Day 28: Bus 2

[hajike_tobiume]

Momo tugged on the collar of the light blue sweater she was wearing as she followed her nurse to wherever these buses were, winding her hair up into its customary bun as she went. It was an odd feeling, knowing she was about to go outside of the institute's borders. Maybe the Head Doctor was about to make an error and the shinigami, as well as

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[blacksustenance]

The problem with having a packed lunch for a change was that Brock had mowed through it within minutes of sitting down.

He was starving. After a real night's rest, combined with the symbiote's frantic efforts to go overtime on his body, his metabolism was shooting way off the charts now and all he could think of was food first, Parker next, and kicking Kasady's hick ass last. It didn't matter what kind of food was given to him or if he even liked it - Brock knew he'd eat anything and everything that was human food at this point because his body was so calorie starved right now it wasn't even funny. But he could at least walk without limping and he felt a lot more clear-headed and just better, aside from the fact that he was eyeing everyone else's lunches and debating swiping them when they weren't looking.

Pretty low, even for him. But hey, he was hungry and he'd have a better use for that then they would.

Brock still couldn't believe he was actually riding in a school bus. He hadn't been on one of this suckers since high school and his memories about them weren't great: brats surrounding you from all sides, yelling, screaming, giggling and the occasional spitball and wad of paper flying through the air, and you in the seat the whole time hoping you weren't going to be the unlucky one all that crap fell on. Unlike a certain Spider, he hadn't gotten super powers and that bus? The only way he had to get to school.

And now he was back on the Magic School bus, headed for some town with a bunch of fellow freaks, and wondering when he was going to get something to eat around here. Maybe he could swipe Parker's lunch; he didn't even need to act sneaky about that because anything that was Parker's, why, he'd just help himself.

Speaking of Parker: still no sign of him, Brock realized, glancing around, his stomach growling. No sign of Kasady either. Which brought him to another point; he found something that could give him an edge, the kind of cheap-kick-in-the-nads edge he was looking for, then he'd have to mount an attack tonight, while Kasady thought they were still down and out.

Brock sighed. Assuming there was anything he could use in this town in the first place. Actually, the sane thing to do would be to book it the hell out of here but he had the feeling he wouldn't get far, not weakened like this.

[beautyforhire]

Nadie may have survived her first night, but she still knew relatively little about Landel’s. Like, for starters, how’d she get back in her room? She distinctly remembered being in the Sun Room with Max in the others, fighting against that… thing. Ugh, this stupid asylum just kept getting weirder and weirder!

Because of that, the bounty hunter actually would’ve preferred staying indoors instead of going on this ‘trip’. Where exactly where they going, anyways? Well, at least she’d be able to change out of the gray clothes she had worn so far…

Heat wasn’t a problem for her, since she had spent a lot of time in Mexico. Cool weather, though, was another story. Thankfully, the red sweater, blue jeans, and brown boots she was wearing would be sure to keep her warm.

After being led outside, Nadie took in as much of her surroundings as she could before taking her ‘breakfast’ and stepping inside the bus. There was already a fair of people inside, most of which she hadn’t seen before. It didn’t seem like her roommate was here, either.

She hoped she was safe…

The bounty hunter then moved through the bus, eventually stopping next to a man with short blonde hair.

“Hi!” she said, giving him a small wave. “Is it okay if I sit with you?”

[blacksustenance]

Brock eyed her lunch. Goddamn it looked downright amazing right now.

"Knock yourself out," he said, sliding over in the seat. Under other circumstances, he would've been looking at the young woman - he could tell she was on the cute side - but at the moment his stomach was doing all the thinking for him. He supposed it could be worse though. He could always have been starving for that other kind of meat; having a craving for human food right now wasn't as bad as it could be. It beat staring at her forehead and thinking how delicious it'd be.

The blond wasn't surprised to find he didn't recognize this woman at all. Considering how many mutants and other assorted freaks Landels had been rounding out, it wasn't that much a stretch to believe that this woman was a newbie, another unlucky person taken from wherever and dumped in this joint.

[beautyforhire]

"Thanks." she offered a smile as she sat next to him.

The bounty hunter continued to remain observant, taking note of the other people that came into the bus. She had seen L.A. last night, but didn’t seem like he was in the same bus as her. While that was one less thing for her to worry about, it also meant that she wouldn’t have a way to keep an eye on him until they arrived at their destination, wherever it might be.

"I’m Nadie." she said, remaining friendly even to a total stranger. "Nice to meet you!”

[blacksustenance]

"Eddie," Brock said. He didn't extend his hand to shake, but he offered a smile to make up for it.

Maybe in another lifetime he would've been hitting on Nadie hardcore, but right now he was far, far more tempted by the bagged lunch with her. It took an effort to not just stare at it hungrily, he realized, keeping his eyes on her face. She wasn't exactly his type - a bit too exotic looking for his tastes - but she seemed approachable enough.

"Haven't seen you around before," he said after a moment. It wasn't the most original thing to say, but that wasn't the point - the point was to just keep himself distracted until he could get some real food around here, and Nadie seemed like she'd be up for some random conversation.

[beautyforhire]

"I've only been here since last night, that must be why." It was a given that Eddie had spent more time in Landel's than her. However, Nadie couldn't help but wonder just how long it had been since his own arrival. Days? Weeks? Months...?

Not exactly an encouraging thought to mull over so early in the morning. Well, maybe she'd learn more as the day rolled on. Speaking of which...

Even if she didn't have much of an appetite, Nadie split the muffin in half and started eating one of the pieces. Might as well eat something at least.

"Want some?" she said, holding out the other half to Eddie. "I'm not too hungry right now."

[blacksustenance]

And Brock liked Nadie already. He managed not to make a desperate grab at the offered muffin, to his credit, and took it instead with a smile.

"Thanks," he said. Taking a bite, he savored it for a moment. It wasn't the greatest muffin he'd ever had, but at this point it was food and that was a huge, huge selling point. He polished it off before speaking up again, his opinion of Nadie raised a few notches higher. "So did you find out the hard way about this place or you still in the dark?"

He didn't like holding newbie's hands, but since Nadie had given him some food, he supposed he could go through the whole run-down with her. He had to wonder if she had any special powers; the people he'd met so far had been a freak in some kind of way, whether it was a human Gumby like Luffy or a mind-reader like River.

[beautyforhire]

Wow, Eddie must've been really hungry to have eaten the muffin so quickly. Well at least they were off to a good start.

"My roommate told me what goes on here, and I've already seen what happens night." It was pretty hard to forget something like a giant wearing a funky helmet with one hell of a sword. "I'm still trying to fill in some of the blanks, though. Like..." she noticed that the bus was moving now.

"Where are we going?"

[blacksustenance]

Peering out the window, he could see they were definitely making some progress. There wasn't anything much to see aside from trees but after being stuck so long indoors, where the only thing you had to see was white and more white, trees and lots of them was almost a refreshing novelty. The forested mountain they were winding down in the buses had that quality that you only saw on calenders. Leaning back, Brock glanced aside at Nadie:

"Looks like we're starting the field trip," he said. "Last I heard, they're taking us to some town called Doyleton."

There didn't seem to be much of a point of getting too excited to Brock - it was just another carrot dangled before the patients and while it looks like it was a prime opportunity to make a break for it, he seriously doubted anyone would be successful if this weird "dampening" thing followed them from Landels to this mountain town.

[beautyforhire]

"Doyleton?" Though she traveled often and had visited many places, Nadie was unfamiliar with that name. Through the window, she looked at the trees as they passed by. So the Institute was located in the woods, eh?

It was a start, at least. Now all she needed to know was…

“What country are we in?”