In the Darkest Days

[Kazanna]

Derrick nodded quietly, "I know, I don't... I never did, not for that. I know it wasn't my fault." When she destroyed the device, he winced slightly, and shook his head, "Ah... Man... You didn't have to... Besides I wanted to see if you could figure out a shielding method, with that oversized brain of yours." He shrugged slightly and released a sigh, "Damn... ah well... back to the task at hand... Lets see what's edible and get rid of what isn't." He moved down the stairs towards the basement again, he'd avoided turning on any lights, relying on the light from the skylights to move about.

 

[Sequoia]

She shrugged. "On something this small...it never would have worked. I can still try on the radio." She said, disposing of the broken ipod. She grabbed her flashlight and followed him. She scoured the shelves but froze when she turned the corner. Lying prone in front of her was a a body...an injured human boy. She saw his chest move and gasped. "He's alive.......DERRICK!"

 

[Kazanna]

Derrick was beside Ally instantly, he'd managed to swipe his kukri from his pack, which he'd left on the kitchen counter, and he held it firmly in his grasp.


"Remember the dog Ally." He whispered to her and stepped past her to get a look at the kid. He knelt down beside him his knife ready but held to the side, so it wasn't horribly visible. He reached out with his free hand.


"Kid, you awake?" He muttered.


If the child had fled here, it was probably under pursuit, which meant their time here was going to be shorter then Derrick had hoped for.

 

[Sequoia]

The boy boy shifted and Ally saw his face. Gasping she ran forward and scoopedd him up. "AJ! Baby please look at me, look at mommy." She held him close as his eyes opened. "Ma...? " he groaned.


"Yes, its me baby." She was crying but smiled at him.

 

[Kazanna]

It was like a bad nightmare, all over again, Derrick's paranoia went through the roof, he stared at Ally and her child, thoughts racing through his head. "Shapeshifter, Possession, tracer, direct control, Not possible..." He had frozen, so as Ally had approached, he slid the knife back away, not knowing what to do. He backed off, and leaned against the doorframe, staring at her, he found himself shaking tremendously.


"This is bad..." He murmured.

 

[Sequoia]

Ally was too wrapped up in making sure AJ was alright. "Are you hurt anywhere baby?" She asked sniffling and checking his arms.


He had a few cuts on his arms and a deep gash on his side.


"Derrick, can you get some medical supplies.Please?" She asked, glancing at him. Noticing his expression she paused. "Whats wrong?"


AJ looked at him too, he had the same eyes as his mother but his unruly black hair had come from Alex. His eyes were watering, from pain and from relief of seeing his mom again.

 

[Kazanna]

He shakes his head slightly, calmly, he moves to his pack, slowly, deliberately, he mutters, just barely at an audible level, "It's too convenient... Why though... why... were not important..." he opened the bag and pulled out his medical supplies. A bottle of iodine, medical gauze, medical tape and a tube of triple anti-biotic. He moved back to Ally, shivering slightly, "Here, Should be just what you need. Something's not adding up Ally..." he said calmly.

 

[Sequoia]

All didn't say anything. She started to clean AJ's cut. "How'd you get here baby?" She asked.


AJ hissed when the medicine touched his cut. "I was running from the monsters...I saw the house and the back door was open so I came inside." He said, bottom lip quivering.


Ally passed her lips over his forehead, smiling softly. "Okay, Sweetheart. There all done." She finished wrapping his middle. AJ sank into her arms looking up at Derrick.


"Who is that mommy?" He asked pointing.


Ally cradled him close. "That is my best friend. Do you remember when I told you stories about him?"


His eyes widened. "You're De!" He said, excited.

 

[Kazanna]

Derrick heard the comment about the back door, and he was gone. He moved as fast as he could towards it, and closed it slowly. He moved away shuddering, he stepped away from the door, and moved away from the door. He ran down the stairs down into the basement, and slammed the power in the house off. He was shaking as he heard the sounds outside.


Footsteps


"God... Were so screwed..." Derrick muttered, terror gripping him.

 

[Sequoia]

Ally hugged AJ close and picked him up. She came to stand next to Derrick.


"Babe...what's happening?" She asked, voice shaking as she cradled her son. she placed her free hand on his arm and tugged him back so their backs were pressed against the wall. No one could sneak up on them. She put AJ on the ground behind her and picked up her knives and Machete just in case.

 

[Kazanna]

Derrick shook his head, he put his finger to his lips, and motioned to the wall, his motions reading that they should get against the wall and stay quiet. He moved carefully, quietly up the stairs again, pulling to door closed he slid the lock into place and froze as he heard the house's front door open up, footsteps moving into the house. He glanced down towards Ally and drew his kukri, holding the weapon at the ready, he shook his head to her, and then looked back to the door, taking a few steps back from it.

 

[Sequoia]

Ally kept AJ behind her, against the wall. She lost him once, she would not lose him again. She froze as she heard the footsteps and followed the sound with her eyes on the ceiling above Her and AJ. Some dust showered down on them and AJ scrunched his nose. Ally noticed and covered him, stopping him from sneezing. Ally kept her knives in hand and gazed anxiously at Derrick and the door.

 

[Kazanna]

Derrick was still, quiet, he heard the guttural communications between the demons, but he wasn't able to make any of it out. With a shudder, he held his breath as a sniffer came near the door. It was a trying few moments as he waited, then, miraculously, the creature pulled away. He let his breath out slowly, before glancing down to Ally, he signaled to her to sit tight, they'd need to wait a while for this patrol to pass.


He sat down on the stairs, as quietly as he could, listening to the continued creaks of the house as it expanded and contracted in the stillness, he listened for any other footsteps, but heard none. He knew if the creatures had found their way inside, they had smelled both Derrick and Ally, But they weren't tracking them. They were Tracking AJ.

 

[Sequoia]

Ally was shaking and kept one hand on AJ's head. She swallowed a gasp as a shadow slid in front of the door and sighed when it disappeared. Ally slowly got down and sat back, pulling AJ into her lap and snuggling him to keep them both warm.


She knew they had smelled her and Derrick, what were they waiting for?


AJ moved closer burying his head in Ally's neck and whimpering softly. Ally shushed him gently, turning concerned eyes to Derrick.

 

[Kazanna]

Using all the careful stealth he could muster, Derrick pushed the basement door open, his knife at the ready, he glanced out into the kitchen and moved to where he had left his bag and his axe. He took the weapon up in his left hand, sheathing his kukri, he hefted the axe carefully before he pulled back to the basement door, he nodded down.


"For some... Crazy, Wonderful reason, they passed us by... I'm not sure how long were going to be safe here, I'd hoped they didn't patrol through here... That's a tracking party though... They lost their scent, it must have intermingled with ours. My guess is they'll follow our scent to the truck, then follow it's tracks to the river... From there..." Shrugging he said, "Who knows... but for the moment we dodged the bullet..."

 

[Sequoia]

Ally looked up at him and stood up, carefully handling her sleeping son. She grinned. "Lets just give thanks and secure the place again." She climbed the steps carefully. "You know...you and AJ didn't have a proper introduction..." Ally teases, laying him on the couch and grabbing her pack to get some water.

 

[Kazanna]

Derrick shook his head at her, "It's not secure, were not safe. I don't... I don't think we will be, not for a long time..." He hefted the axe in his hands nervously, glancing over to her, "When he wakes up, we need to get any details he can give us about what's been going on with him."


Derrick hefted his axe up and let it rest on his shoulder, muttering, "What to do now..."

 

[Sequoia]

Ally frowned, hurt by his sharp tone. "You will not interrogate my son, Derrick." She said firmly.


She let AJ sleep and went to look out the window. The sun was just starting to rise.

 

[Kazanna]

Shaking his head, Derrick sighed, and muttered, "Let emotion rule you, so that we can die defenselessly because we know nothing..." He let his axe rest on his shoulder and he moved to the window's closest to the front door, looking out at the darkness as dawn began to shine through.

 

[Sequoia]

Ally scowled but said nothing. She turned, gathered her son and her pack and went upstairs to the bedroom. she closed the door and sat against it. She let her tears fall as she held her baby close. AJ was her one redeeming quality. Proof that there was good in Ally, enough to be a good mother. She would never let anything happen to him if she could help it.

 

[Kazanna]

Derrick stood guard, he watched, he waited, he stared out as the sun slowly rose, within an hour, he'd only blinked a few times, it wasn't until the sun was all the way up that he would begin moving again. He strode into the kitchen, down into the basement, and began sorting through the various foodstuffs on the shelf. He began to pile up that which was expired, and started setting up the things that would last for an extended period of time. Within a short period, he had a fine assortment of food that would last a very long time if properly rationed.


With a sigh, he moved to the stairs and sat down, pulling a small notepad, and a pen from his pant's pocket. He was taking a slow count of everything there, making sure he knew just what they had. He sighed and began doing a bit of math, figuring out how long it would be before they had to resupply. He'd work at all of this while he let Ally calm down and return from the upstairs. He had little place coming between her and her son, but he also knew the boy would know more then they would of the current movements or locations of the demons in the area. They'd have to find out from the boy one way or another.

 

[Sequoia]

Ally had fallen asleep on the bed after crying but AJ was soon awake. He made his way downstairs, carefully to not wake his mommy up.


He stopped shyly half-way down the stairs when he noticed Derrick.


"Hi..." He said, shifting but not coming down any farther.

 

[Kazanna]

Derrick turned, and paused, things kept getting more and more curious. He stared at AJ for a long moment before he waved at the young boy.


"Hi to you too." He said calmly, a bit of genuine warmth in his voice.


He nodded to the boy, "Your mom fell asleep I take it." He said, his voice had a stressed tone about it.

 

[Sequoia]

AJ smiled and glanced back upstairs. "Yeah, she did. I got hungry though so..." He shifted again before coming down all the way. He ran to the couch and snatched up a floppy eared bunny.


(http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=16442413)


He hugged it close and looked at Derrick. "Is there anything to eat?"

 

[Kazanna]

With a nod, Derrick asked him, "What would you like buddy. Got mostly canned stuff, crackers and what not, but I've got a couple bits of jerky too." He crossed his arms over his chest, "What's his name?" He nodded towards the bunny.