World gone mad (with Primal Things)

[pistolmouth]

Ilya takes a step back in surprise when Jared starts yelling and flings his own hands up. He is surprised at first, afraid that the shouting might draw adults in, but assures him that he won't ask Leigh. It hadn't even crossed his mind to ask her until he said something, anyway.


His eyebrows raise when Jared starts to ask him about when girls usually start. He remembers very clearly the day Alina did, mostly because it had left him traumatized for days. She'd been ten, and had come flying down the stairs, screaming "I GOT MY RAG!" in Russian, not caring that two of his best friends were sitting on the couch playing video games with him.


"Ali was ten when she got hers. I think it just depends on the person? I don't know. I don't remember when Sonja got hers, I think I was too young to understand anyway."


A silence falls between the two of them and Ilya can't stand how awkward it is. Having gotten as many supplies as he could, including three boxes of tampons and two packages of kotex, which he buried beneath everything else.


"We need to talk about something else, man. I can't think about this anymore."


--------


Peter hears the shouting from one of the classrooms on the second floor. His eyebrows raise and he grabs the meter stick and exits the room. Regardless of who it is, he knows that he should be safe, but still, there can always be new adults in town, actively searching for kids to kill.


He looks young enough to be a kid, so arming himself is the wisest, especially if the intruders in the school are kids. If he looks scared enough, with the meter stick, he blends in enough for them to belief him.


Quietly, he creeps down the stares and moves toward where the shouting is coming from, hands wrapped tightly around the meter stick, held mid-way up in case he needed to start swinging. From the nurse's office, he sees two shadows moving, and the sounds of chatter and supplies - his supplies - moving around in their cupboards.


Lifting the stick up higher, he places himself in the light of the office, his face hardening, "Put it back and get out."


--------


Alina doesn't bother saying anything in response to Leigh's claim that they could look like adults. She knows full well that they couldn't, having been told for years that she had a baby face, and, to an extent, a trouty mouth. She glances over at Angelina, who has moved closer to them and manages a small, embarrassed smile in response to the one that the child gives her. If she thought that Leigh's first question, about whether or not she liked Jared, was shocking, her next one nearly caused her heart to stop.


"Jesus!" She cried, looking over at Leigh, wide-eyed with shock. "Leigh, that's so invasive!" She clears her throat, face going even hotter now, though thankful that Jared or Ilya isn't there. The truth was, was that she wasn't a virgin, and hadn't been for several months, much to Ilya's oblivion, thank god.


Clearing her throat, horrified, she shakes her head, "I'm sixteen..." she begins slowly, trying to think of a way to phrase it appropriately, "And yeah, I mean... I have - but don't you dare say anything about it. And... I guess? I mean, the first few times, yeah, but not everyone in high school has sex. A lot of people in high school don't, really. Why are you asking me about this?"

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

Ten...TEN?! Girls could get their period when they were TEN?!


That was a thought too horrifying for Jared to be able to contemplate in anything like calm. He stared at Ilya, dumbstruck at this possibility. If Leigh could have been having her period for ten years, that was two full years where she could get pregnant. Ten year olds could get pregnant?! How the hell could they stand to bleed that much when ten year olds were small? Couldn't that kill them? But she wouldn't have been doing anything where that was an option. Right?


"This...yeah, we just can't talk about this," he agreed hurriedly, shaking his head hard and wishing he could bleach his mind along with it. "Uh...just...get all the boxes. Every one."


How many of those things did a girl need when she was on it anyway? At this point, he doesn't even want to touch the boxes.


Finding another bag for Ilya and holding it out to him, he turns around- only to come face to face with another person. A boy, or maybe a young man, his age difficult to determine at a glance- Ilya's age, Jared's age? Or older, old enough to be a grown man?


Jared went still, his heart leaping to his throat, his grip tightening on the bag in his hands, as his hand other hand slowly moved to take hold of the armrest of the swivel chair nearby him. He could pick it up and hit the boy with it, use it as a weapon. He didn't yet grab it, his eyes on the boy as he spoke.


"If you're underage...we mean you no harm. Just back away, and let us go. If not..."


He let this trail off, his meaning clear. He would hurt him. He had no qualms about doing so whatsoever.


**


"Invasive?" Leigh wrinkles her nose, not knowing the meaning of the word. "Whatever...are you gonna tell me or what? You can ask me stuff if you want too."


She is somewhat surprised that the Alina is sixteen, blinking and looking her over with some curiosity as she replies, "Really, sixteen? I thought you were supposed to have bigger boobs than that by the time you were sixteen. Like Katniss or something ."


Never mind that Katniss is A. a character, not a person B. does not have large or even moderate breasts in the book, which Leigh has not actually read and C. is played by a woman who is 22.


She is unimpressed as well by Alina's admittance that she's had sex. To Leigh, this is expected and completely usual for someone of her age, and is interested in details rather than in the simple fact that she has.


"Because Jared wouldn't tell me and Lydia wouldn't tell me and kids at school say different things so you have to learn somewhere," she shrugged. "So do you sort of like...have to...I don't know, does he have to, like, balance weird so you don't get hurt?"


Then another question crops into her mind, as she tries to put this one off as "casual" and "innocent."


"I bet Ilya knows a lot since he's older and a guy and stuff..."


Angelina has been watching this silently, her brow still furrowed as she tries to follow along. For the first time in some time she is fully absorbed enough not only to pay attention, but to finally be encouraged to speak, and she does, in a soft voice that is hoarser than usual from disuse.


"What's sex?"

 

[pistolmouth]

Ilya spins around, looking away from the cupboard and focusing his eyes on the person standing in the hallway. His hand immediately moves to the utility knife in his pocket, drawing it out and carefully withdrawing the blade against the side of his thigh, just in case. He glances over to Jared to make sure that he's ready should the guy actually attack them, and he's about to add to what he's saying, but the boy is speaking.


"This is my place, what the hell are you doing here?"


"We're just getting supplies, man." Ilya says, his voice steady, shoulders straightening back, ready to start swinging with the blade if the guy comes after them. "We'll leave you enough to get by, but we're not going to walk out of here without what we've already collected."


He watches his eyes move from the duffel to the bag in Jared's hand, the giant tampon logo sticking out like a sore thumb. His lips twist into a small smirk and his eyebrows raise, looking between the two of them, "One of you on your period or somethin'?"


Ilya flushed bright red and shook his head, "Not us, no."


"So then where are the ladies?"


His eyes narrow, instantly disliking this guy, regardless of how old he is. "I really don't think that's any of your business, dude. How old are you?"


The guy seems perfectly sane, though a little threatening while he's holding the meter stick toward them, essentially aiming it between the two of them, "Eighteen, you?"


"Seventeen," Ilya answers carefully. "How the hell have you managed to stay alive here? We didn't think any schools were safe."


Meter Stick shrugs, "They normally come by the check around the campus later in the evening. I'm usually on the roof or hiding in the ceiling by then. Besides, most of the kids here have been killed off anyway. The ones that haven't have played it smart, like me, or have just left in general." He pauses, "Can I help you guys find anything?"


--------


No. No no no no no.


This isn't happening. Not only has she just had her body compared to an actress who is probably off killing children just like her character was supposed to in The Hunger Games, but someone with a completely different body type, but Leigh is not so subtly asking about her BROTHER'S sexual experience and Angie is asking about sex in general.


Horrified, Alina tries to backpedal away from the conversation as fast as she can, to think of anything to distract them, or even just Angie, for if she could get Angie's attention, get her focused on learning a new trick or something, maybe the conversation would be dropped entirely and she wouldn't have to answer or even address the fact that she'd been asked these questions.


Of course, she had never been good at thinking up any of her talents, or really complimenting herself in any way, but she did remember something that she'd learned when she was about Angie's age, triggered by the sounds of the birds twittering in the trees above them.


"Angie, do you know how to talk to birds?" It probably wouldn't work. Alina knows for a fact that it won't shake Leigh off of her trail, but she hopes and prays, to whatever gods might be running the show, that it might spark a little interest in Angie. Enough, at least, to derail the conversation before she has to be made any more uncomfortable.

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

(I thought Ilya was seventeen and Alina was sixteen?)


Jared placed both hands on the chair now, not yet lifting it, but placing it between himself and the boy. He is glad to see out that Ilya has a knife, that he is prepared to use it, and he reminds the boy, "Don't make any sudden moves. We don't want to hurt you, but we're sure as hell not letting you hurt us."


Studying the boy more closely, seeing that he hasn't yet actually come towards them, Jared struggles to decide more definitively his age. He says he is eighteen, but Jared doesn't recognize him. That means nothing, of course; not everyone went to the same high school, and it was possible the boy had dropped out. Jared himself was nineteen and still a senior, or had been, at any rate.


Still. He doesn't like the fact that the boy is asking about other kids, though Jared supposes that is understandable. If he had managed to survive alone for all this time, he might want some company too. He might be curious about other kids, even want to join up with them, like he and his sisters had with Ilya and Alina.


Even so, he doesn't know this boy, and he certainly doesn't trust him. Not enough to put his sisters' lives...Alina's life...in danger for him. And so he backs Ilya up, his voice somewhat rough as he responds, "Maybe we think they'd make decent bandage substitutes, ever think of that?"


Having no real idea of the difference between a pad and a tampon, he doesn't realize that the statement was somewhat ridiculous.


"Look," he added. "We're just taking a few things and going. You can stay here, we won't take more than we need."


**


As Alina had hoped, Angelina is interested, albeit faintly, in her question, and after regarding her for a short time, nods very subtly, and even, from around her thumb, which she had reinserted in her mouth shortly after her question, asks another one. "With your mouth?"


Leigh snorts, rolling her eyes, both in response to Angelina's question and to Alina's distraction attempt.


"No, dummy. Well, I mean, yeah, but she doesn't mean like TALKING to them. Like, whistling or whatever. You can't do that anyone."


Looking back at Alina, she adds impatiently, "You don't have to be embarrassed, you know. I mean I already know a bunch of stuff. And I'm not gonna laugh if you don't know, I bet Jared doesn't know a lot of stuff. That's probably why he wont' tell me anything, because he doesn't even know. And Angie's way too little to know what we're talking about, so you don't have to be embarrassed about her."


"I do too know," Angelina said from around her thumb, though she truly didn't have any idea, and Leigh rolled her eyes again.


"You do not. Stop it already or Alina's not ever gonna say anything."

 

[pistolmouth]

Peter is becoming very aware of the fact that he might be losing them. They're young, and though he's able to stamp it down while they're right there and still trying to feel them out, he hates them for it. In his mind, he sees himself snapping the meter stick in half and jamming it into their eyes, or incapacitating them with blows to the faces long enough to snap their necks or bounce their heads against the hard and sharp corners of the desk beside them.


But there are others. The bigger one may as well have said so himself when he lamely said that they were using them for bandages. Maybe if they had chronic nosebleeds, but unless that was the case, there wasn't really any use in the tampons.


He watches Ilya start to pack up the last few things they apparently need and get ready to leave.


Peter knows that he has to think quickly, to somehow seem pathetic enough for them to take pity on him. Of course, anyone who's been alone and constantly fearing for their life like this is bound to attract at least a modicum of pity, and he's instantly able to twist his features into one of great panic and upset.


"Wait, you're just going to leave me here!?" The smaller boy looks at him, a visible war between survival and pity on his face as he shifts his gaze over to the older guy. Knowing that he's got at least him in his sights, he continues, pushing the desperation in his voice a little farther, forcing his breathing to accelerate, "You can't do that, I'll die in here! They'll f**king kill me, if I stay!"


--------


"Alina's not going to say anything anyway." She says, her eyebrows raised, cheeks still burning hot. "And I know plenty. It's just really not my place to tell you guys about this kind of stuff at all."


Thankful that she has at least Angie's vague interest in the bird thing, she smiles weakly at her, "And yeah, it's just whistling. Hang on." She looks up at the small canopy of trees and wets her lips with her tongue, letting out a whistle that mimics the cries of the bird.


There's a brief pause, but then the bird replies and she shoots Angie a smile, sending out another whistle to answer. At least nature is on her side for this one. Maybe it'll be enough to keep the little one's attention. Sure, Leigh will be frustrated with her, but as soon as Ilya gets back, she'll just be focused on trying to impress him anyway, which, though gross, also derails the conversation involving her explaining the birds and the bees to a preteen and a child.


"Has anyone taught you how to whistle, Angie? It's really easy if you don't know how, I can show you." Alina smiles weakly, "And you can normally keep the birds going for a while if you really want to. It can be kind of fun."

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

Angelina's eyes widened in response to the answering call Alina received for her efforts, and she scooted closer to her, looking up intently into the treetops overhead. She is sitting close enough to Alina now that her leg and side is brushing the older girl's, and she hesitantly rests a hand on Alina's leg, even as she doesn't look at her. Leigh watches this interaction from her, seeing Angelina appearing to be showing a preference for or alignment towards her, and though she usually is irritated by Angelina hanging around her, she feels a stir of jealousy now and scoots closer too.


"That's not hard," she scoffs. "Anyone can do that."


Angelina ignores her, instead pursing her lips and trying to imitate Alina's whistle with a look of concentration. She only makes a few puffs of air, but she tries again determinedly, very serious. Still watching her, Leigh sighs, then flops back onto her back dramatically.


"You know what, if you whistle like that people might hear us and come running up and kill us, and then it would be all your fault," she mutters, and Angelina stops immediately, looking over at her with concern and guilt coming into her eyes. For a moment Leigh feels a twinge of guilt for this, but she persists anyway. "They could."


**


Jared paused, turning to look at the still nameless boy, who is only now beginning to show signs of fear. He is asking to come with them, saying that the others will kill him. It does seem cold somehow to leave him...but could they really take him? They didn't even know his name. He would be one more person to provide for, be responsible for...but one more to help too. He was older, larger than most of them, rivaling only Jared himself. He could be helpful.


But did he really trust him? Did he want to take that risk with him?


"You've been doing okay on your own so far," he said hesitantly. "You seem to have it all worked out."

 

[pistolmouth]

It can't be helped. Alina laughs quietly at Angie's attempt at whistling and reaches over to rub her back as a way of congratulating her on a nice try. "It takes some practice, but you'll get it. Try licking your lips first, and make your lips a little rounder, like this." To demonstrate, she wets her lips with her tongue again and rounds her lips together, leaving only a small round gap between them to let the air through. "And don't blow like you're trying to give a raspberry... just blow kind of slowly, just enough for it to make noise."


Again, she whistles something similar to the bird's call and smiles weakly at Angelina, nodding toward her as if to tell her to try again. Her face drops, immediately irritated and upset that Leigh would say something like that to her, when they were making no more noise now than they were when they were speaking. Her hand still on Angie's back, she rubs it again as though to comfort her.


"Leigh! You know that's not going to happen, why are you trying to scare her like that!?" Glancing over to Angie, she shakes her head, trying to soften her voice, but not succeeding very well. "That's not... we aren't being that loud, hun. Besides, they'd just think that we were birds anyway. We can stop if you're scared, though."


Alina runs her fingers through her hair, realizing just how difficult it is to keep two girls with a six year age gap occupied without appearing to play favorites. She's got a whole new form of respect for Jared, as well as her parents, who had to contend with Alina and her older siblings. While Ilya was the closest to her in age, just a little over a year older than her, there was a five year age difference between Alina and Sonja, and a ten year difference between their oldest brother, Misha, who often terrorized her and Ilya when they were younger.


She's given up trying to think up ways to entertain them, and instead, just opts to leave the floor open for them to decide. "Why don't you two try to think of something for us to do? Is there anything that sounds fun, or like it might kill time while we wait?"


--------


He should have known the bigger one would be trouble. Peter glances back and forth between the two quickly, half a mind to just get it over with and kill them here and now, but he'd be lying if there wasn't at least some element of fun to it. It's a lot like what he used to do with the girls on his floor, how he could, eventually, talk them into letting him do just about anything he asked of them. Even before this, he felt very little remorse for his actions, now, though, he just didn't care.


They deserve to die, and he wants them to.


The more the merrier, really. And honestly, he's done enough for everyone else. While he's lured several, maybe even a couple dozen, kids to their fates with the adults, he's really killed very few with his own hands, and these two... well, they're just the challenge he needs to see if he's still on his game.


Surprisingly, it doesn't take much effort to keep the look of panic and terror on his face. When the bigger one says something about him doing fine on his own, inspiration strikes. "Yeah, for a few days, maybe!" he begins, not exactly surprised at the way his voice shakes. It's purely out of excitement, however, he hopes it translates to the boys as fear. "What happens when they catch on and find me, or try to smoke me out?! They burned down a preschool the other day, what happens if this is next?!"


The small guy's eyes widen. He isn't lying. Peter hadn't been a part of it, but he'd seen them burning the building down and couldn't help wondering if the only thing keeping the school intact was the fact that he resides there. Smaller guy looks over at bigger guy, the blood draining from his face.


"You can't just leave me here!"


"We can't afford to take you with us, either!" The smaller one finally says, snapping. He knows that he's breaking them down, they just require a little more pushing.


"I'll die!"

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

They had burned down a preschool? Damn it, preschool had been one of the possibilities on their list...where would he get a toy for Angelina now? Where would he get clothes for her? He couldn't keep having her run around in huge t-shirts without underwear, or in badly ripped and stained clothing.


What if they started to burn down every place that had once been reserved for children? After all, what need did they have for them anymore? The adults would do it, just to make sure no children could have a safe haven. Maybe the boy was right...but...did that mean they had to take responsibility for him? He was almost as old as Jared. Couldn't be make his own way?


Even as he thought this, Jared was ashamed of himself and cannot look either Ilya or the boy in the eye. He was really thinking of leaving a kid to his death, what, because he might decrease their supplies a little? What if Lydia was still alive and was alone, and a group of kids left her like that? What if Ilya had left Alina?


It was with this thought that he exhaled slowly, glancing back at Ilya. "I don't know, Ilya. Maybe...it does seem wrong to leave him."


**


Angelina's lips had curved slightly at the corners when Alina praised her and continued to give her attention and instruction, and she moved even closer to her, now leaning almost her full weight against her. After Leigh's mean-spirited comment, she presses even closer, looking between them uncertainly and trying to curl herself beneath Alina's arm. Her thumb doesn't return to her mouth, however, as her fingers are wrapped around Alina's arm.


Leigh, still scowling, moody, in reaction to Alina's scolding her, though she knew it was well-earned, drew her legs to her chin, wrapping her arms around them as she stared off ahead of herself in the distance. It didn't matter what was going on or where they were, people always liked Angie better than her. Lydia had, her sister, she was always taking Angie's side and letting her have her way and never believing Leigh, and Jared did too. They always yelled at her and not Angie, and even Vicky let Angie call her Mom but not Leigh. Or at least, she had. Before all this. Before...everything.


"I know," she announced when Alina asked them to come up with their own entertainment, still irritated with her, but actually genuinely interested in her own suggestion. "We should play truth or dare. That would be fun."

 

[pistolmouth]

Ilya shifts nervously on his feet as he mulls over everything that's just happened, which has happened so damn fast that it's difficult for him to even comprehend all at once. But Jared does have a point, and it's not like Ilya wasn't throwing the thought around himself, like he wasn't imagining what it would have been like if he had died and Alina was just left by a group of people after begging them for help.


But still, this is a stranger, someone who he's had no time to get used to, who could potentially even be tricking them, or even if he wasn't an adult, someone who isn't safe to be around the girls.


Chewing his lip nervously, he nods and takes a deep breath, "Yeah... yeah, okay."


--------


Alina wraps her arm around Angelina when it starts seeming like she was trying to get closer to her and rubbed her side briefly. She waits patiently for someone to suggest something, given that all of her previous attempts had failed miserably.


When Leigh suggests truth or dare, however, she's instantly terrified that this will begin another Q & A about what happens when mommy and daddy love each other, and she really can't handle that again. But seriously, she barely survived the first time, and is still desperately grasping at straws as to how to keep any conversation they have from reverting back to that.


"There'll have to be some ground rules," She tells Leigh, holding a finger up. "First of all, no dares that involve leaving the camp or removing any clothes. Secondly, no truths that involve anything to do with anything that might happen between guys and girls, or girls and girls, or guys and guys that involve any sort of nakedness, whatsoever."

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

Part of Jared had hoped that Ilya would hold out disagreeing, so he would have a legitimate excuse to turn the kid down. But Ilya, however reluctantly, is saying that yes, they should take the boy back, and as Jared releases a breath, resigning himself to it with slightly slumping shoulders, he turns towards the boy, shifting his bag onto his hip as he addresses him.


"Let's get some things straight though. Our sisters are more important than you and they always come first. You're low man on the totem pole with that. If you try to harm them or us in any way, you're gone. I don't care what the adults do to you."


He paused, then said with less harshness, "Uh...if you know where we can find clothes for little girls...and maybe a stuffed animal or a game...that would be nice. Also...what's your name?"


**


Angelina has now given up any pretense of "coincidentally" touching Alina when Alina puts her arm around her. Now emboldened by her comfort, she straightforwardly climbs into her lap and leans back against her chest, a movement that Leigh of course notices and looks away from, biting the inside of her cheeks in response to and hoping that Alina didn't notice. She feels a little better when Alina agrees to truth or dare, albeit with some conditions, though when she lists the conditions Leigh is less enthused.


"Well you just took like all the fun out of it!" she complained, huffing, before finally muttering, "Whatever. You're first. Um...truth or dare? And, and, I already have both. Either you have to tell me how many times you've looked at Jared and thought he was hot...or you have to kiss him when he comes back!"

 

[pistolmouth]

Peter watches the two of them interact with mild amusement, his eyes widening slightly at the bigger one's assertion that, when push comes to shove, he's the odd man out. To show that he understands, he lifts his hands up in the air and nods, "Yeah, I get it man, no problem."


He thinks over his question for several moments and shrugs, "I don't know... I mean, there's a strip mall down the street... might be something there? We can check that out, if you want." He pauses, trying to decide whether or not to tell them his real name. "Peter." He answers finally, deciding that they'll be dead soon enough anyway, and it's not like the police were going to come looking for them anyway. After all, he's doing the adults a service. "You?"


The little one speaks up first, his eyes never once leaving Peter, "Ilya."


--------


Alina wraps her arm around Angelina absently, not really thinking about it and looks over at Leigh. She sees her turn her head and instantly feels bad, afraid that she might be feeling left out. Carefully, she moves so that she's sitting right beside Leigh against the tree, not quite sure what else to do.


"I'd just rather we hold off the serious dares for later, is all." She says cautiously, hoping that Leigh will buy it and not push it much farther.


She wasn't, however, expecting her to be so quick to push her conditions as far as she did. Alina's mouth suddenly went dry and she stared at the younger girl, mouth open in shock. So this is what it felt like to be completely cornered. "Wait... okay, do I need, like, an exact number? Because I haven't really been keeping track and it's probably only been a few times."

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

"Jared," Jared told him after a pause, noting the boy's pause and wondering about it, but then shrugging it off. He guesses Peter would have a lot to be hesitant over after everything that had gone on.


But his suggestion of a mall, that doesn't sound all that great of an idea. Surely adults would still be working in a mall, there were lots of stores there adults would still shop at, wasn't there?


"I don't know about that," he shook his head. "Malls are big public shopping places, adults would be there. Isn't there...I don't know, have all the preschools been torched? Is there a car nearby we could steal to get around and check, or some other faster transportation? We still need food too, we haven't checked the cafeteria and vending machines here. We need to be getting back to the girls soon, we don't have a lot of time to waste or risk wandering around."


**


Angelina is not terribly interested in the game or in either Leigh's or Alina's reactions to it. She just leans back against Alina, letting her weight settle against her, and in fact her eyes are beginning to grow heavy. She had not slept well the night before, and Alina is making a nice, comforting resting place for her to relax into. Leigh, however, is in her glory. Her face lights up at Alina's reaction, growing more animated than she's shown since the boys left, and she giggles, jabbing a finger at Alina gleefully.


"I knew it! I knew you liked him! I could tell! Yes, an exact number! I knew it....and you know what? You can't even say that I'm too young for Ilya anymore because he's only like five years older, and Jared is three years older than you. So that's almost as much...how many times did you say?"

 

[pistolmouth]

Ilya feels about as enthused about going to the mall as Jared apparently does. When he asks Peter about other preschools, or better options of getting things for Angie, he feels his shoulders relax a small fraction. He's still very unsure about this new person, and can't help wondering how the girls will react to his presence at the camp.


Having raided most of the medications and supplies from the cupboards, he zips up the duffel bag hanging fom his shoulder and adjusts it to a more comfortable position and returns his gaze to Peter, who is speaking again.


"There's a Head Start nearby, maybe like a block or two that way." He nods in the direction that the school is supposed to be in. "I don't know if they'll have clothes, but toys and games for sure."


"I want to hit up the library before we finish up in the school too. I know we have to be fast, I just feel like... you know, maybe if we have some reading material it won't be as hard to just sit around all day." Ilya pauses here and looks back to Jared, "I won't be long, maybe like five or ten minutes tops. Ali will read pretty much anything with Stephen King's name on it, and I'm not too picky. Does Leigh read much, or?"


--------


Alina tries to relax a little more to allow Angie optimum comfort as she feels her small body begin to go lax with sleep. This is difficult, however, with the way things have flipped around with Leigh, who is completely dominating any and all opportunities she's had to sneak away from this subject.


She should have been more strict when deciding the guidelines for truth or dare.


Clearing her throat, she decides to avoid her comment about Ilya, not ready for that battle just yet. Part of her feels anxious, though, that should she bring it up in front of the boys, Leigh might let it slip - whether by accident or intention - that Alina has showed interest in Jared, and that is unacceptable.


Stalling, Alina cards her fingers through her hair and tugs at the ends, more of an absent gesture than trying to cause herself any sort of pain or discomfort. "I don't know! Uhm... maybe, like, eight or ten times? Like I said, I haven't been keeping track. Also, I'd like to get one thing straight: thinking someone is attractive does not mean that I like him. It means I like to look at him. Which I do."


It's a lame cover, but it's better than all of her other attempts to get out of the discussion.


"Your turn. Truth or dare?"

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

Head Start- that sounded great to Jared. Both his younger sisters had been enrolled in it when they were younger, Angelina barely having outgrown it a couple of years earlier, and though he doubts there will be close large enough for a six-year-old there, it was possible. Some of the three and four year olds they had now were pretty large, and Angelina was not a large child for her age. Definitely toys and games could help her emerge from her withdrawn behavior, and there might be snacks and food too.


"Sounds good to me," he nodded in response to both of their plans, shifting his bag in his arm and starting out the office door with a glance over his shoulder to the other boys. "Let's go then. Books too, better get some more bags...and weapons, can't forget weapons. Where can we get those?"


Almost as an afterthought, he added, "Leigh doesn't like to read, but get something anyway. If she's bored enough then she'll get around to it. And Angie likes books."


**


"You like him, you like him," Leigh practically sang, still grinning, one shallow dimple showing in her left cheek as teased Alina. She recrossed her legs, obviously enjoying this game considerably more than either of the other girls as she pretty much ignored Angelina, who was still leaning back, droopy-eyed, in Alina's lap. "You think he's hot and you like him...Ali and Jared sitting in a tree!"


She ducked her head as though expecting to be hit, still laughing, before finally composing herself enough to respond. "Truth! And don't make it lame, make it a good one!"

 

[pistolmouth]

Without any further delay, Ilya leaves the nurse's office and walks briskly to the library. It doesn't take him very long to find the books that require parental permission to take out, and pulls a decent amount of Stephen King down for Ali and a few down for himself. He glances around for books that might appear to Angie, but doesn't find any, deciding to wait until they got to Head Start. They all had books, right? I mean, story time was still a thing.


Or, it was, at least.


He sees a few books he think Leigh might want to read and grabs them, also. Ilya spares a brief glance over at Peter, who is flipping listlessly through the book in his hand, not really making an effort to help out. Already, he's starting to regret agreeing to let this kid join up with them.


"How are the vending machines?"


Peter shrugs and looks over at him, "I've mostly picked them clean, but there should still be some stuff in the coolers that we can use."


--------


Ali can't help but laugh when Leigh starts teasing her and gives her a playful shove, the blush no longer rising in her cheeks. "Shush!"


She has to remind herself to keep her voice down to let Angie get a little rest. She's been up just as, if not longer than Alina has and has got to be exhausted by now. She gently rubs her side and rolls her legs rhythmically to soothe her further. "Okay, okay, let me think, Dimples."


Ali clears her throat and relaxes more against the tree, her own arm resting against Leigh's. She reaches over and ruffles her hair as she quickly tries to pick a good question to ask as a truth. Spin the bottle had always been more popular among the group of kids she normally got up to this kind of thing with, so it was difficult at first.


"Alright, what's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done without being dared?"

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

What Leigh would really like, Jared realizes once he is inside the library, and what maybe Alina would enjoy looking at too, were the fashion magazines. It might even make her be quiet for long enough to give them all a few moment's peace, unless, of course, she just used the time to make them all look at everything with her over and over.


He chooses a few issues of Seventeen, Vogue, and People, adding them into his increasingly heavy bag, and then finds a recycable tote bag to be able to add other things into. When Ilya mentions the vending machines, he questions him about the number of food items that are non perishable, then heads to the teacher's lounge and cafeteria to scrounge some up. He checks several teacher's rooms as well, figuring some may have snacks stashed in their desks, and is rewarded with a few other snack items before they gather together again and make their way out the building and towards Head Start, as Peter had indicated.


The moment they are out in the open again Jared is wary, continually glancing over to the other boys to make sure they are sticking close by and all around them to check for anyone approaching. Now loaded down with items, it would be harder to draw a weapon out quickly if needed, and he doesn't want to lose any of their supplies having to drop them to fight. Of course, there's also the factor of not wanting to die.


The girls would be expecting them back soon, and they still had so much left they needed, not to mention having to walk back as well.


**


Angelina's head lolls back against Alina's shoulder at a slightly awkward angle, and she closes her eyes entirely, blocking out the other girls' noise as she begins to doze off. Leigh grins back at Alina, shifting her weight again eagerly as the other girl responds to her teasing with good grace.


"I only have one dimple," she tells her, shaking her head. "It's weird, like I don't match or something....aw, THAT one? Everyone always asks that one and I hate it!" she declared, still shaking her head, her cheeks reddening, but she's still smiling, so it can't bother her too much. After a few minutes, she says, "Um...well...don't you dare tell Jared! Or Angie! But...this one time, on the bus, Max, he was my boyfriend, he was sort of, you know, messing around and stuff, and I think he figured out...you know..."


She giggled, more out of nerves than because she finds this funny. "I stuffed my bra. You know. And I don't think he knew that before....no, wait! Wait, there was a WORSE one! One time we were on the bus in the backseat, the way back where the bus driver can't see, and we were, like, you know...playing around and stuff...and I was, YOU know, TOUCHING him...and this kid turned around and he SAW me! That was WAY embarrassing!"


Not seeming to realize that this would likely shock Alina, as she was in sixth grade, she announced, "Your turn, truth or dare?" Then after a few moments, she grows more serious, her voice softer. "I miss Max. I loved him...I don't know why he left me if he really loved me."

 

[pistolmouth]

Ilya follows after Peter, who is leading them down the street. He keeps his knife out, though slightly hidden by the duffel he's holding around his shoulder, just in case an adult should show up and try anything. One glance over at Jared is proof enough that he is not the only one uneasy, and even Peter, who hasn't left the town, apparently, looks hesitant to maneuver through the city.


As he steps into Head Start, though, he realizes just how upsetting this whole thing was. Until now, he hasn't thought about how it affected others, his scope of the damage only narrowed to his immediate group of Jared and his sisters, and Ilya and Alina. The complete emptiness of it was terrifying, more than the high school had been.


It was still a mess from the kids not cleaning up as they left earlier that horrible day. They had all still been alive then, and he catches himself wondering how many, if any of the kids who had been there had survived, even if only through that first night. Not wanting to think about it, he starts picking through toys, trying to figure out which ones Angelina might like, or hell, which ones Alina might get a kick out of, something for her to curl up to when she has one of her nightmares. She refused to lie down with him, because apparently, he kicks in his sleep - and hard.


"So, stuffed animals and stuff, right?" He asks Jared, knowing that the answer is obviously yes, but he has to break the silence in the building. Has to do something to distract himself from the fact that he is picking through a bunch of dead four year olds' belongings. Lifting up a rather large stuffed penguin, he decides that at least one of the girls will claim it and stuffs it into his bag, noting to himself that he needs to save room for the next stops.


"How old are your sisters anyway?" Peter asks, eyebrows raised. "I mean... tampons and stuffed animals... doesn't really match up, right?"


--------


As she listens to Leigh's confession, Alina feels her eyebrows inch toward her hairline. She tries not to look so surprised, a little afraid that the girl will think she's casting judgement on her, but she still feels a significant amount of shock. When she was Leigh's age, she had barely been kissed by boys, let alone done any sort of foreplay with them.


Determined not to show the shock and, though she won't admit it to herself, a fraction of outrage, she manages a very small, forced smile. "I won't tell him, promise. And yeah, I'd say that's pretty embarrassing."


She drapes her arm around the other girl's shoulders. Despite the fact that she's been able to consistently shock Alina almost every time she opens her mouth, Alina realizes that she actually is having fun. Having never been able to take on the big sister role, it makes for an interesting change. It's nice, she decides, to have someone to take care of for a while, to be something other than another person's charge, and even removes a little bit of the guilt that she feels for Ilya and Jared, who have decided to take care of all three girls collectively.


The corners of her mouth turn downward when Leigh brings up that she misses her boyfriend, which she can completely understand - at least on some level. "Yeah, I was dumped a couple months ago." She tells her, surprised at her own admission, having said it before she was really even conscious that she'd been thinking about it. "It sucks. Do you... I mean, do you want to talk about it? Or would you rather just leave it be?"

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

Walking into Head Start, searching through the children's items for suitable toys and other belongings to take back to Angie, is considerably harder for Jared than he had anticipated. It had turned out, as he suspected, that this particular Head Start was the same one that Leigh and Angelina had attended, and its interior was very familiar to him. He could still remember going to drop Angie off and pick her up, how she had enjoyed it there so much she often whined about having to leave and always hugged her teachers goodbye before she left. He thought of all the little kids sitting in a circle on the floor, of how each and every single one of those children were now probably dead.


Was it possible that Angie was the youngest child left alive in this entire town?


He gritted his teeth again as he joined Ilya in picking through the items, selecting a smaller stuffed lion and a fox as well. He was pretty sure that of the three stuffed animals, Leigh would probably claim one too if she thought that Ilya wasn't looking, or if Alina seemed interested in them. He didn't see any games small enough to stuff in a back, but he did take some books and a small notepad and some markers. He saw two child-sized backpacks, left behind or perhaps extras, and began to fill them with boxes of graham crackers and small containers of juice, jars of peanut butter and Goldfish bags, handing one of Ilya to slip onto his back. He knew where the lost and found was, and quickly enough found a box of extra clothing as well, for children who had accidents or needed to change for other reasons. He had to dig around, but he eventually found clothing that was a size 6 in children's, Angelina's size, and even an unopened package of underwear. He had found a few t-shirts and jackets in the high school earlier and packed those for himself, Leigh, Alina, and Ilya, and he supposed that was the best he could do.


The last he thought to take was a few rolls of toilet paper before he turned back to the others. "Okay. We should start heading back....the last thing is weapons. We need something better than a knife."


He doubted they had anything like a weapon here, but maybe if they looked around they'd be surprised.


**


Leigh isn't looking at Alina's face, and so she doesn't see her stunned expression. She is staring at the ground in front of her crossed legs, dragging a leaf back and forth and making invisible patterns on the dirt instead, her shoulders slumped. When Alina put her arm around her, Leigh looked up, surprised, but then leaned into her, letting her head rest against the side of her arm in a gesture that is not quite cuddling against her, but is certainly curling close. Despite Alina's refusal to play by Leigh's rules of how she'd like things to go between them, Leigh has long ago decided that she likes the older girl, that she wants her attention and her approval- however badly she might happen to show this. So Alina's gestures of affection towards her are well received; it has not been often in Leigh's life that she has received approval from anyone, nor affection outside of what she herself had learned to seek from boys, and so she soaks this up now as she can get it.


"Jared won't let me talk about it," she tells her, her voice softer, having completely lost its teasing edge along with her smile. "He hated Max. He said he was a pervert or something because he liked me. He wasn't though. He was a kid too, he was only sixteen. That's not old. I know he liked me. I know it. You don't do things with people right in front of everyone that you don't like. But he ran away. When everyone was...at the school, when the adults came, and they were..."


She swallowed, taking in a shuddering breath and briefly closing her eyes as the memory flooded through her thoughts, and moved in even closer to Alina, as though seeking shelter from her own memory. She even reached to touch the sleeping Angelina's hand, as though seeking assurance that her sister was still there with her. "They were getting everyone, I could see it....and Max, he wasn't fighting. He saw me there, me and Jared and Angie, because Jared, he was fighting and he was standing in front of us, we were hiding in the freezer but the door was open a little and I could see, and Angie smelled because she'd peed herself...and Max just left. He knew I was there and he just ran off and left us there and he didn't even say goodbye."

 

[pistolmouth]

Peter looks around the school while the other boys dig around looking for whatever it is that they need. They have apparently decided to ignore his question, and since they aren't looking at him, he lets his eyes roll and pretends to help the boys grab supplies, occasionally picking up random things that they might need. It's not like they'll live long enough to use them anyway.


When Jared mentions weapons, Peter's attention is grabbed a little more securely. He looks over at the boy, eyebrows raised and glances around, not expecting to find much. "I mean... I was at the high school and the best I found was the meter stick. If we want weapons, we'll need to go somewhere that probably has adults, unless you want to break into a house or something."


Ilya's face twists briefly and he shakes his head, "Too risky. We'd have to go looking through windows and we'd get spotted for sure." He goes silent, desperately trying to resolve their issue of defense. "We could always make weapons? I mean, I have no idea how, but if push comes to shove, there's that as a solution."


--------


It is neither the time, nor the place, to focus on the issue of Max's age. The fact that Leigh is upsetting herself with the memory of what happened at the school is Alina's primary focus and, unconsciously, her arm tightens around the girl as though she were trying to protect her with the apparently ballistic strength of her ribcage. Her cheek comes to rest on top of Leigh's head and she lets out a breath, closing her eyes.


"He was just scared," She explains softly. "It sounds like a really lame excuse but maybe he didn't have someone to protect him, you know? People... they can do some pretty crazy things when things get dangerous, when they want to survive."


Alina stops here and swallows thickly, her mouth dry as she remembers the look on Ilya's face when she was finally able to remove the pillow from her head, remembers her sister's skull caved in, the brain chunks of skull and brain that Alina was still trying to wash out of her clothes, that covered the trophy Ilya had used to ultimately save her life. "Maybe he just wanted to find someone that would keep him safe the way Jared was protecting you and Angie. But I don't think it had anything to do with whether or not he loved you. When... when things get dangerous, you know, it just becomes about trying to figure out how to keep yourself safe." She's not sure if she's saying even remotely the right things, the coil in the pit of her stomach tightening up, making it hard for her to concentrate on anything but that. "Besides," she says, trying to make her voice as light as she can, willing to say just about anything to lighten the mood, if possible, "If he were hanging around, I wouldn't be able to have girl talk like this with you as much."

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

They have a point, Jared realizes. Although how in the world Peter hadn't managed to find a better weapon in a school, such as a baseball bat, is beyond him, but they don't have time to go back there now. Instead, he exhales, his eyes again scanning the place in hopes of finding something suitable, before he remembers the kitchen area and rustles through it. Sure enough, placed up higher than the children's reach are real utensils, not the plastic kind that they used for the kids, and he takes all the knives, sticking them in his backpack. Granted, they might not do a lot against a gun, but it was better than nothing.


"I guess we're ready to head back then," he said after rejoining the boys. "They'll be waiting."


**


Leigh nods faintly, releasing another somewhat shaky breath as she listens to what Alina is saying. She doesn't speak for a few moments, but her body is still tense against her.


"I could have helped protect him," she said, but even she can hear the doubt in her voice. "I could have kept him safe...it could have been okay. He could have hidden with us...he should have come with us."


She pauses, then says softly, a catch in her voice, "I hope they didn't get him."


She knows as well as Alina does that the chances of that are slim, and she sniffles, one hand coming up to rub at her eyes. When Alina mentions getting to talk with her, though, she smiles briefly, her eyes shifting towards her.


"Yeah. I didn't have a lot of friends who were girls. Girls didn't like me much. I don't know why."


This could be because Leigh was rather critical of them and tended to try to "steal" their guys, but she hardly has the self-insight to figure this out.

 

[pistolmouth]

As antsy as Ilya is about getting back to the girls, to confirm that they're all still in one piece, still waiting for them at the camp, he isn't ready to leave the building yet. The mere thought of having to walk across town to get back to the woods, which he had grown to consider a safe haven, put his heart rate nearly through the roof. Nevertheless, he follows Jared, only briefly hesitating at the door before he walks through it.


It's difficult to walk at a pace that doesn't seem suspiciously fast. The thought that any minute, an adult could spot them and either kill them on the spot, or follow them back to the camp nags him every second he is out in the open. Peter walks behind them, but Ilya is too occupied with scouting out the area, making sure no one is behind them, to see if he's keeping up at all.


The walk back, though just as silent as the walk into town, seems to go by much faster while simultaneously taking entirely too long. When he hears Alina's and Leigh's voices, void of distress, he nearly cries with relief and begins to walk a little faster.


"Yeah," he hears Alina say, "Some girls can be hard to get along with. I wish I could tell you that it's easier once you're in high school, but-"


She's spotted them, and her own body seems to relax, enough so that she has to tense up and nearly catch Angelina, who has apparently fallen asleep in her lap, by wrapping the arm that isn't around Leigh's shoulders as much around the girl as possible to support her weight. When she speaks again, her voice comes out as a strange moan, mixed with a sob. "Oh, thank God."


Her relief is short lived. The moment Peter steps out from behind them and drops his bag onto the ground, her eyes narrow and flit back over to Ilya and Jared. The look on her face is one of total communication. It simply says I am not okay with this.


What she says, though, while more tactful in word choice, is still raw with hostility, almost an outright accusation. "I wasn't expecting company."


Not knowing how to answer her, to explain the circumstances though he knows she's probably fully aware of them, he nods toward their newest member and says, "Guys, this is Peter."


The introduction does little for his sister, who is now watching the newcomer with a strange combination of suspicion and contempt, her lips pursed together tightly enough that they actually lose a little color, the muscles in her jaw flexing and relaxing as she clenches her teeth together. When Peter waves at her, clearly not bothered, Ilya notices her arms tighten a little more around the girls nestled up against her, as though this alone would protect them should he decide to go rabid and attack her.


This is a grave betrayal of her trust, he realizes, insides going cold. One she is unlikely to recover from, or forgive either of them for, any time soon.

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

Jared had dreaded getting back to the girls. Not so much that he didn't want to be back with them, for he did, very much so, but rather, he feared that they would not be able to find them again in the woods, or that the girls would simply be gone, their items abandoned. Or worse, that he would find them injured or dead. The closer they drew to the woods, the more strongly he feared that something of this nature would be what they would come across, and he had begun to feel physically ill by the time they entered the first several feet of the woods' beginnings.


When he could hear Alina's voice in the distance, speaking calmly, even gently, and then Leigh's voice join in, the relief he felt was so overwhelming he stumbled, almost dropping some of his load. Hastily readjusting his grip, he almost ran in its direction, aware of the boys following behind him, and then let most of what he was carrying drop rather heavily to the ground as he came towards them, smiling with obvious gratitude.


Alina was leaning back against a tree, Angelina sleeping in her lap, Leigh curled into her side with her head on her shoulder, and both looked up when he and the others came into their view, Alina's face flooding with emotion that was outdone only by Leigh. Leigh's eyes lit up, and she almost shouted, causing Angelina to stir in Alina's lap without yet awakening.


"YOU'RE BACK! YOU'RE OKAY!"


She started to push away from Alina, intending to jump up and hug them, but then paused, eyeing the boy behind them that she didn't recognize with some concern. He looked old to her, older than Ilya, anyway, and so she stayed close to Alina, asking hesitantly, "Who's that?"


"This is Peter," Jared told them, echoing Ilya, as he came towards them, coming to kneel in front of Alina. He tried to smile at her, noticing her flat tone and unenthused expression, and wondered whether it was due to Peter or to their having left her alone with the girls. Either way, it made him uncomfortable.


"We couldn't leave him behind. Look, Leigh, we got some stuff, you should come look through it. Angie too when she wakes up...I can take her, Ali, lay her down for you so you can move around. Thanks for looking out for them."

 

[pistolmouth]

As Jared approaches, putting yet another obstacle between her and the new guy - Peter - Alina relaxes her grip on the girls. When he offers to take Angie from her, she sits up a little straighter and maneuvers Angie so Jared can wrap his arms around her and lift her up, only then conscious of the pins and needles sensations in her legs from where they had fallen asleep.


Once he has her in his arms, Alina stands up, wincing and stretching her legs out and running her hands up them to try and get the blood flowing back into them. "It's fine," she tries to smile, really, she does but it doesn't feel very successful.


Her eyes flick over to Peter again, and she doesn't want to say it, but she hates that he's here. The presence of a new person makes her skin crawl and she feels unsafe. While she and Ilya may not have known Jared and his sisters, the fact that he'd come into the picture with two small girls who were in good condition despite the psychological traumas they'd experienced. It may have not completely convinced her that he was safe, but it certainly helped.


This guy, though?


He is a complete stranger, who looks at all of them far too closely for her liking. When Peter's eyes finish making their rounds and fall back on her, she nearly spits at him, just to get him to look away. No, he is not welcome. Not here, at least. Not where she knew she was safe. But as badly as she wants to tell him to leave, she knows that she'll get nothing but flak from Ilya, at least. He would tell her not to be so paranoid, that he's not an adult and that he needs the help, but Alina is beyond caring, at least about some complete stranger.


She had been fine just like this, before he even stepped foot into the forest. No. Peter should have stayed right where he was, and Ilya and Jared should have knocked him out or something and just left him if he refused to.


"How old are you?"


Ilya looks over at her, there's a great deal of apprehension in his face, as though he's half expecting her to start screaming at him. "We already asked, Ali." He gives her a pointed look, trying to tell her to back off.


Instead of standing there and arguing, she keeps her eyes on Ilya, "I'm going to go get our laundry."


She crouches down and grabs the crowbar, stalking off toward the river to get Angie's sheets, which have to be dry by now. And if Ilya thinks that she's going to take her shift watching by herself tonight, he's got another thing coming.


--------


Peter raises his eyebrows and Alina leaves and looks between Jared and Ilya. He is almost tempted to make a comment about now knowing why they'd gone to get the tampons, but figures that it wouldn't be the wisest decision.


"Is she okay?" He knows the answer well enough. She's suspicious of them, possibly more than the two boys, but clearly doesn't care enough to conceal it as well as they are. "I mean, she's not going to, like, brain me with that thing is she?"


Ilya, heaving a sigh and running his hand along the back of his neck, does not grant him a great deal of confidence when he answers. "I certainly hope not."

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

Angelina doesn't awaken when Jared takes her from Alina, and so he sets her down gently on one of their self-made pallets, covering her with a blanket and smooth one of her curls back from her face. It had not dawned on him to think how tired she must be, though it only made sense. Being only six, she obviously needed more sleep than they did, and if he was exhausted, he could only imagine how much more so she must be.


As he stands again, turning towards Alina, he notices that she is staring towards Peter, as suspicious towards him as Jared himself had been initially. Jared can't blame her for that, really. He himself isn't exactly thrilled about him being there, even if he is underage. But how could he have lived with himself if he left him behind?


It would have been nice if the boy would do something to be more reassuring though. He was always just standing around without helping just looking at people. Couldn't be try to do something to make himself seem...well, more trustworthy?


Leigh, for her part, though more wary than is typical for her, isn't enough so to be too hostile, and she darts over towards the bags the boys have brought, digging through and giving an excited squeal when she sees the magazines in particular.


"Oh look! They're new!"


Her eyes widen when she sees the stuffed penguin, and she grabs it with a quick glance at Angelina, who is still sleeping, as though wondering how she's going to hide it from her. Then she catches sight of Ilya and with reddened cheeks, quickly shoves it back.


"That's for Angie," she says aloud, as if to make sure they weren't thinking she thought otherwise. Then, seeing Alina walking away, she jumped up, concerned. "You shouldn't let her go alone!"


"I'll go with her, Leigh," Jared said quickly, as much for an excuse to talk to her as anything. He squeezed Leigh's shoulder before staring after Alina. "Stay close to Ilya, okay?"


Catching up to Alina, he says once they are out of earshot, "Thanks again for watching the girls. I hope they weren't too bad." Pausing, he added in a lower tone, "Alina...we couldn't have left him there. They would have killed him."


(occurs to me that Angie sleeping puts her in a rather dangerous state with Peter)

 

[pistolmouth]

Alina finds that the further she's able to move from the immediate source of her anger, the calmer she becomes. When she first hears footsteps coming up behind her though, she tightens her grip on the crowbar, more out of habit than fear that it could have been Peter. When Jared speaks, having caught up with her, her fingers loosen their hold around it again.


"They were fine, we kind of had fun... Angie's trying to learn how to whistle." She manages a small smile, but when he brings up Peter it falters almost immediately. She glances over at him, wanting so badly to just say everything that's on her mind, but the fear of sounding like some sort of spoiled brat holds her back.


"I'll get over it," it comes out just barely louder than a mumble. She won't. At least she doesn't feel like she will. But she's too tired and her hand is throbbing too much for Ali to give any sort of valid argument. "He just..." She sucks in a deep breath, choosing her next words carefully. "I wish we all could have been able to talk about it first, I guess. Like, I get why we couldn't... but not having a say in it kind of blows."


Crouching down next to the river, Alina dips her hand into the water, having learned from the fabric sticking to her hand earlier that it's best to wet the shirt before removing it slowly. She tosses the shirt over a branch carelessly to let it dry and starts tugging at the blankets and shirt Angie had peed on the previous night. They were dry, and didn't seem to stain too awful much, which she appreciated.


"Everything was okay though?" Ali looks over at Jared then, face pinched with worry. "I mean, there weren't any... nobody saw you, right? You and Ilya, you're okay?"


--------


When Alina bows out, walking away from the campsite and obviously struggling to keep her gait normal, and not that of a child about to throw a temper tantrum, Peter clenches his fists briefly, the urge to aim a rock at the back of her head almost too strong for him to fight back. His eyes shift over the campsite, gradually taking in the surroundings, pausing on the little one, fast asleep on a bed of blankets that they'd created. He wonders briefly if he would be able to act quickly enough to snap her neck before the other two caught him, if he could subdue the other two in time, or if they would be able to get Jared's and Alina's attention before he finished them off.


It's not time, not yet. Tonight will be better.


Ilya has started unpacking the non-food items, and deciding that it would be best if he kicked in and helped a little, he walks over and kneels down next to him, helping when he can.


"How long have you guys been out here?"


Ilya shrugs, sorting through the bandages and other medical supplies they'd gotten from the nurse's office. "Two days, I think? I don't know, it seems longer than that."


"You've got a pretty sweet setup here. Is there any system for security or anything?"


The younger boy clears his throat and shrugs, "We - me, Jared and Alina - take shifts at night. We try to break it up so we all get at least a few hours of sleep. Other than that, unless you count some rabbit snares in the surrounding area..." he trails off, and Peter wonders if he's asking himself if he's maybe said too much. "Alina will get over it." He says finally, glancing over to Peter, "She's just skittish, you know?"


"I can't blame her." Glancing over at Leigh, Peter raises his eyebrows, "What about you? Are you skittish?"