I'd Kiss You But Then I'd Have To Kill You (Wil)

[raidenkile]

Raiden knelt down, lifting a hand to smell the dirt beneath him. Zombies. A whole horde of them. His nose crinkled, glad that the kids were back at the base. This town was crawling with zombies, and a couple vamps too. It was like the apocalypse was coming early. It was a surprise that so many of the town had survived and were protected at the base. Raiden was thankful that most of his rage and anger over the last year had been focused on hunting and snapping at people to keep them at back. Fuck his attempts at self-control... it was easier to take his bad moods out on everyone else around. It kept people at bay, made him feel satisfied and controlled his urges to kill.

The kids were back at the safe house and Raiden was trying to come up with a plan. There were no other hunters in the area so it was all up to him. Currently, however, Raiden was scouting around for any other survivors. There was no telling where any would be and the sightings had gotten worse but Raiden wouldn't let any injured survivors down. Thankfully, there had been no cold iron so he was relatively unscathed and healthy.

Raiden frowned, however, as he walked further along with his gun prepped and ready to shoot at any obstacles in his way. He'd rather rip their throats out but that would be bloody and take a lot of time. "Oh fuck...not you again..." Raiden sneered, almost running into another hunter. It was that bastard from a year ago. He would have rolled his eyes but controlled himself, still pissed off but willing to be just civil enough to get the hell away from him. "If you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to..." Okay, well... it wasn't polite. It was the sharpest tone he had ever taken with anyone but who could have blamed him? Wil had thought he was some brainless pretty face. A stupid blond. Raiden couldn't forgive anyone for that.

[WIL CROFT]

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[atrb=valign,bottom][bg=1b1d1b] This probably wasn't flattering to either of them, but it took Wil a full minute to place the other hunter. It was the scent that clued him in, Raiden just didn't smell like a man. But he caught it after those first blank moments, and so the anger and offense that had started to rise when a total stranger got all snappy at him twisted into a wide smirk and a taunting note in his voice as he said, "Wow, hold that grudge. You really shouldn't get that snippy about a failed one-night stand more than a year ago, man. Makes you come off like a bitchy little girl." He hefted the bardiche higher onto his shoulder and looked around the area. The polearm was his preferred weapon for zombies and vampires, it let him take the head cleanly every time and keep a little distance while he did it. It was too heavy and slow for a human to wield, Wil had been born not terribly long after bardiches went out of vogue with the heavy infantry of the Tsar's armies and even then it had been known as a slow weapon, though phenomenal at taking out armored cavalry. But Wil was a damned sight faster than any human soldier. Stronger, too. He liked the pole for this kind of work, and it had the additional advantage of being easily disguised as a historical re-enaction costume piece, so cops didn't get all hysterical about it the way they might have some other weapons. "Work to do, Crabbypants. You gonna sit around pouting or do what needs done?" He grinned at Raiden, seeming incredibly cheerful about the taunting and the hunting both. Wil loved hunting zombies, it was so morally unambiguous.

[raidenkile]

Raiden never let go of a grudge. The thought of vengeance kept him alive. Kept his blooding going with something to give him life for. He didn't really have any other reason to live than hunt and the fire that provided his urge to kill came from his grudges and hate. He had nothing to be thankful for. Life had given him a serving of crap and he was just dishing it out as he got it.

"One night stand?" Raiden's lips quirked, mockingly. "You seem fairly confident but I'm not sure you'd be able to put out. Now, get the fuck out of my way. This is my territory and my hunt. I've got things under control." He was fiercely protective of his pride. "I honestly don't care what you think of me. I just have a job to do and you are another thorn in my side." There were other survivors most likely.

Raiden side-stepped away from Wil, going around him and continuing on as if the other hunter was nothing more than the dirt beneath his feet. He heard a cry and went for it, rushing into a building and almost crying out in surprise himself when he saw the scene before him. It was a little boy, no older than five. Raiden scooped him into his arms, ready to take him back to the safe house. "It's okay, honey. Don't cry." Raiden soothed and for once was thankful for his glamour. It helped him calm down children especially easily. The cries and distressed hiccups soon went away and Raiden kept the boy in a protective embrace in his one arm, freeing the other for his fire-arm. Those sons of bitches wouldn't get away from this. He would make sure to kill each and every one of them.

[WIL CROFT]

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[atrb=valign,bottom][bg=1b1d1b] "Wow, really?" Wil never lost that wide, cocky grin as Raiden spoke, nor as he stalked off. "You really do sound like a teenaged girl on her period, you know that, right? 'This is my hunt, you can't be here or I'll write 'bitch' on your locker!' You gonna tell me next that my ass is fat? Or, hey--" He broke off when he heard the kid crying, all of a sudden he was all business as he sprinted along beside Raiden and covered the other hunter's back as they checked the building. While the fae man dealt with the kid Wil guarded the entrance and made sure nothing was converging. "My car's in the Hardee's parking lot, right out there," he jerked his head toward the small shopping center that was just on the other side of the stand of trees where he and Raiden had met. "Same one, the black Escape. Stash the kid there, lock it up tight, and we'll do this thing?" There wasn't really time to do anything else with the boy, sundown was coming soon and this all got way, way harder after dark. "I'll watch your back." No hint of the mockery or arrogance that had been there a moment before, Wil was sharp-eyed and steady, focused on the task at hand as he pulled out his keys and offered them to Raiden. It was time to get shit done.

[raidenkile]

Raiden wasn't surprised at Wil's willingness to do the task at hand. Most hunters, even the most unpleasant ones, got straight to business when the time called for it. But Raiden wasn't up for Wil's plan...at least not completely. "There's more people here. I can't leave," Raiden looked over at Wil, serious. "There are lots of kids and most of the townfolk locked up in the townhall. They're waiting there for me to return to help them." He hugged the boy tighter, rubbing his back to stop his cries and had to hold back a sigh of relief when the kid decided to be quiet and cuddled up against him, sleepily.

"I only came out here looking for survivors," Raiden kept his eyes peeled for any enemies, walking alongside Wil. It was better for the kid to offer protection and accept the back-up. Despite their differences, Raiden had his priorities straight. He didn't notice anything out of hte ordinary yet but that could just mean that the zombies were strategizing and trying to get together in an organized fashion to ambush them. Sometimes those bastards were too smart for their own good.

[WIL CROFT]

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[atrb=valign,bottom][bg=1b1d1b] Wil...was confused. "I'm not saying leave, I'm saying stash the kid someplace safe and then get your ass back here and we'll do what needs to be done. Dark's coming up soon, man, and this all gets way less fun if we're hunting zombies by starlight. You can't fight with one arm full of kindergartener, so either put him in my car or hand him off to the other civvies, but either way I was offering to watch your back, not steal your gig." Seriously, this diva thing was getting a little awkward. Wil had been kidding when he accused Raiden of it earlier, but maybe it had been for real. Or, he corrected himself almost immediately, maybe not. They weren't used to working together, one half-drunken brawl in an alleyway notwithstanding, and they didn't understand one another's style. It was a problem with hunters working together, they all tended to be alpha types, and loners to boot. Too many chiefs and no indians whatsoever, and this wasn't the first time or even the fifteenth that he'd found himself and another hunter fumbling to find a groove when they tackled a job together. So he reined in his own ego and added, a bit more mildly, "Anyway, the rotting bitches are probably clumping up, if we can find 'em and move fast enough we can break up their little reign of terror all in one go, and still have time for pizza. So are we going or what?"

[raidenkile]

Raiden clenched his jaw for a moment before almost laughing. "You still come off as an ass even when you're trying to be nice. Whatever. I'll follow your lead but once this is over if you stick around I can't promise I won't try to kill you." He was completely honest. Even the sight of Wil made Raiden's gut clench with anger and frustration. He was the type of guy that Raiden hated most in the world. Cocky, overbearing and thinking they were the king of the world.

He nailed a headshot as the first zombie came into view, murmuring words of comfort so that the boy in his arms wasn't startled and stayed in a calm, relaxed state. Raiden followed Wil, eyeing the car after a few more shots at the zombie's, now noticing a vampire. "Watch out." Raiden warned, his eyes not leaving their target.

[WIL CROFT]

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[atrb=valign,bottom][bg=1b1d1b] "You're really going to do this while carrying the kid? That is just fucking precious." Wil glanced over at the vampire and nodded sharply, then ducked forward slightly and charged the vamp and the two zombies near it. It was never going to be clearer than at this moment that Wil was nothing human. Not any more. He didn't move like a person, or like a demon or an angel. If he looked like anything when he was in battle, it was maybe like a ghost. The way they flowed from one spot to another, jerky and impossibly fast, all their movements so abrupt. Wil was fast like that, not quite so jerky though the polearm didn't help him look like a miracle of grace or anything. But the other thing that was so reminiscent of ghosts was the confidence in his motions. The way he swung that big-ass axe around and took off the vamp's head, he was totally unworried about anything that might come up on him while he was making the attack, and that's a surety that not even angels and demons usually bring to a fight. This was Wil's particular genius as a hunter, the thing that made him good instead of merely competent: his fearlessness in battle. He literally could not be killed in a fight with a handful of zombies and vampires, he couldn't even be put down in any meaningful way, and that made him mighty. He stood in the middle of a knot of undead and undying, swinging around a weapon that looked like it might weigh more than he did, and if there had been any Viking heroes that looked like androgynous teenaged Hedi Slimane-bait instead of big bearded bastards with helmets, he might have given them a run for their money. Nothing got past him, and the more bodies he piled up the more the dead tried to get at him. The scent of blood aerosolizing around him drove the zombies into a frenzy and he took their heads one after another.

[raidenkile]

Raiden rolled his eyes, falling back behind Wil as he attacked. Instead of admiring his fighting prowess as the other would appreciate Raiden made his way quickly to the car to put the kid inside safely. He locked it, tossing the keys to Wil before heading off after another vampire.

"One of the faerie children..." The vampire admired Raiden's two-colored-eyes before sneering. "...a hunter?" It lunged for him and Raiden had both his shot-guns prepped and ready for the zombies behind him. Raiden threw one of his guns in the air, drawing out his blade and decapitating the vampire in one swing. He caught his gun after sheathing his sword again noticing that most of the zombies had fled.

There had to be a hive...a...well Raiden didn't even know the right word to use but a sort of homebase that they were fighting from. No way they could regroup so swiftly and have so many of them otherwise. Raiden narrowed his eyes looking around the buildings thoughtfully before, all business again, turning to Wil. "I think we should drop the kid off at the safe-spot first. Then head off to the base or whatever that these creatures are running off to." He couldn't bear the thought of leaving the 5 year old all on his own trapped in a car, confused and upset.

[WIL CROFT]

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[atrb=valign,bottom][bg=1b1d1b] Wil had no objection to that plan except, "You know where the nest is? Or have an idea on how to find it?" He could track it by scent, sort of, but he wasn't a dog, his sense of smell was merely better than a human's, not preternaturally sharp. He wiped the blade clean on the pants leg of one of the fallen vampires and slung the polearm up onto his shoulder, falling in beside Raiden as they headed back to the car. "And where's the safehouse from here?" He hadn't come in and dealt directly with the locals. Just stashed Tish safely and come out looking for the baddies. He wasn't big on getting friendly with the townsfolk in a situation like this where the entire area was being affected. They always wanted you to stick around after, or else you ended up getting attached and then losing the person one way or another. Better to just come in, do the job, and leave again. It was different when you were dealing with individuals, but he made it a policy not to deal with big groups. For one thing, a grateful group is only one small step from being an angry mob.

[raidenkile]

Raiden nodded, staring out into the distance. "Yes, I can find it." It was something he normally didn't do in front of other hunters but desparate times called for desperate measures. He'd rather save the townsfolk by doing his little trick. Raiden had an idea of what was controlling all these zombies and the occassional vampire. Zombies and vampires stuck together in their own groups but it was very odd to find just an organized group of the two of them. One creature Raiden knew could do such a thing.

He glanced over at Wil with a smirk, "Follow me. It's not far from here but it's kind of a pain in the ass to get there. I've got a bike if you'd follow with your car." Raiden stepped over the various corpses with light, agile movements and found his motorcycle nestled between the two buildings he left it. "Keep an eye out. There might be some stragglers following us." He put on his helmet, strapping it on and readying his gun to the side even though he was also going to drive. Raiden revved the engine, ready to shot anything that came into his path and also show Wil the way to the safe-house.

[WIL CROFT]

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[atrb=valign,bottom][bg=1b1d1b] Wil took a minute to yank up the rear tailgate of his truck, run a stained white towel that looked remarkably like it might have been stolen from a motel at some point over the blade of his baldiche, then stowed it in easy reach in the front seat. He checked to make sure the kid was still okay in the backseat. He was, though he was breathing in that hitching, snotty way that meant that he'd been crying hard while the grownups left him behind. It hadn't been that long, relatively speaking, since Tish was this boy's age and Wil had no particular hesitation about pulling a fast food napkin out of the center console and reaching back to wipe the little one's snotty nose and mop up his face, then said far more gently than his usual tone (Raiden might have remembered it, if he'd been there, as the way Wil had spoken to him when he was patching him up), "It's okay, buddy jack. We're going to go somewhere safe now." He produced a bottle of apple juice out of the cooler that he'd forgotten to take out of the car earlier, got the kiddo set up with it, and then turned on the car and finally pulled in behind Raiden to follow him to the safehouse.

[raidenkile]

Other than the eerie silence the drive was relatively peaceful. That was a bad sign in and of itself for Raiden. He wasn't really sure whether it meant that they had all went back to the nest to regroup or if they were waiting to set up an ambush for him and Wil. Raiden hoped it was the first one. He felt more relaxed on his motorcycle cruising down the streets, as his eyes and ears were sharp and on alert for any subtle changes.

Nothing happened but before Raiden could feel that last sense of relief he took a look at the doors to the town's main hall. The big wooden doors were cracked, splintered at the edges and one of them was hanging lose like it was as fragile as a blade of grass. Raiden couldn't help the pull of regret that entered his gut nor the foreboding sense of guilt. There had been children in there, please, Raiden silently prayed to anyone, anything...even nature itself to spare the children at least. His gut clenched as he practically leapt off of his motorcycle and ripped his helmet off. In most cases he would have been furious at himself- his motorcycle was very important to him and one of the last things he had to treasure. The children...the lives of the people were more important though.

Raiden rushed through the open doors, ignoring his motorcycle and not even flinching as it roughly hit the ground and examined the surroundings. Relief pooled into his stomach seeing that the next set of doors had been bolted and shut. He sighed, running a hand through his hair before going back out and signalling to Wil that it was all clear for him and the boy. Raiden turned on his heel back to the door and knocked on it in the same pattern he taught the kids inside. "It's me, Raiden. Open up." He called out, loud enough for them to hear him past the door but soft enough that anything outside couldn't hear him.

The door opened just long enough for Raiden, Wil and the kid to slip inside and Raiden felt better once the door was relocked and bolted. "How is everyone?" He called out, going back to the main table in the center of the room so he could see everyone. The girls and children were all huddled together, eating whatever Raiden and the boys had found earlier and looked much more healthy and less frightened than before. That warmed Raiden's chest and he smiled. The frown came back in place as he realized that there were only a couple of the men around them. "What happened to the guys?" He asked, his voice almost too-soft.

"They went to find the nest." One of the women admitted meekly and Raiden ahd to hold back a growl of frustration. Those morons. He had told them to stay put and protect their wives and children. They didn't know how to hunt, they would get themselves killed. "Take care of this lil guy, will you?" Raiden tilted his head in the direction of the little 5 year old boy they found. He then looked over at Wil, still all business and serious. "We should go immediately."

[WIL CROFT]

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[atrb=valign,bottom][bg=1b1d1b] Wil came up the front steps with the kid in one arm and the polearm in his opposite hand, ironic given the way he'd been teasing Raiden about it earlier. The little boy looked about cashed, he was still clutching the bottle of juice but had his head on Wil's shoulder and wasn't doing anything to support his own weight as he was carried--he was dead weight against Wil's forearm, but the hunter wasn't having any problems with holding him up, no matter how awkward it looked. A second to assess, and Wil decided to keep holding on to the kiddo for the moment, even as he turned his back to Raiden so he could watch the street outside. This situation was just too volatile, he wasn't comfortable setting the boy down until they knew whether they had to make a break for it.

[raidenkile]

Raiden's hard gaze gentled a bit. He was worried about the kids too but this was the safest place for them with all the ruckus out there. He kept his voice low, almost soft as if he was trying to soothe Wil. He might not like the guy but he was the only help he would be getting and the kid needed to stay safe. "Wil, we should leave the kid here. They'll be safe. This main door is pretty sturdy. And if we don't hurry to the next soon those men might die." They might already be dead but Raiden didn't add that last part. None of them needed to hear that possibility.

He put a hand on Wil's shoulder in a comforting gesture, hoping he'd let the kid go so they could head back out again. Those men didn't have a lot of time, especially if they had left right after Raiden had decided to go look for survivors.