Wildlands (rskde & BurningWillows)

[Risky]

"I asked first." The man says childishly, wincing in pain as his ribs go off again. "Even if I wanted to tell you I couldnt, technically I'm not even here right now.. I'm in.. Korea? Yeah, on file, I'm on the DMZ in Korea as a Scout Sniper." He says with a laugh.

His lungs hitting against his rib cage causes another wave of pain to hit him. Al looks at the man's rife, eyeing it as he speaks. "That's a nice rifle, personally I prefer the M4OA5." He says to him. "A lot more power, 7.62mm bullets, goes through brick walls." He says to him.

"The only problem I have right now is that gun is aimed at me, I could reach forward and field strip that thing before you could get the balls to shoot me with it, so let's talk like adults and leave the toys on the floor." Al says passively, the threat laced within his voice.

 

[BurningWillows]

Red brow furrows, growing impatient, "Not sure whether to shoot you smart ass, or commend you for your boldness blowing that mansion up. Which I'm guessing you did, since your obviously not from here, and I didn't hear any word of Skull Face hiring american soldiers."

Keeping his sniper at his side out of reach, he aimed the pistol higher, "However Skull Face is always keeping my task force on our toes, so I shouldn't not expect he'd start hiring american thugs. So let's talk. I got a med kit on me that could help you. Just need to know, you friend or foe?"

 

[Risky]

Al raises his eyebrows at the man. "That all depends on what side you're on buddy, I deployed here and I'm getting fucked from all sides, how many sides are you being fucked from?" He asks.

Al obviously isn't giving way, sitting up a little higher like a tiger ready to pounce, he watches the man carefully. "If you're going to point that at me, you can at least tell me what 'task force' you're talking about, considering I am also technically from a 'task force'." He explains carefully.

Al starts to cough again, spitting out again, this was part of survival training. Al was going to cough and spit to catch his attention, and if he's hostile.. Al will strike, the simplest tactic in the Ghost handbook.

 

[BurningWillows]

He watches, then laughes, lowering the weapon. How many times have I used that trick?

"Larvae Semper," he states simply, holstering the gun and grabbing his med kit, waiting for a reaction to the words.

 

[Risky]

"Fucking hell.." He says, lowering his guard. "Have you not seen the intel reports? Skull Face hires South Americans and Russians." He says to him, leaning his head back against the cave wall.

"What base are you from? I'm from Casper." He says simply, if this man was lying about his identity, which Al doubted, the information would not in any way be sensitive.

 

[BurningWillows]

Red shrugged, "Not really from anywhere now. My base got ambushed. Fortunately I wasn't inside, but i was supposed to be."

His voice grew a tad sadder, "Couldn't sleep that night and went on a walk. Came back just in time to see the end of the ambush, and I couldn't stomach to go back in after. I shot at least a dozen of them though, fucking assholes. Now I've just been wandering, trying to take as many of these cartel jerks out before my own time is up."

Running his fingers through his hair, he tossed the med kit to the man across the cave, "I've heard of Casper though. You guys made waves the other day by hitting up that compound. And now this one? Jeez you boys work fast."

 

[Risky]

"Hah, blowing up that compound was just me, I was attempting to extract a CIA agent, but I think she got out with my teammate, so I blew the place to hell, no evidence left behind other than my blood trail.." He says to him.

"Speaking of which, we should get moving." Al says once he's gotten his wounds patched up. "Mr. Narcos will not be happy that his mansion plus three hundred cartel members went down in flames." He says to the man in front of him.

"I'd be happy to show you the way to Casper, and we can work out something from there, you can be my spotter or some shit." He says with a laugh. "Or the other way around, we can do a shooting contest or something."

 

[BurningWillows]

Snuffing out the flames, Red moved forward, offering a hand to them man, "Still haven't told me your name kid. But sure, I'd gladly take that offer or living out in these jungles any longer."

Helping him up Red added, "I've got a vehicle on me, it's about a half day walk from here if you can stomach it. We can drive the rest of the way."

 

[Risky]

"I'm twenty six, if anything I should be calling you kid." He says to the man, Al stands at 5'11, which is an average height for his age. "When did you get outta high school?" He asks him with a laugh, taking his hand and getting up.

"If I can stomach it? You'd best keep up with me, I just jumped off a two story building while it exploded, and I can still run circles around you, so are you ready, can you stomach it?" Al asks, raising his eyebrows at the man.

 

[BurningWillows]

He raises his hands in mock surrender, strapping his rifle on before stepping out of the cave, "Okay then, Gramps, lets go. I'll try to keep up with you. If we're lucky, we can be at your base in a couple days. Depending how far it is."

They set off, hiking through the jungle. Red was friendly enough, just glad to have company and a chance to get out of the trees, hopefully score a shower and a bed when they got to Casper.

It took them a few hours to make it to town, and by then Katerina was tripping over her feet, blood loss and exhaustion biting at her. Luckily both of them could speak fluent Spanish, and Emberly quickly talked her way into a room and a hot meal, saying they were tourists who got caught up in some trouble. Putting Katerina to bed, Em begrungingly cleaned and bandaged her wounds before sitting in the corner, playing with the ear piece in her ear. It had been buzzing quietly the entire time, and pulling it out she found it was broken, possibly from being so close to the blast. Kat wasn't even wearing hers.

"We'll be lucky to get back to camp in the next week," she sighed, dropping her head on her knees as she curled up on the floor in the corner.

 

[Risky]

Al tries the radio again. "Anybody on this net, please respond." He says before waiting and sighing. He grabs his phone from his pocket and finds it completely destroyed. "Motherfucking shot bat in fucking Mexico.." He says loudly, throwing the phone to the jungle after taking out the SSD drive and crushing it under his foot.

"How old are you anyway, bud?" Al asks him, continuing their trek through the trees as if it were nothing. "I mean, if you're gonna call me gramps, you must be at least fifteen." He says with a chuckle, rolling his shoulders.

 

[BurningWillows]

"Twenty one," he grinned, "I was the youngest Ghost in my squad. I look nineteen though, I know. I only got drafted because I have a wicked aim as a sniper. And I'll keep calling you Gramps until I get a better name."

He followed at the man's side, both of them setting a quick pace as they walked the jungle.

 

[Risky]

"You've got wicked aim? Whats your range scores and highest recorded distance?" Al asks, he sounds genuinely interested in knowing the scores, not trying to be rude or sarcastic to the young sniper. He takes a moment to take a breath, looking around them.

"You got any water?" Al asks the man, noticing how dry his mouth was.

 

[BurningWillows]

"38/40 on the range, and so far two miles, although I've been practising for three. Want to beat my marks, yeah know?" he replies, pulling out his canteen and handing it over.

As they walk they continue to chat, Red learning his nickname's Al, and Red introducing himself as Brian Dougell. No one called him that of course, sticking with Red.

Hours passed, and they finally found the jeep the sniper had promised, hidden in some brush with camo to keep it from thieves. Starting up the engine, Red climbed in the driver seat, pulling a large sack from the trunk and handing it to Al.

"There's provisions and second canteen in there," he explained, "Help yourself. Just tell me where to go."

They head off, blazing down the empty road.

 

[Risky]

Winters paces around the base, unsure of what needs to be done and what he needs to be doing. He grabs an energy bar from the rations and starts eating it while he paces, he decides to go outside and take a run. He grabs a machete and a FN45 before heading out, jogging through the jungle and remembering where he came from, not wanting to get lost.

He jogs for a couple of hours before climbing to the top of Casper, watching the sun go down. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, thinking about the events from a couple of days ago, the memories still haunting his dreams.

Derulo wakes up with a jolt, frantically looking around himself before ripping the IV from his arm, blood leaking out from the marks. He walks over to the sink and turns it on, drinking from the faucet as if desperate to get the clear liquid into his system.

He coughs and chokes on the water before turning it off, doubling over and coughing again, water dribbling down his chin and dripping down on to the floor from his lips.

A memory hits his frontal lobe with such force he falls over, staring at the ceiling as he reexperiences it.

Day two in the jungle.. Pretty damn thirsty, Alex would know where to find water, but we got separated.. I'm being hunted, I'm not alone here..

The memory of the tiger jumping out at him and the massive pain from the beast sinking its claws into his back almost brings tears of pain to his eyes, his eyes are glassed over and he is not responsive.

 

[BurningWillows]

Finishing her shower, Arya gets dressed before heading out and towel drying her hair, tossing the damp cloth in her room. Wandering back to her office, Arya's preoccupied with her thoughts as she enters, shutting the door before looking at the empty bed, confused.

"Derulo!" spotting him on the floor she drops to her knees, grabbing a flashlight from her pocket and shining it in each of his eyes, "Hey, can you hear me?"

 

[Risky]

"It's fucking coming for me.." He whispers, his eyes aren't reacting to the flashlight as they normally should be, as if he was staring into another world.

"No matter what I do, it'll keep hitting me until I fall, and then it'll kill me.." He whispers. "It has been following me and it won't stop." He repeats this over and over until he blinks looking up at her and crying out, rolling and jumping up, running into the next room and slamming the door shut, putting his back against it and sliding down until he hits the ground.

 

[BurningWillows]

Jumping to her own feet, Arya drops the flashlight and tries to reach for him, only to get a slammed door in her face. Reaching for the knob, she tries in vain to open her office door, only to feel his weight on the other side, locking her in her medical office.

"Derulo!" her fists hit the door, trying to shock him out of whatever has him in a daze, "Jason let me out!"

 

[Risky]

He doesn't seem to hear her, holding his head in his hands and shaking his head until he moves, scrambling to the other side of the room and curling up into a ball, as if trying to protect himself.

The blood from his arm drips on to the floor, he doesn't even seem to notice it. His hand wraps tightly around his FN45, but it is still attached to his holster.

 

[BurningWillows]

Trying the door again, it flings open and she practically falls out she's pushed so hard. Righting herself, her eyes scan the room and land on him, biting her lip. Not sure where the other two are, she hopes no one else comes into the main room until Derulo is secured. something tells her he isn't thinking or seeing straight, and it makes him a danger to himself as well as the team.

"Hey," she approaches slowly, keeping both hands up in front of her and beginning to wish she carried a pistol, "It's okay Jason...its just me. It's Arya."

 

[Risky]

The shorter man doesn't move, his knuckles turning white around the handle of his pistol, but he does not remove it from his holster. "Help me kill it.." He practically whispers.

He starts shaking his head into his arm, letting go of his pistol for the time being. "Please help me.." He says quietly, it sounds as though he is sobbing, his shoulders moving slightly.

 

[BurningWillows]

Getting close enough to touch him, Arya kneels and gently places her hand on his gun, leaving it holstered but protecting it all the same, "Kill what? What needs to be killed?"

His body shakes slightly and Arya doesn't know how, but she wants to comfort him, to make it better. Pushing her knees into the cold stone floor, she sits in front of him. Hesitant, she reaches out with her free hand, gently stroking his arm.

"What can I do?"

 

[Risky]

"The tiger, it's hunting me, in the shadows." He says quietly. "It killed Menendez, and Rico, then Moreno, and now it wants to kill me.." He says quietly. "I don't know.. I don't know what you can do, it's unkillable." He says to her, ranting on about a tiger.

He starts to rock back and forth, burying his face in his arms.

 

[BurningWillows]

Menendez died on my table, after being severly shot. Rico and Moreno died in combat. What tiger is he talking about?

Continuing to rub his arm, Arya frees his pistol and tucks it safely in the back of her pants, making sure he can't hurt her or himself. She's unsure what's running through his head, but the doctor is worried for him. It's like he was stuck in a nightmare that wouldn't leave him even when he woke.

Moving so she was beside him, she rubbed his back, trying to think of ways to comfort the man. The drugs she was giving him was obviously inducing part of this, meaning giving him more would only worsen the effect. Instead she thought up her own remedy, something her parents used when she was young and crying over a nightmare. I'll never see them again, but at least I can remember them.

Starting off soft then getting louder, she began to hum a tune, a lullaby she adored as a child that calmed her night terrors. The tune came to her even though she hadn't heard it in years. Rubbing his back, she hummed the lullaby, starting right over when it ended, hoping it brought some comfort while she otherwise sat useless beside him.

 

[Risky]

He tries to reach for his weapon before dropping his arm, listening to her hum, he sniffs and tries to readjust himself, wiping his eyes with his arm and blinking.

He takes a shaky breath before looking up at her and throwing his arms around her, burying his face into her shoulder. "I haven't been home in four years.." He says quietly.