Endless Nights

we no longer see the sunlight... that's all that 25 year old Emaira knew. she could remember back when she was just a little girl playing in bright beams of light that made everything so beutiful. and flowers she could clearly remember those. her mother grew them in her garden. but looking around her now there was no sunshine and certianly no flowers to be seen. it was always dark now, since the war.

she was very young when it happend so she could not remember what had made the sunshine go away. and turned the world into a forever type of dusk. gone where big cities with tall buildings. some times you would come across a large shell of a building but it was rare to actually find one in good enough condition to actually live in.

the same went for houses. all though more of those remained than the large buildings. you where real lucky if you found a house that only a few family's where sharing. people now where hard, heartless and untrusting..with good reason.. for the most part they just wanted to protect their family. there had been rumor's that men where coming and taking away the healthiest of the young people to fight in the war. many thought that it would never end.

at least not until every one was dead. entire families had been riped apart. and there was no way to know who was alive and who had died. you just had to keep going. living each day the best you could. but living in a war ravaged world was not easy. especially for a young woman on her own. Emaira felt as if she was ready to fall over from exhuastion. but she kept going. knowing she had to find a place to stay within the next few hours.

this was when the hunters came out. looking for people to take to fight a battel none of them believed in anymore. up ahead she could see what looked like a house. Emaira's spirits rose as she came close and seen that it was indeed a small farm house. it had been days since she had seen a house or even people. what luck this was. picking up her feet she ran the rest of the way to the house.

jumping the gate she could see right away it was empty. walking up to the porch she could the house had not been missed by the war eithor. like most it was missing doors and windows. and even part of the roof in the front was gone. but over all it was a heavenly sight for Emaira. waling inside she could see that there had once been a family here.

there was evidence of that all over the house as she walked through looking for anyone that may still be in residence. but there was no one. the house was small having a kitchen with a table and a water pump sink and two benches. a living room with a broken down couche and chair. a couple of lamps that where out of oils to burn some books on an old shelf against the far wall. and a hall way with a bath room all that was left in this room was a tub and a cracked mirror.

there where three bed rooms. the master bed room contained a double bed. and some pillows. and in the second largest room there was a twin bed with a few toys laying about faided wall paper. and some childrens books under the bed. walking to the smallest rooms and opening the door reveiled what once must have been a lovely little nursery.

sadly part of this room was blackend and the furniture looked as if it had been in a fire. even the ceiling looked as if it had burned. closing the door Emaira walked back to the master bedroom and lay on the bed. she was soon in asleep. even still she kept an ear out for someone aproaching.


(ooc here is the thread for the ooc please post all our char.'s there before posting. thank you. Endless Nights (ooc)

Stiffer

He had begun to stagger significantly over the last 20 miles. 96 hours without food or water...the breaking point was about to be reached. Dehydration imminent. Glandular, organ failure possible.

Stiffer flipped up his eye piece after receiving the bad news. He wasn't actually feeling that bad. Of course much of that portion of his brain had been removed. But his body just refused to respond as it normally would.

Six feet, nine inches tall. 390 pounds. An actual HT100...a Land Warrior. Still fully armed but adrift from his moorings. No contact with the firebase. No contact with HQ. No contact with his ground guy.

His final injection of Liquid Gold suddenly pumps into an artery in his shoulder. He's perfect again. Striding across the blasted landscape with purpose and function, though none truly exists. Again he has the strength of a hundred men. Again his body swells with power and pride. He knows the tactics, how to use his weapons, who his enemy is.

A house rises as he scales a mound. Shelter, cover, rest and re-group. Attempt re-connect. He eases silently through the broken arch of the door and initiates scan of the broken edifice. Human female one flight up no weapons no bionics. Sliding slowly around the broken chunks of house on the floor Stiffer finds the basement door and in moments he is ensconced in darkness. Not hibernate-mode but sleeping soundly.

Emaira rolled over in the bed. and opened her eyes. she had only slept for a few hours but she already felt much better. geting out of bed she slowly walked through the house. going to the kitchen she tryed the water pump.
when rusty water begon to slowly spill from the pump Emaira could feel her excitement growning. as she pumped the handle the water coming out began to clear up. and was soon running clear. scooping some into her hand and she brought it to her lips and drank some.

as the water slid over her tongue and down her throaght she could not surpress the moan of delight from slipping from her. drinking another handfull of water emaira looked around the kitchen wiping the water from her lips with the back of her hand.


seeing that there was a door she had yet to open which meant there was a room she hadn't explored. there could be some food in there. walking to the closed door and slowly pulling it open she looked inside. it was so incredably dark she couldn't see anything. looking around the kitchen she found a lamp with a tiny bit of oil in it that had been left sitting on the counter by the back door. picking it she fished in her pocket for her lighter. always handy to keep one of these around. lighting the wick Emaira turned back to the open door and slowly decended the stairs.

the stair leading into the celler where old and made a bit of noise with each step that she took. finally her heart pounding she reached the bottom of the stair and was standing on a concrete floor. it was so cool down here. at least 20 degree's cooler than upstairs. and for half a second Emair concidered moving the bed down ehre to sleep.

standing still in the light of her lamp Emaira seen a foot sticking out from behind a tall wooden shelf. a large foot. " ooh no" turning to flee back up the stairs hoping to escape before who ever that was was actually on those large feet and coming for her. but being overy frietend and not paying attention to what she was doing she found herself hurdling back down the stairs and hearing the lamp breaking as it hit the stairs extingueshing the little bit of light it offered.

the celler fell into complete darkness once again. Emaira lay on her back at the foot of the stairs a bit dazed .. then she heard something moving in the darkness. to afraid to move she lay there as still as she could with her eyes closed. hoping that who ever it was would just leave her alone if they thought she had knocked herself out.

He awoke to a level of pain he hadn't known since basic training. Remaining utterly still his onboard system again ran through re-connect protocols. Nothing. Not even a carrier wave to lock on to. Stiffer was lost. Completely.

The sound that awakened him became a little louder. Scans showed the same female descending the stairs that he had sensed the night before. Although this time she was fully hydrated. She had found water.

Rising silently, he heard the girl step away from him and then begin to ascend the stairs. In just a second or two she had dropped her light source, his nose told him it was soy based fuel, burned with a wick, and had apparently fallen back to the base of the staircase. Standing, Stiffer ducked the heating ducts and flipped down his night vision apparatus. The ghostly green gloaming filled his sight and the young woman on the floor came into focus. His scans still showed no sign of danger so he bent at the knee and encircled her waist with his enormous hands. The girl trembled and hyperventilated but did not scream or struggle. She knew what he was. She'd seen him before, in the cities, perhaps. Not him specifically but his hyper-destructive brethren. Surely, she knew that if he'd wanted her dead she would be by now. The terror in her face reminded him that his countenance was indeed a frightening one and he did his best to smile and seem less menacing. If such a thing is possible for a Land Warrior.

Just then the fatigue struck him again and he began to sink down to his knees. He gently returned her to the floor and released her from his grasp. Breathing heavily he looked up at the young woman and spoke words that hadn't passed his lips in years.

"Can you help me, please, I need hydration, food, I..." and he hung down his head and was silent.

Emaira could feel his large hands around her waist as they lifter her and then lowered her back to the ground. some thing was wrong. these guys are not known for their brute strength for nothing. once he released her she sat up on her knee's onfront of him. she couldn't seem to take her eyes from him. could hardly beleived that she was him and he was just sitting there on his knee's. he seemed to be trying to say somthing when suddenly his voice sounding gruff and dry "Can you help me, please, I need hydration, food, I..." and he hung down his head and was silent."

she was shocked that this creature was asking her for help. standing with out thinking she began to pace back and forth stoping ever few turns to stand infront of him looking down at him. she couldn't do it. she could not stand here with this man asking for help and then ignore his pea. finally making up her mind she turned and ran up the stairs. slaming the door open sge heard it hit the wall behind her as she ran to the water pump.
looking around the kitchen she grabed a large glass jar and placed it under the pump so the water wouls run into it.

when the jar was nearly full she grabed it and ran back down the stairs to the man still kneeling on the floor where she had left him. some of the water had splashed out of the jar as she ran down the stairs taking them two at a time sitting on the floor next to the large man. Emaira placed her hand on his
" i got you some water."

holding the jar to his lips she slowly tipsed the jar up and the water touched his lips and flowed into his mouth. when she felt he had taken a good drink she took the water away. looking at this giant of a man she still couldn't help but feel that he was a danger she had to get away from. and she would as soon as she knew he would be ok." i dont know what we are going to get food. i will have to go try to find some when it is not so dangerous to be out."

standing she looked up the stairs." do you think you can make it upstairs?"
looking down at him she shuffled from one foot to the other. desperately wanting to be upstairs where it wasn't so dark. she hated the dark. it scared her.

Captain Milo Zisser

Captain Milo Zisser attempted to open his eyes. He immediately reconsidered as wave nausea racked his body with dry heaves. He made another attempt, this time successful, to take in his surroundings.

Nothing much identifiable, mostly rubble and dust filled air. It was dark, but he couldn't tell if he was underground, inside or it was night. Breathing was difficult, probably due to the cinderblock resting on his chest. " What the fuck happened? " was the only thought he could muster. " Where the hell am I? " he then thought as he pushed the weight off his chest.

Unable to see very far through the murky darkness, Zisser felt around on the ground for clues to his location. He felt someone's hand, it was cold, and apparently no longer attached to their arm either. He drew his hand back quickly, shuddering with revulsion.

The shock of the feel of the dead hand kicked off a torrent of recent memories, as if in response to his internal questions voiced only moments ago:

He had been sent by the Pentagon in response to a Senate Armed Forces subcommittee supeona. He had been prepared to testify to the select committee members about the classified project Quantico, the Pentagon's latest advance in urban combat.

Milo had been key in designing the chips implanted in the bioengineered Land Warriors. He had made the trip across the metro area on numerous occasions, periodicaly updating the committee with progress reports. Apparently when millions of dollars have been allocated, commitees tend to want to know how their money was spent.

The Land Warriors were his pride and joy. They represented the ideal in physical perfection, the ultimate killing machine. Recruits were culled from basic training from all branches of the military. The largest and strongest, and preferably not quite the brightest were taken to a secret academy where things were... done to them.

In short, the part of their brain controlling impulses was removed and replaced with Zisser's chip. The recruits were then subjected to various genetic enhancements to maximize their physical potential, making them larger, stronger, faster.

These Land Warriors were capable of amazing feats of strength and dexterity, the pain impulses dampened so that they could withstand wounds that would incapacitate the strongest of normal men.

They would follow any order without question saving valuable seconds where a normal soldier might have doubts. The trade off of course was that they needed direction. These killing machines needed someone to turn them on and off, point them in the right direction.

Thus the second part of Quantico was the solicitation and training of Land Warrior handlers. These were the order givers. The symbiotic relationship between handler and warrior was much like that of the traditional police canine units. They trained, ate, worked, slept and lived together forming a combination that was unbeatable by any troops elsewhere on the planet.

They often formed relationships much like brothers, if one member of the team was killed on a mission, sometimes the other half never quite recovered. It wasn't pretty when a Land Warrior lost his handler: it could wander aimlessly for days before the lack of water finally ended its suffering; unless of course it went berzerk and destroyed everything in its path until itself was destroyed. Far too many units had been lost this way in the initial stages of the project.

Milo had been logging 20 hour days for months on end trying to program a fail safe into the chips that would help Land Warriors be reclaimed for assignment to another handler. Finally the chip was ready, and the Pentagon had stepped up the program expanding the corps rapidly, ready to drop warrior/handler teams anywhere in the world on a few hours notice. A team of 10 warrior/handler pairs could search a small city from house to house in a matter of a few hours.

These guys were fast and deadly, they were the future of urban warfare. They were America's latest weapon against terrorism. The country had learned from its arrogant mistakes in Afghanistan and Iraq; never again would a terrorist be able to hide in the hills or cities using innocents as shields from the massive air strikes. America now had the capability to snatch and grab anyone.

The dust settling somewhat made it a bit easier for Milo to check out his surroundings, the industrial lighting, the exposed pipes along the ceiling, led him to believe he was in one of the underground tunnels networking throughout D.C's Federal Triangle. He must be under the Capital somewhere, but why? There was a light ahead, perhaps there lay some more information about his current situation.

Milo stood and brushed some of the dirt off of his ruined class A uniform. He looked around at the destruction. There was a large hole in the ceiling above, he must have fallen through it to the underground tunnel. Papers were strewn everywhere stained dark with blood in several locations. He thought he spied arms, legs, feet, and other unidentifiable body parts scattered as well. He turned and vomited all over the tunnel wall for several minutes. Leaning against the wall for a few moments he touched his hand to his forehead, it came away sticky with blood. He was battered, bruised, and bloodied; he remembered the flashes of the explosions, the flying debris and the senators' little girl like screams. But what the hell happened?

Half stumbling, half crawling, Zisser made his way over and around the piles of rubble, down the tunnel, and emerged into the light. The light turned out to be the remnants of a room in the Capital building; its exterior wall blasted to bits. The fortunate ones had been killed directly by the blast. From the trails of blood that crisscrossed the floor of the room, it was apparent others had taken much longer to die from their injuries. Nobody was in sight helping any of the wounded; presumed by Zisser to be dead.

His eye was drawn to the movement of a shadow outside the building. A large creature of some sort had flown.. no, not flown, jumped across his field of vision. A cold shock of realization dawned upon him as he could only think of one man sized creature able to leap that high. He ran across the room and stuck his head out of the hole to catch a horrified glimpse of a Land Warrior unit laying waste to four Capital Police officers in a matter of seconds. All four had opened fire scoring several hits before the LW unit returned fire and moved along as if swatting flies. Where the hell is his handler?"

Milo scanned the area for a sign of the unit's handler. Someone had to have instructed it to attack those officers; unless his built in fail safe didn't work. He looked along the length of the Mall toward the Washington Monument in time to see four more Land Warriors, without handlers, but with plenty of firepower, take out the WW II Memorial and a horde of panicked tourists. "Oh my God, this is all my fault! My safety mechanisms have failed.

Darkness swallowed what whas left of Captain Milo Zisser's mind and belched forth a mumbling husk. Zisser wandered down the steps of the Capital building, oblivious to the destruction taking place around him. Murmuring one word over and over: Quantico

In the beginning... there was a war

As a vague awareness of her surroundings eddied hazily to the surface of her re-awakening consciousness, Messalina's eyelids fluttered open, though she remained perfectly still; waiting for the rest of her senses to catch up with the distorted fun house mirror imagery of her brain.

Voices. Retching. Screams. Pleas for help. Panic.

Pandemonium.

Convulsive jolts. Vibrations that jerked and jarred like someone in the throes of St. Vitas Dance that ended in a macabre pirouette that left her dangling precariously. A breathlessly pitched battle for... release? Plummeting into piceous darkness.

Shrill, piercing inhuman screeches followed by...

Light. Bright and glaring. Like fire without heat. Blinding.

The feel of something familiar. Clutching. Racing in a headlong flight with madness nipping at her heels.

Even now she could taste the fear, both acrid and sweetly pungent in the back of her throat. Stinging her eyes. Burning her nose. Astringent, like the smell of burning tires and electrical wires.

Looking skyward, she recoiled, crying out sharply when a droplet of something slid down from an... arm? It splattered against her forehead with the all the force of an explosion, spurring Messalina into action. She struggled to move though every effort ignited searing pain.

Scrambling to her feet she began to run, heedless of the light rain or the cold that seemed to permeate her very soul. Away from the buildings.

"Fire!!!!" Was that her?

Messalina plunged toward yet another conflagration despite every instinct that told her it was wrong. She remembered... the eyes! Those eyes. Anomalous. A paradox in an incongruous face that somehow bespoke of strength and... invulnerability.

Oblivious to her surroundings, she urged herself mindlessly onward, stopping only when her momentum was halted by a huge pile of debris.

"Fire!" she rasped.

"Help!" she whispered.

"We were... bombed," she mouthed as the abstract pieces fell together to form a fragile yet somehow tangible whole.

Someone had bombed the University.

Captain Milo Zisser

Zisser blindly wandered away from the Capitol area. He staggered past the piles of rubble that used to be the treasure trove of the United States, the Smithsonian. He picked his way through pieces of his country's history and pop culture.

Occasionally, a scream would make it through his addled brain, more often than not all he could see the destruction caused by the renegade Land Warrior troops. The stench of the dead, the screams of the dying wracked his soul.

He could already picture the decay, disease, and death that would follow in the days to come for the survivors. He knew that it would only be a matter of hours before the people would start to turn on each other seeking supplies. Some would attack because of necessity; others would spread misery due to sheer malice. Most would never know why.

It wasn't supposed to happen here!

The Land Warriors were supposed to cause this kind of havoc in North Korea, or Syria, or Iran, not here! Yet his eyes told him that this was no illusion. His Land Warriors were decimating the nation's capitol with ease.

How could it have gone so wrong?

The looting had already started. Zisser was amazed that only humans could behave so inhumanely. Windows in the storefronts he passed were free of glass. People were carting off as much as they could carry. He watched as a man with a shotgun chased a group of kids out of his store. The man gunned down the slowest kid with a blast to the back. The boy's legs continued to take a few more steps carrying out the last orders of the brain that was now lying several feet away in the top half of his torso on the sidewalk.

Milo reeled from the pain caused by a thrown rock. The other kids were fighting back. He staggered across the street, his head bleeding freely once again as the pack swarmed the shotgun wielder. Milo numbly watched as they wrestled the gun away from the man. Two of the biggest held the man by his arms as another tough put the shotgun to the man's face and pulled the trigger spraying his brains all over the storefront.

Emboldened by their new weapon the toughs eyed the bloody Captain weaving uncertainly down the street. Two started after him but were called back by the new owner of the shotgun. They had shells to find and goods to loot. They didn't have time to be concerned with a beat up soldier.

He knew he had to get out of here, unarmed he didn't stand a chance against those types, but then again, he figured he probably deserved whatever he got.

He should have known better than to mess with Mother Nature! What in the world made him think he could build a safe tool for destuction?

Zisser turned the corner trying to get out of sight and was unfortunate enough to encounter another gang of young men.

Seeing his uniform they grabbed him and dragged him into an alley. "Hey there soldier boy. you got a gun for me?" the leader sneered. Milo's world went dark once again as a ham fisted youth punched him squarely between the eyes.

Slightly rejuvenated by the sips of water he raised his wide, scarred face to the young woman standing over him. Taking the dirty jar from her hand he drained it and then stood. He thanked her and then began to ascend the stairs stopping for a few seconds as his com systems again tried to reestablish contact with....anyone.

Back on the main floor he turned to see the girl walking well behind him. The fear oozed from her pores. Again he attempted a smile though it felt uncomfortable to do so.

"I...I will not hurt you...I am...lost," Stiffer stammered in an effort to allay her fears. He knew his assurances probably did nothing but at least he was trying.

Stepping out into the bleak near-dawn, Stiffer reached over his shoulder and pulled his impulse rifle from it's sheath. Flicking the switch to heat it up it whirred and squealed. The indicator showed he had only fired it nine times as he ran from the madness at Foggy Bottom. Why had they all suddenly...flipped the fuck out? Why hadn't he joined them? Stiffer shook his head in confusion. His ground guy, Billy had been out sick so he was on the base doing weapons training and maintenance. Then he'd seen them all running and screaming, their impulse rifles sending out their bone crunching pressure wave rounds.....

He heard the girl behind him and slid his gun back into its holster as he turned to her. He asked her about the water and she showed him the pump. He drank long and then gave himself a fully clothed make-shift shower as the girl looked on with obvious amusement. Again, he smiled crookedly at her.

He knew he had to find food. He automatically set up a search grid and began to walk to every out-building. She couldn't hope to keep up with his quick, long strides so within just a few minutes she was on his shoulders, her thighs spread wide across the back of his tree-trunk neck. He held his rifle in the ready position, not knowing what else to do. His modified digestive tract would accomodate a variety of things that would render another human being moot but he knew she would need something more palatable.

Finally as the sun began to pierce the clouds of smoke they found their Holy Grail. The machine shed contained not only farm equipment but an enormous chest freezer covered by a tarp. Meat, vegetables even ice cream were still frozen hard even though the power had been cut some time before. In 30 minutes they were feasting but feasting conservatively. They both knew that this was not that much food in the larger scheme of things but for the moment they felt like the were sitting in the middle of a refridgerated warehouse full of all their favorites. They were like children, smiling at each other over the fire as the steaks cooked in the skillet she'd found in the house. She giggled a little when his small portion of ice cream dribbled down his huge square chin.

Stiffer felt his strength returning quickly as they ate. More alert, more awake...he could think a bit more clearly and it wasn't necessarily a good thing....

he was standing now and towering over her. or was it just her fear that made him apear to be a giant in her eyes. eithor way his presence was over whelming and she could still feel the fear that seized her heart when first seting eyes on him..Taking the dirty jar from her hand he drained it and then stood. He thanked her and then began to ascend the stairs stopping for a few seconds .

Back on the main floor he turned to see the her walking a few feet behind him. he studied her for a few minutes. Again he attempted a smile though it felt uncomfortable to do so. returning his smile witha weak one of her own she knew that he could since her fear but she couldn't seem to get it under controll.

"I...I will not hurt you...I am...lost," Stiffer stammered in an effort to allay her fears. He knew his assurances probably did nothing but at least he was trying.


hearing this she gave a slight nod of her head and continued up the stairs. once she was on the landing he asked her about the water she had brout him. showing him the water pump, she watched as he drank severl times from it and then watched as he went about bathing with his clothes on and all. she couldn't help herself she smiled a genuian smile that lit her face. her eyes twinkled with mirth as she watched him trying hard to surpress her giggles as he bathed. even though he noticed how entertained she was at the sight of him bathing himself and washing his clothes at the same time but did not seem bothered by it. and even offered her a some what crooked smile as he finished up.

she had had severl drinks from the water pump as well but it wasn't enough to lesson her hunger. she could feel her stomache rumbling as they stood in the kitchen when sudenly he motioned for the door. following him she tryed hard to keep up with him. but being so fast she soon ran out of steam and was slowly walking behind him as her moved ahead in long strides. when he looked over his shoulder and seen her laging so far behind he came back for her and with out hesitation he lifted her to his shoulders.

she felt like a child being lifted to her fathers shoulders and she laughed as he began to move once again in his long fast strides. taking them closer and closer to a building she had not noticed before. as they moved across the yard she held tight to his head between her thighs. bending slightly she looked down at him the smile still on her face. as they aproached the building her reached up and lowered her to the ground.

they entered the large garage type building and she followed him as he uncovered something in the back. when he lifted the top of the freezer she gasped. she was so happy she could not contain herself and through her arms around the enormous man that had found them a veritable feast. he was so large that her arms barley reached around him and he did not seem to know what to do with her outburst of affection.

turning back to the freezer Emaira laughed and reached in looking at all the frozen items within. there was so much. enough for them to live on for a few days at least.

pulling out some steaks and some brocli Emaira couldn'e beleive it. working togethor they had a fire going and their meal cooking as they as around the fire waiting the smell of the food making their mouthes water she watched him. she no longer felt afraid of him just curoise.

" im Emaira..."
she watched as he looked up at her he seemed to smiling also. looking at him she did not think he was so scarey looking anymore eithor. moving closer to him she took the largest steak off the fire and handed it to him on a tin she had found. using there hands they ate in silence. devouring the steaks and brocli.

after they ate he got up and pulled out some ice cream. jenny laughed
" i cna't believe it's still here after all this time."

as they ate a few bites of the cool creamy ice cream they laughed and joked around. she never thought that this huge man would have a since of humor. or maybe it was just that she found him as amusing as he seemed to find her. as a glob of ice cream slid down his chin jenny burst into laugher. he too seemed to be enjoying himself and smiled as the ice cream made its path down his large square chin. leaning over jenny scooped it up on her fingers as it was about to drop off on to the floor. holding it on her fingers unsure what to do with it she looked to him and smiled.

" we shouldn't waist such a treat."

she scooped the ice cream into her mouth and savored the taste as it slid over her tongue melting before she swallowed it. feeling full and content Emaira could feel her eyes starting to get heavey as they sat there. he was so quite now. not talking or even smiling. just sitting there. even though all she wanted to do was lay downa nd take a nap she stayed wiht him sitting quetly beside him.

sitting silently beside her large new friend Emaira was going over in her mind all the things that needed to be donw in the house and all the out buildings that needed to be explored. looking up at stiffer staring off into nothing, lost in his own thoughts. slaping her hands on her thighs Emaira pushed herself to her feet and looked down at the him.

" well come on then. lots to do today." notcing she finaly had his attention she gave him a smile feeling much more at ease with him than she did at first. taking a breath she looked around at the clutter that the building had inside of it. no telling what could be in here that they could use in the house or for lord only knows what all else. tilting her head and looking at stiffer and raising her brow she offered a devilsh smile.

" you look strong enough to handle just about anything out here. so i will leave you to figure out what is usable out here ."

he just looked at her and Emaira shook her head as she walked away figuring this man just was not much of a talker at all. walking up to the house Emaira entered the kitchen from teh back door. looking around at all that needed to be done.

moving over to the cabinets she opened each one hoping above hope that she would find what she was seeking. sure enough there in the back of the last cabinet was a large pot. reaching in she pulled it out and filled it with water from the pump. looking around she decided to start with the windows first. surprisingly they where all there. not like the rest of the house.

grabbing a wrag off the floor that had surely seen better days she proceeded to plunge the wrag in the water and then rub the dirt adn grime off the windows one at a time. it was dirty work but exhilerating non the less.

once the windows where free of all the dirt that covered them she looked around the rest of the kitchen. smiling she went head first into cleaning the counters and the some what lopsided table. every once in awhile through out the afternoon she would up and see stiffer moving around in the out building she had left him in through the window. smiling she soon found herself humming along as she worked.

it had been awhile since she had felt like this.. so long infact she did not even know how to explain to herself what she was feeling. perhaps it was that she had hope. or that for the first time in a long time she actually felt safe. looking out the window she smiled yes that was it. she felt safe. she could only assume that it was becuase of that giant of a man she had found half dead in the basement just this morning.

stoping to look around the kitchen she nodded to herself. it was coming along fine. slowly but fine. in no time this old place would be fit to be called home by just about anyone. but not jsut anyone would be here. it would be her home and that made it all the better.

bending over she went back to scrubbing the counter the dirt and greese so thick that with each layer of the nasty mixture she wiped off a new layer was exposed. changing her water several times she went on about scrubbing and scrubbing her fingers wrinkled from being plunged into the water so often. but soon she began to see her efforts paying off. as little by little she scrubed the counter clean.