Chapter Text
The humid breeze stuck to each survivor as they sat around the fire. Almost tangible, a horrible feeling.
“Why’re we even outside.” Chance whined. Elliot flicked his knee from where he sat underneath the gambler. He yelped, flinching away.
“We are going to find a way out of here.” The newest recruit of the team stated. She had been in the realm, silently watching since almost the beginning, but only in the past year had begun to talk with the other survivors.
“I’ve told you, Jane. We’ve already exhausted every possible resource.” Builderman gruffed. He adjusting his hard hat as he spoke, a tell of his nerves.
She shook her head, “there has to be a way to get us all out.” She was sure.
They had done this once before, when Jane first started participating in rounds. Nothing came of it.
“What makes you so sure, our fates seem to have no cure?” The group’s mage questioned. a light gravelly trill came from besides him, Taph was agreeing.
“We’ve been trying, Jane.” Shedletsky assured, “we appreciate your help but we need to come to terms with what we have.”
“We can’t live like this forever.” Jane scoffed. “With that… thing torturing us every day who knows when it’ll get bored and let us die and never have us respawn?!”
Two Time twitched at the raised volume, but smiled nonetheless. “Jane you gotta trust the floww!” Veeronica hopped up and pranced over to the woman, “we’ll get out eventually! But you have to be patient!”
Noob nodded along to what Vee was saying. “And, s-o long as-as it’s adding n-new par-participants it won’t get bo-bored…”
Jane wished to roll her eyes, but couldn’t. Not at Noob or Veeronica. “Vee arrived over a year ago…”
There were a few glances around. Elliot got up first, his hands trembling. He’d been here the longest, he hated talking about how much time passed in this awful place. “I’m going to bed.”
“Ells..” Chance’s voice went soft as he trailed behind the delivery boy.
Builderman shook his head, “You can’t just come in here and think you can fix everything.”
“Here we go.”
“No, Jane. I know you want John back, but you’re being immature about it.” He stood straight, “you’re running in circles. You’re getting nowhere.”
Jane fell silent. She looked at each of the survivors and said, with great finality; “If you don’t care about escaping, get up and leave.”
They knew what she meant, all too well. ‘If you side with them, fuck off.’
The admins and their plus one stood and left almost immediately, fighting a loosing battle would get them nowhere. Noob and Veeronica looked at each other, Noob stood and followed Vee to her cabin. 226w6 stood, clenching their robes tightly. They muttered an apology and left.
Left sitting was 007n7, 118o8, Guest 1337, and Two Time.
“I want to help you, I want to help all of us as much as I possibly can.” Seven spoke, for the first time in what seemed like days if the state of his voice told the group anything.
Two Time nodded, “whatever I may do, the Spawn shall bless me with the courage and strength to overcome whatever feat stand in my way.”
118o8 nodded, not usually the silent type, but she shared the sentiments that had been shared so far.
“Thank you.” She nodded. However Guest stood up. She feared that meant one less person of aid, their strongest at that.
He stood a moment before he walked over a placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “I’d love to help, Jane. Truly.. but this strain won’t be worth your time.”
Guest too was one of the first sent here, they didn’t talk about order much as of recent they’d all forgotten or never really cared, but he was likely second or third to arrive.
Jane was beginning to feel shattered. She was so sure she could find something, she felt a breakthrough around the corner, but as she turned it looked more like a breakdown. “I understand.” She spoke softly, hardly audible.
“I’m sorry, Jane.” His voice was equally as soft.
She nodded. He nodded and finally departed for his cabin.
Jane watched the three left seated. As much as she loved Seven he was weak, both mentally and physically. So was Two Time, in times of desperate need and under unhealthy amounts of adrenaline that physical strength peaked, but that wouldn’t be useful at all. 118o8 was seemingly the only useful person here.
She sighed. “You may all leave. I have papers to look over.” She watched them all glance at each other and then nod at her, they understood. “Thank you for your show of interest.” The contrast of the uncertainty and the earlier finality was stark.
007n7 and Two Time ducked into 007n7’s cabin with 118o8 trailing to head to her own.
She watched. Somewhere she’d find something. The last place anyone would check. Isn’t that where everything was?
She paced towards the group of workers. “Good evening!” She smiled at them.
“What is it now, Jane?” The smaller one huffed.
She internally grimaced, “I was wondering if I could take a short trip out into the forest?”
The taller of the two laughed while the shorter answered, “we won’t even let that military bear out there! Why would we let you out?”
Jane muttered something before clearing her throat, looking away, “I just wanted to do a bit of research on the realm, nobody has been out as you say. If I’m let out I might find something.”
The two workers huffed out identical laughs. Damn unoriginal NPCs, either that or poorly coded. “Fine, but if you die out there you’re not tattling, woman!”
She huffed and rolled her eyes, “I assure you, I will not.” The two cleared of the fence and she climbed over, off into the forest.
Over with the admins they all sat in the upper level of the main cabin.
“I don’t get it. What’s so hard to believe about there being no way out of this?”
Shedletsky chuckled, “if you say it’s true it’s foreign to that girl!”
Dusekkar stood, delectely preening Taph’s back wings, or what was left of them. “She is a stubborn one, I will confess. But what reason must she cause this distress?”
Taph ruffled his hands from her sleeves. “She’s always been like this though, hasn’t she?” They tilted their head, her glance going from Builderman to Shedletsky very obviously by the rotating of their head.
Builderman huffed a short laugh, “stubborn and always had to be right. Always got the last word.”
“At least she knows when to stop…” Shed nodded to the man as he nodded in agreement. “She knows when she’s proven wrong, but she won’t stop until facts are presented.”
“But there are no facts to provide. She must know you have not lied?”
“No facts means she has to find them first!” Brighteyes piped up from her own spot behind Shedletsky, preening his wings. Shedletsky reached around to her, petting her softly and standing from his beanbag. “It’s late, meeting ran long and then Jane called her short lived one… I say we hit the hay!” He stretched up, a pop heard from his back as he did so. Builderman noted that, based off the look he gave Shedletsky.
Taph nodded. “I concur. Rest well, and do not stir.” Dusekkar smiled warmly at the group. He dragged Taph out with him.
“G’night you two, like Matt said, sleep tight.” Builderman stood up with a groan and tipped his hat off. Brighteyes giggled a bit and Shedletsky nodded at him.
Off in the other cabins many are asleep or very well close to asleep. A long day had just occurred. Little did they know what would be on each porch when they woke—