"Son of a BITCH!"
Atticus jolted awake, freezing cold. Annie was standing above him, empty bucket in hand.
"I called your name at least twenty times. This was all I had left up my sleeve. Breakfast is in ten minutes, and then we've got a meeting, to plan our little raid. I'd change." Annie smirked, heading out of the room.
"She whispered it." Carter informed him, looking at him from across the room.
"..."
"She's right, though. You're gonna want to change."
"I'll do whatever the hell I want to."
Carter shrugged, "Suit yourself. I'm getting something to eat before she decides to throw it out or some shit, and cite us being late as the reason."
"Okay." Atticus pulled his shirt over his head.
Annie had been headed back down the hall, towards the bathroom, and stopped dead at the sight of Atticus.
She blinked, "Close the door, man."
"We all know you did that just so you can watch me change." Atticus grinned, "Admit it."
Annie rolled her eyes, "Ugh. Pigs."
Annie flipped him off and went into the bathroom. Atticus shrugged and grabbed a new shirt and slipped it on. Carter shook his head.
"What?"
"You guys are annoying."
"...You're stupid."
Jill looked up at the Kingstons briefly as they entered the kitchen before going back to the book that sat in front of her, pencil in one hand, coffee in the other.
"Hey, Rebecca..."
"Hmm?"
"What's a five letter word for..."
Atticus had drifted into the living room no longer able to clearly make out what was being said in Jill and Rebecca's exchange, joining Leon and Chris in waiting for breakfast. Carter on the other hand had remained in the kitchen an let out a long yawn.
"Tired?"
Carter shrugged, "Not really, actually."
"Well, don't fall asleep. I wouldn't want Annie to dump a bucket of ice water on you too."
"Aww, I love you too."
Claire rolled her eyes and shook her head as she went back to preparing breakfast for her various guests. Annie chose that moment to join all the occupants of the kitchen. Wordlessly she opened the fridge, looked around for a bit and extracted a carton of orange juice, pouring herself a glass she sat down.
"So..."
"Hmm?"
"Dunno. Too quite."
Carter shrugged, "Got a deck of cards?"
A deck of cards fell on the table in front of them and Carter looked in the direction they'd come from.
"Thanks."
Rebecca shrugged, "Solitaire keeps me busy."
Carter grabbed the deck and started laying out card's as he spoke.
"So, what exactly are we gonna do? I mean we've got the exAir Force pilot turned cop who got fired, the exArmy chick turned cop who got fired, a nerd, a college student, Rookie, two exMarines and Annie. Whatever she is. Oh, right, ugly."
"How witty." Annie rolled her eyes.
"Aren't I?"
He paused before adding, "And if Billy gets involved that three exMarines. We're still pretty fucked."
"Pretty much." Annie admitted.
"You guys are depressing... and I'm not a nerd."
"Of course you are, shorty." Carter grinned, "Never said it was a bad thing."
"You hit on everything you come across?" Annie blinked.
"Nope. I'm usually making fun of them they just misinterpret it."
"..."
"Part of the charm."
"...Right."
Carter shrugged and went back to the cards spread out on the table before him, occasionally moving one from it's spot to another.
Jill and Rebecca kept working on the crossword Jill had started along with whatever conversation had come up, Claire occasionally chipping in as well as Annie, Carter mostly kept to himself.
A few minutes later Claire left and went into the living room to gather the missing components of their group for their meal.
Had Annie checked her dignity at the door, she would be pinching Atticus under the table.
She was a grown woman, not a junior high school student...
She was kicking him.
Not like she could pinch him anyways, he was across from her, and one person to the left.
Chris was getting the brunt of most of the blows, and he was obviously very, very, unhappy with her.
It was his choice...
The look Leon was giving her was just classic. A mix of dissapointment and disgust, usually worn by either Billy, or her mother. With nothing else to do, she stuck out her tongue.
"Jealous of the attention he's getting?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Naw, he's just seeing you in full light."
"Go drink bleach."
"You first, you can tell me how it tastes."
"I'm sure after spending all this time with you, I'll be a motherfucking conissuer."
Carter, who had been picking at a gooey, half-baked pancake, suddenly snapped to attention.
"Who's a what?"
Annie just blinked, and started rummaging around in her coat pocket, trying to find her flask.
"I should've killed myself years ago."
"You know, I have a revolver on me, I could probably help you out, there."
"Ah, but then we'd have to end this witty conversation, and what fun would that be?"
"It'd be more fun for all of us." Leon muttered.
Annie looked over at him, narrowing her eyes.
"So, because I dont want you, you want me dead? Jeez, Rookie, you've got a mean streak."
"I almost like him for it."
Annie glared at him, hand stuck in her coat's inside pocket. She blinked and held it open, looking inside. Then the other pocket. And the next.
"What the hell?"
"Missing something?"
Annie looked up in time to see Carter drinking from her flask. Shouting a short string of curses Annie practically dove out of her chair, only to stop mid flight, Claire's hand gripping her shirt.
Annie gave up and sat back down, arms folded across her chest, glaring at Carter. Everyone quietly went back to their meals, Carter chuckling to himself as he continued drinking from Annie's flask.
"Thanks, I forgot mine."
"Get bent."
Carter shrugged and began chugging the last of the small metal container's contents. Annie cursed again and flew out of her seat once again. This time Claire was too late, she headed straight for Carter...
And ran into Rebecca. They tumbled over her seat and slammed into the floor at Carter's feet, as he stood and laughed, drinking from Annie's flask yet again as she rose from the floor. Annie quickly rose to her knees and promptly punched Carter in the gut just as he tossed the flask to Atticus. Claire and Leon quickly went to work stopping the fight that was bound to happen, forcing Annie and Carter to seperate, and Atticus to return her flask.
"Finally, Rookie's good for something." Annie muttering, cursing yet again as she tipped over the flask, and found it empty.
"The next time you do something like that, you're going to get a bloody pike up your ass!"
Carter opened his mouth to say something, but Leon cut him off.
"She's really done it."
The mood at the meeting was pretty... chaotic...
No one had really taken to listening to Leon's instructions, or Chris's, so finally, Claire took charge.
"Alright, spit out the gum, drop the word search, no picking your nose, no kicking, and for fuck's sake, Annie, turn off the computer!"
Annie pulled out her ear buds, and quickly closed the laptop.
"Sorry."
Carter was, for Claire's (And his own...) sake, trying to hold back his laughter, when Annie hissed:
"That gum looks great in your hand, jerk."
Carter leaned forward and pressed it into her bangs.
"I think it looks a lot better there."
"Oh, that's IT."
The meeting when on calmly while the two of them rolled around on the floor, throwing punches. A simple plan was drafted, the group would stay together at all costs, and stick to the map. If something went wrong, they would retreat and plan for another mission. Claire handed out tightly folded pieces of paper, maps of the facility.
Cautiously, she tapped her foot against the two group members on the floor, who momentarily stopped to look at her.
"We're done."
"... Really?"
Claire nodded.
Slowly, the two of them stood up, brushing themselves off.
"Hey..." Carter narrowed his eyes, staring at Annie. She raised a hand to her nose, and her heart stopped cold. A slick of ice trailed down from her nose to her upper lip.
"What the fuck is that?"
Annie looked from Leon, to Claire, to Carter, trying to dig into her brain, to figure out something to say... anything to say...
"Guess you know what Annie is, huh?"
"I hate outfitting. These pants always ride up my ass..." Carter muttered.
"Oh, shut up." Annie snorted, sticking a pair of ear buds into her ears and cranking up the volume.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Drowning out the sound of gunfire and morons."
They had started out in the blistering heat, the humidity of the jungle wearing down on them. It was worse, now that they had to carry all of their supplies on their bodies. Apparently, no one had uttered the phrase 'travel light' in a while. Leon waved them forward and started walking, and Annie's eyes slid involuntarily downward.
"Subtle."
"Oh, shut up Blondie... you know, those pants really don't do him justice." Annie grinned, determined to turn the tables and make him as uncomfortable as possible.
"I'm sure..." Carter raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, but its true. He looks way better in jeans. He bought this great pair, right after the outbreak... good times... Not to mention the hotel stay when he walked around in boxers for two hours because he thought I was asleep."
"..."
"What? You started the conversation!"
Carter just shook his head and sped up, appearently not about to bothering countering something like that.
"Come on, dude!" Annie quickened her pace.
"Did you just call me dude?"
"Yes... why?"
"Just checking."
Annie kind of gave up at that point. She fell to the back of the group and sighed, obviously irritated.
Fuck, this is totally like last time.
Almost immediately, the temperature in area dropped several degrees. The group trudged on, determined to keep going no matter what was thrown at them, but the distinctive sound of several groans could be heard as it grew colder and colder.
Atticus pulled a water bottle from his pack, and found that it was frozen solid.
"Oh, come on... you think this is Umbrella?"
"Controlling the weather?" Claire rolled her eyes.
"Just toughen up, things can get crazy in places like this."
"Uh, not this crazy, this fast." Atticus protested, pulling his bag back on.
"Well, then, maybe Umbrella has turned this place into a fridge."
"Fuck you."
The others attempted to tune the argument out as they trudged on, but it only got colder. Only a few minutes ago it had been scorching hot, and now they were in danger of frostbite. Annie flipped up the soft, felt lined hood she was wearing and tried to focus on the task at hand.
"Well... maybe we're getting close?" Rebecca piped up.
"That's gotta be it." Leon nodded in agreement.
"Okay, so what are we getting close to? Anyone think to find out what we're looking for?" Atticus grumbled.
"We'll know it when we-" Leon had fallen flat on his face. The group stayed motionless and blinking for a few moments, before Carter nudged the unconcious Leon aside, revealing a hatch.
"And once again, the Rookie is proven useful." Annie laughed.
After a short argument, Carter was saddled with carrying Leon. Now, he didnt volenteer, nor was he happy about it, and he made this clear by knocking Leon into everything possible as they climbed the icy stone staircase heading down into the base.
"You looking to give him brain damage?"
"He doesnt have quite enough, yet."
Heh... hell frozen over.
Annie laughed to herself as she settled down on the floor. A quick break, to make sure they were ready to go again... and a chance for Leon to wake up.
This cant be my fault, can it?
She looked over her ghostly white hands, and sighed. After a moment's hesitation, she took out her contacts and tossed them across the hall.
"... That's really creepy."
"I know, Carter. It's just how it is, I have white eyes, oh well."
"I meant the loud laughter for no apparent reason."
"Sorry. Inside joke... the eyes don't scare you?"
"Well, they're pretty creepy." He admitted.
"But come on. We've both seen creepier."
"Yeah, we really have... Wait a second. Are you being nice?"
"Fluke."
"Yeah... I thought so..."
Annie pulled her hood down lower over her eyes, and pulled her knees up to her chest. Or tried to. She was wearing a rather bulky amount of clothing, and was feeling rather thankful for it, though not long ago it had been an incredibly uncomfortable burden.
"You think he'll be much longer waking up?"
"Naw... we have to get going, soon, and he wasn't hit that bad."
"Yeah..."
Annie closed her eyes for a moment, comforted by the knowledge that she could let her guard down with the others as alert as they were... And then she heard it. The distinct click of stilettos, the constant, rhythmic tick tock that she knew like her own heartbeat, that she could never forget.
As constant as time and death and the endless tides of some far-off beach, first soothing, then panic-worthy, and finally, Annie surrendered to the quiet indifference she knew would shelter her from the woman's tongue, and the words that rolled off of it.
"What did you do to him?" The soft, perpetually amused voice hit her ears despite the protective woolen hood.
"I didn't do shit, Ada."
She peered out from under her hood, not really wanting to see her old rival, but feeling oddly obligated. She was as beautiful as she had always been, dressed in crimson red. A single, spiny butterfly emblem covered the bodice of her tight, long dress, and a slit freed her legs for movement.
"Of course you didn't..." Annie could see Carter reaching for his hip holster out of the corner of her eye, and didn't do a thing to stop him. He wouldn't get a shot in, even if he ended up trying, that bitch was smoke.
"I didn't. He tripped and smacked his head." Annie was really wishing she had a cigarette. Really. She had a feeling she would've gone through a pack in a second. Instead, she reached for her pocket and ignored Ada's soft chuckle as she popped a piece of gum into her mouth and savored the burning peppermint taste.
"Somehow, I cant believe that..."
"Why don't you tell someone who cares, bitchcakes?"
"Someone's in a bad mood."
"Are you really fucking surprised? I'm sitting in a freezing fucking room, talking to the one person I hate most in the world-"
"Well, I certainly feel loved."
"Fuck off, Atticus."
"Sounds terrible." Ada was still smiling.
"Just go away." Annie mumbled, closing her eyes again. She was unconciously aware of Ada leaning down over Leon, and Carter raising his gun... And her predication had been correct.
"Just try not to drag him down with you."
"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"I'd just hate to see him fall apart alongside you."
Carter had kept slowly inching toward his holster, slow careful movement which Ada seemed not to notice. She was far too occupied with Annie. Carter firmly grasped the familiar grip of his Smith & Wesson 4506 practically ripping it out of the holster. His efforts were for nothing. Ada was already gone the way she'd been headed her back to him already.
"Always hated her." Carter watched as Ada disappeared from sight.
"Welcome to the club."
"Do I get a jacket?"
"You have to be initiated first."
"Damn, I was looking forward to a free jacket with patches on it."
"Sorry. Now get Rookie so we can get outta here."
"Get 'im yourself."
Annie squinted, glaring at Carter for a brief moment before bending over and grabbing Leon 's collar. She hefted him up off the ground shoving the unconscious Leon towards Carter.
"You're carrying him. You're our mule, now, be a good little ugly, smelly animal and carry him."
"I'm the smart, good looking one, I don't do labor."
"….." Annie blinked, paused again, and began laughing, "Oh, right, right. Of course."
She kept laughing to herself as she started the way they'd been heading before the group had stopped, shaking her head. Carter sighed and started after her dragging Leon along.
"Wasn't the point of stopping to wait for him to wake up?"
"No time."
Carter sighed and threw Leon into a fireman's carry before starting after Annie again, Leon thrown over his shoulders.
"Especially if we want to catch Ada before she disappears."
"You know we won't." Atticus pointed out, "No one ever does."
"I doubt she can outrun a bullet."
"You're going to get us all killed, shut up and pay attention." Jill demanded, a stern look on her face.
Atticus glanced over his shoulder, paused, and gave a mock salute, "Aye aye, cap'n."
Jill rolled her eyes and pushed passed him, "Keep talking like that and we'll get you an eye patch."
"HA! She thinks you should get one too."
"And I think you should drink a bleach-drain-o cocktail but you don't see me complaining."
"Get bent."
"Fu-"
"Quiet. Both of you." Chris snapped, "Jill's right."
"He started it."
Rebecca sighed, "Maybe she should've stayed with Billy…."
"We all know you'd like to have stayed with him." Annie muttered under her breath.
"Hmm?" Claire blinked.
"Nothing." Annie shook her head, "Nothing."
"Mind slowing down?"
"Yup."
"I hate you." Carter shifted Leon 's weight on his shoulders, "And I'm going to laugh when you walk right into a trap and get your legs torn off or something."
Annie shrugged and kept going with everyone else trailing not far behind. Eventually Annie had dropped back rejoining the group and keeping pace with Carter, Rebecca being the only one to speak, briefly, in an attempt to keep the silence from overwhelming them. It didn't help.
She didn't make any other attempts. Silence prevailed and that was that even if nobody liked it. Silence led to isolation, isolation led to despair in the mental sense, and usually ended in a lonely, bloody death in the physical sense. Neither were appealing but disturbingly possible. And nobody wanted that. Or even the silence, for all those came with it.
Carter was sure it was the mental part that he disliked the most, physical pain was temporary and he knew it better than anyone else, death's embrace took a firm, rough hold of you but it all goes away…. Mental anguish was something he just wouldn't escape. Something the he knew would be forced upon him, and something he knew to avoid as much as possible.
Lot of good that does me, like they'll spare us any misery
"Carter?"
"Hmm?" Carter blinked, looking at Rebecca beside him.
"You okay?"
"Of course."
Rebecca's timid, worried face quickly shifted into an uneasy smile. With that Carter turned his attention back in front of himself only to find Annie had dropped back to his other side.
She didn't say anything. Neither did he, just went back to his thoughts. Not for very long, though.
"Quit staring at Claire's ass."
"Quit telling me about how you want to have hot, sweaty sex with Leon every time you see him."
"C'mon, you're telling me you never just had the urge to take someone right then and there, on the counter, against the wall, in the car… well, you probably never have, but you've wanted to I'm sure."
"My sex life is plenty active, though there's something to be said about yours, you'd rather baby sit Billy than go out…."
"Hardy fuckin' har."
Carter grinned but didn't retort, his victory already sealed without a witty quip. That was that and Annie trotted off, contemplating some way or another to get back at him for this incident. And staying alive, of course. But mostly getting back at Carter.
Annie sighed, "Why'd I have to quit smoking? You guys are annoying."
And just then a dull thud sounded quickly followed by a second one as the pack of cigarettes bounced off of Annie's head and fell to the floor. Annie glared at Atticus and picked up the pack, looking the soft container over.
"Lucky Strikes? You suck."
"Shut up and smoke or give 'em back."
Annie grumbled something under her breath and pinched a cigarette between her lips dragging it out of the pack and practically threw the pack back at Atticus, who dug in his pocket for the lighter but Annie had simply went on without it. Again they were all left to themselves, continuing into whatever awaited them.
"When they kill you," Atticus looked at Annie, though she doubted he could see her on his left, she wasn't ahead of him which made it rather creepy knowing that the eye pointed at her was an empty void, "Try not to get blood on me. It's hard to get out."
"Just try not to die yourself."
"I'm not the one that'll have to worry about that." He smirked, "Just keep your head down, kid."
"Don't call me that." Annie pulled a face, "Pirate."
"Don't get your panties in a bunch. And stay alive, damn it."
Annie shrugged, unlit cigarette still dangling uselessly from her mouth. Carter mentally cursed the silence, Atticus still looked disturbed, and Rebecca looked rather concerned with the state of all of them. Annie was too calm and aloof, Atticus looked like he was ready to lose it, and Carter… Carter look preoccupied just as Atticus did, but with a morose look on his face. Something else was bothering the youngest Kingston brother.
She was once forced to resign herself to silence unable to make things any better, to help anyone. Odd for someone who specialized in medical matters and lived to help others. But to try and force anything out of any of them would only result in them telling her to committ various acts with herself. That was just going to be that, an overwhelming silence would hang over them just as surely as death awaited, neither of which was a very comforting thought.
No one else seemed to notice, they were all effected by the tension but none of them seemed to take notice of what was going on between the three and all three seemed to be in their own little world. Rebecca sighed cursing herself for being so observant.
