Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Wcrp. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,970 Views)
Make-7-Up-Yours
Member Avatar
Is that so?
Jen was glad when Connor started talking. Wrestling with her thoughts in private was getting to be a bit much so she actively took the offer at a distraction.

"Yeah, I do too." She reminisced.

Despite that, Jen had a reason for being here. Connor must have felt like he was dragged here for no reason. No kid would want to leave the safety of Flint for something like this. She hoped that he wouldn't feel any resentment towards his mother for that though. She was only doing what she thought was best. Unless she was just here for Randall.

Fuck, don't think of Randall.

"Your mom thinks that she can do some real good out here though." Jennifer tried to assure him. "What do you think?"
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DoctorYerishi
Member Avatar
Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“I don’t know,” Connor admitted with a frown. “I’m not like you guys, or my mom, or even Kelsey. I’m not tough.”

The last couple of days had made that clear to him. He probably always knew it but he never had to think about it. Now he had no choice.

“And I miss Flint, but it's not…” he trailed off. “I mean, mom got hurt there. And people died there too… Candice, Spencer, Mrs. Blackwell. It was better there, and I miss it, but… I really miss home. The one before.”
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Make-7-Up-Yours
Member Avatar
Is that so?
Before Jen could really ask another question, Willow came walking back inside. Jen couldd't tell if she was making it up or not, but she thought Willow looked a little more determined walking back in than she had when she went out. Jen did not bother to ask about it, she gave Willow a nod as she passed by, one which the pink-haired woman returned with a small, rueful smile.

As Willow disappeared down the halls and headed towards the rooms where everyone was staying, Jen turned her attention back to Connor.

"So... what was it like?" She asked. "Your home before."

* * * * *

Willow stopped in front of Eli's door. She lifted her fist in the air, but hesitated before knocking.

What the fuck am I doing?

She knocked on the door anyway.

"Eli?" She called out cautiously. "It's Willow."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DoctorYerishi
Member Avatar
Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“Different…” Connor said. He looked back out at the snow. “Better.”

* * *

Eli sat on the edge of the bed, breathing slow and heavy breaths. Around him was the wreckage of the room. The mattress was against the wall, glass from the lightbulbs and the mirror littered the floor, the drawers and their contents were splayed across. The electric fireplace display was cracked and broken. The walls had several dents from where he threw things, and one hole from where he kept kicking until he was too tired to continue.

That was when he broke down – really broke down. The tears he couldn’t cry when Glenda died, or when Julie did, finally came out. He fell on the floor and started sobbing.

He had pulled himself together by the time Willow knocked on the door, but he was still feeling paralyzing sorrow for them, for Randall, and for himself. He didn’t answer.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Make-7-Up-Yours
Member Avatar
Is that so?
Willow waited patiently for a few moments. He could be trying to pull himself together. Or he could be ignoring her. When she got no answer after twenty seconds or so, she realized it was the latter option.

She leaned her head on the door.

"Look, you don't have to respond, but hear me out at least." Willow started explaining through the door. "I get it. We all get it. Randall wasn't just our leader, he was a friend and he looked out for us. His loss... shit, Julie's and Glenda's... we're all hurting more than we know. I barely slept at all last night, I just saw Glenda and Julie whenever I did. But we gotta carry on. He entrusted that cure to us. I think we'd be insulting everything he stood for and fought for if we gave up on that now."

Still, Eli didn't say anything. She was quickly going from sympathetic to annoyed at his helplessness. The irony was not lost on her. In fact, seeing some of herself in there only made her more angry -- either that or she was angry that she even tried in the first place.

Willow threw her arms in the air in defeat. Figuratively speaking, of course; "Okay, fine. I'm going to call everyone to the spa for a meeting. Someone needs to think about our next steps. That's where we'll be if you feel like being part of the group!"

She realized that last bit sounded a little harsh; and admittedly it was meant to be. Her own anger was bubbling to the surface too, whether she wanted it to or not.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Strompy
Member Avatar
More posts, more Busey.
The last time Brandon was this tired he and Eli had spent an entire night out in thr dark looking for Kelsey and Julie. The fight they got into in the warehouse that day paled in comparison to what they'd just survived. Physical exhaustion could be pushed through, emotional exhaustion was harder.

He wanted to sleep but every time he started to drift off on a good thought his mind would turn it in on itself. He thought about finding himself a place in the rockies. Then about moving his family there where they were buried next to Willow and Kelsey and Eli and more. Rows and rowas if graves stretching back further than he could see. His mind was full of screams and gnashing blackened teeth.

He couldn't tell if Kelsey was still awake. She was curled up with her back to him. He'd be surprised if she were. She cried herself sick on the way back, she'd be exhausted too. Brandon wanted so desperately to be able to say something or do something to help her feel better but knew from his own experience that there was nothing. Hopefully under the grief she knew she still had people who cared about her.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DoctorYerishi
Member Avatar
Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli absorbed Willow’s angry words. He could almost hear them in Randall’s voice. They were very similar to the ones Randall spoke to him back at Mount Kisco in Roland’s office, when he wanted to hand off the cure and be on the road.

He still didn’t have it in him to respond, but he knew she was right. Randall had sacrificed himself for a reason, and Eli owed it to him to follow through. He turned Randall down once, and it hadn’t stuck. He couldn’t refuse him after the outbreak at the country club, when Randall lost his wife, and he couldn’t refuse him now.

Whether he liked it or not – and he didn’t like it – the cure was his responsibility now, like it had been ever since he found it. As painful as the road had been, he had to walk it and he couldn’t get off.

He couldn’t get off.

Willow could, though. Brandon could. They could take Kelsey back to Flint where she could be as safe as was possible in this new world. They wouldn’t want to, they probably wouldn’t even let him if he gave them the choice.

I won’t give them the choice, he decided.

His whole body steadied at the thought. With that decision, the path ahead became clear. He had to leave. Alone. He had to make sure nobody else died on this crusade, and he didn’t see any other way.

He remained silent as he stood up, hoping Willow would be on her way soon. He could tell what she was thinking – that he was being a petulant child. She could think that. She wasn’t even wrong. He was fine with letting her be right. As long as she was safe.

His thoughts sped up. He thought about what he’d need to take from their supply cache. Not a lot. Just enough to keep him going for a while. He’d store what he could in his and Randall’s bag and then he’d take off when the coast was clear. He’d leave a note telling them not to follow – he’d make sure they knew he meant it – and then he would find a car.

He was good at sneaking in and out of places. It was his job once. He could be gone before they knew it. They’d hate him for it, but he could live with that.

As long as they lived, I could live with it.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Make-7-Up-Yours
Member Avatar
Is that so?
Willow rubbed her eyes in annoyance as she walked back down the hall. Eli had never answered her and she had ultimately given up.

I shouldn't have been so passive-aggressive with Eli. He's going through just as much as the rest of us. Hell, maybe even more. Would I really be coping any better if I had been in his shoes?

She trudged into the room she shared with Brandon, secretly dreading seeing Kelsey's broken expression again and being able to do nothing about it. But her blank expression had been replaced with one of a sleeping child. A child that had cried and worried itself to the point of exhaustion and collapsed. She had no more left to give and had finally passed out on the bed. That was one immediate problem off the table. Willow turned her attention to her man, who was on the bed. Awake.

"I'm gonna try to get collect everyone in the spa." Willow looked him directly in the eyes and said somberly. "Have a meeting. I'm trying to take a little initiative here... that used to be Randall's job, but nobody else here is really... look, I just think after today, we need to plan our next steps for this. California is a lot farther than anybody had really bargained for, I wouldn't blame anyone for wanting to back out now. We should give everyone the opportunity to return to Flint if they want, see who we got leftover, and then... try to plan the best way to California."

She paused awkwardly; she wasn't used to proposing big ideas and was admittedly looking for a little confirmation that she was on the right path here. She certainly felt like she had the right idea, but she was a little worried she might be pushing the envelope too hard.

"Do you think everyone else will be up for it? I mean..." She glanced at Kelsey sleeping on the bed and frowned. "All things considered."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Strompy
Member Avatar
More posts, more Busey.
Brandon gently and quietly got up and made his way over to Willow. Before he responded he took her and gave her an overdue kiss. With everything that happened with Randall and Kelsey being so upset he hadn't had the chance to let her know how happy he was to be able to see her again. The whole time down in that lab he was afraid he never would. After a long while he finally pulled away from her, and rested his head on hers.

"Emmett and Eli are in for sure. Jen, maybe, I have a good feeling about her. Annie and Connor, I'm not so sure about. She'd never ask us to take her back to Flint. She wouldn't want us to go out of our way or alter our plans to accommodate her, that's the feeling I get, but she may want to go back. I think she should. California is just too far away, it's too dangerous for her and Connor." he said gravely.

He bit his lip uncertainly. He wasn't sure how Willow would react to what he was about to say.

"And I'm not sure if we shouldn't do the same. Please hear me out. I want to see it through, but we have to think about her first." he said turning to look at Kelsey.

"Flint is a comparatively safe place. Especially if Annie and Jeff are there to look out for her. We could leave her there and go to California, she wouldn't like it but it might be safer for her. But I also think that she's even safer with us there. If we go to California I don't think we should bring her along, but she's our responsibility. If she can't go maybe we shouldn't go either." he finished meeting Willow's eyes again unsure what she would think of even the suggestion.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Make-7-Up-Yours
Member Avatar
Is that so?
Willow opened her mouth uncertainly. She stared at Brandon silently for a few lingering moments before she gently hooked her fingers into the waistband of his jeans.

"For starters... it's not fair to kiss me like that and go get me in a good mood before throwing something heavy at me." Willow lightly chided Brandon before her expression turned more serious. "But I would be lying if I said I haven't been thinking about that too. I mean, look at me; I'm basically the Frankenstein monster right now. I don't even know if I could survive a trip to California. Settling down in Flint would probably be better for me and for her. And we wouldn't need to worry about losing each other."

She frowned as she pulled Brandon's body in closer so she could wrap her arms around his waist while keeping her forehead pressed against his.

"But on the other hand this group... they need us. Both of us. With Randall gone, I think they need us now more than ever. I don't want to leave them to carry on without us, it just feels... wrong. Randall entrusted the cure and his daughter to us. I don't think he wanted us to stop now." Willow carefully explained to him. "Still, at the end of the day, wherever you go, I go. And wherever we go, Kelsey goes. That much is not up for negotiation; we stay together. But before we make any final decisions where that is, I think we should talk to the others."

Willow pushed herself up to plant her lips against Brandon's. She held herself there in liplock for as long as her leg would let her stand on her toes like that. When she finally broke the kiss, she shot him a coy smile; she was admittedly a little proud of herself for using his own tactic against him.

"Deal?"

* * * * *

A few minutes later, Willow and Brandon finally arrived at the meeting that Willow had been adamant on having. She had told Jen to take Connor there a minute or so prior and they were already there, sitting alongside Emmett and Annie who had been here by coincidence already. Their crew was a lot more paltry than it had been before. They were down to eight people; and with Eli and Kelsey unaccounted for in this meeting, that left six. Just six people. And one of them was Connor.

It didn't make Willow feel any better about their prospects; maybe Brandon was more right than she realized.

"So... I'm sorry to bring all you guys here after everything that happened today. It's still kinda soon... but I think we need to have a team meeting. The game's changed a lot in the past 24 hours."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DoctorYerishi
Member Avatar
Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Emmett looked up at Willow. He nodded almost imperceptibly in approval. She was right, and he was glad to see that the tragedy of today had not drained her of her will.

Nearby, Annie sat on another chair, wrapped in a blanket she had pilfered from one of the unclaimed rooms a few minutes ago. She was drinking a room temperature Dr. Pepper she had similarly looted. When Willow and Brandon entered, she also gave them a nod.

Before their arrival, Annie had just finished saying that Randall didn’t suffer – that the effect of an FAE explosion within a confined space was immense, and that he was near enough the ignition point that he wouldn’t have have time to feel pain. Emmett found that legitimately comforting, probably more than most. Seeing Julie die slowly over the course of a day had rattled in him, and he was glad Randall didn’t have to go through that.

Now that Willow had arrived, however, Emmett was also glad to change the subject to the future. He felt like Randall would have approved.

“I think you're right,” he voiced his support.

“What about Eli?” Annie interjected. “Is he still…?”

Emmett had to admit he was wondering the same thing. Whatever happened next, Eli would likely play an important role, as he had all along. He should be here.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Make-7-Up-Yours
Member Avatar
Is that so?
Willow frowned; she wasn't used to having so much attention directed at her.

"Well, Eli... still isn't talking to anyone." She admitted.

Before she said anything else, she tried placing herself in his shoes again, lest she say he was acting childish or something. Because the fact of the matter was that she had been in similar situations before and childish was far from the right word. She knew better than anyone how it felt to have to wrestle with your feelings. Ironically, it was probably those previous experiences with anxiety and stress through her younger years that helped teach her the coping mechanisms necessary to actually operate through her grief and pain right now.

"He just needs some time -- although there's no telling how much. I told him what we're doing, so he will be here if he feels up to it."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DoctorYerishi
Member Avatar
Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Emmett considered that. Willow was probably right, but he had heard the noises coming from Eli’s room as well as anyone. In the back of his mind, it occurred to him that Eli might not be talking for some other reason. Maybe he had done something drastic. Maybe he was about to.

It seemed unlikely, but wondered anyway. He and Eli weren’t close – their interactions were professional and brief, and the undercurrent of awkwardness hadn’t gone away and probably never would. The history there was too heavy.

Still, Emmett wanted to try talking to him. At the very least, he wanted to dispel his dark imaginings.

“What about Kelsey?” Annie asked. “Has she said anything yet?”

Emmett stood up. “I’ll be right back,” he said simply, then headed out of the spa.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Make-7-Up-Yours
Member Avatar
Is that so?
"Ah... okay then." Willow seemed a little taken aback by Emmett's sudden departure.

She wasn't doing that bad already, was she? All she was doing was answering questions. Unless... he did intend to try talk to Eli? If that was all it was, then she welcomed him to try. She doubted Emmett would have any more success, but it was worth a shot. She told herself that was what Emmett was doing and left it at that.

"As for Kelsey..." Willow turned her attention back to Annie as she took a seat in the recently vacated chair that Emmett had been using; her tone became a little heavier at the mere mention of Kelsey. "No. Not a sound. Ever since she stopped crying, she's just been... empty. She finally fell asleep about ten minutes ago."

Willow leaned her head back in the chair. Even thinking about Kelsey made her feel a little sick. Between the absolute grief she was in and their own helplessness, it was a disgusting situation. Arguably, it hurt even more than Randall's death. His death had been like a shot to the gut, but seeing his daughter's pain was like a stab to the heart.

"What about you guys?" Willow finally asked Annie and Jen. "You guys signed up for a trip to Chicago to help deliver the cure. In that time we've managed to lose two people and learn the cure still needs to go all the way to California. If you guys want out, this is your chance. We've already been through a hell of a lot more than you signed up for."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Strompy
Member Avatar
More posts, more Busey.
"I know a lot of us owe, Randall. You may be thinking you need to see it through for him, but I think more than anything he would want you to be safe. Don't let that be that be your reason for coming, he wouldn't want that." Brandon said before anyone could give their answer.

He was still conflicted about what to do himself. Whatever he decided, Willow and Kelsey would go with him. Selfishly he didn't want to make that decision for them especially if they wanted to do something else. Likewise he didn't want to force Willow to have to make that decision either.

They had the cure. That was, by virtue of its importance, their responsibility. There was another huge responsibility however. He felt the magnitude of the cure weighing on him, but in his heart he didn't want to save the world anymore. He just wanted to save the few people he had left. Esprcially the woman he loved and the girl in his charge.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Enjoy forums? Start your own community for free.
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Roleplaying · Next Topic »
Add Reply