Let's go DEFY TERROR

A loud explosion rocked the building, originating from somewhere on the lower floors. This was obviously a dangerous and stupid idea, as the now-unbalanced building began to tilt and fall, suspending the inhabitants in a brief free fall before the building got caught on something, halting it's fall. Whatever it was wouldn't last long, as even now the thirty-degree angled floor was slowly becoming a larger and larger angle.

In the infirmary, Jack was knocked off his bed from the explosion, and was now quickly dragging himself out the doorway by his arms and heading directly to the stairwell. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew he had to get out.

Erica looked at him. Just looked. Then she laughed. "Ha ha ha you are so funny Theo... in fact you are the funniest male I have ever met..."

Suddenly, there was a small boom, and the building shuddered before tilting. Eric grappled for some hold, but was thrown against the wall by the sudden stop. "Kittie, Theo: we gotta get out of this building before the whole structure collapses. Come on!" She motioned to the door.

All three of them had crashed against the same wall, due to the tilt, so while Erica spoke the twins were peeling off of it, struggling to stand up straight with the floor becoming slowly but consistently steeper. Neither disagreed about leaving. But, of course, Theo couldn't help that his first thought sounded difficult and ironic: "Now you want to escape?" Then his sister's shaky hand took hold of his wrist and pulled. She grabbed Erica's too, just in case.

Theo found himself in the hallway with feeling slightly reminiscent of vertigo, running fast and unsteadily. Kittie was aware of the lights flickering to their ends as electrical cords snapped from the weight. They flew down concrete steps.

Kittie checked often to see if Erica was keeping the pace.

Erica ran as fast as she could, tripping down stairs and around corners. The building groaned as if it were about to give way. That thought just made Eric run even faster. She saw a door swing open up ahead, and one of their captors, injured, was dragging himself out. "We have to help him!" she called to Theo and Kittie, then, without waiting for an answer, ran over to the kid and held out a hand. "Here," the short-haired girl said, extending a hand, 'let me help you."

Jack looked up seeing the offer for assistance being given to him by one of the others he'd seen before he'd passed out. Without hesitation, he gripped her hand with his own firmly, and nodding to show that he was accepting the assistance and not attempting to re-capture her.

Kittie came forward, watching Erica strangely as she helped her get Jack off the floor. Normally Theo would have laughed at the dirty looks she kept directing at Jack; but he didn't, this time. Neither twins really understood why they were helping him at all. Erica had tried to kill him. Then again, Kittie probably would have done anything if Erica thought it was a good idea.

Eric smiled and pulled him up. "Come on, let's get out of here."

The group reached a window, and Erica could see straight into the street. She hurried along, going just slow enough for the injured to keep up. One staircase was ripped in half, and Erica dragged some boards over the gap to make a rather unstable bridge. "Quick," she whispered, struggling to keep calm. "Here, Kittie, help him over the bridge while I hold the boards in place." Erica glared at Theo, daring him to say something. Then she held the boards down, waiting for Kittie and the boy to go across. The building creaked, and she winced. She wondered how long the building would last, staying stuck like this.

Kittie was barely able to support Jack standing up, so she guided him into a crouch. She glanced at Erica briefly.

Theodore rolled his tongue around in his mouth. As Erica had predicted, he really wanted to say something. He crouched next to Erica and helped her hold the boards.

"Mister, you'll have to help me out, okay?  If we walk we'll both fall over or something. Can you crawl? I'll help you. Come on...please hurry," Kittie urged. She backed up onto the boards and motioned for him to follow. Her bare foot nearly slipped once, but she quickly corrected herself.

Theodore swallowed his hysteria, leaned into Erica's ear, whispered, "Just hope she doesn't fall, or I swear I'll hang you and myself from the same rope."

"I can't talk to you right now; I'm concentrating," Erica hissed. She steadied the boards, then watched as Kittie and the boy made it safely across. "You go first, Theo. I'll go last. No objections." To emphasize her words, she looked Theo in the eye, then motioned towards the bridge. "And hurry up. We haven't got time."

Theo didn't say anything else directly to her, but it would be right to assume that he mumbled a few more rapid, unfriendly things before he crossed the bridge. On the other side he held the boards for her. Kittie called for Erica to be careful and fast. She also tugged nervously on Jack's arm, which was, unfortunately for him (her fingernails were sharp), the closest arm to tug on.

(My apologies for my lack of posting, all my Muse Energy has been diverted to fight off the flu. Just skip me for awhile until I can get my muse back XD)

(As an influenza veteran myself, I feel your pain. Good luck! Eat soup! Hwaiting!)

Erica ran across the bridge, muttering a thanks before grabbing up back up the injured kid's arm, grabbing Kittie's hand, and running as fast as she could. "Come on come on come on! We can't waste any time!"

The group burst out of the building, and, just as they did, the building creaked a little more, and ground its way slowly toward the ground. Only a few weak powerlines held it in place now. As the group hurried back into the forbidding ruins, the building shuddered, then came crumbling down. Erica winced, watching it fall, as she thought of all those people trapped in the building. She hoped they made it out safely, if not completely uninjured.

But, as the group turned back around to face the city, a couple of familiar faces faced them. Izzy was standing in the middle of the road, her contacts back on, looking like a blind person. Next to her was Kat, smiling warmly. "Hello," she said. "Welcome back to the city."

Kat's greeting, kind, so welcome-sounding, opened the floodgates. Kittie didn't know of irony, so she had no doubt in her mind that Kat was actually, sincerely glad to see them. She began to cry. Partly from relief, partly just release of the ridiculous fluctuation of emotion she'd had over the last few hours. When she realized she was crying, that made her cry even harder.

Theo, looking stricken, touched her arm. "Kittie? Are you okay?" She shook her head. Her small gasps turned into sobs, so he didn't know what to do but bundle her up in his arms. It didn't seem to help her any. Theo awkwardly wiped a tear from his own eye. "Look, we really need to get some sleep, Kittie, this is pitiful."

"I wanna sleep," she said deliriously.

"Mh, when we get home I'll tape up that window I put the rock through..."

"No! Nonononono. We're not going back there. I don't know why you're saying that. I haven't had a friend other than yours since they took Charlie. I can't just hang out with you all the time. James is gone, so I can be safe. He's why we moved there. I don't want to go back. I like being around people, Theo. I don't like living alone." Shaking her head, sniffling and gasping, Kittie pushed him away and wiped her face unashamedly. Her brother was more discreet, turning away from the company, away from the streetlamp, before he ran his sleeve across his eyes.

Kittie said quietly, "We should all probably go somewhere before the scavengers show up."

(can't reply right now, maybe i'll get to reply later, like tomorrow)
((don't you just love Kat :D))

Kat was not being ironic at all. She really meant it.

Well, not exactly. Her smile might've been warm and welcoming, but, as her soft glance moved over to the injured boy, it hardened slightly. But the hard glance lasted only a fraction of a second.

Erica smiled nervously, as she always was around Kat. "Hello Kat." Eric had believed, from the start, that Kat was an unstable character. She knew potions; she had the ability to save opr kill a person, and Eric simply did not trust Kat's talent.

Kat simply smiled. "You have come a long way, why don't you come with me? I have shelter, and I can give medical support to our... friend, here."

Izzy smiled. "I sense you are missing some of your other company..." She was hinting at Min-Su, but Kat had also mentioned to her that there was another character that had been present, but had disappeared.

"I thought your place got blown up, Kat? Didn't it?" Kittie asked.

She took out her ponytail and let the hair fall, then slid a thumb across the underside of her eyelid. While she tousled out her bangs, Theodore was watching Kat and Izzy. He had a weird look about him, like he was about to throw up. He made eye contact with his sister. Then he walked away, past the next streetlight, and disappeared down a wide alley.

Kittie said an unfriendly four letter word.

Just then, Min-Su came tearing out from seemingly nowhere, gasping for breath and shouting in Korean. He collapsed onto his rear at Jack's feet, not even looking up, while his breath caught up with him. "Hi, Hyung," he wheezed when he had enough breath. "Found you. These can not beat you up now."

Kat smiled genuinely at Kittie, whom she regarded as a youngster. "Yes it did. But we always have new places."

Izzy's supposedly blind eyes trailed after Theo, until his figure disappeared in the dark. Then, she growled an animal-like noise as Min-Su ran up, panting and babbling.

Erica, for once, was shocked. "Hey, hey, hey, we pose no threat, Min-Su! We're helping him, okay?!" She glared at Izzy. "Right?" she said, her expression daring Izzy to oppose.

Izzy, startled, said, meekly, "Yeah, I won't hurt you, Min-Su." Then she added, under her breath, "Yet."

Erica heard the low whisper, but she ignored Izzy, and looked at Min-Su. "It'll be alright," she said, her hazel eyes expressive.

Kat watched her counterparts, a curious expression on her face, and a slight smile playing upon her lips. For once, she seemed to really be beautiful, and thoughtful.

Suddenly, somebody broke the enchanting scene by stumbling into the light. Her choppy black hair hung around her face, and her eyes were dull and unseeing. Blood dribbled from her bottom lip, and a bloody scratch was across her face. Her clothes were bloody rags and simply hung from her thin frame, revealing whip-slashes all across her body. Her gnarled, white, and bloody hands scratched on the asphalt, and her bare, bloody feet were unrecognizable as feet. She moaned, and shifted. One could see that she clutched a wickedly sharp knife in her right hand, which was not as cut-up as her left.

Erica gasped, and clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with fear and astonishment. "JOHN!" she screamed.

Kat looked at the victim of torture with a mixture of surprise, rage, and pity. Surprise at John's sudden appearance; rage at whomever had done this to her, which was most likely April's minions; and pity for the survivor of the ordeal.

Even more angry and surprised was Kat when the bloody girl looked at Erica, and, with a deft motion, threw the knife at her former friend. The blade embedded itself in Erica's side, and she screamed in pain, falling backwards onto the pavement. Izzy ran to Jack and supported him, her expression of pure confusion.

Kat's expression had turned to pure anger. She grabbed John up (she wasn't very heavy) and threw her against a cement wall. John, already half-dead, closed her eyes and hardly cried out as her back broke on impact with the wall. Her limp body fell to the ground.

Kat staggered away from the dead body, then fell at Erica's side, tears pouring down her cheeks. Kat examined Eric carefully. The blade was too deep in for Kat to easily heal Erica, and had also shattered two lower ribs. Even now, Erica was having trouble breathing, and her breathing was rapidly slowing. Kat knew she couldn't do anything to fully heal Erica, but she could ease her into a painless death. Crying soundlessly, Kat rubbed a painkiller into Erica's wound, careful not to touch the knife.

Erica's breaths were shallow. Her hazel eyes opened, and she looked around as if not knowing what was going on. "What's going on," she murmured. "Where am I..."

Kat held Erica's limp, pale hand in her own. She managed to say, "It's all right, Erica, it's gonna be fine. We're just leaving the city, that's all. We're going home." Another tear traced it's way down Kat's face as she struggled to keep back her emotions, for her friend.

Izzy was emotionally moved, and, even though she hadn't really known Erica, she started crying and hugged Jack, not caring who she was hugging.

OOC: Whoa, tense, emotional stuff here. Erica's dying (thanks to John, thanks to April x( ) and Kat is showing her caring facet. Interesting stuff.

Kittie just got smaller and smaller, paler and paler, lowering herself to the concrete. She had stopped crying. She had stopped sniffling. She just stared blankly at the wall where John's spine had snapped.


---

Min-Su crawled towards her, then gently touched the blood trickling down Erica's side. "You can fix this, right? Fix?" he asked Kat, still short of breath. "Fix?"

He touched her hair with the same hand. Hair like that still made him jealous.

Jack watched the scene unfold with seemingly uncaring eyes, but said eyes did not leave Erica. He made little motion to respond to the sudden hug, instead after a few moments pushing her gently aside to allow him to approach Erica on his own; his strength had return, but his shoulder still burned. He kneeled down next to her and lowered his pack, which he had been sure to grab before the incident in the skyscraper unfolded. He opened it up and fished around inside, asking Erica a strange question: "Erica, what is the one thing in this world that you desire and wish to keep the most?"

Kat didn't answer Min-Su, but just screwed the cap back onto a jar half-full of amber liquid-- the strongest painkiller she had. She wiped away a tear and managed a small, sad smile. "It'll be all right," she said, reassuring herself more than Erica.

Erica stared up at the dark, smoky clouds that had been in the sky for as long as she could remember after the disasters of gunshots and explosions, and not to mention collapsing buildings. The pain was entirely gone, and she knew that had been Kat's part of the confusion. She heard noises, though she could not distinguish them at first. She smiled back at Kat, a smile no longer pained. From Kat's look she knew she couldn't be saved, but she wasn't at all upset about that.

The injured boy asked her a question, which she pondered over. Then she smiled. "Of all the things in the world, I would most like a little plastic dog." Then she sighed, and looked over at Kittie. "Kittie, life will move on. Don't stay in one position ever." She looked at Kat, who was smiling knowingly. "Kat..."

"Yes," Kat answered.

"I have a request. When we're done saying goodbyes, and everything, I want the Q-mix." Erica smiled gently at Kat's horrified expression. "Even if I lived longer, the time wouldn't amount to much. I would die anyway, as well as risk your lives more."

Kat shook her head. "I can't do that. I can't. I've lost nearly everything. I can't lose you."

When Eric  addressed her, Kittie covered her mouth and shook her head like she was trying not to scream. She didn't understand what Erica was saying. Usually she wasn't bothered with understanding things, but, in this instance, she was.

"Erica, I don't know what the thing you said means," Kittie said desperately. "I saw a movie once about how people who want to, live longer. The stubborn people didn't get sick easy...they did all kinds of science tests. Maybe if you acted stubborn--like, if you gave yourself some kind of goal...You know, you've made my life interesting. You're my best friend. You can't just die."

Min-Su sat down from his crouch next to Erica and looked at the ground.

For a moment after Kittie spoke, all was still, and Erica cocked her head. Then she smiled, a bright cheerful smile. "There are those kind of people, Kittie, who don't want to suffer, and in the process of trying not to struggle they struggle even more, and die anyways. Kittie, we're all dying, right now. And I am just closer to dying than everyone else. I can't feel the pain, but I know it's there. I want to end my suffering in peace." Erica's face was now peaceful, and thoughtful. Kat had patched up the wound as best as she could around the blade, which was pretty good, but still Erica was bleeding.

Jack seemed surprised at Erica's request, but continued shuffling through his bag nonetheless. He soon withdrew his hands from it, revealing a pristine condition robotic dog made of plastic, complete with working motors; and batteries. He gently handed it over to Erica. "So that your last thoughts may be that of happiness." He said, nodding to her. After finishing the handover of the toy he stood up, and looked around. "I apologise for interrupting this moment, but I'm afraid we can't stay here for long. This entire district is about to be invaded, and we sure as heck don't want to be in the middle; we may have to follow the sewers to avoid conflict." He said strongly, partially ruining the mood.

Kittie bit her lip and looked down, feeling strangely stung by Erica's remark. So Erica wanted to end her suffering in peace. She understood that--the words, at least. But why anyone would not want to be alive she could not comprehend. It was all so frustrating and sad!

Min-Su returned loyally to Jack's side.

Kittie, silently resenting the both of them, kept her eyes down. But then...

"Don't follow me, Dean."

...she looked up. Her brother was walking back, bristling, with the hood of his jacket up and his hands deep in his pockets. Another guy was trailing after him, black hair, glasses. He was a practically giraffe next to her 'vertically challenged' twin. Kittie had always thought he looked like one, too. A giraffe with a chipped tooth.

It was refreshing to see a familiar face.

Dean stopped. Theodore looked over his shoulder to see why the footsteps had died, surprised his friend had actually listened. Dean's odd look told him nothing, so he looked forward.

"What's going on?" Theo asked no one in particular.