ZRP-2: Chapter 3, The Coming Storm

(Sam)
"Hey, where are you going. Hibiki!"
=I ran out after her, worried about what was going on. The sound of footsteps behind me made me turn my head, and I saw Book following=

(Book)
=The events of today had me worried for Hibiki. Her fiancee may have died, and earlier she saw a child die. A gnawing sensation inside me warned that this was going to be bad, and I wanted to do what I could to avert it=

(James)
=It wasn't long before the lead car came down the road, and I swore it looked familiar. Taking a chance, I stepped out from the shrubbery, and waved a hand at the oncoming car=
Please be friendly....

=The car came to a stop, as did the others behind it. When the passenger door opened, a wave of relief crashed over me as I saw Marcus step out, a stunned look on his face=
"Hey man.....can I grab a ride?"

=I drive the truck out a few miles, finally spotting the bus out in the distance=

Come on Andrew...hang in there...

=I head towards the bus, the pain threatening to make me pass out=

Hibiki was a fast walker, and she already had disappeared behins the bushes. But her sobs could be heard.
When the two would arrive, they would find her already on her knees, the pistol flush to the side of her head, ready tightening on the trigger.

*Marcus*
=He walked straight for James, and without even thinking about it, pulled the younger man into a brotherly hug=
"Damn good to see you boy. What happened? When the bridge blew I thought...."

(James)
=The hug caught me off guard, though I supposed that maybe I was now something close to a brother or son to him. I doubted it though. At best I was just a decent friend that he was glad to see=
"Went for a swim. Followed the river until I got here, and then I saw the headlights. You guys got any room for one more?"

*Marcus*
"Yeah, come on get in. We're headed up north along the route, to get back to the 64. Hopefully we'll meet up with the bus and other half of the caravan."

(James)
And Hibiki
=I climbed in, and we soon got back to moving=

(Sam)
=I saw the trigger, and all but screamed=
"HIBIKI NO!!!"

=Running as fast as I could, I stopped maybe a foot away from her=
"Please, don't do this. You can't die Hibiki, you just can't!"

(Book)
=My own voice was calm, despite the fear I felt, the dread at what the woman was preparing to do. But still I kept talking in a voice reserved for spooked animals=
"Hibiki, please. Put down the gun. James wouldn't want you to end your life, or the life of your child. He'd want you to live."

=I drove towards the bus, stopping only a few yards from the bus=

Come on...make it there Andrew...

=I get out of the truck, my pain making it hard to walk. I then fall onto my hands and knees, my body wracked with immense pain=

Hibiki cried.
"He's probably dead! I killed him! I fucking killed him! I killed Andrew and him, you said it yourself. I can't fucming take everyone I love dying." She cried harder. "He's dead. Let me die in peace."

=The man in the rear turret turned around at the sound of the truck. He aimed the HMG at the vehicle, but found it unnecessary. He saw the all too familiar form of Andrew step out of the bus, and when he went down on all fours he yelled for someone to help him. Two more men got out of the bus and moved to help Andrew=

(James)
=It was silent, the drive up the road. We passed a few trees and plenty of open fields, until we made the turn north. As we continued, I felt the need to ask=
"Did we lose anyone?"

*Marcus*
"So far no. No casualties."

(James)
"There's a relief."

(Sam)
"Maybe he's dead, maybe he isn't. You don't know for sure Hibiki. Please, don't do this. You still have Eve. You still have James' child. He wanted you to live, so don't waste that chance he gave you. Gave all of us."

Hibiki kept sobbing...then dropped the gun. She covered her face with her hands and continued to cry.

=I scream in pain, my body on the edge of passing out=

Gah...the pain... Oh God, the pain...

=I vaguely feel people helping me out, but my mind was too numb with pain to acknowledge it. A couple of seconds later, I pass out from the pain=

(Sam)
=Moving forward, I knelt down and wrapped my arms around her, hugging her=
"It's okay Hibiki. It's going to be okay. I know he's alive, no matter what I said earlier. I was just angry that was all."
=I heard a scream from behind us, and while I knew letting go of her would be bad, I still knew that this close to the Shepherds that scream was a bad sign=

(Book)
"I'll check. Stay with her."
=Running from the trees, I ran to the road and saw two men carrying the familiar form of Andrew back to the bus. Relief at his being alive went through me, as did the implications. Running back to Sam and Hibiki, I could barely contain my elation=

"It's Andrew. He's alive. And if he's alive...."

(Sam)
"Then so is James."

Hibiki looked up at sam.
She then broke down altogether, the chances stronger and the fact she almost shot herself shaking her so badly she started to fall over into the mud. She was in no shape to drive.

(Sam)
"Book, help me we need to move now. We can't sit here with Shepherds on our asses."
=I got one of Hibiki's arms over my shoulder, lifting her to her feet. Book soon did the same and we carried her back to the bus. Once back inside, we sat her down in my spare seat, and I noted that Andrew was laid out on the floor of the bus while someone looked at his wounds. So that left me to drive the bus. We were back on the move in no time=

=I wake up a couple of minutes later, my head swimming with pain, but conscious=

Good grief...my body...the pain...

=I just lay there, the pain keeping me planted on the floor of the bus as I yelp each time we hit a bump in the road=

Hibiki collapsed into the seat and cried quietly.

Miranda tended to Andrew.

As the author's comic relief, Eve slept as someone lifted her back into her seat.

=I look to Mira, a bare smile on my face, really unable to say anything from the emotional shock=

She spared my life...my sister beat me to near death, yet spared my life...

=I groan in pain, the extent of my injuries getting to me=

(James)
=Eventually, we turned right, though it wasn't much of an option. There was only the one way for us to turn, and that was it. In the distance, I could see the highway, and I was elated at the sight. It meant that we may be able to find the rest of the caravan. We drove under the overarching highway, making a turn onto the entrance leading to it, and we then stopped, waiting on the highway. If they weren't ahead already, they were bound to see us as they passed=

(Sam)
=We drove onward, the rainfall finally ceasing though the sky was still filled with clouds. Andrew kept making yelps of pain. Pussy. Soon enough though, in the distance I could barely make out something. I thought for a brief moment it was the rest of the caravan, but I figured they were just more abandoned cars. They weren't moving=

Mira flicked Andrew's forehead. "Idiot." She said affectionetly.

Eve was still asleep.

Hibiki had fallen silent, staring at the floor.

=I chuckle briefly, smiling a bit=

That I am...

=I say it weakly, and I grit my teeth a bit as my wounds were further tended to=

Well...at least I'm alive...

(James)
=I didn't feel like sitting down, so I got out of the car, leaning against the side as I stood on the road. God, all I wanted was to know that she was safe. That she was alive and well. Looking to the East, I thought that maybe it was my eyes playing tricks on me. But no, there it was: another line of vehicles coming down the road. Abandoning all reason and caution, I grinned from ear to ear, and ran down the road towards the line of vehicles. I was practically jumping as I ran, whooping the whole time=

(Sam)
=As we got closer, I noticed two things: one, that the line of vehicles I thought were abandoned were actually arranged in a neat row, to uniform to actually be randomly abandoned. The second, was that there was a tiny figure running for us, waiving it's arms like mad=
Son of a.....if that's what I think it is I'll be the one that kills him

=Eventually, we got close enough that I could make out who it was=
"Holy shit.....James you lucky bastard."

Hibiki looked up. "J...James?" She asked, standing up shakily. She stumbled over to the window. "He...he's a...alive?" She asked fearfully.

(Sam)
"I think it is. He looks very alive from here."
=We were maybe a hundred feet from him when I stopped the bus, pulling over at the side of the road. The cars behind us also pulled over, and I opened the door. I let Hibiki get out first though=

(James)
=When the bus stopped, I only ran faster=
Please....pleasepleasepleaseplease be okay.

Hibiki stepped down from the bus, stuming towards him.
"James?" She called out, her voice ausibly shaking and full of fear, sorrow - in short, she didn't sound like Hibiki.

=I lean my head up a bit and nod=

Lucky bastard...

=I chuckle briefly, my mind awash with relief=

I swear...he's cheated death as much as I have...

(James)
=Seeing her step off the bus made me smile even more....but it was reduced when I heard her voice. She sounded....bad, like she was standing on very thin ice that was cracking=
"Hibiki...it's me. I'm alive. I'm here."

=As if to reassure her, I stepped forward and grabbed her in a hug. It probably wasn't going to be that good, since my clothes were still wet=

Hibiki's hug could break someone's back. She began to cry hard, harder then anyone ever saw her cry before.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Was all she said as she fell apart in James' arms.

(James)
"It's okay, I'm not mad at you."
=Okay that was a lie. Yes I was still pissed that she left me behind but I wasn't about to say that. Though if she didn't stop trying to break my back I was sure I would die=

(Sam)
"James you lucky bastard. You got a horseshoe up your ass or something?"

"I had to make room for the others. I chose to move. Then the bridge started to go so I floored it." She tried to exllain, but some of the words were butchered by her crying. She lessened her hold a bit. "I'm sorry." She reaumed repeating, her face now hidden by her hair as she sobbed.

(James)
=Ignoring Sam, I just started to stroke Hibiki's hair=
"Shh, you don't need to explain. It's fine, I'm alive. Besides, I was the idiot who got out of the bus."

"I thought...I thought you were dead." She said, starting to slide to the ground. She was a wreck, that was apparent.

Mira finished off the fourth bandage.

(James)
=I held her up=
"But I'm not dead now. I'm not dying anytime soon."

(Sam)
=I really didn't want to break up the moment....but we were still being hunted=
"Guys, I hate to ruin this, but we still have Shepherds behind us. We need to move, now."

=I sit up, gingerly testing my wounds=

Feel like a dissected frog...

=I then get up and find a seat, sitting down, but still feeling like shit. I then take in my sister's statement about being near the raid, and my mind goes into a bit of shock=

Mira helped Andrew sit down, then sat beside him, holding his hand.

Hibiki would have to be half-carried back to the bus.

(James)
"Yeah, sure thing Sam. Come on Hibiki."
=I got an arm under her, and walked with her back to the bus. I stood with her inside, there being no room to sit down while Sam got in the driver's seat and started the bus. We soon began moving again, the bus and the cars behind it. Marcus and his line of cars stayed put while we passed, then they began to follow us=

=I feel my mind reeling from the twin blows to the reality that I had constructed for two years really hit me like a gut punch=

Everything I knew...for over a decade...all those memories...based on a lie...

=I balled one of my hands into a fist, biting my lip and fighting back tears from the shock=

Miranda wrapped an arm around Andrew.
"It's ok Andy...it's ok..."

Hibiki grew a bit more limp. She was dangerously close to passing out.

(James)
"Hey, Hibiki? Hibiki try and stay with us here. I'd let you sleep but there's nowhere to really put you right now."

(Sam)
"Yeah you may want to keep her up for a little while. This is still going to be a long drive."

Hibiki wobbled a bit, now weak. The shock, her attempted suicide, and finding James alive had drained her. It was a fight to stay awake and up, but it waz a fight she was losing.

=I feel my rage bubbling up, and my try to keep my emotions in check=

Not for me, it isn't...

=I sigh=

I suffered, because the person who did all this to me...was my own sister.

(James)
"Will do Sam, but I think she's just about had it."
=Bending my knees, I gently brought the two of us down to the floor of the bus, letting her sit down while I still had my arms around her=

Hibiki slumped, going unconcious. She had had it. She couldn't do anything more then black out.

Eve still slept.

(James)
"Okay, so she's out like a light now.... How much longer?"

(Sam)
"We're still maybe 5 miles away from the city. We should be able to make it though."
=It was still grey outside, and the rain had started up again, a light shower that forced me back into using the headlights=

=I start to shake, my emotions swirling around me like a vortex=

Goddamnit Abernathy...you played me for a fool...and I fell for it...

=I slam my fist against the seat, my mind cursing at God for letting me suffer like this, and allowing Abernathy to live=

=Through the rain, the caravan kept driving. Eventually, they came within sight of the familiar giant arch of St. Louis, and many of the people in the cars grew excited. They believed that here at last was a safe refuge for them=

Mira sighed. "Please tell me it's still there." She aaked, Still hding Andy.

(Sam)
"It's still there. I think we should be good"

(James)
"Yes. Warm beds, hot showers.....just hope they have room for all of us."

=I pound the seat once more, coming out of my angry mood=

That's what we need...Shower, food, and sleep. Though I think James and I have to worry about a shower...

=I chuckle lightly=

(James)
"Yeah maybe me more than you."
=The it hit me that Andrew was behind me, on a seat, covered in blood=

"Whoa whoa whoa! What the hell happened to you?"

=I sigh=

I was tortured by someone...

=I hang my head=

Someone who I thought was dead.

(James)
"Damn. Guess that explains why you didn't show up down river."
=Soon, I began to see familiar sights. The same buildings we originally passed on our way to the bridge, and the towers across the river. Thankfully, this time I couldn't see any Shepherds attacking, so that was a plus=

"Sam, we're going to have some explaining to do. Stop by the gates, and I'll get out."

(Sam)
"Got it James."

=I sigh again=

Yeah...it explains a lot of things.

=I grunt a bit, the injuries making it hard to move without some degree of discomfort=

Like my sister rising from the dead...