ItIsJustMe

CLOSED -- Chat thread for writers involved in "The Survivors"

I'm sorry I'm not posting. My family has suffered a loss, and I'm simply busy with the aftermath. It might be a while before I am back, IF I am back at all. I'm sorry.

"The Survivors"

Day 2: Near Med Tent Alpha

Samantha Wilson was just leaving Bravo Tent and heading for the very nearby Alpha when she saw Dr. Biermann emerging the latter. She stopped to study him a moment; to the best of her knowledge, he hadn't slept since the crash almost a day and a half ago, spending that time caring in one way or another for the nearly one-third of the survivors who had suffered everything from scraped and bruises to compound fractures to -- in the case of Jenny Taylor -- life ending internal bleeding.

He had an expression on his face now that Samantha found hard to decipher. It almost looked like relief, though, she wouldn't have any idea from where that relief might have come. Perhaps it was the fact that following Jenny's tragic death, there were no more critical patients; everyone left was expected to survive, though, some with broken bones wouldn't be walking or performing laborious tasks for a while and others would be living with pain in their backs, necks, and other areas for days, weeks, or months to come.

"Doctor Biermann," Samantha said quietly as she approached him from out of his line of sight. When he looked to her, which she noted wasn't immediately, she smiled to him and said with a soft tone, "You should get some rest. Really, you've been up for 36 hours. You need sleep."

She gestured off toward one of the smaller tents, one erected specifically for the Medical Staff. "There's a bed in the back corner that's been waiting for you. I'll let the rest of the Staff know not to disturb you. We have this handled, really. You've already fixed the bad stuff, you and Annelise."

The two doctors -- both surgeons -- had repaired limbs and torsos and heads, and now the only work left to do was monitor vitals, change bandages, and watch for unforeseen issues such as clots, fevers, and such. Referring to the other Nurse who'd survived the crash, Samantha told Biermann, "Robert and I have this handled, really. Go get some rest. Doctor Jennings managed to get her eyes closed a few hours ago. If we need a Doctor, we're to wake her."

CLOSED -- Chat thread for writers involved in "The Survivors"

So, regarding Penny and Tyrelle, if the latter wants to walk off with a pretty girl -- and his father will allow it, of course -- feel free to write that Penny heads down the beach with him. If he speaks to her first, I'll respond with some dialogue; if he doesn't speak first -- if he's shy -- Penny will ask him where he's from, how he ended up here, how old he is, and other typical questions, questions that you can feel free to include in your post with my go ahead if you want. (I just thought that telling you this up front might speed the dialogue between them.)

"God moding" is often a sensitive topic, of course. So I like to let my writing partners know what they can have my characters do and say up front so they know what they can do without "violating" that issue. Does that make sense?

"The Survivors"

Day 2: Sunrise

"...I think I might sit this trek out..." Tyrelle told Paula. He talked about his desire to remain in the camp as opposed to spending the night in the jungle. "ya'll'll already have Desmond with ya."

Paula was unsure as to whether the teen's decision was more about not wanting to spend the night out in the unfamiliar and potentially dangerous island or wanting to be away from his adoptive father. She simply didn't know Tyrelle well enough to know that, too.

"That's perfectly fine, Tyrelle," she told him. "We need someone capable to keep an eye on the camp, too."

She hoped her compliment of him being capable would help him feel more confident in his feelings that she was someone he could come to with his troubles. "When Ms. Kingsley ... she prefers Carol, so ... when Carol returns with Desmond--"

"You were saying...?" a voice called out from not too far off. When Paula looked to the source of the voice, she found Carol and Desmond approaching, returning from their own little walk away from the camp. The Coordinator looked to the teen, smiled, and said with delight, "Good morning, Tyrelle. Nice to see you up and around and looking good. I heard you took a little tumble yesterday when you happened into our fresh water source."

She offered a hand out to him; regardless of his youth, Carol saw him as a man as worthy of respect as any other on the island. She talked to him briefly about his medical check upon returning the night before; one of Biermann's subordinates had looked at Tyrelle's scraps and bruises and declared him free of broken or cracked bones.

"Tyrelle and I have been talking about his place on the Security Team," Paula began, wanting to establish things regarding the teen before anyone suggested something that might oppose Tyrelle's wish and her own approval of said wish. She looked directly at the teen's guardian as she continued, "You performed well yesterday, Desmond. I'd like you to come with me as my Second on today's trek if you're interested."

Paula glanced at Carol for any sign of disapproval, and seeing nothing continued. "Tyrelle also did well as we all know. I'm impressed with him, too ... enough so that I want him to watch over the camp while Desmond and I and four others return to the clearing, then head northeast to see if we can't find the north shore of the island."

She was looking at Desmond now, wondering what his reaction would be to her splitting him and Tyrelle up for a day or more. She didn't give him a chance to respond, though, before continuing, "Craig Wetheral will actually be in charge of Camp Security, you know, because of Tyrelle's age. Can't very well put a teen in charge of the whole camp, of course..."

Paula reached a hand to Tyrelle's shoulder, giving him a reassuring pat while smiling to him and finishing, "...but he'll be my Number Two while I'm away."

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Carol quickly agreed. She wasn't entirely sure what Paula was working at, but she had confidence and trust in the woman. Carol looked to the teen's adoptive father, asking, "How's that work with you, Desmond. Can you bear to be without Tyrelle's company for a day and night and day again?"

Carol chuckled, adding, "I don't know about you, but most parents could stand to have a little time away from their teenagers on occasion."

Again, before Desmond had a chance to respond, someone else spoke up. A third female voice called out from nearby, "Carol! There you are! I've been looking all over for you."

The small group conversing about security and treks through the jungle turned to find a beautiful young woman jogging through the dry sand toward them. She came to a stop near them, jumping immediately into an explanation about supplies that had only this morning been found down the beach, washed up after initially being lost in the surf.

As she was talking to Carol, though, the young beauty had been making quick glances at Tyrelle while also trying -- but failing -- to hide a flirty smile. The Mission Coordinator caught this and -- thinking that perhaps the men didn't know the young woman -- quickly made introductions, "Desmond and Tyrelle D'Vaughnt ... let me introduce you to Penelope Jones."

Quickly, the young woman quickly corrected, "Penny! Everyone calls me Penny." She offered her hand out to the older male, and after she shared a rather standard handshake, she offered her hand to the younger male and repeated with a softer, more intimate tone, "Please ... call me Penny."

If Tyrelle took her hand as she hoped, Penny wouldn't be so quick to release her grip as she had been with his father. Oh, she wasn't openly flirting with the young man, but ... she also wasn't ripping her hand back as if she thought he might be carrying the plague.

"Penny here is one of our Volunteer Interns," Carol continued.

"I just completed my BSW -- Bachelor's of Social Work -- and another in African Studies," Penny expanded on her boss's explanation, [color=orange]"and now I'm working on two Master's simultaneously ... Displaced Population Assistance and Relief Management."

Penny had mostly been looking at Tyrelle as she'd been talking, though, she also Desmond a glance or two to make him feel as though he was part of the conversation. She giggled before adding, "Basically, I want to be the new and improved Carol Kingsley someday."

Both Carol and Paula laughed, with the former saying, "It'll happen soon enough, I'm sure." She looked between Desmond and Tyrelle as she said, "Penny is only 21, but she already knows more about serving refugees than I ever did."

"Not true!" the younger woman said, laughing. She looked back to Carol, talking a moment more about the new supplies that had been located, then looked back to Tyrelle, smiled -- this time flirtatiously -- and very boldly said, "I could use a pair of strong arms to help me move them. They're still clear down at the other end of the beach."

To be honest, Penny didn't really need another pair of hands; there were already two people down at the find, poking through the four boxes to look for damage. But she'd seen Tyrelle before and had found him handsome, despite his youth -- she didn't realize that he was only 17, of course.

The other two women said nothing, only waiting to see what would come of this invitation, as well as of the earlier conversation about Tyrelle remaining at the camp while his father went trekking off into the jungle.

CLOSED -- Chat thread for writers involved in "The Survivors"

No worries! Family and life in general are important! Do what you gotta and don't stress over the rp too much

@Baphomini

I'm actually going to go to bed now. I hate to do that when we are both online, but I'm exhausted. Night night.

"The Survivors"

Day 2: Sunrise

Paula took in Tyrelle's reaction to her question about his relationship with Desmond and was certain that she had indeed stepped into something that was none of her business. But Tyrelle assured her that all was fine between him and the man who was his adoptive father as opposed to stepfather as she had mistakenly called the man.

"The trek yesterday was a lot more than I'm used to," he told her, going on to explain all that he'd gone through. "...I'm sure everything'll be more than fine. Until then though, I assure you, there's nothing to be concerned about."

Paula had always been good at reading people; it had been part of her success as a skilled Military Police officer. She could see that there was far more to Tyrell's relationship with Desmond than he was admitting to. But again, she questioned whether or not it was her place to get involved. Tyrelle showed no signs of physical abuse, and Paula hadn't witnessed Desmond being psychologically abusive of the teen either. Maybe there was something there; maybe there wasn't.

"Well, I want you to know that you can come to me anytime you need someone to talk to," she told him with a sincere tone. "Think of me like a priest ... or a doctor. Total confidentiality. Anything you tell me stays with me and only me. I won't tell anyone ... not Desmond, not Ms. Kingsley. Okay?"

If Tyrelle had nothing more to say, Paula would wish him a good day and remind him that there was going to be another trek to the north of the island. "It's going to be an overnighter probably. I don't know if that interests you. Could be fun. Of course, we might get eaten by Komodo dragons or kidnapped by pirates, too."

CLOSED -- Chat thread for writers involved in "The Survivors"

I was surprised by the arrival of family for the weekend. I won't be able to write during the daytime like normal. I will try to write now (1035pm my time) and first thing in the morning (likely 7 hours from now), but other than that I will be out of commission for tomorrow until, again, night time and morning.

"The Survivors"

After the impromptu breakfast talk ended, Paula pulled Carol aside, asking her quietly, "Do you think you could separate Desmond and Tyrelle for a few minutes? I'd like to chat with the kid for a moment."

Carol studied the other woman for a moment, and she thought that she should probably ask what this was about. In the end, though, she simply responded, "Of course."

The Coordinator casually found Desmond, reaching a hand out to him as she complimented him on what his team had accomplished the day before. "Could we talk a minute. I'd like to hear more about what you saw out there yesterday."

Once Paula saw Carol turn the man away from the community to chat as they wandered, she casually made her way to the teen, asking, "I'd like to talk to a moment."

As Carol had Desmond, Paula led Tyrelle away from the larger group of people. She spent the first minute or so chatting about the trek the day before, asking him some of the same questions that Carol was likely asking the boy's guardian.

Finally, Paula got to the point. "Please, Tyrelle, if I am treading into something that is none of my business, please tell me." She hesitated a moment, then asked, "Is everything okay between you and your step-father...? Do I have that right ... step-father?"

Paula hoped that she wasn't delving into a personal area that would upset the teen. But she had the distinct feeling that things were not okay between the two. If Tyrelle wanted to talk about it, she would listen. If he didn't and wished to be left alone, she would let him leave her without objection.

"The Survivors"

Day 2, sunrise:

Carol Kingsley stood over yet another grave as a body was lowered into it. This particular burial was the most difficult for her thus far, even worse than laying both of little Autumn Fitzpatrick's parents to rest.

Jenny had been more than just another Mission worker. She and Carol had been close friends for twenty years, working half a dozen Missions together during that time. After one particularly tragic event during a mission in Turkey, the two of them had been wracked by emotion and in need of comfort. They spent the evening in each other's arms, despite the fact that while Carol was very much a lesbian, Jenny most certainly was not. While they both treasured their passionate encounter, they would never repeat it, not out of regret but out of respect for one another.

Departing the cemetery, Carol headed for the Kitchen Tent. There, Ana Bautista (OOC: profile coming) was hard at work serving breakfast to her fellow survivors. The tiny Filipino woman had once been a chef at a 4 Star restaurant in Sydney, but the stress of the job had been too much for her. Shockingly, Ana had found that working Humanitarian Missions after tragic events was gave her a sense of contentment and accomplishment that far surpassed what she had been doing before.

Carol filled her personal travel mug with coffee, stuffed her mouth with a couple of fork-fulls of powdered, scrambled eggs, and milled about. The vast majority of the Community's now-surviving 37 members was either in the tent or sitting somewhere outside. Carol found a location from which most of the others could easily see her and began speaking.

They spoke about moving the camp inland, close to fresh water. There was a sense that maybe more exploration was needed first, and Carol agreed. It was decided that the Security Teams would continue their treks; they still hadn't ventured to the northwest end of the island or up the mountain above them to the east, if such a climb was safe.

They also talked about the assignment of labor. Each of the survivors -- excluding the handful of children, of course -- had joined the Mission to perform a specific assignment. "For the time being, I would suggest that each of us sticks with the job for which we signed up."

She looked to specific people as she mentioned their specific skills, continuing, "Cooks cook, builders build, doctors and nurses ... well, you get it."

Carol saw concern in some of the faces and understood the reason. "Yeah, I know, some of you were hired for work on Tongalo that doesn't apply here. And others of you would probably prefer to do something different than that for which you were hired. If you have concerns, I invite you to come to me, and we'll talk about it."

She scanned the group, then continued, "The most important thing right now is that we do all we can to ensure our safety and survival until rescue comes. And yes ... I'm sure that rescue it imminent. In the meantime, though ... we have work to do, so ... eat up, fill your veins with caffeine, and let's get to work."

CLOSED -- Chat thread for writers involved in "The Survivors"

Okay, so I'm moving us to sunrise of Day 2.