Screw Stardust; Be Iron

“Listen,” the snark of her voice already prominent as she surfaced the treeline just beyond town, “It’s not my fault the little twerp followed us out there, how was I supposed to know he’d get lost? It’s only been a couple hours and I’m not his damn babysitter.” Responsibility slipped from her shoulders like oil to water, “Someone tell his mother to let him watch cabin fever or something, he’ll think twice about going into the woods and we wouldn’t have to waste our time looking for the string bean.”

         “Uh --- because I don’t think that’s quite how babysitting works. Least not that last time I did it myself anyway.” Grace returned, unsure and feeling a level of guilt despite her innocence in the whole ordeal. “Don’t you think we should just call the police?”

“The tea is free,” he said slowly, like he’d had to explain his reasoning all day to those who passed. The shop behind him formerly known as Tranquilitea looked like everything else in the town – completely destroyed. Broken glass littered the sidewalk and branches stuck through the windowed front part, everything else looked broken inside as well. “It’s what I had left after the storm, and I know everyone could use a little something to pick them up…anyway, how are you doing? Y’know, after everything?”

To say she was exhausted was a bit of an understatement. Anyone who knew Francesca knew that she was always in one place or the other - never slowing down, always wanting to take far more than she could take. Now, that exhaustion was catching up to her. Her eyes were heavy, eventually closing off for just a few minutes of bliss… Until of course her head met something solid and she startled herself awake. Eyes wide, she wiped the corner of her mouth from what she assumed was drool from her mouth and looked over at the witness, clearing her throat, “How long was I out?” She asked, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

“You know, this place is definitely not what I imagined it to be. I seriously think my assumptions have been dampened by watching too many episodes of Chicago Fire.” Typical Avery. When he should be more concerned of what was to come, he found a TV Show reference to ease his nerves. “I wonder if they’ll let us test out that fire pole. Or wait–does that mean that I want to become like a stripper, because yeah that’s definitely not something I ever want to happen.”

The path to the fire station was treacherous, the major roadways that linked the town together had turned into rivers within a few hours. Trees, motorcycles, abandoned vehicles and other random debris that had been ripped from the outside of buildings floated down flooded streets. Shepard’s hands were still trembling from the nerve-wracking drive to the safe zone as he stepped out of his truck, his feet landing in well over a foot of standing water.  His trip had been delayed due to a difficult last minute decision to open up all the gates that led to the pasture containing his two horses.  Deep down he knew it was better to let the animals run free instead of leaving them to drown inside a fence.  The realization dawned on him as he walked into the fire department that the citizens of East End were being corralled together like livestock awaiting slaughter.  “Someone’s causing this. This shit isn’t nature,” Shepard remarked, his gaze traveling around the crowded shelter.  He knew he had to stay busy or he would start to panic.  “I’m heading down to the basement to see if any water’s gotten in and make sure the generators have fuel,” Shepard said, opening the door that lead to the downstairs level of the fire department.  “Also, does anyone here know how to build a boat?” Shepard joked lamely before walking down the stairs.

        Grace couldn’t help but leap from the floor the moment her gaze fell upon a familiar face. For too long she had been sat in that overcrowded room, lost in her own thoughts as she tried to contain her thoughts that seemingly wandered back to the last time she had been locked up by the very captors that turned her. Swallowing thickly she forced a small smile as she raised a hand in greeting to her boss, “I can help with that.” She chimed, taking any excuse to get the hell out of that room. One would think the voices were loud, but no, the blood coursing through their veins was much louder. “With the generators of course, the boat on the other hand -- well your’e shit out of luck there. Unless of course you plan on making one of the trucks float?” She remarked as she fell into step behind the man.

“And so the plot thickens.” Beau’s gaze flickered towards the other, blue eyes painted in curiosity. “Just when it seemed like East End couldn’t get more interestin’ - in comes our own personal messiah.” The vampire let out a gravely chuckle, his full attention now turning to his companion. “What do you make of all the fuss? Think he’s really gonna put an end to everythin’ or just be a let down? Personally… I’m in the camp that thinks he ain’t gonna deliver.”

            “I’ve never believed in putting your eggs all in one basket ---- but the man deserves a chance to prove himself.” Grace remarked, always striving to see the best in people would be a permanent fault. “I wouldn’t count him out just yet, give him a chance at least. I’m interested to see what he’ll do.” She added, and the brunette was genuinely curious as to how much of an affect his presence alone would have on the town. Because so far it was all most seemed to want to talk about. 

               “Do you– uh, do you mind?”, Fiona asked, gesturing to a spot beside the other. She usually tried to stay as far away from as other people as she possibly could, always fearing that she might end up seeing their deaths. But today she was tired and in dire need of some socialization, so why not give it a shot? She was lonely enough as it was. “Yeah? What’s up with him? Why can’t he just go take a vacation somewhere and leave us alone for a night or two? –I don’t know either. Maybe it’s a mixture of both.”

“Oh, alright – well then I guess your bet bet is to have something stronger like you said.” The male nodded, keeping her answer in mind though. “What’s your stance on energy drinks then? I mean, I’m not a fan but I’ve heard they work wonders.”

          “Energy drinks, right uhm ---- they used to do the trick, keep me up for hours bouncing from wall to wall. It was quite a riot, not so much anymore though. Guess we’re on to plan C,huh? That or I should just quit while I’m ahead.”

Scout smiled at Grace in thanks as she took the neighboring spot under the tree. Letting Arty off her leash, Scout threw the ball and watched her dog to running in search of it. “Thanks.” She murmured, realizing then it had been a while since she had last seen Grace. “I was starting to think you moved or something. Did you go on vacation?” She asked, noticing Arty running towards her and bracing herself for the impact of the large Australian Shepard.

Valerie merely glanced down at the mountains the girl was referring to. It didn’t seem as anything magnificent to her, but then again, she wasn’t one to see beauty in that. Then again, she could guarantee the girl didn’t see beauty in a well-built engine, either. “Aren’t the sun rises very quick? Too quick for you to even manage to draw it?”