Re: Petty Squabble [ROUND 1] [Fort Ayers, New Atlantis]
04-12-2011, 05:23 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Lord Paradise.
Tom Broderburg found himself dumped back in the driver’s seat of the RV, which was chugging along as though it had never stopped. The road, if possible, was even bumpier than the dirt roads that had been taking them to the campground before this whole battle-to-the-death situation had cropped up. What’s worse, he could hear the patter of bullets knocking dent after dent into the newly-waxed side of the vehicle.
“We’re gonna lose a tire one way or another,” he told Clarice.
Clarice was busy dealing with baby Emma, who, reacting either to the noise, the turbulence, the stress of teleportation, or the imminent doom, had started crying. Clarice never quite got used to the sound of Emma’s particular baby-bawl, which seemed particularly un-infantile. Her first two children had made the same sort of noise when dealing with any sort of upset; she understood that, like bad teenage poetry, the baby was only expressing itself the only way it knew how. With Emma, it was… different. Emma cried the way an adult cried, as though she carried all the sorrows of the world on her fragile shoulders.
She reacted to Tom’s question five seconds too late, darting the tired eyes of a new mother up at her husband. “We only have the one spare, we’re going to need to make it last. You could slow down a bit, at least.”
”Might as well clear the warzone as fast as we can, get our bearings. It’s a funny thing, isn’t it? Man says we have to kill each other, then introduces us to two armies who are eager to do the job for us.”
”That man said we just need to get comf'table with killing a lot of people!” chimed in Ethan, running up to the front of the RV to accost his father. “Have you been running any of them over?”
”Don’t distract your father, he’s trying to concentrate.”
”But mooooooooooom—“
Tom took one hand off the wheel to stop short Clarice’s reply. “It’s alright, Clarice, the boy should see this.” He gestured out the windshield, where little could be seen past smoke and fire. “You see, son, this is all that ever comes out of the violence. It’s not like one of your video games. People are dying out there.”
”People die in ‘my’ video games all the time, dad.” Ethan jabbed a fist up in the air to punctuate his murderous intent.
Alison darted her head towards the driver’s seat from her cross-legged position on the counter, where the arrhythmic clatter of gunfire was canceling out the soothing effect of her Walkman. “Listen, can’t we just kill these other guys and get this trip over with? I mean, you have your gun, right?”
Tom sighed paternally. “Now, Alison, you know my rule. Unless you plan on eating the other contestants in the battle, I don’t plan on killing them.” Alison blanched. “Listen, all of you. Whatever comes next, we’re going to make it through this together. As a family.”
Everything seemed to go quiet for a moment, which was odd, because the RV’s engine kept roaring and the gunfire didn’t abate. Only Clarice realized what the change was, and then only after a few seconds.
Baby Emma had stopped crying.
Tom Broderburg found himself dumped back in the driver’s seat of the RV, which was chugging along as though it had never stopped. The road, if possible, was even bumpier than the dirt roads that had been taking them to the campground before this whole battle-to-the-death situation had cropped up. What’s worse, he could hear the patter of bullets knocking dent after dent into the newly-waxed side of the vehicle.
“We’re gonna lose a tire one way or another,” he told Clarice.
Clarice was busy dealing with baby Emma, who, reacting either to the noise, the turbulence, the stress of teleportation, or the imminent doom, had started crying. Clarice never quite got used to the sound of Emma’s particular baby-bawl, which seemed particularly un-infantile. Her first two children had made the same sort of noise when dealing with any sort of upset; she understood that, like bad teenage poetry, the baby was only expressing itself the only way it knew how. With Emma, it was… different. Emma cried the way an adult cried, as though she carried all the sorrows of the world on her fragile shoulders.
She reacted to Tom’s question five seconds too late, darting the tired eyes of a new mother up at her husband. “We only have the one spare, we’re going to need to make it last. You could slow down a bit, at least.”
”Might as well clear the warzone as fast as we can, get our bearings. It’s a funny thing, isn’t it? Man says we have to kill each other, then introduces us to two armies who are eager to do the job for us.”
”That man said we just need to get comf'table with killing a lot of people!” chimed in Ethan, running up to the front of the RV to accost his father. “Have you been running any of them over?”
”Don’t distract your father, he’s trying to concentrate.”
”But mooooooooooom—“
Tom took one hand off the wheel to stop short Clarice’s reply. “It’s alright, Clarice, the boy should see this.” He gestured out the windshield, where little could be seen past smoke and fire. “You see, son, this is all that ever comes out of the violence. It’s not like one of your video games. People are dying out there.”
”People die in ‘my’ video games all the time, dad.” Ethan jabbed a fist up in the air to punctuate his murderous intent.
Alison darted her head towards the driver’s seat from her cross-legged position on the counter, where the arrhythmic clatter of gunfire was canceling out the soothing effect of her Walkman. “Listen, can’t we just kill these other guys and get this trip over with? I mean, you have your gun, right?”
Tom sighed paternally. “Now, Alison, you know my rule. Unless you plan on eating the other contestants in the battle, I don’t plan on killing them.” Alison blanched. “Listen, all of you. Whatever comes next, we’re going to make it through this together. As a family.”
Everything seemed to go quiet for a moment, which was odd, because the RV’s engine kept roaring and the gunfire didn’t abate. Only Clarice realized what the change was, and then only after a few seconds.
Baby Emma had stopped crying.