Surviving...sort of (Scarlet, Garrett)

[Lovely]

Name: Garrett Caruthers Alias Age: Location: Boston, MA Played by: Tripp Likeness used: Nicolas Cage

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Name: Scarlet Devane Alias Lettie Age: 24 Location: Boston, MA Played by: Lovely Likeness used: Lily Aldridge

[Lovely]

June 30, 2007
1pm

Vi was huddled in the bathtub of her room, her father's pistol clutched in her hands, though those hands trembled slightly. Her eyes were wide and fixed on the door, the window at her back too far up for any of those things to reach. She had some food in a backpack, but not much...it wouldn't last her long. She'd either venture out for food and they would get her, or they'd come in and get her. Either way, she knew she was dead, she just hadn't stopped breathing yet.

Scarlet had some survival skills, if you could call an attitude a survival skill. She had a handgun and excellent aim, it was daytime and she felt minimally safe to venture out. Looting was on the agenda for the day and possibly finding somewhere safer to stay. Why couldn't there be a fortress next door? She eyed the house in front of her, it looked like it would be fairly easy to get into, so she took the chance of getting closer.

A few minutes later there was a crash as she went through one of the first floor windows, knocking make shift barricades out of the way and half falling over them in the process. "f*ck!" She didn't use that word often but it's not like anyone would hear her.. right?

Vi felt a slight vibration in the wall and her head snapped up, fixing on the door. Something had fallen downstairs...something big. Nothing else would have caused that kind of shaking. Standing up on shaky legs, she moved to the door, cracking it open and peering out to be sure the bedroom was empty before edging towards the hallway. As she made it to the top of the stairs, she spotted a form tumbling over the top of one of the barricades she'd put up.

Raising the gun she held, for the first time in her life she fired it...the bullet embedding itself in the expensive hardwood floor about two feet to the right of whatever had just broken into her house. Tears sliding down her cheeks, she raised the gun to fire again.

The shot being fired as she was righting herself, from a heap on the floor, made her jump and swear again. She glanced at the stairs and then dove to the left, scrambling to get into the kitchen before the girl shot at her again. The counters might provide cover and maybe she could get out a back door or something, the kitchen was a common place for those to be located. "Are you crazy?" She yelled at the strage girl who was shooting at her, it was mostly out of anger as she pulled her own gun out to defend herself.

Vi inched her way down the stairs, looking left into the kitchen...and froze when she saw the girl standing there with a gun in her hand. Ironically, it was the gun that had her shaking with relief.

"You...you're not..." She slid down until she was sitting on a step about halfway up the stairs, the gun resting on the tread above her, still in her hand, watching the girl closely. "Are you real?"

Scarlet made no move to lower her gun but didn't fire it either. she was on guard - that girl had already taken a shot at her. Trust was not automatically given but she was reasonable enough not to shoot a perfectly good person. "I'm real, at least as far as I know.. and No, I'm not crazy."

"I'm sorry, I thought...when I saw you, I thought you were one of them." There was an odd quality to the girl's voice as she spoke, something that was not quite right, but it was difficult to pinpoint exactly what. She wrapped her arms around herself, watching the woman who stood in her kitchen.

"There's nothing in there. Nothing left...it's all gone. Everything's gone."

"I'm glad you have bad aim." Scarlet replied with the barest of chuckles, not really amused because she'd be in a world of hurt if the bullet had hit her. "I came in here cause you shot at me, was hoping for a back door to get out."

"Yeah..." Vi rubbed a shaking hand over her face, nodding. "Um...there's a door but it's boarded up. They all are." She hadn't spoken to a real person, not since everything had started, and she found herself not wanting to let her go.

"Listen, if...if you go, can I go with you? Or...I mean you can stay here, if you want."

Scarlet lowered the gun slowly, still keeping her eye on the other girl, who seemed more shaken than she was. She glanced over her shoulder quickly to see that there was indeed a door and it was boarded up. Her gaze instantly went back to the other girl and to the gun, making sure there wasn't any move to raise it or fire again. "Right.. Not if I go, I'm definitely going." There was a soft sigh that might not be loud enough for the other girl to hear. "What's your name?"

"Violet." She stood, putting the gun carefully in her pocket. "Vi, usually." Moving slowly, she started down the stairs, watching Scarlet closely, then hesitated. "Ah...I have some food upstairs. It's not much but we can take it with us if you want."

Scarlet hadn't said she would take the girl with her, but she probably would bring her along. It wasn't like there were alot of people around to hang out with, Violet was another survivor and she seemed vunerable, that made Scarlet feel protective despite being shot at by the girl. "Yeah.. that would probably be a good idea."

"Okay." Vi nodded, heading for the stairs and hurrying up them. She was anxious to get out...to leave everything that reminded her of home behind. She'd gotten about three steps from the top when a crash sounded from one of the other downstairs rooms. Vi just continued on her way, acting as if she hadn't even heard it.

Violet didn't pay attention to the crashing sound that came from the other room but Scarlet heard it and her head snapped in the direction the sound came from. Her gun was in her hand again and she moved slowly and quietly toward the stairs, her eyes peeled for something to come out at her from the other room. It could be some of those freaks, they probably heard the shots being fired and were attracted to the noise.

Vi came running back out a few moments later, the backpack slung over her shoulder, but she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Scarlet standing there at the bottom of the stairs with her gun pointed towards the dining room.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Scarlet was focused on the doorway to the other room and when she heard Vio;et's voice on the stairs her hand shifted away from the grip of the gun and was held up in a 'stay back' signal. Her hand went back to the gun and a moment later she was swearing under her breath as she lowered the weapon slowly. "It's a friggin cat!" Her head turned toward Violet when she spoke and her face held an annoyed expression. She thought about shooting the cat just because, but she wasn't heartless and besides it would be a waste of ammo.

"A cat?" Vi frowned, vaguely confused. "You weren't going to shoot it, were you?" She didn't exactly want to go anywhere with the girl if she was some kind of psycho.

"What's your name, anyway?"

"I was when I thought it was one of those zombie freaks.. and who are you to talk missy? You took a shot at me!" Scarlet made an 'as if' face and even gave Violet the hand. There was an edge of teasing in her expression and her motions that showed she wasn't seriously upset at the question.

"Good point." Vi allowed, chuckling a bit as she nodded. "So...do you have a place? A safe place, I mean? And...you never told me your name."

"I'm looking for a safer one but I'm not sure if I'll make it to Fort Knox." Scarlet took a deep breath and ran her hand over the back of her neck. "My name is Scarlet."

"Oh." Vi couldn't help giggling. "Sorry, it's not...not that your name is funny or something. It's just that...you know, Scarlet and Violet? You have to admit that it's kind of funny.

"Funny? Okay if you say so.." The humor was lost on her at the moment, she'd probably get it later but had other things on her mind. "Sorry.. just distracted. You ready?" She asked and motioned the girl to come down the rest of the way. "I guess out the way I came in?"

"That's probably the only way back out." Vi agreed, looking in that direction. "Do you think it's safe to go out there?"

"Yeah, you did pretty good at closing yourself in here." She didn't say all of what she was thinking which was that Violet had trapped herself in this house. It was probably good that the girl wanted to go with her, she'd have a better chance at making it longer with Scarlet looking out for her. "I don't think it's safe to stay in here. Probably run out of food soon and then what will happen.. you know?"

"I know." Vi tugged nervously at the strap of the backpack she had over her shoulder. "I just...I didn't want to go out there on my own. Even in here, I kept thinking they were going to sneak up on me." Which was entirely too easy, considering.

"Well the one good thing in all of this.. insanity is that they aren't all that stealthy." Scarlet chuckled softly and shook her head, she kept the sadness at bay rather than let it take hold of her heart and drag her down. "..and hey.. you're not alone now, so.. let's go." She motioned for Vi to follow her and started to carefully climb over the pile of furniture and back out the window she'd come in.

"Scarlet...wait a second." She followed the girl out, climbing carefully and finally making it out onto the small lawn beside the house.

"Before we go, I have to tell you why I was...why it's such a big deal for me, being outside." She shuffled her feet a bit. "I'm...I can't hear, okay? I can't hear them sneaking up on me."

Scarlet turned once she'd taken a good look around to make sure nothing was lunging out at them. Her eyebrow arched up at what Violet told her, well that could be an issue.. "So.. totally deaf? You can't hear anything?" Damn she should have paid more attention in sign language classes at summer camp.

"Not most things, no." Vi shook her head. "I...I used to have a hearing aide but it always hurt so I stopped wearing it." It sounded so stupid now, so silly, since hearing had become so critically important, a survival skill. "I brought it, in the backpack, in case we find a place that has the right kind of batteries. But even with that my hearing's not great."

"Not great is better than none.. We'll see what we can find, in the meantime - stick close to me.. okay?" She didn't think Violet would just wander off but somehow saying that made her feel a little better. Scarlet sighed deeply and glanced around them again, the girl's lack of hearing made a safer place to stay all that more important.

"Okay." Like she was going to wander off on her own? No way, no how. "Listen...what kind of place are we looking for, anyway? Maybe if I knew more I'd know a place that could work? I've lived here my whole life."

"I don't know.. really.. I mean I do but.." Scarlet sighed heavily and let her gaze drop to the ground for a moment while she tried to gather her thoughts into something that would translate into understandable words for someone else. "Okay. I was thinking possibly a big house or even a small apartment building. Something that has room for storage but can be fortified. You know where we can get in and out but those freaks cant get in at us."

"Right." Vi nodded, thinking about that one. "Well...I mean there's a few big houses not far from here, in that Ravenswood development. The thing is I think those would be harder to fortify than an apartment building. And I like the idea of having more room if we run into anyone else." She still held out hope that there were more people out there.

"Hmm I think you might be right. An apartment building would have more doors and windows but we'd only have to secure one apartment at a time.. do you know what's the closest one.. or better yet a well located one.. kind of close to where all the stores and stuff used to be.. you know so we don't have to go as far for supplies?" Her eyes moved around the yard and she realized that they'd been standing in the open.. she didn't like that feeling. "Let's walk while you answer that."

"Yeah..." Vi turned with Scarlet as they walked along, staying carefully away of anywhere someone...or something, could pop out of. "There's one on Center Street that's pretty swanky. Balconies, that kind of thing. It's not too huge either, and it's close enough to the buildings nearby that I bet you could set up an escape route if you had to. You know, a way to get across and then pull it down behind you? It'd be scary that far up but...you know, beats the alternative."

Scarlet nodded her head, her teeth pulling at her lower lip as she thought over the suggestions Vi made, she wasn't sure she agreed about the escape routes. Such 'bridges' might also provide others a way to get into their sanctuary, it did warrant consideration though. She turned her face toward Vi with a slight grin and shrugged. "Guess we'll have to see what we discover when we get there."

"Yeah, if we get there." Vi said with an echoing shrug, her eyes scanning for any hint of movement. "It's at least a place to start, though. One of the buildings even has a supermarket on the bottom floor..."

"Wonder how much folks have looted it? Hey.. you ever been on a motorcycle?" It was quiet almost too quiet after the days and nights of chaos that followed the outbreak. Scarlet wasn't sure which was worse, screaming or silence.. Well at least Violet had been spared that, hearing people dying was something that would haunt Scarlet for the rest of her life.

"Um...once, a long time ago." Vi nodded. "I could probably hang on if you were the one driving." She didn't want to get left behind, after all.

"Well if we can find a couple, I think you should learn to ride. With the abandoned vehicles blocking or clogging up some roadways, bikes will probably be the best mode of transportation. That's if we can get gas too." Scarlet laughed softly, realizing that she was kind of rambling.

"Probably." Vi nodded, thoughtful...then froze in place, her eyes widening as she grabbed Scarlet's arm. "Did you see that?" She pointed ahead down the street. "The fourth or fifth house on the right, I thought I saw something by the corner of it. Something that moved." Her breathing had quickened, and without her even being aware of drawing it her gun was in her hand again.

"Okay." Scarlet saw that Violet had her gun in her hand already and she shook her head, as if to tell the other girl not to raise her weapon. If it was an infected there would have been some kind of noise to go with it or it would have come running out at them already. The things seemed to hone in on those who were not infected and didn't bother to try to hide. Still, one could never be too careful and she gently tugged at Vi to get her to crouch down behind a nearby car. She kept her eyes on the street and houses ahead of them... this street was actually pretty clear and so she also eyed the cars parked along the sides of it.

Vi nodded, understanding what Scarlet meant about the gun. She crouched with her behind the car, watching...and breathed a sigh of relief when the object of her fears came out into the open.

"Oh Scarlet, look, it's a dog!"

"Super.. I'm sure it will make great friends with the cat from earlier." Still she let out a sigh of relief that it had only been a dog.. a stupid damn dog! "On that note, I'm going to see if any of these cars have keys and gas or at least can be hotwired if they don't have keys."

"You know how to hotwire a car?" Vi wasn't sure if she should be impressed or worried. Well, then again she was carrying a gun as well, so she couldn't really judge. She tucked it back in her pocket, watching as the dog turned away from them and disappeared once more.

Walking along, she started testing car doors, peering into the few that opened to see if they had keys in them. After a few she found one, but backed away with a hand over her mouth.

"Uh, Scarlet? This one has the keys in it but um...it also appears to have the owner in there." And it was definitely not a pretty sight.

"Yes, I learned it at summer camp." Scarlet replied with an almost sweet smile before she moved off to check in car windows and test door handles. She'd just come across one that looked promising from the outside when she heard Vi's voice and the way it sounded disturbed. It took a moment for the words to fall in line of what Vi had actually said but by that time she was already moving toward the girl to pull her further away from what was likely a gruesome scene.

"I'm okay. Really." She swallowed, fighting to keep what little food was in her stomach down, and squared her shoulders as she turned her attention back to Scarlet. "Did you find anything?" She suddenly very much wanted to get out of there.

Obviously Violet was trying to be tough and Scarlet allowed her to do what she needed to, backing off a little but not too far. "Maybe, was about to check it out." She replied to the question of what she'd found and hooked her thumb over her shoulder at the grey sedan she'd been about to open up.

"Right, let's...go that way." Vi avoided looking back at the car as she headed over to the one Scarlet had found. This one looked...well, less occupied, which was a relief. It was unlocked, but there were no keys in the ignition.

"Wait a second, my mom used to..." She rummaged through the console, then reached under the seat...and grinned as she came up with a spare key. "I always told her it was an easy place." Remembering the last time she'd seen her mother, her smile faded a bit as she held out the key, her eyes avoiding Scarlet's.

"Great." She didn't say anything else noticing how Vi seemed to shift her eyes away now. Why would someone hide the spare inside the car? Maybe her logic wasn't like other people's, but she'd rather have the spare where she could get it if she was locked out. Oh well, not that it mattered - Violet found the key and the car had gas and hopefully would get them where they were planning to go.

Scarlet got in and locked the door, laughing at how silly it seemed when she clicked the seatbelt into it's slot. She shook her head and started the car, slowly pulling out and driving down the street. It seemed so weird to be driving, heck everything seemed weird now.

"Hey, another nice thing is we can pull right into the parking garage and go up the stairs that way. It has a gate so if we can get it working we'll have a secure spot for the car to be, or bikes if we can find them." It was weird, actually planning things. It was almost as if life wasn't over, after all.

She put her seat belt on as well, settling in, her eyes scanning the scenery around them as they drove.

"Parking garage?" The more Violet described, the more nervous it was making Scarlet, sure once it was all secure and set up it might be great but so many ways for infected to get in or for them to be hiding already. Two girls against all that? She prayed for some miracle that the place wouldn't already be an infected stronghold. "I think it might be best to go in the front.."

"Okay, sure." Vi nodded, not sure why Scarlet was freaking out. Then again, she didn't have much of a mind for strategies and such. "Oh! There it is, see? It's the gray one." The apartment building stood on the corner, with a surprising amount of clear space around it.

"You know right now I'm wishing I had kept a set of swat gear in my closet.. just in case. I had all those shoes I didn't really need but not an armoured vest." Scarlet sighed and eyed the building as the approached it. "I'm going to drive around the corner so we can take a peek around the outside from the safety of the car first."

"Yeah." Vi nodded in agreement, peering out the window as they started around the building. Everything seemed quiet, so at least that was a good sign for now...but then that could change really quickly.

"I wonder if it has a generator..."

"I hope we can find a way to run the generator if it does.. wonder if it's modern enough to have solar panels?" Scarlet mused as she slowly drove around from one side of the building to the next in a semi circle which allowed them to see more of what surrounded it. She reversed the car to park it in front and turned the key back to shut off the engine, she didn't seem in a hurry to open the door yet. Two pistols wasn't going to do much if.. that damn if!

"I almost wish we could just stay here." Vi said wistfully, eying the expanse of ground outside. So much room, so many places for something to happen. It was enough to have her heartbeat speeding up again.

"But we can't...we have to keep going." She was almost speaking to herself as she pushed the door open and stepped out of the car, closing the door carefully behind herself and hoping it hadn't made much noise.

"Keep going without a plan is not the best idea.." She was talking to herself as Vi was already out of the car and SCarlet just shook her head. Willingness to go on was a good thing but going off without thinking it through first was not good. Scarlet ran her hand over her face and started digging around the car for anything that might be of use. She found a flashlight, a scarf, and a tire iron pretty quickly and set them on the vacated seat next to her. She pulled the car key out of the ignition and tucked it into the pocket of her jeans as she dug around some more.

"Find anything?" Vi had popped the door open again to look at Scarlet. She didn't like being too far from the girl, who was officially the only person she knew.

Vi was met with the end of the pistol as she opened the door and startled Scarlet who was digging around and pulled it up in a defensive move. It was lowered as soon as she saw Vi and heard her voice, but she snapped at the girl a little. "You need to be more careful!" The tone of voice was lost on the deaf girl but the slight scowl was probably seen. "Yes I found some stuff.. get in here for a minute while I finish looking."

"Geeze..." Vi slid quietly into the front seat and sat there, hands folded in her lap. "Just about made me pee my pants." All she'd done was open the car door after all. What if Scarlet blew her away just by being jumpy? Not her ideal end...

"Well I'd rather be safe than dead and I sort of owe you one for shooting at me back at your place. At least I didn't just fire at you.." Scarlet pointed out with a slight smile, reminding the girl which one of them was trigger happy. "Besides you didn't pee your pants, so no real harm done."

"Yeah." Vi had to nod at that. "Um...so does this mean you won't teach me to shoot better?" She teased weakly, wishing that they were just inside and safe. They had to get there first, though.

"That means I definitely need to teach you to shoot better!" She laughed and leaned over the seat into the back, grabbing up a purse and small back pack, a peek inside each and she shoved them at Vi. "Here put the purse and other stuff on the seat in this back pack. I think there are some tools on the floor, we should bring those in with us."

Vi just nodded, loading up the backpack with everything she could fit. There wasn't much in the car, but 'not much' was more than they had already, right?

"It's been quiet since we got here...do you think the building's empty?"

Once the two of them had the back pack loaded with everything useful that would fit into it, Scarlet settled facing Violet in the front seat. "I'm hoping that means the place is clear or mostly clear. That's kind of why I stayed in the car. See my logic is that if there were any crazies around they would have heard the car and the door when you got out and in or smelled the exhaust or something and they have come attacking by now."

"Oh." Clearly the thought hadn't occurred to Vi, and she was now regretting her earlier decision to get out of the car too soon. "So um...we should get inside quick, right? I mean so nobody spots us or anything." She slouched slightly in the front seat, sighing. She was so tired, she wished she could just take a nap right where she was.

Scarlet picked up on little things but didn't always say anything about what she saw, right now was one of those times as she watched the girl and gave her a slight reassuring smile. "I'd say our best bet would be to get inside. I figure not the first apartmet for tonight, but the second. Less windows to have to secure and maybe we will have a fairly quiet night.. maybe even get a little sleep?" Some strange maternal instinct she didn't even know she possessed made her reach out and gently brush Vi's hair back behind her ear.

Something inside of her wanted to reach out, to just take the comfort Scarlet offered. She wanted someone to hold her while she cried...but she knew that if she let go now, she'd never get control again. Instead there was a visible effort as she steeled herself, pulling her shoulders back, and nodded. "You're right. The sooner we get inside, the sooner we can make ourselves a safe place."

So much for trying to be nice, it was something Scarlet hadn't been known for in the past.. maybe it wasn't something she'd be known for in the future either. The virus, this madness.. it had changed her, made her want to change more.. but what if it was too late? Scarlet sighed and shifted so she could put her arms through the straps of the pack and carry it since Violet already had hers from the house. "So let's go." She at least gave the other girl a reassuring smile before opening the car door and sliding out onto the sidewalk.

"Right." Heaving a sigh, Vi nodded and stepped out of the car as well, looking around nervously. There didn't appear to be any movement, so she edged towards the building with Scarlet, keeping an eye out. It made her tense, being outside, since she wouldn't know about anyone sneaking up until she saw them. Then again, that's why she was with Scarlet, right?

Scarlet kept her eye out for any movement and listened for any sounds which didn't come from either one of them, she glanced in the windows briefly before going up to the door. She looked over her shoulder at Vi and gave her a slight nod, pulling out her gun -just in case- before she slowly inched the door open more. The door had been held slightly ajar by a 'lost' shoe that someone probably dropped or which came off as someone fled and whoever it belonged to, hadn't stopped to pick it up. The inside of the building was more shadowed and dim than outside and Scarlet took a few steps inside feeling nervous and moving cautiously.

Vi returned the nod and turned to cover the outside while Scarlet nudged the door open and stepped inside, following but not looking back until she'd securely shut and locked the door behind them. It occurred to her, in an almost absent way, that they were probably acting like they'd seen policemen and swat teams do in movies, which was either very funny or very sad.

Pushing away that thought, she scanned the room along with Scarlet, pointing towards the left with her gun and speaking in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "The stairs are over there."

Scarlet wasn't acting.. but she wasn't ready to reveal her dark and sorted past to the sweet girl she'd sort of adopted. She wondered what the little miss would think if she knew she was following a criminal? Former criminal.. there wasn't exactly any law now and stealing was the only way to survive. Vi pointed out the stairs and Scarlet just nodded, those were definitely the stairs.. which they needed to go up. It seemed this place was different than she'd thought and the first floor consisted of the lobby and a few common areas for residences. "Swanky.. indeed." Scarlet had never lived in such a nice place and she had to admit, to herself, that she was impressed. "Nice pick." She complimented Vi's choice of places without going overboard.

She glanced into the other areas as they headed toward the stairs, her face showing only a minimal reaction to the few bodies that were strewn about. She seemed more annoyed by them than upset, she didn't know them and she was going to have to clean the place up. She'd never ask Vi to do something as horrible as handle the disposal.

The stairs were taken as cautiously and slowly as she'd entered the building, glancing back at Vi to make sure she was following and doing alright.

"The worst part." Vi said softly, even as she watched behind them, following Scarlet up the stairs. It wasn't clear if she was speaking to her companion or just to herself. "The bodies...just laying there. No one left to care." Somehow to her that was the one fact that brought everything home. It wasn't seeing the monsters out there, knowing that they could kill you at any minute...it was the devastation they'd left in their wake.

"Those are the lucky ones, they don't have to live through the rest of this nightmare wondering why some nice lady had to die and why they didn't." Scarlet spoke with a bitterness in her voice that it was probably good that Violet didn't hear it.

She paused as she reached the landing of the second floor, looking down the hall one way and then the other. "Left or right?" She asked Vi, it didn't really matter which way they went but she let the other girl pick the direction.

Vi had glanced up at scarlet just in time to catch part of what she'd said. ...had to die and why they didn't... She didn't know exactly what Scarlet had said but she had a pretty good idea. She'd wondered about her own survival often enough.

"Um...I think the building's like a mirror image on either side, so it's the same whichever way you go."

"Yeah I figured.. that wasn't the point." Scarlet turned away, so Vi probably had no idea what she said, but she hadn't really said it for the other girl's benefit. She was used to talking to herself, she'd done it plenty before all of this and had only had herself to talk to since this epidemic. It was actually a little weird to have someone else with her and half the time she wasn't sure what to say or do. "Okay left it is." She turned down the hall and walked to the first door, she wondered if it would be locked and considered what she'd do if it was.

Vi hesitated by the door as well, taking a moment to gather her courage before reaching out to turn the knob and push it open. The door swung freely...and bumped against something at the halfway mark, something on the ground. A splash of red on the floor caught her eye and she turned away before she could see the rest of the way into the room, not knowing how many more gruesomely murdered corpses she could see and not just...snap.

"A...another apartment, maybe?"

Scarlet wasn't as shocked or upset by the scene, just like the bodies below she seemed nearly indifferent to the horror of the blood and death. "Sure.. another door, not sure they won't all be like this." She turned and leaned against the wall outside the apartment, sighing softly and hoping that perhaps Violet would find a nice clean apartment with no dead bodies or zombies in it. "How about that one?" She gestured to one across the hall and two doors down.

"Right." Trying to stay cautious, Vi walked softly over to the door Scarlet had indicated and tried it. It was locked. She sighed, looking over at Scarlet. "I guess we have to keep looking, this one's locked."

"Locked is good." Scarlet smiled and pushed herself off the wall, walking over toward the door that Violet had tested. "Locked means the people probably left and no freaks got in.. less likely that there are any bodies." She explained as she pulled a slim case from her pocket, opening it to reveal some odd looking tools. She knelt down in front of the door and used the tools to quietly pick the lock, smiling when she heard it click. She gently turned the knob and pushed the door open.

"Okay, but how do we..." Vi trailed off at the sight of the lock-picking tools. Even once she realized what they were, she expected Scarlet to fumble with them a bit, like someone new to the game. Apparently she couldn't have been more wrong.

"Ah...handy skill to have..." She managed, looking surprised. What kind of history did Scarlet have, anyway?

"Yeah, handy." The voice was unmistakable as was the click of the bullet being set in the chamber from a short distance into the darkness beyond the door. It was a calm, steady male voice with the hint of a smile. "Nothing left to loot. Sorry. So.. either leave or get in here and shut up."

"Shit." Scarlet swore under her breath and closed her eyes for a second, while she might be able to handle this differently if she was alone.. she had Violet to think of and the girl had the disadvantage of being deaf. "Violet, stand very still.. there is a man in the apartment with a gun on us. Don't move until I tell you to." She bit at her lip and slowly brought her hands up in a surrender position next to her chest. "We aren't here to loot.. just looking for a safe place to rest."

Violet's eyes widened almost comically as she realized what Scarlet was saying. She did exactly as she was told, not moving an inch, instead keeping her eyes on Scarlet, feeling as if she was barely breathing as she waited to see what would happen. Wouldn't it just be a cruel irony to survive all she had only to get shot by some random guy?

"Why do you think I didn't just shoot you? These walls are pretty much just plaster and paper. I could hear you in the hallway. Get in and relock it if you didn't break it again," he said, stepping out of the darkness toward them to pull them in and get them quiet.

"I didn't break it.." Scarlet started to defend her skill and then shut up, taking a deep breath and turning her head to speak to Violet. "We've been invited in.. Come on." She swallowed and turned back toward the man, stepping into the apartment and waiting for Vi to come in behind her so she could relock the door as he'd told her to.

Vi followed Scarlet into the apartment, stepping to the side the moment she was in so that she could stay clear of the man with the gun. It had been pretty spooky, the way he'd stepped out of the dark like that. Come to think of it, Scarlet's little trick with the lock had been spooky too. What kind of people had she found herself with?

"I didn't say you did," he said more quietly now, poking his head out to view the hallway quickly before closing the door again and testing the lock. "I did when I broke in last week. Had to jimmy one off another door. This was about the only one still clean... -er." The qualifier would make sense in a moment. The air was musty and dank like old rotting wood and the drip of water in another room kept an even tempo in the silence around their breath.

"So it's not your place.. figures." She motioned Vi to go further into the apartment as she stepped out of the way for the man to resecure the door. She watched him closely, sizing him up and looking for any kind of weakness in case she needed to take him down. Sure he seemed alright and was letting them in but what if he was some sort of perv? Her nose crinkled at the smell in the place and she wondered about it.

"This is the cleanest apartment in the building?" Vi couldn't hide the tone of disbelief in her voice. If that was the case, maybe they were in the wrong building. She didn't really want to call a place home that smelled...well, like this place smelled.

"The cleanest I found when I was looking. I didn't keep looking with those things after me, thank you very much," he said in more hushed tones. "You want blood and corpses, go ahead." He motioned back to the door and moved himself away from the girls. Like he'd said, there was little to loot except himself, his gun and the gym satchel he leaned on as he sat against a bare wall on a couch cushion that had lost its couch.

Scarlet shrugged and gently tugged on Violet's sleeve when she got close to her. "Are you alright?" The girl needed to get some decent sleep but she was being brave and holding up well, Scarlet was a little impressed by it. She walked into what had been the livingroom, glancing at Garrett and playing with the strap of the borrowed back pack on her shoulder. "Well.. it's nicer than the place I grew up in.. and if it's kept you safe for a week.. I'm not knocking it."

Vi jumped slightly at the tug on her sleeve, turning to look at Scarlet and nodding at the question. "Yeah...I'm okay." She moved over to the corner of the room, where she could see everything going on in it, acting on instinct. Pulling off her pack, she set it on the ground and shifted onto her side, using it as a pillow. For some reason, she trusted Scarlet to keep her safe while she slept.

"Nicer than what's left of the place where I grew up," he agreed, glancing at the window that had been boarded over with planks to see around but not stick much through beyond the barrell of a gun. He rested his head back against the wall, still watching Scarlet. "You can sit down, you know."

Scarlet watched Violet as carefully as she'd sized up the man though it was for a different reason, it was that odd protectiveness she felt for the girl. She couldn't explain it but felt like she needed to make sure the girl was okay, once she saw Vi settle down she relaxed a little but not much. "Thanks.. " She started to protest the invitation to sit but trailed off and folded down into a crouch and slipped the back pack off her shoulders. "You got a name?"

Vi shifted, draping her arm over her eyes to shut out the light, and proceeded to enjoy one of the few benefits to her condition...the ability to shut out the rest of the world entirely. In a very short time, she was sound asleep.

"I used to," he replied with his eyes partly closed. They opened more as she decided to settle down nearby, but out of reach. "Garrett. I was thinking of changing it though. To Jeb, or maybe Kruschev. What about you two? She's pretty quiet, actually. Is she sick?" He didn't address Violet directly but watched her settle down on her pack.

"You should keep Garrett.. it's a cool name." Scarlet sighed again, keeping him in her line of vision but not looking directly at him while she spoke. "That's Violet." She gestured to the sleeping girl. "She's tired and scared.. she's deaf."

He looked over the sleeping girl and up to the locked door, reminding himself about the sound carrying. He spoke more softly, chuckling to himself since Violet wouldn't overhear him, it seemed. "And damned lucky. She can't hear them screech, then. Or hear me cuss. Sorry. Don't mean to offend you ladies, just not a lot of people left to care about that sort of thing, huh? Is she your sister?"

"Can't hear them screech and can't hear them coming either.. she's lucky to still be alive." Scarlet glanced at Violet and then back at Garrett, her hand playing with a bit of string from a fray in her jeans. "Cussing doesn't bother me.. my mom had a mouth worse than a sailor as they say.. my first word was.. eh doesn't matter." She shook her head a little and shifted her gaze to the wall behind where he was sitting. "I bet she had nice parents.. she seems like a sweet girl. She's not my sister. I came across her in a house earlier today.. she shot at me. Her aim was bad.."

Garrett smiled a little. "Kinda glad. I mean... you know, really glad you're not dead, but glad she missed. I haven't anybody to talk to, except... well, dead people. Even the rats steer clear of them with the freaks around."

"Yeah I'm pretty glad too.. but I promised to help her improve." She chuckled again, still playing absently with the string. "It feels weird to be with people.." She admitted and glanced over him and Violet again. "How has it been here.. with the freaks? Been here a week.. huh?"

"Improve? You can fix her deafness? Another handy trick. You girls are full of surprises," he nodded. His head then rested still against the wall a moment and his finger went up to his lips. He turned his ear to the wall, listening. "Does she wake easy?" He whispered out. He heard something but wasn't sure what yet.

"Her aim.. not her hearing." She rolled her eyes at him and yanked the string from her jeans, twisting it around her finger. She glanced at Violet when he asked if she woke early and she shrugged. "No idea.." Her voice lowered and her eyes narrowed a bit as she brought her gaze back to him. "What's up?"

"Hopefully just rats," he murmured, digging into his satchel. He turned the gun in his hand to check the remaining shots in the clip. "If it's not, get ready to move."

"We were outside awhile, everything was clear.. if you believe in it.. you might want to say a little prayer that it stayed that way." They'd come here planning to stay, well Scarlet had that impression anyway. Maybe it wasn't going to work out so well. "We locked the lobby door behind us."

"I never thought I'd be praying for rats, but okay," he said, nodding and getting up from his spot next to the wall. Locked lobby? No breaking glass... Maybe he was just hearing things and his fears were running away with him. He moved to the door again, listening for more of the sounds. "If I'm praying for rats, what are you praying for?"

"I never thought I'd be praying for anything." She said in a quiet tone, her hands folding together briefly before she set them to her knees and slowly rose to standing again. "I'm not sure if I believe in anything.. or if there's anyone listening."

"I'm listening," he said flatly. He was also listening to the hallway. Whatever he'd heard had stopped for now. "And right now there's nothing to hear. Maybe it was just the pipes cooling or something. Maybe that just happens on bikes, I dunno. Not about to believe the prayer worked, but I'm not sure it didn't, either."

"You're listening.. well that's something isn't?" She didn't want to dwell on that topic for long and she ler her thoughts turn to bikes and she smiled, remembering the feel of freedom and wind in her face. "Wonder if it will ever be safe to ride again.. "

"Sure. Now that's something I could pray for," he turned away from the door with a real smile now, thinking along the same lines. Wind, freedom... safety. "If you can find a pump in the daylight that still works, we could probably ride tomorrow if you want. Thing is, where is there to go?"

"You know a place we can get bikes? I can syphon gas from the ground..." She chuckled as she let the words trail of with a shake of her head. "A ride would be great but the freaks might make it alot less enjoyable."

"I got here on my bike. If it's even still out there, there's one, but you're right - not as much fun when these things come out of nowhere. The last thing I'd want is to ride right into a swarm." He looked over the girl sleeping on the floor and went back to his pack, pulling out a clean-looking shirt. "Not much for a blanket, but it should help a little," he said, draping it over Violet's legs for a little more warmth. "What can I get you, while I'm being Mr Hospitality here?"

Vi shifted slightly in her slep, curling up a bit more and snuggling into the backpack. A moment later her breathing was evening out again as she drifted more fully into sleep, oblivious of whatever odd noise had gotten the other two so alarmed only moments ago.

Under normal circumstances a guy telling her he had a bike was enough to get a first date with her, but times had changed and apparently she had too. She was more impressed with the way he covered Violet's legs with his shirt, it was a thoughtful thing to do and she smiled a little. She was surprised when he made his offer to her and it showed in her expression. "Me..?" She was stunned enough to fumble over her answer, shaking her head at first. ".. ah.. actually I'm good with just being here. It's the safest I've felt in a long time."

He was kneeling at his pack again, in deep thought, indecision..Then he pulled something out from the bottom and tossed it over toward Scarlet. It was an energy bar, the kind they sold down at the Y. "Not much, but think of it like a party. Eat a little, rest up. I'll keep watch. I've been resting. No telling what'll come up next."

She caught the energy bar out of reflex before she knew what it even was, looking down at her hand she stared at it for a moment before her questioning gaze shifted to Garrett again. "I.. thanks." The nice gestures were something she wasn't used to and not just since the outbreak, even before that the people she'd been around most weren't like Vi or Garrett.

"I've only got two more, but if we can get out of here during solid daylight, I think I know a place that hasn't been raided yet. How's that for a prayer, huh? If you don't like that one, I got one with nuts. She allergic to nuts?" He seemed worried about the little things.

"I don't know if she's allergic.. I know all of three things about her. Her name is Violet, she's deaf, and she needs to improve her aim." Scarlet ran her fingers over the wrapper of the energy bar he'd given her and then held it out to give it back to him. "If you don't have much, I shouldn't take it."

"You're not taking it, I'm giving it to you," he chuckled. "You're no good to yourself or either of us if you pass out, or get a shaky hand trying to help her with her aim - you might hit me. I'm joking, go ahead. I've still got the others and we'll get something when she's ready to travel." He motioned to the one in her hand again, insisting gently. The glimmer of metal on his hand shone briefly in the low light.

"I'm used to going without.. it doesn't bother me." She kept the bar but didn't tear into it like one who had gone days without food might, she still just held it in her hand. She saw the glimmer of metal on his hand but didn't ask, just like she hadn't said anything when Vi had gotten all weird after mentioning her mother. "Not sure she's going to wake up any time soon.. I don't think she's really slept in awhile." She motioned to Vi and then moved back to crouch by her pack again. thinking about what he'd said. Was she any good to either of them in the first place?

"And when was the last time you slept? You're all twined up in a knot," he said, his hands working around an invisible snow-ball as he described her tension. "C'mon, eat, sleep, wake up happy in a new world? Two out of three?"

"It's just how I am.. sleep won't change that. Besides I have to think about things.. you know plan for tomorrow. My original ideas didn't involve others." She finally twisted the end of the wrapper and split it open a little, pushing the bar halfway out and breaking it off. She folded the wrapper around the remaining piece and put it in her pocket then took a small bite from what was in her hand.

"My original ideas did," he said, turning to sit back down against the wall. He pulled his knee up to lean on. "Then a little over a week ago, there weren't any others any more. The way I figure, things happen for a reason, there's some master plan that makes this make sense. I ... just haven't figured that part out yet."

"I'm sorry. She lost her family.." She gestured to Vi again and took another bite of the half of the energy she'd kept out to eat. "I can't imagine what reason there would be to make sense of all the suffering and death. It's just madness."

Garrett nodded, his own eyes heavy though he said he'd been resting. "I used to drink," he said, frowning and gesturing slightly the tip of a bottle, though his arm stayed on his knee. "That used to help make sense of the craziest things I ever saw or thought. I stopped the night I was given a choice, that choice you never want to hear when she said I had to give it up or give her up. Now I don't have either one. I have two candy bars and a dank hole in the wall of some crazy place in some crazy world. The only thing that makes sense is that you two showed up about a minute before I'd made my last choice. It wasn't you I was planning on shooting."

Scarlet looked away from him, listening to him spill out his story and trying not to let it get past the surface. "I'd drink now if passing out wouldn't get me killed.. then again it wouldn't be a great loss. I don't understand why I'm here and so many good people aren't. Like I said it's just madness." Her gaze settled on Violet and she curled her knees up under her chin, wrapping her arm around the front of her bent legs. Her hand absently ran over her inner wrist as if stroking something unseen. "I guess it's good that we got here when we did.. maybe she was supposed to find you.. one good person helping another.. it's a nice thought anyway."

As if she knew she was being talked about, Violet twitched slightly in her sleep, her eyes moving beneath her lids in the telltale sign of someone who's dreaming. She shivered, making a sort of wimpering noise, and it was pretty clear that whatever dream she was having wasn't a good one.

Garrett listened to the girl stir. He didn't want to wake her but wondered if rousting her gently from the nightmare would help her rest more easily. Scarlet's gestures hadn't gone unnoticed either. "We've got to get her something more comfortable than that pack, and deny it all you want, but you're exhausted and need to sleep a little, too. You don't look comfortable like that."

"Didn't this place have a bed or something? Violet said this place was swanky.. figured there was a chance.. it's where she wanted to come." She shrugged again and looked around the room, he had the cushion but the couch was missing. With a sigh she shifted and pulled her sweat shirt off, folding it into a makeshift pillow for Vi. "Give her this." She said quietly, standing up to stretch and then moving to sit in the same position, only this time with her back in the corner of the room so she could see the whole room.

Vi shifted, moving her feet slightly, pushing away the shirt Garrett had placed over her. The next moan from the girl was louder than before, her hands moving as if she was trying to push something away. Considering what they'd all been through, that wasn't too surprising.

He watched her stand and stretch, amazed on one level, appalled on another at himself for being selfish. Damn the girl and her making sense. He pulled the pillow out from under himself and pushed the shirt back to Scarlet. "Put it back on. You'll want it if we leave in a hurry. The furniture's all in there. I didn't... you know.. I didn't want to make a mess," he stammered out, two fingers aimed weakly at his temple then his hand fell to his side. "I'll give her the pillow for now and push that stuff out to make room. Couch is in there too."

"Just give her the pillow." Scarlet said softly, she stood and took a few steps to take the shirt back from him. "Maybe I was trying to believe in something.. hoping we wouldn't have to leave in a hurry." She half chuckled and slipped the shirt back over her torso. "Don't worry about the furniture right now." Her hand lifted as if she might put it on his arm but then she hesitated, hovering and unsure as she remembered how Violet had reacted when she'd tried to offer her some comfort. Scarlet wasn't good with these kinds of gestures or caring to begin with.

There was a little warmth shared in the moment and the slight grin. He understood, but couldn't hold her gaze long or she'd see the pain behind the calm expression. He turned and knelt down beside Violet, the cushion by his hand while he tried to hold her head up gently and slide the pack out from under her. She was restless already and he wondered if she might wake up flailing like had recently.

Vi did wake up with a start, though she wasn't exactly flailing. She sat up abruptly, her eyes wide and confused. She stared at Garrett for a long, quiet moment...and then abruptly the tears started. Embarrassed to be acting like such a girl in front of Scarlet, who was tough as nails, she turned towards the corner, wrapping her arms around her knees as her shoulders began to shake.

Scarlet's eyes went wide as Violet burst into tears and she taking steps toward Garrett with the intent to punish him for whatever he'd done to the girl but she stopped short and stared at them both. "She's crying.. why is she crying? Did you pinch her?" She actually backed away and her eyes darted around the room as if she was looking for a place to run.

"No, I don't think so. I might have pulled a hair," he said, confused by the girl's reactions. He pushed the pack out of the way and set the pillow down in its place as he'd intended. She'd spoken to the girl, so maybe she read lips or felt the vibrations when people spoke to her. "I'm sorry," he said carefully, reaching his hand out to Violet, hoping she'd trust him to come lay back down again.

Violet looked up as he set the pillow down, watching his mouth as he spoke. It was harder to read someone she'd just met, but what he'd said was easy enough to understand. She just shook her head, edging slightly away from his offered hand. "I don't want to go back to sleep. I 'll just...I"ll see it all over again." She brushed tears away from her cheeks, though they continued to fall.

"See she has the right idea about that sleep thing.. so over rated." Her eyes darted around again and she started for the doorway into the kitchen. "I'm going to see if I can find some water or something.. that doesn't come from her eyes." The last was said with her back to Vi so she wouldn't be hurt by her sarcasm which was part of how she kept people away from her usually.

"Okay... okay..," he said, putting his hands out like he was calling a slider home safe. He backed away from Violet and kept his movements slow and deliberate. She was awake, but confused and fearful of him especially though he wasn't sure why. Once he was near his pack again, he pulled out another of the bars for her. If she wasn't going to sleep, maybe this would calm her. He showed her the bar and gently tossed it onto the pillow for her to grab if she wanted it. "Okay? Food.. you know, food?" He pinched his fingers together and scooped toward his mouth like he was trying to teach her another language. "How do I tell her to eat or lay down?"

Vi raised an eyebrow, watching the bad mime routine, and in spite of everything she couldn't help but smile. He was trying to be nice, maybe he didn't realize that he looked mentally unstable making that scooping motion with his hand? "Yeah, I know food." She said softly, reaching out to pick up the energy bar. "And if you want to tell me something, just tell me...as long as I can see you."

Scarlet stood in the kitchen for a couple of minutes getting herself together, Garrett was right about her being exhausted. She rubbed her hands over her face and looked first to the fridge, the power was out in some places and at the moment she didn't want to risk opening it and finding soured food.. that would not be a pleasant smell. She bit at her lower lip, a habit she'd had for years, and then stepped to the sink, it couldn't hurt to try the faucet. By some miracle water poured freely from it and quietly at that, she couldn't help the chuckle that rolled out. She heard the question Garrett asked and the answer Vi gave, but spoke up to say. "Yeah, what she said. I think she reads lips, I don't know sign or anything." Garrett would hear her but of course Vi wouldn't. It took her a few more moments to find a glass, a pretty nice one at that, and she filled it with the cool water to take back to the other girl. As she came out with the glass in her hand she was actually smiling, softly. "There is running water.. and judging by the dishes in there.. this is a woman's apartment.. which means the possibility of clean clothes.. and better a shower.. maybe even a fresh razor." She held out the glass for Violet, looking happy at the discovery she'd made.

"Thanks." Vi took the glass with a smile, setting down the energy bar so she could cradle the glass in both hands. "Scarlet, is um..." She glanced significantly at Garrett and then back at Scarlet again. "Is he okay? You know, like...upstairs?" She let go of the glass with one hand to make a twirly motion around her ear with one finger, the implication obvious.

"Crazy? Me? No. Not any more than anything else these days. Just sad, Violet, that's all." He felt a little better knowing she could at least understand what he was saying if she could see him. His smile was warm again as she settled down and he wondered if the waterworks had been real. He glanced up at Scarlet, amazed at the difference her own smile made. "There's um... yeah," he scratched behind his ear a little, uncomfortable a bit by knowing that answer. "There's a razor. Definitely razor blades. I should, um.. put those away."

[Lovely]

Scarlet's smile was erased and for a moment she looked as if she'd seen a ghost, even when that passed she had this distant haunted expression. His words, his gestures, his tone.. she knew exactly what he meant even without their earlier conversation. "Right." She nearly whispered the word, her hand once again stroking over the opposite wrist through her shirt. "Violet.. you alright for a minute? I'm.. I'm going to go see if there is any clothes.." She didn't exactly wait for an answer as she started toward the back of the apartment as if each step would put her further away from that dark place she'd once been and often wondered how it was she was still in this world.. and that was all before any of this current madness had begun.

"I'm fine..." Vi, often more in tune to gestures and such than other people, had noticed Scarlet's tendancy to rub her wrist. Judging by what Garrett had just said, she guessed she knew why, now. She brushed away a few stray tears, clearing her throat. "So I um...I'm sorry I freaked out on you. I just had a nightmare, that's all." She took another sip of her water. "Thanks for the food." Smiling, she made a 'food' motion the way he had earlier, obviously still amused by that.

"Oh you..," he chuckled, pitching a wadded up wrapper at her. "I didn't know, okay? You read lips. Fine, and you're welcome. You're welcome," he said again, the laughter ending as quickly as it started. He sighed and sat back down against the wall where he'd been propped earlier, reaching for the shirt Violet had tossed off in her frenzy. "I'm sorry about the nightmare. There's been a lot of those lately, I guess, even when we're not sleeping. So, you read lips, can you tell me something?" He didn't want to sound stupid on top of the girl already thinking he was crazy. Scarlet was out of earshot if he whispered. He pointed the way she'd gone with his thumb. "What's her name?"

Vi nodded at his apology, but her eyebrow went up at his question. Hadn't she...she was fairly certain she'd used Scarlet's name at least once already, right? Well maybe not, she was still pretty fuzzy from sleep. "Scarlet." She said simply, though not as quietly as he'd spoken. She didn't really have a lot of volume control, after all. Whispering was not her strong suit.

Scarlet had gotten into what she assumed was the master bedroom, she'd investigate further at a later time to see if there was another.. if they did decide this was a safe place to stay.. She hadn't made it to the closet yet, she was just standing there willing herself not to fall apart, not to shatter into thousands of tiny shards. She was almost to the point of indifference again when she heard Vi say her name, she turned and hurried back out into the main room. "Yeah? Did you need me?" Her expression almost seemed hopeful.. like she needed to be needed.

"Um..." Vi hadn't actually needed anything, of course, but she somehow thought it would be better if she did. Scarlet had this look on her face like...well, and anyway the truth would just embarass whtasisname. "Um, is there a bed in there?" She stretched a bit, stiff from sleeping on the floor.

He wanted to tell her not to say anything when Scarlet came back into the room. The relief was shallow when she covered and asked about the bed. "There is, but it's kinda covered... with the couch," he explained meekly. His head thumped back lightly against the wall but he felt like he kept sinking backwards.

"On the plus side there are no restraints attached to it." It just came out, the words were out of her mouth before she even realized she said what she was thinking. "I mean the couch can be moved.. right.. I'll be in the other room talking to the wall.." Great, now if the freaks attacked they would probably throw her at them! She sighed and shook her head as she turned to go out of the room. "..or maybe I should just stop talking altogether."

"No! No, please, you're fine. It's okay. I'll... Violet, are you okay? I put it in there, I can get it out, it's fine," he protested, not sure if Violet had caught any part of what Scarlet had said.

"What?" Vi had only caught parts of what was being said. She'd been looking at Garret, had caught the part about the bed being covered with the couch, and hten Scarlet had said something that made him get a funny look on his face and...

"Why would you be talking to the wall?" Confused and tired, Violet pushed herself to her feet, holding the glass of water in one hand and the pillow and her backpack in the other. "Guys, what's going on?" Was there something in the room they didn't want her to know about?

What was going on? Oh nothing much, just a little crazy talk thats all. Scarlet tried to contain the laughter that bubbled up and was mostly able to, a small chuckle shook her shoulders and she shook her head. She stopped walking and turned so Vi could see her. "Nothing.. we're just going to move the couch off the bed." She glanced at Garrett, he was wrong, she wasn't fine.. far from it. People who were fine and sane and normal didn't get committed. Violet hadn't seen all of what she'd said but how could Garrett not have heard it?

He pushed himself up off the floor again with a sudden burst of momentum he hadn't had in several days and was almost giddy with how light he suddenly felt. Or maybe it was dizziness.. or possibly just hunger and the lack of sleep for so long. He nearly bounced behind Scarlet, a little bit of worry slowing him down as he wondered what she'd been getting at about the restraints. He was getting more and more a clear picture that none of them were really good candidates for being left on their own for long, so maybe she was right, maybe they were meant to all find each other. "I got it, okay? At least the bulk of it. It's not one of those sectional pieces of crap. b*tch had to be a full size one. I think it's got one of those fold out things in it, too. I don't remember."

"Um...I can sleep on the floor, really. It's no big deal." Vi had no idea why they were arguing about a couch, but she didn't think it made much sense. Couldn't they just go to sleep?

"Should we set up...you know, a watch? For when we sleep, I mean."

One problem with Violet being deaf was that you had to be in her line of sight when talking or she wouldn't know what was said, that meant it was hard to do anything else while talking to her.. like move a couch. At the moment with her nerves frazzled and trying to somehow keep it somewhat together around these people, Scarlet didn't feel like dealing with it. She wanted to move the stupid damn couch, then maybe they could talk about sleeping and setting up a watch.. though it didn't matter to her since she wouldn't sleep heavily anyway. "No, not okay." She spoke to Garrett over her shoulder as she went into the bedroom. "If you throw out your back you won't be any good to Violet.. and she needs someone.. good. So -we- will get the couch. Okay."

"Okay... alright." He conceded defeat again, almost angrily, but only because he did remember how heavy it had been in the first place. "What about you. Huh? Scarlet? What about trusting someone to... nah, nevermind. Let's just get this so you two can get some rest, okay?"

"Right." Anyone could have sensed the tension in the room, and Vi was no exception. She simply stepped out of the way, moving to hold the door open for them so they could move the furniture. That made her start wondering...why was the couch in the other room? She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to that one.

"What about me? and which would you like, the couch or the bed?" She asked politely despite his bit of a scold that he'd started and stopped. He'd probably never met anyone quite like Scarlet, she was as vunerable as she was tough, though she usually hid that well. She was extremely stubborn, and very determined.. which was probably why she was alive right now.

"I... I hadn't thought it about since I wasn't pla-... You two decide. The bed's pretty big, couch... well if it's a pull-out, there you go. The what about you...," he said, coming up closer behind her at the doorway of the furniture-stuffed room. "Is what does it take for you to decide you can trust someone to help you?"

Her hand clenched into a fist as he stood close and spoke to her, it released several seconds before she turned her gaze over her shoulder to look at him. "I don't know." She said softly, honestly with that same haunted expression she'd had earlier with the mention of the razors. "It's up to you and her. On the one hand you're bigger so you should have the bigger area to sleep on.. and on the other hand do we want the deaf girl on the couch near the door if she can't hear if something is trying to get in?" She changed the subject as quick as a blink, not to be rude, but because she didn't know how else to be.

"Uh..." Vi spoke up hesitantly, as if she was afraid she'd be shushed for butting in to their argument. "I think, if it's okay I'd rather sleep in the room...so i guess that would be the bed." She cleared her throat. "I don't want to be by the door." She glanced from one to the other and back again. "Is that okay?"

"There you go," he grinned crookedly. "You two take the bed in here and I watch the door... still." He was more concerned about Scarlet's hesitation to answer the question he really wanted an answer to.

"The bed is all yours then." She said directly to Vi though she turned to Garrett with an icy smile and nearly a glare that he'd suggested that the two girls would be sharing the bed. Oh no that wasn't happening and the reason for it had absolutely nothing to do with the nice deaf girl. Scarlet had never had any intention of sleeping in the bed or on the couch, in her mind one was for Vi and one was for Garrett. "So, we should get this moved for her." She motioned to the waiting couch and her expression evened out to something less hostile.

Vi just stepped out of the way with her glass of water, not wanting to get in the middle of the fight. This was not good...the only two people she knew, at all, were already sniping. The fact made her fidget nervously as she waited for them to finish their task.

Garrett huffed quietly, eyes rolling briefly as he realized Violet was stepping aside and none too soon. He hadn't mastered talking to the deaf girl, yet, so telling her to move over his shoulder with arms full of couch probably wasn't going to work. "Alright, we get it moved and one of us gets some sleep," he grinned sharply, then pushed his way into the room to dislodge the thing from the pile, moving a lamp he'd set there and some kind of magazine rack that had been tossed in on top.

"Two out of three aint bad." Scarlet countered with a slight smile, the spark of her eyes teasing and challenging, she was stubborn as heck but could do it in a variety of ways. At least it kept life interesting.. everyday was the same when you were locked away. She moved to help him but he was quick and had the lamp off the couch before she could grab it. It was almost comical how they seemed a bit competetive with one another.

Vi rolled her eyes at their antics. At least they weren't sniping anymore. Still, they were acting like...teenage boys competing over a girl, or something. No doubt they'd both try to take all the weight of the couch, and then argue about how to get it through the doorway...

He'd gotten it in here... Garrett paused a moment as Scarlet stood there, arm outstretched for the lamp he'd already put out of reach. He scratched behind his ear again, thinking, confused... how in the hell? That odd determination of end-of-the-line despair did wonders for his remodeling technique, but reverse engineering his steps wasn't going to be easy. "The door seemed bigger before," he muttered, looking at the opening and the narrow space left to turn the thing and pull it out again.

"Hmm or maybe the couch grew while it was in the room?" She moved to get on one side of it, motioning him to grab the other. "How about we get this off the bed to start.. maybe once we line it up with the opening you'll remember how to get it through."

Vi couldn't tell what was being said so she shook her head, going over to the kitchen to set her glass of water down. Absently, she turned the water on and splashed some on her face, wondering if a cold shower would be worth it. She hadn't had a real shower in so long...

Scarlet's suggestion wasn't ignored, just temporarily forgotten as Garrett's attention turned at the sudden noise of the running water. Violet... he reminded himself, the bristling calming down quickly as he turned back to toward the issue of the couch. "It didn't g-..." he stopped... she'd been poking and teasing him on purpose and he was beginning to understand the slight humor as it bubbled up through her comments whether she was aware of it or not. "Right. Lining right up, boss," he quipped back, hoisting his part.

"I'm not the boss." She replied quietly, seeming to shrink as he pulled her into the spotlight which kind of contradicted her behavior from a moment before. She hadn't had time to readjust to society or sane people and was still working on it, add that to what she'd gotten out to find and what she'd found since getting out.. well she was somewhat like a turtle peeking out of her shell and then hiding in it again. "You.. you should be the boss.. " She didn't look at Garrett directly when she said it, but the tone of her voice said she wasn't teasing him. "N-not of me.. but Violet.. you know.."

Garrett grunted slightly from the weight of the end he held, resting it back down again as he questioned the turn in the topic and her tone. That wasn't at all what he'd expected. "What? The boss of... why? Either one of you, why? I'm not in charge of anything. I'm barely in charge of me," he explained, resting his hand against his hip a moment. "Except maybe this couch business. One more time?"

Scarlet looked down, around the room, her eyes darting and she struggled for a moment to answer him. "Cause.. she's just a kid.. and she's sweet and she's deaf - that's a big disadvantage with the way things are, those things out there. She needs someone to look out for her, she needs.. guidance.. from someone strong." She squatted down to lift her end of the couch and finally looked at him. ".. and you have strength and kindness.. you wouldn't just leave her behind somewhere."

"I didn't realize I was adopting," he said off the cuff, looking down, ashamed, a moment later. "That came out wrong. Of course I wouldn't leave someone behind if I thought they were in danger or couldn't manage on their own. Strong and kind doesn't always do the trick, either, though," he sighed, grappling the couch again, making it seem lighter than before in the anger and frustration he channeled into lifting it. "Go to your left."

"Then maybe you should have just shot us, not invited us in!" She snapped back before the rest of what he said registered. "Strong and kind are important." She insisted more softly as she moved to her left, not sure now, whether he said his or not. She realized how light the couch felt and she nearly scowled at him.

They were arguing again. Vi wasn't sure how she knew it, seeing as how she couldn't hear them or even see their mouths from here...but they were.

"Not important enough," he insisted with his jaw clenched, following along to his right, her left, and the opening of the doorway. He remembered turning the back up a little before pushing the thing through the door. "Lift up on that hand," he nodded. "Turn it and back up, watch your fingers. I don't have any bandaids and cuts can be deadly," he reminded gently.

Lift up, turn it, back up? She was lost as to what he was trying to do, turn it how? Why was she backing up? Weren't they trying to get the couch out of the room? The way she ended up moving was probably opposite of what he wanted and the expressions on her face went from confused to hurt to bewildered and then angry.

"Guys, can I...help, or something?" Vi started towards them uncertainly, wishing she could just make them stop fighting for a while. All she wanted was to go back to sleep.

"NO! No... tell her no. I meant I'll back up, you go forward, this way," he shook his head, turning himself around mentally to get the thing out the door. "Me.. backing up, okay?" He looked over his shoulder, hoping Violet was clear.

"You're closer to her - you tell her!" She hissed quietly, almost letting go of the couch to gesture with her hands but remembering not to at the last second which caused her end to wobble a little. That made her mad because to it made it seem like she couldn't handle it, like she was weak or frail or something. "What am I gonna do, use my mind powers to tell her? Oh and while I'm at it, I'll just
float the couch out to the other room."

"Right...going back over there now..." Vi managed, backing away from them and finding herself in the kitchen again. There was nothing to do, nothing even to fidget with. One thing nobody ever talked about in movies about the apocolypse was the danged boredom.

They were making enough noise now that anything else in the building and probably on the block could hear them though the thought was pushed aside by the determination to get this done and the couch back where it belonged so the bell could sound and they could get to their corners. Garrett glared a moment, wanting to apologize to Violet but not being able to until she could see his face, and spit something worse at the woman who could see him though she wasn't deserving of the brunt of his real anger. "No need to get snippy," he snipped, himself, the ragged and crooked grin appearing again briefly. "Just go slow, I'll back up nice and easy. We'll have to turn this on end when in get to the hall."

The noise they were making with their heated banter and the movement of furniture was heard by someone else in the building, someone who followed the sounds and pressed his ear to doors in the hall, trying to find which apartment it was coming from. The voices and sound had been muffled by the walls, but he was certain it wasn't the screeching of crazies, but rather normal, healthy people. Derrick made it to the door of the apartment the three were in, after listening for a moment through the wall. He was hopeful that he had the right one, having come from the next floor up and a few apartments down. He was unsure what to do, how to let them know he was there, he glanced nervously to his left and to his right and lifted his hand to knock quietly, following it with a spoken word. "Hello?"

Scarlet met Garrett's glare with one of her own but it also melted away and she cocked her head to the side, her eyebrow arched as his demeanor changed a bit. The crooked grin got to her, there was something about his face that made it hard to keep being angry with him, so instead she stuck her tongue out at him. They were actually moving the couch without too much fuss, halfway through the door into the hall when a sound from outside the apartment door made her freeze. Her eyes seemed darken and her face harden for a moment and then surprise and confusion washed over her. Did someone just knock on the door?

"What now?" Garrett turned his head toward the sound and missed his footing pulling the couch up on himself too quickly into the hallway as he stumbled. Now he'd pinned himself a bit between the couch and the wall where he'd meant the thing to go up on end and turn. The sudden lurch knocked his wind out as the wall suddenly stopped him but not the couch. "Door," he coughed out, trying not to drop his end on any other body parts, his or the girls'.

Derrick remained at the door, his resolve faltering as doubt and fear crept into him, his glace darting around the hall again. What if he'd been wrong about the noises? What if they were like the other people, the ones who screamed and attacked?

Scarlet had stopped but Garrett kept going and ended up jerking her with the couch, pulling and straining the muscles in her arms. "Ow." She said quietly, somewhat like a gasp as she scrambled to catch up only to see he was stuck against the wall. She was trapped in the room and her only choice was to yank the couch backward off his chest to free him. She bit her lip to keep from crying out at the increased pain in her muscles and stumbled back with the weight of the couch coming at her. She didn't care, Garrett had said the door and if something was trying to get in, he was closest of the two of them. "Violet!" She hissed at him, urging him to get to the other girl and protect her if need be.

Violet, meanwhile, was wandering around in the kitchen, oblivious to what was going on. She'd stopped watching the spectacle with the couch, not wanting to see them fight more. There wasn't really anything to do, but she'd checked a few cupboards to see if there was any food. No luck, so far.

"I know!" Garrett hissed back. That's all he had breath for until she yanked the furniture back. It moved and he tumbled forward after it to keep it from pinning her in return. "Geez.. easy, Scarlet, I'm okay." She wasn't, he could tell, but she'd have to wait for him to come back and check on her, if she'd even let him. At least the sound had been a human sound, not the knock of something clawing in through the plaster. He peeled around the end of the couch, trying to get his feet clear and not scare Violet... scare her worse... by stumbling over her in a race to the door. Please, just leave the damned lock alone, he prayed quietly, rushing toward the door and leaning against it. What was he supposed to do now.. yell 'surprise' and yank the door open? He paused, hand on the knob, but not on the lock that was still locked, and leaned his shoulder against the wall to the side of the door. "Are you human and do you have any cuts?" Well, it wasn't the good old days of cookies and tupperware... it was important to know these things.

Derrick jumped a little when a voice, a clear human voice came from the other side of the door. He felt giddy, he wanted to laugh but didn't. The question confused him a little and he looked down at his hands, flipping them over to search for any scrapes or cuts on them. "I'm very much human.. sir." The voice sounded like a man and he used the respectful address to further prove he wasn't inhuman. "I don't have any cuts that I know of.. none that I can see or feel.." He answered and hoped that would be accepted and he wouldn't be attacked for seeking them out.

"What's happening?" Vi's eyes widened as Garrett hurried for the door. That could only mean that someone or something was out there. She dropped the dish she'd had in her hand with a clatter and hurried back into the living room, picking up her gun from where it had been sitting beside her pack. She held it in shaky hands, pointing it at the floor while Garrett...talked to someone? Was it possible that whoever was out there was human?

He saw the blur of Violet from the corner of his eye, but wasn't thinking about the gun. He was thinking about his earlier thoughts about imposters, people sounding normal who might not have been, but this voice sounded... well it sounded too normal. There was no way Garrett could fathom that the guy was infected. He turned the lock slowly, staying back from the opening, ready to jump on anyone or anything that came in with the man. His hand dropped to the doorknob again, turning it and pulling the door open, staying to the side of it, coincidentally giving Violet a clear shot if necessary. "Don't call me sir," he sighed as the door creaked wide enough for the man to enter.

Scarlet's arms hurt more than she was -ever- going to admit, or show.. at least she told herself she wouldn't. She had to stay back in the bedroom for a few moments to compose herself and try to climb over the couch to assist them. Since she had heard no shouting, screeching, or crashing, she moved slowly and was careful not to strain anything further.

Derrick took a step back before he started forward after the door opened. "Um.. sorry.. I didn't mean to offend you." He stopped a few paces into the apartment, seeing Violet and the gun she was pointing in his direction. He gulped and put his hands up by his shoulders, making no sudden movements. He had a small bag slung from a strap over his shoulder, there were outlines of cans pressing from within the bag. "I..ahum.. I'm.. Eric."

Vi frowned slightly, watching the newcomer carefully. Sorry, she'd caught that part, and the next bit...but his name was a mystery to her. She couldn't tell, from here, what he'd said, and names had no context to read them from.

"I'm Violet." She said finally, lowering the gun to point at the floor but not putting it down, not quite yet.

Garrett turned away from the wall to pull the door shut again as the guy entered. Odd thoughts came to him in times of stress like this... nice hair, he thought, looking at the tall kid as he slipped past. Well, maybe not a kid, but the guy was younger, anyway. He shook his head. "That's Violet. Don't beg for mercy, she won't hear a word of it," he warned as he relocked the door. Scarlet was peeling her way out around the door and couch, he realized and he dodged back to give her a hand. "Hey, easy, don't scrape anything," he added, reaching a hand out to help her climb over.

"Huh?" Eric asked, half turning over his shoulder to Garrett, only to watch him move off toward another room and he played gently with the strap on his bag. "Umm so who are you?" He asked softly, not sure what else to say, he glanced at Violet with a shy smile, his bright blue eyes were wide and gave him the appearance of always being frightened.

Scarlet kind of scowled at Garrett as he seemed to suddenly rush over to take care of her, she wanted to be angry but just didn't have the energy for it. "I'm not going to scrape myself." She sighed and rolled her eyes, didn't he see how slow she was moving? "Forget it I'll just stay in here." She said from the other side of the couch, she'd just started to crawl over and simply straightened up, slumping back against the wall beside the door.

"Me?" Violet echoed, blinking at him. She'd told him her name, and she was pretty sure Garrett had too...but maybe she was wrong about that. It was certainly possible with more than one person to try to watch.

Out of habit, she walked past him to make sure the door was locked and all the deadbolts set before turning to look at him again. Well, at least he was cute...

"What? Oh. It's Garrett," he said, feeling an odd chill of reality shiver through him. An hour before, he'd tried to forget himself and everything he knew and now he was suddenly, abruptly present again in the world. His color faded slightly and beads of panic began to shine out above his eyes. Geezus, he'd almost done it, but no, he was still alive, very much so, although his heart seemed to be missing from his chest and pounding instead somewhere near the weakness in his knee that tipped him toward the wall. Scarlet didn't take his hand and he used it to prop himself at the doorway beside the couch, the other hand covering his mouth a moment as the thought finished dancing down his spine. "It's Garrett," he repeated softly.

Scarlet glanced up at the door, seeing Garrett leaning there and taking in his condition, she felt like total crap. Of course she assumed his reaction had something to do with how she'd just reacted toward him, she'd been rude.. she hadn't even realized he had his hand out to help her, she'd just been pissed about him telling her not to scrape herself - again. "I'm no good for anybody." She whisper sighed and let her shoulder sag forward and her gaze stare down at the floor.

Eric was very confused by them all, even though he couldn't see or hear Scarlet where she was on the floor in the other room. He reasoned with himself that they were probably all just thrown by his arrival and everything else going on. He knew there were times when didn't feel like anything made sense. "So ah.. Nice to meet you Violet and Garrett.." And whoever was in the other room that seemed not to want to come out. "I have some food in my bag, not alot, but plenty to share." He shifted from one foot to the other, his gaze darting toward Vi at the door, then Garrett by the other, and then into the kitched and the empty livingroom.

"Right..." Vi hadn't realized she was hungry until he'd mentioned food, which apparently had been a signal to her stomach to start rumbling. "You're...what did you say your name was? Maybe if you..." She sighed, realizing the idea was stupid. "I don't suppose you know any sign?" Glancing around, she spotted the alphabet magnets on the fridge and smiled, pointing to those. "Can you spell it for me? Sorry...names are tough to read."

What was difficult about a name, Garrett wondered, listening to the mutters behind him. He was more focused on the mutters in front of him. His hand dropped from his mouth and he leaned over the couch to speak with Scarlet who'd slumped more than he had. "I don't know what makes you say that, but if it matters, I think you're wrong. You see the girl in the other room? You're good to her and she trusts you. Right now, that makes you pretty damned important to her and me."

Her hands trembled and she couldn't hold them still so she clenched them into fists. "Well, you're certainly not deaf." She glanced up at Garrett, trying to glare but looking more like she was about to cry, she quickly turned her face away. "Actually from here, I can't see her at all." It was true both literally and metaphorically, her physical position as well as her mental state. She felt like she was breaking apart, slowly bit by bit the fragile hold she had on sanity was being chipped away. Scarlet started to turn her head toward him again but couldn't look into his face or his soulful eyes, if she did.. well she was afraid he'd see beyond the abrasive exterior to the vunerable woman beneath. "Why does what she thinks of me.. make me important to you?"

Eric turned to give Violet an odd look, he hadn't realized she was deaf, he'd just been talking not paying attention to which way he faced or knowing she'd been able to see him and read his lips. What Garrett had said had sounded more like sarcasm for Eric to take it as she literally wouldn't hear him. That of course meant he was staring at Vi like she had two heads when she asked him to spell his name in magnets on the fridge, especially once she said names were hard to read. If it weren't for the question about knowing sign, he'd have stood there clueless, but it finally clicked and he nodded his head. He didn't walk to the fridge though, instead his hand lifted and he spelled out his name in sign, E-R-I-C. He then pointed to himself with another shy smile.

Violet just stared at him for a long moment, completely surprised, before a grin spread across her face. "Eric." She said the name aloud, hoping she got it right. There was no way for her to know, after all. Still, it was amazing to find someone else who could sign. "Do you just know the alphabet or, you know, more than that?" It was probably to much to ask but she couldn't help being excited at the prospect. Even if he had to spell everything out, it was amazing to have someone to sign with again.

"It makes you important because...," he ran his hand over his brow as it tickled with the sweat. "Because if she trusts you, she's got hope... hope for safety, hope that we'll get out of this craziness, hope for food that just walked in the door... He offered if you want to eat. I'd take him up on it if I were you. But, that's what makes you important to me because hope is something I was running
low on, myself."

Scarlet still didn't look up at Garrett, the shaking was likely more visible now as her arms rested over her knees and she flexed her fingers a few times before closing them in fists again. She nodded dully to his words about the food, she knew she should eat but she didn't have much appetite. She wanted more than anything to melt into the floor, his words crushed down on her like lead weight. "I'm sorry you feel that way.. " She whispered softly, feeling the tears burn her eyes, she tried to blink them away and felt one roll down her cheek.

Eric signed the word -yes- to Violet when she said his name correctly and then held his hand out making a 'so-so' gesture to indicate he knew some sigh but wasn't fluent in it. He glanced at the bedroom door way and then away, deciding the kitchen might be a better place to be. Whatever was going on whether a simple private discussion or something more, he didn't feel he should be interferring or watching it. He set his bag down on the counter and pulled out a couple cans of ravioli and some crackers, it wasn't fancy but it was food.

"They're, um...they were moving the couch." She explained, hoping that didn't sound completely lame. Knowing Garrett and Scarlet something was probably up, but she didn't want to get involved. "Hey!" He'd pulled the food out of his backpack and she moved over to where he stood, picking up one of the cans. "Ravioli? Oh my god, I haven't had ravioli in so long..."

Garrett's head turned at the squeal and discussion over whatever Eric had brought in. His attention was still divided though with Scarlet slumping more into a fit of light tears. If Violet saw her, she'd probably shoot him for making Scarlet cry. "Oh geez," he sighed out loud at that thought and sighed again a second later with a new one. "You're sorry that I think you're a strong girl keeping company with someone who looks up to you? Why are you sorry about that? You know what? Don't be. Don't apologize because you've got balls. You were helping somebody out there and I was in here hiding in the dark. No, I'm sorry. Really... really, sorry," he chuckled a little. "And I'm arguing... again. Sor-... I mean... oh hell. You want some ravioli or what?"

"Yes, I am sorry that you think that, because you're so far off the mark it's not even funny. That girl shouldn't look up to me and she wouldn't if she knew anything about me. You think I'm strong because some scared deaf kid latched onto me? I was the first person she'd seen, it had nothing to do with me. It was pure desperation and loneliness and stupidity no less. I'm not a good person for letting her tag along with me, I'm.. a horrible person for letting her follow someone like me around. I'm sorry that you think I'm something I'm not. I'm sorry she looks up to me and trusts me. I'm sorry that the little fairy tale you have in your head about it, gives you hope. What's going to happen when she stops trusting me.. are you going to lose that bit of hope it gave you? I'm sorry for that too. If I was a decent person I would never have let her follow me, I never would have led her here to give you a lie to believe in. It's only going to make things worse." She paused there, shaking her head, her jaw clenching tightly as her thumb stroked over her inner wrist. "I'm not sorry you have hope, only that it has anything to do with me. Go eat." She said this last bit quietly.

Eric shrugged at Vi's explaination and felt sorry that she felt the need to give him one when he had decided it wasn't his business. He tried to smile over her reaction to what he felt wasn't a great selection of food but it made him wonder what her life had been like before. "I eat it alot, so I always kept a bunch on hand.. I was glad for that in these last couple of weeks."

"Yeah, I bet you were." She was signing along with her speech, knowing that he might not pick it all up and yet enjoying the opportunity to use it. She glanced over towards the bedroom in the direction Garrett and Scarlet had gone and sighed. "I think there are some bowls...maybe we can find a regular can opener." The electric one beside the toaster wouldn't do them much good after all.

"Oh, Hey I got it covered." He too signed - the words he was sure of- as he spoke to her. Eric figured he'd get better, remember more, and all that if he used it as much as he could around this girl. "I have one." He pulled it from one of the smaller pouches on the bag. "I like to keep it handy.. in case. The cans of food do no good if I can't get them open." He admitted to his thinking with a slight blush and a very small smile, as if he was kind of shy.

"Good idea." She nodded. "I wish I'd thought of that..." He was smart, and kind of cute...and he signed. What were the odds of that?

Garrett held out his hand to help her up over the wedged couch. "You're not a horrible person. A good person takes the time to worry about whether or not they're good... mm... kinda makes you good by default," he explained. It made sense to him even if Scarlet wasn't buying it from him. "Besides, ladies first. You had a bite of a candy bar. That's not getting you far. C'mon."

"You're..." Scarlet sighed and looked up at him, nearly glaring as her fingers started to dig into her wrist, her breath was uneven and her expression haunted. "Why do you care? No one else does.." Her voice was soft and her expression going through a range of emotions as she glanced between his hand and his face.

"Thanks." Eric said in a quiet voice, though how loud he spoke didn't make a difference to Violet.

Vi glanced towards the doorway, wondering what was keeping the others. Was something wrong? She hoped not...she really liked Scarlet, and whatsisname wasn't bad either. The thing was, at this point she'd been alone long enough to want to cling to anyone she came in contact with. "Maybe I should go see if everything is okay..." She glanced back at Eric, uncertain. "What do you think?"

Garrett shrugged. "Call it a bad habit, I guess," he grinned, snickering a little. Scarlet sure seemed to want him not to care or like her. His hand didn't move away, but he gestured slightly, reminding her it was there to help her up. "I'm what? Infuriating? Okay, I'll own up to that. What else? C'mon. Tell me on the way into the other room," he grinned, wanting her to get out all she had to say.

"Stubborn. That's all I was going to say." Scarlet sighed and watched as he moved his hand but didn't withdraw it or go away. She wondered why he was being so persistant about this, what did she matter to him? "Bad habit.. yeah that describes me well." She let go of her wrist and then slowly reached for his hand and started to get to her feet. She swayed a little, her lack of food starting to catch up to her and her barely contained emotional overload.

Eric shrugged at Violets question, and shook his head. "I don't know.. it's up to you and what you think. I don't know them to say either way." He didn't know her or the other two have formed any kind of opinion or to have knowledge enough to weigh in on the matter.

Vi nodded, stepping out into the living room and looking hesitant as she faced the doorway. "Uh...is everything okay?"

Bad habits... Garrett mumbled a 'fine' over his shoulder. Vi wouldn't hear it, it was just a natural reaction to a common question he apparently had a primed response for like most dads did. Maybe she'd get it anyway with the slight turn of his head. Scarlet was looking a little light-headed and he was a little more concerned about her falling back into the lamp or anything else that might hurt her. "Hey, watch it. Yeah, you need to eat. You okay? I'll buy the stubborn and a vowel if you make it all the way to this side of the couch in one piece, okay?"

"I'm fine." She set one hand to the wall to hold her up as she waited for the wave to pass, she closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them to look at the couch. "We should really get it out of the doorway, rather than climb over it."

Eric went about opening the cans of ravioli then getting a couple of bowls out of the cupboard and forks from one of the drawers. He had to open a few doors to find them since this kitchen was organised different than his had been.

"Scarlet?" Vi didn't realize that Garrett had answered her so she stepped closer, concerned at the way Scarlet looked. Was something wrong with her? Was she sick? "Are you okay?" She approached, looking around Garrett to see her there, still on the far side of the couch.

Garrett turned at the sudden girl at his side, trying to keep the one next to the wall from toppling over as he jumped a little. "Yeah, maybe we should but I think you need to eat something before you move anything but yourself. Maybe Evan... Aaron... what did he say his name was... Eric? We can get this while you do that?"

Scarlet pulled her hand away from Garrett as Violet came up and started trying to poke around him to see her, she folded her arms and glared fiercely at the young girl as if to prove her concern wasn't needed. "For the last time, I'm FINE!" She turned around and leaned her shoulder against the wall so Violet wouldn't be able to look closer and see how pale she was. The last thing Scarlet wanted the girl's pity, she refused to allow the other girl to see her weakness. Her breathing was a little uneven and her voice low when she spoke, knowing Garrett would hear her and Vi wouldn't. "I'm not going out there to eat."

"Okay..." Vi put her hands up as if to show she wasn't armed, looking a bit hurt as she backed away. "I'll um, I'll just go help Eric with the food." She turned and headed back into the kitchen, her expression quite a bit more somber than it had been before. "Um...soup on?" She tried for a feeble joke which fell somewhat flat.

"That's just great," Garrett mumbled, mopping his hand over his face like he was trying to decide between clipping a red wire or a blue wire, somehow feeling that either one was going to cause something to blow up and he needed to choose the less devastating option. The girl in front of him who could hear him fine wasn't moving and the one who couldn't was running away, upset. Yelling at either one would do nothing... well, maybe make him feel better for all of two seconds and call attention to their hideaway to anything in the halls or outside that was listening for signs of life. "Alright," he snipped quietly, not as kindly and smilingly as before. "It matters, you matter and those two in there matter because right now you and me... we're alive, Scarlet. I might not have been able to say that to anyone if you hadn't shown up so... I guess this is where I say thanks and get it over with. Or are you going to argue about that too? Why don't you just... can't you just let someone be nice to you? I need to do that, okay? I need to."

She let her head rest against the wall as well, a sigh slowly exhaling out as she slumped there without saying anything for a few moments. "I can't argue with the timing thing, it was what it was. Even if I tell you I'm not the one to thank for that coincidence.. you'll believe what you want to believe.. or what you need to." She lowered herself back down to sit on the floor, still facing the other way, one arm unfolded and her fingers brushed along the wall, tracing the pattern on the wallpaper. "What if I don't know how to let anyone be nice to me? What if I can't remember what that's like? If you really need to be nice to me.. I can't really stop you, can I? Do what you have to do.. I bet you had people before this.. people you cared about and who cared about you.. someone loved you." She nodded a little as if she knew and didn't need him to tell her, but her voice said that she didn't have that.

Eric glanced up at Violet and scooped some of the ravioli into a bowl, he set a fork in it and pushed it across the counter toward her. "Guess you shouldn't have interfered?" He sort of nodded behind her to the hallway.

"I guess so." Vi agreed, nodding. She was trying to look like it didn't bother her much, but really it did. She picked up the bowl, keeping her eyes on the food so that for the moment she wouldn't have to have a conversation. She ate, but somehow her excitement over the food seemed to have dimmed. "Thanks."

Garrett nodded and started to move away. Fine... this was fine. She was staying put, not hurting herself, okay then. He let her sit with her back to hiim, to the others. Meanwhile he went to find whatever had been divvied up between them. "Smells good... I guess." He tried to think of something useful to say as he came around into the kitchen. He wanted to apologize to Violet, but her nose was in her bowl, not looking at him at the moment. "Can... I just take that on back to her, thanks...," he said, not really asking as much as explaining, reaching for one of the bowls and half-heartedly pointing in Scarlet's direction. She wouldn't come to the food, so he'd bring it to her.

Violet was looking down so she probably wouldn't even know that he'd said "You're welcome." to her. He wasn't sure why she seemed so bummed, but then again he didn't know much about her or the others either. He'd opened a few cans of the ravioli to divide between them all and when Garrett came in, he nodded to the question. "Sure, yeah.. whatever. Take one for you too.. I mean if you're planning to eat in ther with her." He cleared his throat, feeling a little awkward but mostly he stayed calm and neutral.

Scarlet heard him move away but didn't look up, she seemed fixed on the pattern on the wall, her fingers tracing over it again and again. "It's better this way." She whispered to herself, nodding her head a little bit.

Violet's gaze shifted up to one, then the other, and then back to her own bowl again. She almost wanted to just go eat in the corner or something, but she decided that would be pretty anti-social. Instead she stayed where she was, at the counter, and ate methodically, glancing up at Eric now and then just to be sure she wasn't missing anything.

"One first. We might be splitting it anyway. Don't want to waste it," he said, taking the one bowl, but two spoons back to the other room. He planted one spoon in the thick glob in the bowl and reached it over the still-wedged sofa toward Scarlet. "I did have someone, but... well, they're not here now. You are. There's enough for us all. Here."

Scarlet stiffened at first when Garrett leaned in with the bowl, then she slowly twisted to look at him questioningly. She seemed to think about it for a minute and then scowled but reached a shaking hand to take the bowl, she nearly dropped it as she brought it close to herself. She set the ravioli in her lap, her eyes darting from the food to Garrett. "Thank you." It almost seemed like a question as if she was unsure of whether to thank him or not. "Are you eating?" She wouldn't take the bowl of food if there wasn't enough for him to have some first.

Eric took his bowl and sat down with a soft sigh, tough crowd this bunch was. He didn't seem all too effected by their behavior as he started eating, with much more enthusiasm than Vi.

Vi picked up her bowl and walked over to take a seat by Eric, feeling the need for company even if she wasn't sure she was up for conversation at the moment. Still, she didn't want him to think she was mad at him. "So...how did you learn sign?"

"I've got mine. Like I said... ladies first. You go ahead," Garrett insisted softly, making sure she didn't drop hers. She seemed more than just fatigued, like she actually hurt, but was keeping herself from saying so. "You eat. I'll be right back, okay?" He slipped away again whether it was 'okay' or not. The other bowl was waiting for him and his stomach had gone from flopping around with nausea to near strangling him with hunger now that he'd smelled the food.

Eric shrugged and blushed a little, not wanting to sound dumb when he answered the question. "Ah.. I took a class in school, it was an elective and I needed the credits.. then I volunteered at this summer camp."

"Okay." She replied softly, not sure what else to say, it seemed useless to continue to argue with him, he was going to insist on doing things his way. It was much easier just to go along with it quietly or pretend to, as long as she didn't openly disagree he seemed to accept it. She still didn't understand why he wanted to be nice to her, why it was important and why it had to be her and not one of the others. Scarlet untangled herself but stayed on the floor and curled back up in a different position so she could eat, yet she didn't take a bite of the food. She started to use the fork to chop it up in a methodical manner, sort of making mush out of it.

"That's cool though...most people only learn it if they have to." She offered him a smile, using her fork to cut her ravioli into smaller bites, not wanting to look like a pig in front of him.

"Camp? Hahah... that's nice. Camp," Garrett said, chuckling a little, thinking about simple times - and safe ones - when camp seemed the furthest thing from a real life. Now it was a way of life, living on whatever you could find. His chuckle faded and he reached for the other bowl he'd left, trying not to actually interrupt. Violet had already called him crazy and he didn't need to give her any more to convince her of it.

He brought his bowl back around the corner and set it on the end of the couch, looking over at Scarlet's mashed-up soup. "If I make airplane noises, would it help? I.." He didn't finish the thought. Whatever he'd meant to say was lost in a cringe of a pained memory that aged his expression and bent it into visible sadness that barely contained the threatening tears. His own spoon clicked slowly through the soft squares to the bottom of the bowl and he finally took a ragged breath. He put the smile back in place for Scarlet's benefit, although the illusion was already broken almost as much as the rest of him.

Eric shrugged at Violet saying it was cool that he learned, he wasn't really sure how he felt about it and was sort of bashful of her comments toward him. She seemed really sweet and it was just weird to find her amid all the mess that had been playing out. Really, really weird. Eric smiled at her and glanced up at Garrett and his comment, shaking his head a little as the other man left the room again. He started to eat, plopping whole pieces of the ravioli into his mouth.

Scarlet didn't look up at first as Garrett came back into the room, she continued her methodic cutting until his words trailed off. That was when her hand stilled and her gaze slowly lifted, she saw the pain in his face and it twisted at something in her chest... her heart? She felt frustrated tears sting her own eyes as she rose up onto her knees and set her bowl to the side.

Without saying a word, she scooted on her knees to close the gap between them, she tried to take his bowl to set it to the side if he'd let her and then shifted to wrap her arms around him. There was a good chance he'd push her away but something in his haunted expression drew her forward and she tried to comfort him.

Vi finished the rest of her food in silence, carefully wiping her mouth with one of the napkins she'd found in the kitchen and rising to put her bowl in the sink, simply out of habit more than anything. A glance towards the other room showed nothing but the couch blocking the way, and she figured it wasn't wise to push at this point.

Instead she went to sit next to Eric again, leaning her back against the wall and looking over at him. "I'm glad you found us...it's nice to have someone to talk to."

He didn't push her away. Garrett felt the arm around his shoulders and for a moment he couldn't move. Don't cry, he reminded himself, trying to breathe and keep the tears from welling up any more. Suddenly he found himself hugging back, as tightly as Scarlet would allow him to, tightly but gently, clinging as if trying to keep her from slipping away into the darkness that permeated his thoughts. "I had to...," he gasped out shakily. "I'm so sorry... I had to."

Eric managed a boyish but genuine smile this time when Violet gave him the offhand compliment. "Thanks.. it's good to be found.. If the four of us work together.. I think we have alot better chance, you know?" He was kind of thinking out loud, not really having a plan or direction to go in. "It's amazing to have someone to talk to again."

Scarlet felt his arms and how tight he held her, she gripped back and let him hold as tightly as he needed to, for as long as he needed to. The contact felt strange but she was clinging to him, nodding gently as her hand lightly stroked the back of his head and neck in a comforting manner. "I know.. shhh.. I forgive you." He had done nothing to her personally but his pain was easy enough to understand, she could nearly feel it radiating from him. "You did what you had to.."

"Yeah..." She smiled, her tone gently teasing. "Even if that person can't actually hear you." It was odd, being around someone she could joke with, someone she didn't feel self-conscious around. Well, she did feel self-conscious, but in a different way. He was a cute boy, after all.

"Do you mind if I take a nap?" She glanced towards the doorway. "I don't know how much longer they'll be in there."

"I don't want to be forgiven," he gritted out. "I want them back. They're gone because of me..." He took another ragged breath, clearly letting the tears fall as he closed his eyes, curling into the cool skin of her neck - something soft, something real. Maybe he didn't need to say more, or maybe there were too many details she'd need to know but he couldn't say it. Another breath later he realized how tightly he held Scarlet and the gentle touch on his head, on his hair. He peeled loose slowly and reached for the hand at his shoulder to cling to it a moment instead.

Eric shrugged and then gave Vi a small but warm smile. "Hey I'm just a guest.. you do whatever you want to do. Okay?" He had no problem with her taking a nap and it made him feel weird that she asked and didn't just say hey I'm taking a nap.. she seemed more considerate than people he'd known.


Scarlet didn't say anything for a long moment, she'd tried to comfort him and even that had been wrong. He said he didn't want to be forgiven and he wanted them back.. she didn't know who they were but she knew she couldn't bring them back. "Sorry.." She murmured quietly, looking down at the floor as he pulled back and took her hand instead. She let him hold it as anything she did on her own seemed to be wrong. Even if the way he held it clearly revealed the edge of the cut on her inner wrist and the stitches that held it closed. She could feel the dampness from his tears on her neck but she made no move to wipe them away.

Vi smiled at him. "I just didn't want to abandon you, that's all." Shifting onto her side, she used her back pack as a pillow, leaving the wall at her back and her head pointed towards where Eric leaned. It was nice having someone right there while you fell asleep, it made you feel less vulnerable.

Garrett tried to smile, pulling his knuckle under his eyes to dry them, sniffling one last time. His expression didn't curl or fall or brighten. He seemed simply empty at the moment, somewhere other than in the room. His attention moved to her fingers in his hand where he noticed her wrist, but didn't stare, or spend much time wondering why. He somehow knew. Even if he did not know the reasons, he knew the feeling that had led her there. He nodded slowly, looking for a way into her gaze and her understanding that this roller coaster he was riding wasn't her fault. She was trying to help and he appreciated it more than he knew how to say without blubbering or sounding angry. "Thank you," came out quietly and he raised his fingers to her cheek to brush lightly if she didn't turn away.

Eric laughed softly and shook his head, sort of waving Violet off with one arm as she shifted down to rest on her back pack. "It's alright.. I don't mind.." He was just glad to be in here with real people, it didn't matter what they were doing, really.

The touch of his fingers on her cheek made her tremble ever so slightly beneath them, though she lips curved up into a soft barely there smile. It took a moment for her to lift her gaze from the floor, when she did she looked more vunerable and scared than the tough abrassive front she'd been putting up before. She shook her head in a weak 'no' and spoke in a voice that was quiet, like she'd learned at an young age not to raise it. "You don't have to thank me.. I'm the one who upset you in the first place. I always do that.. I don't mean to but I do.."

"I know you didn't mean to.. and you didn't, I promise." The smile came out a little to mirror hers and his fingers drew down her cheek and fell away. "You want to know why you're important... it's because you're learning to survive. I didn't think I could do that."

"Am I?" She asked as if she wasn't sure she was learning to or if she was really surviving. "Sometimes I don't know why.. when I'm fighting, why I'm doing it when not long ago..." She trailed off and reached down to her wrist, playing with one of the stitches.

[Lovely]

He reached down to her fingers, not really stopping her... more like asking her to stop, not telling her. "Let it heal. It just takes time," he said, a curl on one side of his mouth finally. "Don't ask me why I said that.. just seemed to make sense. It does make sense to me now. Time... I used to think it didn't mean much at all, running around all over, one stupid thing to the next. That's not surviving, that's not even living, it's just.. being someplace else, I guess. Being in the right place and staying there... that's surviving. Isn't it?"

"It itches.." Her fingers went still as his covered hers lightly and she stopped playing with the stitches. "I don't know.." She sighed softly and looked up to his face. "I think you're asking the wrong person.. they locked me up to keep me where they wanted me."

His head turned a little. "Not sure it made sense anyway," he snickered at himself. "It probably sounds a little bit stupid. I didn't pass philosophy in school. Didn't keep me from thinking too much about things, though." Her words worked through him deeper and deeper still and he realized he'd shivered with an inexplicable chill. His head shook and he looked back to her face. "Why? Why did they ever want to send you away? I could never do that."

"I wasn't shiny enough.. I wasn't happy.. I was sad alot and.. they were all perfect and happy.. shiny. They didn't understand I guess." She shrugged and blinked at the sting of tears that welled up. "They went.. they moved.. just left me in there all that time.. I was looking for them, I went home and Vi was there instead.. it wasn't home anymore, it was her family's.. for years and I was in that place.." The tears began to slide down her cheeks and she reached back to start playing with her stitches again.

He didn't understand that at all. They moved? How could they just leave her? He didn't want her to unstitch herself and reopen the wound - that he did understand and slid his hand around her wrist that seemed dainty and delicate in his palm. "Don't risk it. Please. I can't bring them back anymore than you or anyone can bring back my wife or my daughter. I wish to hell I could, but ..."

She stopped picking at her wrist and slid her hand over top of his, the tears still flowed and she alternated between looking at the floor and up to his face. "I went there.. to make sure they were alright. I fought my way there and they were just.. gone.. I don't even know how long they'd been gone or where they went.. All I thought about when I was in that place was going home one day. I was clinging to that hope to keep from drowning.. now I don't know what to.. hold on for.."

"Maybe some emergency happened.. witness program or something - who knows. There's got to be a reasonable explanation since that's ... really not reasonable in any way I can fathom," he said, shaking his head. Dwelling on unknown reasons wasn't going to help ease her mind any. She didn't have any more answers than he did. "Home... Well, we'll just have to make you a new one. This place isn't it, though," he decided, looking around at the walls, the lopsided pile of furniture and the tumbled couch. "One more try on the couch and we can actually sit on it..?"

"We.. will.." She echoed and asked softly, tilting her face to look at him. "Not here? Then where?" She felt the questions start to bubble up and her eyes searched his face, afraid to trust him yet hopeful that he meant what he said. It was strange to feel the way she did after fighting so hard to push him away and make him not need her as much as she needed him. Her gaze went to the couch and she slowly nodded her head, agreeing to help him move it. "Alright."

"Slowly this time. Um.. maybe we better move these first," he said, reaching for her bowl of mush to set aside with his. "I dunno where. Home... someplace that feels like home," he shrugged, not sure what that felt like anymore, himself.

"What if I don't know what home is? I mean.. it's been a really long time.. I was fourteen when they sent me away.. for the past ten years the only place I've known has been filled with people who shriek and slam their heads into walls." She carefully got to her feet as he moved their bowls out of the way, she tugged her sleeve back down to hide the marks again.

"I'll try not to shriek. At least as long as I don't drop my end of the couch on anything, we're good." He noticed how she hid the marks again and his head turned a bit. "She doesn't know, does she?"

"Huh?" Scarlet looked up at Garrett now that he was standing and then saw where his gaze went. "Oh.. no, she doesn't know. She doesn't know anything about me, except that I showed up in her house earlier today."

Garrett grinned... 'her' house though she'd gone there believing it was her own and it should have been. He readied himself on his end of the couch to get the thing out of the doorway finally, and get the bed cleared so the girls could really rest. "She probably knows more than she'll say, but I'm just the odd one out. I don't have the good hair," he said, referring cryptically to the young man he'd left Violet alone with in the other room, who was strangely quiet as was Violet.

Scarlet just stared at him for a moment with an odd expression, what the hell did that mean? Her head shook slightly and her face went kind of blank before she crouched down to grab her end of the couch. "Which way are we going with this?"

"Out that way," he said this time meaning the front room and not right or left which had messed them up the last time. He wasn't going to get pinned this time and he had a good idea that her arms still hurt plenty and didn't want to make her overdo it. "On three and we just keep going, okay? One... two...."

"Okay." She agreed to the plan with little emotion but looked at him as he spoke and she answered him, she was trying to keep herself from back sliding but it wasn't easy. Scarlet took a deep breath as he started counting and finished for him. "..three." She smiled at him as she rose from her squat and stepped toward him to move the couch out into the livingroom.

The subtle signals to turn it to clear the doorway and tilt it up a little on end seemed to make more sense just doing it, nudging rather than trying to explain them. The smile helped and in a moment the couch was finally clear of the space and the room it was in seemed more normal and the front room home-ier than before. "Wahoo! Alright, that's better, isn't it?!"

Garrett's whoop of triumph was cut short as he turned around, startled to find Eric leaning and Violet almost under his feet, laying down on her pack again. "Um.. couch?" He pointed, offering it for them first.

Vi sat up with a start, eyes opening wide at the vibration of the couch being set down. She breathed a bit easier seeing what had caused it, but came to her feet anyway as she was probably where they'd want the couch.

"Sorry..." She picked up her bag and moved away from the wall so the couch could be put there, stifling a yawn with one hand.

"Sure that's great." Eric had missed the begining of all this and still had no idea why the couch was in the other room. He assumed that the person who lived here before had done it, though why was still a mystery. He smiled a little and nodded his head, approving of the comfort of the couch over standing or sitting on the floor. He motioned to Vi to go ahead, if she wanted to sit or lay down on it, he could still take the floor in that case but at least then it would be for noble reasons.

Garrett clasped his hands together like a delighted Maitre'D about to tell them the specials once they'd taken their seat. "Great! Oh, I think there's a lamp in there too," he said, looking back at the other room and the spaces where other furnishings had been. The lamp wouldn't do them any good except possibly as a bludgeon if they really needed it. The cushion he'd put on the floor was picked up and fluffed, then added to the others on the couch. "I'll get that, here's this. The thing pulls out into a bed if you... I don't mean if you were planning on... Watch the door, okay?" He didn't want to embarrass either of them half as much as he'd embarrassed himself by almost explaining to two young kids what to do or not do with a bed.

"Okay, I missed half of that." Vi had been trying to watch Garrett but with his moving around and mumbling, looking nervous, it was hard to read his lips. "Did he say this thing pulls out into a bed? Because a bed sounds good right about now." She was too sleepy to even realize the possible double meaning in that.

Scarlet had disappeared almost as soon as they set the couch down, she was back in the other room - hiding. She stood in the corner of her room with her arms folded, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. She just concentrated on breathing evenly and tuning out the cheerful voices from the other room.

Eric watched Garrett move around and listened to what he said but was probably as lost as Violet was at the moment. "It's okay, I heard it all and I'm still confused. So don't worry about it. Here I'll pull this out for you so you can lay down." He offered and started moving the cushions off the couch to set up the bed for Violet.

"Okay but...where are you going to sleep?" She didn't want him to be banished to the floor or something just so she could have the bed. "If you want...I mean, I don't mind sharing..." She was blushing as she said it, but meant it.

"Same place everyone else is going to sleep? I'll find a spot.." He trailed off at her offer, tipping his head to the side for a moment before straightening out and shrugging. "That's really up to you. I don't mind sleeping on the floor but I also wouldn't mind sleeping on the pull out. You're the girl after all and I am hardly more than a stranger. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"I'd be uncomfortable if you had to sleep on the floor just for my sake." She pointed out with a somewhat shy smile. "Besides, it's big enough..." She meant that there would be plenty of room between them, but somehow pointing that out seemed just a bit too embarrassing.

She'd rather have a total stranger sleep with her than on the floor? He hoped she wasn't always so easy to trust people, that could be dangerous. Eric shrugged again and glanced at the couch for a moment of consideration. "Alright.. I guess we'll be sharing then.. I hope you're not a cover hog." He teased a little to make sure the mood remained light and didn't get all awkward.

Garrett's face was likely still a shade or two darker beneath the crooked grin as he came back to the other room to grab the lamp and help straighten out the rest of the things that belonged in the bedroom. "Maybe it's really not so bad staying here," he mentioned now, leaning in the unblocked doorway, looking at the sizeable and comfortable room.

Scarlet had heard him come into the room again but didn't open her eyes until he spoke and her gaze fixed on him again. Her expression was curious and she wondered at what he meant by his comment. "Why do you say that?" She asked softly, her eyes never leaving him.

"Looking at it through new eyes?" He shrugged a little and came further into the room. "When I got here, I didn't want to be anywhere. I wasn't planning on staying anywhere, at least. Those things I'd said about rats and things falling apart were more in the place up here," he said tapping his temple a moment, then curling his finger along his cheek, keeping it there a moment as he thought more about the set-up. The bed was uncovered now and although it wasn't straight, it was a place to sit that was more inviting than the floor. He sighed quietly and picked up his bowl, bringing it with him as he sat on the bed. He patted the spot beside him for her to join him. "Softer than a wall."

She glanced at the mush she'd made in her bowl and walked over to retrieve it before she shifted down to sit next to him on the bed. "I think I can understand that.. what you said about seeing the place differently. We had kind of planned on digging in here... what bit of thought I'd actually given to anything, that is. Seems like it would be a decent place to.. stay awhile." She bit at her lip, she was making the effort to not be so difficult or upset him with her behavior. She figured he'd suffered enough in all this and that she shouldn't add to it.

"It was a good thought," he agreed, trying to manage a bite of his food. He got one square down and set the bowl aside again. Perhaps the boy in the other room would want more or Violet when she woke up. "Good that you thought of staying anywhere. How's your arm?" He didn't mean the marks that itched that she wanted to claw at, but her shoulders he was sure hurt from trying to move the furniture. He reached out to touch her shoulder if she didn't shrink away, hoping to rub it lightly and try to help her feel comfortable.

Her eyes widened a little and followed his movements but she didn't stop him from touching her shoulder, she'd embraced him only a short time before and with this contact, it was a sign that she trusted him. "I'll live.. probably be sore a day or two but no major damage." She smiled just a little and took a bite of her mushed ravioli. "You need to eat too.." She prodded him with the gentle reminder. "Who will get me to eat if you're not?"

"Can you make airplane noises?" He teased her now and chuckled a moment later. She let him rub her arm a little - it was a start. He let go and picked up his bowl again, playing with the forkfull he finally managed to get to his mouth and swallow. There was only a bite left and he forced it in, puffing out his cheeks like he was storing nuts for the winter. The bowl was empty and he felt ill from the mix of everything but grinned as well as he could. "Better?"

She chuckled quietly but slowly nodded her head. "As long as it's not going to end up in my lap in five minutes." She ate another bite of her own food, she didn't feel so well herself but she knew it was all emotional. "Thank you." She gestured to her shoulder but she meant more than that, it was a thanks for trying when she was being difficult.

He shook his head a little. He'd keep it down, but couldn't guarantee the rumbling would stop. "You're welcome," he whispered, waiting for her to finish hers then take her bowl to set aside as well, although it gave her hands something to hold that kept her mind off her stitches. "So... you're pretty handy with picking a lock. That's not a bad thing when we need to find more food. Think this place has more to find than.. um... what you already found?"

"Well, I guess I have a use.." She held the bowl out to him so he could set it aside with his, after taking another bite, she'd eat more later.. or so she reasoned in her head. "I'm sure this place has plenty to find.. since what we have we found was on the way here or Vi already had in her pack. We hadn't really looked inside the apartments here, tried one and the body scared Vi, so we tried this one." Scarlet shrugged and sighed. "It would make sense that most people have some food in their kitchens since we it looks like most didn't have much warning to pack up and run.. if they made it out, I don't bet they took much with them."

"Great! I mean, um... great that there's some opportunity close by, not that the body, um..," he tried to explain how his mind jumped from point to point and cringed, pausing a moment to rearrange his thoughts. "So um, when there's daylight and less risk, we rummage through the building and find what we can. Hey! If we can get into the boiler room, maybe there's a generator!"

"Right .. no, I got it.. I wouldn't think you'd be cheering that Vi got scared and all." As odd as it might seem, she had followed his jumping thoughts and understood most of what he'd said. "That sounds like a good plan.. do you think Vi will stay here with that guy?" She nodded toward the front room, thinking it would be safer for the younger girl to stay in the apartment.

Garrett looked toward the doorway and listened a moment. It wasn't like the boy needed to speak loudly to talk to Violet, but he didn't hear much. If she was sleeping, he might have been trying to, too. He thought a moment. "She seems to trust him. He seems about as lost and scared as the rest of us. What do you think? Think we could leave them together?" Ever the father, he wondered about the safety of his 'kids' and sounded like he was discussing their daughter.

Scarlet shrugged and her expression seemed to say he was asking the wrong person for their judgement on such things. "If he seems alright to you, then I don't see any reason why not.. she did almost shoot me, so I think she can handle herself.. besides, we'll still be in the building. Oh! and we can threaten him before we go out.. you know, you can look all serious and I'll be the crazy one who says I'll rip his arms off if he tries any funny stuff with her."

"You'd make an awesome father," he chuckled. "Okay, we threaten. They have her gun, and the lamp. They should be fine. So, that sounds dangerously like a plan and a promise for a new start, huh?" He hadn't expected to make it this far, let alone discuss any future plans and here suddenly a plan was forming.

She chuckled again and her eyebrow arched up at his comment. "Hmm except for that anatomy thing.." She gestured to herself and more so to the visible evidence to support her reply. "A plan.. kind of scary.. should we like shake on it or something?"

"I've been shaking since you walked in the door," he admitted softly. He nodded about the scary plan, though and held out his hand that still tremored a little.

"I'm not really a danger to anyone but myself.. you don't have to be scared of me." She half teased but was serious about not being a danger to anyone else, the only person she'd ever really hurt was herself. Her hand lifted and her fingers wrapped gently around his, she simply held it steady and brought her other to lay over their clasped hands. "I wish I could make it better." She whispered, sincere in her desire to ease his fear, suffering, pain.. all of it.

"You're not the one that scares me," he said, looking at how she clasped his hands. He didn't move them away, but felt he could run, maybe should run as she expressed making things better. Memories were still too close to the surface and the emotions with them. His fingers tightened around hers slightly as the tremor worsened a moment and he fought the tears. He took a deep breath. "It will be better by morning."

"Maybe I should be." Her hand lifted to his cheek, she could almost feel his pain, taste it as if it were part of her own and her expression was a mix of compassion, support, acceptance, and understanding. "I won't let go."

He wanted to believe her and tried to, but some part of him in the very recent memory told him not to hold on to that promise. A week or a month earlier, he might have, but the world was doing everything it could to make that a foolish dream. Garrett looked to the floor but his fingers stayed laced around hers. This moment - that was all that was certain. He nodded finally. "Okay. Okay," he said again, looking back up to her face, trying to push the fears further away.

She understood his fear and hesitation without words to explain what was going on behind his eyes. She had reasons beyond the recent horrors for not trusting anyone and being afraid, in a strange way it was kind of like being back in that place. The world had become the asylum and the inmates were contagious.. she was now the sane one and the thought almost made her laugh. She held it in as much as she could, a smile showing and she shook her head, her eyes casting over Garrett, knowing.. seeing beyond what others would. "When I make a promise.. I keep it." She said quietly and her eyes glanced toward the bathroom door. "You're going to have to come in there with me."

"Why?" The fear faded into embarrassment and the thought of large spiders or something. The marks on her wrist made his thoughts turn drastically in another direction. He hadn't moved the razors or anything else, yet, but maybe she didn't mean that, either. "I mean... um... why?" He chuckled a little and felt the sweat beads tickling his hair around his forehead. Why was he nervous?

"Because I'm not letting go... and I want to shower, so you're coming with me." She paused and licked her lips, her tone had been firm as if she expected him to listen and do what she told him to but at the same time it wasn't haughty or harsh. Scarlet was still watching him closely and wondered at why he seemed sort of nervous, he was a grown man she was sure he could handle a shower. "Besides.. the shower will make you feel better and you need it."

He was partly amused, partly offended and wholly bewildered. She was asking him to join her in the shower? "But I'm a married man," he said, the words tumbling out to his horror and realization that it was completely no longer true. He was a widower now, under tragic circumstances that took his breath for a moment and iced his gaze in place, looking at nothing though Scarlet was right there.

She froze as if his gaze had turned her cold, she hadn't thought of it in that manner or how he might take it with regard to his feelings and situation. "Oh.. god.. I - I'm so sorry.. I didn't mean it like.. I wasn't thinking.. Garrett.." She had no idea what to do and breathing seemed harder at the moment, she thought of how she'd felt to find her family was gone.. the loss she felt was nothing compared to what he must. There was no one with him and she could only imagine what had happened.. she'd been thoughtless and didn't know how to take it back. She held onto his hand a little more tightly though her instinct was to run - hard and fast until no one could ever find her.

A tear began to well, barely there, but enough to shine ever so slightly. He blinked it away as quickly as it had appeared and pulled himself closer to Scarlet, shaking his head. "It's okay. It's really okay," he said, sniffling a little and trying hug her and assure her he wasn't upset with what she'd said.

She let him come closer and even let him hug her without protest, wrapping one arm around him while the other tried to remain clasped with his hand. "It's not okay.." She whispered back to him, turning slightly to brush a soft sweep of a kiss over his cheek. "I should have thought about what I was saying.. I made things worse instead of better.. no wonder they left me in that place." She started but also stopped herself from spiralling into her doubt and insecurity, it wouldn't help to whine and she didn't want to make him feel worse.

"You are making things better," he said, still sniffling back the anger and pain. "I needed to say it, to hear it, think it out loud somehow and make it real. Thank you." She'd kissed his cheek and it had taken him a moment to parse what it meant, what she'd intended by it. He turned to look at her face again and wondered if he was as smudged and worn as she looked in that moment.

"You're thanking me?" She didn't know what to do with that and pulled back a little to study his face as he tried to look for meaning in hers. Her intent with the kiss had been innocent, simple sweetness and comfort, somewhat child like in trying to make things better with kisses and hugs. She did find Garrett very attractive but didn't quite understand why he made her feel or think the things she did when close to him. She wanted to stay with him and not let go, she was sad that he lost his family and for the pain she could see in his eyes. Scarlet wanted to make it better, she smiled faintly and reached to tuck her hair behind her ear. She leaned in, somewhat shyly to kiss his cheek again.

The effect was different and the ice in his expression seemed to crack away slightly with her second small kiss. He glanced at her in such a way he appeared to jump and see her there suddenly. "Yes. I'm thanking you," he said succinctly. The feeling that had boiled up inside at the thought of his losses had settled down again and he could breathe and think. The changes were exhausting him and the offer of the shower was become more welcomed by the moment. He glanced to the doorway. The other two were quiet and he suspected Violet was sleeping again. Derek was quiet to start with. Maybe he'd left, though he doubted it. If he was still out there, he was likely staring at the door just like Garrett had been, waiting for something to happen. It was a risk to run water and have the sound summon who-knew-what, but she was right - they both needed it and pairing up made sense. Then they could keep watch while the other two freshened up, if they wanted. "If you're not letting go, you better start pulling that way," he suggested, noting their still tangled fingers and nodding toward the bathroom.

If there were infected 'nesting' in this building, Scarlet had a feeling that they would have already heard from the 'neighbors' at this point. They were a threat no matter where you were but she felt more secure as they were inside an apartment building with plenty of doors, locks, walls, and halls that the sound had to get through to alert anything to their location. "Right.. this way." She found her smile peeking out again, a little more brightly than before, when she wasn't stressing over things or being all tough, she had a warmth that was slowly starting to show itself as well. Her hand tugged lightly at Garrett's and she led him to the bathroom, feeling a certain flutter of excitement that he'd accepted the offer.

****************************

Scarlet had never showered with another person before.. at least not like what she'd just shared with Garrett. There had been times in the institution where someone supervised her or attendants had bathed her but that was nothing like today. It had actually been sweet, even if it was sad.. Garrett had lost and she was kind of broken. Together they were quiet, tender, attentive.. holding each other and washing away a little of the pain along with the dirt, sweat, and blood. Part of her had not wanted to leave the warmth or the closeness, but eventually they did. She was wrapped in a towel while using another to dry her hair and glancing around the bedroom. She knew she needed to 'borrow' a set of clean clothes from the woman who had lived her before but she felt weird about it still.

The shared moments were appreciated but he began to push them aside once the steam had dissipated. Partly due to worry of unwanted visitors and partly due to the guilty emptiness that resonated within him, Garrett pulled his familiar clothes back on with little ceremony and sat staring at his boot and bare foot, occasionally glancing up as Scarlet rubbed her hair. "What are you looking for?" The words seemed harsh and cold suddenly out of the calm and quiet.

Maybe it was because she was sensitive or over sensitive but it was like she could feel the room grow colder as he grew more distant. When he spoke it seemed harsh and cold and she flinched, pulling inside herself like a turtle. She looked down and away, what had she done? He'd been so kind even before the shower - thanking her for helping him deal with things, attentive in the shower and now.. he snapped at her. "Nothing." She murmured and headed for the bathroom to gather up her damp and filthy clothes, bringing them back out with her a moment later. She stayed almost in the corner of the room, leaving her hair the way it was and the towel on the floor by her feet.

"That's not nothing," he muttered, sighing and pulling on his boot. "I'm sorry. I thought maybe.. maybe I could help." He shook his head. Why would he think he could do anything when he couldn't hold onto the things that had mattered so much?

She was silent for a minute, almost scared of him because he'd spoken so suddenly and harshly before. "I need.. clean clothes." She spoke in such a soft voice he might not have fully heard her reply. "Mine are filthy.. and damp now."

His were too, but he didn't seem to notice until then. He looked down and ran his hand over his stained chest. He didn't feel like he was underneath the clothes he wore and seemed shocked to find feeling in his fingers that clutched at the soiled cloth. "Damp," he echoed strangely, looking up at her again. "Sure, I'll help you look."

She was used to feeling this way herself but not in seeing it in others and she shook her head a little. "You don't have to.." What had she done to him? He seemed just as bad if not worse than he'd been before, she'd thought she had started to make things better.

He nodded. "I have to. I need to do something, keep moving," he said, trying not to think of the mornings he remembered seeing his wife with the sunlight in her damp hair. He put his foot to the floor and pushed himself up, looking at the room for a place to start. He'd tumbled a lot of things around but seemed to remember seeing something. "Middle drawer," he nodded at the dresser. The drawer had slid out and had a few things that she might be able to use.

It was her turn to nod and she held the towel around her a little more tightly, dropping her soiled clothes and moving hesitantly toward the dresser. Her eyes darted to watch him and she tried to make sure they weren't going to get too close to one another. She knew she had done something to upset him again.. Scarlet tried not to but her thoughts shifted to leaving again, this group - especially Garrett would be much better without her. She was poison, toxic to anyone she tried to care about, first her family left her in that place and moved.. now she'd broken this man worse than he'd been to begin with. She'd only been with him a couple of hours and she'd managed to.. her sigh was soft as she opened the drawer. She closed it again and went to the top left one, thats where her mother had always kept her underwear. The lady had nice underwear, Scarlet's fingers brushed over the pretty lace and satin. She was nearly facinated by it, she'd only ever had plain cotton, mostly white because she'd been in that place since before she was old enough to really be interested in that sort of thing. Finally she pulled a piece out, looking at it like she didn't know how it worked and then holding it up to her front, she blushed a little and found the tag. According to the tag, it was her size but it didn't look like it would cover her and neither did the matching scrap that seemed to be panties which she pulled out of the drawer as well.