Kill All Motherfuckers

[BetaKnight]

Iselle watched in mute horror as Alda choked the life out of Meera.  Literally.

Shit.

When Alda released the other girl from her grip and Meera slumped to the floor boneless, Iselle cautiously crept down off the stairs and warily approached her teammate.  Resting her walking stick against the wall, she slowly approached the duo.  She could see now that Alda had started to cry. That was all Iselle needed to know.

Reaching out tentatively, Iselle gently rested a hand on Alda's shoulder.  "Ssssh, it's okay," she said in a soft voice, hoping to reassure Alda.  "It's okay.  Don't cry.  Everything will be okay."

[MrMissMrs Random*]

Rosemary kept yelling for Meera to come out. She yelled until her throat went raw and her voice was nothing more than a harsh rasp and a coughing fit began, bending over retching with the dual the of chilling air stabbing her lungs and the exertion of her screams.

Meera wasn't coming. She would never come.

The girl made her way back under the tree, nearly falling on top of her shotgun. She laid there for god know how long, shivering and coughing. No longer caring if her damp clothes were going to give her a cold, or if Alda and her posse of softball players came after her. Meera was gone, and Rosemary, all she had done was run away. She didn't look back, didn't check to see if her friend- her only friend left- had been behind her. She should've known something was wrong, and turned back and fought them. She should've saved Meera.

"Why... why..." She whispered to herself as the tears started to fall and further dampen her face.

Why did they have to die? They all had futures, they had all wanted to live. What did she want?

She didn't want her parents to be hurt. That had been her anchor, what kept her from falling into the abyss and swallowed up by the earth. But that didn't feel like enough of a reason to live anymore. Not if it was the only one.

Rosemary stared vacantly at the dripping branches of the tree, looking as the drops fell down, only being captured by the leaves for a moment, before falling to their end once more.

She shifted in her seating, pulling out the little knife in her pocket. The girl looked at it as the hilt rested in her palm.

All she had to do was release the blade. It would be easy. Little knives would be able to do this sort of thing easily. Then she could... she could...

Rosemary shook her head violently, stuffing the undrawn knife back into her pocket. She couldn't.

"...I'm so pathetic, Meera. I-I can't even do that, h-huh?" She spoke out loud. How it was easier for her to put the little knife to Joey's throat instead of her own, she would never know.

It would be a little longer before Rosemary had enough strength to stand up, pulling her duffle across her shoulders, and lifting the shot gun. Every movement was sluggish, but controlled. Rosemary sniffled, rubbing the tears away and pulling her hood back up. She got out from under the tree, and began her trek in slow steps, back into the cold and wet unknown, alone.

(Rosemary Michaels continued to For Remembrance)

[Arscapi*]

Kathryn stood there staring unable to get her brain or her body to react at all. She knew that Iselle had killed someone, had heard the announcements, but she hadn't seen anything like that. Kathryn rocked back and forth slightly as her brain tried to come up with an adequate response.

[Latin For Dragula]

Alda stood frozen, just barely cradling Meera's limp body against her chest. A gentle touch from Iselle just barely kept her anchored in reality as she let the dead girl fall out of her arms to the floor. Her eyes stayed locked on the pale, lifeless face in front of her, blurred by the stinging mixture of water and chemicals burning through her vision.

"They knew..." she whispered quietly, though whether she was talking to the rest of the team, herself, or no one at all was hard to tell. The words just needed to get out. "They knew about Paulo, and they still...f-fucking stupid, I didn't..."

Her hand instinctively lifted up to clasp over Iselle's, and gave in to the drained, tired feeling riddling her muscles. The furious passion that had kept her going the last six days had finally burned itself away. She turned away from Meera's body to the familiar, stabilizing gaze of her captain.

"It wasn't supposed to kill the stupid psycho bitch..."

She didn't know if that was true. Maybe, caught up in all her hatred, she really had wanted Meera to die. Maybe, when Meera was waving her knife around like a lunatic, killing her might have seemed like a good idea. Now though, as the realization that the dead girl in front of her was all bark and no bite sunk in, she really wanted to believe that this wasn't how things were supposed to turn out.

[BetaKnight]

Iselle led Alda a step or two away from where Meera had fallen, distracting the smaller girl with a hug.  "No no no," she crooned softly as she rubbed soothing circles on Alda's back.  

This situation was salvageable, if she moved quickly.  If she could just get everyone out of the room, they could recover from this.  Moving after the fact was how she kept herself together after Sven.  She could help keep Alda together now.  "Everything is okay.  It's not your fault."  

After a moment, Iselle released Alda from her grasp.  She made sure to maintain eye contact, trying to keep Alda focused on her.  "We're gonna be okay, all right?  You're still all wet.  We need to get you in something dry and warmed up. I want you and Kathryn to go upstairs for me, okay?  Go find a fireplace and get a fire going."

She gave Alda a little nudge in the direction of the stairs. As she looked at Kathryn, Iselle realized that her co-captain was taking this about as well as Alda was.  Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.  She really needed Kathryn to keep it together.  If she crumbled, she might take Alda with her and that was the last thing Iselle needed on her hands.

There was only one possible solution to this, then.  She nodded jerkily towards Meera's body and then the front door, hoping Kathryn would pick up on her not-at-all-subtle clues.  "I'll be right behind you guys."

[Arscapi*]

Kathryn blinked and focused on the girls in front of her. Iselle was giving her a job. A job that took her away from the body in front of her. She nodded absently. She could do that, she could. Turning she took Alda by the arm and led her back towards the staircase. This had been the plan all along. Of course she still wasn't entirely sure she could build a fire, but it was something to keep her mind occupied.

[Latin For Dragula]

Iselle was directing her away, towards somewhere warmer and drier and less morbid. It wasn't until she mentioned the fire that Alda realized she was still soaked from the rain. She started to let Kathryn lead her up the stairs before freezing in place.

"Wait."

Her eyes found Iselle below them. Expressing vulnerable emotion had never been easy for Alda. Normally she'd soften it with a joke, or an insult, or anything to take the raw edge away. Now, though, shivering and spent, all that came out were two soft words.

"Be careful..."

She couldn't lose anyone else.

[BetaKnight]

Iselle did her best to give both girls a reassuring smile.  They needed someone to be the rock right now.  Not a problem. She was willing to keep them all anchored.  Soft tone and gentle actions until things got settled out.     "No te preocupes.  Everything will be fine," she said, unconsciously quoting her mother's most comforting phrase.

Raising both hands in front of her, she made small shooing motions up the stairs.  "I'll be right behind you guys.  I just need a few minutes, okay?"  The sooner Kathryn and Alda were away from the body, the better.  "Just don't get carried away with the fire."

[Arscapi*]

Kathryn straightened her shoulders. She was co-captain of the team, she shouldn't fall apart at the first sign of trouble. Except this was the second sign. Kathryn knew that she wanted to get away from the dead body, but she wasn't sure she wanted to be alone with Alda. Alda who'd just killed someone for no reason.

That meant that both Iselle and Alda had killed someone, although she believed Iselle when she said it was an accident. Still the body count seemed to be rising around these two. It was something that Kathryn was having a really hard time wrapping her head around it. What did that mean for her? She really wasn't worried about them turning on her, more about how others they met would react.

She didn't know how to voice any of this, so she stayed quiet. She gave Alda's arm a squeeze and started up the stairs. "C'mon Alda lets see if we can find a fireplace. At the very least we can find some iron to help defend us when the ghosts in this place start appearing." Kathryn wasn't sure now was the time for a Supernatural reference, but anything was better than silence.

[Latin For Dragula]

Kathryn's joke forced a slightly nervous chuckle out of her. That, combined with Iselle's confidence, anchored her a little more firmly. It was okay. They were still a team, and none of them had gotten hurt. They still had each other.

She shivered again, now purely from the cold, and followed Kathryn's pull. "Fire sounds pretty good right now. Any ideas where to start?"

[BetaKnight]

((GMing of living characters approved))

Iselle kept smiling even though her face was starting to hurt. She waited as Kathryn and Alda finally turned and disappeared upstairs.  As soon as she was sure they weren't coming back, she dropped the smile, sighed, and rubbed at her aching cheeks.  Looking down at Meera's body, she sighed again.  If they had just run a little sooner, if Meera had just shut her damn mouth and not antagonized Alda, Iselle wouldn't be stuck trying to figure out what to do with a dead body.

Frowning, she prodded the body with the toe of her shoe.  "I'm going to be lividly pissed if she is just unconscious instead of actually dead after all the drama this has caused," Iselle murmured as she stared down at Meera.  She prodded the fallen girl again, a bit more forcefully each time.  Finally satisfied that Meera was indeed good and gone, Iselle headed for the front door.  

Cautiously, Iselle opened the door as wide as it would go before peering outside.  The coast looked clear, and hopefully it would stay that way long enough for her to do what she needed to do.  Leaving the door propped open, she returned to Meera's body.  She took a few deep breaths, preparing herself for what came next before reaching down and pulling Meera's body into position.  

Iselle straightened out the fallen girl as she tried to figure out the best way to take hold of her.  A few failed attempts at grabbing under Meera's arms later, Iselle settled on the less dignified but more efficient method of pulling Meera along by her ankles.  

It was much harder to move Meera than she had initially anticipated.  Grunting and swearing under her breath, Iselle slowly managed to pull Meera's body out of the house and down the porch.  "You're heavier than you look but I bet you knew that," she said, wiping her face on her shirt.  

Iselle took a moment to try and find a good spot to leave Meera.  Somewhere close but out of sight of the doorway so that Alda and Kathryn didn't freak.  Maybe by that planter.  It looked big enough to hide Meera.  "Almost done," she assured Meera as she grabbed the dead girl's ankles.  

A few more minutes of effort had Meera tucked up alongside the edge of the house, mostly sheltered from the elements, and most importantly, away from the front door.  Iselle's shoulders slumped in relief now that this was over.  She started to turn back to the door and stopped.  It felt...wrong to just leave Meera out here like a sack of garbage without at least saying something.

Iselle cast a nervous glance up at the sky before clearing her throat.  What should she say, though?  She hemmed and hawed a moment before deciding. Crossing herself and folding her hands, she began softly murmuring the Lord's Prayer. At its conclusion, Iselle added, "Dear Lord, we are all really, really sorry about what happened here.  Not that being sorry will bring back Meera. Or Sven.  But we are really sorry and we all really hope that we don't get put in a situation where this might happen again.  Please help us.  Amen."  

She quickly crossed herself again and cast one final look at Meera before running back to the front door.  This time, she remembered to lock the deadbolt before heading for the stairs.  "You guys get a fire started," she called as she noisily ran up the stairs.

[Arscapi*]

((Time skipping approved by all))

Kathryn and Alda managed to find a room that had a fireplace and were in the process of listing the steps they needed to build a fire when Iselle joined them. After a couple of small missteps the three of them managed to get a fire going.

The rest of the night was passed in relative silence, each girl lost in their own thoughts. They decided to resume the watch schedule they'd established in the parking garage.

Kathryn groaned as she woke. What she really wanted to do was turn over and go back to sleep. Something told her that probably wasn't for the best. Instead she pushed herself up off the floor and stretched her arms up over her head.

She moved over to the windows pleased to see that the weather was clearing. "Looks like the rain's stopping," she said turning towards the other girls.

[Latin For Dragula]

Seven girls from the team had come on the trip. By seventh day, three of them were dead, three of them were killers, and one sat in the middle, surrounded by death. Alda had to wonder how Kathryn felt now. Did she still trust them? Would she fight for them if she had to?

She had to believe that she would. They were a team. Maybe all that was left of it, since Andi probably wasn't feeling too friendly after Iselle killed her deadbeat boyfriend. The team might be all they had, now.

Alda stared up at the ceiling as the other girls woke. She'd barely slept that night, but that wasn't really a surprise. Kathryn was right, the rain had broken sometime late last night, and now the sun was spilling in through their windows.

"Good," she grumbled from the floor, "maybe people will stay outside now..."

[BetaKnight]

Iselle grunted as she rubbed at her shoulder.  She hurt this morning.  Probably had something to do with hauling Meera around yesterday.  She listened to Alda and Kathryn talk without paying much attention.  Absently rubbing at her shoulder, she let her mind wander to more pleasant things like hot running water, hour long showers, all you can eat buffets, and king sized beds with fluffy down comforters.

Instead of making her feel better, thinking about what she didn't have just made her crankier.  "Fucking trip from hell," she muttered under her breath.  They needed something to do.  Something constructive.

Too bad that was the last thing on her mind at the moment.  Instead, she defaulted to what she knew best.  "You guys want to go outside and play catch?  Or, I dunno, jog a few laps?  Because that's all I've got at the moment.  I am fresh out of ideas."

[Arscapi*]

Kathryn looked between her two friends trying to decide what to do. It seemed one of them wanted to go out and one wanted to stay in.

"What I really want to do is curl up with a Supernatural marathon," she said. "Do we have anything to play catch with?"