#hazk

Day 0. Once again they've wronged us

“So…”

Jack hummed, showing he was listening.

“What are we supposed to do now?”

“Wait. That’s… pretty much all we can do.”

Gavin sighed. That was the exact answer he didn’t want to get.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Gavin frowned as he watched Jack continue his search through the cupboard in the living room.

There wasn’t much to see as the room had nothing more in it than the fireplace, with small windows on sides and a couch in front, a table in the corner and the cupboard by the open doorway.

Gavin glanced up as he heard two sets of footsteps echo somewhere upstairs where Ryan and Jeremy had headed, the floorboards creaking under their weight. He could also hear Geoff and Michael rummage through the kitchen next to the living room, the walls withholding no sounds.

Everyone was busy trying to find anything and everything useful the mostly abandoned safe house still had in it, and Gavin was placed in charge of lighting the fire.

Thankfully, there had been just enough firewood to get the fire going without Gavin having to run outside through the downpour of rain to check the most likely mouldy shed for more – no way any of that would have been dry enough to use.

“How long do you think we’ll be stuck here?”

“No idea. The forecast was surprising enough, and with all signals being cut pretty much right after… The weather’s bad and all we can do is get comfortable”, Jack said and glanced at him with an almost apologetic frown, not quite unlike the one Gavin had on his face. “We got lucky enough that we didn’t get stranded up in the mountains with nowhere to go. Even luckier that one of our own bases was close by –”

“– and the luckiest that no-one was trying to take cover in the same place as us. Would have been quick to turn awkward”, Gavin beat Jack to it. He then let out yet another deep sigh and got up to poke at the fire the draft was trying its hardest to smother:

“Better get used to this, I guess.”

--- xx ---

“Again… What are we supposed to be looking for?” Jeremy asked for the fourth time, kicking a piece of scrap out of his way and aiming the flashlight at every corner of the empty rooms.

Ryan chuckled, his voice quiet and humourless as he tightened his arms around his shivering body, gathering all warmth the oversized hoodie Jack had given him had to offer.

“A-anything, anything’s fine; you know what’s useful when you see it. But all I want is something to burn...”

“Shit, Ryan, why are you even up here...”

“I need the fire! I-if Gavin can get as much as a spark l-lit, we need to throw in whatever we find to keep it going”, Ryan mumbled, his reasoning sound enough but making Jeremy glare at him nevertheless.

“You’re soaked, worse than the rest of us what with the second run you did –“

“I h-had to! You can’t just leave the ammo and guns in the car and hope t-they’ll survive the tsunami or whatever it is we’re stuck in the m-middle of –!“

“And you think it’ll fare any better in here than out there, in a car that’s actually... well, not completely, but almost intact?” Jeremy said as he opened a wooden chest someone had left in the room. He nodded approvingly at the few loose pencils and books abandoned in it, placing the former in his pocket before beginning to pull the chest towards the door.

Ryan reached forward to help.

“At least it makes me feel better to know we… uh”, Ryan began but was quick to fall quiet, racking his brain to come up with anything more to say.

Jeremy scoffed in amusement.

“No-one’s going to rob us here? And, no-one’s going to try to kill us either. We’re as safe as we can be, actually. Almost like a holiday”, Jeremy said and then added as an afterthought:

“We should probably take this as such?”

“A holiday? Away from the rest of the world, m-maybe, but certainly not from each other… And that’s not safe for anyone”, Ryan retorted but couldn’t help but to break into a smile.

--- xx ---

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Michael was having the time of his life.

“What’s in there?” Michael asked as he leaned against the counter, staring blankly at the pantry door Geoff remained silent behind – a door the crew’s leader had entered what felt like forever ago.

Earlier, when Geoff had hurried in to check the equipment he knew to have been prepared for them, Michael had been determined to look at anything else.

The stale stench from the pantry wasn’t getting any better now, even with the door open.

Michael hung his head tiredly, looking around the empty kitchen: “I’m not coming to look for myself; you have to tell me if you want my help…”

No response followed, prompting Michael to shake his head.

“Well… If you don’t need me, I’m going back to Gavin and do, you know, something useful”, Michael added, fond of the possibility of a warming fire as he rubbed his hands together and took an expectant step towards the doorway.

“Fuck!”

As Geoff’s voice finally rang from the pantry, Michael lifted his eyebrow in show more than in actual curiosity. He couldn’t care less about Geoff’s mood swings; he’d had plenty enough on their way to the safe house.

The man was being a dick, nothing they could do about that now.

“Not really what I wanted to hear, Geoff – you know how to say please?” Michael called in a little louder, hearing Geoff curse under his breath now that his silence had broken.

“Fuck that! Just get in here and take this crap to the others!” Geoff yelled, making Michael sigh again. He stood up and stepped towards the pantry he had no more interest to enter now than he’d had before.

As Michael walked up to the door, he immediately noted the mostly empty shelves in the tiny space.

Inside, Geoff glared at a thick pile of blankets wrapped up in plastic sheets; a pile he had most likely been staring at since the start, too pissed off to do anything more about it.

Michael whistled slowly.

“They really were prepared for an emergency”, Michael said, looking at two small cardboard boxes filled to the brim with rations, bars and cans of who knows what they were supposed to live with. “Got to thank the B-team when we get back.”

“Oh yes”, Geoff grumbled, turning around to look at Michael. “We sure as fuck will…”

Michael smirked, finally reaching in the pantry to pick up the boxes:

“If this is it, I’ll carry the food and you can get the… rest.”

--- xx ---

Once the whole crew had gathered back to the living room, the only location spacey and clean enough to be in any way attractive for them to house, Ryan immediately bundled himself up by the fireplace, while Gavin and Jeremy slowly fed the fire with pieces of scrapped wood found from all over the place.

For a moment, everyone was quiet as they listened to the downpour outside.

Michael was the one to move next, stepping forward to pull the moth-eaten curtain to cover one of the windows, even the raindrops on the glass having been barely visible from the darkness outside.

“All right…” Geoff began, sighing as he watched Jack sort through the few edibles they’d had with them, mixing them with the rations collected from the pantry:

“This sucks.”

“S-sure does…” Ryan growled from the floor, taking his turn to poke at the starting fire.

With the said fire being the only thing currently illuminating the room, the crew’s mood was painted even dimmer than it necessarily had to be.

“Nothing we can do about it now”, Jack spoke up and he crossed his arms.

“’But wait’”, Gavin repeated the earlier statement and turned to look at Geoff for confirmation. “That’s the plan?”

“Isn't much else we can do – I would have loved to have driven down the fucking mountain when the downpour first began –”, Geoff spat out, Jack immediately landing a heavy hand on his shoulder:

“And we might have died doing that; the road turned into a damn water slide in seconds and there’s no way we could have made it down that, not in the car we have… Could you have imagined the headlines – Fake AH drives off a cliff in a rainstorm, the end!”

“Fucking flumes”, Jeremy grumbled as he got up from the floor. “So, it’s a fact? We’re stuck here. Might be for a long time, too... Well, as I said to Ryan, we really shouldn't let that ruin... this.”

“Ruin what exactly?” Michael asked while covering the filthy couch with one of the blankets. He wrinkled his nose as he collapsed down on it, settling back.

“I don’t know… A winter holiday?” Jeremy asked, making Gavin laugh.

“This wouldn't have been my first choice for the place, but okay.”

“Mine neither, but I really don’t want to spend our time, you know... arguing about everything”, Jeremy continued, giving Gavin a pointed look and a nod to the left.

Gavin glanced behind himself, taking notice of Geoff who was glaring out the window not yet covered, seemingly not listening to a word said.

“Sorry to say, J, but that’s pretty much all we’re going to do and you know it”, Michael replied, closing his eyes. “No way will we be able to not claw at one another’s throats by the end of this ‘holiday’.”

Jack picked up a few more blankets and threw one at Gavin and Ryan, the latter immediately assimilating the piece of cloth in his fortress of warmth.

Jack then slumped on the couch next to Michael, folding the other blanket around them before giving Michael a can of food.

Having listened on the lads’ conversation, he was the next to speak:

“Jeremy’s right, though… There’s a high chance this will not be that pleasant of a stay for us – and why would it be? We’re stuck, completely blocked from the rest of the world and our crew, without much to eat or keep us warm...

Well, as it happens, that's exactly why there’s no need to make this any harder than it has to be, not from the start.”

“Meaning, we need to calm the fuck down and relax… Can do”, Michael hummed, opening the can and starting on his dinner as Jack did the same.

Michael chuckled as he ate, after a moment turning to give Jack another look. “But I’m still saying; we won’t be able to keep that up – would just make this even more boring.”

“Likely so. But as long as we’ll all be able to leave together and alive, everything’s fine with me”, Jack said with a smile as Jeremy went to pick up cans for himself and the others, walking over to give one to Geoff as well.

--- xx ---

It didn’t take long for the crew to realize there was nothing for them to do next.

The silence that followed the realization and their brief meal was broken only when Geoff hit his palm on the window and swiftly closed the curtain. He spun around to face the others:

“Important shit first; what did you have with you in the car?”

“Well… Weapons. A lot of those. Whe were preparing for a hit, a-after all”, Ryan began with a few sniffs in between, glancing at the doorway where he had left the bags with the ammunition. “Masks?”

“A set of clothes that aren’t… Let’s just say, they’re not fit for the weather”, Jack continued, in turn looking at a bag with loose brightly coloured shirts and pants. The theme had been Hawaii (it had been Jack’s call, he had to admit the blame on that one) and the clothing was hardly of any help to them now. “At least we have some spares? As well as bullet proof vests…”

“Oh shit, was real close to having us dressed up in that gear before we left… The irony would have killed me”, Michael frowned at his words, holding tightly on the blanket around him.

“Yeah… But a silk shirt wasn’t the right choice either”, Gavin told him sadly, looking down at the shirt in question practically working to freeze him to death.

“Alright, alright; what else?” Geoff pushed on, redirecting the conversation back to what mattered.

“Uh, since we were planning to destroy the warehouse complex and celebrate afterwards, I did bring something to eat, too”, Jeremy said and nodded towards a basket he had thrown on the desk when they first arrived. “Was going for a picnic vibe but the joke that was there… well, apparently it backfired.”

“The irony…” Michael whispered again, his eyes closed and a lopsided smirk on his face.

“Good, excellent; anyone else prepare something useful?!” Geoff stressed his point a little further after giving Jeremy the thumbs up, looking around the room.

“Not really… I found a few torches in the car, though you know that already... You?” Gavin threw back at him, making Geoff scoff.

“I did, food as well, check the pile”, Geoff nodded at the table where Jeremy’s basket was at – and, sure enough, behind the basket there was a box of… donuts?

“Okay, we’ve got snacks… Plenty of snacks”, Jack began slowly. “No-one brought anything to drink? There wasn’t much in the pantry, either.”

Everyone looked at one another, shaking their heads, and Jack sighed. “I’ll… I’ll set something up so we can make use of the rain?”

“Sure…” Geoff said tiredly, rubbing his face. “Michael can help you with that. Jeremy, you coming with me to get some chairs from the kitchen? I think I saw a few intact ones we didn’t collect for the fire…”

--- xx ---

“I’ve somewhat divided the food”, Jack said once everyone returned to the living room, shrugging as he looked at the food before him:

“There are enough of the actual rations to last for a while so no need to be too careful with those… The snacks… Well, I’ve grouped them up so there’s enough for all of us but you can do what you want with your portion, I suppose.”

“How many days do you think we’ll stay here for?” Jeremy asked, helping Jack to carry each set of food in the cupboard by the hall.

“The rain can’t last forever!” Geoff huffed. “I’ll give it a day, maximum.”

“Then, we got to prepare for two?” Gavin asked.

“That works”, Jack agreed. “Anyone want a donut?”

After a brief pause, everyone ended up saying yes – sadly, not even glazed donuts could make everything better.

“Am I the only one practically falling asleep any second now?” Jeremy asked through the silence that followed the somewhat lacklustre donut-eating session they just had.

“No way… It’s still early”, Michael whined jokingly as no-one felt the need to check what the time actually was.

It was dark enough.

“Really wish I had brought my DS with me or something… Would have given a few hours before running out of battery… I don’t even want to touch my phone and witness its death –”, Michael continued in good humour, interrupted by Gavin suddenly exclaiming:

“We could tell stories!”

“I just want to sleep; I wasn’t joking about that…” Jeremy replied with a sigh.

“Sthories about what exactly...? I think I’ve t-told you everything there is to know about me and my ‘misadventures’ in life”, Ryan mumbled as he picked up a chocolate bar from the table and began to chew on it, now huddled up between Jack and Michael on the couch.

“True… And the last thing I want is to discuss my childhood traumas with you guys while stuck in a cabin in the woods – that’s not therapeutic, no matter what they want you to think”, Geoff said with a yawn, staring at the flames.

Gavin’s face lit up and he turned on the floor, looking up at Jeremy who sat by the desk and was tiredly doodling on a notebook he’d had with him.

“Jeremy, you seen that movie?” Gavin asked, making Jeremy jump and look at him in confusion.

“Um? What mo–”

“Good!”

Gavin flung around and pointed at Geoff whose eyebrow rose in question at Gavin’s sudden surge in energy.

“We don’t need to tell stories about ourselves – we’re stuck in a cabin who knows where and who knows for how long, the place is falling apart around us and – it’s perfect!”

“Gavin, no, we’re not going to spend the night telling ghost stories – or reciting horror movie plots to Jeremy, for that matter”, Jack said, his eyes glinting with amusement.

“Why not, what else are we supposed to do? Waste the opportunity?”

“You could read something – that’s w-what I’m planning on”, Ryan suggested as he stifled a cough. He then picked up one of the half ruined books Jeremy had found upstairs and threw it at Gavin.

Gavin intercepted the book and hit it to the ground, crossing his arms as he made a face. “Really? Really, Ryan?”

Ryan shrugged and folded the wrapper of the chocolate bar with care before throwing it with the other trash. “Really. But if you c-come up with a better way to spend my time, do share.”

“I’ll take that as a challenge, then”, Gavin answered with a huff.

“Out of the way, Gav”, Michael grumbled and got a surprised squeak out of him as he suddenly threw the blankets at Gavin’s head.

“What are you doing?” Gavin asked, having scrambled out of the way as Michael got up to arrange the blankets on the floor.

“We need to sleep somewhere”, Jack answered and gestured at the couch he and Ryan were sitting on. “No way are we all going to fit on this. And there really isn’t anywhere else for us to go…”

“And there’s no way I’m m-moving an inch away from the fhireplace, doubt anyone else wants to either”, Ryan added, scooting back over to make room when Michael re-joined them.

“Better get used to the lack of space”, Michael said, and then shrugged. “Although… There isn’t much of a difference compared to the usual, from what I can see.”

“True. But I’m still taking the couch”, Geoff stated matter-of-factly.

The argument that followed, although it really wasn’t one, lasted through the rest of the evening.

As it ended, so did the first day of the crew’s unwilling holiday at the safe house.

Things could been worse.--- xx ---

Day 1. The Game we shouldn't play

The morning began with a lot of complaining about the lack of proper mattresses, and the difficulty in getting used to the rain.

Even still, they were trying their best to relax.

Or, some of them were.

“Good morning!” Gavin yelled at the top of his lungs as he ran back to the living room, making the others flinch.

“Shut up Gav, there’s nothing good about it”, Michael frowned as he looked down at the can of beans that Jeremy had dropped in front of him. “Absolutely nothing…”

“What’s wrong with you?” Jeremy asked, making Michael let out an overdramatically deep sigh: “Everything’s officially ruined; my phone’s done for.”

“Oh man, sorry to hear”, Jeremy patted Michael’s shoulder before focusing back on the food. “Good thing mine ran out before we even got here. Or something…”

“Just eat the beans and don’t think about it”, Jack said, thanking Jeremy who had opened the cans, plopping them around the table for people to grasp.

“Yeah, yeah – the one thing B-team did right; provided food instead of lying about it. Heaven on earth! I’ve officially cheered up!” Michael exclaimed as he began to eat. He then tilted his head to smirk at Jack. “Just kidding?”

“So… You still planning to behave yourself?” Jack asked, a similar grin on his face.

Yesterday evening’s talk wasn’t to be forgotten – Jack was determined to make sure of that.

“Nothing changes overnight. Well, other than me being fucking pissed at Ryan for stealing my blanket… But I get it, he’s sick and all, I won’t be making a number out of that”, Michael shrugged, earning himself a chuckle from Ryan who sat on the opposite side of him, the said blanket still tightly tied around his shoulders:

“T-thanks, I guess...”

Gavin looked at the others thoughtfully, taking in the attitude they were each starting their day with.

“So, what’s everyone’s planning?” Gavin then asked, a bit too cheerfully to the others’ liking.

“…I thought I’d try to make something to entertain us? Even a pack of cards would be good, and I’ve luckily got the paper”, Jeremy replied.

“That’s a good idea!” Jack agreed. “I was thinking about doing something as well, but… If you need any help with that…?”

“Sure”, Jeremy nodded. “And if anyone has ideas for anything else, games and that sort; that would be cool. Anything for us to do, you know.”

“Then… We should p-probably look around and see if there’s more for us to use, somewhere. This place c-chan’t be completely empty”, Ryan said, trying his best to control his voice. “Geoff, youh want to take a look with me?”

“You sure you want to go walking around, in your condition?” Geoff asked, his voice still quiet in an attempt to contain his irritation.

“I mean… I’m n-not feeling that bad”, Ryan replied slowly.

Truthfully, he knew he was sick and it would be easy for him to start feeling even worse if he overworked himself – but, Ryan was more worried about other things.

“Just saying, Michael, Gavin and I are plenty enough to look through this shithole. You should rest”, Geoff continued, looking at the two lads in question.

“R-right”, Ryan agreed after a moment. “Works for me.”

Gavin jumped from his seat and lifted his hand as if asking for permission. With or without one, he then spoke up: “Uhm… Since there aren’t many places to see, we don’t need to check together, right? I mean, it would be smart to split up.”

“…What’s smart about that?” Geoff asked with a blank look. “We hardly have anything to check to begin with, why split up and make the only thing we can do take even less of our time…”

“Oh…” Gavin replied, scratching the back of his head. “That’s true. Well.”

“What I want to see the most is the basement; don’t think anyone went there yesterday?” Michael asked, turning to Geoff and ignoring Gavin.

“Right. That’s one thing we need to do. Then we could take another look at the kitchen... And the upstairs. And every corner there is…” Geoff continued tiredly.

As if they were going to find anything.

--- xx ---

“I don’t want to… be here. I’ll head upstairs; join me there when you want?” Gavin asked a little too fast, taking a step backwards and pointing at the stairs. Geoff and Michael turned around to look at him and then each other, shrugging.

“Do what you want, I’ll take a closer look at that thing”, Michael replied, in turn pointing at a generator in the corner of the basement.

Geoff huffed, looking around as well. “I guess… I should check the rest of the boxes here?”

“You really think you’re going to find some—Never mind! I’m going!” Gavin yelped, hopping backwards as his shoe touched a puddle that was a touch too deep for his liking.

Gavin then fumbled his way back upstairs, leaving the other two to stare at one another.

“He’s up to something”, Michael stated, making Geoff chuckle.

“Might be… Or, he’s just Gavin.”

Michael nodded in amusement, and then turned to walk towards the generator – he hadn’t been lying about wanting to take a closer look at it. He hummed thoughtfully as he checked the machine, trying to place the year it had been made and for exactly what usage.

There weren’t many pieces of electrical equipment left in the cabin, and what little remained was barely usable.

“Can you do something with that?” Geoff asked, poking at one of the boxes with a stick. He had no plans to touch anything in the basement; there was no way, in his mind, that he would find anything useful anyway.

Instead, he might find something gross that could ruin his day for good.

“I can maybe get it working… Maybe. But what could we do with it even if I did...?” Michael replied with a shrug, reaching for the machine and pulling at a few loose wires curiously.

“Fuck!” Geoff exclaimed, making Michael spin around and Geoff raise his hands apologetically at the brief flash of worry he saw in Michael’s face.

Geoff coughed, starting over with less venom in his voice: “I mean; fuck this shithole of a place and the loss of modern tech...?”

“Not as bad as it could be?” Michael questioned, not exactly meaning it to be rhetorical. He had promised to keep his calm, after all – ensuring Geoff kept his own, to an extent, was a part of it.

No matter how boring that would make the days to come.

“Fine. Could be worse”, Geoff offered. “I’m just saying… This is pretty much worse than a prison sentence, at least there’s more to do there.”

“If this is worse than that… What’s worse than this?” Michael asked, jokingly throwing the words around to annoy Geoff even further as he pulled a stool from underneath one of the desks and carried it by the generator.

“I don’t know! Hell?”

Michael laughed, shaking his head. “Come on, hell’s not that bad…”

Geoff snorted, crossing his arms and taking a step towards Michael. “Alright. I wasn’t in the best mood yesterday, before all this, and what we have here isn’t making it any better.”

“But you think Jack’s right?”

“About relaxing and having a fun ‘holiday’, as Jeremy put it? Yeah. Not trying to spoil it for you guys”, Geoff replied and reached out to hold the mostly empty tool pack Michael handed over to him, the younger going through the desks and picking up the few tools laying around.

“There’s nothing much to spoil, but I’m having fun anyway”, Michael said sarcastically. He pointed a blunt screwdriver with a mostly gone wooden handle at Geoff’s face. “I’ll probably fix this thing, no matter if we need it or not. Haven’t had a project like this for ages – really helps with keeping my skillset.”

“Then…” Geoff began. “I need to find something I can do to… Improve myself?” He scoffed. “What the hell is there?”

“Well… You need to keep us in check, should be interesting enough. But to do that, you really need to keep yourself sane. Without alcohol”, Michael chuckled.

“I can do that”, Geoff replied, also beginning to smile as he dropped the toolbox on the stool. “But not here. Gavin had the right idea – I need go back upstairs.”

Michael sniffed the stale air around them and agreed. “I’ll be heading up in a moment, I guess. You going after Gavin, ‘double-checking’ whatever he’s looked at?”

--- xx ---

To everyone’s surprise (not?), the exact opposite of what was expected did happen.

As in, Geoff, Michael and Gavin split up.

And, even more shockingly, Michael found something the moment he left the generator and went back to looking –

Something that he now carried out from the kitchen pantry, loudly letting everyone know of his discovery.

“Geoff, you’re going to LOVE this!” Michael yelled, his voice almost malicious and doing nothing to hide the obvious grin on his face.

Fuck the peace and calm, Michael thought –

This was too good to waste.

Gavin ran down the stairs just in time to intercept Michael and the colourful box, his eyes widening in surprise as he looked at it. “Is- is that..?”

“It’s a miracle, is what it is!” Michael exclaimed, making Gavin smirk.

“Ooh, Geoff’s gonna love this for sure!”

“Just get in here already!” Jack called from the living room, the three men inside wanting to see what the lads had with them.

It was almost exciting, or as exciting as anything could get in the cabin.

“Not yet!” Michael yelled back. “Geoff’s got to see this first!”

“See what?” Geoff’s voice asked as he walked warily down the stairs, with a lot less speed than Gavin had.

Michael swiftly stepped forward, standing between Geoff and Gavin with the box hidden behind his back. “Any guesses?”

“I’m not playing any games with you…” Geoff growled, staring suspiciously at the corners of the box visible from behind Michael’s back.

“Oh damn… And here I was hoping”, Michael said with feigned disappointment. Gavin covered his mouth to suppress his giggles, making Geoff lift his eyebrow and then slump a little in realization.

“You don’t… No fucking way, you don’t mean –“

--- xx ---

“Who the fuck has been in charge of this place! What is this, th – the 70s?!”

“You know this wasn’t exactly the first choice for us to stay at, not now or ever. Thank god they even had stocked the place with food sometime this century, everything else is just… extra”, Jack said, trying to calm Geoff down although he too was close to losing it.

With their situation impossible to ignore due to the rain banging on the barely withholding roof with enough force to make Jack certain the building would soon collapse, there wasn’t much anyone could do to forget where they were.

“But! It still doesn’t explain it, Jack! Why is the only one – the only one, Jack – the only fucking game of any kind they’ve kept in here…? Why does it have to be THIS?!”

“I mean… Ith could have been Monopoly”, Ryan spoke and Jeremy nodded along. “Yeah... Could have been worse, what with all these guns lying around...”

Meanwhile, Michael and Gavin had been rummaging through the game’s box.

Michael sighed, turning to Geoff almost apologetically with the same level of expiration and an honest look of pained disappointed.

The mirth Michael had felt when first making his find had quickly disappeared as he realized just how the rest of their evening was going to go:

“The biggest mystery here is; how come none of the pieces are even missing from this fucking thing...?”

--- xx ---

In the end, Geoff was the only one dropping out of the first of many rounds of Game of Life.

Jeremy and Jack had somehow, with plenty of blackmail involved, managed to talk Michael into joining them, while Ryan only participated due to his belief that at least the first rounds of the game were going to be way more tolerable than the ones a few hours later.

Ryan kept telling himself that any form of entertainment was good enough as he spun the wheel in the game where nothing seemed to happen –

It did make sense, though, considering how all of them playing were criminals for whom this form of living hadn’t been a desired option for a long, long time.

“Ryan! You got married, Ryan!” Gavin cheered and pulled the man in question from his thoughts, Ryan not having paid much attention to the game itself. “Congratulations!”

Jeremy leaned in closer to Ryan’s side as he handed him the peg that was to represent his new partner in Life: “Soo, who’s the lucky guy, or gal?”

Ryan frowned at the peg as he went to place it in his car. He then turned to the two lads. “Neither one of you, that’s for sure.”

“Ryan…” Jack said with a scolding tone that his smile easily overshadowed. “No-one’s fighting over you, calm down.”

“Oh yeah? All right. I w-was going to say you, Jack, but nhever mind then if you would let just about anyone have me”, Ryan retorted and threw his head to the side defiantly, although smiling as he did so.

“Why Jack?” Geoff had to ask from where he had cocooned himself up by the fireplace, following Ryan’s example.

Although not involved in the game itself – mostly to ensure that he wouldn’t get any closer to losing his mind than he already was – Geoff was still more than willing to mock the others for their choices and losses in Life: “I have so much more to give you all!”

“I’m a respectful man, Geoff – you won’t be finding me having an affair with my boss”, Ryan stated with so much conviction in his tone that one could’ve almost believe him to be serious if it wasn’t for Gavin who snorted long before the ex-mercenary was even finished with his sentence.

“You have principles, I like that”, Jack chuckled and leaned over the table as he spun the wheel. “I might have to redact my earlier statement.”

“I shure do, plenty of them. But you’ve already lost your chances with me, Jack, I found someone new”, Ryan said with a smirk.

“That was fast”, Gavin grinned and pointed at himself. “Is it me?”

Ryan shook his head and helped move Jeremy’s car three spaces forward. “Already said you and Jeremy were out of the game.”

“So, the only one left is Michael?” Jeremy questioned and they all turned to look at the only person who had taken no part in their ongoing conversation.

Michael stared at the board as he spun the wheel, trying not to pay the others any mind.

Instead, Ryan looked down at the board himself and burst out laughing as Michael plopped his car on place, now glancing up at Ryan with a murderous glare.

As they continued with the game, Michael had been catching up with Ryan’s placement on the board. He now reached forward to add a new peg in his car, having in turn landed on the ‘Get married’ tile.

“It’s a sign!” Gavin cheered again, clinging on to Michael’s shoulders as everyone began to laugh.

“Now that’s a wedding I’d love to be invited to”, Jack chuckled.

Geoff scoffed in the background but even he was smiling like an idiot:

“Got to one-up that invitation a little, though… I might be your boss but I still deserve more than a seat by some random table.”

--- xx ---

After the third playthrough of the Game That Must Not Be Named, it was once again time for dinner.

This time, dinner meant a lovely mix of beans and other bland rations they all grew tired of long before having their first taste.

“At least –” Jeremy started optimistically but was quickly shut down by Michael.

“No, don’t say anything. We’ll eat this shit, that’s good enough. No need to make it sound like something it’s not.”

“Like something delicious?” Gavin asked as he poked at his own dish. He had no idea what he was eating – there was no taste he could recognize, and someone had removed the sticker on the side of the can.

Maybe it was better that way.

“I think what Jeremy was trying to say was, at least we have something to eat”, Jack continued, not minding the taste of his food but trying his best to accept the texture of it.

“And we all agree, as said a billion times over”, Michael noted, dropping his empty can on the pile of trash someone would have to throw out the front door soon.

Why was there this much trash anyway if their source of food was supposed to be limited?

“And as said before, I don’t want to hear any complaints about this”, Jack said solemnly, throwing his own can at the pile. “We’ll live.”

“But at what cost”, Jeremy whispered in the background.

--- xx ---

As the day turned towards its end, Jeremy showed the others what he and Jack had managed to make before the Game had come to the picture: a tiny stack of cards with some impressing Fake AH themed doodles, and a matching memory game.

“I admit… It’s not much but I ended up spending way too much time on the drawings to make anything else”, Jeremy began and scratched his head.

“This is amazing, and better than anything we could have ever done”, Gavin gestured at everyone in the room, before picking up the stack. “Anyone want to play cards? Cheat or something?”

“Sure…” Michael said, flexing his back and arms. “But not by your rules.”

“Wha– Why?“

“You know why. Geoff, you in?”

“Whatever”, Geoff crumbled from the other end of the room.

“That a yes?” Gavin asked with a lopsided grin.

Apparently it was – just not to play anything the others would recommend.

While Gavin and Michael were learning a card game Geoff introduced them to, and Ryan slept on the couch, Jeremy and Jack tested out the memory game.

“You want to try matching ten times ten next?” Jeremy asked and Jack nodded, impressed as he looked through the pictures drawn on the cards.

“How many pairs did you even finish…?”

“Enough”, Jeremy said as he shuffled the pack. “Plenty enough.”

A few more rounds later, unlike Jeremy and Jack’s relaxed playthrough, the card game by the fireplace was close to turning ugly.

“What the fuck, Geoff!” Michael yelled, and almost jumped back on his feet in annoyance as he gestured at the cards before them.

“What, I’m not the one who sucks!” Geoff threw back gleefully, counting his cards.

“You won?” Gavin asked and looked from his hand to Geoff’s, trying to understand what had just happened in the game the rules of which Geoff hadn’t been too good at explaining.

“Yeah, the cheater won this, sure”, Michael snarled and leaned back. “Congrats!”

“I didn’t cheat!” Geoff practically whined, dropping his cards on the floor. “I won! You suck! As simple as that!”

“Fine, whatever”, Michael got up and walked up to the desk Jack and Jeremy were sitting by. Jeremy looked up at him: “You want to join us instead?”

Michael shook his head.

“Nah. If you need me, I’ll be in the basement for a while… As if you would”, Michael snarled and picked something from the table before turning to leave.

“What?” Gavin squeaked. “Why would you go there? The place is awful; do you even have a light?”

Michael waved the flashlight at him as he walked out of the room.

--- xx ---

As the evening came, Michael returned from the basement just as everyone began to claim their space of warmth in the living room.

Michael stared at the others for a moment before shrugging and stepping forward to join them.

Jeremy sat by the desk, his arms crossed over his head tiredly, and lifted his gaze as he heard Michael arrive. He turned to glance at the crew, everyone practically nodding off.

Jeremy didn’t want to end the day where they were, wanting to do something to lift the mood.

“Gavin?”

“…what’s up, Jeremy?” Gavin asked after a short pause where he pulled away from his thoughts, shaking his head clear and turning to look at Jeremy curiously.

Gavin’s previous attempts at cheering the others up had all been met with less than enthusiastic reception.

“Just wondering, what with the Game of – “

“Don’t talk about it, come on! We had a deal!” Geoff immediately yelled from the couch, causing Jeremy to roll his eyes.

“Rii-ight… Sorry. But, I’m serious. Gavin; if you weren’t here, a part of the crew and, well, a criminal mastermind… What would you do? Out of any position in the world?”

Gavin burst out laughing. “A serious question, I like it.”

“Tread carefully, you don’t want to start this all over again”, Jack said with a quiet laugh, the apparent warning meant to avoid any arguments that could follow – the last thing Jack wanted was to re-ignite that hell, what with alternative lifestyles back on the table.

“Come on Jack, it’s not like it’s a difficult question; not for me”, Gavin smirked, trying to stir any interest among the others to participate in the talk.

Jack shook his head and turned to Ryan as the mercenary began to chuckle.

Ryan, somewhat smugly, glanced at the crew as he spoke: “We know each other w-well enough to know what we’re interested in. I really don’t see how this conversation could turn into anything new...“

"I guess we could still have a few examples; Michael, could you tell us about you ‘dream job’?” Jack asked almost sarcastically, sidestepping the original question pointed at Gavin to look at his feet.

Michael, having settled down on the floor and taken his turn to be all covered up in the blankets, huffed before turning on his side to look back at Jack:

“Easy; exactly what I’m doing now.”

“Hey!” Gavin lightly kicked the pile of fabric that was Michael, the man ignoring him to curl up all properly again. “You need to give us something more than that.”

“A mundane job is more than a little difficult to imagine at this point. But there’s got to be something, that’s true. I bet Michael would love to demolish buildings, even within legal boundaries and unaware of… other possibilities in life", Jack said, now retracting his act to agree with Jeremy and Gavin to keep the conversation going:

"I think I would like to direct a movie – my kind of movie. With funding, a good script and just the right actors… Whatever that would be.”

“Out of any position, you have no right to pick anything lame… I’d be a fucking amazing president, for one”, Geoff called from the other end of the room, making Jack laugh before he smugly retorted back:

“No, you wouldn’t. You can barely be left in charge of us – oh wait! We all know who the perfect president would be, and she’s cunning.”

“True that”, Jeremy nodded and Geoff scoffed to hide his laugh, whispering to himself: “I could still fire all of you, though…”

“What about you, Jeremy?” Jack then said, ignoring Geoff as he turned to regard the younger man instead.

Jeremy shrugged.

“Don’t know… But if you’re thinking about making a movie, maybe I’d make… an album or something.”

“Really?” Gavin poked at Jeremy’s side. “That’s really what you want? You’re great and all –”

“Huh? You don’t think I could do it?” Jeremy laughed, surprise apparent from his voice as he turned to Gavin almost defensively: “I mean, I know! Why make an album if there’s no audience?”

“Not what I meant! I bet you would get a ton of fans seconds from release; you’re amazing! But… If you actually want to make an album… Do it? We have the cash and enough friends in the business”, Gavin corrected himself.

He quickly took notice of the others' silent stares pointed at him, making Gavin continue even further:

“Same with you, Jack! At some point, you could just, maybe, do that. Film a movie? Make a dream come true? I mean, what else are you spending your pay on? There should be plenty enough for a film, of some kind at least…”

“…”

Jack and Jeremy looked at Gavin blankly and Ryan burst out laughing, nearly in tears.

"That's... That's not how it works", Jack tried to speak, but Gavin quickly cut him off once again as he began to get annoyed with them instead:

"That's exactly how it works! My dream job, I’ve been living it all this time – even outside the crew, all the stuff I film. It’s been published, posted, shared! I love it! You know that! Why can't you do the exact same thing, no-one knows your real names or what you look like anyway?"

"I agree with Gavin; I know I’ve s-spent most of my share on doing things I wanted from way before all this... W-what else is there?" Ryan asked, alerting Jeremy and Jack at how dumb both of them were being.

The denial-filled argument that followed, although it really wasn’t one, lasted through the rest of the evening.

As it ended, so did the first full day of the crew’s unwilling holiday at the safe house.

Things could have been worse.

--- xx ---

Day 2. Surprise times everyone*

The next day, Jack was the last to wake up.

Jack lifted his head from the ground, looking around in the dim room and seeing only Ryan lounging on the couch.

Ryan looked at him as Jack dropped his head back down with a thump and a weary sigh.

“Morning”, Ryan said cheerfully, his form barely illuminated by the little light coming from the fireplace that they had thankfully been able to keep on. They were almost out of wood to burn, though – there were enough cabin walls to break down for more, Geoff had said when Gavin first pointed it out.

Jack took a deep breath and listened for a second; to his disappointment, he could still hear the rain and feel the moisture engulfing them, stronger every day.

It was hard to get used to.

“Morning…” Jack finally replied as he slowly sat up and stretched his back, putting his glasses back on next. “The floor could be a little more comfortable…”

“Your turn with the couch tonight”, Ryan chuckled, taking a bite of a cookie – the only things left as breakfast. “Really seems like we’ll still be here tomorrow.”

“Right… Sounds like you’re starting to feel better, though – that’s good”, Jack turned to the windows that were covered up, as always.

There wasn’t much light coming through that way, why be reminded of the weather and their situation by opening the curtains?

“Where is everyone?” Jack asked as he reached for the bag of cookies Ryan was handing over. Jack turned the bag around in his hands and squinted first at it and then at the open cupboard against the wall. “And… What happened to the other breakfast bars?”

Ryan shrugged.

“Those were all there was left when I last checked. And with the others, there aren’t many possibilities around here… Michael’s most likely back in the basement, Geoff’s, well – you just missed him leaving. Gavin was gone when I woke up, and Jeremy left right after Geoff did. Either way…

I don’t really care.”

Jack laughed at that, shaking his head. “Fair enough… Gives us a moment alone, at least.”

“Exactly”, Ryan said with a smile.

--- xx ---

"Well then…”

Gavin jumped and spun around, almost hitting his head on the locker above.

“What are you doing?” Jeremy asked, not minding the reaction or regarding it with even as much as a lift of an eyebrow.

“What –“, Gavin sputtered, glancing behind Jeremy in the doorway but seeing no-one else with him. “I-I’m the one who should be the asking that! Why are you here?”

Jeremy tilted his head, his eyes glinting in amusement at the other’s frustration. Jeremy then reached behind him to shut the door. “You know… Just wanted to check on you. You’ve been spending a lot of time here since yesterday.”

“How did you… How did you find me?” Gavin looked around again, somewhat defensively pressing himself between the table and Jeremy’s gaze as he checked the room, trying to work out exactly what Gavin had been doing.

“Find you?” Jeremy let out a burst of laugher before continuing, tilting his head curiously. “Seriously? We’re stuck in a cabin that barely has a room for all of us – and certainly none that aren't completely ruined already – and you don’t know how I found you?”

“Of – of course I know”, Gavin huffed. “I just… I wasn’t expecting anyone to check up on me, is all.”

“Well… We really have no reason to, and everyone’s been a bit wary … Still, it’s dull out there. With or without you, sure, but at least it wasn't as quiet before you locked yourself in here”, Jeremy said and smiled at him.

Gavin nodded, a grin now spreading on his face. “Yeah, well, that’s exactly what I’m trying to fix.”

Jeremy glanced around again before looking at Gavin in confusion. “You actually have been working on something?”

“Of course! You think I’m wasting my time in here?”

“No, but… What is there to do? If you have an idea, please share – I’d love to help. Anything to get Geoff in a better mood, and maybe even bring Michael back from his death-trap, would be much appreciated”, Jeremy said with a touch of worry in his voice.

Gavin nodded again. “Exactly! …I suppose it would make everything a lot easier if I had some help. I want to finish this before we get out of here.”

A silence fell over them, Gavin smiling and Jeremy looking at him questioningly as the other didn’t elaborate.

“...alright, I agree. Still... You need to show me the thing you’re building here before I agree to help you with anything – I want to cheer the others up, sure, but I’d also like to keep my head.”

Gavin smile widened and he took a step away from the desk, prompting Jeremy to take a look.

”It’s more than just a ‘thing’!”

--- xx ---

As the afternoon came, the crew began to move around again.

“Hey Michael?” Ryan called as he walked down the creaky stairs to see the other man working on his newest project. “You got a minute?”

Michael was hidden in the far back of the basement, standing on a stool to reach the wiring. He slowly turned his head to give Ryan an annoyed look but no verbal answer.

Ryan decided to take this as a sign to go worth with his question.

“You know anything about the extra snacks we had, what happened to them?” Ryan asked as he walked through the room. “Jack’s certain there should be more left, based on the division.”

“You mean everything you guys ate during the first day we were here? Not really my job to keep track of it, and I even gave you most of mine, but… Pretty sure someone got to it first”, Michael scoffed and turned back to work on the sizeable generator, trying to avoid damaging it any further.

Ryan’s nose wrinkled at the murky stench that was even stronger here than in the rest of the building.

How Michael could stand spending his time in the basement, Ryan didn’t know.

“… Was that really all there was?”

“Yu-up. Better get used to it, Rye.”

Ryan sighed, giving Michael a half-hearted glare as he did. “And we had this unprepared of a safe house just lying around because?”

“Oh come on – not my fault you all ate everything good from the get go, even when we probably had enough to last us a month if needed to.

Can’t call it being unprepared, just weren’t ready for us.”

Michael no longer sounded angry or even borderline annoyed. Instead, he was grinning as he spoke, simultaneously continuing to reconnect the wiring.

It was a pointless, Ryan thought, what with them having basically nothing to use the electricity on.

Well.

At least it gave Michael something to do – and away from the others.

“Okay then…” Ryan began slowly, not sure how to continue from there; there was no denying that he had, so to speak, gotten rid of a good portion of the rations left for them. “We weren’t intending to stay for long. It wasn’t a bad plan, to just have fun with the few days off we got from this.”

“Yeah. At the tim– ack!”

Ryan jumped, reflexively reaching forward to catch him if he fell, but Michael barely flinched as he pulled back his singed hand. He checked his fingers for a second before shrugging and getting back to his task, Ryan frowning by his side.

“You sure that’s safe?” Ryan looked around in the cellar and noted the broken machinery, low hanging ceiling, muddy floor and the strong draft passing through it all.

Michael, standing on the stool, glanced down to the ground.

“Nope. But I think I’m way safer than you are, standing in a puddle while I’m fiddling with ancient tech connected to equally as ancient whatever. Might end up killing everyone in here but me – if I’m lucky.”

To Michael’s amusement, Ryan briefly stilled as he looked down at his feet, taking a few quick steps backwards to get away from the water.

“…right. Uh. I get that you’re joking, but... I think I’ll be heading upstairs now.”

“Sure.”

--- xx ---

Ryan hurried up the stairs and stopped short of the living room entrance as he almost ran straight at Jack.

Jack took a step back as Ryan apologized, noting the only way Ryan could have come from. He shook his head. “You went to see Michael?”

“You could say that, I suppose... I haven't really had the chance to move around much, so...”

“How’s he doing?”

“Alive. Cranky. Good enough?” Ryan asked, making Jack smile even wider.

“I guess it has to be. I was heading down there myself; think I might have something to cheer him up with.”

Ryan’s eyes widened. “Really? I… You need to tell me what that is.”

Before Jack could say anything more, they heard Geoff laugh loudly in the living room, which in turn caused Ryan’s eyes to widen even further. He looked at Jack in wonder.

“…nothing too miraculous, believe me”, Jack laughed and pointed a thumb behind him, towards the living room. “All you need to do is look through the window.”

Ryan blinked slowly and then broke into an almost maniacal grin. “You mean…?”

“The weather’s beginning to clear. Or, at least it looks like it now”, Jack nodded and then made way for Ryan to get past him and join the others staring out in amazement like toddlers witnessing first snow.

“Don’t get your hopes too far up, though! Might still not be a fluke”, Jack called after Ryan before turning to head to the basement.

Who cares if it wasn’t going to last; the brief moment of shared glee was relief enough, Jack thought as he worked his way towards Michael’s perch.

--- xx ---

Geoff, Gavin, Jeremy and Ryan stood in line by the windows and stared outside in wonder.

The rain had slowed down, now nothing more than a dribble left, and they could actually see the rivers of water flow down the hill.

“…With the rain stopping, how long do you think it’ll take for the flood to clear downhill from here?” Jeremy was the first to break the silence.

“The flood…?” Ryan asked, not quite following as all he cared about was the idea of getting the hell out.

“The damn downpour lasted for two days straight; we’re on a mountain that has a river on the bank below… If we want to get down from here, and be able to cross the river to reach Los Santos any of these day, the flood needs a moment to clear”, Geoff said seriously, also completely focused on their soon-to-come freedom but taking a surprisingly rational stance on it:

“The last thing I want is for us to rush down and find no way to get over, and then drive right back here. No thanks. I never want to see this place again.”

As it was, Geoff and Ryan ended up having a heated conversation about the safest yet fastest schedule they could follow to get away from the cabin.

Throughout it, Gavin began to get agitated.

“Jeremy…” Gavin whispered and pulled at the younger man’s sleeve to bring him a few steps away from the two gents. “This isn’t good.”

Jeremy glanced at Gavin, taking yet another step backwards after him.

“Actually, this is pretty damn excellent. Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Jeremy countered, nodding his head towards Geoff whose grin was becoming wider with every second at the idea of freedom.

“Yeah, but –”

“But, we have everything we need to fulfil the plan! You had enough yesterday, too… We really don’t… need much. You’re just way too worried about messing this up”, Jeremy stated, making Gavin sigh.

“There just isn’t much to use, or do. I feel underachieved! I wanted to come up with something better…”

“And you will feel even worse if you thought waiting for a week only to present them with what we have so far was going to make anyone feel super appreciative about it. Hint; it is not. And that’s why this is way better for us.”

“So… Today has to be the day?” Gavin asked, making Jeremy smirk:

“Hell yes! I just decided on the rules, and this is perfect! With everyone in high, or higher than before, spirits, they’re going to eat up whatever we have to offer. The best case scenario is that we’ll get everyone involved, and happy to participate!”

“You think we will?”

“Jack’s easy; Ryan’s desperate enough to try everything, even now; Geoff’s excited already and just happy to stay warm; and Michael… Well. It depends on his reaction to the news. But! If he shows up, we’ll have him. No question”, Jeremy nodded along eagerly, certain of his assessment.

Gavin took in a deep breath and then nodded as well, finally relieved enough to smile back.

“Okay. That sounds top.”

--- xx ---

A few ten minutes or so later, Michael and Jack appeared from the basement only to witness the others still gathered around the window.

Michael walked up to them and glanced outside, letting out an approving hum.

“Seems like you weren’t lying, then.”

“You thought I was?” Jack asked as he sat on the couch, looking at the five.

“Nope… Not sure why everyone looks like they’ve just witnessed the second coming of Christ or something, though”, Michael shrugged and went to sit down next to Jack, the rest of the crew alerting at his words and turning around. “No rain – awesome! But there’s more to do than stare at it.”

“Like what?” Ryan asked rather defensively. “We won’t be able to leave yet, what with the flood.”

Ryan and Geoff had come to an agreement about that one, deciding to wait until the morning before leaving the cabin.

Geoff now told that to the rest of the crew.

“One night left…” Jeremy mumbled, glancing at Gavin and trying to prompt him to start the conversation they’d have to have to get everything started.

“It won’t be too bad”, Jack said, looking at Michael. “We’ll be out in no time.”

A small silence followed with everyone finally willing to accept the facts.

Gavin took this moment to take a steadying breath, giving Jeremy a small nod before turning –

“Still, I’d really like to ask; who ate the snacks?” Michael asked suddenly, taking everyone by surprise.

“W-what?” Gavin spouted out.

“The snacks”, Michael calmly pointed at the cupboard. “Ryan said some are missing, and while it doesn’t really bother me too much – I gave my portion to Ryan already – it’s still bullshit one of you would do that? Seriously, what the fuck guys.”

“Uhm”, Gavin squeaked, trying to think of anything to say. “I don’t – I know nothing about that, but –“

“Yeah, not that but… no?” Jeremy began in a sorry attempt to derail any arguments that might follow.

“What?” Geoff frowned, ignoring anything else and looking first at Michael and then Ryan. “You’re serious? The rations are missing? That’s not –”

“No, not the rations; cookies and whatnot”, Jack corrected, turning to Jeremy. “What are you freaking out about?”

“Freaking out?” Jeremy asked, still taken aback. “No, we just… Gavin and I –“

“You stole the food“, Geoff turned his shocked glare at the lads.

“No! NO stealing! We have something else to, uh, share”, Jeremy blurted out and waved his hands before him.

“What?” Michael asked, tilting his head.

“A way to spend our last day here”, Gavin said slowly, not quite in the way he had expected to bring the matter up.

Jack lifted his eyebrow curiously: “And what’s that?”

“A fort”, Jeremy stated, rather blandly under everyone’s sharp gazes.

“We have all the parts needed to build it; we just need to… put the frame together, and stack the blankets”, Gavin added, no-one reacting to their words in any visible way.

“And to do that we need the tools Michael had. We couldn’t exactly steal them from him without explaining…” Jeremy continued and rubbed his neck, both him and Gavin just speaking out without thinking to derail the conversation. “But now, we can.”

Everyone was still, the two lads staring at them with similar frowns.

“A… A blanket fort?” Geoff asked after a moment, not quite sure he had heard that correctly. He turned to Jack, Ryan and Michael for confirmation.

“Yes!” Gavin exclaimed, taking what he could get and raising his voice. “Exactly what’s needed for a night like this! A blanket fort!”

“And what else do you need for a sleepover?” Jeremy asked, no-one going to answer so he did it himself: “Games!”

“Don’t you dare –“ Geoff warned, but Jeremy interrupted him: “A game I made, of course! One that fits us perfectly.”

“A blanket fort… And games. Sounds good to me”, Jack slowly spoke out, before beginning to laugh. He turned to look at Michael. “I think that heater of yours will fit right in there, too.”

“Heater?” Ryan asked, the word sparking his interest as he clung on to his blankets, not warming up to the idea of building a fort of any kind. “You have a heater?”

“Yeah… Found a cable long enough to bring it up here, too”, Michael nodded towards the soon dying fireplace. “Should help us out, to last until tomorrow.”

“All we’re missing is snacks then”, Jack said, carefully bringing back the earlier subject to find at least some conclusion to it.

“Actually…” Gavin began, everyone’s eyes sharply turning to him again. “Uh… I do have some of it.”

“Why?” Michael’s gaze turned back into a glare and the Brit frowned.

“To protect it? What’s a party like if there’s nothing to eat…? I mean, when I noticed the rations would last but the snacks wouldn’t, I had to do something.”

“So, you stole from the breakfast bars, and from the rest of us too?” Jack asked for confirmation, and Gavin nodded carefully:

“We were going way overboard! I had to save the best ones for… this.”

“You didn’t need to”, Geoff spoke up, trying his hardest to hide his grin behind his palm.

Now, everyone turned to him in surprise.

“…and what’s up with you?” Jack asked, and Geoff tried to keep his calm as he got up from his seat.

“Wait here, I’ll show you”, Geoff said before leaving the room and heading towards the front door of the cabin, leaving the rest of the crew behind in confusion.

“Well… He seems happy”, Jeremy said slowly just as Geoff hurried back with a cooler on his left hand and yet another cardboard box under his right.

“Sure does”, Ryan replied as he looked up at Geoff and the boxes. “You… did you have something to drink with you, all this time?”

“Alcohol, yeah – and that’s why I didn’t say anything earlier”, Geoff began and lowered the cooler on the ground in front of everyone. He then slumped back on the couch with the box. “Also, more donuts. They probably won’t be as good anymore, but… I kept them in the cold.”

“As in, the rain?” Michael thought, his full focus actually on the cooler.

“Why did you even have –?” Jeremy went to ask, not sure what he was going for.

“We were planning to have a party after the hit, remember?” Geoff replied. “You weren’t the only one going for the picnic vibe, would have matched the disguise. And still does…”

“Alcohol only, or…?” Ryan asked next and looked up at Geoff hopefully.

“Of course not, didn’t forget about you”, Geoff smirked back. “How badly do you think I know my crew?”

Jack laughed and looked at the small cooler. “I can’t believe you… Or, I can – and I’m thankful for it. How much is there?”

“Not enough to get us drunk, but enough to ’enhance the mood’”, Geoff stated dramatically. “B-team was supposed to bring the rest once we were done with the hit and safely away from the warehouse, didn’t really work out like that… But, here are the starters anyway.”

“And you were hiding this from us because?” Ryan asked, still looking at the cooler hungrily but holding back.

“Because, it was meant for a celebration – if we had drank this shit on day one, you think it would have been a party? No way!”

Jack softly bumped his shoulder with Geoff’s: “Good thinking, boss.”

Geoff grinned proudly and nodded towards the cooler. “Sure thing… You can go for it.”

Immediately, Ryan reached forward but was stopped short by Gavin practically slapping his hands away.

“No! Not yet! Bevs can wait until we have everything else prepared!”

--- xx ---

And by everything else, Gavin meant the blanket fort.

Gavin was in charge of walking the others through the plan while waving the blueprint around and scolding them for not listening to him – meanwhile, Jack was the one using the tools, Jeremy and Geoff holding up the wooden frames that Gavin had gathered upstairs.

“You had more firewood all this time, then”, Michael pointed out and made Gavin still for a second.

“If you think I wouldn’t have sacrificed the fort for the greater good, you’re wrong”, Gavin shrugged with a small smile. “I just really, really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.”

“Just glad to hear no-one was going to starve or freeze to death, even if shit had gone worse than it did”, Michael replied as he prepped the tiny beaten heater connected to the generator in the basement.

“And that… thing”, Ryan spoke up, pointing at the heater. “It’s safe?”

“As safe as it gets in here, babe”, Michael noted in amusement. He looked at the mercenary who was cradling a still unopened can of diet coke protectively in his hands as if it was something holy. “As long as it warms you up, it’s fine in my books.”

Ryan nodded thankfully:

“Got to agree with that one… Even if it catches fire, it’ll be doing its job right.”

--- xx ---

“Anyone else have any surprises? I feel like we’ve all been hiding something here…” Geoff said. He closed his eyes and leaned against the couch, enjoying the warmth and the way the blanket fort hid them from the world, as if the cabin didn’t even exist.

“And now I feel like I’ve failed you by not doing a thing”, Ryan mumbled, although happily. He sat the closest to the heater – a little too close actually, Michael practically holding on to the man and keeping him from crawling even closer. “How selfish of me.”

“You were sick, I’m the one with no excuse”, Jack chuckled, a little embarrassed by the point he was making. “Thanks. For all this. This is…”

Jack looked around; the blankets covering them and the food spread before them on the floor, the grins on everyone’s faces wider than they’d been even when still heading to blow up the warehouse of another gang.

“This is pretty awesome, got to admit...”

--- xx ----

“I suppose I could give my phone for the cause”, Jack said as the crew went to discuss what was still missing from their blanket fort –experience. He pulled the piece of tech from his pocket, Jeremy turning to look at him with a tilt of his head.

None of the lads had any battery left, and the gents had kept their phones switched off since they first arrived.

“What cause?” Jeremy asked curiously.

“What kind of a sleepover doesn’t have music playing? Good thing I still have some on my card, days like these really go to prove how much faith people have on streaming services”, Jack hummed as he waited for the phone to turn on.

“Top! As long as you have something other than pure rubbish saved on there, that is – I’ll pick”, Gavin said gleefully as he clung on to Jack’s arm to see the list he was scrolling through.

“Jeremy, you said you made another game?” Geoff asked suddenly, somewhat careful to point that out. “It’s a good one?”

Jeremy turned to look at Geoff, his eyes brightening as he was reminded of it. “Right! Yeah! I think you’ll like it – and I mean, actually like it!”

“Oh!” Gavin turned his attention to Jeremy as well. “You will! All of you, it’s amazing!”

“What’s it called?” Jack asked, handing the phone over to Ryan so that the mercenary could choose what music to play – Jack was glad Gavin had become too distracted to notice or care.

“Murder!” Gavin and Jeremy said in one voice, Gavin practically jumping in his spot.

“Like the video game? Or like werewolf, and the kind?” Michael asked.

“Actually, both… Both of those inspired me, and I’m not sure if this game already exists in some form… I mean, I know it does, but I made the rules just for us, so…” Jeremy explained.

“Let’s hear it then!” Geoff said, and Jeremy nodded, glad to see everyone seemed to feel that way. “Alright, here goes!”

“First. There are cards – five of them are ‘normal’, one is for the murderer. Nothing more to it”, Jeremy began as the crew focused on his words. “We’ll then start at random order; one by one, we’ll add a scene to the story, so to speak… Like werewolf, but without a specific narrator.”

“So… Everyone tries to… Trap the killer?” Jack asked, his brows furrowing in thought as Jeremy nodded.

“Exactly. You need to create a moment, a chance for the murderer to kill someone – the murderer, of course, can also add scenes on their turn but they don’t want to be too obvious about it”, Jeremy elaborated, the crew looking a little lost yet eager to try it out.

“Let’s give them an example!” Gavin said, leaning forward. “I’m the murderer – it’s my turn and I say; ‘Michael, Ryan and I, we don’t trust Jeremy now that Jack and Geoff have died and Jeremy was always close by, giving him chance to do it. So, we exit together and leave Jeremy alone in the kitchen.’”

“If it was my turn next, I could either choose to modify the scenario, saying; ‘I don’t want to be left alone so I follow them and stay by the room they’re in.’ I could also add something like this; ‘I see Michael leave the room but he doesn’t notice me.’”

“Then! If it was for example Ryan’s turn, he could either do the same and change something, or give his turn to the murderer. And if anyone does that, we all close our eyes”, Gavin went on happily, everyone trying to keep up with their explanation. “Now, as the murderer, I could either use this moment to kill someone, or not. If I killed Ryan, it would make it pretty obvious it was me… So, I could just choose to do nothing instead.”

“And how does the murderer kill someone?” Ryan asked, grinning as he already thought through scenarios he could build around the others to fool them.

“They tap the shoulder of whoever is next to them; one pat, the person they touch is dead; two pats, the person has to pat the next one over once, killing them instead!”

“Right, so that’s how you don’t know who started it…” Jack noted. “I like this. But, how can we catch the killer?”

Jeremy smiled: “And that was the difficult part to figure out… If I’ve learned anything about us, it’s that we love to be impulsive as fuck.”

“Yup, we had a long talk about this one”, Gavin grinned. “But we have a solution!”

Jeremy nodded. “Yeah. You can use your turn to either make a scenario, see what the murderer does or doesn’t do, or make a vote.

To do a vote, you need to state why you think someone did it – give your actual reasoning. I mean, you could say; ‘Jeremy’s being fucking suspicious and doesn’t know how to act’ even before anyone’s dead. But, if you want people to actually vote, you might want to have something more than that…”

“Why?” Geoff asked and Jeremy chuckled:

“Because, if you don’t get half the people alive to vote – as in, if no-one has died yet, you need to get two others to vote with you – you’ll be ‘arrested’.”

“What for!” Geoff snarled, although smiling.

“For tampering with the evidence, trying to cause backlash against someone without any reason… Something like that”, Jeremy said with a shrug. “But, if you get enough people to vote… The person you ‘caught’ will be out of the game, whether or not they are the murderer. And if they are the killer, there’s one or two rounds left, with no-one knowing if they’re still in the game or not.

Once the round ends – and if no-one has died to show that yeah, the killer’s still around – only then do they ‘admit’ what they’ve done and the game ends.”

Ryan smirked: “So it’s not immediate… You won’t know if you caught the right person, causing tension and maybe a good chance to fool people into blaming someone else. Unless, the killer completely blows it when they’re caught because, as you said, we can be quite –”

“– volatile, yes”, Michael finished for him, leaning forward:

“Let’s just get on with it, alright?”

--- xx ---

“This would be so awesome with a bigger group… I mean, it already is but…” Jeremy said happily as everyone glanced between one another suspiciously, leaving him to enjoy the show.

It was their first game of Murder and, somewhat surprisingly, the murderer had managed to kill Jeremy during round one and been quiet since, even when given plenty of chances to act by everyone.

Jeremy’s death had given the crew no clues of who had committed the crime, no specific loopholes they were able to gather from the messy scene they had been in when no-one had been quite sure how the game worked yet.

But Jeremy couldn’t be prouder of everyone taking the narration, mostly, seriously.

And having a ton of fun while doing it too, it seemed.

“Yeah… Yeah, this is great”, Geoff mumbled, it being his turn. “Uhm. All right. I’m still in the kitchen with Ryan, and we picked two knifes for self-protective reasons, right?”

Ryan nodded in confirmation, the scene in question having taken place on his previous turn and no-one had moved them from their location since.

“So… I have the knife, and I trust Ryan because we’ve been hanging out since Jeremy’s throat was slit… And if it was Ryan, I doubt he would have the self-control for this.”

“You forget he’s a theatre major”, Gavin whispered, being shushed by Jeremy who was having way too much fun watching the scene: “Hey, don’t ruin the illusion!”

Ryan winked at Gavin, turning his attention back at Geoff who was now glaring at him in mistrust.

Ryan prompted him to continue and Geoff sighed:

“Okay… Ryan and I. We… I want to trust you, all right? You’re not going to fuck me over?”

“I’m not, you’re my lifeline here!” Ryan said back, grinning widely as he did. “No-one would believe it wasn’t me if I don’t keep you alive!”

“That… That somehow sounds way too sinister to make me believe you, actually”, Geoff frowned, looking around at the others observing the situation. “But it’s the best I’ve got. We stay in the kitchen.”

“Coo-wards”, Gavin sung, leaning on his palms. “I’m upstairs with Jack and Michael, and I’m telling them how I’m sure it’s Ryan.”

“I’d agree but I don’t think he has enough self-control to hang around Geoff for this long without doing anything about it”, Jack stated, receiving a silent “Hey!” from Ryan who was also immensely amused by the show.

“It can’t be Geoff, though”, Michael added. “He’d blow it. And Jeremy’s death was way too well prepped to have been him.”

Now it was Geoff’s turn to yelp: “I’m the fucking leader of this crew! Creator of the Fake AH! I know exactly how to kill all of you motherfuckers!”

“Shh, Geoff, you’re really not helping your case there”, Ryan reminded, turning to look at the man. “And moreover, we’re nowhere near enough to hear this.”

Jeremy gave Ryan thumbs up at that.

“Okay. But if it’s one of us…” Jack looked at the two lads in mock bewilderment. “Who?”

“You?” Gavin replied immediately, squinting at Jack.

“Nah, got to be Gavin. He’s the only one who knows how to play; as said before, he probably planned the whole thing with Jeremy, only way anyone could have killed him from the start.”

“Going a bit too meta there”, Jeremy warned, still grinning.

The game ended up being one of his greatest achievements, Jeremy thought –

No-one needed to know he had actually just taken himself out.

To Jeremy’s amusement, it ended up taking a good fifteen minutes longer for the others to notice something wrong, and no murderer among them; the realization only happening after both Gavin and Ryan’s untimely imprisonment.

Yeah.

It was great.

--- xx ---

The game of Murder ended with Jack failing to keep his cool and being caught by everyone’s mutual agreement after only managing to kill one person – Geoff.

Apparently, Jack’s grudge towards the other had been too strong to resist.

“Jeremy? Great job with this! But I think we really should take a break”, Geoff said gleefully. “I’d love to keep playing but, apparently, some people can’t separate one story from another.”

Geoff was unable to resist the temptation to direct the conversation back at Jack’s misfortune, the other glaring at him.

“Yeah, whatever”, Jack huffed before quickly moving on to agree with Geoff’s other point. “We really need to come up with new scenarios, though… I’ve had enough of cabins in the middle of nowhere. Don’t want to encourage anyone to actually follow through with the plan – No killing allowed, a very clear rule to follow.”

“Then…” Ryan pondered. “What’s next? Anyone else come up with anything? It’s still early. I think.”

Once again, no-one felt the need to check the time.

“I did find something else…” Michael began carefully.

“What? When?” Gavin questioned and Michael shifted uncomfortably under everyone’s eyes turning to him. “…and why are you making it seem like the most awful thing ever?”

“Again; do I even want to know?” Geoff said worriedly, which made Michael chuckle: “Don’t know, man, really don’t know. Could be a good thing, could be bad…”

“Spit it out”, Jeremy prodded, making Michael sigh.

“Yeah, well… I found it at the same time I found ‘the Game’. Just didn’t tell about that one, learned my lesson with the first find.”

Geoff’s eyes widened, now almost bulging out of his skull. “What, no! Don’t tell me –“

“It’s not as bad, you might like it really”, Michael shook his head as he got up, climbing out of the fort to reach the cupboard.

From a previously empty locker Michael pulled out a pack of cards, smiling as he returned and turned it around for everyone to see.

“That’s… UNO.”

“T-this whole place is a fucking joke – who the fuck put this together –!”

--- xx ---

“Hey…” Ryan suddenly spoke up as the round ended.

“Yeah?” Gavin asked, leaning against Ryan’s shoulder happily. They’d had a fun evening up until this point, and Gavin’s plan had come together far better than expected.

“Just remembered; the weather cleared, shouldn’t we maybe try to contact the rest of the crew, let them know we’re still alive out here. The signal should be… better. I hope.”

Everyone fell quiet, hearing Ryan’s words even through their own banter.

“Holy shit –”

They scrambled out of the fort and hurried through the living room almost wordlessly; unable to understand how they forgot this part, too immersed in their own world after days of no outside contact.

Once out, they looked around in the quickly falling darkness and breathed in the moist yet fresh air, especially compared to the disgustingly thick air stuck inside the cabin.

“Feels good”, Jack hummed. “How long has it been since we’ve been properly outside, not sneaking under the gutter? Two days?”

“Exactly two days, feels like more than that though”, Michael replied and walked up to the car they had parked as close to the door as they had managed to fit it.

“Now that we’re outside… I really don’t want to go back”, Geoff said solemnly and turned towards the car, looking as if it was calling for him. “We could just… Jump in and leave.”

“Let’s make the call and at least try to figure out if the roads are open before getting our hopes up”, Ryan spoke and took out his phone. “The signal’s there but it’s bad…”

“It’s always bad up here, exactly why the storm was enough to cut us completely off from everything”, Jack said as Geoff took the phone from Ryan.

Geoff turned with the phone in his hand, reaching his arm upwards and glaring at the symbols as he tried to call the penthouse.

Nothing happened and after a while Geoff lowered the phone, annoyed. “We’ll just have to keep trying until we get it…”

Meanwhile, Michael tried to turn the car on.

The car hummed for a moment, before the motor began to groan and creak, shutting down almost immediately.

Everyone turned around to face him in shock as Michael cursed loudly, Geoff’s expression turning to that of pure horror.

“What’s going on?” Ryan asked as he took a step forward.

Michael punched the steering wheel and leaped out, walking to the front of the car and opening it. “The fucking thing’s broken; basically every warning-light’s on and – fuck!”

“You don’t mean –“, Geoff turned to look at the cabin in despair.  

Just then, the phone in Geoff’s hand began to ring, making him jump – the music blared loud enough for him to almost drop it in surprise.

“Lindsay!!” Geoff yelled, everyone practically running closer at the possibility of making contact with another lifeform. “You got to save us!”

‘--off, that y--?’ Lindsay’s voice came through the static just clearly enough for Geoff to understand what she was saying.

Geoff jumped on his spot giddily, not knowing where to start: “Yes! YES!!”

‘I didn’t know i- --u were eve- --ive out there for fu--s sake’, Lindsay laughed through the static. ‘But you’re all --ne then?’

“Everythi—I mean, everyone’s okay, yeah!” Geoff yelled, not sure if Lindsay could hear him any better than he heard her. “We could use a rescue, though! Like, right now! Please?”

‘Res---?’

“The car’s busted, we won’t be getting down the mountain with that – we’re at a safe house, the cabin by the western side of the mountain”, Geoff explained as clearly as he could, and heard Lindsay call someone else in the room with her to ask them something.

‘Wo--’t be getting there to--y, the roads a-- still closed off --- -e can’t fly in close eno---’, Lindsay said, making Geoff practically shake in his spot. “What!?”

‘Tomorr-- --rning, Matt --ll come to --t yo-‘, Lindsay continued, not paying any mind to the way Geoff’s voice squeaked.

“We can’t –“

‘See you tomorrow, -eoff, it’ll be good to --ve you ba--’, Lindsay said before the call was cut, leaving Geoff to stand there dumbfounded while everyone else watched him quietly.

“Tomorrow then?” Ryan asked both carefully and hopefully. Geoff nodded, and then sighed: “We were right about the flood, I guess…”

“Let’s get back inside”, Jack said and turned to leave, the others following after. “One more night? It’s not that bad.”

Geoff was the last one to move, staring blankly at the cabin.

--- xx ---

In the living room, everyone hurried back into to the fort.

“So… Last night here… Apparently”, Geoff spoke and wasn’t sure if he should be celebrating or not.

The others shared the feeling.

“The first thing you’ll do when we get back?” Jeremy asked, making Gavin chuckle.

“Chips?”

“Trash food, yeah…”

“Booze, TV…?”

“That a date or you planning to dumb the rest of us for the next few days?” Michael asked next.

“Can’t speak for everyone here, but if you think this was the worst time of my life, and that I’ve had enough of you by the end of it, you don’t know anything about how annoying you people are…” Geoff scoffed. “ A moment alone? Great. But I’m not planning to lock myself in the penthouse, or anywhere, for a while. Could I even handle the silence?”

“Hah, we’re in your head”, Gavin practically singsonged and then let out a happy hum. “Can’t wait to get away from here, sure… But, we’re all going.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way?” Jack said with a grin, which Ryan mimicked.

“And that’s all the sappiness I’ll be able to take”, Michael grunted, also smiling as he looked away. “How are we spending the night we’ve got left?”

“I know!” Gavin cheered, making everyone glance at one another warily.

“Do I want to know…?” Ryan asked.

Gavin nodded determinately:

“Ghost stories!”

Everyone groaned but Gavin didn’t allow that to stop him from repeating his point from day one.

“Come on, this is too perfect and you know it! When will we ever get another chance?!”

The true stories that followed, although they really weren’t ones, lasted through the rest of the evening.

As they ended, so did the second full day of the crew’s unwilling holiday at the safe house.

Things could have been worse.

--- xx ---

Day 3. The Rescue

The morning was filled with barely contained excitement, everyone waking up early and practically bouncing around as they packed their few belongings.

Geoff pulled the curtains open for good, jokes and easy-going banter being thrown around as everyone denied any feelings of melancholy at soon leaving the safe house behind.

Then the wooden chairs were carried outside and, although the ground was still soaked, everyone gathered there.

Geoff turned his phone back on and called Matt; hearing that he was already heading over to pick them up made Geoff sigh contently.

“Bye-bye, shithole”, Geoff said as he looked up at the cabin, not planning to step back inside no matter what he might have forgotten there. “So glad I’m never seeing you again.”

“Never say never”, Jack pointed out as he passed by and carried the body armour they’d had with them to wait by the broken car. “Only way to avoid it is by blowing the place up.”

Jack stopped in his steps and turned to glance at Geoff before carefully adding: “…which you’re not planning to do, I hope?”

“Or, we could just never come back up the mountain”, Gavin remarked, sitting on the hood of the car and waiting for Matt. “That would suck, though. I like it here.”

“Alright… Then I just have to… Rebuild the place?” Geoff asked slowly, not quite sure if he was joking or not.

Jeremy, who had just turned the corner to reach them, heard Geoff’s question only to break into a grin. “You mean we could end up coming back; make this an actual holiday spot?”

“Shit…”

Geoff crossed his arms and frowned as he looked at the cabin falling apart before him. He then turned, now able to see their surroundings in the daylight and with clear(er) weather, taking notice of the peace it had to offer.

“…we actually might. It’s a good location.”

Jeremy cheered.

“I’m calling it now; next year’s Christmas party? Held right here!”

“And the story behind it will make a good one, for sure…” Jack mumbled with a smile, with Gavin clapping his back.

“And next year, you won’t believe the horror I’ll be able to unfold with props and –“

--- xx ---

Matt’s arrival was met with cheers as everyone hurried in the van, not giving Matt a chance to step outside nor answering his questions.

Once safely driving down the mountain and towards the city, the crew was finally able to breathe out in relief.

Their not-so-long way to freedom was here.

Ryan watched as the trees flashed by the car, their surroundings beginning to clear the closer to the main roads they got. He smiled as he turned to face his boss:

“You know, Geoff… It could have been worse.”

Geoff glanced at Ryan and then solemnly agreed. “Way worse.”

“So… Are we good?” Gavin asked next, grinning widely as he looked between them all, huddled up in the back of the truck and sharing a similar smile at getting out of their metaphorical-prison.

“All good. Couldn’t be better, really”, Michael stated and pointed at the grey skies still covering them. “But the next time we do this, it better be planned. And somewhere warm. Like, really warm. Exotic even.”

Geoff tilted his head in thought, glancing first at Michael and then the others.

No-one had told Michael and Ryan about the plans Geoff was considering for the cabin, but they would find out soon enough.

Most likely, there’d be no complaints.

But, until then, they needed some time off – and far from Los Santos.

“When do you want to go? Actually fly to Hawaii or something…”

“…not right now. Soon.”

“Next week?”

“Sure.”

The agreement was met by a comfortable silence, which didn’t last long during the short ride back to the city.

As it ended, so did the crew’s unwilling holiday at the safe house.