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Old 03-05-2017, 11:05 PM   #82
Icelander
 
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
Default Sad Songs Say So Much

Taylor picks up his dropped duty belt and makes a hopeless attempt to compose himself enough to pass as functional before entering the armoury. Cherry Bell abandons putting her vest back on as a bad job, following him in her current disheveled state, wearing only an unbuttoned white shirt and hospital issue bra on her upper body. Dr. Anderson does not bat an eye when they enter, but just asks what their next move is. Taylor is flushed, shamefaced and awkward, but he obviously takes comfort in being able to address practical issues.

Taylor: "Do you know if'n the others's alive? Or if there was anyone following here?"
Dr. Anderson: "Burr was wounded. Then the guards stopped shooting and demanded we turn over Ms. Bell here. I followed Ms. Bell when she pulled me away while they were still negotiating, but from what I heard, a bomb of some sort went off while they were still talking. Then there was..."
[Taylor holds up a hand to stop him, waits in silence for two breaths]
Taylor: "Somebody jes' fired two shots in the tunnels. Probabl' two men, firing at the same time. Rifles, not pistols."

Taylor goes into the small office where he left his captured M16A2 rifle on a table when he walked out to the guards earlier. It is still lying there and Taylor picks it up, shaking off the water from the sprinklers, then clearing the chamber and removing the magazine to shake off more water. Then he reloads, chambering a new round from his pocket. After this, Taylor rushes to the stairs and peeks down into the cellars until he can see that the blast door is still closed down there. Then he runs to the lobby and turns off the sprinklers and fire alarm. He scans quickly through the windows, listens carefully and concludes that there are no threats outside the barracks at the moment. After this, Taylor moves back to the other two.

Taylor: "Awright, new plan. We're fixin' to put on full guard gear."
Dr. Anderson: "Do you know what has happened to the others."
Taylor: "Naw. I'm hoping them guards ain't killed them yet."
Dr. Anderson: "What were those shots?"
Taylor: "Cain't have been executions of all of them. It don't matter now. If'n they alive, they'll probably be put close to Banks, if they ain't killed him. If they dead, we cain't help them. Dress, now."

Taylor collected a guard uniform with all the fixings rapidly while he talked and walks out to dress in the smoke-filled kitchen. Dr. Anderson leaves the armoury as soon as he sees that Cherry Bell has started stripping off her remaining clothing. Her apparent unconcern with anyone watching is a transparent act, as even at a glance, Dr. Anderson can tell her little striptease is performed with studied calculation, and, at least at the moment, zero affect. The evidence supports either pathological narcissism or sexually manipulative behaviour as a learned coping mechanism. Of course, the two diagnoses are not mutually exclusive.

Dr. Anderson goes to change in the kitchen too. Taylor is putting on a guard shirt over his filthy tank top and turns away with a blush when Dr. Anderson comes in. As Taylor puts on his multi-threat vest, he asks Dr. Anderson to tell him about the layout of the main building and the location of the major offices back in Dr. Anderson's time. As they dress, Dr. Anderson gives Taylor a quick thumnail scetch of how the main building is laid out and where the offices were located before the year 2000.

Dr. Anderson: "Are we going to the Deputy Warden's office because Ms. Bell wants you to fetch her something from there?"
Taylor [looking away]: "We been going there all evenin' and I reckon it's still our best bet. It's where we is most likely to find our jammer an' I figure any hostages might could be there too. Why, doc? You got a better idea?"
Dr. Anderson: "I cannot say that I have."
Taylor: "Don't you worry none, doc. Happens I been improvising too. I figure we ain't done too bad. Still breathing an' all. An' ever' minute brings the Coast Guard closer."
Dr. Anderson: "Do you want to go through the tunnels again?"
Taylor: "I'd sure love to, but I reckon we cain't. I expect them boys down there is fixin' to burst in here any moment now."
Dr. Anderson: "There are guards at the door in the cellar?"
Taylor: "Naw, which I cain't really figure. They oughta, but they ain't. Been tryin' to hear them, but far as I can figure, they's still a few tunnels off."

Sherilyn Bell sashays into the kitchen dressed in a guard uniform, which she still manages to make look indecent, pulling a disgusted face at the smell and the mess in there. Dr. Anderson notes that her scatterbrained sex kitten act is brittle and artificial, as if she's trying to conceal genuine upset.

Bell: "Chasie-dear, are we ready to fetch my stuff?"
Taylor: "Please fix your uniform, Sherilyn, and try an' walk, eh... sorta more like a man. We need to pass as real guards from a distance. Use my cap to hide your hair."
Bell [starts to adjust her outfit]: "Oooh, dress up!"
Dr. Anderson: "What is it you mean to do?"
Taylor: "Depends what's going on outside. If'n there's still nobody fixin' ter move near the main entrance and I ain't see any ambush, we reckon nobody figured out Randall and company were tricked in here. Then we take the golf cart outside of here and pretend to be good lil' guards an' take a drive over to the main compound."
Bell: "What if there is some movement?"
Taylor: "How far canya reach with yer hoodoo trick?"
Bell: "Uh... like one of the corridors in J Wing?"
Taylor: "Would that happen to be the furthest you tried?"
Bell: "Yeah."
Taylor: "Think ya might could reach a thousand feet, from here to the main building? Or even to them towers?"
Bell: "Oh, I dunno. I guess I could try. It seems pretty far, though."
Taylor: "Wouldya be willin' to try if failing ain't an option?"
Bell [hesitates]: "Noooo."
Taylor: "Well, then, I guess we gotta find another plan if'n I see someone moving or fixin' to shoot at us here."

Taylor checks Dr. Anderson first and adjusts his gear to make him presentable as a guard. Then he helps Bell with her uniform, trying to adjust it without actually touching Bell, which proves difficult. Surprisingly, Bell does not make his task any more difficult by flirting outrageously, seeming fairly subdued. Taylor takes the opportunity to speak with Bell in a low, worried voice.

Taylor: "Lynnie, the guards who were here earlier said you'd taken a little girl hostage. An' some other folk. Said you'd hurt them if'n they didn't do what you said. Now, I know you were held here against your will... but they were wrong, weren't they?"
Bell [looking down]: "I... I didn't take any hostages. But I said did. Made... made them believe it."
[moves closer, looks deep into Taylor's eyes with her shining tear-wet big blue eyes]
Bell: "It wasn't my idea, I swear. They made me do it. I... I couldn't do anything else. I was all alone."

Taylor nods grimly and hugs Bell briefly before heading to the lobby to perform surveillance of the main buildings and evaluate threats to their current position. Dr. Anderson hands Bell a tissue to wipe her eyes and pats her reassuringly on the shoulder. After she seems sufficiently recovered, Dr. Anderson looks curiously at Bell.

Dr. Anderson: "What does he mean, hoodoo trick?"
Cherry Bell [still uncharacteristically demure]: "Uh, I can sorta make people see things that aren't there. Or not see things that are. Something like what I did downstairs, though that's simpler and I don't really have to know who I'm trying to fool, just think real hard about nobody noticing me."
Anderson: "Fascinating."
Bell: "Oh, I dunno. I guess it's pretty cool, 'specially if you can play with anyone you like."
[Bell gives Anderson a brief, but bright and flirtatious smile through her sad face and eyes shiny with unshed tears]
Bell: "Not much fun in here, though. Just petty little minds with nasty wants and repetative fears. 'King' Tyrrell and [stops herself]... the others, kept making me convince anyone who objected to what they did."
Anderson: "Was it very bad? Your confinement in Manhanock?"
[Bell looks down, teary eyed, sniffling]
Bell: "Yes. I never want to be trapped ever again. I'd die first."
Anderson: "I am sorry about what they did to you. More than I can say. And though I may not be as ardent or expressive as young Taylor, I am ready to do my small part to see that these guards do not get their hands on you again."
[Bell puts her head on Anderson's shoulder]
Bell: "Thanks, Mr. M. You were always so kind to me. And... I'm sorry about the needle, way back then. I was startled and didn't think. It... was an accident."

Dr. Anderson doesn't answer, but he doesn't move away either. An injection of experimental chemical into the spine is a hell of an accident, especially when it leads to a year long coma, but seventeen years is a long time to forgive and forget. And everyone did something in their youth they regret. Granted, for most people, that's a regrettable tattoo, sexual experimentation or recreational drug use, not serious felonies, but given the somewhat permissive atmosphere and loose ethical standards of Dr. Anderson's early research, maybe he feels it would be hypocritical to condemn others. Or maybe sad and vulnerable Cherry Bell appeals more to Dr. Anderson than her sex kitten act. Maybe she reminds him of someone he cares about.
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Last edited by Icelander; 03-10-2017 at 05:08 AM.
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