Our White Nightmare

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The garages are very simplistic and built solely for the purpose of holding the station's fleet of vehicles. They feature two roll-up sheet metal doors, one rolled up enough for some to crouch under it and the other closed, along with a side door that has been frozen shut. Inside sit three vehicles: one all-terrain jeep that lacks a full set of tires and two snowmobiles.
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DerArknight
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Our White Nightmare

#1

Post by DerArknight »

((Derek Caldwell continued from UWU with the best of 'em))

The jeep was comfy.

His family's car was almost exclusively used by Lucas to drive to work. Derek drove to school on his bicycle and everywhere else. Only occasionally would he take a train or bus. Thus, it was an unusal sight for him to be inside a car. Especially one that wouldn't drive anywhere.

After reaching the research station, the pair had settled onto hiding inside the garages, or more specifically, the backseats of the jeep. While the other places might have offered more comfort, there were signs of life from all of them. Running into their classmates would defeat the point of hiding, so the half-lit garage it was.

Derek looked out of the window, from which he could see the closed side-door. Maybe someone with a blowtorch could unfreeze it, but for now the only entry into the garages was the roll-up sheet metal door that was only one third open.

A few minutes prior, the girl had helped him changing the bandages around his hand. She had done so without using more than two words. During the process, he had gotten another good look at his ringfinger, which was one look too much. Surely having a bit of dead meat connected to your hand wasn't healthy. Once they were in a better place, Derek would have to amputate it somehow.

The quiet started to unnerve him, so he turned to the girl sitting at his right, intending to start a conversation.

I have a little brother who needs me, because my parents are good-for-nothings. What about you? Do you have someone at home waiting for you?

"I have..."

Three syllables in he realized how cruel this question was. At least one of them was unlikely to ever return, so talking about home was just twisting the knife.

"Sorry. Not so important."

He turned back to his window.
V9
Judith "Judy" Loxley
Ae-Cha Myo
Cynthia Jericho
[+] V8
S007 Derek Caldwell [65/134]
S026 Dawn Montogomery [34/134]
S076 Daenerys "D" Todd [72/134]
S106 Ethan Kemp [132/134]
S116 Quentin B. Skinner [94/134]
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Laurels
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Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:16 pm

#2

Post by Laurels »

((Chiara Masina continued from UWU with the best of 'em))

Chiara was pleased to come across the garage. After some time spent trekking through a forest to the research station, they needed to find shelter quickly. The garage may not be the safest place around, but the large door offered some protection from the elements and others. They would have warning if anyone else came in, so that gave them a moment to treat the injuries the boy suffered.

Enough time had passed that Chiara had worked to change the bandages on his hand. The bloodied old ones were dumped outside the jeep as Chiara worked on the new ones. Even though the bleeding had stopped, the remainder of his hand was still a difficult sight. Chiara continued to grit her teeth every time she had to look, especially at the finger that was just barely hanging on. Still, Chiara had managed to complete the process and could sigh with relief.

After cleaning the blood off her hands, she began to pack up her kit again. The jeep was much more comfortable than the rest of the garage, even though it would be better if they could turn it on and get some heat in. Chiara had to hope she could get her clothes dry a bit while they were sitting here.

Once Chiara had the kit packed away, the boy began to speak, before stopping. He turned away from Chiara. Chiara bit her lip at this. It was clear he had something he wanted to talk about. She wasn't much of a conversationalist, so she wasn't going to force him to speak.

So she settled for putting a hand on his shoulder. She couldn't look at him either. There was a chance that doing so would make the reality of the situation hit her too, and she wasn't sure this was the right time to cry in front of someone.
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Salic
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#3

Post by Salic »

Lara had walked a long way from the snow-covered fields to here. Her legs were somewhat tired and her feet were a little sore, but they were trivial inconveniences. She usually felt much worse after a lacrosse game, where her body would be beaten and bruised after every match. Just a small amount of soreness was dwarfed in comparison.

When she came across the researching area, she had no idea where to look first. There were many buildings to choose, and she wasn't sure if she could fit all of them into a one-day schedule, so what she did pick would be important. In the end, she decided upon entering the garages first. While she doubted that the terrorists had left any working vehicles or the like, maybe there were parts she could scavenge to make something useful out of. While that sort of thing wasn't really her strong suit, she had to try. Apparently, her 'weapon' that the terrorists had given her was a damn vacuum. She'd tossed that out somewhere in the fields. She could probably do more damage with her bare hands than the vacuum. Hell, even if all she found was a pipe, a pipe could be lethal if someone swung it hard enough, and Lord did she have a good swing.

The garage door was only about a third of the way open, and she decided against trying to raise it up any further. It would probably make a hell of a lot of noise, and it could've be frozen in place. Best not to waste her energy trying move the immovable. Instead, she laid herself against the ground, squeezing through the gap without her bags. After crossing the threshold, she'd flipped over, pulling her bags underneath the door, trying to make as little noise as possible. It was when she turned around again that she finally noticed it.

On the ground beside the jeep laid bloody rags and bandages, discarded haphazardly and in a loose pile. Casting her eyes upward, she noticed two figures inside one of the jeeps. It was impossible to make out either of their identities.

Don't let either of these people stop you from doing what needs to be done, said her brain. You came here to look for something useful. Don't let two other people scare you away from gaining the advantage.

While she acknowledged that her brain had a point, she still found herself freezing up, not wanting to move further and grab their attention. She wanted the scavenging mission to be easy. She wanted it to be simple. Nothing in life, especially not a death game masterminded by terrorists, would ever be easy and simple, would it?
[+] V8 Kids
John Davis- ”Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men." - John F. Kennedy
Constance Blanchet- "The end of hope is the beginning of death." - Charles De Gaulle
Lara 'Spuds' Bullock- "You can never substitute emotion for reason." - Robert McNamara (Adopted from Slam!)
[+] V9 Concepts
Lightning Adcock
Ariel Montserrat "For God's sake, bring me a large scotch. What a bloody awful country." - Reginald Maudling
Tammy Swann - "Do not fear death so much as an inadequate life." - Bertolt Brecht
Roberto Aguerrondo - "I will not kneel on the ground, Allowing the executioners to look tall, The better to obstruct the wind of freedom." - Zhou Zhenkai
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DerArknight
Posts: 485
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 10:52 am

#4

Post by DerArknight »

The girl's hand touching his shoulder almost made Derek jump. He was thankfull that he didn't. For a while, the two remained in this position.

He knew that eventually they would have to leave. For their own safety, it was best to assume that Donovan wasn't the only one participating in this messed up game. Meaning there were students out there actively searching for victims. And the best way to be found was to stay in one place for too long. The girl seemed to understand this as well, judging by how she never spoke above a whisper. Despite that, she risked an injured classmate she didn't knew tagging along. Or maybe she just wanted an easy meatshield who could double as her one obligated kill to get out of here. Derek hated to even think it, but the jury was still out on this one.

Since Donovan had taken his map, he had no idea where exactly they were right now or how the island looked like in general. The place had looked like some kind of military station, so maybe this was the only footprint of civilization on this island. Which meant that more students would come swarming during the first days, to scavenge anything necessary or just have a roof over their heads until the Danger Zones pushed them out.

Derek really wanted to be gone by the time this happened. Pretty soon, they should enter another building, quickly grab whatever seemed useful and then go back into the wilderness, where hiding was much easier. But just as he turned to the girl to propose this plan of action, something caught his eye.

A shape was crawling under the garage door.

He stared at it as the shape entered the garage, dragged two backpacks inside and then stopped moving altogether for seemingly no reason.

He had a hunch what had spooked them.

"We are not alone. Under the door. They probably saw us." Derek whispered in a hushed voice, not even sure if he was loud enough for his companion to hear him.
V9
Judith "Judy" Loxley
Ae-Cha Myo
Cynthia Jericho
[+] V8
S007 Derek Caldwell [65/134]
S026 Dawn Montogomery [34/134]
S076 Daenerys "D" Todd [72/134]
S106 Ethan Kemp [132/134]
S116 Quentin B. Skinner [94/134]
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Laurels
Posts: 1867
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:16 pm

#5

Post by Laurels »

Chiara kept her hand on Derek's shoulder. Normally, pats shouldn't last this long, but Chiara didn't see the need to break it unless there was an actual reason to. The boy next to her had gone through something traumatic in the last few hours, and while she was part of a greater traumatic event, she was still relatively fine compared to him. She could at least continue to offer comfort to him.

The boy then leaned in and whispered something to her. When he did, she then noticed there was someone else inside the garage.

Chiara finally moved her hand off Derek's shoulder. That was a good enough reason.

Chiara couldn't make out the figured inside. There was a chance it was the same person who attacked Derek, or it was someone else. Still, "better safe than sorry" was the prevailing attitude in a game like this. Surely now was the time to follow that.

If Derek was down a hand, then Chiara would probably have to take the lead. They weren't fully safe inside the car, but Chiara did have something to help.

She raised a finger to her mouth and looked at Derek. Then she slowly pulled her revolver out of her windbreaker pocket and held it up for him to see. She then quickly tilted her head towards the door by her side.

Chiara slowly moved her free hand towards the door handle. The door wasn't locked, so all she had to do was push it open and she'd be out.

She began to slowly pull the handle towards her. Once it was out, she began to very slowly open the door.
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Salic
Posts: 154
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2021 12:59 am
Location: The Camden-Trenton Axis

#6

Post by Salic »

Lara may not have been able to to see the faces of the people she was with, but she was able to recognize their movement, as small as it was. No matter how slowly one of the people had tried opening the car door, the soft click that car door handles make reverberated softly through the garage. Lara gulped.

Thinking quickly, she opened the bag with S003 on it and produced a flashlight. While it wasn't a superb weapon, it could make do in a pinch in case the jeep people were hostile. With the flashlight secured in her right hand, she leaned up, now sitting on her hindquarters instead of lying prone on the floor.

While she didn't have the whole story, the sight of bloodied rags on the ground made it quite clear that at least one of the jeep people were injured, perhaps severely. That meant that only the one going for the door was good for a potential tussle. Lara really didn't want it to go there, but there was always that possibility. It would be in her best interest to minimize that chance, at least for the time being.

"Hey, wait, it's me! Lara Bullock, from lacrosse. Look, I don't mean to cause trouble. I don't wish to bring any harm upon you. Either of you."

The half-truth tasted bitter on her tongue. She tried to make the taste go away, with no avail, as she gradually brought herself to her knees.
[+] V8 Kids
John Davis- ”Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men." - John F. Kennedy
Constance Blanchet- "The end of hope is the beginning of death." - Charles De Gaulle
Lara 'Spuds' Bullock- "You can never substitute emotion for reason." - Robert McNamara (Adopted from Slam!)
[+] V9 Concepts
Lightning Adcock
Ariel Montserrat "For God's sake, bring me a large scotch. What a bloody awful country." - Reginald Maudling
Tammy Swann - "Do not fear death so much as an inadequate life." - Bertolt Brecht
Roberto Aguerrondo - "I will not kneel on the ground, Allowing the executioners to look tall, The better to obstruct the wind of freedom." - Zhou Zhenkai
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DerArknight
Posts: 485
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 10:52 am

#7

Post by DerArknight »

Regardless of wether or not the girl understood his whispering, she responded by signalling him to be silent.

Then she pulled out a fucking gun.

Derek was stumped for a moment. Was she going to shoot this random classmate just for being there? Firstly, that would be messed up. Secondly, the gunshot would alert everyone in the adjacent buildings to their location. His fear was confirmed when the girl started to open her door. Inwardly, he chastised himself. They should have had a talk about what to do when encountering others. For all he knew, the girl in the black dress was intending to open fire on anyone they met.

"Please wait," he told her. "The gun is too loud. We shouldn't shoot unless necessary."

At the same time, the new arrival spoke up, introducing herself as Lara Bullock from Lacrosse. Derek had no friends or even acquaintances in the Lacrosse team, so this told him nothing. However, it proved that their stealth had been busted, so there was no hope of avoiding conversation.

Derek grabbed with his right hand at his door handle, sighed, then opened the door with his left hand wide enough for his voice to carry to the outside.

"Listen, Lara. We just want to rest here for a bit and are not in the mood for company. More people means more attention and so. If you want something from this place that you can do quick and quietly, get that done and leave. If you want to hide here, you can come back later once we are gone. Be aware that we can and will defend ourselves, so no funny business."

Hopefully his companion would be fine with this. And hopefully Lara had indeed no funny business up her sleeve.
V9
Judith "Judy" Loxley
Ae-Cha Myo
Cynthia Jericho
[+] V8
S007 Derek Caldwell [65/134]
S026 Dawn Montogomery [34/134]
S076 Daenerys "D" Todd [72/134]
S106 Ethan Kemp [132/134]
S116 Quentin B. Skinner [94/134]
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Laurels
Posts: 1867
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:16 pm

#8

Post by Laurels »

Before Chiara could get out of the car, the intruder made herself known. Chiara didn't really know who Lara Bullock was, but the girl was arguing for her innocence. Derek had also quietly told Chiara not to use the gun. Chiara wasn't planning to use the gun unless she was forced to. Gun were powerful in this place, and if Chiara could scare away intruders with the sight of one, that would be better for both of them.

But Derek was right that firing it in a closed space like the garage would probably attract people. The garage door was open wide enough that it would surely carry the sound outside.

Derek opened his door and shouted out to Lara. Chiara closed her door and kept the gun in her lap. She could hold back and let Derek do the talking for the two of them. Still, it wasn't exactly guaranteed that Lara was going to be playing nice, even if she seemed to be armed only with a flashlight. Chiara could keep the gun in her lap until she was sure they'd be fine.
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Salic
Posts: 154
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2021 12:59 am
Location: The Camden-Trenton Axis

#9

Post by Salic »

"Do not worry. I don't intend on causing any trouble, alright? I will be in and out of here, five minutes at most. We aren't enemies here," Lara stated, not really believing her own lie. Everyone was an enemy here. Everyone was working towards their own ends, and everyone's ends of "getting out of here alive" was in direct conflict with the rest of the class's same objective.

Lara got to her feet, keeping her arms raised, finally getting a good look at the students in the car. The boy's voice and face sounded somewhat familiar, but Lara couldn't get much farther than that. His name started with a D, but she had zero idea what followed it. D-Boy seemed to be the face of their two-student band.

The girl hadn't spoken a word, and Lara couldn't put a name to face there either. She couldn't even get a starting letter. She seemed content with letting D-Boy take the lead, though.

Slowly, Lara backed up, one step at a time. No matter what her previous thoughts on the matter were, there was no way Lara could go near them. She knew she wouldn't be capable of opening the door or going near the jeep without them suspecting something, so she had to fold here. Hopefully the terrorists left some usable items outside of her classmates' bags.

"I'm just here to look for supplies, okay? If I find something, I'll take it and be on my way. If I do not find anything? Then I'll still just leave. We can act like this whole interaction never happened, right?"
[+] V8 Kids
John Davis- ”Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men." - John F. Kennedy
Constance Blanchet- "The end of hope is the beginning of death." - Charles De Gaulle
Lara 'Spuds' Bullock- "You can never substitute emotion for reason." - Robert McNamara (Adopted from Slam!)
[+] V9 Concepts
Lightning Adcock
Ariel Montserrat "For God's sake, bring me a large scotch. What a bloody awful country." - Reginald Maudling
Tammy Swann - "Do not fear death so much as an inadequate life." - Bertolt Brecht
Roberto Aguerrondo - "I will not kneel on the ground, Allowing the executioners to look tall, The better to obstruct the wind of freedom." - Zhou Zhenkai
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DerArknight
Posts: 485
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 10:52 am

#10

Post by DerArknight »

As one (car)door opened, another one closed. Derek saw this as a sign that the girl agreed with this course of action.

Lara's response was affirmative as well. Now that she was standing, Derek tried to get a better look at her, but in the half-dark of the windowless garage, making out details was hard. He could see that she was quite tall and held something looking like a flashlight. It wasn't turned on, so he assumed that it was the best weapon she had. Or maybe Lara wanted them to think so.

If all went well, it wouldn't matter.

"Right," he said. "You can search the garage apart from this jeep and we will stay here. Just try not to take too long."

Not wanting to do any idle chit-chat, Derek closed his door and leaned back. While trying to not make it too obvious, he kept a close eye on Lara. The jeep stood close to one corner of the garage, giving their visitor little hiding spots. If she attempted something, Derek and his companion would know.

What they would then do was a question still waiting to be answered.
V9
Judith "Judy" Loxley
Ae-Cha Myo
Cynthia Jericho
[+] V8
S007 Derek Caldwell [65/134]
S026 Dawn Montogomery [34/134]
S076 Daenerys "D" Todd [72/134]
S106 Ethan Kemp [132/134]
S116 Quentin B. Skinner [94/134]
User avatar
Laurels
Posts: 1867
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:16 pm

#11

Post by Laurels »

Chiara kept an eye on Lara as she and Derek spoke to one another. Lara was just looking to find supplies and then move on, and Derek laid out the terms of neutrality. Chiara simply remained quiet in her seat and kept an eye on the girl. She moved her hand to stay on her gun. She used her free one to wave at the girl and give a faint smile.

Chiara wasn't sure what else to do. Lara would surely search around and find something useful to survive the game further. Chiara and Derek hadn't really looked around the garage, so she wasn't sure what Lara could find inside either. Whatever there was here, then they could remain in the garage in peace.

She looked over to Derek as he settled back into the car. She smirked at him and let out a long exhale as well. She hoped that cheered him up a bit. He was keeping an eye on Lara, so she could at least try to assuage him.
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Salic
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Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2021 12:59 am
Location: The Camden-Trenton Axis

#12

Post by Salic »

Seeing that she had the go-ahead from D-Boy and the girl, Lara nodded in acknowledgement to their statements. Gradually, she lowered her arms, bringing them to waist height before reluctantly turning her back to them. It certainly wasn't an optimal position, but they seemed to have made their intentions clear.

Quickly scanning her eyes around the garage, she didn't see anything of real value. Though she was a little disheartened, there were still corners and cabinets to go through and search. She got on her hands and knees, as her height prohibited her from really getting into every little nook and cranny on the floor and the lower shelves.

Unfortunately for her, after two minutes of fruitless searching, she came up with nothing but a few bolts, which she placed in her bag. Maybe they'd have a use later. Maybe. Other than that? Nothing. Not one pipe, not a wrench absolutely nothing of immediate value. She swore under her breath.

She had no reason to be in here any longer. D-Boy and the girl didn't want her here, and there was nothing else of value up for grabs. The terrorists made damn sure they swept out anything worth taking before her class was dropped there.

Lara got to her feet, waving a hand at the jeep couple to signal her departure. She walked over to the partially opened garage door, and squeezed herself underneath it, back into the snow and the cold. That meant it was back to wandering around the town in search. Even if this place was a failure, she still got a lesson taught to her:

She couldn’t go to the next location and just hope for something good. Good things came to those who put in the work.
[+] V8 Kids
John Davis- ”Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men." - John F. Kennedy
Constance Blanchet- "The end of hope is the beginning of death." - Charles De Gaulle
Lara 'Spuds' Bullock- "You can never substitute emotion for reason." - Robert McNamara (Adopted from Slam!)
[+] V9 Concepts
Lightning Adcock
Ariel Montserrat "For God's sake, bring me a large scotch. What a bloody awful country." - Reginald Maudling
Tammy Swann - "Do not fear death so much as an inadequate life." - Bertolt Brecht
Roberto Aguerrondo - "I will not kneel on the ground, Allowing the executioners to look tall, The better to obstruct the wind of freedom." - Zhou Zhenkai
User avatar
DerArknight
Posts: 485
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 10:52 am

#13

Post by DerArknight »

During the time Lara spend searching, Derek never once looked away from her. He was probably making her feel watched and creeped out, but if that made their visitor leave faster, it was fine for the moment.

When Lara finally went on to leave, he was relieved. Only at the last second he remembered to use his left hand for answering the wave.

Then it was back to the two of them. Safer, but the silence slowly started to become deafening once more. Lara's visit had proven that the garage would get visitors over time, so they really should agree on how much longer they were going to stay. But leaving right now brought risks. If someone was trailing Lara, they might catch them leaving the garage. Better wait a few minutes to give Lara and any stalkers she had some time to bounce.

Derek turned to see how the girl was doing.
V9
Judith "Judy" Loxley
Ae-Cha Myo
Cynthia Jericho
[+] V8
S007 Derek Caldwell [65/134]
S026 Dawn Montogomery [34/134]
S076 Daenerys "D" Todd [72/134]
S106 Ethan Kemp [132/134]
S116 Quentin B. Skinner [94/134]
User avatar
Laurels
Posts: 1867
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:16 pm

#14

Post by Laurels »

Chiara turned her attention back to Lara. She watched the girl spend a few minutes checking out the garage before leaving. She sighed a bit and closed her eyes. She shifted a bit in her seat, which was then when she was reminded about the gun in her lap.

Chiara noticed Derek was looking to her, so she quietly put the gun back in her jacket pocket. She had kept quiet about the gun, but now he knew she was armed. She patted the pocket as her way to say "Don't worry."

She then shifted a bit so her head was resting against the door. She closed her eyes for a moment. It was a cold, exhausting day, and it was likely to get worse going forward. For now, she just wanted to enjoy the peace that they were afforded in the garage.

((Chiara Masina continued Who the fuck are you? I mean, who the fuck are you trying to do the shit I do?))
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DerArknight
Posts: 485
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 10:52 am

#15

Post by DerArknight »

The girl seemmed to relax, and so did Derek.

At least with half an eye. Someone had to watch oout for new visitors with probably less peaceful motivations.

In about half an hour, the two would head out, leaving this garage behind.

But for now they just enjoyed the silence.

((Derek Caldwell continued in Who the fuck are you? I mean, who the fuck are you trying to do the shit I do?))
V9
Judith "Judy" Loxley
Ae-Cha Myo
Cynthia Jericho
[+] V8
S007 Derek Caldwell [65/134]
S026 Dawn Montogomery [34/134]
S076 Daenerys "D" Todd [72/134]
S106 Ethan Kemp [132/134]
S116 Quentin B. Skinner [94/134]
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