miahagan (miahagan) wrote in downfallrpg, @ 2010-02-21 00:14:00 |
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Entry tags: | # solo, # status: completed, 2015-08-26, mia |
Who: Mia, Angela (NPC)
What: Trying to find a friend
When: morning to 4 pm, 8/26/2015 (Day 5)
Mia stood in her bedroom, holding her backpack, and stared at her belongings. She could hear her mother across the hall, trying to smother her soft sobs. Mia wasn’t crying—she felt like she couldn’t cry anymore. The world was insane, her father was… dead. All she could feel was a cold numbness.They’d been in their house starting on five days now. They’d left home on the twenty-third, planning to have a day out on the town before the music recital that afternoon. They’d never gotten very far… only a few blocks from their own house, traffic had been backed up with accidents. Then they’d seen the monsters. Unable to turn the car around, they’d abandoned it. As they’d run back towards their house, a… thing had come charging around a corner. Sean, her father, had screamed at them: RUN! And they had, watching over their shoulders as he had successfully—though briefly—distracted the monster long enough for them to escape.
Mia shook herself, pushing the memories out of her mind for right now. She couldn’t stand thinking about it. Slowly, like moving through syrup, she walked over to her bed. The first thing to go into the backpack was a teddy bear that her father had given her years before. Then came a small blanket, a binder with notebook paper and sheet music, and a small pencil case. After that, she sat for a while on her bed, staring around her room. Clothes, she needed to grab some clothes… She crammed a few outfits into the bag. The rosary her friend Juan had given her for her last birthday went into her pocket. They were supposed to have played a duet together at the recital, and now he best friend was probably dead. The thought crossed her mind in a clinical way, seeming separate from herself.
Her face stony, she kept moving through the room, picking up a small photo album last and slipping it into the bag as well, then moving to the bathroom for her toiletries. Moving downstairs, she grabbed a large water bottle and filled it with purified water from the fridge, then finished filling her bag with whatever pre-wrapped snacks she could find.
“Did you grab your toothbrush?” Angela Hagan stepped into the kitchen, her eyes red-rimmed with tears even as she attempted a brave smile for her daughter. Mia signed inwardly and nodded. “Yes, Mom.” Angela nodded, looking around the kitchen almost absently. “Oh. What about a coat? You can’t leave your coat here…” She started to head back upstairs, but Mia grabbed her hand. Seriously, mom? It’s summer. It won’t get cold for another couple months at least, and right now I don’t think we should, y’know, overburden ourselves. If someone shows up to evacuate us, we don’t want to be turned aside because we’re carrying too much shit.” She stared down at the ground. “Cara Mia, watch your mouth.” The reprimand was half-hearted, though, and she stopped going upstairs. With another sigh, she pulled her own bag onto her back, and Mia noticed that she had a handgun tucked into her back pocket. She was both surprised and a little relieved. She’d never known her parents owned a gun… It also made her think, and she walked over to the hall closet. After rummaging for a moment she found what she was looking for—a metal softball bat that she’d used in a community softball league last summer. “Where are we going, anyway, mom?” She’d much rather stay at the house… at least it was familiar.
Angela knew better. She’d spent the last two nights unable to sleep, terrified that one of those things would break into the house. She signed, pulling Mia close to her as she spoke. “We’re going to meet Linda at her restaurant downtown. It seems to be a little quieter out there today, at least. We need to take advantage of it while we can.” She squeezed the girl’s shoulder and took a deep breath, walking toward the garage door. They used Sean’s truck. Hopefully there would be enough room to maneuver, because Angela didn’t want to chance walking through the streets until they absolutely had to. Using less-crowded side streets and backtracking when they had to, they finally managed to get within a few blocks of the restaurant. At that point, though, the streets were just too congested with abandoned vehicles to make driving feasible.
With a nervous smile, Angela pulled up onto the sidewalk and parked the truck. “OK, Mia. Linda’s restaurant is just four blocks from here. When I talked to her, she said she’d holed up in her apartment upstairs from it, and that she’d keep an eye out for us.” She didn’t mention that she hadn’t talked to Linda, Mia’s godmother and Angela’s high school friend, in two days. When she’d tried calling today, she’d gotten a disconnection message. With all the insanity though, it was probably just a line that got knocked down. Linda was surely okay. Mia noticed that her mother was anxious, but didn’t point it out. She didn’t want to state the obvious or to make her mom feel bad. When Angela reminded her that they needed to move quickly and quietly through the streets, she just nodded, adjusting her bag on her shoulders.
They traversed the intervening streets quickly, Angela intent on finding Linda and getting Mia to safety. They were passing many restaurants and hotels, but she was single-minded, not really paying much attention to the buildings around them. Mia followed her cautiously, holding her softball bat tightly in both hands. It was nearly four when they saw the small restaurant, “Linda’s Kitchen,” just ahead. It looked dark, of course. There were wide windows, but all were covered in decorative iron grating, including the frosted glass doors. Angela slowed as they approached, pulling the gun out of her pocket and motioning for Mia to stand back. The door was hanging slightly ajar… Which could mean that someone had forced their way in, or that Linda was waiting for them and had her inside door locked securely instead.
As Mia watched, her mother slowly nudged the door open and looked around. After a moment of waiting, she finally took a full step inside the door, still holding it open with a foot. OK, it looked clear. She turned around and smiled at Mia. Just as she raised her hand to gesture her daughter inside, a tentacle-like appendage was swung around her neck and she started to scream.
”MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!” Mia immediately tried to run to her, but Angela’s motherly instincts kicked in, and her power showed itself more certainly than it had yet. Seemingly of their own volition, the iron-covered double doors slammed closed, slightly off-hinge and tangled together. They refused to budge even as Mia threw herself against them. The girl continued screaming, tears streaming down her face as she beat at the doors with her bat. She couldn’t respond enough to do anything else, even though some rational part of her knew that there were other monsters out here, and that the one inside with her mother wouldn’t be distracted for long.