The Mother of All Escapes

[Jav]

James looked down and smiled as Laurelle bandaged him up "Im for real little miss Im alright, just a bump on the head." James said as she bandaged him up and healed him. "But dont give me any laughin juice I still gotta drive to Station square and I dont need to trippin' on the good stuff" he added.
He placed his hand on top of Laurelle's head, her whole head able to fit into his hand unsurprisingly, and ruffled her fur "Thanks for fixin me up though, appreciate it." he said quietly before getting up and just then realizing all the aches and pains in his joints.
"Arrrg...*sigh* this must be what bein an old fart feels like all the time...I never wanna get old, Guess I should probably die young then eh?" he joked to Laurelle while holding his back.

After James straightened himself out he walked back over to the Jav and sprawled out in the driver seat. "man Im for real, when I get home I'm gonna make this car faster and increase it's general performance cuz I dont know about you guys but that was a bit close for comfort."

He turned to the passengers still in the backseat "you guys make it through alrigh.....*and that's when he noticed the claw marks on his head rests*.....oh that's just great....yea...great....no worries I can replace em no problem I guess. *sigh* as long as everyone's alright I guess Im cool with it." he said slightly annoyed.

He turned his eyes to Dan sitting outside on the grass "you dead out there Dan?" he asked jokingly.

[Nail Strafer]

In the distance...the group would notice a car coming towards them, heading towards the city instead of away from it. As it got closer, everyone except Jav would notice it looked very familiar...a GUN truck.

Of course, Nail was too preoccupied with what they'd just been through to pay any real attention. He climbed out of the vehicle...and just took a seat on the curb. Ayecaye did the same thing too...glad to have her feet on solid ground.

[Yolanda Riona]

[Writing style switch just to kick up something new. Somewhat.]

I cleared the Jav as soon as Dan made way for me. I was glad to see he was fine. Ayecaye, too. Nail... Well, okay. He was 'Caye's bro, so I guess I wouldn't want to see him hurt either despite the not-liking-him-at-all matter. It's cool. Really. Still, that left Jav and Laurelle and the bloody windshield had me worried. A lot of things had me worried, to tell the truth.

The first thing that crossed my mind as I stood was 'Man, that sucker hurts!' I guess that swing into the grass had done more to me than I'd initially thought. I hobbled to the side, almost collapsing from the painful, dizzy feeling. Thankfully, I was still in reach of the car. It served as my crutch until I steadied myself. Then, off I went, stumbling here and there. I must have looked like a drunkard. Either way, car stunts were quickly scrawled off my list of bad@#$ things to do. Headaches the size of Angel Island just weren't for me.

When I finally reached Jav, I noticed Laurelle was already there, tending to him. When did she get there? Now that I thought about it, I did recall her scurrying out just before me. Said something about staying where I was and taking deep breaths. Uh, whoops? Oh well. I didn't really care too much at that point. I was more concerned with how Jav was doing... who seemed like he was fine at the moment anyway. No worries, right?

I shuffled over and settled down on the grass next to Dan, finally looking back at the wreckage. My body felt almost like it was filled with a void of emptiness. I know. Weird way to describe it, honestly. Kinda an oxymoron. But it was gone. The entire city. Not even a trace left. Just a giant-!@# crater. I stared at it for a long time, that same feeling of melancholy filling my veins. I heard someone talking behind me, but I wasn't paying attention. My thoughts kept rolling over what I was going to do now. Maybe it was kinda selfish of me, but all things considered, I'd just lost my home, my job, and a colleague and friend.

[Dan Dark]

"Hmm? Oh.. Uh.. ... Yes Jav, I'm dead. Just ignore the fact that I seem to be answering you... it's actually just.. the wind, and your mind playing tricks on you." The fox smirks slightly as he looks back to Jav and responds, joking back. The grin fades as he looks back towards the city, though, and for a long moment he just stares silently. That is, until a thought crosses his mind, causing him to suddenly look down at his waist, and the pouch holding his camera - he'd all but forgotten about it in the chaos previously. Reminded of it now, though, he stares hesitantly, trying to decide what, if anything, to do with it. It's unlikely anyone else would be in position to take pictures of what had happened just yet; he could be the first. And with what appeared to be Sarath's only remaining ship, fleeing, damaged... no one else would be able to get that.

After a few moments further thought, Dan slowly draws his camera, points it towards the retreating ship, and hits the shutter a couple times. 'Would be so much better if I had a better camera, though.. something with an actual zoom lens...' He frowns uncertaintly as he looks to what little remains of the city, then. People will want to know the truth, of course, and they undoubtedly would find out all about it soon enough, with or without him being involved, of course; others will come, and likely go into excessive detail searching the ruins. But at the same time, he can't help but feel uncomfortable with the idea. He wouldn't give the pictures away for free, of course... but, considering what happened.. he'd feel guilty profiting from it. Not when so many people lost so much here.

But.. perhaps there could be an alternative... He frowns, thinking, then slowly nods to himself and raises the camera again, to take a few pcitures of the city. Perhaps he could just send the main pictures to all the major networks, and not ask anything for them, but perhaps try to get a bit for the ones of the ship. Something like that could work... it's an option for him to consider, at least.

For now, though, he lowers the camera and slips it away, and quietly returns to settle down on the grass by Jodie.

[Laurelle]

Laurelle smiles at Jav, "It's good to see you're ok, but take it easy. All of you, take it easy for a while. We really could use getting back to Camna at some point though, she must be worried sick." At best- flits across her mind but she doesn't want to say it. Sinking onto the grassy patch, she begins to take her own advice, attempting to come to terms with the shock and trauma done to mind and body.

[Nail Strafer]

The GUN truck continued approaching and paused at the crater. Then it drove around the crater towards the group. As the vehicle got close, a familiar purple fox stepped out. Canma noticed a couple newcomers with them…a fox that she figured was Nail’s sis…and a human.

She shivered a little bit. Now, she had promised Nail that she’d abandoned F4 for good…but old habits die hard. So, as she walked towards them, she looked at all the furries while purposefully ignoring Jav. If she couldn’t keep a straight face while acknowledging him, best to pretend he wasn’t there then. Something like that ‘if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all’ pearl of wisdom.

She’d expected to be cheerful, seeing them all safe again. But that city behind they…it was just too big a disaster to ignore. Canma believed it would be better for them to just get out of here, and sort through the mess later. She didn’t want to stay around here much longer. Who knew what else the aliens had left to throw at them?

Nail looked up to see her coming…then did a double take, like he’d just seen a ghost. The gray fox leaped up, totally surprised by Canma’s appearance. “Canma…what are you doing here? I thought…you were still by the tunnel?”

“Well... I just had a feeling…” Canma mused. “I had this feeling that you’d found her and you were on the way out…and something may have forced you to take a different way. In any case…I thought I’d go out on the highway, because I’d think it’d be the ideal escape route…especially when I noticed the trouble in the sky with one of those spaceships.”

Nail nodded. He wondered if that meant they were in tune somehow…like they really were meant to be together. In any case, he wasn’t going to question how she got here. She was safe with them, and that was the only thing that truly mattered.

He turned around and looked at the massive destruction of the city…letting out a sigh. He knew he should be saying something like, ‘Our home…’ But it never really felt like home to Nail. He spent hardly any time around there since he was always off on some mission. But it was a very different story for Ayecaye. Tears welled up in her eyes. All those people that lived there…that she’d grown up with… How many were dead? Where were the ones that were still alive? The sheer volume of the destruction was impossible for her to comprehend. She just sat there silently, at a loss for words and unable to move.

“Maybe…we should get moving…” Canma slowly said. “I’d just like to be somewhere safer, assuming the aliens are planning something else…”

[Jav]

James sat silently smiling as he watched the others outside the car talking and coming to grips with what had just happened. James was renowned for putting on the easy going tough guy act but deep down his heart was aching for those who had just lost their lives in probably what will be called one of the most horrific events in modern history. Other attacks worldwide that he knew of paled in comparison to this. Millions of people had just been slaughtered mercilessly in cold blood for no appearant reason.

James suddenly raised his hand to his face as he felt something wet trickle down his face. He ran his fingers across his face and pulled them back into view to reveal indeed they were what he thought they were. "tears.." he said silently to himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before whiping his face with his shirt. It had been a long time since he had shed tears but somehow it felt good to do so. But even so, he didnt wanna do it in front of his new friends...he didnt wanna seem weak in their eyes now that their survival was a certainty.

James' cell phone, now in the back seat somehow, began ringing with it's "It's my life" ringtone which meant it was Jordan calling him. James practically hurled himself into the back of the car snatching the cellphone up and answering it. "hello? Jordan?" he asked.

"James...thank god you're alive, I've been trying to call you the past 15 minutes...I thought that maybe you'd been killed when Capitol went." Jordan said.

James was so glad to hear Jordan's voice after all of this "are Carrie and Danny okay?" was the only thing he could manage out as he hid his face behind the drivers seat as the tears threatened to fall again.

"Yea, they're fine they're right here with me. Station Square made it through fine. The invaders never showed up" Jordan responded.

James smiled from ear to ear as a few tears rolled down his cheeck "t..that's good t..to know Jordan" he said trying his best to hold off a flood of emotion. He'd grown very attached to Carrie, Danny, and Jordan over this last year. They were the closest thing he had to family now and his first real friends in nearly a decade. The thought of losing them was...unthinkable.

"James?...are you okay?" Jordan asked. "I'll call you back in a bit..tell the lil' dudes that Im okay and I'll be home soon" he said as he hung the cell phone up not giving Jordan the chance to protest. He quickly whiped his face for a second time and put on his cool face before crawling back out of the car.

"I just got a call from my folks, they're all alright. Appearantly Station square is still there...they never attacked it. I dont know about Radical city or other regions...I didn't have the chance to ask before the cell phone cut out on me" he lied.

He popped the hood of the car and began inspecting the engine and the rest of the vehicle top to bottom. "I really hope that this thing will still run after what I just demanded of it. I dont know many cars that can take a 200 mile per hour beating like that and drive away from it without a serious overhaul" he said to noone in particular.

[Yolanda Riona]

I'd been sitting quietly in the grass for a while when I noticed the G.U.N. jeep pull up. Cammy or whatever her name was hopped out to greet her husband. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched them talk. My interest in their conversation quickly diminished though, and I soon turned my attention to Jav. Now that I thought about it, the situation was almost like deja vu. Only this time, Jav had saved the rest of the gang. Looks like I owed him twice as much now. The time before was when he'd been with Rios.

Heaving myself back onto my feet, I hobbled over to Jav, peering curiously at his car. Or at least trying to appear quizzical. Technology and me never much got along. Dromar could attest to that. Perhaps it was moreso just to keep my mind off the destroyed city. If even for just a moment.

"So, how does it look? Ya think it'll still run?"

Guilt crept into my gut as I remembered what the headrests looked like. We certainly hadn't made Jav's life any easier, even if it was accidental.

[Dan Dark]

Dan looks up from his spot in the grass as the GUN truck stops and Canma gets out, and offers a weak smile in her direction, glad to see she's alright, but remains silent. He doesn't really have anything to add, and is still in shock from what happened.

At Canma's suggestion that they get moving, the fox sits up and looks back to them again, nodding slightly, but not looking convinced. "Yeah.. maybe... Couldn't hurt.. Though.. they didn't seem to fare any better than we did.." He motions towards the sky, now empty, and towards where the one remaining ship had fled.

[Laurelle]

"Right then, it's everyone back into the car, if she's ok? Were you James? I think you were... Right?" Laurelle smiles up at the human, hoping that his injuries are feeling a little easier, and that the car is doing ok, because she knows she can't do a thing about it if it's not! Looking around, at the strangely empty horizon, and gaping holes in so many people's lives, Laurelle can't help but suppress a shudder. "Let's leave, as soon as we can." She says, so quietly, perhaps noone else will even believe their ears. She's all too aware that many people are dead, many many people, and what might have become of other cities and places? She's desperate to get to a city or a town with TV or phones working, to affirm that her mother, and sisiters are safe. Her brothers, icy fear grips her, are probably gone. Surely they would have flown out of their home towards danger, taking their braver sisters with them, called by their impetuous brave natures to help others, to fight and to overcome? Just thinking about this forces her to study a small section of the car minutely, mentally pushing back her tears controlling herself, but a rogue thought slips through, more urgent than the others... What of her? What do they think has happened to her? In the midst of all the turmoil, perhaps her family is unnecessarily wasting time and energy worrying about her, when she's simply shaken and bruised, unimaginably lucky.