Lost Memories

No real introduction needed on this one.  Originally a piece of fan fiction for the City of Heroes game, it’s been reworked to stand better on its own.  Zero smut also; it’s pure super hero story telling.  Read and enjoy.

 

 

Lost Memories

 

Nancy Winters, the teen heroine known as Miss Deadshot, stood on the rooftop of the old abandoned apartment building in the section of town known as the Hollows, staring across the street. She was so lost in thought she barely noticed the sting of the cold December air against her face. Across the street stood the focus of her attention; the old abandoned building where not quite two weeks earlier, Danger Rose saved her from a horrible fate. Nancy had played back the events in her mind over & over again, trying to sort it all out… She remembered being in the Steel Canyon district and being ambushed while changing back into her street clothes, as well as the fear and dread of being dragged helpless into the sewers by the Lost. The grotesquely distorted, leathery skinned humanoids were rumored to be mutated humans pressed into the service of the alien Rikti.  Their grotesquely distorted features still gave Nancy still got chills when she thought about the Lost carrying her away.  Not half as bad as the cold sweats that accompanied her memories of the experiments that they performed on her. Too many nights those memories were the subject of nightmares.

Nancy’s last clear memories before Rose rescued her, were of the tall ugly Lost with armor made from trashcans on his shoulders uttering profanities & complaining that whatever they were trying to do wasn’t working. At that point, she had definitely still been in the sewers, she remembered the stench clearly. After the tall one ranted, he ordered the others to unstrap her from the table & move her… somewhere.  He looked at her strangely at that point, and her head suddenly felt like it was going to explode. Unable to endure any more, she screamed as loud as she could mentally & verbally for them all to just leave her alone. A second later, when she recovered her senses, Nancy realized they were all lying unconscious on the floor. With the last bit of her remaining strength, she had literally begun crawling across the filthy floor in a bid to escape. Hope had replaced despair at that point, and her strength had been ever so slowly returning with each bit of distance she gained.

But then… Try as hard as she might, Nancy couldn’t remember. There was just a black empty spot in her memories between that point & being vaguely aware of Danger Rose mopping the floor with mutant Outcasts gang members & Lost alike.

The obvious & logical answer was she’d been somehow recaptured at some point & moved to the location she now stared at. Nancy was a scientist at heart though, and ever since she’d disassembled & rebuilt her parents’ old mechanical alarm clock when she was 5 years old, Nancy had been obsessed with understanding both the details & the whys of things. She might have blamed her subconscious if not for the fact that she was having other memory problems lately as well.

Two things yesterday really scared her. First, which she admitted to Rose later that evening, was that she couldn’t remember her own home phone number. That was despite Nancy’s parents living in the same house & having the same number all her life. The second, which made her break down in tears on Rose’s shoulder during that conversation, was when Rose had to recount their first meeting & Nancy couldn’t recall it at all. There was a feeling that it had happened, even as Rose had described it, but she couldn’t picture it.

Whatever it was, there was more than simple repressed memories going on here. Rose had left a memo for Zevin, the team leader, to see Nancy after making Nancy promise to seek treatment. But there was even more to things than Nancy had been able to vocalize to Rose… She wasn’t sure what to make of it, but Nancy had outright felt a sort of “pull” inside her as well. Ever since she’d been freed & reunited with her Teen Sentinels friends, she’d felt drawn at some level to return to this place.

At a couple of points, she’d almost talked to Saturn Miss, the team psychic, about it. Each time she’d ultimately felt too embarrassed to do so however. Nancy genuinely liked Genie as well as being grateful for her assistance & training. She had the distinct impression however that Genie viewed her only as a student. Genie’s distant nature gave that impression anyway, and made it hard for Nancy to open up to her on a more personal level about things like this… pull.

So here I am, alone in the Hollows, and probably about to do something REALLY stupid, Nancy thought to herself.  Sure, I know now after researching it that the Lost are humans being mutated into Rikti.  That’s also what they were apparently trying to do to me.  What made me so special though, or are they this obsessed with all their victims? she mused silently. It’s stupid, but I gotta know.  I need my memory back & to know I’m whole again.

“As far as I can tell mentally, the building is mostly empty anyway. Nobody lives in the Hollows since most of the area just collapsed into sinkholes.  There are only a few Outcasts on the lower levels of the building”, she muttered quietly to herself. “Mutant gangbangers with minimal powers shouldn’t be any problem.  Maybe if they had legitimate powers like their leader Frostfire.  It should be safe enough though.”

Nancy looked down at the doorway across the street. Sure enough, there were three Outcast thugs standing in the doorway. Their dress marked them as new Outcasts who had yet to develop any powers.

“Piece of cake”, Nancy smirked to herself.

With her characteristic lightning speed, Nancy drew & fired two of her new stun arrows & dropped two of the three Outcasts. Her stun arrows were a new development, designed to hit a target as hard as a broad head arrow, but disrupting neural systems instead of shedding blood & risking death. The third Outcast had quick reflexes himself however. By the time his second friend went down, he was already starting down the street & beginning to cry for help.

“Oh great”, Nancy moaned to herself, “I can’t have that”.

Nancy pulled another arrow from her quiver & had it nocked for firing in the blink of an eye. She almost released when she realized she had a potentially lethal broad head arrow nocked. A look of panic washed over her face & vanished all within a fraction of a second. She changed her target & fired… The arrow sailed across the street & clipped an old small planter on a window sill. The small clay pot fell and hit the fleeing Outcast square on the head, knocking him out and shattering the planter. A huge smile formed on Nancy’s face as she admired her handiwork.

“Damned, I’m good”, she chuckled to herself.

With that, she quickly cuffed the 3 Outcasts with zip ties, dragged them off the main street to the side of the building & then radioed to have them picked up by the police. With her trail covered, Nancy turned back towards the front door of the run-down building. Fear & trepidation shot through her as she returned to her objective. Nancy steadied herself & took a slow deep breath just like Genie taught her.

Steady, girl. You can do this. You HAVE to do this, she thought to herself.

Her focus regained and her nerves somewhat calmed, Nancy opened the door and crept through into the shadowy building interior. As she did, she had an eerie feeling that something was watching… waiting… and smiling.

Nancy stayed glued to the wall near the door, trying to blend into the shadows while her eyesight adjusted to the shadowy interior. Her mental powers told her that the area was clear, but she still had an unnerving feeling she was being watched. It was a battle to keep her heart rate & breathing steady, but Nancy knew if she didn’t, her aim would suffer for it.

She squeezed the handle of her bow reassuringly. It, and her skill was something she’d always been able to count on… At least until that fateful day weeks ago. It dawned on Nancy that this was also, on some level, a quest for redemption as well as answers. Her easy defeat & capture had profoundly affected her self-confidence as a heroine, and to a lesser extent as an archer. That despite the fact her bow had been laying on the ground while she was ambushed and she never had a chance to fire it.

After about 45 seconds, Nancy judged her eyesight had adjusted to the change in lighting, and she began slowly creeping through the first floor of the building. She managed to surprise solo Outcasts on two different occasions & take them out with her arrows. In both cases, they seemed to be scrounging the area for workable salvage from their previous stay at the building.

Nancy had just about made it to the first set of elevators, and was starting to feel more confident, when she was suddenly grabbed from behind. Nancy gasped in surprise as a thick arm wrapped around her throat and another around her waist, barely missing pinning her arms as well. Nancy’s own hands had immediately shot to the arm around her throat, pulling on it to keep her windpipe from being blocked.

“Well, whatda we got here?”, came a gruff voice from behind her. “Another rookie cape lookin’ tah make a name”, the Outcast added with a disgusted tone. “Nice body though, baby. You an’ I are gonna have some fun.”

“Dream on creep!” Nancy snarled with clear disgust.

Nancy brought her boot heel right down on the burly Outcast’s instep, eliciting a cry of pain from him, and his grip on her loosening slightly. She followed up with a quick 1/2 step to the left and drove her right elbow backwards into the Outcast’s solar plexus. He bent over slightly with the blow, and Miss Deadshot reached back, wrapping her own right arm around his neck, and flipping him over her shoulder. The burly Outcast landed a few feet away from Nancy, sprawled onto the hard concrete floor. He caught his wind just a second before Nancy regained her own however, and was back onto his feet with a huge knife drawn as Nancy finally fully regained her breath. The tall, muscular blue skinned Outcast shot her a hateful look as he brandished his knife.

“You’re going to PAY for that one, bitch!” he sneered.

Nancy’s response was short & to the point; with a derisive snort & a wave of her hand, she telekineticly blasted him into the wall 10 feet away. As he hit the wall, Nancy simultaneously hit him with a blast of mental energy and drew another arrow from her quiver. The Outcast made an effort to get up, but was met with a stun arrow square in the chest. He slumped to the floor in an unconscious, drooling heap.

“Rookie my butt, you loser!”, Deadshot sneered as she walked past him and into the elevators.

Nancy scolded herself mentally for being careless enough to let the creep get that close to her. As a telepath, and given her training by Saturn Girl, that NEVER should have happened if she’d followed her training. She’d let her fear disrupt her focus though, and it had almost cost her. By the time the elevator had gone up one floor, she finished her self-recrimination and focused on business.

The second floor went smoother… She took down 3 more Outcast recruits, and a granite skinned ‘Brick’ Outcast without any trouble. Scouting the entire floor confirmed that the Outcasts had apparently been in the process of setting up a new base here when Rose came calling. Nancy stopped at a totally shattered warding altar, the breaks looking still fairly fresh.

“Must have been Rose’s handiwork”, Deadshot chuckled “She’s nothing if not efficient”. With that she finished scouting out the floor & made her way to the elevators.

The third floor was darker than the previous two, and eerily quiet. Nancy could sense nothing with her psychic abilities, but had a growing feeling of uneasiness & impending danger. Exploring the floor turned up nothing however. There was no evidence that either group, or anyone else for that matter, had been there in a long time. That, the increased darkness, and the unnatural silence had Nancy increasingly on edge. Her heart felt literally in her throat when she thought she saw a shadow move across the far corner of one of the larger rooms. She sensed nobody however, and investigation turned up no sign of anyone either.

Nancy’s breathing was fast & shallow, and her heart was racing as she reached the elevators for the last floor. She knew whatever she was seeking was up there, if it were going to be found at all. She had an ever-increasing sense of impending doom about whatever was up there as well.

With a deep breath, her trembling hand reached out and pressed the call button. The few seconds it took for the elevator to arrive seemed like an eternity for Nancy. When the doors finally opened with a ding, she jumped back with a start and started to draw her bow…

“Nothing there”, she whispered with a sigh of visible relief.

This is silly, she thought. Maybe I should play it safe and go get some of the team to come help me. No, she mentally argued with herself, If I do that, then all I’ve proven is I can’t even keep my own life in order without help.  They’ll never see me as anything but a second string rookie like that stupid Outcast did.  I have to do this.  I can do this…

With a deep cleansing breath and a serious effort to center herself, Nancy stepped into the elevator and pressed the up button

Nancy knew something was terribly wrong as soon as the elevator doors opened again… The final floor was unnaturally dark. Worse yet, Nancy could feel several twisted & violent thought patterns. There seemed to be some sort of mental fog present as well. She could sense those thought patterns, but nothing more.

Even with her limited experience and control, Nancy knew they were real patterns however, not merely psychic residue. Panic gripped Nancy. She quickly drew her bow, and shuffled back against the far wall of the elevator car. She stood there for minutes, visibly trembling & her breath coming raggedly. All the while moving her bow back & forth in short uneven arcs in front of her.

What did I get myself into? she thought to herself.  Stupid girl, trying to show what a big shot you are & walking right into a nightmare.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was only perhaps two minutes, Nancy gathered enough courage to edge slowly towards the elevator doors. She quickly looked back & forth from the doorway. Seeing nothing, she released the draw on her bow & frantically jabbed the down button. Nothing happened. She jabbed it again, then after a moment, two more times. Frantic now, she jabbed it rapidly almost a dozen times.

Despair hit when she realized she now was truly trapped here. She fell back against the side wall of the elevator car & slunk down to the floor. Her knees were up against her chest, and her head slumped forward as she began sobbing. Primal fears of being trapped like a wild animal ran through her head as she recalled her previous ordeal. Her mind raced as she frantically searched for options. It had gotten progressively harder to focus though… She had friends, didn’t she? People who helped her fight things like this? She vaguely remembered an aloof blue skinned girl who had helped her somehow. And there was… Rose! She remembered her wonderful friend who saved her before.

But where was she? How could Nancy get a hold of her to let her know she desperately needed help? “Rose! Where are you?!? I need you!”, Nancy cried out in despair and frustration. She sobbed helplessly into her knees for a minute or so. Then she suddenly stopped… Rose? Who was Rose? Nancy had the feeling that Rose was somebody important to her but… that was all she could recall. Even then, she wasn’t sure about that. All Nancy knew at this point was that she was trapped, alone and there were probably evil beings out there in the dark somewhere.

“I can’t let them get me.” she finally muttered with an air of determination. “I will get out of this somehow”.

With that, Nancy picked up the bow beside her & drew herself back up to her full height. Still nervous but full of determination, she nocked an arrow, then drew her bow & stepped carefully out of the elevator car. Almost immediately she was confronted by a huge mutated Lost with a large gun & another more human looking Lost wielding an axe. Deadshot let her first arrow sail & struck the gunman dead center of his chest, sending him collapsing to the floor in a heap. The smaller one was already closing the gap with surprising speed. Nancy lashed out mentally, snaring the axe wielding Lost mentally. Immobilizing an opponent this way was the first trick she’d learned from Genie.

Unable to move his legs & seeing Nancy readying another arrow, the Lost let out a grunt of disgust & flung his axe with all his might at her. Nancy dived to her right & let another arrow fly as the hurled axe sailed right past her left shoulder. Her arrow should have hit him dead center, but still managed to score a solid hit on the front of his shoulder. As so many times already today, Nancy’s foe fell to the ground unconscious.

That was close, Nancy thought to herself as she looked at the axe embedded in the wall behind her. “I really can do this though. I have to, I’ve got nobody else. Something in her heart told Nancy that idea was painfully wrong. Try as she might, she couldn’t remember why though. As much as she wanted to figure it out why, all she could focus on was the fight of her life that her intuition said awaited her.

Nancy continued down the hall and managed to snipe two more Lost that she’d barely been able to make out at a distance. No sooner had she done that however than she cried out loudly in pain as a plasma bolt burned into the back of her left shoulder. She bent over in pain and clutched her shoulder with her right hand. Her bow fell out of her left hand & hit the ground at her feet.

Nancy spun around and saw a Lost gunman wielding a huge plasma rifle and an even bigger self-congratulatory grin. She didn’t have time to worry about him however, as 4 more Lost coming from the same direction immediately tackled her and knocked her to the ground. They wrestled her back up to her feet, two of them holding both arms. Between the four of them, Nancy was totally outclassed strength-wise, and their grips were tight enough to cause her too much pain to focus a mental attack. Nancy struggled like a wild animal, trying in vain to shake herself free of their grips and kicking at their legs. They were big enough to almost totally nullify her thrashing however, and hold her far enough away on each side that her kicking attempts proved equally futile.

“Let me go, you bastards!” Nancy screamed in impotent rage & fear.

The Lost with the plasma rifle, apparently the leader of the group, walked over and slapped her hard across the right side of her face, leaving an ugly bruise. He then slowly shook his head and finally spoke. “You will be silent, and show due respect. We are the chosen; those blessed with the gift of the change”. He glared at her momentarily & then continued. “You will not be released either. The Lord of the Transformation desires you. For what purpose I neither know nor care. His hand has blessed us, thus his word is our law”.

He looked at the other four, “Bring her”.

With that, Nancy was forced down the last turn of the hall & into the large room where she had been rescued once before. She barely remembered that event however. There was now simply a sense that something horrible had taken place here, and she had been freed briefly from it only to be returned now. At the far end of the room, flanked by two humming Rikti Drones, stood a huge Rikti in shining silver & blue armor. He wore no helmet, but that only made him more terrifying to Nancy as he locked his yellow eyes with hers in a malicious gaze. Nancy was dragged to about 10 feet in front of him and held there in front of him. She tried to glare back at the monster with contempt. Her display of false bravado was ruined by her trembling however.

“Release her, she will go nowhere”, the Rikti spoke in an assured & authoritarian tone. The Lost immediately complied & took a few steps back from Nancy. Nancy saw her chance & tried to leap to the attack, but was completely paralyzed. The Rikti only watched her efforts with seeming amusement, as the Lost leader approached him.

“Her weapon, my lord”, he said while offering the bow with both hands to the Rikti. The huge Rikti let loose a snort of derisive contempt & smacked the bow out of his hands. The bow landed a few feet to the Rikti’s left and almost 15 feet away from Nancy.

“A disgusting & primitive weapon only fit for unevolved savages barely able to master simple tools” spat the Rikti. With that he turned his attention back to Nancy & took a few steps towards her. “Greetings Na’Inters, it is about time you returned to us”.

Confusion joined the fear Nancy felt as she searched for a moment for a reply. “That’s NOT my name!”, she finally managed to spit out angrily.

“Oh? Then tell me, what IS your name?”, the Rikti replied nonchalantly.

Nancy searched desperately for an answer, but only despaired when she realized she couldn’t find one. Finally, she managed “I’m Miss Deadshot” with false confidence in her voice.

The Rikti let out an amused snort. “YOU are Na’Inters of the Rikti. Your vain efforts to flee have not changed that. I am Chief Geneticist Ha’Jor, and Master of the Transformation. You will learn the truth of this, AND your place!”.

“Wait…” Nancy managed, “How… How do you talk like that, so normally?”.

“You refer to my mastery of your primitive mode of communication?” he asked contemptuously.

Nancy glanced quickly around her at the small brood of Lost but was quickly startled back into focusing on the Rikti. His voice suddenly loomed in her head.

“My telepathic prowess has enabled me to master your crude dialect, and better enabled me to communicate with your former race of savages. Just as it has enabled me to slowly reprogram your mind in preparation for the glory of the Rikti hive mind, AND to plant the desire in your mind to return to us”.

Nancy looked down in despair & humiliation at her being manipulated so easily & completely. Tears started flowing from her eyes. The Rikti continued with obvious glee at seeing Nancy breaking.

“When you first attempted to escape, it was I who stopped you before you had barely left that room in the sewers.” “You were even easier to lay low than these fools.” “At that point, I formed a mental link with you in order to begin your reprogramming, then transported you here to finish your transformation in a more secure location.” “It should have been anyway, if not for those fool Outcasts trying to set up a base in our location, and drawing the attention of others.”

“Rose!” Nancy blurted out. “I remember, she saved me!”. The memory returned & Nancy, yes that was her true name, felt ashamed for forgetting such a dear friend. A flood of other memories finally returned as well.

“Only because I was not here at the time to crush her” Ha’Jor responded mentally. “No matter, your precious Rose will not be here to rescue you, nor will the other clownish one you feel some attraction for”.

“The Sentinels are my friends!” “They’ll find me.” Nancy responded mentally with clear contempt.

Ha’Jor seemed to dismiss the remark entirely & continued his telepathic dialog. “You were a fool to flee.” “Do you even realize the potential you hold?”

Nancy only looked at the Rikti with bewilderment.

Ha’Jor gave a mental impression of motioning towards the Lost around them. “These fools have nearly no potential.” “They are so inferior it is doubtful they will even finish the transformation to become truly Rikti.” “They are weak, useless & the only purpose they serve is to die to further the glory of the Rikti & my own purposes here.”

“YOU have strong potential.” “Your glory will be to serve as a Chief Mesmerist, perhaps even a Magus if you are lucky.” “Yet you flee like one of these worthless, inept cattle, trying to escape your destiny.”  “Such weakness is barely tolerable in this filth, but NOT in you”.

At that, the Lost all shuffled uneasily, looks of bitter anger on all their faces.

“What is the matter with you fools?” Ha’Jor demanded.

Nancy allowed herself a slight smirk, “I think they’re a little bit upset over our conversation, which I was kind enough to let them in on.” “After all, it’s not polite to talk about people behind their backs”.

“Liar! Deceiver!”, the Lost leader barked. “We believed your words of change, and promises of both power and a glorious new world. You shall pay for your treachery!”.

With that, all five Lost launched themselves at Ha’Jor, knocking him to the ground. Free to move again, Nancy bolted for her bow. She dived for it just as a plasma bolt from one of the two drones breezed past her, singeing her hair, but otherwise missing her. She grabbed her bow, and rolled into a crouching position, bow drawn & fired just in one smooth, well-practiced motion. The broadhead arrow flew true and struck the drone squarely in its front focusing lens, resulting in the drone going up in a fireball.

The other drone, in the meanwhile, had dispatched two of the five Lost, and Ha’Jor threw off the remaining three.

“Traitorous vermin, get off of me!”, Ha’Jor barked, drawing his huge Rikti sword. Ha’Jor brutally cut down the leader.  Simultaneously, Nancy fired a broad head into the side of the remaining drone. The Rikti drone crashed to the ground & sputtered electricity, but didn’t outright explode like the other one. Ha’Jor looked angrily at Nancy and charged her with his sword readied over his right shoulder for a killing blow.

Nancy nocked & fired a broad head arrow with lightning speed. The arrow struck Ha’Jor squarely in the right shoulder, but to Nancy’s despair, it barely penetrated his armor. There was a small amount of blood visible, but the wound was clearly minimal. Nancy only had time to roll out of the way as Ha’Jor brought the huge sword down on top of her.

Nancy screamed in intense pain as the blade tore through her side. She’d missed outright being cleaved in two, but the blade still connected with her right side, leaving a wicked horizontal cut that was bleeding badly now. She clutched her side with her right arm and tears of pain flowed from her face. Ha’Jor might have finished her right there if not for the remaining two Lost dog piling on Ha’Jor and attacking him with their axe & bat. That shocked Nancy back to reality.

Remembering how Genie had worked her tissue & removed the scar Nancy got from a previous injury, Nancy tried to similarly treat herself. The wound didn’t heal, but she was able to somehow almost completely stop the bleeding. With that she rolled to her feet, grabbed her bow and took off running down the right side back hallway.

When she finally stopped at the furthermost corner of the hall, Ha’Jor was right behind her. He caught her with a wicked right punch that connected with the left side of her face. The blow swelled her left eye shut, tore off her mask, and literally spun her around 360 degrees in the air before sending her crashing to the ground a few feet away.

“Perhaps I was in err regarding you”, Ha’Jor remarked angrily, “You are pathetic & weak, even more inferior than those Traditionalist fools.”

Nancy managed to stagger weakly back to her feet.

“You are fit only for destruction”, Ha’Jor spit venomously. Nancy barely had time to brace herself and cross her arms in front of her while throwing up her telekinetic shields, before a powerful wave of telekinetic energy blasted her down the hallway. Miraculously, while pushed a good 40 feet down the hall & having her costume nearly shredded, she stayed on her feet. She had not time to be proud of herself however, as another blast knocked her another 10 feet down the hall & onto her rear. Her bow landed a few feet away from her.

“And now it ends” Ha’Jor projected mentally. He began slowly closing the 50 feet of distance between them.

Nancy spotted her bow & with a desperate telekinetic tug, pulled it to her hand. With her last remaining bit of strength, she nocked her last remaining arrow. A blunt head practice arrow? she thought. Oh crap, I’m dead.

Ha’Jor laughed. “You mock me. Your crude weapon cannot harm me.” Even if it could, your left eye is totally swollen shut and I sense you are having difficulty seeing out of the remaining one. You are helpless & defeated”

Nancy trembled realizing he knew the truth. Ha’Jor was just a shiny blur coming down the hall. She struggled to find an option in her pain clouded mind. Genie’s training suddenly came back to her. Nancy closed her remaining good eye, and fixed her target in her mind’s eye. Suddenly she could “see” Ha’Jor perfectly, and let her arrow sail. The arrow struck him squarely on the temple. With a cry of pain, Ha’Jor staggered backwards & fell to his knees.

Ha’Jor shook his head and struggled back to his feet. He let out a cry of rage, but it was quickly cut short. Nancy telekinetically ripped a light fixture out of the ceiling and brought it crashing down on him. Some high voltage cabling came down with it and sent electricity coursing through Ha’Jor. He stood there spasming violently for about 10 seconds & then collapsed to the floor.

Thank God, Nancy thought. She struggled back to her feet, her bow in her left hand & her right hand clutching her wounded right midsection. She could sense Ha’Jor was still alive, but his higher mental functions were dead. Nancy shuddered at the thought of such a gruesome fate, but at least, she thought, he won’t be manipulating me or anyone else anymore.

Nancy struggled back to the main room and found the override for the elevator. She switched the elevator back on & slowly made her way back out of the building. She smiled when she reached the front door of the building. Sunlight & the cold bite of winter air never felt so good. She was free and she was whole again.  It had cost her a hell of a beating, which she was sure Rose and the others would give her hell for, but she’d proved to herself she could handle a desperate situation on her own IF she had to.

Nancy chuckled to herself. “Next time I’ll bring friends though”. she mused. “But it’s still a great day to be alive”. Nancy staggered into the snow, and realizing her Comm was finally working again, called out.

“Guys, I could use some help here…” she stated, trying to sound calm. She fell to her knees in the snow and focused on keeping herself together. She knew her friends would be there in no time to take care of her.