Andrew Kirke (tuned_in) wrote in the_colony, @ 2010-04-04 16:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 06, andrew kirke, derek miller, | derek and drew, ~ series: radio broadcasts |
Week Six - Thursday
Characters: Andrew Kirke and Derek Miller.
Setting: Mostly over CB radio, but UVLA's radio tower and Derek's hotel.
Summary: Derek reaches out through the airwaves and is surprised to find someone listening and willing to talk.
Rating: PG-13 for swears.
This was probably a stupid idea. Derek was already regretting the effort he'd gone to track find a CB radio. Chances were good that there would be no one at the other end but those damn museum people got him thinking that maybe if there were people around who didn't just want to kill everyone they came across maybe he had a shot. It was stupid. All evidence suggested that his mother and sisters had bit it with everyone else and if they hadn't died from the virus, they'd probably been killed by crazy bastards like the Sevens. There wasn't a chance in hell this was going to work. He pushed the button anyway.
"Anybody there?"
In the radio tower, miles away, Drew startled in his chair as a voice came through in the radio. It wasn't Ana, not by a long shot, but it was the first voice he'd heard that wasn't his own or Molly's since Wednesday. It certainly didn't sound like either of the two people who had been at the museum. He hesitated a moment, staring at the machine.
"Pick it up, you idiot," he told himself, scooting his chair over to the CB. "Just pick it up. You don't have to tell him anything. Just--" He cleared his throat, grabbing the hand microphone and depressing the button. "You lookin' for someone in particular?"
Derek was so surprised to hear a voice coming back thin through the speaker that he almost dropped the damn receiver. "Not exactly. Looking for news of Tyra, Monique and Lisa Miller out of Columbus."
"Sorry, man," Drew replied, feeling sympathy almost instantly. "Nothing I've heard. I'll put them in my announcement on my station, though. You head of a Seth? Or an Ana?"
"Don't know a Seth." He let go of the button a second to think. "Met an Ana once, though."
Drew was immediate on the edge of his seat, a rush of hope and adrenaline pumping through him. "Did she have blue eyes and dimples? Was she a bit short? Like, 5'3" or 5'4"? Did she say she was from Las Vegas or used to work as a bartender?"
It was long a pause before Derek could depress the talk button. He didn't want to crush anybody's hopes if they were looking for family and this would. "No, she was taller than that and dark eyes...sorry." Not his fault he didn't have better news.
Just as quickly as he'd felt excited, Drew felt his heart sink. It wasn't his Ana. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, steadying himself so as not to lose faith. He had to believe Ana was out there, alive and well. It was the only thing keeping him going day to day. "...S'okay, man. I--" the song on the radio was coming to an end; he knew because of the change in key and the second repeat of the chorus. "--hang on, I've gotta put on the next loop for the station."
Hang on usually meant wait but Derek answered back anyways. "The next what?"
Drew ignored the voice for a moment, flipping on a pre-recorded break message and the next loop on a timer before coming back to the CB again. "The next loop of music. I'm operating out of a radio tower."
The idea of someone working in a radio station was bizarre and Derek couldn't keep the disbelief out of his voice. "You're on the fucking radio?"
Drew couldn't help but smirk a little, but he was able to hide it when he answered. "Yeah. 91.5 FM. It's got a wider range than a CB."
The motel room Derek had chosen because hotels had fewer bodies which meant they smelled better had a cheap clock radio and he fumbled with it for a minute before he got it tuned in. He was surprised that music came out of the speakers - not that he hadn't believed the voice on the CB but it didn't seem possible something as familiar as the radio would still work. For a second, Derek was bitterly homesick for his old life. "Well, shit."
"You're welcome," Drew replied when he didn't hear an immediate response through the radio. He couldn't help but chuckle a little to himself, that everyone he'd met so far was so baffled about the radios still working. Just because there wasn't power anymore didn't mean the technology didn't exist. The real exercise in effort would be to somehow access the satellites in orbit around the planet. Not that he was anywhere skilled enough to pull that off, and even if he did, it wouldn't be much different than shouting into a dark tunnel, just to hear his voice double back.
The voice on the CB pulled Derek's attention back and he returned to the reciever. "Next, you're going to tell me the TV works, too."
Drew laughed, then rubbed the back of his neck in thought. It wasn't exactly far-fetched; he'd just never really tried it. "Emergency broadcast might work, but I have no idea how. When everything switched out from antennae, it kinda put a wrench in the works."
"Guess I'm watching The Sopranos on DVD again." Derek had to admit there was something comforting about talking to someone he couldn't see. In person, people were crazy and dangerous. Over the airwaves, Derek didn't need to worry about being beaten to death over a can of Spam. Or worse.
"Most of the rental places are still fulla shit," Drew offered. "People looted actual stores first, but if you get creative and think about it, VHS tapes and other stuff, most people left those behind. They didn't care. I found a few recorded VHS tapes of some of the old Star Trek series. The one with the bald dude."
"Man, we didn't watch no Star Trek in my house." He wondered if now was the time to start. All he had were endless hours and nothing to fill them with.
"Anything's interesting when there's nothin' new," Drew replied, shrugging although the guy couldn't see him. He also felt some affinity to this stranger over the airwaves, who obviously didn't mind talking about random shit. He'd gotten so used to hearing his own voice that it was nice to have something new that interacted. Not that he didn't appreciate Molly; he did, but their age gap left a lot lost in translation.
"I'll put it on my Netflix," Derek deadpanned. Drew smirked, but said nothing in direct response.
"Well, it was nice talkin' to ya. I gotta get back to doin' nothing."
"Yeah, me too. I'll keep an eye out for what's-her-name. Short Ana."
"Just tell her Andrew is looking for her," Drew replied. "I'll put your names in my shout-outs too, to get the word out. Catchya later."