"Well," Ellis says turning to smile at the crowd, "THIS...this is not how I intended this to begin. I had hoped the debate could begin in a civilized manner and look what I find."

He gestures to the entire scene, thus also to a significant portion of The Warren's population. Already he is at work twisting the situation to his benefit, though this surely was not among the situations he had expected to encounter.


"I find my longtime friend and what appears to be," he continues squinting in Cain's direction, "well sir you appear to be a ghoul in a wheelchair, pointing guns at each other. I see this and I see all of you standing by doing nothing to intervene."


The crowd of civilians seems a bit confused. They don't really feel guilty for not intervening, no one wants to get in front of a gun.


"I find a Warren at war with itself. I find a populace unwilling and afraid to intervene. I find," he continues turning to William, "A police force attempting to enforce laws that do not exist."


He pauses for a second, as the crowd seems to relax a bit. Surely no one is going to be shot when the Police force and it's leader are present along with the current leader and a slowly increasing number of his soldiers.


"Stane! Come over here."

The man turns once more to look at Cain before doing as he is told. This look carries with it bare hatred and clear intent to kill. He slowly holsters his weapon before turning his back on the ghoul.

He walks back to Ellis and stands beside him, sneering immediately.




All is going to be ok, Ellis is taking control. Soon William will be groveling at his feet and that mutie **** will be in a shallow grave.

The pressure on his holster catches him completely off guard. The shock on his face is apparent as he watches Ellis pop the cylinder out and eject the ammo. He can do nothing but hang his head in shame.

Ellis throws the weapon into the center of the crowd.

"My job as leader of The Warren is to ensure the safety of all of you, the citizens. I apologize on behalf of my position and on behalf of my old friend here for what has taken place today. With the assistance of Mr. William here I will see that justice is done without discrimination."

Ellis takes a step backward, away from Stane.

"Stane here will turn himself over to the Warren Police Force until the truth of this incident can come out."

Stane stands there dumbfounded, attempting to say...something...but succeeding only in stuttering.

"I would ask that this debate be delayed until he can be properly taken into custody."



He stands there now quite satisfied with himself. He has done what he could to turn the situation around. He had been as charming as he could, attempting to make the difficulty of his position obvious, hopefully painting a picture of a difficult situation with him as the only man who could find a solution.

He attempted to distance himself from Stane's stupidity and put the impetus on William to cooperate with him. With a little bit of luck the people might even forget that it was William that had called for the debate, not him.

MIRVIN

"I'd be more than happy for you to join us, i apologize i never took your name Mr Robot. I have to say i admire your enthusiasm" Miss Zoey responded to Mirvin's request to join. She then thanked everyone present for their offers of assistance. Miss Zoey once again reminded Mirvin of Mr Frank, she was a natural leader. The assembled humans gathered round to hear Miss Zoey's plan.

"I have tasks for each of you, Harry i need you and your team to do a three day reconnaissance of the Warren, there is hills around which should give you good vantage points. I suspect Ellis will be hiring Black station mercs, you know those [censored]s that will do anything for money but do not engage recon only. Kathy, Mr Robot and man looking for a woman named Manchester, i apologize i don't know your name, I need you to get into the Warrens admin building attached directly to the theater and find the warrens residence list, you might find Miss Manchester's name on the list. Cain i need you to get in contact with William of the WPF bing him here to meet me. Sarah me and you are going to get supply's from our old base. Again thank you everyone, any questions?"

At this point the man in the hat identified himself as Mr Damien. He drew his weapon and proceded to, as Mr Frank would have put it, talk tough. The man appeared to have experience in this field. He spoke with an air of authority, as if he had once commanded a force and was used to his words being heeded. Several of the group appeared to disagree with Mr Damien, most notably Miss Kathy and Mr Harry. As they continued their' dispute Mirvin turned back to Miss Zoey.

"Thank you for accepting me into your' group Miss Zoey. My name is Mirvin." He once again extended his claw for a handshake. He had done the same to Miss Kathy, he hadn't expected her to accept the offer, but she had. Perhaps Miss Zoey would accept also.

While he was speaking he heard something from the debate between Mr Damien and Miss Kathy. Miss Kathy asked "Erm-how would the Warren react to a robot, speaking of which? I don't want Mirvin here having to shoot frenzied civilians because they're trying to rip off spare parts from a functioning machine-or for people to stare at us because of 'im...If they're bad about it, and if you-Marx-want to shoot all the people up in your way, it might be best if I just slip in and out and get the list for ya. Or write down a copy, or somethin'."

Mirvin turned back to Miss Zoey "Is this a likely chain of events Miss Zoey? Mr Frank always told me I should remain away from large population centres for exactly that reason. I will of course follow your' orders if that is your' wish, however Mr Frank has ordered me to defend myself if attacked. I have no wish to shoot civilians."

As the altercation between Miss Kathy and Mr Damien drew to a close Mr Damien left the tent, turning back to Miss Kathy he said "Watch yourself Katherine Adler." Had Mirvin been capable of emotion he would have been shocked and angered by this barely veiled threat. They were forming a comunity, a group of people with common cause, Mr Damien appeared to be simply working towards his own goals. That wasn't comunity, at least it didn't seem so to Mirvin.

"Miss Kathy," Mirvin said turning his volume low so that hopefuly only Miss Kathy could hear. "I would like to accompany you, I do not wish to shoot civilians. However if you and Mr Damien go alone, I believe from Mr Damiens elevated heartbeat and body language that he may try to shoot you. Also if you require them, I have three weapons in my rucksack, I thought I could trade them. If you have need of them just tell me."

--Katherine Adler
Notah Camp

Marx kept pvssyring away like a spoiled child who thought he had the birthright to the most important spot on a sports team, having some sort of [censored] delusion of personal superiority-until, of course, he heard the military man. Because military definitely, infallibly equated to knowing all and having the best of experience of everyone and being goody goodies. Psh, where did this Marx get his news before the war from? Propaganda? Idiot.
Not to say she hadn't appreciated the man's support from earlier.

"Right-so if they don't have an obvious background of training, like Harry and his pals here, that means they don't know how to fight? You clearly have been in some fantasy land for the past years-there's plenty of typical people who have survived, and haven't just survived from cowardice, ambushes and luck. Some actually know how to use a gun. Or their fists. Or a knife." Unlike Marx, apparently.

She could have gone on in the argument, but Kathy noticed he had agreed anyways. Albeit only because of his apparent view of who was in what position of authority and knowledge, but who cared? Continuing to bicker on wouldn't achieve anything as, at least toward most, the man was too pompous and close-minded. Besides, the girl just wanted to get this over with so that she didn't have to deal with Marx the dike for longer than necessary.

An unimpressed rise of a dark, thin brow came about when he made a pretty stupidly obvious threat toward her well being, if not her life. A somewhat sarcastic smile came about, her attitude hardening. "I'd worry more about you, Marxy ol' pal, if you can't pay attention to something other than the people you're sore with." Of course it was probably something to be genuinely worried about, but Kathy wasn't the type to happily flaunt weakness-not emotionally, not mentally, and not physically. Though the malnutrition was obvious in daylight, even with her stupidly large sweater, no matter what.

A noticeably lower than typical volume emitted from the Protectron in the group, her body not turning toward him-her eyes instead glancing up at the distant Warren on the horizon of the landscape. However, clearly she had been listening, as the young advlt responded-somewhat quietly but just as powerful and casual in mood and tone as she would be if loud, "Feel free to join us, I like you better anyways."

Her body adjusted at an angle where she was slightly facing him, the youthful face-scarred lightly at the back of her left cheek-more sober than before, but a glimmer of friendliness expressed toward Mirvin nonetheless. "Just...do your best not to seem "weird" to the population-I really don't know what the Warren's like, so I can't say what qualifies for "weird" there. Especially right now, as it's an apparent hell hole currently." An uncovered hand, somewhat dirtied, patted what was Mirvin's left shoulder-a sort of friendly gesture, "And thanks, but no. I'll be alright. I got two nicely working guns right under my ridiculously messed up sweater here, I'll be fine."

Of course, Kathy wasn't as friendly as she had been previously-but with Marx around, and due to the fact she didn't know anyone here that well, the girl decided being anything else as rather foolish.

"We better get going, get this over with. It's just a list after all."

***

There was something odd about entering a place you had first heard about-and heard about with extreme negativity and anger. Was it unnerving? Perhaps a bit, but it could have been the fact that Kathy hadn't gone into a notably populated place for so long. In any case, the girl was watchful, keeping more of a proximity to Mirvin but nonetheless a pacing equal to (or, on occasion, better) Marx. Every moment she could, the seemingly unarmed being did her best to observe the environment, to learn what she could. However, there wasn't much room to produce inquiries-doing that made her appear a blatant outsider, and she didn't know how the Warren took to outsiders..

When they had approached the Warren, Cain had already probably made it-and there was a swelled crowd making a bit of a din, though not from war or battle cries, or hollers making specific orders. Orders like, "Fight!" or "Shoot 'im!" or "Kill 'im!"

What they found so interesting to stare and circle like hungry vultures, Kathy didn't know, but it made her uneasy when possibilities popped into her mind. Still, at least it made entrance to the place ridiculously easy, with no one caring to pay even the most remote of attention to the front of the pre-war location. Though there was a possibility they were already typically indifferent about it.

The Warren caught her sight, and it caused Kathy to pipe up the short, more quiet statement, "'Ey Marxy, your desperately needed Manchester chick might be on that list Zoey was talkin' 'bout, over there." There was some undertone of mocking in the comment at parts, but it wasn't grossly noticeable.

Already the girl began to, almost silently, stroll past the crowd with a serious look-toned by disinterest. Which wasn't entirely genuine, but she managed to pull it off where it seemed entirely so. Barely.

They just needed to get in, get out, and be done with it. And once the job was near accomplishment-with that brute Marx out of the gate and this chore out of Kathy's hair-she might even be able to take the opportunity to better comprehend what this place was like. To where she could confidently have more traits in mind than just "unpleasant."

OOC: I'm writing as if around the time Kathy, Mirvin and Marx was when all the excitement was starting around Cain and Stane. Just as a note.

Damien Marx

I watched Kathy chat away to herself and I inwardly wanted to make my move as fast as possible but took a deep breath. No...it's a tactically terrible move and I'd round my odds up to 2-5% I'll survive the initial encounter. Then I heard Kathy say a simple phrase that made me want to reveal the Zodiac-A empire.

"Right-so if they don't have an obvious background of training, like Harry and his pals here, that means they don't know how to fight? You clearly have been in some fantasy land for the past years-there's plenty of typical people who have survived, and haven't just survived from cowardice, ambushes and luck. Some actually know how to use a gun. Or their fists. Or a knife."

While walking down to the Warren, it was a matter of time my empire was exposed so why not now? In a smooth, calm voice, I started to talk. "Katherine, the reason I respect the military men is because I myself fought them time and time again before the Great War. I come from the Zodiac-A Revolutionary Empire, the top field commander. You know many of those food riots before the Great War? We supplied the ammo, soldiers, and money to the rioters. We even attacked military encampments, Chinese encampments, and I directed a small squad of soldiers during Anchorage."

I halted and the only sounds left were the sounds of the Protectron walking and walking through the gritty land.

***

The Warren was truly and vile and despicable as I had remembered it. It was like the slums of Pre-War America and the occupational territory that wasn't governed by true Zodiac military men. I sighed and tried to get it over with.

When they had approached the Warren, Cain had already probably made it-and there was a swelled crowd making a bit of a din, though not from war or battle cries, or hollers making specific orders. Orders like, "Fight!" or "Shoot 'em!" or "Kill 'em!" I sighed once more, knowing the error of actually bringing a gun to the Warren. I truly was getting sloppy from the lack of practice...I have to find Evie soon lest I rust away and become a mindless idiot.

'Ey Marxy, your desperately needed Manchester chick might be on that list Zoey was talkin' 'bout, over there." I didn't notice it at first but after replaying it in my head, there was some sort of snide or mocking edge to it.

I respectfully nodded my head. "Thank you Katherine."
I grabbed the list and then read it over silently. Just one name among the many caught my eye. "Evelyn Manchester" That was it, no status nor any data on her. That was it...I would never find Evie with this kind of [censored] going on.

Before I could react, a couple Warren scum yelled, "'Ey!! That's the [censored]head that killed that other [censored]! Get 'em!"
A couple Warren scum yelled their battle cry and charged at me, using only sticks and knives. "And they say I can't use a gun..."
I pulled out my Uzi and took a potshot at one of them, nailing him in the head.

"Thank you Mr. Ellis, for helping us all resolve this situation," Damn, he's a whole lot smarter than I realized he was. This would certainly change things, but he would carry on to the best of his abilities. At least Stane would be out of anyone's way for a while, but it wouldn't matter much when Ellis manages to gain full control of the entire Warren.

Several officers rushed over to Stane where he was promptly handcuffed and led away into the station where he would be put into a temporary holding cell. Stane was still shocked from the quick turn of events and offered token resistance to his arrest. This was very typical of Ellis, selling out his best friend just to get closer to obtaining power. He deserved to be locked up for a very, very, long time.

William needed to help work the people into his favor as well. "I'd like to tell all of the citizens of the Warren that no matter the situation, the WPF will honor the laws as set down by our president, Samuel Jessop. The Warren will always remain a bastion of safety for all those who seek it. I've been at the Warren for a much longer time than most and I can say this: The law will always exist as long as there are people there to enforce it."

William walked over to Ellis and shook his hand cordially for everyone around them to see. He would maintain an image of cooperation and friendship with Ellis as long as he could. This way Ellis would have to avoid using smear campaigns against him as it would damage his image as the kind yet tough leader he was building for himself.

William turned to the hideous ghoul and said "I'm sorry for the inconveniences you have experienced sir. Let me be the first to welcome you to our great city, the Warren turns away no one. Especially those who have suffered so much. I'd like all of our citizens to treat this man with the utmost respect. No one else has suffered so greatly from the war than he has."

This, of course, was all just a publicity ploy but William was still interested in what the ghoul had to say so he then told him more quietly, "Meet me back in my office and we'll talk." William was actually quite terrified at the thought of such a hideous monster being able to talk but he kept it to himself and tried to tell himself what he just told the crowds.

Just as the people were starting to calm down now and begin to prepare for a grand debate several gunshots rang out in the vicinity of the Administrative building where the records where held. Immediately the crowds started to run for cover and William tackled Ellis to the ground trying to "protect" him. William pulled himself up and let Ellis take care of himself, it was unlikely that it was an assassination attempt by Ellis as he wouldn't try to kill himself so it must have been some sort of raider.

"Stay calm everyone the situation is under control!" He shouted to the surrounding people. Whatever it was, it was a perfect opportunity for him to appear as a man who was calm under pressure and helped "save" Ellis from several bullets. A team of officers and soldiers from Ellis began sprinting as fast as they could in the direction of the gunshots. William followed with his own retinue as fast as conveniently possible.

As they all turned the corner they saw a man wearing a fedora and an uzi putting bullets into citizens with nothing but sticks to defend themselves with. He pulled out his whistle and blew it sharply as the surrounding officers and soldiers pulled their weapons on the man.

The officers around him shouted at the tops of their lungs, "POLICE! HANDS IN THE AIR DROP YOUR WEAPON NOW!" Now they just had to see if one man with an uzi wanted to face the combined security forces of William and Ellis.

Great timing, now I can catch a murderer in time for the debate. If the man surrendered, then they would put him in the same cell as Stane until they could decide to do with the both of them. Along with winning more favor with the people of course.

OOC: Big mistake firing your gun like that in the Warren I'm afraid. Don't worry, Damien might get off easy once he gets taken into the station and out of the public.

--Katherine Adler
The Warren

At least there was some other reason by the guy-maybe. He still sounded like he was full of B.S. And though Kathy recognized the name "Zodiac A," thing, she wasn't really aware of many details about it. Food riots were common, with or without help from another group, right before the Great War-and while they were sometimes pretty big news, it wasn't something Kathy had personally ever been apart of. Yes, the girl had sympathized with those starving-but during those times she hadn't been among those starving, and she never was the type interested in politics. Even if the political story was about reactions by the whole of the people, and not about the politicians themselves. It didn't help any that she had been around sixteen during the Great War-even younger during the tense years leading up to it. Much of what didn't directly attack her life or lifestyle was unknown to her, as was the case for many children, who didn't typically wrap themselves up in-what was to them-dry news and the like. And, being of the once Upper Middle-Class, her life hadn't been as harsh for anyone below that status. There had been hardships-but starvation? Wasn't a common hardship.

So she shrugged at that, trying not to speak too loudly or in that much of a quantity-and making a point to keep a bit of a distance from Marx. Aside from the fact he was a thus far untrustworthy, unpleasant stranger, the stealthy girl didn't want to make it obvious of what the group was doing-or that they were a group, even more importantly.

When he made the respectful nod, and used her full name again, there was a slight, momentary, angry creasing of her mouth. For just a second edging downward on the right to create a hardly seen grimace. Yet she didn't bother to correct him, again, because she had already found a way to compensate for his actions-calling him 'Marxy' instead of simply 'Marx.' A bit petty, maybe, but it was even more informal than she could manage with Marx, and she found it a personally amusing and almost sarcastic reversal of his treatment toward her.

Not to say she was friendly toward him, either-but she wasn't formal.

Before the girl could inquire, a few feet or so from him-so as to appear like she was just nearby by coincidence-there were a few brutes who must have been amazingly stupid. Most people don't run up to a person, out of no where yet directly in their view, to attack-and with only sticks and such. What annoyed and frustrated Kathy, as well as initially surprised her, was the fact he used a gun to deal with them. Fools awkwardly running toward him with sticks and knives. Surely one could have just pushed them, and in the right way, kept them from doing any real damage or making a scene. And disarm them.

But, of course, the man had to use his uzi. It made Kathy stiffen with shock for a moment, and as the crowd had begun to disperse from the other scene, some began to approach the newly produced one by the one and only Marxy.

She had already quietly padded a little more of a distance away by the time one of the men-clearly of authority, a pit's "king"-reacted to the situation with almost unexpectedly swift timing. If the girl had to, she could maybe save the guy's ass somehow later on. Right now, crying support for a man who had blown bullets directly into the head of an almost harmless civilian was a horrible idea. Especially since it might attract attention to her, and the fact that she wasn't actually a citizen from around here. So, while attention drifted to the uzi-owning idiot, the eighteen year old weaved through the crowd until she reached Cain. Who, as it turned out, had been involved in the generation of the previous scene after all.

There was a bit of a tried and exasperated exhale from Kathy, and while trying to appear as if just another one in the crowd, she patted a clothed shoulder of the man in attempts of friendly, quiet greeting and perhaps reassurance(if possible or needed). Her body language was fairly smooth, aside from the natural, slight tensing and even more excessive alertness in response to the general chaos and action that most everyone had in the area. Yet her face portrayed a young woman who had experienced her patience pushed greatly, to the point her blood would have been boiling if forced to deal with the source of frustration in less than a half hour. Boiling enough to cause some angry words or actions, or both-despite the environment in which she needed to keep herself discrete. More so, her nerves were clearly, ever so slightly frayed, and there was a hint of concern over the situation.

The concern was shown to be in part because of Johnson's involvement in the last congested crowding, as she asked in a voice slightly lowered-enough to keep from bringing attention to herself, but loud enough to be heard by Cain, "You okay, buddy? What went on there?"

~Ellis~

Ellis follows behind the mix of Warren Police and Military troops.

He looks about The Warren as they approach the site of the shootings. Damn had things every fallen apart fast.

Before the Abu Nidal War the Warren had been about as well put together as any settlement he'd heard of. Working guard duty he'd heard more than a few citizens commenting on how glad they were to be somewhere safe finally.

Things fall apart rather quickly when the traditional leader is assassinated. Perhaps he should put more effort into bring Zoey "to justice," he smiles a bit at the thought. It'd probably be better to just leave her out there though. If it came to happen that she were murdered it would do him well to hide the fact.

One thing was for sure. The Warren needed to get it's act back together. William had shown some willingness to cooperate, as clearly political as it had been. The little **** was smart.

Ellis dusts some sand off himself from being tackled by the little ****.

He turns a corner and comes upon a large group of mixed police and military forces...and a man in fedora holding the figurative, though not too long ago surely literal, smoking gun.

OOC:

I'm going to be with family for Christmas so I won't be able to post except for during night hours. Merry Christmas to all of you guys.

Let's be careful with the Marx/William/Ellis confrontation. He was caught red handed but let's not take too much control from him. Allow him to have some say, to some degree.

OOC: I like what you did there Norman, teach the rookie through the device in which he made his mistake.

Johnny Collins

Johnny was now downstairs watching as the scene unfolded, revolver in his hand. It as his first time holding a revolver, let a lone an actual semi-automatic weapon. Johnny was so used to scrapping with only his fists and the art of combat, he forgot how heavy a gun felt in his hands. He held it at his sides for the time being, not sure weather to shoot the assumed perpetrator or the gruesome victim. Glancing at the rifle on the wheelchair bound corpse's lap made him second guess which one was more dangerous.

"If it isn't my my second least favorite person in the world, Stane. You know the rules here Stane, this is my turf. If you don't vacate the premises immediately I can very well arrest you for causing a public disturbance."

Now Johnny knew who to point at. He remained behind the group or armored men as he himself kept his pistol sloppily trained on Stane, he wasn't too much of a shooter. Not yet at least. William and Stane began to trade words briefly, and as more people began to gather from behind the man, a more intimidating charismatic man came up from the side in the direction of The Warren. He then begins to harass what was deductively his employee.

"Stane, what in the name of G** are you doing?"

"I was just...I was...I was interrogating this ghoul, when William and his F**kin' boy scouts came out and started threatening me. Telling me to get off their turf."

John simply waited patiently, even though his gun toting arm was getting tired. After a very short argument between Stane and what must've been Ellis, the better and more prestigious of the two stepped forward, gaining the innuendo of the crowd, and beginning some elaborate rant. "Well," Ellis says turning to smile at the crowd, "THIS...this is not how I intended this to begin. I had hoped the debate could begin in a civilized manner and look what I find."

"I find my longtime friend and what appears to be...well sir you appear to be a ghoul in a wheelchair, pointing guns at each other. I see this and I see all of you standing by doing nothing to intervene. I find a Warren at war with itself. I find a populace unwilling and afraid to intervene. I find," he continues turning to William, "A police force attempting to enforce laws that do not exist." He paused and monitored the police force, obviously thinking of where to make his next move. "Stane! Come over here." He beckoned, Stane came. "My job as leader of The Warren is to ensure the safety of all of you, the citizens. I apologize on behalf of my position and on behalf of my old friend here for what has taken place today. With the assistance of Mr. William here I will see that justice is done without discrimination."

Ellis takes a step backward, away from Stane, then next thing he said surely surprised not only Johnny but everyone spectating.

"Stane here will turn himself over to the Warren Police Force until the truth of this incident can come out. I would ask that this debate be delayed until he can be properly taken into custody."

Johnny scurried qietly around the perimeter of the small crowd, soon blending in with the onlookers as the Force moved in and took Stane. He didn't trust what was going on, and wanted the jump on Ellis if he tried anything crazy. Inquisitively, he looked around and observed what was going on behind the scenes. Far out, a few houses away, he noticed the man with the AK and fedora walking with two others and a robot. His mind flashed quickly back to the muffled sound of a pistol going through that man's cranium.

Then, a few men from the crowd began yelling and shouting at the newcomer, and shots were fired. From there the large crowd began to scramble and both William's and Ellis' men darted for the small squadron. This was Johnny's chance, and he ran at the small group from behind while the frenzied crowd gave him ample cover, heading in a misshapen beeline for the person, or machine that held up the rea. His plan was to tackle the first while holding the rest at gunpoint, or something to that effect.

Damien Marx

I fired a couple shots into the crowd and it scattered fast enough. Kathy seemed to be even more irritated at my display of power which I thrived on. If she was going to be a bane in my side until this campaign was over, I would have to deal with it. My mind flashed back on my attack on the Chinese encampment way back when and remembered the brutal attack on the encampment with no survivors, not even animals.

This was what I would accomplish today. Find Manchester, get her to join the cause, and then rebuild the Zodiac-A to its former glory. But I was truly getting rusty if engagement was in the first mission of the campaign. In any case, I stopped firing and turned back to Kathy, the robot, and the ghoul. "I've got the package. If everything's done here, I'm leaving."

I started to head back and looked back at Kathy and the robot. "Katherine, keep moving, the leader's dogs are upon us." With a quick flick of my Uzi safety, I unleashed a small burst of fire behind him, hoping to catch any of the authority figures Kathy was talking about. The small barrage should have been a good deterrence to anybody who was trying to flank us.

Then, still keeping the safety off, I continued to go, the Warren citizens looking warily at our group, just like the people at Wichita when the Zodiac-A first launched an all out offensive, burning down possible hundreds of buildings in the Kansas area. But that...was a long time ago.

Still lost in my thoughts, I started to head back to our encampment.

OOC- Er, there seems to be some confusion in the last two posts. I just wanted to clear it up. I have no idea what the robot is doing at this point(Kettle hasn't posted yet, possibly hasn't had the chance to), but Kathy has been taking advantage of her knowledge in stealth and keeping a decent distance, to keep it from being obvious she was involved in anything at all. Once the uzi fired, she went even further away from Damien Marx as quickly as possible, so that it wouldn't possibly look like she was with him, to avoid attracting attention (especially from the officials) to herself. I'm just stating this now to prevent the possibility of aforementioned confusion continuing, sorry if I didn't make it very clear in my post.

OOC: Thanks, that really helps me out.

Before they could do anything to apprehend the man William found that he had caught a bullet in the shoulder. It felt as though a sledgehammer came down on his chest and it sent him reeling backwards into the ground. Within the confusion the mysterious man in the fedora had escaped with unbelievable speed.

"****!" William shouted in pain as he felt his vision blur slightly and blood begin to spill out around him onto the ground. Immediately his officers called for a medic and there was soon a small crowd that formed around him. A field dressing was applied and he was given a stimpak by a police medic. He then felt himself get lifted onto a stretcher and carried back in the direction of the station.

As the healing effects of the stimpak began to seep in William could not help but wonder why it couldn't have been Ellis who got hit. There was a upside to being shot though, he could see it on the headlines: Hero of the Warren takes bullet to stop criminal!. The bullet had not hit anything vital so with the miraculous powers of the stimpak by the time he returned to the station front lobby he felt well enough to stand back up.

He supported himself on a nearby officer and made one last announcement to the crowd before withdrawing the rest of his people back into the station. "No need for all of you good people to worry! As long as the Warren needs me I will never leave! The debate continues as scheduled!" The crowd gave off a small cheer at this and finally started to scatter.

The people of the Warren had scarcely seen so much excitement in one day and many of them simply wanted to go home to rest before coming out to watch the debate. William did not wait to see if Ellis had any further speeches to make and instead began to make his way back to his office.

"Mr. Collins! I need you to find that ghoul and bring him up to my office, I feel I am too weak to continue outside." In truth William simply had enough of the dangerous streets. He had only been outdoors for less than an hour and already he had gotten hit by a stray bullet. It was an experience that he did not want to repeat again. If we didn't have any stimpaks I could have very well died! A lesser man in his position would not have been able the afford such rare pre-war medicine. He made his way back to his office slowly with the help of a doctor and dropped himself back down on his chair. He would have to go back out for the debate within a few hours and he needed every bit of his strength to make it through.

The doctors around him began a more thorough health inspection on him as he quickly changed out his bloodied up suit to another clean set. Johnny seemed like a smart kid, he could handle the ghoul with sensitivity he was sure. All the activity around him was starting to make him feel very uncomfortable so he dismissed all but one doctor who would stay and make sure he didn't strain himself too much.

He filled up another cup of tea for himself to calm his nerves. Now lets hope this ghoul has some good news for me. The day's publicity stunts had probably gone well but I still need some good evidence to connect that bastard Ellis with the murders.

As the commotion settles down Ellis ponders how best to respond to the situation. William had been shot. He was not entirely sure how he felt about it.

Only a day ago he had wished the man dead...but he had grown to grudgingly respect him to some degree. He had rolled with the punches well and would no doubt use his wound to his advantage. And he hadn't really expected death to come so close.

Ellis makes a decision at this point. Regardless of how William might portray it he is going to step up security. For too long he has allowed William to control the policing within The Warren and today's events illustrate what mistake that had been.

He pulls some random soldier, Evans as it happens, into his office and tells him to spread the word. The Warren is hereby under martial law. The Warren Military will secure the streets, a curfew shall be set in place, and he will have his own military forces secure the gates to assure no unwanted visitors make it in.

If that little assassin ***** hasn't made it out yet he won't be getting out.

"Evans was it?"

"Sir, yes sir."

"I want you to go to William first and let him know what is happening. He won't like it but it's the way it is. I'm going to the gates myself to assure that our guards are on the lookout. There's a murderer on the loose in The Warren son, and he will be brought to justice."

"Yes sir."

The young soldier makes his way to the Warren Police offices while Ellis ventures with a contingent of soldiers to the gate of The Warren. Anyone leaving will be questioned, anyone attempting to enter will either be sent back or, on his whim, held for interrogation.

It is time order was brought to The Warren, by hook or by crook.

OOC: zerker the warren how you described "slums" the warren is not like that while it may be recovering from war it is far from slums

Zoey took Mirvins hand, well metal claw and shook. If there was one thing she had learnt that anything or anyone can value human life and Mirvin, well he was trying. Before Zoey could speak to Kathy and more importantley Damien they left, Zoey didn't trust him. She also made a mental note to speak to Kathy later as she hadn't awnsered her earlier question, infact she needed to fill everyone in on what had happened at the Warren, everyone was following her orders without asking in detail what had happened, Zoey couldn't expect them to follow her without knowing what had happened. Zoey was good at reading people most of the time and she could tell Kathy did not like the Brahmin meat, maybe she was one of the few out there who still depended on pre war food

"Sarah, can you go borrow one of the tribe Brahmin? And remind menwe need to retrieve that pre war food from our base, for Kathy."

"no problem" Sarah smiled and walked off, weapon in hand. Sarah held a special place in Zoey's heart, she was a good friend and had stuck with Zoey through the war and Zoey would do her upmost to make sure Sarah never got hurt.

"Harry before you go, I forgot to say what I need found out, mainly if Ellis has hired hired those mercs, what weapons they have and anything else you can find out. Again thank you I appreciate your help." Zoey placed a hand on his shoulder, it appeared he had learnt from Dan's mistakes.

"hey got it" Sarah lightly pushed Zoey's shoulder in a playful way

"awesome let's go" Zoey grabbed her M4 and walked of to their old base with Sarah and the Brahmin.


...

The sun was setting as the two girls approached the old base.

"raiders Zo" Sarah looked through a pair of binoculars

"really? We're gone for one night and they move in, they got our guns" Zoey handed Sarah the L96 strapped across her back

"yep, i'l head up the hill" Sarah took the rifle and headed up the hill

"only fire if necessary, and hey don't miss" Zoey smiled and she heard Sarah laugh. Zoey ran fast and low towards the outskirts of the base, she quickly skirted round the gate to the inside of the fence. Out the corner of her eye she saw a guard raider walking past the building on her right letting go of her rifle she pulled her knife from her boot, picking up speed to a run she dived on the raider as her came round the corner, taking him to the ground she jabbed the knife in his neck and twisted. It was quick and silent. Wiping the knife on his clothes And sheathed it.

Sarah looked through the scope and breathed easy as she saw Zoey take the raider down. Sarah continued to watch as Zoey moved through the base making use of the suppresor on her weapon. Sarah watched as Zoey took down what appeared to be the last raider, as Zory stood
Up Sarah saw a raider sneaking up from a room behind her, breathing steady she took the shot.

Zoey heard a distant crack and turned round to see a raider with a missing face where the bullet had exited his skull.

"you've always got my back" zoey then waved to Sarah to bring the Brahmin into the base.

OOC: To make sure we all are on the same page, and to avoid confusion here is a summary of recent events.


First off the Warren is not a broken down slum, I know I helped contribute to this image myself, but it isn't. From what I have gathered, there is turmoil in the city because their old leader was killed and now these new leaders are in power and people aren't so sure they can trust him. With William still alive it makes it like The Warren has been split into two factions. There is no real fighting, but there's always radicals in groups that could try to make point by using violence. And of course there is always thugs and punks in every city, but it's not like there's war going in the city, it just isn't safe as it use to be. That's what I've gathered, it's been hard to get a good description, if anyone could help me, many thanks.

The huge event that is taking place in The Warren is right outside William's Administration Building. Cain(Yttrium) and Stane(Smiley) got into a fight that started off with some racism on Stane's part. William(Norman) comes out and tries defending Cain, it ends with a Meixcan Standoff between Cain and Stane.

Then Ellis(Smiley) comes out to solve the problem and debate with William, and surprises everyone by saying he would turn Stane in to the Warren Police Force(WPF).

Then Damien(Zerker)killed a man that was trying to harm because he wanted vengeance on the killing of one of his friends. By this time Kathy(Tick) had sneaked over to Cain's side unknown to everyone. William and Ellis called their forces(Police and Military) and had them chase the man. Johnny(Ant)is following Ellis's small patrol of men.

Damien fires into the crowd that is chasing him and wounds William in the arm. He manages to get away from them and is now presumably hiding in the city, though we're unsure, and Ellis has now forced The Warren into martial law and is trying to close all exits, no entering or leaving until the man is caught.

William is now recovering from his wound in the safety in of his office. He had been healed by a stimpack, but is still tired and is waiting fro Johnny to bring him Cain or the info Cain had. He has a debate with Ellis in a couple hours.

Zoey, Dan, and Strangelove are in entirely separates places. Zoey and Dan are invading an old base and Strangelove seems to be trying to find the Warren.

That is what is happening, yes?

OOC: I couldn't have better said it better myself.

Sounds about right.

I'm not sure if Marx was supposed to be hiding in the town though, I think he was supposed to be on his way out.

OOC: That's why I added presumably cause it's Zerker's character and we really don't know. I'm going to turn this into a long overdue IC soon...

OOC: He's leaving right now...and I can't post because it's almost Christmas.

~Cain Johnson~

I put down my gun, though I was still was ready to blow that bigot's face off. But it seems like that would do no good to help my friends reputation. When William came out, he helped me with no hesitation and so I know I put my lot in with the right guys.

Then this guy named Ellis came out, I know him cause Zoey said he was one of the leaders and had killed Samuel and her other friends. She made it out like he was a cold blooded murder, but he seemed quite reasonable, unlike his friend.

I was very surprised when he said he would turn Stane in, and quickly realized he was trying to impress the crowd that was growing. He was smart and I was afraid for William until he opened his mouth and smoothly countered.

I felt like I should pat him on the back, but I doubt he would like the idea of rotting flesh hitting him, so I decided against it. Just then some shots rang out, commotion ensued people began to move away and I tried to lean around the crowd to see what was going on. I felt hand on my shoulder just as I saw Marx flee around the corner.

“You okay buddy? What went on there?”

I nearly jumped out of what was left of my skin, my nerves were already wired and I clutched my rifle. I slowly realized it was just Kathy.

“Jesus Christ, girl. You scared me half to death,”

I then broke into laughing, I was already half dead anyway because I was a ghoul. I looked up, despite sounding friendly, she looked royally pissed off.

“It was just some bigot, trying to press my buttons. The real issue is what happened with our friend Marx?”

I was going to ask her what was wrong, but more gunshots rung out and there is a lot of shouting.

“I love that he is distracting them, but how good of an idea is it?”

I waited, eyes darting left and right. Soon , William and his group of officers came rushing into his office, there was a lot of blood on William. I wanted to go up and ask what happened, but I knew that was a bad idea considering the circumstances. I was willing to wait all night to talk to him, I had a mission to do and I would get it done.

“So, I can tell something is wrong. So what happened to you?”

I pulled up my rifle as I saw one of Ellis's men walking to the Administration Office, I put it down once I deemed that the one man was probably not going to be a threat. As I saw him go into the building, I saw many other military like men, running towards the entrance of the Warren. With the Marx incident I already had a hint of what was going on.

“[censored], Kathy. Their probably going to close the gates to keep that Marx fellow in. If you had what Zoey wanted you better leave quick if you want to leave at all. I got to stay here and wait for William,”

I said quietly in case anybody was listening. I was afraid I would get trapped in this city, but it was a risk I was willing to take.

OOC: Happy Holidays everyone! And we understand Zerker, have fun.

--Katherine Adler
The Warren

There was a slight, possibly even imperceptible jolt that ran through her body at Cain's abrupt reaction-in all her worries and alertness, she had forgotten how easy it was to act like a ghost in her current position. Someone trying to be as natural in behavior and as unnoticeable as she, well they could be nearly invisible-even without stealthboys-and it was easy to spook people unless one made some more obvious noise first. The response hadn't caught the brunette entirely off guard, but she hadn't been thinking about the possibility-and she was somewhat tense as it was.

Nonetheless, the followed laughter and rather black comedy pried a short half-smile of amusemant, "Sorry 'bout that."

Her voice continued to stay at a low volume, intentionally incomprehensible to any others. It wasn't difficult, many were focusing on the other issue, not on a hardly seen, typical looking Great War survivor. Plus, the din created by all the noise-and the fact officials were up front and not in her or Johnson's proximity-was a bonus.

"Good news to hear, I was worried the a** hole actually tried something serious." Of course, Cain could probably handle himself pretty well-he had survived all these years, after all. That fact mattered a lot more than the fact that he was a ghoul, or the fact that he was in a wheelchair. He was a human cockroach, just like the rest of them, in the best sense of the phrase possible. Nuclear bombs had tried to fry him, radiation had tried to poison him, some a** holes had tried to remove his legs-and he was still kickin'. If that didn't earn a man credit, Kathy didn't know what the [censored] did. Still, the Warren was a danger-especially when Cain was very possibly surrounded by a population filled with discrimination. And, considering the girl couldn't spot another ghoul around whenever she glanced about, he was a very obvious and very easy target-ignoring his own abilities at self defense. Which most would.

"Oh-Marxy, don't get me started on that frickin', arrogant moron. You know how he's 'distracting' them? Don't know if ya heard us earlier, but he begrudgingly agreed to not use his gun on frickin' impulse-while making a very horribly masked threat toward either my health or my life, and to be quiet about this. Since, ya know, we don't want this place under strict, impossible-to-pass security before everything. But then he sees a couple of really stupid, inexperienced guys running up to him with sticks and knives-and brilliant ol' Marxy decides to go overkill and shoot one in the head. Couldn't just disarm them and push them away-that'd be too frickin' simple and easy, and quiet. How that man's alive, I don't know-maybe he's not in highly populated areas usually and just likes shootin' everything he sees. I don't trust him either way, though-the fact he's so trigger happy just makes 'im worse."

While she spoke quietly, the entire, raging explanation was harshly underscored by spite and disgruntlement, which compounded to her current stresses a bit. Kathy had made no attempt, on that subject, to restrain her emotions-aside from ensuring it didn't fall upon undesirable ears. Having, by now, watching the general area in as normal of a way as possible-as William appeared to have been shot by Marx-, she forcefully placated the anger-trying to focus on the issues and maintaining their present difficulty, to ensure it wouldn't become any worse, instead of her general, swelling hate and mistrust toward the currently escaping criminal of the Warren. After straightening herself a bit, relaxing what had been raised shoulders, Katherine elaborated on the matter, "I should be fine. I managed to get away, quietly, before anyone could have realized I was anywhere close to 'im. I've got no bruises or anythin' like that, and I decided to take the chance to check up on ya. Nice to see you're without wounds, too....but...I'm not sure how these guys are going to react to Marx-o shootin' people up and then runnin' off like mad."

And so, naturally, a sort of pained-and increasingly furious-expression weighed on her face as Johnson pointed out her fears being actual reality. "[censored]. F*ckin' Marx." One hand pressed against her temples, with her palm in air and facing her forehead, as the wastelander inwardly dealt with a continuously brewing storm. This would be a good time to go on a rampage, or cry, or curse-the third of which being accomplished. The other two either being stupid or uncharacteristic of her. Or maybe both.

Yet, she did act upon a rather uncharacteristic, though different, decision-answering, "Yes, we got what "she," technically just Marxy, wanted. But no, I'll stay here. It can't be smart to just leave ya here on your own-I'd rather not risk being forced to see your corpse the same day I found out you were alive. Or the day after." Among all the ambiguousness of the emotion in her voice-one tone included rung with blatant clarity: determination. Kathy wasn't about to skip back to Notah Camp upon attempts at dissuasion.

The crowd was beginning to stray from the sites that had only minutes ago brought so much ruckus. For a bit, there was a sudden, clever sort of grin that radiated a sort of warm friendliness and lightheartedness, and she muttered to him her idea, "I could be your "niece" when you go and all, eh? Family connections do wonders for excuses." Kathy wasn't certain if she could drag that sort of thing out enough to where she'd be granted access to being present with Cain at the Warren-not once he reached William. That didn't stop her from fully intending on trying, however.

"In any case, we better get this over with real quick, the quicker the better."

OOC: Kind of rushed, kind of everything else. Oh and by the way, he has part of the list Zoey wanted...this is going to be a memory post mostly.
Damien Marx

Trying not to get too much attention, considering an information relay between parts of the Warren would be painfully slow, I kept my head down and exited the Warren. I quickly headed to the campsite where we first met and sat down in a chair, looking at his part of the list, the even piece of paper that he took among the many pieces of paper that comprised the list.

As I kept reading the list over and over again, the only name my attention drew to was "Evelyn Manchester." The girl who kept making me sloppy. I've really gone off the deep end trying to find her. If it were under normal circumstances, I would've easily gone dark, got the list, and left without a trace of my existence there...but I have to find her, for the promise if for anything else.

***
- October 21st 2077

"Evie...I'll be gone in two days. The people over at Vegas are running the calculations again but it's imminent. Either the U.S or China will launch the nukes."
Evelyn looked up at me with the same expression as when I had first met her during the raid on Camp David. Pure fear. "Dem..." She said, using my nickname. "Are you going to be okay in Wichita?"

I nodded, certain of my family's survival. The bunker was built by the best engineers and scientists of the Zodiacs, it was built to weather a direct nuclear impact. But my concern was for Evie, who had to use a private bunker in Kansas. "I'll be alright. The scientists of the Zodiacs all agree that the rad levels should clear up enough in a year or two. We'll exit then at the same time using a relay beacon and meet at the theater near here. Who knows who'll occupy it but just...just stay alive."

We split after a hug and I rode in the limo, backed by helicopters, a convoy, and even two tanks. I looked out the window at my parent's car behind me and realized we were the only ones in this convoy who would survive the bombs."

***

"At the theater near here...the Warren...where are you Evie..." I whispered to myself, falling into a trance, remembering every moment we shared together from the attack on Camp David to the last hour of talk we had before the bombs dropped.

Johnny Collins

The man with the uzi was gone, he had sprayed a small barrage on the wall of military enforcers/police officers, and it was behind their wall of flak jackets Johnny stayed until the bullets stopped shooting. Once the bullets stopped, the man ran away however, and quick too because both Ellis' and William's men were hot on his tail. John looked behind him, noticing there was a small commotion and the crowd had shifted. It was William, and he was grounded and bleeding.

In the short time Johnny had interacted with William ha had begun to like him, so the sight of him laying on the ground clutching a new wide open flesh wound made his heart drop for the second time, and for to totally opposite reasons. If Johnny had been more of a stranger to pain and warfare, he probably would have went into a rage, but he'd seen many rendered to floor decoration for the dusty gravel as their lives were snatched from them. Some he'd seen die before they even hit the ground. Luckily, William didn't die, another police officer supplied him with a stimpack injection, then gave him his shoulder as they trudged towards the Administrative Office. Even while in distress, he kept a level head though, still muttering sweet reassurances to the remaining crowd through gnashed teeth and a weak grimace.

"Mr. Collins! I need you to find that ghoul and bring him up to my office, I feel I am too weak to continue outside."

John didn't need to be told twice. He searched for the wheelchair bound thing, finding him quickly with another woman. A slightly strange looking woman at that. Although she was definitely beautiful, she had more bulk to her than the average lady, and that was without taking into consideration the large weapon she bore in her hands. He could tell she was a wastelander due to her slightly off-put chocolate ragged hair and somewhat furrowed eyebrows, but behind her tired face was pure elegance. He walked up to them, nodding quickly at her before addressing the sickly looking man.

"Mr. Williams would like for me to take you to his office. You want me to wheel you or can you take it from here?"

~Cain Johnson~

"I'll stay here. It can't be smart to just leave ya here on your own-I'd rather not risk being forced to see your corpse the same day I found out you were alive. Or the day after,"

I chuckled,

"Well, I'm half-way there already,"

I loved making jokes at my own expense and grim situation. It was really the only way I could deal with it, to laugh at it.

"I could be your "niece" when you go and all, eh? Family connections do wonders for excuses."

I nodded,

"Plus, with my lack of, what do you call it? Oh yeah, a face. It would be harder for them to prove we were lying."

"In any case, we better get this over with real quick, the quicker the better," she said, her voice as low as it began as. She was good at keeping quite...I should keep that in my mind, she could have easily killed me back there when she put her hand on my shoulder. I doubted she would do that, she was too warm and friendly. Still, it's best to know who you do not want as your enemies.

"Don't worry about that, looks like someone is coming for us."

A watched as a young man with dark skin approached use, giving Kathy a nod.


"Mr. Williams would like for me to take you to his office. You want me to wheel you or can you take it from here?"

"No thank you sir, I got to keep in shape somehow. I'll wheel myself," I nodded to Kathy,

"Can I bring my niece with me? She would be useful to Mr. Williams, I assure you."

I gestured for him to lead the way.