Night 58: Recreational Field

[promisedawhale]

[from here]Stepping outside sent chills all over Brook's body for how cold it was. He'd welcomed it when there was snow for him to play with, but given the absence of the white powder this evening, Brook only shivered and crossed his arms to rub away the sensation

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[lovecrafty]

[from here]

As she ran, she rearranged. Trees were pretty, but they weren't easily weaponized. She'd made a tactical error; she wanted less firepower, not more. She didn't have anything soft that would fly except for the possibility of snowballs.

So Rose improvised. Batteries scattered like autumn leaves, or perhaps pinecones, being more squat and heavy and less numerous, and she yanked her plastic needles out of her sylladex as she ran towards the middle of the field.

"Lily?"

[tasteoftruth]

Badd was out in the middle of the yard when the young woman came dashing out, calling some name Badd didn't care about. He was far enough away that a called shot was unlikely, but he could still see well enough to get a bead on her.

More kids. Had he gotten assigned to juvvie and everyone had forgotten to tell him? This one looked even younger than the rest. A crook was a crook, no matter their age, and she should still be old enough to have the good sense not to run from an armed cop, but shooting at kids still made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Whatever. Assignment, job to do. "Stop our I'll shoot!" he shouted. Not quite the appropriate lengthy police disclaimer, but he'd been out here too long to care. They were taking the field at a run, too, if he stopped to chat they'd just get over the wall and that was that.

[avengingfists]

Ilia wasn't quite prepared for a confrontation from a man larger than herself, but she should have expected nothing less than a chimera at this point. She had let her guard down again. One of these days she would remember to think like a soldier at all times, even when she was also warring with the mother and friend sides of her psyche.

"Don't shoot! She's just a child! We're looking for someone!" Ilia remained loose on her feet, ready to bolt if necessary. She needed to protect Rose, but there was little she could do against a gunman. Unless she threw herself bodily in front of a bullet, which was the last thing she wanted to do.

Those painkillers she had back in her room wouldn't be much help for a bullet to the brain.

[lovecrafty]

Rose came skidding to a halt. The man was, as things went, the diametrical opposite of Lily. He was, however, clearly under the same influence. Which made it a good place to start.

She raised her hands in what she hoped was a universal gesture.

"True." She took a step back towards Ilia. "A girl about my age. Her name is Lily. Have you seen her?"

The disclaimed representative of Japan had only threatened them when they tried to pass; it seemed this threat was the same, and thus he could answer a few simple questions. If he chose to. Either way, perhaps she could answer the question of whether they merely were under threat, or if there was some kind of psychological influence.

[tasteoftruth]

At least they weren't moving. Badd kept his gun up in case the kids decided to do something stupid and keep running. "I don't generally ask their names. They'll get the prison locked down eventually, go back inside and I'm sure you'll find her tomorrow." If she wasn't stupid enough to get herself shot at.

Society was rotting when little girls like that did things to warrant a prison sentence, rotting from the inside out. It made Badd mad enough to spit molten lead. If he could just get this pair to behave and not make their sentence any longer than necessary, maybe he could at least get something useful done tonight. He really didn't want to shoot them. Whatever they'd done so far, he couldn't imagine they deserved it.

Sometimes this job really, really sucked.

[avengingfists]

It didn't seem likely Lily had also been posted here if this man was tonight's guard. He seemed almost normal compared to the other Special Counseling patients she had had the unlucky pleasure of running into during nights past. But no doubt he was dangerous. He had a gun and she didn't doubt his words when he said he would shoot.

"We'll go back. C'mon, Rose." Ilia waited, intent on making sure Rose had moved somewhere behind her before backing up in slow steps herself.

His words about this place being a prison were accurate, even if it was the wrong label this place normally tried to uphold. Apparently the brainwashed ones really did think they were doing good, or at least not just fighting mental patients for the heck of it. This man thought he was keeping in prisoners? What, were they supposed to be convicts or something?

[lovecrafty]

Rose backed up, one tiny, short-legged step at a time. There was a balance to be kept. The faster she got back inside, the sooner they could look for Lily. But every moment his eyes were on her were another one in which a different party could sneak by. The longer she took, the easier the timing.

"Do you know where else to look?" She spoke loudly enough that the man could answer if he liked, though the question was directed at Ilia. "I have a map, but it's just paper." No little blinking lights designating their target tonight.