It's a Dog Eat Dog World: Act 2

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Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

She sighed, seeing that Matt wasn't trying to avoid Ace because he didn't care...he feared the worst.

"Matt, just like you've been here for me, you're not alone in this." She took his hand in hers. "Besides, if Ace had any bad news, he would be avoiding you right now."

Matt leaned over to give her a kiss again, which Josie could not avoid even if she wanted to.

"Just..". He kissed her again. "I should stop before I get worked up again". He smirked and then closed his eyes playfully.

"I...understand exactly what you mean." Josie squeezed his hand as she leaned in further, playfully pushing him down on the couch to linger in more silly kisses and laughter. "Umm, it would be rather funny if Ace found us this way." She giggled, "He's been like a big brother to me, in a way... Don't know if he would cheer or demand you ask for his blessing."

 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

Matt was glad he had someone to talk to and dicuss what he was going through. " Thanks for being there for me...and yeah but i want to know, its better to find out now then later". When she playfully pushed him on the couch and kissed him he laughed and then poked her sides and then leaned up and kissed her again.

He held her hands and then stuck his tounge out. He laughed at the comment. " Yeah that would be funny, i mean i would tell him exactly how i feel about you..you mean alot to me and i would risk my life for you because i love you". Matt stroked her cheek and then kissed her forehead.
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

"And because of that, I would send you two off with lavish gifts and blessings to last a lifetime." Ace walked in, smiling from ear to ear seeing his good friend so happy. "Any man who can put a smile on that girl's face and live to talk about it, is obviously a pretty decent guy. Jo's one tough cookie and wouldn't have it any other way."

Josie pulled herself from Matt a bit embarrassed, but ecstatic to hear Ace's remarks about Matt. It was as if her father was saying the same words. She sat near Matt and gave Ace a puzzled look. "Alright then, since you're pleased with how things are with me, hurry up and tell us what we want to hear before I turn on you."

Ace fixed himself a cup of coffee with a finger in the air asking her to wait a second. That was far too long to wait in her book.

"I did find a few things - very favorable - indicating that your brother is probably a few miles north of us, close to Freemont in a small pit territory. I'm not quite sure what the name is, but I believe we have a few spies there still collecting information about the place." He sat down at the table where the papers were that he left, and sifted through them until he found what he was looking for. "One of them sent me some photo images of groups of children working there, to see if you could spot your brother."

He fanned a handful of pictures on the clear part of the table - group shots of boys and girls in rags for clothes, swollen hands and faces, no smiles. It was so disheartening to see, even for Josie, who turned her head. The pictures opened up too many bad memories.
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

Matt sat up quickly also but nodded and smiled at Ace's comment. " Thanks i truly care about her. He watched as Ace went to go and get a cup of coffe and Matt was shaking his foot nervous and his stomach felt tight. When he finally walked over and told him that his brother was a few miles north he was relived.

When Ace asked him to see if he sould spot his brother and handed him the picture he sighed and then looked down breifly not wanting to look at the pictures. When he finally looked up he immeditally spoted his brother, his face was sadden, scared, hurt. The anger started to build up and matt gritted his teeth and potinted him out. " He's in the middle tword the left..looks just like me". He barely spoke the words and he stood up. His body was shaking and he needed to release the anger. He pased back and forth. " So when is the best time to leave?".
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

"Ah ah ah, that's where my proposition enters in."

Josie stepped to Matt, trying to slow down his pacing, hoping her presence would calm him down. Again, Ace and his little secrets.

"What are you wanting, Ace?"

The man stood to his feet, moving to stand directly before them. He slipped his hands into his pockets and sighed with a brief pause for effect. "I don't want you two to head out there..."

"Now, wait a minute, Ace. There's no way you're going to stop us."

"I didn't finish, Jo."

Josie calmed down for a moment to give her friend some space. "I don't want you two heading out there without proper training, without our full support here at ISH. We want to give you guys a quick training course, fit you with our best equipment and show you what it takes to play the covert game. We want you to leave out of here with everything you need, from central support, to knowing who to talk to and where to go when you're out there, so you can return safely - all three of you."

Josie didn't know what to think on this, glancing at Matt for his reaction. It seemed like a good idea, to leave the Yellows with what they needed, but...

"How long will this take, Ace?"

"Between three to five days - give or take; depending on how quickly you two learn."
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

When Josie stepped infront of him he stopped and then took a deep breath. He looked over at ace when he said he didn't want us to go and was about to speak when he heard Ace finish saying that they needed tranning and leaning what to do so they could return safely. He nodded and then looked at Josie.

" Okay fine..will do the tranning..whatever it takes to get Danny, so when do we start this ISH tranning?". He leaned against the wall and lookked at the papers before looking back at Ace " Thanks for everything man..".
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

"We can start whenever you two are ready."

Ace started to head back to his room when Matt thanked him. He smiled, "Any friend of Jo's, is a friend of mine. Just keep doing what you're doing to keep that smile on her face, and keep her out of trouble; that's all I ask."

Josie rolled her eyes as her friend left the room, sliding herself before Matt to read this thoughts. "You're sure about this? A possible five days worth of training...you think we can do this?" She's never done anything like this before... "Spy training is, what, something like military stuff, right?" She slipped her arms around his waist, leaning her head against his chest.
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

Matt nodded as he watched Ace leave " Dont worry i will". He looked down at Josie when he felt her arms around his waist and her head on his chest. With her close by it seemed to ease his pain and how he was feeling. " I mean.. do we really want to head out there with no tranning and get killed or hurt again?, i rather take the chance although i dont want to but we need the new gear, to rest up and you need to heal and this is the perfect time to do it then being unprepaird".

He rubbed her back soflty and then kissed her forehead. " So how about this..its up to you, we can go start the tranning and then head shopping later or vise versa?".
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

Even though she was all gun-ho about saving Danny and knew the decision to train with the Yellows was a great idea; after seeing those pictures...remembering those bad days, the idea of willingly going back into the Pits and the Trades was frightening.

And worst still, there was just so much she's learned that she's incapable of doing. Even with all the weapons and training available, she was going to botch something up - and then what? Josie didn't know if she live with those two things - living another nightmare again, and living with the guilt of something much worst if she screws up. There was just too much at stake now.

"I don't know," she reluctantly spoke, trying to find the right words to hide her doubts. "Maybe, one day for us... just one. Then, we...can start...," she didn't look up.
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

Matthew looked at her with a concerned look. When Josie looked away and spoke he tilted her face up so that she was looking at him. " What do you mean? Start what? tell me please". He hugged her and then closed his eyes breifly thinking about the tranning they'd be gong through, " Dont worry everything will be okay".

He looked around the room before speaking again. " Do you want to go to the ISH and train or we can do it later it dosent matter to me".
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

((She was talking about the training. LOL.))

Josie let Matt lift her chin and she gave him her eyes, "I just want one day all for us...and then we can start the training. Maybe, by then...I'll be ready to deal."
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

((Hey, I'm going to have to head to bed. *hate Mondays* See ya later. :) ))
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

( lol okay my bad)

Matthew looked at her and then smiled. " Okay one day for us, just me and you okay?". Hisses her softly and the sat on the couch egar to go shopping and explore the place.

He was actually glad they weren't going to tranning, he wanted to alteast have a day to enjoy himself and just be around Josie for once. The needed the relaxation.
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

((OKay, we've got to be creative here... I have no idea how a city like this would be... a bit torn up, cluttered, but functioning... And, I'm not real sure what city we could say it 'use' to be. New York is so over used... If you have a city we can set this to, then that's what we'll use.))

Josie seem to bounce on her toes with excitement. She grabbed her shoes, slipping them on, and then headed to Ace's room real fast. "Hey Ace, we're going to go relax in the city for a day and begin training tomorrow."

He opened the door with a half yawn, half grin, "Well then, stop by the front desk. She'll have some credits for you to spend and explain to you where not to go."

Josie was confused thinking there was no 'not go' places in Yellows, but thought not to ask. Ace was sleeping standing up, so she left him alone. Returning to Matt, she remembered her wrap. "Can you...help me rewrap my ribs again before we leave?" She smirked, "I'm still a bit soar and don't want to do anything else to damage them."
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

(( Yeah it tis, still love my hometown but how about Chigago, or California?"

Matthew watched as Josie smiled and then put on her shoes in the speed of light. He chuckled and watched as she dashed out the room to go and tell Ace. When she came back and said sshe needed help re wrapping her sides he nodded. Lifting up her shirt he couldn't help but think of ast night.

He re wraped her bandages and then pulled her shirt down and kisses her cheek. " Okay lefts go". Standing up he walked out the room closing it behind them and then stepped into the elevator that took thrm to the lobby floor.
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

((Just a FYI, I'm starting to get crazy storms coming in from the hurricane hitting the Gulf. I'm probably not going to be on tonight, but if I have internet you'll see me. If not, you know why. And let's go with Chicago - that would be new for me. LOL!))


Josie followed Matt to the elevator, taking a moment to sneak in a few kissing while they took the long drop down to the ground floor. She wasn't sure if the wooziness in her gut was from the elevator ride, or from Matt's touch, but she loved it all the same.

When they reached the lobby area, they walked into a streamline of activity. It seem as if the ISH was having a rummage sale or something; tons of people in odd suits and dresses stepped lively across the cracked marble floors, carrying arm-loads of files, cameras, tools, weapons, just crazy things that she couldn't put a logical name to. The activity was powerful, set with a purpose that she was growing a strong curiosity to understand. Daytime in the Yellows was a far contradiction to the night.

They stepped to the lobby's front desk. The woman had already pulled out a large wallet and placed it on the counter just when they reached it. She slid it under Josie's hand before she could even speak.

"Of course you both know money is dead," the woman began. "There are some places, like the piers and shore shops, where money is still being used, but Bartering is the way things work around here. If you don't have an item a merchant wants to barter from you, you give them a credit. These are credits." She opened the wallet and pulled out a thin metal card the size of a business card. It had some strange indention similar to a UPS code, and holes that dotted the top of it in a random sequence that made no sense to her.

"These cards are either scanned by the bar code or the hole code. This is Ace's code under the ISH. When the code is scanned, it places his name in that merchant's online registry, if he still has access to a working network. Ace's registry under the ISH also records this transaction. The merchant can enter into our network shop and choose what he would like from out of our bartering registry in return for an item that was purchased. Every merchant has a bartering credit system, and every person in the city territories has their own personal registries for this purpose. There's extra cards because some purchases require that you leave a card behind. When they complete their exchange, the code on that card cancels. It's really quite simple."

The woman handed her a credit and Josie just shook her head, "I don't know about simplicity, but since it works like a credit card, and it's Ace's, then I'm all in!"

She turned to Matt, far too bright to be the same Josie. "Well, we're set. So, we can walk...to take a cab...?"

"Miss, Ace has sent a vehicle down for your use today." The woman handed Matt a pair of keys to an unknown vehicle.

"Okay, well...we have a choice then." Josie smiled.

(Oh, and she's wearing a blue sun dress. LOL))
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

Matthew enjoyed the kissing they did in the elevator and when they reached the loby floor he watched as the lady slid the card under Josie's hand. Looking around at all the commotion he was curious as to what was going on but it was none of his buisness so he decided to looked away and not question the activity.

When the lady was explaning how the card worked he was lost in a trance and wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying, all he heard was credit, ace and exchange. When the lady was done he nodded pretending he knew what she said and then took the keys from her. Holding Josie's hand he walked outside and then cliked the top botton and he heard the car's noise.

When he turnned he saw a black Lumarai Lexus. He grinned, it was a nice car to say the least, he walked over and opened the door for Josie before looking at the interior of the car and the seating. " Wow this is incredible".
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

"You've got to be kidding me?" Josie slid into the car, gliding her hands over the leather seats. "I've never been in anything like this in my life, even before the Fall!" She took a deep breath to take in that still new car smell. "Um, I never knew the Yellows live this rich. It will be so hard to leave here to go back into the Pits!"

She didn't want to think about that...leaving the Yellows, an amazing place of wealth and bounty, where people had everything. In some ways, it was sickening to enjoy all these wonderful things when she knew there were others outside the Circles suffering. But, the ISH were trying to make this life available for everyone. She liked that thought.

"Well, I have no idea where to go." She began to search in the glove compartment for a map, but a beep alerted her and she saw a small console raise from the center of the dash. "Wow, GPS... I thought all GPS navigations were dead."
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

(( I understand good luck with the hurricane))

Matthew got into the car and then placed his hands on the wheel. It was amazing, the car had the new car smell and it felt so relaxing just to sit in the car. " Yeah i haven't been in a car like this either". When the gps popped up he laughed and the touched a few buttons and then he started the car.

" Okay first things first, we head to the shoe store and then the clothing store". He followed the directions on the map looking around. The place had its up's and downs but it was a great place to live. He finally stopped infront the shoe store and then he got out. " Wow this is nice. Matt walked inside and looked around at all the nice shoes.
 
Re: It's a Dog Eat Dog World

For a girl, this was heaven. Shoes everywhere...

But, for Josie, she was content to just find a tough set of hiking boots for her travels, something that's not a torn up hand-me-down, or taken off of some dead guy's feet.

But, the other shoes there were so eye-catching, it reminded her of how life use to be before all the bad stuff. She held herself back from trying on a few pumps, trying to keep her focus. Out in the territories, you can only take what you need. Same was true in the city too.

After she tried on a few work and hiking boots, she found a pair that fit well and looked durable. She also picked out a new pair of tennis shoes and socks. She looked over at Matt wondering if he was getting bored with picking out shoes.

"I've got what I need," she smiled, showing off how her new tennis shoes looked on her feet. "Do you need anything? It's on Ace..."

(A portion of the storm has passed... I've got my net back, for a while.)
 
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