Eli couldn't help but laugh as he drew his his side arm and held it in front of him. "Bad onion dip." He chuckled to himself. With everything that was going on lately, that wouldn't be a shocking answer. Eli held his side arm in front of him, pointing down down at the ground but more than ready to point and shoot. "I'd kill that fucker if he wasn't so damn funny."

"Grab that gun and back away Lover Boy." Eli ordered Vincent. "And don't do anything too stupid with it. Turn off those headlights while you're at it." Eli wasn't taking the chance that they weren't a lone. If the roles were reversed, he'd hold some back in case of something like this.

That one thought alone worried Eli, there were two of the group that could fight. The Love Birds were next to useless, Christi and Eric were just kids and they weren't ready for shit like this. If anything happened, it was going to be up to smart ass and and a crazy ass redneck to do the fighting. That was the only advantage to the mine shaft, it was nothing but a large doorway. Funneling both them and any intruders, to a narrow area.

"Now, then ya'll got our story, what's yours? And I'll need a good damn reason how ya'll know about this place. Ain't a one around here that would tell you to come up in this holler."Eli watched the girl. There was something... Off about her. The old man was smart enough to get out of truck with both hands out, but girl... Eli couldn't put his finger on it but something bothered him about her.

"Christi, get Jack and run along. I'll find you in a little bit." Eli was more worried about her running off than anything. If she took off, there wasn't much he was going to be able to do about it. With Danny and whoever else he was working for out there, she wouldn't last long. Hopefully she was smart enough to know it.

It was psychological warfare. How could Abigail possibly keep her act up when such a cute lil’ doggie was sniffing around her?! Her face broke into a hesitant smile as her attention was briefly diverted, and despite the overwhelming urge to reach down and pet it she could barely move - paralysed with fear and the prospect of getting a gut full of lead. “C-cute…” she stammered, laughing nervously. What happened next killed the laugh in her throat.

The girl who Abigail thought she saw earlier had quite literally re-appeared in front of her. ‘what the fuck’, she mouthed at Christi for a split second before looking down at the dog and pretending nothing happened. She pulled another smile and tried to keep the persistent knot of fear from taking over and affecting her body and expression...the nerves were getting to her, she either didn’t notice Christi coming or she was too distracted, there had to be some logical reason why Abigail didn’t see Christi until the very last second. She wasn’t losing her edge, was she? Oh god, not here, not now, she can’t start missing things during one of the most dangerous times of her life…!

As her panic increased, Abigail began to shake even harder. The act was half-genuine now and she didn’t know what to do, it was as if a big wall had suddenly risen between her reasoning and her conscience. All she could do was stare at that gun and pray that Eli wouldn’t pull the trigger-

And then ‘Cornwall’ suddenly blurted out the truth. Or, well, it must’ve been the truth because tattoo man immediately cursed after he said it. Abigail’s internal response was half-relief and half-anger, she couldn’t believe it but she knew they wouldn’t make something like that up. It meant that the man in front of her was even more dangerous than she thought, and also had no logical reason to be pointing that gun at her; they were on the same team now. Instead of politely talking away the situation, Eli chose to order tattoo man (dubbed Lover Boy) to take away Brooks' gun because an old man and a little girl were really scary to this hillbilly warrior. Abigail glared at Eli...she was sick of being scared and her patience was wearing dangerously thin. Suddenly, the idea of throwing the truck at the whole damn group seemed like a tempting and easy solution. She knew he was watching her more than he was watching Brooks and that did nothing to improve her mood...she hated being the centre of attention when she didn’t want to be.

“That means you’re the Gala survivors…” she murmured slowly, raising both eyebrows as if she had only just figured that out now. “The whole world’s looking for you guys. They keep talking about wanting you in for questioning but I don’t think anyone’s buying it, they’ve been making you out like terrorists in the media…!” Abigail looked away and cringed as if the thought alone was terrifying. “Oh-okay, okay, okayokayokay. You want our story? Fine.”

Abigail looked over at Brooks briefly, but she knew the quick glance wouldn’t be enough to try and communicate with him. She thought on the spur of the moment. “We’re...damnit, it sounds crazy. We’re also Gala survivors. Kind of. Look, we were in the wrong place at the wrong time and then everything went to shit and...and unlike you lot we knew we couldn’t stay at home.” Abi rubbed the back of her neck, shifting her weight. Her arms hurt from holding them up for so long. “So we got whatever we could carry, took out as much cash as we could and bolted it from Buckhead. Took the long way around until we were certain we weren’t being chased like you. A friend of the family told me he knew about this-...this safehouse in the country we could hide in until everything blows over. But it’s fucked now, isn’t it?” she couldn’t keep the growing irritation out of her voice. “Instead of keeping our distance from trouble we just found the holy fucking grail of it. We’ve got nowhere to go and now we’re looking at the most wanted p-people in America…”

The nice part about being emotional and sleep deprived meant it was much easier to fake a breakdown, especially when you’re a few threads away from freaking out in the first place. Abigail did just that - in the face of the suspicious redneck renegade and his merry band of superfreaks she suddenly broke into loud sobs, falling to her knees. Despite all of her planning, all her schemes and the preparations, double and triple checking routes and being positive the safehouse actually existed...right at the last hurdle, with nowhere to run, she lead herself and Brooks into even more trouble. If she was caught with these people, she would be shot down on sight, and all these other people would be shot too. That was more than enough to push her over the edge.

Abigail was so angry, so upset with herself that it fueled her muffled wails. She kicked up a fuss. She made a scene. In the eyes of these people, she was a normal 18 year old girl who had to flee from her normal life and was scared shitless of the big man with the gun in front of her. This normal 18 year old clearly had no grasp of the situation, and certainly didn’t comprehend the importance of staying quiet during the early hours of the morning near the town when you’re trying to stay hidden. She cried into her sleeve to try and muffle some of the noise but kept it loud enough to threaten detection; at this point she’ll either get shot or someone will rush over to comfort her and try to quiet her down, and Abigail knew Eli couldn’t pull the trigger else he’d get the attention of everyone in the holler.

“P-please don’t kill us! D-don’t, I can’t-...I can-...!” Abigail’s begging dissolved into incoherent sobs, hands over her head, convulsing with every shuddering cry that escaped her mouth. She was certain now that she had them cornered; if the gun wasn’t put down she’d just keep crying louder until they complied. The townsfolk wouldn’t ask questions, they’d see a crying girl and her dad and a man pointing a gun at her. She could play the victim card and get Brooks back in the truck and get the hell out of here if she had to. All she had to do now was keep crying, keep focused on the unfairness and indignation of it all to keep her temper tantrum as genuine as possible, and wait to see what they do.

Eyes flicking back and forth, Christi bit her lip. On the one hand, Eli didn’t want her here, which meant that he thought this was a dangerous situation, that these people were dangerous. On the other hand, that girl was crying, and it was reminding Christi of that time she’d had to pull a big splinter out of Tillie’s finger. She’d made double sure to polish her carvings after that incident. Plus she was talking something about a gala? She’d overheard Nate, Vin and Jen saying something about that, how it was how they got their powers. Were these people like them?

Whatever was going on, they were apparently running and scared. Exactly the kind of people that Tillie would have tried to help. That she would have wanted Christi to help. And who knows, maybe if there were other people around, it would be better if Danny came back. But if Eli wasn’t sure about them…

As always, Christi looked to Jack. She’d learned long ago to trust the German Shepard, who always seemed to know things before she did. He was standing looking at the pair, ears up and alert. It was the same pose he would have whenever there was a deer or a rabbit nearby. When it came to people, that could mean any number of things, but there wasn’t any immediate danger.

Taking one last look back and forth between the newcomers and Eli, Christi swallowed hard, and slowly walked forward. “Jack, sit,” she uttered, causing the dog to glance in her direction, at the strangers, then lick his chops and settle onto his hindquarters. Christi stroked his head, her free hand scratching at her pants as she crouched in front of the girl. “Um, please, don’t cry. What… what’s your name?”

[@Stitched]@AcerRo

Vincent really didn’t like Eli.

In fact, in light of the situation, Nate was becoming his new best friend. Comparatively.

Seems like all Eli could do was point fingers and yell out commands at everyone like this was the military. But what did a city guy who essentially grew up partying his life away know about the military, or any of this? Vin never owned a gun, and never felt he had to own a gun, even in the face of all the shit that goes on in the world daily, he never felt insecure enough to want a weapon. Maybe it was a sort of street smarts he had developed over the years, knowing well enough when not to put himself in harm’s way, and or to simply talk his way out of a sticky situation. But good looks and charm only got him so far and out in the wasteland of the Kentucky foothills, no one cared much about vanity, and guns probably spoke louder than words would on any given day.

At Eli’s request, Vin took a few steps forward and reached down to grab the gun where it landed, his hand shaking a bit while trying to keep from dropping the weapon and looking more like an idiot. As he rose back up, he gave Brooks an acknowledging nod, which was more like a “thank you for not shooting me” gesture. He couldn’t help but feel bad for both the old man and his wayward kid, knowing exactly what it’s like to be suddenly swept up in a whirlwind of shit you can’t control, nor would ever want to be a part of. But here we are nonetheless. Vin reached into the driver’s side window, searched around for the switch to the headlights, and turned them off with a quick flip of his wrist before stepping back away from the truck entirely. Who knows what was about to crawl out of that thing.

On the other side of the truck, Vin noticed the little girl suddenly recoil a bit at the sight of Christi’s German Shepard, which, as far as Vin was concerned could easily tear the skinny chick apart with no problem. But, no doubt the dog was trained well enough by her master not to attack without real provocation or if Christi herself was in immediate and direct danger.

Vin looked back over to Eli and nodded.

“Okay Wyatt, I did what you asked, so can we possibly put all the fucking guns away before your inner cowboy decides to get us all killed?”

At the mention of the gala, Nate's head popped out from behind cover again, like a gopher peeking out of its burrow. He had only been mildly interested in these two up until now but learning that the strangers were there that night snapped all of his attention onto them. All the noise in his head stopped at once. He was entirely focused on Brooks and Abigail now. He slid out of his hiding spot and his eyes landed on the sobbing girl. He wasn't much for comforting others so decided to leave that up to someone else. Christi or Vin seemed the most suited for such a thing.

Instead, Nate passed Abigail by and moved towards the old man. The corner of his mouth turned up slightly but there was no smile on his eyes. His eyes were narrow in suspicion and Nate looked Brooks over, deciding that he wasn't an immediate physical threat.

His attention only shifted when he asked Eli if they could put the guns away. "Yes." Nate answered before Eli had a chance to. He turned to Vin and snatched the gun away from him. He knew from experience that a gun in the hands of someone who didn't know how use it could be even more dangerous than someone who did. "No offence buddy but I'd trust the dog with a gun more than you." he told Vin with a light pat on the cheek.

"And you." he said, turning back to Brooks. "We're not gonna kill you because you may be important but trust me, if you or your girl try anything that puts my people in trouble, you will lose a limb." It was quite a serious threat but he said it with a smile. Although this one was less friendly than it was almost predatory.

He turned away and headed back towards the mine. As he passed Eli, he asked "Does everything always have to be so serious with you?" He knew Eli probably wouldn't like his alpha male status being questioned like Nate had just done but Nate had never been much of a subordinate himself.

Why can't things just be simple? Why can't people just do right... Why are there a flock birds flying over the us? Eli's eyes opened wide at the numerous possibilities. None of them were good.

Eli turned to watch the birds when he heard the sound of a branch snapping. He raised his gun and stepped towards the treeline. A single deer came running out.

When nothing followed, Eli took a deep breath and lowered his weapon. "You two can stay out here for the night. Christabell, you need anything let me know." Eli said turning back to the little girl and old man.

"Cornwall! Keep an eye out! I need have a word with our wonderful benefactor." Eli said loudly, walking passed the truck.

Eli was heading to an old barbecue joint that the leader of the town ran. It was more of a base of operations than a restaurant but still the food was good.

Vin watched as Eli’s potential PTSD turned into actual PTSD when the poor bastard quickly raised his gun and aimed it toward the trees up along the hill behind the group, nowhere near any one of his initial targets. Vincent eventually caught himself staring at the trees hoping all the fuss Eli kicked up was worth it, but when it turned out to be nothing but a lone deer, Vin shook his head in disappointment and slight embarrassment to be in the same company.

“Dude, you’re losing it.” He shot Eli a sour expression, but clearly the gunslinger wasn’t paying attention and addressing Christy and Nate before deciding to head off into the direction of town.

“Well...now...what the fuck, man?” Vincent’s voice echoed off the thick tree line. “You’re just leaving us here? And who the hell is our ‘benefactor’?”

It was a futile attempt, as his angry, yet legitimate questions only fell on deaf ears while Eli simply kept walking, determined to stay his intended course of being an asshole. But why should he answer questions when clearly the guy doesn’t know what’s going on himself, and yet he delegates duties to everyone else like we’re in the military and the group has become his own private army of misfits and criminals. Vin’s attention snapped over to the old man as he took the opportunity to climb back into the car, signally his young companion to follow suit. Abi was more than happy to leave this place behind them, and even though curiosity got the better of her at times, this chain of chaotic events was not one of those. Even Brooks, who seemed a reasonable and mild-mannered fellow, didn’t like the situation and was more concerned with Abi’s protection and welfare than his own.

“Guys, wait! You don’t-”

Vin’s plead was quickly cut off by the roar of the old truck’s eight-cylinder engine, as Brooks shifted the gears into reverse and leaned out of the window.

“I’m not going to apologize for doing the smart thing.”

The old man hit the gas, and backed up a few feet before turning the wheel to correct the direction of the truck and shift back into drive, sticking his head out of the window for the last time.

“I’d suggest you folks do the same, yeah?” His words trailed as the truck hauled ass down the dusty dirt road and out of sight.

“Fuck! This!”

Vin kicked at the ground, clenching his fist as though he was about to punch someone or something, but there was nothing within reach.

He found himself pacing back and forth for a moment, before looking over at Christy, and then at Nate, who was about as unimpressed with the current situation.

“So now what the fuck do we do?” He said, hoping there was a better plan for their survival, as he made his way toward the Nate and the mine shaft entrance.

“And where is Jennifer?...”

Watching Eli go, Nate felt like it was both a blessing and a curse all at once. On the one hand, he felt much more relaxed when the unpredictable redneck wasn't around but in the other hand, he knew that this place was about 30% less safe with him gone. It seemed it was up to Nate and Eric to make sure everyone else stayed safe. He waved at Eli ad he went and said with a smile "Bye. Have a good time. Call me that again and I'll murder you in your sleep."

It wasn't long before he heard the sound of car doors slamming and turned to see Brooks and Abigail tear ass away from the mine. He watched them go with a look of complete disinterest. He didn't really blame them for leaving. They hadn't exactly been made to feel welcome but practically every member of the group had been held at gunpoint at one point or another. It was practically an initiation. Vin seemed a lot more annoyed by the whole situation though. Nate wondered if Vin, or anyone for that matter, would be so upset if he left.

When Vin asked where JJ was, Nate looked slightly annoyed by the question and complained "How the hell should I know? I'm not her keeper...anymore." He moved away from Vin then and towards the entrance to the mine where he yelled "Eric! Get out here!"

"Eric! Get out here!"

Jennifer snapped out of it, immediately returning to the real world as Nate's voiced boomed from the entrance. She hadn't heard any gunshots, and as she got to her feet she only hoped that the rest of the group wasn't in any sort of trouble. Eric had all the guns, and calling him outside could mean that someone was thinking about getting violent. Once Jennifer stepped outside though, she saw just a handful of people from the group, none of them appearing to be the least bit hostile towards one another.

"Nate, Vin, what's going on?" The moment she laid eyes on Vincent, Jennifer couldn't help but become a bit concerned to be in his presence. She was well aware of the fact that he'd only hurt her in her dreams, but she also knew that his dreams weren't any less violent, and in a world were superpowers were now a reality, maybe she should be paranoid around him. For a moment, she thought about breaking off whatever relationship they had going on, but she had to be smart about it. Ending things too quickly could set off alarms. On the other hand, he had been nothing but kind and understanding to her, taking her feelings into consideration and respecting her enough to avoid crossing any boundaries, so maybe she shouldn't jump the gun, not just yet, regardless of whatever crazy shit they'd all been through.

"Is everything okay?"

“Nate, have I told you recently that I hate you?”

Vin couldn’t help but smirk at the offhanded comment, which made him feel less upset by the fact that Eli was becoming more of a pain in the ass than Nate. He couldn’t help but feel responsible -slightly- for Abigail & Brooks sudden departure, as though he could have done more to convince them to stay, but maybe they didn’t belong. Did any of the group really belong here? Vin looked over at Christy, who kept her dog Jack close by her side at all times, although he couldn’t blame her. Not out in this part of the country where any protection was better than nothing. Although for the short time that he’d held the pistol dropped by Brooks earlier, he didn’t feel all that much safer. But he was never much for guns, especially guns held by psychopaths.

His attention immediately snapped to Jennifer’s voice calling out to him and Nate from the mine’s entrance. There she was. Disheveled expression, frazzled hair, dirt and soot covered clothing, and yet still managed to look as good as the day he’d met her. Perhaps not the same floral and coconut scent he’d become accustomed to, but none of the group had properly bathed in a few days and Jennifer most likely smelled the least repulsive. Either way, he was happy to see her face, and that fact that she was unharmed.

“Well hey, what’s up sunshine?”

He quickly mocked a debonair expression, if for no other reason than to break up the weird and dark shit that had transpired only moments ago. But her countenance seemed to take on a grim tone as she gazed at Vin for what had felt like an eternity to him. His own smile seemed to fade as well, returning her stare with a slight tilt of his head and arch of an eyebrow as though he were mentally asking the question: What the hell is wrong with you?

Her question then brought him back to his current mindset, shaking off the weird feeling he got from her.

“Eh…yeah, we’re fine out here, I think. Nate? Are we fine?”

Nate gave Vin a 'fuck you' smile as Vin commented that he hated him. He didn't much care but he had a feeling Vin liked him more than anyone else in the group did. It was an odd thought that the person who liked you the most still hated you. It was almost enough to make a person cry. A less awesome person.

He gave both Vin and JJ a weary look of vague annoyance as he watched their exchange. He wished they'd just get on with it already. Being stuck in the middle of a will-they-wont-they rom-com was ruining the fun of his adrenaline fuelled badass spy adventure.

"Thoughts like that are why you have no friends." he heard a voice in his head say.
"I have lots of friends!" he thought back at the voice.
"Name one."
"...Michaels."
"Hates you."
"Eli."
"Hates you."
"Bobby."
"Dead. You killed him."
"Jake."
"Dog."
"Steve the unicorn."
"Imaginary. Doesn't count."
"...Fuck you."

"Nate? Are we fine?"

Nate snapped out of his own thoughts as he heard Vin ask him a question. "Well I'm fine." he replied "But you're liable to take a shotgun to the face at any minute." He didn't wait around for a response to that. Instead, he wondered into the mouth of the mineshaft and again yelled "Eric!"

"Stop yelling!" came Eric's response as he wandered up, rubbing his temple. "In fact stop talking. Stop even thinking."
"I wish." replied Nate with a low voice. "I need one of your guns."
Eric looked confused and slightly annoyed by that comment and asked "Why?"
"Because I want to set up a perimeter and it's harder to do that with the stupid shotgun Opie gave me than it would with a rifle."
"No offence" said Eric "but why would I give another gun to someone who's just as likely to shoot me with it as he is the bad guys?"
"That's a valid point, kid." admitted Nate. "But what do you think is going to happen if you don't give me the gun?" He then thought really hard at Eric.
Eric paused for a moment before thrusting one of the rifles at Nate. "Just take the stupid thing." he complained.
"Thank you." said Nate before turning back around towards the others.

As he did, a clone split off from him which in turn spawned another, which spawned another and so on until there were five of them. A veritable conga line if obnoxious. Each of the clones spawned with a duplicate rifle. All except the fifth one, who looked down at his empty hands and said "Awwww."
The fourth turned around and in a chipper voice, said to him "Don't worry, buddy. You can still provide moral support for the rest of us."
Five looked at Four with an annoyed expression and said "Shut up, Donut." before barging past him.

Nate turned to Vin and JJ and as he passed them, he said "Don't go anywhere while I'm gone." He and his clones spread out and began heading into the woods but one shouted over his shoulder "You know I'll find you"

Four was the last to leave and he flashed the others a genuinely friendly smile before he left. Eventually though, they were all out of sight, leaving JJ and Vin to babysit the kids. Or, more accurately, leaving Christi and Eric to babysit the adults.

"Ah, just like home."

Jennifer watched as Nate walked away before diverting her attention to Vin, who appeared to be confused as to why she had suddenly given him the cold shoulder. But hell, she was confused herself. In all honesty, Jennifer wasn't too sure anymore whether her so-called friends would refrain from killing her for whatever reason. Chalk it up to paranoia, or lack of sleep, but she had a bad feeling things were slowly getting worse.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" Jennifer asked him, guiding Vin away from the other two. "This is a bit hard to bring up but I'm just gonna come out and say it. I had a dream you assaulted me, but only it wasn't you the entire time. At first it was just my stepfather and I having a conversation, but then he attacks me, and when I looked back at him again it was you. I know that dreams don't always mirror reality, but please understand that I can't just put it behind me so easily, not when part of the dream happened in real life."

Jennifer didn't say anything else, instead she waited on Vin to see how he'd react and what he'd say.

A series of facial gestures formed on Nate's face while it appeared he was, most likely, in deep thought and/or conversation with himself before re-entering the mine to find Eric. Vin shook his head and wondered why he’d ever agreed to hang this long. Maybe the kid was growing on him in some morbidly perverse way that he’d almost rather have him around than not, or perhaps Nate was actually the sane one in the group and the rest of them were losing their minds. Either way, as Nate once again entered the mine shaft, Vin was staring over at Jennifer who seemed to be pained by something judging by her grim expression. In all honesty, he just didn’t know how to comfort someone who’d been through so much in such a small amount of time. Social interactions with people were very surface at most, and those with the women were more about how he could get them into bed without committing to anything long term. But Vin knew those games were over, at least for now, and fucking with someone’s feelings when they were already down in the gutter wasn’t the best course of action. He and Jennifer had been through too much already for anything stupid and selfish to get in their way, and what was needed now was an understanding.

Vincent was just about to open his mouth in response to Jennifer’s unspoken words, until Nate came marching out with a few of his clones in tow, armed with guns and that trademark smug look about them.
“Well now where the hell are you all off to?” Vin asked, as the Nates headed toward the woods.

“Great. First Eli, now Nate.”

He grumbled, as Jennifer finally walked over to him wanting to talk, her voice taking on an almost dark tone that didn’t sit well with him. He knew anytime a woman started off a conversation with “Can I talk to you?”, nothing good was going to follow that question.

And he was right.

“So...you do realize it was a dream, right babe? I mean, you don’t seriously think-”

Vin paused, staring past Jennifer as he let her words sink into his mind, and his own thoughts flashed to the nightmare which put her directly in the line of danger...and death. A horrible and wicked death that he’d never have imagined, yet it was his own gift -his curse as it was- that caused her demise. He wanted to hold her at that point, to hug her, reassure her that he wasn’t the sadistic murdering bastard the his own nightmares made him out to be. But she didn’t know about the dream he’d had, she didn’t know of th e horrors that he’d witnessed, and even though he wanted to tell her what really happened in that nightmare, it would only validate her concerns, pushing them further away from one another.

“We need to work together on this Jennifer.” He finally said, staring into her eyes with a look of intent. “We can’t...we won’t allow these damn thoughts to invade and deceive us, to tear us apart like nothing we’ve done up to this point mattered. It all matters, and to allow our own paranoia to get in the way would be suicide.”

"I know...I'm just a bit shaken up by the dream, both physically and mentally."

Jennifer gave him a warm smile, but she didn't push the issue any further. Instead, she diverted their attention to the two kids keeping them company not too far away, because goodness knows they have it just as bad as Jennifer and Vin, if not worse.

"So now that we know them as well as Eli, I'm pretty sure that the targets on our backs has doubled in size. Maybe we should borrow some guns from Eric because something tells me we're going to be needing them."

Her tone of voice and body language told a different story, but Vincent wasn't going to push an issue that didn't seem to have an end in sight. Clearly they both had secrets which were better left in the dark whence they came, and hopefully become buried far enough down that time eats away at the remains until there is nothing left.

“Guns?”

Vin’s expression soured at the idea of having to carry one, but it was a necessary evil as far as he was concerned. He gave both Eric & Christy a hard stare, and then turned to Jennifer.

“Well, those two definitely know their way around all kinds of firearms, so let them keep what they want, and we’ll take whatever is the easiest to handle. Maybe a shotgun? I hear you don’t need to really aim with one of those”

He gave Jennifer a playful jab in the side, before looking back out toward where Nate and his clones had gone.

“I guess the real question is, how long are we supposed to stand here for? I sun is just about above the horizon, which means it’s probably around six-thirty...ish, so obviously the people of this backwater town are going to start converging on our position soon enough.”

Christi was at a loss. One moment the girl had been sobbing, looking for a safe place to hide, and the next she and who Christi thought might be her father simply got up and left, apparently deciding that it was no longer worth sticking around. Not that Christi could blame them, given how messed up their group was. Vin and Nate couldn't stop arguing, JJ was volatile, Eli was being... well, Eli, as far as she could tell. Eric always seemed like he had a headache, and Christi had her own issues. Still, it would have been nice to have another girl around.

As she watched the truck pull away, Christi sighed and hugged Jack, then got up and readjusted her crossbow on her back. Maybe it would be worth trying to get to know her. She missed being able to just… talk with someone. Ever since she had joined up with the city people, she always felt like they were talking to her. Not that she really made an effort to talk back, but it certainly didn’t help that it felt like none of them were really interested in what she had to say.

Heading back to the mine, she sat down at the entrance, rubbing Jack’s ears as he settled down beside her. She could just hear JJ and Vin talking a few feet away from her, though she couldn’t quite make out the words. They were a strange pair, certainly, and she didn’t really know what they saw in each other.

Their voices grew louder as they apparently drew closer to the entrance, and she overheard Vin’s comment about shotguns, which made her frown. Shuffling about so that she was facing them, Christi tilted her head. “Shotguns aren’t easy to use.”

@Rawk@Xandrya

"Listen to the girl, shotguns are not for the inexperienced like you or me. Well, not that I'm speaking for you, but I'd much rather shoot a handgun than a shotgun if given the chance." Jennifer walked towards Christi with the intention of petting Jack, but immediately backed off when she had a flashback of what had occurred the last time she attempted to get near a dog. Thinking twice, Jennifer walked back towards Vin but continued making her way past him as she headed to the edge of the tree line to wait for Nate to return. He was the one who knew Eli the best, and if the group was going to make any major moves, it would be under his direction.

“Hey it was just a thought!”

Vin suddenly felt as though he were being ganged up on by the two girls, like it mattered whether he was carrying a shotgun, handgun, or a bazooka.

“But I think I’ll defer to Christi’s expertise in the matter, Jennifer, since she is clearly more apt at using guns...and kni-”

He quickly cut himself off, realizing that probably wasn’t a subject to broach at this time, nor anytime, considering it caused enough trauma for the little girl. At that point, Jennifer more or less stopped listening after being spooked by Jack the dog, who didn’t seem all that interested in bothering anyone at the moment.

“Yeah, maybe you are giving off bad vibes, babe.” He snorted, as she passed him by and headed toward the edge of the thick forest where Nate had entered.

He turned his attention back to the mine’s entry way, narrowing his eyes to have a better look down the dark corridor that lead into the unknown. He’d seen enough horror movies in the past to know that “old, abandoned mine shafts” were never the smartest places to venture into and yet his curiosity on the subject was piqued enough that he actually looked forward to it. On the other hand, the question did arise, which had been milling around in his head for awhile.

“Why a mine shaft?” He finally said, tipping an old wooden crate upside down, and sitting a few feet away from Christi. “Eli couldn’t think of any other place to hide out besides…this?”

He didn’t know if he was directing the questions to the kid, or just asking rhetorical non-sense out loud that he already knew the answers to. Either way, Vincent could feel the exhaustion setting in, and even while he sat on the creaky box, his legs thanked him for the reprieve. Though he wasn’t the healthiest thirty-something, he kept in well enough shape not to die of a heart attack anytime soon, but the last few days have been the most daunting on his mind and body. He dazedly staring at the artwork inked into his arms, wondering when the next panic attack -or worse- would set off the evil bastard living inside him. Like Jeckyl and Hyde, Vin felt as though his curse was a culmination of two individuals rather than one, and he feared that the latter part would take over enough one day that he may never revert to his normal self again.

“I never asked for this shit…” He sighed, mumbling to himself, but within earshot of Christi.

@Xandrya
@Thundercrash

"GREAT WORK GUYS! EXCELLENT FORMATION!"
"SHUT THE HELL UP, DONUT!"

Nate pinched the bridge of his nose as he listened to his clones yell at each other across the distance they had spread out. Thankfully he was now far enough away that the sound of them was fading somewhat. The weirdly chipper one that the others had christened Donut was aggravating him. He was way too cheery and friendly. Not like Nate at all. Was he a defective clone? He would have put it down to a random fluke, something that went wrong in the cloning process that altered the clones brain chemistry, if it wasn't for the fact that five was being weird too. It was less obvious than Donut but Nate saw it. Five was miserable. Bordering on emo. Nate was a generally happy person by nature. Not to the extent that Donut was but he was happy. Five was anything but. Seeing two such diametrically opposed sides of his own personality was confusing and weird. It probably warranted deeper introspection. That would be the logical thing to do. So naturally, Nate chose to ignore it entirely.

Despite how much he wanted to punch Donut in the face, he was right. The clones had spread out far enough to get a good view of the area surrounding the mine. If anyone tried to sneak up on them, the clones would see them. That meant Nate was free to get back to the others and explore their new digs.

Nate stepped out of the tree line about ten feet away from Jennifer and looked the group over. They all looked miserable and Nate wondered if five's mood was contagious. "Wow." he mumbled to himself. "Real fun crowd you've got here, Nate." Choosing to ignore the sulking Vin to Christi, he instead made his way over to JJ. Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, he asked "Jennifer dear, have you ever seen the movie Beneath?"

"No, dear Nate, I have not seen Beneath. But let me guess, it's some B-list horror movie about a group of close friends who stumble into a mineshaft and are then killed by the big bad monster inside."

She gave him a playful shove, mainly out of relief that he was back with the rest of them. Vin and her were completely out of their element here, so of course they're going to want (or need) Nate to help them move along. Not that they would openly admit it, or at least she hoped that was the case with Vin, as inflating Nate's ego would only make him 10 times more annoying than he already was.

"I'm afraid I already know the answer to this next question of mine, but are we really going in there? Are you sure there isn't an alternative? I'm just scared for our lives, Nate. Staying in that mineshaft makes us sitting ducks and I know Vin, Christi, and myself would much rather avoid that sort of trouble, regardless of how fast it gets your adrenaline flowing."