Island Beach, Night [Open]

[AsBloodTurnsEverCold]

Del nodded and looked back at Celestine and the injured. He was sympathetic to it as well. Life had already taught him how tough it could be and how he needed to be in return but her? She was born where life would never touch her at least until whatever had landed her here. He just let her be because there was nothing he could do for her in this situation. He instead just made his way up to the tower. Two hands, two eyes.

He would notice the two approaching as well "Don't disturb too much." he said but once he was up he'd nod to Lucas and head inside to look around. It was...it was what it was. He slowly moved around careful of his steps. He looked around the cabin and it didn't look to be in disrepair, checking points of the cabin it wasn't your typical lifeguard tower it seemed. It was designed with more modern fixtures in mind it seemed. He looked for wiring and finding them...electricity instead of gas. It didn't take him long to find the origin of the explosion either. He was not a complete expert he did use explosives for his bank jobs. This looked like bits of a radio, and with if there was no gas leak it meant there was nothing to spark.

"Well this was definitely rigged." he stated aloud being quite confident in this theory "Seems the people who left us here don't want us having easy communication. I'm not sure what type of radio this is but I can tell you that no radio is gonna explode like this on its own. This has a similar radius and effect to something I've used." he said though he knew how this sounded. He just continued to look around until finding that log book.

He picked it up slowly. Unmarked usually meant laziness or they didn't want you looking. He'd keep it before looking to Lucas "We should really get moving."

Edited August 28 by AsBloodTurnsEverCold

[Kissa Deactivated]

^Something… something that shouldn’t be here.^ The human answered Lucas’ question, keeping his eyes on the floor. ^The radio can’t do this much bad on its own…^

He poked something on the floor with the tip of his sneaker. ^You are right about the rigged part. Look.^ There was a piece of detonator on the floor. It wasn’t whole anymore, but there was enough to know what it was. ^If I had to guess… it was triggered to go off when someone tried turning it on. Explains why Elias’ face looks like that.^ He sighed and let his head hang low as he approached the door.

^We can’t leave him like this. It’s not right. We have to bury him.^

^We should. But we should discuss that with the others.^

The black book was full of handwritten entries. There were dates of coming and going vessels and what their purposes were. If someone took time to go through the book thoroughly they could notice that there had been unusually much traffic in the last 18 months. There had been an increase in the times a boat came to bring employees and take them back and also in supply ship visits.  

 

By the time the two old men returned to the others, Celestine had patched the neko woman’s back. Now she sat on her knees in the sand, while Inga did her best, with her shaky hands, to pick up shards of glass out of her back. The younger vulpeculan hugged her top tightly against her chest. They had talked about where they should go, and no one had an answer to that question. Some had suggested going deeper on the island, but their bus could only go where roads went. 

When the two men came they started a conversation about burying the dead man. ^Do we have a shovel to dig a hole deep enough?^

^We need to dig it further away from the sand…^

^Maybe we don’t need to dig a hole. We could… take him to the sea. One last time.^ The croco woman looked at the black waves.    

 

[Gardsorm]

"Something that shouldn't be here?" Perhaps they could see something in all of this that Lucas couldn't. They certainly made it seem suspicious, and when they mentioned the radio couldn't do that on its own, he raised a hand to his chin. "True... I heard a small bang like some sort of explosive, but an overloaded transmitter wouldn't be able to do that, would it? Even through a huge surge of electricity. But then what could have..." He began, before he looked to Del. "It was rigged to explode...? But why, we were literally the first ones out here. There's no way none of the other prisoners could have come this way before us to jury right that."

However, he made a valid point. If the ones who left them there were the ones who set that up, then it lent credence to the notion that all of this was an intentional plot. However, the question remained... Why? If they wanted them dead, the guards could have done the job themselves. 

"This is starting to sound like a social experiment gone horribly wrong. I already had low faith in humanity, but if this is their sick idea of having fun at our expense, the people at Falkcrest better pray we don't make it out of here." Lucas narrowed his eyes when one of the other guys revealed the renains of the detonator. At this point, it seemed like they didn't just need to worry about the other prisoners, but even surprises left by the guards, warden, whoever else worked for the corporation behind Avonmore. Glancing to Del as he made his suggestion, he nodded.

"Agreed. If the explosive was just meant to surprise someone, it's job is done. But if it also serves to warn others, we might need to be ready to leave in short order." He stood up, before looking to the other two. They didn't have time for this... But they deserved to send their friend out. "Let's bring it up to them and see what we can do. He deserves that much for getting us this far away from the prison." 

Hope the logbook Del took from the building could tell them something useful when they had a chance to look at it. There was too little time to try leafing through it right now. He left the book with Del as he walked to the others, seemingly in the middle of discussing what to do about Elias. When it was suggested to let him go to the sea, Lucas looked toward the docks. "Do you want us to carry him to the water? We could also send him in one of the boats still there... They may not make the trip to land, but they'll carry him out to sea perfectly..."

Edited August 29 by Gardsorm

[AsBloodTurnsEverCold]

Del nodded his head as Lucas seemed to come to get it "Well no ruling that out now is there?" he groaned annoyed at the situation "Either that, or they're just cutting their losses. Island of the forgotten. Less mess. Easy to make excuses either way....I refuse to go out the way they want." he said but that would have to be thought about later. Escape wasn't feasible right now. They had survive. He was keeping the book, maybe that would give them a better idea of what was going on. He took a deep breath "No doubt by now that others are making their way to the garage too. Dunno if they have a beach trip planned but either way? I'd rather not get caught here."

Lucas was right though, they at least owed it to the old man to bury him for getting them out that way even if the last words they exchanged were less than friendly. He'd tuck the binder under his arms and head out with the red-head to see what they could do. Burying someone in the sand? That would take too long but a burial at sea? It was a romantic enough gesture. He nodded "I didn't know your man like that but I think a burial at sea would only be right like Red suggests." he said "The peace of the sea is a better resting place than the hell this island is gonna become."

No doubt someone who discovered his grave would desecrate it too. They couldn't get you out there. Carry him and see how far he could get at least he'd be making his way towards freedom. It was a last act of defiance even for the easy going. It was up to them of course. Their man, their choice. They did need to go though...even if eventually they'd have to abandon the bus.

[Kissa Deactivated]

^So it’s decided, I guess.^ The crocodile said quietly. She looked at others, waiting for them to say something if they disapproved but they were either quiet or nodded. 

^We should make preparations… Tidy him and wrap him in something before we take him to the boat and… away.^ 

^We could use the sea water to clean him a bit.^ Not many of them had seen the situation inside the building, but what they had heard was enough. 

^I’m going to go see if there is a bucket somewhere…^

^Should we gather some flowers?^

^Do you know was he religious? Should we say a prayer?^

They were eager to help, each in their own way. It was their way of escaping from the situation, doing something they were familiar with. Anything to keep their thoughts of the current situation. There were no volunteers doing the actual tidying job. Celestine sighed as she pulled her top back on. 

“Thank you Inga. I can wash him.” Celestine offered and others gladly took her offer. Then discussion moved to how they would send their fallen comrade away.

^Someone young and strong should take a boat and row him further into the ocean before letting the… body down.^ Delmar and Lucas could feel how the old timers looked at them when the croco said someone young and strong. 

[Gardsorm]

"It seems like a poor move to just do something like this completely at random. There isn't any kind of rhyme or reason, if the guards wanted us dead at any point, they could have done so without a convoluted 'Let them kill each other' plan. Something could have happened to the shift change meant to take over. Or perhaps they were attacked by something else and fled the island since the only things here are people society doesn't want to deal with." Lucas could come to any number of conclusions, but none of them amounted to anything without any kind of evidence. However, any conclusion he could have come to, he at least knew and accepted the Falkcrest Corporation were beyond reprehensible for handling the situation in this manner. 

"There are many locations they could go to on this island. If the smart ones are anything like I expect them to be, once they're done restoring power to the facility, they would next to to the outer reaches of the island. It's bad news for us because we won't know where they're going, but at the same time it can be a boon: The more divided they are, the easier to conquer they can be." the redhead figured that they wouldn't have the manpower and oversight to look over every place they could fortify at on the island. They could be selectively dismantled if it came to that. But first things first, paying respects to the man named Elias, who got them far enough to give them a running head start in survival.

"I'll do it then. I know my conduct here hasn't been the best. The least I can do is help him get as far as I can to begin his journey to a better life." Lucas didn't even bother to check if the eyes were in him when the suggestion was made; His fellow man had told him he needed to apologize in his own way to them, and while that conflict has come and gone, he still had more chances to show he wasn't a disrespectful, thankless derelict. Turning away, he made a check of where his shirt had been discarded to collect it, before he moved to the dock to untie one of the two remaining boats. He looked them both over, making sure there were no unwelcome holes in the build, before he took the most useable oars to use with the most useful boat. 

"I'm... We're going to get to the bottom of this chaos, one way or another. Then I'll see if you're at the center of it." He mumbled quietly, looking into the distance back toward the prison. Sooner or later, they were going to meet face-to-face. 

[AsBloodTurnsEverCold]

"Random? Its definitely not random. A movement like this takes time." he said "Our tickets were taken before the stepped on this island. How long? I don't know but its definitely not random. Its just a rapid execution." there was no pleasant explanation to their plight no matter what they theorized. They were either being watched and set up, or abandoned to die clean. It was an unfortunate situation no matter which way you put it.

"There's only two of us Red, armed with some piddly weapons from a shed on a beach. I don't think we're going to be doing much conquering unless we can get out hands on some real weapons or some hands." the group was larger but the old timers couldn't fight and Celestine likely didn't have the stomach for violence either even if it was non-lethal. They had survived but they were in a bad position.

No matter. It was thoughts for later.

Del was about to volunteer to help take the old man out to sea but Lucas got to it first. It did seem right. An apology to the living, even if it was too late for the dead but that left little for him to do "Any other help you need otherwise I'm gonna finish moving the stuff onto the bus." he said waiting to see what they might need before he'd make his way over and get back to loading up. He could spend some time looking over the log book after.

[Kissa Deactivated]

^Thank you.^

^We appreciate your help.^

The minutes rolled. Everyone found something to keep themselves busy. It was hard to tell how much time passed, but it was less than an hour when Celestine came to ask Delmar to help carry the blanketed corpse to the small rowboat. If he declined, she would go ask Lucas next. Two old ladies had picked wild flowers and set them in the boat. Elias hadn’t been a religious person, to the point he didn’t believe in any god, so they didn’t say any prayers for him. 

Celestine and the old people stood near the edge of water when Lucas pushed the boat back in the water and began rowing away. Soon all they could see was his light rocking in the dark. Celestine and a few others stayed behind, just staring at the light that became smaller and smaller. 

There was conversation about if it was right to carry on with their plan, now that one of them had died. The conclusion was that they could at the very least eat. The living had to eat. The mood was quiet and depressed. They whispered, like they were afraid speaking louder would bring unwanted attention to them. 

By the time Lucas headed back and Delmar had read through the logbook there was a lit campfire on the beach and the old timers were fussing over the food they were cooking on the open fire. One of them complained about how they would ruin a perfectly good teflon pan by putting it over the fire. 

The logbook revealed traffic in and out of the island was quite routine and steady normally, which was why it was possible to notice the change in it. There was no details of what kind of employees had been brought to the island, but the boat rides for them had increased in number for months for some reason. There had been a spike in construction, especially electronics, supplies needed for the island during that time too. 

While others were busy cooking Celestine had gone to look for the nautical chart. It took some trouble as wind had blown it into bushes further away, but she found it finally. Now she sat by the fire, her tail wrapped around her waist as she examined the chart. 

[Gardsorm]

His fellow man certainly gave him food for thought. The desire to fight back might have been strong, but they were outnumbered, outmatched, and outgunned. As much Lucas wanted to be able to thin the herds, this was no time to be thinking about that. Their numbers were too small, their moods were shot... There was a heavy atmosphere that lingered over them all, and there would be no chance to organize anything tonight... Probably not even with this group. There was no telling who on the island was trustworthy beyond them.

When it was time to row Elias out to sea, the redhead remained in the boat, keeping it still as he observed Del bringing the body of Elias to the boat, along with the others bringing wildflowers, and a light to help mark how far he went. Once it was time to go, Lucas guided the boat out to the water before climbing inside to help row it out further over the water. There was nothing besides the sound of the waves, the light rocking of the boat, and silence to keep him company in his journey further out toward the ocean. The gentle waves carried him further away, before he breathed quietly.

"Old man Elias... I don't know who you were, and you don't know who I am. Maybe we didn't get off on the right foot when I insulted that woman, but it was irresponsible of me. I spent all my prison life in Solitary, but that should have been no excuse for disrespect... Especially for someone with a distinguished background like mine... Not that it matters anymore." He spoke, looking back toward the beach. The darkness would have made it impossible to find his way back, were it not for the fact there was a campfire started. This was probably far enough. 

"Prison is no place for an officer of the law... Although I've been dishonorably discharged no doubt. Still, for however much it counts, thank you. You gave me and so many others a chance to get away from the violence. Your life was taken away from you before you were ready to go. Whoever took your life... One day we'll know who did it, and for their sake, they should hope they aren't found, because I'll be sending them to a place they can't get to you. Rest well, Elias. May your next life be better." He finished, gingerly picking up the wrapped body of Elias, and gently setting him into the water. He raised his hand in salute to the man, habits of old returning to him for a moment, before he sat down to row himself back to the island. 

His arms burned a bit as he rowed his way back to land, climbing out of the boat and swinging his arms out to get the feeling in them again. He slowly approached the campfire, moving to take a seat on another part of the fire. The comfort of the flame reflected on his face, showing the tired man that he was, before he looked to Celestine and Del. 

"... Lucas." He spoke up after a few moments, looking between the two of them. "My name is Lucas Maxwell. If I'm going to trust people here, I should at least be willing to share my name. You aren't obligated to share yours... But it would make it easier to converse with you all."

[AsBloodTurnsEverCold]

Del would help carry the body of the old man to the small boat and lay him gently. He had no words or anything of the sort, instead leaving it to Lucas with a nod. A good man dead and an albatross to put to the sea  Del went back to his own, standing by while they preformed their little ceremony but otherwise he went to reading the logs. Del figured he was right...they were planning this for some time. Traffic here had increased but there was something about it. Equipment shipments? What sort? Maybe Lucas was closer to the flow than he thought. Someone was messing with them but that depended on if that equipment was meant to stay here.

With everything done and everyone's mood gone to the sea with the old man Del sat by reading. You often found the truth following the money. He'd keep this but he didn't say anything and disturb. It was quiet....

And Lucas returned and once he did and came upon the silent scene it seems he had a change in his heart somewhere and thus the first name came out. Lucas Maxwell huh? That sounded like a regal name. He didn't seem like a regal man but Delmar had a pretty good idea of what he was. Del shut the logbook and nodded to him "Well now I can stop calling you Red, Red." figuring the situation needed a little levity. They weren't friends but as it stood they had a situation to deal with. He stood up and nodded to him "Delmar. Delmar Barsi." he introduced himself this time "You can just call me Del."

And then there was one. Would she be willing?

 

[Kissa Deactivated]

Celestine raised her eyebrow in surprise when Lucas told his name. She had already signed him as someone who was rude and rather sulked in his own company than tried to act even remotely civilized. This felt like an attempt to move in the right direction, so she wasn’t going to disappoint. 

“Celestine Deschantes. It’s good to meet you.” Usually she would have offered her hand, but it felt like such gestures would be lost on these two. The vulpeculan wasn’t even sure if she was supposed to tell her name or if this moment was bonding between two men. “Are you two hungry? It’s nothing special, but it’s warm. The people here must have hated washing dishes because there were so many disposable plates in a cupboard.”

She waited for an answer before acting accordingly, or doing nothing if there was nothing to do.

“I thought about what you said. I don’t think it’s possible to find or make a ship that can reach back to civilization, but perhaps we don’t need to do that. We still have rights despite being convicted. We are still people and we can’t be treated this way. It’s not right. There are laws, conventions. If we just can get a word out, people will come to rescue us and put a stop to this chaos. We don’t have a phone, but if we can find a phone or a radio or a computer that has access to the net, we could contact someone outside and let them know about what’s going on here.” 

Despite acting so proud and stubborn before the fox had put some thought into this. Her naivety showed still, but at least she was trying to come up with a solution to their situation. Celestine looked up at the men, waiting for their opinion. 

[Gardsorm]

"I would apologize for the disappointment, but I wouldn't really mean it. You are, however, welcome to continue calling me Red if you like." Lucas' facial expression didn't change much as he spoke those words, but Del and Celestine could perhaps hear the tone of his voice; It wasn't hardened, cold. More like he was slowly trying to find the warmth in his voice again, beginning with a little jest. Perhaps the redhead's humor was a little bit shot, but there was an attempt at being playful in it. It was just very unsuitable for him. After a few moments, he cleared his throat and nodded. "Delmar Bursi... I'll have the name committed to memory, but I will confess calling you Del is more beneficial for me."

His eyes went to Celestine, not expecting her to even consider dignifying them with her name. He had expected her to remain tight-lipped about it, or at the very least say that they could get her name when they did something worthy of such merit. So his eyes widened just a bit when Celestine gave her name without much fuss, prompting him to look at Del first, before he looked back to Celestine. Even her name sounded rich and noble, which further confused him as to why she was here.

"Likewise, Ms. Deschantes." Lucas bowed his head for a moment, before he looked to the fire. "If you wouldn't mind. I haven't eaten today... Maybe it was a twisted joke by the guards in East Wing, but they didn't even spare me stale bread." He spoke it with such a straight face that he would be forgiven if someone was waiting for a punch line to a bad joke, but no such comment came. Truth was a cold, hard mistress. 

Listening to Celestine's plan, he brushed his chin, before sighing. "Ms. Deschantes, I appreciate your honest optimism, it is very much refreshing to see. However... I must protest that the plan is flawed. We stopped having rights when we were shipped to this island, far away from the eyes of civilization, far away from any news or media outlets. This is a private prison, which means that anything and everything that happens to us is because someone killed for it to happen, and they are far enough that the rules and laws do not apply." Lucas didn't want to just knock her off of her chair, but there was no nicer way for him to put it. "Someone does not want us getting any words out, so communication outside will be difficult. We can't be sure those communications won't be intercepted either." 

He tilted his head up, looking into the sky, before sighing. "However, a computer is a good place to start. Even if we can't communicate with it, we can use it to try to learn more about our situation. We can't be sure if there are parts of the island still with power though... If they get the power up anywhere first, it will be in the Prison Complex itself. After that... It's anyone's guess. I'm not familiar with the island layout, so if either of you know about any landmarks on the island where a computer might be, we could try to head there... What about you, Del? You've been extremely resourceful so far, have you got any ideas?"

He didn't want to bring up the helicopter again. It would be an easy way out, if it existed still... But their group was too large. He wouldn't be able to fly everyone out in one trip. If everyone knew that, there might have been competition to survive if it wasn't sturdy enough for them all.

Edited August 30 by Gardsorm

[AsBloodTurnsEverCold]

"Sometimes you gotta mix the names up." registering that the man didn't sound as cold and aloof as before. Good on him. He was fine being called Del of course so only shrugged at his stated desire to go with that but they had names now. He didn't fully expect Celestine to get her own name actually...it was an option but she half expected it to come with an acceptable name for bottomfeeders sort of caveat. It seemed there was more to Snowball after all but damn did she have a rich name.

"Alright, nice to meet you Ms. Deschantes." it'd work and surely she wouldn't want either of them calling her by her first name, but Del was still likely to call her Snowball when he felt like it. He would nod along with Lucas "I can't say I've eaten and after tonight I could use something on my bones." of course more pressing matters. He leaned down and lightened to her. Naive but a little more realistic compared to before. He let Lucas take point of the rebuttal trusting the red-head not to stick his foot in his mouth again. He seemed to be doing just fine. It could use some work however but the general gist was the same wasn't it.

Del clicked his tongue "Wouldn't throw out the boat idea quite yet. Pin it for later because it might become the only option if we can find another way." he said "Unfortunately Lucas is right on some level. Private prisons are particularly cruel things but we do still have rights....and thats why they rigged the radio to explode most likely. Keeps this place dark. You don't want or need any avid boatmen catching an arrant signal or some amateur airman noticing something is up on random landmass." it was a theory but keeping them cut off seemed like the idea "Now whether we get rescued is another thing. Rich folk who own the place wouldn't make that easy." giving credence to both sides of their ideas mostly to keep things realistic but also to not rob the fox of hope too quickly.

He looked to Lucas "I don't know Landmarks but I do know how to follow the money. If any computer is gonna have anything important we just need to follow their footsteps. Odds are when they cleared out they didn't get everything. Shit gets left behind, but power to the island might be a hurdle as well as looters....of course laptops, pdas, and other personal shit gets over looked. They cleared out overnight, something got left behind." he held up the log book and waved it around "But if we can track where they were moving all this shit we'll eventually find some sort of answer."

Edited August 30 by AsBloodTurnsEverCold

[Kissa Deactivated]

Why you look so surprised? Celestine hoped it wasn’t because they actually knew her name. It was possible if they had lived in the same city as she had, but she hoped it was more because they had expected her to keep her name to herself. “Like you said, it makes conversing more convenient. Just Celestine is enough.” The vulpeculan didn’t say that because she was feeling overly friendly with these two, but because she felt like she didn’t deserve her surname anymore. Her family wouldn’t like it being connected to her, so the less she shouted it out the better.

“You looked quite healthy for someone suffering from malnutrition… “ Celestine noted, her voice revealing no emotion as she reached to take one of the paper plates and scooped hot pasta pomodoro. While listening to them speak, the woman placed crackers in a row on the side of the plate and after that handed it to Lucas. She wrapped a pair of plastic fork and knife in a napkin and gave it next. Then she made the same kind of serving for Delamr and handed it to the man.

Celestine was stuck on believing they still had rights. They were criminals, but they couldn’t be treated any way just because of that. If people outside the island knew, they would make a fuss over it and this would end. Her ears lowered to half height when the two tore apart most of her ideas.

“If we can’t get a message out, it means they can’t observe us either. They, whoever they are, don’t know what’s happening here. It has to be a small benefit. There is no way they can know what is going on here unless… unless…” Celestine hesitated saying it aloud, like saying it aloud would make it true. In addition to that, she didn’t want to raise suspicion among her fellow inmates. 

^Unless they have an inside man.^ Inga cut in on the conversation.

“ Ssh!”

^It’s true, dear. There might be someone who is foolhardy enough to take the gig for a pile high enough of money. There are even more those who jump on the chance when someone waves a chance of freedom in front of their faces. My name is Ingaril. You may call me Inga. You boys want some coffee with whiskey?^ 

The younger vulpeculan sighed. Being a spy among this kind of crew… It was suicidal! Yet, she couldn’t ignore the little detail of Lucas being a police officer and assumedly been in solitary this whole time. If she could make that conclusion, there had to be others too. Celestine tried changing the topic to something more solution orientated.  

“There are computers in the prison. There is a whole data room for the convicts in the Central building, and I have seen the guards use computers too… but those are useless without electricity and I’m not sure if going back there is something we should do…”  

^If you are looking for personal computers and such, your biggest chance is at the employee apartments. I don’t know where they are, but they are somewhere on this island.^

“They can’t be that far… Others are going to be looting everything they can find too. If we want to get something before it’s gone, we would have to act fast.”

After saying that Celestine looked at the group they were with. These people didn’t move anywhere fast. There were already a couple of old timers who were napping or continuing their night slumber. Most of the group was around the youngsters. They were eating and some had taken a drink or two too much and were louder than usual. There were familiar figures at the waterline. They were walking in the shallow water and the croco granny was determined to go to swim as she peeled her prison clothes off without shame. 

[Gardsorm]

"Of course. It's not like I haven't eaten in over a week or anything... It's just today. I spend more of my time doing light exercises than I do just sitting around doing nothing. But it gets tiring after a while, and without anything to eat or drink, it gets unbearable." Lucas responded when Celestine noted he looked... Wait, did that mean she had looked at him while he was shirtless earlier? He processed the thought for a moment, before shaking his head and deciding she would be above something like that. The fox was such a prideful creature that he doubted he was anything approaching her standards for a man. Not that it mattered to him either, he wasn't here to start a life.

"If we plan to use it later, it would be a good idea to hide at least one of them if we have the time. Just leaving them there means someone else is liable to grab them... Potentially ruin them too if they're careless." the redhead cast a look toward the two boats, before he faced forward when Celestine held out the food for him. He uttered a 'Thank you' to the woman, before he returned to considering more of Delmar's plans. "I'm still hung up on the why of it all, but we can at least be sure that whoever left us here, wanted us to stay here and probably become victims of the circumstances they contrived. Either that or some other group came here and ran them off of the island."

Still, what was the point of letting them all run around? Unless they were going to try and make this a hunting game of sorts... But that would be a little too callous, even for most of the people he knew deserved to be here.

"No idea on landmarks, hm? Fair enough... So our only recourse is to try and find a useable computer, preferably away from the other prisoners, and not liable to have been tampered with in any way." Lucas mused, spooning some of the food he was offered into his mouth. His tastebuds nearly exploded from how much better it tasted compared to what he usually ate, nevermind the fact it was a good temperature. Even if the meal was a simple one, it felt gourmet compared to anything else he had at Avonmore. He tried not to make a show of it, but it was easy to see that his eating picked up a bit after the first spoonful. It gave him plenty of time to think on the new information brought up by others, no matter how true or false.

"I didn't think about that... But it's not out of the realm of possibility. Miss Inga is right, make the right promises and even the most desperate lifer will throw anyone and everyone under the bus... Ah, if you're offering, I'll accept." Lucas accepted Ingaril's hospitality. The talk of someone suspicious ate at him... What if someone didn't rig the transmitter to explode until after they got in? When he looked at the time, roughly four had gone in, but he didn't get a good look at them all. In the time they had to pick the Office clean, someone could have set something up... His eyes quietly looked toward the two that had returned to look at the aftermath as likely culprits if the insider story was true. But he didn't want to start letting paranoia creep up on him like that. 

"So first thing tomorrow, maybe we can go looking for the apartments. The prison should be a last resort because it's going to be a hot zone for a while. Anyone with any kind of intellect will have explored further out. So after we rest and recuperate for the night, we can look for those residences and pick them clean." He nodded to Celestine and Delmar, looking at the other old-timers partying the night away. However, he definitely was not expecting to see an old woman shed her clothes like that. His face contorted for a moment before he rubbed his face and looked at Ingaril. "I hope that coffee and whiskey is strong enough to help me forget that."

[AsBloodTurnsEverCold]

Delmar looked over at Lucas with a small puckish grin but he didn't say anything. It looked like Red was getting noticed but the man did remove his shirt to try and drape it around the woman even if she rejected it.

Del looked back at the two boats "Maybe. We'd need to find a way to make it more seaworthy of course or find someone with enough know how to make one. We got options and we wanna keep those options. Frankly if it comes down to it I'm more apt to die in the attempt than just lay here." He would eat, nodding to Celestine as he ate. It started good, better than the usual prison grub. He shook his head "No, someone would have heard something in that event. We have ghosts. If anything forced them off it was something outside the island." the why was the big mystery. Frankly if they knew that then their options would either expand, or be reduced to ashes. They needed to try and figure that out too and hopefully before it was too late.

Delmar opened up the logs again to look them over. If he had something to write with he'd know down the more interesting dates and shipments but for not he would just earmark the pages. It seemed like the plan was to find a computer and old Inga brought up a good point. Del just chuckled "No honor amongst thieves." he said "I suppose though if there is an inside man they'll either be pissed at being left behind or holding onto hope that once their job is done they'll get transferred to some cushy institution."  it was worth keeping an eye on. It could be anyone. The apartments were a good suggestion though. Where else might people keep their personal stuff? Journals if nothing else. Easy to leave things at home than in an office. He nodded to Inga on the offer for some coffee and whiskey as well "Appreciated."

He looked around for a moment at how easy they were all taking it and shook his head "Well looks like we have some small plan. I hope we can find some real weapons to use." he said and closed the log book "I'll keep watch for the night then. The rest of you look like you really need some rest and I'd like to spend some time trying to get this fucking collar off." it was the least he could offer. He had no magic so it wasn't like it meant anything but having a collar on..not his thing.

 

[Kissa Deactivated]

Lucas was more right than he knew. Celestine hadn’t been checking him out, but she had noticed he seemed healthy when she had patched up his arm. Someone with severe malnutrition would have been much skinnier, mostly just skin and bones. 

“If we want to hide a boat, we could row it further away so there won’t be drag marks in the sand and then pull it in the shrubbery. If someone triggered the radio because they don’t want us to contact anyone, it’s likely they would do something to the boats too… Though… Why leave them here then in the first place? Why trigger the radio instead of just taking it away?” There were so many what ifs that it made it impossible to put together a whole picture that made sense. 

“Let’s not talk about such drastic measures yet, please.” Celes felt cold chills run along her spine when Delmar spoke about dying rather than staying here. She was in no hurry to die. There were still choices. They still had a chance, no matter how small it was. The proud vulpeculan might not consider them as the same class of citizens as herself, but she was smart enough to understand when she needed the help of those who were more skilled in this bizarre situation. 

“I have seen traditional ships with two hulls… Something like this. If we could somehow attach rowboats to one another and make a mast for a sail, would it make them able to sail far enough to reach another island?” Celestine took a little twig and drew a simple picture of the type of vessel she was referring to. She was talking about a double hulled canoe. “The next island is about… 38, 39 nautical miles away. There are a lot of strong currents around this island. Personally I wouldn’t recommend testing the water with something as small as those boats, but…” If we have no other choice, it might be what we, or someone brave enough, has to do. 

“Would think that if there was another group, there would have been some signs of a fight… “ Celestine quieted down. Considering that most prisoners acted like wild animals, those signs would soon be lost in a mess caused by the convicts. Either way, she agreed with Delmar’s view on the matter. If there had been some kind of coup, they would have had to notice it one way or another. If all guards were taken against their will, then where were the people who did it?

“What’s in that book?” The vulpeculan asked and pointed at the logbook Delmar had. Meanwhile Ingaril took two paper cups and poured a good portion of hot coffee to both men. ^Careful with them. The cups are wobbly and hot.^ 

Lucas opened his mouth… and again got offended glares from the people around him. ^Didn’t your mother teach you any manners, young man?^ Inga asked with a sharpness in her voice.

^You think you are a god’s gift yourself to all women?!^ The fat cat almost hissed. ^This isn’t some beauty contest and you aren’t here to judge the looks of others. You can’t even see a thing with those human eyes of yours! You think anyone is going to look twice at you when you get old and wrinkly, huh?!^ The cat started to sound like she was picking a fight with the redhead. She had been in a bad mood because her back hurt and Lucas triggered her.

“It’s not polite to stare when a lady undresses.” Even less to make such a lowly remark, Celestine thought, but she wanted to try to calm down the situation. “Perhaps next time you will consider what you say before you say it, won’t you?”

No one offered Delmar a key despite seeing him tinker with his collar. It was likely because no one had it. Otherwise they would be without their collars too.

[Gardsorm]

"I'd hate to think what it took coming from outside the island to chase off everyone on it, if that was the case... I suppose if they were attacked, we would have heard alarms even before the trouble started at midnight. So we're back to this being done intentionally" Lucas disliked being in a situation where he was denied any sort of information and had to rely on guesswork to try and make it through. Delmar and Celestine were in the same boat, each trying to come up with reasons and rationales in the moment, as well as attempting to brainstorm ways of weathering their current circumstances. Del's remark of them having ghosts made him sort quietly. Their world was no stranger to the unusual, maybe something truly unsettling did happen that science and logic couldn't explain...

But no, talk like that was something no one wanted to hear.

"If someone wanted to make a game of our struggle for survival, booby-trapping important things like that is a sure way of catching someone. You won't get as much misery just hiding the device as you would leaving it for people to think theyve found a way to save themselves, only for it to be the furthest thing from the truth. It's sick, but... Some people have just forgotten their humanity in their pursuit for joy." That was, assuming all of this was just some elaborate game. It was just one more for the pile of guesswork they had to deal with, and no way around it. He wasn't even going to consider escaping at this point, however, he had things to do here in the meantime. The others were the ones who needed to worry about fleeing the vicinity of the island.

He reached for the cup of coffee from Ingaril, speaking a word of thanks before he set the coffee down... Just in time to catch the storm of trouble he invited with his words. "Well, she did, but..." No, there was no excuse for it. Just because he was considered a derelict of civilization now, and just because he was in solitary all of that time, it didn't mean he didn't have to be rid of what made him a decent person. No, if anything, he willingly threw all of it out after everything that led to his circumstances being here removed any reason for him to be a decent human being.

Lucas turned to look at the cat woman as she hissed her words at him, to which he sighed and hung his head. Back in a situation like this once more, with the same woman nonetheless. "Miss, I am not even sure I'll survive a week or two from now, I have no illusions about being able to reach the age where I'll look like that. If I did reach that point though, I would sooner die alone. Others can find the person who makes them happy no matter their age, but people like that don't exist for me. Instead of worrying about the words of a man you'll never see again, you should be thinking about finding the person that makes you happy for who you are, and hold onto them as long as you can. You'll never know when you'll lose them, or to what circumstances that will push you beyond a point of no return and-" Lucas suddenly caught himself, realizing the story hd was trying to recount, before he clicked his teeth and looked back to his cup of coffee.

He looked to Celestine, a sigh escaping his lips. "It isn't, no... I apologize for my rude and uncouth behavior. I should not have been looking in the first place, let alone spoken a word about what I saw. I will endeavor to not let it happen again." He finished, reaching to grab the cup of coffee and taking a sip irregardless of the hot feeling. Looking to Del, he nodded. "Just let me know when you want to swap places. Don't take the whole night yourself."

[AsBloodTurnsEverCold]

"That could work, best we do that and hope no one tries to just row out to sea before we get the chance." pointing at Celestine in approval at that idea but it was for later. They could take care of it before they left too but for now? It wasn't feasible. He nodded "48 Nautical miles? Translate please?" he wondered. That didn't sound that far actually but who knew what the next landmass contained or how under watch it was. There were so many thoughts, so many theories they could latch onto but it didn't amount to anything until they figured out answers. There was no happy guess they could make. It was simply hell they were stuck in but if they could hold onto any hope? They had to.

He looked at Celestine as she asked about the binder in his hands "Logbook." he told her "New employee arrivals, equipment, stuff like that. No details on who they brought over but it looks like everything had been pretty steady until recently. Its why I'm pretty sure they were planning this for a bit...few months at least. I'm also pretty sure that there is land nearby because of it. That frequency would be insane long distance."  he would hand it to her if she wanted to look it over. He figured that maybe she'd have a new theory if she was curious. He only had a guess but he at least knew that there was stuff to find. They had left something somewhere...wherever these people went. He took the cup gently "Thanks."

and then, once again, Lucas was in the hot seat.

Del just let it ride as he sipped at the hot drink. He couldn't help but laugh a little bit at the situation "I think they like you." he chuckled and waved his hand even as Lucas got ready to fight back. Poor guy but Del understood it. He nod his head "Lay off the poor guy. He's a bit rude but frankly so are the rest of you." he said "Poor guys been in solitary for god knows how long with is a curse most of you have avoided, and you all seem to be chomping at the bit to gang up on him. You're all old enough to have some understanding." besides....no one wanted to see that. Del just knew not to say it out loud. Lucas did clearly have more going on in his head.

He continued to take sips "Besides if you're gonna undress in public, you're gonna get looks unless you're just saying I can pull Ol' Ares out of my pants and you wouldn't have a single thought." but Celestine moved to calm the situation and Lucas apologized.
"All's well that ends well." of course they could start on Del but he didn't really care. He stood up, stretched and took a look around to find the best place to set up for watch.

"I'll try not to!" taking his tools and going off to sit and watch and try to unlock the collars. He didn't really worry about the keys but if the collars didn't require specific magic he was pretty sure he could get them open without a key with enough time.


 

Edited August 31 by AsBloodTurnsEverCold

[Kissa Deactivated]

Celestine didn’t understand what the point of a survival game of some sort would be. No one could see it. Would there be people betting and after some time someone would come to see who was still standing? It all sounded surreal! 

“It’s approximately 55 miles.” The vulpeculan said after some thinking, counting the number in her head. “Could I have a look? I might not find any more than you have already, but it won’t hurt to have more eyes to look it through.” Celestine thanked after Delmar handed her the logbook. 

Lucas received some confused looks when he started talking with such passion. Clearly some of them thought it was just random rambling with no real meaning behind his words, but Celestine understood what the man was trying to say, or thought so, and she wasn’t the only one.  

They barely knew one another, yet Delmar stood up for Lucas. It gave Celes hope that they weren’t rotten to the core. “We are all rattled by what has happened tonight. I’m sure we are all reacting before thinking and saying things we wouldn’t say otherwise.” The cat lady huffed and turned her back at the others, like a sulking child. It was pointless to wait for anything resembling an apology from her. 

^Well said, Delmar. We are older and we should set an example. Not just reprimand those who make some mistakes. After all, you two have been a big help to us this whole time.^ Inga welcomed peace. Arguing over silly things between themselves would get them nowhere. 

“Please, could everyone stick to taking things out in the dark…” Celestine mumbled it so quietly there was a good chance it wasn’t even meant to be heard by others. 

Celestine stayed by the fire, reading the logbook and trying to get something out of the entries. Am I stupid? There is definitely an increase in visits on the island, but why? What were they doing? Who would know the answer to that question? The head warden? She sighed as she stood up and walked to return the logbook to Delmar. Why were all answers in the prison? They wouldn’t survive even one whole day there.

In less than an hour the amount of people sleeping had increased. Celestine was with the late night swimmers. She wasn’t going to get naked and because of her back she couldn’t even go in the sea water, but the vulpeculan had taken her shoes and socks off, rolled her pant sleeves to her knees so she could walk in the water. 

Delmar might figure out that the collar couldn’t be opened without the key meant for it. The key for the collars wasn’t just a normal key, there was a hint of magic forced into it. The prison had its fair portion of people who could open locks, so the collars were unreliable if they could have been picked with a bobby pin or something similar. For now they were stuck wearing the collars like dogs. 

Their watch could hear them before he would see lights. There were two cars, approaching them along the same road they had used to come here. 

[Gardsorm]

"You and I must have very different descriptions of likeness. I haven't needed to be on good footing with women for years now, and now that I'm out here, I'm having troubles with the mature crowd. I know they're troubles of my own making, though... I'm not speaking with people I'm used to working with anymore." Lucas rolled his eyes as Delmar poked a little fun at his expense. Hardly a bad thing in his eyes, Lucas felt like the sense of levity was far more welcome than the hostility, even if it came at his expense. In his younger years, he would have had a thing for older women due to their sense of maturity and years of experience. Perhaps even Celestine might have counted for that because of her noble upbringing making her act like them... But those were foolish youthful notions that disappeared into adulthood. Plus he felt like he would have been verbally torn apart for entirely different reasons if he still has those aspects.

"I appreciate the kind words, Del, but they have the right of it. I've been called out for carelessly speaking once already, I should have been more vigilant to keep it from happening a second time. They reserve the right to express themselves as they wish, and it's been years since they've had the ability to do so. I shouldn't be poking fun at that." the redhead nodded, taking another sip from his coffee before he returned to his meal. He was relieved when Del, Celestine, and Ingaril all moved toward welcoming a peaceful resolution instead of letting angry grip the moment, affording him plenty of time to finish his meal and drink... Truly the best of anything he had since coming to this island.

As the time rolled on, Lucas picked a space to consider his own, hands behind his head as he looked up into the night sky for the first time without needing to worry about anything else... Well, okay, that wasn't quite true. Del was keeping watch for the night, and Celestine was down toward the water staying with the most energetic people who didn't want to sleep yet. He looked down for a few moments, before he sighed and sat up. He was still only human, unfortunately, and that meant humans needed to answer to the calls of nature. He stood up a moment later, approaching Del before he waved.

"Gotta step away for a bit to use the bushes, Incase anyone asks where I went. I'll be back as soon as the tank is empty." He was about to walk off, before he caught the approaching lights. His eyes narrowed before he turned to Del and pointed. "Del... Company. Get Celestine and wake up everyone to hide. We can't let them make off with any supplies on the bus either." He spoke, turning to head toward some of the sleeping people, trying to nudge them away one by one. He hoped they weren't heavy sleepers, or he was going to have to pick them up and haul them off...

[AsBloodTurnsEverCold]

"Well this would usually be the part where you run out and buy a rose." he teased a little bit more.

Ah well, an odd group as this was there was bound to be some issues but at long as they worked to move past them rather than fighting they could still function. Del was glad glad that they agreed and everyone would go to sleep while he took first watch. He moved to the bus to keep an eye on the road, high enough vantage point. The collar was a bust. It looked like the anti-magic collars required the key. Ironic for anti-magic devices to need magic. Well they were stuck with them for a little while longer...oh well.

He just sat by and watched, trying to make sure nothing went down though eventually he was flagged down by Lucas telling him he had some stuff to take care of. He didn't say anything to that just giving him a thumb up. It looked like it was going to be a perfectly still night until. Lights....well fuck. He moved back. One could only hope they'd keep driving but just in case. He'd clap his hands only loud enough that the sleepers might notice and awaken.

"Get your asses up, we got company! Hide.." shaking them away and directing them to go hide either near the shed or in the office which was closest. Hopefully they would have to fight.

Edited August 31 by AsBloodTurnsEverCold

[Kissa Deactivated]

The people Delmar was trying to get up and on the move were slow. It was like watching a slow motion film. Celestine understood the situation quickly and slipped her sneakers back on before hurrying to help in hiding all the old people. She wished she was stronger so she could actually carry people. Her ears could hear the cars now too. Oh sweet goddess… Show your mercy on us, the vulpeculan prayed in her thoughts. 

Just barely they managed to help or shove the people behind the shed, the closest trees and bushes. Everything they had hauled out of the office and shed around the campfire and near the water were still lying there. Celestine was breathing fast as she ran away from the office when the cars stopped behind the bus. The road didn’t split near the beach anywhere, so there had been only one place where these people could have been heading.

If she was the type to act familiarly with almost strangers, she would have taken either Lucas’ or Delmar’s hand as the situation scared her so it felt like her heart was about to climb out of her chest through her throat. Instead the fox squeezed the edge of her sleeve inside her small fist, her ears down showing well enough her mood. 

Three tall reptilian men stepped out of the front car and three canine men from the second car. They had come here for the boats that didn’t exist. The group noticed the three quickly against the light behind them, drawing silhouettes of the trio out. 

^What do we have here? Where are the boats?!^ The scar faced reptilian asked, coming closer with long strides. 

^You guys got quite a ride for just three of you…^ A dark haired fox man remarked after eyeing the bus. They could already see him going through the belonging on the beach with his gaze.

These people were armed with batons and stun batons. Two of them had pieces of riot gear. The lizard who spoke to them first had a helmet and chest protection on, while the dark fox had just chest and shoulder protection. 

^Where are the rest of you people?^ The vulpeculan asked.

[Gardsorm]

"We did all we could... It's just us now." Lucas spoke as he looked to Delmar and Celestine. He didn't have any faith in the fox's ability to defend herself, but he knew that Delmar looked like he was going to be able to hold his own. The only issue now was how many were coming in the vehicles... Knowing his luck, this wasn't going to end peacefully, but he hoped that Delmar still had the fork item he took from the shed earlier... If not on his person, then nearby. He flashed his sleeve to Del and Celestine, revealing the shiv he had before he hid it once more.

Lucas stepped just slightly Infront of Celestine, both to put her behind them just slightly, and to get a better look at the vehicle's occupants when they began to step out. One, two, three... Six. Just like he expected, his luck wasn't going to make this end peacefully. 

"Unfortunately, they were all gone by the time we got here. We decided to just kill time on the beach since it was better than hanging around the prison." Lucas shrugged his shoulders, before he looked at the bus. "Well, you know what they say: Big bus, big... Plans. A bus would make it much easier to pick up any off knickknacks we come across before we find someplace nice and quiet to bunker down."  he insisted as he looked toward the bus, not missing the eye that seemed to be appraising the valuables. He had a plan to potentially draw them closer... But he knew Celestine was going to hate him if he went for it. First he needed to see what Delmar was planning, then figure out how they were going to divvy up what happened next.

"What about you six? What brings you to this part of the island?" 

[AsBloodTurnsEverCold]

Delmar looked to Lucas "Not exactly favorable odds." and Celestine didn't move fast enough to hide. This was a bad situation like no other. Three from one car. Three from another. Six total but none of them armed with anything that looked particularly fatal. Batons and stun batons. They had sparse armor but that would still make things difficult when they were already outnumbered. Delmar did have to guess however that of everyone there he might have been the best fighter...but a group was a group.

Delmar made sure to put himself in front of Celestine with Lucas. It really was just those two. He let Lucas do the speaking initially as they had their questions. He hoped the old timers were smart enough not to come out. He nodded "Hey, the guards are gone now so why not enjoy the sights?" he said giving them a small smile. Two men and a beautiful woman? Nothing suspicious.

He nodded his head to Lucas "Yeah. Why not take something that can do some hauling and that you can sleep in right?" plans? They might have to lure them over to the water. Gear would slow them down if it got wet. Not much environment to use but they might have to split them up and use what little they did know. Chaos would be their friend....last thing they wanted was to get all of them in one places but he had no idea how well Lucas could fight.

He hoped that they would just get going.