At World's End ...

[elari_brooks]

(ooc: A warning... this may get long RP-wise. This is a major plot point that actually happened in our girls' past. We've never played it out before and this is our chance. As you saw from the zoo thread.. 2 people.. can RP ALOT. :) Oz or Tin Man muses feel free to jump in.. but this is set in the Zone, what we call Celcia, in the mid-2350's. Far

Comments

[a_shared_soul]

Trey watched in shock - not to mention the slightest twinge of disgust - as El ate the greasy snack. "The second sun isn't even up yet." He made a face and shuddered before glancing back over his shoulder.

"Oh, and we lost her." A few yards back, Dree had stopped to examine the contents of a table, set up outside one of the old junk shops. Trey pulled El's arm. "Forget the dog, we need a leash for her," he teased.

[heartof_thezone]

Dree had to stop out of habit. Every time she found herself passing a second-hand store, regardless of her task - okay, it happened with old book stores, too - she had to go inside.

Trey and El always called it one of her odd 'quirks', while she called it memories. Every now and then, she'd found something familiar, but not often.

[elari_brooks]

El gave Trey a look and moved the stick closer to his face with a grin, "I was hungry. Someone wanted to be out of the house before I could get breakfast. This will suffice."

She turned when Trey stopped and noticed Dree was no longer with them. She chuckled and gave a little piece of her meat to Charlie. "Shhh, don't tell."

She jogged the little ways back to where Dree stood. "What'd you find?"

[heartof_thezone]

Dree's fingers were running over a rusted metal case when El's shoulder nudged her own back into the present. "Huh? Oh," she said, shaking the fuzz away. "Nothing," she said with a smile as Trey moved up and tried to push between them.

Her finger tapped the object and she looked up. "I remember when these were new."

[heartof_thezone]

Dree didn't know how long it had been since she'd closed her eyes. She jumped slightly, at the feeling of warm breath on her cheek. "Charlie, stop," she mumbled.

She winced as she rolled slightly, reaching for a better grasp on Harry's hand. "Harry.." She frowned and shifted again, trying to get closer. "Harry.. don't.." Her eyes closed and her chin dropped to her chest.

"Oh.. Harry.." she said, tears starting to fall.

[elari_brooks]

El limped over to the nearest rescue worker. "Please get her out of there. I want her here with me." She shook her headm "I don't care what she says."

She pushed the button on the radio. "D... please, I need you up here. We need you up here." They're all gone.

[heartof_thezone]

"He's gone," came a quiet reply.

[elari_brooks]

"I'm so sorry, honey."

El looked over as Trey was walking back, "Trey!" She handed him the radio. "She just said that Harry is gone. You've got to get her out of there."

[heartof_thezone]

Dree opened her eyes and immediately closed them again, seeing the bright light

[elari_brooks]

El hobbled over to where Trey was sitting. One of the Council doctors had just finished putting a proper cast on her leg. She sat, her leg straight out, and asked, "any news?" She leaned against his shoulder, "how bad is it, Trey? I heard some of the doctors talking. They say the entire planet was wracked with quakes. There are scores of dead and wounded." She turned and leaned her forehead against her husband's shoulder, "why would the entire planet just... crumble like this?"

She thought about their own apartment. For all she knew they had nothing left. They had been so happy and carefree when they'd left home that morning. She entwined her fingers with his. "What's going to happen now?"

[a_shared_soul]

Trey pulled El closer and leaned back, making it more comfortable for both of them on the bench seat. "Same thing we do every time a hurricane hit, back home." He held El's cheek and gave her a smile. "We rebuild. We keep going."

He let out a sigh and closed his eyes, his own pain medication starting to wear off. "They won't let me see the charts. Screw the local guy with the degree in this crap." He huffed and waved toward a group across the way. "The professionals are on top of things."

He pulled El closer and kissed her head. "We'll worry about the planet later," he said, knowing that neither of them were going to be thinking of much else. He glanced down as El's hand found his and he held her closer.

"We're gonna wait until Chapel comes out here and tells us Aud's good as new and throwing chocolate pudding because she wanted vanilla."

[elari_brooks]

El leaned into the comforting feel of Trey's hold and started laughing when he joked about Dree and her vanilla pudding. Her laughter, soon became uncontrollable sobbing as it all just finally hit her.

Central City was in ruins, the royal family was dead, she'd been so close to pulling little Della to safety when she was pushed or pulled away, they've lost their Mystic Man. From all she'd heard the planet was devastated. Her wife was probably dead at this moment. She suspected that was the only way her body would heal. But dead was dead and El mourned everytime as if it were the final time.

She felt Trey tighten his hold as she cried against him. She felt him tense and straighten and looked up to see a very tired Chapel standing in the doorway. She wiped her tears and waited to hear what her dear friend had to say.

[a_shared_soul]

Trey watched through the door as Dree continued to push herself past even her limits, working with the therapists to get her legs working again. It didn't take a genius to see how much pain she was in, but arguing with her was only pissing her off more.

She'd already banned him to the hallway, and it was easier to keep an eye out for El, who had gone out to get an update on the damage. The muffled cries from the other side of the door got his attention and Trey stiffened as the orderlies helped pull Dree back up to a standing position.

"Damnit, Aud," he cursed under his breath. She was going to do more damage trying to recover than the initial injury caused, at this rate.

[elari_brooks]

She stopped at the door and waited until one of the Tin Men standing guard opened it for her. The hospital was one of the few places in Central that was miraculously spared heavy damage and it was being guarded tightly. With no government chaos was overtaking the immediate shock. Longcoats have been making raids on any building operating with power. The news she'd received from the Captain was not good. The only reason he gave it to her was that Dree was the closest thing to a government official they had at the moment. She assumed he was hoping D would immediately take charge. El had laughed in his face. She told him that he'd better start searching for any other officials who hadn't abandoned their posts and took off for parts unknown

[a_shared_soul]

He couldn't help but laugh at the news. "How do you figure that?" As long as he'd known her, she'd never held any position of power. She'd gone to a hell of a lot of meetings, but other than long hours with Harry, she was just a librarian.

Trey took the opportunity to hold El - best as he could with one arm still in a sling - and kissed her temple. "I don't know, hon. But, whatever we do," he said, leaning back slightly to hold her face, "we do it together."

The sound of yelling made him smile slightly. "I'm not allowed in. Tread carefully." He kissed El's forehead and pulled away to open the door for her.

[heartof_thezone]

"Just let go!" Dree's knuckles were white, holding tight to the railing. She was breathing heavy and trying not to cry. The pain was excruciating, but she needed to get back to fighting form. She had to be able to walk and she had to get to the cave.

Without Harry, she was going to have to do even more to keep the witch contained. Her arm was shaking as the tears fell. She couldn't do it.

The witch was going to get out because she wasn't strong enough.