Travel (closed)

[sandi_grl]

Her eyes widened as she saw the beast. That was the only way she could describe it. She'd heard stories, and then Cole had recounted what he had seen when he set traps around the old settlement. But now it was real.

Laura ignored his command, letting the arrow fly through the air, which glance off the animal's side, and grabbing the next one. She could probably find her way back to the caves without him, but she wasn't certain of the way. She let the second arrow fly, which caught the attention of the large animal. It turned and snarled at her and she stepped back, grabbing another arrow.

 

[MrGoatee]

Cole felt the beast move, it's attention distracted. It turned snarling at Laura, it's mouth opening to show two rows of sharp teeth. Cole kicked, his boot connecting with the animals groin, he stabbed with the thick knife, fighting trying to draw it's attention back to him.

It worked, the snarling animal turned slowly, oblivious to the wounds Cole was inflicting and the blood it was loosing. 'the gun!' He hissed 'shoot it in the head!'

 

[sandi_grl]

The gun. She forgot about the firearm. She pulled the handgun out and fumbled the safety before taking aim at the beast. The shot rang through the air and the beast collapses.

Laura took several sharp and deep inhales, realizing she'd been holding her breath. Tucking the gun away, she moved towards Cole cautiously, watching the large animal for any signs of life. "Are you okay?"

 

[MrGoatee]

Cole gasped, feeling the beast collapse onto him, his ears ringing and the animals breath rancid. He heard her say something and began to push it away 'I'm ok' he grunted, lifting the animal only slightly so he could slide out. A tear was obvious in his shirt, the rake marks from the animals claws red and oozing blood across his stomach. 'thank you' he moaned. He knew that if she had run as he had asked he would be dead.

Cole grimaced, the pain starting to be felt now that the adrenaline was wearing off. He walked to her, Let's get out of here, I might need some of those meds'

 

[sandi_grl]

She brought his arm over her shoulder to help support him as they walked. "You know, if you keep this up, there won't be much left of you by the time we reach the coast," she joked. "Hold on." Bending down, she grabbed the small bag she'd been collecting the bottles of medicine into. "Choose your poison. Ibuprofen, aspirin, hydrocodone, vicodin, morphine... We could head to the bar, get you sloshed." She gave him a nervous smile. She knew she was only making jokes to mask her anxiety.

 

[MrGoatee]

Cole laughed, 'I've had worse, this isn't deep. Aspirin and antibiotics would be good though.' As they entered the bar he sat in a distressed booth and looked at the wounds. One graze was angry, but most were surface damage, his clothing taking the brunt of the force. 'can you find any vodka?' He asked, removing his top

 

[sandi_grl]

"I would've pegged you for a scotch kind of guy," she mused, placing the tote bag with the various pill bottles on the table. Digging through, she pulled out the aspirin and a few of the different antibiotics, and then headed for the bar. All of the bottles were coated in dust, many of the mixers had dried down to sticky syrup, some of which were covered in bugs, mostly dead, some still moving. Laura rummaged through some of the cabinets before finding an unopened bottle of the clear and colorless alcohol.

Wandering back, she set the bottle along with a couple shot glasses down on the table. She took a look at his injuries and shook her head on disbelief. "Man, you must have an army of angels looking after you," she stated, glancing up at him from where she knelt down next to the seat. For a moment, she couldn't help but take a harder look at Cole. He kept in decent shape, which was probably a necessity. And she has to admit he wasn't bad looking, even with the the battle scars he'd earned over the years.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, she averted her eyes and grabbed the bottle from the table. "I'm assuming you want this to clean the claw marks?"

 

[MrGoatee]

He nodded, popping the aspirins in his mouth and taking the drink to swallow them, he passed it back and lay himself out 'Straight on it please' he winced. He tensed, anticipating the pain that would follow but knowing it would help prevent infection. 'scotch burns too much' he started, knowing talking would distract him. 'Actually I prefer red wine, I'm a civilised sort' he tensed his arms....'do it!' He hissed

 

[sandi_grl]

"Red wine huh?" She hesitated for a few moments before poring the liquid over his torso. "I don't think I saw any of that behind the bar, unfortunately." Instinctively she took his hand to comfort him as he worked through the sting. "I'll be sure to snag you a bottle if I ever come across an unopened one."

 

[MrGoatee]

He gritted to the pain, squeezing her hand. 'shitballs!' He moaned, 'that stings' he looked at her nit letting go of her hand. 'i will hold you to that wine' he grinned 'I need to thank you. You saved my life for sure' he blushed slightly. He let go of her hand, placing a cloth over the wound and holding it there. Then he looked up, 'you are a beautiful light in the balls up of a world' he smiled

 

[sandi_grl]

Laura had refrain from snorting a laugh at his obscenities. Relaxing back on her heels when it seemed that the worst of the burn had subsided, she returned the smile as a slight flush spread across her cheeks at his compliment. "Thank you."

She drummed her fingers on the table top for a moment, thinking. "So what now? I'm guessing it's too late to head back... And I don't think the movie theater is open."

 

[MrGoatee]

'I do a mean shadow puppet show' Cole grinned. 'but lights might not be wise. We should find some where we can defend, somewhere safe. I was thinking of using the cells in the sheriffs but that might be too dangerous. No escape route.' He said. We could use one of the rooms here, barricade ourselves in' he stood gingerly, testing his wound. 'this could do with binding, it feels tight but I think I will mend easily' he winked.

He headed to the stairs, climbing cautiously and listening for sounds. The stairs were strong and Cole knew there would be fire escapes from all the rooms. 'we could make something work here' he offered

 

[sandi_grl]

How had she missed the stairs? She followed him slowly, keeping light on her feet. The top landing presented them with four doors, all cracked open. Laura checked the two to the left as Cole checked the two to the right. Thankfully there were no animals, no immediate dangers. They all appeared very similar. Bed, nightstand, dresser, one had a broken TV still in the armoire.

"How about this one?" she asked, stepping into one room that didn't seem to be totally torn apart, the bed not looking like it was shredded apart. But it was just one bed. She looked over her shoulder as he entered the doorway and joked, "Five-star accommodations."

 

[MrGoatee]

He peered in 'you always pick the five star accommodation?' He touched her back with his hand, resting it there 'I bet room service is a little slack.' He slipped in the room, checking the escape. It looked safe and sturdy. 'I'll drag the dresser over the door, you get the bed' he smiled as he took the bedrolls out of the pack. One he lay on the bed, the other beside it between the bed and the door.

 

[sandi_grl]

She smirked at him. "Well, I deserve only the best don't I?"

Laura pulled the comforter off the bed, coughing as a flurry of dust surrounded her for a few moments from the movement. Even with the bed rolls, she didn't want to sleep on that, and was sure he didn't either. She set them up on the bed, before turning to help him finish pushing the dresser in front of the door. "You need to rest," she advised as she glanced around the room, wondering what they could do for quiet entertainment. Surely they weren't going to sleep, there was still dim light filtering through the window as the sun set.

 

[MrGoatee]

Cole grimaced at the efforts, appreciating the help in move the dresser. 'I'm sorry I got you into this' he muttered. He felt genuinely sorry, a trip to fetch provisions should have been routine, but his carelessness had cost them. 'really I was trying to get you alone' he teased

 

[sandi_grl]

She shook her head at his apology. "It could've, and probably would've hsppened to anyone else who came here." Laura sat on the edge of the bed and began unlacing the boots she wore. "But if you really wanted to get me alone, you could've just asked. You didn't have to go through all this trouble," she teased back with a laugh.

 

[MrGoatee]

Cole laughed 'well I thought you might be mad at me, after all I got your father hurt' he sat and began to unlace his own boots. 'you had a good life until I turned up, I'm sorry that's gone' he kicked off his boots and wiggled his toes. He looked around the room, 'it could be worse'

 

[sandi_grl]

"Hey," she started, placing a hand on his shoulder. "None of this is your fault. If it weren't for you, we'd all probably be dead. We'll make a better settlement once we reach the coast." Her face sombered some as she spoke, before she gave him another smile. "I can't wait to have seafood again. It's been years."

 

[MrGoatee]

He laughed taking off his shirt and carefully touching the wound on his stomach. It stung but the pain was not bad. 'crab, lobster, fish cooked with a few herbs!' He smiled. He leaned back, resting. 'what would you eat? If you had a choice of anything?'

 

[sandi_grl]

"Hm..." She thought for a moment, leaning back on her hands. "The seafood pan roast my mom used to make. She got the recipe from Fairchild's, a restaurant in Reno. It had shrimp, crab, clams, oysters, muscles... She'd even add lobster if it was on sale. It was always better when she made it, too." Laura gave a smile at the memory before turning her attention back to him. "What about you?"

 

[MrGoatee]

'surf and turf' he smiled. 'I once had the best meal on holiday. The steak was cooked perfectly and it had grilled salmon with it. Unusual but it was so good' he laughed. The light was starting to fade on the room but there was still enough to see by. 'you look great when you laugh' he smiled, now propped on an elbow

 

[sandi_grl]

"Thanks." She felt her cheeks flush at the compliment and gave a sheepish smile, looking down at the floor." I have to admit, I haven't laughed this much in a long while." She moved to lay on her stomach next to him on the other bed roll, holding herself up on her elbows. "I guess I have you to thank for that."

 

[MrGoatee]

He looked at her 'its my pleasure' he smiled. 'its quite nice to have normal conversations with normal people! It has been a messed up time.' He looked at her again, taking in her face, as his hand absently moved to touch her

 

[sandi_grl]

Cole's touch was gentle, caring. He caressed her check a moment before brushing a few errant strands of hair back behind her ear. Laura felt her cheeks darken even more at the brush of his fingers. "Cole..." she said softly, studying him intently, while grabbing his hand with one of her own. Her heart pounded in her chest and ears.

Something possessed her to move. Laura pushed herself up and sat on her knees, bringing her more or less face to face with him. She pressed her lips against his, ignoring the voice of reason in the back of her mind. This was hardly the time or place, and she barely knew him... But it felt right.