Thread: The Ruin of Mankind

The arm which Cali had tried to protect her side with proved to be marginally effective at best, barely softening the blow to her ribs and internal organs in exchange for even more dull pain spreading through her forearm. Despite her vision going blurry, the bounty hunter could still clearly make out the unquenchable fury and rage flaring up behind the raider's clear blue eyes. She'd assumed that he wanted her alive after going through the trouble of trying to capture her earlier rather than riddling her full of bullets right then and there, and considering that women were one of the most sought-after commodities in the wastelands, but that crazed look in the man's eyes along with his upraised fist made Cali believe that her lifeless body would soon be getting dumped alongside the others in the nearby grave. She'd probably have been right, too, had it not been for the other raider showing up and convincing the brute straddling her to restrain himself. Conflicting emotions clashed withing her, one part of her being relieved to still be alive while the other was more cynical, believing that death would have been preferable by far compared to the fate which surely awaited her now. Cali didn't want to give in, she wanted to keep fighting, but her tank was on empty and her muscles refused to listen to her as the raider pushed her jacket's sleeve up before brusquely ripping away the harness securing the concealed blade to her arm. The only weapons that she had left were the knife tucked into her boot and the razor blade hidden inside the lining of one of her leather gloves, neither of which did her any good now. Still gasping for air and writhing in agony underneath the mammoth of a man's weight, Cali's mind only registered fragments of the exchange between the pair of raiders. She did pick up on the most critical detail, which was that there were even more of them. Something that certainly did not bode well for her, since it would make any attempt to escape that much more difficult. Her chin was suddenly pushed up, forcing her to extend her neck out, making her feel even more vulnerable than she already did as the raider put some sort of collar on her. The only marginally good news was that it didn't seem to be the same sort of metal bomb-collar that she'd seen in action earlier, although frustration and indignation still flared up violently in the pit of Cali's stomach at the thought of being collared by any man. It pissed her off even worse when the bastard referred to her as his slave and demanded that she submit to him. His threats were most definitely not idle, Cali recognized that much, but her pride kept her from complying, even if it might have been wiser for her to save herself any more punishment by just playing along until she could recover and seize an opportunity to turn the tables like she'd done plenty of times before. She said nothing for a few seconds, forcing herself to glare up defiantly at the raider even as burning pain soared through her chest every time that she inhaled or exhaled through her mouth. Pretty sure...that's your bitch...standing right behind you, Cali retorted with some difficulty, her voice slightly hoarse as she nodded her chin towards Halbred.