Location: Best Western, Shreveport
Interactions: Toby, Lacey, Dexter (Collab With JJ)
Dex looked Evie up and down, nodding.
"I am, in fact, quite knowledgeable on holes. As you can see, I own several of them myself." He raised his eyebrows at her, snorted at his own joke, then tilted the bowl up and scarfed down the rest of the pasta, scraping the bowl to make sure he didn't leave anything behind.
"In any case - shopping trip? Count me in. It's... been a while, to say the least."
"Having shambling, walking corpses stinking up a lot of the shopping centres does make it somewhat hard to get out and do your business," Evie concurred with a smile.
"Speaking of holes, though, how's the wound coming along? Still smell like shambling, walking corpses?"
A shrug followed her comment, and he sat the bowl on a nearby counter, reaching down to touch the still inflamed skin around the entry wound.
"Seemed like it was pretty bad." He admitted, a frown playing at his lips.
"But I cleaned it best I could. Figure the antibiotics should help - the painkillers sure as hell did. Remind me to thank that guy, ah... what was his name again?" He wrinkled his nose in thought, then shrugged again.
"I dunno. Remind me to thank him though."
"Sure thing. I'm sure Otto and the others'll be back soon, anyway, so you won't have to wait long," Evie responded, setting her own bowl down.
"Just... try not to get shot too often. You're kind of a burden," she winked. Hopping off the counter, the sound of a car engine slowly rumbled into earshot, as if it were speeding towards the hotel. Arching a brow at Dexter, Evie grabbed her pistol from the counter and moved towards one of the covered windows, peeking out from behind the blinds.
"Don't suppose they stole a car to get back here with, do you?"
Dexter moved beside Evie, pulling the blinds apart with two fingers as well to look outside. The rumble of the engine grew louder, and then the screech of tires on the asphalt broke the silence, sending a flock of crows into the air as the vehicle rounded the corner.
"I don't..." He started, hand automatically going to the holster on his side. But it was empty, because in his half-awake state he'd forgotten his gun on the bed upstairs. Swearing under his breath, he watched the car, a dingy, beaten-up blue sedan, slow down in front of the hotel, idling there. The windows were darkened by a tint that seemed very out of place on such a shitty car, and something told him that these were not their people.
"Too high profile to be one of us." He said, voice lowering to a stealthy whisper despite the car's distance from the building.
"Stay here." He said, turning and leaving her at the window, brushing past Toby and the woman he didn't know. His eyes narrowed on her terrified expression, and he paused.
"Do you know anything about this?"
"I... I told her." The woman pointed a shaking finger at Evie.
"I told her they'd be coming after me."
"Evie?"
Seeming lost and dazed for a moment, Evie didn't respond straight away. Instead, she simply gulped quite audibly as the dread lodged like a rock in her throat.
"She... err... mentioned something about some men. I didn't think... fuck..." A million thoughts raced through her head at once, each one drowning out the other so much so that she couldn't think coherently, nevermind speak it. Simply looking to Dexter and the others like a lost child, she uttered,
"What do we do?"
"What do they want?" Dexter demanded of the woman, tone harsher than warranted. She visibly flinched, shrinking away from him in a way that made him blink in confusion and take a step back.
"Wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean... I just... What do they want? Why are they here?"
Lacey kept her eyes downcast, half-eaten food still cupped in her hands but now she had no appetite. They were all going to die, these people who had taken her in and tried to help her.
"I killed one of their men." She whispered.
"Killed one of their men? So they're justified in pursuing you, then?" He looked to Evie.
"Why should we put ourselves in danger for her sake?"
"Hey, look I'm sure she had her reasons," Evie interjected, frowning slightly.
"I mean, for fuck's sake, look at the condition she's in. Does she look like some sort of luxurious Lady Raider?"
"That's not the p-" he started, then trailed off with an exasperated sigh as Lacey dissolved into a sobbing heap on the floor. He raked a hand through his hair, opened his mouth as if to say something, and then turned and quit the room. Hero trailed him as he returned upstairs in search of his pistol.
"Fuck sake," Evie sighed, hands clasping to her forehead.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck..." With a sudden moment of clarity, her eyes shot to Toby.
"Get her upstairs and out of the way. Make sure Tommy's okay, too. I don't exactly think this is going to be a civilized visit with tea and biscuits..." The final part of her sentence sounded akin to a sob as she broke eye contact with him. The tips of her fingers trailed slowly along the top of her gun, back and forth. As much as Dexter had a point from his own perspective on how messed up the situation was, Evie couldn't bring herself to blame or hate Lacey for dropping in on them. After all, she'd been there. Now she had to face it again.
The slamming of doors echoed from beyond the windows, the men disembarking from the vehicle. They were rough-looking: torn clothes, unkempt appearances but well maintained and supplied gear. Numbering five in total, some carried semi automatic pistols, a couple of others had shotguns. This wouldn't be an easy fight.
Finally making it back to the room he'd been in, Dexter snatched his Glock off of the duvet and whipped back around, calling over his shoulder for Bobbie to take Tommy and get somewhere more enclosed. He ignored her queries and immediately descended the stairs, spikes of pain lancing through his abdomen with every step. By the time he got back to the kitchen, passing Toby guiding the hysterical woman presumably upstairs to his sister and the kid, Evie looked positively maniacal.
"Hey, hey, hey, calm down." He said quietly, placing a hand on her shoulder to still her. "We're the defenders, we have the advantage here."
"I can't go back there..." she said, unintentionally cryptically as tears found their ways to well up her eyes. Still, despite their presence, for once she didn't break down crying. Instead, she found some sort of comfort in Dexter's words. Simply resorting to a nodding in determination.
"No, you're right. We can do this."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
On Person (Evie):
- Hunting Knife
- Bow (6 arrows)
- Makarov PMM (4x 10rnd 9mm Magazines)
Backpack (Evie - In Room 107):
Items (3):
- Blanket
- Bobbie's P99 (4 rounds)
Water (2):
- Canteen (80%)
- Bottled Water x2
Food (1):
- Tinned food x4
Outfit:
[spoili]
[/spoili]