It'll All Work Out Who: Rowan, Liah, Terry, Verity, Zane Where: The house the trio and kids have been staying at When: Mid to late afternoon
It'd taken a good couple hours to get back to the house. Rowan had gotten them lost once, they'd had to deal with monsters twice-- Rowan felt particularly useless, since his gun was empty and his wings were too tired to even smack anything with, though he did consider it briefly-- but they'd made it, drenched and miserable, finally to the house. Rowan went first, marching up to the front door and pounding. "Hey, open up! It's Rowan! And company!"
Hey, it was the best way he could think of to warn that there were people with them. Because if Liah, Jasper, and Juniper didn't realize that, there might well have been problems once the door opened. At least all the water had washed the blood and gore off him by now, so he wouldn't be scaring anybody.
The high point of having to wait while a chair got moved from the other side of the door, though, was that the porch was covered, and there was room for all four of them under the overhang without having to crowd too much. Rowan had to keep his wings pretty tightly folded, though.
Liah had been very quietly going insane the entire time Rowan and Verity had been gone. She had, of course, been worried about their safety. Rowan couldn't fly yet. It wasn't like he could pick V up and get them both away if something came after them. She'd also wondered if either Juny or Jasper, or both, would throw screaming tantrums once they realized that Ro and V weren't going to be back anytime soon. She couldn't really imagine the silent Jasper throwing a tantrum but she knew it could happen. Little kids were unpredictable as hell. Juniper would be more likely to do that, she knew. Fortunately, both of them had seemed to deal okay with the situation, and nothing had come up that Liah couldn't handle. She kept hoping that Jasper, especially, would get used to her, and she'd done her best to reign in her nervous fidgeting and pacing.
What was taking them so long? She couldn't go look for them because the children couldn't be left alone. What could she do even if she found them and there was trouble? Walk through things? Yeah, that'd be a lot of help, wouldn't it? She was frustrated and essentially a nervous wreck by the time the pounding came at the door. "Oh, my God," she mumbled, raking her hair out of her face with both hands and running to tug away the chair barricade. Once she'd done that, she yanked the door open as fast as she could.
Terry had never particularly been fond of the rain, and today was proving to be no exception. He was drenched head to toe, miserable, his hair slickened to his face as they made their way through the city. The encounters hadn't been unexpected, but they'd been horrific for sure. He couldn't wait to be out of all of this... couldn't wait to get back to the hotel. The knowledge that there were children waiting on them was all he needed, though, to be convinced he was making the right decision.
When the door came open at the house, Terry peered inside at the girl. "Hello," he said, force of habit taking over for the moment. He was hoping they could all rush inside, dry off and settle in. He glanced back down the street to be sure they hadn't been followed, eyes scanning as he fell silent again. In the distance, there were the sounds of howling.
"Could we do introductions and question answering inside?" Zane asked sharply, peering through the doorway at the blonde girl. He was soaked, his hair and clothes dripping water onto the porch and, more than that, he could swear he heard something moving around somewhere behind them, something that he'd been hearing behind them for awhile. He just didn't trust his senses enough to be sure he heard something real.
He glanced over his shoulder, checking the area but there was nothing to be seen, only more abandoned cars and bodies. He turned back to the rest of the group. "I think there's something out here and I'd rather not let it inside."
"Well, that's depressingly likely, isn't it?" Verity waved to Liah. "Hi. Um, they followed us home. And apparently they have a better hideout than we do." While he agreed that the bulk of the interview should be inside where it was dry and there weren't any horrid abominations, he figured Liah deserved a little information. At least Rowan was there, looking like his cocky self. Liah no doubt, and quite reasonably, trusted her old friend far more than the silly brainiac who'd turned up on their doorstep the other day.
But that was all academic. Having made his attempt to smooth things over, Verity darted inside. He knew there was nothing wrong with Jasper, or nothing new. Liah would have told him the moment she'd seen them. Her apparent fondness for his poor brother was the only thing that kept him from being rather terrified of the forceful young woman. He was glad to see Jasper was waiting and threw his arms around the boy. He'd never been quite comfortable with leaving, even for a few hours. "Hey, shorty, did you behave yourself for Liah?" He tried to keep his tone light, but he wasn't sure if he succeeded.
Juniper had almost run outside to greet Rowan, but at the sight of the two strange men, she'd squeaked and ducked behind Liah, staring fearfully around her with three of her four hands and her tail all clutching to Liah's legs. The fourth, of course, still had that stuffed rabbit. She'd hardly set that thing down since they got here. Rowan wanted to come inside, wanting to reassure her, and to reassure Liah if he could, but he had something to do first. "Everybody in, and people might wanna stand back a second once they do, I gotta shake a little water off these things--" His tired, aching, sodden wings twitched a bit, to indicate what he meant. "--before I start dripping everywhere."
Only once Verity, Terry, and Zane were in through the door did he brace himself, snap them open, and beat them a few times, hard. He tried hard to aim all the water that flew off them back out into the rain, but he wasn't entirely successful. He just hoped people did stand back. That done, he came inside and smacked the door shut behind him, pulling his still-wet but thankfully less-wet wings closed tiredly behind him.
Liah had backed up so everyone could come in. She trusted Rowan as much as she'd ever trusted anyone, and if he thought the two men he and Verity had brought back with them were okay, she didn't have a problem with them, either. She was inexpressibly relieved to see Rowan, and Verity too, back safely, but fortunately she was able to suppress any potential emotion she might show when Juniper grabbed onto her. She managed to work an arm around the girl, mildly amused that she-- the girl who'd generally rolled her eyes before pasting on her waitress smile when she'd had to serve a table that had little rug-monkeys in their party-- was finding herself getting attached to a couple of them. "He was absolutely perfect," she said to Verity with a smile. By perfect, of course, she meant that he hadn't cried because Verity'd left him or had a screaming, flailing fit. "And so were you," she told Juny before turning her attention to the others who'd come in.
"I'm Liah," she said, although they might have put that together when Verity'd said her name. She gazed at them expectantly, clearly waiting for introductions from one of them as Rowan finished shaking his wings out and stepped inside. Her shoulders relaxed a little when she heard the latch click, glad to have that barrier between them and whatever was outside.
Terry was glad to be out of the rain, and to be out of the reach of possible creatures that may have been stalking them. He had moved out of the way when Rowan shook his wings out, stepping further into the room to peer around. His eyes landed on the children after a moment and he smiled, trying to take it in stride that one of them had a few extra appendages. Without missing a beat, Terry turned to Liah and gave her a genuine smile, doing his best to remain upbeat if he could help it. It wasn't easy. "I'm Terry," he told her, and then glanced to the man who had come with him from the hotel. "And this is Zane." Terry reached up with both hands, his fingers combing through his hair to push it off of his face. It was dripping wet and tangled, which didn't make for a pleasant experience.
Zane tucked his gun away as he stepped inside, looking over the young woman and the two children. At least they all looked healthy. He nodded as he was introduced, and considered ringing his dripping shirt out, but couldn't quite get past the fact that he was in someone's house and that to do so would be rude. Even at the end of the world he still had the stringent manners with which he'd been raised.
"How do you all know each other?" He glanced between the kids and the young men and the blonde, trying to discern if any of them was related. What were the chances of that though, that more than one person from a family would somehow not only be spared instant death or transformation, but the ensuing chaos as well?
"Lucky happenstance, at least for me and Jasper." Verity straightened up, though only a little. His brother was nearly as tall as he was, despite only being ten. "They saw us heading by. I guess consolidation is a good goal, even on a pretty small scale." He was very glad they'd hailed him. Where he and Jas would be without them, he didn't know. Verity hadn't really known what he was looking for. He could definitely have broken into a house to hide out, but he'd been afraid to choose one, having no way to tell what might be full of monsters or bodies or both. Liah and Rowan had been very lucky with their pick.
He was glad when Jasper ducked behind him. Better shyness than the absolute nothing he'd come to expect from his little brother. He reached back to ruffle Jasper's hair. "Hey, relax, kid. They helped us out. They're fine." No response, but he didn't expect one. Maybe Jasper would start talking again with more people around? Or maybe not. He hadn't the least idea.
Finally able to come over and pick up his little sister, which he most definitely did, Rowan said, "Juniper's my sister. Liah's my friend. And Jasper is Ver's brother." Juniper buried her face in his wet shoulder, apparently not minding that his shirt was still dripping, even if his wings weren't. "Liah, these guys have a bigger place," he added, frowning a bit and settling Juniper on his hip so he could hug her without being afraid of dropping her. "They want us to go with and stay there, instead."
Liah glanced at Terry and Zane again, then Verity and Jasper before her gaze slid back over to Rowan. He looked a bit of a mess, and she wanted to ask him what exactly had happened, but she didn't want to necessarily get into things in front of two strangers. So she settled for, "What kind of place? A bigger house?" She didn't see any need to move to a different house with more rooms. She knew they couldn't stay here forever, because they'd run out of food, but there was something in her that wanted to be stubborn and dig her heels in. Possibly it was simply that there'd been too many changes in too short a time, not to mention the losing family members stuff that she was keeping as deeply buried as she could. She waited for someone to answer her, frowning a little.
"No," Terry said, shaking his head. "It's not a house. It's a hotel." He glanced to the children again, wondering how on Earth those two boys had been lucky enough to still have their siblings around. They appeared to understand just how lucky they were, though. He could tell just by watching the way they treated each other. Taking in a deep breath, Terry re-focused his attention on Liah. "There are a lot more of us there. Lots of food... lots of rooms. So far we've done a pretty good job of staying safe, and... we'll be making improvements, of course." Terry shrugged, moving to put his hands in his pockets. "It would probably be smart of us to all stick together... considering how small the population has become."
Siblings. Zane looked from one child to the next, his gaze lingering for a moment on Rowan and Juniper. Juniper looked almost the same age as his own sister had the last he'd seen her, and the age difference between the two looked only to be a few years off the ten between him and Ali. Watching them was almost like looking in a mirror from ten years previous. A mirror he wanted to shatter rather than stare in to.
Zane gritted his jaw and turned his head away, instead looking for a place on the floor he could crouch down and lean against the wall. He fixed his gaze across the room, the muscle in his jaw twitching.
"Sounds better than here. We could get help with the kids, and I bet we'd be less likely to, y'know, kill each other." Verity liked Rowan and Liah, but mixed company would help maintain sanity. Well, now that he couldn't just close himself up in his room all the time, anyway. And getting Jasper exposed to more people might snap him out of it. "We could move our supplies over, too. The pantry stuff, anyhow. We have a pretty good stock of canned goods and things. Plus I've got my bike to bring over. It's pretty good for emergency transport, even the way the terrain has turned. And... I'm talking too much."
He didn't even need to be glared at to know that anymore. Seemed like every time he opened his mouth, nothing but blabbering came out.
"You always talk too much," Rowan told him, but it was with a tired sort of grin that said he was teasing. He looked over at Liah, wanting her reaction and opinion. He was of two minds about the whole thing, himself. While having a more defensible position was probably good, he simply didn't get along with large groups of people. He always pissed people off, or they pissed him off, or both. Usually both. "How big is this hotel? Really big? And how many people are there, did you say?" If there were only so many of them, maybe he could, like... avoid them. As much as possible.
Kind of like Zane, whose silence and tension was really kind of weirding Rowan out. He was definitely avoiding Zane in the future.
Liah was thinking that a hotel might be a lot easier to feel secure in. She wasn't really enthusiastic about being around a group of strange people, either, but hell. It wasn't going to be like summer camp with everyone having sing-alongs. She could probably stick to hanging with whoever she chose to, and if someone was a dick, she'd just stay away from them. Should be easy enough. She glanced at Verity and then back at Rowan when he spoke. "If it's a pretty big place, I'd be good with that," she said. What Terry said in reply would have a lot to do with how she felt about the situation, she was sure. Her attention was caught by Zane, who seemed to be pissed off, or... something. Not knowing him whatsoever, she couldn't be sure. She turned her gaze back to Terry to see what he'd say.
Terry too had noticed the tension in Zane, though he refrained from saying anything about it. There was no need... not right now. Perhaps they could talk about it later, if Zane stayed long enough for that to happen. He turned his attention to the others, needing to answer their questions. They seemed hesitant, which was a dangerous feeling to be going around such a small and relatively alone group. "The hotel is very large," he explained. "Something over ten stories... and there are a lot of people. I... last I counted, we had... fifteen or sixteen people." He glanced to Zane, as though there might be the exact number on his face. "Sorry I don't have the count memorized, but... we keep collecting new people." Terry let out a very brief and anxious laugh. It died almost as quickly as it had come out, and he waved his hand to dismiss the sound. "I really... feel like it's the best option for all of us. The more people we have together, the better our chances of survival become. I really hope the five of you will come back with us." At least for the sake of the two young children living with them.
"Think of it this way," Zane chimed in, looking back toward the group, feeling the need to help Terry convince them to return to the hotel, for the good of the kids at least. "If you have to go out to get supplies again, you won't be leaving her"--he gestured to Liah--"alone with two kids wondering if you'll ever return. What if something had happened to both of you?" As it nearly had that afternoon. "How would she have looked after herself and them as well?" He stood and crossed his arms. "There are other people at the hotel who could at least help if something happened to one of you. You'd have your own rooms and your own space." He glanced between Rowan and his sister. "It's the responsible decision to make," he urged.
Verity was oddly touched by Rowan's gentle teasing rather than outright dismissal, and returned the other young man's smile. "Well, yeah, that's about what I was thinking." Verity wasn't precisely thrilled by the idea of hotel living, but he still thought it was by far the least available evil. And if it was a hotel that size, then it probably was at least Holiday Inn caliber, he imagined. Notell Motels were usually a lot smaller. It would probably be perfectly comfortable, and stocked for room service. In terms of standard of living, things wouldn't get much better. "I'm all for going. Jasper and I don't have much to carry, just a bag apiece, but I came on my bike. I mean, it's a motorcycle. If someone else there can drive it, even one other person, it'd be great emergency conveyance, even if it doesn't carry much. It's about the only way to get around on the streets like this. ...Plus, we can all stick together once we get there. I bet it won't change much." That was kind of a sudden left turn, but conversational jumps weren't odd for him. He hoped that Rowan and Liah would want to stay close, if only for Jasper's sake.
Ten-plus stories with, so far, fifteen-- soon to be more like twenty-- people. That had to be plenty of room.... Though Rowan shot an "I'm not amused by your arguments" sort of look at Zane-- as far as he was concerned, Zane had just about told him he was being reckless and stupid, and he didn't appreciate it-- he did look again between Verity and Liah, and their tentative agreement. He sighed and finally said, "I guess if you guys're for it... yeah, I guess. We could always just walk the bike, Ver'. It's less noisy that way, anyway." And then they could pretend it was a pack mule, too, and put their stuff on the seat or attached to the back, or something. "But I'm not leavin' this house until it stops raining again, and it's quieter out there," he added, as if trying to assert some kind of authority in the face of their stupid logic.
More than ten stories. Okay, Liah found that acceptable. Should be plenty of room to spread out, plenty of ways to barricade a building that large if necessary. She could deal with that. She frowned when Zane spoke, because his words brought back the anxiety she'd experienced for the entire time Verity and Rowan had been gone. She crossed her arms over her chest, nodding, deciding not to mention to Verity that technically she could drive a motorcycle. She'd never had any real training on one except what Jensen had given her, but then she'd never had a serious wreck, either. Without realizing it, she moved a little closer to Rowan and Juny when Rowan seemed to agree to go along with them moving to the hotel. "Might as well, we can hole up there longer." Huffing out a sigh, she added, "I don't wanna go today, either. Not enough time to get what we're taking with us together before it gets dark." She was absolutely, positively not going to be walking around the streets at night. No way.
Terry made a bit of a face at the words that came out of Zane's mouth, wishing he hadn't phrased it that way exactly. He had at least enough experience with people younger than him to realize that being told what to do never quite sank in just right. "Good," he said, nodding and attempting to salvage some of the conversation. He didn't want Rowan and the others disliking them right off the bat -- or at all, honestly. "We can leave tomorrow morning, then. Maybe around nine or ten. That'll give us a few hours before noon to get back, and that way I can spend the day doing other things around the hotel as well. How does that sound?"
They were staying the whole night? Zane's eyes darted again from Rowan to Juniper--he wasn't sure he could spend an entire evening staring at someone who reminded him too clearly of himself and what he had lost. "Can you handle bringing them back on your own?" he asked Terry. "I think I'm going to go make sure Paige made it." Which he would, but it was far from the only reason he wasn't going to lock himself in this house for the night.
Then he remembered they only had two guns between them, his included. Once Zane left Terry would only have his, the other being out of ammunition. He hesitated for a moment, debating: he didn't want to give up his gun and was certain he'd give up anything else on his person before that, especially with a few hour walk in front of him. But he did have the advantage of being able to see in the dark. His eyes landed for a moment on Juniper and her many arms before he sighed to himself pulled his gun out of his waistband. "You know how to shoot a semi-automatic?" he asked, handing his Glock over to Rowan. "That one has nine shots left."
Verity wasn't sure how he felt about the guns people were using so freely, but considering that the irresponsible firearms use had just recently saved his life a few times, his squeamishness wasn't justifiable. "Sure, there's space. The beds are taken, but I think the couch folds out." He went over to poke at the sofa, lifting the cushions to confirm. "Yeah, there's a bed in here. Do you want us to collect up what supplies we have here? I bet you're provided for okay, but after a while, every little thing's going to help. Foraging won't get any easier, I mean." Verity winced a little as Jasper stepped on his foot. If he was blathering enough to bother his almost catatonic little brother, he was blathering far too much. Verity blushed a little and decided not to open his mouth again.
Though he was briefly overwhelmed by having a gun in his free hand-- one still held Juniper against one hip-- when he hadn't expected one, Rowan gathered himself up to glare at little, again, his expression one of offended adolescence. "That's what my gun is. It's just... you know. Smaller." Which made him blush to say, as if it were an actual problem. At least the house wasn't going to be quite as crowded, in a few minutes. Thank god.
Glancing over at Verity, then at Terry, he said, "We'll talk about sleeping arrangements and shit once everyone's dry. There's time. And I'm tired of fuckin' dripping."
"Rowan!" Juniper exclaimed, lifting her head up and thwapping him over the head with her stuffed rabbit.
Wincing, Rowan said, "Sorry."
Liah had to choke back laughter when Rowan said his gun was smaller. She totally had a dirty mind, but at least she admitted it! She also tried not to laugh because Verity might think she was laughing at him for his latest babble-fest, and that wasn't the case at all. "We got a bike, we got guns... where do we sign up to be the next Sons of Anarchy?" It was a joke that some of them might not get if they'd never seen the show, but she didn't care. She'd thought it was funny. She did snort out laughter when Juny hit Rowan with her stuffed animal for swearing. She just couldn't help it. "If one of these kids comes out with the f-word," she told him, "you're in serious trouble." They probably didn't have much to worry about considering that Jasper didn't talk and Juny disliked hearing swear words, but one never knew.
Terry smirked at the Sons of Anarchy joke, turning to Zane after the barrage of talking had drawn to a relative close. "I can handle it," he told him, giving the other man a reassuring nod. "You go check on Paige. I've been worried about her ever since she left." He sighed, knowing that this feeling of anxiety in regards to other people's safety probably wasn't going anywhere. Life was too crazy nowadays for there to be any reason to be relaxed or comfortable. "You sure you're gonna be okay without a gun...?"
He couldn't help it, the sight of the little girl hitting her brother with the stuffed animal made him smile, one that lingered on his features for awhile before being absorbed again into the stern look he usually wore. "I'll manage," he told Terry, though already he felt his mind trying to work out the best course back, with the most cover from the monsters. Instead of moving quickly he would have to be slow, quiet and careful.
"Remember, nine shots," he reiterated to Rowan. "And I want my gun back as soon you get to the hotel." Not an option; he wasn't a charity service. With one last look around at the group, Zane opened the door and stepped back outside into the rain. Just a few more hours and he might be safe, dry, and able to find a new change of clothes.
Verity was of the opinion that leaving the group as a whole was a godawful idea, but Zane was a little too stern for him to contest. Well, to be honest, Verity didn't contest much if he could help it. He avoided conflict to the point of pathology. "Um, thank you!" he called to the man's retreating back.
He glanced over at Rowan and nodded. "Yeah, we're all pretty soaked. Let's deal with that." He felt as though being reminded had brought the water back. Once he was wet through, in his experience, he stopped caring, but with Liah, Jasper, and Juny looking so dry and comfortable by comparison, he suddenly felt like a wet dog. "Guess I'll go get into clothes that are less, um, sodden. And we can just toss all this in the drier." He was still expecting the electricity to go any second, but even a few minutes of heat would probably help.
Seeing as Rowan had more bullets for his own gun-- which, while smaller, was also a little less scary and more familiar-- he would definitely get the guy his gun back. He let Zane go with a sigh and set Juniper down. "I'm gonna change, and then hunt down a blow-drier...." Nobody would be able to do much of anything with wet wings, and the towels? Didn't do a whole hell of a lot of good when he was this wet. He shot Liah a teasing grin. "Unless somebody wants a nice, wet hug...."
Liah smiled her sweetest, most innocent smile in return. "I wouldn't recommend it," she said, "unless you'd like a nice hard kick in your--. Um. A strategic place." Maybe this odd scenario would result in her cleaning up her language a little, she thought wryly. At the very last second, she kept remembering Jasper and Juny and curbing the worst of her salty tongue. She snickered and stepped back, just in case Rowan decided to go for it despite her threats. "You guys dry off. I'm gonna go start looking through our supplies." It would be something for her to do, and it would also be something useful. Win-win. She headed off toward the kitchen.