☀ 02

[hispalette]

[Action → The Highway (Saturday, 10:30pm)]

[the pilgrimage, if it could even be called that, had proven pointless. all it amounted to was sore feet all around, diminished supplies from an already piddly inventory, and an earful of screams that Red doesn't expect he'll forget any time soon. they weren't death rattles either, which was the worst

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Downtown

[godisachild]

[Oh hey, look. There's a fat, blue-skinned kid behind the same schoolbus. He just barely keeps himself from freaking out at the sight of Red. Holy God, you scared him so bad.

He looks at Red for a moment before nodding at the Diner. That's where he's headed, right?]

[hispalette]

[whirling on the person he bumps into when he scampers behind the bus, Red has to catch himself from burying the knife into Pokey's neck. shock gives way to relief, and when he follows the younger boy's gaze, he starts nodding eagerly.

tentatively, he peeks out over the side of the bus. there are taillights on the end of the street, moving away from them. he glances back at Pokey and points in the truck's direction.]

[godisachild]

[Pokey watches as the lights fade and pull away before peering around a bit more. He pauses for a moment, and then points out into the darkness. There's still a few cannibals. Stragglers, maybe. Meant to keep guard, or just a different group still hunting.

Still, the truck is gone, meaning their chance has improved pretty greatly. He just nods slowly a minute before holding up three fingers.

Count of three?]

[hispalette]

[he sees them in the dark, but their attention doesn't seem to be on them or the bus. that's good. if he and Pokey are quiet enough, they can slink over to the diner and enter via the blasted out window. it's too much of a risk to go through the door; the raiders might hear it open.

with one determined nod, Red tenses himself and slowly rises from his crouch to a position more suited for running.

one.]

[godisachild]

[Pokey pauses for a moment before getting up slowly himself. He tries to position himself in a position that'll let him get a good start for running, but he's...not the most athletic person, to put it nicely.

Still, he's getting ready. ...They can do this. It can't be that hard, right?

two]

[hispalette]

[not at all. but he does notice that Pokey looks rather winded, be it from terror or the physical strain of running this far to begin with, so Red places a hand on his arm. looking at him intently, he raises his third finger -

three.

- and then grabs the other boy and yanks him with him as he runs out from behind the bus and into the street.]

[godisachild]

[Pokey just barely struggles down a yelp as he gets pulled along. He wasn't expecting that, and his feet slide on the ground as he tries to keep up with Red's running. This...wasn't what he expected, but they can do this! They can make it! They're going to make it and they're-

And that's when Pokey trips, falling to the ground with a loud thud, barely human grunts coming from the cannibals' direction as they take note of the sound.]

[hispalette]

[Red has never uttered a curse word in his short life, but it looks like that might change.

his eyes widen before Pokey even hits the ground because he knows what's coming and is too slow to haul him to his feet. it sound be relatively muffled, but in this silence, it might as well have been a gunshot. and it sounds like the cannibals have taken notice, too.

ignoring the grunting, Red tries to lift Pokey up by tucking his hands underneath the other boy's armpits and hefting. they're so very close. they've got to make it, they just have to -]

[godisachild]

[Pokey's feet slip on the ground for a few precious seconds before finding bearing to help him to his feet. His teeth clamp down, grimacing hard. Dammit. Dammit. Goddammit. Yet again, he'd screwed up. And of course, this time he's gotten not just himself killed, but someone else. Great.

He could push Red and keep running. Sacrifice the other boy who just helped him in a probably vain attempt to get away. Hey. It could work.

That's what he would've done before Mayfield. What he would've done when he was still on route to becoming the Pig King. But just like that route had been subverted, so too had his usual actions.

He lets Red help him to his feet.

And then he bolts to the side, in a different direction. Bellowing.]

Hey! Hey idiots! C'mon you suckers! I bet you braindead dimwits couldn't catch me if you had rocket boots!

[One of Pokey's best skills is manipulating people. Another is annoying them. When working in conjunction, he is astoundingly deadly

[hispalette]

[...what the heck? are you stupid?!

technically, yes. logically, no. if anything, it's Red who's the dumb one here as he just stands in place, eyes wide and horrified when Pokey starts running off and away from him down the dark street. the cannibals that had only just started sniffing them out look up, and Red is sure that he hears a snarl or two as they take off after the smaller kid.]

What are you doing?!

[he surprised how angry he can sound even now, but his voice is a hoarse croak. none of the cannibals seem to notice him, and that's largely a good thing because self-preservation is kicking in. he hates himself for it, but he needs to run inside before the stragglers catch sight of him.]

[godisachild]

[Technically yes logically no is pretty much the story of Pokey's life. Most of the time. He just shoots a glare back at Red as he runs.]

What're you standing for idiot? Run.

[In a flat out attempt to run, Pokey's going to lose. But there's one thing Pokey has that the cannibals necessarily don't. He's been here for a year and a half now, and if there's anything he has a good understanding of? It's the layout of the place.

So he'll run, and hide, and play cat and mouse with them for a while, until he finally gets off the highway and back to town.]