Something was going on, and Viktor Lih didn’t need to be told that it was bad. Capital BAD.
He was getting cold and tired.
Lih had taken a battered tin out of one of the half open cupboards, took off the lid, sniffed inside, and then tilted the tin towards the teenage girl.
“Caffeine?” He asked, looking sidelong at Costa from the open cupboards.
Lih nodded, and began to look around the small room for a suitable pan to boil water in, when the girl beside him turned, and let out an anguished cry. He saw Costa looking at him.
It was when he first realized that things weren’t right. Something moved under the lowest shelf.
“Light!” Lih exclaimed suddenly. He swung around and aimed his pistol and infrared lens-beam down at the floor, his light flickered round to illuminate more debris and filth.
The child was very small, twisted with starvation and disease. He was dressed in rags, and weighed no more than half his proper body weight. His skin was brown with dirt. His eyes seemed fantastically big and wild, and he shielded them, whining, when Lih’s lens-beam found him.
Just a boy, he thought, and lowered his weapon.
Lih shuffled forward and cleared his throat.
“It’s all right, it’s all right,” he called, reaching out a pale hand as he bent closer.
Something made him hesitate. It might have been his increasing awareness of the boy’s strange gaze, or a soft, high-pitched sound, this drawn-out wail, that seemed to be emanating from the old woman beside him. He could see she had been crying.
Something told him that taking another step towards this boy was a Very Bad Idea.
“Careful!” hissed Lih, seeing the boy about to move.
The child, a boy of about six or seven, had straightened up again. Although it was much too big for him, he had picked up a pistol stashed under the lowest shelf and was pointing it at Lih and the older cop.
“Get back, Costa,” Lih breathed.
He looked at the child and smiled encouragingly. “Come on, little man, give me that."
The world was slow, like glue.
He crouched under the remains of a couch or bed that rotted in a terrible state of ruin, as the boy fired two shots, the weight and discharge staggering him. The boy paused as though in shock.
Instinctively Lih raised his weapon.
“Don’t shoot!” Costa called out.
Costa's warning echoed uncomfortably in his mind...
Dust puffed into powder as Lih flailing arms collided with the boy. The boy went down, falling hard, sending dust and bits of torn paper flying. Lih scooped up the gun, which fell on the worn floor, then proceeded to sit on the young child, restraining him with his slender frame and some cordage from his kit. The boy’s limbs thrashed harder, sending dust flying like clumpy snowflakes all around them.
“That’s really enough, boy,” said Lih in a voice that had a rod of steel running through it. “Why don’t you cool off?”
To the rest of the room. “Are you all right?” he asked.
…
Moments later, the caffeine was boiled and distributed into their mismatched, chipped enamel cups.
He tried to think of the best course of action.
Rescue, that was all he could think of.
They needed to find Doc Sonia and their backups. Then get these women and children to safety.
Failing either of those things, he could run. At full stretch, it was about fifteen minutes to the nearest station at the gate, and he was sure there was a CCDPD squad closer than that.
Lih took out the gun he’d taken from the boy, and examined it. He handed the old pistol to Costa, took a swig of hot caffeine from the chipped enamel cup, and sighed.
“I wonder where he got this? It’s ex-CCDPD issue.”
“Is it loaded?” the teenage girl asked.
“Yeah. Seven more rounds.”
They thought about it. There was a long pause.
“Can you shed any light on this?” Lih asked the boy he and Costa tied up.
The boy looked a little awkward, shifting in his nest of old blankets and torn clothes that looked as if somebody had been sleeping in it. “Daddy left it behind.”
“Left behind?”
The boy hesitated. It wasn’t so much as if he was trying to find the right words, it was more as if he wasn’t sure he’d be able to say them.
They heard footsteps down the hallway. Lih looked at Costa, then at the door on the far side of the room.
“What now?” said Lih, scraping back his chair and rising to his feet.
Doctor Sonia appeared in the half closed doorway. Her scrubs were badged with blood.
“We heard the shots.” She nodded, indicating something over Lih’s shoulder.
Lih turned and looked again at Costa, who frowned and shook his head.
Sonia said, “Costa, take it easy with your injury. Despite the fact that we couldn’t reply due to the lost signal on our comm, this area is secured, and we’ve come to help you.” As if signaled, a pair of cops suddenly swept in, hands touching their weapons.
“Doc. Officers,” Lih nodded in relief.
By this point, the doctor had come to a halt in front of the middle aged woman.
She moved to touch the woman on the shoulder, but paused when she realized her hands were red and wet. “I’ve done all I can for her.”
“Will she survive, Doctor?” the old woman asked.
“I don’t know,” she replied softly. “I need to bring her into a triage station to get her blood. She’s unconscious due to shock. I have repaired the worse of the blood vessel damage and staunched the bleeding. We need to wait to see how the healing meshes take. Her massive blood loss concerns me. As I understand it, at some time in the last hour, she got shot in the chest from fighting in the street… is that caffeine I smell?”
Ooc: Modded Costa here and there. Let me know if post needs to be changed.
Everything will be all right.
He was getting cold and tired.
Lih had taken a battered tin out of one of the half open cupboards, took off the lid, sniffed inside, and then tilted the tin towards the teenage girl.
“Caffeine?” He asked, looking sidelong at Costa from the open cupboards.
Lih nodded, and began to look around the small room for a suitable pan to boil water in, when the girl beside him turned, and let out an anguished cry. He saw Costa looking at him.
It was when he first realized that things weren’t right. Something moved under the lowest shelf.
“Light!” Lih exclaimed suddenly. He swung around and aimed his pistol and infrared lens-beam down at the floor, his light flickered round to illuminate more debris and filth.
The child was very small, twisted with starvation and disease. He was dressed in rags, and weighed no more than half his proper body weight. His skin was brown with dirt. His eyes seemed fantastically big and wild, and he shielded them, whining, when Lih’s lens-beam found him.
Just a boy, he thought, and lowered his weapon.
Lih shuffled forward and cleared his throat.
“It’s all right, it’s all right,” he called, reaching out a pale hand as he bent closer.
Something made him hesitate. It might have been his increasing awareness of the boy’s strange gaze, or a soft, high-pitched sound, this drawn-out wail, that seemed to be emanating from the old woman beside him. He could see she had been crying.
Something told him that taking another step towards this boy was a Very Bad Idea.
“Careful!” hissed Lih, seeing the boy about to move.
The child, a boy of about six or seven, had straightened up again. Although it was much too big for him, he had picked up a pistol stashed under the lowest shelf and was pointing it at Lih and the older cop.
“Get back, Costa,” Lih breathed.
He looked at the child and smiled encouragingly. “Come on, little man, give me that."
The world was slow, like glue.
He crouched under the remains of a couch or bed that rotted in a terrible state of ruin, as the boy fired two shots, the weight and discharge staggering him. The boy paused as though in shock.
Instinctively Lih raised his weapon.
“Don’t shoot!” Costa called out.
Costa's warning echoed uncomfortably in his mind...
Dust puffed into powder as Lih flailing arms collided with the boy. The boy went down, falling hard, sending dust and bits of torn paper flying. Lih scooped up the gun, which fell on the worn floor, then proceeded to sit on the young child, restraining him with his slender frame and some cordage from his kit. The boy’s limbs thrashed harder, sending dust flying like clumpy snowflakes all around them.
“That’s really enough, boy,” said Lih in a voice that had a rod of steel running through it. “Why don’t you cool off?”
To the rest of the room. “Are you all right?” he asked.
…
Moments later, the caffeine was boiled and distributed into their mismatched, chipped enamel cups.
He tried to think of the best course of action.
Rescue, that was all he could think of.
They needed to find Doc Sonia and their backups. Then get these women and children to safety.
Failing either of those things, he could run. At full stretch, it was about fifteen minutes to the nearest station at the gate, and he was sure there was a CCDPD squad closer than that.
Lih took out the gun he’d taken from the boy, and examined it. He handed the old pistol to Costa, took a swig of hot caffeine from the chipped enamel cup, and sighed.
“I wonder where he got this? It’s ex-CCDPD issue.”
“Is it loaded?” the teenage girl asked.
“Yeah. Seven more rounds.”
They thought about it. There was a long pause.
“Can you shed any light on this?” Lih asked the boy he and Costa tied up.
The boy looked a little awkward, shifting in his nest of old blankets and torn clothes that looked as if somebody had been sleeping in it. “Daddy left it behind.”
“Left behind?”
The boy hesitated. It wasn’t so much as if he was trying to find the right words, it was more as if he wasn’t sure he’d be able to say them.
They heard footsteps down the hallway. Lih looked at Costa, then at the door on the far side of the room.
“What now?” said Lih, scraping back his chair and rising to his feet.
Doctor Sonia appeared in the half closed doorway. Her scrubs were badged with blood.
“We heard the shots.” She nodded, indicating something over Lih’s shoulder.
Lih turned and looked again at Costa, who frowned and shook his head.
Sonia said, “Costa, take it easy with your injury. Despite the fact that we couldn’t reply due to the lost signal on our comm, this area is secured, and we’ve come to help you.” As if signaled, a pair of cops suddenly swept in, hands touching their weapons.
“Doc. Officers,” Lih nodded in relief.
By this point, the doctor had come to a halt in front of the middle aged woman.
She moved to touch the woman on the shoulder, but paused when she realized her hands were red and wet. “I’ve done all I can for her.”
“Will she survive, Doctor?” the old woman asked.
“I don’t know,” she replied softly. “I need to bring her into a triage station to get her blood. She’s unconscious due to shock. I have repaired the worse of the blood vessel damage and staunched the bleeding. We need to wait to see how the healing meshes take. Her massive blood loss concerns me. As I understand it, at some time in the last hour, she got shot in the chest from fighting in the street… is that caffeine I smell?”
Ooc: Modded Costa here and there. Let me know if post needs to be changed.
Everything will be all right.
Viktor Lih
Officer of CCDPD
Officer of CCDPD