Safe Haven

[ठिक छैन]

~ Kaira ~

"I know, I know, you're right!" Kaira exclaimed, through gritted teeth. "This sucks!" She slammed her fist against the metal grating of the security gate, before reaching into her shirt to pull out her key. "You might as well take whatever you can carry. Be smart about it, though."

She slipped through the opening of the security gate and unlocked the door to the office, pushing it open and motioning for Royce to go past. "We ain't got much time, so you better hustle."

The store's supply had clearly dwindled since the days when her uncle was around, but there were still some things of use. In a shelf in the corner, the food was stored. There was an assortment of dried beans, grains such as oats, some canned food, and the remains of the fresh food Kaira had mentioned earlier - vegetables and eggs. On another shelf, there was an assortment of old blankets, clothes, and shoes. A third shelf held bins of miscellaneous items, including the lighters, batteries, and bullets Royce had traded Kaira earlier. In addition, there was an old hand-crank lantern, a few pocket knives that were more useful as tools than weapons, matches, empty metal water bottles, and some homemade first-aid kits.

~ Ezra ~

Thank god he didn't hide under the bed.

But he wasn't out of the woods yet. Ezra felt his breath catch in his throat as the man turned towards the boxes. A crowbar wasn't going to do much against a gun and there was no way he could get the jump on him when he was staring right in his direction.

Taking the opportunity the girl's actions gave him, he quickly stepped out from behind the boxes. Hands clutched tightly around it, he raised the crowbar and brought it down on the man's head with as much force as he could muster. "Leave her alone!"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Royce headed into the back as ordered and quickly took stock, her own clothes were good for day travel and she didn't want to waste space with pyjamas, she ended up grabbing a couple of blankets, the bullets and batteries and whatever food looked like it would last, she couldn't help but feel a bit guilty, but figured if she maybe looked out for and shared with Kaira it would be fine, she definitely took as many medical supplies as she could.
When Royce finally returned she was slightly weighed down.
"Hey, you mind if we stick together? There's safety in numbers and..."
She showed off her handgun.
"Maybe this could discourage attackers?".


The man crumpled under the hit, his skull caving in with a crack and a squishy sound, it was highly unlikely he'd survive even with medical treatment.
Ignoring her wound Akane grabbed a few more things and turned to the gun with a wary eye.
It could help but... She wasn't a fan of guns.
"Uhh... You want that?"
She questioned, still in panic mode, thanks for her life could come later, when she was sure it would last past the next hour.

 

[ठिक छैन]

~ Kaira ~

Kaira's backpack was already well-stocked, but she took the time they had to slip on as many extra shirts and jackets as she could. Not the most comfortable arrangement, but the extra clothes could be of use later, and even if they weren't at least those pieces of crap wouldn't get ahold of them.

"Figured we would." Kaira agreed after they'd vacated the room, locking the office door again. "At least for now."

She finished pulling the security grate closed and locked it as well, before grabbing her bat and heading towards the back of the store. "Alright, let's get out of here. Doors this way. Be ready for anything, I guess."

She sounded relatively calm but felt anything but.

~ Ezra ~

Ezra recoiled at the sound, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment as he took a deep breath to compose himself. No matter how many times he heard the sound of bones breaking, he knew he'd never get used to it.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, sure." He said quickly, sounding a little out of it as he grabbed for the gun. "You okay?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Royce was inwardly relieved... She hated being alone and having people instead of one really would be a big help! Now they just needed to get out.
Once they were out of the building the gunshots got louder, it sounded like done people were futilely fighting back.
"Only way out is the front gate..."
She stated, starting to move through alleys.
The gate would of course be guarded...


Akane was used to the sounds of bones breaking, often they were her own... She was amazed at her lack of crippling injuries or deformities at this point.
"Y...yeah, I'll be fine, just a scratch really".
She insisted, peeking out the door.
"No one's here but they likely will be soon... We need to get out of town now!"

 

[ठिक छैन]

~ Kaira ~

Kaira kept low as they moved through the alleys, doing her best to keep her voice soft and her footsteps softer.

"If they really aim at wiping us out, there's bound to be people guarding it." She whispered. "So what are we gonna do? If we're lucky there'll only be a few... but even then I doubt we'll be able to take them."

By "doubt", what Kaira really meant was there was no way in any realm of possibilities that the two of them were going to get out of this alive if it came down to a head-on fight. Her uncle had done his best to teach her to defend herself, but she was a shopkeeper, not an experienced martial artist or soldier or something else of the like. And as much as she would like to deny it, as a 21 year old girl who stood in at only 5'4... she knew as well as anyone that she wasn't exactly built for combat, either. She was strong for her size, but she was still small.

"Maybe a distraction could work? But that's easier said than done."

~ Ezra ~

Ezra was hesitant to leave. In here, at least for the moment, it was safe. The only threat to his life was lying on the ground in a heap. Out there, who knew what was going on. But he knew any semblance of security he felt right now was a load of crap. So he had to get over himself, stop acting like a baby, and move on with his life.

"Yeah, you're right. I know." He slipped the crowbar back into his backpack, and instead held the gun closely at his side. He hadn't ever really used a gun, but he knew enough to fire it. At least, he thought he did. Hopefully, he was right.

"Let's get out of here." He headed out of the basement, trying his best to push back any fear he felt.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Royce had to agree, no way would the gate be unguarded, there would be at least three or four men watching it... She was no slouch of course, one on one she had a good chance in a fair fight, and with a surprise attack she could probably take out two, but she'd likely die in the process... Definitely unacceptable.

As they has feared there were in fact four men watching the gates with one even carrying an automatic rifle!
"Well shit.... There goes that idea..."


Akane led him out of the basement, towards the gate, she was running on adrenaline and not thinking... Which led her to walk right into Royce.

"What the..."
Royce was quick to jam her gun into Akane's face.

 

[ठिक छैन]

Ezra didn't take the time to think when he saw someone pointing their gun at Akane.

"Get that out of her face!" He exclaimed, raising the rifle up towards Royce on instinct. "Now!"

Kaira was a bit taken aback at the sudden entrance of two new people. She could feel her flight-or-fight instinct start to kick in even more than it already had. That is, until she realized she'd seen the two around before. Having lived and worked here for so long, in such a high-traffic occupation, she had interactions with just about everyone at one time or another.

These two were no armed bandits. They were harmless. Unless the kid lost his cool and tried to fight his way out of this situation, that was; And from the way his hands shook as he raised his gun up towards Royce, that seemed all too possible.

"Hey, hey!" She hissed, stepping in front of the boy, her hands raised palm-up in surrender in front of herself. "Put the gun down. Ezra, right? It's okay, we ain't gonna hurt you, you just startled us, that's all. How about we all lower our weapons and shut the hell up before we get our heads blown off by the actual bad guys?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Royce seemed about to fire when Ezra demanded she get her gun out of Akane's face... She was confused and stressed and more than a little terrified!
Fortunately Kaira stepped in and she calmed down enough to realize they were other survivors.
"Good point... And I know that guy... Why are you dressed like that?"
She asked of Akane, who let out a sort of annoyed squeak in response.
"Whatever... We need to get past those guys at the gate... Any suggestions?"
Royce asked and was quickly given one by Akane.

"I saw a truck full of weapons near the gate... Maybe we could start a fire on it? Surely they'd care enough to leave the gate for that".

 

[ठिक छैन]

Ezra gave a curt, small nod in response when Kaira spoke his name. He was already starting to calm down a bit, but he still waited until Royce lowered the gun away from Akane before he was willing to lower his own. "Sorry." He mumbled, shifting his weight from one foot to another as they stood there. A nervous habit.

He finally took the time to survey their situation as the others spoke. "Fire?" He asked, glancing at Akane. "How we gonna do that, though?"

"I have a lighter." Kaira spoke up. "Matches, too. And kerosene." She paused, giving a somewhat nervous sounding chuckle, before she continued. "I keep a lot of the best stuff for myself."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Royce shook her head at the apology.
"My fault, I'm too wound up".
She admitted, though who could blame her in the current situation?
This wasn't exactly a normal day in the life of Royce... Or anyone for that matter.
She did speak up about lighting a fire.
"I've got a few bullets worth of gunpowder and two lighters... So who's going to start it?"

Akane raised her hand with a pained wince.
"I can do it, I can probably get it to light the gas tank too if I'm careful..."

 

[ठिक छैन]

"I guess it's a plan, then." Kaira nodded. "Just make sure you get out of there, quick, once it's done. Wouldn't want to be there when they come rushing to find out what's going on."

"You?" Ezra spoke up, staring slack-jawed at Akane. "But you're hurt! Is that a good idea?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"You're hurt?"
Royce asked, suddenly curious, Akane hid her injuries really well, barely a wince passed her face, either she wasn't badly hurt, or was really good at hiding it.

"Hey, I told you I'm fine... It's just a scratch... Besides, if we don't so this and get out of here we'll all have a lot worse than a knife wound..."
With that said she took the supplies and... Ran down an alley? The reason why was obvious a moment later as she came down a street out of sight of the guards and walked up to the truck, placing a mixture of powder and kerosene before using a little trail of it as a makeshift fuse, lighting it before running back.
"See? Easy..."
She gasped a little as it caught fire, apparently running had made her wound worse.

 

[ठिक छैन]

Ezra didn't seem satisfied with this answer, narrowing his eyes and scrunching his nose up in response. But what could he do about it? She was off before he had a chance to say anything else. The whole time she was gone, short as it was, he continued to anxiously shift from foot to foot, occasionally standing up on his tip-toes in some childish attempt to get a better look at her as she went about her mission.

Kiera had to hand it to Akane, for someone who was injured she was doing a pretty good job of acting like nothing was wrong. She just hoped it didn't catch up with her later. The boy certainly seemed worried it would. She almost offered a word of comfort. But, what good would it do?

"Good job." Kiera gave Akane a thumbs up. "Now we just wait. If we're lucky, we can bolt through the gates without being seen. Everyone be ready to run. I doubt we'll have much time."

"Easy...?" Ezra squinted harder at Akane when she gasped, tilting his head to the side in an exaggerated expression of skepticism. "You sure you okay? Do you need me to carry something?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Hahh... I'm... Okay, besides, I doubt you could carry me and my supplies..."
She declared, having gotten herself mostly back under control, if it really worries you I'll deal with the cut when we're safe".
She told him.

The fire only took a couple of minutes to draw the attention of the guards, who ran to try and save their guns, leaving the gate unguarded.
"Well... It's now or Never!"
Royce declared, making a run for it.

 

[ठिक छैन]

"Please." Ezra nodded his head in agreement.

"It'll be fine." Kiera mumbled. "Focus."

Ezra nodded again, repositioning his backpack and clutching the rifle tighter as he prepared to run.

The second Royce made her declaration, they both took off after her. Kiera with her head held high, while Ezra slumped forward slightly, eyes on the ground in front of him as if he feared tripping over his own feet.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Just as they reached the gate someone noticed them and started to fire, the rounds going wide but still terrifying to be sure... Royce fired a round back and the shooting stopped, but she didn't look back to see if she'd hit Someone... Didn't want to find out that she had killed a human being, even a mad killer.

Royce and Akane wouldn't stop running until the town was well into the distance, and even then only because Akane simply dropped, crying out as her chest wound became too much, her shirt had a much more notable red patch now.

 

[ठिक छैन]

Ezra squeezed his eyes shut when the shooting started. The bullets couldn't hurt him if he couldn't see them! Stupid baby logic. What was he, five? If anything, he'd trip and land flat on his face. And then what? He'd be dead. He snapped his eyes back open, did his best to ignore what felt like imminent doom, and focused on getting out of there as quick as he could.

They'd been running for awhile when Akane dropped. It took Kaira a few moments to even realize. She skid to a stop when she finally did, turning around and backtracking towards the other. "Shit! You okay?"

By then Ezra had already dropped to the ground beside Akane, setting his rifle off to the side. "You said you were fine!" He exclaimed, the frustration in his voice sounding almost akin to anger. "This isn't fine!"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Akane was gasping a little but pulled herself into a sitting position.
"So?... If I told you I wasn't fine... What would you have done? Gotten shot trying to carry me?... Stopped to treat me and gotten caught?... There was no choice..."
She declared.

"I can see your logic... However, it's still stupid".
Royce declared.
She was inwardly impressed that Akane had managed to hold on so long without complaint.
"Uhh, anyone got more than passable first aid skills? The wound likely needs cleaning..."

 

[ठिक छैन]

Akane had a point. But Ezra didn't much feel like acknowledging it. It was far easier to stay upset. "Well... I don't know! We could've figured something out! It would've been better than this!"

"Could we stop bickering like a bunch of babies?" Kaira huffed. "That's not going to make things any better, is it?"

Ezra, who had been on his knees a second before, sat back onto his feet. "No... guess not." He grumbled, crossing his arms.

Kaira started digging through her bag. "We got first aid kits. As for first aid skills, that's another story. I'd say mine are passable, but... more than passable? I don't know."

Ezra no longer seemed to be listening at this point.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"I'll just do it myself..."
Akane decided after a minute, it wouldn't be the first time she patched herself up, this just happened to be the worst injury she'd had to deal with.
"And... Ezra, sorry for worrying you, but I didn't want to get you killed by being slow..."
She mumbled.

"Patching up your own wounds? Is that even possible with a chest wound?"
Royce looked to Kaira as if expecting her to magically have the answer.