Another Daring Escape
"What the heck?!", Chris stuttered as Nutty slit the blanket open, pulled out the pieces of a water gun, assembled them, and started filling it with the canister of liquid, nitris oxide.
"I told you... I'm deffinately not going down without a fight. ", she closed the canister tightly, "And actually, you're not supposed to inhale nitris oxide by itself. You're supposed to mix it with oxygen so you don't get too much."
"And what happens if you inhale too much?", Chris started packing some of their remaining possessions, the ones that hadn't been taken.
"I'm not quite sure... but I guess we'll find out.", she grinned.
They finished packing their supplies, except for the water gun and two hand guns. They each kept a pistol at their side, and Nutty carried the water gun. They tried to open the door, but of course, it was locked.
"Great... my lockpick kit is packed up... Now we're going to have to unload everything!", Nutty growled.
"No, no. Its okay. I've got one right here.", Chris smirked as Nutty looked at him admiringly.
"Well, Chris Miller, I didn't think a big bad spy like yourself who's been relying on me all this time would actually have something handy!", she put her hands on her hips.
"Watch it. Next time, I might not be so handy!", he quickly unlocked the door with the thin, metal instrument.
Taking their time, they crept down the hallway. Nutty was poised to shoot anyone they saw with the vile mixture that could probably have knocked out a manittee. Strangely, they only met three guards down the halls, all of which were completely off-guard and easy enough to take out.
"Something's going on... I don't like it...", Chris grumbled, his gun clicking anxiously at his side.
"What do you mean? We're safe so far. You should be glad.", Nutty tapped the trigger of the water gun, releasing small bits of nitris oxide into the air, enough to lighten moods. ((If anyone hasn't caught on by now, nitris oxide is what dentists use to calm patients. Its like laughing gas... don't ask why or how I know this))
"There are normally more guards around here...", he shook his head.
"Normally? Okay, now I'm curious.", she searched the two hallways that met the one they were traveling through.
"Don't ask, okay? Just don't. I'll explain later... They've all got to be somewhere.", he looked nervous.
"Maybe they're at some sort of meeting... ", she suggested.
"No way... Maybe there's a war we're not informed on... going on right now...", Chris also suggested.
"Well, relations between Russia and Poland haven't been too great recently... They've had problems with most of Central Europe for that matter...", Nutty thought outloud.
"Good point. I didn't even think of that...", he looked around more cautiously.
They made it to the main gates with few problems. Even outside, where there should have been a hundred soldiers, guarding from outside invasion, there were only a few.
"Chris, I think you might be right...", Nutty looked around suspiciously, keeping the water gun pointed toward her line of vision, "Not even the US would pull some crap like this. I lived on a base for a while. It wasn't THIS lax!"
"You're right, there. This place is never this abandonned. Even when they were out for meetings or doing whatever it is they do...", Chris peered around the wall before stepping out into the open.
"You mean you don't know what they do here?", Nutty dropped her watchful state only for a moment.
"Well, I do... but I don't. You know! It's not like I spent years here, perfecting some virus to destroy their computers.", Chris mumbled in a low, nearly inaudible voice.
"Oh, so you only spent a few months here, perfecting that virus?", Nutty asked, too seriously.
"Well, yeah. About three and a half before I was caught.", Chris stopped her before she walked into a soldier on the outside of the door frame.
"I see...", Nutty shot the man with the water gun and watched as he fell limp against the wall, "Well, atleast if this stuff kills them, it kills them quietly.", she said it so matter-of-factly.
"Not something you should get used to... killing, that is.", Chris looked down at the man, who's chest was still rising and falling.
"Not something you do get used to. Just something you put behind you until you are safe enough to mourn it.", she slid along the wall.
Chris paused and breathed in. It was so strange being around someone who understood how he felt. Its just that he had never been able to go back and mourn. He just kept killing and killing, never taking that break he needed to let it all go, so it was all sitting there in a lump in his chest. He felt fingers brush his shoulder and grabbed the arm that connected to those fingers. That arm was twisted behind a tense back and a quick yelp came from the lungs and throat and mouth attatched to that back. It was a few moments before Chris realized who he had in that arm-lock.
He quickly released Nutty and appologized, a light sweat building on his upper lip and a heat encompassing his face. She glared at him, but holding her arm, moved more quickly along the wall. Soldiers were coming.
She had only been trying to comfort him. He looked so sad at that moment. They made came to the section of wall closest to the main gate. They were right accross from it. Nutty shoved the water gun in her belt and pulled out her real gun, readying it for their run for freedom. Chris, realizing how grim their situation was, hesitantly prepared his own gun.
"Ready?", Nutty whispered as the few soldiers who had heard her scream, searched wildly toward the west end of the compound.
"No...", Chris growled, "This is a horrible idea, and the rest of the soldiers that aren't here now are going to show up suddenly and kill us..."
"Ey now! Stop predicting the future! That's my job, you lout!", she whispered and tapped his shoulder playfully.
"Nutty... just in case one of us does die...", he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"For one, if that was some idea of yours to be romantic, it isn't working, and for two, what makes you think we're gonna die?", she suddenly charged forward recklessly, shooting both guards stationed at the main gate, before they realized she was there.
Chris ran after her, backwards, cleaning up the guards she left behind them. One guard made a run to close the gate, but was shot down first. His partner, a few seconds behind him, made it to the gate-release, but it was a moment too late; the two teens were locked outside the gate and it would be too late to chase them by the time the gates were opened again.
Three of the more wreckless soldiers shot at the pair as they made their run for cover. Bullets bounced off the ground around them, driving already-high adrenaline rushes even higher. They were almost to safety. Just a few more yards and they would be into the forest and out of range.
Chris stumbled and fell behind, finally tripping and falling. Nutty stopped and ran back toward him, ignoring the flying bits of metal that buzzed by her ears. She shook Chris. He grabbed at his shoulder and she dragged him to his feet. He had been shot in the right shoulder. She shoved him forward into the woods, ignoring her panic.
He slowed down, but she kept him running. Finally, he collapsed from loss of blood. She had wanted to treat him immediately, but they were too close to the compound. They were still too close. She had to get him to safety before they could rest.
She took the moment to remove his shirt, tear it into a long strip, and wrap it around his chest. It was incredibly cold outside, and she knew that neither of them would last long as currently supplied.
She tapped him on the cheek lightly, to wake him up. He layed there groggily for a moment, before the realization of his pain made him wince.
Her terror was really startting to set in. She wondered vainly in the back of her mind if the bullet might have pierced his lungs, his heart. She worried that he'd die of shock, blood loss, or from freezing to death. She worried that if he did make it, what if he got an infection or what if the bullet wouldn't come out.
She whispered to him, "Chris, hun, you have to get up... We have to get to safety... Chris... CHRIS...", she tried to get his attention.
She took a moment to think about what she should do. She decided that she would try a trick she learned in girl scouts. She ran off and searched the forest floor for limbs. She didn't find any that would be suitable. Finally, she found two young pines and managed to use some items from her purse to cut the inch-thick trees. Pulling some yarn from her purse she bound the trees together and bound Chris onto the make-shift gurney.
She took a moment to prepare herself, hoping desperately that she could pull his weight. She grabbed the ends of the limbs and started pulling. It was a very slow proccess, but the pine needles allowed the gurney to slip more easily allong the ground. As slow as it was, it was faster than sitting around waiting for him to wake up.
A few times, he muttered something, but she couldn't hear over the sound of rustling pine needles. Finally, taking a break, she realized what an obvious trail she had left. Anyone could have followed it. She left Chris and followed the trail back about a hundred and fifty yards and started carefully covering their tracks. If they took dogs, they'd stand no chance, but as long as they just had a bunch of soldiers searching, they'd never find them.
She made her way back to Chris quickly. She was afraid that wild dogs or wolves would attack him while he was lying there, unable to defend himself. She made it back, and found Chris unharmed, though shivering a little. It was horrible luck, that of all the stuff in her purse, the best she could produce was the blanket she had torn to get to the water gun. She pulled it out and tucked it around Chris. They had to make it to a settlement soon. They couldn't risk making a fire, and Chris needed help desperately. Nutty sobbed a little as she pulled the pine-bed, pausing every now and again to back-track and cover their trail.
The day was ending, the temperature dropping. Nutty broke down sobbing. There was no sign of people anywhere. She was probably heading in the wrong direction.
As she sat, sobbing into her knees, she heard a slight grunt. With a gasp, she leaned forward over Chris, who was once more drifting into consciousness.
"Chris, hun? Oh... please... Chris?", she looked down on him, her hair hiding most of her tear-soaked face.
For all her skills, she had not mastered the technique of crying prettily.
He grunted again, looking very sickly, a sweat breaking over his body, despite the cold, "Nutty, where are we?" He tried to swollow the pain he felt, seeing her face through the mess of hair, his vision cloudy, "Are you okay?"
She trembled, leaning back, her arms wrapped protectively around her chest. Goosebumps marched their way up her arms, perfectly trained little soldiers.
She trembled, "I don't know where we are, I'm not the one who got shot here, I don't even know if you're alright and--"
He cut her off, "Okay, okay. Shhh...", he paused to take a deep breath, his body rebeling against him, "Ask me a question, like how many fingers you're holding up, or something."
"Which side of the tree does moss grow on?", she asked impulsively.
"North...ah", he winced again.
Nutty started to search her make-shift purse, pulling out several medical items. She started setting up a small area for whatever she planned to do.
"Nutty, I think we should wait... I can make it to the nearest villiage. I'll be fine.", Chris leaned forward, immediately regretting the action.
As he curled up to quail the pain, she held a surenge up close for him to see, "Listen here. You're going to go along with this, because I refuse to let you sit here writhing in pain like some injured, hunted animal. Lay down, this is going to hurt a bit."
He was pushed back down to the pine-bed, his arm held steady as she inserted the needle, amber liquid forced through the thin opening.
"I like the word writhe... What made you use... ow!", he paused before asking, "What was that?"
"It's novicane.", she said it as a simple fact, "It will make it numb."
"What the heck are you doing with novicane in there? Wait... wait, I don't want to know."
"Well, some nice dentist told me he'd give it to me if I'd leave his office.", she sniffed, trying to calm her nerves.
"Oy...", he started to relax as the pain was numbed out of existance.
"Alright, as soon as that's numb, we can take the bullet out.", she rested her head on her knees, the throbbing subsiding, if only for a moment.
He reached out with his left hand, touching her wrist. She looked up at him sharply, but he had his eyes closed.
"You're shaking.", he muttered.
"How observant of you. You are too.", she parried, "Is it numb?"
"As much as it will be...", his eyes slipped open as she picked up an offensive looking tool, "I hope that's sterile..."
"Will be in twelve seconds.", she was already at work.
"What the heck?!", Chris stuttered as Nutty slit the blanket open, pulled out the pieces of a water gun, assembled them, and started filling it with the canister of liquid, nitris oxide.
"I told you... I'm deffinately not going down without a fight. ", she closed the canister tightly, "And actually, you're not supposed to inhale nitris oxide by itself. You're supposed to mix it with oxygen so you don't get too much."
"And what happens if you inhale too much?", Chris started packing some of their remaining possessions, the ones that hadn't been taken.
"I'm not quite sure... but I guess we'll find out.", she grinned.
They finished packing their supplies, except for the water gun and two hand guns. They each kept a pistol at their side, and Nutty carried the water gun. They tried to open the door, but of course, it was locked.
"Great... my lockpick kit is packed up... Now we're going to have to unload everything!", Nutty growled.
"No, no. Its okay. I've got one right here.", Chris smirked as Nutty looked at him admiringly.
"Well, Chris Miller, I didn't think a big bad spy like yourself who's been relying on me all this time would actually have something handy!", she put her hands on her hips.
"Watch it. Next time, I might not be so handy!", he quickly unlocked the door with the thin, metal instrument.
Taking their time, they crept down the hallway. Nutty was poised to shoot anyone they saw with the vile mixture that could probably have knocked out a manittee. Strangely, they only met three guards down the halls, all of which were completely off-guard and easy enough to take out.
"Something's going on... I don't like it...", Chris grumbled, his gun clicking anxiously at his side.
"What do you mean? We're safe so far. You should be glad.", Nutty tapped the trigger of the water gun, releasing small bits of nitris oxide into the air, enough to lighten moods. ((If anyone hasn't caught on by now, nitris oxide is what dentists use to calm patients. Its like laughing gas... don't ask why or how I know this))
"There are normally more guards around here...", he shook his head.
"Normally? Okay, now I'm curious.", she searched the two hallways that met the one they were traveling through.
"Don't ask, okay? Just don't. I'll explain later... They've all got to be somewhere.", he looked nervous.
"Maybe they're at some sort of meeting... ", she suggested.
"No way... Maybe there's a war we're not informed on... going on right now...", Chris also suggested.
"Well, relations between Russia and Poland haven't been too great recently... They've had problems with most of Central Europe for that matter...", Nutty thought outloud.
"Good point. I didn't even think of that...", he looked around more cautiously.
They made it to the main gates with few problems. Even outside, where there should have been a hundred soldiers, guarding from outside invasion, there were only a few.
"Chris, I think you might be right...", Nutty looked around suspiciously, keeping the water gun pointed toward her line of vision, "Not even the US would pull some crap like this. I lived on a base for a while. It wasn't THIS lax!"
"You're right, there. This place is never this abandonned. Even when they were out for meetings or doing whatever it is they do...", Chris peered around the wall before stepping out into the open.
"You mean you don't know what they do here?", Nutty dropped her watchful state only for a moment.
"Well, I do... but I don't. You know! It's not like I spent years here, perfecting some virus to destroy their computers.", Chris mumbled in a low, nearly inaudible voice.
"Oh, so you only spent a few months here, perfecting that virus?", Nutty asked, too seriously.
"Well, yeah. About three and a half before I was caught.", Chris stopped her before she walked into a soldier on the outside of the door frame.
"I see...", Nutty shot the man with the water gun and watched as he fell limp against the wall, "Well, atleast if this stuff kills them, it kills them quietly.", she said it so matter-of-factly.
"Not something you should get used to... killing, that is.", Chris looked down at the man, who's chest was still rising and falling.
"Not something you do get used to. Just something you put behind you until you are safe enough to mourn it.", she slid along the wall.
Chris paused and breathed in. It was so strange being around someone who understood how he felt. Its just that he had never been able to go back and mourn. He just kept killing and killing, never taking that break he needed to let it all go, so it was all sitting there in a lump in his chest. He felt fingers brush his shoulder and grabbed the arm that connected to those fingers. That arm was twisted behind a tense back and a quick yelp came from the lungs and throat and mouth attatched to that back. It was a few moments before Chris realized who he had in that arm-lock.
He quickly released Nutty and appologized, a light sweat building on his upper lip and a heat encompassing his face. She glared at him, but holding her arm, moved more quickly along the wall. Soldiers were coming.
She had only been trying to comfort him. He looked so sad at that moment. They made came to the section of wall closest to the main gate. They were right accross from it. Nutty shoved the water gun in her belt and pulled out her real gun, readying it for their run for freedom. Chris, realizing how grim their situation was, hesitantly prepared his own gun.
"Ready?", Nutty whispered as the few soldiers who had heard her scream, searched wildly toward the west end of the compound.
"No...", Chris growled, "This is a horrible idea, and the rest of the soldiers that aren't here now are going to show up suddenly and kill us..."
"Ey now! Stop predicting the future! That's my job, you lout!", she whispered and tapped his shoulder playfully.
"Nutty... just in case one of us does die...", he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"For one, if that was some idea of yours to be romantic, it isn't working, and for two, what makes you think we're gonna die?", she suddenly charged forward recklessly, shooting both guards stationed at the main gate, before they realized she was there.
Chris ran after her, backwards, cleaning up the guards she left behind them. One guard made a run to close the gate, but was shot down first. His partner, a few seconds behind him, made it to the gate-release, but it was a moment too late; the two teens were locked outside the gate and it would be too late to chase them by the time the gates were opened again.
Three of the more wreckless soldiers shot at the pair as they made their run for cover. Bullets bounced off the ground around them, driving already-high adrenaline rushes even higher. They were almost to safety. Just a few more yards and they would be into the forest and out of range.
Chris stumbled and fell behind, finally tripping and falling. Nutty stopped and ran back toward him, ignoring the flying bits of metal that buzzed by her ears. She shook Chris. He grabbed at his shoulder and she dragged him to his feet. He had been shot in the right shoulder. She shoved him forward into the woods, ignoring her panic.
He slowed down, but she kept him running. Finally, he collapsed from loss of blood. She had wanted to treat him immediately, but they were too close to the compound. They were still too close. She had to get him to safety before they could rest.
She took the moment to remove his shirt, tear it into a long strip, and wrap it around his chest. It was incredibly cold outside, and she knew that neither of them would last long as currently supplied.
She tapped him on the cheek lightly, to wake him up. He layed there groggily for a moment, before the realization of his pain made him wince.
Her terror was really startting to set in. She wondered vainly in the back of her mind if the bullet might have pierced his lungs, his heart. She worried that he'd die of shock, blood loss, or from freezing to death. She worried that if he did make it, what if he got an infection or what if the bullet wouldn't come out.
She whispered to him, "Chris, hun, you have to get up... We have to get to safety... Chris... CHRIS...", she tried to get his attention.
She took a moment to think about what she should do. She decided that she would try a trick she learned in girl scouts. She ran off and searched the forest floor for limbs. She didn't find any that would be suitable. Finally, she found two young pines and managed to use some items from her purse to cut the inch-thick trees. Pulling some yarn from her purse she bound the trees together and bound Chris onto the make-shift gurney.
She took a moment to prepare herself, hoping desperately that she could pull his weight. She grabbed the ends of the limbs and started pulling. It was a very slow proccess, but the pine needles allowed the gurney to slip more easily allong the ground. As slow as it was, it was faster than sitting around waiting for him to wake up.
A few times, he muttered something, but she couldn't hear over the sound of rustling pine needles. Finally, taking a break, she realized what an obvious trail she had left. Anyone could have followed it. She left Chris and followed the trail back about a hundred and fifty yards and started carefully covering their tracks. If they took dogs, they'd stand no chance, but as long as they just had a bunch of soldiers searching, they'd never find them.
She made her way back to Chris quickly. She was afraid that wild dogs or wolves would attack him while he was lying there, unable to defend himself. She made it back, and found Chris unharmed, though shivering a little. It was horrible luck, that of all the stuff in her purse, the best she could produce was the blanket she had torn to get to the water gun. She pulled it out and tucked it around Chris. They had to make it to a settlement soon. They couldn't risk making a fire, and Chris needed help desperately. Nutty sobbed a little as she pulled the pine-bed, pausing every now and again to back-track and cover their trail.
The day was ending, the temperature dropping. Nutty broke down sobbing. There was no sign of people anywhere. She was probably heading in the wrong direction.
As she sat, sobbing into her knees, she heard a slight grunt. With a gasp, she leaned forward over Chris, who was once more drifting into consciousness.
"Chris, hun? Oh... please... Chris?", she looked down on him, her hair hiding most of her tear-soaked face.
For all her skills, she had not mastered the technique of crying prettily.
He grunted again, looking very sickly, a sweat breaking over his body, despite the cold, "Nutty, where are we?" He tried to swollow the pain he felt, seeing her face through the mess of hair, his vision cloudy, "Are you okay?"
She trembled, leaning back, her arms wrapped protectively around her chest. Goosebumps marched their way up her arms, perfectly trained little soldiers.
She trembled, "I don't know where we are, I'm not the one who got shot here, I don't even know if you're alright and--"
He cut her off, "Okay, okay. Shhh...", he paused to take a deep breath, his body rebeling against him, "Ask me a question, like how many fingers you're holding up, or something."
"Which side of the tree does moss grow on?", she asked impulsively.
"North...ah", he winced again.
Nutty started to search her make-shift purse, pulling out several medical items. She started setting up a small area for whatever she planned to do.
"Nutty, I think we should wait... I can make it to the nearest villiage. I'll be fine.", Chris leaned forward, immediately regretting the action.
As he curled up to quail the pain, she held a surenge up close for him to see, "Listen here. You're going to go along with this, because I refuse to let you sit here writhing in pain like some injured, hunted animal. Lay down, this is going to hurt a bit."
He was pushed back down to the pine-bed, his arm held steady as she inserted the needle, amber liquid forced through the thin opening.
"I like the word writhe... What made you use... ow!", he paused before asking, "What was that?"
"It's novicane.", she said it as a simple fact, "It will make it numb."
"What the heck are you doing with novicane in there? Wait... wait, I don't want to know."
"Well, some nice dentist told me he'd give it to me if I'd leave his office.", she sniffed, trying to calm her nerves.
"Oy...", he started to relax as the pain was numbed out of existance.
"Alright, as soon as that's numb, we can take the bullet out.", she rested her head on her knees, the throbbing subsiding, if only for a moment.
He reached out with his left hand, touching her wrist. She looked up at him sharply, but he had his eyes closed.
"You're shaking.", he muttered.
"How observant of you. You are too.", she parried, "Is it numb?"
"As much as it will be...", his eyes slipped open as she picked up an offensive looking tool, "I hope that's sterile..."
"Will be in twelve seconds.", she was already at work.
