Forums » General Roleplay » On the Wings of Freedom: 1x1

"You think?" Erasai said, frowning when Alexis mentioned her dragging her into all of this. Maybe if she had minded her own business, they wouldn't be nearly in this big of a mess. But, she supposed a job was a job, and she had her reasons. She would just sigh after that and walk with the blond.

She looked to her companion though, when she mentioned her gym teacher. "Oh, Mr. Sanders was it? No, I didn't have him, but my friend, Sierra did, and she would talk about him all the time. Saying how much of a perv he was, and everything like that. I had half the mind to tell another teacher, or even the superintendent about him, but, I thought it was none of my business. I didn't want to cause trouble, you know?"

She stopped for a moment, and pulled a hair tie from her wrist, and fixed her hair into a ponytail. It had grown quite quickly over the past day, and was now just to her shoulders.

"Yes, well," Alexis said, feeling as if the change in subject was necessary since she didn't want to be blamed for all this, "I actually caught him in the act during my first day there. The time when we first met. I didn't have a gym uniform until the middle of the class so I went back to the locker room to change. I saw another girl there. Natalie, I think was her name. She was getting changed, too. Or so I thought. I didn't think too much of it until I saw the coach leave the locker room before her. This was before I knew who he was so I didn't think too much on it. But I think they were... you know." She looked around, shifting her eyes as she tried to imply what they were doing.

Erasai was silent after that little story. She just kept walking, and it was hard to tell whether she was going to go along with the conversation so Alexis would be off the hook for the time being. But then, she burst out laughing. "Natalie and that guy... I should have known! She always put herself out there to all the male teachers, it would have been surprising if something didn't happen between them."

She stopped, and almost doubled over. "I think she regretted it though, because not long after you got here, probably after that incident, she became really quiet and awkward around the male teachers. Serves her right, in my opinion. I didn't really like her anyway. Who would want to waste an intimate moment like that with your gym coach?"

Alexis shrugged, feeling some of the weight being lifted when she saw Erasai laugh. She put a hand over her own lips to cover up the small smile. "Some people are like that. I had a comrade once who was also quite open to those kinds of things. She did whatever she liked behind our officer's back. And when she got caught, well, she had her ways of keeping them quiet about it... I didn't like that part about her. I had a few fond memories of her, though. Few. The rest was sort of a bitter rivalry. But, I'm going off on a tangent. Do you have any particular place you want to go while we're walking? We could also just ask the locals about an exit out of here if you want to ditch the other two."

Erasai raised a brow. "You just suggested ditching the other two. Alexis, I'm surprised at you. Yes, of course I want to ditch them! They are only going to complicate things if we keep them around. Especially since both of them want to take us back in some form or another." She let out a sigh. "At least, without out them, we can decide what we are going to do. We haven't really gone over that... but let's talk about that when we do get away from the others."

But, did they really want to go around asking random people in this area how to get out of here? To be honest, if it was really as bad as she was told, two young, teenage girls would be prime targets for many types of people.

"We?" Alexis was surprised as well, "I'm surprised you're still including me when it oomes to deciding where you'll be going. Personally, I don't trust that Wolfe character and Zuzu, even though he has saved our skin, would be leading us to an unknown group of fanatics who think you're some kind of angel. And as much as I like keeping my business at the business level, your survival is now my personal affair. For several reasons."

Alexis continued to trail behind the girl, hands in her pockets and gripping the gun. She felt uneasy walking these streets, just the two of them. She knew she could handle any trained soldier in hand to hand but this was new territory. Gangs would easily outnumber them and two girls did indeed look like easy pickings.

"Maybe Zuzu is on to something. I think I would be a charming Angel. I would play the part well..." she said, sarcasm apparent. She looked up when she could hear some chatter, and noticed a small group of mostly males nearby. They would NOT be the type that they would be inquiring from anytime soon. So Erasai would steer Alexis in another direction to avoid them.

"Let's try and find a shop, or something. Not a sleezy looking one, either..." Though, that might prove to be difficult as she looked around them.

"Well, I wouldn't dismiss the idea, Erasai. You do a very good job holding the image of an angel. If I did believe in that superstitious stuff you would've definitely fooled me." The males that Erasai had spotted definitely didn't seem like the helpful type and she was glad the girl steered away. She just hoped they weren't seen by them or followed for that matter. "Define sleazy. Would you rather go to a rancid, neon-lit bar or a dimly lit shop because that's all I can see walking down these streets."

"Some place where we won't get murdered!" Erasai said, as if it were obvious. She stopped and looked to the areas around them. A bar would probably be the best place to look. A variety of people would be there, and it would be dark enough people might not really get a good look at them.

"This place seems good enough," she said, pointing to a sign that said 'Stepchild Lounge'. "Strange name though... Hopefully that meant the owner liked their stepchild, and not that they were one that was beaten, or had one they did beat. Then she'd feel like she supported it by going in there. What a weird thought to have...

"Very well, stay close. Wouldn't want to get separated in... the... crowd," Alexis lead the way in but stopped when she saw how empty the bar was. Off at the far corner were a group of patrons and at the bar sat two men with the bartender watching the television. "Strange. You'd think a bar in this kind of town would be busy." She then realized what time it was: Eleven in the morning. Their day had started around six in the heavy rain and all that chasing and the fact that the sun was blocked out by several thousands of tons of concrete made her think it was sometime around the evening.

"Well... Dang..." Erasai said, debating on whether or not to ask them. Why the hell not... What were they going to lose by doing so. "Excuse me!" she called out, and the patrons and barkeep turn to look at them, almost as if they had interrupted something. Erasai paused and cleared her throat.

"We are... looking for a way out of town, without going top side. Kind of in trouble with the cops, so... I'm sure you all... know what that --" she stopped, now wanting to make what she was saying any worse. She was suddenly very nervous, finding it all a bad idea.

The bartender looked at the other two patrons and they all had a silent exchange of thought. A nod here, a shake of the head there, and the bartender finally shrugged before turning to them. "Sure we're all... what? Haven't seen you two around here, ever. Nor do I think I like knowing you to begin with. What's the info worth to you?"

"How much do you want?" Alexis asked.

"Three hundred and I can direct you to someone that can help you with that problem," the bartender said.

"Why can't you just tell us now?"

"I know people more than I know the land. Pay up and I'll help you." Alexis handed him her card and he ran it through the scanner. After a moment he tried again before handing it back. "You trying to play a joke or something? The card's locked."

"...what?" Alexis took the card back and stared at it as if she could fix it.

"Card's locked. I can't withdraw from it."

Well that was not good... What were they suppose to do? She almost thought about threatening the wrath of God and bringing out her powers, but she thought better than that. It would probably make Zuzu ecstatic. What the hell were they going to do to get this information?

"How about a trade? We could give you a cell phone, a watch, and... a set of diamond earrings?" she was talking of course about Alexis phone, her own watch, and a set of earrings she had bought a long time ago. They weren't real diamond, but they were pretty enough.

Her phone? Well, it wasn't exactly hers to begin with... And they didn't have signal anyway. The bartender thought it was a good deal and nodded. He tapped the table indicating the girls should hand it over and Alexis relinquished the phone without much thought. "Where is he, then?" she asked. The bartender shook his head, "She and that's all your getting with the phone. Watch and earrings please."

Erasai didn't hesitate after being told to hand them over. She pulled off the watch, and set it down, and then she reached into her pocket, feeling around for a moment, before pulling them out. "Was going to sell those for money to survive, but this works, I suppose. I'll think of it as buying freedom."

She placed them down as well, and then looked to the man. "Okay, there you go. Now tell us what we want."

"Name's Ophelia," the bartender said as he pocketed the valuables. He didn't even bother to get a close look at the authenticity of the items. "Lives on the roof of one of the old apartment complexes towards the center of old haven." He looked out the door and pointed at a giant broken concrete column at the center of the city. It had been transformed into a makeshift apartment with several stairs that spiraled around the edge into concrete holes that were drilled into it. The very top looked as if something had knocked the top section of the column off. "'Bout twenty years ago there were some terrorists that tried to bring down upper haven by blowing up the support columns under it. They only got that one you see there. Since then they never bothered to rebuild it. She lives up there. Best view in the entire under city, too."

"Anything we should know about her before we go? Is she part of an organization or something?" Alexis asked, noting the faint light at the top of the column. She was probably there right now.

The bartender shrugged. "Don't think so. All I know is she brings a lot of stolen goods from upper Haven to pawn off down here."

Alexis nodded and looked at Erasai. "Shall we go then?"

"Yes, please..." Erasai said, not hesitating to turn and make her way out. At least they had a start. She would start toward their new destination, ready to find out how to get out of this place. She hadn't felt this uncomfortable in a long time.

When they would arrive, she would stop at the stairs and look up the building. "Well, I guess this isn't so bad. I'd prefer this place over anywhere else in the lower parts."

The walk to the tower was a bit unnerving for Alexis as well. Since the entire city was encased by concrete, you could hear almost everything. That goes for automobile alarms, gunshots, gang fights, and a whole lot of everything else just bouncing off the solid roof and back again. They had reached one of the many stair cases that started at the base of the column. The design was rather unique. Each staircase was labeled with all the addresses one would run into as it climbed up to the top. The rooms were indeed nothing else but holes drilled into the side of the column with a simple wooden door to protect one's privacy and as they climbed, some of the doors were left open revealing that it was simply a cave with a single room with everything someone needed in it. The smells, too, were quite overwhelming. And this is coming from the combined odor of hundreds of residents that lived there.

After climbing perhaps fifteen flights of stairs, they reached the top. Alexis was surprised to actually see there was a shortcut. A makeshift elevator at the very center of the column. Most likely stopped only at the very top and the very bottom of the complex. There was a giant green tent tht broke off into three sections, the middle being the biggest and the brightest. Its clear roof and industrial powered lamp gave the illusion of a searchlight that was propped at the top of the column.

"Hello?" Alexis called as she looked around. Whoever lived there had it a lot better off than the others below them and she was surprised that this managed to exist seemingly unguarded.

"Hold on," there came a voice from inside the tent and a young, slender woman with short black hair appeared out of the main entrance of the tent. She wore dark clothes. A black t-shirt and loose fitting jeans covered in holes and what looked like oil stains. She smiled at them as Alexis only stared warily back and after a moment she spoke. "Can... I help you two?"

Erasai seemed eager to just get the information they needed, and so she was the first to speak after being questioned about their needs. "We are looking for a way out of the city, not taking the high road, of course," she said, looking to the girl. She would glance behind the girl, looking at her home. She wondered just how she lived up here. How she lived up here? There seemed to be a lacking of basic necessities, and she began to think about the times ahead of them.

"She means we're trying to get out of here without Upper Haven knowing-" Alexis started.

"I know what she means," the young woman said and ran a gloved hand under her chin. "The problem is, it's going to cost you."

Alexis dropped her shoulders in disbelief. "We don't... I don't have anything else," Alexis said, "I just gave away my cell phone..." She was tempted in just using the gun to threaten her.

"What about the gun?" the young woman asked, catching Alexis by surprise. "What? I can see the outline of it in your jacket. I'm gonna need more though. What else you girl's got?"