Welcome to the Jungle...

[agentx13]

Who: Sharon Carter and the other freedom fighters.
Where: THE WOODS. The big bad scary woods!
When: Day 31
What: Escape attempt numero uno.



Sharon stands facing the forest, standing perfectly still and breathing calmly. One hand rests on her hip with her gun, the other is held in front of her face so she can see the comm. What no one on the comm can see is that she's also holding her knife. You can never be too careful when planning to take on unknown legions of men that had managed to capture the Hulk. And Natasha. And Tony Stark. And her aunt.

And a bunch of kids. And Barton. And a Steve.

Really, it's hard to tell where these people screwed up first. Messing with Sharon? Messing with the people around her? It doesn't matter. Either way, she's tired of sitting around and trying to learn information about them. They may know now as much as they ever will. And that means that they have to fight. As much as Sharon doubts they'll succeed, she also knows that they have to try. They can't just sit around like lemmings waiting for the food to run out.

She studies the gaps between the trees, then the trees themselves. The captives don't control the environment here. Dangers could be hidden anywhere here.

She may have waited too long to try this. People might be too weak from hunger, not at their best.

But they have to try.

No matter what happens, that's what it boils down to. They have to try.

Comments

Meeting Up

[agentx13]

Sharon has chosen the woods between houses 14 and 15 to wait for the others, nearly dead center of the woods. Anyone who wants to stop by for orders/requests that sound an awful lot like orders is welcome.

Left Behind

[agentx13]

Just because some people don't want to fight doesn't mean they don't have anything to do. Keep others safe or be the one being kept safe, loot while the others are gone, freak out with much flailing over the possibilities, whatever. Go nuts and enjoy.

[theshield_agent]

Phil's there as soon as he can be. He's got is gun and a few knives strapped under his clothes along with a hunting rifle he'd found in the town strapped to his back. He is locked and loaded and ready to find a way to send his friends home.

[hark_and_hush]

On hearing the plan, Ruby is torn between wanting to help and wanting to stay away from whatever is about to happen. She doesn't have a good feeling about any of this, so she decides to stay on the sidelines, but she's staying alert at the edge of the woods, ready for any sounds or smells that might change that.

[hung_garian]

While Gabriel's not keen on orders, he's even less keen on them all being stuck here. It's enough of a motivation to get involved in the attempt, if just being bored wouldn't have been enough - and hey, archangelic powers might come in handy... that is, if she can put up with his being a dick long enough to tell him what to do, which (since this is Gabriel, who is rather an expert in the field of being a dick) might not be the case.

[agentx13]

Sharon doesn't turn from the woods as he approaches, though she glances at him when he finally reaches her, taking in the gun, knives, and rifle. Her lips twitch into a smile. Something about men and rifles. Almost as much a weakness as a man with a shield. Disturbingly, the thought isn't heralded by any mysterious gifts. But if she hadn't acted on anything then, she certainly won't now. She and Coulson aren't remotely like that.

"Coulson. I like your taste in little friends."

[agentx13]

She merely raises an eyebrow when she realizes Gabriel's there, quiet for several seconds before even attempting to speak. "I know that humans must look inconsequential to you, but can I trust you not to let anyone die if you can help it?"

[theshield_agent]

"I like to be prepared." He returns the smile. Not only is he pretty big on busting his friends out of here, he's also pretty big on keeping them safe. He's going to be as ready as he can be to keep them all in one piece.

[hung_garian]

"So long's I don't have anything against 'em personally, sure. I'm not all bad. Just, y'know... mostly."

Individual humans aren't of any more importance to him than to your average Joe on the street. But so long as he has no reason to want them dead, and it puts him at no risk, he's willing enough to protect them. And humans in general, well, to him they're rather the opposite of inconsequential. Of course none of that bears telling to anyone, let alone a stranger.

"Can't make any promises though, sweetheart. I'll see what I can do."

[afallenstar]

Anna wasn't going to get involved. Honestly, she's one of the few people here who's probably more happy at Cape Kore than at home, but then they took Balthazar. That was pretty much the last straw for her, which is what makes her decision for her.

She walks out from behind a building, just as serious and emotionless as she had been in her last transmission over the network, and when she approaches Sharon her voice is set, calm and fiercely determined. "How are we doing this, then."

Re: Meeting Up

[plaidsamurai]

Logan absolutely hates this; he's told Sharon his opinion on blindly running into the woods before. He'd already tried it, and if he wasn't who he was, what he was, then he'd be dead now. He didn't want Sharon, or any of his other fellow captives for that matter, dead. The second reason he really didn't want to do this right now was that he was looking for Laura, who might be feral, who might be in the woods and who might attack them. And then there was the chance that they did escape, he wouldn't be able to go, not without Laura.

So why was he making his way out into the woods? He knew he could help keep Sharon and the others from getting dead, that's why.

He scanned the edge of the woods, tilting his head to catch Sharon's scent and followed it easily, claws out and ready for trouble.

[manofiron]

Sharon tells him to come armed, so he brings what weapons he has. The most visible is an old hunting knife, long and honed to razor-sharpness, strapped to his belt in a worn leather sheath. There's a smaller one hidden in in his boot. He's hardly proficient in the use of knives in combat, but at least he has something. But that's mostly for show. His greatest weapon is hidden by layers of cloth, safe beneath his shirts and his jacket. It's the contingency plan, the worst case scenario-last ditch option if there's something standing between them and the way home. He can overload the reactor on purpose, turn it into a devastating bomb, and buy everyone else time to escape.

When he reaches the forest, he keeps to the outskirts of the group. This is Sharon's show. He's only there to help ensure that if the plan can succeed, it will. The rest is unimportant.

[agentx13]

"Why I couldn't have gotten an assault rifle for Christmas... Of course, with this place, I wouldn't be surprised if it only shot water." She turns toward him, but not enough that she can't keep an eye on the woods.

"There's a good chance that they'll try to split us up, depending on how many people actually show. If that happens, I want you to go with the other group. Or one of the other groups. If things get too dicey, head back to the town. No use getting anyone else killed here if we can help it."

As for Sharon... She'll send everyone else back if she has to, but she won't give up. She can't.

[agentx13]

Her lips purse, but she can overlook the "sweetheart" for right now.

"Good. If we get split up. I want you to stay with Coulson. Watch his back." She inclines her head to Coulson. "I'll see who else I can get you based on who shows up. The plan is to keep pushing to whatever barrier they have and launch a concentrated attack to break through. It's simple."

She glances over her shoulder back toward the village. They need to move out soon... Who is she kidding? They needed to move out a month ago.

[ooc: Another comment or two with Coulson and Sharon, and then we'll merge the two threads?]

Re: Meeting Up

[pursuitofcappiness]

Steve's there, shield on his back and whatever else he could scrape together in slings of sweaters and blankets over his shoulder. Foodstuffs, drinking water...

His head's held high but he'd be hard-pressed to find a time he felt lower heading out to war. He let them take her, probably to wherever they took Dr. Banner, probably to be experimented on. He wants answers.

[agentx13]

Sharon wouldn't say as much out loud, but she's relieved to see Anna. She doesn't know if Anna will be much good in a fight, but an ability to heal will go far, one way or another.

"Cleave straight through, throw everything we've got at them. If we get split up, Gabriel's with Coulson, you're with me. I'm waiting for a couple others, and then we're moving out."

[agentx13]

As much as she knew he had promised to show up, she's still relieved when he actually does. She nods to him. "Logan."

And yes, she can tell he doesn't approve. She doesn't care. She can't care.

"Plan is to cleave straight through. Get as far as we can. If we get split up, try to stick with me and Anna. Have you met Anna?" She leads him over to a redhead. If she reminds Logan of Natasha, well... maybe she reminds Sharon of Natasha, too.

"You're back up to snuff, I take it."

[ooc: Want to merge the threads? Order, from the beginning- Anna, Sharon, Logan. So... Logan's there next?]

[agentx13]

She half turns and raises an eyebrow at the knife. "Well, yippy-ki-ay, Dr. Jones." She grins and heads over. "I should have gotten you a hat and a whip for Christmas."

[agentx13]

Wow. Either he thinks the woods go on forever or he's going to stop to camp and play boy scout songs.

"Captain Rogers." She nods toward him, her expression hardening. Not against him. About what they're going to do and how she can't let herself get distracted by him. "Plan is to cleave straight through and use all our firepower to get out of here. If we're separated, you stick with Coulson and Gabriel. Got it?"

[manofiron]

His smirk is perfunctory, something that happens on instinct. It doesn't reach his eyes. "It was that or shave my head, and I'm not really feeling the whole McClane, running over glass in bare feet thing."

He nods toward the group. "When're we heading out?"

[pursuitofcappiness]

He doesn't think that they're stopping for camp. He thinks they'll be out there for days.

"I'm not leaving without her," he says.

[agentx13]

"I'm waiting on one or two more, then we're going." After all, the Hulk has been up against these people before and gotten in several hits. She wants him along.

She lowers her voice. "Can you work with the Avengers still, or do I need to keep you away from them?"

As old as he is, Tony is still sometimes a lot like a child. She almost wants to know why he quit, but this isn't the time or place, and she's pretty sure it's because of some sort of blow to his ego anyway. Or maybe something else. Tony... he has a lot going on beneath the surface. But Sharon has only glimpsed beneath the surface. She can only make guesses based on what she sees.

[agentx13]

"We're not leaving here without getting us all the hell out of here, Rogers. No matter what happens out there, you need to remember that Peggy won't forgive you if, by saving her, you screw over everyone else."

Harsh, but... She needs his head in the game. She can be mean to make that happen if she has to.

Never mind that she's usually harsher with him anyway.

[reluctantsword]

Wallie thinks this is a bad idea. Charging forward blindly is not a good idea, and he knows that far too well. At the same time, he's not sure what other choice they have, and food stocks are running low.

And he misses Jja so much it's painful. If there's a possibility of getting back to her, then he has to try.

He has his sword across his back, and the knife in his boot, and for the occassion he's pulled out the blue kilt he showed up in: easy to move in, unrestricting. He's... well, not exactly ready, but as ready as he will be.

[hung_garian]

"Reckon I can manage to keep Phil from getting turned into Philly steak, sure. Can't see how much help he's gonna be unless his little air rifle's got more power than it looks like, though, and if I could bust outta here myself I already would've, so someone else a little more than human had better get their asses out here."

Not that he's got anything against Coulson, of course, but while he doesn't have high hopes for the success of this endeavour, he'd still rather not be disappointed.

[ooc: Sounds good!]