The Sirens // Winter, Debra, Iaao, Kenji & James
Winter noted Debra’s change from panic to indignation as she finally let her go, moving forward in the dark back toward where Kenji had already taken one arm around Iaao to help him forward. The dark was closing in now, almost impossible to see their hands in front of their faces without any sort of exterior light. Though she was loathe to do so, Winter reached out and touched Debra’s shoulder blindly, then James’, and then Kenji’s arm as she moved back to the front of the group. “Forward, then we’re gonna take a left onto a pathway where there was a big iron gate,” she said hurriedly, her pace picking up from the obvious sounds of her sneakers in the gravel, “Keep moving, whatever you do don’t stop, I keep hearing things…”
In the distance was the sound of scraping metal, the noise sending a volt of fear up her spine and causing her to pick up her speed again. “Keep talking, everybody keep talking!” she called out over the din of what was chaotic noise coming from the city behind them and the siren growing louder ahead, “KEEP TALKING AND STAY TOGETHER!” If they kept making noise, they could at least track one another in the dark, nothing more than a series of moving silhouettes without so much as a lighter or a flashlight or even one of those cellular phones almost everyone had these days.
Though the path was winding, Winter knew it like the back of her hand - she could only hope that the dark disguised how intricate it actually was and hid the fact that she was leading them straightly and efficiently to a church she wasn’t supposed to have ever seen before. As soon as she could get them there, however, they were out of her hands anyway.
In the distance, a warm light was glowing from the windows and the wide-open front doors of the church, the ruckus of others running up the steps hurriedly sounding in the air against the deafening sirens as familiar figures in robes and other conservative clothing held them open. The light was a beacon of hope, a jolt of relief in her chest though she reminded herself they were not there yet. She paused only briefly to look back, now able to see them better, her eyes counting all people present and then settling on Iaao as she reached out to help him, take his other side, then thought better of it - what if they saw me touching him? Though it would hardly be out of the realm of normalcy to help a survivor, her own self-consciousness prevented her even in this moment from grabbing onto him again and she turned back, beginning to sprint now towards the church as she felt the familiar, welcoming sensation of her sneakers hitting the hard cement of the stairs, the smell of the warm air inside blowing out to meet them as she landed inside the huge double doors, waiting for the others to join.
“No shit you keep hearing things,” Debra muttered under her breath. “My radio won’t shut the fuck up.” She almost flinched when Winter touched her shoulder. The young woman’s skin was so cold, she could feel it through her jacket. She thought it was strange, but ignored it as she listened to Winter’s instructions. The girl certainly seemed to know her way around the place in spite of this being her first time here. Debra decided it was definitely time to pay closer attention to the younger blonde.
Following along quietly, her ears picked up the faint sound of metal scraping against the ground. Fear and panic shot through her chest at the noise, and she moved quicker almost matching Winter’s pace. It was too dark and she could barely see the girl in front of her, but Debra was able to follow the sound of her feet hitting the pavement. And the yelling. So much yelling. She rolled her eyes and continued to run as she yelled back. “Excuse me, but would yelling just draw more of them to us?”
As much as she didn’t want to, Debra kept running and tried her best to stay with the group. She didn’t trust any of them, but she also wanted to find shelter. As soon as she could break away from them, she would and she would find a way out of this hell hole.
Debra almost cried when she glanced up and saw the light. It was pouring out of the open front doors and windows of the church. She saw even more people running up the steps and couldn’t help but wonder just how many others were in this fucking town. As Winter glanced back and looked at the group before sprinting up to the church, an odd feeling washed over Debra. A feeling that she really shouldn’t follow the young woman. She shouldn’t enter that church. However the safety and shelter it would provide from the blackness overpowered her gut and Debra ran as fast as she could until she was past the doors of the church.
As he ducked through the doorway James took in his new surroundings. He didn’t like the hooded people and certainly didn’t trust anyone in the room. He paused looking back at the dark street. He didn’t know which was worse. The church was as old and abandoned looking as any of the other buildings they had passed to get here, only difference was there happened to be a source of lighting and human life. After receiving worried and piercing looks, James entered the church fully, allowing the people inside to shut the door tight. “I don’t like this one bit.” He murmured to himself, making sure to hide his gun away while everyone’s eyes were off of him.
KenjI loathed Iaao around with Winter, carrying the weak men as he felt sphuneasiness in the hooded inhabitants of the church. For a grown man who was significantly taller than Kenji, Iaao was awfully light, or perhaps weak as he had shuttering gasps and painful moans from this wound. It was difficult, each step as the wound stretched and the whispering pains beside him cried. The omnimous characters that hid their faces inside the church chanted and spoke in such raspy speech that Kenji couldn't comprehended. There weren't just survivors in this town. There were people.
Actual people.
A living culture in this monstrous city.
The design on the church was very intricate and displayed an influence on roman styled columns as there were painted glass windowed pictures in the back of the church revealing deities that were unknown to Kenji. Kenji did a little travelling himself, for game design, yet the heavy atmosphere in this church kept him paranoid.
Snapping out of thought, Iaao was moaning from his wound yet again and Kenji reacted. "Ah! Here! Let's sit you down at the benches...You already moved enough." He stumbled and was able to gently swing Iaao into one of the many wooden benches in the church. "You're friends don't mind....I...h-hope." Kenji gulped as he turned his back to see the hooded cult eyeing him.
