Almost Running but not Quite

[Kiwi]

“Sounds nice. I’ve never been. I’ve always stuck around Central.” It’s not like she didn’t like traveling, but at her income and job, it was hard to set aside enough time and money to see the world. She didn’t mind, Central has everything she’d ever need. Well. Had. It was a giant metal death trap at the moment.

“I don’t have anywhere else in mind actually.” Tara shrugged her shoulders. To be honest, this white hedgehog would be perfectly content in sleeping in some cold damp cave rather then stay in this city another minute. Her ears twitched forward.

How long had they been here in his house? Tara looked over at a nearby clock that was mantled against a wall, her gaze inquisitive. It was swell to know that clocks ran on batteries, or else she wouldn’t be able to tell what time it was at all. Stupid robots. Why’d they have to shut down the electricity? Didn’t robots like electricity? Since it powered them and stuff? Or was that oil? Tara frowned.

Either way, they hadn’t been here long, twenty minutes maybe.

[Glyph]

"It's not too different from any other place." Banner said, shoving the last of his supplies into his bag, "Smaller than some, but the routine's basically the same."

Wake up. Eat breakfast. Dig yourself out of the house and go to work. Freeze your tail off before you're halfway out the door. The fox smirked, and shook his head slightly to wave away the thought.

"Of course, it does have its own little quirks." Not seeing the sun for a good chunk of the year--that was definitely a quirk. "Anyway," clearing his throat, the detective stifled a wince, inspecting his shoulder for a moment before rolling his eyes. It wasn't serious--just painful enough to be a bother. Typical. "... anyway, we can head out soon--I'm guessing we'll have to head south for the plains, and then work from there."

[Kiwi]

“Sounds good.” Tara responded, turning her gaze away from the clock. “With the car, we should get to Station Square pretty fast. The white hedgehog rolled her shoulders, hearing a soft pop that made her relax quickly. Carrying the backpack and the gun wasn’t difficult, she was used to swinging around her air gear all day, and what she was carrying was far lighter then her board. She paused for a moment. She’d have to rebuild that board when she had the chance. It wasn’t difficult to make air gear surprisingly. All you needed was the right material, the rest was easy. Then again, Tara doubted that she’d be able to find any sheets of metal or carbon fiber around here at the moment. Maybe when they got to the city?

Tara walked towards the door, and walked out, leaving the door wide open for the detective to follow after. Suddenly, she paused. Her ears perked up. Ever so slowly, she walked back into the house and closed the door silently behind her. She had heard something. The sound of something moving. That had been enough to scare this hedgehog back inside the house.

“I heard something.” She whispered. That was all she needed to say really.

[Glyph]

The fox watched the hedgehog disappear out the door beneath raised brows, but the amusement vanished when she ducked back inside almost as quickly as she'd left. Without a word, Banner rose and unslung his rifle from his shoulder, sidling up to glance out the little window at the top of the door.

"Stay back," he said, almost silently as he scanned what he could see from the awkward angle, "Whatever it is won't have any reason to suspect there's anyone home if we don't make too much commotion." While the fox had no qualms about using his gun on these robots, he'd rather not engage them if he could help it. They always seemed to end up with the worse end of the deal when it came to encounters with the murderous mechs.

[Kiwi]

Tara gave a weak shake of the head, and slowly removed her new rifle from her back and held it in her arms. Silently, she prayed to whatever god was watching over them, and hoped that their luck would continue to hold out. Maybe what she had heard had been simply…another mobian or something. The hedgehog grimaced, moving to the side so Banner could glance out the window.

Slowly, the white hedgehog slumped against the ground, a frown on her features. If it was a robot, it may just walk past and not see them. Hopefully. She wasn’t in the mood to endure another beating like the last three times. The white hedgehog almost cursed. If they ran into another robot, they’d be in trouble. Unless it was just a stupid one like she had fought yesterday. Shame she hadn’t seen anymore of those. Those robots were far more humorous then dangerous.

[Glyph]

Banner kept his position at the window for several minutes, straining his ears past all the little creaks and groans of the breeze and the settling house. Once or twice, beneath the ambient noise, a few soft crackles filtered through the door, setting his teeth on edge and raising the scruff of fur on the back of his neck. He couldn't tell if they were organic or metallic, though, and soon gave up trying--the sounds were just too faint.

Frustrated, the fox fell back a few steps, laying a hand on his rifle and glaring at the door as if he could see through it. Whatever was out there didn't know they were here... yet, and if they didn't make noise or go charging across the lawn, then whatever was out there shouldn't have any reason to linger... Right?

[Kiara]

"I'll be damned if I can't find a way out soon...!"

The feline seethed in front of the wheel. He had outrun countless robots, but he had yet to find the exit to the city. How does a person get lost for so long? Somehow, he had found his way to the downtown area, which really didn't help him at all. On the plus side, he had found a hospital, where he stocked up on things he felt he would need, such as bandages and painkillers... then promptly ran away, chased by a robot. He managed to escape without any damage because the 'bot's aim was off.

Music was coming at a relatively high volume from the CD player he had in his car. He turned it up slightly to help calm him down (despite it being some sort of fast-paced rock music). It wasn't like the music would give him away while he was in a noisy vehicle.

Victor slowed down slightly. He was in... a residential area? Some of the houses seemed to be in pretty bad shape, but a few were still standing. Maybe someone was still here? He took a turn down a road that seemed mostly untouched, hoping it would lead him away from the metallic madness.

As he passed by one house, he saw a flicker of movement in a window. Victor also caught sight of another vehicle parked on the curb. Is someone in there...? He twitched his ears as he brought the car to a halt. If someone is in there, that someone might need some help... or that someone might be dangerous.

With an exasperated sigh at is own curiosity, Victor parked the car and exited, leaving the car running and the door open in case he needed to make a quick escape. One could never be too cautious.

Victor gave three swift knocks to the house's door. "Hey, is someone in there?"

[Kiwi]

Tara twitched her ears forward, her white quills bristling. Her eyes were narrowed, and she slowly raised herself up to look out the window, gun now in hand and pointed. This hedgehog looked ready to shoot. Of course, the second she saw the sight of a Mobian driving a car, she dropped the gun, allowing the strap to be the only thing suspending it from the ground. She blinked, once, twice, and she seemed surprised. This was a far better improvement then vicious.

“Well, that’s anticlimactic.” Tara muttered, but couldn’t help but feel relived. The pale hedgehog scratched the back of her ear and tilted her head towards Banner. “Still, I suppose its better then a robot, right?” She shrugged her shoulders.

Then another thought came to mind. “Wait a minute, if he has a car, why the hell is he still here? This guy got a death wish or something? Or is he just horrible at directions?” Her ears perked up curiously, but her voice held a dash of cynical wit and dead pan humor.

Of course, a couple knocks on the door immediately made the hedgehog shut her jaw with a snap. She’d keep her smart comments to herself at the moment, thank you very much. She leaned against the wall behind her. She then proceeded to whisper silently towards the detective. “What if he’s a nutter? Or an axe murderer?” Her voice now laced with an incredulous tone.

[Glyph]

Banner heard the hum of the engine, and the agonizing blare of music thumping from the car's speakers, but unlike Tara, he didn't lower his gun at the sight. His soldier's sense was too sharp for that... But he did lower it slightly, pointing the muzzle away from the door.

"I'd take an ax murderer over a horde of robots anyday." Banner said, setting the hedgehog with a bemused smirk. "But maybe we'll get lucky. Maybe they're just selling cookies."

Actually, some of those lemon things sounded good right about now. Hucking the rifle higher over his good shoulder, he straightened back up and peered out the peep-window and into the face of a rather exasperated looking cat.

"... Somehow I don't think he's a girl scout. Or an ax murderer." Indeed, the cat looked too... well, refined to be crazy, and there was clarity in his curious expression. Rolling his eyes, Banner sighed. Why was he suddenly attracting all the greenhorns? He raised his voice, tapping the glass to get the cat's attention. "Yeah, there's someone in here."

[Kiara]

Victor relaxed a little. Nothing in the other speaker's voice betrayed any mental instability. "Whew! I was afraid I'd wind up with an axe murderer in my face." And I wouldn't want anyone to damage my beautiful face.

"So, does the door open or are you just gonna leave me hanging?" Victor stretched his arms and swished his tail around a little. "By the way, my name's Victor. Dr. Victor Chase."

[Kiwi]

“A Doctor? Holy Chaos! He is useful!” Tara blurted out, and before Banner, or anyone could stop her, she yanked open the door. Her eyes were brimming with glee. A doctor! Luck had to be on their side. She then grasped Victor’s hand and gave him a hurried hand shake before yanking him through the doorway, much like how she opened the door.

“I’m Tara!” She blurted out, her ears perked up and her tail briefly waged in excitement. By her attitude, you’d think she had just met Sonic the Hedgehog himself or some other famous entity from oh so long ago. It was a good improvement from her previous attitude, which had been fright on the borderline of some other panicked emotion. Well, she had any reason to be excited. A doctor was extremely helpful in a robot apocalypse like this one.

She stretched out a hand and pointed to Banner. “And that’s Banner, Detective Banner.” She gave a wide whimsical grin. “So you’re a real doctor right? A doctor that bandages wounds and gives shots? Or are you one of those shrinks?” She frowned at the last question. She’d be pretty disappointed if he was one of those fancy white collar sorts that only says he’s a doctor because he had some fancy degree and had never even healed someone.

[Glyph]

Unsure whether to snicker or to groan, Banner simply watched, quietly shutting the door after the cat had been engulfed in the hedgehog's enthusiasm.

"Calm down, kid." His voice was a deadpan whisper, but his lavender eyes seemed amused. "Give the guy a second to process." Though he offered no apology, the fox smirked, bracing his bad shoulder against the doorframe. "Although I have to admit, I am curious. What are you doing all the way out here, Doc? Most people have already high-tailed it out of this death trap."

Most sane people, anyway.

[Kiara]

Victor arched an eyebrow. "Usefu--?!" He let out a yelp as he was forcefully dragged into the house.

He just stood there dumbly as Tara rambled on about something or another. After a short period of silence, he spoke up again. "...Yeah. I'm the real deal. I'd give some ID stuff, but that's all back home in Erune."

The cat then turned to Banner. "Eh... I live up in the Ice Cap. Came down here for a vacation, yanno? I got lost after the first day. Then I got chased by a bunch of robots and got lost. Multiple times. Every time I thought I wasn't lost, I got chased by robots again." He scratched the back of his head. "I managed to hole up in a hospital after a while. Stocked up on medical supplies and whatnot. Couldn't hit the cafeteria, though - too much rubble. Hell, I wouldn't want hospital food anyway. Stuff's nasty."

[Kiwi]

Tara leaned back against the wall, still smiling like a spoiled child. She had every right to be so overjoyed. Having a professional repair and stitch your wounds is a hell of a lot better then doing it yourself. This white hedgehog had little encounters with doctors in her short lifetime. She hadn’t been inside a hospital in…what? Three months? Well. That was when she brought in a friend, but she couldn’t remember or recall anytime she had actually had a physical or check up, she was rather healthy for a teenager, and was lucky to have never gotten really sick or injured. Besides, medical bills sucked. She knew some friends who received service and found themselves in debt for months.

Several thoughts ran through her fast paced mind, but the thought that stood out the most had to be Banner’s, and her injuries. Her back seemed to tense suddenly, almost reminding her of the open wound that had been nicely sealed. She could also feel her shoulder ache if she paused and paid enough attention. She rubbed the pulsing joint, and then let both of her arms hang by her sides, listening to the cat’s story.

“A hospital? Well. That’s lucky.” She replied finally. Hospitals had plenty of supplies laying around or locked up. You just had to know how to get to them. The hedgehog was actually rather surprised. The robots should have been wise enough to burn a place like that to the ground if they had any common sense. Oh wait, they were robots. Never mind.

[Glyph]

Banner grew quiet, his eyes dark. Victor couldn't have been the only one who'd thought to seek shelter in a hospital. Surely he'd seen others, survivors in hiding? Or had they all been buried under the rubble--patients and families snuffed out before anyone could evacuate, before anyone could do anything?

His bit back a grimace, shifting his weight off his ankle in excuse.

"Don't I know it." Banner muttered, though food really wasn't high on his priority list at the moment. "You're welcome to whatever's here. Nothing should have spoiled yet," He jerked his head in the direction of the door, his eyes darkening almost to violet when he thought about the devastation beyond. Inside, his home was relatively intact, normal, even, as though this were just another day. It was a cruel illusion.

OOC: Bleh post is bleh. >.>