Roses and Whiskey

[D/N]

All lyrics are whiskey and Irish roses and duplicitous women and death and war. Mix and match and you get any pub song you want.

S123 - Fey Zelenka-Morrison - START

Thud. Thud.

"Ugh... ah fuck."

The door opened outward. She'd been banging her shoulder on it like an idiot for ten seconds thinking it was locked.

Good thing nobody saw her. She hoped.

Then Fey Zelenka-Morrison yanked the door open, wedged herself in, slammed it shut, and stumbled gracelessly around for a few more seconds before finding a metal cabinet in the corner across the audio gear and sliding down to the floor where it was easier to try to think more about this.

"Goddamn it's cold out there."

Hadn't done much of the thinking on the way here. Not panicking, just not thinking. Fun stuff waking up in the middle of fucking nowhere in the snow. She couldn't read a map for shit, but she could sort of tell which way the closest buildings were. And any sort of manmade shelter was a hell of a lot better than the snow and cold. She could handle both of those, but why do so when you've got buildings nearby. Three cheers for civilization fuck the environment.

Kinda funny when you put it that way. Ah well. Climate change had never been her bugaboo.

The inside of the station was dark but she could make stuff out. She'd accidentally banged herself against the snowbound side of the building on her way down the hill to get there. Hadn't picked it based off the map, it was just the first building she'd seen. Anyway now that she was inside she could see that a bit of light was trying to come in through the snow that covered the window. Wasn't 100% opaque at least. Maybe she should go out and try to clear it out, brighten things up a bit in here.

Just not yet.

She flexed her fingers in the greater warmth of the station and stretched her legs, Her men's size 11 Doc Martens drummed on the concrete floor for a second as she thought. The duffel bag sat next to her. Plus her shitty little tote bag that she'd had with her on her bus and didn't carry anything too important, because all that stuff had been in her luggage.

She was Fey Zelenka-Morrison, and as she thought she zipped open the assigned bag and pulled out (carefully, carefully), those gloves that sparkled with broken glass and slipped them on, just in case. She'd warm up and think for all the good that would do.

Fucking thing was that she'd forgotten to pack a pair of gloves herself.

[RC~]

((S121 Calvin Rawls: Begin))

"Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me," he muttered inaudibly to himself. His nose was running, too. "Weather, fuck you. Weather, fuck you," he continued repeating to himself like a mantra, still inaudible to anybody but himself.

Calvin had his scythe in his hand, ready to strike if he needed to. Not that he needed it, he could kick anybody's ass with his bare hands if he wanted to. Yeah, he could beat anybody in a fight, he's a martial artist. Plus, he was smart, most of his classmates were dumb as hell. There was no doubt he could like, win a fight if he wanted to. He just wore the scythe as an accessoire.

Calvin stopped walking to check his bag. Was it closed? Did anything fall out? He had the feeling something felt out, even though nothing fell out. He looked behind him. Any items that laid on the way? No. It was nothing. Just his brain. He opened his bag again, closed it and opened it and closed it and opened it and closed it. FUCK. Stop that.

Did anything fall out? Did he have all items that were given to him? He needed to mentally make a list of what was all in his bags, just to make sure he didn't lose anything. Did he lose anything? Did anything fall out while opening and closing his bag? Was that physically possible? Him opening it and something falling upwards out while he wasn't looking? Did him opening and closing his bag damage the bag?

He had his scythe, he had his bag, and he continued walking. He stopped again. Did anything fall out? No, no. Nothing fell out of his bag.

"I sherd just fffffffffffucking kill myself," he whispered to himself, hissing the f of the f-word and slurring the 'should' into a shrd. He shook and exhaled his breath with a brrrrrr and checked his bag once more if it was opened or if anything would fall out of it, just to reassure himself that indeed, it was closed.

"Shutupshutupshutupshutup," he whispered.

He continued walking until he was close to the door of the building. Walking was dreadful, he deserved a rest. And warmth. He went to the door and pushed against it.

He pushed harder, pressing against it. Dang, was it already frozen?

"Fuck off," he told the door. Welp, looks like it was locked. He kicked against it. Yep, the door was definitely locked.

[D/N]

Well, not much time to think.

Fey unfolded herself slowly from the ground as the sounds grew nearer the door. She eyed the window warily. No way out there. Maybe next time she should've thought of an escape route before boxing herself in like this.

So here we were then.

Really, what could she have thought about during her alone time? She wasn't much of a philosopher. Of course she was only so much of a doer as well. Do your good, such as it is. Fight your fight, metaphorically speaking. Make your friends. Nod your head. Nurse your hurts. Drink your pints. Down your shots.

God, she was pissed that they'd confiscated the luggage. All her personal bag had was some candy and makeup, sunglasses, styling cream, a scarf she probably should put on, her wallet, random bullshit like extra shoelaces and dental floss picks, and an extra pair of socks she'd tossed in last minute cause she wasn't sure she had enough, so at least she had one article of clothing she could change a week from now when probably she'd stink to high heaven.

A bit optimistic to assume her survival that long, but again, that was too much thinking ahead right now.

The sounds grew louder. The dude (dunno why she assumed that, but she did), was trying the door. Fey breathed in and out and tried not to make it too loud. Kayhay Fey, course of action.

The dude kicked the door.

When you're dealing with someone you know, you don't act, you react. Hey mom you've come home drunk again, lemme just put dinner in the oven you all good. Hey you're shipping me off with dad and his weird new family, we can work with that. Let's go out and pump our fists for action or at least angrily post on Discord chats about it, what are we protesting against this time again boooooyos?

Dude at the door though? Fey didn't know whoever the fuck he was.

So she strode forward.

She was Fey Zelenka-Morrison, the six foot tall Boston-adjacent-half-Irish-lass-kicker extraordinaire and who cared she'd never actually been in a fight since the seventh grade?

"Yiiiieeeee, I'm ready fer ya!"

She kicked the door outward and put up her bejewelled dukes, dancing her feet back and forth, before she could realize it was just Calvin Rawls on the other side.

[RC~]

Suddenly the locked door kicked open and Calvin was thrown to the ground by the sudden impact of the door to his back.

He grasped his scythe tightly, and looked up to the person who came out of the building. It was Fey, a very, very, very tall girl. He was so screwed.

"Please don't kill me! I-I-I can protect ya!"

[D/N]

'Yeeeeeeah! Float like a butterfly, sting like a--- oh."

It was Calvin Rawls cowering in the snow, and Fey didn't really have any beef with him. He was holding some wacko curved knife thing that looked like a great way for a guy to stab himself in the dick by accident and he wasn't looking to wield it.

Fey dropped her dukes. Woul've spat out her mouthguard if she'd had one. Almost scratched her face before remembering how wrong THAT could go, thank you very much. Especially after those self-righteous thoughts about Calvin's weapon.

"Sorry," she said. "Uh, it's cool, just being on edge with it all y'know... yeah you can come on in if you want."

She propped the door and backed up inside in case her took her up on the offer. Yeah, Fey didn't have beef. Didn't have much of a feeling at all on Calvin one way or the other really. But she guessed that was better than the alternatives out here. Not that Fey was looking for protection. Fey was looking for... hey, she just woke up, give her a minute.

"Warm up or whatever. You wake up out in the snow too?"

[RC~]

She...she didn't kill him. That was unexpected. Well, maybe. Calvin was just this charming guy, you know, he totally did it, he persuaded her to not kill him.

Calvin stood up, the tactical scythe in his hand. Then, he decided to put it away into his bag again. Opening up the bag, throwing it in, then closing it. Then inspecting the surroundings to check if anything fell out while he opened the bag. When he was done, he answered to Fey's question.

"Hm, no. I woke up in some sort of sewer. Or like tunnel system, it's probably undeneath us. I tried finding a way out of it and I did, and yeah, now I'm here."

Calvin decided to go inside. It was cold, and that robbed him of precious energy. He hoped Fey would follow and close the goddamn door, too. He rubbed his hands against his back where that darned thing had hit him.

[Namira]

Eavesdropping should make a situation make more sense. Not less.

Piper thought she'd been hearing a fight or something that was about to be. But then it got calm again and she couldn't figure out why. She was bad at this.

She was holding an antler in her hand, had the other pushed awkwardly through her bag. It was completely the wrong shape and weight. No balance or nothing. Obviously. They were animal parts, not weapons. She thought about the human garbage in charge killing a buck just for the sake of filling a bag and her brow furrowed deep. Something about that got at Piper worse than everything else. Maybe she was fixing on it so to not fix on the everything else.

Piper veered from the everything else and conceded she wasn't going to make any more sense of what she'd overheard by standing around the back of this building.

There was blood out here. Not a lot. Not a little. She'd studied it earlier. That was the word she was going for. Cause study was a better tag than trying to put a word to the full body sweep of sickly heat she'd got when she saw the bright red splatter. Forget that Piper didn't know anything about first aid or injuries. Study, so that she wasn't living through that moment again.

Wasn't any way to see inside the building that Piper could figure. Maybe though she could see the top of a window? But she wasn't about digging through a whole snowdrift to maybe find a window. It was cold. It was going to be physical. Needed to store up the calories and not waste effort where she didn't have to.

Nothing else for it. Either walk round front or just leave. Guess she was walking round.

She stepped to the side of the building and stopped at the corner, waiting to peak around. The antler in her bag protruded past said corner.

[D/N]

"Tunnels, huh? Well I woke up just out in the snow. First place I've been to."

Well, with those scintillating origin stories out of the way, time to get down to the business at hand. Making friends, making plans. Looking back inside the station, which was really more like a fucking shed, as Calvin went in and started to make himself all cozy.

There was the cabinet she'd slid against. There was a bunch of wood and metal and counters and dials and microphones that looked like they'd been fished out of the wreck of the Titanic for all the use they would be. The predominant colours here were grey and flaking rust and seaweed green, so all in all, it was a charming little place. Right at home.

"Anyway, haven't been here too long till you came by. So got any plans? Lemme just close the door."

Fey stepped back outside, musing idly on whether she wanted to keep it wedged open a bit. You let in the light, but also the cold. You could see who might be coming, but also the cold. Got a dilemma there, don't you?

She went to shut the door and saw something peeking around the edge.

"Yiiiieeeee!"

Up come the dukes again.

"Come on out if yer playin', we're ready fer ya!"

[RC~]

Calvin thought about what Fey said. A plan, huh? Did he have a plan? Not really. He looked at his scythe. Maybe get a better weapon. Did they give out guns at SOTF? He didn't know. The only clip of SOTF he saw involved a shovel and he had to admit, a scythe was better than a shovel, so he was grateful for that.

But maybe there were guns. Maybe he could trade it for a gun. There must be a classmate stupid enough to make that trade.

Calvin didn't own a gun himself home, he didn't need one, he knew how to do BJJ. But he had considered it. Actually, he believed every American had the right to own a gun. It would make self-defense much easier. Wouldn't have to learn BJJ or Judo or Taekwondo or whatever, just give people guns.

Calvin's thoughts were interrupted by Fey greeting an unknown stranger. He briefly considered just shutting the door to find out whether the unknown stranger was dangerous and let Fey figure it out first hand, but then again, Fey didn't kill him either, so that wouldn't quite fair or moral or whatever. Was it the right time to think about morality? It was each to their own, after all. But maybe they weren't dangerous.

Calvin stood still and watched the interaction, ready to step out in case Fey gets into a conflict. It was best to stay hidden, surprise was an advantage and the unknown stranger didn't know he was inside and that Fey had a backup. Or at least he hoped that was the case.

[Namira]

She'd been spotted!? How!?

More yelling, and what was kind of a threat. No, more like a warning. A bird, puffing itself up big and loud and spreading its wings. Back off, you don't want to deal with me.

Piper was used to yelling, but with intent. The yell went with a burst of energy and motion. Otherwise, she didn't shout.

She peeked carefully around the side of the building and saw a very tall girl with very short hair. Fey.

...She didn't really know about Fey. She was in that kind of activist group. Loud. Which felt redundant, since being within a few yards of her would have proved it immediately anyway. There was a reputation, but rep was rep. Piper had a rep and she didn't deserve it, so you know.

"I'm not. Chill."

—okay the part about going after someone with a sword she didn't deserve.

[D/N]

"Yeeeeeeah, shipping up to Boston, whooa--- oh."

It was Piper Puncheon not cowering in the snow, and Fey, well, did she have any beef with Piper? Like, not necessarily. Piper wasn't cowering, but she was sticking her head around the corner, looking all annoyed with stuff. Well, bully for her. But she wasn't looking to fight or kill or anything, so...

Fey dropped her dukes.

"Sorry," she said. "Just on edge."

Fey didn't have beef per se, but she should've known Piper better. All she knew that firstly Piper was a fellow Lynner, which meant they should've been friends, but they weren't. Hey c'mon, Lynn Lynn city of sin, you never come out the way you come in. No Lynn Girls bond though. Cause she secondly knew that Piper was supposed to be a pretty stuck-up bitch, and they'd never run with the same crews.

She gestured to the open door.

"We're just looking to warm up here."

She left for Piper to, uh, pipe up hehehehe if she felt like joining. Plus had to figure Calvin had rights to jump in and argue if he wanted to. But that wouldn't be for the best if he did that. Fey'd argue that right back with him, and she was the first after all. If he did argue.

But nah, they should probably share here. Be all socialist and stuff. Make your families proud you're trying to keep your humanity in the midst of death and all.

[RC~]

Well, didn't look like Fey was shot at, or attacked in any other way. That was a good sign. Fey invited her in, that was fine by Calvin. Three people? He was able to deal with that.

Also, Fey just gave away his moment of surprise. How dumb of her.

We're? Come on. Now she knows that we're two.

Calvin had to talk with Fey about how to not rat out your ally. Maybe Fey wasn't the best ally anyway.

As there was no point in hiding anymore, Calvin called out to the stranger from inside the room, not wanting to step outside to avoid having to switch temparatures rapidly. He revealed himself with not so much enthusiasm.

"Well, come in, would you? Otherwise I'm just going to shut the door and both of you can stay outside. It's freezing in here."

[Namira]

Piper thought about it.

They weren't fighting, which was the most important. She could just leave and be done. Didn't have to dip right this very second though. Could make an argument for both. Cover more ground, see what else was going on, find others that maybe really were fighting, worse. Or, get a little rest and warmth, stop to get her head right, make sure that this was what she wanted.

Fey's... friend? stepped outside. Calvin. Piper knew Calvin: he did BJJ and her judo sort of slotted alongside that. Those didn't overlap, but he was still more of a familiar face. Made her think a bit about how a fight between those two would really have gone. Fey obviously had size, which counted for a lot. Calvin had training and BJJ was the kind of style where height mattered less. It'd mostly be down to whether Fey could keep him at arm's length and pick him apart, or else land a bigass haymaker to drop him. Given all the yelling, Piper didn't think Fey had the discipline for that, so she liked Calvin's chances better. ...assuming everything else was equal and nobody pulled out a gun or a knife or whatever else.

Mm. Yeah.

Probably taking a couple minutes was for the best.

"Alright, I'm coming over."

Piper stepped out from the corner of the building and walked towards the two, ready to follow them inside.

[D/N]

"Alrighty,"

So Fey saw Piper was coming on over and stepped inside herself.

Really, she didn't think there was too much difference between the cold outside and inside here. But she'd be fine. Fey dressed for the weather. Always did; she planned things that way.

OK, so Fey just pretty much always wore her big-ass coat past October straight through to March even when it was too warm for it, but whatever. She guessed she'd gotten lucky.

Lucky enough to have the class end up on Survival of the Fittest anyways.

"What a shitshow, huh? Like Jesus Christ..." she muttered out loud to Calvin and Piper and anyone else in particular.

Shitshow indeed. Mother of fuck, why'd she gone on this trip anyways? Half the Vanguard wasn't going. It was a school goddamn trip, never mind that they'd never done this thing in the winter before so far as Fey knew, what the hell was they all thinking?

She saw her bags still in the corner of the station and crossed quickly. Just to mark her positioning for now. And that bag again.

Yeah, what were they thinking? Well now again Fey was thinking of the bottle of Jameson in her luggage that the asshole terrorists were now probably sharing. Never mind her lack of a change of clothes or anything, that was the whole worst thing about not having her luggage.

Yeah, that was why she'd gone on the trip. Good ol' Fey, always good to bring the whiskey in the jar, mush-a ring dum-a do dum-a da. Booze and mountain nights and maybe some skiing, would've been nice. Forget the Vanguard, she'd had some friends in lower places to hang out with at the resort.

'Course, the Vanguard was never much about SOTF anyways. SOTF had its own little group of weirdos against it. Fey had picked school violence and shootings as one of her causes célèbre, because hey, it sure has fuck had seemed more immediately pressing than the whole goddamn school abduction happening once every few years, right? Boy, was her face fucking red. Ha ha ha. She chuckled mirthlessly, thinking she sounded like even more of an idiot than usual.

"So... are we fucked? Got any ideas? Cause I sure don't."

That, actually. That was actually the worst part of this whole thing. Cause right now, outside of greeting someone with her dukes, Fey didn't have a single solitary thing to do in response to this, and she damn well knew it.

[RC~]

When all three had entered the inside, Calvin decided to finally shut the door. Brrr, he was freezing. Then Fey began acting weirdly, smiling and asking what they should do. Hm, good question, Calvin didn't have an answer, but, well, since he was the man in the room, he had to lead, right?

"Well, it seems pretty clear to me what we have to do. We have to get rid of these dog collars," he pointed at his own device. "and then go in hiding until the rescue comes. The island is pretty big, I saw the map, they won't be able to find us after we've freed ourselves from the dog collars and destroyed all cameras in the area."

Calvin mused a bit more.

"By the way, I think the collars are fake anyway. How would they even activate it? They'd need like a satellite or something. Or the antenna up there has something to do with it," he pointed upwards. "Maybe we could try to like disturb the dog collar rays."