nomans_land | Somewhere between July and December

Somewhere between July and December

1.
[ It wasn't the fastest car he'd ever driven, but it made better time than the old man's shitty station wagon had, and it was definitely faster than walking across the desert. None of the maps he'd found tucked under the seat had Hopeland on them, which was worrisome as all hell, but on one of the maps there was an orphanage marked, just off of a city called December.

The ghost he'd talked to on that mountaintop had told him he'd die in December, but that ghost had also ruined his last cigarette, so fuck that guy. If he died, he died, but first, he was going to make sure Miss Melanie and the kids were okay.

The sedan hums its way across the desert, kicking up a dust cloud that can be seen for miles. ]

2.
[ With a shudder and a hard jolt, the car comes screeching to a halt, the dash going dead as the engine seizes up. Wolfwood swears, punches the dash, then swears again when the solid dash nearly breaks his hand for his trouble. He'd managed to get the car hotwired, but apparently cars in this messed up version of Noman's were more different from the ones he knew than he'd realized. Is it out of oil? Out of charge? Not like he can do anything about it, whatever the problem.

Please ignore the man in black, standing next to a very dead car in the middle of absolute nowhere and screaming at the sky. It's therapeutic profanity, and it really is helping. ]

3.
[ Sunburned and exhausted, Wolfwood crests the hill and finally, there before him, sees the building that his map identifies as the December Orphanage. Even from a distance it's clear that the chaos that's affected the rest of the planet hit here, too -- there's clear bullet holes in at least one side of the building, walls that have collapsed, and the whole place seems as deserted as everywhere else he's been.

But he's here now, so he might as well have a look around.

He really wishes he still had his Punisher, though. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Just that meeting room, and then offices, and a washroom, and more offices. It's a whole office building, and there's nobody here! There's the other hallway, the one that went right where they went left, and they should probably check it out just to be thorough... but if there's nothing on this side, what're the odds there's anything on the other side? ]

You know, when I heard processing facility, I was thinking more torture and less paperwork.

[ Even if there was anybody here, they'd just be clerks and secretaries, wouldn't they? Maybe they'd get lucky and find a security guard, have a half a second fight instead of no fight at all. ]

Dammit!

Edited 2023-09-18 05:04 (UTC)

Isn't torture paperwork? That's what I'd always heard. Never done any before myself.

[he's disappointed about the lack of fighting but also kind of relieved he hasn't seen anyone already dead, either.

but who does torture and paperwork within earshot of the water cooler? The eye, apparently]

[ One of these doors has to be a stairwell, right? Maybe the next floor up isn't just offices? ]

Would I rather get electrocuted for an hour or write reports for an hour. [ Honestly, it's a hard choice! ] You know, I might take gettin' zapped. At least it'd be less boring, right?

Not just electrocuted-- have those things plugged to your balls. I think I'd rather have that done.

[that'd be
not boring either, sure]

If you say so.

On my fuckin' nuts?

[ C'mon, here's a stairwell. It's got windows all up the side so at least it's not pitch black -- let's see what's on level two of this stupid place. ]

See, I was just thinkin' regular zaps, like those tomas prod things. You ever get hit with one of those shock sticks? I had an instructor who loved 'em.

I did, in the balls.

[at least he can say this breezily like commenting on the weather oh look, there's a storm a'coming--oh no, my juevos]

What the fuck?!

[ They're making enough noise as they tromp up to the second story that it's possible they miss the quiet sound of a heavy door shutting somewhere on that floor. Wolfwood sure doesn't hear it. He's too busy being traumatized at the idea of some asshole cooking Livio's scrote. ]

I hope this story's got a happy ending, where you threw that bastard off a cliff.

[he doesn't hear it either, but there's something like a creak-- that he wonders if it's the building or something else]

Oh, he's definitely deader than a doormouse or whatever. I think he was happy when I finished it.

[ It could just be the building creaking. But isn't it odd that there's all those supplies downstairs, and nobody's come in to steal them yet? You'd think that a place full of such easy to access resources -- full of so much food like the loading bay was -- would have been robbed clean by now.

Wolfwood's sure not thinking about it, though. Wolfwood's thinking about what he'd consider a sufficient punishment for some of their more torture-happy instructors.

...Actually, as he approaches the second story door, the one that'll lead from the stairwell into the building, he's thinking about something even more important. ]

What the fuck is a door mouse anyway?

[unless the reputation scared people away...but then again, people are desperate. there has to be something here.

Livio's straining his hearing as far as he can, because there's this feeling that...something's up]

A mouse?

Yeah, but what makes it a door mouse?

[ A reputation only lasts so long when people are starving though. Was this place really so hidden that nobody knew it was here? ]

Did they live in doors? How's that even possible?

[ If there is someone on this level, they're not making any noise at the moment... unless Livio can hear heartbeats through walls?

The stairwell door opens up into another hallway, this one with art on the walls and ornate light fixtures on the walls (that aren't powered on, but the fine metals and detailed designs can just be barely seen in the moonlight). Wolfwood whistles low, stepping out onto that plush carpeting. ]

Look at this fancy shit.

I...have no idea. I just know from the stories--

[the same ones they read to Wolfwood, probably.

Livio cannot hear heartbeats, things are silent as the grave. he still doesn't like it. he's nearly distracted by everything-- all this fancy shit indeed.]

....Maybe they had data meetings here? Something has to be...underground or something.

[ Almost certainly they were the same stories -- that part can't have been that different, right? Stupid tales for little kids about a world they'd never see, with feasts and strange animals and things like snow. If the plants had to tear them out of their worlds and drop them someplace random, why couldn't they have ended up someplace wetter? A green world, where food grew right out of the ground, or fell out of the sky, or however those stories went.

No point in thinking about it, though. They're make-believe stories -- they're not real. Earth's not even real, not really. Not anymore. ]

I bet you're right. [ There's nothing up here, just... he slams a door open with the butt of the Punisher, long past caring about keeping quiet. It's another meeting room, this one even plusher and shinier than the ones downstairs. Real money sat in those seats. Real money bought and sold people in here. ] This shit up here, that's for Master Chapel and the rest. The real facility's probably under our feet.

[ But if he was going to stick around in an abandoned place like this, he would want the poshest, cleanest, fanciest room he could possibly find. He'd want to be up here, you know? With a view, and all the coffee and tinned stew he could eat. He'd want...

There's a quiet click from a nearby room, the unmistakable sound of a clip being loaded into a gun. Wolfwood raises a hand -- did Livio hear it too? -- and points at the far wall. Through there. There's somebody there, somebody who's now armed.

Let's get 'em. ]

[oh, no one's told this Wolfwood about the ships, have they? he'll probably scoff, but question it.

the kind of riches in this room makes Livio sick. everyone in need in the cult, let alone in the rest of the world. it's not the exact room they'd talked through his future in, were ready to execute him in, but it's an unpleasant memory.

Livio hears the click, immediately whirls in that direction, then glances over his shoulder Wolfwood.

time to go kill 'em.]

[ Oh, no, he's heard about the Earth ships. But the planet they came from, the Earth of legend, that's the world that doesn't exist anymore. The green and wet world teeming with life, with plenty for all -- that world's destroyed. That world was nearly a ruin when the first ships were sent out... or at least, that's what the people in Vash's home ship told him. Earth used to be a paradise, but humans stripped it to nothing. There's no such thing as snow anymore, not here, not anywhere.

If Wolfwood had any vials, he'd already be through that wall. As it is, he instead raises a finger to his lips, then starts gesturing. He'll go out, and around, and smash through the wall (or door, or whatever) in the hallway. Livio, should count to five, then go through this wall here. And together... he butts his fists together. Together they'll smash him.

In the other room -- which is just a supply closet -- the security guard stands trembling, gun at the ready and listening hard to the sudden silence in the next room. He'd been left to guard the place against thieves and refugees, and the two in the next room sound much scarier than that! He's got a fresh clip in his gun, and another in his hand, and he's ready to empty the whole thing into the first person he sees. ]

[somewhere deep down Livio wants to still think it's there, that it exists. some dream, some fantasy world.

Livio nods sharply, though his mouth is pressed in a grim line. he doesn't like the thought of Wolfwood, endangered, going first, but there's no point in arguing. this is a solid plan aside from all that.

The big lug closes his eyes, takes a breath, and silently begins to count]

[ Don't worry, buddy -- he's got no interest in getting shot up today.

Livio nods in agreement, and Wolfwood starts his own mental count as he heads back out into the hall. Five -- to the door. Four -- open it quietly. Three -- step into the hall. Two -- just a couple steps to the next door down, which has to be where the target is. One -- Punisher up and ready as a battering ram.

Zero. ]

Knock knock, asshole!

[ With a swing of his arm, Wolfwood slams the butt end of Punisher into the door of the... closet? This guy's really hiding in a closet? How embarrassing! The security guard turns in a panic and immediately opens fire , and to his credit, the shots are grouped well in the doorway of the room. They spark off the end of Punisher as Wolfwood ducks back into the hall, pulling the big gun between himself and the security guard as a shield.

Okay, buddy! Wolfwood's got his attention -- your turn! ]

[his eyes flicker open and he goes barreling through the wall Doublefangs first, snarling and firing a warning shot--- no longer a warning when the security guard opens fire on Wolfwood, is it now?]

Time to get fucked!

[he bares his teeth]

[ Yes, fucking yes, shoot that bastard! Wolfwood's stuck behind Punisher -- he can't shoot back so long as he's using his gun to hide behind, right? Kill him!

The guard had been firing right at Wolfwood, bullets flying through that doorway and tearing through the walls, too -- looks like the Eye didn't waste any materials reinforcing the supply closet against gunfire. Livio crashing through the wall makes him doubletake -- Livio's a really big guy and he recognizes those fangs, just like he recognizes the Punisher out in the hallway. He thought they were all on the same side, but these two came in shooting, so he's shooting back!

Wolfwood's not firing back, but Livio let loose with that warning shot, so the guard turns his weapon toward the big guy, raking a ribbon of bullets across the shelving and aimed right for Livio, center mass. ]

[exciting! this the kind of excitement Wolfwood was looking for? because it's turning into quite a show! Livio just takes the bullets, no, he was never taught how to dodge-- it's painful, as usual, but he manages to easily get a spray of bullets into the guard's legs, sending him down, down, down

not to mention the shelves]

[ Good thing none of the stuff on those shelves is flammable! The guard goes down with a strangled kind of scream, but he's still breathing when he hits the floor. Wolfwood hears a body drop and risks poking his head into the doorway, staring in surprise at the very live guard writhing on the floor. ]

Why's he still alive?

[ Especially with all the damage Livio just took! Man, even being able to heal quickly, that's a lot of bullet holes, friend. Sorry for using you as a wall... sorry that he'll do it again in the future, too.

Without waiting for an answer Wolfwood raises Punisher and aims right at the guard's head. ]

You're too soft, buddy.

[ He'll clean up here. ]

[he's rather used to being a meat shield so no hard feelings.

he feels...bad-- both for all the trouble to Wolfwood, and to the extra fear the guard would get.]

Maybe we should get info from him?

[not that he's particularly into torture either]

[ He feels bad for the guard? Don't feel bad for the guard, he's Eye! He works for the Eye, fuck the guard. ]

You think he knows anything useful? [ He nudges the guard in the leg with the end of Punisher. The guard is trying his best to be stoic and accepting of what's happening, but Livio shot the hell out of his legs, and it really hurts! ] Hey. You. You know anything useful?

[ The confused guard -- who's already looking ashen -- looks back and forth between Wolfwood and Livio with clear confusion written all over his face. ]

U-useful? Like what?

[if he were smart he'd make sure he knows something useful. but he seems a little dumb]

Like, say, what you're guarding here. Where anyone else is.

[his tone is stern]

[ He just got shot up by people he thought were his allies and now he might be bleeding out in a supply closet. He's not having his best day!

The guard's face goes hard and still at the idea that he say what he's guarding here, but where anyone else is? He shakes his head at Livio, hands tight around one leg as he tries to stop the bleeding. ]

Everyone left! Months ago, didn't...? [ He looks back at Wolfwood -- or rather, at the barrel of the giant gun Wolfwood's got pointed at him -- then back to Livio, clearly reading the big guy as his better chance for survival here. ] They should have told you. There's nobody here.

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