natcat

This Means War

"Yeah, good point." I looked around for the bag that we'd shoved them into earlier. Spotting it near Spencer and Em, I left to grab it, quickly returning as I rummaged through it. "Here we go." I said as I pulled the maps out of the bag. They were crumpled and slightly damp but still in a fine condition.
Dumping the bag on the floor, I unfolded the maps, smoothing them out next to the one that already lay on the table. "Hopefully these help." I said to Daisy. "Chances are they're exactly the same." I resisted crossing my fingers in hope that they'd be different.

This Means War

Nina shook her head. "Siblings." She muttered and smirked between Daisy and I.
"If there's anything I can do to help you with these maps, Nina, let me know." I told her with a nod.
She shrugged. "Thanks, though there's not much else aside from looking them over again. I might need a break though, I was beginning to go cross-eyed from staring at them for too long." She pushed back from the table and looked like she was about to follow Joe outside before she turned to Daisy. "It's good to see you up, you do look better than before already."

This Means War

We sat in silence for a moment, contemplating our options.
"Do we even have to go there?" Spencer asked, looking at Nina. "Shouldn't we be trying to get away from all of this? I didn't think we were seeking out potential Jaxlor bases. Or even Tilerian bases. Seems like everyone is just as bad as each other out here."
I looked at the maps that lay on the table. He had a point.
"Let's not make any serious decisions yet." Nina said looking between all of us. "I'll keep looking at this map, see if I can find anything else, and we'll sleep here for the night. It doesn't look like this rain will be lifting anytime soon anyway, we might as well get the rest we need because we'll have to move out eventually."

This Means War

I looked between the brothers and tentatively opened my mouth to speak. "What if we send a search party out to see if it's anything worth all of us going to?"
Spencer started to open his mouth to protest but Em shut him up. "Hold on, Spencer." She looked at him and he bit his tongue. "It might be an idea. How far did you say it was from here, Nina?"
Nina sighed. "I didn't" Joe sneezed. "I haven't figured out where we are in relation to the cross."
"Well, if there's a search group of us going anywhere, I'm in. I can't stand this dust." Joe said with a sniff.
"But is it really a good idea to split up?" Spencer said, more calmly this time. "What if something happens, to either group? How are we supposed to talk to each other, to know that everyone is okay?"

This Means War

Once I'd helped Daisy get into a seat at the table, I moved around to stand behind Nina who sat in front of the maps. It seemed she was much better at reading these than I was.
"So what's up?" I asked as Em walked over with a glass of water for Daisy.
"Well, if you look here." She pointed to the map that I'd found in this cabin, the cross scratched in red on the detailed drawing. "You thought maybe this might be the cabin we're in..." Nina looked at me and I nodded my head. "Well, if you compare it to this map here-" She pulled over one of the maps I'd grabbed from the base we'd recently left. "-You can see that it's actually some sort of large building. Maybe a warehouse, maybe another base, maybe another abandoned something. Maybe even an underground bunker. I don't know, it's hard to tell."
"Maybe that's where whoever lived here went." Joe suggested.
"Or avoided." Spencer added, Joe rolled his eyes.

This Means War

"Of course." I said and moved over to put my arm around her shoulder. Together, slowly but surely, we managed to get her standing. I was holding most of her weight as she leaned into my shoulder. "We should find you crutches or something. When the rain lifts, I'll get out and find you something to use."

This Means War

I looked towards the door as Nina spoke. "Want to come and check it out?" I asked her as I stood up, resisting the urge to dust myself off, Daisy had been sleeping in the bed after all. We could hear the others as they shifted the maps about the place, and then a 'bless you' from Em after Joe sneezed- again.

This Means War

"Yeah. Well, I think so. We almost went straight past it, it blends right into the landscape. Spencer was actually the one that spotted it." I said. "I've got Nina having a look at the maps now. I was felt like I was just staring at the same spot waiting for it to tell me what it was."
It was good to see Daisy chatting more. She definitely looked much better and you could tell her energy was creeping back.
"Spencer's found a bookshelf, he's currently motoring through something called Lord of the Flies? I don't know. I think it's old."

This Means War

"Possibly they're not, but it's hard to tell. They're quite old, all before the war. There's no markings that we'd usually see that tell us where the bases are." I said and realised I hadn't considered they might not have even been from this area, but what would the markings on the map be of?
"But yeah, I'm okay. We managed. Joe was the one who carried you, I think he thought I was too weak. Which is probably true." I said with a smile. "He's currently outside getting away from the dust. Turns out he's incredibly allergic." I laughed, it still amused me. After everything we'd been through, Joe just couldn't stop sneezing. "It's been good to stop here. Though, I don't feel completely at ease, it's nice to have a roof over our heads, that's for sure."

This Means War

I watched Em go then turned to Daisy, giving her a smile.
She looked tired, which was fair enough considering what she'd just gone through. "We found maps." I told her as I stepped inside moving to sit on the end of the bed. "Nothing too different to what we found at the base but hopefully we can try to figure out where this cabin is, and then where to go from here."
I glanced out the window at the rain that continued to fall from the grumbling sky. "How are you feeling anyway? Good sleep?"