Realistic or Modern (Closed) When it all falls down...

[Sir Damien]

Gillian

Hannah didn't seem like a lesbian, though he supposed he had never met one before. Before he could say anything else to Hannah the couch shifted at the other end. He glanced over at Ava and seen her shiver. If she was down here then everything must have been taken care of by now... "Let's get you upstairs then. We'll get you tucked under your blankets." Hannah's comment made Gillian roll his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Don't get too comfortable, we'll discuss a game plan for you tomorrow." He stood to his feet and went up the narrow staircase.

Once up the stairs he went down the hallway to their room at the end of the hall. "The windows are all locked, right?" Gillian walked to the windows and double checked to make sure they wouldn't open. He glanced back and noticed the mason jar on the door. "Smart girl." He couldn't help but to grin slightly and give a small nod of approval. "Right. Go ahead and crawl in bed, I'll stay awake and make sure I don't hear anything suspicious." Though it was hard to do with the loud wind happening outside.

Gillian sat on the couch with a small sigh, his good arm running through his hair. "She's gone tomorrow. I'm sure Callie is already talking some sense into Slade. But this whole thing has freaked me out, maybe we should start exploring and see if we can find a new place to stay? We've got the truck, we could pick up the others and bring them with us." If this one girl could find them then so there could Sullivan. Hell, maybe she worked with him...the thought gave him goosebumps.

 

[EclipseRosee]

Ava

"Yeah. right. Goodnight Hannah..." Ava yawned as she spoke, honestly struggling to stand and make her way up the stairs to the bedroom. Today had been a mess... for such a long time Ava had been brave and near un-freakout-able. But this had her feeling some sort of way that she couldn't quite place her finger on. Parts of her knew something bad was going to happen and while Hannah did really freak her out, she couldn't really tell if she was the cause or if it was just a general feeling of dread. Plus Hannah's story didn't help, it made Ava go back to the days when she would be tore from her bed in the middle of sleeping to be brutally "tested on" or when she would be eating her meals and suddenly attacked. Various terrible things happened there... and the story Hannah told made Ava remember them all after a long time of blocking them out.

"What?" Ava's head perked up when Gillian told her to crawl into bed and she turned and looked at it with yet another yawn as he continued speaking. "You're not going to sleep Gil?" She turned and watched as he sat down on the couch and opened her mouth to argue and say she would stay up too but another yawn stole her words place. "Fine. But it's cold and ...." Ava didn't want to admit she was scared... not to him. He was always so proud when she was brave...So instead she scooped up all the blankets from the bed and brought them over to the couch with her before dropping down into the spot next to Gillian and draping the pile of blankets over them both before wrapping one around his shoulders. "At least keep warm ok?"

Ava adjusted so she was laying with her head on the arm of the couch and her feet were tucked into the small space she had taken up of the couch. "I think that's a great idea Gil... very good. Uhuh... explore... yeah..." She spoke quietly, every so often but eventually it was too hard to stay awake and she was passed out within seconds.

 

[ZombieBaee]

Slade

How could he not feel like a total and complete douche bag? This whole experience had changed Slade a lot. He used to be quite and stoic, honestly kind of rude and anti-social. He was still quiet and stoic but much more in tune with the world around him as far as people go. "Callie god... I am so fucking sorry." He ran his hands through his hair again and watched her curiously as she placed Ava's little device on the handle.

"I promise, I'll make sure I keep my guard up. It's just... she's always been a friend ya know? I just don't get what would make her act that way towards you of all people. You've been nothing but nice to her! Honestly it pisses me off. And I'm sorry I didn't protect you from it back then. But I promise I will now." Slade stood up from the edge of the bed and walked over behind Callie and wrapped his arms around her midsection and picked her up gently. "Now it's bed time okay?" He carried her over to the bed and gently placed her down before pulling the blankets over her and moving to his side of the bed and getting under the blankets.

"Hey, I mean it." Slade reached into his pocket where he had been hiding the ring for days now, weeks even, still waiting for the time to do it. It was stupid really, they were already married. "I'll protect you now, and from here on out too okay. I know I'm not amazing at social cues though so I'll rely on you to let me know when you need help okay? I'll try my hardest." He pulled the ring out from where it was still hidden under the blanket and turned on his side to face her in the dark. "I know you already have the one but it didn't feel very you... I got this one back in DC and was just waiting. But, Callie I do really love you. I know we got married quickly and maybe not for the best reasons but I would do it all over again every single day."

 

[ZombieBaee]

Lo

"We will.. I'll make sure to keep Drake in line too while you're both gone." Lo swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat and did her best to smile up at Marco from her chair. She couldn't help but roll her eyes with a chuckle as he kissed her hands. "You think I'm just going to sit around and wait? I'll be walking by the time you get back." She squeezed his hands tightly before dropping her own back into her lap and letting out a small sigh. As if she would be doing anything but sitting in the window and watching the phone like a fucking hawk.

"And you, don't do anything reckless and don't go biting off more than you can chew." Lo turned to Haru with a raised brow and a smirk. "I don't want to lose my best friend but I also don't want to have to deal with this jackass by myself for too long." She reached over and punched Drake in the arm before looking back over at Haru, "Seriously though, be safe."

"Marco." Lo whispered and used her finger to tell him to come closer, as soon as she did she gave him a small peck on the cheek before backing away and winking. "You got this captain."

"Come on Drake let's go load our shit into our vacation home." Lo yelled down the hall as she backed away from the door and turned to make her way back to the elevator. Their temporary bunker would be in the very top floor of the building and Haru had made sure they would be completely covered for weeks let alone a few days.

 

[KAYDEN]

Drake

As they stood at the door ready to see Marco and Haru off, Drake was still considering trying to go in her place but... the fact of the matter was that he could barely walk on flat ground right now let alone through the wilderness. God he hated this... Of all the times to FINALLY fucking say something this would be it but crippling fear of emotional scarring made him keep his mouth shut yet again. Why could he not just say it? Why was that so fucking hard? Drake had fought with literal thugs and done some of the most questionable shit to get his news stories in the past but he couldn't tell a woman he ALREADY SLEPT WITH that he LIKED HER? Even in this situation?!

Fuck it.
Fuck it.

"Hey Haru-" Drake finally started to speak only to realize that Lo was in the middle of telling Haru something and he quickly shut up, scratching the back of his head and sighing. Great. Cool. Smooth. When Lo was done he shot her a glare in response to her jab at him before continuing. "I- uh. I just wanted to say be safe. Please." Drake couldn't let the words leave his head and instead found himself wrapping his arms around her tightly and pulling her into what was probably a painful hug. "I seriously need you to come back to me. Okay? Unhurt preferably." After what was probably slightly too long he finally let her go and ran a hand through her hair before looking down at her. "I-" Love you. "I don't know how I would handle this all without you."

Behind him Lo was yelling AGAIN and he finally dropped his arms and let out a groan. "Sometimes I'm thankful for all of this because I don't have to act like LORNA and I are a happily married couple anymore but then I remember I can't legally leave the bitch yet." He growled and turned to her with a glare, "Hold on woman."

Drake looked over at Marco and gave him a nod, "Keep each other safe okay?" With that he made his way after Lo and loaded into the elevator. "You're a brat you know that?" He looked over at the girl in the chair with a glare as the elevator doors shut and they made their way upstairs.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Callie

Slade had a way to melt Callie's heart and make her feel like no one had ever before. Did other girls feel like that with him, or was it just her? Was this what people called love? He was her best friend, the light of her life, and someone she admired and respected so very much. It hurt her heart to ask him to do that to someone he considered a friend, but if it meant the safety of her loved ones she’d probably still ask him to kick her out...that sounded wrong every time she thought about it. He was too good to them.

As soon as her ocean blue eyes landed on the gorgeous ring she couldn’t help but get teary eyed. No one had ever given her anything so special. Slade picked it out himself specifically for her! How could she not get emotional? After a few sweet kisses, thank you's, and I love you’s, after she put the ring on and cried all over again at how beautiful it was, they finally tucked into the blankets and called it a the night.

—

Once upon a time ago Callie would wake five to six times throughout the night, she never slept well. Next to Slade? Callie was able to get a full nights sleep. He kept her warm even throughout the freezing night. Even with a threat looming over them from the living room she still was able to have a full nights sleep. And like always, she got up bright and early at 6 am.

Quickly she got ready for the day and threw her long platinum hair in a bun on the top of her head. Her outfit of the day consisted of a maroon thick adorable sweater, black sweats, and two layers of flannel socks. Quickly she made her way downstairs and started the process of making coffee. The whole time she couldn't help but smiling down at her ring and quietly humming to herself. Somehow with the good nights sleep and the overwhelming happiness she felt she had let Hannah slip from her mind.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Haru

"You all aren't losing me, I'll be back in a few days." Haru couldn't help but smile slightly over at Lo. She worried about her friend but Drake took care of Lo and made sure she was safe once upon a time ago, she was sure he'd do a great job at keeping her safe again. He wasn't so good at keeping himself safe but that was a separate issue in and of itself.

"Hm?" Drake spoke up and she looked over at him with a small smile. Haru was most worried about him, he was the one always getting hurt. "I'll be safe, I promise-" suddenly her words were lost. As soon as his arms made their way around her she forgot everything around her for a moment. Dammit, she had been doing so well at ignoring the feeling he had for him. But the bone breaking hug? It like sparked everything she had been feeling for him again. "I'll always come back to you, Drake." And, for a brief second it felt like it was just the two of them. His hand was running through her hair and for a moment it looked like Drake was going to tell her something...but the moment was lost when Lo yelled.

Haru sighed in disappointment and gave a small nod. "Yeah. Married couple, right... Have fun." And with that Haru turned to venture outdoors.

--

The walk was treacherous to say the least. On more than one occasion she had just wanted to give up and collapse in the snow. They couldn't talk much because of the heavy wind and snow fall, plus Marco was on the radio whenever he did speak. It left her alone to kick herself in her thoughts. Drake didn't like her, she was an idiot. He liked Lo. Everything made sense in her head and she just felt like an idiot.

At least every step north of the hospital was a step away from her embarrassment. They stopped a few time throughout the night and changed their socks and put heating packs in their sock gloves and shoes. By the time morning came the snow had died down and Haru had never been more thankful for the warmth of the sun. That's when they seen the small shack. Quickly Haru and Marco made their way into the shack and, while it wasn't very sturdy or warm, it would block the wind and snow from them.

"Let's get a fire or something..." On the inside of the shack was a small fireplace, a couch, a chair, and a pot. It didn't look like anyone had been there in a while though.

 

[Colt Voltage]

Marco

Walking? He couldn't help but chuckle quietly. Heloved her determination and positive, yet slightly snarky, attitude throughout this whole ordeal! It's what kept him going most days. And when her lips landed on his cheek with that sweet peck of hers he felt his face light up a bright red. He couldn't tell you much about his past or his old relationship with Lo, but he could tell you who he was now. He was a guy that couldn't picture his life without this girl. "Thanks Lo. We'll be back soon. And, don't worry, I'll take care of Doc."

Drake hugged Haru and he was off yelling something about him and Lo being a married couple. "W-hat? Married?" When did anyone plan on telling him that little side bit? "Uh, right." He followed Haru into the snowy abyss more confused than usual.

--

Throughout the night he tested out the radio with Lo, but in all honesty it was way too cold and he was way too confused to talk much. Good news? The phone was working! It cut out now and then, due to the blizzard he assumed, but other than that it was fully operational! He wished he could celebrate in the successful invention, but he was too distracted. His thoughts kept drifting off to all the time him and Lo spent together. If Marco was married to Lo he'd spend every waking minute with her! Drake barely hung out with her save for physical therapy...which was a lot. But, besides patrols, Marco always helped Lo with her gadgets. He had thought that she felt some similar feelings towards her.

Thankfully the weather drowned out the depressing thoughts. The wind was cold. The air was so cold it hurt to breath. Snow coated every inch of his clothing and eventually started to freeze, which made moving harder. The snow came up to his knees and it was hard to force through especially considering it was pitch black in the woods.

When the sun came up the snowfall seemed to ease up. The next thing he knew they were finding a lone small shack in the middle of the snow covered woods. Quickly they were congregating inside the shack and shaking off the snow on them. They needed fire and the wood outside was all wet. There was a few logs left beside the fireplace so he placed them inside. He searched the backpack Haru had packed for him and found the lighter fluid and matches.

Soon enough they had fire and he couldn't help but shiver. Marco sat down next to the fire to try and get warm.

 

[Sir Damien]

Gillian

Pale cheeks heated when Ava moved her blankets from her bed over to him. She curled up next to him on the couch after wrapping him in a blanket, rested her head on the arm of the couch, and was already drifting off to sleep. "Yes dear I'll stay warm." He pat her head affectionately before sinking back into the couch. He cracked his neck a few times before picking up the pen and notebook. The notebook had all the special dates on them, all of which had a red x through them. None of them were right and he couldn't figure it out. He was determine to crack this safe.

He couldn't help but to steal glances over at Ava every so often. Every time she moved or the blanket fell off of her shoulder he made sure to reach over and gently pull it back over her. The poor girl had been through so much; he wasn't going to let her freeze to death. Though, he supposed most nights he woke and covered her with another blanket.

Gillian was successful at staying awake most of the night, but probably about 4 in the morning he fell asleep. The creek of the foot board quickly woke him and he nearly jumped from his seat. "Shit." He pinched the bridge of his nose and looked around. He didn't mean to fall asleep but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. The notebook was even sitting on his lap from when he fell asleep.

The aroma of coffee wafted into the air and Gillian let out another groan. Slowly he stood up and gently pat Ava's head again. "Ava, let's go get some coffee. It's morning."

 

[KAYDEN]

Drake

"So what exactly are we looking for right now?" Drake walked slowly behind Lo's chair as he pushed her through the hallway of the top floor they had hunkered down in. Every couple feet they stopped to peer into the various patient rooms and every so often there would be a large room filled with all sorts of equipment that Drake struggled to even make up what they would be used for. Lo seemed to have a bit of an idea what was going on in these rooms but she seemed lost as well. "You really think there is something up here to help you get out of your chair? What a magic potion?" Drake snorted as they turned into another room that had all sorts of weird prosthetics.

"This shit looks like transformers." Drake let go of her chair so she could move around freely before heading over tot he window with the phone in hand. They were able to charge theirs overnight but he was scared for Haru's and Marco's dying on them. Neither of the two in the hospital had really slept much at this point, taking turns in the window and watching for any sign of danger. At one point Drake even started ranting about his worry of a bear attack.

"They're fine right?" He said for the millionth time without even turning around to face the red haired girl. "They're fine. I'm sure they are." Drake tried to speak with confidence but it was all fake and he found himself pressing his forehead to the window and sighing... again, for the millionth time.

 

[ZombieBaee]

Lo

"I showed you the picture you idiot, this!" Lo held up the magazine again that depicted an image of a woman in a large prosthetic that appeared more robot than anything but after reading the article about the new device, Lo believed she could possibly tinker with it to get it to work. Provided she could find one in this hospital... it was a long shot but maybe even something similar would work! "If we can find something like it I think I could learn how to work it by the time they get back. It wouldn't work in the snow I don't think but.. maybe..."

They moved into yet another room and Lo watched as Drake moved quickly to the window with a sad smile. "Yeah, of course they are. Marco might have lost his memory but he's still got the basics and he was never dumb. He's always been quick on his feet. And Haru will just scold someone until the run off so." She chuckled and turned away as she made her way through the large room. There was various models of braces and the like, most seemed to be used as examples rather than actual items for patient use but still intriguing none the less.

"Drake you wouldn't be so damn scared if you weren't holding onto pent up nerves from NOT telling Haru you're into her." Lo yelled through the room before letting go an evil chuckle. "Idiot." And then, she found it. Just sitting in a corner with an infographic plastered on the wall above it. "Holy shit!"

Okay so how did this work... Lo began to mess with all the different bells and whistles. She found that the height of the hip placement and the knee joints was completely adjustable which was good. That meant a lot less work that she was anticipating. It seemed to run on a rather large battery that could be charged by plugging in but who knew when they would get the chance to... at least it had the option she supposed. She looked over the legs and thought for a moment... maybe she could find something to cover the bottoms for traction and wrap the legs in something waterproof. "Drake come help me out. They'll call if anything happens. They might even still be asleep!"

 

[ZombieBaee]

Slade

Slade wasn't super excited to wake up that morning but having Callie besides him helped, especially after riding off the high of last night. He put off the conversation with Hannah and watched as Callie got ready, pretending for a moment that this was their normal life. Living on a farm in the wilderness, Callie had a greenhouse to attend to and they made a simple breakfast every morning together and just lived their lives happily without the worry of danger. However that day dream was shattered soon and she went downstairs to make coffee and Slade found himself suddenly aware again of the impending conversation with his friend downstairs.

Slade rolled out of bed and got dressed, a long sleeve shirt with a bulky blue sweater on top with a pair of heavy jeans and two pairs of socks. Once that was done he found a small suitcase in the bottom of the closet and filled it with socks and warm clothes, even tossed a couple blankets they could do without into it. He then made his way downstairs and straight out back, throwing the suitcase into the cab of the truck before digging around in the shed for an empty gas can and placing that in the bed of the truck as well.

Once inside again Slade joined Callie in the kitchen and smiled as he caught her giggling at her ring, he felt bad for kicking anyone out during this but... Slade believed Callie and what Hannah did back then was a warning sign, even if he was too stupid to notice at the time. He took some of their canned food, enough to last the girl a week and placed it into an old grocery bag from a drawer before heading out to to the living room and placing it on the coffee table.

"Hannah we need to talk... I, I think it's time you head out." Slade sighed as ran his hand though his hair before continuing his speech, god this wasn't fun.

 

[ZombieBaee]

Hannah

"W-What?" Hannah jumped as the cans hit the table and she was left staring up at Slade as he spoke. Him?! He was kicking her out? She can't say she was shocked at this happening but she really expected Gillain to be the one to pull the trigger. Not Slade.... she thought he would at least try and fight for her safety. He kept going and much to her surprise brought up the threats made to Callie in New Orleans. "That wasn't me! What the fuck Slade! I didn't even know that was happening to her!" She jumped off the couch and started the biggest performance of her life. "No one in that camp fought for you two more than ME! Not one single other person in our squad even liked Callie let alone looked at her as a friend like I did! God how fucking stupid do I look right now." Hannah wiped the crocodile tears from her eyes and let her lower lip quiver as she hugged her arms to herself.

Sullivan wanted Callie alive but man Hannah was ALMOST over giving a shit. This little bitch infected everything with her fake poor me attitude.

After her rant Slade held out a set of keys to her and she yanked them from his hand with anger before spitting in his face. "You're not the person I thought you were."

Hannah took the food and keys and made her way out to the truck before starting it and racing away down the snowed over path that led towards the woods. She didn't need this run down car, or theit damn charity but if it meant they had less she would take it. "Sullivan?" Hannah pulled the phone from her bra and called him as she drove, "Yeah, you're son in law kicked me out but they gave me their truck. So new plan, I'm going to wait until night and walk back up after taking this junk of junk to the cabin. And I'll just drug her and bring her back here by morning for you. I can't promise she won't have bruises so wait a few days for the wedding."

Hannah hung up and kept driving the short distance to the small cabin, not noticing the disruption in the snow near the front door as she threw the thing into park. She took the bag of food and jumped out of the car, making her way into the small shack she had been hiding out in. As soon as she walked in she smelled the fire and found two people in her space. "Who the fuck are you?! Oh- wait, I recognize you." Oh what a golden opportunity.

 

[EclipseRosee]

Ava

Ava had a nice dream, one of those ones that you didn’t want to wake up from because it was so much better than reality. One of the ones that you know that when you wake up your heart will just just a little bit because it’s not real. Her dream was so simple to, she was behind the counter of Petal and Kettle and tending to the few house plants that sat on the shelf. Callie and Slade came in for tea while she was on her lunch break from her job at the courthouse... She was being told stories of Lo and Marco off in Italy as well as given an update on Haru and Drake. It was so nice and so simple, she never wanted it to end. Then Gillian joined her, coming out of the greenhouse area with an apron tied around his torso that matched hers. Everything was so, overwhelmingly perfect. That is until she felt herself being woken up.

“What? No five more minutes.” Ava grumbled slightly as her head nuzzled into the hand that patted her head. “I’m still sleepy.” She whined and curled up further into a ball and squeezed her eyes shut. After a few moments however she was quickly aware of her childish actions and her face was burning bright red with embarrassment. Ava slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes before pulling her blanket around her head and shoulders like a cape and grumbling. “Coffee?” She was not a morning person. Plus she was suddenly faced with the brutal reality that they were not in this perfect alternate universe, they were in a poor old dead couples farm house in the middle of the end of the world. “That sounds... good.”

Ava blinked slowly a few times and yawned before she noticed the notebook resting on Gillians lap, “You didn’t really stay up all night fussing over that did you? Gil... you’re going to get sick with this cold and stress.” With out hesitation she reached over and felt his forehead before pinching his cheek with a smile. “And we don’t need you getting sick okay? Now let’s go get some coffee and then I can help you look at the numbers again.”

 

[ZombieBaee]

Hannah

It didn't take long for night to fall and things to get a lot better for her fast. Who would have thought she would stumble upon more of their little friend group! It was almost as if a higher power was begging her to continue with the plan. So she would. Drugging Callie and dragging her back to her father by her golden locks would have been fun but now she can do it and make sure the girl is fully awake when it happens. If she had learned anything about Callie it was that she was a bleeding heart and would sacrifice herself for her friends, especially of it was her that put them in danger. She had used some of the tranquilizers on Marco and Haru, they went down easily. Then all she had to do was draft up her letter.

Hannah wrote quickly so that she could drive back out to the house and return without the two waking up fully, however she made sure to tie the two of them up well in case they decided to try anything. Once back at the house Hannah made sure to sneak up to the door, placing the ominous piece of paper between the storm door and the glass door with a piece of string tying it to the handle. Once she was sure it wouldn't fall she knocked loudly with a chuckle and ran off back to the truck.

Dear Callie,

(And the rest of you idiots since I'm sure you won't let her open the door.)

I hope you've had as great of a day as I have so far! I am done with the bullshit and the hiding so I'm just going to lay it all out there. Callie, you'll be heading to find me by morning so I can take you back to daddy dearest. And you'll be coming alone, don't worry though, she wont get lost in the snow guys! I'll be watching for her and swoop her up as soon as shes far enough away from you.

Now you're asking yourselves, why? Why would we listen to your demands? Well you see. I think you probably should Callie, unless you want me to make Haru or Marco pay for your selfishness. That being said, you'll be headed to me by sunrise or every thirty minutes that passes I will start shooting.

Then Hannah left and made her way back to the cabin, walking in to find nothing disturbed but that her hostages were slowly waking. "Good morning sleepy heads!"

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Callie

What Slade did was hard and she was almost sorry that she had asked him to do it. Hannah even spit in his face...what kind of person did that to someone? But when the loud knock jolted Callie out of her focused coffee making mood. Hannah was gone, who else knew they were here? She should have probably waited for Slade to open the door but Callie quickly opened it. Instead of a person standing on the other side of the door there was a piece of paper in the door.

Slowly the bed headed Callie pulled the note out from the door and looked over what was written. Now she felt even worse for kicking Hannah out. How long had she had their friends? According to the note she needed to leave, and soon. If Marco or Haru got hurt because she was too slow...she would never forgive herself.

After she shut the door Callie made her way up the stairs to their bedroom. "Hannah's got Haru and Marco, I've gotta go alone to save them." Quickly she brushed out her hair and tossed it in a bun. She slipped out of her pajamas and into a pair of long johns, a black sweater, and black jeans. Callie sat on the bed to apply double layered socks for the trip. She'd rescue her friends then run from Hannah.

"Love you, hopefully I'll be back by dinner. Morning at the latest. Hannah's working for my dad now so it might be a minute before I get away from her. I'll send Haru and Marco here when I rescue them." Callie placed her ring in her bedside drawer to keep it safe. Hannah getting that ring and breaking it would hurt more than getting shot by her gun. "Do I look ready to brave a snow storm? Oh, my mittens and face mask. Good idea." It was like she was going through a mental checklist of things she needed for the storm.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Haru

When Hannah found the pair Haru tried to escape. Did she know who Hannah was? Hell no, but at this point no one was to be trusted. She tried to knock Hannah down to make room for Marco and her to run, only when she crashed into Hannah something sharp stabbed her in the arm. A needle? Shit. Things quickly went black and she fell to the ground.

Unconsciousness was not Haru's friend. She dreamed of Drake and Lo and the worry they were dealing with. What happens when they don't come back? This girl clearly didn't have good intentions with the two of them. "Mmm..." The cold air hit her when the door opened and her eyes slowly peeked open. Haru was sitting on the floor completely immobilized. Her hands were bound tightly behind her back and her ankles were tied together as well. Her mouth was extremely dry as she bit at her lip. "Who are you and what do you want? Some psycho that tortures people in the woods?"

Her eyes darted over to Marco. He was still asleep so she lunged her feet at him to kick him awake. "Marco are you okay?"

 

[Colt Voltage]

Marco

The blizzard had drained Marco of all his energy and strength. When they got to the shack he had been so thankful. Were they almost there? How much longer? He was doing this for his friends, for Lo. No matter what he had to do this to save their friends. While they'd resume their adventure through the frozen tundra in the morning they now had to rest. Unfortunately that rest was disturbed by the woman that barged in the house. Haru moved to knock her down but was immediately taken out. Marco panicked and went to rush in to save her only to meet a similar fate.

He blacked out for a good while. He kept seeing Lo's face. Memories flooded his mind and, suddenly, he could remember everything again. All the good times, the bad times, all the times they barely made it out alive. He remembered the feelings he had for a certain red headed gal that was so supportive through everything.

Haru's kick shook him awake and he looked around wildly for a moment. His hands and ankles were bound so tightly he could barely move. "I'm fine, yourself?" His head throbbed as he glanced over at their captor. "Do you want food? Shelter? What do you desire? I'm sure we could help you."

 

[Sir Damien]

Gillian

As Ava slowly woke up Gillian couldn't help but to chuckle. Yes, he was exhausted, but he was doing this for them. That safe had to hold something that would help them. Maybe it wouldn't win the war with their father, but they'd be able to find the other half of their group. He was so close to finding out the code he could taste it. "You rested well, I'm glad. It was overdue." He smoothed out Ava's hair as she stood up, blinking widely when she squeezed his cheek and checked his forehead. His cheeks were tinted pink as he slid on another hoodie. "It's almost over with. I'm close to figuring it out, I can feel it."

He gave her a small nod and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they made their way downstairs. "I think a fresh set of eyes will be just what we need. That and some coffee." Once downstairs he poured them two cups of hot coffee. Above them he could hear the sound of someone pacing across the bedroom floor...must have been his sister. "She sounds busy already this morning." It was then he noticed the note on the table.

Gillian picked up the note from Hannah and nearly choked on his coffee. "Callie! You will be doing no such thing!" All of a sudden he shifted into guard dog mode and he was seeing red. No sleep plus this note? It didn't mix well. He handed the note to Ava and walked over to the staircase. "Slade, Callie. Get down here and we'll talk about options. Her going by herself is not one of them." Gillian let his loud voice carry up the stairs, he knew full well that they'd be able to hear him.

"If we pop open that safe we can find Marco and Haru and save them. This is our only option left." He ran his hand through his golden hair with a long frustrated sigh. He sat in front of the notebook to take another look at it. "What other significant dates are there?"

 

[KAYDEN]

Drake

After a few hours of fucking around in the hospital, Lo seemed finally satisfied with all the work they had done. The prosthetic they found seemed to be exactly what she needed and they found tarps and some bed straps to affix it to the legs of the machine so it would be waterproof as possible. The extra batteries were charging and now they were finally back in the hospital room they were supposed to have been hunkered down in the entire time while waiting for the others to call.

"Should we call them? It's getting late and they should have checked in by now right?" Drake sighed as he pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders and ate another bite of their sad dinner of slightly warmed up canned soup. He was getting more and more worried about Haru and Marco... before they left Haru was acting weird as well. "I mean... they're fine right? Like the weather seems okay and I cant think of anything else that would cause issues around here. I mean there shouldn't be any wild animals big enough to hurt them or anything right?" Drake was normally calm and collected but the longer the situation went on the more paranoid he got.

 

[EclipseRosee]

Ava

"Yeah sure." Ava rolled her eyes at him as they made their way downstairs as he spoke of coffee helping, "Sleep would help you as well you know..." She grumbled as they entered the kitchen and Gillian mentioned Callie's pacing. Not two moments later was Gillian yelling and shoving a piece of paper into her hands. Ava took a seat at the dining room table and read over the note, her eyes getting wider and wider by the second before she finally placed it back on the table and looked over to where Gillian was losing his mind.

"G-Gill come on, let's just sit down ok?" Shockingly he listed to her but he was already pulling out the notebook and starting to look at the numbers again. Ava took her chair and scooted it closer to his side, peering down at the pages before something clicked. "Wait, what if we were looking at this all wrong. What if it's not a significant date. What if its the journal entry date about a significant event." Ava reached out and pointed to the upper corner where the date of the diary entry was written. "This entire time we only put in the actual events date but a lot of these she writes about things days or weeks later. Or references important things from the past that happened long before she would have written this. It might be the journal entry where she talks about their wedding or something."

Ava leaned back when she finished speaking before reaching over and grabbing Gillian's hand gently. "Listen, we will handle this in a little, and try these new theories but for now we need a back up plan to keeping Callie here... if we can't get into the safe we need to be prepared to take on Hannah somehow without guns."

 

[ZombieBaee]

Lo

"I'm sure they're okay." Lo's voice wavered as she spoke, her eyes glancing out the window at the dark sky before she took a bite of her soup and turned back to Drake. Honestly she was worried as well but was trying to be the calm one of the two of them. Marco had promised to call as often as possible and they hadn't heard from either him or Haru since they left damn near. But looking out the window there was no sign of trouble at all... Lo hated to think that maybe she had failed and the cell phones weren't going to end up working but... maybe that was the case. Maybe she had fucked up and the range was too great for them to handle.

"If we don't hear from them by the morning we will go find a way to find them."

Morning came quicker than the two had prepared for and soon they were met with a decision. Lo sat in her wheelchair with the phone and turned it on, trying to reach Haru and Marco. "Guys? Can you hear me? Guys?"

 

[ZombieBaee]

Slade

"Get down where?" Slade took off the heavy duty hat that covered his head and ears as he entered the house through the backdoor in time to hear Gillian yelling up the stairs for him. He had gone out earlier that morning to gather some wood for the week as well as seeing if there was any wild game for them to possibly hunt for a change in food from the canned things they were growing accustomed to. "What's going on?" Gillian seemed more prickly than usual and Ava was reading a note at the dining room table. When she set it down Slade moved over and picked it up himself. He didn't even read the whole thing before tossing it back on the table and moving to the stairs where Gillian had just been yelling.

"Callie? Come downstairs and let's all just talk ok?"

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Callie

Gillian's yelling up the stairs didn't stop Callie from getting ready. Quickly she threw on the gloves, wrapped the scarf around her neck, and grabbed her thick hat. Slade's voice made Callie stop in her tracks. He was going to try to stop her, she knew he would. Slade never let her put herself in danger like that! However, if the roles were reversed there was no doubt in her mind that Slade would leave alone.

"Hi, honey. Welcome home." Callie's agile feet flew down the stairs to meet her husband at the bottom, her hand gently cupping one of his cold cheeks, her soft lips planting a sweet peck on the other. "I'll be back by morning, I'll send Haru and Marco here when I save them. She said I've got to go alone so I need to move quick. I love you guys." Callie avoided eye contact with everyone in the room as she began to walk to the front door. No one wanted her to go, Callie didn't even want to go. There was no other option to saving Marco and Haru though, this was her only way.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Haru

Things looked grim for the pair, at this point Haru was pretty sure they were going to die. The woman told the two of them they were hostages, and when Callie turns herself in they'll be free to go. Who could believe that psychopath though? She didn't stay long after their introductions, said she needed to go pick up Callie. Hopefully for Haru and Marco Callie comes, or when Hannah comes back it won't be pleasant.

From her back pocket she could hear the voice of Lo and she instantly felt her heart break. It had been pretty weird processing that her and Drake were still husband and wife, she already didn't know what to say to her. Quietly let out a small groan as she situated herself and slipped the phone out of the pocket. "We're in a little trouble, but she never got the pocketknife in my back pocket." Slowly she was able to flick the knife open and sawed through the thin rope quickly. Haru sat up and cut the rope around her ankles before moving over to Marco and helping him free.

"Hannah's going after Callie, apparently she was using us as bartering chips. We can follow her tracks, trail her and maybe find the others." That would leave Callie alone with Hannah...they'd be back to help her. Callie was too important to kill. "Marco find something to defend yourself with and lets go."