Jed Bailey (jokerandthief) wrote in the_colony, @ 2009-11-22 21:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 00, alice munroe, jacklyn baker, jed bailey, |* alice/jed/jack |
Characters: Alice Munroe, Jack Baker, Jed Bailey (and Rocky)
Location: A park in Jack's neighborhood
Summary: Jed brings Alice to meet Jack. There are awkward introductions, heated arguments, and Jack finally agrees that maybe living with Jed would be a good idea.
Rating: PG
Throwing the ball into the skate park was usually fun. With walls and curves and steps everywhere, there was no telling which way it would bounce next. It drove Rocky nuts with joy.
Jed was a bit distracted, though. Jack was late. Or at least it felt like she was late. They didn't really have a specific time, and Jed hadn't even been a watch wearer before the world ended and time became a moot point. But it still felt late.
There was also the fact that Alice was along this time. The two parts that had become his life were converging; it was an odd feeling, but something he thought was necessary. If they were all going to make it longer than a few months, they'd have to do it together. He just hoped they liked each other. Or that Jack hadn't seen the two of them and taken off in the other direction.
"You look like a statue," Alice said after a moment, looking sideways at him with her brows slightly arched. "Relax already. No reason to get all wound up. She knows I'm coming, doesn't she? If she didn't want me here, you wouldn't have asked me to come along."
He shrugged, stooping as Rocky brought the ball back. "She could change her mind. People do that." After tossing the ball, he wiped his hands on his pants and looked over at her. "You could look friendlier, y'know."
Jack didn't know she was late. Her meetings with Jed were always kind of a "this time tomorrow" kind of thing. And even if she was late, it wasn't her fault. Getting places took awhile when you were on foot. So maybe she dawdled a little, so what? Nobody said she had to rush anywhere. Extra time was needed to think about this whole Alice thing. Meeting new people was intimidating, not only because she didn't know which people were good people but because it was weird knowing that there were only so many people left in the world and this was one of them. Trusting Jed to not make her meet anybody didn't make it easier.
When she arrived with her skateboard under arm, she ignored the grownups completely at first. "Rocky! You want a treat?" The dog came barreling towards her and she grinned and fed him a milkbone she pulled from her pocket.
Jed straightened as soon as he heard her voice, smiling though it was a bit forced. "Hey there, Jack," he said. "How're you doin'?"
Jack bent to hug Rocky, petting him enthusiastically. "Hi Jed," she answered, standing back up and walking over to him and Alice. She watched the other woman carefully. "I'm okay."
Alice watched the two exchange pleasantries silently, sitting up a little more and keeping a neutral, calm expression. When Jack's eyes finally fell on her she offered a small smile. That was her cue to be polite and offer a hand and a greeting. It had been too long since she went about things that way, but she played along with the role.
"It's nice to finally meet you," Alice said, holding out a gently-clenched fist. "I'm Alice."
Jack transferred her skateboard to her left, bumping fists with Alice's with her right. "I'm Jack. What do you know about me?" She looked over at Jed. If he was talking about her then she wanted to know what he was saying.
"Nothing bad," Jed said quickly, catching her expression. "Or no details. Just, y'know, general. Like I told you 'bout Alice."
"Jed told me you were living alone," Alice clarified, letting her hand drop down to her knee again once they'd shook hands. "And that the two of you had been talking for a bit. He kind of found me, too."
"Rocky found me first." Jack fidgeted, holding her skateboard in front of her now. "Did Jed tell you what my name is?" She didn't plan on sharing it but it seemed to be important whether or not Alice knew.
"Just Jack," Alice replied simply. She tilted her head slightly, maintaining eye contact and raising her brows just a little. "Why? Is that an issue? I've got no problem callin' you whatever you wanna be called."
Looking a bit sheepish, Jed glanced at Jack. "She knows yer a girl. Thought it would be okay to tell her, 'cause ain't like she's gonna hurt you," he said in one breath.
Jack glared up at Jed. "How do you know?"
Jed's mouth opened, but for a few seconds he couldn't think of anything to say to that. He looked back and forth between them. "I... Same reason I know you ain't gonna hurt us. I mean, c'mon, look at her," he said, smiling slightly. "And you know I could stop her if she tried anyway."
Alice looked over at Jed, trying to resist the urge to point out that she, too, had guns. If it meant getting Jack not to be completely paranoid of her... again, she was willing to play the role for their sakes. She gave Jack a small shrug and a wry smile. "Hell, I had to tell him that you were perfectly capable of taking care of yourself and didn't need looking after. Just sayin'. I'm a pretty laid-back kind of girl."
Jack relaxed a little at Alice's response - she even smiled a little. "Well, I don't need looking after. Jed doesn't believe me that I can take care of myself. But I can." She could. Jed's words about the empty world being forever bounced around in her head but she could still look after herself.
"Hey, I didn't say you couldn't," Jed said defensively, although that was exactly what he thought. But there was more to it than that. "I just thought it'd be, y'know, safer if you were with someone. Makes sense if we stick together, right?"
"I guess," Jack said with a non-committal shrug. "I'm going to skateboard." She didn't wait for comments or permission, just set her skateboard up on the edge of the bowl and dropped in.
A little thrown by Jack's abrupt retreat, Jed's first response was to glare at Alice. "You really think she's good wanderin' this city alone?"
"I think she's capable of taking care of herself and doesn't need looking after," Alice clarified, her expression even and unimpressed. "Didn't say nothing about being alone, but then, I'm fine alone. It's a preference thing. I could've also said I could shoot you right back, but did I?"
"Jesus, well thanks fer yer restraint," he said with a disbelieving bark of a laugh. "I brought you along figurin' Jack would be more comfortable with the idea of livin' with a woman. You were supposed to back me up."
"So what, you're gonna foist her on me?" Alice countered. "'cause I'm sure that'll work well. Poor girl trusts you; I'm a total stranger. The only reason she's even talking to me is because she's going off your good word, and I'm pretty sure that was the only reason until I fed her the line she wanted to hear." She paused, smirking slightly. "You're just mad that I'm a better con than you."
For a second time that day, Jed was speechless. "Con? I ain't tryin' to con the kid, I'm tryin' to keep her safe. She ain't like you, Alice, with guns and food and a safe house to hole up in. When I found her, she was scared and helpless, and I don't want someone else findin' her like that."
It was only when he stopped that he realized he'd gotten pretty loud. But he meant what he said, so he didn't look away.
Alice glared at him a little, the desire to leave rising. Clearly, this had a lot more to do with past experiences, and she was damaged enough without having to deal with other people's baggage. "First of all, that was a joke," she said, her voice icy. "It's called intuition, Jed. A girl dresses like a boy, pretty much wants everyone to believe she's a boy, and goes around acting like one? She doesn't want to be treated like a little girl. She wants people to believe that she can take care of herself, and that she doesn't need your goddamn help. Yeah, she's lonely; yeah, she likes talking to someone else, but she sure as hell doesn't want you to be her white knight, and she'll do whatever she needs to in order to convince you that. So you wanna be in her good graces? Stop treating her like the kid she is, especially seein' as how she's been takin' care of herself pretty damn good so far to have made it this long." She stood up, hands in her pockets and one clenching around the keys to her bike. "She was a daddy's girl, Jed. It's written all over her. You try and tell her she needs to live with me, and she'll be gone so fast her seat will still be warm. I can promise you that."
Jed clenched his jaw, watching Jack for a few seconds. He knew that Alice was right; he knew she made perfect sense. It just didn't stop it from bothering him. "So what'm I s'posed to do?" he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Let her navigate," Alice said, sounding quite a lot like she wanted to tack 'duh' to the end of that sentence. "She'll probably end up doing everything you want her to do, but just let her do it when she wants to. That's any woman ever, preteen or otherwise."
Jack tried to focus on skateboarding, the sound of her wheels against the concrete filling her ears. She wished she could just think about skateboarding but instead she had stupid Jed's voice in her head. Jed talking about being safe. Jed talking about the world being a forever thing. Stupid Jed. Meeting Alice suddenly made Jack think about all the other people in the world, where ever they were. Every single person she'd ever seen in this new world was older than her. No kids. Nobody. And that made her feel alone.
On her next rise up the bowl, Jack stepped on the lip, coming out of it. Carrying her board back in front of her, Jack went back to the grownups, catching her breath. "How old are you?" she asked them both, looking between one and the other.
"Uh," Jed said, doubly thrown by Jack's sudden return and question. He glanced at Alice, who looked two steps from getting out of there. "Well, I'm thirty-three."
"Twenty-five," Alice said somewhat flatly.
Jack frowned at Alice. She sounded weird. "You ever see anybody else my age?" Jed was old. Jack was surprised at that, though.
Jed shook his head. "Ain't seen hardly anybody, though." Alright, not exactly the best method of consoling there, he realized.
Still frowning, Jack looked at Alice for an answer. Alice shifted her weight on her feet, eyes dropping downward.
"I don't go looking for people. People usually find me. And by people, I mean Jed, so... no." She shifted again, bringing her eyes up. "Doesn't mean there aren't any out there, though. Honestly, I thought I was the only person in Vegas."
"Oh. Okay." She shuffled her feet. It suddenly occurred to her that if everyone else in the world was older than she was, then they would all die too. And if they all died first, she'd be the only person left in the whole world.
Glancing back at Alice, hoping she'd have some way to respond to that, or at least some way of telling him how he should respond, Jed got nothing. "Look, we'll find more people," he said firmly. "And there's definitely more kids out there. Just a matter of time. They all ran away from the cities when things got bad, but they'll come back."
"There were evacuations," Alice added, nodding a little. "People got out. If we survived, there'll be others. They'll just be harder to find." She cleared her throat, tugging out her keys. "I gotta go. I've got food cookin', and I don't want it to go to waste." Her eyes moved over to Jed real quick. "I'll see you around."
"I-- Yeah, yeah, see you around," Jed said, wishing this whole meeting had turned out more like he'd imagined.
"Nice to have met you, Jack," Alice said, offering a nod before she headed off to where she'd parked her motorcycle. She'd left the helmet with it, and within a matter of moments the sound of the engine roaring to life filled the air, promptly fading off as she took off down the street.
Jack took Alice's empty seat, laying her skateboard across her lap and spinning the wheels with a forefinger. She followed the sound of Alice's motorcycle until it faded, lasting so much longer in a world with no background noise. It was strange to think about roads packed with cars now. She wondered if it was really true there would be more kids. It didn't feel like it. Jack hadn't even heard of anyone else at her school living. It was only her. Always only her.
Jed slid onto the bench across from her, leaning heavily on the picnic table. He watched her in silence a moment, trying to think of the right words. "She's goin' through a tough time," he finally said. "She can be real friendly, really."
"Yeah, well, me too," Jack said, her mouth in a firm line. Things sucked for everybody. "What'd you bring her for? Just cause I'm a girl?"
"No," he said quickly, then rethought it. "I mean, that's part of it, but I thought... There's not many people left. I know it ain't nice, but I don't want to lie to you, Jack. We don't know how many is left, but I think those who are, those who wanna survive, wanna help everyone else survive, they should come together. Find each other. Stronger together, right?"
Jack thought about this. "But what if everybody else dies?" To Jack, this was the obvious flaw. "I mean you're all old. You're going to die."
Jed blinked; that was blunter than he expected. Also wasn't something he'd thought about really. "I'm not that old," he pointed out. "Got a whole lot of time left. But yer right, eventually I'll die. But there's gonna be other people. And there's gonna be babies born. Life ain't just gonna end."
Jack thought Jed was a little old; he was only a few years younger than her parents had been. "But everybody's older than me..." she protested.
He laughed. "Jack, there's only three of us right now. And y'all are younger than me. But there's more people out there, and there's more kids out there. I promise." After a pause, he added, "You want to look for them with me? I spend most my days wanderin' around the city. Bound to run into somebody eventually. That's how I found Alice; how I found you."
She did want to. Jack wanted to find someone her own age. Someone who could understand, well, everything. "Yeah, I'll come with. Besides, you probably need me anyways since you're big and have a gun."
That got a bigger laugh. "Yeah, guess I don't look real friendly off the bat." He drummed his hands on the table. There was one more thing he wanted to bring up, and since Alice had effectively cut short any idea of her taking Jack in... "Y'know, might be easier if we were stayin' at the same place. That way anyone we find won't have to choose where to go, right?"
Jack thought about this, temptation and fear mixing. But Jed had been nothing but nice to her and he meant not being alone. Plus, he had Rocky. "Okay. But only because you need my help."
Jed bit his tongue to keep himself from grinning too wide. "Thanks, it's gonna be a real help. Plus I'm stayin' at a real nice hotel; all the way at the top. And there's plenty of rooms. Rocky loves runnin' around up there."
Jack laughed. Living in a hotel made sense but it was still funny. "You're such a tourist, Jed."