#we used go to [TOWN (OR MAYBE ITS A REALLY RUN DOWN CITY?)] a lot because it had the closest [MOBILE NETWORK PROVIDER] store

[jd07201990]

“Oh, come on Chuck! This’ll be my second time! You can’t keep forcing me to work another 40 years, just to make it to retirement and do it all again! It’s not yours or my fault that there aren’t enough young folk to take over our jobs! Hell, maybe if we paid a bit more, the few of them out there would apply!”

��It’s Lieutenant Roth, Billy. Now go change out of that equipment and take a shower. Whatever this remote does to strip away all those years, it sure does leave a young man ripe!”

“Don’t call me Billy! I haven’t been Billy in 30 years! Its Bill Damn it! And how am I supposed to explain this, again! to David?! You know he’s not into, well… this!”

“Put your shirt down Billy and quit your complaining. We’re doing something different this time, changing things up, trying something new. See, we couldn’t afford to pay higher wages all these years, because we’ve been stashing extra money away, for a new program. This remote can do a lot more than just wipe away years, Billy. The company has a whole app-store full of features, but they cost a hell of a lot. We only had enough for 2 new features, and we think it’ll really help solve this town’s aging population issue.”

“Wha… what the hell are you saying? What do you mean, something new?! Chuck, dude… you’re seriously starting to crack! What the fuck does any of this have to do with David?! And who is, “We”?!”

“I’m only going to tell you this once, son. It’s Lieutenant Roth. Now, I guess there’s no beating around the bush with you young-bloods. So I’ll get right to it. “We” is me, the Governor, and the Town Board. We investigated every possible fix, and it comes down to this. All the youth are moving out in droves, going to college, or fleeing to the city for excitement, leaving us aging folk to do the hard work around town. With the remote able to take years off a person, we’ve decided that all our current retirees, in every department, will be regressed, and the new feature we purchased will ensure you all follow your new, youthful instincts, providing us with a full generational bump in population.

You will be the hot-blooded virile stud you were way back in the day; you remember? Except this time, just as David isn’t attracted to this prime of your life look, YOU won’t be attracted to David, or any man for that matter. You see, we need all the help we can get, so with this little app, you’ll be chasing pretty women, and will certainly end up settling down, once one of them catches. Ah, by the look on your face, you know exactly what I mean.

Good, because you and the rest of the retirees are going to have your hands full, working these jobs getting paid just enough for a double-wide and a truck, leaving a trail of gals before you settle in with one, and have a whole mess of kids. "

“Ch… Lieutenant, sir… Wha… you’re insane dude! Fuckin’ totally cracked! You hear yourself! You can’t do this! I can’t be… I can’t chase… I don’t… don’t like…. Fuck… fuck dude… what the fuck are you doing?! Quit pointin’ that shit at me bro! My.. my head!”

“Don’t worry son, I’ll let you off the hook for all that mouthing off. It’s got to be rough having your brain completely flipped inside out, dumped out and filled with everything you need to be a, productive, member of society. Isn’t that right Billy?”

“Wha.. Oh, hey Lieutenant! So uh, is it ok if I head off to the showers and hit the road? Kind of a slow night huh sir? If it’d be alright, I want to go down to the Strip and hit the bar. The dudes and I figured we’d start the weekend early, ya know? Gotta get get some tail on lock before the storms hit. Thinkin’ I might run into Becka too, you know, from Thornton Stables? God she’d look real pretty, all knocked up good n’ proper!”

“Oh alright son. Go ahead, take the night off. But you’re on call. Got it! One or two beers, maybe a shot, take some cash and buy the lass one of those fruity drinks, and you treat her like a lady, young man. Got it?”

“Got it Dude! I mean Lieutenant! I’ll make a lady outa her yet! Thanks for the money too! Ya know how rough it is on the town’s wages! Although you and the Board seem to be doin’ alright. I hope I can get to where you are, Sir!”

“Don’t worry Billy, you’ve got a good 40 years or so to work your way up! Go have fun tonight!”

[morallygreychaoticneutral]

Astarion was not a "corrupt" magistrate.

Hello again. Just more opinion about my favorite battle buddy. Warning, trigger words in use. Game spoilers.

It's not quite set in stone that Astarion really was a magistrate, but we are going to go with the idea he was for this thought pocket. Also this is just game as it is now info use.

I don't believe he was corrupt magistrate. There were a few things in the game that called that out, but one in particular really set it in stone for me.

His response to the Ansur lair puzzle regarding justice.

Astarion: “Mercy?! Please. Justice should be a harsh lesson. All the better to deter the next vagabond.”

This makes me think he was a bit of a hard ass as a magistrate, but not corrupt. Had he been dealing dirty in the background I really feel like this answer would have been more dismissive or flippant. But he is pretty intent that this is his stance. Very, iv said this a thousand times, type feel.

I think, he was more of a by the book, law is law type. You murder and rape you swing from the gallows. You steal from a shop keeper, you do time. Period.

My theory is, he got beat up because he wasn't lenient with a member of the Gur that was on trial.

"Leniency?! You have been found guilty of negligence resulting in the death of a innocent! You are owed nothing!"

Could you hear it?

"But he talks about being hedonistic and indulgent all the time. "

Yes, but most patriar level citizens were spoiled entitled brats that did what they desired. Have you talked to some of them in the upper city? Yeeesh.

Was he arrogant? Most likely. Prejudice? Obviously (insert gnomes here). But being a haughty jerk does not make one evil.

Sex, nudity, orgies, parties, over indulging etc are not taboo in Faerun. If everybody is consenting to be being naked in a fountain, hopefully in a private villa garden, its not a crime. He talks about that like its a memory, but I like to think his wine drunk giggly ass was actually in that fountain.

If you want to have a little rabbit hole fun, break down the name. Faerun = Fae Run = Run by the Fae. And last I checked, fairies were always down for some naked in the water time. I mean, come on, you can go to pound town with a bear. (No offence, Halsin.) You think they are going to draw the line at how may wieners you can have in the same pot? I think not.

I think the criminal behavior came after he was turned. Cazador may have been targeting him, but not because they were involved. But maybe due to him looking like his old master Vellioth? And he took advantage of a situation. Who knows, lots of ideas there.

"But he's always getting onto Tav for doing the "right" thing."

Yup, Tav is being too trusting and getting too involved with other peoples problems. Why is this an issue for Astarion? Kindness was what got him entombed for a year. He cared about that sweet mans life and was severally punished for it. Its akin to being mauled by a dog and then watching people just reach out a pet every one they see. The anxiety of that attack is still there and it paints every encounter with its opinion. Danger.

"He's not smart enough."

Oh I bet he is. You can be whip smart at a subject and socially akward at the same time. I'm very good at my job. I know it inside and out and can give you any detail, rule, configuration at the drop of a hat in the most professional and proficient way possible. But ask me to be eloquent in a social situation? HA! You are better off asking a rock to fart. Unrelated.

"But he wants to ascend, and that's evil."

That is more about who is is after years of torment and abuse. Not before.

I think the rogue role was adopted to stay alive while hunting. And what a gods awful fate to be turned into the thing you hated the most. A criminal.

I'm sure Caz was real tickled by that. Expletive Adjective.

[nonbinary-sticks-the-badger]

ok so im tallying up my choices rn, theres one thats sort of near me but id have to get my mum to let us go to a shopping centre she probably doesnt want to go to, theres a handful nearby that are almost definitely a no and theres one that mum would probably actually like BUT we always forget to go whenever we plan to

i really cant wait for the day i find shth in my local cex it looks so fun and goofy omggg

[cleolinda]

I am so fucking pissed. We’re hearing forecasts that we might get FIVE FUCKING INCHES OF SNOW overnight from Monday to Tuesday. In ALABAMA, where we have no snow removal equipment. Like I think we got one bag of sand for the whole town. No snow tires, I don’t even know what those are. This isn’t cute “Haha it’s just barely below freezing! Snowball fight!!!” snow. This is 14° Fuck (-11° Come the Fuck On) snow. FIVE INCHES? We get flurries and the city descends into madness.

What if we lose POWER. Everything runs off USB cord stuck in the outlet charging nowadays. This is why everyone used to run out and buy Milk Bread Batteries. Listen. I have this memory of the power going out during this wild snowstorm when I was a kid--I want to say it was Winter Storm '93. Ask anyone who lived in Alabama at the time. Like we had Desert Storm '92 the military operation one year and Winter Storm '93 the next. It was that serious in our minds, and I'm not sure you can blame us:

The storm dumped several inches of snow each hour on Birmingham, which ended up with officially 13 inches of snow.

Due to the high winds some parts of Birmingham reported drifts 5 to 6 feet deep. One state trooper reported that the roads were in the worst shape he had ever seen. "People can't tell what's road and what's not."

Low temperatures during the storm were in the 5-to-10 degree range on that Sunday.

IN A TOWN WHERE WE DON'T KNOW WHAT A SNOW PLOW IS. I think we had one for the entire county. Like I'm only kind of joking here.

And our power went out.

The snow was so heavy that it pulled down power lines either by its own weight, or by the tree branches its weight broke off. Meanwhile, the power at my house already went off every time a squirrel sneezed. I don't how many days this lasted; it was probably like, 2-3 days, but in my head, I was 14 years old boxed up with my family with no heat and it lasted two weeks. Maybe three years. The four of us slept in sleeping bags layered with quilts, huddled on the floor around a wood burning fire. (In the haunted house, no less.) The carpet was really nice, at least. We had a--do people still call them boomboxes? A big portable cassette player--battery-powered--with AM/FM radio. We listened to whatever TV shows were broadcast from the ABC station at night. We did have hot water; I took a lot of hot baths. We cooked food over the outdoor grill (which we moved to the comfortably large area under the deck, to hold off the falling snow), sometimes using aluminum foil as a kind of thin impromptu frying pan, and kept perishables like milk and meat in a cooler. Oh, did we have a bag of ice for the cooler? No, we used snow. God knows there was enough of it. Of course, I'm sure the refrigerator was perfectly serviceable even without power, because it was TEN DEGREES FUCK ALL.

I remember going outside a good bit and playing, as much as a teenager plays, in the snow with my seven-year-old sister. I remember that all the neighborhood kids got big rubber trashcan lids and used them as toboggans, going up to the top of the hill on our street and pretty successfully sledding down. Maybe it was "lmao snowball fight!!" snow when I was 14. I'm 45 now, and the cold makes me hurt. It makes me hurt all over. Maybe Winter Storm '24 will be a fun core memory for my nephew. I am pissed. And also charging all my electronics.

(ETA: It’s ‘24 now, isn’t it. My brain hasn’t clicked the date over yet. What is time.)

[blu-ish]

CHAPTER ONE

The sweet aroma of baked goods lingered on the blue hedgehogs nose. Carefully, he tucked a savory package of fresh cinnamon buns under his arm as he exited one of the many still holiday themed bakery's in Station Square.

Sonic didn't mind the almost subzero temperature that would sweep through the city during this time of year. He was a sight to behold in contrast to the bundled up mobians and humans alike that passed him on the sidewalk.

His only winter like accessory's included a bright red scarf that was wrapped firmly around his neck, along with some boots that resembled his regular shoes. He was dressed to impress so to speak.

Okay... so maybe he could've worn a even brighter--and warmer, coat or something; the cold was starting to nip him.

His light jog turned into a run as he maneuvered his way around town. The thrilled outcry of a small child spotting him, or the enthusiastic greetings from the townspeople mixed with the early morning rays helped to warmed him, just a little. Man it was cold out here...

But what really pulled Station Squares merry revelry together, was the towering tree at the city's center. It was like the cherry on top of a perfect freezing sundae.

Just as he was kicking up speed--and snow, he was suddenly stopped by the sound of a familiar worn voice calling to him, alongside the distinct smell of cucumber sandwiches.

"Why, if it isn't Sonic! How are you old friend?" The man, unlike Sonic, was bundled head to toe to fight off the cold, his comically large scarf only leaving his nose visible, muffling his voice ever so slightly--it was a miracle he heard him at all. His bushy eyebrows were dusted with hints of snowflakes.

Resisting the urge to chuckle at the mans failed attempt to take a bite of his sandwich, the hero instead gave him a bright smile.

"Professor Pickle! What brings you to Station Square?" It wasn't uncommon for the Professor to travel abroad, his places of study were usually all over Mobius.

"Oh, just making the yearly round to greet the family..." You couldn't tell, but his eyebrows were furrowed ever so slightly. "You would not believe what utter nonsensical sentiments they have regarding my line of research and, oh! Oh, and my dear cousin Dona once again ever so slightly over roasted the roast, it was dreadful I tell you son."

Sonic furrowed his own brow--in a very serious manner, nodding along with the older man.

"Absolutely tragic."

"I know!"

After clearing his throat, the professor gestured toward the tree behind him.

"But enough about my sorrows, I simply had to marvel at this here deciduous tree! It is truly magnificent."

Sonic had to agree. Every year, everyone would come together to offer one decoration to add to the tree. Some people would work together to create some amazing stuff. But even the smallest and simple of ornaments made it that much more special. To him at least.

"If you don't mind me asking, did you happen to add anything? I would've loved to participate, its a shame we don't have anything like this is Spagonia, Oh that reminds me, I need to write a memo--"

"Sure did! Right around... here!" The hero quickly interjected to save the innocents of another Pickle prattle. Pointing a gloved hand toward the bottom of the tree, causing the professor to bend down to view it. Okay, it wasn't that far down come on...

"Ah, a glass keychain of some sort? Oh! A pressed flowered one at that! Did you make this yourself?"

"Well, Tails helped me a bit, I picked out the flowers though!" The hedgehog responded proudly. Sonic loved to collect little mementos from his adventures, he used to do it a lot as a hoglet. Flowers tended to be the easiest thing to grab on the go, but he would always tend to return with the crunchier versions of them later.

He was forever thankful to Tails for teaching him the wonders of modern flower pressing.

"It's wonderful, ah I spot some Strelitzia... oh! Bluebells and Borage too, my what a collection!"

"Thanks! I was able to shove a few more different kinds of flowers in there before Tails started to get worried." Sonic said with a laugh, rubbing the back of his quilled head. He really wanted to make it extra special.

"And what is it you have there?" Maybe he should start calling the Professor, Detective Pickle. That is, until he remembered what it was he was supposed to be doing at the moment.

"Oh shoot! I almost forgot, Tails wanted me to drop off these cinnamon buns at his place." The box was starting to feel a bit cold too.

Professor Pickle hummed, nodding toward the teen. "You should be on your way then, no use in small talk if those buns were to freeze!" He hurried the hog along, like he wasn't the one who stopped him in the first place.

Sonic agreed, well, he would've worded it WAY differently but, yeah he definitely needed to get going.

"Consider them delivered Professor!" he waved, starting his jog once more. He was only a few feet away when Pickle called out to him one last time.

"Oh! And let the boy know that my study in Apotos is prepared for his arrival!"

Oh, yeah.

That.

Sonic could've swore there was a small crack in the cement that almost caused him to fall, but he was able to right himself before sending a quick thumbs up to the Professor before speeding off.

He was being pretty forgetful today, huh?

-----

The young fox busied himself, removing just about the last of any remaining holiday lights from above his lab, tossing them into the large box below. He hummed along with the distant belated holiday songs playing on his speaker. What? He could end another great wintery season with a final round of some musical bangers.

Boxes began to pile up in the corner of Tails' garage, he occasionally checked his wristwatch. Where was that brother of his? It was almost noon and his music was starting to loop.

Gazing over the horizon, he spotted a familiar blue hue. His fangs stuck out in a smile, flying down to meet the other. He could almost taste those cinnamon buns!

"Sonic! Took you long enough!" He teased, landing over to try to take the box from his troublesome sibling. It would be like him to turn a small task into a half a days adventure, he presumed.

But before he even had the chance to seize the gooey goodness, the hedgehog hastily turn his back toward him. The fox stumbled a bit, eyeing Sonic bewilderedly, who was currently staring no where in particular with a overdramatic squint in his green eyes.

"What? Did someone order some tasty lukewarm cinnamon buns?" Oh no, not again. He wouldn't dare.

"Sonic, nooo!" Tails yelped, trying to force away the ever creeping urge to laugh, reaching around in an attempt to safely obtain his sustenance. "Come on!"

Sonic pulled off his spinning dramatics a bit longer, until he reached the entrance of the Tornado's garage. "Gotta package for uhhhh..." He checked the imaginary tag on the box, switching it in his hands to dodge the hungry kit.

"Whales Wower?"

Tails let out a loud groan, cracking Sonic's act in half as he burst out laughing. "Wow! You even sound like one dude!"

"Can I have my deserts now...?" The kid practically begged, his tails swinging in anticipation. He added the puppy dog eyes for safe measure.

The older smiled softly, ruffling the kits fur on his head. "Our deserts little brother..." Sonic reminded sweetly, helping himself to a few tasty buns after finally setting the box down on the fox's workbench.

Rolling his eyes, Tails sat down on a nearby chair, using his watch to close the garage door, shutting the cold out. He stuffed his face and pointed a questioning finger at his brother. "I thought you said it'll only, and I quote, take a sec?"

The accused put a hand on his peach furred chest, gasping. "I demand to speak to my lawyer!"

Tails awaited an answer, grabbing another helping of cinnamon buns, Sonic was sure they wouldn't last another 5 minutes.

"Alright, alright! So maybe I ran into a pickle, a certain one at that." It didn't take long for Tails' momentary confusion to change to understanding.

"Ooh! Professor Pickle!" He giggled, "I didn't know he was visiting, I would've at least invited him over." He did have some things he wanted to discuss with the Professor.

"I don't know Tails, he seemed pretty mesmerized with the winter tree in Station Square." Sonic recalled, "I even got some Pickle Points on my ornament this year!"

The kit side eyed him, causing the hedgehog to sputter momentarily.

"Y-You were credited!"

The brothers shared a laugh, it was cut short by Sonic, who's tone changed ever so slightly.

"Oh, and uh, he said to let ya know his place in Apotos is all set lil dude!" His attempt to raise a cheerful tone at the very end was painfully noticeable, well, if you were his brother that is.

Tails had finally made the plans to start off on his own adventure the start of the new year, so did most of his friends, including Sonic. Professor Pickle wouldn't be staying at one of his newer studies in Apotos, and offered to lend it to the fox, like his own base! It saved him time from gathering supplies to build a whole other lab and well...

It would be a big change, and his brother had been nothing but encouraging.

But as the start of the new year drew closer, so did Sonic in a way. Offering to do even the most minor tasks, reassuring Tails that if he ever needed him he would gladly run over the ocean to see him, double even triple checking if Tails had everything he needed. It was almost surreal.

He loved his brother, very much. But he could be such a mother hen when he wanted to be.

"That's great, I'm really looking forward to it." He responded, more gently than he hoped for, but Sonic nodded happily nevertheless.

"And you should!" Sonic exclaimed, his burning confidence seemingly resurfacing. "Man, I remember the desire for adventure at your age. Sleeping under the stars, eating leftover coconut shells..." Tails snorted, changing the subject before Sonic got too reminiscent with his questionable childhood habits.

"Yeah, yeah, okay old man," Reaching into the now empty box of cinnamon buns, the kit sighed, disposing of the cardboard. "What about you? You never really mentioned your plans besides, doing what you always do." He ended that last bit with long air quotations.

The hedgehog grinned, shrugging his shoulders. "What can I say, the adventures tend to come to me before I go looking for them. I'm sure I can keep myself busy. Maybe I'll take Shadow on that racing offer he gave me during the winter festival."

"You mean the invitation to kick your butt after you somehow managed to accidently eat the rest of his parfait?" Tails added, throwing his brother a look.

"WHO EATS THOSE IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER?!"

[gamertales]

Gotham, July 30th, 2024.

Hey, over here. Youre that blogger lady, right? Looking for info on the supposed ring of collectors of objects belonging to the Bat clan? We talked...well texted a bunch recently about the market.

Hah. Well i cant speak to this supposed ring, but i can show you my own personal collection. Sure its secured, i get a lot of people sniffing around so i try to keep it locked up, but im not stupid. No point tryin to hide from the Bats or what have you, this is just for the schmucks and their bosses. Hah.

Alright, if you follow me into my van.

Oh, yeah, i get that a lot. But look, im 52, i havent got the energy to flirt with 40 year old tired house moms. Kidnapping sounds like a lot of work.

Bit of a shocker compared to the outside, huh? Yeah, I had the interior and body upgraded a few years ago, added comfort and protection,still kept the rough looking exterior tho, keeps attention down.

Yep. Glass repair, window replacement, skylights. Heh. Youd be surprised to know how many small contractors making a living cleaning up qfter the Bat clan. Lotta companies downtown cant get insurance for windows, doors, ventilation systems. Gives us smaller guys a little more space to play.

After that throw down between Nightwing and Riddlers goons across from the Bank of Gotham last week, i managed to get in quick, and lock down the window contract.

This parts important, first crew on the scene gets to move in after the cops move out. Now Gothams finest do their best, but the number of small things they miss...

Take this for example, its a section of Nightwings glove with those fancy little spike things on them. Found it in the rubble under the skylight. Along with some mooks hand. Turned the hand in of course.

What? Oh its an informal alliance, but we keep each other in the loop, and let each other know when shits going down near em. If I cant make it across town, i'll send a text to the crews closest.

The goggles? Harley quinn dropped them a couple years ago, found them in the bushes outside the Exchange. Thats not the prize piece.

This. Two Batarangs from the Bat himself. To be fair i didnt really have to go far to find them. Summer of '19 the big guy landed on my roof. Hard. Dropped, rolled, and started running down the alleyway. Now i was dozing at the time, and that startled the literal shit out me. Cue the clown goons jumping on my truck to give chase. Big threw four of these beauties, making them scatter, and doing more damage to the van.

Four batarangs tho? I sold 2 of them to my buyer in the city. A collector of this stuff. He calls it "pretentious peacocking for poorly adjusted prats." Yeah, Mr Wayne is different enough. Only met him the one time, but he was very affable, even hired me to do the new windows for his guest house.

Made enough to upgrade ole Greaser here to their current condition. And a little.

Other than Mr Wayne? Im afraid i only deal with Mr Wayne; he pays fair, promptly, and usually sends a gift basket. No, i go thru his Butler now.

Right? A Butler. In 2024. Still, he seems harmless enough, spends all his time at charities i hear.

The Ring again? Look, im serious i have nothing to do with that side of the market.

...if you are really determined tho, contact Marc Belvedere, if anyone i know knows about this, itll be Marc.

Listen, i have toinstall some skylights at the City Hall in an hour, so i gotta get moving. Yeah, tell your friends Karl Aleksev is The Window guy when in a pinch.

By the way, what was your name again? Barbara Gordon? Like the Gordon Gordon? Your his daughter? Well, good luck, and be careful, theres a lot of money in this business, and money gets people killed.

Yeah. I guess you didnt really need that advice, huh.

Maybe we will cross paths again.

[scarisd3ad]

To the end and back | Daryl Dixon x f!reader

Chapter Eighteen - safe and sound

Masterlist

Taglist

Previous >> next

Warnings - normal twd warnings

Summary - after the world ended you were sure you’d never find love again but a certain archer catches your eyes and changes the entire trajectory of your life.

A/n - the last chapter of season 2! Yay! I am going to post a chapter that takes place between season 2 and 3 that will introduce a new oc!

'Beside the dying fire'

S2 ep 13

"What was that?" I ask as I quickly jump up and walk over to where the others are sat in the living room. "Gun shots my guess" Andrea replies. "You think they found him?" I ask with my brows furrowed as I take a seat on the couch. "I don't know, but I'm going after them" Andrea says as she gets up from her place on the couch. "don't they could be anywhere, and if Randall comes back, were gonna need you here" Lori says as the front door opens. in comes both Daryl and Glenn. that pit in my stomach just dissolves as I see both of them. "Rick and Shane aint back?" Daryl asks as he and Glenn walk into the room. "no." Lori replies. "We heard a shot" Daryl says, as I cross my arms over my chest and relax into the couch "maybe they found Randall." Daryl shakes his head as he says, "we found him." quietly like he was starting to think "is he back in the shed?" Maggie asks. if they found Randall then why was there a shot? did Shane and rick run into a walker? there aren't many walkers to run into out here but maybe the city walkers are making their way into the country? 

"he's a walker" with that information now we know more of them are making their way into the country. the walkers in the city were starting to make their way out of the city when we were at the quarry so I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if they were here now. there are walkers here but not as many as in Atlanta. small town meant a small amount of people which meant a small number of walkers. by now most of the people who were killed and turned to walkers here had been killed, but if the walker from the city starts making their way here that means we'll see a lot more of them soon.

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asks with his hands stuffed into his pockets " no, weird thing is he wasn't bit." Glenn replies and Daryl adds "his neck was broke." from the start we assumed if you get bit you turn into a walker, that's the only way you can turn but maybe just dying makes you turn. "So, he fought back." Patricia states, Maggie's eyebrows stay furrowed up as Glenn and Daryl continue to speak. everything we thought we knew is just total bullshit, everything we've done to survive has really meant nothing if you just turn by dying. is there really a reason to survive if you're just going to turn if you don't get shot in the head. "The thing is Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other. and Shane aint no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. they were together." Shane lied, why would he lie about something like that? I know shanes been known to lie but that's such a stupid thing to lie about just say you killed him it's not like anybody in this group was going to do anything to Shane anyways. 

"Would you please get back out there and find rick and Shane and find out what on earth is going on?" Lori says as she walks up to Daryl. Daryl nods and says "you got it" as he begins to walk towards the door. Lori loosely grabs ahold of Daryl's bicep mumbling "thank you" as she did so.

Daryl, Andrea and Glenn go outside but Andrea quickly runs back inside saying there is a herd of walkers coming our way. almost all of us run outside to take a look, and its big. I think it's bigger than the herd from the highway. it would just knock this house down. Hershel turns to Patricia and whispers "Patricia, kill the lights" Patricia turn around and begins to walk back to the house as Andrea says, "I'll get the guns" and follows after her. "May-maybe they're just passing through like the herd on the highway. should we just go inside?" Glenn suggests, maybe if this was the size of the herd out on the highway but this house won't survive this. "Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't think so. a herd that size would rip the house down" Daryl replies. I wrap my arms around my body mostly to warm myself up because it's freezing out here. 

"Carls gone" Lori says as she runs out onto the porch. we all turn around towards her "what?" that kid loved to run off, but I didn't expect him to run off in the middle of the night while there was a potentially dangerous person on the loose. "He-he wasn't upstairs. I can't find him anymore" Lori stutters out with tears in her eyes. "Maybe he's hiding" Glenn suggests. from what though? unless he saw the herd before us, he has no reason to hide. "he's supposed to be upstairs. I'm not leaving without my boy!" Lori cries, we're not going to leave without carl we can't just let another child die because of our negligence. "we're not, we're gonna look again. we're gonna find him" carol says as she takes Lori's hand and takes her back into the house. I can tell by the look in carols eyes that she doesn't want another mother to go through the same pain she went through with Sophia, she can't watch another child go the same way Sophia did.

Glenn runs his hands through his hair muttering something under his breath I can't really hear. Andrea comes back out with ricks gun bag and Hershel and Maggie hand out guns. I pull out mine from my bag and make sure I have enough rounds to at least make sure I'm able to get out of here alive. "Maggie." Glenn mumbles as Maggie hands him a gun. "You grow up country you pick up a thing or two" Maggie replies with a gun in her hand, and I can't help but agree half of the things I learned growing up on my grandparent's farm are what I'm using now to survive. "I've got the number- it's no use." Daryl mutters "you can go if you want." Hershel says as he cocks the gun in his hand. Daryl's brows furrow together "you're gonna take'em all on?" Hershel looks up at Daryl before saying "we've got guns, we've got cars." 

"Kill as many as we can, and we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off of the farm." Andrea explains. Daryl looks to Hershel one more time asking, "are you serious?" Hershel replies with "this is my farm. I'll die here." 

"Alright. it's as good a night as any" Daryl says before turning to me "stay with Glenn" was he really serious, if he goes by himself and I stay with Glenn I might never be able to find him again we don't know what going to happen when we go out there. "But dar-" he quickly cuts me of grabbing my hand and saying "this ain't the time to be fuckin' stubborn stay with Glenn" before hopping over the porch railing. we watch as he runs off towards his motorcycle. I don't mean to be stubborn I just don't want to not know if something happened to him. anything could happen and I don't want to live the rest of my life waiting for a dead man to come back.

I let out a frustrated sigh as I tuck my gun into my back pocket and turn walking back into the house. "Where are you going?" Glenn asks as he grabs my wrist stopping me from moving any further. "I'm going to see if Lori's found carl yet." I mumble as I pull my wrist out of his grip and continue to walk into the house. I hate this, I hate not being able to stay in one area comfortably we have to flee every single time because of walkers. I walk into the house and up the stairs to where Lori and carol are looking for carl. "Have you found him yet?" I ask Lori's eyes are full of tears as she shakes her head. "May-maybe he's with rick" carol says but Lori just shakes her head "he's supposed to be up here, I told him to stay up here" she cries. carl really wasn't good at listening to his parents especially when they told him to stay inside. 

"y/n! we're about to leave!" I hear Glenn shout from downstairs. I'm about to go downstairs when I hear Maggie say "we've gotta go. if she's with Lori she'll be fine" and then the sound the door closing. I figure if I'm at least with other people in our group I'll be fine, so I decide to stay with Lori and carol to look around the house one last time for carl. we look in every room, under every bed, and even in every cupboard but he's nowhere to be found. he has to be with his father that's the only place I think he would've gone. we have to leave now if we don't, we'll get stuck up in the herd and definitely die. 

I'm peering out the window with Beth as I watch the barn light up in flames. that had to be Shane or ricks handy work they must have gotten stuck up in the barn. if Shane and rick are there, I'm certain carl is too. Beth turns to Patricia and whispers "the barns on fire" I scoot over and let her look. she peers through the boarded-up window and says "they're headed for it, maybe rick set it to draw'em in" a door upstairs slams before Lori comes rushing down the stairs "I can't find him anywhere" she says as carol comes following Lori as she walks into the living room "so maybe he snuck outside." carol says but I think she's just proposing the idea to try and get Lori out of the house. even though I believe he probably snuck out too I don't think Lori will leave until she's fully sure her son is outside and not in this house. "What do I do!" Lori shouts as she quickly turns back towards carol "he was here. he must've run off, maybe looking for rick or just went after Randall himself" carol says still trying to convince Lori that carl is not in this house. "Maybe he set the fire" Patricia proposes, now thinking about it that does seem like a very carl thing to do. Lori's head turns towards the window.

Lori decides she's going to check the shed one last time leaving Beth, Patricia, and I in the house. I don't know if we are going to be able to make it out of this house, the walkers are getting closer and closer even with Hershel outside shooting as many as he can. carol rushes back into the house saying "Beth, y/n, Patricia come on. we gotta go now." we follow after her onto the porch "Lori" carol says as she closes the door behind us. Lori stops shooting and bends down quickly grabbing the gun bag off of the ground. "Hershel! Hershel" Lori shouts as she leans over the porches railing. "Hershel! it's time to go! come on! now!" Lori shouts, he either can't hear her over the loud gun shots or just doesn't care because he doesn't respond. Lori calls his name a few more times before giving up and running over towards us. we begin to just run as fast we can once we get off of the porch. I hear the screams of two people behind me, but I just keep running because if I stop, I know I'll die too. I briefly turn my head back to see that carol, and Lori stopped to help. I can't stop now I keep running until I reach the shed. I turn around to see that a group of walkers have separated off from the herd and have started following me. 

my eyes widen as my back hits the shed. there's nowhere for me to run so I pull my gun out of my back pocket and shakily point my gun towards the walkers. my hands are shaky as I try shooting some walkers most shots failing just because of how unsteady my hands are. I'm gonna die, its finally setting in that I'm probably going to die. "Shit! shit!" I cry out as I try to shoot a few more walkers. this time I shoot two in the head but there is at least 20 coming at me. I watch as the truck comes barreling through a few walkers back where Lori is. I keep shooting at the walkers only making a few of the shots. 

Andrea comes running towards me shooting any walkers in her way. there are two walkers that are the closest to me about 4 or five feet away. I'm sure I'll be able to make these, so I lift my gun up getting ready to shoot when both of them get shot and fall over revealing Andrea behind them. I'm about to thank her when I see a walker behind her so close that if I didn't scream now, she'd die. "Look out!" I scream. she quickly turns around and shoots it, but it falls over on top of her. I don't even think twice before running the other way. maybe I can make it to the barn before Daryl leaves. I'm not that fast though, I never have been. I turn around shooting as many walkers as I can occasionally, but I mostly focus on running. the only thing pushing me towards that barn is adrenaline. my heart is beating against my chest as run, my legs start to ache, but I know I can't stop, not now at least. 

I turn to shoot a few more and it clicks informing me that it's out of ammo. I try again. click. click. "noo!" I cry out as I abruptly stop running to pull out a knife, I had stuffed into my pocket earlier. the walkers are slowly coming close. shit. the barn is close enough that I can see it and the flames roaring around it. I'm fumbling around in my pocket when I finally feel the cold metal blade in my pocket. I pull it out and point it at the walker closest to me. I wait until it comes a little close to raise it up a little and... I yelp as it grabs ahold of my wrist. its grip is tight as I try pulling away. I scream as loud as I can maybe if someone is still at the barn, they'll hear me and come help. "noo! noo let go" I cry out as I continue to pull away. I don't even know how something dead could have that strong of a grip. 

I hear the sound of an engine revving up as I finally break free from the walker's grip and stab it in the eye over and over again till it falls to the ground. I run to the street just as Daryl drives up. I don't think he expected it to be me because of the look on his face when he shouts, "I thought I told ya to stay with Glenn!" I get onto the motorcycle and wrap my arms around his torso before he starts driving again. "I know- I know I'm sorry please don't be mad" I cry. we drive through the night, but it feels like days go by I don't even know where he's taking us. we pass by groups of walkers occasionally, but it doesn't seem to bother Daryl and I'm not in the right state of mind to really care either we always loose them so why should I. 

my mind is racing. I could have died if I wasn't able to pull away from that walker it could've bit me. it could've bit me, and I would've died, I would've died, and no one would know what happened to me. I would've turned into one of those things and just spent the rest of eternity stumbling around looking for my next meal. god I left everything there my picture's my books. all the pictures of my parents, of matt. the only picture I have left is the one in my bag. I have nothing to remember them by what if I forget what they looked like and sounded like. I can't breathe, God we need to stop, I can't breathe.

"Da-Daryl can we stop! please stop!" I cry out loud enough for him to hear me over the engine. seeing that there's no walkers in sight he stops. I let go of Daryl and get off the bike. "Are ya alrigh'?" he asks as I stumble around for a few seconds trying to breathe as I dig through my bag until I find the small family picture I kept in my bag. I stare at it, it's from maybe when I was 8 matt is like 4 in the picture. mom, dad, matt, and me it was taken before dad left. a few months before the big fight that broke my family. it was my fault; I'll always say it was. I was being stubborn like I normally am not listening to my father when he told me to get ready for bed. my parents' relationship was already practically gone by that point but when my father grabbed my wrist tightly trying to pull me up the stairs to my room my mom had to step it. that's when the shouting and the screaming started when I woke up the next morning dad was gone.

 "Did ya get bit? fuck answer me!" he shouts, I quickly turn to him before hugging him. I have one arm wrapped around his neck and my face smushed into his shoulder. he stands there a little confused before wrapping his arms around my waist. "yo-you saved me I would've died out there without you. I l-love you so much" I cry into his shoulder. I can tell he doesn't really know what to say, he just stands there holding me. "Im-Im sorry for being so stubborn I-I should've just gone with Glenn and Maggie. b-but I wanted to help Lori and I-I lost track of time a-and they left me I-I'm sorry" I rant before raising my head up to look at him. I look into his blue eyes before pressing my lips to him he's a little taken aback at first but eventually kisses back. when I pull away, he wipes a tear off of my cheek before muttering "yer alright you don't gotta be sorry."

-

we go back to the highway, that's the best choice to choose if anyone was thinking of meeting up anywhere it would probably be the highway. I guess everyone else had the same idea because as Daryl pulls up onto the highway, I hear the sound of cars behind us. Daryl drives the motorcycle over to where they had left the sign for Sophia which felt like months ago when it was actually just a few weeks ago. when we pull up that's when I see rick, carl, and Hershel. the cars behind us park and I hop off of the motorcycle and to Shane's car. Glenn is standing with the driver's side door open. "Glenn!" I cry out as I almost knock him down in a hug. his arms tighten around my torso as he buries his head into my shoulder. "Holy shit" he mutters before he pulls away "I thought you died" he whispers. I grin as he pulls me back into a hug "I missed you so much." 

we walk over to where the others are gathered. Lori, Rick, Carl, Hershel, Beth, Maggie, carol, t-dog, Glenn, Daryl and I are all here. the only people we're missing are Shane, Andrea, Jimmy, and Patricia. "where'd you find everyone?" rick asks as he stands up from the group hug he was just having with his family. "Well, those guys' taillights zigzagging all over the road figured he had to be Asian, driving like that." Daryl says with his hands placed on his hips and a smirk on his lips. Glenn chuckles "good one." as he nods. Daryl looks around probably making a mental note of everyone who is here before asking rick "where's the rest of us?" rick sighs before turning to Daryl "we're the only ones who made it so far." Lori stands up and asks "Shane?" rick shakes his head. this is probably selfish, but it felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders knowing that Shane is dead. I don't have to worry about Shane trying to do anything to me or anyone else in this group anymore.

"Andrea?" Glenn asks, "sh-she saved me, then I lost her" I whisper terrified that the others would be angry that I left her behind she was a strong member of our group and losing her is definitely going to threaten our chances of surviving. "We saw her go down" t-dog says. "Patricia?" Hershel asks. "They got her too, took her right in front of me. I was-" Beth lets out a broken sob as both her father and sister wrap their arms around her. "I was holdin' onto her, daddy. she just-" she cries as she buries her head into her father's chest. "What about jimmy? did you jimmy?" Beth asks. "He was in the rv. it got overrun." rick replies. in total we lost 4 people to the walkers and most of them were vital assets to our group. "You definitely saw Andrea?" I ask, Lori turns her head towards me and says, "there were walkers everywhere." my brows furrow together "did you see her" I ask as i cross my arms over my chest. the last time I saw Andrea was when she fell, they definitely had to see her if she got up.

Daryl walks over to his bike saying "I'm gonna go back." rick shakes his head saying "no" and Daryl stops his brows furrowing together "We can't just leave her." Daryl protests. We don't even know if she's even alive, and it's been hours since anyone has seen her if she survived, she probably ran far away from that farm. "We don't even know if she's there" Lori says shaking her head "she isn't there, she isn't she's somewhere else or she's dead" rick states. that walker that fell on top of her was definitely dead, but I don't even know if she got out from underneath that walker, there is a chance that all those walkers behind her killed her after I ran. "there's no way to find her" Daryl is a tracker but there were so many walkers in that farm that it would be impossible for him to figure out if any of those footprints are hers. Glenns brows furrow up in confusion as he says, "so we're not even gonna look for her?" he asks, "we gotta keep moving. there are walker crawling all over here" rick replies as a walker in an Argyl sweater begins to stumble its way towards us. there are way too many walkers around her we have to keep moving there's no way we can even try to look for her without losing a few more people.

"I say head east" t-dog suggests as Daryl walks over to where his crossbow is sat on his bike as he says, "stay off the main roads, the bigger the roads, the more walkers, more assholes like this one...I got it." he picks up his crossbow and points it towards the walker and shoots it right in the head. 

we all get back into our cars except for t-dog and the other that were in the truck. we decided to leave that one on the road and move them into the other vehicles to save gas.

-

I have my arms wrapped tightly wrapped around Daryl's torso as we ride down a small road with trees lining either side when I hear a car honk behind us. the rule we made before we left the Atlanta camp honk once if you need assistance. Daryl's bike slows to a stop, I get off of the bike as everyone else is getting out of the cars. "You out?" Daryl asks as he turns his head towards rick who is walking towards him. "Running on fumes." rick replies. "We can't stay here" Maggie says as everyone makes their way towards Daryl and his bike. I stuff my hands in my pockets trying to warm them up, I didn't realize how much the temperature could drop in just a few days.

"We can't all fit in one car" Glenn says "we'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning" rick replies as he turns towards Glenn. "Spend the night here?" carol asks her brows furrowed together. there's no way we can spend the night here it's way too cold to start with and we don't even know who and what is in these woods. we could get raided or even killed if we stayed here. "I'm freezing" carl complains, his mother has her arm wrapped around his and his hands are stuffed in his pocket. "we'll build a fire, yeah?" Lori suggests as she rubs her hand quickly across her son's chest trying to warm him up. rick walks over to his son taking off his jacket before handing it to Lori, Lori takes that jacket and wraps it around carl.

 "You go out looking for firewood, stay close. Only got so many arrows. how are you doing on ammo?" Daryl asks. "Not enough" rick replies as he walks up just a little bit past Daryl's bike. "We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out" Maggie curses which prompts Hershel to reply with "watch your mouth everyone stop panicking and listen to rick" I don't understand how were supposed to stop panicking what started as a trip to find answers at the CDC ended with us having no answers no supplies and homeless. 

"Alright, we'll set up a perimeter. in the morning we'll find gas and some supplies. we'll keep pushing on." rick states, I don't know how we're supposed to just 'keep pushing on' when we've got nothing to eat, the temperatures are dropping, and have no roof over our heads to keep us just a little bit warm. "Glenn and I can go make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas" Maggie suggests. rick shakes his head in protest as he says "no, we stay together. gods forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car." rick says as we turn around. everyone has this look on their face like there not trusting everything rick is saying, like we're starting to pull away and not believe were going to be alright like rick is trying to tell us. "Rick, we're stranded now" Glenn says is a quiet voice. "I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other" what was finding each other worth in were just going to freeze or starve to death. 

"I wasn't sure-" rick cuts himself off as he shakes his head "I really wasn't but we did. we're together. we keep it that way" we all look at each other almost as if were a bit skeptical of if what he is saying is true. was it really for the best that we found each other? "we'll find shelter somewhere. there's gotta be a place." rick says as he turns his back to us and walks forward a bit. "Rick, look around. okay? there's walkers everywhere. t-they're migrating or something." I watch as carl shivers in his mother's arms struggling to get himself warm. "there's gotta be a place not just where we hole up, but we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a life for each other." is there really a way to do that though this group has a record of not being able to stay in one place for a long time. the Atlanta camp, the CDC, the farm they're all abandoned now. 

"I know it's out there. we just have to find it." rick hisses, "even if we do find a place and we think it's safe, we can never be sure for how long. look what happened with the farm. we fooled ourselves into thinking that was safe" Maggie speaks up. Hershel looks to his daughter before whispering "we won't make that mistake again. "Rick it wasn't only the farm we made that mistake with and-and you know that" I whisper, his brows furrow up in anger before it quickly disappears, and he says "we'll make camp tonight over there" he says pointing to something i think used to be some garden or memorial. it's got walls but no roof, but someone could sit onto of the walls to patrol. "Get on the road break of day. "Does this feel right to you?" carol asks Daryl as she walks up to him "what if walkers come through, or another group like Randalls?" Beth asks as she walks up to rick. 

"You know I found Randall, right? he turned, but he wasn't bit." Daryl whispers, rick nods like this weren't a surprise to him "how's that possible?" Beth asks with her brows furrowed together. "Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori asks. I lean myself against Daryl who is beside me trying to maybe transfer heat between the two of us. "Shane killed Randall. just like he always wanted to." Daryl states, loris brows furrow together as she asks, "and then the herd got him?" rick is quiet as we all look to him for answers.

"we're all infected" rick mutters, were all infected which means no matter how hard we try we'll all turn one day unless were shot in the head. "What?" Daryl asks "at the CDC Jenner told me. whatever it is, we all carry it. I don't understand why rick would keep something like that from us. that's an important thing for us to know and he kept it for weeks before telling us. I pull myself off of Daryl before he starts pacing a bit. carols words are laced with anger as she steps forwards and says, "and you didn't say anything?" 

"Would it have made a difference?" were all angry at rick, this is something I think we should've all know about it could've changed so many of the decision we decided to make. "You knew this whole time?" Glenn asks his face filled with the look of betrayal. how could he not have even told his own wife who has the same betrayed look on her face that Glenn has. "How could I have known for sure? you saw how crazy that mo-" Jenner seemed crazy but maybe everything that Jenner was saying was true and we could've made a better more informed decision back at the CDC if we knew we were all infected, if we knew we basically had no chance of having a better life than this. "That isn't your call. 'kay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told for the good of everyone!" Glenn whisper shouts cutting rick off as he leans forward a bit.

I cross my arms over my chest trying to warm myself up as a particularly cold gust of wind blows through. "Well, I thought it best that people didn't know." rick says, no matter how hard he's trying to defend his actions and make us understand why he didn't tell us it doesn't change our opinion that it was fucked up of him not to tell us it seemed more like something Shane would do.

it's quiet for a few seconds as rick looks at each one of us maybe just looking for one of us to speak up and say that we agree with him but none of us do not even his wife. he lets out a disappointed sigh before turning around and walking away. Lori lets go of carl pushing him towards Hershel who pats his head before resting his hand on carl shoulder. Lori follows after her husband leaving us all just watching as she runs after him. 

I run my hands through my hair as I let out a frustrated sigh. that promise rick made yesterday that we were going to fix this group for dale was a lie we were break more, and more and I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up splitting up soon.

-

its late and we're all gathered around the fire trying to keep warm as the night brings in colder and colder temperatures. Daryl is throwing more and more pieces of wood into the fire to keep it a blaze. Lori walks over to carl who is staring into the fire with his hands clasped together and sit down behind him. carol who is sitting beside me whispers "we're not safe with him" to Daryl. Daryl turns his head down towards carol with his brows furrowed together. "keepin' something like that from us." I think it was wrong of rick to not tell us, but I don't think we're not safe with him. "Why do you need him? he's just gonna pull you down" Daryl shakes his head "nah. ricks done all right by me" carols brows furrow together as she says "you're his henchman, and I'm a burden. you deserve better" I think we're fine with rick for right now, he's not like Shane and I don't think we should start anything that could possibly leave us all dead.

Daryl stares at carol for a few seconds before asking "what do you want?" she lifts her head back up to look up at Daryl as she whispers, "a man of honor." I look over to carl who's got his head down looking at the ground, I think it's wrong of carol to be talking so vulgar about his father right in front of him. I can tell carl feels awkward listening to her talk about rick like that. "Rick has honor" Daryl replies. I stuff my hands into my pocket as I mutter "let's not start anything." 

there's a sound out in the woods of something shuffling around out there maybe "what was that?" Beth asks. Daryl stands up and says "could be anything. could be a raccoon, could be a possum." almost all of us stand up, "a walker" Glenn mutters. were all on guard just waiting for a walker to pop out. "We need to leave. what are we waiting for?" carol squeaks as she glances nervously around. "Which way?" Glenn asks and Maggie replies with " it came from over there" as she points to where she suspects the noise came from. "Back from where we came" Beth adds.

"Last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark" like last night the main reason why we lost so many was because of how we were panicking and running around like fools. "We don't have the vehicles. no one's traveling on foot." it wouldn't be safe for us to just run off in the dark there's too many walkers in this area already and there wouldn't be a way for us to find everyone. "don't panic" Hershel advises "I'm not, I'm not sitting here, waiting for another herd to blow through we need to move now!" Maggie demands. rick turns around towards us "no one is going anywhere" he growls as he lunges towards us a bit. he's angry, maybe he heard what we said or maybe he just senses that were questioning him. Maggie's brows furrow up as she takes a step back "do something!" carol begs. "I am doing something! I'm keeping this group together, alive. I've been doin' that all along no matter what!"

"I didn't ask for this! I killed my best friend for you people, for Christ sake!" he killed Shane it wasn't a bite or a self-inflicted death. I'm not mad at him, I'm actually pretty proud of him for finally showing Shane who's boss. carl is staring at his father with tears pooling in his eyes, he's staring at him like he doesn't know who that man is. we all silently stare at rick most of us in shock from his random outburst. rick scoffs "you saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us." he looks down to Lori who won't even make eye contact with him "he staged the whole Randall thing, led me out to put a bullet in my back. he gave me no choice!" I saw the way Shane looked at rick ever since he appeared at the quarry, he looked like he just wanted to strangle him every time he'd kiss Lori or be fatherly with carl. it was like Shane thought rick was stealing it all right from underneath him. "He was my friend, but he came after me." Lori wraps her arms around carl as he begins to sob uncontrollably. even while hearing his son's sobs rick continues on "my hands are clean." he looks to each one of us and we all try not to make eye contact in fear that he'll come after us. "Maybe you people are better off without me. go ahead. I say there's a place for us but may-maybe it's just another pipe dream."

carols got this dear in headlights look now knowing rick heard what she said. "May-maybe I'm just fooling myself again! why don't you- why don't you go and find out yourself?! send me a postcard! go on! there's the door! you can do better? let's see how far you get." no one speaks or tries to leave it's like we're frozen. I knew it was a horrible thing to about rick when he was just a few feet away. we shouldn't have started anything. "No takers? fine. but get one thing straight you're stayin', this isn't a democracy anymore." rick looks at each one of us one more time before turning around and walking off angrily. I just know that dale wouldn't be happy with where our group is at right now, it's still broken, and I don't think there's anything we can do to fix it.

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[saruvanthewhite]

My truck is legal.

My truck was legally parked.

My truck hadn’t been in the same spot even 48 hours.

I wasn’t leaving trash, setting up a ‘yard’, or other ʎʇʇᴉɥs behavior like running loud AF generator…all night.

The SFPD/SFMTA are simply waging war on the unhoused.

I work here.

I pay into the economy here.

I pay for my SFMTA MUNI rides instead of hopping turnstiles or ignoring the clipper tag like a lot of unhoused folk and a fair percentage of others regularly do. I park legally, get around honestly, and don’t bother anyone with nonsense or BS. I stay in my lane.

My children live here. I stay close for them.

I had housing up until nearly five and a half years ago.

The city didn’t bother me while I had housing.

Now I don’t. I have a truck as what was meant to be a temporary housing situation. Very temporary.

I lived here for fifteen years and the city loved me, and I it. Fifteen years a roof and a place to hang a hat.

Divorce and financial hardship changed that.

I am still the same guy. I’m older (this life ages you) and I’m physically older anyway. The same adopted local who went to school, married, labored, divorced, labored more and ended up unhoused in this city.

My kids are growing up here and live with their mother. They are the third generation to be born here.

There’s no illicit activity. No drugs (mehbe a bit of medical MJ) of the scary sort, certainly no alcohol. No shady ʇıɥs going on.

I’m just trying to live my life…work hard to support my children…stay near them to still be present…and maybe begin to get out of the cesspit of despair this ƃuıʞɔnɟ city seems determined to kick me further down into.

This ƃuıʞɔnɟ city which I love, it would seem to my own detriment, which happens to be named after St Francis of Assisi. You know. The guy who was all about helping the poor and fed birds at his monastery or some ʇıɥs?

Now San Francisco is a mockery of its namesake with how it treats its unhoused.

This is the third time I’ve been unjustly harassed like this. Specifically for parking longer than 72hrs but having been there for less than 48; All since the city decided the undesirables had to go.

And all I want to do is stay here for my kids and return to a housed situation. I’m working hard in hopes to do that but have been stymied at every turn. But I still work and have hope I can find a roof and four walls with a place of peace to return at the end of the day and have my kids with me half the time, like a normal broken family!

I don’t like living vanlife. I’m good at it but that doesn’t mean it’s good for me long-term. But it’s better than being on the street. SF REALLY hates you if you live there. I just wish they didn’t make it so difficult on people trying to bootstrap it.

ʞɔnɟ the Taraval station and their heartless ʇᴉɥsllnq policy of blindly targeting the struggling families out here.

Most of us living in our cars and trucks work jobs in town the city would collapse into disrepair without. We don’t make enough to even have a room there. But we work there and our city is better for it. But all the SFMTA, the SFPD, and their campaigning overlords in City Hall care about is making us just disappear.

[hannahssimblr]

Chapter Eleven (Part 2)

I almost tip my coffee into my lap, the room seeming to tilt on its axis for a second. “Wait… What? Are you serious?”

She nods, raising her eyes to me and they’re so apologetic. 

My mind is already racing at the speed of light. “What’s he doing here again?” I cry with outrage. “He was only here at Christmas time.”

“I think he comes back a lot.” She says sheepishly, and then immediately launches into a panicked explanation. “But I don’t see him ever! This will be the first time. I’m only going because Jen was invited too and the guys wanted to balance it out. I really didn’t want to go, I’m not close with either of them but Shane already organised the whole thing so I couldn’t say no, and I was going to tell you but then it felt so awkward and it was hard to bring it up…”

“So weird.” I say, trying to sound really casual but instead sounding like I’m being strangled. “Like I was friends with them both, weird how I’m excluded from the plan.”

“Well I think it’s because Jen invited you to the Christmas party and you said no.”

“I did say no.”

“Well she probably assumed you didn’t want to go to dinner with us on Saturday either then. And you and Jude haven’t spoken in like a year and a half.”

“Well, okay. I know.” I take a sip of my coffee but it tastes weird, like there’s washing up liquid in it or something so I put it back on the table and push it away from me along with the salad I am no longer hungry for. “And you’ve really not seen him since I have?”

“No.” She insists. “I’ve not spoken to him, and really, I don’t want to see him. He’s a stranger to me now, you know? I’d rather be at your party but, oh Evie.” She reaches out to take my hand and stroke the back of it with her thumb. “You know how it is. I’d come to meet you afterwards, but he and Jen would probably want to come along too, and I’d hate to have them turn up and ruin your special day.”

“It is bizarre that he’ll be in the same town as I am on the same night.” I say, half to myself. I always think of him as being really far away from me. Off over there somewhere in Europe. “You know I can’t really remember what he looks like anymore?”

“You haven’t seen a photo of him?”

“Not since the debs.”

“Wow. Well, he was in some of the photos from the Christmas party. He looks a little different maybe. And the same. I can’t explain what I mean.”

I slump back in my chair. “Why that weekend of all weekends? Wouldn’t he have waited and just come on St. Patrick’s day?”

“I know, he has the worst timing, but I’ll try really hard to keep you apart. I won’t let him come back to our apartment or anything, and if we go out to a bar after dinner I’ll make sure it’s on the other side of the city from where you are. There’ll be no overlap. As far as I know, he’s arriving on Friday evening and leaving on Sunday morning. You won’t run into him unless there’s some freak incident.”

“Hm.” She’s right, it’d be easy to stay away from him if I wanted to, but it feels wrong to think about it going down like that, and I hate to have to put her through this ordeal where she’s responsible for keeping both of us apart from one another as though we’re rivals who will start sparring on sight. It’s sad to me, how he and I used to be friends, and we used to talk for hours and make each other laugh and carry our little in-jokes like threads through all of our conversations for one whole summer. How once he’d been so important to me and I would have done anything to be next to him and now I’m trying to think up elaborate ways to avoid even accidentally seeing him across the street. “Claire, I don’t want you to have to do that.” I say to her, “You don’t have to get involved.”

“But-”

“How are you going to get around talking about my birthday? Come on, it’s going to come up. They’re going to find out that there’s a party.”

“I’ll tell them it’s family only.”

I sigh, feeling my life force draining out of my body. What if it’s actually a good idea to see him? What if I want to? What if I want an answer to all of the lingering questions in my mind? Maybe this could be the perfect opportunity to put it all to bed and finally move on from him. “No, whatever… You can… you can just bring them along. I don’t care.”

She stares at me like I’ve gone insane. “Evie…”

I toss my arms up helplessly. “Look, I don’t hate them, I’ve just been awkward, and I’d rather they just come than for me to have to conduct some intricate scheme that means that you, my most important friend in the world, can come to my party while they somehow don’t find out about it. Even thinking about it is exhausting to me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. In fact… I want them there.” I try to steady my voice as much as I can.  “Maybe we can all be civil and move on. I want you there, and if that means that they come too well, I’ll deal with it.”

“Wow, I’m surprised.” 

“Tell them they’re invited.”

“I will.”

“For the record, I’ll probably be so nervous that I’ll get sick a few times beforehand, but then after that I’ll be okay.”

“I’ll hold your hair back, chick. You’re so strong.”

I look down at my strong-girl hands, already trembling under the table in my lap. 

After lunch we wander down Grafton Street looking in the shop windows and talking about the kinds of clothes we like and don’t like. She takes me into an expensive department store and we spray perfumes on each other until we find the ones we like the best. She tries to tell me to buy my favourite one as an early birthday gift to myself, but then we realise it’s Tom Ford and costs over two hundred euro so we just leave. 

“You know.” She says. “Since you have this party going on, don’t you think it’d be nice to have something new to wear?”

“Oh, well I have plenty of clothes.”

“Yes, but what if you got something so new and so sexy that nobody could take their eyes off you all night.”

“Come on Claire,” I giggle. “I am not sexy, I can’t pull off sexy clothes.”

“You could of course. It’s a mindset.” She links my arm and pulls me into a shop with trendy dresses in the window. “And imagine, Jude Turner is there and he sees you, and you look so amazing and so beautiful that he’s kicking himself for what he missed out on.”

The idea that he’s going to be there makes my stomach twist again and I wonder if I should back out of my decision after all. “It’s not going to be like that, it’s different now, that boy is not attracted to me in the least.” I start looking through the rails, but immediately realise that everything is too expensive for me. “Anyway, I doubt I’m capable of driving him or any man wild by just wearing some dress.”

“Don’t underestimate the power of ‘some dress’” She whips something slinky off the rail and hands it to me. “And you look so good in black.”

“Do I?”

“Yes, amazing.”

“I didn’t know that.” I look at the tag on the slinky thing and it’s eighty euro. “I’m not trying this on.” 

“What? Why?”

“In case it looks nice and I love it and then I have to devastate myself when I can’t have it.”

She starts making grumbling noises and comes over to me to seize the tag. “Oh, it’s just eighty euros. Whatever. I’ll get you a dress as your birthday present.”

“No!”

“Ah, Evie…”

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You don’t have to ask, it’s done. Anything in this shop is yours.” She winks at me. “Under a hundred, though, don’t go wild on me.” 

“You’re terrible.” I say to her, “I can never repay you with an equal gift.” 

“I’d never want you to. Now shut up and find something pretty.”

“Yes mother.”

Prev // Next

[tallulah-caseys-misadventures]

Peppermint Mocha and Charlotte Brontë

646 words, oneshot, read below cut

It was a cold, foggy day as I made my way to the café on high street, cold enough that I'd pulled my legwarmers out of my suitcase where I'd pre-packed them for school next week. I'd gotten the matching bolero too, though it was more like a pair of arm warmers that were attached across your back, and with my thumbs through the thumb-holes its sleeves peeked out from underneath my jumper. I think it made me look a little more put-together than just having the legwarmers on their own.

The café was doing a special on their festive drinks, probably to try and get rid of leftover stock, so I got myself a peppermint mocha. I settled in to the corner furthest from the door with my drink and my croissant, and cracked open my copy of The Life of Charlotte Brontë. It wasn't the most exciting read, but it was recommended for the course, so I gave it my best shot.

…If this woman's description of the Brontë sisters' hometown is accurate, no wonder they were like that. Maybe Heckmondwhite was cold, and not as cosmopolitan as advertised, but at least it had colour. When it wasn’t foggy, anyway.

The bell above the door chimed and I looked up on instinct as the local goth couple walked in. Aoife, the redhead, runs her father's music store when she wasn't off at college, and I think her girlfriend Roisin works at the animal shelter a town over. I didn't want to be caught staring, so I went back to reading about how sad and grey the landscape surrounding Haworth was.

I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on Aoife and Roisin, it just sort of accidentally happened when I heard them say Liverpool and College in the same sentence. There can’t be that many colleges in Liverpool, can there? Especially if I heard correctly and they’re doing music, you wouldn’t have a performing arts college and then a separate music college in the same city, I think. Not unless it was a really big city. What if they know Alex? Would it be weird if I went up and asked them what college is like as an adult? If I befriend them and he knows them, I can be his cool college friends’ friend from back home instead of just his little sister’s mate.

Okay, Tallulah, it’s time to display some Northern Grit and ask them, very casually, about life as a higher-ed arts student.

“Um, hi, I couldn’t help but hear that you two are doing a music course in Liverpool?” I said, trying not to sound as nervous as I felt. “Yeah, why? Are you thinking of signing up once you’ve done your A-levels?” replied Roisin. “Maybe, but I want to know a little more about what it’s like first,” I said, “I’ve been going to a performing arts school in Yorkshire and we do some classes on music there,” “We can’t speak for the more theatrical courses, but the music course has been really engaging and I’ve learned a lot about how music is produced, not just performed,” said Roisin, “Aoife grew up around music though, so she had a bit of a head start,” “Not as much as you’d think, I can play almost anything you hand me but figuring out the best way to record is a whole different beast,” said Aoife, before launching in to a detailed explanation of how mixing desks worked. I nodded along like I understood, even though the closest I’d gotten to learning about how music was recorded was a quick session with Bob that got derailed by some disaster or other. Maybe I’ll try to learn more next term. I asked Aoife to write down some things for me to look up before I went back to my own table and packed up to leave.

A/N:

I wrote all 600+ words of this last night, which is quite the change of pace from my usual three-sentences-if-I'm-lucky writing habits, so I thought I would post it before I had too many second thoughts. It was an exercise in prompted writing, you can find the journalling game I played for inspiration here - note that you'll need a deck of cards to pull for the prompts, or you can use this generator I just put together for it. I might add more to this at a later date and post it to AO3, but I can't guarantee that so I'm posting what I have now.

[redbirdandbluebird23]

So.... I signed up just to talk to you about your UK visit recs hahaha. Don't know if I'm even messaging you properly. This is Winterine from ao3, but annoyingly someone took that name here and I cbb going for variants when I am pretty sure I was the original Winterine lol. But yes, realistically, I'm planning to head to the UK for a big solo walk/cycle tour or historical/interesting/spooky/beautiful/natural places maybe 2025 or 2026 after I finish uni, I'm thinking around April-May ish. Keen to hear what you think I should see/do, or if I should go at a different time of year etc.

I honestly think April/May is the best time to visit because it's out of the main tourist season and the weather is starting to get better. Don't get me wrong, it will rain, but it won't be as cold and miserable, or as hot and miserable 😂.

I definitely got carried away listing places, but I figured if I listed everything and why, you'd be able to pick and choose what sounds best to you

Scotland:

- Inverness and Loch Ness: I was obsessed with the Loch Ness monster as a kid which is one of the main reasons I visited, but Inverness is also a really beautiful town and there's a lot of walks/hikes nearby 

- Glen Coe, Fort William, Ben Nevis, and Glenfinnan viaduct: we did all these in the same day, but we were driving and didnt actually walk up Ben Nevis. Glen Coe is a place that looks as close to lord of the rings as you can get outside of New Zealand, there's plenty of hikes/bike routes through it. Fort William is a little town directly at the bottom of Ben Nevis, so it's a good place to see/climb the mountain, and there's also hikes/bike routes. The Glenfinnan viaduct is most famous from Harry Potter, but it's also a really pretty place full stop.

- Oban and the Isle of Mull: Oban is a historic seaside town that's famous for it's whiskey distillery (which I recommend the tasting at) and seafood. There's a ferry that runs several times a day to the Isle of Mull, which has plenty of great places to visit, lots of hikes/bike routes.

- Edinburgh: it's honestly one of my favourite cities and looks exactly like it does in pictures. There's a lot of history and literary influence, and I highly recommend Armchair Books, which is a little second hand book shop. The castle is also worth visiting.

Wales:

-Snowdonia and Mount Snowdon: absolutely loads of hikes/bike routes, but if you don't want to walk up Snowdon, there's a little railway that I highly recommend. Because Snowdon used to be under the sea, it's also possible to find marine invertebrate fossils at the top.

- Llandudno: most famous as where Alice in Wonderland was written/inspired. But also a great little seaside town

- New Quay: lovely little coastal town with loads of walks/bike routes around it

-St David's: the UK's smallest city, very pretty and lots of hikes/bike rides around

-Portmeirion: this is, hands down, one of the strangest places I've ever been. It's basically a fake town that was used as a set for the TV show The Prisoner, but it's now a tourist attraction. I can't really describe what it's like, just very fantastical and strange, it even has a pet cemetery

England:

(The Peak District and London I've done as separate lists at the bottom due to all of the places I recommend in them)

-The Lake District: absolutely loads of walks/hikes/bike routes. Very picturesque and there's a lot to do and see. It's also where Beatrix Potter wrote all of her books so there's a lot of Peter Rabbit related stuff around.

-Bamburgh Castle and Lindisfarne: there's lots of hikes/bike routes through Northumberland, but I think Bamburgh Castle is worth a visit, it's been used in a lot of films. Lindisfarne is an island that used to be home to monks, they brew their own mead and its the first place the vikings landed in Britain.

-Scarborough, Whitby, and Robin Hoods Bay: these places encompass my childhood because we used to go on caravan holidays with my granddad every year. This whole stretch of coast is very good for walks/bike routes. Scarborough is a very stereotypical English seaside town with amusements and 2p machines, but Anne Brontë is buried there and it actually has a lot of history. Whitby is one of my favourite places on earth, not only because of its ties to Bram Stoker, Dracula and goths, but it's also very historic and the abbey is incredible. The kippers and fish and chips at the Magpie Cafe are a must. Robin Hoods Bay is a tiny little village that it really picturesque and has a history of smugglers.

-York: very historic, very old English. There's loads of tea rooms, interesting shops, second hand book shops and there's even a shop where you can buy your own little York ghost friend.

- Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield: lumping these three together, and no one can get mad as me for it because I'm originally from one of them 😂. All of these cities have changed a lot from when I was a kid and all now have thriving food and drink scenes. But they're also all historic centres of industry. Manchester used to be a textile capital of the world, Leeds is known for it's engineering and canals, and Sheffield was vital to the war effort due to it's steel production. Depending on what interests you, they're all worth a look.

-Birmingham: not just for peaky blinders! Birmingham actually has more canals than Venice and a lot of industrial history. It's also got a thriving food and drink scenes and a lot of shopping locations.

-Cambridge: I've only been once, when I toured the uni when I was applying at 17, but it's very picturesque and has a lot of history. Ngl, some of the people can be quite snobbish and very stereotypical posh English.

-Winchester: old historic town, famous for it's Cathedral but also as where Jane Austen lived and died. There's a lot of literary influence and a lot of amazing book shops.

-Weston-super-Mare, Wells and Glastonbury: Weston-super-Mare is another old, typical English seaside town like Scarborough, but it has an absolutely massive beach so people flock to it in summer. Wells is a little town, most well known for the cathedral and the location Hot Fuzz was set and shot in. It's definitely worth a visit. Glastonbury outside of the festival season is a lovely place with lots of hikes/bike routes and a lot of history. 

-Plymouth and Cornwall: again, only been once due to how far it is from home, but I'm actually going again this week for my mum's birthday. Plymouth has a lot of naval history and I'm planning on going to the National Marine Aquarium Thursday which is supposed to be amazing. The only place in Cornwall I've been is Looe, but I highly recommend it as it's so pretty.

-Jurassic Coast: including Weymouth, Lulworth and Durdle Door in this. All very picturesque and where the bulk of UK fossils are found. There's absolutely loads of hikes/bike paths along this coast

-Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch: Bournemouth is mainly known for it's huge beach, Poole is where the RLNI headquarters are and where Lush was founded, and Christchurch is just very picturesque. 

-Portsmouth: where the UK navy is based. Very historic and very flat for walking/biking. Where D-Day was launched from and the D-Day museum is worth a visit. Was also home to Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling. Has a good independent book shop called pigeon books.

The Peak District:

(Growing up so close to it, I have a lot of recommendations, hence the separate category 😂)

(There are hikes/bike trails between most of these places, with apps/guides online for the most popular routes)

-Bakewell: very picturesque, old English town. But obviously you have to try the tart! I recommend trying both the tart and the pudding

-Castleton: another picturesque little town, but it's also full of caves you can go down, one of which was used for the gringotts scenes in Harry Potter. Lots of good pubs for a pint as well.

-Cavedale: very lord of the rings looking picturesque walk, but it's personally one of my favourites because it's where Wesley rolls down the hill while yelling "as you wish!" in the Princess Bride

-Hathersage: lots of great pubs, cafes and restaurants

-Scrivener's books and bookbinding: multi-leveled second hand bookshop in Buxton.

-Chatsworth House: old manor house with huge grounds. The house and gardens are worth visiting to walk around. JFK's sister is buried across the road in the little village of Edensor. But I honestly love visiting because it's used as Pemberly in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice.

-Lady Bower Reservoir: on the route of a lot of hikes, it's where the Dambusters practiced dropping the bouncing bombs during the war

-Eyam: the first place to social distance and lockdown during the Black Death, lots of history there.

-Padley Gorge: also looks like something out of lord of the rings

London:

Museums: most museums in London are free, but you can book tickets online and not have to queue. 

-The natural history museum (my all time favourite museum, especially as a biologist)

-The science museum (right next to NHM)

 -V&A (across the road from NHM and SM, mainly art and design.

-The British museum (great if you were an ancient Greek or Egypt nerd as a kid (or if you still are)) 

-The Royal Naval College and National Maritime Museum (in Greenwich and where the second Thor was filmed)

-The Tower of London (where the crown jewels are held, they are wonky, it pissed me off 😂)

Bookshops: 

-Hatchards (oldest bookshop in the UK, five floors of books).

-Waterstones Piccadilly (just down the street from Hatchards, absolutely massive)

-Gays the Word (oldest LGBT bookshop in the UK, setting of the film Pride)

-Daunts Books (technically a travel bookstore, but it has other stuff as well. One of the prettiest book shops I've ever been to)

-Lutyens and Rubinstein (very pretty, had a bit of everything(

-Books for cooks (is only a cookbook shop, but it's honestly worth going for the experience because it's also a cafe that cooks from a different cookbook each month)

-The Nottinghill Bookshop (a bit of everything)

-Word on the Water (bookshop on a barge)

Markets:

-Borough Market (one of my absolute favourite places on earth, great for lunch or to pick up snacks)

-Camden Market (alternative fashion, art, music and good food)

-Eatly (near Liverpool Street station, it's an Italian market hall, also good for lunch/snacks)

-Spitlefields (food as well as shops, near eatly)

-Portobello Market (Nottinghill, only on certain days so make sure to check before going)

-Covent Garden (more high end shops, but it's nice to walk around)

Shops:

-Harrods (just worth going to look at the price tags and laugh 😂)

-Fortnum and Mason (just down from Hatchards, expensive food shop, but it's nice to look around in)

-Hamleys (huge toy shop, I haven't been in a while, but it used to be amazing as a kid)

Places that I just think are worth visiting:

-Russel square and Cafe Tropea, and Bloomsbury

-Hyde Park

-Walk down Knightsbridge just to see all the fancy cars

-The Wellcome Collective (cosmetic museum, but it has a reading room where it's free to sit and read)

-The Paddington statue in Paddington station

-You can walk up to Camden Market from London St Pancreas/Kings Cross Station via the regent's canal

I've sadly never been to Ireland, but I hope these are useful and you have a really good trip!!!

[ireadyabooks]

This one’s for the GIRLS! 👯‍♀️

So we have Red, White, & Royal Blue, Heartstopper, and Love Simon, but where is the representation for the GIRLS? Media may be failing us, but here are a few books that will make you believe in sapphic love again. 🩷

Mehar hasn't been back to India since she and her mother moved away when she was six. Her father made it clear that she was not his priority when he chose not to come to the United States with them.

But when her father announces his engagement to socialite Naz, Mehar reluctantly agrees to return for the wedding. Maybe she and her father can finally heal their broken relationship. And either way, her father is Indian royalty, and the famil home is a palace--the wedding is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime affair.

Once she arrives in India, Mehar meets Sufiya, her grandmother's assistant. Though they come from totally different worlds, their friendship slowly starts to blossom into something more . . . Mehar thinks. Start reading WHAT A DESI GIRL WANTS! 

Liz Lighty has always believed she's too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it's okay -- Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.

But when the financial aid she was counting on unexpectedly falls through, Liz's plans come crashing down . . . until she's reminded of her school's scholarship for prom king and queen. The only thing that makes it halfway bearable is the new girl in school, Mack. She's smart, funny, and just as much of an outsider as Liz. But Mack is also in the running for queen. Will falling for the competition keep Liz from her dreams . . . or make them come true? Start reading YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN! 

Fifteen-year-old Morgan has a secret: She can't wait to escape the perfect little island where she lives. She's desperate to finish high school and escape her sad divorced mom, her volatile little brother, and worst of all, her great group of friends...who don't understand Morgan at all. Because really, Morgan's biggest secret is that she has a lot of secrets, including the one about wanting to kiss another girl.

Then one night, Morgan is saved from drowning by a mysterious girl named Keltie. The two become friends and suddenly life on the island doesn't seem so stifling anymore.But Keltie has some secrets of her own. And as the girls start to fall in love, everything they're each trying to hide will find its way to the surface...whether Morgan is ready or not. Start reading THE GIRL FROM THE SEA!

Claire is a junior in high school when a worldwide pandemic strikes, and she's in the epicenter of it all in New York City. Suddenly, Claire is forced to isolate with her family indefinitely, which means she won't be able to see her friends or even her girlfriend, Vanessa, in person for a long time.

At first it's not so bad, but the longer the pandemic lasts, the more Claire feels her priorities changing. That's when she looks outside her bedroom window and notices something new: A girl who lives in the building across the street sitting on her fire escape.

So Claire starts writing a story online about a girl who falls for the girl across the street. To Claire's surprise, the story goes viral-and it seems people think it's true. But how true is true? And what if Vanessa finds out? Will Claire be able to manage her newfound internet fame before everything spirals out of control? Start reading GOING VIRAL!

The Haunting Season is here and the Wolves are awake. Start reading THE WITCHERY!

Haelsford, Florida, is a hellmouth. Or at least, that's what Logan, a new witch struggling to control her powers, thinks when she arrives at Mesmortes Coven Academy. She is immediately taken under the wing of the infamous Red Three: Iris, a deathwitch, who wants nothing more than to break the town's curse; Thalia, the talented greenwitch, on the run from her religious family and a past that still haunts her; and Jailah, one of the most extraordinary witches at the academy whose thirst for power may lead her down a dark path.

With the Haunting Season approaching, Wolves will soon rise from the Swamp to kill, and the humans and witches must work together to survive the yearly onslaught. However, the history between humans and witches is long and bloodied, with the current truce hard-won and hanging in the balance. And this year, the stakes couldn't be higher as two boys from Hammersmitt School prepare to make their first sacrifices to the witches in exchange for protection. But when students start turning up dead, Iris, Thalia, Jailah, and Logan realize they'll have to harness their powers and stop the Wolves themselves. Yet old dangers lie in wait, and the cost to break the curse may be greater than any witch or human could ever know...

[themascarasnakeuniverse]

A mission to Borderlands

There are two ways to get to where my father grew up in Wales. It is often said that it is easy to ascertain where the Romans did not want to go. Everywhere that they deemed important is nowadays accessible by pretty direct roads. My fathers former hometown was obviously of no interest to these invaders. There is no motorway. The two routes we commonly took where through Oswestry and Welshpool or via Bala. 

The latter is where we would meet his parents when they took us to their house for extended stays in the school holidays. I never wanted to go without my parents for reasons I will go into in a future post. It was with a heavy heart that I got out of the car in the lay-by just a short way past the town centre and transferred our belongings to their car.

My grandmother was never keen on us coming to her house the other way, via Welshpool. Now we visit that part of the world once, sometimes twice a year this route is my preferred journey. Maybe it is defiance. A pathetic rebellious stand against an old lady who died a number of years ago. Regardless it is the way I often take for the two hour plus journey.

Most times when I have driven this way I stop at The Old Station. However, I am always disappointed with the cafe. The choice of food is limited, the coffee is average and the toilets are quite a walk from every table in the place. It seems more like a place set up to sell clothes than to serve food. With this in mind I decided one day to take a journey to Welshpool and see what was on offer in the actual town, after all I was only really familiar with the bypass.

I managed to wake up in good time and eat a healthy breakfast. Despite my initial choice of podcast being “unavailable” I queued up some listening choices and began the journey after a short stop to refuel.

I reached Welshpool at 11.30 and parked my car behind a chapel type building that looked like it served as a market. I paid for two hours and walked around the town a little. The town centre seemed to be stretched along a main road which contained a few independent and the usual chain stores. Whilst I did find a pretty cool “witchy” store run by two middle aged pagan women there did not seem to be an awful lot here.

As it neared lunchtime and my belly started to rumble I went into what the outside signage told me was an “independent coffee shop and cafe.” When I went inside I saw the menu was limited and the interior looked like a glorified greasy spoon cafe. When my lunch arrived it struck me as overpriced and distinctly average. Although the coffee was nice I was beginning to realise why Welshpool was not better known. There was noting special about it. Despite this I went for another walk and saw a road sign for “The Cockpit.” When I followed it the building itself was closed and it was unclear what its use was in the present day. I decided not to stick around as two drunk women where sitting on the edge of the car park rather loudly telling each other to “fuck off.”

When I got back to my car I realised I had time before the parking I paid for expired. I randomly walked along the road and found another cafe, this one looked nicer than the one I had just visited and I decided to make a note of it for my next trip. I had sussed out the parking after all.

A little further down the road I discovered a pretty eccentric bar consisting of different themed rooms. I ordered a cup of tea and the waitress kindly told me how to connect to the Wi-Fi. I took this time to reflect. Welshpool might be situated in some pretty countryside but had I grown up here I would have felt isolated. I would have wanted to get out like I was eager to get away from my home village. I finished my tea and thanked the waitress. It was barely 2pm and I felt I had seen all that I needed to see. Then I had a thought. When I felt stuck in my home village I used to value getting on the bus top the nearest city. A city where I went to school, where I went on nights out as a teen. A city that provided some respite until I got sick of it and moved to my current location.

I took out my phone and looked for directions to Shrewsbury. I was only twenty miles away.

This part of the mission was unplanned. I decided to embrace the chaos and set the map app on my phone to get me there as quickly as possible. I found a place to park my car near a shopping mall and decided to wonder wherever. Shrewsbury might not be a city technically but it is certainly of an equivalent size. And there where things here like good coffee shops, vegan cafes, other signs of life that where not ordinarily present in a small town. After all there was a university here.

Whilst randomly wandering I decided to come here for a more planned mission at a later date. Perhaps an overnight stay and a show at the Theatre Severn.

I ate my evening meal in a Pizza Express that used to be a cinema. They had just opened and I was their fist customer. On the way I passed day drinkers taking advantage of the good weather and popping out for a quick one after work. I watched from my usual neurodiverse position on the periphery. Not included but watching. A position I am used to. 

When I got back to my car I found that the podcast I could not access on the way here was now available. That would be all the company I needed for the drive home. 

[voidexplorer35]

DnD Fanfic: A Meeting at Midday Part: 2

Madame Freona’s Tea Kettle is a tea house in the city of Phlan proper. Run by the halfling Madame Freona and staffed by her five daughters, it is praised for its excellent service. Unlike the rough and rowdy taverns of the seaside town, the Tea Kettle is a classy place for people to relax and forget the troubles outside those walls.

But like many of those taverns, they hired a bard to provide an atmosphere. In this case, the bard was Kelvis. He was a handsome man in his mid 20’s with styled brown hair and fine clothing. He had been spending the past few hours playing the lute as entertainment for the Tea Kettle.

But for now, Kelvis is taking a break, talking to a group of adventurers.

“…and this is a potion of the Eagle’s Eye." Kelvis says. "When you drink it, it'll let you see as far as an eagle. Great for scouting, archery, things of that nature. I’m sure that you can think of a lot of uses for it”

“I have a few ideas” The adventurer he was talking to says. She was a young human. She was beautiful, but her looks mattered less to Kelvis than the longbow on she kept next to her. It was how he decided what the “potion” did, after all. “So how’d a guy like you get your hands on all these potions?”

“My parents were adventurers. Pretty good ones too. They moved out here for retirement, but age caught up with them.” Kelvis says. He paused for a moment, looking forlorn, like an actor giving an audience time to react. “I’d like to keep what they had, but the farm wasn’t doing too well. Crop Rust. It’s a nasty mold. Its hitting every farm this side of the Moonsea. I’m trying to sell the things that they left behind to tide me over for a season. If I get enough, maybe I can even hire a cleric to bless the land.”

Like most lies, this was built on truth. Crops had been doing poorly all season. That meant more food needed to be shipped in, which meant more guards and adventurers to protect those shipments. Which meant a lot of traveling people with more coin than they really needed.

"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss" Another of the adventurers says, a halfling man with a pair of daggers says.

"You ever think about adventuring yourself? A lot of people would kill for some good starting equipment" The third adventurer, an elven man with plate armor and a greatsword says.

Kelvis shook his head. “Yeah, but I've heard too many stories. People die doing it, and adventurers come back broken. Besides, I don't really have anyone to adventure with. Still, I can tell you guys will do a lot of good with these potions. "Kelvis says, looking at the potions that he has in front of him. A “Potion of Giant’s Strength”, a “Potion of Silence” and a “Potion of Eagle Eye”. Also known as “’Potions of Colored Water”

“Fair enough” The human says. "So, how much will all these cost?"

“Well, individually, they're 100 Gold each, 300 total. But if you buy all them at once, I can just charge 250." He says. "I know it sounds like a lot, but its a lot cheaper than going to buy them off the market."

“We can afford that easy" The woman says with a smile. "What do you say, guys, we each chip in 80 or so gold?"

The halfling and the elf agree. As they take out their coin purses, Kelvis' kept his somber expression, but inside, he was giddy. Before gold can change hands, Kelvis feels a tug on his sleeve. He looks down and sees Reese, one of Freona's daughters. A Halfling girl that worked as a waitress at the tea house.

"Pardon the interruption, but there's a man over there looking for you" Reese says, pointing to a man wearing a hooded robe across the common room. Kelvis looks around, puzzled.

Kelvis looks at the man, then back at the adventuring group. "I’ll talk to him after we’re done here. Its possible that he's looking to buy some things from the estate sale"

Reese furrows her brow. "I doubt it." She turns to the adventuring party. "He's lying. Those "potions" are just colored water. He's trying to con you out of your coin."

"What?!" The human asks. "You were trying to con us?!" The halfling man is already drawing a dagger and the elf looks like he's about to cleave the Kelvis in half.

"Look, if you have a problem with him, please sort it out outside Reese says. "But I'm warning you, if you start a fight here, I will call the guards" Even though she was short, her presence caused everyone sitting around the table to shrink back slightly.

"Alright, alright." The human says, staring daggers into Kelvis. "Come on, guys. We still gotta meet up with the caravan. It'll probably be leaving soon and if we aren't there to escort it, we don't get paid."

As the adventuring group leaves. The elf looks back at the conman, "We'll be sure to pay you a visit next time you're in town." He says in a low, threatening voice. One more call of "Out" from Reese convinces him to leave the teahouse without incident. A few seconds later, Kelvis turns his head to the halfling waitress. Anger etched on his face.

“Why did you do that? I had them! What, do you want a cut? If that's what you're after-"

Reese crosses her arms. "Because Mom told you what would happen next time you tried to con our guests. The tavern by the docks may let that kind of thing pass, but not us. Now, the guy really did want to see you. But after that, get out. And don’t bother showing your face around here again!"

Kelvis huffs, but nods. If he managed to sell those "potions", he could've quit this place. For a few months, anyway. But now, he was out of a job. He walked over to the hooded man sitting at one of the tables.

"Thanks for seeing me." The man said. Looking closer, Kelvis could see that this was an older (7 or 8 hundred year old) elven man with gray hair. He reached out to shake Kelvis' hand, which Kelvis obliges. "I was wondering if you had time to do a quick job for me. A job that you are in a… unique position to help me with. It shouldn't take more than an a few minutes in total."

"Well, my schedule just happened to open up." Kelvis says sardonically. "Though if you're looking for an adventurer, then I'm afraid that I'm not much of a fighter."

The elven man shakes his head. "I'm not asking you to go out and kill goblins or anything along those lines. You see, I work for Those Who Harp" He says, gesturing to a pin on his shirt. It depicts a harp inside of a crescent moon.

"Never heard of them" Kelvis says.

"We are order dedicated to fighting evil wherever it hides. I'd be more than happy to tell you more, but time is of the essence." The elf says. He looks around before continuing. "You see, my associates recently encountered a merchant who is going to illegally purchase a Black Dragon Egg." The elf starts. "We can't let this egg fall into the wrong hands."

"And I assume that your hands are the fight hands?" Kelvis says, eyebrow raised.

"Its better than the egg going to the highest bidder" The elf counters. "Now, we're... delaying the merchant. And if we need someone to make the exchange with the seller and make sure that this is planted on them"

He takes out a different pin. This one is a plain circular pin with a pattern carved around the edge. "This is enchanted to allow us to track it." He places the pin on the table. "Now, the reason I'm asking for your help is that your brother has enough of a resemblance to the merchant, but we've been having trouble finding him"

"You're going to have to be more specific about which brother you're looking for, I tend to lose track of them" Kelvis says jokingly.

"I'm sorry, the one that’s on the farm is the one I'm looking for. I believe his name… Louis?" The elf clarifies. "In any case, the seller wants to trade the egg for a bag of diamonds. Kelvis' eyes widen. "So we have a bag of fake diamonds" Kelvis' almost visibly deflates. "If you can, convince your brother to make the trade, bring the egg back here, and make sure that the pin is on them when they leave. We don't know where these people got a dragon egg but we wish to investigate. If you do all of this, I will pay you 200 Gold."

Kelvis thought about it. Louis would probably insist on splitting the gold 50-50 so thats 100 Gold for an easy job. And while he didn't trust this guy, but at least he could give Louis the line about the Harpers being some organization dedicated to fighting evil if he needed some motivation.

"I mean, that sounds good and all, but you said that we're going to be dealing with criminals, right?" Kelvis says. "And there's no guarantee that that things will go smoothly. And I this while dragon business, I guess that stopping it is important. If you pay 50 Gold up front, then I can do the job."

The elf shakes his head. "I saw what you were trying to do with those adventurers. If I gave you gold now, I’d never see you again. No, you either do it or not. No deal"

Kelvis huffs. "Fine. When is this deal taking place?"

"In about 30 minutes." The elf says.

"Well, you weren’t kidding when you said time is of the essence" Kelvis says. "Alright, I'll get Louis"

He left the Tea House in haste, partially because of the time sensitive nature of the job, and partially because he could feel Freona’s gaze boring into his skull. Half-walking, half jogging, he started heading back to the family farm. He hadn’t lived there for years, but he knew the way like the back of his hand. But after a few minutes of walking, he saw Louis in the street.

He was dressed in Dad’s old armor, and was holding an old shortsword that had seen a better decade. Silently, Kelvis thanked the gods and walked over to his brother.

“Hey Louis, it’s been a while” He says, joy painted on his face.

“Oh Kelvis, it’s been a while...” Louis says. “I thought you’d be working right now. You on break?”

“Not quite.” Kelvis says. “What are you doing here?”

“The harvest… it’s pretty bad” Louis says. “Nothing much worth selling. I figured that I’d look for a job. Something to help the family, you know?“

Kelvis smiled in relief. “Its funny you should mention that. I actually met an elf right before I left the Tea House…“

[sowingseedsandshootinghoops]

Dreams Deferred: The Destructive Effects of Descrimation

Note on the text: I used Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure as published in 1989 by Bantam Books

What happens to a dream differed?/Does it dry up/like a raisin in the sun?/Or fester like a sore-/and then run?/Does it stink like rotten meat?/Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags/like a heavy load

Or does it explode? (Langston Hughes, Harlem)

It explodes. It definitely explodes and takes down every vestige of your life with it. Or at least that’s what happens to Jude Fawley, the simple stone mason at the heart of Thomas Hardy’s 1895 novel.

When we first meet Jude he is a smart, kind, and precocious kid who is determined to make a name for himself. Even more specifically he is a working class man who is interested in ancient Latin and Greek who dreams of becoming a scholar. To that end he wants to go to college and get a degree because it “is the necessary hallmark of a man who wants to do anything in teaching” (10).

Now it is immediately obvious that Jude is an extremely hardworking man who is more than willing to put in whatever time and effort he needs to in order to get things done. He knows that in order to even stand a chance of getting into a university and becoming a professor he has to be at least as educated, if not more so, as his upper class counterparts. To that end he finds some books on Ancient Greek and Latin and starts to teach himself, which he is eventually able to master. It is a Herculean task in a lot of ways but eventually he is not able to read and write in those languages, but is able to quote the Bible and all the great Latin and Greek authors in their original language.

Not only is Jude smart but he is also a very kind person who “cannot bear to hurt anything” (17). Time and time again he goes out of his way to help people, even those who, like Arabella, have been really cruel to him. Arabella who calls him a “tender hearted fool” when he is forced to slaughter his beloved pet pig, and later says that there has never been “such a tender fool as Jude [especially if] a woman seems to be in trouble and coaxes him a little” (68, 283). So it’s obvious that Jude is, in every respect, just as worthy as anyone else is of seeing his dreams be fulfilled: “I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea who knoweth not such things as these?” (Job 12:3 as quoted by Jude on page 126).

So when he realizes that his dreams of becoming a scholar and a teaching must be eternally deferred because he is too poor to go to school the result is incredibly harrowing and depressing, and thus begins his gradual descent into his own personal Hell:

This terribly sensible advice exasperated Jude. He knew it was true. Yet it seemed a hard slap after ten years of labor and its effect on him just now was to make him rise recklessly from the table and, instead of reading as usual, [decide to go out and get drunk] (124).

It’s while he’s at the bar, staring at his fellow patrons that he comes upon what in many ways is the central theme of the book:

He began to see that the town life was a book of humanity infinitely more palpitating, varied and compendious than the gown life. These struggling men and women before him were the [real] reality [of the city] of Christminster (125).

It’s at this moment that his life begins the downward trajectory that will result in him dying alone and unhappy. Jude is a shining example of the negative effects that discrimination can have on the marginalized. Because dreams that have been arbitrarily strangled and made to die for reasons outside of a person control do not die quietly. They explode.

[landorthegreat]

Posting my story on here, if anyone finds this a little description.

Takes place in a dystopian future (think cyberpunk with less cybernetics, they exist just not a lot) on the brink of losing many natural resources, the biggest one being power. However, some scientists have discovered a large energy surge on the outskirts of town, will it be the cure of humanity’s problems? Or its extinction?

Ok, story time, enjoy!

Chapter 1 - Home Sweet Home

Journal Entry, Day 1.

~ As I write this, our planet's resources slowly dwindle. My employers have directed me to figure out a solution for their most prized resource of all, power. The lower levels use as little power as required to operate, but if The Top runs out, then nothing will stop them from butchering us like animals.~

~However, a solution may have presented itself to me!

~Apparently our energy division has spotted some …fluctuation… on their radar outside of the city. Apparently it’s the highest they’ve seen it for the past 35 years. With this newfound information, my employers have hired Craterfall, a large mining company, to drill deep into the earth in hopes of finding the source.~

~If we are able to find it, my team can figure out just how to harness this unknown energy before our supply runs out. I would say with how much The Top uses, we have about 3 years left in the tank before we run dry, perhaps even less.~

~I will update this journal once I am able to get my hands on the source of this energy, perhaps if I figure out how to fully optimize this new energy output, I could get enough power to charge The Top, AND the lower levels, or perhaps get a raise from it. I have been catching my eye on a few things as of late.~

- J. Axel

__________________________________________

BEEP!...BEEP!...BEEP!...BEE-

*Click*

“Ok, ok… I’m up.”

As my eyes slowly open and adjust to my surroundings, I am greeted to the same dingy apartment that I’ve been staying in for the past 2 years. The only other thing irritating my eyesight besides the dingy wallpaper is the rays of sun piercing my window into my bedroom.

I rise out of my bed and begin my morning routine, brush my teeth, do my hair, and get dressed in clean clothes.

…

Ok maybe just get dressed in some clothes.

As I leave my apartment, I look around to take in the wonderful sights that surround me. Garbage litters the halls, residents know going to the streets to dispose of it will only end up with them being beaten and robbed of whatever little valuables they got left on them, or worse, The Top will see another lab rat for them to take home.

I never bother to get to know my neighbors, most people living here are either vagrants, dope fiends, or people just way down on their luck, all of them just trying to get by without worrying about waking up with an intruder in their home.

After getting out of the complex, I decided to visit my friend David at his work. A bit of a hard ass when you're on his bad side, but a good person all around, works as a bartender down at this place called “Purgatory”, fitting name since I see the same people there day after day.

__________________________________________

After walking for a bit, Purgatory shows up in my line of sight. However, my train of thought is suddenly interrupted by a tap on my shoulder.

“Hu-”

As I look to my right, no one is standing there. It isn’t until I turn to my left where I am greeted by a familiar face.

“Oh, hey Kevin, what’re you doing out here?” My shoulders relax as I feel comforted being next to a friend rather than a stranger.

“Nothin much, was gonna grab a bite to eat over at Beef Monarch until I saw you prowlin around the town. Any special reason?”

“Not really, was gonna go see David real quick at Purgatory, grab a drink or two before heading back home, wanna join?”

Kevin looks ahead and scratches his cheek, pondering the question for a minute. I can see some obvious bags under his eyes, wonder if the poor guys slept at all these past few days.

“Sure, why not! Not like I got anything better to do. Wait, don’t you have to work today?” He asks raising an eyebrow towards me.

“Recently the power to the place has been going out more and more frequently, management told us it's due to ‘faulty wiring’” I say in quotations with my fingers “But if I had to guess, I’d say we’re bleeding dry in the finance department. I’m not gonna be surprised If the whole department is laid off by next week.”

“Huh, y’know my place’s power has been going out pretty frequently too, and I’ve been timing it!” I watch as this string bean of a man rummages through his pocket for a moment trying to grasp onto something.

After a bit he pulls out a crumpled notepad and shoves it into my chest. “Since last week, my power went out for an hour. However, everytime it goes out, it’s off for just a little bit longer, look!”

He points at what I assumed was random chicken scratch at first, however upon closer inspection, it seemed that he was noting down the times his power went out and the dates it happened.

I try inspecting the notes more but my focus is more trained on his hand. His fingernails have almost been chewed down into nothing, and his hands were skinny enough that I could almost trace every vein in his hand.

I handed the notepad back to him while rubbing my eyes. Maybe I wasn’t awake enough or it was the fumes of this city getting into more corneas, but I could only sigh and respond with…

“Kevin, have you been doing alright lately?” I say with a tone of curiosity rather than actual worry.

“Yea of course, what makes you say that?” He asks with a sly smirk on his face.

“Look at your hands man! If you keep biting your nails you’re gonna reach bone!” Although it probably hurt to hear, better to tell the man outright than tiptoe around it.

“And have you looked in a mirror lately?” I point towards the dark bags underneath his eyes. “If those bags get any deeper I’m pretty sure your face is gonna start sinking.”

I put a hand on his shoulder as we walk, not out of kindness, but I think he was starting to doze off while I was talking to him and I didn’t want him to drift off into the street.

“Have you been getting enough sleep lately? Haven’t seen you like this in… well, ever.”

Kevin shrugs my hand off his shoulder and keeps the same pace as me. “Yea man I’m doing fine, new meds doc got me on have some side effects, but nothing serious!” He lifts his hands up, almost trying to defend his “Doctors” reputation. “They just keep me up at night, s’all there is. I find it pretty helpful in some cases, use the time to mostly clean up around the place, but you can only scrub the toilet so many times before it starts to feel repetitive.” He says while shrugging his shoulders.

“But don’t worry about it man, once Connor comes back, I’ll be right as rain.” He answers as we reach the entrance of Purgatory.

Sigh… “Yea, once he comes.” I give a fake smile that washes away as soon as he looks at the entrance.

Few years back, my best friend Connor was finally able to work for The Top. We were all proud of him and excited to see where he’d end up, but after a couple months, he just went radio silent. No messages, no calls, not even a finely crafted poem, Kevin was already pretty unwell at that point in time but practically losing a friend in a world full of savages was just the icing on the shit birthday cake.

I don’t know who provides him with these meds but if I know anything about this city, it’s that the mentally unwell are seen as gold mines for pushers, and guinea pigs to The Top.

I push open the doors to Purgatory, perhaps a drink is just what I need before going back out in town.

———————————————————————

Walking through the doors I’m hit with a concoction of smells, the air burning my lungs from the whiskey stained breath of the patrons, cigarette smoke stained the interior of everything in the building from clothes to furniture, and puke stained tiles littered the ground from those unable to handle their drinks.

I walk towards the bar in hopes of seeing David serving our wonderful community, only to find Jasmine, David’s coworker.

…And unfortunately, my ex.

“Hello Jasmine, I see you’ve finally ditched the goat head and went for something more, our style” I say with a sly grin.

“Hello James, finally crawled outta that cave you call a home to meet civilization?” She says with a furrowed brow.

You could practically see the daggers we were shooting at each other. However, what perhaps looked like two people trying to see if they could hear each other's thoughts, was interrupted by Kevin asking…

“Is David working right now?” Asking somewhat quietly, probably thinking if he spoke any louder he’d be a victim of a beating from an already pissed off bartender who was getting angrier by the second while looking at me.

Jasmine whipped her head towards Kevin making the poor excuse of a man flinch, most likely expecting a hail of fists to hit him.

Jasmine relaxed a little as she saw who asked her the question, “Oh, hey Kevin, yea David’s in the back I can get him real quick if you need me to.”

“Could you please?” Kevin asked meekly, “We were wanting to talk to him for a bit before we leave.”

She proceeded to walk into the back of the bar, leaving Kevin and I alone at the bar.

…

…

“Wonder whats taking so lo-”

BANG!

I turned my head towards the noise while Kevin about jumped out of his seat and booked it outta the place.

“James, Kevin! Whatcha guys doin here?” A large burly man stands in the doorway to the back of the bar, wearing a large grease stained uniform that almost makes you think he was fixing cars back there.

“Nothing much” I answered, “Me and Kevin wanted to swing by the place and talk to you before we split up for the day.”

David smirked, “Well hell that's nice of ya, sadly I don’t think today is a good day.” He says while rubbing the back of his neck with a look of almost annoyance on his face.

“Huh? What’s wrong, business ain’t been booming lately?” I chuckle as I ask.

“No nothing like that, it’s the damn power to this place, been going out more and more recently. Brought an old generator from home in hopes of keeping this place well lit until Jasmine and I can figure out the problem.”

“I’ve seen it too! I even wrote down some not-” Kevin tried digging in his pockets to get his crumpled up notepad again, however I stopped him before this social interaction got any more awkward.

“Yea… like Kevin said, we’ve been experiencing blackouts too, but it’s not just us! Apparently the entire apartment complex has been having the same problems, no one knows what the hell’s been happening lately.”

“Strange, think it’s just a coincidence?” David asks with curiosity as he fills up two mugs and places them in front of Kevin and I.

I bring the mug up to my lips, I hadn’t even realized I never drank anything this entire day. The cold brew hit my throat like a flowing river through the Sahara desert.

~Ahhh

“No clue, but someone better figure something out. If I wake up late for work due to the complex’s power being out, someone is getting my foot in their ass.”

I place the mug back on the bar, I look in comparison of me and Kevin’s drinks, there practically wasn’t a single drop left in my glass while Kevin’s still had more than half full.

David chuckled, “Well either way, as long as this place keeps pouring drinks, I think we’ll be alright.”

“Yea maybe you're right, all we can really do is just wait at this point and hope someone finds a solution.” I stand up off the stool with Kevin doing the same, “But we’ll get outta your hair David hope you have a good night.”

“Yea you guys have a good one as well. Oh and another thing before you leave.”

I stop and turn back to look at him, “Hmm?”

“You need to pay for your drinks.” He says pointing to the mugs on his bar.

…Oh yea…

———————————————————————

After paying for our drinks I wave goodbye to David and talk to Kevin outside before going home.

“Hopefully this place stays in business, don’t wanna think about what’ll happen if a bar loses power even for a day in this city.” I say with almost uneasiness in my voice.

“I imagine by next week this place’ll be picked so clean, it’ll just be an empty lot in its place.”

Even though he tried saying it in a serious tone, Kevin couldn’t help but laugh aloud at his own joke. And, I couldn’t help but laugh either.

“Welp Kev, I think I'm gonna hit the road, get back home and sleep the rest of the day away.”

“Oh, ok, see ya James, you have a good night!” He answers almost hesitantly, almost like he was hoping we’d do more tonight.

I can tell he’s not as excited as me to go back home, for all I know, he’ll take his meds and stay awake through the night like these past few days.

I slap him lightly on the back, “How bout I come by next week? Hear the games gonna be on, I’ll bring a couple beers and David along, we’ll have a grand old time.” I try saying in a poor excuse of a British accent.

“Heh, that’d be nice James.”

As we parted ways, I was excited to get to bed and wake up for tomorrow, work had told us we’d be off for the next few days, so best use all this free time to clean up around my place.

__________________________________________

Meanwhile in a undisclosed location

A man walks through a large cavern waving a strange device in his hands, the beeping of it is slow and methodical.

beep….beep….beep….

Click… “Bruce what the hell have you gotten me into now?” The man speaks into a walkie-talkie while still waving the device around.

Beep….beep….beep….

Click… “Orders stated that this location houses the source of the fluctuation. We don’t have the exact coordinates of the source which is what you’re here for, use that scanner we gave you to find out where it's coming from and once you do, flip the two switches on the back.”

The man flips the scanner around to see there are two switches, however one was almost flipped up due to his grip on the device.

“Once those switches are flipped, we’ll get the coordinates and send our boys out to start excavating, got it?”

Click… “Yea I got it, walk around the cave until the machine spazzes out, understood.”

The man puts the walkie-talkie back onto his waist and pulls out his phone to see the time, the bright screen practically blinds him in the darkness.

“10:37? How long is this shit gonna take, I got shit to do tomorrow.” After checking the battery percentage and seeing it was only at 20%, he placed his phone back into his pocket, best to save the remaining percent in case he gets lost in this place.

Beep..beep..beep..

The man notices the devices beeping getting more frequent the farther he walks into the cave.

Beep..beep..beep..beep..

“Almost got ya you son of a bi-” Suddenly, the ground underneath him begins to crack and shake, and before he can think of what is happening, the floor caves in and he falls deeper into the cave.

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP

…

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP

…

The man raises himself off the ground, his ears ringing from the impact of the fall, the cave echoing from the device's excessive beeping, and his headache miserably as if his brain would crack out of his skull.

He looks at his surroundings, instead of the vast darkness being illuminated by a flashlight he was used to in the cave, he is met with a dark red hue surrounding him. As he turns to look around him, he sees where the source of the hue is coming from, large, jagged, red crystals surround him.

The man pulls out his phone to see the time again, he was out for quite a bit so knowing when it was could help put him at ease, even if it's just a little. His phone was almost completely shattered, landing on it from the fall definitely didn’t help in his case, but even through the cracks on his screen he could make it two things. The time, which read 1:2?, the last digit was obscured over a glitched shard of the phone screen.

“It’s past one? Fuck, probably got a concussion from that shit.” He says while rubbing the back of his head, wincing as he feels a wound, pulling his hand in front of him he sees his fingers covered in blood. He looks back at his phone to see the last thing that wasn’t covered up from a broken screen, the battery percentage.

“It’s at… 58%? Wait, 64?” The hell is happening thought the man, he was sure his phone was almost close to dying before the fall, that he was sure of. What’s been charging his phone the entire time he was out?

…The crystals…

Although the man was fascinated by the things these crystals were doing, he remembered what he came here to do. Looking at his waist he saw the walkie-talkie, besides a large crack in the side of it, it looked intact enough to work.

…Click…

“Bruce, can you hear me?”

…

…Click…

“Hello? Bruce?”

…

…

…

Click… “Mike? That you? Holy shit man we thought you died, you went radio silent on us for hours and we were thinkin the worst.”

“The damn floor fell out underneath me and knocked me out for a bit, still alive, but I’m pretty sure I got a concussion. Surrounded by a bunch of crystals right now, and this thing is going off like crazy.”

“Must be the spot those egg heads were talking about, are you able to get out of the place?”

Mike looked up at the walls of the cavern, he knew that unless he got possessed by a professional rock climber, there wasn’t a chance in hell of him getting out of here.

Click… “Yea… I don’t think so man, I'm definitely gonna need some help outta here.”

“Shit, OK, send the coordinates of the place and I’ll try getting the crew out there as fast as I can, but if i'm being honest man, it’s gonna be a while until they get there.”

Mike began to feel fear enveloping his body, his hands started to slowly jerk and twitch, and he felt as if something was stuck in his throat everytime he swallowed.

The man slowly reached towards the still beeping device and flipped the switches on the back, the device stopped beeping and was instead producing a low whirring noise.

“Alright I flipped them, I better get a damn raise out of this I swear.”

Click… “No promise on a raise, but when you get outta there i'm definitely buying you lunch, probably gonna need it after this fun trip.”

“Heh, you're probably right.” Mike places the walkie-talkie next to him and leans himself against a part of the cave's wall that wasn’t covered in jagged crystals. After a while, his eyes began to feel heavy, maybe some rest could help pass the time while he waited for his coworkers to rescue him.

…

…

…

…

…”HeLlO? hElLo?”...

Mike was startled awake by the voice and was still greeted to the sight of the crystal covered death trap he was stuck in, as he rubs his eyes to adjust better he reaches to his side to grab the walkie-talkie.

…

“Huh?”

Looking to his side he realizes the walkie-talkie is nowhere near him, confused, he looks around to find where the voice is coming from, perhaps he had a nightmare and unknowingly threw it away from him.

No, that doesn’t feel right.

…”HelLo?”...

The man snaps his head towards the noise expecting to see someone, only to see a opening in the wall of the pit.

I… could’ve sworn that the wall was covered in crystals. Was my mind playing tricks on me? Was I running out of breathable air down here and I didn’t know?

Walking towards the opening, Mike’s eyes see a glimmer of something deeper into the entrance. It isn’t until he’s taken a good few steps in for him to pull out his partially broken phone and use its screen for light. The flashlight was shattered from the fall but the brightness of the screen is the next best thing for him to use.

…

…

Walking even further down this rocky hallway, the light from the phone's screen reflects off something on the ground, attracting Mike’s attention. Getting closer, Mike drops down on one knee to see what had caught his eye.

The walkie-talkie, somehow it found its way all the way deeper in the cave.

And it was…

…Snapped in half…

…

…

…”HELLO?”...

The voice echoed throughout the hall, freezing Mike in place with fear, his instincts telling him to run, to escape, to get away. But, no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t get his feet to move from their spot. And, even if he could run away…

Where would he go?

Slowly, he stands himself off the ground, and even while shaking, raises the phone screen in front of himself preparing to see what was down here with him.

…

…Click…

…

Mike couldn’t comprehend what he was looking at in front of him, bones, muscle, a wall of meat and sinew blocked his way. A variety of limbs protruded out of the mass, arms and legs slowly dragging it down the hall at a snail's pace.

Mike could see the muscles tense and relax as they moved, however while looking at this amalgamation of what he could only assume was flesh, he could make out tens or even hundreds of circular objects in the wall.

…eyes…

As he mustered all the willpower in his body, Mike was able to take a step back away from the thing in front of him. Maybe this was his chance, his chance of escaping this thing, maybe if he got back to the pit he could try climbing out of this cave.

CRUNCH!

As Mike looked down to see the broken walkie-talkie underneath his feet, he looked back in front of him only to realize the wall was staring back at him. It felt almost as if hundreds of people were staring at him, like a child on a stage in front of a crowd of people.

Mike spun around to try and escape only to feel himself being pulled down to the ground, he could see one of the arms had latched onto his ankle before he could escape and was slowly dragging him to the mass. No matter how hard he kicked, the grip of this thing would not let go. Soon, the arms dragging the wall stopped and began to slowly shift their way down towards him, grabbing his legs and dragging him even faster into itself.

His feet were engulfed in the wall of flesh, he could practically feel the nerves in his body being torn out through the soles of his feet. He screamed in anguish as the pain shot through his body, trying desperately to escape, he swung his phone at the arms gripping his legs, only managing to land a few hits on them until it stopped his attempts of freedom and lifted him up, slowly dragging him into the abomination. And, while he could feel his bones snap or tear from his joints, all he could muster out was a silent cry for help.

The screams of the man echoed throughout the cave, the sound from the crunch of his bones bounced off the walls of the cavern, until…

Silence.

END OF CHAPTER 1

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