Duncan's eyes slowly opened and he blinked a few times, not wondering why his vision was so blurry and green...yet. Fiddle sticks, there was a killer kink in his neck, his groan was loud as he slowly sat up. His neck turning his head left and right as he glanced about his forest biome. "....MOOOOOOOOOOM!?" His voice echoed for a few moments and he repeated his call, she had to be here somewhere. This was a joke and when he founded the ******* who did this he would kill them! Where was his parents for grunges sake! He gazed about bewildered before finally taking a few tentatively steps forward and noticing a subtle fork with one leading towards a building and the other one towards an open stretch of wider land. His mind churned hard, no one was around. His parents were probably in Brookridge looking for him but he was in this damned forest! He harumped, at least the building looked creepy in a cool way. It made his feet head straight for it.
"Jesus!" He managed to choke out. That water was cold! What? Why was he surrounded in water!? And, he patted his face and sighed in relief. He still had his glasses on, he couldn't tell just by sight alone. It was pretty dark in here and the water was getting higher. He squinted up at ceiling and noticed the declining ceiling. That was definitely a problem. He noticed talking and was internally glad he wasn't alone. But now didn't seem like the best time for niceties, and so he took a deep got to the point. "Uh, hey guys, I think we should check underwater. Maybe we can feel the pump for this water or something." He tried to wipe his glasses dry and failed. Ugh. He took a deep breath and felt his way to the bottom of the room. Thir wasn't much luck there, the power to push water out at the rate it was drowning them made some pretty strong currents. He was tossed about quite a bit before he had to resurface. He swam to Madeline's side and began to help her, shift his energy to her idea of a loose brick or secret something, anything to get them out. He would dive again later.
Thomas paced, and paced and paced some more. Cherno was gone, and Maddy and the doctor and that small brunette were gone too. He shook his head in fustration, he still felt set on searching the wreckage or something, anything to put his mind at ease. He bit his lip and set his jaw, he needed a map. A home like this usually had one on the walls or in a shelf, right? He could then pin point where Casey's house might have been, and get a general direction to Antilum. He thought some more on that, he could be horridly wrong though, after all, they hoped in a truck and simply followed Casey's directions. Then from the house, they left again and simply followed Harley and Vanille to this location. Vanille! She knew how to get here, even thought they were in the Heckle house. She would know how to get from here to there without a stupid map. Or at least point him in a proper cardinal direction. Okay. First step, talk to Vanille. Second? Figure out how long it'd take to hoof it back to Antilum. As he pondered these things, a little side thought slipped into his mind. Why was he doing this. Risking going back into the city. Risking getting his face recognized and having himself subjected to possible torture. And all to see if a girl who may or may not even be alive, was alive! But that thought was squashed by another. A stronger and more tangible thought. What is she needed him? He adored Madeline, and her dying was something he needed to see to believe. Besides, his racing mind wandered, if she was alive, how in the hell would they ever meet up again? She may think they were all dead, when, like in the movies, they had actually just past each other in the ruined streets! He hated movies like that! He sat back down on the bed he crashed on, still letting his thoughts flow and swirl, it was enough to distract him from not having a camera...but if he passed by a camera shop on his journey...it's not like anyone would be using a camera in town at this point in time. He still sighed and stood up, thinking of how he could cut his hair to make himself more unrecognizable, maybe find a hoody too. He nodded as he stood up, liking the appearance change more and more. He didn't want to go alone, the looming challenges of going out into the world was enough to fill him with dread, but he silenced his fear temporarily by thinking, What if she needs me? Thomas washed his face clean and hurried out of the room, hunting for the masked girl named Vanille. He just hoped she was awake while his nerves were still held in check.
im chep skielrk n im suin u 4 steelin mi song
I didn't even get an alert to this. LMAAAAAO.
Thomas went along quietly and didn't say a word. He was feeling homesick on top of feeling queasy from the fact that another classmate may be dead. He solemnly shook his head 'no' in reply to Harley and shuffled off to a empty bedroom to think and sleep. +++ What. The. ****. John narrowed his eyes at a bloody Quin in the driver's side of a one of their truck. She pulled the impossible, and that raised so many alarms in John that he couldn't even notice the small bit of happiness he felt when Temperance stood in his proximity for a good amount of their voyage. Instead he wistfully checked his phone, which was still useless, and finally he went to bed while longing for a shower but too tired to care.
John had his hands pulled away. Maybe he was getting better at being nice, since he wasn't pretending when he spoke. He held his tongue when she spoke, seeing her get more riled up with each words, she then said something worth listening to. "That? What is that? Does he have something that we should all know about?" He wanted to shake her to make her stop moving and to tell everyone else to shut up. Or at least walk and talk. He didn't want to comment on the futility of going above ground and into the house, if they were willing to shoot one of them, they were willing to shoot all of them. No suicides.
John loathed the boy with dark hair, a Cheshire,'s smile and golden eyes. He wanted nothing to do with him. But when the barrel was slid shut and he wasn't in their little freed group, his heart began to kick start into high gear. Suddenly he realized that he knew how Thomas must have felt when he decided he had to go back to Antilum. Immediately he demanded that logic should calm him down. No shots were fired, and the government was inside, if the bag terrorist knew the people she wanted was dead, then who knows what she'd do to the country. John swallows hard, the lump in his being the thing that held his tears from falling. He shifted his eyes off of the ground and towards Temperance and her outburst, should that be him? After all, he was in the picture long before her. But he couldn't react that way, his blue eyed angel wouldn't approve of tearing innocent Casey a new one. His fingers clutched the beads harder at the thought of her. Bernadette was able to pull Temperance back and then his heart was hit by a new emotion as the shots rang out. He could now fully sympathize with Temperance, and empathize with Thomas. The shots broke the dam in his thudding heart and quietly the clear rivers of wet emotion began to trail down his face. His mind whirled, his analyzation was off track. Cute, innocent and carefree laughter echoed through his once intolerable skull and suddenly, desire still crying quietly, he gently placed both of his hands on Temperance's shoulders, slightly hoping Bernie would keep her from swinging at him as he spoke to the green eyed tempest. "Cherno's a selfish, lazy, smart ass who despite being a genius of sorts, still manages to idiotically hurt those around him." He gave her shoulders a slight but soft squeeze, imploring her to keep listening. "But he's one resilient son of a *****. Just hold on, he'll pop up again." And John believed what he told her, because if he could believe in magic. He could believe in Cherno.
8 John sighed after flinching when the bang went off. After checking his body he sighed in relief and face palmed. He really need a smoke right now. Cellar? Now? That was al John needed to hear as he descended down into the cellar., making sure his beads stayed on tight. +++ 7 Holy ****! Thomas wanted to shake Casey before realizing that he shouldn't have waited around in the first place, he made a silent vow as one voice told them to run. Sounded like Wallace. And another voice, Thomas stood up, but looked about for anything gun like, the other voice told him to go to the cellar,, and so he did.
Thomas was up and leaping out the bed when he realized he'd gotten enough sleep for the day. He rubbed his eyes as he hurried to the bathroom adjacent to the room he slept in, using the sink to wash places importantly offensive to the human sense of smell. He then scrubbed his face and hair with both hands before he slipped his glasses onto his still drying face. Too impatient to even towel off the water on his body he left his room after putting on his shoes and making sure all he carried with him stayed in his pockets, he rushed down the hall and harumped in fustration as he could not find Casey in the kitchen again. He fixed a small sandwhich and a glass of water and ate it quietly as he settled in the kitchen to wait. He'd read the note in red before he entered and had no issue with moving to a new building. He'd gladly go there, after leading Madeline and the others too it. And maybe get a map to this secret safe house first. +++ John willed himself to not think of the two most important women in his life for the fifteenth time as he layed in bed and stared up at the ceiling. He sat up and got up and out of the bed. Giving himself a simple cleaning similar to Thomas' as he woke himself up and pushed his thoughts to a more prioritizing mode. Why was he here, with them? They were getting him know where. They had answers so insignificant that they were not worth mentioning anymore. He himself was contributing nothing, and what good was a ex-clergyman who did nothing? A being with complete control of their lives would not want someone that dull around any more. He drifted into the kitchen and let his mind wander to collect more thoughts, his frown detering conversation like he hoped it would. His eyes roved over the sentence on the note quickly and pondered it, where would that get them? Where would running get them? He crossed his arms over his chest and ate a small meal consisting of fruit. As he sat down at the main table in the kitchen, he found that Thomas was already there in the kitchen with him. Good, he could get this guilt out of the way. Now. He cleared his throat and looked Thomas dead in the face, the boy seemed to be contemplating something too. John decided it was not worth asking and spoke nice and clear, well, as nicely as he could manage it. "Thomas, I want to thank you. You didn't have to, but you did. So, thank you, I owe you or something. Right?" He looked off to the side, he didn't know if that's how saving a life worked, but you couldn't just forget about the man who possibly saved you. "It's no problem! Really, you save someone, then you move on. We could be friends or something..but you don't owe me a life debt or something. Otherwise fire fighters and cops would owe a lot of people." John's innocence in the situation put the first smile on his face since he was at Antilum, before the Earth began to shake, and the country wanted them captured. "Oh. Well that's that then." He dumped his bowl in the kitchen sink and went outside to sit on the front porch. He loved that this state was cold a lot, his synapses were firing fast. How could he let the others know, that he was done with running. That sick girl had a point when she was talking in the tunnels. This game was stale, and he was not going to die because of it.
OOC: Having brainfarts. Thomas tied up his left shoe and took a deep breath to calm himself. He stood up and stretched, testing his muscles and trying to gauge and remember if they even matched his old strength. They didn't, but time would tell if he could get there. And the only way to even try getting there was by constant training, and for another more important reason he found himself looking for the lord of the house, or at least one of the servants. He couldn't find any after a few minutes, and his stomach was rumbling, his feet began to steer him towards the smell of freshly crisped red strips of delectable pig. Bacon. A pretty blonde with adorable blue eyes was settling the culprit that assualted his nose on a plate and he politely refrained from touching them until she gave the say so. She hadn't, and so he took this oppurtunity to nervously rake his hand through his raven colored hair to untangle the curls on his head and take an plate and find suitable things to eat from the table prepared by the Heckle staff, he then settled into an empty chair and gave a quick scan for his favorite blond or the black haired lord of the estate. After finding neither he frowned and trained his eyes on anyone willing to listen, "I want to go back to the exit we took out the tunnels. I want to check the rubbles and see if anyone is...alive. It isn't right to try to move on without knowing. I can't seem to find Casey." The younger boy was named Casey, right? "Does anyone know where I can find him? I keep getting lost on my own." His own cool blues went from person to person, he knew at least two people would hear him, his old Bellhurst mates. The fiery, green eyed cheerleader, Temperance and the funny talking, funny guy, Cherno. How could you forget such unique names? He hoped they knew, otherwise, it was back to more wandering.
Duncan sat beside his mother and father, huddled together beneath their three storied home and fumed silently. He really disliked hanging out with them, even if it was kind of saving his life. This place was the safer then traveling the streets. This underground basement was well structured and protected so the house wouldn't cave in on top of them. The bright fluorescent light was being powered by the efficient but tiny black and red, hi tech generator. He had to let out a little sigh, the T.V. constantly stayed on the News. He was glad they were so fast, being alerted was a good thing. His dad double and triple checked the doors when they saw his name scroll up with a few of his classmates and a bit more of people he didn't know. His ex best friend wasn't there, so he silently cursed his luck. He didn't want an angry mob to tear him away from his parents, but that ******* being torn from his? Hahahaha. It'd be something Duncan would have paid to see. He got up and traveled over to the full sized fridge and pulled a can of some kind of cheap but long lasting 'Coke' from the numerous sodas inside it. The staff was sent home, so he had to do everything himself, along with his mother. His father had only one camera set up, and that was at the door. Lucky for them, no one had come up to the steel doors that led to their little haven. And he prayed nothing would ever make them leave. He paused as he opened up the text box for his tumblr app. What if one of his fellow BAE mates were watching their every tumblr move despite their not being any connectivity, waiting for the chance to rat them out to this bag woman! He frowned, he was much too careful, he'd have to not give a thing away, until he could at least text one of the other people who's named scrolled up on the list. In the end, his message was simple and to the point. Hopefully power to the towers would be restored and his message would go through. +++ Thomas opened his baby blues slowly, wincing at the light the hit through the window of the Heckles manor. He grunted and rolled onto his side, his glasses sliding down slightly muscles a little sore, mostly around the upper arms. Where was he? Why was he not home... And he never went to bed with his glasses on, they could break, and money was not rolling in droves at the Adams home. He sat up abruptly and looked about wildy. Maddy!? He pulled his blanket off of him as the events of the past few days began to flood back into him. Fire. Ground shaking. Missiles whistling. Darkness. Underground. Trucks. Madeline's plan. Driving. Dozing off. Dragging an unconscious John. Trucks revving, and tires screeching. Not seeing strawberry blond hair and not having time to look as with one leap he was in the back of a truck. Spirited away and blacking out as soon as his body felt a bed beneath it. Not having his camera throughout the whole thing, it made him nearly wince as he put his shoes back on. God he felt so empty without it, camera fix later, Maddy now. He stood up, she had to be here, right? His feet echoed quietly along the well kept tiles of the articulately made halls. He knocked and called her name outside a multitude of doors before panic was threatening his sanity and he pulled out his phone, messaging his mother to ensure her that he was indeed safe and well. His fingers then moved about his phone until sent one to Madeline, asking her which room she had to be in. It was a small comfort, though the automated reply told him that his messages didn't send through at all, and would be sent when a connection was found. After all, she must have been so resourceful, more then enough to stay away and get the hell out of there before he even dragged himself awake to hop on the back of one of the revved up trucks. +++ John paced and prowled around the room, he was actually relieved for once. He was alive and well, and as long as he was a live, there was the chance he could tell his mother something important, some how, some way he would say goodbye if he had to leave this game again, not that he planned to though. That cave in was too, too close to a second death. The last time he didn't get to, and it ate at him till just a few moments ago. He pressed his fiery red rosary to his forehead in a small mantra, the words too low to hear. He sat on one of Casey's many beds, his eyes swerving over things in the room, things he would have manipulate and bully to get on a nice day. The Heckles boy was either very lucky or very rich, John couldn't tell. He was getting antsy again, he needed to move, they needed to move. The first things the crazies in the states would do is track down and search every home that the boys and girls so graciously placed to be targeted would be found. John rubbed his chin, unless this Heckles boy had this home as some kind of secret Brookridge home, with another home somewhere else. No no, that's thinking too deep. His fingers idly shifted the beads around on his opposite arm. They needed another meeting, and they needed another plan, fast. He felt bad about the people who weren't there, but what was he going to do? Travel through poisonous gas and God knows what else just to pick them up? He straightened his hair and left the room, he would have to thank Tommy boy for saving his life in the tunnels now. The sooner to get the guilt he felt out of his heart.
John ignored Kallisti and went to take a leak instead. Muttering irritability about not having at least one cigarette before he returned and found that Theo had been moved via girl power. He contemplated what to do next as he made his way back to the new camp and once there he frowned. Frowned hard as some new girl simply waltzed off with their only Doctor. He was about to speak out when the resident Bowmen went off after them, when he saw that he was no longer upset with Elliot and instead upset that they had taken supplies. He hoped their little medic would come back. After all, they couldn't even Google anything medicinal. But maybe their medic was an idiot who just walked off into the dark tunnels with flat chested brunettes! John's faith in the boy would stay low until he like, stitched someone's half chopped off limb. He rubbed his chin before climbing into a truck and thinking of red beads and white wands until he fell asleep in the cabin. ++++++++ Thomas helped where he could, going back again and again and still checking in Madeline, despite him having a feeling that she wouldn't just let something go. But she wouldn't talk to him about, simply replying coolly when he talked to her. It was a little frustrating. So he opted to simply give her some alone time. At least for the moment. He was getting drowsy and his stomach had a dull throb to it was time to think of his parents. And not the abysmal stituation they were all in. How could something like photography and a nice smile help at a time like this? He contemplated talking to Madeline about it but he felt so tired, he rubbed his eyes and kept a five foot distance from Madeline as he quietly drifted off.
Thomas sat there for a moment. Baffled. He had told her his opinion and she moved away from him. What was wrong with her?? He frowned at her in the gloomy light they had. Had he said something wrong? Maybe. All he knew for sure was that this hurt and he would get to the bottom of it. After all they were stuck in a tunnel, where could she even run. "Maddy, wait." He knelt infront of her. "What's up? I want to know what I did. After all, one of these guys might save your life so how can we not use that?" His voice stayed as low and as calm as he could possibly make it. Surely they could talk out their differences. ++++++++++++++±+++++++++++ John didn't do much as they walked deeper into the left tunnel. Dropping a shell once every ten or so feet. Finally they alighted on something worth telling the others about, a part of him didn't want to return to the others. The thought made him quiet as he didn't pay attention to Harley, after all, when he was about to do some self exploring for things to take personally, he flicked on his flash light and And he searched an empty car. He could see that the vehicles didn't seem to have a ignition point, but there was a control pad looking device near the steering wheel. Oh joy. A password protected truck. Wonderful. John silently fumed at Antilum and young Theodore. Rubbing his beads to calm himself down as he shined his light about for a hidden code. Maybe a dense trucker left it scrawled somewhere around her. John sighed when he stepped down onto the ground after finding nothing to start up the truck. He wondered if anyone with his group or at camp could hotwire one if these trucks. Perhaps Elliot? Maybe. He had glasses after all. "We should probably move here. The old storage spot is lighter so it will be easier to bring the few supplies there to here. Plus we're going to need more minds for figuring out what to do with these trucks. If we can even do anything with them. " He was done speaking and he switched off his flash light, the light above them was enough for him at the moment. His face went from a blank sort of thinking look to a full on frown. Why did he have a nagging unease all of the sudden?
John had no gun. Just the shell, after all,he felt more likely to shoot someone then help them by firing a gun in such a small and dark tunnel. Well at least this part seemed small. He watched and waited, body tensing as he drew into the shadows, taking Harley's warnings to better hide himself and ready his blade. It made him feel like some kind of nnja. EEw. Oh, it was just the girl who stormed off earlier, he thought. And someone else, smaller. Another mouth to feed. He pursed his lips, was she in the suit to spare them? He didn't know enough about germs to properly freak out but he was anyway. It took deep breaths of air to gingerly deliver her things to camp, maybe Elliot could make some kind of radiation vaccine for them before they found a way out. He dropped the bags gently to the floor, only because she called them 'gifts'. So he put a modicum of care into putting them down. He stayed away from the new coming women and agreed with Harley. "Yes. We should keep exploring while we aren't tired." ++++++++++++++++++ Thomas smiled down at his little self appointed charge and his blue eyes sparkled. Maybe she had been in so many awful situations that she could only explain her true self in similar situations like this one and ones in her past. He pushed down the nagging thought that said otherwise and he listened carefully to her words. Basically, he trusted Madeline, he gave her the truth. And so did she, right? So he believed her and empathized with her when she said she didn't trust anyone. He let her finish before finally saying back."I know what you mean about not feeling to comfortable with this crew. I feel like Quin has been glaring at me...but I can never catch her doing it. Just like...in the corners of my eye or something. I dunno, maybe this place is getting to me." He pulled his glasses down and squeezed her hand back gently, she was being so different in her physical affection. Endorphins flooded his system and he couldn't help but smile down at her. Nagging thoughts were brushed aside and he shoved the chip bag down into his pocket. A Thomas and Madeline against the world type of thing. He thought that was what she was proposing. He liked the sound of that. Well part of it. "Silly! No way will I just..abandon these guys. I mean I care about you and everything. But if I can help them and make sure you're safe too, I'm going to do that. Besides, what can we do together to like..when the game? Or help win it anyway...do you have a plan Maddy?"
John had no beef, qualms or issues with the heavily tattooed girl. Sure she offered to stab herself in order to summon their favorite demon, but hey, kudos to her for bravery. However, he immediately blacklisted her and Antilum as soon as she gave Kallisti a bow. He glanced about at all current Bellhurst students. Was he the only one seeing this? He shook his head and hurried to slip a knife and it's sheath around his ankle. Afterwards, he picked up a box of 9 millimeter bullets, simply staring at his crew with an inward sigh. Yes. Let's go... wait, did that girl have an accent? Oh sweet baby Jesus. John made the sign of the cross before following after his fellow blondes. He simply snorted in response to Harley's words, staring at him in the darkness because he voiced the obvious. But maybe it was for the girl's benefit. He accepted the flashlight and pocketed it beside his lighter. They reached the fork in the road before he squatted to drop on shell in the center of the fork. He lightly shook the box of shells. "I say we go right. Then double back if we're wrong. It would take too long to go in one end and then turn around to explore the other. Time is of the essence and we should keep on a straight and narrow path. Much easier to remember, even if I have the shells as our bread crumbs." He started down the right handed path without waiting anyway, he had to be right.[DOUBLEPOST=1363839442][/DOUBLEPOST]He watched the courageous group of three blonds vanish into the darkness and hoped they would be safe. Vanille had a good grasp on checking their rations so he was glad she stayed. Who knew what some of the others might do if someone wasn't handling the food control. Gaunt cuteness at it's finest just brushed his leg and his heart raced for a second or two. He leaned down a little to hear her better. Trying to be discreet because she was whispering, he spoke back just as quietly, "I know we'll be fine..at worse, those guys don't find anything, and we just set out anyway, because I think Theodore might need professional attention for something other then fainting. I mean what if he needs some medicine? Or he will wake up to just...faint again." He disliked saying faint but it seemed to describe it without it being the worse word, which was coma. He adjusted his glasses and thought for a bit more. "I got you. We'll make it out of here a live. But for now, we should discuss or do something. Unless there's something you wanted to ask me." He hoped there was, he enjoyed talking to her, it was nice, though he wished she had done so before all this when they were semi normal kids at the Academy.
Thomas nodded to Harley's word, they should be getting a move on, but he had to make sure Maddy was safe first before he would do anything. And with that said he quietly began to speak to her, half listening to John's three manned scouting crew. "I know how much you don't like to eat but this maybe the last thing you eat for a while. Try and eat a bit more before we head out." Thomas tuned back into John's words, it sounded like a pretty good idea, too bad those first aid kits didn't have smelling salts or something made for waking fainters up. And the way Theodore randomly went out just seemed so sudden, he wondered if the poor boy had some condition or something. Or he could have been under a lot of stress before he tried to get this little gathering together. His cell was useless, and he missed his dad. And his mother. He prayed and hoped against hope that they would be okay and just banged up. Oh he wished the hospital was alright too. He had studied the Old War stories. Makeshift hospitals were rough, especially when the are was susceptible to bombing. He just had to pray Coy City was spared or that this ridiculous bag lady keeled over. After all this was her and Crestatia's fault. She could have found them all. Well at least he assumed she could. He snapped out of his reverie. John was done and awaiting commentary, and feed back. Thomas had none, so long as the little group would have a safe means to get back to the larger storage group safely.
John couldn't think about the bombings, because they sounded close, if they were close enough to send tremors and be heard dropping, then they were close enough to hit home, or somewhere else equally devastating, and if they hit home then they hit the one person he had left. And no, he could not bear that right now. And so, he worked, helping Elliot out when he could since keeping Theodore around was the highest option of getting out the tunnel system alive, he put most of his focus into it. He glanced up and down the dark halls as he took a break against the storage room walls. Darkness up and down, the light above them was barely cutting it. They need a way out and bad. His ear pricked up when Harley spoke, the blonde boy was right. Sitting around here until their supplies ran out was not going to cut it. Getting lost was a small price to pay compared to dying. John was not ready to die again. He pushed himself off the wall and cranked up his voice to speak loudly, perfectly using the echo of the empty place to be heard, "All of us going out there into the darkness could be dangerous, we should send a little scouting party to explore the area more. And think of a way to explore without getting lost, like the bread crumb trail in that fairy tale." His brows jumped down in a frown, "But we cannot spare crumbs.. Anyway, the scouting team will get a small portion of the things we have, and report back to us when they've found a way out. Or something else extremely important." He folded his arm across his and mulled out some thoughts, but he didn't want to voice them just yet, "Since we don't know who can do what, I nominate myself to be in the scouting party. I think it should have at least three people in it. And they need to leave immediately." He swept his arm out wide, "Questions, comments and concerns? Input would be nice." He didn't think it'd be nice at all. But someone may triumph his idea, and though that pained him, not was not the time to be...selfish. John felt sick.
Im Tammy tuuner n im suing u 4 steeling mi song, jawn khv.net
11 John didn't bother talking, instead keeping up with their group and descending in the pod with the group until it was time to exit. In which case he did. 10+++++ Thomas followed suit and went with their little crowd. Praying softly that his family and friends would be okay and find shelter like he was lucky enough to. He strode after John when the pod opened.
