Some Don’t Get Far [ACTIVE//CLOSED]

[loopmein]

Characters: Odd Thomas, Zidane Tribal.
Content: Being the designated driver (and by “driver” read as That Guy who overseas the local drunks back to their home to ensure they don’t get ambushed by crabs), Odd’s got himself into a bit of a tangle. One which involves the internal drama between Zidane and Garnet. Fun times.
Location: From Madison St.

Comments

[loopmein]

Most people viewed Odd as being either extremely gutsy, or extremely stupid. It wouldn’t have been the first time he went on outdoor excursions devoid of any kind of weapon. Some have witnessed firsthand that, while Odd wasn’t a born fighter, he did what he could to survive. This included having to get all kinds of creative when in pinches and crunches when he didn’t like guns, and he didn’t like weapons.

He also didn’t like doing something knowing he was going into a fight. He preferred a pleasant conversation over lunch than an epic shootout. Unfortunately, sometimes fate had different ideas for him. Still, though he brought nothing much other than the clothes he had on him, Odd was far from defenseless. He was at least a fairly fast runner.

Either way, it was always a more comforting thought knowing that he wasn’t going to be going out facing these troubles alone. Zidane seemed competent and like that type of guy who knew what to do in a fight. Safety in numbers...

“Yeah, let’s go.” Odd started walking on ahead of Zidane. As he started, he drew his hands from his pockets, pulling out a pair of winter gloves along with them and slipping them on. While not one hundred percent prepared for battle, he at least knew the importance of keeping himself bundled up for the conditions.

With that, he walked on down Madison, which most of the trip would consist of. Madison and Park Avenue. Approximately a half hour walk, assuming they weren’t forced to make any side trips or running dashes for their lives.

“So how long have you been here?” Odd wondered, deciding that, while the trip would be long, he might as well pick up some kind of conversation along the way.

[theherotail]

((One day I'm going to stop failing you :| ))

How long had he been there... that's a question he heard a lot. Asked others it, too. It was one of the easiest ways to know how a person was fairing in the city, whether or not they were new and confused, or had gotten use to how things worked over time.

Zidane laughed. Given his situation, he probably shouldn't. But he couldn't help it. "I'd say it's been too long. But others have been longer, right? Yeah... I guess. Poor guys. Although I kind of like it here, anyway." He shrugged, then realized he should probably give Odd a better answer than that. "It's been about half a year, I think. Give or take. I haven't gotten into marking a calender or anything."

Although maybe he should. Put an 'X' on the days he survived so far, circle the days that went missing. There's been a few of those, if he remembered correctly. The 'day after' those were ten times worse than a day after getting drunk, that was for sure.

[loopmein]

Odd nodded. He hadn’t really taken much consideration how long he had been in Manhattan, either. It seemed like forever and a day ago when he first woke up on a park bench, somewhere along the streets of this deserted city. Destroyed as it had been even back then, it didn’t compare to the way it was now. At least back then the cathedral had been somewhat in tact, with no holes wrought by the Mama Grande or some psycho throwing a car through the stained glass windows.

Briefly he glanced over his shoulder. Each time he left the cathedral, Odd felt like he was leaving a piece of him behind. Strange feeling, that was, how attached he had been to the place. Moreover, how fond he had grown of the people that dwelled inside of it.

It was a mutual need, really. Something that had bloomed over the time since Odd arrived here. Something that he couldn’t quite explain.

Maybe it was that feeling of being useful. Odd needed that. Strived off of it. Lived it. That was his purpose in life.

Being useful. Helping people. The living needed him as much as the dead. And there were still so many things he hadn’t quite brought behind him just yet. Helping Garnet, maybe helping Zidane... but that need lied mostly with Garnet. If he needed to look after Zidane to help her, too, then maybe that’s what he needed to do.

She said he was her soul mate.

Just like Stormy had been his.

“Never really thought much of keeping a calendar for some reason. Guess I never really wanted to think of how much time had past since I’ve been away from home.” Come to think of it, how long had it been again? Four? Five years? How much time he had lost in between that? “Although with the missing days, I’ve been considering it. Better yet, maybe start getting surveillance.”

God knows what was happening to them while they were missing those days. The stories that began spreading didn’t sound in any way promising, either.

[theherotail]

Zidane hardly wanted to admit to needing help, especially since he didn't quite know what kind of help he needed. One mess after another that simply wouldn't go away, and he should have planned, really. From the moment he found out 'it could happen' he should have been thinking about what to do if it happened.

Although to defend himself a bit (from himself), he didn't think he'd be in this much trouble. Where he got that idea? That was still up in the air. Probably made himself forget about it.

Wonderful, Zidane, just wonderful.

"Surveillance?" he asked, glancing at Odd with a mix of interest and confusion. "Like getting someone to stand guard? Doesn't sound very useful... unless you're the sort that needs that." But he didn't think Odd was that type, and there were plenty of people living in the cathedral.

But while Zidane had been living in Manhattan for awhile now, he still didn't quite understand some Earth technology, like video cameras and that sort... One day he might catch on and think of it as the most awesome thing, but for now he was just confused.

[loopmein]

For a moment Odd just kind of gave Zidane a look. For someone who had been around as long as he has, you’d think that he’d be a little familiar with the technology. Garnet already learned a lot from the short span that she had arrived; computers and the like. Maybe someone hadn’t bothered to show or Zidane yet.

Well Odd, for one, had no qualms with explaining things.

“No, not really. People lose time when they fall asleep, anyway. When we lost that Thursday last November, I’d been outside walking, completely conscious. Next thing I knew, I was on a park bench with a killer migraine.” He shook his head. “I don’t think relying on people to keep watch is going to help.”

Come to think of it, his wristwatch had gone dead that time, too. Odd had started to wonder if maybe electronics went out during those missing days as well. Didn’t seem entirely inconceivable. It also didn’t hurt to at least try and make some effort.

“I’m thinking hidden cameras. Kinds that maybe people can put in the walls. If we have some on the roads in this city, maybe we can see who’s writing all the graffiti, and then we can figure out who’s taking the people who’re disappearing. I’ve wondered if they’re related. Some of the graffiti left behind have been far too cryptic to be coincidence...”

Odd bit down and stopped himself before he started to sound too much like a conspiracy theorist to someone he barely knew.

[theherotail]

Computers he could do - even after he nearly destroyed the first few he touched. While he was normally the one to adapt better to new situations, Dagger could sometimes do it more... smoothly. He thought of how she learned new magic spells, something he could never understand. He would try the simplest spell, but it just wasn't meant for him, really. More Kuja's talent.

He tilted his head to the side, thinking back to seeing old, raggedy signs advertising 'cameras'. He just went with the idea that they could somehow help the problem, and gave a small nod.

If a device like that could help their problems, he was interested, sure enough.

"I had a friend that went missing once. Ended up across city with no idea where he was or what happened." Although, at the time, they weren't actually friends yet. Zidane was just helping someone in need. He looked at Odd again. "It happened to someone else too..." Sara. Gods it happened to Sara...

His fists clenched at his sides and he grit his teeth. "I'd like to know who the hell is messing with us." They'd be answering to his fists, that was for sure.

[loopmein]

Odd was no hacker, but he knew his way around computers well enough. Usually he just avoided them, using the internet for what it was worth, research. Most of the time, though, Odd considered himself old fashioned, even for his age. He appreciated books over television, although enjoyed the occasional action and horror flick. His style of dress was simple and his appearance was always nothing short of unremarkable. Before Manhattan, he never carried credit or debit cards; always cash.

A man’s simple life; it was all he wanted. At least, as simple as you could get when you’re born with a blessing/curse to see dead people, along with some psychic abilities that came along with the package. Simple and sweet were nice, welcome things. Yet somehow, the more he strived for simplicity, the more complicated his life became.

People going missing. Monsters. Psychics and maniacs. This city was like insanity’s paradise.

“Hmm... I suppose that whoever’s taken those people, they’re doing something. Tests, maybe.” He glanced at Zidane when he mentioned something about his friend being one of those taken. “Have you had them checked out? Your friends, I mean, to see if no lasting harm was brought to them. Last I knew, we still had some doctors in the city. It might not help us figure out who’s doing it to them, but it’d at least be a good idea to try and figure out what’s being done.”

He mused. It didn’t sound like such a bad idea. For all they knew, anything could have happened to those people. It was better to be safe than sorry.

[theherotail]

He remembered Vyers being overly weak; so much that he needed extra support from Zidane. That was... a long time ago now, wasn't it? He remembered the markings on Sara's arms - recent enough. He didn't think she had any... lasting damage. God, she'd tell him if she did, right? ...maybe not. She could be as stubborn as him, sometimes.

He frowned in thought, folding his arms as they continued down the dark road, distantly thinking he should be paying more attention to their surroundings instead of sinking into deep into his mind but... both things were important. Crabs were simple. Disappearances weren't.

"They're alright now," he answered with near-certainty. Vyers had at least been healed back when he got crab bitten. Sara... had been living in the same hotel as Sora at the time (and still did), so she probably had been healed, too. "But I think since it's been occurring more lately, we're sort of expecting it... as bad as that seems. We can pay more attention to the reappearances now instead of just brushing it off with confusion... even if we can't figure out why people are vanishing."

[loopmein]

The mystery disappearances hadn’t really affected Odd. He heard about them here and there over the network, but none of them were people that he knew. Still, there wasn’t any reason to sit back and let it happen, considering that it probably wouldn’t be long before people he did not started dropping off the face of the map.

Odd didn’t want to think about Lilia being taken from her room. Or Kaylee disappearing, or Harry, or Sunderland... None of them deserved that. He had promised that he would protect, not sit by and let these things happen.

“Suppose we should at least try reinforcing our homes. Been thinking of doing some of that to the cathedral, anyway, so people can’t just come in so easily. Don’t need any more cars flying through our windows.”

St. Patrick’s Cathedral had become something of a halfway house for some people; it was open to anybody. However, they didn’t need a repeat of the incident with Birdman anytime soon. Odd figured that, long as people were invited, it would be open to anybody who needed a place.