string_theory | PSL: Escape from the Capitol

PSL: Escape from the Capitol

When it went down, there wasn't a lot of time to spend dithering. There was absolutely none to spend on grabbing much of anything, and very little to grab people. One of the only people at that particular party that Riddick had any desire to drag away from the capitol city was Lottie. Not his first choice for who to jump off a boat and take a long swim with, but he supposed it was better than nothing. She was tougher than she looked, anyway. Tougher than she thought she was, too.

So when the explosion rocked the boat, he grabbed her around the waist, gave her the warning of, "Time to go," and made a smooth dive off and into the lake. Well, as smooth a dive as he could manage with Lottie in tow.

In the confusion of the damage and screaming people and zooming in helicopters or whatever they were, it looked like they were overlooked. For now. A headcount would reveal them missing eventually, but hopefully by then they'd be on the other side of the lake and starting the trek across the continent. Getting to the other side of the lake was enough to worry about, to start with. Hopefully Lottie wouldn't struggle too much....

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Well, that was an interesting twist to the night.

Growing up in New Orleans, Lottie was use to swimming, but it took her a moment to catch up. The cold water certainly helped snap her attention.

"Oh lord!" She gasped when she hit the surface. The fabric of her dresses was wrapping around her, weighing her down, and she quickly went to work getting it off.

"Don't take too long," Riddick warned quietly, already starting for the opposite shore. The current was with them-- thankfully. "Don't want them shooting ya."

At least she knew to drop the clothes. That was something-- smart, on her part. He was just glad she knew how to swim, or this wouldn't have lasted very long at all.

She fought her way out of the worst of it, and then started taking long strokes to keep up with his more powerful ones.

"Wha-what is-what is going-" she tried to get out, but after the third attempt decided maybe the talking would best be saved for later.

Still, Riddick understood her, and shot her a wry grin over his shoulder between strikes. "What's it look like?" he asked, pulling ahead of her and powering towards shore. "Gettin' outa this shit."

And she got to come with him. He might even hold back a little, if she wasn't too much of a nuisance in the process, and proved useful. After all, he did kinda like her.

That was the last thing he bothered with saying until he reached the other shore and paused, mostly-submerged, to look there for any sign of a trap waiting there, patrols potentially crossing nearby, or dangerous critters. He had no idea what kinds of things existed on Earth these days, so it was probably best to be prepared for anything. At the very least, it gave Lottie a chance to catch up a little.

He was much more powerfully built than here, but she was a strong swimmer, and in the cold water it was the only way to keep warm. So she wasn't too far behind him when he went still.

Treading water, she tried not to let her teeth chatter as he looked, not wanting to draw attention to them.

"Is the coast clear?"

For a beat, Riddick didn't answer, still scanning the shoreline. "Looks clear," he said at last, and started slowly wading towards that tempting shoreline. He kept his eyes open and narrowed in the darkness for any sign of trouble, and moved as quietly as a big man forced to wade could move. There were a few small splashes, but it didn't look like there was anything waiting for them.

"Keep behind me," he ordered quietly, just in case. He was better able to handle threats than she was, after all. "Got warning ahead of time that this'd happen. Should be some supplies waitin' for us a little ways off, but after that we're on our own."

With her sopping clothes clinging to her skin, and her shoes (illogical heels anyway) lost to the bottom of the lake, she hoped that the supplies contained some logical clothes.

Still. This was, in a way, better than winning.

She stayed close behind him, moving and quietly as possible.

It took them until they were both on shore and crouched among the scrubby brush there for Riddick to spot something actually dangerous. A Peacekeeper, walking along the shore several dozen feet up from them, with a gun and a helmet and most of his attention across the lake at the still-burning barge.

Riddick grinned in the dark. "Wanna play wounded bird, sister?" he murmured to Lottie.

"Sure." She grinned, and nodded enthusiastically.

Before it occurred to her she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

"What is that?"

Well, at least she was enthusiastic about helping, even if she was pretty much useless with understanding pretty basic metaphors.... Riddick made an effort at being patient, and explained, voice low. "Wounded bird. Go stumble up to that guy crying like yer terrified, say you were on the boat or whatever. Distract him for me."

"Oh, yeah, I can do that."

Lottie stood, and stumbled towards the soldier.

"Sir, please...please, can you help me? I was on the boat, and I just...I swam here and I don't think I can make it another inch."

She laid it on thick, and the Peacekeeper seemed to buy it. A combination of recognition and, well, who could resist a southern belle in need.

Not bad. Riddick ducked into the scrubby foliage and circled around back, slowly and quietly, while the Peacekeeper offered Lottie an arm and a somewhat sympathetic expression. Riddick knew the girl would be good for something: apparently it was charm. She did have plenty of it, after all.

Right around the time when he was offering that arm, though, Riddick was sliding around behind and grabbing his helmet and mouth. The goal was to snap his neck, if he got a grip good enough.

Lottie held her ground as long as she could, keeping the Peacekeeper distracted. And when it was clear the peacekeeper had noticed the man reaching for him, and was starting to react, Lottie let her weight drop, becoming a dead weight on the arm she was holding, hindering the man's movements.

Still, although she wasn't sure what she had been expecting Riddick to do, it wasn't that. She let out a little grunt as her color drained.

"...oh."

Very good. Riddick was pleased with her performance, and her quick thinking, but he didn't let her expression deter him from dropping to one knee beside the body and rifling through his pockets for useful things-- ammo to go with that gun of his, knives, twine, rations, anything that could help them out in the middle of nowhere. He did, however, cock a brow at her briefly with a hint of a smirk.

"What'd you think I was gonna do? Tie him up somewhere so he could wake up and warn 'em what we're up to?"

"I suppose not..." She said softly, before swallowing.

They weren't good people. And this was possibly their only chance to get away.

"Can I help at all?"

She could deal with her morals later. When they were safer.

Riddick approved, again. "Take his boots off for me, will ya? Might be almost my size, anyway." And better than the dress shoes he was wearing now, in case they didn't leave him new ones with the supplies. "Then wring yer dress out." That, he expected to find a replacement for, but she'd be dripping otherwise, anyway. And the fabric might be good for something.

He, himself, finished with the pockets, and started stowing his finds away on his own person. The layers of fancy dress for these events at least gave one plenty of hiding places for pockets and small pinned-in bags.

"Will do!"

She started undoing the boots, making quick work of getting them loose and tugging them off before working on getting her dress less sopping wet.

"I should just leave the damn thing here." She muttered as she rung out layer after layer. Unfortunately there was no good outfit underneath, and no layers for her to shred away.

"And have you runnin' around the hills naked?" Riddick pointed out with a sidelong grin at her. "Pretty a picture as that'd be, better wait until we got you somethin' better." He dragged the body out of sight into the brush, then tugged the boots on. Decent enough fit, if a little snug.

"Ready to run, sister?" She was probably about as wrung out as she was gonna get, and taking the time to tear away the ruffles would be too long.

She flushed, and shifted, suddenly wanting to be more covered. And also a little complimented. But he had a point, either way. Now wasn't the best time to be running around unprepared.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

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PSL: Escape from the Capitol

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