free as a bird (complete)

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
‘cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

Alarms scream from everywhere, echoing off the steel walls, almost-but-not-quite concealing the stomp of combat-booted feet.

Men armed with guns, faces concealed by helmets, round the corner. The front line kneels and puts their guns to their shoulders, aiming straight for the sprinting pair of mutants. Rick just grins and creates an energy field, holding it in front of him. The bullets-- released when the leader shouts "FIRE!"-- bounce off the shining red shield and ricochet around the hallway. A few of the soldiers fall.

The boy in the grey scrubs reaches the men, barrels through them without a second thought. He turns around, still running, and grins at his second-in-command. One of the men fires at him. The bullet sinks into his shoulder.

Two scientists appear through a doorway-- the same two that had greeted Lin and Rick bcd in the cells. Rick's mother smiles at him.

The boy turns back around, puts on another burst of speed, and takes a hard right.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

And the alarms continue to blare.

It was hard to run at first. Bare feet pounding on the tile, leaving behind sloshing wet footprints from before. The most exercise or moving around Lin had done in the past week was-- was-- heck, she couldn't even remember. So at first, sprint had classified as trying not to fall over and walking/falling at a relatively fast pace. But after she got through that phase in life--

Rick turned around and grinned at her.

Lin rolled her eyes.

And hid a smile. Smiling would be for after they escaped--because quite honestly? The chances were very, very, small. Two mutants, a billion factors against them-- it was unlikely that escape would succeed on the first try. But even if they did loose-- they would gain information, punishment-- and be all the more ready on the second try.

Which made the prospect of failure almost bearable.

Key word: Almost.

Rick suddenly stopped up ahead, and Lin had to backpedal in order to stop herself from running into him. Why did he stop--? Oh. Them M.C. jeered at her, but made no move to follow when the two mutants bolted in the other direction. Why? Why did none of this make sense? Did they not care that two mutants were escaping? Did they know that something would stop them? Did they know that something was so powerful, that even two well trained powerful mutants couldn't get past?

Then it suddenly made sense.

And it took a lot for Lin to keep running.

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
‘cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

As he turns the corner toward the next hallway, he gives his mother a silent one-finger salute. The gesture sums up all of his feelings toward her, all the hate built up over years of bitter abandonment.

His steps falter and he clamps his right hand over his left shoulder, already feeling blood start to seep from the bullet hole. No. This will not ruin his escape. He can deal with a little blood loss, and bullets are nothing new to him. Just have to keep running.

Rick barrels down the hallway, feeling a sharp pinprick of pain from his shoulder through the ache of the shot. That’s strange. Bullets don’t usually detonate. (And neither did this one. It’s something worse for two mutants on the run. Something much, much worse. But Rick doesn’t know that.)

[Kay]

Melissa Thorton
motherhood has a very
humanizing effect;
everything gets reduced
to essentials

She knew they would escape-- or, at least try. Though so many years had passed, Melissa Thorton still knows her son. A mother always knows.

So that’s why she wouldn’t let the soldiers fire normal bullets at the pair.

These are something Melissa made herself-- a GPS chip imbedded in a normal-looking and feeling bullet. It’s activated by the same watch as the force field in Rick’s cell (another one of her inventions). When she presses the button, the tiny robot would come to life, breaking out of it’s shell and burrowing into the flesh of its inhabitant. It’s battery-operated, so eventually it’ll run out of power, but not for another year or so.

Smiling, the tiny woman steps into the room, leaving her partner (Dr. Jacob Jaminson) in the doorway, and keys in a code on her watch. A device on the table in front of her chimes. Target Acquired blinks up at her from the screen. She taps the GPS receiver and a map appears, a blinking red dot in the center. The dot is her son.

[Lin guest]

OCC: Oooohh... I thought the bullet hit the man who shot it... Heh.

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come 
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i 
left behind.

Lin ran. She ran, and ran, and ran until her breath was caught up in her throat from andrealine, exhaustion, and fear all rolled up into one. They emptied out into a steryl white hallways with cold whites tiles that hardly made a sound as her feet pounded on the floor. It was empty, thank, god, and Lin reached up ahead and grabbed the back of Rick's shirt and pulled him off to to a small indention in the wall right before a door. 

"Stop, stop, stop," she huffed, leaning back against the adjacent side of the wall-- knees bending slightly. Blood, bullet wounds-- the andrealine will stop the pain at first, but that doesn't stop the blood loss. Too much blood loss = a definte pass out. Which also could be fatal and they really didn't need that right now. Lin reached down, tearing off a good strip of her hosptial dress and wrapping it around her hand in a quick sucession of circles. She had to work fast before the beatle headed army people came down.

"C'mere--" Lin took one step forward, unraveling the wrappings and gently reaching out to bind them around Rick's a shoulder. It had to hurt, bullet wounds always hurt-- "Now don't get shot anymore," she muttered, wrapping a good inch of her dress away, "or this is going to get explict."

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
'cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

His breath comes out in rasps and he sways slightly. Rick slumps against the wall. He vaguely wonders how she can see the tiny bullet hole-- his shoulder is practically dripping blood, though thankfully most of it got caught in his sleeve. Having a trail of blood behind them would certainly not be helpful.

Why is there so much blood? It's just one tiny little bullet. It didn't even hit a vein or anything…

"You know me. It's not an adventure till someone gets hurt." he says, grinning. That one little joke had actually managed to be true so far-- nothing's really ever happened where at least one person didn't stay completely safe and sound.

After another minute or so, he pushes back to his feet. "Come on." With alarms still blaring overhead, he sets off down the hallway again, full out sprinting.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

"Yeah, so no more adventures for a while," Lin muttered back, still concentrating on tying the bandage. It was difficult to see where the bullet hole was, and honestly? Lin was just trying to wrap up the part where most of the blood was, hoping that was near the bullet hole. (And wherever Rick grimaced the most).

Then they were running again, Lin all the while hoping that they would get far enough to-- to-- let them escape. Both of them, (which for some reason was really bugging the subconscious 'DANGER' alert in the back of her head. Why was she freaking out? (besides people shooting at them and the like) It was like that feeling of forgetting something important, and you know you've forgotten it-- but you can't quite figure out what it is...

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
'cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

Doors.

Without breaking stride, he kicks open the door to reveal a stairway. Lovely.

Rick half falls, half runs down the steps. Seventeen flights (and a few keypads blasted open) later, he stands panting in the middle of a room that looks very much like a hotel lobby. His head swings around for a moment, eyes searching for the soldiers, and then barrels out the revolving doors.

That was too easy. Why weren't they chased? Why could they just break out like that? Rick spins to face the building again.

"What are you playing at?!" he yells, making a few passerby turn around in alarm. He must be quite the sight-- drenched in sweat, blood dripping out from under a makeshift bandage, and in his sock feet. He wouldn't be too surprised if someone whipped out a cell phone and called the police right now.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap…

Lin figured out what she was missing, what was nagging her at the back of her mind. Actually, two things, actually—a lot of things at the moment—but only one was really important at the moment. Only one that was preventing her feet from moving forward—how they seemed glued to the sidewalk and couldn’t move forward. How she simply stood there, frozen, gray hospital dress wiping around in the strong wind.

She had run. Slipped through the elevator doors just as they were sliding shut. Breathlessly slid down the elevator walls and caught her breath (wondering all the while in those seventeen stories why they simply didn’t shut down the elevator.) Wondering why those key-pads just fried under Rick’s hand and yet still opened.

It was because they knew.

“I gotta go back.” Was it a thought? Or was it aloud. Lin didn’t quite care at the moment, simply staring frozen at the huge MCA building, senses quivering with adrenaline.

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
‘cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

He whirls on her. Curses under his breath, holding his arms out in a ‘what gives?’ pose. “What the hell, Lin? We just broke out of an effing maximum-security prison. And now you want to go back? Are you out of your damn mind?”

There’s no way he’s letting her go back in there. It’s a suicide mission. Whatever she needs can be recovered in different ways.

“Do you really think that my mom would let you escape twice? It’s an effing miracle we got out that easy the first time. You really wanna take the chances and go back? And if you think for one second that I’m letting you go,” he snarls, eyes blazing, “then you’ve got something coming to ya, girlie.”

In reality, if she set off back into the building, he would follow her.

“You’re the one who’s always keeping me out of trouble. And now you want to go back into the damn lion’s den? What the hell is wrong with you?”

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

Oh. So it wasn't a thought.

Lin flinched. It was never fun to be yelled at, even in this situation when she felt like yelling back. But yell what, exactly? Yell about all the different reasons all the things that tie her there, whether physically or mentally? That sounded like a reaaaaaly good idea to Lin at the moment-- but she totally ignored him and whirled back around to stare at the building wondering how hard it was to get back into there.

She almost hit herself. Why did she even want to go back? No, Lin almost hit herself again-- she had to. Why?

He frowned, obviously irritated by her stone face. Quite suddenly, it vanished, and replaced by a nonchalant smirk. “Well,” he sighed, feigning disappointment, “We'll obviously have to move you further down away from your little friend in the cell over. Unfortunately, we don't have any open cells.” Another sigh with little reaction from the other. “Well, I suppose we can always get rid of that little girl in cell C43. We got all the information we need out of her anyway-- and her powers are quite similar to yours so the cell—”

Lin's eyes snapped open.

That was reason number one. For a little girl, and the rest of the kids in there that probably didn't even exist but so desperately needed saving. Reason number two? Just thinking about it made Lin's blood boil-- yet she didn't flinch as she stared beadily into the doorway of the building.

Holding her hand up in front of her, ignoring its shaking, Lin studied with a horrified fascination the silver wires that protruded from her hand and into her skin, nearly covering all of her fingertips with a obviously electrically charged silver metal. Examining the other one = same results. Letting her shaking hands drop into her lap, Lin in a dull shock eyed the barely alive droplet of blood on the concrete and felt an significant dampening on her desire to try to bend the water again.


Lin was useless without her bending, or at least she was convinced she was useless without her powers. It had been wired into her nerves for God's sake, and had been doused with water. There was no way in hell or heaven that Lin could ever figure out a way to take this thing out of her hand without loosing the loss of her whole arm. She'd probably get so frustrated, she'd cut her entire hand off. And there was only one person who Lin knew for sure she could trust to know how to get it out-- even if she didn't like it.

So, yeah-- Lin might be being selfish. She might be using those kids trapped inside of that building as an excuse to try and get her powers back. But she was human. And this human was convinced that her powers were the only thing that made her whole, because the entire length of foster families she'd had had feared her for her powers. Family-- gone. The rest of her life was built on the fact that she had her powers. The Freedom Fighters, the Academy-- so if Lin lost the abilities to use her powers, even if it was still inside her, she considered her whole life to be erased and wasted.

So the girl took one step towards the building.

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
‘cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

“Lin. Don’t you dare. We have to get back. There are small children back at the caves counting on us.” Which is true. The youngest of the kids is ten, a fire manipulator with a fear of fire. Oh, the irony.

He stares daggers into the back of her head for a moment, then moves to stand in front of her. “Come on. We are leaving. Now.”

She can’t go back in there. Just can’t. If she goes, Rick will follow, and then why knows what’ll happen then? Will they get recaptured? Will his mother pull another one of the you’re-my-little-boy-and-I-love-you things? He’s not sure he could handle that.

[Lin guest]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come 
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i 
left behind.

And there are small children with no one to count on here, Lin thought miserbly as she took another step forward. It may as well have been an excuse-- but it was true. Not only kids, but adults. Teenagers. People who if they went through anything Lin and Rick had-- needed to be busted out now. How selfish was it of them to save their own skins and leave the rest beyind? How selfish was it of her to go back in there, guessng that Rik might follow-- and give up those trapped people's chance of freedom? How selfish was it of her to risk giving up information on the freedom fighters, just so she could try for a nearly hopeless cause?

Lin knew what the word of the day was.

Which was the greater sin? Which was a worse turn of morals? Then Rick stepped in front of her, glaring at her with such venom that Lin literally froze like a deer in headlights. “Come on. We are leaving. Now.”

Lin silently stepped to the left and continued walking. It was a stuburness issue that most humans posessed. You're unsure what to do, then someone steps in and tries to talk you out of dong one of the choices-- which only makes you want to do it more. "You go then, Rick. they need a leader, not a second in command who--" Dead pause, then a furiously picked up snap, " You try and stop me and I don't care how much it hurts-- I'll freeze your feet to the ground and eyes shut and run to thr nearest pay-phone and get Markswell on the phone." Empty threat on the water-- even the fountain that was placed out beside the building would be near impossible to move that quixkly without the discharges bursting in. She hopes the comment on Rick's adopted father (or previous adopted father, it was impossible to tell these days) will do the trick.

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
‘cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

And she keeps going. He lets out a long string of curses at the top of his lungs and then turns to follow her. He knew he would-- he can’t leave her to fend for herself. What if she got caught? How could he live with himself after that? Besides-- who would keep him out of trouble with Lin gone?

He drops his voice to barely a whisper. “I hate you. I hate you so much. What do you need me to do?”

Rick’s running on adrenaline. Oddly realizing this, he pulls in energy and perks up immediately.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

"Launguage..." Lin muttered under her breath-- before raising an eyebrow (or both) and turning around to actually face him. He was offering help? Really? Seriously? He wasn't going to storm off angrily like she'd hoped? (Well, it was a long shot anyways).

"There's not much you can do," she repsonded, voice eerily calm. "I'm going back inside, and walking in there-- hoping I don't get shot and finding the nearest sledgehammer and then figuring out what I need to do from there."

So, plan? Never! Just walk in there and hope everything goes okay. (which we all know could never happen)

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
'cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

Sledgehammer? She's going to smash stuff and cause mayhem? That doesn't sound like the Lin he knows… She must have a plan, or at least a motive more complex than going back inside and trying to hit stuff with a hammer...

"What are you trying to do?" He can't help much if he doesn't know what he's helping with… And she doesn't know now he can help… "Would a distraction be helpful?"

Distractions are pretty easy to make when you're a six-foot-one mutant with the ability to shoot lights from your hands, turn the lights on and off, make steam from water… The possibilities are endless. And it's just fun. Distractions are some of the great joys in life.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

"Distraction?" Lin echoes wide eyed, looking slightly amused (surprisingly). " A distraction?" That actually might work. Just might-- like barely. Or then again, Rick could get shot and dragged back into the building and then he'd be one of the people she'd be trying to rescue. Or he could just get killed- which would be all the better. (Note the obvious sarcasm)

"Are you sure you just can't go back to the cave with the receipt for the burgers and pretend like I died or something?" Lin asked wearily, turning around just outside the the entrance doors to the building. Hey-- it was always worth a shot. She holds up the receipt from earlier (two whole weeks earlier), which she had so cleverly hidden up until now. "'Cause then when I maybe come back to life, wel'll have a huge party in the caves (provided that these people don't track us somehow)."

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
'cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

Rick rolls his eyes at her. "No, moron. I'm not leaving you here, and I'm certainly not going back to the caves without you. Now," He places a hand on the spinning door. "what are you trying to do? Where are you going to go? Do you have a plan?"

He holds the door in place, glad it's not one of the automatically revolving doors. Without him moving, Lin's certainly not going anywhere. Except back away from the door. (He's probably stronger than she is-- it's just natural.) And he's not moving until she answers his questions. And not just-- I'll figure it out as I need to. No. That's a Rick Freedom plan. Not a Lin plan.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

"No time," she responded, mumbling half to herself as she pushed against the revolving doors and pushing against the thin metal bar as to rotate herself through the spinning doors of doom. (quite literally)

It didn't budge.

For one half a second, Lin almost panicked-- thinking that the MCA people had somehow locked them inside and were going to gas them or something-- but then Rick spoke, and Lin's head whipped around to glare at him, noting his foot wedged in between the bars and his back against the glass. No wonder-- he was holding the doors in place. Lin backed up as to slip back outside and through the non-revolving doors.

She nearly walked back into glass.

Lovely. Trapped in between two walls of glass until she answered Rick's question. "I'm trying to walk through these doors and into the building, I'm going into the building, and my plan is to go into the building," Lin answered smartly, irritably, leaning back against the walls and slowly pressing her full weight against it. It was probably something to do with exhaustion, or hunger, or maybe Rick really was that strong, even with a bullet in his arm-- but it didn't budge.

Lin, in frustration, kicked the door, the glass rattling. "Can I go now?"

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
'cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

He shakes his head, wincing as the vibrations from her kick travel up his arm and rattle his shoulder. "No. That's not a plan. You're not going anywhere until you tell me where, why, how, and what you're going to do. Rushing in with this half-assed thing isn't going to do you any good."

Rick looks steadily at her, strangely calm. It's such a strange situation, Lin being all reckless, not even making a plan, totally his role, and he's the calm one preventing her from killing herself. And he's trying to help-- he really is. But there is a bit of selfishness mixed in with his helping. Without Lin, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. He can't just go back to the caves without her and act like everything's all good. It wouldn't be good-- it would be the opposite of good. It would be bad. Because he doesn't trust anyone as completely as he does this little Japanese girl fuming in the triangle of revolving door he had trapped her in.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

This whole situation had flipped Lin's mind around. Like my fellow narrator noted, the roles had reversed in a sense. Which was kinda' strange. Well, these whole past two weeks had been strange. Not only strange, but torturous--terrifying, painful, and mind warping. Something about being killed in five various ways, drugged, electrocuted-- has an impact on the brain.

I wonder why.

Anyways, there was something about this whole experience that had flipped Lin's outlook. Sure, a week or so with everything back to normal- and everything would set itself back out-- but until then, until there was no more fear or sadness, or... torture (whether mentally or physically)... Lin was going to act reckless. She was going to act like this was the last day of her life anyways-- it would be like this until she pinned a scientist up a wall and demanded that they removed this thing from her hand, and then release all those innocent children (or maybe, less innocent) from captivity.

Lin slid down the wall of glass, crossing her arms and half-sulking at Rick's somewhat lecture. "Is too a plan," she retorted, muttering. Okay, now that was just childish. Even Lin blinked in confusion at that one, before irritably bringing her back off against the glass and back again. Another rattle. "You know, if you keep me here-- someone is eventually going to notice that we've come back--oh, look. Here's our welcoming party! Ooh! And they brought guns just for us, how special," Lin finished her sentence with a cynical edge to her voice, eyes narrowing into slits while her hands curled into fists.

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
'cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

She slams back against the wall again, and he just looks at her sadly, wondering where the girl he knew was in this new, insanely childish incarnation. This thing isn't Lin at all. It's something in her body, pretending to be her, looking like her, with her voice, but not acting like her at all. It hurts his ego to admit it, even to himself, but the thing is acting like him on a bad day.

The men with guns appear. Lovely. Maybe they'll take him to see his mother and he can ask (force) her to put Lin back the way she was. He liked her so much better that way. Stubbornly brilliant, not stupidly childish.

When he speaks again, his voice is flat, but for the slight edge of exhaustion. "If you think I'm going to let you go kill yourself just to keep from getting shot again, you're sorely mistaken."

The first of the commandos is almost at the glass door, a gun aimed at them. Another steps up level with the first, raises his gun. Rick looks at it, studying it for just a moment. It's too wide and bulky to be a regular gun. Looks more like a tranquilizer... Oh, right. The MCA-ers don't want them dead-- just unconcious. Then the testing can continue.

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

Lin stared, almost amused, at the commandos, slightly calmed down. Unless their darts were able to shatter glass-- nothing was going to happen. In fact, they probably couldn't do anything unless Rick moved his foot and allowed the glass to spin again. If the glass was bullet proof, it was probably nearly unbreakable. Maybe they'd bring a mutant down and ask them to melt the steel.

But until then, Lin wasn't going anywhere. Even if she wanted to. She was trapped in between two walls of bullet-proof glass (assumed), which wasn't a bad place to be. A flash of worry, and Lin glanced over at Rick-- wondering if there was any open space or doorways that people could get him at. She couldn't tell from this angle.

[Rick Freedom]

Rick Freedom
i used to be old
but now i feel young
'cuz i was a boy
when i learned
how to run

He adjusts his grip on the door, widening his stance slightly to keep from swaying too much. The blood loss's really starting to get to him, and he hopes that whatever possessed Lin will leave soon so that they can go, get whatever she needs to get, and make a bee-line back to the caves.

The men with guns are about ten feet from them now-- Lin had better make up her mind soon.

The click of stilettos echoes around the room as two scientists (the same two-- Melissa Thorton and the other guy) exit the elevator and walk calmly toward the door. Rick turns to look. The woman smiles and waves, her white lab coat billowing out behind her like a superhero's cape.

The boy shakes his head and looks back at Lin. "Right, Linny. What's it gonna be?"

[Lin Heiwa]

Lin Heiwa.

at times i wondered
if i had not come
a long way
to find what i sought
was something that i
left behind.

Lin grimaced, burying her head between her knees hands in fists, nails digging so hard into her hands that they drew blood-- like they weren't messed up enough anyway-- God, she couldn't THINK. She mentally clawed at her brain, furiously, weakly, trying to put everything together. On adrenaline, she'd been fine. Worked right, could think okay-- but now... the person inside herself was crumbling into dust under the pressure of exhaustion and the slowly building electrical impulses that was making her brain go haywire. She frantically reached for the plan that she had, the logic, the strategy that she once possess as it slipped between the world of reality and fantasy.

If she could barely think-- how was Rick holding up if she could barely string a sentence together in her brain? A wave of concern washed over her, and with that concern-- came a string, a barely coherent thought, a ... plan.

Pain.

That was the plan. Sure, it may not make sense to you-- reader-- but somehow, in a split second-- like all inspiration-- came a plan of simplicity. And that plan was: Pain.

Lin jerked to her feet-- turning around with her hands on the glass just in time to see the leader of the commandos raise his the but of his gun to the glass and bring it done on the plain. Lin stumbled backwards as the majority of the glass broke, bringing her arms in front of her face as to shield her eyes from the debris. Unfortunately for the leader, he did exactly what Lin wanted as the glass shards attacked her bare arms and forehead.

Pain.

And with the pain, came the adrenaline. Lin peered up from her arms, a grin slowly parting her face. The adrenaline? It did it's very needed job. In the split second that Lin had to think before the commando raised his gun and she was staring down the barrel-- her eyes snapped from side to side and all around the room before locking eyes (hopefully) with Rick and half shouting as she pointed halfway across the room, "My plan is for you to close your eyes and hit that mirror with all you got!"

And hopefully it would work. And hopefully he would see the mirror. And hopefully he wouldn't literally hit it with his fist (not that he could without getting shot). And hopefully, Lin thought as she squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could and waited for the bullet to sink into her arm, the mirror wouldn't shatter like I'm predicting, and hopefully Rick could react faster than this man in front of me could pull a trigger-- 'cause I'm pretty sure I won't be able to last thirty minutes like most animals and still be able to walk-- and hopefully--