Civilians
 C[re]ate Champion
Posts: 106
Preferred Name: Varmun
Pronouns: He/Him
Character Profile: Character List
Character Name: Isaac Vasari
Main Account: Isaac
Status: Active
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Post by Isaac on Aug 21, 2015 14:25:10 GMT -5
Isaac moved back to the kitchen after having spent a few minutes staring at the floor, watching the thermal images of the two patrolling guards as they moved around the lab. He saw Nineveh step out and give him a thumbs up, and he glanced over the other man's shoulder to look in the kitchen. Inside, he spotted four darts, two in the guard's body, one in a cereal box, and one in a loaf of bread.
This was not going the way Isaac had hoped… but it certainly was going the way he'd expected.
"I really hope your aim improves soon," whispered Isaac, trying his very best not to sound like a dick. "I need you to make your next shots count." He then pointed to the floor, gesturing to the thermal images below that only he really could see. "I'm going to sneak past the patrols and the drones to knock out the operator." His finger drifted across the floor, pointing toward an end of the house. "From what I can tell, he's holding up in the security office at the end of the lab. The other guards won't see him go down. But once I take him out, the drones are going to fly on their own. If I can't get ahold of the controls fast enough, they're going to hit the walls and the other guards will know something's up. You need to knock them out the moment that happens."
Without another word, Isaac headed for the stairs, and he switched to his camera filter. He crept down the stairs, heading to the lab. There was no point in infrared anymore. The guards' flashlights were easy enough to spot, and now that Isaac had clear vision, he could see a pair of round security drones hovering through the air. He scanned them with his visor, then a trio of cameras set up around the room. Their lines of sight became visible to him, displayed as red spotlights for him to avoid. There were no infrared laser grids other than the giant wall of them in front of the lab's side door. But that was okay. So long as no one had eyes on the ceiling, Isaac would be fine.
When both guards were looking the other way and the drones were scanning the floor, Isaac turned around and ran for a nearby wall. His shoes gripped the wall for the first couple of steps, but he soon had to kick off and leap for a series of pipes along the ceiling. The lab already had a lot of exposed pipes, but a good portion of the ceiling had been torn up to run wires for the security systems. Isaac had plenty of hand- and footholds as he crawled upside-down. The guards, drones, and cameras all focused on the floor, completely missing the spider-like man that passed over them.
In just a few moments, Isaac reached the other end of the lab, where he dropped down as quietly as possible, his arms feeling exhausted, but he had to keep going. The security office door was wide open, possibly for the third guard to hear if anyone called for him. The idea had at least some merit, but it proved to be very foolish as Isaac slipped inside with ease.
The third guard had his eyes on five monitors, checking their different views of the lab with more diligence than any other man had shown here tonight. It would almost be a shame to ruin this man's good work.
Isaac came up behind the man, wrapping one arm around the guard's face to muffle his mouth while the other pressed tight against his throat. The man yelled into Isaac's arm, but his voice was muffled. Isaac yanked the man back away from the desk, making sure he couldn't bang on anything to make too much noise. Sweat rolled down Isaac's face, and his arms burned from all of the effort he'd put them through. He heard the drones smack against the steel walls, and he prayed Nineveh would pull through for him.
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Vigilantes
 Smiley Specialist
he's big enough
Posts: 164
Preferred Name: Nama
Character Profile: ♦♦♦
Character Name: Levenin Refure
Main Account: Levenin
Status: On Hiatus
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Post by Levenin on Aug 23, 2015 0:02:45 GMT -5
He sheepishly scratched the back of his own head, suddenly growing embarrassed by his current performance so far. And here he thought he’d been doing okay despite a few missed shots. At least they’d been working, right? Of course, Lev wasn’t about to argue in the middle of a covert operation. ”Sorry, it’s the first time I’ve tried this so…”
No more excuses. His persona was slipping around Zail again, maybe because the other man had already seen him literally exposed. There was a sort of weird connection between them that Lev couldn’t really explain. It was a strange sense of deja vu that he’d met this thief somewhere before, only he knew that wasn't possible. A very similar feeling of unwarranted kinship, nevertheless. Levenin sadly tucked away the tube as he couldn’t help but study Zail’s hidden face a bit more. What was it about him that made him feel so trusting?
His eyes scanned the carpet. Somewhere below in the hidden laboratory was the next wave of security. Last night’s impromptu tour of the place had been so short, Levenin wasn’t sure if he could remember the layout too well. There was no way of knowing he’d be back so soon but the thief kicked himself for not paying attention more anyway. He followed as he fished around for his plan B. Darts were useful, but not nearly reliable enough at this point.
Lev watched in awe as Zail effortlessly made his way across a different kind of path once they'd slipped inside. Any worry he had about how the patrols were to be eluded was instantly wiped away. Of course, there was no possible way Levenin could pull off any fancy stunts. Only one or two more shots… I can do it… Eventually when his partner disappeared elsewhere in the lab, the seconds ticked by until the drone shut down. Now or never.
A slight shaking in his aim from the pressure of the situation, Lev aimed for the guard furthest from him to start with. If he could get this one first, then the second would be distracted long enough for a much easier maneuver. A sharp inhale of air heavy with chemicals, and then a dart rang out in the dull hum of the room and into the back of a thigh. The victim immediately stumbled and caught themselves on the nearest wall until they slumped to their knees in unconsciousness. The resulting thud attracted the attention of the other guard.
”What’s wrong?” they said before making the mistake of turning around. Perfect.
Levenin didn’t bother to mask his footsteps as he dashed in from behind, a deft hand wielding a medical grade needle. With a grace only a doctor could have, he plunged it gently into the side of his target’s neck as the contents emptied in the blink of an eye. He accidentally dropped the man when a deafening crash echoed somewhere nearby. That must’ve been the drones. Lev silently apologized to the comatose man he'd so helpfully let fall before calmly walking into the security monitor room where Zail awaited him.
”Sorry,” he apologized a second time before whipping out a second needle and sedating the drone operator. ”Great timing, though, huh?”
Lev smiled, his joy at victory quickly dying when he realized what this meant. Yet another familiar, forlorn feeling. ”Umm, I guess this means we part ways for now. I mean, you have free reign of the lab now so you can get what you came for. My job is waiting for me upstairs.”
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Civilians
C[re]ate Champion
Posts: 106
Preferred Name: Varmun
Pronouns: He/Him
Character Profile: Character List
Character Name: Isaac Vasari
Main Account: Isaac
Status: Active
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Post by Isaac on Aug 23, 2015 13:55:57 GMT -5
The struggle dragged on for far too long. Isaac put one foot against the back of the guard’s chair, trying to stop it from squeaking across the floor as he kept the guard away from the desk. The guard gave up trying to make noise, and he soon reached up to grab the arm pressed against his throat. Isaac’s arms were already burning with fatigue. Little by Little, the guard pulled him away, but both of them just grew weaker and weaker by the moment.
Finally, when Nineveh came into the room, he stabbed the guard with a needle and finally put him to sleep. Isaac let go of the guard and the chair, allowing them both to crash down onto the floor. Then, all at once, his body felt heavy. Sweat rolled down his face, and his arms ached. He leaned against a wall and held up a hand to Nineveh, gesturing that he needed a minute. Between his heavy breaths, he said, “That… is not as easy as people make it sound.” Perhaps he should get a baton to try and knock people out in the future. Choking only seemed to work on slum dogs too weak to fight back.
Once Isaac regained himself, Nineveh gave his farewell. Isaac’s face straightened, and he looked Nineveh in the eye, understanding exactly what he meant. With a nod, he said, “Yeah, it does. And if I weren’t so sure of what you were going to do, I’d offer to help.” Isaac pushed off the wall and headed over to the computer. One of the drones was still thumping against a wall, lacking direction but not damaged enough to shut down. With a press of a few buttons—mostly because he didn’t know which ones did what—Isaac shut down the whole security system. “This is as far as I can go, but at the very least I can make things easier for you.” He then walked out of the security office, heading back into the lab and up to a desk where he began to sift through folders and sheets of paper.
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Vigilantes
Smiley Specialist
he's big enough
Posts: 164
Preferred Name: Nama
Character Profile: ♦♦♦
Character Name: Levenin Refure
Main Account: Levenin
Status: On Hiatus
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Post by Levenin on Aug 23, 2015 15:51:56 GMT -5
Levenin smiled again, stifling a laugh in response. Of course it wasn’t a joke that Zail had been struggling until Lev’s assistance, but he chuckled hearing about it. Maybe he wasn’t as intimidating as he seemed to be. Behind the visors and superhuman feats was a normal guy, if a bit rough around the edges. Lev stayed behind to keep watch until the fatigue and heavy breathing gradually wore away. It was an instinct to make sure his services weren’t needed, even though he was positive he didn’t have anything that would’ve helped anyway.
”Umm yeah… I don’t think there’s much you can do to help me,” he muttered. ”Unless you wanna stand and watch but uhh… I wouldn’t recommend that.” Probably for the better. If he knew anyone was a witness, then he might just flake out of the job.
”Thank you… Not just for the drones but for everything else. I don’t think I could’ve done it alone. There’s still guards around so uhh, be careful getting out. Maybe we’ll see one another again?”
Levenin gave a short wave before proceeding back up the stairs. The remaining guards were nowhere to be seen, most likely still continuing their patrols on the outside of the home. Both an easy execution and escape with them out of sight. The stairs leading to the second floor appeared to stretch on forever as he went up a step at a time. There was no hurry but the trek was agonizingly slow. Ages passed until the door loomed in sight with the guard from earlier still comfortably unconscious on the floor. This was it. No barriers. Lev would just go in with full bravado, nothing held back. Otherwise he'd change his mind. However, when he kicked open the bedroom door, hand clutching at a pocket on the inside of his cloak for the weapon that would finish the job, Levenin frantically searched around for the man. Only there wasn’t a soul to be found.
”Where-?”
This was the room, wasn’t it? A sweep of the second floor began as Levenin busted into every room. Empty, empty, empty. But didn’t Zail confirm there was someone up here that was clearly the target? He practically flew back down the stairwell. He didn’t even know why. Whether it was someone else unaccounted for that’d smuggled him out or the man himself who’d fled, he wasn’t here anymore. There was nothing Zail could do about it either but Lev was in a slight panic. If the man had left, then there was no way they’d find him again.
”Zail, he’s not—!“
A sound of a high pitched whine and then a burning in the back of his shoulder quickly shut him up. He’d been so careless. Of course… Still guards around. Another shot whizzed past the other arm and lodged itself into the adjacent wall. No visible bullets as a scorch mark simmered after impact. Did the hired security even have guns with energy capabilities?
A third shot into his side told Lev he’d just found where the target had disappeared to. Levenin spun around, lunging blindly for a silhouetted figure behind him but found he was easily caught by the hair and shoved face-first to the carpet.
”My security turned out to be pretty worthless. A waste of my time and money,” said a familiar deep voice. No mistake it was the drug peddler. ”I knew if I ran, then I would’ve been completely safe. But I don’t appreciate threats on my family. You would’ve kept coming back, getting them involved in whatever you want from me.”
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Civilians
C[re]ate Champion
Posts: 106
Preferred Name: Varmun
Pronouns: He/Him
Character Profile: Character List
Character Name: Isaac Vasari
Main Account: Isaac
Status: Active
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Post by Isaac on Aug 23, 2015 19:55:05 GMT -5
With so many sheets of paper scattered around the desk, it was a miracle that Isaac was able to find the recipe as fast as he did. In the second binder, about ten pages in, he found exactly what he was looking for. A smile tugged at his bandana, and he pulled out his handheld, taking a picture of the formula. He didn’t want Madam Roux to ever have this, and he preferred if no one even knew he had robbed them, but he still took pride in his work, still felt—
Nineveh’s voice called out, sounding frantic. A familiar, sizzling screech made Isaac flinch. He snapped his eyes over to the stairs as another shot rang out. There was no one there. He switched back to his infrared filter and looked around in every direction until he saw two figures directly above him. A third shot ripped through the air, and then one figure was over another, slamming one into the floor. Isaac couldn’t hear the voices, but he just knew what was happening. He knew Nineveh was in trouble. Shit.
Isaac flew to the stairs, heading up half the flight before checking back on the thermal images to see what direction the two were looking. Both were facing away from the stairs. When he pulled his visor down to the bridge of his nose, he could see that the man—the drug peddler, the house owner—had a plasma pistol pressed against the back of Nineveh’s skull. One false move and he’d shoot. If Isaac gave him even one reason to think he would lose his gun, he’d shoot. Isaac could maybe try to get his attention, to call out to him and strike within the same second, but there was no reason for the owner not to shoot Nineveh first before reacting. The risk was too great. Isaac had to take him down in an instant. It was times like these that Isaac wished he had Dante’s aim; he could simply shoot the gun out of the man’s hand.
Luckily, this man loved to talk. It gave Isaac plenty of time to think. Sadly, there was only one idea he could come up with, and he wasn’t sure how well it would work.
One of the unconscious guards was nearby. Isaac approached his body while the peddler kept talking. From the guard’s belt, Isaac took his gun, and he crept up behind the peddler, soon pressing the barrel against the back of his head and saying in a harsh voice, “Drop it.” The risk paid off. The man didn’t shoot, only jerked his body with fear. “If you love your family, you’ll drop the gun. Now.”
If the man hadn’t said “whatever you want from me” earlier, Isaac would have expected him to shoot Nineveh first and give up his life, to take someone with him. But he trembled and set the gun aside, begging, “Please… don’t hurt me. I’ll give you anything you want.”
Isaac said nothing. He kept his own gun pressed against the man’s head, and he moved one leg around to kick the man’s gun away. But right as he did, the man reached for Isaac’s leg, grabbed him, and yanked hard, showing surprising strength as he pulled Isaac’s leg out from under him. The world swept in front of Isaac’s eyes, and his head soon smacked down against the carpet. The man climbed on top of him and reached for Isaac’s gun, but Isaac threw it away and he grabbed the man by the throat. The man gagged and returned the favor, and the two of them rolled around the room, trying to choke each other out as they knocked over lamps and smacked into walls so hard that picture frames shattered on the floor.
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Vigilantes
Smiley Specialist
he's big enough
Posts: 164
Preferred Name: Nama
Character Profile: ♦♦♦
Character Name: Levenin Refure
Main Account: Levenin
Status: On Hiatus
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Post by Levenin on Aug 23, 2015 21:39:27 GMT -5
Lev dared not move as soon as he felt the dull warmth of the barrel plant itself firmly in the back of his skull. His teeth clenched as the man slowly traveled the tip down his neck, pushing away the fabric of his cloak and grazing over the NUIP port for a moment. "I know you," he said. "The port tattoo gives it away. You're that thief that seems to pop up on the news every week for robbing medical supplies."
Levenin stayed absolutely still as he listened. Did he really have that much of a reputation? "At first I didn't believe what my daughter told me. She couldn't see your face but she saw the eyes. Said they glowed in the dark and called you a monster. It was then I knew."
"I never meant to scare her-"
The gun returned to its place against his head, roughly jamming metal on tender flesh. "Bullshit. Though I am interested in knowing why you were upstairs instead of in my laboratory. One would think you were here to take from my supplies or documents, and yet I had a feeling you were after me. Very unlike you to target specific people, based on past activity... and I'm curious to know why before I turn you over to rot in prison."
Levenin couldn't tell him, though he was sure the man already had a good idea of what the reason was. Against a gun, however, he had nothing but words to negotiate with. As he took a breath to say something, anything to drag out the encounter, Lev found himself freed from constraint. "Don't hurt him!" he said right as the ensuing brawl broke out.
Levenin sat helplessly on the floor as he watched. He willed his legs to move, to remember his whole reasoning for being here at all, to not let that responsibility fall on his partner. That thought gave him the motivation he needed to pull out his knife and leap across the room. The ease with which the blade went into the peddler's shoulder surprised him at first, but Lev quickly did it again before there was a chance at retaliation. He managed a second stab before the man rolled away from Zail and onto the living room floor, screaming and clutching at wounds he couldn't quite grasp. Levenin didn't know what was happening to himself as a silent fury took over each and every swipe of the blade. Was it to protect his partner in crime? A moment of fear for their lives? Lev didn't even need to think about it as the life eventually left the man's eyes once the knife had done its job of riddling the body with holes.
He wasted no time in wresting Zail to his feet before yelling, "Go, now. Before the guards catch wind." The strain of his gun wounds kicked in as he tried to run for it. In the dark and through the fuel of adrenaline, Lev hadn't realized the deepening red stain snaking its way down his left side and sapping his strength. Whenever he'd finally collapsed was beyond his memory.
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Civilians
C[re]ate Champion
Posts: 106
Preferred Name: Varmun
Pronouns: He/Him
Character Profile: Character List
Character Name: Isaac Vasari
Main Account: Isaac
Status: Active
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Post by Isaac on Aug 24, 2015 13:15:33 GMT -5
Right as the man started screaming, Isaac’s head started swimming. It was light and cloudy, and his throat felt tight, aching. He could still feel the fingers squeezing down on him even as the man rolled on the floor. Isaac gagged and coughed as he pushed his arms against the carpet, slowly rising up while the man screamed in agony and begged for his life, each plea answered only with the sound of ripping flesh and another shriek.
It wasn’t long, however, before everything fell silent. Hands grabbed Isaac and raised him to his feet before he knew it. Nineveh shouted at him, but Isaac could hardly register anything he said. He simply looked to the man’s body—covered in stab wounds and coated in blood. A ringing filled Isaac’s ears, and he stared down at the body, unable to look away. He took deep breaths as he studied the corpse, and his blinking dragged on for full seconds every other time. More than shocked or disgusted, he looked tired. Isaac had seen gore before; he had seen death. What would have made most people vomit only left him dazed for a few long moments.
Nineveh ran off without him, and it wasn’t until Isaac heard another thud that he finally turned away from the body. With slow, tired steps, Isaac walked to the front door and out into the dark night. Clouds rolled in to block the stars—a warning of rain. Why else would there be clouds in a simulated sky? Out on the lawn, Nineveh’s body sprawled out across the grass, face-first in the dirt as rain drizzled across the back of his hood. Isaac raised his visor back up to the top of his nose and checked his surroundings. No one in sight. The rain picked up little by little. Isaac grabbed Nineveh’s arms and pulled them up over his shoulders. With a hard grunt, he pulled forward, dragging Nineveh behind him, Nineveh’s shoes grinding against the sidewalk and streets.
After an hour of dragging the man and resetting his GPS hack, Isaac managed to bring the two of them behind the pub where they had met that morning. The rain kept coming down, but Isaac had pulled Nineveh and himself up to the back door, where they were shielded by a rusty awning. He might have been able to simply leave Nineveh here, but he sat and waited for a little while longer to see if he’d wake up, just in case he wanted to be dropped off somewhere else.
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Vigilantes
Smiley Specialist
he's big enough
Posts: 164
Preferred Name: Nama
Character Profile: ♦♦♦
Character Name: Levenin Refure
Main Account: Levenin
Status: On Hiatus
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Post by Levenin on Aug 24, 2015 15:06:27 GMT -5
Two direct shots to the body should’ve been nothing serious. He’d seen so much worse before and those people had lived to tell the tale. But this time was different. There was no physical bullet to stay lodged in, to block off the blood vessels. The energy blasts had simply hit and evaporated, leaving nothing to stop the bleeding afterwards. Plasma guns were a rare sight in the Lower Class, let alone in the slums where he worked. The police couldn’t hope to afford them when there were other supplies that took precedence over fancy weaponry. And so Levenin had never dealt with them, at least until now. His shoulder and side had gone numb, but he knew they were still hemorrhaging.
Through short bouts of consciousness, he could hear the rain in between the heart beats in his eardrums. Lev mumbled and moaned something unintelligible to his savior as they both trudged along the streets. ”Let… let go… I need to… to get to…”
Levenin never finished that sentence. When he woke up once more, a single dim light was the only thing that illuminated the both of them somewhere in a dirty alley. Sitting down did something to keep him awake a bit longer. However, the localized pain was setting in at the same time. He started checking himself for wounds— of course, his left side had a pretty little hole in it and he didn’t even need to see his shoulder blade to know there was one back there as well. The only other thing was a scrape on his arm from where another bullet had missed.
”I don’t… have any…” Lev carelessly emptied his pockets onto the ground for medical supplies. He knew it was fruitless, as he never bothered to pack any to begin with. A clink of glass and Levenin stared down at a syringe next to him, one that was different from the paralysis agents he’d been using all night: a clear liquid designed to induce sleep in the target before stopping the heart. As merciful a death as poison could give.
The very thing he was supposed to have used on the target and yet he’d…
Levenin cupped a hand to his mouth but it did nothing to staunch the wave of nausea. He coughed and gagged a few times, whatever little he’d had in his stomach now emptied. ”I need… to get to the clinic… I-I’m gonna go into shock and I need to…” Lev took the courtesy to put back the things he’d dropped in the mud. Absolutely nobody needed to get their hands on the lethal injection. ”Do you know… about Canaan? That’s where… But you can’t leave…”
Once more, he slumped over as consciousness left him.
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Civilians
C[re]ate Champion
Posts: 106
Preferred Name: Varmun
Pronouns: He/Him
Character Profile: Character List
Character Name: Isaac Vasari
Main Account: Isaac
Status: Active
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Post by Isaac on Aug 24, 2015 16:15:10 GMT -5
Despite how grave things were, Isaac seemed completely calm. Or perhaps stoic was a better word. He sat beside Nineveh as he retched and fumbled with his supplies, and he said nothing. He hardly moved. Even when Nineveh weakly spoke to him—desperate for help, trying his best to be heard—Isaac remained silent.
When Nineveh blacked out again, Isaac stood up. Once more, he pulled Nineveh’s arms up over his shoulders and dragged him across the city. There was no need to stick to the shadows. They were already in the Slums. No one would bat an eye at them, and so Isaac made his way toward Canaan with a slow gait and half-lidded eyes. Nineveh had said something about a clinic, and—to the man’s first bit of good fortune all night—Isaac knew of a few clinics. He knew the Slums better than any other part of Novus, and there were hardly any places for people in the Slums to get any real care. While there were terrible doctors, hardly any of them had a “clinic.” All Isaac needed was a general direction and he could narrow things down from there. So at times, when Nineveh regained enough strength to talk, Isaac listened for directions, silently following them until he reached the doorstep of a small, two-floor building on Still Hollow Avenue.
With Nineveh’s body still draped over Isaac’s back, he kicked the door a few times to knock, and he waited for an answer.
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Vigilantes
Smiley Specialist
he's big enough
Posts: 164
Preferred Name: Nama
Character Profile: ♦♦♦
Character Name: Levenin Refure
Main Account: Levenin
Status: On Hiatus
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Post by Levenin on Aug 24, 2015 19:37:28 GMT -5
A calm descended on Levenin as he was jostled along for another ride. The lightheadedness was effective in keeping away a majority of the pain, and unfortunately, his awareness. He'd begged for Zail's help, who'd silently given it to him for reasons he didn't understand. Obligations had long been fulfilled. It would've been easier, not to mention smarter, to leave Lev behind. He was a liability, a slowly dying one at that.
"Why," he spoke, barely audible over the rain. "Why not leave me?"
Whether or not the question was answered, Lev didn't hear it. When it was clear Zail wasn't intent to drop him off in the streets, he instead went on to repeat "Still Hollow Avenue" until a banging on the door perked him up.
"Don't, there's no one here," said Levenin as his feet touched solid earth. "It's closed but... I can get in."
He fished around in the mud for the only spare key that he could remember. Lev half-expected it to have washed away but there it was tucked in an old rag that hadn't seen the light of day in ages. Rusty but good enough. Eventually the lock gave in and they were able to enter the lobby. Whoever came in first tomorrow would not be happy about this mess.
"This is a bad idea... Why did I even do this..."
What irony there was in stealing from his own clinic. However, he dreaded doing so. There was so little to go around already. Levenin felt he didn't deserve to use any of it. If he died, it was his fault, or at least a karmic retribution for what he'd done tonight.
"We don't have any blood for a transfusion... There's saline as a back up but... I can't use that, we don't have much and someone else might need it..." Lev was arguing with himself now. His attempt to walk without support ended with a seat in a lobby chair, where he looked to Zail. Zail had no answers for him and yet Levenin just wanted him to say something. Tell him what to do. A direction. Anything to keep from making another horrible decision.
Reaching out for the sleeve of Zail's jacket, he tugged at the edge lightly, like a child might grab the attention of an adult. "Do I deserve to die? You must think... I'm disgusting."
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