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Gloriae
Sept 17, 2014 21:11:40 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Sept 17, 2014 21:11:40 GMT -6
He chewed his lip and turned off the CD player. Skylar probably would have swatted his hand for that, but whatever. He felt like they could both use silence for a minute.
"Her name was Luisa," he said after a few minutes. "She was all I had left-- but these people are nice. Well, they're kind of weird, but we all are now. Can't have survived through something like that and keep... normalcy. They'll definitely give you stuff to help. Water. Food. They might even turn on the generator for a bit so you can wash up." If you end up leaving. So far no one who showed up had left. Granted, it was just the four of them, but Skylar never left and didn't seem like she would. And he had been kidnapped and never left. So he figured that counted for something.
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Gloriae
Sept 17, 2014 21:58:44 GMT -6
Post by macxcheese on Sept 17, 2014 21:58:44 GMT -6
"Oh," she said again. Luisa. Her vision grew blurry and she stuffed her face into her raised leg. Nice people. She didn't want their help. She never asked for this. Technically she had but... She took a deep breath, trying to be the master of silent crying that she was. This whole situation was so irritating and hopeless and she just wanted to curl up and disappear. She was successfully quiet for a few minutes, then suddenly spoke with muffled words. "Why are you even helping me? I almost shot you. And now I'm going to eat your food, drink your water, use your medical supplies, probably more. And you're letting me?" She whipped her head towards him, eyes wide in disbelief. "You can't even see half my face!" She felt a tear creep down her cheek, and she briskly wiped it away. "And I'm crying! I'm more useless than Celebrity Jeopardy!" She nudged her face into her jeans again, letting out a jagged breath. In a small voice she whispered, "Dear god, I think I'm going crazy."
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Gloriae
Sept 17, 2014 22:32:12 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by ashestoApples on Sept 17, 2014 22:32:12 GMT -6
Conrad's eyes widened when he looked over at her. She was... crying. His sister's words echoed in his ears again-
"Not everyone's like that."
There was something else she'd said- something else that he repeated to Jane, though in a quieter and nicer tone than his sister had said it in.
"If we don't watch out for who's left, we're nothing more than the biters we kill everyday," he echoed.
He thought about reaching a hand over to her shoulder and decided against it. "Look," he said as he held up his dog tags, eyes on the road. "One of these is mine- the other is Luisa's. She was my sister and she's gone now. If I had left you- if I hadn't helped- I'd be betraying her memory. It may be cheesy or whatever, but I want to keep being the older brother that she knew. The one she looked up to when no one else did. We have to retain our humanity to some degree, you know?" Now he had tears in his eyes, but it wasn't bad. He could still drive, so that's what he'd do. They were almost there anyway.
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Gloriae
Sept 18, 2014 9:55:57 GMT -6
Post by macxcheese on Sept 18, 2014 9:55:57 GMT -6
She closed her eyes, not responding. That really was cheesy. Nevertheless, it made her feel a lot better. Her sniffles quieted down and she shifted her face so that her cheek was pressed against her knee. Scenery rolled by, abandoned buildings and empty fields. She decided that if anything, she could trust him. She hoped the rest of his "nice people" were as reliable. She kept quiet the rest of the way there, and put her leg down only after they'd arrived. She wiped under her eyes, trying to clear off any eye make up that had run. "Is this it?"
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Gloriae
Sept 18, 2014 14:22:45 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by ashestoApples on Sept 18, 2014 14:22:45 GMT -6
"Yeah," Conrad said as he turned off the car and unbuckled his seatbelt. "This is it."
It was a large Victorian-style house with a couple small sheds nearby. The windows were boarded up, as well as the door, and there were five different locks in addition to it. It was open now, but at night it was locked tight. The screen door was closed, but it still let in air. The entry way had four stairs and due to this, Conrad looked over at Jane.
"You're probably able to get up those, but just warning you, some of these people are kinda touchy. Would you rather me help you up them so they don't get too close?" He was getting out of the car as he talked, having noticed Lorna come out and Skylar wave to him from around the corner of the house where the generator and water pump were.
Lorna strode over to the car, brow furrowing at the plus one in the car.
"Conrad..." she said warningly.
"She's hurt," he said firmly, looking back at Jane for an answer as he went around the car.
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Gloriae
Sept 18, 2014 15:16:52 GMT -6
Post by macxcheese on Sept 18, 2014 15:16:52 GMT -6
She looked up at the big house while unbuckling herself and push open the door. She'd been expecting some windowless bunker or an encampment, yet the place looked so normal, almost like one of the vacation homes she stayed in! She noticed the stairs as well and was about to answer when she saw Lorna. Was she one of the "nice people" Conrad had mentioned? She sure didn't look like it at the moment. Jane supposed that was her fault and shrunk in her seat. She looked around for Conrad, who'd disappeared behind the car, and when she found him again, she murmured, "Yes. Help, please." She just really hoped that lady wasn't the medic.
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Gloriae
Sept 18, 2014 15:30:38 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by kryss on Sept 18, 2014 15:30:38 GMT -6
Skylar: she saw the others gathered by the door. Conrad was back! And... Wait... Did he have someone with him? She quickly grabbed a towel and roughly wiped off her hands and headed over. The person was a very small girl with red-blonde hair. Something about her struck Skyler. She had definitely seen her before, but where? For some reason she thought of her father. Surely she hadnt seen this girl in California? She thought no one had made it out of there. She might not be able to figure it out until the bandana was removed.
"Who's our guest?" She asked Conrad, hanging back and indicating the girl as Lorna spoke with her.
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Gloriae
Sept 18, 2014 15:47:11 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by ashestoApples on Sept 18, 2014 15:47:11 GMT -6
"Her name's Jane. She was at the mall." Conrad helped her out of the car and started heading toward the steps. Lorna followed, instantly giving orders.
"Put her on the couch. What's hurt? Her leg?"
"Her ankle. It's not broken but it's pretty bad."
Lorna nodded and moved a pillow to the end of the couch so Jane could sit up. She pointed at Skylar.
"Get the big kit out of my bathroom. And some food and water. Get Rick to get the food if you have to. Alright, which ankle?" Conrad pointed and Lorna pulled a mini bottle of hand sanitizer out of her pocket and doused her hands. "Get her boot off."
Conrad looked up at Jane apologetically and started unlacing her boot when Skylar came back.
"Where you from?" Lorna asked as she rummaged through the kit and found a sturdier and longer ace bandage than what Corad had at the time. "The jeans and the wrap," she ordered. He got to work.
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Gloriae
Sept 18, 2014 17:58:03 GMT -6
Post by macxcheese on Sept 18, 2014 17:58:03 GMT -6
As she was hustled into the house, she managed to get a better look at her new surroundings. It really was a nice house, even with it's additions in the windows. And then there was a girl who seemed pretty cheery. She tried to smile at her, forgetting her mouth wasn't visible. Once inside, she followed orders and sat on the couch. By now she'd figured out that the scary woman was the medic, and she was a little terrified at what would happen if she didn't listen. She sat there while Conrad got her boot off, trying to keep a straight face. She felt a pinch when she had to move her ankle a bit to help it off and she tried not to flinch.
Jane had no problem lying when asked where she'd come from. "Detroit. In Michigan." She technically had been in Detroit, so she figured it was only half a lie.
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Gloriae
Sept 18, 2014 19:03:04 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by kryss on Sept 18, 2014 19:03:04 GMT -6
Skylar: It took her some time to find the kit, and she figured she should eat back quickly, but she felt indignant that Lorna thought she couldn't get the food herself. She lugged the kit into the kitchen and found the pantry. Lets see... Protein, definitely. Peanuts and jerky, in case of vegetarianism and allergies, respectively. Vegetables. A can of mixed carrots and peas would cover that. Fruit? There were still two cans of fruit cocktail left. She grabbed one. And something sweet, the girl looked like she had been through a lot. Who hadnt? Skylar bent down and opened the back panel to the pantry that Lorna thought she didn't know about and withdrew a little Debbie fudge round. Crap. Water. Instead of tromping out to the garage, shed just let the girl use her bottle. Ha. A perfect meal.
She piled it all on top of the kit and made her way back into the front room.
"Here you go," she said, dumping the kit next to Lorna, "and here you go." She handed - Jane, Conrad had said, right? - the jerky, peanuts, treat, and her water bottle and kept the cans, cranking them open with the can opener she'd snatched.
"Skylar Evans, by the way. Nice to meet you." As usual, faint music drifted from her headphones, providing the soundtrack to everyone's lives.
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Gloriae
Sept 18, 2014 19:10:19 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by ashestoApples on Sept 18, 2014 19:10:19 GMT -6
"Detroit, huh?" Lorna said distantly. "We have two others who were in Detroit for at least a while. One who lived there, even." She lifted up Jane's leg and looked at the back of it before tsking a few times.
"Well, you definitely managed to bang it up. My best guess is a sprain and probably some bruised muscle. It doesn't take as long to heal as a bruised bone but it hurts a hell of a lot more." She re-bandaged the leg and clipped it off.
"Looks like you're stuck here for now. How long have you been out there alone?"
Conrad hadn't thought of that. How had she survived this long alone? Were there others?
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Gloriae
Sept 18, 2014 19:54:11 GMT -6
Post by macxcheese on Sept 18, 2014 19:54:11 GMT -6
She gladly took the food, except the jerky, which she set aside. She'd been eating jerky for weeks and would be glad if she never saw the dried up meat again. Barely remembering her manners, she told Skylar it was nice to meet her as well. She grabbed the water first, taking a long drink of it (which was kind of awkward with the bandana). Gazing at the food, she decided to go for the fudge round. Food hadn't been too big an issue the past few days thanks to the drug store, but god, chocolate sounded good right now. She scarfed the sweet down, enjoying the rich chocolate flavor. Too soon it was gone, so she moved on to the water bottle again.
She didn't even notice Lorna looking at her ankle until she gave her the verdict. Jane didn't know how to feel. On one hand, she was stuck there. On the other, there was food and possibly soap. She nodded at Lorna and thought for a minute about how long she'd been solo. "Two weeks, I think." She looked down at her bloodstained shirt. The red had turned a dark purple. "At least two," she added, looking back to Lorna.
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Gloriae
Sept 18, 2014 21:32:54 GMT -6
Post by kryss on Sept 18, 2014 21:32:54 GMT -6
Skylar: She giggled a bit as Jane at the fudge round in almost one bite. She knew that feeling well. Something kept nagging at her, though, not allowing her to listen to the conversation at hand. She knew this girl, somehow, from somewhere. Her eyes. Definitely her eyes. And her hair. They were really all she could see, but they seemed so distinct somehow. She absently finished opening the can of fruit cocktail and set it down, starting on the vegetables.
Her voice too. Now that was really, really familiar. She noticed it when Jane had spoken before she left the room, when she thanked her, and when she answered Lorna. But where the heck had she heard that voice be... fore... It struck her as Jane said "At least two." It wasn't the same line, but it was the exact same inflection as the character from the movie. The movie she had been so excited about, because it starred one of her favorite artists who was branching into acting. One of her favorite artists, a short half Asian girl with strawberry blonde hair. As though her iPod could read her mind (and she was 97% sure it could) one of the girl's own songs began filtering out of the headphones.
The can slipped mindlessly from her hands, hitting the ground and spilling peas and carrots onto the floor.
"YOU'RE JUNE RHODES!!!!!!" she exclaimed, her eyes as wide as plates.
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Gloriae
Sept 18, 2014 22:21:02 GMT -6
Post by ashestoApples on Sept 18, 2014 22:21:02 GMT -6
Conrad looked confused. "But-- she said her name was Jane?"
"YEAH! JANE! JANE 'JUNE' RHODES!" Skylar said WAY too loudly.
He blinked a few times. How had she recognized her when she could only see half her face...? He knew who she was, but he didn't think it was that huge of a deal for her to be here, in all honesty. It wasn't like she was signing autographs or at a concert or even remotely famous anymore, really. He didn't understand the huge deal. While he did know some of her songs (who didn't?) he hadn't been particularly a fan. He was pretty neutral. She wasn't BAD, but he didn't really overly LIKE one kind of music over another kind. Let alone one artist over another.
Lorna, however, had no idea who they were talking about. Had Conrad not already pointed out the obvious- that she said her name was Jane, she would have said that. The name sort of sounded familiar, she guessed, but she didn't have a face or any information at all about who it could possibly be.
"What are you two going on about," she asked so flatly it almost sounded like a statement.
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Andy
Full Member
Rufus probably
rick gets all his ideas from the sorting hat's cousin - the bad advice bag
Posts: 119
active character(s): Rick
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Gloriae
Sept 19, 2014 14:00:35 GMT -6
Post by Andy on Sept 19, 2014 14:00:35 GMT -6
With a thunderous clamour coming down the stairs, Rick swung around the corner, one bat at the ready as he took in the scene in the living room and slowly realized what was going on.
"Geezus," He sighed, lowering his bat and reattaching it to his belt as he realized there didn't seem to be any present danger, "Don't go screamin' like dat. Thought someone was gettin' murdered'n here."
Coming over to the side of the couch, and obviously having no concept of personal space to spare, Rick put one hand on the wall and slightly leaned over Jane and Lorna to inspect the damage. He let off a low whistle.
"Nice fuckin' ankle!" He swore, taking in the tiny girl's bandages. His eyes slowly trailed upwards, until he reached her face and squinted, before recognition also blossomed on his face. "OH! YER JUNE RHODES!" He exclaimed, just as if not louder than Skylar had.
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