08-21-2015, 10:08 PM
In nearly two decades as a soldier across two different realities, Abner took pride in the fact that he'd never left anyone behind. He'd been in some terrible, awful situations, and had dragged troops from all but the bowels of hell. It didn't matter what manner of injury someone had, when Abner went anywhere with a squad, his squad came back.
But this girl was pushing it.
It had been hard enough to make her keep her focus on the real problem, as the crazy bitch had become suddenly so dead set on shooting him when the temple had been falling apart around them. If there was one person Abner was jealous of, it was their former zombie companion who had all but said "fuck this" as he departed down a hallway. He even felt a bit of envy towards Bucky, who had gotten the relief of being brutally crushed instead of having to tote this insufferable woman around.
His patience was running thin. To him, all that mattered at this point was going home. He wasn't sure if he would just sit in his reclining chair, first, or go straight to the armory in Coruscant and raise hell, or the Underverse, or whatever the proper expression was in this place. Abner continued to move with Chrisa, helping her along. To add injury to insult, he'd even managed to take a few darts for her in their escape, while she was still refusing treatment. He hadn't offered again. She knew where to get it if she needed it, but he'd make her ask nicely at this point.
His first instinct had been wondering if she had been under the influence of some substance, but he noted back his mention of his Imperial affiliation. It probably wasn't a smart thing to have said. To him it was just a paycheck, but the Empire had done some pretty unforgivable things to a lot of people, so it was understandable to be mad at them. The biggest example in his mind was putting him in these god-forsaken woods.
A from the distance caught his attention. He looked around, tracking the source. It didn't take long for the creature to come stumbling out, and it was one Christa recognized. Abner watched as she seemed to briefly pause, but then put it down.
Huh. That was much different than the previous zombie. Still, it managed to get two words out. Those two words said a lot, as it reminded both of them exactly what had brought them here. Not that it cleared anything up.
As they exchanged glances and silently confirmed that those words held significance to the other, Christa suddenly collapsed, falling to the ground near the zombie. Abner looked down at her in clear disbelief. He looked around for a second at the sound of more groans...and more footsteps.
"Oh, I know not," Abner voiced his disbelief, looking back down to the fallen girl.
He moved over and saw that she was barely conscious, struggling to stay awake. The groans were getting louder and the rustling of the foliage closer. They were sitting ducks here. Abner reached down and grabbed Christa by the shoulders, preparing to hoist her up over his own. At least he could move her this way. As he grabbed her, the defiant woman grabbed his wrists quite tightly, despite her own weakened state. It looked like she wasn't entirely comfortable with him yet.
That, however, was Abner White's breaking point. It was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. She'd warmed up to him a little bit since the temple, but it was obviously out of necessity. Hesitation and distrust could waste valuable seconds, and he'd had enough of it. He knocked her hands aside, then grabbed her by the shoulders again.
"Listen to me!" Abner snapped, taking an authoritative tone he hadn't genuinely used in many years. "I don't know what your deal is, but if you don't learn to play nice right now we're dead. I don't know what your deal with the Empire is, but you better leave it right here on this jungle floor." Abner kept harsh eye contact with her, neither of them blinking. "I'm not old and wrinkled as sin, I'm not wearing some goofy ass robe, and I'm not shooting lightning bolts out of my ass! I'm not Palpatine, and I'm not the goddamn Empire. Out here, we're just folks. So get that through your head and get a fucking grip!"
The first zombie burst from the trees, it's eyes locking on the two of them with pure and primal hunger. Abner glanced to Christa. She wasn't fighting against him anymore. Maybe she had agreed with that rant of his or maybe she was too weak to keep moving. Hell, maybe she wasn't even conscious any more. It didn't matter, and if need be he'd give her the abridged version later on. For now, it was time to get the hell out of here.
Abner stood up and hoisted Christa up, throwing her over his shoulder. As he held her in place with his left arm, he quickly drew his energy rifle in his left hand. Luckily the standard issue E-11 that stormtroopers used was short enough to not be too unwieldy in a single hand. The recoil might be a pain and it would be harder to aim, but he could get clear in this. The only way to go was further in the jungle, so that's where they were going.
The first obstacle was the latest arrival of a zombie, and Abner did not hesitate to blast it directly in the chest. As the walking corpse dropped to the ground, Abner moved forward as fast as his weakened state would allow him. His left hard throbbed and burned, and not too far from that gash was the holes he'd been unable to treat from the darts. His Kevlar had only taken one or two of them, the rest had gone right into flesh. This was combined with the cuts he'd sustained dealing with the orcs earlier. On top of that, he was doing everything he could not to spill Christa's guts all over the place as he moved.
He was completely taking back his thought from earlier. He'd have to patch her up as soon as they got a moment, simply because he was going to need her help with this one. A few more blaster shots and more zombies dropped. They seemed to be coming from everywhere, now. Abner was steadily walking forward, yet he had to be firing in all directions.
He pressed on, the smell of death filling the area clear as could be. He'd heard of a blight, but never experienced it. He didn't care to ever again, either. But he shot every one he could see, careful not to shoot too rapidly and overheat his rifle. Blood trailed down his back, both from him and Christa and mixed with the mud he was trudging though. It wouldn't take an expert tracker to find them, that was for sure.
Abner raised his rifle and shot another zombie, and he thought back to his old boast. He'd pulled soldiers from all but the bowels of hell. Now he felt certain about adding "hell" to the list.
But this girl was pushing it.
It had been hard enough to make her keep her focus on the real problem, as the crazy bitch had become suddenly so dead set on shooting him when the temple had been falling apart around them. If there was one person Abner was jealous of, it was their former zombie companion who had all but said "fuck this" as he departed down a hallway. He even felt a bit of envy towards Bucky, who had gotten the relief of being brutally crushed instead of having to tote this insufferable woman around.
His patience was running thin. To him, all that mattered at this point was going home. He wasn't sure if he would just sit in his reclining chair, first, or go straight to the armory in Coruscant and raise hell, or the Underverse, or whatever the proper expression was in this place. Abner continued to move with Chrisa, helping her along. To add injury to insult, he'd even managed to take a few darts for her in their escape, while she was still refusing treatment. He hadn't offered again. She knew where to get it if she needed it, but he'd make her ask nicely at this point.
His first instinct had been wondering if she had been under the influence of some substance, but he noted back his mention of his Imperial affiliation. It probably wasn't a smart thing to have said. To him it was just a paycheck, but the Empire had done some pretty unforgivable things to a lot of people, so it was understandable to be mad at them. The biggest example in his mind was putting him in these god-forsaken woods.
A from the distance caught his attention. He looked around, tracking the source. It didn't take long for the creature to come stumbling out, and it was one Christa recognized. Abner watched as she seemed to briefly pause, but then put it down.
Huh. That was much different than the previous zombie. Still, it managed to get two words out. Those two words said a lot, as it reminded both of them exactly what had brought them here. Not that it cleared anything up.
As they exchanged glances and silently confirmed that those words held significance to the other, Christa suddenly collapsed, falling to the ground near the zombie. Abner looked down at her in clear disbelief. He looked around for a second at the sound of more groans...and more footsteps.
"Oh, I know not," Abner voiced his disbelief, looking back down to the fallen girl.
He moved over and saw that she was barely conscious, struggling to stay awake. The groans were getting louder and the rustling of the foliage closer. They were sitting ducks here. Abner reached down and grabbed Christa by the shoulders, preparing to hoist her up over his own. At least he could move her this way. As he grabbed her, the defiant woman grabbed his wrists quite tightly, despite her own weakened state. It looked like she wasn't entirely comfortable with him yet.
That, however, was Abner White's breaking point. It was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. She'd warmed up to him a little bit since the temple, but it was obviously out of necessity. Hesitation and distrust could waste valuable seconds, and he'd had enough of it. He knocked her hands aside, then grabbed her by the shoulders again.
"Listen to me!" Abner snapped, taking an authoritative tone he hadn't genuinely used in many years. "I don't know what your deal is, but if you don't learn to play nice right now we're dead. I don't know what your deal with the Empire is, but you better leave it right here on this jungle floor." Abner kept harsh eye contact with her, neither of them blinking. "I'm not old and wrinkled as sin, I'm not wearing some goofy ass robe, and I'm not shooting lightning bolts out of my ass! I'm not Palpatine, and I'm not the goddamn Empire. Out here, we're just folks. So get that through your head and get a fucking grip!"
The first zombie burst from the trees, it's eyes locking on the two of them with pure and primal hunger. Abner glanced to Christa. She wasn't fighting against him anymore. Maybe she had agreed with that rant of his or maybe she was too weak to keep moving. Hell, maybe she wasn't even conscious any more. It didn't matter, and if need be he'd give her the abridged version later on. For now, it was time to get the hell out of here.
Abner stood up and hoisted Christa up, throwing her over his shoulder. As he held her in place with his left arm, he quickly drew his energy rifle in his left hand. Luckily the standard issue E-11 that stormtroopers used was short enough to not be too unwieldy in a single hand. The recoil might be a pain and it would be harder to aim, but he could get clear in this. The only way to go was further in the jungle, so that's where they were going.
The first obstacle was the latest arrival of a zombie, and Abner did not hesitate to blast it directly in the chest. As the walking corpse dropped to the ground, Abner moved forward as fast as his weakened state would allow him. His left hard throbbed and burned, and not too far from that gash was the holes he'd been unable to treat from the darts. His Kevlar had only taken one or two of them, the rest had gone right into flesh. This was combined with the cuts he'd sustained dealing with the orcs earlier. On top of that, he was doing everything he could not to spill Christa's guts all over the place as he moved.
He was completely taking back his thought from earlier. He'd have to patch her up as soon as they got a moment, simply because he was going to need her help with this one. A few more blaster shots and more zombies dropped. They seemed to be coming from everywhere, now. Abner was steadily walking forward, yet he had to be firing in all directions.
He pressed on, the smell of death filling the area clear as could be. He'd heard of a blight, but never experienced it. He didn't care to ever again, either. But he shot every one he could see, careful not to shoot too rapidly and overheat his rifle. Blood trailed down his back, both from him and Christa and mixed with the mud he was trudging though. It wouldn't take an expert tracker to find them, that was for sure.
Abner raised his rifle and shot another zombie, and he thought back to his old boast. He'd pulled soldiers from all but the bowels of hell. Now he felt certain about adding "hell" to the list.