Roleplay part 7

I looked at Benji and smiled about him questioning the bottle*

'just some cough syrup with an extra ingredient in it, from the Zone. made by the greatestes scientists of all out there, professor Shakharov. he added extract from a couple of artifacts, and something extracted from a controller, I think, but whatever it was he put in it, it works. thanks to it, I've managed to keep colds, toxic remnants and the like at bay for years! it's good even for Jet' I said to him with a smile.

 

I retrieved the bottle from Odessa, and as I took a sip, my eyes widened. As I pulled it away from my mouth, I could not help it to pull a disgusted face expression, forcing myself to swallow the little sip I had taken. I could feel my whole body grossing. "The toxins will most likely be removed from my system only by this drink of yours, but for now, I will go for a temporary solution to the problem", I forced out while coughing and twisting my throat at the same time as I handed the bottle back to her.

Eventually, I lifted up my tea and slowly but surely took a sip and let the liquid spread out in my whole mouth, covering my tongue. The taste of Lavender and several different sorts of herbs affected my sensation before I slowly let the steaming liquid flow down my throat in a comforting way, neutralizing every and any possible sort of wounds, coughs or unpleasant feelings. I could suddenly feel it all, and hear it all. The sanctuary. The fresh smell of cold but also comfortably temperated air, the silky soft wind, the different smells of any sort of flowers, herbs, vegetables, fruits and other plants. As I slowly began to open my eyes and dropped the cup of tea down from my mouth, I almost believed that I would see her, and the sanctuary. But to my disappointment, I could only see a small and dark tunnel with a half team, that seemed desperately worn out.

 

*Benji pulled a face after having a sip and handed me the bottle*

'hey, I never said it tasted good' i said to him half laughing.

*I heard a commotion next to us and saw the scientist guy picking himself up from the rubble. waved at him and indicated the floor beside us*

'have a sit man, but don't forget, you still owe us a good explantion of why you are so damned interested in heading to D-2' I said to him, rolling a smoke and lighting it after feeding Jet.

 

Having overcome the first wave of emotions, I got to my feet and went over to sit next to Benjamin. "If this may comfort you, Pyotr yelled he'd stay behind to take care of the mutants." I said in a flat tone. I sat with my legs half stretched out, and my elbows leaning on the knees, with my head between my kness.
I heard a big bump from the manhole exit, and out came Wojcie. I had almost forgot about him will all this commotion, but at least he was alive. He had blood on his gloves, and he shook his head when I looked at him. It seemed he had try to save Dima, but to no avail. I clenched my fist, and raised it to strike down into the ground, but I controlled myself. One word that kept appearing in my mind was "Why?". I couldn't understand. I wouldn't understand. Why hadn't it been me, who was the last to climb down?

 

Were we in the sewer or a tunnel?
I pushed the bag, and it fell out of my sight. I pulled my flashlight out, clicked it on. There in front of me was a two foot drop into what looked like the sewer from before. Finally. I pulled myself forward, out of the tunnel, bringing a cloud of dust with me.

My ankle was throbbing. I pushed myself up against the wall, and examined it by the light of my flashlight. It wasn't doing well. The blood had stopped flowing, but it still appeared to be quite a nasty cut. I shook my head, and stood up.

Taking off my gas mask, I smelled the air. Nothing bad that I could detect. I picked up the duffle bag and slung it over my shoulder again. That way looks good. I hobbled forward, trying not to put too much weight on my ankle. At least I won't have to walk back on the surface.

 

Yes, we're in a sewer. Sorry for writing tunnel sometimes
Eventually, Darkbringer sat down beside me in a sloppy way, letting me know that Pyotr was not blown up by the grenade. At the time, I was not aware that Pyotr was a skilled man who could take care of himself, knowing what he was doing. I had not seen him in much action besides in the Satanist station and this once on the surface, where it was mostly teamwork either way. "Sadly, he is most likely gone as well", I said in a dry and disappointed way as I leaned my head back against the wall and took another careful sip from the herb tea.

 

I sat next to Benji and Odessa not saying a word. I took off my gas mask and placed it in my bag. I could hear a slight hump in the distance and saw a shadow drop. It looked like Pyotr. Or was it someone else from the group? I could not see but i waited.

"Theres someone there," i said.

 

When Zhenya said that there was someone down the sewer, I hastily dropped the cup down again and looked to the side in the pipe with great hopes.

 

My ankle had given out twice while I was walking through the sewer. The second time I went down, the bag thumping heavily on the ground beside me, I heard someone call out "There's someone there." I looked up and saw six people sitting further along in the sewer. I hope that's the group I was with earlier, otherwise.

I got up and pulled the bag along with me. When I got close enough to see that it was them, I called "Its Grigori." I let go of the bag, and slumped against the opposite wall from the woman and dreadlocks. Rubbing my ankle, I grimaced.

 

i looked at Grigori, "are you okay? i can fix you up if you need anything. Qualified general surgeon/physician here," i slightly laughed. I rubbed my hair and stretched my neck.

 

"That would be appreciated. My ankle's the main thing. Should be fine otherwise." I said, rubbing my hands together. The tips of my fingers felt frozen.

 

I reached into my bag and took out a synthetic wrap. And gave it to Grigori. "Here, wrap this tightly around your ankle. Its probably just a strain. Since there is no swelling its probably not broken. And there arent no cuts or bruises so dont worry about that. It will go away in a day or two."

I zipped my bag back up and stated, "okay guys. Today was full of trouble. Everything seemed to go to hell." i laughed. "We need to straighten this up. First of all are we still going to hunt for your Glock Odessa? And second of all we need to re group and i say go back to the tunnels to get our bearings. I bet this sewer will conect to the tunnels. Once everyone rendevouzes (is that how you spell it? lol) well talk about what will happen next."

 

Rendezvous, Boris

I did not know wether Zhenya was talking about regrouping with the rest of the group if they had survived, or if he meant that we found a new location to settle down for a little while. Despite how I knew it was important to keep the mood up in difficult times, I surely did not like how he could laugh in a situation like this, especially when talking about the situation itself. Nevertheless, I did not perform a reaction, and rather just took the last big sip from the cup before putting it into my backpack again.

When I think back to that moment, I remember that I was so full of emotions that I had forgotten to introduce myself properly to the newcomer. Or perhaps it was because I still did not trust him. Not yet, at least. But at the time, I felt too depressed to introduce myself nor to take part in any discussion about what to do next. Not yet. After losing three members of the team, my spirit was at the bottom and deeper down than that, lost in the black hole of a tunnel. We hadn't gotten very far on our journey, and we were already drastically decreased in numbers. If we could not deal with some mutants, how would we be able to deal with Glock and his guards? And if he was not in Tsvetnoi, how would we be able to take on the nazis' home station..?

 

*I looked at Zhenya and got up. I was starting to get numb. we needed to move from the sewer, not only for safety reasons, but for warmth*

'ok, this leads to back to the service tunnel, well, to a machine room just before the tunnel. we should move there and at least get some food in us. regarding Glock, we've lost friends because of me, and I feel responsible for their loss. I will continue hunting him, on my own if you guys decide so. it is me or him, and if I am to go down as well, I'll make damn sure I'll take him with me' as I said this I gathered my gear and started moving ahead, towards the tunnel entrance.

 

As Odessa began packing, I could not believe what I was hearing; she was blaming her self for the loss of their lives. This puzzled me and startled me enough to make me shake the bad feelings out of my head, and begin talking again. "Odessa, it is you who brought us here indeed, but it was their choice to join the travel, as it was mine. And I know that I would never blame you if I died back there with them, and had a conscience after death. Neither would they. I say to you, do not let the guilt and blame catch you in its snare like I have done too many times, for it will break your spirit and stab your heart with depression. Just look at what I have become", I told her as I held my arms out in a way of revealing my horrible being.

 

*I listened to Benji and nodded*

'I agree with you my friend, if it's ok with you to call you 'my friend'. I have lost too many people in my life, and I know that feeling responsible for their loss only leads to a certain death of the mind and soul, so I will not do that again. however, there will always be a part of me that will regret what happened back there. I guess is part of what keeps me human and from becoming a mindless killer' I said stopping for a second to light up another smoke.

'and by the way, to me you are a wise person, forged through the trials of the metro, like most of us. trustworthy and strong, although perhaps a bit prone to isolate yourself in times when you need to talk the most, and I trust you with my life, and that is saying a lot. and now, if you all agree, let's move our butts out of this stinking place. I need some food and rest, like we all do'

 

"Being called your friend is the most honrable title I could ever wish to achieve", I said and nodded with a sudden smile. I swung the backpack onto my back and catched up with her. "Thank you, Odessa. Those words must be one of the most supporting I have heard in many years. It really means a lot", I said in grattitude before I turned to look back at what was left of our group. "Come on", I said to them, waving my hand in gesture for them to follow.

 

*I smiled at Benji's words and started walking*

'I call it as I see it. the time for niceties is well past. in this new world of ours, truth is the only thing that matters. which reminds me...' I said turning to the new comers 'I'm not done with you two yet. as soon as we get settled and a good fire going to dry our old tired bones, you two 'buddies' have a hell of a lot explaining to do'

*I looked to the left wall and examined it carefully under my flash light. after about a minute I found what I was looking for*

'ah, here it is' I pointed to a set of rungs on the wall. 'up we go guys. this is it' and without any further delay I climbed up and, moving the iron grill, I came to a medium size room, with a bolted door on the far end, and old machinery in the back wall. there was an old fire pit in a short barrel in the middle of the room, and, putting down my gear, after making sure the room was clear and the door was thightley sealed, I indicated for the others to follow me, and lit the fire.

 

As we climbed up to what seemed to be a mechanics room, Odessa lit a fire, and I sat down by the fire to get some warmth. Wojcie laid down his PKP and leaned against a wall. He didn't even smoke. What a weird fellow...
I did a quick ammo count from my position by the fire, and found that I had 4 full cold mags, 3 full normal mags, and a cold mag with 12 rounds. I reinserted the half empty mag and laid down the rifle next to me.

 

As we climbed up into the little mechanics room, I could see that it was not large. There was in fact barely enough space for us all to sit around a bonfire in the center. I found this quite convenient, as the fire would then warm the room faster, and thereby warm us faster. As always, I sat down with my back against one of the walls and laid my backpack beside me on the floor. There was not much to say. Not much to think. A lot to feel, yet nothing to feel. Odessa's way of supporting me had brought joy to my spirit, and thereby neutrialized the depressed part of me for the time being. One feeling neutrialized another, and I just sat there, staring into the flames with an empty look, not thinking about anything in particular at all. It was first at this moment that I could feel my limbs and muscles giving after and letting me slowly melt into the floor and the wall like a sack of potatoes. I just needed to rest.