[log] I WANT TO BREAK FREE [closed]

[armoured]

Characters: Stephanie Brown and Alphonse Elric
Location House 107
Date: Day 18
Summary: Steph wants to go outside, Al thinks this is a bad idea.
Warnings: Possible violence

[Al doesn't know where these creatures came from, but they've already proven impossible to fight. On leaving their last house the morning before, he had joined some of the others in throwing things and attempting to fight, before simply running for their lives at a flat out sprint until the evening warning started to sound.

He had peeped out this morning, but only for a second when he saw the building surrounded. It wasn't ideal, but they had supplies to last a while, so holing up here seemed the safest option for now. The inside of the building, with its boarded up windows to plunge them into darkness, was actually comforting. It meant less entrances and exits to guard, with just the main door to keep watch over.

Al has taken up a seat nearby, the glow of his eyes cutting through the gloom when he sees a figure stealing towards the door. He hasn't spoken to Stephanie properly since she wondered out loud what he was, not except for a brief chat about food within the store, and he can't help but hear her words again when he watches her moving.]

Where are you going?

Comments

[spoileralert]

[ She didn't sleep. The knowledge that they were surrounded made her feel caged, worse than when Catwoman locked her in the lounge's safe. Then she had known that she was going to live long enough at least to see it coming. Here she had the prickling sensation on the back of her neck that the monsters were going to break in and kill them all in their sleep.

Her breath catches when she hears Alphonse's quiet voice. She doesn't know why - she's doing the smart thing, and it isn't as though she was going to leave without all of them. She just needs to make sure it's a viable option.

She ignores him long enough to peek outside the door, and her breath catches again. There are so many of them. There's no way a group could sneak around them, or likely even outrun them without losing someone. Suddenly she can't breath. How many of the others are awake? ]

We have to get out of here, Al. [ Her whisper is rushed to get it all out before she has to fill her lungs again. ] We can't last like this. We have to run.

[armoured]

[His initial remonstration when she cracks the door open dies before he can get it out. The sound of her fear, that voice cracking in a whisper, goes straight to his heart and leeches the immediate reaction of panic and anger right out of him.

Not that he can let her go outside, not when there are those things surrounding the place. To do so would be suicide, and he won't let any of those monsters inside, or anyone in here to go out there.

He clanks to his feet and moves over to the door, laying a hand firmly on the inside to try and push it closed.]

No. We're safe in here, we have to wait until we know more or can make a plan. Running out without thinking will just get us hurt.

[spoileralert]

[ She can't stop him from forcing the door shut, so she presses her back against the wall next to it instead. Being under the eyes of someone else forces her to maintain at least the appearance of calm. She feels a little dizzy with panic, hunger and sleep deprivation. She looks at the image of those monsters in her mind, their speed and patterns of movement. If they went one at a time, maybe they could work up enough speed to break through. And the ones ahead or behind, they could launch rescue operations. ]

We're trapped here. We need a plan now. If they make a move they will get in and they will kill every one of us. This is not safe. This is a death trap.

[armoured]

You're wrong, this is probably the most defensible house I've been in here.

[He keeps his voice low and gentle, almost as if he were trying to soothe a spooked animal. Even so, there's a thread of firmness through his voice too, it's obvious he's not about to just step aside.]

This is the only entrance to guard, and we can easily keep it barricaded. We have enough food and water to last for days if necessary, we're safe here.

[spoileralert]

[ Her voice rises a little, more emphatic even than Al's. ]

And if it fails we have no way out!

[armoured]

Stephanie, calm down!

[He takes a step towards her, effectively using himself as a barrier between her and the door.]

It's not going to fail, I promise you. You are safe in here.

[spoileralert]

[ To her panicked brain it feels like a threat, and her response is to stand her ground, her chest puffing a little. She won't let him put any more distance between her and her escape. She does lower her voice again, even quieter this time in case they failed to wake up their friends. ]

You're wrong. The minute you let yourself believe you're safe, you're dead. We're outnumbered, outmatched and corralled like sheep for slaughter.

[armoured]

[His heart aches for her, she's obviously terrified, but equally he knows that he can't back down. She must be claustrophobic or something, but allowing her to give into her panic won't help either of them.]

You're wrong. This door will hold, and I'm right here to make sure it stays closed, I'll protect you for as long as you need it. But if you go out there, then you're giving yourself to them.

[spoileralert]

I can take professional assassins, I think I can dodge a few zombie monsters.

[ She snaps it, though she doubts it will make any sense. The only times she got hurt it was because she was caught by surprise. She will not be surprised here. ]

I've been protecting myself for months. I'm not about to stop now.

[armoured]

Then protect yourself, stay here.

[He really isn't going to move on this. No matter what is said, he cares about her too much to allow her to go into danger needlessly.]

They're surrounding the building and watching the door, you won't make it far if you go outside. It's different from yesterday, we got a start on them before they started chasing us, they're waiting for us today.

[spoileralert]

[ Being an Internet connoisseur, Steph knows when a discussion has stopped being a discussion. She stares at him for a long moment, then turns to pace the room. She'll have to make a break for it when he isn't expecting her to. Once she's out she can work with them to get them all someplace safer. She can't afford to argue with someone as stubborn as Al without any leverage. ]

What's stopping them? It isn't this hard to break into a house.

[armoured]

Me.

[Despite her seeming to back off for now, he's not going to take any more chances. So he settles himself down in front of the door as a literal barrier to block off anyone getting out, or to act as a blockade for anyone trying to get in.]

I'm pretty heavy, study too, as long as I'm here then nothing will get past.

[spoileralert]

Until they take out the hinges.

[ It's what she would do, in their place. They have every advantage, there's no reason not to take the time. Al would be hard pressed to block the door and both sets of hinges. ]

[armoured]

How?

[He reaches up a hand and knocks on the door with his large metal fist, making a hollow ringing sound echo through the dark room.]

If they were capable of doing that, don't you think they would have done it by now? We've been in here well over twelve hours since we got here yesterday evening.

[spoileralert]

Waiting for supplies. [ She grimaces. He really is going to sit there all night, isn't he?

She flops down on the ground and pulls her knees up in front of her. Maybe he'll take the bait and move. Maybe she'll just sit here and pray. ]

Or maybe they're too stupid to have thought of it. Doesn't mean they won't.

[armoured]

Stephanie...

[He looks her full in the face. His eyes are bright pinpoints of light in the darkness, just accentuating the unnaturalness of them.]

What is this really about? I know you're not stupid, you have to know that logically we're safer here than making a run for it.

[spoileralert]

[ There's something about that look that scares her too, and she stares back until she figures out what it is.

He doesn't have proper eyes. She's looking right at them, and all they are is red spots of light. She swallows thickly, deciding what to say. She decides, finally, that she owes him the truth. ]

Maybe not in a group. But a person could make it if she was alone.

[armoured]

[He still doesn't really understand. He can tell that she's speaking the truth, but it still doesn't make logical sense to him. Why would she want to break away on her own when safety definitely is in numbers here?]

You want to leave alone?

[It's not a recrimination, just a request for clarification on her reasons.]

[spoileralert]

[ She finally tears her eyes away from his. His lack of pupils isn't important right now. ]

I can do something on my own. Here I'm helpless. We all are.

[armoured]

[Even while she looks away from him, he refuses to break his gaze. He can watch her all night, he doesn't even blink.]

Sometimes the best action you can take is inaction. It doesn't mean you're not accomplishing something, even if it doesn't feel that way. You... you don't like to be confined, do you?

[spoileralert]

[ She can see it out of the corner of her eye, and it makes her feel unholy pressured. It would be so much easier to just pretend she's claustrophobic and let it end there. ]

If you're predictable people notice. They can use it against you.

[armoured]

Then you should be advocating staying here. We ran yesterday, and we've been moving almost every day prior to that, the least predictable thing we can do with that past pattern is to remain in one place.

[He's not about to let this go. He's felt something simmering under Steph's light hearted facade since her friend went missing, and he will get to the bottom of it if he can.]

[spoileralert]

[ Her jaw clenches and she shakes her head fiercely. ]

If nobody can find you nobody can hurt you. We're too vulnerable with just a door between us and them.

[ If even that. An enemy who has your address is an enemy who can send you a trojan horse. The kind of trojan horse that killed her best friend. ]

[armoured]

...if nobody can find you, then nobody can help you either.

[His voice is gentle and full of sympathy. What happened to her to make her want to be alone when she starts to panic?]

They've already found us, so the only people you'd be hiding from is us.

[spoileralert]

[ That's the kind of thinking that almost got her killed on a dark street. ]

If we can get away we should.

[ There's pleading in her voice now as she meets his gaze again. She really believes that they could get away if they were determined enough, and went one at a time. She's escaped from worse binds, hasn't she? ]