Simply Survive

Why was he smiling at her like that again? It felt like a warm glow, a gentle touch inside her mind, spreading down her body, comforting and Summer found herself smiling despite herself, glancing at the man again with a look that clearly said 'stop that' even as she wasn't angry about it. Looking away again, she crouched and checked her own gear, listening as Targas spoke and then looking after the others as they left.

She stayed crouched, but looked up at the man she was bonded to, his sunglasses hindering her eyes from meeting his in a way, but she knew their gray hues well enough by now despite that and between her sense of smell and this odd connection, she felt she'd know what he was feeling without having to read it in his expression.

"Okay for the most part. I...I think I have a fever, but it's nothing alarming and my senses are...on overdrive, but nothing else seems different...yet."

She stood then and took a step toward him before she checked herself, realizing that this wasn't the place to show any outward affection. At least, she didn't think it was. Gah, this was confusing. "And you?"
 
"I seem to have developed a type of thermal visioning. So Im a little confused as to what else could have happened."

He shrugged to himself and lifted his pack up onto his back, awaiting the others to return.

"Other than that, I feel fine. Im curious about something, have you felt anything as of late? Like, regarding this connection we have?"

(sorry for the short one, brain being slow right now)
 
Summer nodded slowly, thoughtful and she retrieved her pack when Targas did, settling it on her shoulders and shifting the straps around until it was comfortable as the debated how best to answer. She wasn't going to be untruthful, but...what if she was feeling one thing, noticing something and he wasn't? She really didn't want this to be more...well, it wasn't uncomfortable, but strange than it already was.

She was pretty sure already, however, that this wish wasn't going to be something granted to her.

The auburn-haired woman finally responded, tucking a stray strand of hair back behind her ear, glad the rest was pulled back as the heat was already considerably intense. "I sometimes feel what you do, in fleeting spurts and...I keep thinking that you're thinking about me....or smiling at me mentally...or something. It makes me...happy."


(( Sokay. I understand. :) ))
 
"Thats because I am." He said, smiling at her.

He looked up and saw the rest of the team returning from their final business. They all gathered around and waited for the gates to open up before heading out.

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The trip there was rather uneventful, thanks to Summer taking point with Targas and knowing what roads to avoid as it were. Kilborn took some bolt cutters and broke off the old lock on the tunnel entrance and the team began to make their way in. This was the problem with this mission: Dark, zombies, and no idea where the cache was.

"I say we follow the old rule of contra-dexter." Delta says as they enter the lines itself.

"Agreed."

They began to descend into the darkness and the team began to don their nightvision goggles. Targas simply took off his glasses and took a deep breath, making his eyes change their sight. This tunnel was so cold and the team behind him was rather bright and he wondered if this is how the zombies saw things...

He didnt dwell on that for too long as he began to take point and lead the team down the tunnel, not knowing what to expect.
 
Summer slipped her goggles on like the others, but it only took her a moment of disorientation to realize she didn't need them and in fact had been able to see perfectly fine going into the darkness. The tunnel looked dim to her, in shades of gray, but it wasn't black, merely as if she walked in twilight and she realized that something had happened to Targas in this way, too as he was not using his goggles either. Interesting.

The woman stayed close to Targas, not just because she wanted to be close to him, but because with her nose, she was useful there. Her hearing was actually hindering in this place as everything echoed, sounds traveled and bounced, but her nose still worked and while she could pick up every trace of the creatures that had been through here, she could also tell that they were not new scents. Not yet.

They'd been walking about an hour before Summer picked up anything and she touched Targas' arm in the darkness, motioning him to a halt as they came to a bend in the subway tunnel. What happened next would not be recorded by anyone as they couldn't see it, but Summer certainly FELT a shift in her mind and her eyes dilated, turning to vertical slits as the scent of RadRats and Trackers filled her nose.

A low, audible snarl ignited in her throat, echoing faintly off the walls and Summer bared her fangs, speaking with effort, as if she could hardly remember how to. Her mind swam with raw, wild desires she'd never experienced before, not in this magnitude and she was working to remain logical, thinking.

"RadRats, about thirty, maybe thirty-five, and Trackers, at least six. A mile away."
 
He sensed the feral nature that was showing itself in Summer and he reached out to her with his mind and tried to calm her, showing her the calm he had and trying to share it with her.

Calm now, Summer...we will be fine, he said in his mind and wondered if she could hear what he was thinking.

He put a cautious hand on her arm, knowing all too well that this might end badly for him but he needed to empower the calming emotions hes trying to give her with a touch.
 
Targas' mind would have hit a barrier at first, a snapping, wild thing that wanted to attack anything that attempted to get near. That would have changed slowly, though, as his presence made itself known and the growl died out of Summer's throat as she blinked, turning her head slightly, tilting it as if to catch his words - words ghosting through her mind so faintly that for a moment she wondered if she'd even heard them.

The scent of enemies filled her nose, coaxing her back to her feral state, but the male's touch did the opposite and between the two warring desires, Targas won. The auburn-haired female gave a tremble before she calmed, submitting to his will rather than her own as her eyes returned to normal as she was able to think more clearly again. That wild nature was still there, under the surface, pacing like a caged predator, but it was back under her control.

Damn. She hadn't expected that.

Summer touched Targas' side discreetly, letting him know she was okay now and she focused on him for a moment, wondering if perhaps she could give a message back. I'm sorry. It surprised me. Thank you.

"Do we need to be concerned about something, Scrapper?"

Summer glanced back at Kilborn, seeing that he was watching her closely and she shook her head firmly. "No. I'm good." She turned forward again and started down the tunnel cautiously, drawing her gun as she went.
 
Targas put his hand back on his rifle and cradled it in his arms, proceeding down the tunnel and being cautious. He reached out to her again, What was that?

He climbed over some rubble and swore under his breath as it slipped out from under him and crashed into the ground, making him freeze in his tracks.

"Scout, will we be expecting trouble?"

Delta and Sev clicked off their safeties on their rifles and cautiously crawled over the rubble and pulled Targas up onto his feet.
 
Okay, so they could talk to each other mentally. That....was actually really cool, she had to admit. Summer glanced at Targas and then ahead again, climbing the rubble with a bit more grace than he did.

That was instinct. I don't know how else to describe it. I felt...savage, like I was being personally challenged by the creatures, the Trackers especially. I felt...predatory. That was how she'd word it. She'd felt like a predator discovering another predator had entered her territory and Summer had reacted accordingly. There was also the underlining desire to attack just because she could sense, knew the undead were a threat.

She'd felt that way before, but NEVER like that. Never so potently.

The sifting rubble and Targas' subsequent crash made her wince, teeth gritted as she looked down at him - worried for him, but far more concerned about what they might have just attracted - and when he questioned her, she held up a hand for silence, listening. Sounds were distorted in this place, but even her team would hear the sudden screeching and howls that the noise had attracted and the woman sighed, clicking off the safety to her gun.

"I think that's answer enough."
 
He sighed as he got up and switched the safety off his rifle as well.

"You sure it's just trackers, Scout? Roaches wont follow but something else might."

He spoke with a sense of urgency. He did not like the prospect of dying down in a subway today and not when he is starting to feel he has a futire again...did he just think that? He has...a future...That was a thought that has not crossed his mind in a long, long time.

In his urgency, he wasn't too concerned about hiding his thoughts from Summer and glanced over at her when he realized it before turning back to the tunnel ahead and getting into firing position.
 
A future.

Summer stared at Targas for what seemed like an infinitely long moment before her mind wrapped around that, accepted it, cradled it protectively and she found she agreed with him. Completely. The woman nodded slowly, almost as if she answered an unspoken question and she finally tore her eyes away from the male, registering the spoken question. She inhaled deeply, concentrating and realized she could stretch her senses out to further distances now.

"Just Trackers and RadRats. That's it for now." she assured, taking position and steadying her breathing, calming her mind as they waited.

And they didn't have to wait long.

The Trackers came first, impressive things with see-through bodies and glowing hides. Their tongues tasted, scented the air, leading them to their prey and when one growled, Summer had to bite back an answering sound. No, silence. Wait. The creatures grew closer, picking up on them and when Kilborn - a veteran - fired, she followed suit. There was a roar from the creature they hit and the Trackers started to scramble their way up the rubble, snarling horribly.

This time Summer didn't hold back her answering growl and she fired off a few more shots, one hitting the Tracker, but another flying past to nail the RadRat that had appeared behind.
 
Targas closed his eyes as they rounded the corner and opened them when he heard the first shot fired. He knew how to deal with trackers: shoot where they are running towards, and thats just what he did. Three shot bursts poured from the rifle into the first Tracker he saw, watching the cool wall behind it splash orange for a moment before cooling down.

Delta and Sev opened up, laying an overlapping spray of bullets that tore into the other Trackers, killing one and crippling two others.

The Trackers jumped at the group, one heading for Summer and was going to hit her and likely tear into her before she had a chance to react, knowing her speeds and theirs.

"No."

A red rage surged through his entire body and mind, his vision going from cool blue hues to blood red. His physical demeanor shifted to hostility and he threw his rifle aside and jumped at the leaping Tracker, tackling it into the wall. The creature screamed and tried to wrap its tongue around his neck but he caught it in his hand. The tongue wrapped around his forearm but he didnt flinch. He felt his muscles ripple and bulge out more than they normally would and a superhuman strength coursed through his body. He raised his entangled wrist and began to brutalize the Tracker with his fists, each punch making a solid, meaty thump and the sound of bones could be heard through the gunfire. The Tracker tried to use its tongue to drag his fist into its mouth but it was denied as he continued to punch at the creature's cranium and within moments, the Tracker stopped moving and its tongue released his arm.

He slowly got up and started walking towards the injured Trackers that were trying to get away, knowing that they were too outnumbered and had little to no chance for survival, especially with them among them. The Rats just watched from a distance, gauging when to attack.
 
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( Ooooh, I liked it!! Hehe )


Summer had kept firing, but had been unable to stop the Tracker that leaped. She'd prepared herself for a hit, knowing she couldn't avoid it - or at least she didn't think she could - but the impact never came and the female watched with wide eyes as Targas laid into the mutated animal, the rage coming off him something she could tangibly feel...and the desire to protect. She felt that too and startled surprise turned to satisfaction as he made an end to the threat.

If this had been a situation where Summer was allowed to purr, she would have, but as it was, she got back to work, taking out RadRats that got too close and making her way down from the rubble to more solid ground. She kept her weapon out, but became more confident, less worried as the trackers started to back up. She watched Targas then and approached him without hesitation, recognizing the desire to kill flowing through him.

She half-stepped in front of him and her hand came to cover his chest, over his heart. "Fixer, look at me. Let it go." Her other hand came up, wrapping gently around his neck, fingers disappearing in his brown hair as she sought eye contact with him, no fear in her own pale blue eyes. He wouldn't hurt her and she knew it.

"Hey, look at me. It's okay. I'm okay."
 
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He felt a coolness in his heart and mind, something reaching out to him and calling for him to come to it. He felt around around inside of his mind, it was dark in here but he could feel that the voice calling out to him could bring a light to it. He crawled through the dark recesses of his mind and saw the raging beast inside of him staring back at him. It was a writhing black mass of anger and malevolent energy, something he had kept down and away for a long time but was finally able to escape and for good reason. He didnt scold it but accepted it and heeded the words of the sweet, familiar voice calling to him.

He muscles slowly returned to their normal size and his breathing became steady and shallow. He looked into the eyes of the woman next to him and found peace in his heart and mind again. She was right, she was ok and everything else was. No one was hurt, not even he who had punched his way through the skull of a Tracker in a blind fury. He fell to his knees, exhausted and exhaled sharply, landing his shin on a rock.

"Heh, of course..." He caught his breath and slowly picked himself back up and went back to retrieve his rifle but not before giving Summer a smile, one with mixed emotion of sorrow, happiness, and worry. He casually walked past the three other mercs who just stared at him and he nodded at them and they nodded back. He was fine, she was fine and they were fine.

"Lets move on."
 
Summer felt her heart pound as his eyes finally focused on her and the leap in rate had nothing to do with fear or worry. The way he looked at her... The female found herself liking it a great deal. That protective fire and anger, care and worry. Yes, she liked it.

What she didn't like was Targas falling so suddenly and she followed him in a crouch, words frozen on her tongue as he hissed and then spoke, but worry in her face. She watched him rise, a hand on his shoulder and then slipping away as he left to retrieve his weapon. His smile only somewhat reassured her and the woman kept a close watch on him even as they started to move out.

She could feel the stares of the others burning holes into her back as they walked - after all, their friend had been perfectly fine before she'd arrived so obviously she was tied into his strange behavior, right? - and the growl bubbled back up in her throat before she cut it off harshly, taking a deep breath...and then nearly gagging at the scents that hit her nose and the roof of her mouth. Summer clamped a hand over her mouth and nose, swallowing back bile.

They'd stumbled into a Tracker's nest further on down the tunnel and the smell of rotting flesh was truly nauseating to those with normal noses, but it was downright putrid and vomit-worthy to Summer and she started to move faster just to escape the smell sooner, almost - almost - uncaring of what she might meet further on down the tunnel as long as it wasn't more of this.
 
He reached out to her with his mind again, Thank you, Summer.

He focused his eyes again to allow him to see through the thermal views now that he had his anger under control and he had her to thank for that. He could feel her concern over what the others would think but sent her reassuring feelings that everything will be alright.

He continued down the tunnel and eventually having to slide the cover from around his neck to over his nose and mouth to help him cope with the smell. It was downright putrid but he did something he knew the others wouldnt do and began to root through the rotting piles of flesh and discarded remnants of who knows what, in search for anything valuable. He spent a few minutes at this before snickering to himself, standing up with a keyring.

"Well, this day just got better. I have a feeling that these might help us down the line, literally." (Silly subway puns)
 
Summer had stopped on the very edge of the nest and she refused to move from that spot and help dig through anything. It was not squeamishness or the desire to stay clean that made her stubbornly against doing it but the desire not to puke and she KNEW she would if she stayed here much longer. At Targas' words she rolled her eyes before narrowing them, hand and cloth still over her nose and mouth.

"You're a comedian. Now let's go."

Kilborn chuckled then, giving her a look that was hard to decipher. "What's the matter, Scrapper? First trimester kicking in?"

Cold fury that had nothing to do with the pulsing red energy inside her swept through Summer at the man's implication, joking or not, and she dropped her hand, balling her fists instead. She stood there for a moment, seriously contemplating leaping at the larger man, but in the end, she said nothing at all and turned away, starting down the tunnel, her body stiff and back straight. She wouldn't take the bait.

But that didn't mean she didn't want to or that the undertone to Kilborn's voice had not offended her, struck true. She'd thought she'd had the makings of a potential friend in her instructor, but Summer was not so sure now..and that hurt more than she wanted to admit or ever would.
 
He wiped his hands off on a rag that didnt look too dingy and tossed it into the pile behind him as he made his way out of the mess and back on track. He chuckled at Kilborn's crude humor but stopped as he felt the anger swell inside of Summer. The others did not have that ability and continued with their antics, proceeding to joke around with each other.

Relax Summer, crude humor comes at stressful times. He doesnt really mean it.

He walked past Kilborn and gave him a solid punch in the arm, making a meaty thump.

"Bah, leave her alone you old fool. Now I seem to remember this one time back in a sewer tha--"

"Now now, no need to delve into the past Fixer."

"You sure? Im sure everyone here would like to recount your fall into darkness...or was it a cesspool? I dont remember, still one hell of a fall though."

He laughed at that and Kilborn punched him in the arm in return before chucking at his memories of the past, Delta and Sev following in suit and remembering the past. Targas cast a compassionate glance at the woman on his right and nudged her playfully with his arm.

"Lighten up you, that old fool doesnt mean it." Really, Summer. Just take a breath and relax.

He slipped his arm around her and pulled her into a half hug, not paying too much attention to the jeering behind him and smiled to himself before turning to the rest of them.

"Oh cut it out you lot, just because none of you can get anyone you can care for doesnt mean that you have to take out your jealousies on us two."

He flashed them a look that was both playful and serious, one that caused them to silence themselves for the most part. He was surprised at what he had just said and how he had acted but in the end, he didnt really care what anyone thought so long as she was safe and she was, so he was content with everything. He let go of her and cradled his rifle, becoming serious again as he took point, watching for any threats.
 
Summer hadn't responded to Targas' first attempt at cooling her ire, not sure she believed him about this as she truly wondered if he was just trying to pacify her, but as she listened to the others, she started to uncoil a little. And when the male nudged her and once again told her to relax, that it truly was a joke, she then started to understand that he was right and she felt slightly foolish for getting so angry. Damn, she needed a social life...

A smile touched her lips and she prepared to respond, but the words left her mouth in surprise as Targas pulled her close and she squeaked - though, she would deny it with every breath in her body - before looking at him with wide eyes when he spoke to the others. Wha-?

Well. That escalated fast. Guess the cat's out of the bag.

It was her own thought, and Summer was unsure if he'd hear it or not, but if he did she didn't mind and the woman narrowed her eyes in an amused way as he released her. She shook her head, relaxing completely - at least her demeanor, not her alert-level or grip on her weapon, that would just be stupid - and she glanced at Kilborn as he came closer. The man touched her shoulder, a friendly gesture and his voice while deep, was quiet. "I meant no offense, Scrapper. In truth, if you and Fixer have found something in each other, I am happy for you."

Summer smiled looking down but she nodded. "I...have and you're not at fault. It's just the joys of being female. Raging hormones."

The veteran chuckled and like that the tension was forgotten and they both had an understanding which was always good - you never knew when you were going to die and leave unfinished business.
 
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Targas led the party down the subways, watching and listening for any threats but not seeing any...except for that glowing mass in front of him. He stopped the group with a raised fist.

"Delta, what do you see in front of us?"

"Nothing, why?"

"Thats what I feared. High concentration of radiation ahead then and its pretty extensive."

He looked around the tunnel for any accessways and saw the outline of one behind a destroyed railcar.

"I wonder where that goes."

Targas made his way over to the wreckage and began to climb over and in, careful not to gash himself on the jagged metal.

"Come on but be careful."

He pulled out his keyring, still covered in gore, and jingled it. He gave the doorknob a testing turn and it was indeed locked and he set himself to the task of testing all the keys in the keyhole.