Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

[OAMP]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

Carrying so much water was quite a task. So many simply weren't ment to be carried at once. Melissa almost drops them several times, having to stop to get a grip again. Opening the door to the hiding spot required setting them down, and it was hard to fit through the door the way she'd set it up, but in the end, she made it.

The sarge was leaning against a wall when Melissa got back, not looking all that good. "Coffee?" She sounded hopefull, which was a good sign. Hopefully in a few minutes Melissa could nurse the girl back up to full strength, or as strong as she could, all things considered.

 

[xivvix]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

"Ah sorry, sarge, I was in a rush," Melissa says, realizing she had completely forgotten her promise. Setting everything down, she hands Jamie a candy bar, then immediately gets to work on the woman's legs, cleaning them up as best as she is able and redressing them again.

"The mall looks a lot clearer than I thought it'd be," she says. "If the city is as well off as this place, I think we can get to base before nightfall."

 

[OAMP]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

The woman cringed as her legs were cleaned. Water in the wounds stung, but as Melissa moved on to a new area, the cleaned area felt so much better. After it was finished, the sarge now had the problem of not wanting to get up because it felt too GOOD. Though Melissa would have to keep in mind this was only compared to what the woman had been feeling earlier, and she still shouldn't be prancing around like nothing happened.

Afterwards Jamie spoke once more. "So, we should probably get moving huh." The woman sounded a bit downcast at the thought of having to walk around again. "We got everything we need from here?"

 

[xivvix]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

Using a bit of the water to rinse off her hands, Melissa considers the wounded woman and the task before them. "Well," she says with a sigh, "I'd feel a lot more comfortable getting back to base as soon as possible, but your legs could use a chance to rest. Walking around so much, even with the crutches isn't too good for them."

A quick look around the store room gives Melissa an idea, though in their current predicament she is hesitant to use it. "I might be able to make a stretcher using the shelves in here. It would give you a chance to rest while we move, but..." Melissa trails off at the end, not wanting to say outright that the woman would be even more of a burden on her that way. "If we could find a wheelchair somewhere, that would be a lot better, but that won't be too easy to find." Shrugging her shoulder, she adds, jokingly, "Or we could just take a day off and hole up in here for a while. What do you think, sarge?"

 

[OAMP]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

At that last statement the sarge relaxed a bit, but only for a moment. Despite being loopy from drugs, emotionally unstable for last night's incident, and injured to boot, her higher reasoning was still working. "Yeah, we should get moving... How would you carry me by yourself though. A stretcher takes two most of the time, doesn't it, unless you just let one end drag behind you. I don't think that's the best idea." Jamie seemed to hesitate. "Some nurses stations have wheelchairs, sometimes... I don't know if it'd be worth the effort though, this place is pretty big... If only malls were like supermarkets and had shopping carts..." All of a sudden an idea seemed to strike the woman. "Hey, maybe if you can find a block with pharmacy and the food stores they might have shopping carts. Hmmm, the pharmacy might even have a wheelchair, actually..."

 

[xivvix]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

Relieved that Jamie had turned down the stretcher option, Melissa thinks about her other ideas. "The nurse station I checked didn't have a wheelchair, and I don't think this mall is really big enough to have another." Looking for a pharmacy might be something of a detour, but finding a wheelchair would be worth it. "Yeah a pharmacy might be a good idea. All right, we'll see if we can find something. Are you okay to move?" Whenever Jamie is ready, Melissa takes their supplies, as well as the grenade launcher and shotgun, and heads to the back, sliding the boxes from in front of the door to the electronics shop so the injured woman could get out more easily.

 

[OAMP]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

This is a huge mall, it has more then one nurses station )

"Yeah, I think it'd be good if I got up and moved around some anyway." Jamie started to get up, but needed a little bit of help to get on her feet. In all honesty, crutches didn't take that much strain off of her, they were generally only used when one leg was bad, not both. It was the weight supporting aspect that helped the most, and they really weren't designed for that.

Despite the sarge's rough treatment yesterday, she was moving with a bit more vigor then yesterday. She moved around the storerooms a bit to loosen up for the day ahead before getting ready to head out. As Melissa moved the boxes, she commented something through the door. "Perhaps we should find a map of the mall, too?"

 

[xivvix]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

(Oh, I see)

"Yeah, good idea," Melissa says as she closes the door behind the injured woman. Stepping out into the mall proper, she looks around for an information desk, or something else that might tell them where to find another nurse's station. Though yesterday the grenade launcher had been her weapon of choice, Melissa now keeps the shotgun out and ready.

 

[OAMP]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

While it was easy to miss yesterday, now that they were looking for it, the soldiers quickly found map displays at most corners of the quad. In the midst of debris, it was a bit hard to pick out, but they were logically placed.

It took the two a minute to find what they were looking for. The name brand grocers, as well as the pharmacy, were on the block that was farthest from where they were now. On the bright side, it wasn't on the upper level, but still, Jamie was going to get quite a workout just getting there. She'd be even more tired if they didn't find some way to aid her once they arrived.

Before heading out, Jamie turned to Melissa one last time. "How do you think we should do this. Like stealth, spacing, that stuff." How they travelled across the mall would be an important factor.

 

[xivvix]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

Thankfully the maps of the mall are much easier to read than regular army maps Melissa had seen before. After studying the map she tucks it into her pocket and turns to Jamie. "We'll move quiet, take it slow," she says, figuring taking their time would be easier for the injured woman. "We don't want to bunch up, but let's not spread out too far, either. Ten or twenty feet should be good. Stick to the walls. I'll take point, and motion when you can move up. You watch our six." Once she is sure the woman understands, Melissa heads over in the direction of the pharmacy, checking the area out before waving Jamie to follow.

 

[OAMP]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

And so they went. Melissa leading, Jamie following. They crossed their quad with no incident, then the food court. They even made it all the way across the next, full of jewely stores, nothing to see but how trashed the place was, overall. It had been a prime target for looters. Jamie was quickly getting tired, the start stop motion, while safe, was quite tiring on the poor woman.

However, even with their destination almostwithin eyesight, they ran into a problem. As Melissa was rounding a corner she heard a crash, then a skittering noise. Something, or maybe somethings were in the quad ahead. There was a wierd, high pitched chittering sound too, almost like some wierd form of communication.

 

[xivvix]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

The slow but quiet journey across the mall is heartening to the soldier, each uncontested step a small victory considering how afraid the two had been of the rumors they had heard previously. That all ends at the strange sounds coming from the quad ahead. As soon as she hears the skittering noises, Melissa freezes and raises a hand, palm flat, to Jamie - a non-verbal order to stop and be silent.

With their destination in sight, but potential danger tangibly near, Melissa takes a moment to consider the situation. The noises don't sound like the shambling shuffling steps of the infected humans the soldier had come across, and not like the fast creature from the security room. Not knowing what she is up against, Melissa pulls the mall map from her pocket and looks over it, hoping it would show another route to the nurses station, hopefully through back halls that could keep them concealed from whatever is ahead of them.

Finally, after studying the map, Melisa curiosity gets the better of her. Raising her hand to command the injured woman to stay put, Melissa cautiously edges forward until she can just see the area where the noises are coming from without making herself seen.

 

[OAMP]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

Jamie had a hard time keeping still while Melissa checked the map. Her mental state still wasn't all that good, patience was one of the things robbed from her. The map showed several ways to their general destination, but all would be long and hard on the sarge. Going up to the next level was an interesting possibility, but probably even worse on the woman's legs, what with no elevators working.

When Melissa tried to get a good look at the source of the noise, she unknowingly kicked some debris out, drawing the interest of whatever was on the other side. The creature silently oriented itself to observe as Melissa poked her head out, the same tactic the soldier was using. As it was, the bluenette found three giant spiders, atleast six feet long, one of which was staring back at the woman with much curiosity, about 40 meters away. It let out a low hiss to alert the other two, who quickly turned to observe Melissa as well.

 

[xivvix]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

As she looks at the giant spiders, Melissa sucks in a deep breath. 'It changes animals too?' she thinks, stepping back away as the creatures turn to face her. Even with her surprise at the monsters before her, Melissa maintains some degree of composure. Letting the shotgun clatter to the floor, the explosives expert whips out the grenade launcher slung on her shoulder, takes careful aim and fires a round, intending the shot to land right in the middle of all three spiders.

"Sarge, back up!" she says, her voice carrying more than a hint of worry.

 

[OAMP]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

The blast sends debris, and to a lesser extend, the spiders flying through the air. Some glass shards fly close to Melissa's face, but she fortunately doesn't get any closer to injury then that. The spiders, on the other hand, are tossed onto their backs, their skin being slightly burnt by the blast on the sides it hit them. However, because it wasn't a direct hit, the blast was far enough from each individual so that none of them died. They were stunned a bit, however, and spent all the time Melissa spent recovering just getting back to their feet. None of them looked in much shape to fight, but with numbers, they were still a threat.

Behind her, the sarge let out a few curses at the explosion. Despite working with them day in and day out, explosions were always quite impressive. A better response then a scream of terror as some might have let out, at least.

 

[xivvix]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

"Shit, they're still up," Melissa mutters, standing her ground and loading another grenade round into the launcher. "Fire in the hole!" she yells, wasting no time firing another shot at the spiders. Once again she aims to land the shell to hit as many of them as possible. These things might be strong, but the explosive force of the shells, combined with the fiery blast, shock wave, and fragments should be enough to bring them down.

 

[OAMP]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

The reload took a few seconds, during which time the spiders got to their feet and advanced towards the blue headed solider. By the time she got the launcher up and ready, they'd bunched up a bit, which was good, but also closed to a dangerous range. In the heat of the moment though, it was too late to stop firing.

The grenade hit one of the spiders dead center, blowing it to chuncks and splattering Melissa with some of its guts, reddish-yellow sticky stuff hitting her in the face. The other two spiders were blown to either side, dead before they smacked into the floor with an extra satisfying crunchy noise, then sliding a ways.

 

[xivvix]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

Just as the spider's innards fly out towards her, Melissa realizes just how close the blast had been, shutting her eyes and wincing from the explosion. When the disgusting juices splatters on her face, the soldier spits and brings a hand up to wipe it away, but at the same time keeps her mind on the situation at hand. Those two blasts were pretty loud, and with the mall abandoned, something is sure to have heard them.

"Sarge!," Melissa yells, running over to grab the shotgun, "Get to the nurse station now! Don't stop!" Rather than keep her distance from the woman as they had planned, Melissa moves with Jamie, one hand on the injured sergeant to help her along. They have to get to the station fast before any other weird creatures show up.

 

[OAMP]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

The "sprint" across the quad was very hard on Jamie. By the time they reached the door to the serivce hallway on the other side she was visibily flinching with each step. The station was just inside the hallway, though, but Melissa still had to practically drag the sarge behind her. A nice bench was waiting for them inside to plop down on, in an otherwise trashed room.

After catching their breaths and securing the door, Melissa had time to look around. This station was quite large, with a mini-reception area and all that they were in now, though no wall seperated them from the nurses area and the four cots for people to lay down on. Overall the area was more trashed then the last station, the med cabinets having been ripped from the wall entirely. After a few seconds, the sarge spotted a wheel chair, and perked up. "Look, there's one. We can use that to get out of here!" However, her excitement quickly faded. Someone had bent the wheels in a pointless act of vandalism, a tear trickled down the woman's face when she saw that fact.

 

[xivvix]

Re: Not Your Typical Work Day (xivvix)

As soon as they are through the door, Melissa sets Jamie down on the bench, then turns to slam the door shut, looking quickly for a lock. The large nurse station is a welcome sight to the soldier, though her excitement fades as she sees the sorry state of the place. Staring at the damaged wheelchair, Melissa suddenly kicks a nearby cabinet. "What the fuck?" she yells, "What the hell kind of asshole breaks a wheelchair for no damn reason?" Continuing to curse and rant, Melissa stalks through the station, looking for anything that hasn't been ruined.