Geoff had stayed put as well and watched Diego at work, not wanting to be caught unaware if the opening of the vent cover attracted unwanted attention. He looked to Wei-Li beside him and smiled to her, grateful for her presence. It was coforting even in this situation to have her there with him, reminding him of what he was fighting to survive for.

He then looked to Diego as he asked for a match and he nodded as he dug through his pockets for the half a book of matches he had. He handed them over to Diego, wishing he had some cigarettes left to go along with the matches. He could really use one about now.

Diego watched as the woman and child moved further away, but Geoff and Wei-Li stayed close. He looked at them - but said nothing, just took the match from Geoff.  Alright ... here goes. he thought.  He struck the match it lit - then flickered, the flame impossibly low it seemed and as Diego tried to lower it to the powder it winked out.  Diego wasted no time, just pulled another match from the book and tried again - the same thing happened.  There wasn't enough oxygen in here to get the flame lit properly.  Oh God ... come on, come on, come on ... he lit a third match as close as possible to powder ... it looked like it was going to wink out as well - but it didn't.

"Back!  Back!" Diego shouted, moving backwards himself.  There was a small explosion then and then a hissing sound as the seal was broken, he looked to Geoff then to do the honors of breaking the damn vent cover off so they could get the hell out of there.  He was feeling incredibly weak and light headed, he needed air.

Geoff had watched intently as Diego struck two matches that flicked out. He had been getting really nervous about whether or not this plan would even work so he was greatly relieved when the match stayed lit. Of course, relief or not, he was ready to move as soon as Diego said to, moving back as quickly as possible and pulling Wei-Li with him. He threw an arm up to shield himself from any effects of the explosion, only pulling it back at the hissing sound.

Geoff looked to Diego and nodded to his glance, knowing that it was his job to break stuff down even in this case. He hauled himself back toward the vent and, after some repositioning, brought his uninjured leg to bear. With a slight grunt, he brought his boot down hard upon the vent cover in hopes of knocking it loose.

It took two tries but finally the vent cover gave way and fresh air was filling the vents - not quickly though, they still had to get out of there.  They had reached the edge of the business sector.  The hallway beneath was a mess, glass was shattered everywhere ... but there didn't seem to be any Reavers in sight at the moment.

Geoff looked down as the vent finally broke open and saw that the hallway was empty. Messed up beyond belief, but empty. Geoff looked to the others and gestured that he would go first. Even with his injured leg, it would be best if he was down there to catch people. Besides, he was the tallest so the drop would be shorter for him.

Without further ado, he grasped the edge of the open vent and lowered himself down, hanging down from the opening with arms stretched above his head before letting go to drop the remaining few feet. He landed as best he could, but the shooting pain through his wounded leg was unavoidable and he clenched his teeth against the cry of pain that wanted to leave him. He managed to keep his feet, though his right leg was a bit shaky, and looked around the halls to make sure they were clear before looking up to the vent for the next person to come down.

Wei-Li turned away when Diego lit the fuse, her forhead pressed against his shoulder.  There was something comforting in his presense and the way he watched out for her.

She did her best to stay out of the way as he worked to open the vent.  When he signalled the others to wait, she tried to object but he was already down.  She watched tensely knowing she wasn't strong enough to pull him up.

She clenched her fist tightly when she saw him land, but he held on.  She quickly signalled the woman to bring her son and come over.  She braced herself and showed Diego how to help.

The lowered the mother first, then her son.  That done Wei-li gestured for Deigo to go next.

Diego helped assist Wei-Li and Geoff in getting the child and his mother out of the vents and then finally took the plunge himself.  His feet landing solidly on the glass strewn ground he sucked in a much needed deep breath of air.  A sense of relief flooding his body.  He didn't dwell on it long though as he began looking around.  This section of the hall appeared to be empty but the sounds of blood curdling screams and growls was not at all far off.

"The docks are just through there." he said, pointing down the hallway.  His boots were crunching glass beneath his feet.  The window here was completely broken, and lay in shattered fragments all around the floor.

Wei-li paused, looking for a good set of hand holds on either side of the vent before lowering herself through the hole.  She moved with practiced ease, allowing Geoff to lower her to the ground.

She hugged him tightly for a moment, then set to work surveying the area.  They were out of the vent, but there was still a long way to go.  She moved to his side so she could support his injured leg and prepared to move.

While no place was safe. staying in one too long was far more dangerous.

Geoff helped everybody down on his end, trying to hide the shaking in his injured leg when he had to support their weight to help them down. As Wei-Li was let down, he let out a sigh of relief and smiled, glad to be out of the vents even if they were now out in the open of a Reaver infested space station. Besides, it was hard for him not to smile when Wei-Li hugged him tightly as soon as she was down on the ground. He smiled and returned the embrace briefly, knowing there was little time for it, but needing that slight reminder of why he was still going forward in such a situation.

As she moves with him to look around, he moves at her side with a slight limp, trying to work out what their next move should be. He looked to Diego as he pointed the way to the docks and nodded to the man. "All right, but what're we s'posed ta do? Jus' walk righ' in there straight down the hall? 'Cause, I dunno if tha's gonna work. Ya know, 'cause o' the flesh eatin' Reavers who are prolly hangin' 'round there an' all.", he remarked with a grim expression.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:33, Wed 18 Oct 2006.

On the floor, surrounded by the shards of shattered glass, lies a radio ... it looks exactly like the ones they use on Destiny ...

As he limps at Wei-Li's side, his arm about her shoulders to help support himself, he continued to look around. It was during this search over the area that he saw the radio laying in the middle of the floor, surrounded by shards of glass. The first thought that came through his mind was, Yes, now we can call the ship!, which was followed by the darker thought of, What happened ta the person who had that before? It was all too easy to imagine any of the crew who had been off ship getting overrun by Reavers and dropping the radio in the midst of their screaming and agony.

He shook his head then and decided not to think about it as he pointed the radio out to Wei-Li and limped over to it, picking it up to make sure its in working order and to see if it actually is one of the ones they use on the ship. He found that it was and, after a bit of tinkering which basically consisted of him whacking it against his palm, he got it to crackle to life again.

He didn't hesitate to speak into it with an urgent yet quiet tone. "H'lo? Cap'n? Charlie? Ren? Anybody? Are ya there?", he said,"Hey, are y'all still there? It's Geoff. Me and Wei-Li are still alive and kickin' so y'all better ruttin' be too."

Wei-Li's arm around Geoff tightened slightly, not out of fear but hope.  If they could contact the crew... if they were all right.

She let out a desperate sigh and then forced herself back into performance mode.  She remained focused on their surroundings, letting Geoff focus on the radio.

Radio:  "Geoff!  Y'v got non'such an idea how good's ta hear ya.  Y'still comin', right?"

Wei-li almost laughed for joy when she heard Charlie's voice over the two way.  She turned, impulsively kissing Geoff on the cheek.  Charlie was there... waiting for them.

She shivered slighlty, but held Georr close.  They were going home.

Geoff's face broke into a wide smile as she heard Charlie's voice answering his, a laugh of relief leaving him at the sound. At that moment, Charlie's voice was the greatest thing he had ever heard. He had been about to turn and hug Wei-Li to him in joy, but she beat him to the punch as she kissed his cheek and held him close. He looked to her with a wide grin, knowing that they were both thinking the same thing. There were people there waiting for them at home. They were gonna go home.

He took up the radio again and spoke into it. "Charlie, righ' now, yer voice is the best thing I ever heard. I'm glad yer still in one piece! Is everybody else there? Is everybody ok? Did the cap'n make it there? ....Is Lei ok? Please tell me Lei's okay.", he asked, the words seeming to spill from him one on top of another before he shook his head to finally get control of himself and answer her question,"Yeah, we're comin'. Me, Wei-Li, Diego an' tha' woman an' kid tha' the cap'n risked his gorram neck ta save. We're in the business sector again, lookin' right down the hall tha's s'posed ta lead ta the docks."

Radio: "Geoff?  Oh, you got no idea how glad I am ta hear from ya - ya say ya got Wei, Diego, an' the woman and kid with ya too?" he didn't wait for a response though, "Where are ya?  How'd ya - nevermind." he said, cutting himself off, there wasn't time, "Everyone's back here on Destiny, we need ya to get here soon though.  The ships stuck, we're tryin' ta break her loose now though - I don' if its gonna work or not ... the Reavers - they're all over the space above the station.  Shootin' ships down, bordin' 'em ..." he trailed off, "Geoff, get home.  Get you an' the rest home."

Geoff laughed again and shook his head in disbelief. Tha captain was on the ship too! He had made it past the Reavers. "Aw, Cap'n, I'm glad yer still 'round ta give me orders an' tha's an order I'm real glad ta follow. We'll be there jus' as fast as we can, Cap'n. Don'tcha worry. We'll get ta Destiny. We'll get home. 'Cause one thing I'm good at is followin' orders. Heh.", he said and then paused slightly before speaking into the radio again,"I'm glad yer all right, Kale. Real glad."

With that, he tucked the radio into his pocket and looked around at everybody, a new resolve in his expression and posture. "Y'all heard the cap'n! We gotta get home. Gotta get ta Destiny. They're waitin' fer us there. Let's get movin'!", he said as he placed his arm around Wei-Li and looked to her with a wide smile,"We got people expectin' us."

Wei-li smiled at Geoff.  For the first time since the nightmare had begun she had hope.  They had a plan, and as Geoff said...people waiting for them.

She leaned in slightly to give Geoff more support then looked at Diego.  "Sir, what is the layout around here?  How to we get to the ship?"

She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but they had to know where they were and how to get where they were going.

"Well I'll be ..." Diego muttered as the radio he had noticed Geoff stooping over to pick up turned out to be Kale's.  The mans voice was a welcome relief to here.  Diego couldn't believe that he was still alive.  The odds had been completely against him - these were Reavers they were dealing with for God's sake.  But as Kale continued speaking Diego felt his heart sinking.  The Reaver's were swarming the space above the station ... that wasn't good.  Even if they made it back to the ship ...

Diego didn't get to finish that thought - as a scream pierced the air entirely too close to them, he looked up, fear on his face, "We got to move.   Now." he said, and began running off down the hall.

Wei-Li all but herded the mother and her son into position between them and Diego.  It wasn't much but at least they had protection on either side.  She moved in a little closer to Geoff under the pretense of helping him.

She knew he could feel her tremble at the sounds and the knowledge that there were Reavers all too close, but she put up a good front for the others.

She nodded, ready to support Geoff as they followed Diego.

Geoff had actually been feeling good as it seemed they'd be safe aboard Destiny sooner rather than later. At least, he had been until the sound of that piercing scream cut through the air far too close for comfort. He looked to Diego as he started to lead the way down the hall at a run, glad that Wei-Li got the mother and son in between them. Partly so they would be protected, but also because he doubted he could keep up with anything other than being the tail end.

He put an arm around Wei-Li's shoulders as she moved close to him and he felt the tremble in her, knowing that the fact that the Reavers were so close was probably the cause of that. He knew he'd be shivering himself, if he was the type for that. As it was, he was tense as he leaned slightly against Wei-Li, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and giving her a shaky grin before moving at a limping run as they followed Diego.

They had all been focusing dead ahead - trying to run away from the sound of ferocious growls ... they hadn't expected the Reavers to come from the side.  A small hall that branched off of the one they were now in.  The creature grabbed hold of the mother, his nails sinking into the soft skin of her neck.  She screamed and gasped in pain.  The boy began screaming as well and running towards his mother.

"Mama!!!!  No!!" he cried out.  The woman gasped and turned dying eyes on the boy.

There was only one Reaver, a ragged piece of metal glinted in the flourescent lights ... it had been sewed right onto his arm.

"NOOOO!!!!" the boy screamed and the Reaver plunged the makeshift blade
into the woman's gut.  It all happened so quickly.  The woman barely made a sound.

Diego, who had been at the lead had barely skidded to a stop and turned around when the blade was sinking into the woman's stomach.  The boy was screaming and running straight towards the Reaver that had taken them by surprise, "Stop!" he yelled, "Stop him!" he called to Geoff and Wei-Li who were closer.  His gun in hand he began unloading it into the Reaver - it had very little effect.  His eyes were glazing over with tears from the look on the childs face.  He should not have had to see that...

There was no time though, the Reaver was quickly losing interest in the now dead woman and Diego could hear the clamor of the footsteps down the hall - many footsteps - there were a lot of Reavers headed their way.

Geoff had cursed out loud at the sight of the Reaver grabbing the woman. He didn't even need to hear Diego's shout to make him move toward the boy and his mother. He pushed Wei-Li ahead, giving her an imploring look to go forward while he ran to the boy. His injured leg screamed in protest and he knew that he was more than likely just damaging it all the more, but, at that moment, he didn't care. Damned captain. Definitely rubbing off on me. The whole having a family thing is making me soft..., he thought to himself, knowing that he didn't disapprove of the change even if it sounded like he did in his head.

He was too late to save the woman, seeing her get gutted by the blade that was somehow part of the Reaver's body. Geoff didn't even pause to try and fight the Reaver. He just ran by and scooped up the crying, screaming boy as Diego emptied his gun into the Reaver with little to no effect. He held the boy tightly to him as he ran forward, feeling blood run anew down his leg and pain shoot through him as he moved on his leg in a way he knew that he shouldn't. He blocked all that out, though. He only focused on the need to survive. The need to block out the pain and move. It was move or die and he sure as hell wasn't ready to die.

"Run, gorramit, run!", he yelled out to Diego and Wei-Li as he took his own advice and ran with his leg continually sending jolts of pain through him that he simply ignored. He'd hurt later, but he'd live right now and that's what mattered.

When Geoff pushed her away, Wei-Li froze.  It was only a moment but it was as if everything stood still for just a moment.  He wasn't leaving her... he wanted her to live, to move... to fight.

She exhaled sharply and moved towards Diego, as he fired she scanned for other threats to scared to look back.  When she heard Geoff telling them to run, hear heart soared.

He wasn't telling them to leave him, he was telling them to get the hell out of the way.  She pulled on Diego's arm.  "You heard him... get us out of here."