, this was gonna be a damn long night... she was already falling asleep on her feet. She shook herself, mentally and physically, to prepare herself for this trip.

She took in a deep breath, locked gazes with Zrion and said, "Let's do this."

[Darkjak87]

During the brief moment of eye contact, Zrion offered her a stiff nod, and turned back to the door. Carefully, he moved out, going across the alley, and pressed his back against the opposite wall. He slowly advanced towards the head of the alley, before carefully sticking his head out enough to get a decent look of the place.

He didn't get much less than what he was expecting. That is, a good 4 squads out in the streets, moving from building to building. He pulled his head back, thinking of a few colorful words for the situation. He moved back towards Noel, as quietly as he could, and re-entered the building.

"There's no way out over there, not without killing all of those soldiers anyway. We can't stay here either, they're checking the buildings out one by one. However, there is a wall, about 6 feet high, on the other end of the alley that we can scale. I don't know where it goes exactly but it's our best shot. I hope you can climb."

The irony of that last sentence wasn't lost on him, but her wings were damaged. Well it mattered little. Anti-aircraft crews were not picky with their targets.

"Come on, we need to move quickly, before they start sending out Hellcats."

Zrion stepped out again, quietly moving towards the wall he spoke of earlier.

[Nelly]

A sorrowful sigh escaped her lips when he reported that their easy way out was no good. Jesus Christ, this was ridiculous! That damned commander was freaking insane. Noel ran her scathed fingers through her hair for a second, fighting back the oh, so familiar creeping sensation of despair.

And no, she did not want to kill those guards, or even watch Zrion kill them. No, no, that was definitely not the answer.

She sighed and looked up at him again as he continued. He mentioned another possible escape route. Her mind lit up, eager to shove aside the downer-ish thoughts that she could no longer resist. Another way out! Ellie bit her lip as the soldier explained to her the six feet of concrete that they would have to climb.

That would be so easy, thought Noel. If there was some height to be achieved, I am the one to ask! The air and sky was her sanctuary, after all. What with her w—

...Oh.

Noel scowled and looked away. "Yea," she said. "I can climb." When Zrion slipped out the door, she followed close behind. She kepted solely to the shadows, her aching wings smashed painfully against the wall. Under the moonlight, the two of them neared the wall. It was about ten inches above Ellie's head. Not so hard.

She took in a deep breath and looked over to Zrion.

[Darkjak87]

Zrion considered for a moment, and then glanced down to his rifle. It was a beautiful weapon. Polished, with the wooden handgrip and stock sanded down and made of fine walnut. His father's old rifle meant more to him then anything else, even his personal armor. He frowned, as he realized that his rifle would get in the way as he climbed. He hesitated, only for a moment, before he turned back to Noel.

He shrugged the rifle's sling off his shoulder, and shoved it into her arms. "Hold this for a moment please. It's a bit unwieldy for me to climb with it. Place it on top of the wall when I give the all-clear, and I'll take it back and you can climb over. Please don't drop it."

Without another word, Zrion turned back to the wall, and reached up with both arms, griping the top of the wall with both of him. To his relief, the wall wasn't thick, so he was able to establish a good grip. He braced his boot against the wall, and pulled himself up.

Now normally, Zrion was in tip-top physical shape. He did the standard military exercises every morning, in addition to working out. But in addition to his weapons and ammunition (He had some 500 rounds of ammo on his person at the moment) he was also wearing a 68 pound metal suit. So it was only with considerable effort and a barely concealed grunt that he was able to pull himself up. He straddled the wall while he was up, quickly swept the area with his nightvision goggles, before dropping down.

Reacting quickly, he shifted down into a kneeling position and pulled his Desert Eagle sidearm from it's holster, sweeping the area with it and hoping he wouldn't have to use it.

Fortunately he didn't see anything. Nothing within range of his goggles anyway. He stood up, and slipped the heavy sidearm back into its holster.

"Ok!" He called in a loud whisper. "It's clear. Pass the Kalashnikov and climb over."

[Nelly]

The child nodded, teeth clamped as Zrion instructed her. She almost toppled over the moment the firearm was passed into her hands, its weight displacing hers. She fought for balance, looking slightly disgruntled once she regained it, then stood in a hurried still. She huffed a wild lock of hair out of her face.

Silently she waited for the soldier to hoist himself up and over the wall. As he did, Ellie admired him. She would have troubles pulling her scrawny butt over the thing without a half ton of armor on her back.

“Mhmm,” she murmured when Zrion gave her the go. She did a quick 360° to check out her surroundings one last time to make sure they were safe on her side of the wall. Nobody was running toward her with bigass guns aimed at her skull, so she proceeded. Noel carefully lifted the rifle and placed it silently on the top of the wall. Her hands just barely passed the top of it when she reached up. She was able to get a sturdy hold, however, and – oh goody, a foothold – and she began to strain her weakened muscles to pull her upward. When she was doing this, she heard the heavy metallic footsteps of a Guard tread past the alley on the streets. Ellie glanced over her shoulder, heart thumping, but didn’t give him a chance to back the hell up and do a double take.

She scrambled to haul the majority of her body over the wall, then bypassed the climb down and let herself fall the six feet to the pavement. She hoped something soft would catch her fall, like maybe a couch or a mattress, or a conveniently placed air mat. Buuut nope. Solid concrete below.

Noel landed with a thud, and a silent “oof.” No other sounds were made, though, because the Guard had done a double take, and was strolling down the alley now, just for good measure. She squeezed her eyes shut, both hands clasped over her mouth.

The footsteps ceased by the wall. After a heart-pounding moment of suspense, they picked up again and moved farther down the alley and, thankfully, away from their location. She relieved her lungs and gasped quietly for air.

[Darkjak87]

Zrion released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding when the footsteps faded away. As soon as he was sure it was safe, he picked up his rifle, taking comfort in the familiar feel of the weapon.

Not for the first time, Zrion felt immensely grateful for the rubber padding that separated the different sections of his armor. A custom modification, that little feature prevented the loud clanging that you would usually get when wearing a metal suit. That, combined with his rubber-soled boots and his specialized training, essentially made Zrion a ghost that night.

He turned to Noel. "Wait here for a second." He whispered. "I'm going to see what we're up against."

Zrion slowly moved down the alley, taking great care to ensure he didn't make too much noise. He cautiously stuck his head out into the open, giving the area a quick once-over before pulling back into the relative safety of the alley.

Regular patrols, but less than the other street. Predictable patterns. I can work with that.

He made his way back to Noel. "My house is about a kilometer away from here, located just outside of Maintown. We should be able to make it, because the patrols seem to be concentrated in the slums. If we make it the next four streets without being spotted, we should have a straight shot."

It was fortunate that Zrion's house wasn't located in Maintown itself. Even at night, that sector of the city was constantly alight, and the amount of citizens and Guards roaming about would make it impossible to not be seen.

"The patrols come in a pattern." Zrion continued. "We should be able to make it across the street to another alley I spotted. Once we're there, we wait for another patrol to pass, then we cross back to this side, but at another alley a little further up. It's slow work, but we should be safe as long as we time it right. The next patrol should pass in about a minute, that'll be our chance. Any questions?"