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Post by Skynet on May 22, 2009 0:22:21 GMT -5
Now that the skirmish was over, Milena couldn't stop shaking. So much for being brave. She could still taste the blood. “I think...I think I might be sick,” she stated. Her stomach heaving, the girl raced to the bathroom and retched. Then she sank down on the tile, arms wrapped around her middle to keep from flying apart.
“Pull yourself together,” whispered Milena's coach inside her head. “Instead of being afraid, you want to be something worth being afraid of.” Squeezing her eyes shut, Milena put her head between her knees and did her breathing exercises. She would give herself ten seconds, and then she would get it back together.
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Ren
Survivor
Posts: 67
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Post by Ren on May 22, 2009 10:01:06 GMT -5
Conyer watched Milena run out of the room, still standing over the now flattened zombie. His hands slipped off of the shovel, letting it drop to the stained carpet, and stumbled backwards to lean on any kind of furnature he could, closing his eyes. He took a few deep breaths, calming his racing heart and swallowing hard so he wouldn't vomit as well. The smell of blood in the room was starting to get to him, but he didn't want to open his eyes to find his way out. So instead he stood there, putting one hand to his forehead, the other over his nose in an attempt to almost forget where he was for the moment.
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Post by Skynet on May 22, 2009 22:54:10 GMT -5
Milena stood and studied her reflection in the mirror. Splashing cold water on her face, the girl rinsed off any lingering traces of blood, then surveyed herself again. Then she frowned and traced the tiny pucker on her forehead that appeared whenever she was anxious. Gently, she massaged her facial muscles until she was satisfied that there were no more visible signs of her nervousness. It was her usual pre-competition ritual.
Frowning again, Milena searched through the cabinets until she found what she was looking for- mouthwash. She swished with the Scope and spat two or three times until she could taste only citrus in her mouth. Rifling again through the cabinets and drawers, she stuffed a bar of soap and a bottle of Advil in her pocket. She also pocketed a couple cans of hairspray...it was flammable, right? That could be useful later. Hoping the heat in her cheeks would not be noticeable in the dark, she grabbed also a box of tampons. Then she went to join her companion back in the bedroom. Hopefully he would forgive her for her weakness. Surely it was OK to be squeamish the first time you killed something?
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Ren
Survivor
Posts: 67
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Post by Ren on May 23, 2009 8:39:01 GMT -5
After a few moments of clearing his head, trying to remember his mother's yoga tapes, Conyer slowly turned his head upward and opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling. His eyes focused on the textured stucco before he blinked a few times and turned around to start looking over the room for anything useful. He moved slowly to the nightstand that was closest to him, rifling through the drawers for anything at all he could use and throwing everything on the bed.
After a few moments of searching and finding only a box of bandaids, some nail files, and a few cough drops, he closed that drawer and moved to the dresser, starting at the top drawers.
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Post by Skynet on May 23, 2009 14:24:23 GMT -5
Milena re-entered the bedroom. “Find anything exciting?” she asked Conyer, trying not to meet his eyes. She could see that he had been through the nightstand already. So she moved to the closet.
The residents of the house had apparently, from their wardrobe, been a young-to-middle-aged career-minded couple. The wife's side was full of twinsets and business suits, the man's side was the same, sweaters and sports coats and suit jackets. There were a couple gems, though. Milena let her fingertips linger on an old, worn bomber-style jacket. “Don't look,” she ordered over her shoulder, and stepped into the closet to change.
When Milena emerged, she was attired in a dark blouse, a too-big pair of men's jeans, and the jacket that had caught her eye. In her hand dangled a set of car keys. “Look!” she grinned at Conyer, cheeks flushed with joy. It was the first time since they had killed the infected that she had been able to look him in the eye.
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Ren
Survivor
Posts: 67
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Post by Ren on May 23, 2009 18:34:37 GMT -5
Conyer nodded and continued to go through the dresser, finding an empty pistol and tossing it to the bed. He continued down to the next drawer, finding nothing of any interest there.
He heard her rustling through the closet before turning around when he was told, smiling slightly at her change of clothes. "Looks good. The car will be useful, let's just hope it has gas.." He nodded slightly, his cheeks flushing slightly before turning back to the dresser, trying to hide his blush.
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Post by Skynet on May 24, 2009 1:29:31 GMT -5
Getting a little impatient, Milena started tapping her foot. “Find anything of interest?” she asked. She wandered over to the nightstand and busied herself looking at the photographs on top. The husband was a handsome, clean-cut gentleman. The wife was a mischievous-looking pixie of a woman with strawberry blonde hair, and in her arms was a tiny bundle...
Almost as if on cue, a thin wail drifted down from the attic.
“Oh my God,” Milena breathed.
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Ren
Survivor
Posts: 67
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Post by Ren on May 24, 2009 8:58:29 GMT -5
"There's a pistol on the bed, but no ammunition..." Conyer shut the drawer he was looking in to crouch down and open next one as the noise started. He looked upward, his eyes shifting from the ceiling to Milena. He pushed himself to his feet slowly, his ears trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from, definately the attic.
He hurried out of the room quickly, grabbing his shovel on his way out, and headed down the hall, searching the ceiling for the drop-down stairs to the attic. He stopped at the other end of the hallway, looking back toward the bedroom. "The stairs are over here."
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Post by Skynet on May 24, 2009 16:47:49 GMT -5
Inwardly, Milena cringed. She could barely take care of herself, much less a baby, and she was sure Conyer felt the same way. Plus, attics were bad places. She used to have nightmares about vampires in the attic. A Leech was pretty damn close to a vampire, she felt, and a Leech might just be smart enough to use something like that as bait. But, Conyer was watching and there was a child's life at stake, so she didn't have a choice but to move. Milena loped over to the attic stairs, and, before she could change her mind, whispered, “Cover me,” and yanked hard on the chain.
The stairs came down with a noisy clatter and a giant cloud of dust. Milena coughed and rubbed her stinging eyes. She really, really, didn't want to do this...
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Ren
Survivor
Posts: 67
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Post by Ren on May 25, 2009 3:52:16 GMT -5
He was terrified of the attic. Conyer's old house hadn't had an attic, so all he was thinking about was that dark crawl space they'd had in their house. He had only been up there once, when he was ten, and the flashlight had gone out then, leaving him alone in the dark with his father still below on the ladder, telling him which boxes had the Christmas ornaments. He'd been terrified then, and that was before he'd even heard of the infection spreading, who knows what would be hiding in a place like that now.
Conyer nodded as she pulled the stairs down, ready to follow her up. He watched the dark opening in the ceiling, expecting something sinister to jump out of the darkness at them. He held his shovel low, ready to strike upward at anything that attacked as they headed up into the attic.
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Post by Skynet on May 25, 2009 18:07:30 GMT -5
Milena pulled herself up onto the rickety stairs. The attic was pitch black, and she could just imagine spiders and wasps and all sorts of other creepy crawlies running around on the creaky wooden floor. “I need a light,” she whispered back down to Conyer. She could still hear the shrill cries of the baby, but the attic was big and echo-y and confusing, and she could not tell where the sound was coming from.
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Ren
Survivor
Posts: 67
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Post by Ren on May 26, 2009 12:39:16 GMT -5
Conyer stayed at the bottom of the stairs, holding them steady as she climbed up, watching her to make sure she didnt' fall. He nodded at the request, digging into his pockets for his small flashlight. It was only a keychain light, but it was better than just leaving her there to go find a big one in the house. Finally finding it, he tested it once, holding down the little button on the side of it and watching the wall light up blue before following her up the ladder carefully, dropping his shovel to hang off of his fingers so he could grab the stairs as much as possible.
Once his head stuck up through the hole, he held the small light up to her, pressing it to shine at the ceiling so she could see where it was and how to grab it. His eyes scanned the room, basically blind and trying to ajust to the dark. He swinted and blinked a few times, trying to see anything up there.
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Post by Skynet on May 28, 2009 19:01:36 GMT -5
Milena was sweating bullets, so she almost but not quite fumbled the light. When she finally got a handle on the little penlight she shone it around the room. A big desk, a couple dusty end tables...AHA! The cries were coming from behind a giant wardrobe. Sure enough, there was a tiny body there, wrapped up in a flannel throw. Milena relaxed and took a step toward the baby. Then, with a giant CRASH, the entire floor fell out from under her.
Milena screamed and braced herself for impact, but it never came.
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Ren
Survivor
Posts: 67
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Post by Ren on May 30, 2009 8:12:07 GMT -5
Once Melina started searching, Conyer climbed the rest of the way up, trying to keep close to her without seeming too close. He followed her slowly, keeping an eye on the little light in her hand to make sure it was her he was following and not some unknown figure. He watched her take the single step toward the bundle on the floor and then jumped backward as she fell before falling to his knees at the edge of the new hole, reaching out and grabbing her wrist tightly.
He placed his shovel down beside him and swung his second hand down to reach for her. "Grab my hand!"
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Post by Skynet on May 30, 2009 9:16:48 GMT -5
Milena flailed wildly for Conyer's hand. She had lost all semblance of control at this point. With tears streaming down both cheeks, she whimpered painfully. The sharp edges of the floorboards were digging roughly into her sides. After a good five seconds, her hand impacted Conyer's own, and she grabbed it tightly. She tried to squirm up out of the hole, but she was sobbing too violently to be able to control her motions.
If he didn't pull her up fast, she was going to be sick again. Or pass out.
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