The Lost and the Desperate

Clara stood with her rifle at the ready as the shadow grew closer with every beat of her heart in her ears, Who was the shadow? A Biter? A bandit? She didn't know. What she did know however is that she already lost two today and she would die before she saw that number go up to three. "Who. Are. You!" she shouted in a mix of anger, frustration and fear as she shadow loomed just outside the door, the dark mass creeping along the side wall across from the door, Seconds felt like minutes as she waited for a response, the rifle in her hands trembled slightly and Clara was finding it increasingly hard to hold back the tears from the recent loss, Her vision had begun to be blurred ever so slightly by the fresh pools of tears that had collected in the corners of her eyes.

A few tense moments later a man, Dressed very awkwardly in Clara's eyes came through the door, his greeting, matching his looks was, to say the least. Tightening her grip on her AMBI she moved her finger onto the trigger before she spoke. "Hobbits? This isn't Lord of The Rings or somethin man..." she said, shaking her head, feeling a brief chuckle find it's way through her sadness. "Who are you? What do you want?" she asked, keeping the gun pointed towards the strange man in the doorway. Who are you? What do you want? Leave! Go away! She shouted in her mind, Clara felt a small hand cling to her shirt before speaking again. "Whatdoyawant?"

Emotions flooded through the young girl from the mountains, Her heart pounded in her ears as she waited the mans response, taking note to always watch the mans hand that gripped the arrow in his bow. Why can't things just go back to the way they were.. Mom... Please? Anyone? She said internally, Making sure to keep Emmi behind her at all times Clara spoke again. "Look... Man... We Don't want anymore bloodshed..." she said before slightly adjusting to hide her sister. "We already lost too much ya see.."

Keeping her weapon trained on the mans head as he talked Clara listened to his explanation, Not surprising he came for the same reason they had originally stopped. "You need .300?" she asked quietly before looking down at the ground for a split second, There was a second Petra in the storage room across the way that they had planned on snagging on their way out before things went down hill and so Clara's mother had her round up all the .300 she could find and stuff it in her bag. "I sorta need it too." She added shyly, her usual cheery self had seemed to huddle in a corner of her mind and evade her at all costs at the moment and so her voice carried the to tone of distrust instead.

Letting a sigh make it's way through the air Clara let her bag fall from her shoulder, "You have a Petra as well huh? I was gonna snag the one in the other room before..." she cut short before saying it, only letting the words flow through her mind before ma and Anna died... With another sigh of frustration Clara lowered her weapon, if he hadn't shot by now then he probably wasn't going to, "How much did you hear?" she asked, defeat carried in her voice as she let the Recce's barrel face the ground while she gripped the handle and barrel tightly in her hands. Emmi poked her head out from behind her sister and looked up at the man. "What's your name pal?" she asked curiously as she wiped a tear from her eye. Clara's hand instantly swung to tell her to get back behind her before returning her gaze to the man. "What Is your name by the way man?" she asked before pausing to let him answer.

A few more moments would pass before she spoke again, another sigh echoed off the walls. "You're right man, We're lost... I know that, she knows that. Heck, even they know that." She finished as she pointed towards the adult and child corpse through the door. "If they were still here..." Letting the Recce rest back on her shoulder Clara waited for the man to lower his weapon before moving to reveal her sister. "You need .300, I need .300. We need help, You seem willing to help. Maybe.." Clara cut as she took a deep breath. "Maybe we can help each other man." Unzipping her bag she brandished one of the boxes of ammo. "Here." she said as she held it out. "Halfling has gift." she attempted a joke in return, it didn't help her mood by any stretch of the imagination but she still hopped that it would rise a chuckle out of the man. Standing as she waited for the man to respond she hopped that he'd not point his weapon at them again.

Watching the man as she lowered her rifle Clara kept her eyes glued to the mans bow as it slowly began to be lowered as well. Letting a sigh of relief come from her lips she moved to allow the man to see who her companion was before handing the box of ammo to him as a peace offering of sorts. "They're those fancy ones that punch through stuff." she said, sorrow clear in her tone, "Take'm, You're probably a better shot than me anyway.." she sighed before moving to sit back down against the wall of the office, Emmi following close behind as the man began to answer the barrage of questions they had previously thrown his way. 

Wiping the beginning of tears that had formed in her eyes Clara listened as the man introduced himself, that his name was Aaron and that she needed to learn when to shut her mouth, Although she knew that would never happen. As the man continued to speak she eyed him cautiously as she felt her sisters hand grip her's. With a sigh and a shake of the head Clara's eyes met the ground for a moment before she spoke, before she could Aaron made another Lord of the Rings reference which Clara did indeed find some enjoyment in, all be it very little at the current moment she would be lying if she said it didn't make the sadness disappear, if only for a moment. "It's Clara, The one and only!" she said in an attempt at a cheery call, it failed though and her cheer only grew to a small sigh. "Yea, That didn't work.. Anyway man, You ain't aiming weapons at us again and I'm not seein my ma and pa, so I ain't dead so I guess I'll tell ya our names as well. Clara, This is Emmi.. My little sister." she said as she moved her gaze to meet the mans. A pause engulfed them for a moment as she kept her eye on the bow in the mans hand, If she hadn't just lost her last remaining parental figure she would be barraging him with questions and requests on teaching her about it, but she didn't even feel like moving, let alone talking right now. The knot in her throat had begun to form again as she looked through the door and saw the four feet sticking out from the other room. Another sigh pierced the air.


As she sat there looking through the door Clara tried to think of the good times, tried her best to throw the feelings she was feeling deep back into the depths of her mind but every attempt was failing horribly. What was she gonna do now? What was she gonna do for Emmi? What about this guy? Is he good? He's good right? The internal rambling and panic was cut by the man's voice again, He had asked if they were hungry. "Food? I don't know... I mean. No... Not really.." she muttered, her stomach however showed her lie by emitting a low growl followed by her hands meeting her midsection. "Hush..." she muttered, From her right Emmi looked up at her as her own stomach growled, catching what her sister was doing she turned to the man. "Yea.. We're fine." The duo sat eyeing the newly brandished food, they're mouths may be saying no but everything else about them screamed Food? Give me! Give me!  

Answering the man's explanation of his name with her own and her sister's Clara leaned her head back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling, the few tears that had been pooling in her tear ducts ran down her cheeks as she eyed the specs of dirt and grim that clung to the interior of the small office space, the paint had begun to peal at points due to lack of upkeep and the grim had settled in well over the last year of being unused. Letting another sigh leave her throat she looked back at the man as he spoke and held the bags of food towards them, The knot in her throat had formed again and she felt like breaking into tears but her stomach won the battle. Taking the bags from the man she wiped her face once again before eyeing the food the baggies contained. "This... This rabbit isn't it?" she asked, curiosity mixing in her voice. "This.. This stuff was the bomb." she said as she recalled the fond memories of curing and cooking some with her father a few times over the years. Handing the other baggie to her sister she opened her baggy and popped one of the pieces of jerky into her mouth. Letting the taste of the rabbit fill her mouth it queued the memories of her family before the end, the trips she went on with her father, cooking the meat with her mother after they returned and eating with them all filled her mind, tears flowed freely as she sat there and chewed on that solitary piece of Rabbit Jerky.

As she swallowed the last bit of the first piece she looked over at her sister who had sat her bag nearby and not touched it. "Dad..." she muttered just loud enough for Clara to hear, Emmi seemed to be having the opposite reaction to what the food was, unlike her older sister that savored in the memories, Emmi wanted nothing to do with them, Remembering was one of the hardest things for her, remembering the good times, before the dead tried to eat you and people tried to kill you for supplies. "I'll.. I'll eat it later.." she muttered as she looked back up at Aaron. Clara eyed her younger sister as she stuffed another piece of jerky into her mouth, Tears still flowing openly as she swallowed once again. "Don't... Don't be like that Em..." she said as she wiped her face with her sleeve. Clara tried her best to hold on to the good feelings that had been stirred up inside her but it eventually crashed for her as well. Starting with a soft whimper Clara hid her face as she began to weep, paying no mind to the man that towered above them near the doorway as the fact that all of her family, everyone except for Emmi who was crying next to her was now gone, never to return. "Why now man.... Why?" she muttered into her sleeve, feeling the fabric rub against her cheeks as she let the bag of jerky fall to the floor beside her. "Dad, Anna and you too?" She wasn't speaking to anyone in particular but the room heard her just the same, Emmi had since leaned against her sister and too had shielded her face from the world , although she had kept her crying to a soft Whimper. 

Raising her gaze to Aaron Clara wiped her tears, "So... Sorry man... I.. I..." she said as the sadness overtook her again, "I.. I just don't know anymore... Why? Why can't they go back the way they were?" she asked, Not fully to him but just in general, Asking herself or even the corpses that rested a room away. "Why man....?" she repeated, As much as Clara hated these feeling they were all she could feel, "Is this what we are now? Are we always... just... Gonna die?" she asked, Deep down she knew that what she was saying wasn't true and was the exact opposite of what her younger sister should be hearing but it's all she could think, all she could say. Get a hold of yourself... Stop, bottle it up, bottle it up! She shouted to herself, but nothing helped....

Clara felt the tears, Felt the pain in her chest, felt the throbbing urge to just curl into a ball and die. The feeling burned in her mind and heart as she still hid her face in her sleeve. "You know man, I try. I try, and I try, and I try to keep everyone smiling but why? Why now.." she said as she raised her tear stained face to meet the mans. Looking intently into his eyes as her sister stayed close by, her face turned the other way as she wanted to avoid the subject altogether. A silence overtook them for a moment as the man seemed to be attempting to think of something to say which Clara tilted her head in a slight curious manner in response.

As the man began to speak about how it's all about the impression that you leave behind, no matter how long you're around. The words struck a cord with Clara, He was right, what kind of example was she making for Emmi in her state? A bad one, that's what. As she wiped the tears from her eyes and forced a smile she couldn't help but chuckle in a manner that still sounded as if sadness was mixed in as the man finished his sudo speech. "You...You were a huge nerd before this... Weren't you man?" she said as another chuckle made it's way out. Somehow, the speech accompanied with the man's outward appearance had gotten to her, he was right. As much as it hurt to see the last of her parents and her other younger sister go, and as much trouble she was going to have getting fully over the loss he was right, If it wasn't for her father she wouldn't have been able to help them live for the last year and a half, If it wasn't for her mother she wouldn't have ever become the goofy girl she usually was. Wiping the remaining tears from her face she tried her best to sit up and regain her composure as her younger sister still faced the opposite wall. "You know man, That may have been the nerdiest speech I've ever heard but you're right, I need to keep looking at the good things, I mean I still got Emmi to look after and I don't think we've run into a bandit that tried to cheer us up before killing us before so I don't think ya are one of those so good going." She said as she managed to shove the last bit of sorrow back in her mind, it wasn't gone, It was never gone, but the mans words had a big enough impact on her that she managed to see the big picture again, the good things that had come out of it.

Standing to her feet she watched as the man shrunk, He was still taller, but not as tall as before. "You gotta teach me how to use that man, Bow and arrow? I'd be like Clara of the woods, Ooh ooh ooh, or! Or like ' Huntress Clara I mean as much as I like my rifle, And as much as I like the sound of throwing .300 down range nothin beats Goin full on Metal Gear and channeling my inner Snake. You know, if he was a sixteen year old girl living in Pennsylvania" she joked as she eyed the bow and arrows, as she tried to regain her usual way of speaking she couldn't help but glue her eyes to the man, the more she looked the more he looked interesting, The more she wanted to speak to him and get to know him.

Emmi made her way to her feet as well but still leaned against the wall, both bags of rabbit jerky in her hand as she gripped them tightly. "They're all gone..." she muttered low enough that no one could hear. As her sister went on about how cool it must feel to be 'as sneaky as a snake.' she kept quiet, trying her best to hold the feelings of dread and sadness from overtaking her again she looked to her older sister, She envied her greatly, her ability to so easily shove her feelings deep down and return to her normal self at a moments notice. "Clara.. What we do now?" she said as she watched Clara turn to face her again. "Where? Well, Not sure.... We. We could go back home, it's only across town. I think." she said with an unsure chuckle. In reality they had moved slightly out of town in a direction that she hadn't been in years leading to Clara being unsure as to where the side of town was. "I got it, Mr. Ranger here should know! Right Aaron the ranger man?"

Clara waited for the mans answer with baited breath, shoving back the few feelings of wanting to sob to the back of her mind she watched as the man eyed his bow and smiled at her Metal Gear reference. It wasn't a secret that she was and always had been the true nerd of her family, taking after her mother in more ways than one in that regard. As he began to speak Clara couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the mans explanation of his speech he had previously given, It seemed that his favorite thing to reference was LOTR which was just fine in her mind, it had always been one that she liked and thus knew pretty well so she understood a lot of what he was meaning. "I guess when you put it that way man, We ain't got any ring to rule them all or nothin though.." she sighed before glancing thru the door once more. "That be the best! You'd really make me one?" she cheered as she refocused on the mans form.

Emmi had shyed away from the duo, away from the seemingly happy two chatting on and on about something they both called "Lord of the Rings", She figured it was one of the movies her sister always rambled on about to her mother,lett she could always care less about what they discussed when it came to that and was completely lost on what her two present company were meaning, She toned them out and turned inward, letting her thoughts drift to happier times, before the dead walked the earth, before both her parents and one of her sisters lay dead. letting a sigh escape her lips she leaned against the wall as the scene drove on.

"You'd really make me one man?!" Clara exclaimed again, the joy showing through the few hints of sorrow that she was still failing to hide fully, "Like, for real? Are you trying to make me smile from ear to ear or somethin? My own bow.. Wow." she said, the smile on her face growing. "I uhh, I'd be up for that, totally." she said, trying to act mature after her literal jump for joy, clearing her throat as she kept the same broad smile across her face, "I'd totally be up for that man. I. I want my rifle in there still though, that ain't changin." she said not forgetting the entire reason that they had stuck around the place so long in the first place, the Petra. "I don't think Snake would be usin a bow all the time, you know man? That .300 is pretty narly for long range you know. You add a silencer on top of that, Ouch." She said with the face of pain being inflicted. "Anyway man, you said there's that place up north? Cabins? I'd love that!, right Emmi?" she said before turning to her sister. A long stare was her answer, nothing but silence as the sadness shown brightly on the younger girls face. "E-M-M-I?! Cabin, Food, safety, sound good?" she repeated, but again, Silence and a stare of sadness was her only answer. The young girl pushed off the wall of the building and made her way to her sister, clinging to her shirt as she drew close, "Don't worry Em, I'm still here you know, Metal Gear Clara! Eeeh, Although I ain't no hulking robot that you can ride in or nothin I'll protect ya just the same, Whatdoyasay? Wanna go?"

A long pause would go by before Emmi would answer, Not with words or a noise but in a small nod of her head. Gripping the bags tightly in her hand Emmi leaned into her sister and turned her eyes to the man, "Don't worry Em, We got this." Clara repeated before turning to Aaron once again. "Alright Ranger man, Grab the gun from in there and then, To Morder we go?" she asked after asking him to grab the gun, her sister clinging to her shirt. "I'd go grab it but I don't think thing two here would let me go."