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| Scene Four: A Quake, A Quake | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 8 2009, 12:02 AM (1,216 Views) | |
| LadyRahl | Oct 8 2009, 12:02 AM Post #1 |
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Supreme Goddess Of All Things Bright And Shiny
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Yakko: It's a quiet, peaceful night The moon is shining bright Giving not a hint of what's in store A few hours before morning Without a single warning Something strange begins to move the floor A quake, a quake The house begins to shake You're bouncing 'cross the floor And watching all your dishes break You're sleeping; there's a quake You're instantly awake You're leaping out of bed And shouting "Oh for heaven's sake!" I ran outside with neighbors Their faces full of shocks That's because I'm standing there In nothing but my socks W+D : Oops! Yakko: A quake, a quake This must be a mistake Just feel the ground Go up and down Won't someone hit the brake? A quake, a quake Oh, what a mess they make The bricks, the walls The chimney falls Destruction in its wake I did not have insurance I called them from the scene And suddenly I'm listening To an answering machine Say "Too late, too late You shouldn't ought to wait 'Cause now you're stuck We wish you luck Here comes a six-point-eight!" Whose fault, whose fault? Blame it on the fault 'Cause Mister Richter Can't predict her Kicking our asphalt Seismologists all say Tectonic plates are in between An encroaching crustal mantle Yeah, so what the heck's that mean? It means a quake, a quake W+D : Oh really, yeah, no fake? We kind of had that feeling When the ground began to shake Yakko: And so we wait Resign ourselves to fate Because our lawn Is sitting on A continental plate We shivered through a blizzard Went swimming in a flood Then we blew off a hurricane And now we hear a thud Of a quake, a quake How much more can we take? We thought that we had seen it all But this one takes the cake The dirt, the rocks Those crazy aftershocks It's just the planet Moving granite Several city blocks *YW+D: Now the town is falling down * While the ground * Moves around * We won't let it get us down * Get beneath the door frame Yakko: A quake, a quake It's time to pull up stake Dot : The worst is over Y+W : We don't buy it We're fed up We can't deny it We just want some peace and quiet YW+D : So we're moving to Beirut! Lyrics to: A Quake! A Quake! Preformed by: Yakko, Wakko and Dot of the Anamaniacs ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Zeke/Ruben/Misty/Marie/Tom Ankeny, Iowa June 18, 2010 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Ruben took Mrs. Harris’s hand and helped her down off the curb and into the street. Her frail hand clutched his shakily as she stepped down, her white orthopedic shoes brown with dirt and ash. He’d gone at Zeke’s request to fetch her from her home. The impact had happened two days ago. Everything had finally begun to settle down, people were getting into a routine and laughter, and smiles, were starting to fill the streets again. If not for the fact that there were tents all over town, damaged buildings and countless graves being dug around the town. More and more people were showing up every day and there seemed to be less and less space. The complex where Zeke was living though was relatively new and thanks to the economy, many of them were still vacant. Zeke’s real estate agent had stopped by that morning, looking rather spooked. She’d said that she’d had a dream that she had to give him something. She’d slapped the key into his hand and left in a hurry, not looking back. Two hours later her body had been found, charred with her three children and husband in her minivan that she’d doused with gas. What she’d given him was a key, the key, the master key for the two dozen units in the complex. Some of them had been sold, but not that many and since then, Zeke had been a man on a mission, writing down names and addresses, sending Ruben, Misty, and Bridgette to find the people and bring them to the complex. There’d been no question. They’d each taken their small list and gone searching. Everyone that Ruben had found had seemed to expect him. No one had argued leaving their homes, no one had run him off with a stick like he’d thought that they might. They’d just taken their families, if they’d had them, packed up and gone to Zeke’s door where he’d started moving them into the empty units. Everyone had gotten along, there’d been no fights, no arguments, no conflicts of personalities. Every single person on the list just… fit. “Excuse me?” Ruben turned and saw a man standing just behind him. He was tall, over 6 feet. He looked tired, worn out, sad… but then again who didn’t. He could see the wedding band on his left ring finger and from the looks of it, and the lack of people standing with him, he knew that his family was dead. After the impact no one went more than 3 feet from their families without being watched and there was no one watching him. Plus, the haunted look in his eyes… “Hi,” Ruben said with a polite smile. “Oh you’re adorable,” Mrs. Harris said adjusting her purse. “What’s your name son?” “Tom, ma’am.” Tom replied kindly. His entire body ached and he was exhausted from the drive. It hadn’t been easy and it had taken him two days, taking back roads, avoiding larger cities. He’d ended up stopping after 12 solid hours of driving, unable to take it anymore and broken into a YMCA to shower and get a few hours sleep. There’d been some other people inside of it taking refuge but they’d welcomed him, fed him and filled up his car with gas and wished him on his way the next morning. They’d barely spoken, but they’d cared for him. “Oh, we should take him with us,” Mrs. Harris said grinning toothily. “Zeke would love him.” “Zeke? Zeke Costas?” Tom asked. Ruben frowned, feeling a sudden surge of protectiveness. “Do you know him?” Tom nodded, pulling the business card out of his pocket and looking at it for a moment before passing it over to Ruben. “I met him, once. He shoved his card in my hand and I just… something made me keep it. I remember,” he laughed slightly, the first time in two days that he’d done that “I remember how uncomfortable he’d looked at being so…” “Aggressive?” Ruben asked passing the card back to him. “Yeah, that would be Zeke.” He licked his lips and debated for a minute. “We’re just heading over to his place now, if you want to join us.” As he spoke those words he knew that it was the right thing for him to say. It was as right as his knocking on Mrs. Harris’s door an hour ago. There was no question. “I can take that,” Tom said nodding to the small pull along suitcase that Ruben was struggling to hold along with the cat carrier. “Well one of them. All I have is this,” he said adjusting the battered backpack on his shoulder. “Thanks,” Ruben said passing over the suitcase since it was the more awkward of the two items. The cat mewed unhappily in the carrier. Oh this was going to be interesting, he thought, with four puppies in the house. Of course, what was to say that she’d be staying with them? There were a lot of other empty units to choose from. The three of them walked in silence the rest of the way, up the sidewalk and around the street leading to the entrance to the complex. It would have been shorter to go across the grass, but with the tottering Mrs. Harris, Aldo (her cat), and Tom dragging the suitcase with only one working wheel the sidewalk was the better option. “It’s such a lovely day,” Mrs. Harris said happily looking up at the sky. “I hope we make it in time.” “In time for what?” Tom asked with a frown and looked at Ruben. Ruben shrugged and met his eyes. “It’s better not to ask. You’ll learn,” he said as Tom’s look turned quizzical. “It’s just,” “A matter of faith,” Mrs. Harris said. “Zeke… my dear boy!” She let go of Ruben’s arm as the front door to the townhouse opened and Zeke stepped outside, Misty coming out behind him. “You’re cutting it close,” Zeke said giving the old woman a hug. “Can you get her something to drink? She needs to take her pills.” “Of course,” Misty said with a smile taking the woman’s arm. “Tom, I… welcome.” Zeke said thrusting out his hand to Tom with a warm smile. “I’m glad that you made it. I was worried the roads might be blocked. Come in,” he said taking the suitcase from the stunned Tom. Ruben just smiled at him. “I told you.” He led the way into the house. They walked past the staircase into the living room where the couches and tables had been moved up against the walls to maximize room. Misty was sitting Mrs. Harris down on the loveseat, handing her a cup of tea as she placed her pills on her tongue. Misty looked over at the two of them, giving them a smile and nodding to the kitchen where Zeke was putting baby locks on the cabinet doors. “Hoppus, no!” Bridgette cried, chasing the fluffy puppy down the stairs. In its teeth was one of Ruben’s shoes, half eaten it seemed and Ruben just sighed. “Sorry Ruben, he just got past me. I blame DeLong for peeing on the rug. Hey,” she said to Tom not really even looking at him. “We need to get these damn things housebroken!” “In time,” Zeke replied and smiled as Ruben walked over to him. “Come in Tom, make yourself at home. You can stay here with us.” He picked up a marker off the counter and walked over to the fridge, crossing off Tom DeLonge. There were other names on the list as well. Adam Barkley Sam Barkley Willow Barkley Callie Barkley Lex Barkley Dominicia Anderson Cat Hansen Roza Fialkovskii Alex Castle Stu Miley “Who are these people?” Ruben asked, watching him. “They’ll be coming soon.” Zeke replied. “He had, I don’t know,” Misty said coming over. “Like… a vision or something, like when he made the lists this morning of people. He just, sat down and wrote and then put it on the fridge.” She shook her head. “I feel like this is some fucked up version of The Stand.” “You’re not the only one,” Ruben replied. “We should all sit down,” Zeke said suddenly. “Now.” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Dominicia/Adam/Willow/Sam/Cat/Roza/Alex/Stu Park City, UT June 18, 2010 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ “ADAM!” Willow screamed to her husband who missed being hit by the side of a crumbling building by inches. She clutched Lex to her chest tightly and turned, staggering to grab Callie’s hand to find her gone. “CALLIE! CALLIE!” It had been such a nice day, and they’d been completely cooped up during the last two days that they’d decided to all go out for a walk. Dominicia and Gareth had decided to head up to the library while the Barkley’s had all decided to go to the park at the center of town together. Cat, for some reason that morning, had raided Radio Shack and was now working non-stop in the tour bus setting it up for some kind of transmission. Roza had tried to get him to eat, but he’d refused to stop, even for a minute stating that there was no time to lose. He’d woken up with a mission, simple as that. “CALLIE!” Sam screamed, the ground giving a loud crack under them. The earthquake had been sudden, and unlike anything any of them had ever witnessed. Buildings were collapsing around them, trees falling over, roads splitting open and he turned to see Callie standing in the middle of the street, her little hands over her ears, face contorted in a horrible scream of panic. His heart sank in his chest when she fell down, the road starting to split open and fall into the earth only feet from where she was. A figure dashed out from the other side of the park, Dominica… and she ran fearlessly in her trainers, Gareth at her heals. While he took a wide berth around the quickly collapsing street, she ran straight towards the disappearing asphalt. She stopped just long enough to scoop Callie up into her arms and jumped away from the crack only a split second before the entire street, and half the park, dropped into a giant pit in the earth. “Callie!” Adam cried running over to Dominica, grabbing his daughter from her arms. “Thank you, oh God, thank you,” he said his eyes brimming with tears as Willow, Sam and Lex came over as well. “We should get back to the house,” Dominica said staggering as the earth gave another violent jolt. “What the hell is going on?” Her eyes moved to the mountains. Large chunks of the range seemed to just disappear, falling into the earth like the street had, what remained… her breath left her as she saw the tops of more than one blow off in a black and red cloud of burning stone and magma. That’s why Park City had been relatively peaceful when they’d arrived, most of the residents had fled to the cave and mining systems for cover. The same cave and mining systems that were now filling with lava or collapsing on top of them. “I don’t know!” Sam yelled back at her and they were all sent to the ground as the earth gave another jolt, this one even more violent. “The impact must have jolted something.” “You think?!?” Adam cried back at him, laughing, finding himself unable to do anything else. “I pooped,” Lex moaned, looking up at his mother, tears rolling down his cheeks. His breath caught in his throat as there was one more violent shudder from the earth and then everything fell still once more. “Momma?” Willow looked at Adam who looked at Sam, who then looked to Dominica. “We should get moving,” Dominica said. “While the ground is stable.” Her eyes moved over the remains of the once picturesque city that they’d come to. “We should hurry.” Something in her gut told her that they had to get moving, get to the cabin. People were in a frenzy now. What little security that they’d regained since the impact had just been ripped out from under them during the last violent, trembling, earth shattering hour. She took Gareth’s hand as he stood up, offering it to her and within no more than a minute they were all making their way towards the cabin. The roads had all split, large cracks now in the once perfect asphalt, the green grass, well what remained of the green grass, was now upturned, large chunks of earth sticking up uneven all over the place. Everything was gone, everything was… was it ever going to end? She started leading the group down the most direct path towards the house and then stopped, seeing a large pit blocking their way and a mountain of dirt that would have taken an hour to climb over. With a sigh, she turned, glad that she’d worn the shoes that she had, and led the group the long way home. The children, while obviously rattled, weren’t fussing too much, better than she would have anticipated. Callie’s arms were locked around her father’s neck, her face pressed into his shoulder as she occasionally hiccupped that had been caused by crying. Lex walked, unhappily due to crapping himself, next to his mother, his little hand holding tightly to hers. Normally the walk would have been no more than 20 minutes, but with the condition of the ground and the streets it took them over an hour. “I’m going to get him cleaned up,” Willow said picking up Lex and heading into the house. Dominica was more than a little surprised to see it still standing, and standing in as good of condition as it was. All of the windows appeared to be broken out, and the sidewalk and driveway were broken all the Hell but other than that, it remained pristine. “Any hurt?” Roza called running out of the house, looking at them worried. “We’re fine,” Dominica said with a smile. “Are you all,” “We okay,” Roza replied. “The earth….” They turned as they heard a rumbling engine and saw the tour bus roll around the side of the house, Cat waiving out the open door on the side, Ray behind the wheel. “Hey yo!” Cat called. “You like?” “What did you do to my bus?” Adam called, laughing as it came to a halt. He barely recognized it with all the modifications that they’d been doing over the last two days. Now on top of the bus at the back there was a complex sort of antenna array. “We got a show to do man!” Cat called, grinning. “Smiley gots us some tunes and I got the waves! Let’s get this show on the road!” “Well,” Dominica said “we were talking about moving inland.” She turned, looking over the town again, at the burning mountains, missing hills, the shattered homes and broken buildings. If her family was alive… it was in God’s hands now. They’d come here for a reason, a purpose… to join together. She knew this in her heart of hearts. It had been eating at her since that morning, waking up and knowing that they weren’t going to come. With the arrival of Adam’s group… everyone that they were supposed to meet, had met. Her family wasn’t coming. It killed her to think this. It killed her more to know that it was the truth, but she knew that it was with as much certainty as she knew her own name. “Might as well stick together,” Gareth replied. “Right?” “But where do we go?” Sam asked. “I mean, where on Earth…” “Inland,” Dominica said. “But we need to go before the next wave hits tonight.” The words came from her without thought. “We’ll have good driving for the next four hours, but then we’ll have to stop again. Every time the earth shakes, we’ll have to stop.” “How do you know it’ll be in four hours?” Adam asked, frowning at her. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I just do.” “Are you guys okay?” They turned to see the good lieutenant jogging towards them. “We’re rounding up a caravan, the city isn’t safe.” “Yeah we know!” Dominica said with a smile glad to see him alive. “We’re going to head inland… towards Iowa.” “Hooked up the bus,” Cat said coming up to them. “We can broadcast from the road. We won’t get a whole lot of distance, but we can keep the folks entertained, and updated… and maybe find a few more that have battery operated radios stashed away.” The Lieutenant nodded. “We’ll leave in an hour, will that work?” Dominica nodded. “Yes, but when I say we stop… we stop. We can’t move when the earth shakes.” She said it very matter of factly, without question and they all nodded in some silent understanding. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Survivor’s Journal June 18, 2020 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ They’d thought that they were so smart. The government. Taking the people most crucial to the survival of our race and burying them underground. Granted, I would have done the same thing. I mean, giant asteroid’s going to hit the planet, debris, fire, dust… the threat of a nuclear winter pretty much. To put them underground where none of this could reach them, well it really wasn’t a bad idea. Well, in retrospect it was. As best we can tell, the asteroid hit exactly on top of a major fault line in the planet. The Earth’s tectonic plates were thrown out of balance. Everything changed. The very face of the earth changed. No one really knows to what extent. Even this far after the event, the power of high range flight still eludes us. All we know is that there are rivers where there shouldn’t be. The ocean is in places where it shouldn’t be. Transatlantic lines have been broken… but slowly, very slowly, we’re getting in touch with other parts of the world and learning who’s left. Everything changed… and all those people hidden away… all of those brilliant people… the government officials that they’d tried to secure… they all died. Silos collapsed, mines and caves filled with lava, mountains turned into volcanoes and large chunks of earth simply… fell into itself. And what did it leave us with? The rejects of human society… that’s what survived the apocalypse. The ass end of humanity that no one wanted. But there were God’s Chosen Ones. The ones who heard the voice of God. The ones who saved us from ourselves. There were dozens of them though in American alone, that much I know. There had to be really, we were so spread out. There was so much land to be covered, people to bring together. They didn’t all make it of course. Some were killed, some fell from grace and some, well some just went crazy. Of course it didn’t go according to plan. God’s plan I mean. It never does. After all… God gave us free will. Mod Note: I am SO sorry for the long delay with the scene… and the utter shittyness of it. This one was like pulling teeth for me and I’m not entirely sure why. Needless to say, it’s not my best work and I know this. Clearly, there were no casualties this round but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be next round. The only reason that I didn’t kill some people is that I got a few PMs and I was feeling generous. Don’t expect it to happen again. Scene 5 will be NEXT Friday. |
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| bebeluv1 | Oct 8 2009, 09:26 AM Post #2 |
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Nemesis
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Tom and Ruben--At Zeke's Tom closed the bathroom door, shutting himself off from the others. It was a little too much for him to be around so many people when he’d been alone the past couple days. Tom sat on the toilet seat and starting unwrapping the bandages from his hands. He winced, the gauze sticking to the drying blood. They had started bleeding again during the long drive to Iowa, probably from holding too tightly to the steering wheel. He wearily stood up, flipped up the faucet handle, and stuck his hands under the flow. The cool water felt good, and Tom closed his eyes for a moment. He finally shut off the water and opened the medicine cabinet, looking for more gauze. He immediately spied a brown prescription bottle in the back of some aspirin and cough medicine. He tentatively took it out and read the label. Vicodin. It was from a year ago. Tom paused, then shoved the bottle into his pocket. Obviously Zeke didn’t need it anymore, he hadn’t used it in the past year. Tom had his back to think about. It hadn’t stopped throbbing since that night at the cabin. All that digging….Tom shook his head and fought off tears. Tom popped another Oxy tab and sighed. He caught his reflection in the mirror and barely recognized himself. He looked like a haggard old man, hair stringy with perspiration, face drawn and hollow. Dark smears took residence under his eyes. The eyes themselves looked dry and bloodshot. Fuck, I’m a mess, he thought. He turned the faucet back on, splashed his face, and then prepared himself for the other side of the bathroom door. It wasn’t going to be easy. For one thing, he didn’t know what the fuck was going on. How did Zeke know who was coming? It freaked him out, and made him think repeatedly that he maybe should have gone to church a little more often. Somebody upstairs was affecting what was going on, giving people this special knowledge. It terrified Tom, because it also meant that The Man Upstairs had caused all this shit to go down. And killed his family. Why would God kill innocent children and his innocent, good wife? Tom grit his teeth, the anger seeping into his heart like a black poison. Why not me? Another thing he didn’t want to deal with was questions. In a way, he just wanted to be alone to wallow in his grief, and let whatever disaster came next to befall him. He didn’t care about the people here. Everyone he loved was dead. He felt it in his heart. His family, Mark and Travis wouldn’t have had a chance, living in California. If the earth was splitting here in the center of the States, then he felt sure that the east and west coast were probably already floating around and/or sinking into the ocean. Tom heard a knock on the door and jumped. He’d been lost in thought. “Just a minute,” he called. “You all right?” a male voice called. Was he all right? Tom smirked wistfully. Was anybody all right? Stupid question. “I’m fine, just be a sec.” “No worries, take your time. I was just checking on you.” A bitter smile touched Tom’s lips before fading away. He didn’t know why he was feeling so pessimistic toward these people, they hadn’t killed his family. They didn’t know what he’d gone through. Yet he found himself blaming them for things that they couldn’t possibly be responsible for. What was wrong with him? He was exhausted, that’s what was wrong. And in shock. And scared. And hopeless. Much like many of these people, he told himself. So stop being a prick and just go out there and be a human being. Tom exited the bathroom to see Ruben standing outside the door, leaning against the wall, waiting. “You can use it now, Ruben,” Tom stated. Ruben shook his head. “I don’t need to use it, Tom, I just wanted to see that you were all right. You look like hell and I don’t like the look in your eyes.” Ruben had seen the look of defeat before. He’d seen it in his own eyes when his father rejected him, and before he accepted himself as he was. Ruben had been ready to give up on life back then. He saw that same look in Tom’s eyes now. “My eyes?” Tom asked, not understanding. “Don’t give up,” Ruben said simply, and patted Tom’s shoulder. His eyes dropped to Tom’s raw hands. “Let me see those,” he said, taking Tom’s hands before he had a chance to protest. “You’ve really done a number on yourself. Lucky for you, I know where the gauze is. I’ve been using it steadily since all these people starting showing up. C’mon.” Ruben waved Tom to follow him. Tom did. Ruben sat Tom down on Zeke’s couch and started dabbing aniseptic on Tom’s broken blisters. His hands looked like raw hamburger. What had happened to this poor man? Ruben thought. Whatever it was, he knew Tom was no where near ready to talk about it. The body language he gave off was a clear “stay the fuck away from me, don’t talk to me”. It was the same body language that a lot of the people in shock were giving off. Just a protection mechanism. “There, that’s a lot better,” he said, and for the first time since they sat down, looked up at Tom’s face. Tom was sleeping like a baby, head tilted back against the couch cushion. Ruben smiled, finished wrapping Tom’s hands, and covered him with a plush blue throw that Tom was already half sitting on. |
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| mdnjr70 | Oct 8 2009, 01:10 PM Post #3 |
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Shrimp Po'Boy
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Domenica et al – Maps and Pictures Domenica walked into her families house a sense of urgency filled her, they needed to get the hell out of here they had four hours, three by the time they left, which wouldn’t put them where they needed to be. Domenica shook her head, “how…how do I know this.” She knew not to question it because she was right; 100% certain in fact, if the others didn’t follow her, she would go alone. “No. We have to stay together we have too. They will all go together and find…” she didn’t know what or who at least not yet. She got upstairs and started throwing clothes into a backpack. She saw the picture of her family the last time they were all together, she sat on the bed picking it up and looking at it, “Gone.” She sighed, they were all gone, none of them made it, her family dead a song popped into her head, Wishing you were somehow here again.. “You alright.” Gareth said looking at her sitting on the bed, “No, but.” She took the picture and stuffed it in the backpack. “We need to load up everything and anything that is important; food, water, medicine…” she stopped and added with a frown, “weapons.” Gareth nodded, “I think people are already on it.” She nodded, “If Glena…if Glena is gone and we can get into her basement they will have everything we need.” She ran a hand threw her hair, she would need to brush it at some point, she was sure she looked awful. “You look amazing.” Gareth said reading her mind or her body language, whichever. She laughed shaking her head, “how stupid right?” She said not wanting to completely accept the reality of it all, but she had to, there were things to do and the place they needed to get…to him. He crossed the room and sat next to her, “normal.” He said picking up her hand and kissing it softly. “Thank you.” She said looking at him and he grinned. “Do you have what you want from here?” He asked standing up she looked around the room and nodded, clothes and the one picture, that was all that matter here now. She stood up and they headed downstairs to all the activity. Willow looked over at her and smiled, “Thank you.” She mouthed, she was holding Cali now as Lex was playing at her feet with the stuffed Mickey Sam had given him. “Gareth make sure everything from the backpacks from when we left Anaheim are in that buss we’re going to need it.” Gareth knew at once what she was talking about and nodded. “I’ll help.” Sam said he picked up on what she wanted, the jewelry, the cash, all the tangible items unless, but valuable they all had their things for trading, and it all needed to go. Rosa was going through all the medical supplies they still had, “this isn’t good.” She said, “I know where there is more.” Alex said and they grabbed Stu and they headed out. Domenica watched everyone, it seemed like they were moving in slow motion. “I think we go north then head south.” Cat said looking at the map with Adam. “We need to skirt Denver, there are going to be more people there, along with supplies.” Adam said pointing to the map on the kitchen table they were trying to plan a route. Domenica saw the map and looked at it, everything in the room started to melt away, nothing mattered but that map. She walked over to the table seeing the map, all the different lines and dots and words, but she didn’t see any of it. Domenica couldn’t read a map to save her life and a sense of direction was something she never had, people teased her about it, but she managed. Cat and Adam watched her move over to them, “What do you think Domenica?” Cat said looking at her, not seeing the vacant look on her face, if he would have he would realize that she wouldn’t answer, she wouldn’t answer any of them. “Hey we’re looking at tha…” Adam trailed off watching her, she pulled the map from them and was now sitting looking at it studying it. There was a black marker on the table that she took and started drawing on the map marking it up with symbols, numbers and letters, “What are you doing?” Cat said watching her, she was marking different locations on the map, moving over the whole map; blacking out some areas completely modifying others. “What’s she doing?” Willow said looking at Cat and Adam who where watching her. Lex and Cali were now both watching as well. “I don’t know.” Adam said, going to touch her shoulder, “Domenica you mind filling in the rest of the class.” He said but she didn’t move she kept marking the map up. Domenica didn’t hear or really see what was happening around her, the map, she traced the lines that were burned onto the map. She crossed out Denver, marking it up. Her hands moved quickly over the map, altering it; changing it. It was like her hand was guided by something else and nothing the others did around her registered. “Domenica!” Cat called snapping his fingers in front of her shaking her head, “Shock.” He said looking at Willow who was now there looking at her holding Cali in her arms. Adam had picked up Lex and had him resting on his side, “I don’t know, I don’t think so. Adam try to take the pen.” Adam, with his free hand, reached for the pen in Domenica’s hand and she let out a scream and held onto the pen with a death grip, “NOOOO!” She barked at him and they all took a step back. “What’s going on?” Sam said as he and Gareth came back into the cabin. “Domenica.” Willow said and both Sam and Gareth ran over to her, “Domenica honey.” Sam said watching her he saw the map and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “What the bloody hell is going on?” Gareth said looking at her, worried. He watched her hands move and then saw her reach for a blank piece of paper and started working on that. Cat, Adam and Willow started to explain as Domenica continued to work on the picture. Rosa, Alex and Stu returned to the cabin as well talking and chatting about how they needed to get the heck out of here and then they were silenced when they saw what was happening. Domenica finally set down the marker as the room slowly came back into her focus. She looked at the map then stood up and looked at the others not registering any of it, “What?” She said seeing all eyes on her. Gareth looked at her, “Are you ok?” He said clearly worried. “Of course, you all look like you’ve seen a ghost, so do you know where we are going?” She said turning and looking at Adam and Cat. They both looked at her then pointed to the map on the table. “Wow what’s all that?” She said looking at the map not really understanding any of the markings. Willow looked at her, “Domenica, you just did that, you spent the last 10 minutes marking up that map.” Domenica laughed, “Me. No way. I don’t read maps I’m terrible with directions.” Domenica frowned recognizing the handwriting it was hers. Rosa looked at her, “We all saw you, none of us could stop you.” Domenica looked at the map again touching it shaking her head, “but I…I can’t, how?” Adam looked at her, “more importantly, who are these people?” He said pulling out a piece of paper showing her. On it was a group of people: 3 men and 3 women; only one man had a face, he was young, dark haired, peaceful looking. He was kind; his face was perfect, she had drawn him perfectly. She reached out her hand, “Zeke.” Her hand raced back to her mouth trying to pull the words back in, but they weren’t hers to pull back. “Zeke.” Cali cried again with a happy clapping face. “Zeke momma we go see uncle Zeke.” Willow looked at Cali who was looking at the picture of the people for the first time. Adam and her eyes both grew big. Lex smiled laughing, “Zeke has peanut butter and puppies; Barker, DeLonge, Hoppus and Shanna.” He smiled and added, “but I want to play with the kitty Aldo.” Lex laughed happily not worried in the least at how everyone was looking at him and his sister. They all looked at each other. “We have to get to Zeke.” Domenica said not sure why she knew this but she knew. “Zeke.” Cat said looking at her. Domenica nodded, and then started to sway. “Grab her.” Sam said and Alex and Gareth each took a side and helped her to the sofa so she could sit down. “I don’t understand what’s happening to me. What’s going on? How do I know him? How do they know him? I’ve never seen him in my life.” Domenica said trying to make sense of it all her normal cheery demeanor clearly shaken. “Shock, the mind is playing tricks on you and the kids.” Rosa said not believing what she was saying but, none of this was making any sense once she heard his name; Zeke, she knew they had to find him. “Guys.” Willow said both Cali and Lex were now happily playing on the floor with each other happy to be going to see their Uncle Zeke. She was looking at the map and looking out the broken window which had a view of what was now left of Park City and the surrounding mountains or what was left of them. They all looked at Willow, “I don’t know how and I don’t know for sure, but Domenica you modified the map to reflect the new geography of the area.” Adam looked at her, “what?” Willow picked up the map and brought it over to the coffee table and putting it down, “look out the window, there should be a mountain right there.” She pointed to the now empty place in the sky. “now look at the map.” She said, pointing the black mark that crossed out the mountain that should be there. Domenica looked at them, “But I can’t read a map.” Willow frowned, “I can and if what you did here is accurate you marked up what might be the only way for us to get to Iowa and to Zeke.” Everyone stood looking at Domenica and her map, not sure what to say. (OOC: with MOD approval, Domenica created a map for you all to follow to get you to Zeke in Iowa. It is 100% accurate as is the picture of Zeke.) |
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May it be said, when the sun sets on your life, you made a difference. | |
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| LadyRahl | Oct 8 2009, 01:19 PM Post #4 |
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Supreme Goddess Of All Things Bright And Shiny
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Zeke/Ruben/Misty/Tom - For A Reason “Is it over?” Misty asked, sitting on the living room floor with Bridgette looking at Zeke with a questioning gaze. “What’s going on?” She kept her voice low since Tom was only a foot or so away from her on the sofa asleep, Mrs. Harris sitting on the loveseat, Aldo curled up in her lap. “No,” Zeke said. “The quakes are going to last for a while. The asteroid must have hit on a fault line causing the plates to shift.” “Well then how do we know that we’re safe here?” Bridgette asked. “I mean,” “We’re safe,” Ruben said looking at her unquestioningly. His eyes moved over to Zeke who was back in the kitchen now cooking something for lunch. What he wouldn’t do for a good old fashioned steak, he thought. Whatever he was making though, it smelled good. “What’s the next step?” He asked. Zeke looked over, adding the onion he’d finished chopping into the pot. “What do you mean?” “What’s our next step?” Misty repeated. “I mean, all the storing, the lists, the people we’ve been moving… the list on the fridge… what’s next?” Zeke thought for a moment before answering. “I’m not sure.” “What do you mean you’re not sure?” “Misty,” “It’s okay Ruben,” Zeke replied gently. “We’re all upset.” “You’re not,” she shot at him frustrated by the serene sense of calmness that he always seemed to exude. “You’re acting like everything is just fine. Like there’s nothing wrong.” Bridgette put her hand on Misty’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Zeke.” “It’s okay,” he replied. “And to answer your question, I don’t know what’s next.” “Well you seem to know everything else,” Bridgette said looking at him. She wasn’t angry, none of them were really, but they all had questions. Questions as far as how Zeke just seemed to know things, things that no one seemed to know. It seemed impossible and yet there was no questioning it. Zeke added some carrots into the pot before throwing in some fresh basil. All too soon they would be resorting to canned fruits and vegetables so he wanted to make the most of it while he could. It’d be a nice solid stew for dinner, meat free of course. He couldn’t believe that Tom was sleeping on his couch, the same Tom one of his puppies was named after. Didn’t anyone realize that if he knew everything that was going to happen, he would have picked different, and less humiliating names, for the puppies? “I can’t explain it,” he said stirring the stew. “I just,” he sighed “I can’t explain it. I wish I could but,” “What’s the list for?” Misty asked. “The one on the fridge. The one you made after we started getting the people from your other lists.” He turned, looking at the list. He looked at it for a few long minutes before shaking his head. “I don’t know.” Zeke tapped the spoon on the edge of the pot gently before setting it down, putting the lid on the pot and turning down the heat to let it simmer. “I suppose one could say that there’s not a manual that goes along with this. I just,” he paused again. “Do what you’re told.” Tom said, opening his eyes from where he was laying on the sofa. “Is that it?” Zeke nodded, the corner of his mouth curling up. “I guess you could put it that way. I know it’s disconcerting for everyone, it is for me too I guess I just… it doesn’t feel right to question it. We’re meant for something, each of us. In the end, we all have a purpose to be here. I just, I don’t know what it is yet.” “What are you like the next messiah?” Bridgette asked with a laugh. “Jesus reborn to lead us from darkness? Noah to save us from the flood?” Zeke laughed and shook his head. “I’m just, me,” he said with a smile. “That reminds me,” Misty said. “Fred Phelps is in town. The fucking asshole, sorry.” She said as Zeke winced slightly at her language. “Sorry, I can’t stand the guy. Why he was spared, I mean come on, the things he says,” “He’s entitled to his own opinion,” Zeke replied. “As disgusting as it might be. He’s on the path that he chose for himself.” He said it with such certainty that no one questioned. They all just fell into silence, contemplating what each of them were meant for, and why do many others had died… and not them. Edited by LadyRahl, Oct 8 2009, 01:20 PM.
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| mdnjr70 | Oct 8 2009, 04:47 PM Post #5 |
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Shrimp Po'Boy
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Rubén et al – News After several minutes of silence everyone began falling into routine again checking things and people off Zeke’s list that he made, the quakes stopped and the house was still standing, somehow, someway the structure was fine most of the structures in the complex were fine, it was creepy and terrifying to say the least. They were interrupted from their thoughts and work with a knocking at the front door. Zeke walked calmly over to the door and opened it before anyone could protest. “John.” Zeke said hugging his brother. John came into the room closing the door behind him he face was covered in dirt and dust he had obliviously been going nonstop sense the earthquakes, “Zeke I need to talk to you.” Zeke nodded, “alright talk.” John shook his head, “Not here. Alone.” Zeke held his brothers arm, “Anything you say to me you know I’ll tell them, they as must a part of this as I am.” John frowned coming to his full height and size, “Zeke I’m not joking.” Zeke nodded ignoring the attempt to intimidate him, “and I’m not laughing.” John ran his hands through his hair shaking his head taking a more relaxed stance admitting defeat. He looked around the room. What did it matter now, he found a seat on the sofa as the other filled into the room he looked at the old woman who smiled sweetly at him. “John I think you know everyone except for Tom and Mrs. Harris.” John nodded to Tom who was watching the scene around him and Mrs. Harries looked at John, “such a handsome young man.” Rubén walked over to Zeke taking more of a protective stance then anything but he mainly wanted to be close to Zeke, he saw the look on John’s face and there was no good news that was going to come from that mouth. Whatever it was wasn’t going to be about fluffy bunnies Rubén was sure about that. Zeke looked at Rubén touching his arm, “it’ll be fine. We still have a lot to do.” John spoke to the room but only looked at his brother, “There’s no easy way to say this, the Government is gone. The silos, all the secure locations, they’re gone, the earthquakes whipped them out.” There were several gasps in the room, the only one who seemed unfazed was Zeke, Rubén wanted to throw up, he knew it, it didn’t surprise him, they were on their own the Government had abandoned them and now they were gone, what little normalcy had managed to be brought to this place to this new life was falling through the cracks. “Alright.” Zeke said calmly, clearly saddened by the news but not surprised by it. John looked at him, “Alright. Zeke you don’t get it, the chain of command is gone the Federal, State and Local Government has been whipped out. All those people they took to safety are.” John couldn’t finish, how many people had he personally taken to those silos to those death traps. “Dead.” Misty said looking around. John nodded, “We’ve lost communication with the Denver, Park City, Europe, Asia; there’s nothing, CB’s are spotty at best. There’s nothing left. Not even the emergency bands, transcontentintial lines gone, we are cut off.” Rubén shook his head, “No the Governor she was here yesterday and the Mayor of both Des Monies and Ankeny, they can’t be dead.” John looked at him, “They were up state meeting with FEMA reps, before I came here, I got word there was a sinkhole.” He stopped and looked at them making sure they were listening, “a sinkhole 2 miles in diameter, gone, no one left, we’re sending rescue teams.” Bridgett looked at Misty and Maria. Maria started to silently sob sinking deeper into her seat. Misty’s hands where shaking as Bridgett took them in her own hands. Tom looked at him his mind racing, it was slowed by the pain killers, but this news had woken it up, “So who’s incharge here?” John licked his lips trying to remember to breath, “the Colonel is dead killed in the blast, the Lt. Colonel went AWOL three days ago, looking for his family and the Major died in the quake this afternoon. We can’t reach NORAD or the bunkers, the last reports were during the quakes. The Presidents bunker…” John shook his head. Misty looked at him it was clear they could no longer rely on those from the bunker there had to be a field commander, someone in the area to take charge, “So who’s next in command?” Rubén looked at her, it came to him clear as day, “he is. He’s a Captain, an Officer, that would put him over the enlisted men, unless there is someone higher ranking alive them you.” He looked at John, “Is there?” John shook his head, “I can’t reach anyone.” “John you listen to me, it’s very important that you take control of the military here and your men. You need to keep order.” Zeke said looking at his brother kneeling in front of him. John looked at Zeke questioningly. “What are you talking about? It’s over, there’s nothing left.” Zeke shook his head looking at his brother. “He’s right John, if you’re the highest ranking Officer it’s going to be up to you to keep order, we are under Martial Law still which makes you the boss, until a civilian government can be set up again and remove that order.” Everyone looked at Rubén, “What. I read.” Zeke smiled at him, “more people are going to come here John we need to be ready for that, you’re going to need to think about what you want to do and how best to help them.” John nodded looking at his brother. “Alright.” John looked around the room, “Sounds like I have my work cut out for me.” Zeke looked at him, “You’re not alone. You know that right?” John nodded. “Anything I can do, John, just ask.” Rubén said and meaning it. John looked at him, “don’t volunteer for something that you might not be willing to jump into.” John said looking at Rubén standing up. Misty and Tom answered in unison, “he won’t be alone.” Zeke looked around the room seeing them all for what they were and what they would soon become. Zeke gave his brother a hug and kiss, “I love you.” Zeke said. John smiled, “love you to little brother. You have any trouble you let me know.” He unclipped a walkie talkie from his belt and tossed it to Zeke who barely managed to catch it. He walked to the door and opened it walking out into the eerie quiet of the day. Rubén looked at the others, “I can’t believe this.” Tom nodded, “I think it’s only going to get worse as time goes on.” Misty sighed heavily, “At least we know the man in charge.” “For now.” Tom said pursing his lips and looking around the room. Zeke smiled, “It’ll be fine.” And he walked back to the kitchen to check on the stew. “How does he know? It’s not possible.” Tom said and Misty threw her hands in the air flustered and Rubén watched them looking at Mrs. Harris how was smiling at them all, “I don’t know, but I do know this, we would all be smart to listen to him and follow his lead, he’s been right about too many things to do otherwise.” Rubén closed the door looking down at his $700 Italian shoe that was now a very expensive doggy chew toy, “Say’s the guy who’s screwing him.” Misty said a little cruel. Bridgette shot her a look and Rubén blushed but not out of embarrassment but out of anger, “well he saved your butt and he’s letting you stay here in his house and not in one of the tents. You might want to think about that before you question your good fortune or the one who is providing it.” “Watch the potty mouths, it bothers Zeke.” Mrs. Harris said looking at them from where she was sitting, “Zeke is a good boy, a caring boy. I trust him with my life and so should each of you.” Rubén nodded, “I do trust him, more then anything, as crazy as it all sounds, I trust him.” Misty felt bad for her comment and agreed, “It’s just very difficult, it’s like something out of a movie and it scares the hell out of me.” She looked at Rubén “sorry about the remark, it’s the stress.” Rubén smiled at her, if she only knew how ridiculous her comment sounded, they had barely even kissed let alone anything else, but she didn’t know that, none of them did, “no harm no foul.” He looked at the others, “I think we need to figure out what we are going to do. John is going to need all the help he can get, with no civilian government and under military rule.” He shook his head, “well people won’t like that for long.” Edited by mdnjr70, Oct 8 2009, 11:29 PM.
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May it be said, when the sun sets on your life, you made a difference. | |
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| LadyRahl | Oct 8 2009, 09:58 PM Post #6 |
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Supreme Goddess Of All Things Bright And Shiny
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Willow/Adam - Back Up Plans “Here Momma,” Lex said passing over the small Mickey that he’d been sleeping with since they’d arrived here. “Momma?” He asked, sitting up on the edge of the bed, watching her pack the last of the few things that were his and Callie’s in this room. “What baby?” She asked, zipping up the backpack, Mickey safely stored away. “Is Grampa gonna go way again?” Willow smiled and sat down beside her son, the backpack on the floor between her feet. “You like Grandpa being around don’t you?” Her hand rubbed his small back and he nodded. “Not like Gampa Oaky though.” She laughed. “No one’s like Grandpa Oak.” She felt a sting of tears at her eyes saying her father’s name, knowing that the chances of them having made it were slim to none. The compound that she’d been raised in was in a valley. Every spring when it rained the river rose over its banks flooding part of the planes. With what had happened, the sudden surge of water… her parents were gone. Her entire family was gone, but that was okay. It was selfish of her to be sad over it really. They’d gone on to meet the Great Mother in the great hereafter. For her to wish them back on this mortal, and messy world… it wouldn’t have been right and so she wiped away the tears in her eyes. As much as she had grown to dislike Sam over the years, she’d never fully hated him no matter what he said or did. No matter which way it was cut, he was still Adam’s father, still the grandfather to her children. Adam still loved him, no matter how much he’d hurt him. Family was family, and you couldn’t choose it. You either accepted it, or not and when she’d married Adam she’d accepted him and his family without question, without hesitation. “You guys okay?” “Daddy!” Lex cried jumping up to his feet and running over to him. Adam crouched down and picked him up in his arms tightly, smiling broadly. “We’re fine,” she said. “Just packing up.” Willow stood up, slinging the backpack over her shoulder. She walked over to her husband, wrapping her arm around his waist and giving him a quick kiss. “Mmmm,” she moaned softly taking in the scent of his breath. He laughed. “Well you know… who knows the last time I’ll be able to brush my teeth in an actual working bathroom.” Her hands rubbed his chest and she looked up into his eyes fondly. “I love you, I just… I can’t say it enough. I love you so much.” Tears came to her eyes and her arms wrapped around her husband and son. “I love you too baby.” “I love you too Momma,” Lex said happily. “Why’re you crying?” “Shhh,” Adam said kissing the top of her head. “I know baby, I know. I love you too, and you buddy.” He laughed for a minute, joined by Willow and his son and he set Lex down. “How about you help Cat pack up the last of the stuff?” “Okie dokie!” Lex cried taking the backpack from his mother and running down the hall without a care in the world. As soon as he was gone Willow rested herself against her husband. “What’re we going to do? Adam, what in the world are we going to do?” “Survive,” he said wrapping his arms around her waist, his hands hugging her belly. “That’s all we can do. You, me, Dad, the kids… we’re going to make it though this honey, as a family. Together.” They fell silent for a few minutes, just standing there, wrapped in each other’s arms. “Dominica,” “We need to do what she says,” Willow said softly. “I wasn’t questioning that.” “But just in case,” she said “just in case she’s wrong…” she turned in her husband’s arms, looking up at him. “We need to be ready.” “Willow,” “Just humor me Adam,” she said. “Please?” He let out a long breath and nodded. “Okay.” He said. “Okay,” he took her hand and guided her down the hall towards the stairs. “Do you really think it’ll come to that?’ Willow thought for a moment before answering. “No, but I’m not willing to risk our children’s lives on it. Are you?” |
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| Cale Raizer | Oct 9 2009, 12:51 AM Post #7 |
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Shrimp Po'Boy
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The news had come almost like a hammer blow to Misty. The entire Government, everybody in charge of running the country, was dead. Misty had never had much faith in politics, but the thought that technically, the country was going to be run by a moderatley low ranking Captain until someone of a higher rank could be found...it was too unbeleivable. "So, what do we do now?" Bridgette asked, squeezing Misty's hands tight, "What happens now?" "i think the important thing is that we act like nothing has changed," Ruben said, "John doesn't make a grand proclomation saying he's in charge, and we let people go the way they were doing before, until they're ready to accept." "No sense in stirring them up," Misty agreed, "Besides, if movies have taught me anything, there's always a power hungry weasel looking to take advantage of the situation. If we wait for this person to pop up, and then have John step up, the people might be more accepting." "But for now, we need to keep gathering supplies and survivors," Ruben picked up, exhaling heavily, "Now we know no one else is coming to help, we're on our own for now." Alone. No, not alone, Misty thought, they still had each other, for what it was worth. Sighing, Misty glanced again at the list of names that Zeke had written. Somehow, some of these names sounded so familiar to her... "Wait a minute," Misty said, staring atthe list, "Adam Barkley, isn't he the drummert for that band, Bridgette, which band am I thinking of?" "Area 5, wasn't it?" Bridgette said, looking at the list over Misty's shoulder, "And look there, Cat Hansen, isn't he that DJ on the radio?" "What the heck are you two talking about?" John asked, confused, "You know these people?" "Not in person," Misty said, "But yea, if this is the same Adam Barkley I'm thinking of, then he's the drummer for Area 5." "That rock band that got real popular a while back?" Ruben asked, "You think it's him?" "I might be," Confessed Zeke, "Truth be told, I'm not sure who these people are, or what they look like, or what they did before all this." "It has to be him, though," Misty said, "I can't think of who else it could be." "Even if it is him, though," Ruben said, "How does it help us? We don't even know were he is." "We might," Misty said, "they were on tour, I think they were in Arizona before the asteroid hit." "And you think they might still be there, or at least around there?" Tom asked, "Which means all we have to do is go out and get them." "It's not gonna be that easy," Zeke said, "The earthquake, it was enough to shatter the Earth. Everything we knew as a possible landmark is probably gone." "We must have compasses or something," Misty said, "Arizzona is, what, South West of here? We can head in that direction, and we have to find something we can go by from there, something still has to be familiar." "It's an awful dangerous quest, though," John said, "We'd have to find people who would be willing to take the trek, and..." "I'll go." Misty said, feeling Bridgette squeeze her hand in surprise, "I'll go, I'll bring them back." Ruben frowned, "I don't think that's a good idea, Misty, the terrain has shifted, it's suicide." "I can make it," Misty said, confident, "Zeke said we have to bring these people back, right?" There was silence, and then Bridgette spoke up, "I'll go, too." "And me," Marie said, her eyes still red, but dry. Ruben frowned, "You can't go alone, not like that." He sighed, looking resigned, "I'll go, too." "No." Misty and John said at the same time. Zeke gently laid his hand on Rubens knee, "You're going to be needed here, Ruben." John cleared his throat, "I'll see if I can't get a few of my guys to go with, as an escort." "And we'll need food, and water, and camping supplies, and stuff," Misty said. She looked at Tom, "What about you? I know you're tired, but you're invited, if you want to go." Tom sighed, "I dunno, I need to think on it." Misty nodded, understanding, the poor guy was probably exhausted after travelling so long. Misty could see Ruben still wans't comfortable with this idea, and she might have to talk to him about it later, but it didn't look like he was going to stop her. They still had a bit of planning to do, but at least it gave the something to focus on, for now, anywyas. |
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"Alright, I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I'm the man whose gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!" | |
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| mdnjr70 | Oct 9 2009, 01:56 PM Post #8 |
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Shrimp Po'Boy
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Ruben et al – Ciaos and Steaks (aka: Quest for Steak) It had been a couple hours since John’s bombshell and Misty’s idea about going after the people on Zeke’s list. He really didn’t like the idea of the girls going out on their own, but at the same time if they were on Zeke’s list they were important, he felt like he should be going with them, but Misty and John were both clear on that point, even through super, which was really good, but missing meat of course that was too much to ask for, they both refused to bend on the idea of Rubén going with them. After the meal John left to head back to his camp and his men well Rubén and the others cleaned up. Misty, Maria and Bridgette started taking inventory of what they would need for the trip they had become very excited and involved in the planning. Rubén watched the others, looked around the townhouse he gave Zeke a kiss on the cheek and left the townhouse, he needed to clear his head and see things for himself was it really that bad? He walked out of housing complex seeing several of the new faces a few waved at him well others went on fixing things and trying to make their new homes livable. Rubén started making his way to the camp, which sense the earthquakes was already starting to take form again. He was surprised by how many more people there were, they had come from all over there were just so many people, several in shock, even more dead and still the people were coming. It was like a beacon over Ankeny how could that be, how did they all know to come here. “Can you help me?” A woman’s voice said Rubén turned to see a woman in her 40s she looked confused and worried defiantly worse off then some of the others he had seen. Rubén walked over to her, “I can’t find my son, after the earthquake…we got separated.” She said looking at Rubén. “What’s he look like?” The woman smiled and started describing her son to Rubén. He scanned the area and knew that the Red Cross had, at least before the earthquake, several tents which was located near the center of the refugee camp. They headed over that way, “I’m Rubén, what’s your name?” “Sonia and Taylor is my son we got her this morning from Florida, we were at Disneyworld…” She looked at him a worried but vacant look on her face, “I don’t think Florida is around anymore. Please we need to find him, he has asthma and…” Sonia got more worked up by the look on her face. “Don’t worry Sonia we’ll find him.” Rubén said making their way passed the people, several of whom where working on rescuing equipment and tents that had collapsed. They made their way to the Red Cross tent; the few people who where there, really didn’t look any better off then the rest of them. “Hi.” Rubén said to the first person he saw. “Yes, what is it.” The older man said looking at him he was clearly busy they all were, it was insane, “She lost her son in the quake.” The man nodded and went to his table and started flipping through papers, “It’s been a mess sense those quakes, we lost so many of our own people.” The guy said looking at the information. “Name?” Rubén looked at him, “I’m Rubén.” The man looked at him, “not you the name of the boy who’s missing?” Sonia started talking giving the man all the information. Rubén continued to look around, there was so much going on. It was overwhelming to say the least. So many people. In the distance there were a few cracks and loud bangs followed by a few yells; something hadn’t worked or went bad. He had no idea, other then it wasn’t gun shots, which was a plus. “He’s in the medical tent, up the way.” The man said looking at Sonia grabbing Rubén’s attention. Sonia looked at the man who was pointing and they both looked in that direction she grabbed Rubén’s arm. “Do you want me to come with you?” Rubén said looking at the woman, “Do you mind?” She said with a worried look. “Not at all.” Rubén turned to the man, “thank you for your assistance. Take care.” The man nodded as a few more people came up for help. Rubén and Sonia walked to the medical tent passing even more people, some military, some injured, several medical people, but all of them seemed to be lost in the moment, people were running around helping others taking care of the wounded it was a mess, they needed more space they needed more supplies, what they needed was a running hospital, Rubén shook his head, this was not how things were suppose to be done, this was the US, not some backwards third or fourth world country, they weren’t in a war zone, they were in the heartland. If the earthquakes stopped maybe they could at least use the school or the town’s hospital. “Taylor.” The women let out a yelp and ran off two her son. Rubén watched he was a teenager, he was on oxygen, but looked otherwise alright. Rubén smiled, “Do you need help.” He heard a voice say, “No I’m…” “Then you need to clear the area. Move!” The male voice said as they moved him out of the way of a stretcher brining in a wounded person. Rubén quickly cleared out of the way again shaking his head, they needed to figure out what they needed what they could use and start making it better. People were going to need everything, housing, medical care, food, fresh water. You couldn’t just survive you had to start planning and thinking of what was next. You had to think ahead. Rubén looked around seeing who he was looking for he walked over to two military men walking around watching people trying to keep order, “excuse me.” Rubén said looking at the two men, “yes.” The tall bald one with the goatee said looking at him, “where can I find Captain John Costa?” The bald guy looked at him a minute, “The Captain’s in the command center, see where the chopper is?” He pointed and Rubén nodded, “yep.” The guy nodded, “next to that, but the Captain is busy.” Rubén looked at him, “I’m sure he is. Thank you for the help.” Rubén made his way over to the tent it too was hectic like everything else around here; everyone was reacting and not thinking, it was understandable but if they were on their own they needed to plan and think ahead. Rubén was able to walk in without any question and found John yelling into a microphone it was a bunch of numbers and codes something Rubén knew nothing about. “How did you get in here?” A very tough female voice said from behind him. Rubén turned around to see who could only be described as an Asian GI Jane, “I came to see the Captain.” She frowned at him, “civvies aren’t aloud in here, come one pretty boy.” She said grabbing Rubén by the arm. “It’s alright Private he’s my brother-in-law.” Rubén turned and looked at him confused. The woman let go of Rubén arm nodded to John and left. “What are you doing here Rubén? I told you all to stay at the townhouse.” Rubén looked around, “Brother-in-law?” John frowned, “what was I suppose to call you.” Rubén thought for a moment and looked at him, not really sure how to answer him but that wasn’t why he was here, “I’m really busy, what do you need?” Rubén took a breath and looked around, “John you need to get a control on this. It’s ciaos, and more people are coming.” John looked at him, “tell me something I don’t know. Support is limited and we won’t be getting anymore, we lost a lot of people in those quakes. We’re doing what we can but a lot of my men have gone missing sense the quakes as well.” “Well from what I’ve seen it’s not going to get any better. You need to plan, think a head. If this is it, we have to plan for the future not just the now. You’re all reacting and not thinking.” Rubén said looking around at the outside seeing people literally running around John looked at him, “Come here.” John said moving to a table with a map on it and pointed. “This is what used to be the United States before the quakes. All this has changed, the Mississippi is now a sea, or an ocean, hell we can’t see across it and I can’t get anything in the air to check it out, we’re guessing. Denver, is gone, it sank as did most of the Rockies, what didn’t sink is active volcanoes or so we were told in the reports before they went out. Rubén all we can do is react we don’t have time for anything else.” John said looking around. Rubén thought a moment rubbing his temple, “Look we have power and water, for now, plan on keeping it, right, secure what you can in town anything that can be used needs to be centralized here. What about Des Monies?” John looked at him, “Gone there isn’t much left of anything, don’t ask me how Ankeny did so well; how any of this is still here hell if I know.” Rubén looked around, “there has to be a better way, someone needs to start thinking about the future and how we’re all going to live, the world might be all messed up now but what we do today will impact what it’s like in 10 years 20 years 100 years, when all this shit settles down. John, it’s a big job and you’re our best hope for this. There are people coming from all over all walks of life, they might not have been what the former government thought would be what’s needed to survive but it’s the cards we were dealt so we need to use them and get thinking about things.” John looked at him, “Ok wise one, what do you suggest?” Rubén looked at him thinking, he didn’t know anything special just what seemed to be common sense, “well for starters’ bodies, burry the dead as quick as you can and start clearing areas for more people. Find anyone with medical training, engineering training, builders, contractors, construction workers and put them all to work securing what we can and fixing what we need to fix. Anyone with any type of skill that can be put to use take advantage of it, normalcy, people need normalcy; teachers there are kids running all over this place set up school, nursery whatever you need to make this a community. It won’t happen all at once but you need to start it. If you could set up a civilian band, for news and information, maybe even entertainment, something to keep people informed even if it only broadcasts locally.” Rubén looked at him, “faith, people need to have faith, if there are any religious people around find them, not some hate monger, but someone who can offer hope help people from giving up and killing themselves or running off, people are drawn here for whatever reason, play on that somehow; common goal, anything like that, they can help. Faith is powerful you know that better then anyone, look at Zeke.” John laughed, “well I’m at it do you want me to cure cancer as well.” Rubén frowned, “I just think, we need to do something Zeke had lists of people who are going to come here. So I’m guessing there are going to be more and you need to be ready for them; the good and the bad.” John shook his head, “Listen Rubén I agree with your ideas, but I don’t have the man power for this.” Rubén shot him a look, “Then find the person or people you need and task them with it. You’re incharge people need to step up and do their part. You have 3 girls willing to go out and risk their necks to find people there are more people willing to help you need to find them and use them.” John looked at him a moment wheels turning, “Fine I’ll look into it. But right now I have to focus on protecting and to maintain order, what I could use is a military strategist, I don’t suppose you have one of those up your sleeves.” Rubén laughed, “You should ask Zeke, he killed me 3 times in a row at Risk, he knows his strategies, he’s scary good.” John looked at him, “you got him to play Risk?” Rubén nodded, “he asked me. But I think it was a set-up to show that killer instinct he has.” Rubén said with a smile as John’s brows came together, “Zeke hated that game, we killed him at it. He thought it was too violent, he was awful.” Rubén looked at him, “well all I know is that was the fastest I’ve ever lost in my life no one had beat me that bad until I played with your brother.” John looked at him a minute processing all that he said. “I know you’re busy just think about what I said.” Rubén said hearing the radio crackle. John smiled, “thanks Rubén.” John said heading over to the radio. Rubén looked at the map, was it really that bad out there? If it was they would need to try and really make it all they could here, there wasn’t going to be any help coming from anyone else, they were it. Rubén walked out of the Command tent and started to look around making mental notes of what could be improved and what they all could do to help, he would talk to Zeke and the others, if the condo’s stayed in good shape they could maybe double up people or start looking at other housing in the area, if they could get people in homes instead of tents, that might help. There was going to be a lot of work to do and something told him John would manage. He walked out of the camp he was passed by a couple of military jeeps heading out on what looked like patrols. He was lucky the he could walk back to the townhouse from where he was, it was a short walk and it gave him a lot to think about, he wondered if there was more they could do to help, there was always more you could do. If and when Misty and the others leave he would be alone with Zeke assuming Tom went with them, but if Tom stayed they could maybe go and start securing supplies and equipment in town. He didn’t know, but there had to be something he could do. He sighed as he walked back looking at the little lake with the fountain that was still working…amazing. He thought. “There you are.” A male voice said walking up the road. Rubén waved, “hey Tom, how’re you feeling?” Tom shrugged the pain in his back was still there but a little more muted. “Feeling beat up, where did you go?” “I went to the camp to check it out; there are so many people and so much ciaos.” Rubén said sniffing the air, “do you smell that?” Tom took a sniff and shook his head, “what?” Rubén walked a little faster, “it can’t be…god could it.” Rubén walked pasted Tom who started following suit, “what do you smell?” Rubén turned a corner, “OH MY GOD!” Tom said seeing what Rubén was seeing. The both looked at each other then at the people standing around the grill. “Rubén Hi.” One of the men waved, it was one of the guys that Rubén had helped moved earlier in the day to one of the empty condos. “Disgusting.” Tom said looking at them, he said it soft enough so only Rubén heard him. Rubén frowned, “you have no idea, are you nuts.” “The meat was fresh not frozen so we thought we should cook it. Can I interest in a steak?” The man said looking at the two guys. “I know Zeke won’t eat it, but you’re both more then welcome we have plenty.” Rubén was there in a heart beat, “Oh thank you. I’ve been eaten vegan crap for ever it seems like, not that it isn’t good, but god in heaven I never thought I would see something as wonderful as a steak again.” The others laughed as they pulled off a perfectly cooked steak for Rubén, “what about you?” The guy said looking at Tom, he made a disgusted look and shook his head, “I don’t eat meat.” Rubén rolled his eyes and started cutting into the steak seeing the warm juices, it was medium rare and wonderful, it was the most intense smell he remembered, god it was perfect, his mouth was watering, he couldn’t wait to take his first bite. “I can’t believe you’re going to each that.” Tom said looking at the plate Rubén was now hovering over. “Watch me.” Rubén said picking up the first forkful of meat glorious meat. “Well enjoy.” The man, Gary, was it, Rubén didn’t care the man was a grilling king and he had given Rubén the holly grail of streak, the man was a God. “Oh thank you so much.” Rubén said, he was almost in tears; silly of course, but this was steak…and he had missed it. “Hey everyone.” Rubén heard the soft gentle voice and refused to look behind him, “busted.” Tom said with a big smile. Rubén gave in and turned to see Zeke standing there with something that looked like a chocolate cake, “I heard you all and thought maybe you would like desert, it’s nothing special.” Zeke said grinning. Rubén looked at the steak. “Did you want to join us Zeke?” The man said looking at his family; they were all smiling Zeke had that away about him. “No, the smell…” He said looking at them then to Rubén, “see you when you’re done.” Zeke put the cake down on the far end of the table and headed back to the house as Tom started to snicker. Rubén looked at the steak, then looked after Zeke, then looked at the steak and then looked after Zeke one more time. He wouldn’t judge him; he wouldn’t say anything about it. He would give him a hug when he got back in the house and looking at him with those wonderful eyes and not say a word about it. Rubén looked at the steak one more time and at the others sitting there the 3 kids where all digging in he could hear them chewing, mocking him. “What’s wrong?” The man said looking at Rubén. “Thank you for the offer, but I should go.” At that moment Rubén stomach made a sound unlike any he had every heard before if it was possible his stomach was crying. Tom looked at him and started to chuckle. Rubén shot him a look and looked at Gary, “Thanks again for the offer.” Rubén looked at the steak longing to bit into it and savor the flavors. “I really need to go.” He said putting the fork and knife down. Gary shrugged, “Thank Zeke again for the cake. Rubén nodded and walked off with Tom in tow, “I officially hate you.” Rubén said looking at Tom who started laughing even harder. He wasn’t sure the last time he laughed like that but it felt good, no mater how long it would last, it felt good laughing. “You know meat is bad for you anyway.” Rubén ignored his comment as they walked. They made their way back to the townhouse Rubén took one more sniff of the wonderful smell his stomach lurching one more time and he opened door walking in. “I got Mrs. Harris settled next door, I think she’ll be fine, but we’ll need to check on her, I’m very worried about her.” Zeke said looking up from his lists that he was looking over, “How was your snack?” Rubén looked at him, “I wasn’t hungry after all.” He said and started walking up the stairs. He knew Zeke wouldn’t judge him, but how could he have eaten that amazing steak and come back and look in the soft gentle puppy dog eyes knowing that he felt that meat was murder. Again his stomach made an unfriendly noise; he reached the top of the stairs almost running into Misty who was looking over her own list, “Hey Rubén.” She said happy and perky, at this moment Rubén hated her. “Why does God hate me?” He said pouting and stalking past her to the bedroom where he closed the door behind him and laid down on the bed to pout, he wanted to pout over the steak and his own guilt and he wanted to do it in private. |
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May it be said, when the sun sets on your life, you made a difference. | |
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| WeBandOfBuggered | Oct 9 2009, 04:43 PM Post #9 |
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Shrimp Po'Boy
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Alex et all - On the Road Again Once more, the shit had hit the fan. The quake was unexpected and pretty much destroyed the town. The group had realized that there was no point in staying in Park City any longer, unless of course they wanted to die. Not long after the shaking finally stopped the survivors began to break camp, dismantling tents, packing their few possessions and finding cars. Within a few hours, they were all on the road. Alex, Sam, Domenica, Roza, Stu, Cat, Adam, Willow, Gareth and the two kids were aboard the tour bus. The car immediately behind them was occupied by Leo, Dominic and Terry. Directly ahead of the bus was a military vehicle occupied by Lieutenant Johnson and a few of the soldiers who were still alive. Alex was glad to see the sky was now a bright shade of red and no longer aflame. That was just a little bit too sci-fi movie for his liking, even if it was a legitimate natural phenomenon that occured in the aftermath of a devastating asteroid impact....thank you very much, Discovery Channel, Alex thought bitterly. “Nuclear fuckin’ winter,” he muttered under his breath. The two kids were asleep behind a sheet that portioned a makeshift bedroom from the rest of the bus. The others were scattered in the various seats while Cat was behind the wheel. Stu was leaning over her, and Alex thought he heard Stu say something to her. “You say something?” a voice next to Alex startled him. Alex glanced up to see Roza standing nearby. Alex shifted to let her sit down next to him. “Nothing, just muttering about the fucking Discovery Channel. Because of them, I’m waiting for the red to vanish and see cloud cover. Welcome to the lovely world of nuclear winter Roza. A damn near eternity of little sunshine, dying plants, cold temperatures and ashy snow.” “Aren’t you just a ray of sunshine,” Roza muttered. “Hey, I never said I was an optimist. This is gonna be like that book The Road; great book. Damn good movie too,” he sighed. “So, did you ever think in a million years you’d survive an ELE?” “A who-now?” “An ‘ELE,’” Alex repeated. “Stands for extinction level event. Basically, it breaks down like this: 99% of all species in recorded history to this point in time are extinct. We’re talking dinosaurs, the dodo bird, the Megalodon shark-that was a nasty fucker-those kinds of things. But the extinction rate was fairly staggered with the obvious exception of the dinosaurs. They too underwent an ELE. With an ELE, the extinction rate fuckin’ sky rockets. I mean, we’re talking massive levels, numerous species vanishing like that.” Alex snapped his fingers for emphasis. “Never figured I’d live through one...fuck I never figured I’d live to see one. Apparently I was wrong on both counts.” Roza smiled slightly. “How’re the migraines?” “Better-ish, I guess. I mean, they’re not as bad as before, but it’s still there.” He dry-swallowed an Advil and pocketed the bottle. “So why are we headed to Iowa exactly?” Stu glanced back, “yeah...I mean, I thought Park City was bum-fuck nowhere, but Iowa? Jesus..that’s almost as bad as Wyoming.” “Wyoming doesn’t even exist, Stu.” Alex said. “It does too,” Sam said. “Hey man, I never seen a licence plate from there nor have I ever met anyone from Wyoming, ergo, Wyoming does not exist.” “That’s some interesting logic,” Adam muttered. “Granted if someone were from Wyoming, I highly doubt they’d admit. I wouldn’t.” From the driver’s seat, they could hear Cat mutter something into the radio. A brief pause came and there were several mutters of affirmation from the members of the convoy. The bus turned slightly and moved North East. “So, what do we really know about this Zeke guy?” Alex asked. “Well, he’s supposed to give us shelter, save haven, all that kinda stuff,” Domenica said. “So this begs the question: is Zeke Mother Abigail or Randall Flagg?” Alex said. Stu raised a confused eyebrow, “huh?” “Well this is like that Stephen King book dude,” Alex said. “You know, The Stand. Bunch of survivors of an apocalyptic plague are drawn to Colorado and to Las Vegas. Goodies go with Mother Abigail to Colorado and the baddies head to Vegas to be with Flagg. Eventually there’s a confrontation and nuke fuckin’ obliterates Vegas.” “Spoiler alert,” muttered Roza, causing Alex to grin. “All I’m saying is, how do we know we’re on the right side? I mean, in the war of Good vs. Evil, when the chips are down...I wanna be with the goodies.” Alex pinched the brdige of his nose. "hate to be a killjoy, but my headache's back. Gonna try and sleep it off." A few hours later, the bus pulled to a stop. Alex felt someone nudge him and looked up to see Willow standing over him. “Why we stopping? We in Iowa already?” Alex asked. “Nope. We’re making a slight detour,” Cat said. “Look out the window.” They all glanced out the window and there was a battered sign, tilted to one side because one of the support posts was broken.
“Well I’ll be damned...it’s actually fuckin’ real,” Alex said. “Mommy? Are we at Uncle Zeke’s?” They turned to see Lex standing slightly behind them all. “No sweetie,” Willow said. “We just took a slight detour. We’re gonna be going there soon though.” “Okay!” Willow scooped the boy up, “you hungry?” “Yeah.” Willow nodded, “let’s get you something to eat.” She walked further back into the bus, carrying Lex. “Who'd have thought it? This place actually exists. Unbe-fucking-lievable,” Alex muttered. “Told ya so,” Sam said, clapping Alex on the shoulder. “Now that we’ve got that out of our systems,” Cat said, “We’ve got get to Iowa.” Edited by WeBandOfBuggered, Oct 9 2009, 05:33 PM.
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| bebeluv1 | Oct 10 2009, 07:41 AM Post #10 |
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Nemesis
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Adam, Willow, Sam—Caught with pants down It had to be the most embarrassing moment of Adam’s life. He glanced over at his father, whose face was still red as he looked out the windows of the bus. Adam couldn’t help but suppress a laugh as he wondered if his dad even knew what he had really seen. After all, he doubted if his dad had EVER gone down on a woman before. He and Willow had taken a few moments to themselves in the back of the bus, where the big bedroom was. For some private time. In short, to fuck. Willow had just finished going down on him, and he was returning the favor. And then the door opened, and they froze, both of them naked, with Willow still sitting on Adam’s face with her back arched and her hands stroking her own breasts. She was facing the door, and she screamed when the door opened and she saw Sam’s face. Not because she was embarrassed, but because she had been startled. Adam had lifted Willow off him and sat up, to see who had so rudely interrupted them. Please let it not be the kids! He had thought. No, it was much worse than that. When he saw his father, in a red track suit, standing mouth agape and face quickly going through various shades of crimson, he could have died. It seemed like Sam was rooted to the spot, too flustered to look away or to shut the door. He appeared to be struggling with words. “Dad, for fuck’s sake, shut the goddamn door!” Adam yelled. This appeared to break Sam out of his stupor and he abruptly exited the doorway and shut the door. More like slammed the door. Adam could hear Calli start to cry on the other side of the door, startled awake by the noise. “Looks like play time is over, Mama,” he smiled, gently kissing Willow. He slipped out of bed, tossed Willow her jeans and pulled on his own pants. Willow laughed. “God, did you see him? He was speechless. And RED. I thought his head might pop off. Kind of cute in a creepy sort of way,” she said as she pulled on her shirt. Adam grinned and shook his head. “You’re weird, Mama.” He finished getting dressed and pulled on a knit cap—his mohawk had suffered in the days since the disaster hit. Caps were a lot easier than fixing his mohawk up all the time. “Do you want me to get Calli?” “No, baby, I’ll get her. Why don’t you go spend some time with Lex?” “All right,” Adam kissed Willow again before opening the door. “I love you.” Willow kissed him back. “And I love you.” Adam made his way down the aisle of the bus to where Lex was sitting by Grandpa, watching a video on the DVD player. He sat down next to Lex, who was in the middle of the little sofa. Grandpa was on the other side of Lex, staring straight ahead and for some reason, he couldn’t stop clearing his throat. “You ok, Dad?” Adam asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer. “I’m fine,” Sam said tightly, as if willing Adam not to say anything further. Adam didn’t need any more hints. He sure as hell didn’t want to talk about what his father had seen. Adam again struggled with a fit of giggles. What must be going through his dad’s mind right now? He coughed to keep himself from laughing out loud and then turned his attention to the TV. “What are we watching, bud?” Lex grinned. “Superfriends!” “Oh, I remember this cartoon. I used to watch it when I was your age,” Adam smiled and put his arm around Lex and kissed the top of his head. “Do you remember when I used to get up early on Saturday morning to watch this, Dad? You’d always yell at me to turn it down because you were still sleeping and the TV was right next to your bedroom.” Sam winced. Yeah, he remembered. He’d yelled at Adam a lot for stupid things. He forced a smile. “I do remember, yup.” He cleared his throat again, remembering something else he saw just a few minutes ago. “You had that TV blaring all the time.” Adam laughed. “Yeah, I guess I did. That’s what you get for not letting me have one in my room.” “Bedrooms are for sleeping in, not for watching TV in,” Sam said stubbornly. “Yak, yak, yak,” Adam teased. “Dad….”he started, his tone getting serious. Shit, Sam thought. I’m not ready to talk about this. He stood up abruptly. “I better go see what that radio fella is up to. Maybe he’s gotten a broadcast or picked something up,” he muttered as he quickly shuffled out of the TV area. What the fuck? Adam thought. He shook his head. Did his father actually think that he was going to talk about his and Willow’s sex scene with him? A faint smile played upon his lips before curling them up into a grin. Oh, Dad, he thought. I might be “punk” but I’m not about to talk about sex with you. Adam peered down at his son’s innocent face, soaking in the animated action on the screen, and grinned wider. He felt the laughter bubble up inside him again, and this time, he let it out |
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| bebeluv1 | Oct 10 2009, 08:11 AM Post #11 |
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Nemesis
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Tom, Ruben, Zeke Tom had thought a lot about the expedition that Misty had suggested. In the end, he thought it was a pointless journey. If everyone on Zeke’s list was showing up, then why not Adam and whoever he was traveling with? If he had somehow managed to get here alive, then he felt sure that Adam would, too. He felt that the people on the list were “safe”. If God gave Zeke that list, then he was sure that they’d eventually show up. Just like he did. Tom felt better since he’d slept. His back still screamed every time he moved a certain way or lifted a certain amount of weight, but it was manageable for the most part. He sat now at Zeke’s dining room table, with Zeke and Ruben. They were planning their next step. Tom almost laughed at the idea—what next step? He thought the next step was pretty simple: wait for the others, and in the meantime, help those around them. But whatever, it gave them all something to keep their minds on. “There’s no one left in charge, they’re all gone, so everything is pretty chaotic out there,” Ruben commented. “John’s doing his best, but most of his trained people are dead and the civilians are too shell shocked to respond to commands. Some are, but most just can’t deal with the reality of the situation.” Zeke nodded. “Well, most everyone has lost family and loved ones, it isn’t easy to forget that and move into survival mode.” Tom scoffed at that. His entire fucking family was dead, and he had gone straight into survival mode. It was the easiest thing in the world to do to get your mind off of the deaths of those you loved. Zeke glanced over at Tom, eyebrow raised in a silent question. Tom just shook his head as if to say, “nothing, Zeke, continue.” Zeke paused a moment longer before speaking again. “We’re running pretty low on medical supplies here. I wonder if we should send a few people to some of the pharmacies in town for supplies.” Tom perked up at the thought of that. He’d be needing more stuff for his back. “How far is the closest pharmacy from here?” he asked. “Well, there’s one at the Dahl’s I work at, which is just down the road, like a mile from here.” Zeke said. “But I don’t know how easy it will be to get to.” “I’ll go,” Tom said. “I’ve got my SUV, it can get over some pretty tough terrain, if the streets are crumbled up or whatnot.” Zeke considered for a moment. “I don’t think we should go anywhere alone. You should take someone with you. Someone level-headed.” Tom turned to Ruben and shrugged. “You game?” |
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| Cale Raizer | Oct 10 2009, 12:13 PM Post #12 |
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Shrimp Po'Boy
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Misty wasn't big on planning, but she knew she had to be careful about this, as one misstep could easily prove fatal. She and Bridgette were discussing their best route to Arizona, both women sprawled on their shared bed in their room. Bridgette kept pointing out a route that would initially take them South, through Missouri and Arkansas, and they West, to Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico, until they reached Arizona. Misty, however, was more keen on a route that led West, through Nebraska, Colorado, and Utah. It was a shorter route, and would get them to Arizona faster. The problem with both plans was that there was o way of knowing if the people they were trying to find had stayed in Arizona, and if they hadn't, which way they would have gone. They only had one shot at this, John had said he couldn't spare enough men to send out multiple search parties. As it was, he had found two men willing to escort the woman, the Lieutenants Riker and Demps. As for a vehicle, John had been able to dig up a rather nice RV, which would provide the group with plenty of room to work out of. John also had a small group of engineers affixing a massive plow to the front of the RV, in case they ran into any barriers on the road. Zeke had generousley supplied them with food and water from his stocks, but gas wasn't something he had filled up on. "I'm sorry," he had said, "I didn't think I'd need to travel much, so I didn't bother with it." He had thought that maybe they'd be able to find a gas station along the way, untouched by the asteroid and earthquakes. They would have a full tank starting out, John made sure of that, but anything beyond that would be up to Misty. At some point, Misty realized, she had become the de-facto leader of this expedition. Misty was fairly sure John had told Riker and Demps ti obey her, and Marie wasn't much help in the leaderrship department. Bridgette, of course, would give her input, but Misty got the feeling that Bridgette would do whatever Misty decided. It wasn't exactly a good feeling, Misty decided, having people's lives in her hand, even such a small group. What would happen if someone died on the trip? It would be her fault, wouldn't it? She was the one who was so insistent on going, finding these people, when all the evidence suggested that they would probably make it to Iowa on their own. Maybe it would be better if they stayed put.... "Stop it." Bridgette said abruptly, interrupting Misty's thoughts. "What?" Misty asked, trying to feign ignorance. This tactic rarely worked with Bridgette, and she had tried many times. "You know what," Bridgette said, "You're scared of going on this trip. I can see it in your eyes." She said, crossing her arms under her breasts. "I have no idea what your talking about," Misty said, but even as she said it, she knew Bridgette wasn't going to fall for it. "Look, love, we all volunteered for this. It's a risk, it's gonna be dangerous, but no more dangerous then if we stay here. Whats to say a volcano wont erupt right underneath us tommorow, or an earthquake tears everything apart, or some other disaster hits us?" Bridgette said, "The odds are equally good it'll happen here then somewhere on the road." "Yes, but we didn't all volunteer for it. What about Riker and Demps?" Misty asked. Bridgette snorted, "John asked his whole camp for volunteers. You don't think a couple of guys aren't gonna jump at the chance to travel on the road, alone, for a week at least, with three good looking women? Trust me, Riker and Demps are glad to be going." Misty chuckled, it was true. She had been introduced to the two soldiers, and they had seemed eager to be going. "Still doesn't make it easier." "It's not supposed to be easy," Bridgette said, walking behind Misty, placing her hands on her shoulders, giving her a gentle massage. "It's gonna be rough, for a while, while the Earth is in this condition. Until we get settled in, it's gonna be rough living." Misty grinned, "Since when are we any strangers to rough?" "Exactly," Bridgette said, trailing her massaging hands down Misty's back, "You're all worked up over this when you shouldn't be. Riker and Demps are trained soldiers, and as long as we stick together, we'll be allright. " Misty closed her eyes, sighing as Bridgette worked. "Even so, we're gonna have to be careful. We don't know what kind of shape the world is in. It's gonna be hard to get around." "We'll manage, you just gotta think positive, that's all." Bridgette said, her fingers digging into her back, "Christ, loosen up, you're too tense!" Misty snickered, "The end of the world can do that to a person." Bridgette laughed, "Yea, but you need to loosen up." She scooted to the side, gently pushing Misty down onto the bed, and Misty obligingly rolled over. Misty buried her face in her arms, as Bridgettes strong legs straddled either side of Misty, and she felt her hands kneading the tense flesh of her back. Misty immediatley began to feel better, even as she went over her preparations one more time. Food, water, the RV, find gas at a untouched station, camping supplies, she'd have to see about cobbling together a medical kit, make sure Marie and the soldier boys were ready to go, and they could leave soon after that. They were going to be as well prepared as they'd ever be, at this point, Misty decided, as soon as Bridgette and she had finished her, they could go. But, Misty mused, as Bridgette began to pull off her shirt, this could take a while. She might as well enjoy it now. |
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"Alright, I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I'm the man whose gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!" | |
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| LadyRahl | Oct 10 2009, 02:43 PM Post #13 |
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Supreme Goddess Of All Things Bright And Shiny
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Zeke/Ruben - Talks and Plans Zeke opened the door to the bedroom to see Ruben laying on his side on the bed, appearing to be pouting. “Ruben?” He asked, stepping inside and sitting down on the edge of the bed. “Are you okay?” “I’m fine,” Ruben replied looking at the wall. “I just wanted to lay down.” “Well it seems like you’re pouting,” Zeke said with a smile, his hand rubbing Ruben’s back gently. “I’m not pouting,” he said as he pulled his shoulder away childishly. “I’m… okay, I’m pouting.” Zeke couldn’t help but laugh slightly though he kept it short. “Why?” “Well…. Because… that’s why.” “Because of the meat thing?” Ruben sat up, looking at him. “I know how you feel about meat, and I… I can’t eat it knowing how you feel. I mean, how can I eat something that you consider murder? It’s just, it’s not fair. I know I’m being stupid but,” Zeke smiled and crossed his legs, moving further onto the bed. He knew what Ruben was saying. It wasn’t the first time that someone denied themselves something out of fear of offending him. “Ruben, can I be honest with you?” Ruben couldn’t help but snort. “Can you anything other than that?” Zeke laughed and smiled. “Probably not. Look, it’s going to bother me more that you’re denying yourself something that you love rather than just eating it. Being vegan, it’s a personal choice. I come from a family of hard core carnivores. I don’t love them less, or judge them, or think of them any differently than I did before I made this choice in my life. Look, do I wish everyone would give of meat? Of course I do, but I’m not going to hold it against anyone.” “But it makes me feel bad, I mean you’re so… gentle and… loving… and perfect…” Zeke turned, laying down on his back so that his head rested on Ruben’s thigh gently. “I’m not perfect Ruben. I kill things, it’s just the things I kill are plants because I can’t live on air alone. There’s this song, Carrot Juice Is Murder, a friend played it for me once.” He laughed softly. “The point is,” “I know the point that you’re making,” Ruben said running his hand through Zeke’s hair. “But it still doesn’t feel right.” “Well,” Zeke replied “I just wanted to let you know that.” His head turned slightly as the doorbell rung. “Zeke! It’s for you!” Bridgette called from downstairs. Zeke leaned up, giving Ruben a gentle kiss. “I love you,” he said touching the side of his face. “I’d like to show you how much tonight.” His cheeks turned bright red and he sat up quickly, leaving Ruben alone in the room. Walking down the hall to the stairs he looked down to see John standing in the entranceway. “John… what’s up?” He asked decending the stairs. “Can I talk to you?” His brother asked, behind him out in the relatively quiet street an army jeep stood, driver behind the wheel. “Is something wrong?” Zeke asked, leading his brother into the living room. “I was talking to Ruben,” John said running his tongue over his bottom lip “and I mentioned that I need a good stratigest,” “I’m sure Ruben would be great,” Zeke said going to the fridge and pouring his brother a glass of tea. “He loves stratigy games. We played Risk the other night and,” “He told me,” John said taking the glass “and he told me you handed him his ass three times in a row so fast he didn’t know what hit him.” Zeke shrugged and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs. “Beginners luck.” “Beginners luck would be one time, not three in a row.” He sighed and reached out taking a banana off of the bunch sitting on the counter. “John, you know how I feel about,” “Let me ask you something,” John said taking a sip and sitting down beside him. “When we were kids, and we played… do you lose on purpose? I mean, you sucked hard core back then buddy and I can’t believe that you just magically learned kick Ruben’s butt in one night.” He couldn’t help but laugh and was quiet for a minute before he finally nodded. “Yeah, I did. I just, I never liked the game and you were so competitive. I knew that if I beat you, you’d just want to keep playing. I’m sorry.” John burst out laughing and slapped his hand on Zeke’s back. “What the hell are you apolozing for?” He kept on laughing until he wiped the tears out of his eyes. “Look Zeke,” “I can’t help you John, I’m sorry.” Zeke replied standing up and stopping as John’s hand wrapped around his wrist. “Zeke, I need you. The country has gone to shit, there’s no federal law, no government and you know as well as I do people are fucking greedy assholes who want power. There are going to be people that come here, people demanding to take power, people willing to cause injury and harm to innocent people.” He looked at his brother. “I’m not asking you to fight Zeke, I know better than that. Getting you to fight is like asking… asking water not to freeze in subzero weather. It’s just not going to happen…. But I need your help. You said we’re here for a reason Zeke, all of us… even you.” “But,” “God wouldn’t have given you the gifts that he had, if he didn’t want you to use them. Just, come with me. Take a look at the plans, at the city… help me figure stuff out. I want to keep people safe Zeke, just like you. All you have to do is tell me what you think.” Zeke licked his lips and looked at his brother, his eyes then moving to the list pinned on the fridge. He knew that his brother was right. They all had their gifts for a reason and to deny his brother this request it wouldn’t be fair, not after all the times his brother had bled and suffered for him. “Okay,” he said his voice heavy. “But I won’t,” “I’m not going to ask you to mount any attacks,” John said with a laugh. “I just want to make sure that we’re safe for whatever is coming.” “Fair enough,” Zeke replied. “I’ll… get my coat.” |
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| mdnjr70 | Oct 10 2009, 03:22 PM Post #14 |
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Shrimp Po'Boy
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Domenica et al – 137 Miles Down 1330 Miles to Go The convoy moved down the road slowly, Domenica was sitting up with the driver some how she knew the way, she couldn’t explain it, but she knew where she was going. They had just passed the Wyoming State line and the buss was in the lead, there was one military jeep next to them just in case they needed it, “Mountain View is the first town, we should stop there.” The driver Roy, was it, looked at her. “Why, we’ve only been going about 3 hours.” Domenica frowned, “I know…but…look we just need to stop there.” Roy nodded and grabbed the walkie and sent the massage to the other vehicles. Gareth looked at her, “you alright?” Domenica shook her head. “No. I have no idea what I’m doing, but at the same time I know stuff I shouldn’t. Alex refused to believe that Wyoming existed until 20 minutes ago and now I’m not sure if we’re going to Mother Abigail Freemantle or Randall Flagg.” Gareth smiled at her, “It’s a lot I know, but you’re doing brilliantly.” She smiled at him, was she. How did he know how did any of them know. She wanted to be in her house, taking a nice hot bubble bath, she did not want to be here. She looked at her chipped nails, what she wouldn’t do for a manicure right now. She quickly looked from her nails up to the road, “God does that mean I’m Nadine Cross or Frannie Goldsmith?’ Domenica said looking at the map which one of those women were more vain, she couldn’t remember. “Does this sound crazy to anyone other them me?” “No it’s pretty crazy, but you’re no Nadine and you’re a woman of faith, unlike Nadine, so I say we’re heading on the path God wants for us.” Sam said joining them at the front of the bus. “Thanks Sam.” He always had a way to make her feel better. “Oh did you find out what the kids were going to need at the stop?” Sam looked at her, his face a little more pale thinking of walking in on his son and daughter-in-law. “They were busy I figured it could wait.” He blushed as he started to speak. Domenica didn’t notice his face because the radio crackled, “Johnson to Domenica.” Roy handed her the walkie, “Hi Lieutenant.” Domenica said, “Listen we’re making good time, why are we stopping?” Domenica frowned, “Because our four hour window of travel is almost up and it won’t be safe for a while.” There was silence, she didn’t know how else to explain it. Finally he came back on, “Domenica, I can’t.” She cut him off, “Look Lt. Johnson. I know it sounds crazy, but we have to stop, we can fill up on fuel and supplies in this town stay there rest up. You can call it a pit stop say that the children need a break, lie, say whatever you want. BUT WE HAVE TO STOP THERE.” She said her voice loud, clear and final. “Alright, one pit stop coming up. Tell Cat he should start broadcasting as soon as we stop, see if we can pick up more folks heading to Iowa.” Lt. Johnson said with no further argument, they all listened to her, there were a million reasons not to, but they all did. “Thank you.” Domenica said handing the walkie back to Roy. Looking out at the road, There were mountains off if the distance, were there shouldn’t be, the landscape had changed so much and yet every change was on her map. Every mark had been correct to date, 137 miles and she hadn’t been wrong, not once, maybe that was why they listened to her, because she had been correct about everything on the map so far. The long train of cars rolled into the town, it was deserted for the most part, abandon cars, busted out stores, it was the picture perfect town of the apocalypses, or end of the world, now all they needed was a band of roaming cannibal, inbred, mutated hill-billies and it would be perfect. As the bus stopped everyone started to calmer ready to get out of the bus and stretch their legs three hours didn’t seem like a long time, but when you were all crammed in a bus, it felt like days. Cat sat at his make shift broadcasting center and looked at Domenica, winked and smiled and put his headset on. “It’s Stray Cat back on the air, it’s the end of the world folks and you know what. I feel fine. We’re stopping in the lovely hamlet of Mountain View, Wyoming on our way to Ankeny, Iowa. So if you want to join us we’ll be here for a few hours.” Domenica looked at him, he might be terrified but his on air personality was calm and cool. “Let’s start with a few updates…” He started to say as she left the van, leaving him to his broadcasting. Alex was looking around, “I would have never thought.” He said sniffing the dirt. “It’s real.” Sam frowned at him, “Boy you’re a freak you know that.” Alex grinned, “It’s all part of my charm.” Domenica stifled a giggle, Sam was such a doll, she looked around trying to ignore some of the banter as several of the other vehicles came to a stop along the street, how many people where here? Who many cars? It was insane. The military convoy was in front, behind and scattered through the rest of the vehicles. Several people stayed in Park City along with some of the military to protect them and help them, not everyone wanting to leave. But Domenica knew it was the right choice, they had to get to Iowa, they have to meet Zeke. She shook her head, she racked her brain trying to think how she knew him, maybe he was a guest at the park once she had seen millions of people at Disneyland, it wasn’t impossible for him to be one of the guests at some point. She rubbed her arm, it was still bothering her. “Domenica.” She felt little hands pull at her pants, “Hi Lex…you like the toys.” He nodded, “they’re great. Mickey is the bomb. And the special Chip and Dale pin is really cooool.” She smiled, kneeling next to him, “I agree.” Lex looked at her, “Uncle Zeke is a good guy. You don’t need to worry, he’s a good man.” Domenica looked at him a little surprised at the comment, “Lex how do you know this.” He shrugged, “he has puppies and he’s al…al… allergeec. He helps people too.” Domenica nodded her head, “I think your right anyone who has puppies and is allergic can’t be bad.” Lex smiled at her giving her a hug, “I need to find momma and daddy, it’s almost time.” He said and moved off to join his parents who were talking with Sam. “Hey there.” Stu said looking at her, “This whole mojo with the map and Iowa and Zeke Costa.” Domenica shook her head, “I can’t explain it.” He smiled at her, his smile was a little creepy, but not too bad, she did wish he would stop talking to her boobs. “I know, but I wanted to tell you, don’t doubt your gut, you’ve been right so far about everything.” She smiled, “Thanks.” He looked at her, “alright enough of this nice guy shit, I need to go and take a dump.” Domenica frowned, “charming.” Stu made a face at her, blowing her a kiss. Then she thought a minute, “Hey Stu!” He stopped, “What?” She looked at him, “How’d you know his last name?” Stu stopped and shrugged, “No idea, but I’m right, that’s his name.” Domenica nodded and he walked off. “He’s an odd one.” Gareth said bringing her a bottle of water; cracking it open for her. “Thanks.” She took a sip of the water. He looked around at the town amazed at how well parts of it had held up, “It’s not so different is it? I mean if you can look past some of the devastation the town really doesn’t look too bad.” Domenica smiled, pointing to the mountains, “except those should be there.” Gareth nodded, “yep, except that.” She sat on the ground looking around and Gareth joined her, they were only a few feet from the bus as the others were milling about, most were off in the stores finding anything they could to help make the trip better; water, food, medical supplies, fuel, anything they could manage. Rosa had gone off to check some of the wounded and to check with the medical teams. The military was helping, they had managed to get what they could from Park City and now they were filling up with whatever else they could find. There was a sudden crack, the noise brought everyone to silence, “It’s happening.” Gareth said looking at her. He wasn’t the only one to think so. Somehow people were stopping where they were, clearing out of the buildings. “Take cover.” She heard people start to say, but nothing was happening, it was like an internal warning went off in all of them. As people started to get clear the ground started again, this one was no where near as bad as the first one and they all knew moments before, Gareth looked at Domenica, they didn’t move as the ground started to shake. They were in the clear for the most part. “Watch the ground!” someone yelled as people ran or sat where they were. It was incredible the shaking, it was nothing knew to Domenica, who had grown up in California were earthquakes were commonplace, but these quakes felt different. She looked over to where Willow was, they were all huddled together next to the bus Sam and Adam taking protective stances over them. The motion of the ground grew more violent and everyone started to move away from buildings and things that could fall on them. She saw Rosa and Alex grab two small kids who where too close to a light post. It crashed down moments after they got the kids moved to safety. Screams yells and the sounds of the earth crashing open and jutting up were heard everywhere the earth was still angry and it was taking it out on the crust of the planet. Domenica tried to stand but the moving was too violent. Finally it started to slowdown and the episode started to come to an end. “Oh God.” Gareth said looking to the west. Domenica looked seeing the direction they had come from shaking her head, “the mountains changed again.” He nodded. Lt. Johnson ran over to them, “How did you know? How did we all know?” Domenica looked at him, “I don’t know.” Finally the earthquake was over and things were settling down. “If we were on the road.” He said shaking his head, “We’ll stay here make sure things are ok, I’m going to send out a team ahead to make sure the way is clear using the copy of your map, I don’t trust anything else, you have any other modification let me know alright.” She nodded, “What do you think? Send them out?” He asked looking at Domenica, “I think we’ll be fine here for a while. We won’t want to move on just yet, there might be more I think it’s best we stay here a while.” He nodded, “Alright, sounds good to me.” Lt. Johnson got up and went to check on the others. Domenica looked up at the sky and looked around, “none of this makes sense to me.” Gareth smiled, “It doesn’t have too. Just don’t stop.” She nodded feeling a sharp pain in her arm, “How’s you’re arm doing, does Rosa need to look at it again.” Domenica pulled up her shirt looking at the wound, “It seems fine.” Gareth nodded, “come on, let’s find Rosa, I want her to check out your arm.” She smiled, “fine.” Gareth grinned at her and they got up and went to find Rosa. She thought looking out ahead of them, 137 miles down and 1367 more to go, what other adventures were out there waiting for them? |
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May it be said, when the sun sets on your life, you made a difference. | |
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| mdnjr70 | Oct 10 2009, 04:41 PM Post #15 |
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Shrimp Po'Boy
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Ruben/Zeke/Tom – Mercy Raid Ruben wasn’t quick sure what Zeke was talking about, the whole showing him comment, but it did make him blush, which made him smile, Zeke was so cute and sweet maybe he would bring Ruben a steak or cook him one; that would be…well it sounded like he had a pass on eating steak. Ruben sighed, he didn’t think that would happen but it was a nice thought, Ruben thought of the steak when would that opportunity happen again? Ruben got up from the bed and walked out in the hall, hearing noises coming from the room occupied by Bridgette and Misty, he was sure he didn’t want to know and he kept walking. He made his way down the stairs, “Hi John.” Ruben said seeing John standing there. Zeke walked out of the downstairs hall, “I had to check the puppies. I’m ready to go.” Zeke said going up to Ruben, “Tonight, just remember that.” Zeke kissed his check as he whispered those words. “Where you going?” Ruben asked, “I’m going with John, I’ll be back in a while.” John smiled at Ruben, “I think I found my strategist.” John said hitting Ruben playfully in the shoulder. Ruben looked confused and just nodded as the two men walked out of the house. Tom got up from the couch, “are you done pouting?” Ruben looked at him, “Yes.” Tom smirked shaking his head, “You want to head over to the pharmacy see what we can see?” Ruben looked around the house, it seemed quiet, he knew the girls where busy and with Zeke out for a while he didn’t see why not, “Sounds like a plan.” Tom grabbed his keys winced at the pain in his back, a face Ruben saw but said nothing about, “my car is right outside, we should be able to hit the pharmacy and check out the rest of the town see what there is to see, there has to be a hospital here, don’t you think?” Ruben shrugged he didn’t know for sure, but he didn’t think so, maybe a clinic or something, “I don’t know. I didn’t see one. I know there is one in Des Monies.” Tom shock his head, “Not tonight, we’ll see what we have in town first and then plan a bigger raid for Des Monies if need be.” Ruben understood and it made a sense, “Sounds good to me.” They got out of the house, Ruben locking the door behind him and they moved to Tom’s SUV, “sweet ride.” Ruben said looking at it, it was pretty large, he was sure they would have enough room for whatever they found. Tom smiled, “You into cars?” Ruben grinned, “some. I was saving up for a refurbished 64 and a half mustang. Metallic Blue and white top and interior…very sweet.” He laughed, “guess that is a mute point now.” Tom sighed, “You never know. God might drop one out of the sky for you. Now climb in.” The two men got in the SUV and Tom started up the engine and they started to pull out of the complex. They passed a field and saw a large group of kids playing, Ruben had seen a bunch of kids at the camp as well he shook his head. He saw the way Tom looked at them as they passed as well his expression much different. “I’m sorry about your family.” Ruben said looking at him, it was the first time he really got to talk to Tom. Tom looked at him, “Thanks.” Ruben sighed, “It’s a mess isn’t it. I mean all the death and destruction and yet here we are.” Tom sighed now trying to focus on the road, “Do you mind, I’m not ready to talk about it.” Ruben nodded, “Of course. I just wanted to say sorry. If you need to talk let me know.” Tom smiled, “Thanks.” They moved down the road at a slow pass, a mile really wasn’t that far, but they were traveling very slowly regardless, who knew what they would run into. Ruben was looking out the window as they drove, “wow.” Ruben said as they passed a large building. “What?” Tom said, “The high School, it’s barely touched, I mean a few broken windows but look at it.” Tom nodded, “looks good from here,” Ruben thought about it, if the school looked good, maybe they could get it up and running make it something where all the kids could go, there had to be teachers, it was close to the camp, easy for the military to protect and parents so they wouldn’t worry. Normalcy, planning for the future, they would need everyone, and educations would be important and if the school was in working order it wouldn’t take much to get going again. “Missing your school days?” Tom said seeing how Ruben was so focused on the school. Ruben looked at him, “No…but I had an idea for later.” Tom shrugged it off as they continued to drive. There was a blue sigh, “looky there.” Tom said as he drove, “Mercy North.” Tom said, “I say we follow the sign and see what we have.” Ruben nodded, “it might have more supplies then the pharmacy. They turned left on S. Ankeny Blvd. And continued to move through the town, there were few people around and things weren’t in too bad a shape. “I guess people feel safer out of town right now.” Ruben said looking around. Tom nodded. They made a left on First Street and continued down the road. “Look across from the park.” Ruben pointed, “Well it’s not a hospital.” Ruben saw the building, “But it could be.” Tom looked at him, “what are you talking about.” Ruben thought a minute, “Look those MASH tents aren’t enough, if we could get this place up and running, they could have a mini hospital, it would have more room and be safer for people.” Tom shrugged, “I suppose, but lets check it out and see what we can find before we go off and start rebuilding the world.” They pulled the car over and looked around, “Well most of the buildings seem in one piece.” Tom said. “These building have to be built for tornadoes so I would expect them to be pretty tough.” Tom agreed and they moved in to start exploring the building. They made there way around and started to load up on supplies, it was mainly medical equipment some medicines general supplies. There were overturn desks and the typical things you would expect from a place left in a hurry but for the most part the building seemed in good condition. Ruben was making mental notes of the space and what could be down with it. They could move the MASH tents to the park and use these building in combination. It wouldn’t be perfect and they would need to make several runs to Des Monies to get supplies from the hospital there, but there was potential. “Hey you going to help or just look around and mentally redecorate?” Tom said looking at Ruben, “It’s like it was left here in tact for us to use, there is hardly any damage. What if the rest of the town is like this, it wouldn’t take anything to get this place up and running.” Tom stopped and looked at Ruben, “one step at a time. But I agree. We can run it by John when we have a chance. In the mean time.” Ruben nodded, “I know. I know.” He started pulling unopened boxes of supplies and placed them on a wheelchair using it as a dolly. “Holly shit!” Tom said opening an office door. “Ruben look at this.” Ruben walked over and looked in what was once an office, “what the hell.” Ruben said looking at all the boxes of medical supplies, it was filled to the rafters, tons of stuff. “How is this possible?” Tom asked dumbfounded, “I have no clue, but Zeke mentioned that other people had been hording as well. Do you think they knew?” Tom said starting to pull the boxes there must have been 50 or 60 boxes of different medical supplies from general supplies to some specialty equipment all of it now in short supply. “I think I’m going to need a bigger car.” Ruben laughed looking at everything. “Let’s get what we can now and we can come back later maybe bring some of the folks from the camp.” Ruben watched Tom move as he loaded boxes into his car, there was obviously something wrong with his back he had noticed it sense Tom had showed up. On the second run back to the medical offices Ruben remembered there was a physical therapy office and he stopped in and started rummaging looking for something that might help Tom. When he found what he was looking for he walked over to where Tom was loading up, “Here try this, it’ll be better then the pain pills and maybe keep you from tweaking the hell out of your back.” Ruben said tossing the back brace to Tom, “what is it?” Ruben chuckled, “A back brace. I guessed at your size, but it should work, you can wear it under your shirt and it’ll help with the pain you won’t need as many pain pills, which I guessing you’re addicted to, considering pain pills for backs are usually the strongest you can find.” Tom said nothing to Ruben’s accusation and pulled off his shirt putting on the back brace, he was familiar with back braces he’d worn them before, so he knew this would help at least a little. “Thanks.” Tom said as he pulled his shirt back on. “Just take it easy, I don’t think there is a back doctor gonna fall out of the sky to fix whatever damage you may have done to it.” Ruben pushed the wheelchair back to Tom’s car and the filled it up, “Well that is all we can take this trip.” Ruben said lowering the back of the SUV. “I still want to check out the pharmacy. And we have half the back seat still open for more stuff.” Ruben nodded, “sure lets’ just close up this place as best we can and head over there.” (OOC: Ok Bebe, I left the pharmacy raid for you.) |
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May it be said, when the sun sets on your life, you made a difference. | |
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7:43 PM Jul 10