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

"Alright, hold on- RANDALL! GET UP HERE!" he yelled off the side of the nest at his twin, who had been wandering around down below and waiting for Josh to come back down.
"Coming," he called back up as he headed to the door, scaling it with relative ease.

"Why do you want Randall to come up? Just curious." Jacob was a little confused, but it didn't matter. Every damn thing was confusing here in The Hell, as he called it.

"I don't want to be separated from him for too long. Last time that happened, well... I got my leg stuck in a bear trap and almost froze to death, so yeah. I'm a little paranoid that if we're not covering each other's backs then something's gonna happen to one of us. And I left him down there with no explanation and didn't want to leave him hanging."

"Seems fair," And Jacob understood completely. He was in a worse situation, but he understood completely. And if the kid wanted help, he would get it. He promised himself that this man would get whatever he needed. "I understand. So, how are you?"

"How am I... In general, or something more specific?" He gave Randall a brief nod before turning back to Jacob.

"In any way. I'm trying to spark up a conversation. Hey Randall." Jacob nodded to Randall before looking to Josh again after getting into the sleeping bag.

Randall nodded back and settled next to Josh, who had snuggled into a sleeping bag and was lost in thought.
"Fine, I suppose," he finally murmured, thinking about it. "Better than this morning. I'm alive, at least, and my brother's alive." His mom wasn't, though... God, why hadn't he realized it before?
He shook his head to clear it, closing his eyes to hide his panic. "It's just moving so fast, I hardly have any chance to keep up..."

"No, you are not. You know what you are doing? You are panicking, but that's okay. I did the same thing. Look, I'm sorry about your mom. Really, I am. Just let it all out. I owe you that much," Jacob did owe him all that much, and more. The kid saved him from jumping.

Josh paused uncertainly a moment, then grabbed a pillow, mashed his face in it, and let out a muffled scream, letting out all the anger and fear and pain he had felt throughout the day. It crossed his mind for a moment just to finish suffocating himself but that wouldn't get anyone anywhere so he just hugged it when he was done, pulling his head away to breathe.
His shoulder twitched as Randall rubbed it. The slightly older of the two was freaking out on the inside as well, but he was a master at hiding his feelings so even Josh couldn't detect it. He was the calm one, the collected one. He kept his brother from flipping out too much.
But he didn't stop Josh this time. He needed to vent or else he was going to drive himself insane.

"That's it, Josh. Let it all out. Let it all out and it will all be over. C'mon. No one is judging. That's it. Feel better now?" Jacob was just clearing up the tears in his eyes when this happened, but he didn't start crying. He owed Josh his life. And he was going to hug him if he needed it.

"Kinda." A good yell was always strangely therapeutic.
He was just so confused- how had he ended up here? How had that plane crashed? How had he survived and everyone else hadn't? How had he killed all those men...?
He took lives and that was something he was never going to get over, he didn't think. How many crying families were there now who had just received word that their sons and brothers and husbands weren't coming home?
It was depressing, to say the very least, and he huddled there with a blank look in his eyes. "Maybe."

"Good. You wanna talk about it? I know it's hard, but talking helps." Jacob knew that look. He'd seen it all too many times before. A person kills a few people, and gets depressed about it. It wasn't new, but he never liked it.

"I dunno... Does it?" he asked, glancing first from Randall and then back to Jacob.
Randall had lain back behind Josh, keeping a hand on his shoulder to let him know he was still there and listening.

"I talked. Hell, I almost spilled my guts. Look at me now," Jacob sniffed a bit, but other than that, he was okay. It was a really depressing, and messed up night that night. Everyone had problems of their own. Jacob put his hand on the kid's shoulder to let him know that he was going to be okay. Nothing would touch those two while he was here.

"I killed people," he finally murmured with a sigh. "Just a simple pull of the trigger and they're dead... I've never killed anything before, really. Not a human, at least. A human's different. I shouldn't think that way but I can't help it."

"Come here. Don't worry, I don't bite." Jacob said, scooting down towards Josh. The kid needed help, and help was on the way. "I know, Josh. It's just the way things are. But you can't let it get to your head. Look at me. I'm Shattered. I'm in Tatters. But more than that, I'm alive, and I'm sane. But I started out just like you, killing one person. Now, you know I am trying real hard to get you a peaceful job. Really, I am. You just have to know that it's hard to do that when we are in a war against an army."

Jacob closed his eyes. It was a stupid thing to say. Of course he said that. The kid had so much to think about, and what he was going to say was even worse. Really was.

"Josh, Randall, I know your parents aren't alive anymore. I'm sorry about that. I know how it feels. But if it makes any of you feel any better, I can take care of you two,"

"If you did bite you woulda done it a long time ago," Josh commented, thinking about what he had said. "I don't even get why we're in this war... But it's inherent in human nature to destroy each other so I guess we can't really help it. It was bound to happen at some point."
Randall had looked up when Jacob had finished his last part. "Thanks... I can't look after this idiot all by myself."
"Oh, shut up," Josh replied, swatting at his shoulder before looking back up at Jacob.

"I still bite real damn hard. Just not at my friends. But this war happened for a reason. This man, Vladimir, wanted us dead. He wanted all of America dead so he could take it. Just realize that we may be the last thing holding up their advance." Jacob chuckled at his joke, but stopped there. He did bite, and when he bit, he bit hard. Real. Damn. Hard. That was his nature. If he needed to kill someone, he did it. And fast. But he was glad to be with these boys. Maybe he would have the sons he never thought he would get. "That's right, Rand. You got yourself to deal with. Come here. I'm messing with you. Sit down. So, Josh, whadda think? I owe you, and hell, it might be a fun time,"

Randall gave him one of his rare grins, coming over to his other side and sitting next to him, looking across at Josh.
"So long as you don't run off and die on us, I'm fine with that," he replied honestly, deciding to ignore the last part about Russia and them being the last defense- that was just too freaky to think about at the moment. "Enough people have done that already, Jacob, and it's rough. I get attached to people easily, it's kind of a curse if you think about it."
"We're gonna need all the fun we can get if we don't want to go completely insane," Randall commented somberly, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"Run off and die? Well, I'll try not to do that. I won't die on you two. I promise. I won't leave you two alone. Not again. Thanks for being there for me. And I owe you two for saving my life." Jacob realized that they might be a little short on fun, but it didn't matter. They would make their own fun. Some how, some way, they would get through it. "But we have to sleep. You two are welcome to stay up here,"