Andar Muerto (Kasim, Angeleanna, and Phia)

[brennalarose]

Phia holstered her gun. "I'm...okay." That was only a tiny fib. Physically, apart from a few bruises and scrapes, she was fine. The fight between Sister Angel's calm and the unease of Kasim was going to give her a headache, but she was having trouble pinning down Pierce.

"Pierce? You okay?" She approached the vehicle slowly, afraid that the driver might be next.

"Heaven help us if that's somebody's grandpa," she muttered.

[Kasim Chionesu]

Sister Angel hadn't spoken yet, so Kasim put out a steadying hand to her, just for support. He hoped he was being a good leader so far. Casting a wary eye at the once more lifeless corpse, Kasim jumped out of the vehicle, pulling Pierce to his feet and surveying the blood adorning Phia's features. "We have a first-aid kit..." He said to her, a sympathetic look on his face.

"Agent Chionesu!" The rest of the little convoy had caught up and agents Chert and Talus had boken from the van and were running towards them, hands on their holstered weapons.

"We're fine guys..." Kasim said, though he wasn't sure. "Um...The upholstery in the Humvee will need to be...cleaned." Now he just felt like a fool. He returned to the Humvee and pulled out the first-aid kit to see if Phia needed anything from it.

>>"Heaven help us if that's somebody's grandpa." <<

Kasim smiled reassuringly at Phia as he cracked the kit open, and then his smile faded. What if it was? He looked at the dead corpse still in the Humvee. Oh no, did he just possibly exacerbate the situation?

[Sister Angeleanna]

"Close your eyes Sister!"

She was trying to maneuver out of the way, drawing the heavy folds of her habit up and knew she was taking too long to get out. But she couldn’t leave, the driving force refuse to make her turn tail and felt the sharp sting of fragments pelt her shoulder where Kasim’s body didn’t shield. The nun held her breath, refusing to breath in the split gore that surrounded her and it was then she saw the hand reaching out to her. The nun grasped the hand in a firm hold and squeezed. “I’m… I’m all right,” she whispered reassuringly before she slid her hand away to tentatively reach out to the slumped body beside her.

Angel knelt between the two bodies, one hand on the shoulder of the deceased driver, the other atop the grayish hand of their attacker. The black bible previously discarded now lay open and twisted nearly pushed under the seat in the scrambling haste. Bowing her head, the woman closed her eyes and recited in a thick voice, “God our Father, Your power brings us to birth, Your providence guides our lives, and by Your command we return to dust...” Once done, she touched her forehead, heart and shoulders and briefly ran her fingers across the rosary before sliding out of the humvee. Her boots kicked up a little dust cloud and she turned towards the squealing tires of the bureau van.

"We're fine guys..."

Talus nodded but still carefully looked inside before moving around to the driver’s side of the vehicle and reached through the window to rest his fingers against what was left of the man’s neck. It was fruitless but it didn’t feel right to assume. Chert nudged the rotten body with the muzzle of his gun a few times before slowly climbing in.

From behind, Angel raised a hand and squeezed Kasim’s shoulder and drew close. “Thank you brother.” A somber smile touched her lips and she wiped unconsciously at the sticky wetness that coated her cheek with the back of her head and only succeeded in smearing it in the illusion of tainted blush. It also helped reveal the little scraps from the flying glass and she touched them tenderly before turned to Pierce as the man looked over Anna Sophia.

“Pierce?”

[brennalarose]

Sophie gritted her teeth at the pain. "I left my stick," she muttered, "but you want me to try slapping a binding on it?" She spat out the blood from her bitten cheek. She wasn't even sure she could do magic. The developing bruises and scraped skin was enough to blur her vision and she thanked her lucky stars nothing had broken.

"Thank god for backup, huh?" She said, gesturing to Talus and Chert.

[Kasim Chionesu]

Kasim looked over his shoulder as Angel spoke to him, thanking him. He nodded solemnly. "It's nothing...I gotta take care of my team, don't I?" He smiled softly and turned his attention back to Phia as Chert and Tallus began looking inside the Humvee. Kasim tried to take a deep, steadying breath as he pulled out a packet of sterilized gauze.

"We could maybe make a pillow out of this to hold in your cheek until the bleeding subsides..." He said absentmindedly to Phia, and then his brain caught up with him. "Only if you feel strong enough to do a binding. But then again...Maybe not. We might need you to conserve your strength for later. I don't know about you, but all that adrenaline has made me...shaky." Kasim stood a little safer, as if resolving to soldier on.

"We're not that far from said police station, guys. Only a block or two. Maybe we should head that way while this situation gets cleaned up...get to the bottom of this."

[brennalarose]

"We could maybe make a pillow out of this to hold in your cheek until the bleeding subsides..."

"Nah," said Phia, probing her cheek, "Feels like it's stopped, but my elbows are skinned all to hell. Serves me right for going sleeveless. Note to self: armored biker jacket."

"Only if you feel strong enough to do a binding. But then again...Maybe not. We might need you to conserve your strength for later. I don't know about you, but all that adrenaline has made me...shaky." [/b]

"Good point," said Phia, "I'm not sure how much it would take to restrain that much... Confusion. I can't tell if that poor soul is coming or going or even if there IS a soul in there. It's like swimming in broken mirrors, trying to pin down an emotion. Sister? How you holding up?"

[Kasim Chionesu]

Kasim left the others and climbed inside the Humvee with his fellow suits. "What do you guys think?" Kasim asked.

"Hostile is expired and definitely...a zombie." Chert said, still surveying the corpse that Kasim had re-killed. It was almost fun to think about it.

"If it's contagious...Shouldn't we do something about Collins?" Kasim asked quietly, motioning to the driver. Talus was slowly pulling the body from the driver's seat into the passenger seat.

"As far as we know, this phenomena may have been caused by prayers. I guess we'll have to wait and see." Talus replied. He pulled out a thermal blanket from a kit in the backseat and covered the body up with it.

Kasim took in a deep steadying breath. His first mission as a leader and there was already a casualty. It wasn't your fault, there was nothing you could do, he tried to assure himself. He reached up and put a hand on the one sticking out of the blanket. I'm sorry. "Let's get this to the side of the road and come back for it, then. We still have an appointment with the locals to keep."

[Sister Angeleanna]

A quick check over Pierce proved to find no serious injuries and the nun extended a hand to help him to his feet and gave a comforting pat on his shoulder before nodding her head firmly. It was okay to be unnerved by the event, it was down right unsettling and inside Angeleanna was still jumping from the lasting bursts of adrenaline. It was an inner battle in which she relied on the strength of her Lord to keep her strong to not give into the rush. She busied herself with digging around in her belt’s many pounces and found a pack of spearmint gum. She pulled a stick free and passed it along with a white handkerchief to her brethren. “If you get dizzy, it’s all right to sit back down.”

"It's nothing...I gotta take care of my team, don't I?"
Sister? How you holding up?"

“Nothing my Lord’s bible.” The nun replied firmly and took a second handkerchief and licked a corner before holding it up to the man’s face. “Now hold still Mr. Chionesu, I don’t think you want blood in your eyes.” She looked past the man towards the younger woman and smiled reassuringly. “I’m all right, I believe we’re all a little shaken up and that’s to be expected. Only a fool is unafraid. Close your eyes Mr. Chionesu, it wont take but a moment.” She made a gesture towards his face again with the pristine yet spittle wetted cloth.

“Agent Cisneros, I believe this is yours.” Chert held up the slightly bloodied laptop. “And this is yours too Sister.” In his other hand he held up the wooden case that housed her single weapon. He walked the items over to his fellow female agents. “There’s more but… it’s a tad dirty.”

"Let's get this to the side of the road and come back for it, then. We still have an appointment with the locals to keep."

Folding the handkerchief, Angel slipped it back into the same pounce she had retrieved it from and picked up the wooden case Chert had set at her feet. The solid wooden handle was worn smooth by years of handling, not only by her but by previous owners. She shifted her grip, the case a reassuring weight and surveyed the tragic play. Movement from her peripheral vision made her turn her head to focus on what she thought was a person. The wind kicked up and the cloth that covered several large boxes fluttered into the shape of a man before flailing slightly and settled back down. Nothing.

Talus was already hauling equipment from the back of the humvee to be transferred to the truck. “Go on ahead of us, we’ll take care of this and met you guys there.” He exchanged a quick glance with Chert and they both knew the assignment was staring out of a bad note. Manning was going to have a field day when they all got back. Talus pulled free Anna Sophia’s walking stick and propped it along the side of the vehicle and climbed further to read for a single item wedged under the back seat. With the sound of tearing paper, the nun’s bible appeared and the man frowned at it. A lot of good that thing was going to do here.

“May I?” Talus turned to the nun standing behind him and he raised his eyebrows in surprise. She raised a hand towards the good book. “Thank you for finding… it.” She eyed the wide tear in the pages and her own brow puckered.

“Eh yeah, sorry Sister.” The agent handed the bible over and returned to his work, hauling a case free and grimaced at the dark muck that coated one side.

Angeleanna folded her bible carefully and tucked it into the crook of her arm and turned to face the team, looking as though she had just walked out of evening mass. “I think walking would do us some good. Shall we?”

[brennalarose]

“Agent Cisneros, I believe this is yours.” Chert held up the slightly bloodied laptop.

"Thanks," said Phia, feeling a touch silly for fretting about her equipment. She wiped it clean with her shirt front and tucked it under her arm. Her hands were shaking from the weight of someone's disappointment, or maybe shame. Maybe it was just shock. Mostly it was adrenaline, everyone thinking. Tensions were high and she felt like a violin string, taut and ready to snap. Phia fought it back. Now was not the time to melt down, not on her first field job.

"Let's get this to the side of the road and come back for it, then. We still have an appointment with the locals to keep."

Phia nodded reflexively and started moving towards the Humvee. She thought she saw something fluttering near the edge of her peripheral vision. She threw up a "sight" spell and turned. It was nothing. Just a ragged tarp flapping in the desert wind.

Talus was already hauling equipment from the back of the humvee to be transferred to the truck. “Go on ahead of us, we’ll take care of this and met you guys there.” He exchanged a quick glance with Chert and they both knew the assignment was staring out of a bad note. Manning was going to have a field day when they all got back. Talus pulled free Anna Sophia’s walking stick and propped it along the side of the vehicle and climbed further to read for a single item wedged under the back seat. With the sound of tearing paper, the nun’s bible appeared and the man frowned at it. A lot of good that thing was going to do here.

"I don't like leaving people behind with what maybe restless souls roaming," Phia muttered. She took up her stick and chose to lean on it. Fatigue was setting in. "Thanks, guys, be saf--ooh!" The rip of onionskin paper and the sight of the ravaged text made the good Catholic in her feel like swooning. The rational scholarly side winced at the damage and let it go.

Angeleanna folded her bible carefully and tucked it into the crook of her arm and turned to face the team, looking as though she had just walked out of evening mass. “I think walking would do us some good. Shall we?”

"Sure, Sister," said Phia, holstering her sidearm and moving the laptop to her free hand, "Agent Chionesu? Pierce?"

[Kasim Chionesu]

Kasim helped Pierce to his feet after a quick check. Just some scrapes from him shoving the poor boy out of the Humvee, but he was okay. Kasim rechecked his Glocks and made sure they were secure under his jacket. He grabbed the radio from inside the Humvee and shoved it in his pocket. "Keep an eye out Chert, Talus. Anything happens, anything, radio us." Kasim nodded, his brow furrowed, and turned to his companions. They began the couple block walk to the police station where they'd be meeting the locals.

"I don't know about you guys, but this is starting to feel like a cheesy Hollywood zombie movie to me." Kasim shivered. "Deserted streets, no one around. Keep a weather eye open." Lord knew that Kasim didn't want anymore harm done to his fellows.

[brennalarose]

"Freakin' Word." Phia paused a moment, setting down her laptop and tracing an infinity sign around her eyes. "I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with 'n'," she said. The slight tug of magic sight at her eyes told her the spell had worked. But she still could see nothing. She let it drop. The spell was an unnecessary drain at the moment.

"This isn't so creepy," she said, "Maybe with everything going on, they're at church or a shrine somewhere, giving thanks and all that. I mean, with the heat, we'd smell it if people were dead in droves. Right?"

She poked her cane tip at a window, knocking gently. "I'll be more spooked when it gets dark," she muttered, then speaking louder, "If anyone sees any weird graffiti or anything, let me know. I'm still guessing it's sorcery."

[Sister Angeleanna]

Chert nodded and pressed a finger into the small comm. in his ear pushing it further in as he listened in on the basic static of it and replied to some quick garbled jargon from a second van at the airport. They wouldn’t be needed until later, possibly the next day if at all. Talus gave a unethical shrug before straightening his tie. “Sure thing Agent Chionesu.” He nodded and went back to rooting around for the last of the equipment before circling around the side of the humvee.

Hefting her case one last time, Angeleanna surveyed the motley crew of agents before quietly taking up the rear, which placed her roughly two steps behind the last person. She prayed quietly, her voice no more then a breathy whisper of protection and thanks and sorrow for the life lost. The tinkle of broken shards of glass fell free with the movement of walking from the folds of her habit and veil. She glanced behind her in a precautionary step.

"I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with 'n',"

“N?” Angel piped up, widening her steps to bring her up with the rest of the agents. She shifted her bible to free a hand and dug around in a side pocket to pull the packet of gum free and offered it towards Anna Sophia. “I’m afraid I’ve never watched those kinds of movies.” Angel took a slow even breath and tasted nothing but the dirt of the ground beneath them and the faint smell of spices. Mass? It was All Saint’s Day in the Catholic tradition, it was only natural to see less people on the street. “{Day of the Dead.},” she muttered and looked to the window where Phia raised her walking stick. Though she had no special gift to discern the magic from the myth, the hair on the back of her neck spoke otherwise. It was an eerie feeling, one that came with the job as the saying went.

A door from the across the street opened a good foot and a thin yellow dog trotted out followed by an old woman. She wiped her hands on the edge of her apron and studied the odd looking group before slipping back into her home. The dog meanwhile barked and raced towards the ground in clumsy bounds and continued to bark excitedly before nearing Kasim to sniff cautiously.

[Kasim Chionesu]

Kasim had one of his hands warily underneath his jacket when Phia spoke. He looked around, trying to decipher what she was talking about, not realizing that she had cast a spell. "...Nothing?" He offered, not spying anything that began with the letter 'N.' His fingers gripped the roughness of the Glock's grip in its holster and he tried his best to calm his nerves. He felt comforted by Phia's suggestion that everyone was at mass, at least.

"The only nightmares I've ever had from horror movies have been zombie movies, sister. I would count myself lucky if I were you." He smiled gently and relaxed his fingers, eventually pulling his hand from the inside of his jacket. Itchy fingers meant accidents. He needed to chill out.

The sudden barking of a dog made Kasim flinch. His cheeks flushed a dark rouge when he realized how much of a fool he must have looked, and he surveyed the dog that cautiously approached him with an embarrassed smile. "I don't reckon maybe this little fellow could help us out? What do you think Phia? Think he can smell the undead?" Kasim was trying to calm himself down and maybe get the team into a little lighter mood with his banter. He offered a palm for the dog to sniff.

[brennalarose]

"You got it in one," said Phia over her shoulder to Kasim. She accepted the gum from Sister Angel and poked around absently with her cane in the door frame. "I can see why people might choose a place like this for raising the dead. Nothing but dry heat for miles. There's phones, but I haven't seen cable or satellite dishes anywhere. If this town suddenly vanished, it might take awhile to be noticed..." Phia shuddered at the thought.

"I really hope it's Mass. I haven't heard church bells, but if the church doesn't have any, I'd be surprised and a little depressed." The thought of a place where they couldn't scrape together enough for a church bell was dreary, but not impossible.

A door from the across the street opened a good foot and a thin yellow dog trotted out followed by an old woman. She wiped her hands on the edge of her apron and studied the odd looking group before slipping back into her home. The dog meanwhile barked and raced towards the ground in clumsy bounds and continued to bark excitedly before nearing Kasim to sniff cautiously.

"Hello, ma'am!" Phia called out in Spanish, but the woman was gone by then. Not Church, then, she thought, Or Abuelita there would be with them or not coming out, if she's a shut-in.

"I don't reckon maybe this little fellow could help us out? What do you think Phia? Think he can smell the undead?"

Phia allowed herself a smile. "Clever fella like him? Bet he could smell a raindrop in a well! Who's a good boy?" She dropped to a crouch and held out a hand to be sniffed.

[Sister Angeleanna]

"...Nothing?”

With Anna Sophia’s concurrence, Angeleanna responded with her typical nod and took a second look around them. She looked for the typical mark of graffiti under the younger woman’s instructions although nothing stood out. She smiled at Pierce who was lagging slightly and slowed a step for him. Nothing as of yet, however nothing didn’t always mean that. The nun took to studying the nearest building as they neared it and walked by, taking note in the texture and brick.

"The only nightmares I've ever had from horror movies have been zombie movies, sister. I would count myself lucky if I were you."

She frowned thoughtfully at that. “Why watch such a dreadful genre when one, well, lives it. There are plenty of things to be frightened of without television and movies interfering.” Angel checked her tone of voice and realized it off came as more scolding then intended. “But that’s why we’re here.” The sharp crisp bark of the canine pulled the Sister from her thoughts to look in the same direction.

The dog lavished in the attention and after a few quick sniffs of Kasim’s hand and a friendly lick he lopped over to Phia and nearly careened into her in his excitement. He bumped her hand, sniffed at her shoes and cane and rolled over, demanding his pale yellow stomach to be scratched. The pink tongue lolled from between his teeth and he made happy puppy sounds but just as fast he shot up to his paws and his fur bristled. A low growl emitted from him as he stared through the agents.

“{Good day!}” A man of his mid 30’s appeared from around a building dressed in a clean white dress shirt and black pants. He wore a light armored vest where a police badge dangled from his neck. “I’m Hector,” he continued in thickly accented English. “Officer Hector Alvarez.” He stopped short of the group and tipped his hat back from his eyes and roamed from one agent to the other. “You’re the American government agents? You look it.” He chuckled and waved again. “Come, come, the chief is expecting you.”