It Really Happened

[Ollie]

Ollie reels from the slap but he hardly seems to feel it. He cringes when she screams at him and his voice is quiet and wavering.

"I thought you were dead. It was to much, and I couldn't help... You don't understand, something happened to me when Guy... I don't even understand. I know you can never forgive me for leaving you there. I'll never forgive myself. I was just so scared. I'm so, so sorry."

He trails off, looking down. His words weren't enough. They would never be enough. Guy, Ghoster, Logos. They were all fucking dead, and he had run away scared to leave Val to face her fate alone. He looks back up at her.

"I'm so glad you made it."

[Orphan]

"She looks out of it," he notices, "And the other person looks dead, would explain her being wound-up and out of it. She's moving, though, and well enough to talk on the phone, so that's good."

Spoiler

2009-05-18 16:03:03 Orphan rolls 5 to Resonance on Val (Int2+Occult3) (10 Again) 9,10,5,3,7,1 2 successes

Continuing to study the woman - little more than a girl, really, by her appearance - and the situation with mage sight, Orphan taps on the window. "I'm here to help. Can you get out of the car okay, or do you need some assistance? Are you on the phone with 911?"

Spoiler

2009-05-18 16:03:03 Orphan rolls 5 to Resonance on Val (Int2+Occult3) (10 Again) 2,8,6,2,4 1 successes

Suddenly, a bloody man without a shirt rushes in and pushes at him. Orphan rolls with the push, not sure enough of the situation, especially since this new arrival appears to know the girl. He then refocuses his mage sight on this second individual, trying to get some sense of what he is about.

Spoiler

2009-05-18 16:09:06 Orphan rolls 5 to Resonance on Ollie (10 Again) 8,8,9,3,9 4 successes
2009-05-18 16:09:06 Orphan rolls 5 to Resonance on Ollie (10 Again) 9,4,6,1,6 1 successes [/s

When it is clear the girl is angry at the man, and that this man abandoned her and some other people, leaving them to die, Orphan steps near, seething inside. He directs his words at the man, his voice calm but his anger evident in his eyes. "Look, I'm not sure of all what is happening here, but I can tell this young woman is pretty upset, not to mention pretty badly hurt, so I suggest you step back away from her."

[West]

~~Narration~~

Despite a shattered screen and popped off battery cover, Ghoster's phone is ringing.

With the screen glass in pieces, it's impossible to read the caller ID.

[Orphan]

Focused still on the man, Orphan asks the girl "Do you want to get your phone, or would you like me to get it for you?"

[Valkyrie]

The adrenalin finally drains out of her system and Val starts crying. Not sobbing, just tears and a bone deep exhaustion that kills her expression. She pushes Ollie away, "I fell, and you abandoned us to them." She takes a deep breath and can't look Ollie in the eye. "We are done. Go. Just go away."[/b]

Then she looks at the stranger, trying to compose herself with middling results. "Thanks, whoever you are. I'm Valkyrie. That was my car. I think Ghoster's phone is my responsibility now." She moves over to the phone and picks it up.

"Hello?"

[Ollie]

Ollie deflates. Her answer doesn't surprise him, but it's hard to hear anyway. He sighs, and reaches past her into the car and retrieves his skateboard. He turns and his eyes flicking to meet Orphan's, the first time since he'd gotten there that he'd paid the man an iota of attention.

He begins to walk away, not wanting to attempt skating until he figured out what was wrong with his luck.

[Valkyrie]

Val carefully sits down on the wet curb against the side of her car.

"Uh, I go by Valkyrie."

"Do you mind if I ask how you," slight pause, "know him?"

"... Yes."

"This is like my second day with all this, and I was with some others getting some things explained when he called one of the others. He had been exploring a local park for something, nobody ever told me what, but someone was attacking him and Logos. The one he called tried to go off on his own, but the rest of us made him go with us, since we had a car. When we got there, they were trapped in a skate park, surrounded by zombies. They tried fighting them off, but after they got Logos, we tried to run. Then they got Guy, and then they almost got Ghoster. He was bleeding out, but I was able to get him dragged back to the car, and I tried to get away. But i was raining, and my tires were gone and I'm all cut up and the car spun out before I could get to a hospital. I tried to stabilize him, but I wasn't fast enough."

She cradles her head in her hands.

"I'm sorry."

[Orphan]

Orphan watches the man leave but stays by the girl, Valkyrie. He knows something of what it feels like to be abandoned, but at least the abandonment he'd experienced had happened for a reason, and he can only imagine how much worse it would be to be abandoned and left for dead after watching companions die. He doesn't say anything, waiting for her to finish her call.

Instead, until she is finished with her call, he scans the area, which seems prudent given her mention of zombies.

[Benji]

"Thanks. I didn't know who some of the contacts on Ghoster's phone were, but I put them on mine. If I hear about anything else, I'll let you know. I've... got to get my things out before they get here though."

A moment later, she closes the phone.

She doesn't look up at the stranger when she talks to him, but at least she's finally stopped crying completely. "I'm sorry about that. It was Ghoster's whatever you call it... Master, I guess. I think the guardians should be here soon. Could you keep an eye out while I get some things out of my car?"

[Orphan]

Spoiler

2009-05-18 21:05:55 Orphan rolls 1 to Perception -5 (10 Again) 8 1 successes

Orphan was able to tell that the man who had skulked off was Awakened, and he found the idea of a mage behaving in so cowardly a manner as he apparently had rather sickening. He hadn't been able to scrutinize Valkyrie enough to determine for sure whether she was also Awakened, but it seemed a better-than-even bet, given what sounded like a shadow name amd mention of several other names that sounded like shadow names.

More concerning, though, was the fact that he could hear some scraping, scratching sounds off in the distance. It could be a lot of things, but the mention of zombies put that possibility forefront in his mind. He quickly reaches into his car to retreive his weapons and takes time to strap his daisho over his shoulder, finishing as Valkyrie finishes up her call.

"You don't have to apologize to me, Valkyrie. It sounds like you've been through a lot, and handled it bravely. I'll help you get your things, because I think it best we get out of her quickly." Orphan thinks also of the tarps and garbage bags in the trunk of his car. "We'll take your friend there, Ghoster, with us too," he says, gently. "But we'd better get going."