Endgame Earth

[MrRazot]

Warren smiled and followed Nova into the Humvee and sat Where he found himself.

[Luke White-Heart]

    Nova grinned and nodded. "I figured you'd accept. Glad to have you aboard. You'll be riding with me then, just climb into the humvee there and let's get outta here." Nova then jogged over and retrieved Luke's unconscious, but at least not dead, body and placed him in the front seat of the humvee where he had sat before. For a brief moment he considered reading that file that had so drawn Luke's attention, but thought better of such a blatant invasion of privacy and left it alone. Everyone was loaded into his vehicle, or at least nearly, so Nova climbed in himself and restarted the engine. The exterior may have been dented and scratched, but the innards of his armored transport still hummed away. He activated his radio and spoke into it: "Alright Himawari we're all set over here, are you good yourself?" In waiting for her reply he also opened his door and leaned out to yell into the street: "Hey, Ip! That Jeep still running? Because it better be, I'm not hanging around here any longer."

 
Luke's thoughts were heavy and sluggish. As he woke up, he looked around him and saw the inside of some sort of vehicle. In his mind, he knew he had been in a humvee very similar to this one, almost identical. He looked over to his laeft and saw Nova, talking to someone. His words were muffled to Luke. His shook his head a little to try and clear his head.
"Wh-where am I? What happened?"

[Ventus Fall]

Himawari jumped when her radio went off, sending Nova's loud voice straight to her eardrums.
She squeeked and was able to barely keep ahold of her pocketknife. She seathed it again and stuffed it in her backpack quickly.


"I'm alright, Nova," she said, "Ready to go then? Over."

Himawari readied herself to start the engine, only waiting for Nova's reply.

[Takamei Edevane]

Ip climbed into the bashed up Jeep and turned the ignition key.  The engine started with a bang, and the jeep started to roll forward. Ip leaned near the window and replied to Nova "It should be fine!" He drove the jeep over next to Nova's humvee, waiting.

[NovaAurora]

    Nova saw that despite everything, Ip's Jeep was still in working order. He smiled and nodded at Ip as he pulled up, before responding into the radio, "Yes, we are ready to go. Form up behind me as before, and let's move. Be careful driving through all the corpses." Nova shut off his radio and slowly began to maneuver through the bloody mess, focussing only on the road ahead and blocking out the sickening squish of diseased flesh beneath the tires. It felt like an eternity, but within a minute he had cleared the battlefield and was once again in open road with his convoy behind. He let out a long sigh and slumped back in his seat, mildly aware of the dull throbbing pain in his left arm. Suddenly though he became aware of Luke making sounds from the seat next to him, which, now that he wasn't trying to block out images of flattened dead consumers, he realized were questions he had probably been asking for a bit now. "Luke! You're awake, that's good. We had something of a run in with a massive consumer horde back there, a big battle broke out, do you remember? In fact it was one of those captives we rescued from the human compound who helped save us." He motioned to Warren in the back seat. "But you look like you've been to hell and back... what happened Luke? Can you recall? You look like you were almost killed but you never cried for help..."

[Ventus Fall]

The black haired woman started up the engine when she heard Nova over the radio.
She had placed her closed backpack on the seat next to her, keeping it in close range, just in case. She always kept it near her, but was now fully aware of it.

Once she was driving behind Nova, she heard a faint noise. It sounded as if someone was really close to her and whispering to her.
"Hiih...." The voice as first sounded weak, but soon found its ground. "Himawari." It echoed slightly.
Himawari jumped a little and looked through her rear mirror to see if anyone was there.
There was no one and she shrugged it off.
Probably lack of energy and rest caused her to hear things.

"Himwari."
She heard it again and was now very unsetteled, but did not act on it.
"I know you can hear me, Himawari."
Ok, this is freaking me out now, she thought to herself.
She decided to talk, as no one was near her anyways and couldn't hear her, so she could act on her halucinations if she wanted to.
"What is it? I'm driving, leave me alone."
A slight pause before it -what Himawari thought to be a hallucination-  reacted to her question.
"Why are you going with them?"
She frowned. "What do you mean, 'going with them'? What else can I do?"
Himawari kept on driving and looking through the windows and mirrors as she normally would do, driving a vehicle, but when she did look in the mirrors, she would always quickly check to see if she couldn't see anyone in her car.

"Going with these anthropomorphic beasts?"
Himawari was getting agitated. "Beasts?! They're my-"
The voice interrupted: "What was it you were going to say? Friends? Compagnions? Significant allies?"
Himawari did not know how to respond to that and kept quiet.
"You know they are different from you? No, that you are different from them. You are not like them. You are the only human."
"So what?"
"Don't you remember your own thoughts and memories about those kind of creatures?"
Himawari's facial expression became blank, and her mind filled with so many thoughts, that it too bacame blank. "What, how do you know about this?"
The voice cackled and said: "I am in your head."

She clenched her jaw and stared straight ahead, ignoring the voice for now. She had a bad feeling about this and hoped it would vanish when she would finally get some more rest.

[Cifero Windtail]

Jared gently stroked the girl's ears and looked up at Katelyn. "Good job back there," he said. "You probably helped tons."

[Luke White-Heart]

"Luke! You're awake, that's good. We had something of a run in with a massive consumer horde back there, a big battle broke out, do you remember? In fact it was one of those captives we rescued from the human compound who helped save us." He motioned to Warren in the back seat. "But you look like you've been to hell and back... what happened Luke? Can you recall? You look like you were almost killed but you never cried for help..."

 
Luke shook his head, trying to clear it.
"Ugh...vaguely. Everythings really fuzzy...but I think it was that file. I was...distracted..."
He couldn't think straight; the pounding in his head forced everything else out. Luke looked behind him to the furs in the back seats. All of them were battered, bruised, and bloodied. Then, he readjusted himself in his seat, then looked to Nova.
"I think...i have a concussion. I shouldn't...fall asleep."

[FurryJunky]

Jared gently stroked the girl's ears and looked up at Katelyn. "Good job back there," he said. "You probably helped tons."

 
Katelyn shook her head as she wiped down her rifle from stock to barrel. In truth she barely did a thing, as such close range was not her strong suite, and it was such she said. "No... I dident do all that much, only shot the ones that made it through the back windshield." She said nodding towards the busted out back window. "Though I kept them away from stabbing or biting her, but nothing more...  I would of been more help if the horde wasent on me."

[Cifero Windtail]

Jared smiled. "You saved her life. That's worth at least something."

[NovaAurora]

    Nova looked at Luke with concern. In any other situation he would have told him to lay back and rest, but if Luke felt like he might have a serious head injury then Nova would do his best not to make anything worse than it already was. "I'll make sure you don't fall asleep," he said, "but at the same time you should try and relax. Hopefully nothing will go wrong the rest of the way..." He sighed and turned his attention back to the road.


    As they drove further north, the air turned colder and eventually there was a slight blanket of recently-fallen snow covering the landscape. The sun was beginning to shine its first few rays over the freezing world, and there had been more trouble through the rest of the night. Signs of consumers abounded, but they kept on driving and avoided any further confrontations. Now the first dark peaks of the Adirondack mountains loomed in the distance, and Nova looked at his map again, certain that they should be coming to their destination soon. Indeed, Fort Peregrine was indicated as being only somewhere between 20-30 miles further northwest from the convoy's current location. Nova hoped dearly that it was still there and would serve as a good base. He was feeling rather exhausted and wanted nothing more now than to lie down within strong, defendable walls and recover a bit.

[FurryJunky]

Katelyn shrugged some as she set her rag down, leaving her rifle to gleam once more as if it where brand new. "True..." Was the only words she said as she set her rifle down on her right, next to the humvee's door. Opening her pack she stuffed the rag back in before zipping it back closed and lean against the chair. With the rest of the people no longer unconscious, it looked a bit more lively, yet nobody talked. Blinking a few times her mind began to wonder back on the weeks events. So much has happened. She lost  a dear friend, and found another. Fled her home, and on her way to a new one. And last of all, she felt safe, for what it was worth, she loosed up now, letting down her guard for the first time in years.
 
 
Closing her eyes the hours passed fast, and the engine of the humvee almost soothing. With the back window blown out the temperature change was more easily felt, and she could sense the snow they drove through. It was a nip in the air, and the sound the tires made as it drove over fresh snow.  Opening her eyes after some unknown amount of hours the road outside was covered in a sheet of white. The scorched landscape, blown out buildings, and battle torn country side almost looked peaceful, as if the snow was able to make it all go away, but then there where footprints they drove past, and in the distance a consumer horde that would raise here heads to them, and be left in there wake. Frowning  she placed her right elbow on the armrest and rested her head on her hand, staring at the passing countryside until she finely broke the silence. "Nova..." Her voice was a bib crackly from not speaking so long, causing her to pause to lick her lips before continuing. "Are we almost there?"

[Ventus Fall]

Himawari had followed Nova's car for a while now and she was starting to wonder if he knew where he was going.
Could it really be so far away?

Being by herself and the seeds of doubt being planted by the voice in her head, she was starting to feel irritable again, or touchy.
Without knowing it, her thoughts changed to spoken out words and she started talking to herself.
"Does he know where he's going? Well, he does seem to know the way, but where is he leading us. Us... me and the other anthropomorphic creatures."
She sighed.
"I guess my hallucanation was kind of right. I mean I am the only human here..."

She violently shook her head. "No, they helped me and I helped them. They didn't order me to or push me."
"You needed them at the time."
The voice returned and Himawari's eyes opened wide. Again, she couldn't see anyone or anything in her car. She got goosebumps.
Against her better self, she started to converse with her hallucination again.
"Needing isn't a bad thing," she said bluntly.
"No, you do not need to be ashamed of using them. Afterall, they did get what you wanted."
"And what did I want?"
"Resources. You have been running out of resources at your old base. It was just a coincidence you came across them when you did. It was the best thing that could have happened to you. Well..."
"Well what?" himawari asked, frowning.
"If they weren't animals."
She sighed. "You know, I'm really getting tired of you calling them in a negative tone."
"Or are you just getting tired by resisting the urge to agree with me?"
Himawari had nothing to respond to that comment. She hadn't expected that.
Deep down inside her something was telling her to wake up to what she was doing, to ignore the voice she was hearing. But the more the voice spoke to her, the more her inner self was being drowned by the voice's thoughts and feelings.

Once she could see snow outside, her thoughts were even darker and grimmer. The voice had taken away the feeling that she was safe and happy. That the others protected her.
It made sure she 'remembered' she had no friends. She was a human, a playtoy for these anthropomorphs, these animals. Something interesting to be around with.
She had survived just fine without them before. She didn't need them.
They were just... in her way.

[Cifero Windtail]

Katelyn shrugged some as she set her rag down, leaving her rifle to gleam once more as if it where brand new. "True..." Was the only words she said as she set her rifle down on her right, next to the humvee's door. Opening her pack she stuffed the rag back in before zipping it back closed and lean against the chair. With the rest of the people no longer unconscious, it looked a bit more lively, yet nobody talked. Blinking a few times her mind began to wonder back on the weeks events. So much has happened. She lost  a dear friend, and found another. Fled her home, and on her way to a new one. And last of all, she felt safe, for what it was worth, she loosed up now, letting down her guard for the first time in years.
 
 
Closing her eyes the hours passed fast, and the engine of the humvee almost soothing. With the back window blown out the temperature change was more easily felt, and she could sense the snow they drove through. It was a nip in the air, and the sound the tires made as it drove over fresh snow.  Opening her eyes after some unknown amount of hours the road outside was covered in a sheet of white. The scorched landscape, blown out buildings, and battle torn country side almost looked peaceful, as if the snow was able to make it all go away, but then there where footprints they drove past, and in the distance a consumer horde that would raise here heads to them, and be left in there wake. Frowning  she placed her right elbow on the armrest and rested her head on her hand, staring at the passing countryside until she finely broke the silence. "Nova..." Her voice was a bib crackly from not speaking so long, causing her to pause to lick her lips before continuing. "Are we almost there?"

Jared was asleep, the girl curled up in his arms.

[NovaAurora]

    Nova was slightly startled by Katelyn's voice and realized he had been driving in a kind of exhaustion-induced daze. By the look of the mountains surrounding them now, he'd say that they must have traveled a good distance since he last checked the map. "I... I think we're probably getting close." he stammered. Then, just as he rounded a bend in the road a second later, he saw a rusty sign on the side that read "Fort Peregrine Military Base- 2 miles." He smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "Well there's your answer!" he chuckled, suddenly full of a new energy. He turned on his radio and spoke into it, "Hey Himawari, did you see? We're almost there. Just a bit more and if everything is as I hope then we'll have a pretty good place to set up HQ."