Andrew Kirke (tuned_in) wrote in the_colony, @ 2010-07-07 22:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 10, andrew kirke, derek miller, | derek and drew |
Week Ten: Tuesday Morning
Characters: Andrew Kirke and Derek Miller
Setting: The storage room
Summary: Drew and Derek finally meet, and talk about the new situation.
Rating: R for some swearz.
“Yeah, sure, go ahead and look around. I’ll meet up with you later.”
Molly knew the Siena Suites well enough that she felt comfortable showing Ana around, which left Drew to his own meanderings. He’d meant to talk to the people in charge days ago regarding the type of people living on the premises, but with Ana’s return and then the power going out, it had fallen to the wayside. Perhaps it didn’t matter so much now that he had Ana back; Molly had said she was mostly okay with the lot of them, just not that one man.
While the two were off looking around, he investigated the first floor. Drew had a deep aversion to heights, so he already knew that his temporary home would be on the ground floor whether or not there was an available room. He remembered when wanting to be on the ground floor cost him extra, and couldn’t help but smirk a little at himself that it would no longer matter in his lifetime; there would always be plenty of room now.
Having picked out a room, he opened up the windows to let in the air and sunlight, then left to go bring some water from the designated place they’d been informed of. Part of him knew that it was a big deal that this group allowed him and his two companions to join them, considering how scarce water would quickly become in the new-found lack of power, so he was already determined to make another run back to campus later and the cafeteria to see what he could scrounge up for bottled beverages as a token of his appreciation. Maybe he’d ask one of his new companions to go with him later.
Derek didn’t think of himself as a hypocrite. Moving in with the group wasn’t hypocritical after he’d expressed reluctance to join up. Couldn’t be hypocritical when he’d always been interested in his own best interest. And right now, joining up with a group was the smartest thing he could do. With the power out, the people left in the city would start tearing things apart. If folks were going to lose their damned minds, Derek wanted to be somewhere away from where they were losing their minds at.
Now that it seemed like he didn’t need to be watched, Derek was taking the time to explore places he’d never been allowed before - including the storeroom. If he was going to give up his own supplies for these people, he wanted to know what he was going to get back. And it seemed like he wasn’t the only one with that same idea.
“Oh. You I don’t know.” Derek hadn’t seen this man around when he was working and he kept his hands in close in case he needed his gun. Drew looked up with a start at the voice, his eyes following the movement of his hand and catching a glimpse of the gun. Without even pausing he brought up his hands.
“They told me I could get water,” he said quickly. “I came in this morning, I swear.”
Derek took a deep breath and left his gun where it was tucked into his waistband. “I believe you. Seems like everybody had the same idea. I moved in today too; worked here before that so I know everybody.”
It was only when the other man spoke in length that Drew recognized his voice. His hands went down and his eyes widened a little before some semblance of a smile pulled at his lips. “Derek Miller?”
Derek’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Yeah. And who the hell are you?”
“Who else is gonna know your last name, man?” Drew replied, grinning a bit at his reaction. “Never thought I’d actually get to meet you face-to-face; I didn’t think you’d stick around after the power went out.”
“The radio guy?” Derek’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I don’t believe it.”
“Don’t make me do the voice, man. I always feel weird doing the voice outside of the sound booth,” Drew deadpanned, then grinned again and held his hand out, curled in a fist. The other man knocked his fist against it.
“Jesus. Guess you’re out of the radio business.”
“Unless I can get some kind of off-grid power, and fuck if I know a damn thing about that,” Drew answered with a breath of a laugh. Feeling better now that he knew (or at least, kind of knew) someone on the premises, Drew returned to getting the water he needed to bring back.
“I found Ana.”
Now Derek was gaping, momentarily rendered speechless. “Your girl? You found her?” The odds against that were astronomical. “For real?”
“Actually, she sorta found me,” Drew answered, filling the pitcher and turning around with that same crooked sort of grin. “I knew she would eventually.”
Wow. Somebody finally had some good news in this shitty world. “Hey man, that’s great. Where she been?”
“In a camp up near Seattle with a few others who managed to live through it,” Drew replied. He started out of the store room, looking back to see if the other man had intention to follow him.
There didn’t seem to be anything Derek needed especially at the moment, so he filed away the location of the room and headed out. “So what, girl just got it into her head to come and find you? Kind of a long shot, isn’t it?”
Drew felt his nerves prickle at the question, and further agitate his own concerns about Ana’s return. They’d already talked about it, but he still worried she might not stick around. “Sometimes people need closure,” he muttered, shifting the weight of the pitcher into his other arm. “I’m just glad she’s safe.” And here with me, he added inwardly.
“Hell of a chance to take. Don’t know if I could do it if it were me.” Derek hadn’t done it, in fact. Sure, he tried calling out on the radio for news of his family but he had never gone back to Ohio to look for them.
“Why did you come to Vegas, anyway?” Drew asked, eager to change the subject to something other than Ana’s loyalties.
Derek simply shrugged. “Why did anyone come here? Heard there was still electricity.”
“I came back because I used to live here,” Drew answered, though he left out the part about how he and Ana had agreed to meet there. “I didn’t think there would still be power. Who’d you hear it from? Did they come with you?”
“Nah. I didn’t want nobody with me. But you hear things. Sometimes you’d run into somebody who said they’d heard there was power out west or power in Vegas. Worth a shot for working lights and flushing toilets. Guess that’s the end of that.”
Drew nodded, opening the door to his and Ana’s suite and putting the pitcher on the counter. He still needed to fill the bucket to leave in the bathroom, but he could do that later. Drew hesitated a moment, not sure if he should ask the other man to sit or not.
“I’m not looking forward to chemical toilets and outhouses again.”
“No fucking kidding.” Derek looked towards the stairs. “I’m going to go get the rest of my shit put away. Guess I’ll be seeing you around.”
“Guess so,” Drew replied. “Nice to finally meet you, man.”