#softballsurv

You can get Steak or the Shake.

Bewildered eyes glazed over the softball player. Her words seemed to catch him off guard. Of course, he had waded through inches of snow for more time than he could count off the top of his head, but he didn’t expect to get so far that people forgot where they resided. “... France. Is that... Is that not where we are?”

Things didn’t process as soon as he hoped. Typically, he’d be able to connect things faster than people had time to explain but... This seriously threw him off his case. Mentioning of bad things caused an amused puff of air to leave, “You must be late, then.”

Proceeding to think over her words, his brows came together, creating creases in the soft skin between them. “I’m sorry but... I don’t understand.”

His skeptical stare centered on the log in which she sat upon lifted when she spoke. Eye contact was a useful thing. People told many stories with their eyes. Whether they lied, told of the truth, hiding their true meaning of what they say behind them... That’s when he figured something wasn’t right with this place.

Slowly, he sat beside the unfamiliar face, keeping his distance but sitting close enough to avoid any extra discomfort. “The Fog,” He repeated, thinking back to what he encountered before finding the strange place, “Because of... The fog around, is it not?”

Questions flooded his already tangled mind and it took everything in him to keep from spilling them all out. Everything had to be sorted before more questions begged to be answered. Tapping his fingers at a slow rhythm to get the blood flowing but also to get his mind working faster. Not wanting to put too much on her, he figured easing into the larger questions at hand would be the best approach.

Knowing that she was able to speak French, at least a little, made him conflicted on whether he should see that as a problem or a good thing. The compliment prompted a tilt of his head and a joyful nod, “Thank you... I... Only know by the... The family I was with.”

Edith’s explanation didn’t help his understanding. Not even the basics about the Fog were grasped. All except for the fact that there is something lurking about that caused the survivors distress. Amie scoffed at her sentence and added, “Bien sûr, les choses peuvent définitivement empirer.”

“Ah, excuse me,” came immediately after. Even after all the scolding, comments such as those were something he couldn’t ever shake off. “If that’s all you’ve got to offer then... Thank you... Again.”