The Animus

[Entaru]

"Don't worry...I can keep them off of us as long as we move silently.  With those two gone our chances of getting by unnoticed have greatly improved."  Nero took the lead of the group and pointed to the horizon.  "Just follow me."

[x]

"Heh heh..." Gavin laughed cordially at what Tori told him. It made his spirits lift to think about it, to think about being useful, being wanted...needed, even, if it could at all be so.....He gave a polite nod Felix's direction, poor guy had been put through a lot. What the boy, Nero, was saying did not really sink in until a few mentally drawn out seconds later, when his tail perked dramatically. That sure sounded exciting....But follow a kid?.....Gavin wasn't so sure about that.

Though...Nero had proven himself thus far. Maybe....mayhaps the child knew what he was doing.

Certianly he knew what he was doing better than Gavin did.

That would have to be good enough for now.

Shyly holding his hands behind his back to quiet his tail, the monkey smiled at Nero, in submission to the whims of the world.

[KittKat chunky~]

Kitt followed behind Nero, keeping his weapon at the ready he kept near to the back of the group, so that he could see everyone at once.... He was really the only one left who could handle a gun well, barring Felix due to his injury... that reminded him...
"Hey Tori.... we still didnt finish that lesson with your pistol... if we do get confronted, we dont want you injuring yourself with it, eh?"
He caught up with Tori, pulling two spare clips of ammunition for the pistol, flicking his tail curiously...

[Dtannings]

Now following Nero, Tori looked up at Kitt, "Oh! Yea, forgot," she grinned, a little embarrassed. Looking down at the box in her arms, she bit her bottum lip, "Umm..." Glancing over at Gavin, she gave him a pleading look, "You think you could carry this for a little while?"

[x]

Chuckling, Gavin took the box from her as he strode along. "It's no problem...see?" He then proceeded to wrap his long, ever-windy tail around the box...."No hands!" He wasn't sure whether he was simply too lazy to carry it in his arms or whether he just felt like being silly. Either way, having his hands free was always a good thing.

[Dtannings]

Tori giggled, wishing she could do such a thing with her tail. It was a little short for most wolves, and was certainly nothing compared to Gavin's. Not to mention it wasn't strong enough to hold anything up.
Now having her own hands free, the wolf pulled out her pistol and turned to Kitt, "So how do I load it?" she asked, feeling a little stupid for not knowing how to by now.

[KittKat chunky~]

Kitt couldn't help but smirk at Gavin's performance... Stopping for a moment he lifted Tori's paws up to waist height and pulled out a fresh clip of 9mm ammunition....
"well its quite easy really... so long as your careful and treat this thing with respect you'll be fine... first ya just press this button here on the hand grip, that ejects the spent magazine..."
He showed her where the button was and depressed it, the old magazine dropped out and was caught in one deft movement by Kitt...
"Next you slide the new magazine in through the bottom of the grip like so..."

He helped her slide the new magazine in until an audible click resounded... "That means its safely locked in place... this switch at the back is the safety, remove the safety, bring the pistol up at shoulder height"
He stood close beside her, showing her how to aim easily down the sight and brace against the inevitable recoil....
"And then just squeeze the trigger... you wanna only fire single shots, we don't have much ammo....."
He let go of her paws, taking an awkward step back.... "Well yeah, that's all you need to know, you can have these two extra magazines too..."
He handed over another two magazines to her and half-smiled, tail flicking ....

[Entaru]

Nero shook his head in amusement at the group.  "C'mon, everyone...we need to get to the next town.  There's an old train station there.  If we take one of the trains, we should be able to get to the dig-site with little to no trouble."

[Dtannings]

Tori smiled, "Thanks!" she took the extra magazines and put them in some empty slots in her tool belt, next to the pistol.
Looking up at Nero and cocked her head, "Do you know how to drive a train? And how do we know it's not infested with Acolytes?"

[Entaru]

"Because Acolytes have no use for them.  They think technology has polluted the world...thats' why they don't use guns.  Cars, trucks, trains, planes, they don't use 'em.  Everything is man-powered with them."  Nero explained as they walked. "And yes...I have a bit of experience with locomotives.  My father was an engineer before the Apocalypse."  Nero's face dropped slightly as he mentioned his father.

[x]

Gavin noticed the drop in Nero's face and felt his own spirit drop with it, thinking of Trisha, but quickly recovered, his dropping spirit caught in a net of reason. His tail had  to be held carefully to keep the box from slipping, so he walked a bit slower than everyone else, falling in line just a meter or two behind Kitt. The breeze lightly ruffled his golden brown fur as well as his hair.....and it felt good. "Well, I just hope it all goes okay," he said. What he had meant to say was: I just hope I see her again.

[KittKat chunky~]

Kitt turned, still smiling, and carried on walking.... he listened to Nero explaining, but also kept his his eyes out and weapon ready... it was true that with such a small group being found was harder... but still..... He looked behind him to see gavin falling behind slightly...
"Hey Gavin, you wanna get up front a lil' bit? That way i can see all o' you... dont want anyone gettin seperated now..."
He stopped for a second or two, allowing Gavin to get ahead of him....

[x]

"Oh...I'm perfectly fine being in the back, but if you'd like me to move up....guess I can do that...." Gavin shrugged in agreement, then strode up ahead, stretching again, a big stupid grin on his face. What in the world was wrong with him? This was no time to be feeling so happy, but ever since he'd killed that Acolyte....the monkey seemed to have been on an emotional high. He wasn't quite sure when he'd crash.......or what that crash would do to him.....

[Entaru]

The next few hours passed by slowly as Nero led the group.  A few skyscrapers could be seen in the distance.  Broken and skeletal, they were as dead as their old inhabitants.  The sky was grey with overcast.  It had been that way since the beginning of the catastrophe.  It never rained, but the sky always seemed to foreshadow it.

Drought and stormclouds...no wonder the world felt dead.

Nero hadn't spoken a word since they headed out, his eyes dead set on the skyscrapers of the dead city.  Looking at him, many of the group was reminded of the Refuge.

Whatever happened to it?...

[KittKat chunky~]

Kitt kept walking, eyes searching all the time... his paw shook slightly against the grip of his AK-47, the tension was killing him.... the last two ambushes had gotten to him, and he was quite literally jumping at shadows... He walked at the back of the 'pack', so he could see everyone clearly. He felt a duty to protect these people, they where all he had...
"Hey Nero... how far now?"

He talked in a hushed voice, unwilling to talk loudly, paw still squeezing the grip of his gun.....