Makita

Cait continues to push, digging a path with each step, and will follow Allie's directions, trying to keep a fast pace. They need to catch up with Makita, the others will need a safe place to stay. Or safer than a random supply depot.

On that thoiught, she speeds up, opening that shallow trench for the others to follow in, while the snowfall fills and covers it not too far behind.

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Alex is silent as he and Raps and Allie travel as a pack behind Cait. He wonders how anyone manages to survive here. He wonders if his mother's ancestors, the shtetl Jews of the Pale of Settlement, faced this every winter, perhaps different only in that they traded ongoing war for ongoing anti-Semitism. He even wonders if this world has its Jews, suffering under the heel of the URSS.

He knows that he has more important things to cope with now. Like survival. But then he always did ask questions at the wrong time.

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They trudged onward in the same direction and Allie slipped her hand up into Rapunzel's a few seconds after her wrist was taken, giving it a squeeze which perhaps hinted enough about the fact that even though she might know a lot she was still herself, and by that still very much a little girl.

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Since Cait is in the lead, Rapunzel shouts to her.

"Can you see anything, yet? I didn't think we were too far behind them, and they don't have you helping to push their way through this mess. We should be gaining, right?"

In her head, she is cursing the wind, and praying steadily at the same time. She wishes she was stronger, so she could at least carry Allie, and try to protect her from some of this weather.

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"Can't see much. If they are going this way still, we need to rush a bit more and find footprints before the snow covers them." Cait keeps her eyes peeled for anything... prints, movement, anything really, wading thru the snow as fast as the others can keep up.

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"Im going as fast I can. Good thing I'm from Gotham." It's not much of an effort at humor, but he has to try. And after that big blizzard last April, maybe he's not exaggerating that much.

In the distance, there are explosions. Alex tries to ignore them.

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Allie's not really certain of much as they trudge through endless snow on the ground and through the air blasting them from all directions. They were still headed in the direction she'd seen, and which seemed right, but the blizzard made it impossible to see long distances in front of them. Even so she kept watching for a some flash of color.

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Rapunzel wonders how encompassing Allie's powers are. If she could stop or slow down time like she had in the bar for everyone but the four of them, then they could catch up at their leisure.

She isn't sure what kind of strain that would put on the girl, though.

Alex seems to be bearing up well under the pressure, but that doesn't make her worry about him less.

The only one she isn't overly worried about is Cait, but if they lose her for any reason, they're sunk.

"Too bad none of us can fly."

She says it under her breath, and doesn't expect anyone to hear her.

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theredstars.livejournal.com

The weather grows slightly worse, but that's probably not really occupying a lot of attention as the sound of sparodic gunfire seems to be growing closer.

At first it may seem to be because the group is headed towards it, but it won't be long before it becomes clear that the source of the ripping sound of automatic fire is moving steadily, if not directly, toward the little group. Every so often the visibility gets good enough that flickering blue lights can be seen moving among the buildings in the distance.

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Cait perks up at the sound. Trouble, fight, must be Makita or Makita's friends. "You all stay back." The rifle and rifle ammo is passed to Knox, and Cait simply charges ahead, shedding the hat, kicking off the foreign boots. She can do MUSH more damage with her bare hands... the coat stays because she needs pockets for the grenades.

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"What the hell am I supposed to..." He's freaking. No denying that. there's gufire getting closer and the brick wall of a woman that was keeping keeping marginally under cover is gone and he's left holding a rifle he has no idea how to use.

He tries to hold it like he means business. "Everyone keep low!"

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The sound of the gunfire isn't what scares her. It's the sudden memory it evokes of the last time she was surrounded by guns. Standing on the porch between her mom and Charlie, and it's that which causes her to increase her grip on Rapunzel's hand.

"She can't be sure it's them." Allie said looking up, as she tugged Rapunzel to keep going in that direction if closer to cover. "It's a war zone. There are a lot of people here."

This last part is said as though the number is somehow a tiring factor.

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"All right! This is nuts! We need cover, now!"

And she really wants to kick Cait's ass for abandoning them without making sure they had cover, first.

"Get up against this building, and look for any entrance!"

She half shoves Allie between herself and Alex, and simply takes the rifle from him. She checks to make sure it's loaded and nods in satisfaction before making sure the safety is on, but it is otherwise ready to be fired. It's been decades since she'd been shown how, and he didn't really have practical knowledge, but it was the best they had. She hands it back to Alex, pointing to the safety switch.

"Flip that, point and pull the trigger."

And pray. She keeps trudging through deep snow and biting wind, toward what she thinks is a hole in the wall of the building they're closest to.

"Allie, how are you doing? You're not getting frostbite, are you?"

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Abandon? She is advancing to the mess, so still between them and the danger. To stop it from getting closer to them. Now, if they want to get in trouble instead of moving for cover, and draw attention to themselves by firing, ah well.

Cait expected the three normals to have enough sense to duck and hide while she kept the bad guys busy. If a next time comes, she will be sure to tell people, with all the letters, stay back while I keep the bad guys busy. Since just 'stay back' means 'I will abandon you', it seems.

Ah well, right now she has pressing concerns; like quickly reaching a position where she can take a look at the fight before joining.

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"Yes, ma'am," Alex says with a bit of humor and a bit of awe. There are men who might get all macho and huffy with being told how to use a gun by a woman. Till now, Alex might have thought he was one of them. But he's not. All he can think is that the woman he loves is as level headed and take-charge and good to have around as anyone ever gets.

He holds the gun as best he can and follows Raps' lead, and helps yo keep Allie close to them both.

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She hadn't been prepared to be moved suddenly with force, and the lost hand, which kiltered her off balance a few steps between the two of them. But she managed to steady herself, eyes following the gun and their words, distracted as she looked after the fading figure of Cait in the falling snow.

"No. I'm cold but there's nothing wrong with my body," Allie said shaking her head and the big fuzzy hat on top of it. She stopped, searching around inside herself after she said it, but it was still true.

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She doesn't realize she's kind of taken charge. She just sees that they are exposed out here,and there is gunfire, and other unpleasant things headed their way, unless Cait drew them off with her sudden move.

"Good. Let's get out of this wind, and figure out what we do, now!"

She trudges along with them, going slow now that they don't have Cait clearing the way for them, until she comes to a crumbling wall that is impossibly holding up at least part of a tall building. Not the safest, but any port in a storm will do for now.

"Let's take cover in here for a while! Try to stay out of the wind, and away from any open spaces!"

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Alex follows Rapuznel's lead. He's practically on top of her and Allie when the wind tries very hard to pull him away. Letting the rifle dangle for a second on shoulder strap, He grabs the wall and pulls himself closer again, even as the wind shifts.

So does the gun, and he grabs it again, steadying it and himself. He now manages to stay flush with the wall, and makes it to the hidey hole.

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Allie was crouched in between them, eyes still on the snow storm and the spot where the one person, who'd been in agreement with her for most of the last hour, had vanished into a world of white.

She looked up, "What are we going to do from here?"

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"Good question. I don't know if Cait's coming back or not, so we wait here for a few minutes to find out. If the gunfire moves away from us, we can start moving again. If not, we stay put and pray we're not spotted. With any luck, Cait will let the others know we're here, and we won't get left behind when the fighting is over."

She looks at Alex, worry in her eyes. She doesn't think he's got enough clothes on to protect him from this cold, based on the fact that her nose feels like it had icicles hanging from it, and her eyelashes are piled with snow.

"How are you doing, sweetheart? You look frozen to the bone."

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"I've been better," he says as he fights a shiver. "Why couldn't the part grab Rachel too? We could use s good fire." He tries to smile valiantly. "I am never complaining about Gotham again." Really.

"How are you doing?" He says this to both of them.

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"Just cold," Allie said, with no real feeling in her tone one way or the other about it, to his question. She glanced over at Rapunzel wondering about the other side of the coin for her answer, but she didn't ask it.

She wondered where Johnny was and whether his premonition would come true today.

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