"No, No, Don't Apologize."

Adrien hums, looking over the sketch.

"Yeah, it would be hard without a water screw. Though depending on the materials we can find, I could probably jerry-rig one?"

He immediately starts going through his mental catalogue of scraps already at the Chop Shop. There's not a lot that could work right now. Though maybe they can find more?

"Of course, we'd still need a safe place to put it that the monsters wouldn't get to."

"That's a really good idea," she said opening her note book and started writing those down. "I was thinking- and I could be wrong with the area, if we dig deep enough, we might hit water. Wouldn't recommend drinking it, but it could be used as a current to be a back up generator. Sadly that would require a waterscrew in my head, and a tank- so if you have a better idea I'm always ears," she said showing him the sketch.

Lucas relaxes once he sees it's Marama. He walks to stand beside her, tilting his head up to join her in basking in the sun.

"Really makes you appreciate the little things, doesn't it," he says after a few silent beats.

He's aware of Marama's situation. It's sad and while he tries not to let it affect how he interacts with her, it does color everything about her in specific colors and light.

He can't help but ask, "How are you after last night?"

standing in the middle of the road, looking up at the sky, marama drops her head to the side when she hears lucas call out to her. always so serious. "all good officer," she calls back. "just enjoying the sunlight while i can." in her sixteen years here, she has never seen a storm or a night as long as the last, if this was going to become a regular thing, she wanted to get as much sun as she can.

Lucas watches as Ana just sort of droops. Like a flower in need of watering.

"I think about it all the time," he admits. "And it keeps me up at night."

He stands and pulls her into a tight hug.

"We can't give up," he whispers. "It's not just us here. We all had lives out there. There are kids here who deserve to see what they're missing out there."

He feels some tears escape his eyes and drop into her hair.

"We hold the line," he echoes. "Not because we'll go back to normal, but because who will if we don't?"

Anastasia's expression flickers—something between a smirk and exhaustion—but she doesn’t push Lucas the way she usually might. Not tonight. Her arms wrap loosely around herself, fingers drumming against her forearm, a small habit she’s never been able to shake.

“Yeah, well... that’s the thing about rules.” Her voice is soft, tinged with bitterness. “They don’t mean a damn thing when the monsters come.”

She leans her hip against the edge of the counter, mirroring his stance but with a subtle slump in her shoulders that wasn’t there before. Her sharpness—her usual armor—feels dulled tonight, like a blade used one too many times without being sharpened.

“You ever think about that?” she asks, glancing up at him, her gaze unusually heavy. “How we keep pretending we know what we’re doing—like if we just hold the line long enough, things will go back to normal. But what if they don’t, Lucas? What if... this is it?”

There’s no venom in her words, only an eerie quiet that settles between them like dust after a long fight. “I used to believe we’d get out of this,” she admits, more to herself than to him. “But now...” She trails off, rubbing a hand over her face, trying to push away the weight pressing on her chest.

where: edge of the woods | when: day time | whom: open to all

Lucas crouches at the edge of the woods, examining what could be tracks. Or could be nothing. He hates how smart the creatures are. They could've left this behind just to toy with him.

He hears rustling from footsteps behind him, and he doesn't bother looking up.

"The hunting woods are six miles that way," he says, pointing his left hand. "Signs and caution tape everywhere. You can't miss them."

plots

The Storm

Halloween

HE'S VERY HANDY 😏 9-1-1: LONE STAR (2.10)

Adrien's smile twitches but stays in place. Honestly, he'd rather save the crying for at night when people are less likely to hear him.

The silence is awkward, but Adrien doesn't break it. If he's learned anything from the past few days is everyone here has their idiosyncrasies and just let them be themselves until they come back.

Adrien shakes his hand.

"Thanks. Muz? El mentioned you. You're one of the scavengers, right? What's that like?"

He walks further into the shop, looking around, eyes wide in excitement.

'New?' Muz asks. 'Bit smiley for new...You're working in here?' There was a beat of silence as Muz held Adrien’s gaze, letting his standoffish response to a simple introduction settle. Then, as if shrugging off a heavy thought, he jerks his head toward the row of beat-up cars and sighed, 'Well, you’re here now.' He gives Adrien a half-smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. 'Welcome shop, kid.' He moves forward a few steps, hand out. 'Muz.'

where: raina's house when: midday whom: @hcartcorruptcd Raina

Adrien double checks the house number he'd written on his hand. That's the one. He thinks... it's kind of smudged, but he's sure it's right.

He squares his shoulders and marches up to the house. It's midday, so he has plenty of time to introduce himself before he has to hurry back to the colony house.

He takes a deep breath and then knocks on the door in what he hopes is a confident (though not threatening) type of way.

Soon, the door opens and he grins at the woman.

"Hi. I'm Adrien. I hear you're a witch."

@hcartcorruptcd

Lucas barges into Anastasia's office and slams down the now broken phone on her desk.

"I'm going to hunt every single one of those monsters down and beat them into jam with my bare hands."

He clenches his jaw and paces around the office. He's trying not to cry even though he can feel the sting of tears in his eyes.

"Those motherfuckers," he mutters. "Sadistic motherfuckers."

@patroclusblossom (lucas)

You're sitting in the sheriff's station like you do most days, you sure do take your job seriously. It feels like any other day, just make it through and survive, that's what you've been doing for seven years now. Only something is different today; the phone rings. It's been sitting on the desk since before you came here but has never once rang, yet today it is. Do you answer it? Are you hearing things and just hoping that it would finally ring and give some sign of an outside world? If you answer the phone, you hear a voice you thought you would never hear again. "Hey Lu," the voice that sounds suspiciously like your brother says. But your brother has been dead for seven years, it was impossible. Yet it sounds just like him. "Miss me?" He asks through the phone. "You're doing a good job of watching everyone, making sure they're safe. Why couldn't you do that for me? Why couldn't you protect me?" Then the line goes silent. No matter how hard you try, you can't make the voice come back. What just happened? Was that really your brother? Or are you finally starting to lose it?

Lucas laughs.

"Well, I'm glad I could keep that unique brain of yours from eating itself."

He nudges Muz with a shoulder.

"I don't know if I've got any good chat today. Too busy running around, making sure we don't fall apart here. Though I guess falling apart helps your job a bit, doesn't it?"

His tone isn't judgmental, more amused by the thought.

'Guess I’m growing roots. Whole five minutes of stillness. New record, I think.' He pauses, glancing at Lucas, the glint in his eyes settles into something quieter. 'Honestly? Got sick of my own company today. Felt like if I sat alone one more minute, my brain’d start eating itself.' He tilts his head, a grin breaking the seriousness before it can linger. 'And I know you've got good chat.'