Chapter 23: Sacrifice and Legacies
January 31, 2024 6:35 AM
Samantha stared up to the sky in the direction of the booming voices. They were dead...there was no where to hide...nowhere to run...no reason to even try...they were doomed, and hope was a luxury they were not afforded. If it had just been one giantess, they might have had a chance. But two giantesses and two catmonsters? No...there was no hope here.
Everyone seemed to be in agreement that mute acceptance was the way to go. They were all so tired and exhausted from nearly two straight days without sleep that fighting was just...out of the question. Dammit, she had wanted to go out fighting, but...what was the point? Against two giantesses and two catmonsters, she would be lucky to even get a shot off. The only one who stayed standing was William. The old man scanned the area, as if looking for something, anything, useful. Samantha shook her head and looked to the ground. What was the point? Nothing they found would keep the catmonsters from smelling them and once they did...that was it.
"Bloody hell yes, come on, we still have a chance!" William, suddenly, said as he ran off to the side of their old camp site. They all looked up at him, but no one followed him. Samantha gazed after him and thought about just ignoring him...but he had gotten them away from the fairy. And Jacob...if she gave up here...no NO! Samantha tightened her fists and forced her exhausted body to stand. She grunted in effort and started after William, the others staring in wonder at her.. Not long after, she heard Susan do the same and, slowly, the rest came along too. One of them, however, didn’t move at all and just watched them go.
Samantha saw William move to a an odd pile of dirt and start to dig into it. She thought it looked like a hastily dug grave, but maybe it was just made to look that way. Had Darius left something for them after all? Hope began to come back to her as she moved over to help William dig. The rest joined in, too tired to question what was going on, but looking more hopeful than before.
The booming steps were getting far closer now and the group started to dig with frantic abandon. Finally, William smiled as he seemed to hit something and began to pull it out. Samantha reached over and felt plastic as she tried to pull whatever it was out as well. With one big pull, they yanked the object out, and released a smell that nearly caused Samantha to throw up. The others moved away as the smell hit them, but William only smiled.
"Yes, we might just live through this yet, lads and ladies," William said as he pulled open the plastic bag to reveal a dead and starting to rot body. Samantha had seen dead bodies before, but not ones that had started to rot. The sight would have made her lose her lunch if she had any. Instead she just dry heaved along with most everyone else. At least the dead man wasn’t someone she recognized.
"What the hell are we supposed to do with that? Gross out the catmonsters?" Luke asked as he hide his nose from the smell with his fur shirt. William smiled at him as he reached into the dead body. Sickening noises came out of the body as William moved his hand around, causing more dry heaving from everyone.
"That's exactly what we do. They like their meat fresh and not slowly rotting. So if we smell like rotting sacks of meat..." William said before smearing a bit of the...there was no word for it, onto him.
"They won't come after us," Susan finished as she knelt down and began to rub some of the disgusting fluids onto herself as well. Despite her best effort, it was obvious she was barely keeping from dry heaving herself as she started to splatter the...fluids onto her. Samantha dry heaved some more just thinking about having that stuff on her, but the sudden increase in volume of the footsteps made her get over it. She reached into the body, nearly throwing up for real when she felt the organs, and pulled out gunk for herself.
They all rubbed as much of the stuff as they could get onto themselves, despite their constant gagging. Samantha would have preferred to maybe get some more, and yet not, but the footsteps were far too close to risk being out in the open any longer. William motioned them back into the woods and they took off to hide. As they ran, Samantha gave one last look at the guy who had stayed behind and saw him simply stare at them. He made no move to follow them or anything, just sat there having completely given up. Samantha wanted to help him, but there was no time. She got into the forest barely seconds before the giantesses faces appeared over the hill and slid behind a nearby tree.
"That's wierd... looks like the trees have been crushed down over there," one of them boomed out as she pointed toward where Pyrrha had sleep at.
"Probably where a catgirl decided to take a nap, lazy things. Alright we are here so go find us something to play with," the other said, her voice shaking the air a bit. Samantha tried to bury herself as deep into the brush and foliage as she could, but the winter had made most of it nothing but bare branches and naked trees. Dammit, if they even glanced in their direction they might spot them. She cursed as she watched two catmonsters climb over the hill and begin to sniff the air. Almost immediately, one started heading straight toward where their left behind man was. Samantha swore as she turned away, having no wish to watch this.
There was no scream or even the sounds of a struggle. Just a happy meow and that gut wrenching gulp. Dammit...She didn't have time to mourn him, though, as the other catmonster began to move toward them. It sniffed the air and moved closer and closer to them. Samantha pressed herself so hard against the tree that she might have been trying to meld with it. The catmonster sniffed and sniffed...before giving out a slight hiss. Her ground shaking footsteps began to move away as the other sniffed the air. It gave the same hiss and its footsteps began to get softer. Samantha risked a glance out and let out a relieved sigh as the catmonsters moved away back to the giantesses. Holy shit...William's plan had worked again.
"What? Is that it? You drag us all the way out here and don't find anything?!" one of the giantesses yelled out in anger. The other rolled her eyes and...oh god started to move toward them!
"Stupid things probably didn't look hard enough," she said as she stepped over the hill and started toward them. Samantha's terror only increased as the other did the same and both of their massive, booted feet began pounding toward them. Samantha had to fight ever urge in her body not to flee, but if she moved out of cover, their damn visors would spot her and they would all be dead. She had to stay put and hope that they didn't come all the way forward or take a close look at the edge of the forest. If they spotted even one of them...
Samantha cowered in fear as the footsteps got louder and the ground shook more and more. Limbs of trees began to be shaken loose as the giantesses moved closer and closer. Samantha had to fight not scream as the shaking nearly sent her sprawling out into the open and a fallen limb barely missed her. She dug her hands into the trees bark as she held onto it and tried not to be shaken out into the open.. And then the world was, suddenly, plunged into darkness. Samantha, slowly, looked up and felt terror grip her. The sky had been turned into the bottom of a massive boot and it seemed to be moving agonizingly slowly. She willed it to keep moving, but braced herself for it to come crashing down. She got ready to run, but relaxed as it passed over her. She looked down and the fear came right back, but not for herself.
Nathan sprinted out of his hiding place and made a mad dash for the edge of the boot. He had barely gotten two steps when the boot came crashing down. Samantha screamed out to him, but her voice was lost as the boot blasted out. The boot smashed into the ground with so much force that Samantha was nearly blasted backwards by the wind and the sound blew her eardrums completely out. Bits of debris and other things went flying past her, some hitting her but most missing, and she was thrown from her feet by the massive earthquake. Samantha had just started to recover when another massive impact rocked her world and sent her view tumbling into sheer chaos. Her sense of up and down was gone as she flailed on the ground and tried to grab onto something to stop herself from being thrown around as yet another earthquake rocked the area.. Despite the chaos going around her, the entire affair was silent and all she hear was the ringing of her ears and her own inward curses.
Finally, things calmed down and she managed to stop herself. She rolled into a nearby brush to take cover and looked around to get her position. A massive boot was only a few scale yards away, broken trees and plants sticking out from beneah its massive sole.. Samantha risked a glance up and could see the giantess, hands on her hips, scanning the area. Thankfully, she seemed to be looking out over the forest rather than down at her feet. To her left, a bit further off, she could see the other giantess doing the same. They were talking to each other, but her blown out ears couldn't hear anything.
Samantha looked around for the others, but couldn't see them anywhere. Either they were hiding like her or... No, she wouldn't think like that. Just because Nathan was unlucky didn't mean everyone else had been. For now, she needed to focus on herself and get away from this giantess before she started moving again. Samantha didn't dare stand, but got up on her hands and knees and started to crawl from cover to cover.
She had put a few more scale yards between her and the titanic boot when it began to shift. Samantha froze as the boot moved and felt her fear rise to new levels as she saw it was coming right toward her! Samantha cursed as she leapt to her feet and took off running from the approaching shadow. Despite her best efforts, the shadow began to settle over her and her legs, already exhausted, just refused to give her the speed she needed. She didn't dare glance back as she tried to get just a bit more out of her legs and cursed as they just refused to give anymore. She begged anyone, or anything, to give her just a bit more speed as the edge of the shadow was just a few feet more. It had stopped moving and she knew it was coming down, just a few more steps...
Suddenly, she felt herself shoved forward and yelped a bit as she was pushed that last bit she needed. She glanced back to see Luke standing where she had been, his arms out from where he had shoved her. She gave him a shocked look as he smiled. Suddenly, the boot crashed down on top of him and Samantha was blown forward by the impact. She screamed from the impact and the lose before she looked up to see a limb coming straight toward her head. And then she saw nothing...
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Derek turned to Sanders in surprise after hearing the woman say his name. Derek was going to ask what this was all about, but stopped when he noticed Sanders’ face. He looked just as confused, if not more, than Derek was. Derek wasn’t sure if that was good or bad...
"Umm...y...yeah I'm Sanders Cutter. How...do you know that?" Sanders, finally managed to ask. Derek looked back toward the older woman and the child. The woman’s look of excitement seemed to dim and turn to confusion..
"Didn't...didn't Isabella send you here? She should have told you about...us...and where is Aviel?" the woman said as she started to inch away from them. She knew Isabella and Aviel as well? What the hell was going on? Whatever it was, letting them escape was not an option, considering how much they seemed to know. Derek got ready to leap down after them if it came to that.
"Wait, you know Isabella and Aviel too?" Gabriella asked, before Sanders could say anything. The woman stopped backing away as she looked at Gabriella and then over to Derek with a suspicious look.
“I’m not going to answer anything else till I know who the other two are,” the woman said as she backed up a few more inches. Dammit, if she backed up much more, Derek would be forced to go after her. It didn’t look like there was anywhere to go, but Derek wasn’t about to risk that being wrong. Sanders held his hands up to try and calm her down.
“OK, ok… no need to get all panicked or anything. The big guy next to me is Derek, he is with the Phoenixes and they helped me get up here to Lindale. The woman is an old friend of mine and Isabella’s, Gabriella. Do you mind telling us who you are?” Sanders said in a calming voice. The woman’s eyes narrowed when Sanders mentioned the Phoenixes. Seemed she had heard of them, though it didn’t look like it had been good. Her reaction to Gabriella, however, was nearly one of shock. The little girl’s eyes widened as well as she looked about to say something before the woman quieted her.
The woman said something to the little girl before sending her, grudgingly, running toward the building. Pyrrha’s ears drooped as she ran off, but she didn’t make any noise. With the little girl gone, the woman turned back to them and moved a bit closer.
“I am Madysen a...friend of Isabella’s as well. Please, tell me what happened to her,” the woman asked, hell, almost begged them. Gone was her suspicious looks to be replaced with just longing and begging. She must have been a friend to want to know that badly.
"I’m...sorry, Isabella is dead. I...couldn't save her and...she never had time to tell me anything before..." Sanders broke off as he looked away. Madysen didn't look that surprised, but her shoulders slumped all the same. She looked away and raised her hand to her face to rub some tears away. Before she could turn back or say anything, a voice yelled out.
"You're LYING! Aunt Isabella wouldn't have died! She was too big and strong and tough to die! You stupid, stupid LIAR!" the little girl yelled from one of the windows, tears starting to form on her eyes..
“CHRISTINA, GO BACK INSIDE!” Madysen yelled as she wheeled on the little girl. Christina, yelped and vanished into the house faster than she had appeared, again causing Pyrrha’s ears to droop. Madysen turned back to them and took a deep breath as she rubbed her face. Having collected herself, she looked back up at them.
"If...if you are Sanders then you will have proof of that. Isabella said you would have a picture you were thankful for. Do you?" the woman asked as she set her face into a steely gaze. Derek knew that look well, he had seen it more times than he could count, and worn it a few times as well. This woman was ready to fight and die if need be. Derek didn’t know what had brought this change, but Sanders better have what she wanted or they would be lucky to get anything out of her.
Sanders looked up at her and looked confused, for a second. Then his look changed to one of realization and he let out a long sigh. He reached into his armor and pulled out a small, slightly bent and damaged, picture. Part of it was ripped off, but most of it was still intact and visible. Derek didn’t get a good look at it, however.
"Yeah...I do have one. I can show you it, if you want," Sanders said as he lifted it up for her to see. She glanced at it and her eyes narrowed.
"First Aviel wasn’t here and now she is ripped out of the picture. Why? What happened?" she asked giving Sanders an even more suspicious look. Fuck, this might not go well. Derek shifted a bit closer to the edge of Pyrrha's head and grabbed a bit of her hair to get ready to slid down. Sanders kind look changed to a hard stare as he turned the picture back to himself.
"Because she betrayed me, Isabella, and everyone else who is trying to fight the Society’s evil...by joining them fully," Sanders said with barely contained fury. His free hand clenched into a fist as he said that and it looked like he had to fight not to do the same to the picture. Madysen, this time, looked genuinely surprised and blinked a few times in confusion.
"Wh-what? Betrayed you and Isabella? I..." she stopped as she looked back down at Pyrrha and then back up to Sanders. Her shocked look faded away to turn back into one of suspicion. Dammit… were they going to have to drag a dead giantess in here to earn her trust? What the hell was she trying to protect? If it was the little girl, she was doing a bad job of it considering she had reappeared in one of the windows.
"If she is the one still with the Society, why are you riding on a catmonster?" Madysen demanded with a harsh glare. Sanders shook off his anger as he looked down at Pyrrha's head.
"Because..." he stopped before letting out a sigh, "its a long story... The short version is because I managed to tame her and she was the fastest way to get to Lindale." Derek groaned inwardly at that explanation. Even knowing it was the truth, it still sounded like bullshit. A tiny taming a catmonster was complete bullshit, or at least it HAD been. Madysen seemed to agree and her eyes only narrowed further. Gabriella, groaned in frustration before moving forward.
"Look, Madysen I don't know what happened or what secret Isabella gave you that made you so damn paranoid, but come ON! Do we LOOK like we are still with the Society?! We're all wearing furs, we look AND smell like we haven't bathed in months, and our 'weapons',” she paused her yelling long enough to hold her own launcher up, “would look better if they were made of duct tape!"
The shitty gun she had gotten did, indeed, look like utter shit, but they were not about to give a potential threat a good weapon. And it was starting to look like that had been a good idea, though not for the reasons they had intended. Threat or not, her argument was better than Sanders. The three of them certainly did not look like people from the Society. Hell, they looked about as far from that as possible.
"That...could be faked," Madysen said, though she sounded more like she was trying to convince herself of that than them. Gabriella didn’t let her have that, though as she keep up the pressure.
"Oh some of it could, but the fucking unwashed manstank these two have sure as hell couldn't. We can send Roidman or Sanders without any weapons to you so you can get a good whiff yourself if you don't believe me, but trust me you probably don’t," Gabriella shoot back. Derek glared back at her for the hulk comment and had to fight off the urge to call her Roidgirl. Getting into a word duel with her wasn't going to help this situation, even if it was tempting. Sanders, though, just sniffed his pits and wrinkled his nose after doing so.
Madysen seemed to consider that for a second as she glanced between them. After a few seconds she deflated a bit and shook her head.
"That...won't be needed. I suppose if you were part of the Society, you wouldn't have bothered with the deception. And Gabriella certainly is...intense like Isabella said she was. You three can come down, but keep that....cat away from me and my child," Madysen said as she gave Pyrrha a suspicious look. Pyrrha's ears drooped a bit at that, almost as if her feeling were hurt. Ridiculous, of course, but still… Derek shook such thoughts away and focused on the now.
“See I get shit done unl- wait intense?” Gabriella said before stopping at the edge of Pyrrha’s head to look at Madysen. Sanders didn’t let her get any further with that train of thought as he shoved her along.
The three of them climbed down from Pyrrha's head and reached the bottom right as someone else reached the lip of the desk. Darius climbed up onto the desk from Pyrrha's hair and gave them all his usual cold stare. Madysen saw him come up and drew back a bit, looking unhappy with a fourth person being added.
"Maybe you two should go ahead and talk to her while I bring Darius up to speed," Derek suggested. Darius raised an eyebrow at him but the other two nodded and headed off. Derek spent a minute or two bringing Darius up to speed on what had happened. Darius listened carefully, rubbing his chin every so often, before nodding he understood once Derek was finished.
"I see...This may be a...worrying development," Darius said as he glanced toward the woman who was listening to Sanders explain something, most likely the details of Isabella's death.
"How so?" Derek asked in confusion. He tried to see what was worrying about this, but couldn’t see anything.
"The way Sanders describes Isabella makes her out to be much like Sanders himself, selfless and caring for others. By itself, there is nothing wrong with this, but it may be why she told Sanders to come here. There is a chance she simply wanted Sanders to rescue this family and they have no information for us," Darius said as he tapped his chin. Derek hadn't even considered that possibility and it filled him with dread. All this way just to save a mother and her child… He looked back at Madysen and then to the window Christina was looking out. As he did, though, he saw a few things that might be some decent consolation prizes.
"They do have a good number of Society equipment, tools and that sort of stuff. I know Jimmy would love to get his hands on that stuff. Not going to win us the war, but it would help," Derek said. He didn't bother saying it was still not worth the lose of his soldiers, knowing full well Darius wouldn't care. Darius nodded at that, but didn't look pleased.
"It is something and we could say it is the cache Manchent left for us. If nothing else, it will keep us from coming back empty handed and our morale from plummeting. That will keep us in the fight and that is all that truly matters," Darius said before moving toward Sanders and the woman. Derek sighed to himself and some part of him wanted to disagree with Darius, however that part seemed to be getting quieter and quieter as he let his people die. It was for the greater good after all...and his son was still safe...
Derek followed after Darius and they moved up just as Sanders finished telling his story.
"-would have been eaten if Pyrrha didn't happen to be in the cage as well. She saved me from the other one and helped me escape. Me and her have been with each other since," Sanders finished as he glanced back at Pyrrha, who was looking around like she was bored.
"So that's why you ripped Aviel out of that picture...I want to think you are lying, but... I can't help but believe you are telling the truth considering Gabriella is here and..." Madysen drifted off as she looked to the side, thinking about something. Sanders looked up and got a curious look.
"And what?" he asked, snapping Madysen out of her thoughts.
"It's..." Madysen paused as she looked at Darius and Derek, "something personal and best talked about alone." Derek wasn't sure what that was about, but figured it was none of his business. He understood about wanting to keep personal stuff between those involved. Before Sanders could ask any more about it, Darius spoke up.
"Then we will leave it at that. I know we have just arrived and are still strangers to you, but I must ask if you would be willing to allow my soldiers to rest here and take some of your food and water. The trip from Hope has been a long one and our constant need to avoid the Society here in Lindale has left us little time to rest and gather food," Darius asked with an unusual pleasant smile. Derek thought it was a bit early to be asking for such things, even if they were in bad need of both. Then again, the question would have come up at some point and getting it out of the way would be one less thing to worry about.
Madysen gave Darius a cold stare and looked more than a bit angry about Darius' question. Sanders had a similar look and looked about to apologize till Madysen held her hand up. She let out a long sigh and nodded.
"Fine, take what you want. It's not like I could stop you, anyway, damn groups are all the same" Madysen said before grumbling out the last part. Darius' smile didn't fade as he nodded a thanks despite the words and the harsh glare Madysen was giving him.
"Thank you. Dere-" was as far as Darius got before a sudden rumbling silenced him. Derek swore as the desk began to tilt to the side. He knelt to the ground and tried to grab onto the ground, but the plastic desk didn't give his hands anything to hold onto. Just as the tilt began to cause him to slide, the desk started to tilt the other way and Derek had to push himself back to keep from falling over. The others were having just as much trouble and both the woman and Sanders lost their footing. They fell to the ground and began to slide away from them, all while their hands and feet scrambled over the ground to find a handhold. Thankfully, they didn't get far before the desk tilted back the other way, though not nearly as far. Slowly, the desk began to settle back into a standing position and Derek had less and less trouble staying up.
Finally, the desk came to a stop, though Derek remained brace incase, whatever happened, happened again. After a second or two of silence, Derek risked looking around to see if everyone was alright. Darius had slide a few feet away from Derek, but was still standing and looked rather annoyed. Gabriella hadn't budged at all, and started over to help Sanders up. Sanders was on the ground and groaned to himself as he clutched his stomach. Derek had almost forgotten Sanders' motion sickness, but it was on clear display now as his face started to turn green. Madysen was already getting back to her feet and started toward her house. She smiled as Christina peeked out the door, looking a little shaken by the earthquake, but unhurt. A few crates had slide around and the cap at the edge of the bottle had shifted away from the hole, but nothing looked damaged or anything. Still wh-...dammit...
Derek got his answer as he looked behind him and saw Pyrrha still peeking out above the lip of the desk, but with her hands now off the edge. Damn thing had tried to climb up, he bet, and had nearly tipped the whole desk over. They were going to need someone to keep an eye on her while they were up her or risk her trying something like that again. And next time she might not stop in time.
Unfortunately, Madysen looked to have drawn the same conclusion and glared at Pyrrha in anger. She turned toward Sanders and didn't even wait for Gabriella to haul him up to lay into him.
"I told you to keep that...monster away from us! That thing nearly killed us trying to get up here and I won't have it anywhere near my home anymore! Either it goes or all of you do!" she said with a look that made it obvious that wasn't a request or a threat. Sanders got to his feet and nodded to her, but held up a finger to ask for a minute. He groaned again as Gabriella rubbed his back to try and help his sickness. As she did, Darius moved over to join them.
"I am sure what Sanders wants to say is that we will make sure Pyrrha stays away, from now on. However, our soldiers are all riding her and need a way up here and she-" Madysen butted in once again, making Darius' smile twitch a bit.
"They can use the lift like we do then. Its behind the water bottle. And until that...monster is gone I won't tell you a damn thing. I owe Isabella a lot, but I won't have it put my daughter in danger again," Madysen said with a glare at Darius. Darius didn't bother keeping his smile and went back to his usual look. He motioned for Derek to come with him and started back toward Pyrrha.
"That woman is beginning to vex me. She had best hope she has some useful information," Darius said once they were out of earshot. Derek had to fight off a smirk as he wondered if she was the one who needed to worry about that or not.
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January 31, 2024 6:35 AM
Jacob let out a long, drawn out yawn as the last few people began to climb down from Pyrrha. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on, no one seemed keen on telling him, but he had gathered enough for passing conversations that they had found a place to rest and get some food. All that sounded great, but Jacob had, unsurprisingly, been picked to stay on Pyrrha to "guard" her. Exactly what the fuck they were guarding the huge thing from was the real question.
Despite his tiredness and rumbling stomach, Jacob still managed to watch everyone as they got off. Most of them were strangers he didn't know, but people from his squad were scattered in among the strangers. However, despite keeping a close eye out of her, he never saw Samantha head down the ladders. That was odd...she would have made a point to come by and tell him she would save him some food or at least give him a hug. In fact, now that he thought about it, he never got mocked for having to stay by Luke, something that asshole would NOT have passed up. And he hadn't seen Squad Leader Susan either...actually, he hadn't seen any of them since they had arrived in Lindale.
Jacob got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach and looked around for someone who might know something he didn't. He spotted Gerard's squad leader moving toward Pyrrha's head, now that everyone was off, and headed after her. The woman was just starting up Pyrrha's hair when Jacob reached her.
"Squad Leader...uhh," Jacob stopped as he realized he had forgotten her name. Shit, that was a great start to asking for a favor.
"It's Marketa, Jacob, what is it?" she asked as she slide back down and turned to him. Jacob was a bit surprised at how...good she looked. Her brown hair was curled into strands going down to her shoulders and her black skin looked like it was carved out of onyx. She was a few scale inches shorter than him, but her confident look made it seem like she was the taller one.
"Umm...ye-yes, sorry ma'am. I was...just wondering if you had seen Squad leader Susan or Samantha," Jacob managed to stammer out. He had not been expecting the Squad Leader for someone like Gerard to be...well sexy.
Marketa raised an eyebrow at his stammering, but didn't seem angry about it. Once he got his question out, her slight smirk vanished and was replaced with a bit of concern as she turned away.
"Actually...no I haven't seen either of them. Last I saw them was yesterday when Darius called some people to come meet with him...Come to think of it I haven't seen Nathan since then either..." she said as she looked to the side in thought. Jacob's bad feeling had turned from a feeling to an assurance. Something had happened...something bad. He must not have hide his revelation as well as he thought as Marketa took one look at him and changed her tone.
"I am sure they are fine, though, and they will return soon enough. Go back to your post, Jacob, and don't let this distract you," Marketa said with a reassuring smile. Jacob didn't return it and didn't even watch her as she ascended up Pyrrha's hair, despite the wonderful view of her rear. Instead, his mind was focused on one thing, Samantha was missing.
Jacob turned back and looked over the area. His eyes locked onto where the barracks was and he stormed off to it. Marketa might not know what had happened, but he knew someone who would. And by God they were going to give him some answers.
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Sanders couldn't help but frown as he watched Pyrrha head out of the room. He didn’t like that she was being watched over by someone who had no experience doing it. However, with Samantha...gone and both him and Gabby unwilling to miss hearing what Madysen had to say, there was really no other choice. The only other person with any experience with her was Jacob and...yeah.
Pyrrha stopped at the door and glanced back to stare at Sanders. Sanders gave a short wave to her and Pyrrha gave a short smile in return. Then she turned and headed out onto the mission Sanders, hoped, she understood. There was no mistaking she was far smarter now, but did she really understand what she was supposed to do? If she didn’t, Sanders would have to rely on Jacob...ugh.
"Alright, Pyrrha is gone. Let's go see if Mrs. Paranoid will finally tell us something useful," Gabby said as she smacked Sanders' shoulder. Sanders had to fight not to rub his shoulder in pain and turned to follow Gabby to the house. Around the area the rest of the Phoenixes, save the small group that had been left with Pyrrha, were scattered about. Most were sleeping or trying to while a few were munching on the MRE's that Madysen had stockpiled. None of them gave Sanders or Gabby a second glance as they weaved their way through the mass.
Finally, they arrived at the pre-fab house and headed inside. The inside was rather spartan with no decorations or anything of that sort. However, it did have a large table for them to sit at and a big open area for other things to be set up on. Six doors lead off to different areas of the structure, though Sanders was pretty sure two of them would just lead outside. Perhaps they were for other modules that this one did not include? All the doors were closed, however, leaving Sanders to simply guess what was behind each one.
Madysen was looking out the window at all the people that was now crowding the area. She looked less than happy about it, but didn't say anything. Darius was sitting at the table and was looking through some papers, actual papers for once rather than scraps, that Sanders figured Madysen had given him. Jimmy was sitting beside him, but was too engaged in looking at the proper tools Madysen had to pay any attention to Darius. The scrawny kid who had been running the radio, Ollie, had set up his jury-rigged radio in the corner and was fiddling with it. Kimberly and Derek were talking in the open area, but both fell silent as Sanders and Gabby entered. Kimberly gave Sanders a cold stare which Sanders returned.
"Pyrrha is gone and won't come back till tonight," Sanders said as he looked over to Madysen. He tried to look as nice as he could, but Madysen didn't even glance his way. Instead, she keep staring out the window, lost in her own thoughts.
"Mrs. Orinda, we have sent the catmonster away, as you asked. Now, if you would be so kind, we would like to know what it is that you know," Darius said in a oddly polite voice. He had that same, out-of-character smile that he had before and looked passibly pleasant. Madysen gave no response for a few seconds. Finally, she turned around and stared at Darius.
"One last thing before I tell you what I know. Could you tell me what it is like to face a giantess?" she asked as her eyes narrowed on Darius. Sanders raised his eyebrows at that and glanced back over to Darius. Darius' face didn't shift or change in the least as he stared back at Madysen. Actually...did his smile just get slightly bigger?
"No, I could not and not because I have not faced them, I have more times than I care to remember. I cannot because there are no words to describe it. How does one describe having a skyscraper chase them, intent on killing them? How could you explain to anyone what it is like to see friends simply cease to exist after being crushed by a shoe? Or have the ground thrown up around you from something as simple as a stomp? Or being blasted off your feet by just a scream? Or feeling so utterly powerless, so insignificant, that you simply stop trying altogether? You can't, no one can. These are things you have to experience to truly understand them," Darius said as his face turned back into his usual emotionless mask. Kimberly moved a bit closer to Derek as Darius talked and Derek wrapped his arm around her. Jimmy set the tools aside as he took a deep breath while Ollie seemed to become even more engrossed in his work.. Even Sanders felt a chill run through him as Darius gave his answer, remembering how utterly helpless he was to stop Angela. Gabriella was the only one among them who seemed unaffected.
Madysen and Darius stared at each other for a few seconds. Finally, Madysen let out a soft sigh that sounded like a cross between relieve and acceptance. She looked back up at Darius and her face softened a bit.
"A good answer and one a Society member would be unlikely to give. I am sorry for the final test, but after seeing what Manchent left...Well, you will understand my paranoia when you see it for yourself," Madysen said as she seemed to brighten a little. Darius' mask chipped for a split second as he looked surprised, along with everyone else. What Manchent had left....so it WAS here!! Isabella DID find it!
"So it is here?! Manchent's legacy is here?!" Sanders asked as he felt his heart leap for joy for the first time in a long time. Only to come crashing down as Madysen shook her head.
"Yes and no. It isn't here, as in right here, but it is in the middle school. Originally, it was back in the old mill, but Isabella and I were worried someone might follow the same clues and find it. Someone from the Society. So, we moved it here to the other side of the middle school, in an area only shrunken people can get into," Madysen explained with a small, proud smile. Sanders could have hugged her at that moment, but resisted the urge. He HAD found it...Manchent's legacy and the thing that had turned Isabella against the Society... He hadn't failed them... Sanders tried to hold back the tears, but couldn't as he felt the weight of their lives lift off him, at least a little.
Gabby patted his shoulder, looking to be fighting off tears of her own, as Madysen gave him a confused look. The rest, however, seemed to understand where his tears were coming from.
"I'm...I'm sorry. I'm not sad or...anything. It's just...I've been looking for this for so long and now...I finally found it...I didn't fail Isabella or Manchent...Thank you so much," Sanders said through gasps. Fuck, he was so damn happy. Madysen's confused look turned into an understanding smile and she chuckled a little to herself.
"You really aren't with the Society. Thank God...and thank you for not giving up, Sanders. Isabella would have been proud that you made it here after everything," Madysen said as she gave Sanders a light hug. Sanders returned it and started to try and get himself back together. Her words, however, made it hard as old memories of Isabella began to bombard his mind. She would have been proud of him... Both Derek and Jimmy had smiles on their faces at the scene and even Kimberly looked to be having to fight not to smile. Darius, however, simply watched as impassive as ever.
"I am glad that you have found some peace with your past, Sanders, but we need to get back to the present. Madysen, I assume you have seen what it is that Manchent left behind. What can you tell us about it?" Darius asked, trying to get things back on track. Sanders let Madysen go and tried to get his crying under control. Madysen gave Darius an annoyed look, but answered nonetheless.
"It is a shrunken-sized computer," she said as she glared at him, obviously leaving important things out. If Darius was bothered by this omission of information, he gave no sign.
"A...A COMPUTER?! That is our size?!" Ollie said in shock and excitement. Sanders didn't think he had ever seen the scrawny boy look so excited or animated. He quickly turned to face them to listen.
"Fuck, how the hell did he manage to build that without the Society finding out?" Jimmy said in surprise and awe. Sanders was equally as impressed as nothing the Phoenixes had was even close to the complexity of a computer. Then again, this WAS Gregor Manchent and he would have access to proper tools and equipment. Still, building a computer and managed to hide it way out in Lindale with no one in the Society finding out was more than just a feat.
"Probably the same why he managed to contact us and set up his own escape despite being monitored near 24/7," Derek said looking less shocked that Manchent had managed something so impressive.
Sanders felt a bit of guilt punch into his stomach as he remembered their assault on that train. How many lives would have been spared if they had just failed? Some part of him knew it wasn't his fault as he could never have known what his actions had set in motion, but it was sweep away by the waves of guilt hitting him.
"How he managed it is not important right now. What is important is what is on this computer. Society intel? Weapon designs?" Darius asked as he keep staring at Madysen. Madysen's annoyed look faded as her face darkened. She glanced away for a second as she shook her head.
"No. The computer contains the truth. And our last hope."
Diary of Madysen Orinda:
Day 1: I have no idea what the date is, things like that have become so...unimportant now. I know it is winter and I believe it is close to Christmas, but beyond that I can only guess. That isn’t important anyway. What is important is what happened today. I wish I could write it all down in detail, maybe writing it would make it less...something. But I can’t...the risk of this being found is too great. Instead, all I can say is I found out the truth today. The truth about the Society, the Shrink Disaster...everything.
I tried to talk her out of it. I told her it was foolish, but Isabella wouldn’t listen. She loves her two friends like their were her own kids… I can’t blame myself, I know she wouldn’t have stayed no matter what I said. I wouldn’t have stayed if it had been Christina. Please, Isabella, stay safe.
Day 3: Still not used to having a diary and forgot to write in it yesterday. Not even sure why I am bothering to write in this. Maybe it’s just because of everything that has happened. Still hard to believe how well off we are now. Before Isabella came, I was sure we were going to starve or be found by the Marauders. Now, we have enough food and water to last for years, a home that isn’t made of just whatever we managed to scrape together, and actual clothes. I actually washed clothes today too...I don’t think I have done that since the Marauders came.
Isabella please be safe. I owe you too much for you to die.
Day 6: Trying to keep myself busy now so I don’t worry about Isabella. It works to a point, but I can’t seem to stop going to look at that picture she left. Christina likes to look at it too and keeps asking when she will get to meet the fairy. Of course I tell her soon, but I can’t help but wonder that myself. Normally, the thought of one of those flying monsters coming here would fill me with dread, but I would be overjoyed to see the one in that picture. At least then I would know what has happened. I shouldn’t worry, though. It hasn’t even been a week yet. I’m sure she is fine.
Day 12: Christina found parts to a tractor in some of the crates today. I’m not exactly the most handy person when it comes to this, Thomas did most of that, but trying to get it to work would be a good distraction. I took all the parts down with the lift Isabella installed and set up a little “garage” in part of a ruined desk.
It has nearly been two weeks now and it is getting harder and harder not to worry. Isabella should have been back by now, or at least sent word. Christina is starting to figure that out too. She spends a lot of time at the edge of the desk, looking toward the door. I don’t know what to tell her…
Day 17: I found the instructions to build the tractor... Apparently, everything I did up till now has been wrong and it is a wonder I didn’t ruin it completely. At least that realization got Christina to laugh, though not for long. She spends less time looking at the door now. I think she is giving up hope...just like I have. I told her it was a bad idea, but she wouldn’t listen. Now I’m the only one left to guard the truth… I just hope at least one of the people in that picture is still alive. I don’t dare trust anyone else. If that co *illegible. Lines have been roughly erased*
Idiot, don’t write anything down about it again!
Day 26: Forgot all about this. Got the tractor working and explored around the area a bit. Its not very fast, but at least I don’t have to walk everywhere now. And it can haul a lot of stuff. Pity none of the crates had any weapons. I could have tried to hunt if it did and use the tractor to haul back the meat. These pre-packaged foods are good enough to survive off of, but both me and Christina are sick of them. Going to see if I can find a place to use the other farming equipment whe- * rest is roughly erased*
Day 36: Isabella isn’t coming back...I just have to accept it.
*the rest of the entries are illegible and appear to have all be roughly erased or marked out angrily.