[Snowpocalypse] Looking Down on the World (R 4.2)

Rich

To Rossi:



You've climbed up one of the big old office buildings over on Halstead. The place was a bolthole you and Poptart cleaned out last year, not long after you two met. Of course, she probably squirreled away some supplies somewhere.

The blowing snow is bitter cold up here, the kind that makes breathing hurt a little. Where are you holed up?

Adam

I really enjoyed the climb, even if it is blisteringly cold. I haven't really had the chance to climb since I started watching Jester, and I'm a little out of shape as a result, but getting back into it was good. I'm doing a walkthrough of the offices up here for anything Poptart might have stashed... Fire-wood, food, whatever. I'm also taking a chance to see the view, and whatever the fuck is going on in the streets below.

Rich

Sure, you know Poptart well enough to find one of her stashes. Hidden in the rubble of a bit of wall broken open by frozen water pipes, right behind the plaster, is a rugged canvas bag. Thirteenth floor, thirteenth room, of course.

Inside the bag are the following items:
- twenty Cliff bars, various flavors
- two empty metal canteens
- Dasani water bottle filled with lighter fluid
- extra gloves and scarves
- a Zippo lighter
- 2 Muscle and Fitness magazines
- flathead screwdriver about the length of your forearm
- a royal blue Nokia-branded candy bar cell phone

Adam

Muscle and Fitness mags, huh? Oh Poptart... I bet I know what the screwdriver was for. I'll look for some wood and start a fire, then watch the snowstorm outside.

Rich

The cell phone has power, by the way. You could play SNAKE.

Looks like it has a weak signal, too. Picking up something from somewhere. There are multiple entries in the "phone book", too.

What do you do?

Adam

... OK, I'll bite. Are there names in this "phone book" thing?

Rich

"Names" are greek alphabet, all twenty four letters:

alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, xi, omicron, pi, rho, sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, chi, psi and omega

Adam

Ok... Someone's being fucking secretive... I didn't know Poptart knew the greek alphabet. I skim through the contacts one more time, just to make sure I didn't miss a name or something, then put the phone down and watch the storm some more. I don't really know anyone with a phone anyway, and I've only seen a few people use a cellphone a couple of times in my life... They're a rarity.

Rich

To Ross:

You're watching the storm, just standing by a window in this nice scraper, looking down at the world. You catch sight of Oakley, he's running on the street right underneath you, actually. Making deliveries. You don't catch anyone chasing him. But man, the guy runs like it. Even on the ice, he skims along with sure feet. Unnatural. You'll never see Jester run.

Somewhere out there is your sister. She's working with Hadden, you think. Or maybe she's out running around alone again. These and other thoughts roll around in your head for a bit. Quiet alone time. Do you like it quiet and alone, Ross?

After a few hours, you hear something. A quick crack of the window in front of you, a round hole appears and splinters of glass run up and down away from it. The side of your neck erupts in pain. Hot pain.

Someone fucking shot you, Ross. In your damn neck. Powerful gun, sniper rifle, coming from a spot slightly lower than you, from the angle.

Take 3-Harm before armor.

What do you do?

Rich

Looking at your armor, that's 1-Harm that gets through.

With your Move, you get -2 to the Harm Move.

Harm Move:
(Rolled: 2d6-1. Rolls: 6, 5. Total: 10)

Rich

That hurt like a... well, it hurt a lot (you're at 3 o'clock). You didn't see which direction it came from, just "below you" and "from another building".

You're already trying to move right? Smart thing to do, get away from the window, find a place to defend yourself. But the shock of it all, your legs give out on you. Your neck is bleeding bad, you feel faint. Balance fails you.

Falling, you're falling down, onto the industrial carpet.

The world goes black.

Rich

You feel hands on you, rough hands, grabbing your body, pulling things away from you, the axe, the shotgun, which you dropped earlier. the sniper rifle is kicked away. Even your coat is pulled open. You are now unarmed and unarmored (your mask is still on, however).

After a couple minutes, your eyes respond again, you're able to look up to see this person:



The side of your neck feels like you slept on it wrong, and your hair is sticky with drying blood.

What do you do?

Adam

Fucking fantastic.

My eyes narrow into thin slits, not that he can see that, and I shuffle to stand up. "You missed."

Rich

In a gruff, low tone that sounds like something you'd throw out for Ross, "I didn't shoot you, dumbass. We don't work alone."

Adam

OOC: Reading dumbass here. Roll+Sharp. +1XP.
(Rolled: 2d6+1. Rolls: 6, 6. Total: 13)

Adam

OOC: Holding 3. Is he telling the truth about not working alone?

Rich

Yeah, that's not a lie. Not enough time has passed, you're pretty sure. By the by, getting a good look at dumbass, you think "he" is a "she. Too many signs that you learned how to mask. Chest is bound well, but the hips are a little broad, frame is a little thin, too.

Dumbass steps sideways to look down at the sniper rifle. "This was Rodeo's. Took it off his dead body, hunh? Actually use it, or just walk around like some big asshole?"

Adam

I shrug indifferently, "I was going to sell it actually — I prefer to be up-close and personal when I kill someone. Rifles like that are shit this close." I twist my neck to stretch it a bit, but I keep my eyes on this fucking bitch. Imagine that there would be another bad-ass masked chick who pretends to be a dude in this fucking city, and she'd come fucking find me... Apparently we're like high-powered rifles around here — a dime a dozen.

"So I take it you've got a fucking hard-on to avenge Rodeo and his pervert fucking brother then? Or are you just here to collect on some bounty?"

Rich

Dumbass slings the rifle she was carrying, squats down to look at the rifle on the floor. "Grab Indy. You killed him, too, then? Not that ice-walker chick?"

Adam

I smirk, "fucking right I did — him and that disgusting blob of a fence he used." I take a few steps toward her, "you guys here to fucking end me, or what?"

OOC: What does Dumbass intend to do?

Rich

"Probably," she answers, dropping the gruff tone as she picks up Rodeo's gun. She holds it in her gloved hands like it means something. Familiar. Then to you, "Why'd you do it?"

Adam

Why did I kill a guy shooting at me and my sister from a fucking rooftop? "Him or me — and he happened to be shooting at my fucking sister, who his shitbag of a relative happened to be holding hostage." I don't give a fuck if that means anything to her. She obviously gave a shit about Rodeo, so it's not like I expect her to see things from my point of view... "I just did to Rodeo what he did to other people — I took what I wanted from him — and I wanted it more."

OOC: How could I get this dumbass to leave me and Silica alone? And I mean no lingering grudge, we're even kind of leave me alone.

Rich

She looks up when you say sister. Fixes you with a gaze of intensity and anger, mixed with understanding. "Grab Indy was a shitbag, yeah, hated that psycho." she agrees. "But Uncle Rodeo backed his play. And yeah... you did want it more." She stands back up, slipping the other rifle onto her shoulder.

She pulls out a k-bar knife from her belt, tosses it onto the floor near you. "Here's the deal. You can take up that knife and come at me, then I kill you." She's got a hand near the pistol in her belt holster. "Or you give me the trigger finger that killed my uncle, and we're even. Fronties won't come after you or your sister again. I'm running them now. Things are different. That's my terms."

Her deal is true. Either way, she'll leave Silica alone.

Adam

Well... I guess I'm bringing a knife to a gunfight. I reach down and grab the knife, then charge at her — screaming and everything.

I hope she wants this pretty bad — because I sure as shit don't wanna die.

Rich

She takes several steps back, drawing up her 9mm and firing.

Let's see you Act Under Fire here, Ross. If you pull it off, then she doesn't fire on you before you have the knife.

Adam

OOC: AUF to get that knife. roll+cool.
(Rolled: 2d6+1. Rolls: 1, 4. Total: 6)

Rich

BAM BAM!

This Frontie girl squeezes off two shots as you snatch up the knife. Both hit center mass. Without armor, you're eating 2-Harm, Ross.

EDIT: Rasputin fits here, so that's one armor. So, 1-Harm.

She's drawing a bead, and you know that sniper out there is probably sighting you, too.

Harm coming next post.
EDIT: Harm roll should be at minus one.

Rich

Harm roll (+2 Harm minus two for Faceless move)
(Rolled: 2d6. Rolls: 1, 4. Total: 5)

Adam

Fuck! I don't fucking care anymore. That sniper wants a piece of me, then he can fucking watch as I eviscerate his fucking girl here... "I hope you've got enough fucking bullets, bitch, because I don't take shit from a spoiled fucking brat with a pea-shooter!"

Rich

Alright, Ross. You're at 6 o'clock now, but you've got that ka-bar. It's a knife made for fighting, built rugged.


She doesn't answer back, but she's backtracking, trying to keep you in range without letting you get a piece of her.

Let's see you Seize this victory By Force.

Adam

OOC: Seizing this victory by force. roll+hard.
(Rolled: 2d6+3. Rolls: 6, 4. Total: 13)

Adam

OOC:
• I take definite hold of it.
• I suffer little harm.
• I impress/dismay/frighten my enemy.

Rich

You move quicker than she expected, Ross. She gets off one more shot, hitting your arm as you turn your shoulder and bowl her over. She falls awkwardly over both of the sniper rifles slung across her back. She lands hard, and you follow her down.

With a vicious move as she tries to bring her gun to bear, you stab her forearm. She cries out in pain and the 9mm falls to the floor.

Her eyes wide with the expectation of death, she blurts out, "Kill me, and you die, too!" She's probably not lying. Probably not a bluff. Her radio is on, she might be talking to her partner right now.

In this tussle, you end up taking 0-Harm. I'll roll it next post.

Rich

Harm Roll (-2 for move)
(Rolled: 2d6-2. Rolls: 1, 5. Total: 4)

Adam

"Better people than you have tried," I growl. "You've made it perfectly clear that if I let you live, you'll come after me — maybe my sister even — and I'm going to make sure that doesn't fucking happen, you hear me?" I lower my face down to her radio, so whoever's on the other side can hear me more clearly, "Even with the luckiest of shots, I'll have a split second to gut your friend so she dies nice and slow — and then I'll come for you. Me, and thirty violent bastards with a taste for your fucking blood — and don't you think I won't find out which of Frontie's bastard family owns a high-powered rifle, asshole. You'll all be dead."

I take the knife out of dumbass' arm, swat her pistol away, move my knife down to her gut and gently rest the tip against her navel. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to walk away from this one, lady — bloodied, for sure, but I'll walk away. I want you and your friends to fucking disappear forever. Out of Chi-town by sunrise tomorrow. I don't give a fuck where you go, but starting tomorrow there's a bounty on every fucking member of Frontside's family and crew — and if I hear word of my sister getting so much as a scratch, I'm going to come after you in force."

I poke the knife in a little, just enough to draw blood, "Get it?"

Rich

That's one helluva threat, Ross. But, I'm curious. Is this girl really in charge of the Fronties now? Can you just make them all pull up stakes and go with this?

Let's see you Go Aggro on that.

Adam

OOC: Going Aggro on the Fronties. roll+hard.
(Rolled: 2d6+3. Rolls: 4, 4. Total: 11)

Rich

She winces when the tip enters her skin, calls over the radio, "Flip, pass it around. We're gonna diddy mao." She scoots slightly back, away from the blade, "You got my word. I'm Slide. Back off, and we're gone." She's realized she bit off more than she can chew.

Adam

I let her slip back, and sit up on my haunches, "best move quick, Slide — a long, happy life is waiting for you and yours out of town."

Rich

Slide moves quick, backing away from the blade, scrambling up and away.

Jester would be so proud of you, Rossi.

Do you let her leave with her rifle and the one you took off Rodeo?

Adam

Yeah. I don't much give a fuck about it... I was just going to sell it anyway. Besides, maybe she'll be less inclined to go back on her word if she has it. Once she's gone, I'm going to fucking hobble my way over to something I can hide behind and come down off the adrenaline...

It's like every fucking week I have to fucking pull a slug out of me... Can I just have a few weeks where me and mine don't get fucking shot at?

Rich

Slide takes off quick, picking up both rifles and leaving without further conversation. She doesn't want to tempt fate into making it worse. She's gone in a couple minutes, her footfalls disappearing into the night. Her partner never does take a shot.

Then, as you expected, the adrenalin rush dies and you ache. You're all alone, way up high.

What do you do?

Adam

I need a few minutes... Just a few minutes to catch my breath, and not fucking hurt so much. That fire needs more wood, so I get up and grab a few of the scarves from Poptart's stash to make some bandages... Fuck... I need to find Jester. I spot the phone on the ground, and wish Pi meant Poptart, and I could just call her up for help. I grab my shotgun, and assault rifle, and make myself a little cubicle to hide in for a little while.

Once I'm bandaged up, and hidden, I grab some food from the stash and start to eat... I don't think I'm going to be able to go anywhere for a couple of days... Fuck...

Rich

You find, an actual cubicle, with those fuzzy walls and a desk to hide under, cold and dark, but hidden away. The chewy bar is sweet enough. The pain sort of ruins it, though. Hurts to chew with your neck like that.

Thinking about Jester, though. Stuck in there between your gang and those Dumpies. You get a sick feeling that he'll be in trouble. You should probably go, if you want to be there in time.

But man, you're effed. He's an adult, right? You got guys watching his ass. It'll probably work out.

Probably.

Adam

Shit...


... Where's my fucking bag? Let's go.

Rich

Ross:

Please go here.