(2018-11-17) The Rescue
The cult seek to rescue Joshua from the hospital.
Players:
elizabeth..jameson..omri..

Saturday night at the Powell-Braxton Medical Center. It's strangely a quiet night. Maybe because most of the city troublemakers are at a charity ball? On the fourth floor, at the end of a long, disinfected hall, there stands a yawning police officer standing guard at a private room door. He has been there for hours and is bored out of his skull.

Inside that room is Joshua…last name unknown. A boy of twelve who was shot in the attack on the ranger station recently. He stares blankly up at the ceiling, not having said a word since her was brought here.

Downstairs, waiting for a signal, is Omri and another young man, Israel. The latter is wearing a nurse outfit - baggy greens. They wait next to an exit door that will be opened for them when the time comes. For now, they await word from their inside source - Elizabeth.

Elizabeth walks into the Medical Center, in work garb. She has both hands on her belt, her side-arm hanging at her left hip. She makes her way up to the door and aims a grin up at him. "You look like you could use a cup of coffee." She jerks a thumb toward the nurse's station down the hall and around the corner. "I bet they can set you up, only take a few minutes. I can wait here for you to get back."

Omri waits with Israel. He, too, is wearing a nurse outfit. He's tall and lanky, so he's swimming in the scrubs. He sighs, tapping his foot impatiently as he waits.

The cop at the door, Mannix, greets the deputy with a professional nod. Wait, is Elizabeth being nice? This is not normal, so he better make use of it. "Umm…thanks, Deputy. I'll only be a couple of minutes." He moves down the hall…quickly, before she changes her mind.
Israel offers a beatific smile to Omri. "We shall save our Brother and cleanse the path." He closes his eyes in silent prayer before waiting for the click of an unlocking door. There it is. Time to go.

Elizabeth folds her arms over her chest, watching the pair make their way toward the door. She glances pointedly away, watching the other officer make his way down the hallway and turn the corner. She sighs, keeping her eyes there, so that anyone who goes in and out will be completely unseen by her at the moment.

Omri joins Israel in the prayer. When they finish, "amen," and he notes Elizabeth. "It's time." He opens the door and leads Israel up to the fourth floor. He slowly opens the stairwell door, peeking out. "She's done it, Izzy," he observes. "Come on." And he heads into the hallway. He pauses long enough to just walk up to a rolling bed in the hall and start pushing it. He rolls it until it's just outside Joshua's door, and then he reaches to open the doorknob.

"Of course she did. He has foreseen it" Israel explains with a smug smile. He does not hesitate to open the door to the room, peering into the darkened room to see Joshua lying there. He gestures for Omri to follow while moving to pull out the wires and tubes into the young boy. "This will set off the nurse alarms, but don't worry, I will take care of them. You get Joshua out of here." Joshua smiles as he sees familiar faces, struggling to help pull off the wires himself. Sure enough, there will be an alarm going off in the nurse's station.

Omri helps 'free' Joshua from the connections. "It's going to be alright. We're taking you home, Joshua." He helps Joshua off the bed. He looks at Israel, "I moved that bed. We can block the hall with it, that'll slow them down. The stairs aren't far. We can make it." He tilts his head, "What do you mean, take care of them?"

"Hurry up." Elizabeth hisses, turning her head to the door, a frown forming on her face. She checks her side-arm and her Taser and huffs out a sigh.

"We need to show the world that they are on the wrong path" Israel grins, undoing his shirt as he speaks. "Take Brother Joshua and Sister Elizabeth and leave. You have fifteen minutes." He opens up his shirt enough to show off a bomb vest, pulling out a timer as well. "Bless you all." This is how he will take care of the nurses.

Elizabeth turns to look into the room, and that's when her eyes fall on Israel and his new vest. She raises both eyebrows and swears under her breath. "Get the fuck out of here kid." She says to Omri, walking in the room with Israel. "Take that fucking thing off or turn off the timer. Now."

Omri shakes his head, "Hang on, wait wait…" He looks at Joshua. "Joshua. Out the door, to the right and down the stairs. There's a cab waiting for us. GO." Then he looks at Israel, taking a step toward him. "Izzy, you…" And then Elizabeth has come in. He moves to put himself between Elizabeth and Israel. "Everyone just relax. Hang on, Elizabeth," he says, extending a hand her direction, and then looking at Israel. "That's not the way. Murder is sin, Israel. Come on, now…"

Israel just looks confused. Why do they want him to stop? He is performing HIS will. His eyes narrow and he takes a step back, hand tightening around the detonator as the digital timer on his chest ticks away. "His path must be cleansed. This place is a place of Satan. Only He can heal his children. This is not murder, Omri. It is freedom. Free them from all sin. In Paradise, they will all be thankful."

The trio are in the fourth-floor private hospital room of Joshua - a child of the cult who was shot in the attack on the ranger station. The boy is scampering off as instructed, heading down the stairs. The officer who was guarding the door, is now heading back with a nurse to check the alarm.

Elizabeth releases the safety on her holster, a frown on her face. "This is a hospital, and other people are being taken care of here. I'm not going to tell you again Israel. Take the vest off or turn off the timer." She grabs a hold of Omri's shirt, yanking him back toward her. "You need to make a choice here Omri, he's going to hurt a lot of people, and you can either help me stop that or …"

Jameson had only a vague idea of where Elizabeth had been headed this evening - she mentioned coming to the hospital, and when she hadn't responded to his texts? Well, his partner sense was tingling. So now here he was, out of uniform and with only his side piece on his hip, up to the fourth floor of the hospital as the alarm's going off, cautiously approaching the door. Is there shock? Absolutely. But he's already got his hand on his gun.

Omri shakes his head, "Izzy, He's returned. We'll clear the path, but that's… I don't think that's what we're meant to do. We—" and then he's yanked out of the way. "HEY!" And he turns to face Elizabeth. He moves so he's in front of her gun. "You're supposed to be WITH us. Relax. We can figure this out." He turns to Israel again. "Put the button down. Let's pray…"

"I have been praying all day" Israel smiles, looking up to the ceiling in ecstasy for a moment. "He spoke to me in person. He told me what I needed to do to help us all find Paradise." When he turns his face down once more, his eyes are colder. "You would defy Him? Leave, Brother Omri. Get back to the Church and tell them of Sister Elizabeth's betrayal."

Elizabeth narrows her eyes, her unfriendly gaze focused on Israel even as Omri steps in front of her. "Do what he says, Omri. Don't get caught in my web, go. Now." She puts her hand on her holster. "Israel, I'm not going to let you do this. I don't want to hurt you, but if you don't do what I say, I'm going to."

"Elizabeth, what the fuck is going on?" Jameson has already unclipped his sidepiece, fully coming into the room to look between Elizabeth, Israel and Omri. But it's Israel who gets his full focus, his eyes snapping into grim determination. Was that a goddamn suicide vest?!

Omri is startled when Jameson enters the room and starts shouting. He's spooked, and the first thing he does is lunge at Jameson, bumping into Elizabeth as he goes. "Get out!" he shouts as he slams into the other cop, and both he and Jameson flop onto the tile.

"I cannot be hurt" Israel assures Elizabeth with a warm smile. "A trip to Paradise does not hurt anyone." He moves to sit on the bed, totally at peace with the situation, the timer counting down. His eyes blank as Omri and Jameson tussle - it is all part of the plan. Israel starts to sing to himself. Content in his role.

Elizabeth tries to grab for Omri as he flings himself at Jameson, but honestly this is what she wants. "Get him out of here Jay. Call the bomb squad." She stalks toward Israel, her steps slow and purposeful. "Take it off Israel, go be with your friends. Give me the vest." She eyes the window behind the boy, a plan already forming in her mind. She holds out her hand, trying to radiate calm, but she still probably looks like she wants to rip someone’s face off.

It's a good thing Jameson hadn't quite gotten his gun out of his holster yet, else Omri'd be bleeding out onto the floor. Instead? Jameson is slammed into and goes sprawling out onto his ass on the floor, an elbow coming up to connect with Omri's nose and push the kid off of him. It's a bit of a tussle, but he gets Omri off and starts scrambling to his feet. "Elizabeth, you need to back away," he was reaching for his gun again, keeping one eye on Omri, saying directly to the boy, "Stay the fuck on the ground."

Omri tumbles onto the floor, his nose bloody from the elbow as he rolls to a stop. He looks at Jameson when he's told to stay on the ground, then back at Israel. He grits his teeth, and then with surprising grace, he scrambles to his feet and is running down the hall for the stairwell doors.

"I will be with my friends soon enough" Israel smiles. "We all will be. Together in Paradise, under his benevolent hand." He notes Omri running off and he is satisfied. A tilt of his head as the looks at Elizabeth's outstretched hand. "Do not worry, Sister Elizabeth. He will forgive you, as he forgives us all." His eyes close in prayer as he waits the last couple of minutes.

Elizabeth chuckles darkly, shaking her head. "Yeah, I have a feeling forgiveness will come when it comes. It won't be today though." She lowers her shoulder and charges at Israel, intent on knocking him through the window behind him.

Jameson doesn't chase after Omri - mostly because he had his entire focus on Israel. That is, until Elizabeth starts charging for him. "Elizabeth! No!" he shouts, already making a run for her to try and catch her before she charges /herself/ through the window.

Israel has his eyes closed, which means that when Elizabeth slams into him, he has no idea it was coming. He is slammed into the window, the security glass actually cracking…and then splintering into a million shards. Someone installed the cheap stuff! He makes an attempt to grab the window frame, but he only manages to cut his fingers before falling out of the fourth story window. Elizabeth following? Nope, Jameson has grabbed her foot and grips desperately to hang on to the deputy hanging out of the window.

Elizabeth lets out a cry, the glass cutting into her leg. "Pull me up, Jay. Hurry, we have to go down and get that fucking vest to turn off!" She's trying hard not to squirm, knowing that it could mean Jameson lets go. She gingerly tries to reach out for him, her eyes cutting down to the ground briefly.

"Shit shit shit SHIT!" Jameson was grabbing onto Elizabeth with all of his strength, reaching for her other leg to start pulling her out from the broken window. There's a lot of pulling, and she's probably going to get cut up, but he's not going to let her fall to her death either.
Someone who did fall to his death is Israel. A hard 'splat' as the back of his head explodes from the impact…though there is a broad smile on his face. The timer continues to tick away. Eight minutes.

It takes a few minutes, but once Elizabeth is hauled in she doesn't pause. There is blood on her arm, both of her legs and a cut on her face, but it doesn't stop her from skidding out of the room, heading for the stairs. She calls back to the officer who was on guard duty. "Get the bomb squad down here and get these people out of the building for fucks sake!" She slips on the second step, stumbling down two but then she gets her footing and keeps moving, hoping that her partner was still behind her.

Jameson helps Elizabeth get to her feet, but there's no real time to check her over - she goes sprinting out of the room, and he twists to follow her. Jay is pretty quick on his feet, so he was actually right behind her when she starts to stumble, reaching out to hoist her back up to her feet and keep her steady as they run down to the bottom floor.

No way will they be able to evacuate a hospital in minutes, but no harm in trying either. A small crowd has gathered around the body…until they notice the bomb and they move away pretty quick. The bomb squad is arriving, but they're still suiting up when Elizabeth and Jameson arrive at the body - five minutes to go.

Elizabeth comes to a stop, staring at the body on the ground. She did that. She gingerly moves forward, eyes on the bomb squad as they suit up and move in. Then she remembers she has a job to do. "Everyone, get back." She waves her arms, moving toward a woman who is filming everything with her phone camera. She snatches it out of the woman's hand, closes the video recorder, and points toward the sidewalk. "Move it lady, do you want to get hurt?"

There's definitely a lingering stare at the dead body from Jameson as they arrive on scene, but he's quick to jump into police mode. He's ushering people back, giving the bomb squad room to do their work. After all, Jameson knows literally fuck all about bombs. "Everybody move back, NOW!" he barks, "This place needs to be evacuated, HUSTLE people."

The onlookers don't need to be told twice. They are running for the hills as the bomb squad push their way through the crowd. Though 'squad' means two people, one of whom is carrying a large shield that he props up in front of him. They squat next to the body, pliers and tweezers produced. "You might want to get out of here" the older one smiles to the Elizabeth and Jameson. "Hmmm…doesn't look too complicated. It should be the yellow…" He holds his pliers over the yellow wire just as a shot rings out, hitting him in the ribs and sending him falling in agony to the floor. Another shot and the other man is down, both screaming in pain. The pliers resting on the corpse. The clock continuing to tick down. Two minutes.

Elizabeth blinks as shots start ringing out, where are they coming from? She isn't wearing a vest, but she darts in toward the two men when another shot rings out, buzzing past her close enough for it to send her hair flying. She puts both hands over one of the bullet wounds, hissing out a few choice swear words. A light clicks on and she scrambles to the shield, pulling it closer as another shot sounds in the distance. "Jay…get /over/ here. Behind the shield." She hisses, putting pressure on the wound again. "Cut the yellow wire, they said it was the yellow one. Oh, and in case it fucks up and we die. I'm sorry. Like, a lot."

"What the fuck?" Jameson whips around as the shots start ringing out, immediately dashing after Elizabeth to get to the new corpses that make up Calvaras' bomb squad. He winces, already getting behind the shield, and reaching out for the pliers that are on Israel's dead body. He gives a soft look to Liz, watching her for just about a half second. "I'm sorry, too," he says quietly, before he reaches behind the shield to clip that yellow wire.

The bomb squad, all two of them, aren't dead yet! One is quiet and looking rather pale, while the other stares in horror as Jameson is reaching out to cut the wire. Now is the time for him to find religion. Another bullet slams into the shield just as the yellow wire is cut. No explosion. The timer stopping at '0:07'. Other police are arriving, scanning for the shooter. A shooter that no longer fires with all the cops around now.

Elizabeth keeps pressure on one of the wounds, watching Jameson with the certainty that they're both going to die. She doesn't even flinch when the bullet slams into the shield. Then the beeping stops, the timer stops, and she just stares down at the bomb. "Are we dead?" She asks, blinking a few times as she glances around.

There was a lot of teeth gritting and wincing, but Jameson cuts the wire with seconds to spare. And he doesn't realize he's holding his breath until he's noticed that the timer has stopped ticking down. "Oh, thank god. I think I stopped it," he says in a whoosh of air, looking to Elizabeth like he's fucking found Jesus in that moment.

The worried bomb squadder is so relieved, he faints. An ambulance soon appears, paramedics leaping out to help the wounded police. Not much they can do about the boy who thought he could fly. Omri and Joshua are…somewhere. The police have lost their cultist, not that he was talking much. They need to find another one. And will Omri blab about Elizabeth's betrayal? Will he even make it back to the compound?

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License