A Call To Scavenge With ICYSTORM

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Simon kept up his work up until the dawn slowly crept up over the city. The winds picked up but the cloud cover made it keep dark. It was likely that it would storm most of the week with only periodic breaks. His eyes now found their way to watching the road and seeing if Seth had came back. It was hard to see without his scope but he didn't want to be rude by sighting in on the guy but, his eyes would be good enough to spot the movement down below. He watched for a while in silence. His eyes tired but unwilling to rest. It was a while before a lone figure proceeded up the street and settled in across the way from his perch. He waited a bit, waiting for him to get his wind back and begin climbing the stairs but soon is it was clear that he would have to go down and fetch. He stood up and left most of his gear but his pistol and knife. He turned to let Adrien know that he was heading down but held his tongue once he noticed the kid was asleep. It was decent walk to get back down to ground level. He crept close to the ruins near what was once the front door. His hand ran along the ground and picked up a small rock. With a quick glance around to make sure no one else was near, he cast the rock as close to Seth as he could. He waved his hand til he knew that Seth had spotted and welcomed him back with a simple 'Hello'.
 
Resting his head against the building, Seth took one last look around before letting his eyes close. He wasn't planning on drifting off, just rest his eyes a bit since he was so used to sleeping whenever he liked. Now was not the place for that, though. Being out here wasn't as safe as being in the city, and he needed to keep his ears alert for any signs of Simon approaching. He had done exactly what the guy had asked and was feeling hopeful that Simon could get him back into the city.

The sound of something small hitting the ground next to him caused his eyes to snap open, and he looked around, muscles tense and prepared for anything. Spotting Simon, he let himself relax and stood up. After a quick stretch, he walked over to the other male, matching his greeting with a quick 'hey' of his own. All he could think about as he followed up the stairs was that it would be far more enjoyable to be around Simon if the guy would lighten up a bit and stop being so formal and rigid.

Seth ran a hand through his hair when they came upon the spot where Simon had set up his camp, his hand stopping at the top of his head when he saw who else was there. Hand dropping, his dark blue eyes slowly moved over to rest on Simon, his eyes wary and his voice accusing. "What is he doing here?" His brother should be safely back in the city, not out here where anything could happen to him. It was even stranger that Adrian was with Simon, and he could not think of one good reason for that.
 
Simon simply tilted his head. He was all well and good with dealing with his own family issues, but he was less than thrilled to enter into someone else family affairs. "He said he was looking for you." He wasn't sure what else to say. He sat down next to his heavy rifle. It felt better to distance himself. "He has been walking most of the day as well, It might be best to let him rest". He said quietly, trying his best not to wake the kid.
 
The dark look that began to spread across Seth's face was slowly replaced by one of sadness and confusion. He knew nothing of what his parents had told his brother about him, but somehow the kid learned he got kicked out and decided to follow. It was brave and foolish. The part that worried him most was how the kid got out of the city, and would he be able to get back in? No, he had to get back in. It wouldn't be fair for their parents to lose both their sons.

Approaching Adrian, he knelt down and looked at his brother, his features become even sadder. This was the closest he had ever been to him. He started reaching out a hand, planning on running his fingers through the boy's hair, only to stop at the last second, not wanting to risk waking him up. With a sigh, he stood back up and instead took a seat on the ground closer to Simon. "He has to get back into the city." As he spoke, he pulled out the notebook the man had given him earlier and tossed it to him. There was writing on a few of the pages, but only a handful of words were legible.
 
Simon looked through the book. Not commenting for a bit until giving up and sighing, realizing that he could not make out the information. "We all need to make it back in." He put the notebook on the ground before standing. He stood and walked over to where the rifle was laying and made himself comfy as he sighted through the rifle. He was preparing for the mission. But there was still time.

The road was still clear. He almost breathed a sigh of relief but stifled it. He pulled away from the rifle and took another look at the notes. It was no better than the first. " I do believe that you are going to have to read these to me if you intend for me to have any understanding of what is written.

His thoughts somewhat wondered onto the two brothers who now seemed to be in his care. He could leave them, but cowardice was not a trait he wished to have. However he did feel that it was going to be a long journey with them in tow. He also wondered what sort of history there was between these two and what brought them back together.
 
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Letting out an audible sigh, Seth glanced at the notebook before laying on his back, arms curled up above his head so he could use his hands and a pillow. As if he could read his own writing. It would take a miracle for anyone to be able to read that, but he kept these thoughts to himself, not wanting to risk his attitude causing issues. He would save that for when it was really needed.

"There is not much to tell about the place." He watched Simon before a few seconds before staring up at the ceiling. "The place is about four square blocks and there are guards at each junction. From what I saw, there are not many ways into the place, but the guards I met didn't cause any issues. Sort of liked them to be honest. Never got a good look, but I think there were people high up in some buildings. Can't be sure, though. Other than that there is not much to say. Some of the friendliest people I've met in a long time." Instead of looking to see how Simon was taking the information, he closed his, keeping his ears open in case his brother began to wake up.
 
Simon took it all in. He closed his eyes and mapped it out. After a bit, he got up and walked out of the room, to use a small radio he had. It was brief and short but the terse affirmative at the end was all she wrote. He sighed and headed back to his rifle, he slowly sighted down it and started searching the buildings. He was looking for the spotters closest to the route that he knew their guests were taking. He took ten painstaking minutes worrying if he would find them fast enough to take them out. In the end, he had both of them lined up and after checking a few times, his radio beeped to let him know it was time.

He clicked off the safety as he worked the bolt action and forced one of the massive .50 BMG rounds into the chamber. He took two deep breaths. A moment of guilt raged within him as he thought of the caring Seth felt for these people, it stopped when he remembered what pain they had brought onto him. People like them deserved no mercy and, they made sure that they never showed mercy either. It was fair.

The trigger snapped off the first round with a solid crack of the rifles report. It wasn't an earthshattering roar but it would awake all in the room. The second flew down range with as much accuracy as the first and both spotters fell with precision. People flooded the streets as the bodies fell below, but no one was prepared for what came next.
 
All that he heard was the sound of Simon walking around, and that did not bother him at all. Since nothing was happening at the moment, and it seemed like nothing would be happening anytime soon, Seth let his body relax more. One hand came back down to rest across his stomach, and he very quickly found himself drifting to sleep.

He could only have been asleep for ten minutes when a crack woke him suddenly. Eyes snapping open, they locked on Simon who was by his rifle, and a second after the second shot rang out, Seth was on his feet and next to the other man. Not wasting a moment, he grabbed the other and pinned him against the wall. "What are you-!" Before he could finish yelling his question, he released the man and took a step back, confusion clouding his gaze. He reacted so quickly he didn't even give himself time to think about what might be going on. For all he knew, Simon could have been shooting at an enemy, and while he didn't care for the gun or killing, he cared even less for the thought of his brother getting hurt. Having the kid out of the city was fucked up enough.

Adrian, who woke at the sound of the first gunshot, was standing on the other side of the doorway, peering around the corner to watch the confrontation. He realized the new person was his brother, but the way the guy was acting was strange. First he attacked Simon, and then he stopped. And what about the gunshots? What had those been about? There were more questions that those flowing through his head, but all he could really do was watch and wait for answers, and be prepared to run if something bad were to happen.
 
The suddenness of being pulled away from his rifle caused Simon to raise his fists. He lowered them a bit mores as he realized it was Seth. He lowered them completely as Seth stepped back. A sudden feeling crept through his body and caused his throat to tighten. How dare he? He seethed as he pushed his way back over to his rifle and sighted in again. "Just stay back." He didn't shout but the emphasis he placed on each word was showing his anger as it came closer to the surface. His eyes followed more of the guards and soon he had volleyed more rounds and watched as more bodies littered the streets. It only took a few minutes for them to realize where the fire was coming from and begin to mount up on trucks and move out. This was there mistake.

Everything went down in a matter of moments. As several bandit vehicle pushed up the street, they were suddenly cut off by two warden vehicles. Wild firing broke out as shouts of "Ambush" filled the air and, to the bandits horror, screaming from behind them and more firing let them know that the village was under assault as well. As if to make life worse, the hellish sniper fire that had stopped had now started again. Dread filled the Bandits as they realized the end had come.
 
Seth's eyes were wide as he slowly looked between his brother and Simon. His brain felt on overdrive, and that was never good since thinking too much never did him any good. Not thinking much never did him much good either. He was just an all around walking fuck up, but he would be damn if he was going to let his brother pay the price for his mistakes. One way or another, he was going to fix this, but first step was making sure the kid was safe.

The screams from below caused him to feel like he was in hell. He wanted it all to stop, for people to not have to die and suffer, but there was nothing he could do to end it, so he focused on what he did have some control over. Head turning away from the kid to Simon, he took a step towards the older man, worry and fear clouding his gaze. "At least tell me my brother is safe up here." Once he got that answer, then he would decide what to do next.
 
His anger still hadn't subsided but a small pang of understanding pulled him from his focus long enough to answer. "He's safe up here." It was all he really could say. After another minute though, his gun fell silent as he realized no more targets were visible. It was not a very long firefight but it was still vicious and bloody. He watched as the wardens kicked over fallen bandits and policed the wounded with single shots. Even the civilians were shot. It was cold and he found himself swallowing hard to control his self doubt. It was impossible not to feel something about shooting the bandits but the woman and children didn't really fit into his neat and tidy expectation of eliminating the bandit epidemic.
 
That was a relief at least, but he still kept an eye on Adrian as he tried to figure out what to now. Luckily, the shooting stopped and that helped minimize his choices. Seth looked at Simon - the man he was sure had the answers to all his questions, some of those he was not sure he wanted answers for. "What the hell just happened?" He decided to be as direct as possible and get the main question out of the way, and it would also lead him to his next response, whether it be vocal or physical: vocal if he was still confused and physical if he did not like the answer he was given. Something told him he would not like the truth of what just happened.
 
"You really don't need to know. Especially if you can not figure it out for yourself." His voice was a quiet clear whisper in the still air. The smell of gunpowder was still in the air and even though it had only been a few moments since the shooting stopped, his adrenaline had bled out of his system and he only felt tired. "Everything I do is all about getting back into thee city and keeping my family fed and safe." He was still laying by his rifle but as he spoke each word, he brought himself back up till he was standing. "Welcome to the outside world." He made sure to look Seth in the he said it.
 
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