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Post by Skynet on Jul 9, 2009 17:38:23 GMT -5
After all the action of the past few days, it felt odd to be asked such a question. One time there had been a half-hour special on ESPN titled, “Tiny But Tough: Who is Milena Baronova?” but she hadn't much contributed. Mostly it was her parents and coach touting her many virtues, and Milena herself had provided only two little sound bites, interspersed with footage of her competing.
“You have to live your own life,” she had said proudly in front of the camera. “If you can dream it, go for it, no matter what anyone else tells you, because you're the one who has to live with the results.” Funny, because Milena had spent her whole life being told what to do. She reflected back... If she could do things differently, she probably would have.
“Well,” she began, “I was born in St. Petersburg and moved here when I was only two. I'm a gymnast. I made it as far as the '12 Olympics, but with all this, there's not much chance to keep going with my career. So I don't really know who I am now. Your story's probably more exciting anyways...”
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Ren
Survivor
Posts: 67
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Post by Ren on Jul 10, 2009 14:41:16 GMT -5
He laughed slightly at her ending. "I doubt mine could be any more exciting...I was home schooled." He shrugged slightly. "And then when the outbreak happened, my mom locked us in the basement and dad went out to fight." He trailed off quickly, not wanting to think about them.
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Post by Skynet on Jul 10, 2009 17:19:16 GMT -5
At least he knew what happened to his parents, Milena reflected bitterly. But on the other hand, life without her parents wasn't much different than life with them. Most of the time she spent was with her coach. Her parents were just vague figures that beamed encouragingly when she did well and grew cold and distant when they felt she wasn't pushing hard enough. She couldn't even remember what their personalities were like.
Attempting to divert Conyer from depressing memories, she said, “I was homeschooled too. I never had a best friend, just Anders, my coach. But I always wanted to go off to one of those boarding schools, like you see in the movies. Like Hogwarts or something.”
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Ren
Survivor
Posts: 67
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Post by Ren on Jul 11, 2009 8:55:21 GMT -5
He laughed slightly at her choice of examples, pulling the car onto the interstate. They still didn't have enough gas to get far, but he hoped it would be enough to get to the apartments. The exit was only a few miles ahead, and he pulled off of the exit ramp slowly, the ramp moving in a wide circle around a now-dead tree.
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Post by Skynet on Jul 11, 2009 13:21:09 GMT -5
Milena attempted to continue the conversation as they circled the ramp. “So...” she said, “Did you have any brothers? Sisters? Friends...girlfriends?” She picked at a spot on the leather of the seat. “I always wondered what it would be like to have real friends...”
Suddenly Milena felt stupid. Why had she said that? Now he would just pity her...Ugh.
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Ren
Survivor
Posts: 67
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Post by Ren on Jul 12, 2009 8:51:14 GMT -5
"No....none of them really...I stayed home most of the time...." He shrugged slightly. "So I don't know what it means to have real friends either..."
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Post by Skynet on Jul 12, 2009 12:31:37 GMT -5
Conyer was making this difficult. Milena was having trouble coming up with things to talk about. “So...?” she pressed, “What did you do then? You had to have done something interesting.”
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Ren
Survivor
Posts: 67
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Post by Ren on Jul 12, 2009 17:34:47 GMT -5
Conyer nodded at his bookbag. "I learned how to do things. I spent most of my time on my computer or with some kind of electronic. I'm pretty good with hacking computers and security systems and things like that...what about you? Your whole life can't be gymnastics..."
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Post by Skynet on Jul 13, 2009 20:00:47 GMT -5
Milena blushed. “It sort of was. I don't know... I loved having something I was good at. I didn't really have anything else. I read a lot when I sprained my shoulder, and that's about it.”
She kept going, faster this time, before she could rethink her words. “It's almost...freeing...this whole end-of-the-world thing, because it's like, there's no need for gymnasts now. Just fighters and survivors. I think I'd rather be Milena-the-Warrior than Milena-the-Gymnast who nobody gives a crap about. I want to be able to define myself, instead of letting other people define me. You probably think that's stupid...”
She hazarded a glance at Conyer. “...I don't know. I do miss Anders and his nephew. Bryant I guess was the closest thing I had to a friend.” And also a major crush, but she wasn't about to say that out loud to Conyer. “I don't know... Maybe it's stupid to be talking about 'freedom' and other crap like that when people are dying every day but that's how I feel.”
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Ren
Survivor
Posts: 67
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Post by Ren on Jul 14, 2009 22:20:42 GMT -5
Conyer laughed slightly, finally pulling into the parking lot at the apartment building. "At least you were on top of the world...people knew who you were...I...I lived in a basement for five years and no one had any idea except my parents..." He shrugged at her before turning off the car, grabbing his shovel again. "Ready?"
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Post by Skynet on Jul 15, 2009 22:35:32 GMT -5
“I don't know... is anyone ever really ready to meet their destiny?” Milena quipped. She was in that dizzy, giddy state that comes from not having slept more than 6 hours in the past week. The night before just hadn't been enough. Hunter, on the other hand, was having no problems sleeping. “What should we do with him?” Milena asked.
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Ren
Survivor
Posts: 67
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Post by Ren on Jul 16, 2009 5:39:06 GMT -5
Conyer looked over at her, raising an eyebrow, questioning without actually questioning her statement. He slowly got out of the car, looking around to make sure it was safe. "Keep him with you...once we're inside, we should be able to gather everything we need onto the top floors."
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Post by Skynet on Jul 19, 2009 20:34:02 GMT -5
“Do you think we'll be able to stay here for a while?” Milena asked. She was tired of running.
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Ren
Survivor
Posts: 67
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Post by Ren on Jul 20, 2009 22:33:56 GMT -5
"For a few days at least, I think..." He shrugged slightly, leading the way into the building. "Let's just hope nothing got here before us..."
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Post by Skynet on Jul 25, 2009 22:28:17 GMT -5
Milena wrapped her fingers around a handful of Conyer's shirt. With her other hand, she made certain that Hunter was securely attached to her hip by the sling. She crept with as much stealth as she could muster. Conyer's last words had sounded ominous... If indeed something had gotten there before them, she wanted to be sure that she saw it before it saw them.
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