Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » Comfortably Numb (Semi Open, Ask First)

Randall hauled Josh to his feet, waiting until he was steady before releasing his shirt collar. He studied Jacob cautiously for a moment, sizing him up to see if he was a threat... Probably not.
"So what, we're in the Army now?" Josh asked, raising an eyebrow. Lovely. "Look, I'm not gonna be the best at fighting, that's Randall's job- I'm not fast and I'm not strong and I have a bad leg from getting it caught in a bear trap. Long story, don't ask. But, uh, I don't think I'm completely useless- I know some basic medical skills and I'm a quick learner..."
He trailed off awkwardly, realizing he was probably digging himself into a hole he couldn't get out of.

"You aren't in just the Army. You are in HRA now. Learn, Live, Adapt. That's our motto." Jacob stopped when Josh said what he said. The kid could probably be good with Corinth, but that was up to him. Jacob still wanted him to learn how to use a gun. "Kid, you are stuck in a bear trap, but it's for us. You will have to learn how to shoot, and that, but yes. I know a medical officer who would be more than happy to help you out.

He nodded, glancing down at his feet. "Yeah, that's be best. I'm better at fixing things than I am at destroying them."
"Good motto- living is important," Randall commented absentmindedly, gazing into the distance blankly before shaking himself back to reality.

"Well, don't just stand there! Come in!" Jacob closed the gate behind the little group, and walked towards the makeshift fortress. There, on one of the towers, was his nest, so to speak. He liked being up there, and went there when he was feeling depressed. Right now, he wasn't feeling too depressed, though he might get an episode that night. He sent Josh off to find Corinth, and sat down to talk to Randall. "So, how good are you at aiming?"

"I'm decent," he replied with a shrug, pacing back and forth with his hands in his pockets. "Gimme a scope and I can nail just about anything. Josh is better since he's farsighted so he doesn't need a scope, but he's not exactly the combative type." He shrugged slightly. "Can't blame him, but yeah. I can adapt fairly well to weapons in general."

Josh limped along, the shock of everything finally crashing down on his thin shoulders and forcing him to stop and lean against a wall.
How many of those people had brothers, sisters, girlfriends, wives, children? Did they have families, friends? How many wanted to be there, who got drafted? What would happen to them now?
He was thinking about this way too much, but he couldn't help it. Josh didn't like fighting and killing, instead taking the diplomatic route whenever possible.
And he was only fifteen, after all.

"If this was a normal situation, I'd say go get some target practice under your belt. But it ain't, and the only way to learn is to learn on the job, sadly. Which means that you just might be on the job with me. So, whadda say? Want to be trained by the deadliest person here?" Jacob said, and then sighed. He was really tired, and god knows what else. Not a lot happened to him that day, but what he had to go through was worse. He had been through a helluva lot. "Go get some sleep. We gotta work in the morning,"

"So long as you don't kill me or my brother, I'm fine," Randall replied with a ghost of a smirk. "Speaking of my brother, I'm gonna go find him... God knows where he went, he has a habit of wandering off."

Josh finally got himself together and got off the wall, running a hand through his thick black hair and looking up. He was supposed to find Corinth, right? Who in the name of everything good and holy was Corinth?

Corinth was in the hall, relaxing. He had no idea that there was new arrivals. Moreover, he didn't realize that one of them wanted to be a medic. He had his medic sleeve on, so if Josh didn't know what he looked like, at least he could tell who he was.

Sleeve... Medic?
Josh approached him timidly, eyeing the sleeve to make sure it was real and he wasn't just imagining things, which was quite possible with his current mental state.
"Uhh... I'm looking for Corinth...?" he murmured uncertainly, looking the huge man up and down.

"You found him. How can I help?" He stood up, stretching out. He was just under six feet tall, but was wide, and had many strong muscles. This man used to be a commando, and had medical experience in wars. Which is why he was a medic.

Josh was quite dwarfed by this guy and didn't doubt that he could get snapped in half like a pencil by this guy. Hell, he was thin enough and light enough.
"Jacob told me to find you. I'm interested in being a medic," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "Fighting isn't exactly my forte."

"Well, you've come to the right place. I understand you completely, though, I can't say fighting isn't that good. I've done my fair share of it. And I still do. No one ever puts down a gun. Realize that." Corinth walked to the medical center, where they would begin training. He showed the kid books, and began immediately. The medical skills would come first, then the shooting.

Josh paid attention, watching and listening in fascination. This was the stuff he liked, not killing people he didn't even know; if they died, at least he could say he had tried.
He was so absorbed in the different things that he didn't notice Randall leaning against the door frame, patiently waiting for his brother to finish up and come to bed.

After a bit, Corinth stopped. It was a helluva lot that they did. He had made him memorize what to do in basic situations, taught him the basics, and whatnot. It was a good day for the first day. But there would be more. But not tonight. The kid had to sleep, and sleep a lot.

"I've worked you enough for one day. Good night,"

Jacob woke up after a horrible nightmare. He was sweating everywhere. He tried to breath, but he couldn't. He didn't know what it was. Then he realized that it was a panic attack. He got up, and drank an entire glass of water. He needed air.

He grabbed a pair of shorts, sandals, and a button t shirt, not even bothering to button it. He ran out, not caring if anyone saw him, and ran to the tower. He got to it, and climbed up, getting to that nest of his. He turned on his music, grabbed a beer, and stared out into the ruins.

Josh wished him good night and walked back with Randall. It made him feel a little better, knowing all this stuff; he just hoped he didn't forget it all as soon as he fell asleep.
If he fell asleep.

"Oh yeah. Alright. Take it easy baby. Make it last all night! She was. An American Girl!" The music he played was a few Tom Petty songs, Dire Straits, and more. He had a tear in his eye, but still listened to the music. It was hard for him to keep it up, though. But he didn't stop listening. He could hear the boys talking to themselves in the hall, and he didn't care at all.

Randall, being the doofus he was, caught a bit of the music as it floated about. He started humming along with it, twirling in a circle and causing his brother to smile slightly.
It was good to see him smile after such a craptastic day like this one.

But Tom Petty stopped there. And what started was Dire Straits. And the song was the worst one he could've picked for this. Romeo and Juliet. The lyrics started playing, and he began to sob, silently at first, but getting bigger and bigger.

"Juliet...... The dice was loaded from the start. And I bet..... And you exploded in my heart. And I forget.... I forget.... The movie song. When you gonna realize that......it was just that the time was wrong...Juliet?"

Jacob couldn't handle it anymore. He closed his eyes, and the tears came out like a waterfall. It was too much to bear, and he wouldn't be able to do that much longer. It just seemed so easy. A little push, and he'd be over with. No more crying, no more pain. Just heaven.

Josh was the more empathetic one out of the two of them. If Randall saw a person crying he'd just sort of stand there awkwardly; Josh would try to hug them if they didn't kill him first.
That was what he wanted to do when he saw the deadliest man there sobbing uncontrollably but he wasn't entirely sure how to get up there to his nest.

In his panic attack, Jacob had forgotten to close the door to the ladder, which was now wide open. If Josh had walked through it, he'd have been up there, too. And it was a beautiful nest. It had everything he wanted up there. A bed, a chair, hammock, beer, cigarettes, his weapons in case he needed those, music. Just about everything.

He didn't turned off the music, but had The Wall ready to play. It wouldn't be fun, but he'd listen.

"Juliet... When we made love you used to cry.... You said I love you like the stars above I'll love you till I die....... There's a place for us you, know the movie song.........When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong? Juliet..."